It’s taking long to conclude this article, but I believe that this should be the concluding article. We’ve been trying to help each other find where we are in our life journeys. You can read the first 3 episodes (lol) to get clarity on where we have been in this journey of achievement.
We’ve been using the life of Joseph as case study for the landmarks in the life of an achiever. We have moved from his place of birth in Padanaram, to the Pit, to Potiphar’s house to Prison. Now Joseph is about to make a transition from the Prison to the Palace.
The palace is synonymous to opportunity. Being in the Palace doesn’t make you the Pharaoh or Prime Minister, anymore than getting an opportunity makes you a millionaire. What we do in the Palace, like what we do with opportunities is what will make our journey pinnacle at the right place. Joseph was able to make that transition. Read how.
Pandemonium broke in the palace, the king had a dream he doesn’t understand and there is nobody that is able to interpret it to him. Not any of the Magicians, not any of the wise men. No skilled professors who had gained expertise in interpreting subconscious thoughts. The whole realm was troubled until the Butler who had once been helped with a similar predicament while in prison remembered the man who had helped him.
Before we go to far, let us quickly recognize the key indexes that brought Joseph into this phase.
1. Your arrival at the palace is going to be a function of something you did well in previous years.
2. Your experience does not need to be royal to get royal opportunities. You don’t need to have worked for a multinational to get multinational opportunities. It’s is the quality of your experience that determines the possibilities not the environment of the experience.
3. Problems need to happen before opportunities are created. Problems and Opportunities are actually twins, when you see problems, rejoice, someone’s opportunity is nearby.
Joseph is summoned from the prison to come to the palace. It was his opportunity to go to the palace, come back to prison and tell his inmate colleagues that he’s been there before. Joseph however did not see it like this, he saw an opportunity that many did not expect, he saw that the palace is the place of interview, the interview can last for 30mins, or it can guarantee employment for the years ahead. When Joseph heard that his CV had been reviewed and he had an opportunity to stand before Pharaoh, it was recorded that he changed his garments and shaved his beard. Why?
1. How you dress is likely to affect the way you’ll be addressed.
2. Etiquettes matter! There is a proper way of doing things, you need to be conscious of them and act knowledgeably.
3. Every meeting is vital, the relationships you make can be one off or for life, all depends on what your expectations are.
4. If you are not looking forward to opportunities, you’ll likely miss it. Joseph had a premonition that his skill sets might be needed in town, he told the Butler to remember him when he got out.
5. People will, and may forget you, but if you ensure you are branded and your name gives people a unique recall, when your opportunity arises, you’ll be remembered.
6. How you are introduced probably matters, ensure your profile is watertight. Joseph was introduced as the servant of the Prison Guard… not as a prisoner. It was true, but the other one would also have been true.
When Joseph arrived at the palace, he wasn’t looking like a criminal. He had freshened up. He also did not look like a Jew, he had made himself appealing to the Egyptian culture. In that palace, Joseph’s career came to it’s peak. Relying on God’s wisdom, he was able to proffer a solution that not only won the approval of Pharaoh, but won him the spot as Prime Minister of Egypt. Pharaoh did not only like the idea, Pharaoh believed that nobody in Egypt could administer his idea better than him. In Less than 1hr, Joseph transitioned from the prison through the palace to become Prime minister. Pharaoh handed authority to him to even be over the Pharaoh himself. That’s alarming! There are key points we can learn from this progression as well,
1. If your business plan and idea are well internalized and tight, no investor will steal your idea. They’ll know nobody can run it like you.
2. This progression happened for Joseph at exactly the age of 30 – This was symbolic of the age when Jewish sons come to maturity and gain prominence. While the age for your arrival might not be 30, you’ll observe that when it’s your time, you are the only person that can blow it.
3. Humility is a vital virtue even when you are about to arrive. Joseph could have bragged about his abilities, but rather he responded to Pharaoh that it was God that will give him an answer of peace.
4. It doesn’t take forever for a man’s life to leap into a different realm. Within one day, Joseph moved from prisoner to the highest authority in the land. He became a man without whom anybody in Egypt could not lift a hand or foot -Literally!
5. Have a dream! Joseph had a dream that he would step into authority. He saw it in an agricultural dimension and it became his reality in about 17yrs through different twists and turns.
Where are you in your life’s journey? There are other articles in this series that we will likely consider in the future, Attitudes of Jospeh? and Why Joseph? I hope you enjoyed these ones on Where are you?
