Never Fail (At Anything You Really Want In Life)!!!

This might seem a bit “hokey” to some of you, but I offer it only because I have seen it work in my life, and I believe it to be true. I believe that God wants each of us to have more, do more, be more, and to give back in proportion to our blessings. 'To he who hath, more will be given, and to he who hath not, even that little which he hath will be taken away'. I personally think that God wants each one of us to live to our fullest potential; to make the most of our God-given talents. However, the decision is largely up to us.
So, first, I propose that a person needs to figure out what their God-given talents are. A good way to get started is by asking, what do I enjoy doing? What am I really good at, and what have I been successful at in the past? What am I really passionate about? What will make me willing to stay up late every night and get up early every morning? That is where you should start looking, first, and then, when you find your passion, figure out how to make money doing it.
Second, with that figured out, we need to recognize that God is great, and God is all-powerful and all-being. God is in everything, and in everyone. Since God is great, and God is in everyone, we arrive at the conclusion that every one of us on Earth has potential greatness in us. This begs the question, have we tapped into our inner greatness?
Third, I propose that we interact with God in many ways, including prayer and reading the Bible, but our response back from God, in this day and age, is primarily discovered in our hearts and in our minds. Some might think you feel it in your gut, have an intuition, have a premonition, or somehow just know that you are supposed to do or not do something, any of which is probably fine. While I don’t believe we get perfect answers 100% of the time, I do think that if we give careful consideration, analyze information, pray, and come up with an answer, it will usually be right for us in that circumstance at that time, and sometimes even when it seems later it was wrong, it is because God knew we needed that setback first so that his bigger, better plan could play out for us. Napoleon Hill said that in every failure are the seeds of an equal or greater success, and if you believe, it will be true for you. Sometimes what we do wrong turns out to be our biggest blessing.
As an example in my life, most of my tough decisions have turned out great, but I can think of a recent example where I missed the boat, as well. I had this ‘feeling’, for several weeks, that I should contact a lease/option tenant, inquire about how things were going, and see if I could talk them into buying. I knew the price we set on their lease/option was at the peak of the market, and was probably higher than current fair market value, and I thought of lowering the price to entice them. Rather than go to the trouble of making the call, and possibly leaving a little profit on the table in the interest of fairness, I took the route of least resistance. I fully intended to make that call ‘when I got around to it’, but I waited and did nothing. A couple of months later, that tenant/buyer called me, and said they were buying a new house. They said that only a couple weeks earlier, they saw a new subdivision near my house (that they were renting to own), and for kicks decided to just window shop. Turned out they thought it was a great bargain, and they got a contract and eventually bought it. Had I followed the ‘feeling’ God gave me, I feel certain I would have worked something out with them to sell them my house, and they never would have went window shopping. I think in the long run I may have done them a disservice as well as myself, because I think the new house they bought is of inferior quality compared to my house, and while new now, over time my house will outshine their new house. Still, because I didn’t “listen”, and take action on what God was telling me was the right thing to do, I missed the boat. Over the years I can think of dozens of examples like that, but very few examples of when I listened to that inner voice and regretted it.
Following all of the first three steps, we now have an idea of our God-given talents, we know we have potential greatness in us, and we are beginning to feel led to something we really want in life, and/or ways to achieve it. Fourth, we need to consistently give thought and energy to our purpose, dream, or goal. We need to visualize the end result as if it was already true, and thank God for the great result as if we already received it. This gets us in harmony with our desired result.
Fifth, we need to take actions consistent with our desired result. If we just sit back, think, visualize, and wait for the great results to come rolling in, it might be a very long wait. God will help us, when we first help ourselves. I once heard a joke about a man in financial distress. The man prayed over and over again, asking God to make him win the lottery. Finally, after many weeks of praying and waiting, he prayed asking God why, when he prayed so fervently, did God not make him win the lottery. This time God responded, saying, “I wanted to help you, but couldn’t you have at least bought a lottery ticket?” We often know what we want, pray for it fervently, but never take the first step towards meeting God part way. We have to do our part!
Sixth, stay positive, and manifest the greatness that is inside of you, not just in this one thing, but in all areas of your life. Begin to be great today, in your home, with your immediate family and friends, in your current job or career, and in all of your interactions with others. Be great in the details of everything you do, no matter how small. Treat others with kindness and fairness. Have integrity in everything that you do. 'How you do anything is how you do everything', and if you start manifesting greatness in small things, it will soon start spreading to bigger and better things. Don’t brag about how great you are or how great you will be. Just do it! People will start to notice how you do business, and how you handle your affairs, and they will want to be a part of what you have going on. I am reminded of a quote, “People will be drawn to you, and when they show up, bill ‘em!”, which I believe to be part joke and part truth. God pays attention to the biggest things, like keeping the planets in their rightful place in the universe, and he pays attention to the smallest details, like numbering the hairs on your head. When you show God greatness in the smallest details, he will allow you to show greatness in bigger and better things. Be great, and have faith!
Let me share two examples of how this plays out in my life through my real estate investing (which is, by the way, my passion!). I make every effort to have the utmost integrity, and to treat others fairly. I make sure I deliver on any promise I make. I have at times been given a lead by someone, simply because they said they couldn’t do anything with it. I worked the lead, figured out a workable deal, and went back to the person and asked what they wanted to make on the deal. They weren’t expecting anything, but I took care of them anyhow. How much more likely are they to contact me with other leads, as opposed to if I had not taken care of them out of kindness and a sense of fairness? The other example comes via my handyman. He has told me on multiple occasions that he charges everyone else more than me (and I know it to be true), because he likes working for someone that is fair, kind to him, and does business the right way. He appreciates that I have him always do the job right, even when I could save money by taking shortcuts that the buyer would never see (like using more insulation inside a wall instead of less or none at all). As a result, I consistently find my houses getting filled before the work is even done, and have buyers/renters tell me, “Your handyman was the clincher. He is a good man, and he says you are fair in your dealings and always do a quality job.” They often tell me about something specific that we repaired/replaced, and how they appreciate that we did it that way. The only way I can put it is to say trust me - doing the little things great every day, now, will bring rewards over time that can’t be comprehended until you get there.
Brian Tracy says that all of the rewards go to the top ten percent. There are no great rewards for mediocrity. Mediocre people are a dime and dozen, here today, gone tomorrow, and easily replaced. Now, I could go into a number of other things, like habits, continuous learning, what you think about comes about, daily declarations, managing your money, etc., but I would quickly get outside the point of this message, so I will save the long version for my book. For now, suffice it to say that if you start with these six steps, you will Never Fail (At Anything You Really Want In Life).