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“How did you pick such excellent generals?”

 

“I pick the ones who have had luck.” – Napoleon Bonaparte

 

A one time French president Talleyrand once appointed a person to an important position as ambassador. When this person came to thank him and said this was the first time he had really had luck, Talleyrand immediately removed him from the position. Napoleon and Talleyrand were great leaders and were able to distinguish different personality through the substance and shadow characteristic because luck comes to a prepared mind.

 

 

Luck was a word I remembered very much at least I was nicknamed the “lucky general” in my office. It happened about 2 years ago when I was deployed to the international arm of my company from the retail section; the three of us deployed to the same unit were given targets in dollar currency from managing about 350 destinations in various countries of the world (I am talking about international call routing). Despite the fact that my line manager was always unhappy with me because I was always complaining of working late, he loved me because I was always exceeding my targets daily and exceeding others in terms of gross revenue generation. He could not fathom me at all because during work hours, I was always surfing the internet and I love going home on time. He once complained about me to the Chief Operating Officer (COO) that my attitude towards work was lackadaisical though I always exceeded my targets. The answer the COO gave my line manger made him think again; the COO said “I prefer a lucky general anytime to a hardworking donkey”

 

 

Was I really lucky? This is the difference between chasing shadows and chasing substance. Before we go deep into this topic I would love to define shadow as a dark figure of a substance projected on a physical surface by the interception of light. This means in the absence of light, it is difficult to differentiate the two i.e. shadow and substance (well if not impossible). In this life, when people fail to walk in the light, they chase the shadows instead of the substance and this is the foundation of true living. The ability to differentiate these two crucial elements is the foundation of true success. Now to come back to the question above of if I was really lucky, I would definitely say no based on the perspective in which most people would see it but was I working less than every other person in the office, then I would say no to that to. This is because “effective work” is based on result and accomplishment not on “routined” and conventional way of producing results. When I look at the process I took to top the mark in the office, I smile;

 

 

I commit my work to God through prayers and I meditate on routes to effectively generate revenue every single seconds of the day. This particular process is quite tacit and not evident to my line manager so he obviously missed the point. The line manager together with my colleagues are not aware of my weekend visits to the office and also my twelve midnight strategizing on ways to generate more money for the company.

 

 

The decisions and the choices we make and the eventualities that are derived since what ever we become is a function of what we sowed into our lives. If we fail to sow into the substance we would always have a shadowy life and we would wonder where our lives have gone to. For example, the constant search for money for the wrong reasons is a recurring decimal in the lives of youth who have been conditioned to poverty; this money they believe would liberate them from the shackles of poverty but what they fail to understand is that without a corresponding improvement in the soul, the money obtained is very useless and would never take them out of poverty. These poverty-stricken youths see wealthy men and immediately assume that it is money that brought them to that position. Let me use the example below to pass across my message;

 

 

If I see a seven year old boy in a jet plane and I asked him some questions; through these questions, I realized that he was very ignorant of the basic things of life. It would not matter if he owned the jet plane; I would never be envious or ever wished of being like him because I would realize he does not have the substance of living. Most of us would look at the boy and envy immediately sets in without looking within; we see the money and we are immediately moved. This is the difference between shadow chasing and substance. This is why it is difficult to understand luck when we see life in a world of darkness. We see lucky people through the darkness of our world and immediately assume that they are lazy and everything just comes to their lap without any effort. We need to reframe our minds through the light and see the true substance of their life.

 

 

The question of a lady is lucky to have a good husband is not true, the question of a guy is wealthy because he is from a rich home is not true, the question of you being in the situation you are because of the circumstances surrounding it is not true; we are all simply a result of our choices. Whether we choose to live a life of substance or a life of shadows is up to us and which ever choice we choose would eventually catch up with us. Using this story to finally wrap it up;

 

 

The management of Access Bank was giving treats to sales guys that met their targets before Valentines Day (this was 4 years ago). The gift had alternatives; choosing between all expense paid weekend trip to Obudu Cattle Ranch with a guest or fifty thousand naira. All the winners chose the fifty thousand naira and I actually agreed with them until my 30 year old female boss who was the Assistant General Manager shed the light that made me distinguish that the fifty thousand naira as simply a shadow. A word from a female who got to the position of Assistant General Manager at 30 bred from GT Bank was not to be taken lightly. She said taking the Obudu trip outweighed the other option because they would meet with contacts that would change their careers for life and they would also experience some lifestyle that would never be taken from them. To her networking was more important than money; I can see how she got to the position she was at that age. No one can say she is lucky (in the context of the world); she is able to decipher substance from the shadow. Check your life now and find out if you are chasing shadows because;

 

 

“Narrow is the way that leads to life, wide is headed for destruction” – Jesus Christ

 

 

Part 3 would be coming shortly…………………………