The Secret Code and Game Changer To Fruitful Living: PDL Insights (Part 16)
The Secret Code and Game Changer To Fruitful Living: PDL Insights (Part 16)
I wondered
why optimists and pessimists looked at the same things and related to them
differently until I discovered that people do not see things as they are but
they see them as they are. We see things as we are inside not as they are. - Coach
Tarie: The Wisdom Garden (Volume 1).
As we
continue on addressing the challenges that stand in the way of The Purpose
Driven Life (PDL), today we will introduce what I have called the Secret Code
to Success and The Game Changer that helps us unlock the right attitude to
success. This is because the number one reason why many people fail to fulfill their
purposes is hinged on this thing called attitude. We have identified some of
the challenges that stand in the way of the PDL path as including the lack of
freedom, contradictions that we have to face, the system of the world, the
social base and unpleasant experiences. However, those who live the PDL to the
fullest are not exempted from these challenges but succeed because of a
different attitude. This is captured in the words of Charles Swindoll who said,
“I am convinced that life is 10 percent what happens to me and 90 percent how I
react to it”. And so it is with you. This means that attitude is the key, the
final key of the secret code to success.
Your attitude
is the way you see things. People looking at the same things will react to them
differently because of a difference in attitude. As we pursue our purposes we
will encounter different situations, we will start at different starting points
with different resources and differing backgrounds. How we see things will
determine the actions we will take. Will we sit and complain about what we don’t
have or will we be ready to look at how we can get what we don’t have using
what we have. Attitude is the difference maker. Why have you not pursued your
purpose, why have you diverted from the PDL path, why are you not taking the
next step. If you have many reasons to justify yourself to the above questions,
then it is clear that there is a need of a change of attitude.
The priceless
value of attitude is shown throughout the whole bible and separates those who
succeeded and those who failed in living Purpose Driven Lives. The only other person
other than Jesus to speak with confidence about living a Purpose Driven Lives
to the full encourages us on attitude changes saying, “However, you were taught to
have a new attitude.” [Ephesians 4: 23]. This impact of attitude is
seen to separate destinies of two different groups of people in the bible. The
children of Israel had been promised of a better land that was better than the
slavery they were coming from. They were instructed to send twelve spies to go
and see the land they were to go and possess. On their return, they gave
reports to the whole group of millions of people that was in the wilderness and
this is the report of one group, ten of the spies.
And
there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we
were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight”. [Numbers
13:27-33]
Notice something in this report, it says ‘in our own sight’. The
problem was how they saw themselves in comparison with the giants. It was their
attitude. Compare this to the report of one of the spies named Caleb who
saw things differently and reported,
“Let
us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”
The people’s
destinies were later determined by the difference in their way of seeing things
(attitudes) and God commented on the reports saying,
They will
never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have
treated me with contempt will ever see it. But my servant Caleb has a different
attitude than the others have. He has remained loyal to me, so I will bring him
into the land he explored. His descendants will possess their full share of
that land. [Numbers 14:23-25 New Living Translation]
This is true
as we pursue our purposes. The promised land of the perfect will of God has its
challenges and giants. It is worth pursuing because of the fulfilment, joy and
rewards that come with it but we have to deal with the giants. Have you considered
the challenges, responsibilities, setbacks, possible disappointments and
doubted whether it was worthwhile or you are ready to put on a new attitude?
The religious
sphere has made some to believe that prophetic words and declarations will do
it for them. They burden the prophets or pastors thinking that these can cure
years of bad leadership, abuse of power, lack of vision and lack of progress
and development with a few church meetings and some choice prophetic words. The
Israelites had such meetings with God and choice words from God Himself but did
not inherit the promises. It needed more. The purpose of the prophetic words
and miraculous encounters was to change their attitudes. As I have said,
“It’s not
prophecy, vision or your dream that takes you to your destiny but it’s the
attitude that it creates in you that helps you to fight your way to destiny.”-
Coach Tarie: The Wisdom Garden (Volume 1).
You may look
at your attitude and lose hope as you maybe see how your attitude is so out of
tune with the way you would want and try and imagine what it would take to have
a new attitude. Attitude change is a process. Your attitude is a product of the
expectations that you have of life. The way you see things is built on what you
expect from life. If you are really to be honest with yourself, do you really
expect to succeed in life? When you started that business, did you really
expect success if you are to scrutinise your inner convictions? Do you really
expect that your life will one day make a difference in many people’s lives? Do
you have inner convictions of many people seeking to be served by you? Do you
expect to be disciplined enough to walk the full PDL path after considering all
that has been discussed in the PDL insights to date?
If we expect
to succeed, then our attitude will be different and so will be our mental
strength. We can endure pressure and have a positive attitude that will result
in the right actions if deep down in our convictions we expect ourselves to
make it. Where then do our expectations come from. What we expect from life is
a product of our beliefs about ourselves. What do you believe about yourself
and your capabilities? Do you believe that you were created uniquely by God for
a specific assignment? Do you believe that God knows you by name and has a
specific assignment for you? If you do not have this belief, then seeking your
purpose will not be easy and worse still pursuing it through the challenges and
resistance that will inevitably come your way.
A story among
many studies of the like is given by behavioural psychologists about a young
man who after successfully completing his high school with straight ‘A’s sat
for Student Aptitude Tests (SAT). He got a 98 in his SAT results and was
accepted at this other College. During the first semester, he got straight ‘D’s
to the surprise of many. A college counsellor approached him and asked him how
he got ‘D’s even though what they were learning was not too different from what
he was learning in High school. His response was, “What would you expect from
someone who is not very intelligent with an Intelligent Quotient (IQ) score of
98”.
The
counsellor checked his file and saw that 98 was not an IQ score but an SAT
score. The young man did not know that the SAT score meant that he was in the
top 2% of all the students that had sat for the test, he was better than 98% of
them. 98 IQ score would mean that he was
normal and average and this is what he believed about himself and scored ‘D’s
in college. After the counsellor explained to him what the SAT score implied,
in the following semester, the young man got straight ‘A’s. His belief about
himself changed and so did his expectations of results and his attitude, so
were the results. What are your beliefs about yourself and how could they be
affecting your expectations, attitude, choices and actions about Purpose Driven
Living?
Our beliefs
about ourselves are a product of our self-concepts. If attitude is the way we
see things, then self-concept is the way we see ourselves. It is the inner
consciousness of who we are. If you see yourself as a useless somebody who has
nothing much to contribute, then your beliefs about yourself will be self-limiting
and your expectations of life will be least and your attitude will follow suit.
The Purpose Driven Life begins from your self – concept. One cannot outperform
their self-concept. You cannot accept the Perfect Will of God for your life
because it is seemingly too big for your life and beyond reach because you see
yourself as too small for it.
This shows
why the Kingdom of God is the solution for effective purpose driven living. It
starts with being born again which gives you a new identity. With the new
identity, the word of God is always about changing your self concept and
beliefs about yourself as you discover your new identity as a son of the most
powerful existing being (God) and having access to all the resources he has. A
walk with him and constant renewal of the mind to accept the new reality is
important for the PDL.
The bible has
a story of a young man named Gideon who was earlier discussed in the previous
insights. When his purpose knocked on the door, he could not receive it because
of his self-concept. He tried to give excuses saying,
"Me,
my master? How and with what could I ever save Israel? Look at me. My clan's
the weakest in Manasseh and I'm the runt
of the litter." [Judges 6: 15 THE MESSAGE bible]
God had to
help him change his self-concept and after showing him many miraculous signs
one experience finally got the results. God gave a dream to the enemies of
Gideon and Israel and made Gideon to hear the enemies speaking about the dream
as in the text below.
Gideon
arrived just in time to hear a man tell his friend a dream. He said, "I
had this dream: A loaf of barley bread tumbled into the Midianite camp. It came
to the tent and hit it so hard it collapsed. The tent fell!" His friend said, "This has to be the
sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite! God has turned Midian — the whole
camp! — over to him."
When Gideon
heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he went to his knees
before God in prayer. Then he went back to the Israelite camp and said,
"Get up and get going! God has just given us the Midianite army!" [Judges
7:13-15]
Hearing the
dream changed Gideon’s self-concept. He began to believe that he was capable
and hence with expectations of victory his attitude changed and he was ready to
go to battle and fulfil his assignment of delivering the Israelites from the
hand of the Midianites. This shows what I have called the secret code to
success which shows that the decisions and actions that we take are a result of
expectations we have of life which are birthed by beliefs we have of ourselves
emanating from our self-concept.
I will
therefore challenge you to be always on the lookout for what you hear and are always
thinking about. There are internal conversations that always happen inside you.
I they empowering or disempowering. Do they reflect a good or bad self-concept?
Do they foster and cultivate the right belief about yourself? Self-awareness
and self-management are skills that you have to master if you are to succeed in
The Purpose Driven Life (PDL). Learn a bit about Emotional Intelligence
(Self-Awareness and Self-Management) on https://www.coachtarie.com/2017/06/intentional-parenting-4.html.
The Word of God always show us how we can work on our attitudes from the word
of God which addressed our self-concepts, beliefs about ourselves and
expectations of life like in the following texts,
Be careful
what you think, because your thoughts run your life. [Proverbs 4:23, New Century
Version]
And don't for
a minute let this Book of the Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on
it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then
you'll get where you're going; then you'll succeed. [Joshua 1:8, THE MESSAGE
Bible]
Don't become
so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.
Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily
recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture
around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the
best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. [Rom 12:2, THE MESSAGE
Bible]
Summing it
all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on
things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious — the best, not
the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. [Philippians
4:8-9, THE MESSAGE Bible]
In my next
chapter I will then show how our attitudes are part of the personal power that
we are supposed to use to live full Purpose Driven Lives.
“The
world is full of people who deny responsibility for the status quo and put it
on others, but those who take it have the grip to change the world”. – Coach Tarie:
The Wisdom Garden (Volume 1).
Look for more insights on the PDL on www.coachtarie.com or
request to be added on the PURPOSE DRIVEN LIVING (PDL) WhatsApp group. Inbox
any of the following numbers. +263773301267, +263783573784, +263784456314,
+263779924607
For
personal coaching in PURPOSE DRIVEN LIVING PDL or anything related to
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