The Secret to Wealth:

"A man has to learn that he cannot command things, but that he can command himself; that he cannot coerce the wills of others, but that he can mold and master his own will: and things serve him who serves Truth; people seek guidance of him who is master of himself." – James Allen.

The Secret:

Gain mastery over yourself. Can that be better said? That is the same prescription of gurus all through the ages. This cannot be escaped. It does not matter who you are, the kind of endowment(s) you have, or who gave you such endowment. Until you conquer yourself, you have not started the journey of life's mastery.

Only after you have won the war within can you begin to fight the war without, with any hope of conquest. And, there are tools in doing that also. They are known as truths, universal, proven, and enduring truths. You either align with them and win or do otherwise to your own detriment.

Victims:

Many have thought themselves wise in trying to think or act otherwise but have only done so to their own detriment. I would suppose you don't want to add your name to such. These hitherto wise but made fools come from several walks of life. Solomon, the supposed wisest man that ever lived, is not excluded.

Solomon started well, but he drifted into the adverbs. And you know what is said of the adverbs? That is the home and workplace of the devil. You do not suppose to best him on his own home tuff, do you? Next is a man called Ahitophel, a man whose voice was like the voice of God. 

Wisdom personified, yet died an wholesome death. There was once a king, Josiah, whose birth was prophesied years before he was born. You would suppose such to live at least a near-perfect life and die a good death. Right? Low and behold, such was not the case. 

A lack of adherence to these simple life secrets sent him to an early grave. You sure don't want to add to the statistics. What does it take to win the war within? Dr. Stephen Covey gives us a starting point with a three habit proposal.

Be Woke:

Covey's first habit is "Be Proactive." This can be said in a thousand and one different ways. The first of these is, "Be Woke." That is "Be Alive," "Be Aware." The Holy Book tells us we were mold out of the dust of the earth, but that mold had no life until the Father of all spirit breathed into it.

Then the mold became a "Living Soul," a living intelligible, emotional, and decision-making being, with no obstructed capacity for growth and development, fully cognizant of reality. He was wired and programmed to win. 

This is his perfect, original state to which it has to always strive towards, that is if he or she wants to win on this side of the divide. He or she has to be active and not be passive in the stream of life. All passive things are swept downstream with all the dirt of life. Only things alive and active can swim upstream to the source.

Finish Before You Start:

Covey's second habit is "Begin with the End in Mind." This also can be said in a thousand and one different ways. The first of these is, "Never Be in Hurry." That is "Never Give Place to Fear," "Live Only by Faith and love," "Don't Do That Which You Cannot See, or Have An Analogy For." 

"There is always time to do it right." "Do it right the first time. You cannot afford a re-work." "Redeem the time. The days are evil." Erwin Rommel, the famed German World War I and II hero, and Field Marshall put it this way, “Sweat saves blood, blood saves lives, but brains saves both.”

I love the way Jesse Duplantis puts it. He said, "Fear tolerated is faith contaminated." In short, I have chosen to be faith and love sensitive and magnet, and develop an allergy to fear. That is the way I choose to live my life. So, help me, God.

Be a Person of Order:

Covey's third habit is "Put First Things First." This also can be said in a thousand and one different ways. The first of these is, "Never be in a rush." Respect order. There is a reason for the order, harmony, and the likes. God has set things in their boundaries for a reason. 

Some things cannot change—no use knocking on a wall and expecting it to turn into a door. There is a reason the creator put something in between our two ears. There is no price for playing the fool. Our place is to accept that they cannot change for what they are and adjust to use them to our own benefit.

Some things can change but should not change. Again respect is demanded of us here. Otherwise, we face the consequences. No sentiments, commonsense rules. Lastly, some things can change and really should change. These are the bread and butter of champions. 

The devil hates this with a passion, for there probably is no higher expression of agency's power, the beauty of creation, and a pointer to the Creator's existence than that expressed in the existence of variety. The life of the mind is expressed in its ability to imagine, innovate, and create.

So, go out, express, and be. Life is waiting for you.

© 2020 Akin Akinbodunse

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