What’s Your God Strategy?

Everything that we have to accomplish has a strategy. To achieve profitability we cut costs and try and increase revenues. To get effective brand communication we focus on our brand’s USP or create an emotional differentiator.

All this is at a company level. On a personal level we have our strategies too. To keep our team bonded we give empowerment. To further our prospects up the corporate ladder we do an evening MBA.

And this is because we know that you can’t achieve any target with a clear strategy.

Now, what’s your God strategy?

First I should clarify. Here I’m not speaking of God as in Hinduism, Christianity or Islam. That’s religion.

No, I’m speaking of spirituality here. Of a higher power, regardless of our faith. What is your strategy to get to Him or Her or It? Surely, we know how tough a target this is. And we know that no tough target can be accomplished by casual effort — a strategy is needed.

We also know how important it is. A connect with a superior power gives us strength, belief and balance. And this strength, belief, balance can help make you more successful than any MBA or Leadership course.

So, a quick look at alternate strategies then. As usual there is a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C and Plan D.

Plan A is the simplest. Atheism. To simply not believe there is a God or any kind of higher power. We were born when a sperm struck up a conversation with an egg and we will switch off when the lights are put out. No past life. No after life. No one looking from up there. When you go by plan A then you can focus wholly and solely on the pursuit of wealth and power and success. Some would have a morality compass but others may not. After all, as Richard Dawkins says, ‘If there is no God, what’s the need to be good.’

Plan B is Belief. It is to believe very strongly and totally in an absolute power and the conviction that this belief will be your salvation. This faith is sometimes supported by prayers to strengthen your resolve, and as the years go by, a stronger and stronger mental focus on this power. It is often supplemented by a weekly visit to the temple, mosque or church. In office it is reflected in little statues on your desk and symbolic screen savers.

Plan C is unusual. It’s Compassion. This is one of the strong tenets of Buddhism but also the philosophy of every saint or prophet from Jesus to Mohammed to Mother Teresa. The strategy here is that if you can learn to care for the universe and feel more and more strongly for those who suffer, your problems become less and less, and you are able to ascend to higher levels of spirituality. Unfortunately, in the work rat race where you feed and succeed by exploiting other people’s weaknesses, this is not so easy to follow!

Plan D is what I try and follow. Divine Oneness. Let me put this to you logically. Without white there can’t be black. Without cold, there can’t be hot. So now look around you. What’s there? People, animals, roads, stars, planets, plants, seas, galaxies. In one word — Everything!

Which means that at one time there must have been Nothing. Pause and think about it. Now here is the question?

What made Nothing into Everything? What energy? What force? What power?

In my strategic framework that is God.

So how do you find God?

You don’t have to. He or she is in you, around you, has created you, and will take you in when your time is done.

So you don’t need to find God.

He is you. You are him.

So the strategy is not one of search.

But of realisation.