Blog for Self Improvement

The traditional beliefs about attaining success have left us coveting what others have, measuring our success by material accumulation and possessions, and unclear about the full process of bringing forth our destiny. I suspect that due to the pursuit of success, more believers have ended up depressed, oppressed, and doubting themselves. And what’s even more disturbing is that when the secular world looks into the lives of believers, we are often not experiencing the life and life more abundantly that God promises us.

It is time to break up the myths of motivation and the damage it has done to believers in our process of living out the fullness of God’s vision and calling for your life. If we could sort out the weeds among the truth we have been taught, we can learn to flourish in the life that God created you to live.

Don’t get me wrong, dreaming and motivation have had their place. As a matter of fact, motivation and dreaming are the first step to shifting your reality. It’s just time to evolve to the next level of human achievement – visionary attainment. I actually boldly say that is time to stop dreaming and time to align your life with God’s vision for your life.

The humble beginnings of the age of motivation began in the mid-1800’s with Henry David Thoreau’s radical philosophies of the time and evolved into the genre of personal success literature Charles F. Haanel ushered in in 1912. Napolean Hill then based most of his early works on Haanel’s work The Law of Success. Hill then captured a new level of personal success writing in 1937 with Think and Grow Rich, one of the best-selling books of all time. These philosophers and business men shaped what became known as The Philosophy of Achievement and helped an entire generation begin to create firm and deliberate beliefs out of the loose, haphazard thinking of the time.

Even with this philosophical literature opening up minds to what is possible the energy it needed to make the transition from an intellectual experience to real-life was mission. It needed human energy and passion to ignite. This is where motivation came in. Motivation was the missing key that linked the understanding of achievement to the energy it took to get in motion to move toward achievement. Motivation is having the desire and willingness to do something.

Fifty-eight years later, humankind made the shift from motivation philosophy to motivation. It took Hilary Hinton (Zig Ziglar) to come along and pave the way to an entire new industry of motivational speaking in 1970. Ziglar began the era of people keeping themselves energized and create the positive mindset it took to nurture their dreams. Motivation was a critical component in this evolution and it got us dreaming, which opens the doors to new possibility. Since the onset of the motivation movement, it has become evident that motivation is fleeting. Even the Father of motivation, Zig Ziglar, says, “People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.”

It has taken 37 years to come to a new crossroads. Now that you are all motivated and know how to tap into your positive thinking, the next evolutionary step is to master the process of attainment – actually living the life that you have been taught to dream about. There is something greater than dreaming and even your individual vision and it’s time to usher it in – God’s vision.

But first, we have to uproot the myths that have gotten in the way. The concepts and teachings of the motivation movement have thwarted believer’s ability to bring forth God’s vision for their lives. There are some fundamental spiritual truths that have been omitted from the equation of success that have left believers frustrated and unable to tap into the wealth we so often see being exuded from the pulpits of churches. Our addiction to motivation has led more believers than ever to experience depression, oppression and darkness in their lives.

Let’s take a look at a few of the top myths of success that do not fully align with The Word and uncover some beliefs that you, as a believer may have all learned.

Myth #1: You can do anything you set your mind to. Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.
The Truth: You can do anything through Christ who strengthens you and only a shadow of what you can do with Christ on your own. Even when you set your mind to it and adjust your attitude, God has pre-destined and called you for a specific purpose. And once He has allowed you to go through the fire to burn off your impurities and at the right season and time according to your measure of faith, the fullness of His vision for your life will manifest. It is when you apply your renewed, Christ-like mind to your calling that you can achieve all things that God created you to achieve.

Myth #2: Whatever you can conceive and believe, you can achieve. All things are possible for those who believe.
The Truth: While you conceive with you mind, this is only 1/3 of the picture. Not only must you be able to conceive what you desire, your spirit must align with what you deeply desire and your body or actions must fully support it. Even greater than all of these, it must be part of your calling or God’s predestined plan for you. It is God who plants your desire within you and therefore your challenge is to align your will with his will for your life through your thoughts, faith, works or action, calling and most of all, obedience.

Myth #3: If you persist and work hard, you can have anything you want.

The Truth: How many times has this been said from the stage? It is usually accompanied by pictures of large homes, yachts, and exotic cars owned by the speaker and the old adage, “Do what I’ve done and you’ll get what I’ve got.”

It is not by your works, education level or know-how alone that you achieve, God gives you the power to obtain wealth. Scripture reminds us that seeking The Lord first and foremost in your life, you should not want, but walk in the dominion and authority He has bestowed upon you. You are not to covet the material gain of others, but know that your blessings have your name and only your name on them.

Myth #4: Follow your dreams. Go confidently in the direction of your dreams, live the life you imagined.

The Truth: If you seek the Kingdom of God first, all things will be added to you. Allowing your dreams to lead you can leave you down the road of someone else’s calling and purpose. Get clear about what God has created you to do, commit to it, and then, and only then, will you have access to all that God has set aside and promised you.

The part the no one talks about is the test phase that is an integral part of the process of attaining God’s vision. You will undergo a major, life-questioning test to prove your worthiness, seriousness, and commitment to step into the things of God. There is a the part of the teachings of the motivational movement that will always live on – keep persisting and don’t quit because there are great rewards in fully giving yourself over to God’s promise of life and life more abundantly.

With All My Heart,

Ericka

By: Ericka Jackson

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Ericka D. Jackson provides individuals, organizations, and churches with the tools to achieve God’s vision for their lives. Visit www.erickajackson.com for insights, techniques and resources to fulfill your calling.

Would you like to know your future? Would you like to know where you'll be 10, 15, or even 20 years from now?

You don't need a crystal ball, Tarot cards, or a horoscope. You can create your own destiny, starting right now, by seizing control of three key areas of your life.

The process starts with a decision, an unshakable promise to yourself that your life is going to change. No longer will you be helplessly buffeted by circumstances. You have to be fed up enough with the way things have been going to mean business, because without a no-retreat commitment, this strategy won't work.

Education: The first key

Understand that when you graduate from high school or college, that's when your real education begins.

Super-successful people know more. That's their edge. They undertake a program of lifelong learning, feeding a hunger for knowledge in their field that keeps them reading, researching and studying to become an absolute master at what they do.

Don't fall for the misbelief that learning is boring. Far from it! When you have a passion for learning about a subject, it drives you to discover something new about it every day.

The most exciting aspect of this kind of learning is your laser focus. You're done with useless, time-wasting courses. Homing in on specifics is the most efficient way to learn. You make the best use of your time, and piece by piece the puzzle starts to make sense.

Today there are more ways to learn than ever. You can take night classes, college extension courses, even online degree programs. Of course there's the public library, which can also order specialized books for you from any library in the country. On the Internet, you can find web pages, user groups, discussion forums, professional associations, and newsletters to bring you a mountain of useful information.

When you become an expert in your field--whatever that may be--you increase your moneymaking opportunities and your worth to businesses and other people.

The more you develop your expertise, the less vulnerable you are to layoffs, outsourcing, and other hazards of the workplace. By cultivating knowledge to increase your earning power, you take a giant step toward dictating your own destiny.

Finances: The second key

If you don't control your finances, they'll control you. The younger you start, the better. The first step is eliminating all debt from your life. You may need to go to a professional debt counselor to do this, but you'll be glad you did. Being in debt limits your choices, and that derails your destiny.

Again, you need to be tough and make hard changes. This is something you're doing for you and your future. You'll have to learn to eliminate "anesthetic purchases," those impulse buys of stuff you don't need, in an attempt to make yourself feel better. It's never really worked anyway, so you need to stop it.

That's tough to accomplish, but if you live up to your promise, you can do this. Keep telling yourself that you want to be in charge of your future, not some finance company.

Getting an experienced, competent financial adviser is the next step. It's a myth that you have to be rich to have a financial adviser. A good financial adviser's job is to make you rich.

Your financial adviser will help you look into your future. He or she will make long-term investments with your money. This isn't a get-rich-quick scheme. This is a time-proven way to make you a wealthy person, and if you haven't guessed by now, wealth gives you more choices in life. It's another crucial factor in dictating your own destiny.

Faith: The third key

A big part of dictating your own destiny is staying out of trouble. Obviously, some problems are unavoidable, but many we bring on ourselves. Do you think anyone who is in prison wants to be there? Are they in control of their future, or is someone else? Almost all of them could have avoided years of misery by observing just a handful of simple rules. They're called the Ten Commandments.

Are you still with me? Because many people aren't serious enough about success to realize that faith in God is absolutely necessary to it. Do you think this is an absolutely distasteful, unacceptable price to pay to predict your own future? Or are you willing to read to the end of this article?

Good. In my 55 years, I've seen firsthand that Christians have a secret advantage that nonbelievers don't: God's help. It's not my intention here to convert you, just to give you three keys to controlling your future. You can accept this third key or you can reject it.

But a life without God, however successful, rings hollow. It's method without meaning. And you've missed the biggest opportunity of all: the ability to control your future in the next life. That's at least worth considering over the next weeks and months, isn't it?

How to start

You absolutely cannot predict your own future until you start taking personal responsibility for your life. No more excuses. No more blaming it on anybody or anything else.

Once you do start taking responsibility, you'll be surprised by the rewards. You'll see the inescapable law of cause and effect in action. Do the right thing, reap the reward. Do nothing, get nothing.

Nobody ever said success is simple or that there's no sacrifice involved. But dictating your destiny is not impossible. You know what you need to do. Why not start today?

About the Author: Jack Zavada inspires people to live bigger, happier, more meaningful lives at inspiration-for-singles.com

Source: www.easyarticles.com