Impossibility is Nothing – Don’t Limit Yourself

Whew! It feels good writing an article again.  Sometime last year, I was watching the Zone Reality (one of M-nets DSTV channels), and came across a program titled “Half Body, Whole life.” It is a story about Rose Siggins, a woman that has beaten every odd and – never taking no for an answer.

Let me give you a little brief about Rose; Rose is an extraordinary woman born with a rare bone disorder called Sacral Agenesis, a condition that causes malformation of the spine right from the womb.  At a point in time in her childhood life, the useless legs had to be removed to increase her mobility.  That notwithstanding, Rose moves about not with a wheel chair; in fact any suggestion on using a wheel chair is greatly detested by her, she hates wheel chairs!  She moves around in a simple stuff as a skateboard using her hands to walk in place of – legs.  Rose has been obsessed with engines since childhood, so at a point she went into auto mechanics.  In a male-dominated world of auto-mechanics, Rose fixes cars, she is a racing driver, and, Rose is a married woman with two lovely kids (Luke and Shelby), and still going.

She has a half body, but has a whole life and living it.  She stunned her doctors by overcoming many obstacles and beating every odd!  All through the documentary about her, I never for once heard her complaining about anything, instead she says she takes life the way she saw it and not letting her circumstance deter her.  Even though the journey has never been smooth sailing, for 33 years, she’s never accepted her condition as a limitation.

I chose to use this story, because I think there is a lot to be learned from this.  Let’s look at this story, and see the positive energy, that this woman put on, and made up her mind to achieve greatness.  Friends what I’m saying is, so many of us “have more than what she has, yet we complain all the time about what we don’t have” we can pursue our dreams and make them a reality, using what we have been blessed with.

I think we can learn a lot from Rose’s story; most times we give excuses to why we can’t do certain things in life.  I honestly think this is a great reality check for most of, I just hope Rose won’t get upset with me J, for using her as a case study in this article, because from what she said on TV, her parents had never liked putting her in the public eye. 

My point is “We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us” Philippians 4:13.  After watching Rose’s story, I was so inspired and motivated, because here I was thinking “oh if only I have the needed connection, if only this, if only that…” and a woman with missing limbs, repairs cars, drives, and, even competes in car racing competitions!  I mean I have a complete body thank God, yet I just learnt how to drive not quite long ago.  We are the ones bringing limitations to ourselves by creating reasons why we can’t do certain things.

Friend’s, let us not limit ourselves; so long as there is life, there is hope.  We can achieve greatness; we can fulfill goals and our dreams can come true.  Never give up; because once you give up, then it’s over. J

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Set Achievable Goals

I’m going to make this article simple, and, as short as possible, because goal setting is something that has been preached over and over, time and time again.  I will just deal with the key points, since this is not a “new” topic.  Here it is.   


Goal setting has been around since; well since man started having retentive memory.  If you really want success in your targeted endeavors, it is best to set goals, because this will help you focus and also serve as a base for evaluation.  If you are seeking a hidden treasure without a map for direction, you may go in circles, mope around and never find that treasure, because you have no idea where it is or how to get there.


Setting of goals can be long or short termed, depending on what we are after.  When setting our goals, these tips can help us; write down your goals, set realistic/achievable goals, be precise, and, be positive about each goal.


I am not the best when it comes to strict adherence to guidelines like this,J funny isn’t it, but you don’t have to follow my steps, we all have our different destinies and “goals”, but you may find these guidelines useful;


Goal setting motivates you to focus and organize your time and resources, so you can achieve maximum success.  By setting defined goals, we get pride in the achievements of those goals.


Keep these tips in mind:

-       Separate irrelevant and distractive things from important stuffs
-       Decide what you want to achieve in your life
-       Get self-motivation
-       Build a self-confidence based on achievements

The chance of succeeding at anything without a goal is very slim.  Set achievable goals today, because goals are like journeys – you know what awaits you at the end.

Develop A Positive Attitude To Change Your Life.

Everyday lots of people participate in the lottery.  The better half of these people lose all their money and become poor at the end, at least 99% of people lose money and never win, even winners quickly go from millionaires to bankruptcy.  Some winners lose all the money within the first year!  Partially due to lost relationships, broken families, bad financial decisions, etc.  It is not uncommon to see that after the lottery winners go broke, they have a common theme – they were all poor before winning the lottery.   When rich people win the lotteries, they become richer.  When penniless/poor people win the lotteries, a whole lot of them become poor again.

The events around you don’t determine how successful you are or will be it is all about the changes inside of you ‘weather positive or negative’.

So many people think and ‘wait’ for some external support or force, to change their lives. They think “oh if only I can win the lottery, I would buy a car, a house, take a vacation” or “if I can receive some donations, life would be much easier”.  Until we realize that when we change our mindset about life and progression, we will remain the same.  You are the only one that can change your mindset, if you want a change in your life.

External forces only amplify positive and negative attitudes, actions and beliefs.  Most times our actions is a major determinant of how our lives turn out, if it is considered good, it’s a cause of our action and when bad, it’s not someone else’s doing but ours!  Let us learn to take actions on the things we want and don’t want in our lives.

For example, if lottery winners go broke again after winning millions of dollars, it’s because they don’t know how to handle money!  They never learnt how to create wealth, they don’t know how to set goals and stick to the plan.  They don’t have any positive mental attitude and don’t know how to grow their self-image.  Definitely, not everybody who wins the lottery ends up losing all their money, some people changed themselves quickly and learnt how to handle money to create wealth.

So many things happen in our life – losing a job, getting sick, a bad relationship and many more adversities.  We likewise experience great things – meeting wonderful people, spending quality time with our family and friends, etc.  These are all external activities; our success depends only on internal preparation and a winning desire inside of us.  When we prepare ourselves and stick to a plan, we would conquer many adversities.  Internal change begins with dream building, and, goal setting.  It is an endless process; positive internal changes will help us achieve dreams, we and “you” alone are the architect of our very own future.

Putting Your Time to Good Use

In the morning, it is either we are in a hurry trying to meet up with the days appointment or trying to make breakfast, or trying to get more rest –probably exhausted from yesterday’s work.  It would be a good thing, if we try and account for every minute of our time, especially if you have a set goal.  Try and spend your time valuably, so that at the end of the day we can get some satisfaction, after all, goal setting and evaluation all boils down to time spent.

Spend Time With Your Family

Nothing brings joy like spending time with the people you love, especially your family.  Spending time with your family members makes them feel loved and connected with you, especially some of us with a very busy schedule.  Make the most of your time with your family, “charity begins at home” they say.  Even if you don’t have an immediate family to relate to, your friends and people closest to you – loved ones, can benefit from your valuable time.

Time Alone

In as much as we need to relate with others and our family, we also need time alone.  Yes, because when you are relaxed and happy, you won’t feel “cheated” and just doing things to please other people.  Go to the Spa, take a little vacation or time off once in a while to relax and meditate – spoil yourself a little.  Give yourself a break, and spend some time alone, and, make it count.

It is important that we spend our time, putting it to good use and sharing it with the people we love.  It’s not how many hours there are, but how much you spent for yourself and the people you love.

Stress Management Tips to help you this New Year.

The New Year is here again, and with it comes all optimism and renewed energy to get into and commit to a healthier lifestyle.   Although most people ‘abandon’ their New Year’s Resolution with few weeks, there are some commitments that can be made and kept, thanks to the fact that they can improve quality of life.  One of such commitment is – reducing stress levels.  This article will provide you with tips to help you be stress-free, starting this month and through the year.  

 

Exercise

Use your energy productively by maintaining a very active lifestyle.  You don’t have to be at the gym every day of the week, although if you like this lifestyle, then by all means go with it.  Make a conscious effort to increase your physical activity level gradually; take a walk to work once a week, or indulge sports like; ice skating or snowboarding.   A lot of people find moving their bodies, helps them deal with challenging problem that may otherwise lead to stress.

Eat Well

Eating an excellent diet filled with vitamins, fiber, and enough protein, is an excellent way to keep your brain in top shape, thereby facilitating an ability to handle difficult situation rationally and effectively.  If you like taking occasional coffee or other caffeine boost, limit your daily consumption, and get rid of all caffeine sources mid-afternoon, to ensure you get a good and undisturbed night sleep.

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep deprivation has become an epidemic in modern society.  The urge to achieve and produce is depriving people of sleep so that they can get things done.  In a stressful situation, we may be tempted to “pull an all-nighter” in order to meet a deadline, or catch up on some last minute study,  but contrary to what your stressed mind is telling you, a rested body and mind will actually have the strength to achieve more, without too much burden on your system.

Lastly, Set Achievable Goals

Setting impossible goals is one of the easiest ways to allow stress rule over your life.  You would always scramble to catch up if you set the bar above what you can reasonably achieve.  Don’t set yourself up for disappointment, instead, take the time to sincerely evaluate your energy level and time frame, so you can meet deadlines and be stress free!

Getting stress out of your life may look impractical.  However, following the simple stress management tips above, you will find that you have more positive strategies to deal with stress, when it finds its way into your life.  So, try and live your life stress-free this 2011!

Photo credit: inspireyourreams.com

Sources: stressfreeliving.org

You Can Overcome your Fear of Failure

A lot of people are so afraid of failure to a point where they never ever dear to take a step in – trying!  Sometime we are so afraid of failing, to the point that our subconscious mind does everything possible to make sure we fail.

Personal goals and potentials are cut short because of fear that those goals won’t be actualized.  Fear stops you from making committed decisions and perseverance in the face of difficulties, adversities or obstacles.  Still, without these “skills”, success is no more than a game of luck!  The fear of failure is based on self esteem.  It is a wrong believe that past failed experiences defines oneself as a failure.

Overcoming your fears;

 

        -   Make a conscious effort to leave fear out of your life – improve your self esteem 

-   Recognize your fear and take action to subdue it.  The best time to do this is now!

-   Get rid of the ideology that failure is bad.  You can always learn from failed experiences to become a better person

-   Humans are not perfect, every successful person has failed at some point in time of their life and succeeded  at others

-   Success and failure are closely related, in most cases, failure is a prerequisite for success

-   The better half of successful people, have failed several times in their lives

So, as we start this New Year, let us make up our mind to succeed and achieve our goals.  Have faith in God, and trust him to guide you through every life decisions.  Take that all important first step, all your “ducks needn’t be in one row”, so many people start businesses or careers without prior knowledge of the final outcome. Remember, if at first you don’t succeed; try, try again. J
I have a personal motto:  “Impossibility is nothing”

Dead Birds Fall from the Sky in Arkansas

The News about birds falling from the sky in Arkansas has been making headlines around the world,  some say it was caused by the New Year eves fireworks, some say it was caused by thunderstorms – others associate it with Apocalypse.  J!  Funny isn’t it?  Well check this out and judge for yourself.  You should see this; this is an excerpt from the National Geographic below:

Natgeo.com

So what do you think? Is the world coming to an end?  Like I said, you be the judge of this.  I have watched movies where they link birds falling from the sky with a lot of “creepy” stuff!  Ever since I became a mom, I now pay more attention to things about the environment and how it will directly affect my family.  So when I hear and see things like this, I want to know more and I sometimes I worry!  Yes if you are like me; it is very natural and very humane to worry, but God is in control of everything in our lives and environment.  God will neither leave us nor forsake us. J

A New Beginning

We are still in the New Year celebration period of 2011, and, it feels great that God has brought us into the year as a whole.  As ‘a whole’, I mean my family is complete both in health and number.  Thank God we never lost anybody; I praise God even more for we will lose none!  Sorry if you lost any, as Christians we look forward to the resurrection morning, when we will be united with our loved ones.  This is the hope of the believer.

I am not a person that makes New Year resolutions! I’m sure so many people will be surprised at learning this, but this is what it is!   Alcoholics, smokers and others, who indulge in a certain lifestyle that is dangerous to their health, make resolutions to not indulge in that lifestyle anymore, beginning from January 01.   Let’s face it; you already know that cigarettes and alcohol-may probably kill you.  Why wait until the beginning of the year to quit, when you can quit immediately?

Please don’t misconstrue this; by no means are my advocating that only people with dangerous lifestyles make resolutions, but this is what people do.

I am the type of person who believes that whatsoever that is worth doing, is worth doing – now!  It doesn’t matter what the time of the year, day or hour is, if anything come to my mind and I am serious about the issue, I do my very best to start implementing it.  This is because I believe every time, is a good time, especially if it comes to decisions that only you can take, that affects your life directly.

Let’s not forget that, making resolution or setting business goals is a different stuff altogether.   Setting business goals and target at the beginning of each year or the beginning of ‘your’ business calendar, is a very important thing, because it serves as basis for evaluation.

Business goals and personal goals, go, hand – in – hand.  Whatsoever your personal or business goals are, try to put in health issues as a must, in your goal.  I say this because, as the saying goes “health is wealth.”  Make it a point to stay healthy through exercise and taking the right diet. If you only focus on business, don’t forget you need your – body, mind and soul working together.

So, as you set your goals and make resolutions, have a detailed plan for how you will accomplish your goals. I would also like you to include your spirituality.  Make it a stand point to be closer to God this year.  I say this because I believe it is the best place to be, if you have Jehovah God, you’ve got everything.  Have a great year.