TAKE STOCK!
1“Now the Lord spoke to Moses…after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying: 2”Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male individually, 3from twenty years old and above – all who are able to go to war in Israel. You and Aaron shall number them by their armies. Numbers 1:1-3.
What daily fitness working is to an athlete is what daily stock taking is to a business person. Every New Year carries its own opportunities and challenges. A focus on the opportunities will help you achieve more. But you can only take charge of opportunities in a New Year when you’ve assessed your successes and failures for the previous one. Stock taking is critical to effective living. The Collins Internet-Linked Dictionary defines Stock Taking as “to make an inventory” or “to make a general appraisal, especially of prospects, resources, etc.” The scriptural passage above is loaded with three lessons about why you need to take stock to take a leap from 2011 into 2012.
Personal Benefits. This period in the nation of Israel was a transition from the old to the new order. Census was important to assess where they are now in order to make informed decisions about facing the challenges of the future. Thus, God commanded Moses to “Take a census of all the congregation of the children of Israel…” (v.2.) Note He didn’t say some, but all. On a personal level, it implies that evaluation must be done for all aspects of your life. This helps to realign priorities and focus on important things of life in the coming year. Most often laziness makes us to enter a New Year without accounting for the previous one. Effect is that we enter the New Year with so much wish list or resolutions only to repeat the same mistakes and failures.
Proper Order. Due to the fact that total stock taking may be huge a task, it is crucial for you to break the exercise down in an orderly manner. God knew this and so He told Moses to carry the task “…by their families, by their fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male individually.” (v. 2.) Ghana’s recent census saw a sameness of order just like what God told the Israelites. It was done according to families, regions, gender, etc. Looking into your life, you can also do appraisal of areas such as: One, Mental Growth – Have I gained new knowledge for personal development? Two, Career - Am I still relevant to my employer(s)? Three, Finance – Am I financially independent? Four, Faith – Do I have a good relationship with Christ Jesus? You can add more to this list to have a full complement of your life.
Pinpoint Strength. Not only does stock taking have personal benefits and must be done in an orderly manner, it helps us identify our strengths areas in order to function well in life. One of the foremost reasons for the census in the passage was to “…number them by their armies.” (v. 3.) Armies signify strength for security and warfare. Every thriving business venture knows and apply SWOT to it operations. SWOT is an acronym for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, and Threat. I am certain the reason why strength appears first is that once it is identified all other things will be clearly noticed. Each and every one of us has strengths which if we focus our energies and resources on will enable us achieve the impossible in 2012. The people who will win in 2012 are those who have identified the few things they are passionate about and pour their whole life into them.
The chief enemy of stock taking is LAZINESS. Most people feel lazy to sit down and assess their lives. I am still in the school of mastering the skill of stock taking. The more you do, the more you gain mastery. The more you gain mastery, the more you can make projections into the future with sure predictability. Earl Nightingale said that success is the progressive realization of worthy goals or pursuit of an ideal. Discipline yourself to take stock in 2011 to catapult you for wins in 2012.
