The Devils and How not to Fall Prey to Them

Whenever we have decisions to make, there’s always an angel and a devil that appear before us. This demon exists in many different forms, to hinder you from doing the correct thing or doing things the correct way. The angel would then try to persuade you back to the correct way of doing things.

The angel and demons in our lives face a constant struggle to triumph over the other. The different between a successful person and an unsuccessful one lies in whether he or she succumbs more often to the devil, or whether the angel in him or her is the stronger figure. We take out the angel and devil from the picture, and we have a very important conclusion.

ATTITUDE – is the one that ultimately makes the difference and distinction between the successful and the unsuccessful person.

Knowing that attitude makes the difference does not guarantee you success. The devils will constantly lure you, tempting you to take the easy way out, offering you with transient solutions to problems. Therefore, it is very important to familiarize with these devils, lest we fall prey to them.

One such devils, is procrastination. Procrastination is one of the reasons why people fail. Procrastination usually teams up with another devil, Fear, to assert more influence on our thinking. For example, one refuses to do work, because the work is seemingly too difficult (fear) and therefore he procrastinates. Whenever, the angel reminds him of work to be done, fear would say, “it’s too difficult” and procrastination would say “you can always leave it for another time”. The above illustrates a very common psychological battle we fight against ourselves. We often procrastinate because we feel that the work is too difficult or too cumbersome. For certain things like schoolwork and job work, we often end up realizing that the work would eventually have to be done and that procrastinating just leaves us with lesser time to finish up our work.

For others, it might be an idea, a business opportunity. But we often worry too much and fear too much, despite rigorous planning. Now, I would just like to highlight, it is important to plan before putting an idea into action, but it is even more important to be confident of those plans and not plan and chicken out. In other words, if enough planning was done and contingency plans have been made, what is left is to execute it confidently with a determined mindset and not allow fear and procrastination to hinder the plan.

Fear often revisits and this is especially true during setback and failures. However, a determined attitude (it has to be rational and according to plan as well!) would always keep fear at bay and keep you focused on the task.
One who is determined and who has strong believe in what he/she does would never allow problems and setbacks to hinder his/her goals. Success comes from identifying problems and effectively handling problems, not blaming failure on the problems faced. And most importantly, they do not give up. They simply continue trying and trying, so that every obstacle they conquer brings them closer to success.

Thomas Edison is one very good example. He tested all kinds of materials because he was determined to create light. He took pride in his work and would patent his prototypes. Indeed, one fine day, he finally made the filament glow and the light bulb was born. The light bulbs we use today are much different from the ones he invented in the past. However, it was his discovery that enabled us to convert electrical power into light, and his invention the paved the way for the modern light bulb which are brighter, more efficient and produce lesser heat. He eventually prevailed, and his perseverance and determination eventually paid off.

In all, maintaining a positive attitude, maintain focus on your goals and achieving it with fortitude and determination is a formula for success. Oh, and remember to constantly keep check of the devils and keep them out of your meaningful and purposeful life!