If you fail to finish your race, you fail to get winning bonus.
Imagine an athlete from your nation making it to the world Olympics with the hope of bringing home the highest honour. He came back with a sad story to tell the President of the nation who had high hopes that after many years of the award being an illusion, this athlete was going to put the nation’s name high on the list. What was the story? It is about starting but not finishing. Simply put, he could not win!
The story of the athlete reflects that of the father of Abraham in the Bible. “And Terah took his son Abram…from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.”(Genesis 11:31-32) There may be several reasons why someone will passionately start a venture and not finish it. I want to share four things which may have contributed to Terah’s starting and settling.
Cost Count. It is very possible to fail at anything you start without doing due diligence in the area of cost. By cost, I am not only referring to finances. It can also be time and energy required to succeed. For instance, you need more time when you are working on your own than when you are working for others. In the case of a startup, you may sacrifice holidays, weekends and leisure times to make the venture work. Terah may not have considered this, thus he failed.
Old Age. I believe Terah settled and failed for the reason that ‘old age caught up with him’. He gave in to the notion that we were born to do something but not everything. I believe from the time he settled at Haran and the time he died, he could have strived to make it. He may also have convinced himself to retire rather than refire. Question: if he knew he would be too old and frail to complete the journey, why did he start in the first place?
Little Success. You are likely to fail if you settle for the little success you chalk. Terah was set for Canaan but settled at Haran. It is just like setting a vision to spread a product worldwide but stop after covering Africa. A student will never graduate and obtain a first degree if he or she does not write all exams. Achieving one goal is a motivator but achieving all goals is fulfilling.
Athletes who fail to finish their race fail to get winning bonus. For Terah, his winning bonus was to finally get his family to his place of imagination - Canaan. Yours may be a dream business, book, education or marriage. I encourage you to take some few steps and Canaan will be a reality. May you be changed!
© 2013 Eric Otchere
( I am ambitious and a tool
in the hand of God to help build
individual and corporate capacities
through knowledge-based services.)
