21st January, 2013
By Ayo Arowolo
This is the sixth in my series on How to Make Your Life Count in 2013. I have tried to share some of the secrets my mentors shared with me that have produced outstanding results in my life. The reason I am passing them on to you is that I am persuaded that if you can diligently apply them (this is where many people fail) as instructed you would also reap good dividends. The one I am sharing with you in this edition has produced the most outstanding and lasting result in my life. This is why I am suggesting that you read every bit of it with rapt attention.
I am very excited about the level of interest already generated by the previous five articles. A large number of perceptive readers of this column have gone ahead to download the resource I offered to them (My Best Kept Secret). We are on a journey together. Don’t miss any of the seven steps.
A day after I met with my mentor I had to travel to London for a quick business transaction. Coincidentally, he was also in London on a short visit. We decided to meet in his private apartment when he learnt I was in London.
After we had exchanged pleasantries, my mentor inquired about the books he asked that I read: The Secrets of the Greatest Man who Ever Lived by Mike Murdock and The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles (I have a free copy each for those who have downloaded “My Best Kept Secrets” and followed the instructions given there). I shared my notes with him and he was impressed.
My mentor now started off: “Well, that is great. But my concern now is how do you implement what you read in the books and the lessons I have been sharing with you? Reading alone cannot transform you; it is by putting what you read or learnt into practice that can move you from where you are to where you desire to be. Let me give you a powerful secret on this: take one week off and go on a personal retreat to reflect on what I have shared with you and how you would make them real in your life”.
“My friend, what I have shared with you so far is enough to transform your financial status if you can put them into practice without further delay. My advice is that you take some time out and separate yourself to work out the steps. All the successful people I have either met or read about take this aspect very seriously. A retreat is a platform during which the intellectual and the spiritual aspects of your quest for wealth fuse. Bill Gates, one of the world’s richest men, goes to one of the oriental countries once in a year for a separation session, to receive fresh instructions and flow of ideas from Divine Intelligence. Our Lord Jesus Christ had to go into the wilderness for 40 days to receive instructions for his earthly mission. Without the inspiration that flowed into Him during this period, it would have been difficult to make much impact.
So, a retreat is vital if you want to achieve the steps I have articulated in my discussions with you so far. The main goal of a planned, prolonged quiet time is to enable you to recharge your system for better performance thereafter. This is the rationale. When you truly work, you continuously give out of yourself. A retreat is a way of drawing back into you life’s spiritual force. Working continuously without regular retreat is an open invitation to multiple crises. But unfortunately for most of us, our days are full of activities without quality progress. We wake up very early in the morning, jump on the road, chat idly with friends, bury ourselves in activities and eventually retire in the night, too tired to plan for the next day, for the next week, for the next month and for the next year. No time for relaxation. No time to play with family. And unfortunately, we are also too busy to hear from God. This is where the seed of crisis is usually sown.”
“Let me be frank with you. There is no one who wants to amount to anything in life that would not face crises at one stage in their lives. The problems are not the problems as one author put it, the issue is how do you develop the capacity to negotiate your way out of crises when they come. Problems and challenges are thrown at us in life as training platforms to move us to the next level. It is like a driver on a journey; you will face all manners of obstacles: potholes; holdups; fuel problems and etc. But you don’t stop your journey because of temporary setbacks. All you need to do is to figure out how to walk around, above, below, through or over the obstacles on the road. Unfortunately, most people settle down with the obstacles they encounter on the way and lose sight of their destinations. A retreat is one tool you can use to broaden your perspective and sharpen your capacity to tackle complex issues of life. But when you allow the affairs of life to overwhelm you, you have allowed yourself to be trapped by one of the greatest dangers to a life of impact.” He paused and waited for me to fully take in his words. He then offered suggestions on how to plan what he called a transformational retreat.
How to Plan a Strategic Personal Retreat
“First, before you embark on a retreat, determine very clearly what issue or challenge you want to tackle. Don’t take along with you so many issues; otherwise you may not achieve much. Since this is your first time, I suggest you use the retreat to develop a personal plan for yourself. Use the period to work out how you will achieve all the dreams and goals you have extracted from the lessons I have shared with you so far. Use the occasion to reflect on your personal purpose and mission on this planet earth. The issue at stake is beyond money. As Bishop David Oyedepo once said: “If you make prosperity your main goal, you are likely to end in abject poverty but when you make posterity your focus, you are then set for breakthrough in all areas of your life, prosperity inclusive.” A good retreat allows you to take some tough decisions. If you discover, for instance, that you have been in a wrong career or in a wrong business you may need to change career or business quickly after such session. In developing your personal mission, you may consider using the following theme questions: What are my dreams? What is my area of assignment? What would I like to achieve if money is not going to be a problem? What resources do I have to achieve my dreams? Who do I know that can work with me to achieve my dreams? What skills do I need to develop to achieve my dreams? What are the likely obstacles that may stand in the way? What are the milestones that would remind me if I am moving towards achieving my dreams? What are the motivations for striving to achieve my dreams? What are my strategies for achieving the goals I have set for myself? Ask other probing questions. Answers to these questions may lead you to develop a good draft that can be worked eventually into a plan.”
My mentor paused for a while before asking: “Is it something you can do soon?” When I answered in the affirmative, he then said: “See me for the concluding part of this lesson when you are back from your retreat. All is well with you”. I left my mentor’s place shortly after that.
NUGGETS
•Plan to go on a personal retreat of between one weekend and one week
•Order your own copy of my new work: “Unleashing Your Personal Powers” (where two multimillionaires shared their experiences of how they used retreats to turn around their lives and businesses)
PS: I will round off this series next week. I want to unveil how both of us can work together profitably in 2013. Don’t miss it for anything! Review all the past six articles and take all the necessary actions as recommended.
PS: If you would want me to alert you on the tool needed to get to unlock the personal powers within you in 2013, text this information in the format below to 07054638883
PMMONEY*Your Name*Email*Status*Location 07054638883
E.g: PMMONEY*Dele Taiwo*[email protected]*biz owner* Abuja to 07054638883
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