Don’t Hold Yourself Back!

We sometimes view success as - an accomplishment somewhere in the future, why wait for “sometime in the future,” when we can actually take actions now?

Our personal success lies in the actions of this moment.  Take actions today in accomplishing your goals, mistakes are mere obstacles to be crossed before achieving an eventual success.

I used to think that I may never achieve great success, because I believed that only wealthy people are the ones who can help me succeed, and, I never had any “very” wealthy family member or friend willing to help!  At a point in time in my life, I decided “ok I don’t have the connection, I will create one.”  So I made an effort, searched for help related to the type of goal/success that I wanted and, I have been getting amazing results.

Don’t hold back because you don’t have resources – seek, and you will find that which you seek. 

Go ahead and create your world of possibilities. J

Go Green for the Environment

The “Go Green” initiative is an important step towards eco-friendly and sustainable living.  This is a wonderful initiative that will not only improve the quality of our lives, but save our beautiful environment.  I decided to join the go green initiative, because I consider our environment as a gift from God and as such, it is worth saving!

Going green to save the environment, involves conscious or deliberate efforts to make our environment better.  With the issue of climate change and global warming looming, it is not at all a bad idea to do things that can save/better our environment.

There are several ways that we can contribute to saving this our God given environment.  Yes, there are so many ways to go green for the environment, some of which include but are not limited to:

Stop using disposable products – order reusable ones.

Use recycled products – By recycling and re-using, we reduce the amount of waste that sits in landfills.

Turn off the lights when living the room – this way you will conserve energy.

Turn off your lights for as long as you can – open your curtains and enjoy the natural light.

Turn off your computer completely at night.

Reduce temperatures on your geysers or water heaters.

Eat organic foods – you can enjoy tastier foods and improve your personal health.

Wash the laundry in cold water, not hot waters.

Walk or ride a bike to your errands that are closer.

Will you go green for the environment? If you are already going green, what are some of the ways you are going green?  Remember when you go green; you are saving our precious environment.

The Power of Positive Thoughts and Confessions

If there is one thing we have complete control over, it’s our thought!  We can decide what we want to think in any situation.  The way we think or interpret events, brings about a feeling, be it positive or negative.

Everybody loves security be it financial or otherwise, and, believe me when I say no one loves security more than me.  Right now, I am yet to attain the level of financial security I want for me and my family.  If I keep on thinking and saying to myself “oh what is the use of trying, things are looking so bad I will never make it” then I will never make it!  If you keep on confessing negative things like “I will never lose weight”, “I will never get well”, then by all means you won’t!

Our thoughts and feelings lead us into actions, and thus determine the results we get.  It all starts with – Thoughts.  Our thinking and confessions shape our lives and ultimately makes us who we are. Let us take care of this precious asset, because it can either build or destroy us.

“You become what you think about most of the time” – Earl Nightingal

Most importantly, the scripture states that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” and “As a man thinks in his heart so he is.”

How To Manage And Save Money

I try every now and then to save or “manage” money; so I thought I’d better share this with you.  Believe it or not, not everyone can actually save money and not everyone knows how to manage their money.  I will give you some of my personal tips on how to save, this will be interesting! J

Put quality in mind:  Go for quality as quality lasts longer than quantity.

Make a budget: Try and make budgets whenever you are going shopping and try and stick to it, this way you will be in charge of your spending.

Shop around:  Check for the best prices of products by “window” shopping around before making a purchase.

Cook at home:  Home cooking saves your money, cook in bulk and store in individual containers (glass and plastics).

Separate “needs” from “wants” – If you intend saving some money, it will be ideal to separate your needs from your wants.  If you really want some stuff that bad, you can as well wait till when they go on sale. J

Pay off debts: Try and pay your bills as at when due.

Invest into your future: Debt is not so bad, when investing in the future.

Plan for unforeseen circumstances:  Put some money aside for emergencies.

Set personal goals: Set goals when it comes to saving and paying off debts.

Educate yourself:  Learn some basics of financial management, learn how to save and invest.

Know and understand your level of debt: Know how much you owe.

Income source: Above all, have a source of income; you can’t save when there is no money to be saved.

Review your progress:  Set a timeline to see how you are doing.

What are some ways that you save money?

How to Set Goals And Achieve Success - Tips

Have you ever thought of setting goals, but don’t know how or where to start? You are not alone.  I used to have this problem; thank God it’s a thing of the past now. On the other hand, many people concentrate on making New Year Resolutions and don’t even know where to start from, if this is your case, still you are not alone. Thinking of this, I thought it’s better to share with you my friends, some goal setting tips that work.

In setting goals, let’s bear in mind that there are different types of goals – long and short term goals.  It all depends on what we want.  Goal setting is very important; I can never stress this enough.  When you set goals, “write” them down.  I say this because, it is one of the basis for evaluation, for example, some of my personal goal this year, is to improve my spiritual life/service level with God, and, I intend to make a minimum of US$1,000.00 every month.  I’ve just given you two out of my outlined goals, and I have a written plan of action on how to achieve this.  This means that at the end of every month, I will check my progress to see how I’m doing.  If I’m not achieving my desired results, I will check what I’m doing wrong and where I need to improve my effort.  Enough about me now, let’s do this;

Tips on how to set goals

How do you see yourself: Create a “big picture” of what you want with your life

Split it: Break it/them down into smaller targets that you intend to hit and reach your goals.

Write down your goals: The physical act of writing down a goal makes it tangible and real.  There won’t be an excuse to forget about it.  When you write, use the word "will" instead of "would like to" or "might".

Get into action: Once the plan is set, start working to achieve your goals.

Stay focused: keep the above listed processes going, by reviewing and updating your to do list on a daily basis.  Yes on a daily basis or depending on the type of goal, be it weekly, monthly or yearly goals

Be positive: Be positive about each goal, wear a positive attitude it will help you succeed.

Be precise: Put your goals in time, amounts, etc, so you can measure progress.

Stick with the plan: Be consistent and stay focused

Finally,

Goal setting is an ongoing activity, not just a means to an end.  Build reminders, to keep yourself on track.  Setting of goals, is more than just saying you want something to happen.  You have to understand what you want, why you want it, and how to get it.

It is never too late to set your goals, and achieve success.  We are still in February (yes beginning of the year) it shouldn’t necessary be January, don’t assume you have missed the train because this is not January, and, remember, nothing is really impossible. 

What goals will you decide to accomplish today?

Make That Change

Make a conscious effort today, to change and improve your life for the better.   Stop saying if I could I would, instead let it be if I should, I will.

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.