INSPIRATIONAL: Elon Musk; Success Story

After dropping out of his PhD program at Stanford, Musk and his brother Kimbal launched a software company in 1995 called Zip2, using $28,000 of their father's money. The Internet was beginning to expand by leaps and bounds, and newspapers were trying to figure out how they could make the best use of the new medium. The Musks’ company developed online city guides for newspaper publishers. Before long, Zip2 had won contracts with major players in the industry, including The New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.

But there was tension at Zip2. Musk wanted to be CEO, but the board stood firm against the move. In 1999, as the tech bubble was approaching its zenith, the board sold the company to Compaq for $307 million plus $34 million in stock options. In the sale, Elon Musk received 7% of the sale, $22 million. (See also: Three Steps Elon Musk Took To Become Successful.)

That same year, Musk co-founded X.com, an online banking company, using $10 million from the sale of Zip2. A year after that, with the dot-com bubble fully popped and a preponderance of tech companies closing their virtual doors, X.com would purchase Confinity, another online financial services firm, and its money-transfer service, called PayPal.

It quickly became clear that PayPal was the most important element of the company. X.com focused on the service and renamed itself PayPal in 2001. It soon became the online-payment system of choice, with a few thousand users multiplying to more than 1 million in a few months. Its fast adoption is credited to a marketing campaign that recruited new customers when they received money through the service.

But boardroom troubles dogged Musk, who was ousted from the CEO’s chair over technical arguments concerning the future architecture of the service. Again, those battles were followed by a sale, this time to eBay. At the time of the sale, one in four eBay transactions were completed using PayPal. This sale was enormous by Internet-company standards in 2002, with $1.5 billion in stock changing hands. Musk received $165 million for his 11.7% stake in PayPal.

Before the PayPal sale had closed, Musk had begun to dream up a miniature experimental greenhouse that he could land on Mars. The greenhouse, which he called "Mars Oasis," would contain crops and would, he hoped, rekindle well-faded public interest in space exploration.

INSPIRATIONAL: The Success story of Elon Musk: Early Life and Education

Elon Musk was born on June 28, 1971, in Pretoria, South Africa. His mother, Maye, was a Canadian-born model and dietician. His father, Errol, was an electromechanical engineer born in South Africa. A brother and sister joined the family soon after Elon was born.

Compared with his siblings, Elon was quiet. His mother would later say that his introversion, especially compared with his more outgoing siblings, made her fear that he might be deaf.

When Musk was 10, his parents divorced and Elon lived mostly with his father, who moved around South Africa. It was a difficult time, as Errol was reportedly tough with his children to the point of abuse, often lecturing Musk and his brother for hours.

Musk’s intellectual aptitude did him few favors as a child. He found few friends in the tough-minded Afrikaner culture he encountered in school.

"I had a terrible upbringing. I had a lot of adversity growing up. One thing I worry about with my kids is they don't face enough adversity," he would later say in an interview.

Musk attended the English-speaking Waterkloof House Preparatory School, and later graduated from Pretoria Boys High School. The years were lonely and brutal, from his descriptions.

“They got my best friend to lure me out of hiding so they could beat me up. And that hurt,” Musk said. “For some reason they decided that I was it, and they were going to go after me nonstop. That’s what made growing up difficult. For a number of years there was no respite. You get chased around by gangs at school who tried to beat the (expletive) out of me, and then I’d come home, and it would just be awful there as well.”

Too Late To Start? ITS NEVER TOO LATE

Does success have a deadline?  And if yes, what is the best age to succeed? Here is a visualization of the relationship between age and success. Tap on the circles below and investigate for yourself.

“The Critical Period” – Do It Early or Bust?

Language, it is believed, cannot be learned without an accent after the critical age (usually 16). Musical talent is usually apparent in the first ten years of life. Most people we know as successful programmers started coding as children, and successful athletes commonly celebrate their twentieth birthday already celebrities. This can make one look like a failure at 27 if all you got is a college degree. But that may be a false impression.

The Data Behind The Success Age

Looking at the biographies of top 100 founders on the Forbes List shows that 35 is the most common age to start one of the top companies in the world. We excluded the companies that were inherited from previous ones, and the companies where governments were heavily involved. For example, one of the largest companies in the world is Agricultural Bank of China. It was founded by Mao Ze Dong while he was the country’s chairman. This types of founders we excluded, to make sure the list only contains self-starting founders.

The Middle Of Life or Mid-Life Crisis

The result is a bell curve, just like in school most people get grades somewhere in the middle, in life most people succeed mid-life, that is about 35, for the current generation.

Intuitively then, we expect some major life achievements to happen around the middle age, otherwise – the mid-life crisis.

The Quarter-Life Crisis

When you graduate college, with expectations from parents on your shoulders, seeing teenage CEOs in the news can make you feel like a late bloomer. Even at 25. Since today we expect to live longer than today’s average life span of 78 years, at 25 you can reasonable think you are through a quarter of your life. This is a newer term than the good old mid-life crisis.

Late Bloomers, Not Losers

So what about those who succeed later in life – the late bloomers. Is it better to be an early achiever or a late bloomer? That’s the same as asking if it is better to start Facebook at 19 or IBM at 61? For the world at large it does not matter. Perhaps Facebook could never happen if IBM did not exist. Should Charles Flint have felt himself a loser when he organized IBM out of a time-card punching technology firm at the ripe age of 61? Those time card punchers turned out to be early prototypes of computers.

Perhaps you have not heard much about Flint, but the device you are looking at right now is possible in part because of what Flint started at 61. He even lived another 24 years, working and enjoying the fruits of his late-in-life success. A later bloomer? Perhaps. Too late for him at 61? Its Never too late.

I'd say it again "ITS NEVER TOO LATE".

Open Heavens 19 July 2016

Daily Devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye

Topic: The Habitation of the Lord [Tuesday 19, July 2016]

Memorise: If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous. – Job 8:6

Read: Psalms 97:10-11 (KJV)

10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.

11 Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.

Bible in One Year: 2 Corinthians 10-13, Psalms 15-16

MESSAGE:

The characteristics of the habitation of the Lord attract our attention because of the blessings awaiting us there. The qualification of those who can be part of the habitation of the Lord is worthy of note. Our memory verse says:

“If thou wert pure and upright; surely now he would awake for thee, and make the habitation of thy righteousness prosperous.” - Job 8:6

The habitation of the Lord is the place where God blesses His people with diverse kinds of blessings – spiritual, physical and material. Only the pure and upright can enjoy the blessings of God’s habitation, one of which is security.

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” -Psalms 91:1

The issue of holiness is not a subject of debate for those who know that they stand to gain by living holy. If you live holy, you live holy for yourself as the Lord watches over the righteous (Psalms 5:12).Also, there is promotion for those who abide in the habitation of the Lord (Hebrews 1:9). Moreover, the Bible says;

“1 LORD, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? who shall dwell in thy holy hill? 2 He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart.” - Psalms 15:1-2

In other words, the habitation of the Lord is not an “all comers” affair, even though whoever chooses to be there can be there if the fellow is ready to pay the price. The price of living holy is what those who want to abide in the habitation of the Lord must pay. Our text for today emphasises the necessity of righteousness vis-a-vis divine protection:

“10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked. 11 Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.” - Psalms 97:10-11

Nobody is careless about his precious possession. Anybody who chooses to live a consecrated life will enjoy divine protection. Such are precious stones in the sight of the Lord. The Lord watches over His heritage, i.e. His saints. This is why Psalms 125:3 says:

“For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.”

He keeps them under His protection and ensures no evil befalls them. My prayer is that you will live under the watchful eyes of the Almighty.

Action Point: Search the scripture and find out all you must do to be able to abide in the habitation of the Lord.

SEEDS OF DESTINY - TUESDAY 19TH JULY 2016

DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE BY DR. PAUL ENENCHE

TOPIC: FASTING – KEY TO LASTING IMPACT

SCRIPTURE: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. – Isaiah 40:31

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: To have a lasting result, you must have a fasting schedule; anyone who cannot fast, cannot last.

 

Fasting connotes abstention from food or some types of food. 

 

Fasting puts the flesh under control to increase spiritual antenna and sensitivity.

To have a lasting result, you must have a fasting schedule; anyone who cannot fast, cannot last. The lack of fasting is a reason for the abortion of some great destinies. The inefficiency of fasting equals deficiency of potentials.

 

The truth is, those who feast while others fast may fall while others fly.  Those who are feasting and playing while others are fasting and praying cannot have impact that can stand the test of time.

 

You have not done anything about your destiny until you have done something about your fasting.  Do not fast because of a challenge, but fast in order to maintain spiritual fire and intensity.

 

To fast only when there is a problem is an emergency management approach; it is anti-spirituality. It is habitual fasting that makes a person to be equal to any spiritual emergency any day and anytime.

Beloved, whatever fights your ability to fast, fights your destiny. So, you must fight it brutally if you must make a lasting impact on earth.

 

Remember this: To have a lasting result, you must have a fasting schedule; anyone who cannot fast, cannot last.

 

ASSIGNMENT (S): 

1. Consciously resist every resistance to your fasting life 

2. Determine to engage yourself in a periodic fasts- it could be once or twice a week, depending on your ability.

 

PRAYER: LORD, I take authority over any weakness of the flesh that may be resisting my fasting schedule. I receive the grace O LORD to live a life of fasting, in Jesus’ Name.

 

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: MAINTAINING SPIRITUAL INTENSITY

 

QUOTE: You do not maximize your life until you understand the season. Culled from MAKING FULL PROOF OF MINISTRY by Dr Paul Enenche

 

AMAZING FACT: The sun is 400 times farther away from the earth than the moon is.

 

TODAY IN HISTORY – 19/07/1983: The first three-dimensional reconstruction of a human head in a CT was published.

 

DAILY READING: 1 Chronicles 28:1 to 29:30, Roman 5:6 to 21, Psalm 15:1 to 5, Proverbs 19:18 to 19.

 

Inspirational - The Story of Colonel Sanders, a Man who Started at 65 and Failed 1009 Times Before Succeeding

Whether you like KFC or not, the story of Colonel Harland Sanders is truly amazing. This story is inspirational because it’s an example of how perseverance, dedication, and ambition along with hard work can create success; regardless of your age.

Colonel Harland Sanders has become a world-known figure by marketing his “finger lickin’ good” Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The spectacled Colonel Sanders could easily be identified by his clean, crsip white suite, black string tie, and walking cane. A statue of this man can be seen as far away as on Nathan Road in Kowloon, Hong Kong, for one place.

One of the most amazing aspects of his life is the fact that when he reached the age of sixty-five, after running a restaurant for several years, Harland Sanders found himself penniless. He retired and received his first social security check which was for one hundred and five dollars. And that was just the beginning of his international fame and financial success story…

Col. Sanders was a fellow who really loved to share his fried chicken recipe. He had a lot of positive influence from those who tasted the chicken. Now, the Colonel was retired and up in age and while most people believed in the sanctimony of retirement, the Colonel opted to sell the world on his cool new chicken recipe. With little in terms of means at his disposal, Colonel Sanders traveled door to door to houses and restaurants all over his local area. He wanted to partner with someone to help promote his chicken recipe. Needless to say, he was met with little enthusiasm.

He started travelling by car to different restaurants and cooked his fried chicken on the spot for restaurant owners. If the owner liked the chicken, they would enter into a handshake agreement to sell the Colonel’s chicken. Legend has it that Colonel Sanders heard 1009 “no”s before he heard his first “yes”.

Ok, let me repeat that.

He was turned down one-thousand and nine times before his chicken was accepted once!

Colonel in front of his first KFC store. The deal was that for each piece of chicken the restaurant sold, Sanders would receive a nickel. The restaurant would receive packets of Colonel's secret herbs and spices in order to avoid them knowing the recipe. By 1964, Colonel Sanders had 600 franchises selling his trademark chicken. At this time, he sold his company for $2 million dollars but remained as a spokesperson. In 1976, the Colonel was ranked as the world's second most recognizable celebrity.

It's amazing how the man started at the age of 65, when most retire, and built a global empire out of fried chicken.

"Believe. Dream. Try. Succeed. Age, no bar!"

Now... I'm hungry.

SEEDS OF DESTINY - MONDAY 18TH JULY 2016

DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE BY DR. PAUL ENENCHE

TOPIC: YOUR CHARACTER AND YOUR DESTINY
SCRIPTURE: Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. – Genesis 49:4.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Your manners determine your making; your nature determines your future and your habits determine your habitat in life.

There is an undeniable connection between character and destiny. From our anchor scripture, we can deduce that as soon as Reuben had a carnal knowledge of his father’s wife, he lost grip of his destiny.

Beloved, your character is the greatest determinant of your destiny. Who you are determines what you can become. The quality of your destiny is affected by the strength of your character. What differentiates people’s destinies is their manner. We can have the same destiny if we have the same manner. To matter in life you must be a person of quality manner.

Your manners determine your making; your nature determines your future and your habits determine your habitat in life.

The truth is, if the devil wants to destroy your destiny he begins to tempt you to compromise your integrity. The way of integrity, at any time, is superior to the way of compromise.

Your character is an expression of who you are. To succeed in life, you must be a person of character.

I prophesy on you the grace for a solid character that will guarantee the security of your destiny in Jesus’ Name.

Remember this: Your manners determine your making; your nature determines your future and your habits determine your habitat in life.

ASSIGNMENT(S): 

1. Take a conscientious character examination on yourself. 

2. Trash any negative character trait in you that has the capacity to make you suffer a miscarriage of destiny. 

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: UPHOLDING GODLY CHARACTER

PRAYER: LORD, I repent of every negative character I have hitherto exhibited.  I make demands on Your Grace, O LORD, to uphold godly manners that will make me matter in life and destiny, in Jesus’ Name.

QUOTE: If a person is full of self, he is empty of substance. Culled from WHO ARE YOU? by Dr Paul Enenche 

AMAZING FACT: The human brain can read up to 1000 words per minute.

TODAY IN HISTORY – 18/07/1918: The birth of Nelson Mandela, civil rights activist, first black president of South Africa.

DAILY READING: 1 Chronicles 26:12 to 27:34, Romans 4:13 to 5:5, Psalm 14:1 to 7, Proverbs 19:17

Open Heavens 18 July 2016: Monday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Not a Hindrance!

Topic: Not a Hindrance! [Monday 18, July 2016]

Memorise: And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. – Romans 8:28

Read: Philippians 1:12-21 (KJV)

12 But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;

13 So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places;

14 And many of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

15 Some indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will:

16 The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds:

17 But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel.

18 What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.

19 For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ,

20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

Bible in One Year: 2 Corinthians 5:12-9:15, Psalms 13-14

MESSAGE:

While man does not have a way of getting solutions to his problems, God has uncountable ways to solving universal problems. This is because He is the Almighty. Another thing about the ways of God is that it does not appeal to the natural man. This truth is what Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ tried to convey to us in our memory verse for today when he wrote:

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” - Romans 8:28

Paul wrote to encourage believers by telling them that the hardship he was going through was for the advancement of the gospel. It takes the eyes of faith to come to terms with this type of truth. In chains, he was moved from one place to another as a criminal under trial. However, at every given time and opportunity to speak, he preached the gospel. In Acts 24 & 25 alone, he addressed three different very important personalities namely Felix, Festus, King Agrippa. It was King Agrippa that said to Paul:

“Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.” - Acts 26:28

Then Paul said:

“I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds.” - Acts 26:29

This is a level all children of God must reach if we will enjoy our walk with God. This same truth helped Joseph from misbehaving when he came to power in Egypt and his brothers were afraid of revenge. He told them:

“19….Fear not: for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." - Genesis 50:19-20

In all these, we must learn that challenges will not be a hindrance if God is with us, rather, it will be a stepping stone to our destiny. Some children of God attributed their failure to certain hindrances. This should not be, because the Captain of our battle never lost any battle. As a matter of fact, we are more than conquerors and all things will always work together for our good if we believe. I pray for someone using this devotional; all the seemingly hindering situations on your way to success will become a stepping stone to your breakthrough in Jesus’ name.

Prayer Point: Father, I command all hindering mountains in my life to give way today in Jesus’ name.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer's Ministries.