How to Re-configure Yourself to Lead and Succeed

One of the worst dilemmas I have observed in the school of success is that many people are not positioning themselves for what they want to attract and this is as a result of their history of wrong programming.

For example, a young man strongly desires to be wealthy but when you recommend an event that you consider a must-attend for him, he walks away because “the price is scary.” No wonder, my friend, Ezekiel Solesi, a fine strategist, remarked that “We need to go from asking people what they want to ask them what they are ready to work for.”

The illustration also reminds me of the rich young ruler who consulted Jesus to know what he had to do to inherit eternal life. When Jesus prescribed that he should sell all he had and come to follow Him, the young man walked away sorrowful because he had many possessions.

Isn’t it rather odd that the young man in my illustration is turned off by the price of a significant event that could move him closer to his dreams? He lacks the ability to see that the lessons he would have learnt and the people he would have met at the event are just what he needs to experience a transformation inside-out. He walks away because he has “many possessions” programmed into him by poverty.

Guess what? Though he could not afford the fee for that event, he would afford it if he had an emergency. Sensible right? Yes, it seems sensible until you realize what he considers emergency – actually, trivial things like the loss or malfunctioning of his phone.

Another example is that of a lady who has long been the victim of an abusive relationship. When she finally gets out of it, she bears the hurt and regret of the relationship everywhere she goes and always feels inferior and powerless. She longs for a happy marriage that brings fulfilment but when someone calls attention to her inferiority complex, she retorts, “That’s the way I am.”

Madam, that’s not the way you are. You were conditioned to be like that. That abuser tamed you to be like that so that you could fit into the frame of his defective lifestyle without hassle.

Similarly, the young man was unconsciously conditioned by the people he grew up with (most likely, his parents) and the environment he grew up in. Unknown to him, an app called poverty had been installed in his mentality. Given that configuration, he cannot think in the way that will make him grow rich.

Some people find it difficult to form relationships because they have a history of living in isolation with their family. Attempts to visit and play with their neighbours and friends were strongly frowned at. They have been conditioned to be loners and many of them keep saying “That’s the way I am.” Smh.

The first step to solving such problems of a wrong configuration is to help people realize that none of us came into this world with interests and patterns of thinking. Our interests, likes and dislikes, perspectives, etc., are a product of conditioning.

The next thing is to trace the influences that have conditioned them into the state that they presently are. This is what it means to be aware. Awareness is, perhaps, the most powerful tool in achieving success in any endeavour.

We can’t fight what we don’t see and we can’t change what we don’t know; but once we become aware of the factors that have conditioned us to become who we are now, we are empowered to reconstruct our thinking and behaviour and hence, control our results and ultimately, our destiny.

The goal of all learning is awareness. Awareness is the difference between an educated man and an illiterate. The illiterate easily gets angry about anything and everything but the educated man is expected to calmly observe and ask questions to understand issues.

In fact, leadership is about awareness. A leader is expected to have a higher vision and a refined view of things. One of the most common metaphors used to denote leadership is the “head.” And why is the leader called the head? Because unlike the body, the head has all sense organs. It can see, hear, perceive, taste and feel. The body might feel issues and complain, but the head is expected to use its senses to accurately discern and solve problems.

“I know of no more encouraging fact,” said Henry David Thoreau “than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate himself by conscious endeavour.”

Take some time to ask, “Is who I am now able to attract the future I desire?” “Do my interests and pattern of thinking support the kind of person I want to become?” If no, how did I get here? And what exactly must I change to redirect myself towards my desired goals?

To your greatness,

Bright UK

Leadership Expert