Success Is Not an Accident

by Tommy Newberry

  Taking responsibility for your life is like being a good, defensive driver. If your car is totaled in an accident, you can’t take much comfort from the fact that you had the green light. Blaming the other driver won’t help much either; it will only defer your attention from what you need to learn. The question that will resonate in your mind is, “What could I have done to prevent this?” Stay empowered and in control by analyzing all unpleasant situations from the perspective of what you can do to avoid their recurrence in the future.

  Excuses are contagious, self-defeating bad habits. Where you find one person making an excuse, you’ll find others infected with “excusitis” as well. You don’t like to hear excuses from other people, and they don’t like to hear yours either! Stop excuses before they start by creating an environment conducive to success. Make it easy for yourself and others you depend on to succeed by anticipating and eliminating all excuses in advance. This is the true measure of how intensely you desire your goal.

  The Excuse Exploder

  Whenever you think of an excuse, ask yourself if there has ever been anyone in similar circumstances who succeeded in spite of them. When you move beyond the whining and justifying, you’ll find that the answer is almost always yes. Somebody somewhere has usually had it far worse than you and still succeeded. And the moment you want a goal more than you want an excuse, you can succeed as well. Refuse to appoint yourself a victim. Victims don’t have to take action; they’re too busy dwelling on injustice and being bitter. Remember, you will always be able to come up with an eloquent excuse, but no excuse has a shelf life of more than twenty-four hours.

  The only thing more damaging to your success than making an excuse is making the same excuse twice. Remember, there is never enough room for both buts and brilliance. You must make the choice. Do I want my “Yeah, but,” or do I want my goal?

  Feelers and Doers

  The world can be divided into two kinds of people: feelers and doers. Feelers take initiative only when they feel like doing so. In other words, they feel their way into action. If something makes sense at the moment, is convenient, is justified, or is just easy, then they do it. If they don’t feel like doing something that will advance their goals, they won’t do it. If a feeler feels like exercising, he will. If he doesn’t feel like exercising, he won’t. If a feeler feels like doing her daily devotions, she will. But if she feels like sleeping in instead, she will sleep late. If a feeler feels like nurturing his marriage relationship, he will. If not, he won’t. His decision- making ability is wired to his short-term emotional appetite. He is a prisoner of the desire for instant gratification, and he will suffer the long-term consequences of this short-term perspective. Feeling-driven thinking, as popular as it is in our culture today, is shallow thinking. It signals weak character, lack of conviction, and spiritual immaturity. Fortunately, feeling-driven thinking is just an unproductive habit that can be changed.

  Doers, on the other hand, act their way into feeling. After determining what needs to be done based on their goals, doers take action. They just do it. If they don’t feel like taking action, they consider that emotion a distraction and take action in spite of it. They refuse to let their craving for short-term comfort divert them from their long-term goal and the blessings that go along with it.

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  High achievers are motivated by pleasurable outcomes. Underachievers are motivated by pleasurable methods.

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  You become a doer by making a deliberate decision to do so. You become a feeler by default, by neglecting to consider this aspect of your character at all. In the absence of a decision to do otherwise, we are all prone to giving in to the worst side of human nature. We are all likely to engage in actions that produce only immediate payback.

  The alternative to a life restricted by our feelings is an unlimited life characterized by deliberate and decisive action. The antidote to a safe life of comfort and mediocrity is a bold life of character and courage. You can train yourself to live a life of action by shifting your thinking from short-term to long-term. This means you must consider the long-term ramifications of every action you take. Ask, “If this act were to turn into a habit for me, would that be in my best long-term interests?” If the answer is no, then don’t do it. When faced with an important decision, ask yourself, “In light of where I’ve been, where I am today, and who I intend to become in the future, what is the wise thing to do in this situation?” Even simpler, you could ask, “What’s my goal, and will this clearly move me in the direction of my goal?” Or, “How might this decision affect me twenty years from now?” Another question is, “How might this decision affect me one thousand years from now?” That one should get you thinking! Remember, feelings come and go, but consequences last forever.

  The quality of our decisions is determined first and foremost by our perspective, or frame of reference. If our time horizon is long, then we will likely reap the effects of wise choices. If our horizon is short, then we will inevitably suffer the negative consequences that correspond with short-term thinking.

  Abundance or Survival?

  You can walk up to the ocean of abundance with a thimble or a tanker truck. Unfortunately, most people choose the thimble, never knowing that there is an alternative. Remind yourself that God is the infinite source and ultimate provider of all good things. Our heavenly Father has poured an inexhaustible supply of abundance onto this earth, ready for us to multiply it even further if we are willing to take the initiative. Most people do not seize the initiative simply because they have learned to think in terms of survival rather than in terms of plenty. This attitude is often referred to as a scarcity mentality and is inherently pessimistic. People with a scarcity mind-set are excessively aware of what they do not want in life and hesitant about what they do want. They have long mental lists of why things can’t be done and why it is of no use to even try. “Why set a goal when you cannot possibly achieve it?” is a typical response of these deficit thinkers. A scarcity or poverty mentality sends one into survival mode, where just getting by becomes the goal and, consequently, the ceiling. Of course, those suffering from this stagnant outlook are seldom aware of it.

  An abundance consciousness, on the other hand, is anchored in faith, possibilities, and huge thinking. In this state, we concentrate on how and why things can be done. An abundance thinker dwells on the opportunities that exist now as well as those that should exist. An abundance mentality precedes all extraordinary accomplishment, and it is your birthright. Get away from what is realistic and consider the seemingly impossible possibilities. Stop asking what a good goal would be and start asking God what your most magnificent goal should and could be.

  The Bill of Responsibilities

  I. You have the responsibility to ask only for opportunity.

  II. You have the responsibility to seek and find your true place in life.

  III. You have the responsibility to write down compelling goals for your life.

  IV. You have the responsibility to invest your minutes and hours wisely.

  V. You have the responsibility to visualize the attainment of your goals in rich, vivid detail.

  VI. You have the responsibility to talk yourself into success.

  VII. You have the responsibility to choose a high-energy lifestyle.

  VIII. You have the responsibility to develop every area of your life to its maximum.

  IX. You have the responsibility to provide more value and contribution if you desire more rewards.

  X. You have the responsibility to persist until you succeed.

  No matter how prosperous your mind-set is, it can be even more prosperous. Remember, your success blesses others. As you increase the quality and quantity of your service to others, your rewards increase as a natural consequence. As you become more abundant in your thinking, you become like a formerly color-blind child in a fabulous garden, suddenly able to see the rich images that have been there all
along. You can tune in to scarcity, or you can tune in to abundance. Again, it is your choice. When you take responsibility for your actions, accept that life isn’t fair, get rid of excuses, become a doer, and develop an abundance mentality, you will break down many of the barriers keeping you from true success. You will be well on the way to maximizing the potential that God has given you.

  Lesson 1 Questions for Reflection

  What does success mean to you? Are you successful now? Do you feel successful? How do you define true success?

  What is mediocrity? What examples of it have you witnessed recently? How do you prevent mediocrity from attacking you, your family, or your business?

  What messages about success are promoted in our culture through the media, political leaders, churches, school curricula, and so forth, and how do they shape your thinking?

  Who in your life would most benefit if you raised your standards and demanded far more from yourself?

  Describe your life and passions ten years ago. What was your focus? What were your challenges? What were your hopes and dreams?

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  Whom can you influence with the ideas from this lesson in the next forty-eight hours?

  Lesson 1 Assignments

  1 | Write out your personal definitions of success and mediocrity.

  2 | Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper. On the left-hand side, write down everything in your life that you can control, either partially or completely. Label this column “God and Me.” In the right-hand column, write down those aspects of your life over which you have absolutely no control. You can label this column “Let God.”

  3 | Write out ten of your strengths or positive traits.

  4 | Write out ten of your past accomplishments, big or small.

  5 | Write out ten of your greatest blessings to date.

  6 | Write out ten blessings you expect to be grateful for nine years from now.

  7 | Describe your ideal day nine years in the future. Begin with the moment you wake up and follow through until you drift off to sleep, and include as many emotion-provoking details as possible.

  Lesson 2

  Choose Who You Want to Become

  If you want your purpose in life to become a magnificent obsession, you must develop and constantly review your personal mission statement.

  In this lesson, you will learn to

  • Recognize your true identity

  • Choose who you want to become

  • Cultivate the passion of personal mission

  • Live more honestly, freely, and intuitively

  • Craft an inspiring personal mission statement

  • Align your goals with your purpose

  Now that you have a working definition of success and understand that God wants you to succeed, I want you to get on fire about the prospect of maximizing your potential. Get passionate! You were created in the image and likeness of God to do wise, wonderful, and grand things with the limited time you have here on earth. So why not dare to do magnificent things with, through, and for God? After all, how does thinking small serve the world? Accept the burden and blessing of success. Do you really believe that all the vast plans of God have already been accomplished? Have the greatest lives already been lived? Have the greatest marriages already happened? Have the best books and songs already been written? Have the best inventions already been created? Have the best sermons already been delivered? Are the greatest high-tech breakthroughs behind us? Have the ultimate medical advances already occurred? Have the most creative businesses already been launched? The best of everything may, in fact, be yet to come. Today or tomorrow may very well be the most electrifying day of history.

  In this lesson, I am going to challenge you to consider and clarify your life’s purpose. We will also discuss uncovering what I call your Genius and the role it plays in helping you understand your purpose. Even more important, your Genius helps you live each day with a greater sense of mission, with a greater sense of enthusiasm, and with a real hunger to make a significant, positive difference with your life.

  Who Are You Now?

  You are a beautiful, wonderful child of God! This is the truth, whether or not you know it or believe it. Pause for a moment and marvel at what this must mean. Think about yourself as a child of God, one of the family, a kid of the King. You are an original masterpiece. Your DNA proves it. There has never been anyone just like you, and there never will be anyone just like you. God has not made anyone else out of better clay than he has made you. It’s critical to remember your true identity. When you perceive yourself as a child of God, you will not see restrictions on the amount of impact you can have in this world. How you see yourself on the inside sets the ceiling for what God can do with you on the outside. Your life here on earth is your special, unrepeatable opportunity to magnify the greatness God has placed within you.

  Who Are You Becoming?

  Before you choose your goals, it is wise to first choose who you want to become. This means deciding in advance how you believe God wants you to change. As human beings, we need a sense of purpose in our lives as much as we need food, water, and oxygen. This sense of purpose provides meaning and significance. It makes us feel useful and is a constant reminder that our life matters. When you have a deep sense of purpose or mission, you live from the inside out. This means who you are triggers what you do. Your outer life accurately reflects your values, priorities, and principles. You begin living more authentically, more freely, and more intuitively. When you tap into the wellspring of your personal mission, you become more creative, energetic, and passionate. You become totally absorbed in the pursuit of your goals, like a child at play, because your goals are in sync with what you are all about.

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  Today will take its place as a single tile in the mosaic of our finished lives—to either add to its beauty and harmony or detract from it in an undedicated, purposeless life.

  —Earl Nightingale

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  Without a deep sense of purpose, life is devoid of true significance or long-term meaning. This type of existence is characterized by going through the motions, cynicism, pessimism, apathy, and ultimately a life of mediocrity. It is living perpetually in survival mode. It’s a life that constantly needs to be filled up with things from the outside—busyness, distractions, and continuous activity.

  You have no greater responsibility than to determine what God put you here on earth to accomplish. Why do you exist? Generally, everyone shares the common purposes of learning, growing, and contributing, but what about you specifically? How do you believe God wants the world to be different because of your particular life?

  Your True Place

  You may not have uncovered it yet, but there is undoubtedly an answer to that question. It is worth searching for, because the answer reveals your purpose. And in this purpose you must find your true place, or what we in The 1% Club call your Genius. Your true place is your unique path to glorifying God. When you arrive in your true place, you will know it. You will feel a sense of destiny as what you most love to do merges with what you do best. This is where you will spend your life in your own way, making the difference that you are uniquely equipped to make. The more you experience your true place, the more you will be drawn to it. The tinge of dissatisfaction, which perhaps only you knew existed, will disappear. You will enjoy invigorating surges of self-worth, as there will no longer be a need to compare yourself with anyone else. You will be healthier, more prosperous, and full of joy.

  While each of us has many areas where we can do well, there is but one Genius. God had one particular thing in mind when he made you.

  What’s Your Dream?

  You might initially recognize this one particular thing as your ultimate vision or dream. For some, this dream will shake the entire world. For others, it will soothe just one tiny home. In either case, the world will be left a better place.

  Sooner or later, we ar
e all confronted with the question of whether we are living on purpose—whether or not we are heeding our call and following our ultimate vision. No matter how far you may have strayed from your true place, you can always find it again. Your true place is always waiting for you because no one but you can fill it. That’s a great thought! So take comfort in knowing that every experience you have ever had, no matter how seemingly unrelated, can be used to your advantage in your true place when you finally find it. And you will find it . . . if you will wholeheartedly look for it.

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  Do what you love, and you’ll stop being your own worst enemy.

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  Are you now serving God by becoming each day a little more like the person he wants you to become? Your purpose is not something to achieve; rather, it is something to be satisfied and quenched. So who are you becoming here on earth? Throughout your life, you will be changing constantly and becoming someone new, either slightly or extensively different from the previous version of yourself. With each change, you will either move closer to your true place or move further away.

  For most people, change just happens. Change is considered an external event that occurs randomly and haphazardly. Most people allow themselves to be molded and thrown off course by their circumstances. But as James Allen writes in his book As a Man Thinketh, “Circumstance does not make a man, it reveals him.”8 This is a critical principle of human nature.