FEMI TAIWO: BELIEF – THE STARTING POINT OF ACHIEVEMENT (II)

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.

I stated definitively last week that belief is the starting point of all achievement. I went counter to the popular thinking that it is “desire” and used two examples – one hypothetical and one historical – to make my point. Since then I have received comments – both online and offline – that I wish to address here. In addition to responding to the comments, I will include some of my other thoughts on this topic.

The first response I got, which was echoed by quite a few people, was that desire is the starting point. I don’t think so – which is exactly the point of my last article! To prove me wrong, you will have to dismantle the two examples I brought forth. I stopped at two because of space limitations and because I felt the point was already made. One other way to think about this: economists assert that human wants are unlimited. Desires are just that – wants. I desire a lot of things, but if I don’t believe I can have them, then I won’t. It does not matter whether my desire is “burning” or cold, it must be preceded by belief to work. Also, belief can stand on its own (so many people have things they don’t really want/desire) but desire needs to be backed by belief.

The second response I got was variants of the same question. People want to know if other success factors can be the starting point.  What about knowledge? Or sustained action? Or Vision? Or a million and one things we read about in success books? I think a great deal of confusion can be avoided when one remembers that we are talking about “origin” here and not the sole ingredient needed. For one, there is not a one thing to be, do or have that leads to success. Success is always a synthesis of mutually beneficial factors. Belief is not all you need to attain success – nothing is. But belief is where you start. Knowledge, sustained action, vision and a myriad of attributes are required to be successful but they are not the starting point.

I need to respond as well to two questions. First, what is the relationship between belief and faith? There is none. Faith is synonymous with belief. Second, what is the relationship between prayer and belief? I really enjoy this question. Belief is more important than prayer. Yes, you heard that right. It is pointless for me to pray if I don’t first believe. Praying is asking for help. Why should I ask for something I don’t believe I will get?

In the absence of more responses or questions to respond to, I will conclude this series on Belief next week. In there, I will attempt to answer questions that I raised to myself some years ago e.g. how can you believe? What births belief? Can you succeed without belief?

Stay tuned.