insakanet

Self Growth

  • Give It All You Have to Succeed in Life

    “To be a winner, you have to give it all you have.” Today is a beautiful day. Another day that the Lord has given us to conquer. 

    Do not worry about what you did not achieve yesterday, for yesterday is but history and today is a present. Start afresh and give it all you have to achieve success.

    Concentrate on what lies ahead forget yesterday’s disappoints and look forward to what lies ahead. There is more that is ahead than what lies behind. There is more to be done than what has been done.

    Today God has gifted you with another opportunity to make things right and reset your life for a better future. Today is the first day of the rest of your life.

    Things will not be easy but with God, on your side, you can do all things possible through Christ who gives your strength. God is the source of our strength.

    What you need to do is to set your sight on the task ahead and allow God to be God. He knows what lies ahead of you and what is best for you. You must develop the tenacity to trust in him who is greater than you.  

    The fact that you cannot see him does not necessarily mean that he does not exist. He lives in you. The bible says that “you are the temple of the holy spirit.”

    He is alive and has given you this day as an assurance of his existence. Therefore, today your commitment is to go out there and conquer the day.

    It may not be easy but it should be done with pride and joy. If you fail today don’t give up try again tomorrow.

    What you do now echoes in eternity. You are not only going out to create a better future for you, and your family but to help change someone else’s life. To be relevant to someone. 

    Whatever you go out to do must be in line with the principle of “do unto others what you would like them do unto you” for that is what God has commanded us to do.

    Take Joy in What You Do

    There is goodness in everything. Even in the things that seem bad, God is always telling us something. Things do not just happen by accident they happen for a reason.

    I believe that he allows certain things to happen so that we may learn from them. Our duty, therefore, as human beings is to look out for what he is trying to tell us.

    Sometimes good opportunities are presented to us when we least expect them. They are disguised in our adversities.

    Today ask that God opens your eyes and your spirit so that you are alert to what he is trying to tell you. If only you can follow his lead, life would be so much different and better.

    Many of the time we cry when calamity befalls us. We cry questioning God why me. Yes I know it hurts when calamity falls on you. But if not you then who?

    I think rather than question God, negatively, we must try to learn from what is happening to us. We must ask God to reveal to us what he is telling us to do rather than concentrate on the negatives.

    After the storm the sea is calm. If we do not learn from our experiences it is impossible to handle what is coming ahead. If you focus your mind and concentrate on the task at hand you will achieve your goals.

    Always Do the Right Thing

    “To me, a winner is someone who recognizes their God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses those skills to accomplish his goals. Even when I lost, I learned what my weaknesses were and I went out the next day to turn those weaknesses into strengths” ~ Larry Bird.

    In the quest of making it to success, always try to do the right thing. Cutting corners does not pay. Cutting corners only gives you temporary success. You just get short relief when you jump the gun.

    Soon rather than later you will spend more time correcting your lies at the expense of moving forward. You will be going backwards instead of improving on your achievements.

    I like to advise my clients especially when it comes to paying taxes. You are better off filing your tax returns and making sure you pay your taxes on time.

    Otherwise, you will spend more time correcting the situation and end up spending more money on penalties than what you would have paid if you had done the correct thing.

    Besides, doing the right thing gives you peace of mind. You can walk the streets knowing very well that you have nothing to hide. It’s only greedy politicians who do not want to leave office when their time is up.

    Those who are in business will agree with me that they do not want to mess around with the tax authorities. Many businesses have gone under due to finding themselves on the wrong side of the law. 

    Sometimes it may not look cool to do the right thing, but that’s just the correct thing to do. It may not be cool with your peers but it’s cool with God.

    Your rewards may not necessarily be visible now but in due course, you will be rewarded.

    Be Proud of What You Do

    If you are not proud of what you do for a living, I suggest you quit and find something else that you enjoy doing. Your work must be a source of happiness and you must learn to be proud of it.

    It does not matter what kind of job or work it is. If that is what you are called to do then do it with pride. We cannot all be Presidents at the same time. One has to lead the other at a particular time.

    History has taught me that those who start with humility go on to be very successful in life. 

    It is not where you are right now that determines your future. It is what you do with your current situation that propels you to your destiny.

    Success does not just come on a silver platter. If it did then we would all be successful. Realise that your current situation could be your get way to greatness. Do not despise the days of your humble beginnings.

    Be Grateful For Life

    You are alive today for a good reason. If God Almighty did not have use for you, you would not have been alive you would be dead.

    The fact that you are alive you must be grateful for it. Some people have died especially in this error of the COVID 19 pandemic we have lost many lives.

    Every day I wake up is a chance to pursue my dreams. The only way I know is to first be grateful for my life and my health and work hard towards achieving my goals.

    Look, don’t take life for granted. Someone out there is looking out for you. Show some gratitude also, by looking out for someone.

    There are many reasons for showing gratitude. Even if you are going through the roughest of times it is important to show gratitude.

    Make it a habit to show gratitude even for the smallest of things. It is just polite to say thank you when someone is serving you. Gratitude is a sign of appreciation.

    Conclusion

    Giving it all you have does not guarantee that you will succeed, however, it is the only chance you have.

  • How to Increase Your Emotional Self-Awareness

    “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wander and stand and rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed” ~ Albert Einstein.

    Emotional self-awareness is the building block of all competencies as mentioned in Daniel Goleman’s model of intelligence, published in 1995.

    Every day, that you wake up you need to recognise what you are feeling in order to move to the next competence level. Self-awareness has three skills, emotional self-awareness; accurate self-awareness, and self-confidence.

    It is very interesting to note that most of us are not very much aware of our emotions.

    When we are not aware of our feelings and emotions, and the causes of them, leading a happy and productive life is difficult if not almost impossible.

    Yes, there may be signs of success such as prestige, money, or career progression and success. But to be truly happy, we must be able to determine what really makes us feel good and what makes us feel bad.

    We cannot be truly happy and productive until we are aware of our feelings and what causes them. The knowledge of our emotional self-awareness is the driving force for our actions.

    When you develop your level of emotional self-awareness, you are able to specifically decipher how you are feeling at any given moment.

    This will help you resolve and know the basis and source of your current feelings. You will also know how your body is reacting.

    I know that becoming aware of your emotions takes practice, if you practice, the ability to note what you are feeling will increase with time.

    Checking Yourself

    The first thing to increasing your emotional self-awareness is to learn how to check yourself. To begin checking your emotions you will need to make time for doing so.

    You need to also know the different kinds of emotions or feelings. You also need to be aware that most if not all emotions are a result of external stimuli.

    Our emotions are our body’s reaction to certain conditions that we have been exposed to.

    I personally do an emotional check in the morning and late in the evening before going to bed. This is besides the monitoring as and when they occur.

    I have developed a skill to quickly monitor my body’s emotions at a particular time in a given situation. But when you first start I suggest you schedule it 3 times a day, that is morning, afternoon and evening.

    It may seem cumbersome in the initial stages but as time goes on you will realise that you will be able to call the skill anytime you feel a strong or distressing or strange feeling.

    I believe that happiness can only be achieved by identifying those feelings that make us feel happy and replacing sad feelings with happy ones.

    Here is how you can check yourself. Sit down quietly, if possible close your eyes, ask yourself the following questions and please ensure that you answer them honestly.

    Remember there is no right or wrong answer you are not competing with anyone.

    • How am I feeling?
    • What am I feeling?
    • Why am I feeling like this?
    • How long have I been feeling like this?
    • Where is the feeling manifesting itself in the body?

    Pay attention to your body language. Some stressing or strong emotions may cause symptoms such as headaches, stomachaches, and just general body aches.

    Negative emotions are a health hazard. Learning to check yourself is the key to actually knowing how to handle your emotions. Checking yourself will also give you an accurate idea of how to handle and control your emotions.

    Sometimes, especially when we are angry we tend to react on impulse. If you learn how to handle your anger you will never find yourself in a regrettable situation.

    Write Down Your Feelings

    Once you are aware of your emotions you then need to write them down. I believe there is power in writing. After you have listed them down review them.

    Investigate what triggered them. As you get better at knowing your feeling you can label them whatever you want. Know also that not all feelings are negative.

    I know for sure that most of us will not pay attention to positive feelings but it is also important to have a clear understanding of what the source for these emotions is. This knowledge will come in handy when you want to start isolating and handling your emotions correctly.

    To help with identifying the triggers of your emotions ask yourself the following questions and be sure to be very sincere with your answers.

    Remember you are not competing with anyone and that your reaction will strongly depend upon the answers to the following questions.

    • When did the feeling start?
    • What was I doing or rather what was happening when it started?
    • Has the strength of the emotion changed if so how has it changed?
    • How often has this happened

    The above questions are best answered if you have a tendency to plan your daily activities. I would encourage you to develop among other habits of planning your daily activities.

    This puts you in total control of your time management and also helps increase your emotional self-awareness. If you are in the habit of daily activity planning you may not even realise that you have your emotional self-awareness under control.

    The whole idea of writing down your emotions is to get to the root cause of the feelings. Most of the time we tend to cure the symptoms rather than cure the root cause.

    You see if you know why you are feeling a certain way it is then possible to try and resolve the cause rather than pretend it did not happen.

    Finding out the root cause of the negative feeling does not necessarily mean you are accepting it; no you are merely trying to find a better solution.

    This brings us to the importance of noting down both positive and negative emotions. If the cause is resolvable you would have also resolved the bad or negative feeling.

    Learn to detect your emotion as they happen. Most of the time, our emotions are communicating something to us. You need to take extra caution and pay attention to your emotion as they occur.

    This though does not come overnight but with gradual practice and learning to live consciously, you will be in touch with your emotions and know yourself a lot better.

    Remember that we sometimes feel more than one emotion at a time but each one of them presents information that we can learn more about ourselves.

    Personal development is achieved when we learn more about ourselves and improve on our weaknesses.

    Preparing Your Emotions

    As you continue to build on your emotional self-awareness in the present you will learn to identify the triggers or situations and circumstances that lead to certain feelings.

    Remember it is the skill of knowing what the cause is that will reveal how to handle or avert similar situations that trigger negative emotions. I know for sure that most of us would like to have only positive emotions.

    Unfortunately, this is not the case in life. Life is full of challenges that need to be overcome. It is these challenges that trigger different emotions and reactions that each and every one of us needs to be prepared for.

    Learning to prepare your emotions for an event can help boost your self-confidence among other benefits of having to control yourself better.

    If we know how to handle our emotions we certainly have a better chance of handling failure very well and moving forward. The emotion of frustration is the one driving force to failure.

    If you are doing a project that you seem not to be getting the desired results at the first few attempts, you may begin to feel frustrated.

    It the way you handle this emotion of frustration that will determine your way forward. If handled negatively you are doomed to fail but if handled positively success is in the air for you.

    There are many instances that require us to prepare our emotions for the future. A typical example is when you are going to see your boss say over a disciplinary case or in a meeting where you are called to make a presentation.

    You will need to have your emotions under control in order to achieve the desired results especially if you are in the field of marketing.

    The benefits of knowing and preparing your emotions for the future cannot be over emphasised.

    You need to learn the skill of preparing your emotional self-awareness for greater personal development.

    Self-growth requires that you have greater control of yourself and emotional self-awareness is part of the greater picture.

    Conclusion

    “Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance” ~ Brian Tracy.

    Increasing our emotional self-awareness helps us learn and know more about ourselves.

    Before I close, let me emphasise the importance to note that we can feel different emotions at the same time and even feel as if some of them are conflicting.

    But, always remember that every emotion you feel is for a reason. Success requires that you know and understand yourself very well, this starts with knowing your emotions and the causes.

  • 4 Tips for Self-Improvement

    What would you do if you are trapped in an environment that you do not want to be in?  What if you are sick and tired of your job? What if you are sick and tired of your current situation? What can you do to get out the current dilemma?

    Though not easy, it is possible to take measured, inspired and motivated actions to survive your present situation and live the life you’ve always dreamed of.

    To do this you will have to come out of your comfort zone to discover seize the potential opportunities waiting for you.  You have to conquer your fear and take calculated risks.

    You have to stay focused and persevere despite the difficulties you will encounter.

    Success does not come easy.  It takes heart, passion and time. Experience is always a good teacher and there can never be any better substitute.

    The lessons learned in your everyday life become your foundation. Self-improvement does not come without hard work and perseverance.

    You have to work harder, dig deeper, and sacrifice more to attain your ambitions. But no, you do not have to hate the world and feel bad when you encounter difficult situations. 

    Just remember the Law of Attraction. If you hate the world, the world will hate you back and so if you love the world it will love you back.

    Learn to Love Your Current Situation

    No matter how bad your current situation is, there are some good things in it. See all the positive sides of life. Be enthusiastic. Love your boss, your co-workers, your family, your friends, love whatever it is that you are currently despising. Love attracts goodness and general happiness.

    It may not be easy, but nothing is impossible with a strong will power. Just do not fall in love so much that you totally forget about your dreams. Love, but try to hold on to reality.

    Many of the times we tend to focus on the negatives in a situation. But do you know that there are also a lot of lessons to be learned in your current situation. No matter how bad it seems find the positives and concentrate your efforts on them.

    Balance is Key

    Dream and take some positive action to move you toward your goals. Take it one step at a time. One day at a time. Do not be so engrossed as to forget about other aspects of life. Learn to live a balanced life even as you embark on your journey to success.

    While you are slowly starting on the long journey to success, be patient and be as enthusiastic as possible.  Do not hurry up too much that you totally forget how to enjoy life.

    Appreciate the beautiful things you will encounter on the journey. Always remember that personal development and self-improvement is not a competition. You are not competing with anyone to succeed.

    One day, you will finally attain what you have always longed for.  But when that day comes, do not look down on those who belittled you. Forgive and forget, after all your desire is to be a better person.

    Stay Humble

    Do not criticize others when you see that you are becoming more successful than they are. Try to help them. Helping others is an act of good will. Inject your positive aura into their personalities.

    When you give, you will yield back equal or greater rewards. “It is more blessed to give” ~ the Bible. Always endeavour to give more and more. Give and never expect anything in return.

    Humbleness just like patience is a virtue. Even when you are walking in your success stay humble. I know and have seen some people that have lost their coolness after attaining their success.

    Do not think that you are the only one who can succeed instead try and help others to reach their goals if you can. Always do something that other people will appreciate. Self-improvement is all about making the world a better place by first improving yourself.

    Are You Ready to Begin the Journey?

    Start it with the courage and desire to improve your life. Survive and go through it with persistence, enthusiasm, and positive thinking. Finish it with a resounding bang of accomplishment and with the desire to help others succeed as well.

    Before you begin your journey have a written down plan for your life’s purpose. This should be a guide towards how you will live your life.

    Continue to improve on it and read it every day and believe that you have attained it. Commit your plans to God’s hands and see how wonderful and faithful he is. “

    A journey of 3000 miles begins with one step” ~ Chinese proverb.

    Conclusion

    There are many other self-improvement tips that you will get as you go on with your daily life.

    Take note that you are not alone. There are others in much more difficult situations than you are currently in. That is why there will be no shortage of advice about self-improvement.

    Remember to always stay focused and share love and be compassionate with one another.

  • The 9 Must Have Life Skills part 3

    Welcome to part 3 of “the 9 must-have life skills.”  This is the final part of the 3 series.

    Let’s start with a quick recap of the past two articles. In part one I mentioned the first three life skills namely, influencing; delegation, and persuasion.

    We went on to describe these in detail click here to read part 1.

    In part two I talked about the next three life skills namely; coaching, feedback, and conflict handling click here to read part 2.

    “A general is just as good or just as bad as the troops under his command make him” ~ General Douglas MacArthur. “A leader is a dealer in hope” ~ Napoleon Bonaparte.

    The last three life skills are the ones that expose your inner being, to the outside world.

    Remember you work from the inside out and not vice versa. You are made of what is inside you.

    You must know that all growth is from within. You cannot give out what you do not have.

    People will only judge you from what they see and how you present yourself to them.

    Presentation

    Presentation is an area that can be a challenge to many of us. We all make judgments by seeing or rather analysing the presentation by a colleague or friend.

    In my own humble definition, I regard presentation as a way of sending and receiving information in a way that makes people want to hear what you are saying or doing.

    Presentation can come in many different forms. In fact, we are always presenting ourselves on a daily basis, be it at work or to our customers, friends, spouses, children and the list is endless.

    Presentation is about getting your message across a section of society. In doing this, you should ask yourself what you want to achieve.

    A good leader should also be a good presenter and a good listener.

    If you are in leadership this is the skill that will influence your team members to appreciate or agree with your philosophies.

    The key to being a good presenter is knowing what you want to achieve.

    To effectively get your message across, it is important to consider these two perspectives;

    •  What do you want to say?
    • What is the expectation of your audience?

    Dale Canergie, once said, “there are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wished you gave.”

    As I mentioned before, the skill of presentation is mainly to deal with the public.

    The public in this instance are the people you come into contact with every day. If you want to create a lasting impression on people you need to be a good presenter.

    Facilitation

    What is facilitation? This is a life skill that is needed and mostly used in a meeting environment.

    Facilitation is the art and science of helping a group or team in their thinking, planning, and decision-making.

    Imagine the chaos and confusion there would be when you are holding a meeting without a moderator or facilitator.

    Very often we do not realise the knowledge and potential we have within a given grouping or team.

    In many cases, the insights and knowledge needed to resolve problems and or identify innovative ways forward, are just within the team.

    The skill to unlock this potential knowledge and solution in most times is found during facilitation.

    A good facilitator will strike a balance between dominant personalities and those that are less dominant.

    Facilitation mainly focuses on progress rather than arguments.

    It is very common during meetings to drift away from the point being discussed and so it is very important that the facilitator does not lose focus.

    There are 3 main elements to effective facilitation:

    • Focus on the Progress – the key to successful facilitation is to focus on the progress.  To achieve this you need to set the right tone of the meeting and ensure that the participants are motivated from the start to end. You will also need to use your feedback life skills to ensure that information is flowing smoothly and at the end of it all, a consensus has been built.
    • Interpersonal Skills – to manage progress you need not only keep things on track but, also need to use good interpersonal skills. These will include having a good command of; rapport building; effective communication verbal and non-verbal; listening actively and how you use your question technique.
    • Personal Characteristics – we all have different characteristics though I feel that the following are a must-have to achieve better facilitation; ability to learn; sensitivity; openness to change; self-awareness; friendliness and off-course some sense of humour.

    Team Meetings

    The last and final life skill set is rather not a skill but something I feel should be acquired in your life “team meetings.”

    As a leader, you will need to have regular meetings with your team or group.

    The key to an effective team meeting is to know why the meeting is being held.

    So before you call for a meeting ensure that your mind is clear and certain as to why you are calling for the meeting.

    In other words, prepare an agenda and circulate it beforehand if possible.

    I will not go into details of what a meeting should be but they could be formal or informal.

    As a leader only hold meetings when necessary. I have worked in companies where meetings are held unnecessarily.

    Meetings if not well planned for can be a share waste of company time as they take away the time for doing other duties.

    The best way is to have planned meetings with set targets. Only “bosses” call for unnecessary meetings.

    Another key factor is to call only people you think need to be present or will make a worthwhile contribution.

    You see when you call for a meeting it is your reputation at stake. Make sure you build a reputation for handling meetings very well.

    Leading team meetings effectively requires a wide range of skills.

    These skills could include the ability to focus on how the meeting is progressing and blending it with your own interpersonal life skills and characteristics.

    To achieve this you need to build your knowledge base and step out of the box.

    In fact, let’s just say remove the box altogether; think about what you are doing as a group and get a lot of practice.

    Conclusion

    I hope you have learned something from the three series I will end with a Chinese proverb ~ “Tell me and I will forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”

  • The 9 Must Have Life Skills Part 2

    Welcome to part 2 of “the 9 must have life skills.” In part 1 I talked about the first three life skills namely; the skill of influencing; the skill of delegation and the skill of persuasion.

    As mentioned in part 1 this article will be more of help to those in a leadership role.

    “Leadership does not always wear the harness of compromise” ~ Woodrow Wilson.

    In this article, we will look at the next 3 life skills. You may wonder why I call them life skills and not leadership skills, this is because we are all born leaders and we have these skills in us.[the_ad id=”72155″]

    The skills are listed randomly even though they are related.

    The Skill of Coaching

    This is perhaps one of the most critical skills to have in relation to delegation. If you are in a leadership position you will or may have delegated some work to your subordinate(s) and the most critical area is to have confidence in your colleague.

    The only way confidence can be created is by way of coaching. You will only have confidence in someone if you know that they were properly coached and more especially if the coaching was done by you.

    By definition “coaching is a process which supports people in developing their skills and achieving their skills.” The subject of coaching is a wide one that needs a dedicated article. I promise to do more research on this topic.

    There are several approaches to coaching and they all tend to be in agreement that it involves:[the_ad id=”72155″]

    • Activities to develop someone’s skills and abilities. This could be either on a one on one or group basis.
    • Developing targets that are both individual and group-oriented. This is very common in sports-related activities.
    • Focus on improving performance, this could be individual or team.

    I believe the skill of coaching is equally important even in parenting. These days our children are very clever and they need to be coached in order to get the maximum benefit from their academic work.

    The speed at which they learn is amazingly fast and as a parent, you just need to keep up with them. A good leader should be able to coach, that is imparting some of his skills to his colleagues.

    A good leader is judged by how knowledgeable and skilled his team members are. If you are a leader you will be judged by the results your team is achieving.

    Feedback

    Feedback is inter-linked with the skill of coaching. I regard feedback as a form of communication. Feedback serves two main purposes:

    • Motivation – when a team is performing well, feedback can increase confidence and encourage the team to perform at the same high or even higher level.
    • Correction – this is also true when a team is not performing at the expected level, feedback can be used to assess how to change and improve performance for the better.

    This skill (feedback) can be very critical in the following instances;

    • When providing coaching support. At this point, there is feedback from both the coach and the student. As coaching involves the setting of goals the student has to give feedback on the progress and what difficulties are being encountered. The coach also has to give feedback on the modification of the program if need be.
    • Reviewing how a delegated activity is progressing. When you delegate work there is a need for feedback from both ends to ascertain that the job is being done correctly and the person delegated has understood the instructions.
    • Conducting management reviews and appraisals. In a work environment as a leader, you will be required to conduct employment appraisals for your juniors. Appraisals are a two-way assessment. The person being assessed gives feedback to his appraiser and vice versa.
    • Handling conflict – this is discussed below.
    • Facilitating – this is also discussed in part 3.

    For feedback to be appreciated it has to be positive. The following are a few tips for ensuring positive feedback:

    • Feedback has to be specific and to the point.
    • Feedback has to be fair and sincere. This will ensure maximum or intended results to be achieved with minimum difficulty.
    • Feedback should be descriptive and focused on action and not on an individual.
    • Feedback can also be futuristic. This is especially important for corrective feedback.

    Remember that feedback is a very vital skill for both good leaders and managers.

    The Skill of Conflict Handling

    The final skill to be dealt with in this part is the skill of handling conflicts. I would be safe to assume that every one of us has had to resolve some feud of some sort. It doesn’t matter how it was resolved but it was done.

    Conflict handling is vital to all human beings whether in leadership roles or not. Yet this is one skill that many of us do not want to have or use. A good leader should know how to resolve conflicts among his team members. This is vital because unresolved conflicts can be very detrimental to the team as a whole.

    The first step in handling conflicts is to be aware of the possible reason behind the conflict. A mini investigation can be conducted to ascertain the cause. By definition, some conflicts are easier to handle than others. Some cases can be very difficult to handle that you may require a third party to help resolve them.

    Firstly you need to understand as the person in charge that conflict is not necessarily a bad thing. There are bound to be conflicts where two or more people are gathered.

    You will also appreciate that if conflicts are resolved properly they can add a lot of motivation to the group, by making the team understand each other even better.

    There are however different approaches to handling conflicts. I know for sure that most of us do not want to handle conflicts or would rather find the easy way out. Unfortunately, there is no shortcut.

    I believe that conflicts have to be faced or handled head-on. Whichever method is used please ensure that the parties involved are satisfied with the resolution. I know that it is impossible to please all but always look at the bigger picture and what is beneficial to the aggrieved parties.

    Conclusion

    I feel that the topic on coaching has not been done much justice. I will be writing a whole article on this very challenging topic so you can have an insight of what coaching is all about.

    “I believe that the mind-set that allows you to spend your working life thinking and congratulating people rather than being unpleasant to them is the mainstay of good leadership” ~ Tim Waterstone.

    The skill of coaching is a must-have for all. Look out for part 3.

  • The 9 Must Have Life Skills part 1

    “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader” ~ John Quincy Adams.

    Although there are no set standards for life skills set to have, in order to be successful, as we all have different skills set to see us through the hassle and bustles of life, there are a set of life skills that I personally feel you should acquire in order that you are distinguished from the rest.

    This set of life skills, I think is the distinction between success and failure. The skills mentioned in this article will be more useful especially to those in a leadership role.

    “I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people” ~ Mohandas Gandhi.

    The Skill of Influencing

    The first among the life skills is influence. Maybe let’s start by defining the word its self influence. Here are some dictionary definitions;

    • The ability to change someone’s views, attitude or behaviours.
    • The power of a person to have an effect on someone else resulting from ability, position, or wealth.

    If you are a leader this is one skill that you will need and use very often.

    You need to know how to communicate in a way that “gains support.” Why do you want to gain support?

    Influencing a group of people should be distinct from coercion and trickery. People do not want to be tricked or coerced.

    If you to be a good leader you will use your influencing skill to gain support from your team or group of people.

    Let the people follow you willingly and you will gain their unwavering trust even in times of difficulties.

    Influence goes hand in hand with power. As we have noted in the definition above.

    Power can be thought of in a number of ways, each relevant to the way leaders can influence others;

    • Expert power – this comes due to the knowledge one has gained
    • Personal power – this comes by way of what other people think about you. The more highly respected the more likely you are able to influence them.
    • Position power – this is gained through your position in an organization. Often times this is the most abused power function, especially in the political world.

    Influencing skills are a combination of various other skills when brought together, these can help you change someone’s views, attitude, or behaviour

    Delegation

    A good leader will always delegate some of his duties. What is delegation?

    “This is giving responsibility to someone to carry out tasks that you normally do yourself. By delegating you give, others the authority to do things, but you remain accountable and responsible for their outcome.”

    Delegation encourages; communicating what is expected and builds trust between leader and subordinates among others.

    To understand delegation you need to have honest answers to the following questions.

    • How do you give responsibility to someone else?
    • How do you ensure that they feel clear about what they are being asked to do?

    Delegation is a powerful tool. Many leaders do not understand why they should delegate. They think they lose power or authority when they have delegated their work to someone else.

    Here is why I think delegation is a great tool.

    • Delegation releases your time to concentrate on other important matters.
    • Builds the capability of others in your team. Remember that no one is indispensable. The organization has to continue growing with or without you.

    “No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit” ~ Andrew Carnegie.

    Remember always that a leader is a team player. In our society today we lack young leaders simply because there is no delegation from the top to help groom the young ones.

    Theodore Roosevelt says “the best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it”.

    Persuasion

    The final skill for this part is persuasion. “The act or process of encouraging someone to do or believe someone.” Aristotle broke down persuasion and separated it into three kinds of appeals.

    • An appeal to “ethos”  – the credible person making the persuasive argument. This may be how convinced you are by that person.
    • An appeal to “logos” – the use of logic to support a claim. How do the facts being presented add up?
    • An appeal to “pathos” – the emotional or motivational appeal.

    Being persuasive also means being able to sell a message.

    Those in the sales and marketing industry will agree with me that they use persuasion more often when trying to sell products/services, especially to potential customers.

    I love the saying by Professor Bob Sutton “argue if you are right, listen if you are wrong.”

    Many of the times we know when one has made a mistake. I think it is also very humbling to acknowledge as a leader that you made a mistake and allow your subordinates to make suggestions.

    Most of the answers we are looking for are just within our team or group. No one has a monopoly of knowledge.

    Selling a message can mean; convincing your colleagues to a certain approach or methodology; as I mentioned above with the sales guys, persuading your would be customers to buy services or products and bringing your colleagues or members of your group to agree with your ideas.

    We all have the skill of persuasion in us all it needs is to be awakened.

    The most successful leaders I have come across or read about are very persuasive. Remember persuasion can be used to influence people to do negative to society.

    I do not advocate for negativity and I encourage you to use these skills positively and help change the world into a better place for all.

    Conclusion

    I am tempted to write more in this article, I will leave it at the 3 life skills for now and will continue in the next article as  I do not wish to make this article very long.

    As you read these articles reflect on the life skills that you have acquired thus far and evaluate them if they are helping you to succeed in life.

    There is no written down formula for success and there is no prescribed life’s skill set for success these are only suggestions.

    You are the formula and you shall succeed in whatever you do.

  • The 6 Qualities for Self-Development and Improvement

    “You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude towards what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you” ~ Brian Tracy.

    We all have qualities for self-development and improvement. Everybody has it in them to develop themselves to their fullest potential, whatever they set their mind on.

    The last few months have seen me delve a little more into the subject of personal development and self-improvement. 

    This is a very wide and interesting topic that I recommend everyone to be interested in.

    If you want to achieve anything worthwhile you should be a student of personal development and self-improvement, you can never go wrong.

    During the study, I have noted that the following were the common qualities or attributes needed for self-improvement or be it personal development. 

    Yes, there are many more qualities that I came across but the most common ones are the ones that will be covered in this article. 

    Attitude

    The first quality is attitude. Let’s start by defining the word attitude, “the way a person views something or tends to behave towards it, often in an evaluative way” ~ the free dictionary. “Attitude is everything” ~ Unknown.

    The starting and ending point of all self-development is attitude. Without the right mental attitude in life, you will not achieve anything of great significance. Your attitude will largely determine the level of your achievements.

    The mind is creative, and conditions, environment and all experiences in life are the results of your habitual or predominant mental attitude. 

    Personal development and growth starts with the mind. If you have a negative perception of something most likely the negative result will be attained and vice versa. 

    This means that the attitude of the mind depends mainly on what thoughts we harbour. The thoughts we harbour have a great influence on our self-development journey.

    Man has the mental power to determine his future. They say all growth is from within. This means that all self-development comes from within. This theory is very true because you become what you think about most of the time. 

    Personal growth does not happen by chance or accident. You attract it to yourself. If you want to attain your personal development goals you must first change your thoughts and attitude towards life. 

    Having the right mentality coupled with the right attitude will surely guarantee you better results. Yes, setbacks will be encountered; the most important thing is how you react when faced with challenges.

    For all I know is that there is no success without challenges. To every successful person, there are more challenges than success. I believe that our environment reflects the conditions corresponding to the predominant mental attitude which we entertain. 

    It is the attitude of the mind toward life that determines the experiences with which we are to meet; if we expect nothing, we shall have nothing; if we demand much, we shall receive the greater portion. 

    Attitude has everything to do with the mind. We must endeavour to have the right mental attitude as an ingredient to achieving our life’s objectives.

    Faith

    What is faith? The substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen is faith.

    “Faith is like a bird that feels dawn breaking while it is still dark” ~ Scandinavian.

    The one thing that distinguishes success from failure is self-belief. In fact, the strength of your faith is the one thing that determines whether you conquer mountains or foothills. 

    It means believing in something that you cannot prove or be certain of; something that you have not seen physically. It means believing in life’s magic. 

    If you are a Christian like me the emphasis on faith in the bible is very well taught. Christianity is a faith-based religion. In this regard, religion plays a major role in helping to increase your faith. 

    One of the best ways to increase your faith is by the recognition of your spiritual nature. 

    The other best way to acquire faith is to have positive affirmations. The bible says “faith comes by hearing.” True to this statement is that you must formulate positive affirmations to encourage you achieve your intended purpose in life. 

    Replace all negative thoughts with positive ones and keep reminding yourself about them. I have some magic words that work for me. Every morning I remind myself that “I can do all things possible through Christ who strengths me.” 

    This is my magic sentence, it has done wonders for me even in the darkest of situations, I have managed to pull through. This is because I have faith that I can do all things through Christ.

    Courage

    “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged” ~ the Bible.

    It is very easy to start the process of personal development, but it is much more difficult to keep it going especially when faced with tough decisions to make. 

    The make or break of your journey to success could end if you lack enough courage to see yourself through trying times. Believe me, you will be tested and tried to your limits before you move to the next level.

    Courage is the main distinction between being successful and being a failure. The people who succeed are those that exhibit enough courage in times of difficulties and are willing to go the extra mile. 

    Those that fail have very little courage. Wisdom, strength, courage and all harmonious conditions are the results of power and we have seen that all power is from within; likewise, every lack, limitation or adverse circumstance is the result of weakness, and weakness is simply the absence of power; it comes from nowhere, it is nothing.

    The following sentence underlines the link between courage and faith.

    “You must first have the knowledge of your power; second, the courage to dare; third, the faith to do” ~ The Master Key.

    Courage can help you eliminate one of the greatest enemies to success and that is fear. If you want to eliminate fear, then concentrate on courage. 

    To achieve greater success always concentrate on the ideal as an already existing fact; this is the germ cell, the life principle which goes forth and sets in motion those causes which guide, direct and bring about the necessary relation, which eventually manifests. 

    Courage is best illustrated by the story of David and Goliath in the bible.

    “It’s not the mountain we conquer but, ourselves” ~ Sir Edmund Hilary.

    Ability

    You will have a tough time achieving your life’s intended purpose by doing something you are not gifted for. 

    Before you set out on your personal development journey, it is very important to recognise what your natural talents and gifts are. 

    Having the ability and skills to pursue your life’s intended purpose using your natural gifts is much easier and more enjoyable. 

    It is of no use running a pig farm badly and only to realise that you should have been a footballer after thirty years. By that time pigs would have been your style.

    The ability to produce is found to be the real source of wealth for the individual. It is for this reason that he who has his heart in his work is certain to meet with unbounded success. 

    He will give and continually give; and the more he gives, the more he will receive. We as human beings are related to the creative principle by our ability to think. It is this ability we must acquire in order that we pursue our self-development goals.

    Action

    Action is perhaps the most important of all qualities. We can acquire all the knowledge and have all the best plans but without putting them into action nothing would have been achieved. 

    They say the richest place on earth is the graveyard. This is a place where you find plans that have never been put to the test, songs that have never been sung, discoveries that have never been unveiled and many more things that would have benefited the human race.

    Do not deny the human race of what GOD has put in you. It is not for you alone but to be shared and enjoyed by us all. Remember we are all part of one big family and if we all play our part, surely the world would be a better place. 

    Whatever plans that you have for your life please ensure that you start acting on them now even before you are very sure of what they are. The picture will become clearer as you go ahead and continuously act on your plans. 

    Imagine how the world have been if the discoverer of the internet had not acted on his plans. We would have been denied the pleasure of communication and possibly you would not have read this article through this medium. But alas they acted and today the internet is a big medium for communication.

    Action is the soul of any business and the cornerstone for prosperity. Action is the only process that brings about results. 

    Opportunity follows perception, action follows inspiration, growth follows knowledge, and eminence follows progress. Necessities are demands, and demands create action, and actions bring about results.

    If you want to see results begin to take action and you will see them. Without action faith is dead. 

    Perseverance

    “All endeavour calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil. In the fight to the finish, spirit is the one characteristic we must possess if we are to face the future as finishers” ~ Henry David Thoreau.

    There is no success without perseverance. All successful people will attest to the fact that they persevered before reaching their life’s purposes. 

    Let us take the example of education. If you set out to have good grades or good results at school you will agree with me that you may need to put in extra for the results to show.

    Perseverance and endurance cannot be avoided in your quest for personal development.

    Whatever you set out to achieve if you are not prepared to persevere you are most likely to fail measurably. Perseverance is the ability to continue moving on even when the odds are against you.

    “Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance” ~ Samuel Johnson.

    Napoleon Hill in his famous book “Think and Grow Rich” says “perseverance and persistence are essential factors in the procedure of transmuting desire into its monetary equivalent.”

    Conclusion

    There is a close connection between perseverance and faith. As you have seen we achieve our self-development through faith and perseverance. In the same way, you can only develop faith through perseverance. 

    I have also noticed that faith can be induced into our minds. The more you believe in something the more faith you develop. Remember faith is a very critical ingredient to personal development so please have faith in what you are doing.

  • 7 Tips for Self-Improvement and Success

    “All the evidence that we have indicates that it is reasonable to assume in practically every human being, and certainly in almost every newborn baby, that there is an active will toward health, an impulse towards growth, or towards the actualization” ~ Abraham Maslow.

    Life naturally dictates that we move from point A to point B and to point C. None of us will remain at the same point or place whether by choice or not. It is therefore in our nature that we seek self-improvement in our daily lives.

    Yes, we all grow as nature dictates, the difference, however, is growth that benefits not only you as an individual but society at large.

    Self-improvement and success does not come easily; it comes with hard work and perseverance. It takes time to build and nurture the right mental attitude and character to achieve self-improvement.

    There can never be self-improvement without personal growth. You see personal growth follows knowledge; action follows inspiration; opportunity follows perception.

    The distinction between success and failure lies in what kind of growth one has attained. To achieve better personal development and success we must strive to improve ourselves holistically.

    So what does it take to be a cut above the rest? I have drawn below a list of tips that have been very beneficial to me as I walk on my success journey. These tips can be practised one per week in order to get maximum benefits.

    Write Down Your Intended Life’s Purpose

    Many people fail because of a lack of a well-defined purpose in life. The first and foremost important tip is having a written down life’s intended purpose.

    Before you even begin on your journey of personal development it is very important to know what you want to achieve with your life. There is no hope of success for the person who does not have a central purpose or definite goal at to aim at.

    If you are wandering through life with little or no direction – hoping that you’ll find happiness, health, and prosperity; identify your life’s purpose or mission statement and write it down, as this will give you your own unique compass that will lead you to your north every time.

    This may seem tricky at first when you see yourself to be in a tight or even dead end. But there’s always that little loophole to turn things around and you can make a big difference for yourself.

    Having a written down life’s intended purpose really takes out a lot of excess baggage and makes you focus on what you want to achieve. Just imagine how light you will be when you have your life’s goals in your hands.

    This is the beginning of your self-improvement and personal success journey. Your life’s purpose gives you a measure and direction of your achievements otherwise you will have no yardstick to measure your success.

    It is therefore important that you invest time researching your persona; knowing your weaknesses and strengths; knowing what flows naturally from you. Remember that we were all created with unique talents for the benefit of all humanity, not just you but for all.

    Know Your Values

    The second on the list of tips is about knowing your values. I am sure that we all have values it is just a question of having the right ones. What do you value most?

    You will realise that as you list down your values they will be closely related to your life’s purpose. Make a list of your top 5 values these should be the ones that come to your mind right away.

    Some examples are security both financial and personal, freedom, family, spiritual development, and learning and peace. Check your goals against your values. If the goal doesn’t align with any of your top five values you may want to reconsider it or revise it.

    Your values will mainly consist of your strengths and weaknesses. This might be the right list to use when deriving your life’s purpose. The values we have are a direct reflection of our inner self.

    Remember you are what you think and your thoughts form your character. The qualities of your values are mainly determined by what you feed your mind on. In essence, your thoughts have a direct bearing on your values.

    In order to enhance your self-improvement process, I encourage you to feed your mind with the right stuff. I have always said that one of the best ways to renew your mind is by reading,  listening and watching. Ensure that you acquire as much knowledge as you possibly can and most importantly take action.

    Knowledge increases your personal self-improvement rate. Remember that your value is established entirely by your ability to render useful service or your capacity to induce others to render such service.

    In relation to establishing what you value most do not forget to attach value to your personal skillset with respect to your life’s purpose.

    Know Your Needs

    The next tip is about knowing your needs. We all have needs and these have to be met. Unmet needs can keep you from living authentically.

    Take care of yourself. Do you have a need to be acknowledged, to be right, to be in control, to be loved? There are so many people who live their lives without realizing their dreams and most of them end up being stressed or even depressed for that matter.

    List your top four needs and get them met before it’s too late! They say necessity is the mother of all inventions.

    It’s very important to differentiate between your ‘wants from your needs. Having needs does not mean they are all important.

    We, humans, have a lot of unnecessary ‘wants’ that we think are needs. Some needs are a waste of resources. You should be able to categorise your needs into necessities and non-necessities.

    I will give you an example of owning a car, yes a car is a necessity but, what type of car meets your needs? Such reasoning will help you make the right decisions as you strive to reach your personal goals.

    As you walk the journey of self-improvement there will always going to be challenges that will come your way in the form of “wants.” The body may want something that may not necessarily add value to your progress.

    Know Your Passions?

    We all have passions, don’t we? The next tip is about knowing your passions. Knowing your passions is key to determining what you want to achieve in life.

    Do you know who you are and what you truly enjoy in life? The answer to this question might just be what your intended purpose in life is.

    Review it and compare it with what you have written down as your intended life’s purpose. Obstacles like doubt and lack of enthusiasm will only hinder you, but will not derail your chance to become the person you ought to be.

    Express yourself and honour the people who have inspired you to become the very person you want to be.

    You see having a clear mind about your passions and synchronising them with your life’s purpose makes your work easier and more enjoyable.

    Self-improvement is not a punishment it is about living life the way you want it. I always advise people to make their passions a career.

    If you intend to be successful in business make sure your business is around your passion. This way you will be doing what makes you happy every day and earning a living from it.

    Live From the Inside Out

    There is a world within which is governed by the mind and the world without which is the reflection of the world within.

    Increase your awareness of your inner wisdom by regularly reflecting in silence. Learn to commune with nature. Breathe deeply to quiet your distracted mind.

    The bible says “as a man thinketh so is he in his heart.” Your character and habits are a true reflection of what your world within is about.

    What appears without is what has been found within. In the world within may be found infinite Wisdom, infinite Power, and infinite Supply of all that is necessary, waiting for unfoldment, development, and expression.

    Therefore, it is very important that the world within is fed the right stuff. Remember we said that this world within is governed by the mind.

    Your mind is therefore your greatest asset. Learn to safeguard it. One of the best ways you can help safeguard your mind and enhance your self-improvement skills is by reading motivational books and thinking positively.

    Explore Your Strengths

    Remember I talked about knowing your weaknesses and strengths when writing your life’s purpose? Well, it is now time for me to pay special attention to your strengths.

    What are your positive traits? What unique talents do you have? List three – if you get stuck, ask those closest to you to help identify these.

    Are you imaginative, witty, and good with your hands? Find ways to express your authentic self through your strengths. You can increase your self-confidence when you share what you know with others.

    Your strengths are your weapon for self-improvement. Work to sharpen them on a regular basis. This does not mean you neglect your weaknesses.

    These too need attention. Remember you are improving yourself holistically. The benefits of improving your weaknesses are immeasurable.

    Always find new ways to explore your strengths and put them to good use. Personal development is about achieving your goals and learning to share them.

    The only way you can improve your skillset is by exploring your strengths.

    Service to Humanity is Key

    Service service service. We were created to serve each other. There is no greater satisfaction than serving others. When you live authentically, you may find that you develop an interconnected sense of being.

    When you are true to who you are, living your purpose, and giving of your talents to the world around you, you give back in service what you came to share with others.

    The rewards for sharing your gift with those close to you is indeed rewarding, much more if it were to be the eyes of a stranger who can appreciate what you have done to them.

    All these inventions and technological advancements we are experiencing today are intended to serve humanity.

    People must learn to appreciate helping others before themselves and this begins with you and I taking the first step.

    “Be the change you want to see in the world” ~ Mahatma Gandhi.

    Conclusion

    Self-improvement is indeed one type of work that is worth it. It shouldn’t always be within the confines of an office building, or maybe in the four corners of your own room.

    The difference lies within ourselves and how much we want to change for the better. As we take our journey of personal development success let us endeavour to learn to serve one another for the betterment of our planet.

    Remember we only have one home and it is our responsibility to make it a better place for all humanity.

  • Goals and Goal Setting

    “In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.” ~ Unknown.

    Goal setting is the one activity that sets apart achievers from those who are surviving or just getting by.

    By setting goals, we are enabled to create the future we want to happen rather than live the future that others want to happen.

    Goal setting enables us to take greater charge of our daily lives.

    In this article, I outline some of the ways to help set realistic and achievable goals.

    Know Your Strengths

    You can base your goals on anything you want, although the chances of your success are significantly increased if firstly you base them on your strengths and secondly on the opportunities in the field you are currently undertaking.

    It is very important to know your strengths and weakness before undertaking any goal-setting venture as this will help you decide what flows naturally from within you.

    Do some self-research such as personal SWOT analysis, Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. When conducting personal research note the following:-

    • Your strengths are the things you are good at and enjoy doing. Using your strengths for goal setting will usually provide some sort of motivation as you go on.
    • Weaknesses are the things you have to do, but these are things you dislike or make slow progress at them.
    • Opportunities are the external circumstances you expect to arise, create or already exist and expect them to aid you in moving towards your set goals.
    • Threats are those external circumstances that are very unlikely to help you move forward and would probably set you backwards.

    Whilst we must keep on working to improve our weaknesses and keep a close eye on the threats it is very important that our goal setting should be based on our strengths and opportunities.

    Keep Your Dreams Alive

    “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt.

    The greatest achievement was, at first, and for a time, but a dream.

    You must realise that all who have achieved great success first did a certain amount of dreaming, hoping, wishing, DESIRING, and PLANNING before they succeeded. 

    You may as well know, also that every great leader, from the dawn of civilization down to the present, was and is, a dreamer.

    One of the factors that restrict many people from reaching their full potential is the belief that we should not aim for big dreams.

    Yet all evidence for most successful people is that they have kept their big dreams alive and have fully pursued them without giving up. It is very important to keep your dreams alive and to pursue them without giving up.

    I have learnt to break down my dreams into smaller achievable goals and to always make changes that improve my chances of achieving them.

    Remember that big dreams come with greater responsibility and that “big goals attract big resources like a magnet.” Having dreams makes my life more interesting to live.

    Yes, sometimes days do not turn out as planned but what is life without challenges? I do not give up just because the day has not turned out as hoped for, but rather I focus on the positive things that come my way.

    Abraham Lincoln dreamed of freedom for the black slaves, he kept his dream alive and put it into action, and barely missed living to see a United North and South translate his dream into reality.

    That is how important it is to keep your dreams alive and acting on them.

    Write Down Your Goals

    The best way to keep your dreams alive is to write them down and read them every often to constantly remind you of the bigger picture.

    There is something different when you write down your dreams as opposed to just keeping them in your head. DO NOT depend on your memory alone.

    I have a notebook that has all the dreams I intend to achieve; this is like the blueprint of my life. Written goals have a way of transforming wishes into wants, can’ts into cans, dreams into plans and plans into reality.

    The act of writing clarifies your goals and helps you keep a record of your dreams and goals. Writing down your dreams acts as a commitment to your goals. This will eventually aid you when you are doing your daily goal setting activities as these will be tailored to the overall bigger picture.

    You can also add reasons to your written down goals so as to give you motivation and help check your progress on a regular basis. So don’t just think it INK IT. One of the best aid I have discovered is the habit of daily goal setting.

    Pursuing Your Goals with Passion and Desire

    The driving force behind your goal achievement is your passion and desire.

    You must desire your goals constantly, vividly and with a burning passion, knowing that you have already achieved them and are now working towards realising them.

    When you do, it is almost impossibly to fail at what you are aiming for.

    The importance of pursuing our goals with passion cannot be overemphasised that is, why it is most wise and very cardinal that we set our goals based on our strengths and what we enjoy doing.

    Napoleon Hill in his book Think and Grow Rich says that “when a man really DESIRES a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win.”

    Conclusion

    Goal setting is central to maximising and realising our potential because it enables us to create something unique and new in our lives, it also allows us to feed our goal-oriented brain and puts us in control of our future.

    Set your goals as big as you can this will help challenge and stretch your capacity and ability.

    There are many ways that can be used to help with goal setting the above are just but some of the ways I have personally devised to help me in my endeavours.

    Remember to also build your goals around your strengths and the things that you enjoy doing.

  • Start With What You Have

    Everything that you want to be or achieve in life, begins with what you have. You cannot give what you do not have.

    “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put foundations under them” – Henry David Thoreau.

    The biggest challenge the average person has is starting with what they have. Most of the time we want to wait until we have accumulated a certain amount of money before we invest in an idea; we want to wait until we start earning a certain amount of money before we can start saving.

    But here is the thing, distractions will always be there. Worse still the opportunity may just pass you by.

    Yes, you may not succeed on the first attempt. But the experience, you will have gained is very valuable for your next project or idea.

    Most people who succeed start with the little they have and grow their resources as they progress. In fact, some of the people that have gone on to be successful started with nothing.

    If you want to start a business, resources do not necessarily mean finances. Resources could just be the skills you have or even the idea you are harbouring.

    One of the biggest resources that is overlooked by start-up entrepreneurs’  is human capital.

    Most of the time we always want to justify our fears. We are scared of failure; embarrassment and rejection.

    Justifying our fears is having a poverty mentality. Yes, I call it justifying, our poverty mentality because this is most common among poor people.

    I cannot start this business because its time consuming; who says being in business does not require your time? Stop giving excuses and get on with your life.

    Success is time consuming. A business needs all your time especially when starting out.

    Just Get Started

    The company Nike has a very good motto that I like so much “just do it.”  Stop justifying your poverty mentality and get started with whatever, that is what you want to achieve.

    Look, before starting this website, I had so many excuses. What will people think about me; I am not sure if I can generate enough writing ideas, were some of the lame excuses I was giving.

    Well, a few years down the line am still writing. This site has over 120 original articles published with an average of about 1000 words per posting.

    I now have even discovered more ways to keep generating new ideas. Yes, am aware that for now this site may not be as popular as I would want, but slowly and with time it will achieve the intended goals.

    When you start, things begin to fall in place. Your mind begins to direct you in a certain way. By doing what you love every day, you attract the right resources.

    It is entirely up to you to harness them. It is the beginning that is always difficult, but as you go on you grow in confidence. As you grow in confidence, you grow in stature and this gives you even more confidence. Do not be afraid to change your methods.

    With every article, I publish my confidence is growing and I believe that even my writing skills are being sharpened. My thinking is much more clearer and my plans for this website are even more refined and clearer. Developing ideas has become even more easier than before.

    Today as I write this article I have more than 20 ideas that need to be actualised.

    Every day, I keep adding to this list. My ideas are ahead of my writing skills and ability. It was not like this, a few years ago when I was starting this website. It was a struggle and even when ideas would pop up writing them was still a challenge. But, over time writing has become more easier.

    One Day You Will be Proud

    Sometimes it seems not fashionable to start small.  The bible says do not despise the days of your humble beginnings. We only admire business empire’s when they are big.

    When they become household names. Yet, we forget that Rome was not built in one day. These same big corporations that are now flourishing started small.

    Some of them started in backyards and garages. Alas, the owners are now proud when they sit back and look at how far they have come.

    It takes time and hard work to build something worthwhile. Imagine the joy you get when you see something of your creation flourishing.

    I cannot wait to see this site grow to those levels. Am still very proud of it and proud of myself. For now, my job is to continue doing what am currently doing.

    Improve on Your Skills Set

    Once you start and get going with whatever, you intend to do, make time to improve your skillset. This is important. Devote your time and energy to ensure that you achieve your dreams.

    If your intention is financial freedom, improve your financial management skills. If it means taking further education just do it. With the advent of the internet and advancement in technology, education today has become more accessible than ever before.

    Improving your skillset could be the difference between earning more income and moving up the ladder quickly. Now, improving your skillset does not necessarily mean acquiring formal education.

    I know that it is important to be formally educated. But you can improve your skillset in many ways. You could find materials such as books, audios, and videos on the internet.

    Currently am reading materials on how to improve my writing skills am not formally enrolled in any college or university.

    It is safe for me to say am getting an education. I know for sure that reading more will enhance my writing skills and of course this will have more benefits for my readers.

    The sharper my skill set the more quality articles I generate. This obviously translates to enjoying my life even more.

    Conclusion

    “You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you” – Brian Tracy.

    Successful people start with what they have. They do not wait for the so-called right time. They strike when the iron is still hot. I guess the right time to take your first step is now. You never know what the morrow will bring forth.

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