Inner Potential

This can also be found under FOUR STEPS TO SUCCESS on my blog "Wryen Says."



MARCH 21, 2008
By Wryen Kiwaha

Have you ever wondered if you could do something that you always wanted to do? Have you ever been stopped by thoughts of self-doubt or a lack in confidence? Well, I believe that it is your time to wake up and smell the coffee. You don’t have to lose confidence and doubt your ability to do something. But how do I accomplish my goals and dreams? How do I keep faith in myself? Well, the secret to success and happiness is that there is no secret!

Everyone is different. We all have a multitude of beliefs and different personalities. We all like one thing that another person might dislike. But the way to success is simple. Today, I will introduce 4 Simple Life Advancing Steps and Confidence Builders.

These steps have been developed in me over the last four years. I have been a Nichiren Buddhist with the Soka Gakkai International for that long. I started when I was 12 years old. People don’t realize that youth have struggles. In fact, it is harder to be a youth today than it was 30 years ago. Peer pressure, drugs, alcohol, sex, health, school, work, and even life at home are just a few of the struggles youth must undergo. Youth and adults suffer. Everyone suffers.

No matter what religion you practice (you might not be in a religion), you will struggle. Without struggle, how can we expect to grow. The Japanese writer Eijisaku Yoshikawa once wrote, “Great struggles forge great character.” This is the absolute truth.

So, the FIRST STEP is:
UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WILL STRUGGLE. STRUGGLE IS IMPORTANT TO BUILDING STRENGTH AND CHARACTER.

When attempting to fulfill our dreams and goal successfully, we should understand that struggles are always on the rise. Many different faiths talk about struggle. In the Bible, Jesus was confronted by Satan after he had fasted for 40 days and 40 nights. In the Gosho (Great Teachings), Nichiren Daishonin and his followers were threatened with death. The Buddha Shakyamuni was also confronted by attacks, and many attempts on his life were made.

Like these religious icons or figures, we too will have our own demons and obstacles in life. There is no way to escape them except to win over them. This is the truth.

We must also remember that 99.9% of the struggles we face come from within us. Only 0.01% of struggles come from the outside. In Nichiren Buddhism, we talk about a human being having two inner beings or spirits. One is called fundamental goodness. The other is called fundamental darkness. It is the fundamental goodness in our lives that sets positive goals and dreams. The fundamental goodness also takes positive action to achieve our goals.

But, fundamental darkness is always on the rise. When we do anything good, or we set a goal, the fundamental darkness within us, tries to stop us from winning. Usually, it will manifest from within and try to attack us from the outside. Sometimes, family will be apart of the negative manifestation. They will not know it. We may not know it either. We may see it as their own ignorance. It’s not! So what do I do?

The SECOND STEP is:
STAND YOUR GROUND. IF YOU LOSE YOUR FAITH, YOU COULD BE SET BACK. YOU COULD ALSO LOSE COMPLETELY.

The main point of success is to always stand your ground. Imagine you where a Presidential candidate and you were ready for the final debate of the election season. If one candidate were to attack your policy, you would need to stand your ground and defend yourself. If you don’t stand your ground, you could lose the debate. You could even lose the election!

Now that you know that struggles will confront you, you should always be on the alert! You must be ready for the obstacles. If you aren’t you could be set back. You could even lose completely. How do I stand my ground? Well, it depends on what the struggle is. The main point is to have faith and confidence.

But also remember, your fundamental darkness is always ready for more. Do not slacken in faith. Once you become weak in faith, the obstacles and demons of within will try to hit you at your most vulnerable point.

The THIRD STEP is:
HAVE A POSITIVE OUTLOOK ON THE SITUATION. ONCE YOU TURN NEGATIVE, CORRECT YOURSELF IMMEDIATELY. IF NOT, YOU WILL LOSE.

If you notice, the last two steps give you two options. You can either win or lose. Remember, we have a choice. It is this one choice that could determine who we are in the future.

Always have a positive outlook. It will be difficult. We don’t always want to be positive. Someone might have hurt you. Something could have happened that made you angry or disappointed. But remember step 2. Always stand your ground. Being positive when things look negative is apart of standing your ground. Just because someone else is unhappy, doesn’t mean they have to drag you down too.

Now, have common sense. If someone comes to you and someone in there family dies, you don’t have to be sad, but be compassionate. Show them you care and give them positive advice or guidance. Don’t smile and laugh when they tell you something like that. Have positive and common sense.

If you are experiencing a negative outlook, remind yourself that the fundamental darkness is trying to hold you back. Demons and obstacles will feed on negativity and weakness. Be strong. Keep telling yourself that in order to win, you have to fight the negativity by keeping positive.

Don’t get me wrong. If you see something happening that is unjust, you need to stand up. This comes along with standing your ground. Don’t fight physically. Fight mentally and spiritually. The more adamant you are, the greater the chance you have of winning. Anger through negativity is bad and demons feed on that. But, being angry when you see injustice is good. It shows that your spirit is changing and you also want to help others. This should be our mission. To help ourselves and other people become happy needs to be our life focus.

The FINAL and MOST IMPORTANT STEP is:
TAKE POSITIVE ACTION AND NEVER GIVE UP!

We have a tendency to say we want to accomplish something and not act on it. We say we want to be successful, but then we don’t do anything about it. Sometimes we try but we end up behind because we give up.

So the final step I will leave you with is to always take positive action and never give up! Positive action is action that helps you achieve your goal without cheating yourself or cheating others. Positive action will ensure your victory and will cause a life transformation. Even small changes of heart and spirit will eventually lead to bigger things in the future. Remember the old saying, “Big things come in small packages.”

Never give up! When you give up, that’s it! You lose! The only other option is to win! How do you do that? Never give up!

For review, here are the four steps to success in achieving all of your goals and dreams:
1. UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WILL STRUGGLE.
2. STAND YOUR GROUND.
3. HAVE A POSITIVE OUTLOOK.
4. TAKE POSITIVE ACTION AND NEVER GIVE UP!

I hope you will take this advice and guidance at heart! I am sure that when these steps are taken, you will win and transform your life. I am glad to have shared this information with you! I will continue to give messages of inspiration. Check back everyday for new inspiration! Mahalo from Hawaii!

W. Kiwaha