Transcription
How to turn your vision and dreams into reality. We take our test from Genesis chapter 41, verse 28-37. Turning your vision and dreams into reality. To achieve that, there are certain action points. When we looked at doing great things, achieving great things, we were also able to identify these major action points.
And the first one is that you must dream big and aspire for great things. That's the first action point. In looking at the concept of vision, we have understood in the preceding messages that to be a visionary person, you have to look beyond the immediate time and look much further into the future. [Music] And conceive what you feel should be an ideal situation you would like to operate in in the process of time. And so, when it has to do with your spouse as a couple in some years' time, now, in my observation, I found out that the most appropriate time for us to look down into the future is 20 years. It's 20 years. Five years is more like a step within the vision. The only time you look at five years is when that is all the time you have, like someone who has just been appointed into an office and you are going to be the chairman, you're going to be the chairperson, the president, the governor, the one in charge for the next five years. So your vision will be for a timeline of 5 years.
Now, there are some success secrets that have helped both Christians and non-Christians. One is their level of ambition and aspiration. The quality and magnitude of their ambition. The quality and magnitude of their aspiration. For certain reasons, you may not want something so big, but we are very passionate about excellence. So even when you want to do something on a smaller scale of magnitude, it should still manifest the highest level of excellence. So we can have a five-star hotel that has 500 rooms, but it's not compulsory that you must have over 100 rooms for you to qualify for a five-star rating. So, we still have five-star hotels worldwide that have less than 100 rooms. So, what is constant is the quality. One is much bigger or others are much bigger and have more capacity to take people. The others are smaller, but the quality is of a particular minimum level for it to fall into that five-star classification.
So, for you to become a great achiever, you must be able to dream big. Aspire for great things. Encourage those you are privileged to be speaking to in life. Starting from the home front, starting from the children, members of your household, inspire them to aspire for great things because that is the foundation.
And number two, another success secret that has helped both Christians and non-Christians is a level of foresight and proactive intelligence. Their level of foresight and proactive intelligence, your ability to see ahead. See ahead, plan ahead. And in the context of vision for your life, we're looking at an ideal timeline of 20 years. [Music]
And the third key is adequate preparation. Adequate preparation. This includes adequate training. Adequate training. When we use the word adequate, then that means it must be of sufficient standard. So for you to succeed, for your child to succeed and become great in life, you must ensure that you subject yourself through to adequate quality training, standard training in preparation for the assignment ahead. And the same applies to the children. When we look at adequate preparation, things like adequate savings also is an illustration. You must begin to build something ahead of time that you will fall back on in the latter phase of life, which is usually from age 60 and above.
So, you must. Action point number one is that you must dream big and aspire for great things. In living an excellent life, certain things are required. An excellent life is one that surpasses the average standard. It surpasses the average standard. And we identify at least 10 things that people usually measure, use, they assess to measure your level of excellence in life. That implies if you want to excel generally in life, what are some of the things you should look at? One for us as believers. The first one would and should always be your spiritual life. Your spiritual life as a believer. This could be different for other people, but as a believer, because there are 10 we are identifying here or referencing here. So number one should be your spiritual life. Your level of intimacy with God, your level of devotion to God, your level of spiritual maturity, your level of godliness, your level of kingdom commitment. How rapture-ready are you? How rapture-ready are you?
Then number two, your character. In this, under two, we'll be looking at things like your attitude, your behavior, your personal conduct, your level of integrity. How trustworthy are you? Your level of self-discipline, self-control, your exceptional habits on a daily basis, on a weekly basis, on a monthly basis, and yearly basis.
Number three, the third thing that you should look at in assessing how far and planning ahead to have a testimony of an excellent life is number three: how you relate with people. Yes, how you relate with people is part of how people will judge you. How people will rate you and assess you in terms of excellence in life. How you treat people. How you treat those who make up your key relationships in life. How you treat people.
And then number four, your good deeds and positive contributions. Your good deeds and positive contributions.
Number five, your state of health and well-being. Your state of health and well-being and the extent you go to achieve it, the extent you go to achieve it. So the more effort you put in, the more self-control, the more sacrifice that you put in in order to achieve that state of health and well-being, the more you are commended and applauded.
Number six, your level of education. Your level of education, personal growth, and self-development. The level of education, personal growth, and self-development. This is another major area you have to look at even in planning for the days ahead in your vision for the days ahead.
Number seven is your level of financial sufficiency. Your level of financial sufficiency. We want to see families where everyone is financially buoyant. Not one or two, and the others are living on the one or two that are doing much better. Your level of financial sufficiency is very, very key.
Number eight, the legacy and inheritance that you have built. The legacy and inheritance you have built. The legacy and inheritance you have impacted on people, the society, and humanity. The legacy and inheritance you will leave behind is part of what would be assessed in your evaluation in the realm of excellence in life.
Number nine, your achievements. Your achievements so far, your achievements in the journey of life. And I would like to please put in a word here. About three or so weeks ago, the spirit of the Lord brought into my attention something very important that we will need to preach on and emphasize more on among the Christian community and within the larger space that God will give us access to. And that is on the need for us to emphasize the existence of quiet achievers. That they are indeed people we can call silent achievers. Quiet achievers within the family, within our groups, within the church, within the nation, within the community. You can excel being part of the group, the team that is making things happen without you being necessarily visible or everybody knowing your name. So we need to look at this very well. Your so your achievements so far that has more to do with impact, service, support, contribution, which may not necessarily be known to many people. And how many people know are aware of your achievement is not the criteria we use in judging the magnitude of your achievement. So the Lord said we should, you know, throw more light on being a quiet achiever, a silent achiever. So please let's redefine achievement. Achievement is not is not necessarily about visibility. It's not about visibility. And achievement also involves teamwork without you necessarily being the one that is the leader of the team. Without you being the leader of the team, you don't have to be the leader of a team to be a great achiever. It's more about the result and the impact being achieved rather than you being the the leading light or the the face of that great move.
And then number number 10, things like public recognition, honor, and awards. In the course of the journey, no matter how you try to hide yourself, somewhere along the line, you'll be shocked sometimes. The things you hear on people's landmark birthdays. We begin to hear testimonies, genuine testimonies about the life of that person that everybody is not even aware of. People are not aware that this person is doing so much and has done so much. So when the person is uh 50, 60, 70, 80, as the case may be, you begin to hear genuine testimonies without exaggeration of what that same person has done over the years. So this, you know, some. So in the process of time, no matter how you try to also hide yourself, there would often be some measure of testimonials from independent parties about about your life and your good deeds, your character, and the things you represent. You'll be honored. Sometimes you'll be given awards, no matter how much you try to hide behind the scene.
So under this action point number one, we should please aspire for excellent results. Our children should aspire for a first class. Aspire for the highest world-class standards. In terms of the quality of your vision, aim for abundance and not survival. Aim for abundance and not survival. Don't misunderstand the concept of contentment. Don't misunderstand the concept of contentment. Contentment doesn't mean you should not aspire for great things. It's about the way you go about achieving it. The process, the approach you will embrace to achieve great things. Desire the very best that is much higher than your best so far, much better than your best so far. So you must continuously aspire for a better result, a higher standard, greater impact that is better than the best that anyone has previously achieved. Because getting the best out of life will often involve three key things: ambition, effective efforts, and persistence. Always remember that getting the best out of life will often involve ambition, effective efforts, not just efforts, effective efforts. That is working towards that goal. And then number three, persistence.
Joseph in Genesis 41:33-37, we see that Joseph had a plan, and this was clearly stated here. And because this plan was also implemented, Egypt went into a season of great economic boom at a time the rest of the world was thrown into global severe global recession.
Action point number two: to achieve great things, you must find a realistic strategy to achieve it within a specific timeline.
Action point number three. Action point number three. To achieve great things, you must diligently implement every detail of the strategy and project plan. You must diligently implement every detail of the strategy and the project plan. Very important. You must diligently implement every detail of the strategy and project plan. So whatever needs to be done step by step, it must be done and done properly. And this now implies you can then understand why Joseph also saw ahead that not only that people will be needed for these roles. The quality of people you will you will pick would affect the success of the effort you are making. You will need people that are competent, people that are well-trained, people that are capable. You will need the right kind of people for each of the various things that need to be done in turning that dream into a reality. That is how it happens.
And number four, the fourth action point is that to achieve great things, you must consistently evaluate the effectiveness of the approach and resources that you are using to achieve it. And you must be ready to change whatever is not effective. Don't be emotionally attached. And please take note, this includes location. It includes location. If the location you are using for your business is hindering the potential of the success of that business, do whatever it takes to get a more appropriate location.
So we could see that these are four critical steps in turning that dream into physical reality. One last thing we should do. Proverbs chapter 16, verse 3, Good News Translation, it says, "Ask the Lord to bless your plans and you will be successful in carrying them out." Somebody say the God factor. Yeah, you need it. And that is why you are even alive today. That is why you are in good health today. And all that you have achieved so far, the God factor was the most significant factor behind your success thus far. And so all that still needs to be achieved in the days ahead, together with those four points, action points, as you submit them under the covering and the help of the Almighty God, your dreams will surely come to pass. [Music]