“I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happens to them all.” (Ecc 9:11)
In reading this passage, it seems there are seven things that greatly affect the success you achieve in life. (1) Speed (2) Strength (3) Wisdom (4) Understanding (5) Skill (6) Time (Timing) (7) Chance (Circumstances we neither control nor have foreknowledge of)
Time and Chance are what I want to talk about in detail but first, let’s cover the first five we are most familiar with… Speed has a lot to do with the ability to move forward, to take action, to not hesitate. It has a lot to do with decisiveness. Not that we should be too quick to decide on things, but those who can rightly decide quickest usually win the prize Remember the game show, Jeopardy? The person who could decide they knew the answer quickest was given first shot to claim the prize. If their decision was wrong and they had the wrong information, they lost money but if they were both decisive and correct, they won.
Years ago I asked the Lord to give me Proverbs like Solomon of old. The very first one He gave me was about decision making. “In the valley of indecision lay the skeletal remains of many a worthy plan.” He helped me understand that a lot of folks have great plans, great insights, great inventions, innovations and strategies. Their problem is they have no speed. They are not decisive. They are stuck in the paralysis of analysis. They are so afraid of making a mistake; they make the biggest mistake by never stepping out and trying.
Winning in business is often about speed, but speed also kills. (He that makes haste to be rich shall not go unpunished. Pr 28:20) There is a difference between reckless speed for the sake of speed and prudent decisiveness. If you want to succeed in life, it may be time to add some velocity to your decision making process. It may be time to add some velocity to your actions. Why are you so hesitant? What are you waiting for? Put some speed in your seed! (your idea, your dream)