ACHIEVEMENT MUST BE A LIFESTYLE

The past is a ghost that haunts humans. It embodies our greatest triumphs and fiascos. It is as stuck to us as skin is to the flesh. The past takes prevalence over our lives because it is something that is known to us. Human beings do not like the unknown. We would rather die in a deserted land where we were raised than venture to discover another land because we dread what might await us. 

Gambling is a good example of this – someone who just secured £10,000 will often refuse to take another bet to either get the answer correctly and win an additional amount or fail to answer and lose the £10,000. The fact that he knows what already is but doesn’t know what will happen the next minute makes him choose the past over the present and the future. This mentality has developed into conservatism.

For our purposes, conservatism will be defined as the choice to live the rest of our life based on past experiences. It is the refusal to embrace life as an adventurous journey. Because of it, many of us become chanters of what we achieved many years ago. 

We speak of experiences both spiritual and natural that took place decades ago but we have no actual testimony. In the spiritual, many fail to realise that God had long left them, because they continue to cling on to past experiences. In the natural, many get the highest grades in first year then fail in second year because they became content of their intelligence in first year and do not invest more time and energy in second year.

The moment we realise that all the glories and praises attached to us are about past achievements, we must know we are all but a success. A serious employer does not employ a person in 2016 whose curriculum vitae dates from 2012. He needs to see current experiences. He doesn’t rely on theories developed ages ago. In a fast-growing global economy, nobody wants to take the risk of employing a person without actual experience.  

There was a time when I became a bit too content with my academic achievements. It was enough for me that I had seen my name being praised on local newspapers. I began to achieve nothing more than what I had been achieving the past months until suddenly my teacher gave me 40% on a piece of work I had just submitted. It was a shock to realise that I had just gone from 100% to 40%. I realised there was something seriously wrong somewhere so I went to speak to him. 

He told me that I had become too happy with my current status that I was no longer using my brain properly. He insisted that I was going to kill my talent if I allowed myself to think that that was all I could achieve. According to him, my current level of acquired knowledge was such that yesterday’s achievements were no longer such a great deal anymore. 

This particular sentence stood out “If two girls age 3 and 12 are given the exact test and they both get 10/10, the 3 year-old will get more praises because her achievement is not proportionate to her knowledge. The more you know, the more you are required to achieve higher.” It became clear then that the more I knew, the more was asked of me. The more I took in, the more I had to give out.

Achievement must therefore be a lifestyle. It is not enough to be the brightest student at college. It is not enough to have made the records yesterday. And it is certainly not enough to have had a visitation from the Lord yesterday. We must strive to live success. An achievement must breed another achievement. 

One who has £10 must have the desire to make it £20. The athlete who won a silver medal yesterday must fight to obtain a gold medal. An employee of the month must work to become employee of the year. A person who spoke in tongues yesterday must remain close to the Lord to have discernment tomorrow.

We must never become too content with our past achievements. A wise man looks for ways to better his situation. There is nothing wrong in wanting to have a little more. The brain functions as long as man is alive. It is therefore up to us to continue to use it to achieve until there is nothing left to achieve. 

The brain works all the time. Inspiration is a source that cannot dry. That is all we need. We must therefore put ourselves into work and stop boring people’s ears with the same stories over and over again. Past experiences must only be the salt that is spread before the snow. They must be a facilitator of what we achieve tomorrow. A successful man is one that finds a way to perfect his best work.