2013 in Retrospect : Taking stock and gaining wisdom part 1

Today as per my custom, i am starting a series that takes into account a review of my year and the lessons i picked up. So join me and lets get some wisdom.

The year started off as usual and i decided that, unless i actually put into practice what i already knew from reading about great achievers and successful people, it would not suffice or amount to anything. So i wrote out my life mission statement and mapped out my goals for the year to fall in tandem with it. What i realized was that, most people fail to achieve their goals for any given year because;

1. They do not reconcile their goals or resolutions with their life mission
Anything that does not align with your core nature and competencies will eventually become a pretense and quickly lose all attraction or commitment.  That is why it is extremely essential to identify, develop and write out your own personal life mission statement. If you don't know how to do this, consult someone who does.


2. They do not put these goals into writing
Goals or resolutions that are not written down remain day dreams and empty wishes. There is a phenomenon of commitment that occurs when you actually take time formulate your goals into words and put them on paper. Writing down your goals might not automatically result in you doing something about them, but not writing makes it even less likely that you will even recall them.

3. They do not set REALISTIC goals.
This is where the conflict between ambition and practicality occurs. Mind you, realistic does not in any way mean average, mediocre, small or playing it safe. Not at all. It means setting goals that are not exaggerated due to a momentary feeling of inspiration without an analysis of its viability, validity and possibility. I will hesitate to give any guidelines as to what realistic means here, but i will advise that any goal you set should be thoroughly evaluated in a sober mood before putting it into writing.

4. They do not become accountable to vision partners
A vision partner is someone who holds you accountable for your goals and resolutions. He checks up, monitors and encourages you to accomplish your goals. He is your success supervisor and coach. Without a vision partners it becomes simply too easy to renegade on your goals.

5. They fail to initiate action as soon as possible
The inertia of average and failure increases with time. The longer you wait to take action on your goals, the harder it becomes to accomplish them. Passion and motivation are perishable commodities and they do not stick around for long. So instead of taking your time to get all your ducks in a row, get up and take action immediately. Break inertia and develop momentum that will enable you to have a fulfilling year.

to be continued.......

SMART MONEY

Smart Money is not a how to get rich quick pill, it is a presentation of simple workable guidelines towards becoming financially smart. It is meticulous, methodical and offers easy steps to taking charge of your life and making the best of it. In this book, you are taught how to make money from simple basic ideas, how to save the money you make with essential lifestyle changes and how to grow your money.

In a remarkably practical and straight to the point style, the book takes you through these steps and leaves you equipped and energized to take responsibility of your finances.

In SMART MONEY you learn;

1. How to prepare a simple and efficient budget to manage your expenses

2. Lifestyle changes to adapt to bring your spending under control and improve on your savings

3. Ways to make extra income whiles maintaining your normal job.

4. Practical steps to grow and multiply your money.

A must read for everyone who desires financial freedom.

Dr. Samuel Tinagyei - SMART MONEY skills

For smart women and the men who love them

A virtuous woman who can find? Her worth is far more than rubies and precious stones. Why is this so? I believe a virtuous woman is also a smart woman. Along the years I have had amazing encounters with various smart women and their positive influence in my life cannot be over emphasized. Below are a few virtues I believe every smart woman possesses.

Kindness

Kindness is perhaps the most revealing virtue that separates smart women from the others. Kindness is the act or the state of being kind, being marked by good and charitable behavior, pleasant disposition, and concern for others. Smart women are completely imbued with the desire to be of service to others. They understand that kindness is a reflection of a gentle and loving spirit and hence strive to be kind everywhere and to everyone. Kindness not just in acts, but in demeanor, speech and thought most especially the ability to be considerate in their utterances even when angry or upset. Kindness is a precious virtue and smart women know this.

Honesty

Honesty refers to a facet of moral character and connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness and straightforwardness along with the absence of lying, cheating or theft. Honest women are smart women. They are the precious jewels of society, the amazing repositories of responsibility in their families and the pillars of love in the world. Honesty is always the best policy and smart women strive for complete honesty. They are honest in their marriages, relationships, business and conduct.  They believe that dishonesty connotes utter disrespect and disregard for the feelings of others and thus loss trust is the most likely result of unfaithfulness. They make it a point to prevent that by being honest.

Vision

Just as much as a visionless man is not smart, a visionless woman is perhaps as dangerous as an open flame at a fuel station. As a partner in a marriage, a mother and wife in a home and as a business person and member of the society, a clear cut vision can not be overemphasized.  Smart women are visionary women. They organize their life, set productive goals and work towards achieving them. They make sure they do not become a burden or dependent on anyone. They like to bring something to the table. Smart women understand the transforming ability of having a vision and adding value to one’s life and hence they commit themselves to progressive self-development.

 Productivity

To be productive is to combine efficiency with effectiveness. A smart woman knows that productivity is indispensable if she is to build a successful career, marriage and home. Frugality, innovation, practicality and resourcefulness are the ingredients of productivity. Being productive is refreshing and reassuring. It ensures that all wastes and unnecessary frivolity are minimized or completely avoided.

Friends, these virtues are in no way exhaustive. They are just a few of the many characteristics I believe a smart woman possesses. I hope they are as instructive and useful to you as they are to me.

Managing Stress.

Stress is a dangerous element. It could either completely paralyze you or help you to meet a deadline. Is it completely negative or positive? How can you manage stress so it does not destroy your health, progress or success.
Download today's free resource by clicking the link below and learn how to manage the stress in your life.
Enjoy and share.

http://rapidshare.com/files/3030297439/managing-stress.pdf

Maximizing your potential.

 Ever felt that, you didn't have what it takes to make any meaningful impact? Have you ever felt crippled by a lack of training to expand and develop your potential. Well, download the book below and get some wisdom. You can subscribe to this blog my email to get quick updates and posts. Leave a comment and share with a friend.

http://rapidshare.com/files/3427609184/maximising-your-potential.pdf

Complete Secrets to Success! How bad do you want it?

The Big Rocks

Developing an entrepreneurial mindset

Guess what? the government is broke! Yes! Completely broke. The only way you are assured of financial security and independence is through entrepreneurship. What does it take then? A mindset and not just any mindset, an entrepreneurial mindset. This is a little resource to help you out.

http://rapidshare.com/files/1554577743/creating-an-entrepreneurial-mindset.pdf

My point of view, your viewpoint!

How then do you assume that something can or cannot happen? If perception is but as a result of raw data influenced upon by existing standards, experiences and prejudices, how can you say for certain something is possible or not? Many have sought to teach, preach and project certain personal development and positive mentality mantras along the years all with varied results. Some advise that, to experience positive results all you need to do is repeat certain lofty statements of affirmation and like magic, your life will suddenly become better. Some insist on thinking about fantastic ideas and living as if you already have the success and just like clockwork, they will appear. I do not need to tell you the results of these various philosophies of success; you are familiar with them already. My point really is, how something appears to you may not exactly be the way it actually is. It is literally based on what you “think” it is and this is also influenced by your experiences, standards and biases.

"My point really is, how something appears to you may not exactly be the way it actually is."

Another very important factor is also the position from which you happen to perceive a particular event or occurrence. This is what I call your “point of view”. Depending on where you happen to “see” an event, your perception of it is different from someone else who stood at a different location. In effect your view point or your understanding of an event is a combination of your location (point of view), your experiences, standards and biases. So what you “think” you see may not really be what actually is there. To some this truth may be very upsetting, but to me, this is completely amazing.

What I mean is, you could gain tremendous faith and optimism in every endeavor you embark on regardless of the mitigating circumstances by changing your point of view and hence your whole perception of the stumbling blocks. You could literally say unto the mountain, move into the ocean of nothingness and it shall move. What you will discover then is that, “it is all in the mind”! 

Changing the position from which you look at an occurrence can completely change the way you see it. Have you seen the view of skyscrapers from an airplane before? They appear as tiny boxes and shapes.  What therefore really happens is that, from an elevated position, even mountains appear as molehills! Regardless of how intimidating or stupendous an obstacle appears, from an elevated position it is not as big as you thought it was. You need to move to a higher level of thinking. An elevated position of reasoning, creativity and faith.

Albert Einstein said “We cannot solve our problems by being on the same level of thinking we were, when we created them. We must move higher.”

The higher you can climb above your present circumstances the smaller the obstacles become. Mind you, I am not suggesting any ridiculous unrealistic naivety and cluelessness towards life. I am speaking about being proactive, creative and unlimited in your thinking. The most amazing of all inventions, ideas and achievements in this world were achieved by people who saw a problem, changed their perception and point of view and managed to create solutions to them. Your worth is determined by the solutions you can provide to various problems. Your wealth is determined by your worth. So in effect, your ability to get wealth is directly proportional to your ability to solve problems! The bigger the problem and the more people are affected by the problem, the greater the reward and the higher your worth becomes when you provide a solution. You can however never solve any problem if you remain at the same level of thinking you were when you encountered them.

"The higher you can climb above our present circumstances the smaller the obstacles become."

Change your location (point of view), and you can change your view point of any event that occurs in your life. Never believe everything you see. Problems are cunning, they appear as mountains. Do not be deceived. They are just molehills. Go higher; you will see I tell the truth.

Procrastination pdf

Too many times we waste time and wonder how come our lives are not as smooth or comfortable as we want. We keep putting things off till we eventually suffer its consequences. What is procrastination and how can you over come it? Just click on the link below and download the free ebook on procrastination. Have fun.

http://rapidshare.com/files/1148182287/procrastination.pdf

Jim Rohn-The law of average

Emotional Intelligence pdf

Ever heard of the concept of multiple intelligence? How about emotional intelligence. Why do some people with superior academic intelligence still flunk at work, in business and even in life? Well, the answer is emotional intelligence. Click the link below to download and enjoy.

http://rapidshare.com/files/366625176/emotional-intelligence.pdf

Enjoy it and share it.

Made in His image and Likeness

"Let us make man in our own image and likeness and let him have dominion over all the creatures of the earth, the birds in the sky and all the creatures in the sea". This is the call that went forth before man, the star of God's creation, was made. He was molded, crafted and breathed into by the almighty. The Bible says, male and female created He them. In his image and likeness. In effect the creature called man, was made to reflect the nature of God. The image of an object possesses certain characteristics that is inherent in the original object.

  "In effect, man is like God but man is not God."

At this point it is extremely essential to understand that, an image cannot have exactly the same characteristics like the original. There may be similarities concerning certain things, but the image is not exactly the same as the object. In effect, man is like God but man is not God. I have been studying a lot about the nature of God and which characteristics are expressly represented in man and i want to handle three very interesting ones. The first is


1. Omnipotence
Omnipotence is the ability of God to be all powerful. This means he is completely and ultimately capable of all things He sets out to do.What does this say about man. That all things are possible to them that believe. Man has been given power, ability. wisdom that makes him capable of all things he set his mind on. For as long as there is a dream and a will, there is always a way to accomplish it.The ability of man to do all things he set his mind on, within reason, is the express reflection of the Omnipotence of God.

2. Omniscience
Omniscience is God's ability to know all things. Now here is where the similarities change a little. As reflected in man, omniscience is the ability of man to know as much about anything he sets his mind on. The ability of the mind to acquire knowledge on any subject is phenomenal. For as long as man commits himself to seeking excellence in any particular field or endeavor, he is practically unstoppable. Omniscience as represented in man is about attaining authority in every field of knowledge or skill.

3. Omnipresence
Omnipresence is the ability of God to be anywhere and everywhere at all times. Now this is where it gets really tricky. Man obviously cannot be at everywhere at the same time, but he can be comfortable at anyplace and at every time. This is commonly called versatility. The ability to blend in, take control and dominate your environment regardless of where and at what time.

Expressing the image of God means exhibiting these characteristics as they pertain in the realm of man.

"A seed does not struggle to be a tree, neither does a cub struggle to be a lion." 

His ability to achieve goals, his ability to acquire knowledge and finally, his ability to effuse confidence and authority everywhere he goes. Remember these are innate abilities and you should not struggle to express them. A seed does not struggle to be a tree, neither does a cub struggle to be a lion. You should not struggle to be in the image and likeness of God.

Only but for a short while

“Push, puuush, come on, push, just one more” these are the words you hear at the labor ward as a woman goes into labor to birth a new life into the world. After going through nine months of discomfort, nausea and sometimes pain, then comes the moment of truth; the time when her water breaks and she goes into contractions and then labor. Throughout these trying moments there is only one thought in the mind of the would be mother; the first cry and the feel of her baby in her arms. She focuses so intently on this vision that even the nausea of pregnancy and the pain of labor do not diminish her desire for children. She realizes that, the pain and discomfort is but for only a short while, the joy that comes after is forever. It does not mean she disregards or takes the pain for granted, not at all. It just means she keeps her mind on the goal and that gives her enough strength to go through the process.

When you go to a gym or aerobics center, most of the time you will see an inscription that says “no pain, no gain”. You would think this is a put off or a discouragement but in reality it is actually a word of inspiration. Without the tenacity to endure the pain of the process, there is no way you can enjoy the gain and joy of the results. So the most critical moments for any proper commitment to a gym membership or an exercise regimen are the first few weeks of warm up. The moment when pain sets in and all muscles are filled with lactic acid. The time when even a basic movement like sitting or laughing becomes a headache. This is when the importance of that inscription is noticed. Will you bear the pain and receive the gain, or will you quit and stay out of shape? Gym instructors and experienced people will tell you that, the pain is but for only a short while, but the results of well sculpted muscles, a healthy heart and a refreshed mind are forever. 

"Will you bear the pain and receive the gain, or will you quit and stay out of shape?"

Anyone who runs, jogs or walks several kilometers in the mornings or evenings knows there is a point where the body threatens to give out in pain or crumble from fatigue in the first few minutes of the exercise. This is the most critical point. This is where the body either learns to break the pain barrier of stamina or falls back to its old routine. This is where every jogger grits his/her teeth and bears the pain. Interestingly, after the momentary shot of severe pain through the body, the heart regains its steady beat and the body goes into extra drive. Here it becomes simply exhilarating to continue the walk or jog. This can only happen if the jogger does not stop but endures the pain and discomfort that eventually produces stamina and tenacity.

Many times we are faced with these choices in our lives.

 The pain of learning a new skill, the stress of studying into the night for an impending examination or even the discipline of working out to lose weight and become fit. It could also be living an austere life in order to save for a property or even cutting back on sweets and electronic gadgets in order to start an investment.  All these acts come with strain, stress, unease, fatigue and sometimes pain. However if we are able to go through them, we realize that the results or rewards of our efforts are worth so much more than the momentary discomfort we had to endure in the beginning.

" All these acts come with strain, stress, unease, fatigue and sometimes pain."

The Bible talks about this same issue in Hebrews 12:2 and this is the Basic English Translation; “Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of God's seat of power”.

What are you going through right now? Are you contemplating quitting because the process looks tedious, daunting or even painful? Do what Christ did. Set your eyes on the glory at the end. Focus on the joy of the results and let that vision carry you through. Remember, pain is only for a short while, the joy that comes after, is for ever.