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t is better to be prepared and never get an opportunity than not to be prepared and lose an opportunity. Talking of “opportunity” makes the subject matter lighter. However, let’s talk about life. There are several things that are constant in life. [ictt-tweet-inline]The flow of life from one level to another is a function of being prepared.[/ictt-tweet-inline]

• If you do not prepare to get married, chances are that you won’t
• If you do not prepare to pass your examinations, chances are that you won’t
• If you do not prepare to be great, chances are that even if you had the potential you will still be mediocre.

It is Easy to Get Dulled by Activity

Nothing happens arbitrarily. What I have realized in my own life is that for the most part of it, I have not been preparing for greatness. I have been “eking out a living”, trying to make ends meet. The problem with that way of living is that[ictt-tweet-inline] You can always eke a living, you can always make ends meet day in and out…and before you know it, you have come to the end of your life.[/ictt-tweet-inline]

• What happened to your potential? Was it fully exploited?
• What happened to the people that you were sent to deliver? Did they even know you existed?
• What happened to the privileges of living to deploy your purpose? Did you realize you had them anyway?
• What happened to the ideas that you always had bubbling through your mind? Did you ever exploit them to the fullest?

Something Deeper

Life has got to be more productive than eking out a living. The only way that happens is when we realize that we ought to prepare for it. But come to think about it, if you do not know that you have potential, that you have opportunities to the degree of exploiting that potential, chances are that you will not even venture. You will not prepare.

Imagine if I were to tell you that I will take you for a trip around the world. What would you do? Would you sit around doing nothing? Of course you would be excited. You would want to put your house in order before we go for the trip. You will want to make sure that your passport is up to date. In other words, the knowledge that we are going for a trip will force you to prepare for it.

“My People Perish For Lack of Knowledge”

So it is with life. I have found out that the biggest reason why people do not prepare to succeed in life is because they do not have the knowledge about success:

• They are not aware in what area they would love to succeed. Ask a Christian what they want from God and they will say, “I want to be blessed”. They have no idea what that looks like. Do they want to be blessed in Agriculture, Business, Work, Finances, and Children etc?
• They are not aware why they want to succeed in the first place. I think that is the greatest paradox of life and success. That is why [ictt-tweet-inline]Some people who seem “successful” are disillusioned because they have no clue how to apply success to life.[/ictt-tweet-inline] [ictt-tweet-inline]Let me make it simple for you: you are successful so that you can be a blessing in the earth. It’s that pure and simple.[/ictt-tweet-inline]

[ictt-tweet-inline]This is how you get started in being prepared to succeed in life: You obtain knowledge before you can prepare for success.[/ictt-tweet-inline]

1. Knowledge of Your Purpose

Your purpose is what you have been sent on earth to do. You are not a freeloader. You are not a drifter on earth. You are on a mission and a purpose. Find out what that mission and purpose are and then start preparing like crazy each waking day to fulfill it. Chances are that if you do not realize what your purpose in life is, you will live well below your privileges. You cannot wake up early to prepare yourself for it.

2. Knowledge of Opportunities

Opportunities in life are interesting. You cannot see them unless you have prepared yourself for them. A corollary of that statement says that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. The reason why we do not see many opportunities come our way is because we are idle, are not preparing or improving ourselves.

3. Knowledge Of Needed Capacity

Let’s say that I need to create a stream of income where I can earn at least $150,000 each year through speaking. That is the output. For that output, I need to know what capacity I have to prepare myself to have in order to attract that output. That is why it is interesting to watch some people when they are preparing. They have an end in mind of the capacity that they are to reach. Others who have no knowledge of this will wake up at 10 am, sleep at 12 midnight doing pretty much nothing but eating and watching things.

4. Knowledge of Your Gifts and Talents

I get amazed at hour distrustful humanity is to their natural gifts and talents. It’s mindbogglingly frustrating. Those who bury their talents Jesus calls them “wicked servants”. When I am now aware that my gifts and talents are in writing and speaking, I daily prepare myself for the world stage with these two predominant gifts. So should you, and please do not tell me that you are not gifted. Yes you are!

5. Knowledge of The End Result

What if you knew that your preparation will give you the capacity to impact the life of a young girl in a remote area of the country? What if your calling was actually to that girl? What if that girl was your own daughter? This knowledge will move you to immediate action. You will want to be prepared for it.

In a previous post, I am challenging people to think of where they want to be by the time world cup 2026 comes. If you select something that you want to accomplish, chances are that you will have to prepare yourself for it. That  is the way life is.

So I have come to learn that the race is not for the swift nor the battle for the strong, but time and chance are given to us all. What we do with that time and chance is just one thing: prepare ourselves for our moment. That is how we with the race of life.