Live Beyond Yourself

When you are eighty or ninety, and you’re sitting on the porch rocking and looking back on your life, how will you feel about it? You won’t have to answer to anyone to fulfill their expectations – nor your parents or your business associates or your spouse. What would you have done with the gift of life? The answer will be important to you then, so the question should be important to you now.

The course of your life is determined by:

-       the RELATIONSHIPS you FORM

-       the DECISIONS you MAKE

-       the ACTIONS you TAKE

Each has the potential to change the course of your life.

If you’re not doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is. If you are doing something with your life, it doesn’t matter how long it is. Life does not consist of years lived, but of its usefulness. It's not duration but about donation. Your focus must be beyond yourself. If you are giving, loving, serving, helping, encouraging, and adding value to others, you are living a useful life. 

George Bernard Shaw has this to say: "This is the true joy of life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being a force of nature instead of a feverish, selfish clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."

That is significance!

Using Effective Planning

An idea is a thought to be presented as a suggestion in an organized environment.

Team planning helps gather several ideas for better productivity. No man is an island!

Discussion is an exchange of knowledge while argument is an expression of foolishness. Discussion facilitates adequate planning and enhances faster implementation of projects or tasks. Avoid arguments as much as you can in any project, program or events planning.

Intuition, in philosophy, is a form of knowledge or cognition independent of experience or reason. The intuitive faculty and knowledge are generally regarded as inherent qualities of the mind. Intuition helps improve systematic planning.

To get better output in terms of executing a certain task or project, basic behaviors are important to put to mind to achieve desired result. Detailed list of goals to be accomplished should be made; deadline should be set for team members; appropriate logistics should be recommended; financing procedures and budgeting should be prepared. All these encourage appropriate decision-making for quick task completion.

If you have a small project, you will be tried in a small way; if you have a big project, you will be tried in a big way. Get started today to begin planning for smaller projects. Get into a team and prove yourself and you will find yourself handling bigger project soon enough.

Study the Values You Desire

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The law of concentration says, “whatever you dwell upon grows and increases in your life.”

Do you want to be the best? Pay attention to the best people in life. Learn from them. But how do anyone do this?

First, determine what you desire in your life which is consistent with your life’s goals. If career success is your goal, then understand the need for goal-setting, discipline, courage and determination as core values to be cultivated and or developed consistently.

Most human beings are programmed to go the easy way in life. But it’s only those who take the bull by the horn that enjoys success. Everyone wants success but not everyone is ready to pay the required price for success.

Make a list of these values you desire. This is best done when you are relaxed and free from any form of anxiety. Having determined which values you need in your life, identify stories from practical examples. At least, you should be able to see few examples around you and also lay hands on numerous books and other materials. 

What values do you have? Which ones seem far-fetched to you? Put pen to paper and scribble down your thoughts. Choose to apply your findings daily. Make decisive efforts to fulfill these goals daily. Schedule meetings with people that you admire that have these qualities. Study them as much as you can in your spare time. Do these continually until it becomes immersed in your sub-conscious.

Dr. David Oyedepo, one of Nigeria's leading Pentecostal figure has said and written on several occasions that his life and ministry was largely impacted by the ministries of the giants of faith which he read about when he was growing up. He read and studied the lives of ministers like late Kenneth Hagin Snr, Kenneth Copeland, David Yonggi Cho, Kenneth Copeland, Enoch Adeboye and others. He's a widely read man who took up tutelage under these prominent faith ministers and grew to be a success story others are emulating today.

The values that make up your life are determined by how much you have studied and imbibed practical examples.

Please do feel free to drop your comments or questions below. Enjoy the rest of your day.

The Use of the Internet in Modern-day Politics

Town halls, railroads and highways were the platform in the 19th century where political manifestos were delivered. Introduction of the electronic media started in the early 60s. Now, with the massive increase of internet users in the world, businesses are now conducted on the internet quickly and results generated with speed.

Politics which was resident in the print and electronic media in past years is now gaining an increased internet presence, especially with the advent of social media networks.

This can be seen from the run to the Presidency of US President Barrack Obama in 2007 and also in 2011. Many still argue that the then 46-year old Illinois Senator was a long-shot to the Presidency. With a tactical use of the internet, Obama and his team emphatically won the election and the re-election.

Other countries have also taken to the internet to promote and monitor their election campaigns and effects as can be seen in the recent elections of Japan and Iran and some others. 
Nigeria's President, Goodluck Jonathan, also used Facebook and other internet channels to promote his campaigns and canvass votes for the 2011 election. Stringent electoral internet-related laws are already being adjusted in several other countries to accommodate the changes in the present world.

If politics can be largely influenced by the internet, why can't any business then thrive with the efficient use of the internet?

Take A Step

It's always frightening when we want to do something new; get a new job, start a business, join a group/community. There's no best way to avoid such circumstances in life, except we don't really want to move forward.
Accomplishing new things demands sacrifices. It demands patience in the planning process, endurance in the delivery process. But in the long run, we experience a fresh breath of satisfaction when the goal is met.
Look before you leap is a common saying in our world. But how much do we really practice this?
In the course of life, some leap before they look. While some look, look and look and never leap. Both courses are not good. The proverb must be practiced: look then leap.
For a child growing up, the parents will tell him/her when crossing the streets that look right, look left and then right before you cross the road. The same is applicable to taking practical steps in life's journey. The road needs to be crossed.
Everyday we are faced with choices to make; either voluntarily or involuntarily. There's no middle ground. Indecision is in itself a decision not to make a decision.
How are you sure that the decision you are about to make is a good one?
Simply calculate with all resources at your disposal; researching, planning, preparation,
interactions and then pray. There are no guarantees.
But a step forward is better than being stagnant. Pool water stinks over time, and that's why they are constantly piped out and re-filled.
Sit down, plan and take that positive step today!