The Jacob’s Formula for Success

Let me tell you a story, a story that changed my life. I hope it changes yours too.

There was a man named Jacob,

Jacob had a dispute with his twin brother over their inheritance, after the dispute, Jacob left his home with nothing to go and live with his uncle Laban.

There he would find the love of his dreams, her name was Rachel, she was the second-born daughter of Laban.

In order to marry her, Jacob was required to work for Laban for 7 years, taking care of Laban’s livestock.

When the 7 years were ended, Jacob was ready to marry Rachel but he was duped, instead of marrying Rachel, he was given Leah, Rachel’s elder sister.

He needed to work another 7 years to marry the Rachel he loved, he accepted.

He finally married Rachel after 14 years. All these years, 14 in total, he was working with Laban’s livestock.

When he had a few children, he decided it was time to leave with his wives and children to go back to his home.

Now, here is where it gets interesting, his rich uncle Laban requested, “If you are pleased with me, stay here a little longer, name your pay and I will give it to you”

Here is Jacob’s amazing reply, he said,

“don’t give me anything, but here is my request, I will take care of your livestock for the next few years. During this time, if a goat, or a sheep gives birth to a young one that has speckles or spots, it will be mine, if it does not have, it will be yours.” Laban agreed.

So, Jacob went to work, perhaps the 14 years of working with animals had taught him a lot about genetics.

Whenever Jacob was feeding the animals, he paired them in such a way that when the animals mated, they had a higher chance of having stripped or spotted young ones.

Within a few years, there were more animals that had stripes and spots than those that did not have, meaning that Jacob’s animals were increasing.

When Laban saw that Jacob’s animals were increasing rapidly, he changed the agreement, he said that the animals with stripes and spots would be his and the ones without would be Jacob’s.

Jacob did not protest, he went to work again, only this time he paired the animals in such a way that they were more likely to give birth to young ones without stripes or spots.

Within a short time, there was an increase in the number of animals that did not have stripes or spots.

Once again, when Laban saw this, he changed the agreement so that he can get the animals that were increasing.

This kept happening for some time, ultimately, Jacob became wealthier than Laban.

The difference between Jacob and his uncle Laban was that Jacob had invested a lot of time working with animals and knowing how things work, he gained his own understanding of Genetics.

Laban on the other hand had no idea what was happening, he didn’t have the knowledge that would lead to the results he wanted.

He was just driven by the results; he didn’t understand what it took to get those results.

Do you see what Jacob did?

• He gained the knowledge of how animals reproduce a certain kind;
• He mastered the skill over the years.
• He got to work by pairing animals for optimal results,
• and he patiently did it for more than 14 years.

The results – From nothing to being more wealth than his uncle.

Simply put

KNOWLEDGE (SKILL) + ACTION + PATIENCE = SUCCESS

That’s The Jacob’s Formula for Success.

Knowledge (Skill) – Jacob learned about Genetics for many years

Action – Jacob acted on the knowledge by pairing the animals the right way.

Patience – Jacob worked and improved his knowledge for more than 14 years.

When the time to choose his pay came, he chose the method that was the most advantageous to him, he chose a criteria where he would excel the most given his skill.

This story is from the book of Genesis in the Bible. You can read more about it in Genesis 30 and 31.

This story changed my life, it taught me that in order to succeed at something, I need more than basic knowledge. I need an in-depth understanding and a lot of practical work.

Before this, I thought I would excel by being good at anything and everything, so learned graphic design, web development, app development, game development, animations, 3D designing, cabinet fitting, drawing, volleyball, digital marketing, Data Analytics, Blogging, and more.

When I look back at what I had learned during this time, I cannot point to something tangible, I stretched myself too wide.

But in recent times, I have been able to focus solely on working with spreadsheets. In just 10 months, I have made more progress and impact than I did in the last many years.

“We can be many things, but the best is to be one thing at a time.”

If you look back at the last 5 years, is there any skill that you have mastered that you can point to proudly?

If there is, then you must be a successful already or you are just inches to achieving something great.

Think of any person you admire; you will realize that they are very good at one particular thing and they have been doing it for a lot of time.

This all seems obvious, until you realize that you are not doing the obvious.

Especially on the parts of Skill and patience, most people are in a hurry, they want to learn a skill as quickly as possible and succeed.

Unfortunately, some things take a lot of time to master, if you are not patient enough, you will give up before you see any results.

Take football for example, it may take a few training sessions before you become familiar with the game, but it will take years of practice and patience to play at a professional level.

In Jacob’s case, the goats and the sheep did not become pregnant and give birth in a day or a week, or even a month, it took time. Jacob had to endure.

Sometimes, he would get the results that he did not want, but from those results, he learned more about genetics and was able to perfect his craft.

Here is the way to go, gain the Knowledge or the skill, act on it consistently, and patiently wait for the results.

Do it again, and again, and again. It won’t be long before you have the results you desire.

Go and use the Jacob’s Formula for Success.