Life mapping: principles from the ant and eagle – Part 2

Did you read last week’s article, which focused on the first part of mapping your life using the Principles from the Ant and Eagle? In that article, I shared Four Principles from the Ant and Eagle.

Remember that we MUST enter this new decade with VISION, INSIGHT, FORESIGHT, CLARITY, DIRECTION, BOLDNESS, COURAGE, and ENTERPRISE.

To SURVIVE, SUCCEED and GROW in your Career, Business and Life in 2020 and beyond, you will be required to DYNAMICALLY and SKILLFULLY deploy the various PRINCIPLES of the ANT and the EAGLE.

Other Critical Principles from the Ant and Eagle that we need to SURVIVE, SUCCEED and GROW in 2020 and beyond are:
Principle 5. EAGLEs love and embrace the STORM. When clouds gather, the eagle gets excited.

Once it sees the wind coming, it targets the eye of the storm and uses the raging storm to lift itself above the clouds. This gives the eagle an opportunity to glide effortlessly and rest its wings. It rides on the wings of the wind, in the heart of the storm and enters its rest.

In the meantime, as the eagle soars in the storm, all the other birds hide in the leaves and branches of the trees. To succeed in 2020 and this new decade, you must FACE your FEARS and CHALLENGES; Find the EYE of your Storm and Master how to RIDE it to the TOP. Embrace your challenges head-on with BOLDNESS and COURAGE, knowing that they will make you emerge stronger and better than before.

Achievers are not afraid of challenges; instead, they relish them and use them profitably. Let us, therefore like the eagle, use the storms of life to rise to greater heights and remember “To Be at Peace always in every storm, you MUST understand that Peace within creates Peace without” – The Catalyst Principle 6: ANTS know when to work hard and when to REST from work; no wonder God asks us humans to go to the ANT to learn Wisdom.

Although ants have the best work ethics, they also understand the Times and Seasons as they know exactly what to do in each season of their lives.For example; in summer, ANTS gather all their food but in winter, they hibernate to conserve their energy. ANTS know that there is the likelihood for scarcity of food in winter, they know the weather will be cold and detrimental to their health hence they use this season to conserve, recoup their strength and energy through rest. They also use this season to strategize; these small creatures know when to Start and Stop: Do More and Do Less.

Ants know that they can burnout, so they intelligently pace themselves and allocate time to rest. They completely withdraw from all kinds of work. Like the ant in 2020 and beyond, don’t wait till you are burnt out. Be wise and simply plan your seasons by scheduling periods of hard work as you intentionally schedule periods of rest, fun, and recreation because these are equally critical needs that we have. Schedule a holiday each year, plan a get-away periodically. Understand that you’re not a machine; even a machine needs servicing from time to time for optimal functioning.

Principle 7. EAGLES believe in TRAINING their eaglets and they prepare for their training.
They put SUCCESSION PLANS in place. To SURVIVE what’s coming and to SUCCEED and GROW in 2020 and beyond, you have to Nurture, Coach, Mentor and Groom the NEXT GENERATION in your Family, Life, Career, Role, and Business etc. The eagle teaches the next generation to INDEPENDENTLY SURVIVE and SUCCEED on its own.

To achieve this, eagles remove the feathers and soft grass in the nest so that the eaglets get uncomfortable in preparation for flying. They take the eaglet out of their comfort zone and fly them on their backs to high altitudes and drop them. As they’re about to hit the ground, they catch the eaglet (in case they miss, the trained male eagle is waiting to catch the young). They do this until the eaglet learns to fly. After this lesson, they never go back to the same comfort zone.

Train your children, subordinates and staff yourself. Don’t depend on their teachers or nannies or others to train them for you. Leave your comfort zone; there is no growth there for your expansion and success. Great men have had to leave their comfort zones to achieve greatness – Men like Moses, Abraham, Isaac, etc.

Principle 8. ANTS prepare ahead of time; they prepare their food in Summer with their foresight – they plan and are responsible. They don’t hope on hope and live by irresponsibly praying and having stupid faith. Ants don’t procrastinate either; rather they do what they need to do when they need to do it. They know that summer is the only time to gather for the other seasons and they schedule to do other tasks in other seasons.

Just like ants, you need INNOVATION, CREATIVITY and ACTION.
What are your life seasons?
What are your industry seasons?
What are your business seasons and cycles?
Do you understand when you have demand for your products and services?
Do you know your highest and lowest seasons of demand?
Do you eat everything in your season of plenty and beg in your season of famine?
Do you plan and rise during the storm after planning well?
In 2020 and beyond, interchangeably there will be times when food, business, etc. flow effortlessly and there will be dry and tough times.

Will you know these times?
You MUST learn from the ANT how and why you need to plan for times of plenty and times of emergency. No matter how hard you pray, fast and faith it, there will be no food or business in your winter season.

Also, don’t be on the phone, Internet, on social media or TV in your summer and bumper season when you should be working hardest. What you do or don’t do today will determine your tomorrow, so maximize every moment you have. Use it to Create the Future of your Dreams; Now is the time to prepare for tomorrow.

Creatively think ahead of that meeting, run the various scenarios repeatedly, prepare and position yourself for any of the scenarios. In 2020, this will be one of your secrets of Consistent SUCCESS.He who fails to plan; plans to fail.

With all these Principles from the Eagle and Ant, take out time and map out your PLANS for SURVIVAL, SUCCESS and GROWTH in your life, career, business, organization and home in 2020 and beyond.

At the Olusola Lanre Coaching Academy (OLCA), our coaches are available to assist you with mapping out the 12 Dimensions of your Life for the next 10 years to enjoy harmony, satisfaction and fulfillment.
*Take advantage of our LIFE DESIGN AND MAPPING Masterclass, scheduled for 25th – 26th January 2020. To register, call 08077077000 or send an email to info@olcang.com.
Shalom!
Lanre Olusola
The Catalyst