Guide For Youths And Leaders In Liberia – Part 1

For the next few weeks I will be sharing with you success principles for leaders and champions. These series are a source of information, Godly wisdom, scriptural motivation and practical principles and I trust they will be of a help to all who read them. My purpose for writing these things is to inspire you through adequate knowledge; to enable you remove the obstacles you are faced from taking your share of the available knowledge through vital information and to reveal God’s universal time proven biblical success principles. I encourage you to follow us through as we go along.

The radical approach to living a life of significance is to swim upstream, swimming against the tide. If one is going to make any impact in life he/she must not conform to the general approach of the majority. It’s important to note that we are on a mission, a mission to affect, influence and impact lives as well as make meaningful contribution to society. The young people in Liberia, therefore, need to understand that they are alive to make a difference but this fact is not well understood by many in this country. Many, also, do not understand that they are alive to leave indelible marks on the sands of time; that they are alive to make history and not just to pass through history-that they have not been called to conform but to transform their environment, to influence their society, to give direction, to stand out and to register maximum impact.

As it is a known fact, it is all who have done tangible or made indelible mark on this planet earth were sure of where they were going. They knew what they wanted. Knowing where you are going is a venture that begins with a dream and having a clear vision for it is those who know their destination and how to get there that rule the world. Unfortunately, many of our young people do not know their destination. They do not see the big picture of where they were yesterday, where they are now and where they want to be tomorrow so it is with our leaders in this country. Knowing your identity and having a strong desire to succeed will of course take you there.

It is also a known fact that one cannot go against the negative, self-center tide of life if he/she is not show of his or her identity, and so the first step is to recognize who you are. One cannot afford to have an identity crisis-not walking and living in the reality of who they really are. When one does not know who he/she is he/she automatically puts a limit over their life. They cannot be the best-the best he/she can be is a second best which is not good enough and the latter is what that is found amongst young people in Liberia now a day. In short, knowing who you are gives you confidence.

Therefore, young people as well as leaders in Liberia need to understand that they cannot go through life ridding on the identity they have acquired from the opinion of people. When they begin to understand who they are they will understand the extent of the impact they can make with their lives. At this point they will begin to understand that without them some people, groups, organizations, companies and the nation will experience declined quality-that without them others will not be or experience the very best they ought to. It is therefore crucial they wake up to their present-tense identity and stop walking in the shadows of others by imitating others and taking their names.

Friend, all you have done, all you are doing now and all you will ever do can be put in a bottle, the bottle labeled the past, present and future. The quality of your life and your success or otherwise is heavily hinged on how you handle this precious bottle. If you handle it right your chances of success are higher. If you mishandle it you will find yourself at the wrong end of life.

Many young people including leaders in this country have a problem handling the compartment of the bottle called “the past”. The past is very important and it has to be handled with care. One crucial fact you must understand is the fact that the past has gone forever. What you have done in the past is past. It is over.

Let bygone be bygone. When you have had a terrible, traumatic or bad past it has the tendency to bring the pain and pangs of regret into the present. A bad past carries with it unpleasant memories which kills the joy of the present. It saps the energy needed to keep going in the present and this is a good way to mortgage your future on the altar of depression and discouragement. The fact that you have failed, messed up or fallen down in the past does not mean you cannot still make it. You can and will still make it. Don’t let your past limit you, don’t allow people’s opinion of your past put you down.

(Chealy Brown Dennis is a motivational speaker and offers training in leadership and organizational development; strategic planning and team building, and offers workbooks, on-location and train-the-trainer formats. He can be contacted through email at: dennisbc2011@yahoo.com or on phone at: 0886-264-611 or 0776-545-394)