FEMI TAIWO: BELIEF – THE STARTING POINT OF ACHIEVEMENT

STRATEGY WITH FEMI TAIWO ON MONDAY

Oluwafemi Michael Taiwo, PhD

Michael is a first class chemical engineering graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, and a PhD holder in same discipline from the University of Arkansas, United States.

Belief is the starting point of all achievement. To set upon a great undertaking and attain success, you have to believe it is possible. Without belief it is impossible to succeed, and even if one chances upon success in a state of disbelief, one will soon be chanced out of it. A fool and his money are soon parted because it is not the domain of fools to hold riches. Similarly, it is not the domain of chance to hold (i.e. sustain) success. Belief is the bedrock of sustainable success.

Napoleon Hill, in his runaway bestseller, Keys to Success, identified “Desire” as the starting point of all achievement. I disagree. The origin of success is not desire, but belief. (Forgive me, Mr. Hill) If a young man eagerly desires a lady but does not believe the lady will give him a chance, he will not make a move to ask her out. He desires it, but doesn’t believe it can happen so it won’t happen. Even if, in a state of burning passion, he ventures out and asks the girl out, his underlying unbelief will taint his approach. He will come up short in almost every aspect of the project; he will choose the wrong time, pick the wrong place, and select the wrong clothes. In other words, he will fail because he never believed he can win and not because he never desired to win.

Napoleon Bonaparte desired to rule all of Europe in the early 19^th century. And he succeeded as long as he believed. But a series of personal mistakes and a public disaster eroded his confidence. Just before the Battle of Waterloo, he wrote in his diary “I believe that my guiding star has left me.” Is it any wonder that he lost? He still desired to rule Europe! That’s why he was in the battle in the first place. But his belief had evaporated. On the day of the battle, he started too late, acted too slow and gave commands that were too vague. He was a military genius with superior firepower and manpower but failed. Why? Because his belief in himself, in his cause and in his army had gone. What defeated Bonaparte wasn’t the Duke of Wellington; it was Napoleon’s own unbelief.

Belief is the starting point because nothing else precedes it. Can you think of something you must have before you have belief? No! Belief is the causeless cause of all action. It is that which births grand projects and complex undertakings. It is what pierces through the fog of uncertainty to get the clarity needed to make big decisions. Belief is overpowering. It overcomes all obstacles. When there is a will, there is a way. Belief is the will. Belief conceives, births, mid-wives, nurtures, breeds and protects a dream until it becomes a tangible reality. Belief shepherds: warding off rampaging wolves and opportunistic thieves from destroying or snatching your dream.

What you need right now is a not a new set of tools to crack the success codes. What you need is an overriding belief that the path you are taking is the right one and an empowering belief that success awaits you. Belief is the starting point of all achievement.