Succeed on Extraordinary Terms

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Lessons from top achievers are compiled by authors' Herb Greenberg and Patrick in Succeed on Your Own Terms. They traveled world wide to interview many people in many diverse fields to find out what success is to them. They found many differing views... thus the tag-line that success is really “on your own terms.”

One ingredient is knowing where you are going and defining success from that. "What becomes immediately recognizable was the undeniable sense that these individuals are all doing exactly what they should be doing. They are in tune with themselves." They said that "individual potential is far more important than his or her experience." Don't look to a person's past but look what is inside them.

(They use the Caliper profile for the best reading of individual motivation, strengths and potential, http://www.caliperbook.com/ )

So the purpose of the book is about gaining a deeper understanding of playing to your own strengths. They generally saw success as more of knowing yourself and not so much what you have. The real winners in this world are those who truly know their own strengths and create situations that play to their strengths.

What is success?

"I can feel successful from just moving my agenda forward," says Senator Barbara Boxer. "I have an inner strength that helps me see the right thing to do... for me succeeding is being true to myself. I don't always win, but I'm still succeeding on my own terms. All I can do is be true to myself."

Money alone is not the true measure of success, says Rebecca Stephens, 1st woman to climb Mt. Everest. "Unexpected obstacles can come your way." If you put everything you have in it, you can consider yourself successful. So there is more than one way to succeed.
It is "knowing your defining qualities,
calling it your own,
and breathing life into it can go a long way.”

The definitions of success have these defining qualities.
"Perseverance, goal oriented, self awareness, resilience, willingness to take risks, thriving on pressure, optimism, empathy, competitiveness, patience, persuasiveness, confidence, passion, integrity, trust, having fun, being open, creativity and courage."

The book has extensive personal profiles on each of these defining qualities featuring an outstanding person around each of the specific qualities.

In life there is no way to avoid risks, so you might as well take your risks on purpose. Find a niche that plays to your own strengths, distinct from anyone else, then own it. Play with passion.... that this is your last performance. Those that keep growing "are open to new experiences; they are also open to learn more about themselves." Creativity is birthed from those with a sense of humor, keeping a sense of youthfulness throughout your entire life.

People who succeed seemed to fall into two categories... "knowing themselves" and "knowing the world around them," i.e., focusing on inner strength and having a natural ability to see opportunities as they came along. The authors came up with 29 ways this is done... from lifestyles of introspection to defying the odds of what existed around them.

A theme that continued to surface was being true to yourself. To honestly see yourself for who you truly are and living life consistently with that. Our talents and abilities naturally lead us to truth, inner truth of who we are and when that can be applied to the greatest contribution, to the world's benefit and to our own sense of self-worth or value.

Seeing ourselves and seeing others with a framework of integrity (to our true self and respect to others) are pinnacle virtues.

Great people live in the Power of Faith.
The Bible says the righteous live by faith. (Hebrews 10:38)

What we believe we bring into being.
"Fear is dangerous. It turns into fact the things we fear. It creates evil just as faith creates good." (John G. Lake)

What God promises we can hold on to as fact. The power of Spirit has become a privilege for us to live in all of God's power. We are made right with God through faith. We are made right with Him with Jesus' one act.... He was resurrected. The only person ever to do this. And Now He gives us the same privilege... to be resurrected from all the deaths we face in our lives.

As we align ourselves in alignment with Spirit that works Greatly in us we live in the Character of God. The Scriptures say we are not under the Laws of Old but we live by Spirit.
"But now we have been released from the law, for we died with Christ, and we are no longer captive to its power. Now we can really serve God, not in the old way by obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way, by the Spirit." (Romans 7:6)

We excel with this new power that works in us, and we heed the inner voice of the Spirit. We can listen to this Supernatural voice of God's very own intelligence directing our paths…God's very own Spirit of creative Power working for us.

This is all possible...for those who have faith and believe.

In Ever Increasing Faith by Smith Wigglesworth, he inspirationally defines faith and its character. Note:http://www.worldinvisible.com/library/wigglesworth/5f00.0930/5f00.0930.c.htm

"God wants us to be free in every part of life. Men and women are tired of imitations, they want reality; they want to see people who have the Living Christ within, filled with Spirit Power."

"Spirit has a realm of divine life opening up to us where there are boundless possibilities, where there is limitless power, where there are untold resources, where we have victory over every conceivable force that could face us."

"There is only darkness in the natural. Darkness only exists when the natural is put in place of the divine."

"He keeps us so that no evil can touch us. I see a place in God where evil forces dare not come...Hidden in God. And He invites us all to come into this Secret Place of the Most High God." God has this place for us in Spirit.

"The impartation of this power produces everything you need; but it comes only as our faith moves out for its impartation. Faith gives us victory. If you believe... It Is Yours!"

"You can never be ordinary from the day you receive this life from above. You become extraordinary, filled with extraordinary power from the extraordinary Spirit of God that lives in you."

"There is no stopping the current of life,
of love, of inspiration, and of Power.
God has brought unlimited resources for everyone."

In faith accept Spirit in you,
align to this flow of Spirit through you,
and live courageously with integrity and empathy.