1st half of year 2009 will soon come to an end and whether we like it or not, year 2009 will come to an end like a breeze. Reviewing my activities versus my plan for 1st half of the year shows that there are still many things I wish I had done these past months. I didn’t fully match my actions with my words. One thing that became more obvious is that most of the people around me are still in the planning mood. They are still talking about what they would do in the course of the year. Are you ONLY a talker?

Talkers are those people that have great ideas or great intentions, but just never follow through. Anyone can be a talker, but to make a change in your life, you need to take solid action and follow through 100%. If you don’t, you will never see the results that are ultimately in your grasp. As this first half comes to an end, revisit your plan. Dust off your plans from where you have kept them and review everything you have written down. And if you don’t have any plan for this year, it is not too late to get down to work.

“if you do not know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.“

Once you fail to plan, you are definitely planning to fail. No one can effectively achieve an objective that he or she does not have clearly defined. We have got to think things through, decide what we want, and write out our plan. Then make a personal commitment to follow through.

If you want to succeed, you need to embrace planning and commitment to action as part of your life. It is one thing to determine the things that you have to do in order for you to achieve your objectives, it is another thing to commit to work on everything. Forget about what you have not done in the past months but choose now to act on what you have written down. If you don’t know where to start from, seek counsel. Attend a “How To” seminar. Pick up a book and listen to that message.

Someone somewhere has done something similar to what you plan to do. Some people have passed through similar situation as yours and have packaged their experience in books and CDs. These are within your reach. Instead of you charting the course all over, grab the book, digest the content therein and apply it to the situation at hand. It is time to  to do something today that will make the path smoother tomorrow. So, make a commitment to follow through on your plan(s).

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Why would a bank that is laying off some staff announce payment of bonus to the remaining staff if indeed the focus is on cutting cost?  The response of the CEO was shocking. He said, “the only way to keep their best staff is to pay them high bonus“.  What is the difference between the ones laid off and those that received bonus? The difference? The people who are seemed to be successful – those living their dreams – are those that have learnt to manage their future. They live not at the mercies of others. They are in charge of their destiny.

How do you take charge of your destiny? Manage your future and mind your business. I am not not saying that you should resign from your job or rather that you should start your own business now. Very few people are cut out for business. So, I will definitely not advise you to take that route if business is not passion. The challenge is for you to really be in charge. You don’t have to keep worrying that your job security depends on the whims or moods of your current boss. The kind of live you have always wanted to live is within your reach. You can even transform your current job into that dream job.

The starting point is to control what happens in your career. You must take charge of your work life. You will have to fire your boss mentally. You will have to determine your own value. You will be setting your own goals. You have to be in charge of selecting the skills you wish to attain. You will also have your own personal work plan.You may need to do the following:

• Write your own job description: Write a brief description of your job. However, do not align yourself with a certain company, profession or specialization. Reflect on what you do each day and each week.
• Give yourself a performance review: Find out what other people with the same job description earn. Also find out the skills that are valued in this certain field.
• Define alternate courses: After you have done the two steps above, you will realize that there are alternate courses available to you. Brainstorm about all the other fields and occupations that would suit the job description that you created.
• Put your plan into writing: Develop your own plan for your work life. Remember that your future plans should not hinder the alternate courses you have defined. Note down the new skills you need to acquire.

Where you are today is a direct reflection of the words, thoughts and actions you took days, months and years ago. No matter how much you continue to blame your parents, teachers, where you grew up, television, the government or anything else, the truth is that nobody got you where you are today but yourself. The longer you choose not to take responsibility for your live, the longer you will be living uninspired lives that you do not love.

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Technorati Tags: start your own business, job security, dream job

‘Parties who want milk should not seat themselves on a stool in the middle of the field and hope that the cow will back up to them‘. Albert Hubert

Are you going after what you want? Or you are just complaining about your present situation without making any effort to change? Do you still think it is the responsibility of your employer to make you happy? Then, you need to have a rethink. What you become today is your responsibility and the outcome of the choices you made yesterday. You owe yourself a living. So, now is the time to take charge of your life.

You can live your life the way you want it. Believe it or not, it is now very easy to rule your world. Waiting for something just around the corner is merely reacting to life. If you are going to be a difference-maker, a maximizer, you need to be assertive and proactive in your thoughts and actions. You need to make things happen and not just wait for them to engulf you! You need to take responsibility for your life and future.

Your decision to take charge of your life is the starting point. Don’t just sit there! Do something! You need to focus instead on those items you can control: right attitude, right beliefs, and right commitments to action. By so doing, you will use your emotional energy in a positive way and actually move forward more quickly. Reactive people focus on the result. Proactive people focus on the principles.

Do you think you want that thing bad enough? But why do you still place your life at the mercy of others? I bet you will not henceforth… Make a commitment to living your the way you want it. Get started today. This is YOUR season if ONLY you will decide to face your challenge and go for your goal. Remember, excuses will take you no where. Take ACTION NOW.

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I have been spending the past few days to reflect and review my activities of the past and the plans of the future. I can boldly say that the future looks more glorious than before. Will the road ahead be smooth? Will there be any adversity on the way? Yeah…but everything is there to prepare you for what lies ahead. The truth that you are still struggling to achieve that goal confirms that challenges are meant to come. The odd against you succeeding is on the increase daily. The difference between the successful person and the one stalked by failure is not the adversity – everybody has that. The difference is how we all respond to the challenges we meet on our way.

What then is the way out? Do we regroup and hit it hard again? Or we just lay it down and quit? Many times we have made a u-turn when our success is actually around the corner. Calvin Coolidge said,

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.”

An average successful person has witnessed failures at one stage of their lives. Just name anyone and seek to understand their past. You would be surprised at how much of failures the person had been able to deal with. Failure is never an end – not the final destination. What do you do when you are consistently met with setbacks? Do you give in and just quit? Or you try one more time? You can either see setbacks as the foundations upon which you build future success or the final excuse for failure. The decision is yours. You make the choice to follow through or to quit.

“The history of free men is never written by chance, but by choice – their choice.” Eisenhower

What a powerful truth. You can, and do, write your own history. The history you will leave behind, the legacy that you will leave for your children, is the accumulation of the choices you have made all along the way. I have realized that in life the ball lies in your court. It is all about the choices you make on a daily basis. I believe that:

• Anyone can have as much money as they choose to.
• Anyone can have the level of peace that they choose to have.
• Anyone can do anything they choose to do.

Every successful person makes the choice to use their setbacks as springboard through which they launch out. They never allow discouragement to set in. They keep working on their ideas and goals. They are persistent. And the end result? Success that we all dream of. If you must achieve your goals, you need this virtue. The dictionary defines persistent as: to continue firmly or obstinately. Persistence is a state of mind. In the words of Thomas Edison,

“Just because something does not do what you planned it to do does not mean it is useless… Reverses should be an incentive to great accomplishment. Results? Why, man, I have gotten lots of results! If I find 10,000 ways something won’t work, I haven’t failed. I am not discouraged, because every wrong attempt discarded is just one more step forward… There are no rules here; we are just trying to accomplish something.”

It is therefore normal for someone to have obstacles before success. Even the dictionary puts the word obstacle before success. Obstacles are there to strengthen us and offer progressive measurement of our growing strength. Discouragement sets in when we misunderstand the purpose of obstacles. Persistence is a conscious decision. So, let us train ourselves to be persistent persons.

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Technorati Tags: persistence, Education

Is time ever enough? Do we need more than 24 hours in a day to get things done? Have you found yourself in situations in which you wished you had more time? You are not in this alone. Many people have gone through this same phase. Some are still experiencing the same now. You wake in the morning, look at the tasks that you are meant to complete that day and you just tell yourself to forget it. You can’t see the way you can accomplish those tasks that same day.

This cycle continues everyday. The result? You keep pushing till tomorrow what you should do today. You told yourself at the beginning of the year that you are going to start that business part-time, go to school, take that course or even volunteer with that project. The reality now is that you are far from achieving any of your set objectives. You still live in the dreamland and you wonder how some people seem to be achieving results while you don’t.

The differentiating factor is how both of you use your time. Take out a sheet of paper now and try to document everything you have done from the time you wake up. Write down everything that you feel has taken part of your time. Are you proud of what you have written down? Do you think you can achieve your goals by keep doing what you have written down? When it comes to being as efficient and effective as possible, the obvious starting place is to make the very best use of your time. If you use your time carefully, you will have more of it for things that make the difference.

The fact that you finding it hard to combine your work with executing that business idea or that project means that you need to watch closely how you use your time. Look at the lists you have written down on the list. What can you stop doing, or do less of? Can you make more use of your time? For example, listening to audio messages or important podcasts on the way to work? Learn to prioritize, schedule and control your workload.

When you do these things well, you will be more efficient and better organized. Not only will you get more from your time, you will also get to implement some, if not all, of your business ideas.

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Technorati Tags: business, idea

Can you make money online? Are people even making money online at all. These are two of the questions that I am being asked on a daily basis. After reading a friend’s response to the question of making money online, I have decided to address some of the qualities you need if you will ever make money in any business. These are qualities found in an average entrepreneur. In case you are not too sure if it is possible to make money online, read Niyi’s latest write-up on this.

Have you got what it takes to be an entrepreneur at all? Entrepreneurs have self-confidence, energy, flexibility and are opportunist. I have not seen business owner who is not expecting positive results from their involvement. In other words, they are prepared to use energy and mental effort because they expect, and often receive, appropriate rewards. They have a mind who sees opportunities where others see adversity. If what you see  are constantly obstacles, you need to watch it. It is most likely entrepreneurship is not for you. 

In case you are still not sure if entrepreneurship is for you, take a look at the 15 characteristics below. These are often found amongst people who have successfully started and run new venture. Can you find anyone in expression in your life?

1. clear goal-setting.
2. drive and energy;
3. self-confidence;
4. high initiative and personal responsibility;
5. internal locus of control (that is, you believe your own behaviour determines what happens to you, more so than external influences);
6. tolerance of ambiguity;
7. low fear of failure;
8. moderate risk-taking;
9. prepared for long-term involvement;
10. seeing money as a measure of success;
11. not merely an end in itself;
12. effective use of feedback;
13. continuous pragmatic problem solving;
14. effective use of resources;
15. self-imposed standards

Successful entrepreneurs have high internal locus of control. They believe that, to a large extent, what they do determines what happens to them, more so than chance or the actions of others. This is linked to the need for autonomy and personal independence expressed by many entrepreneurs as their prime motivation for setting up their own firms. Now before you continue in your quest to start and run your online business, “do you have what it takes?“

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I have been busy with my school work for some weeks now and this has reduced the time I have to update my blog. A thought came to mind this morning and I feel I need to share it right away. Many things have been happening in the world these past few months. A lot of companies are declaring losses. As a result, many jobs are being lost. Your job may not have been affected but you always live with the constant fear that your job may be taken away from you soon. Your situation may be different. You may be your own boss and feel this does not affect you much. I will like you to have a rethink…

The goodnews is that you are not in this alone. A lot of people are going through the same thing as you. But they have been able to ride on every challenge that comes their way. They now live their dreams. How did they move from where you are to where you dream to be? They took the first step. They stopped the blame game. They became disatisfied with what the world presents and decided to do something about it. This is about getting started. Taking that first step.

It is so easy to moan about our present situation and complain that things are not how we want them to be. How can we break out of that moaning habit and actually do something? Having a commitment to take responsibility for your life is the first step. Making the decision to do something is another vital step – but actually taking action is the most important one. Accept now that you are responsible for what happens to you.

Now that you have accepted responsibility for your life, it is time to take action. Do you feel the things you want to achieve seem too big or too far off in the future? Break down each goal into little steps which will lead you to your dream. Are the things you are doing today moving you towards achieving your goals? If you answer “NO”, then you need to ask yourself “what small thing (or big thing, if you like) can I do today that will move me towards achieving my goal?” Make a commitment to do it no matter what it will take!

Do not wait for some far-off time when you think conditions may be right before you go for what you want. That perfect time may never come. Have you ever thought of what would have happened if everyone in the world is waiting for the perfect condition? We would definitely not have anything today. Decide today that you would do something about your situation…It doesn’t take a minute to make a decision. Make the decision now and follow up with required action.

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Are you living your dream right now? Or you are waiting for the right time before you start living your dream? Millions each day have been taken over by the habit of procrastination. They find reasons daily to push forward what they would have done today. Yet, they profess to have a dream. Are you still part of this set of people? If you answer YES, then it is time for you to take charge of your destiny. Choose to live your dream from today.

Wait, how many times have you said, “Oh, I’ll do it tomorrow“? “I will do it when I have time?” Your motto may even be “I will do it as long as I can have someone to help out…” Procrastination will kill your dreams faster than you can even have them. When you procrastinate, you take no action and nothing is born. There is need for you to take action irrespective of what challenges you would have to face. It is your responsibility to ensure that you work towards living your dream.

What you call tomorrow or the future is actually TODAY. Tomorrow never comes. I believe it actually never exists. I used to get like a deer in headlights, frozen in my tracks, when it came to reaching for my dreams. The idea of going back to school seemed so daunting that I didn’t know where to start…! There was always something “more important” or “necessary” to do and my vision took a backseat… day after day after day.

I bet you know exactly what I’m talking about. You may even be experiencing the same at the moment. Make a commitment to pick up from where you last stopped and DO SOMETHING about it! What is is that you want to achieve? Go back to school? Start a business? Or even change your career? It doesn’t matter how poorly you think you would do. Just Do It.

Make a commitment to getting started today. This is YOUR year if you decide to go for what you want. Remember, excuses will take you no where. Take ACTION today.

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Time is running out. This is the plain truth. January is almost over and before you know what is happening, we would soon be in December. Have you just be living each day without carefully considering what you do with your time? Now is the right time for you to pause and reflect on the value of time and how important it is that you create priorities.

If you are yet to create plans of what you want to achieve this year, you may need to take out some hours to do this. It is never too late to put up one together. It is better to be late than to not to have one. One of the basic tenets of goal setting is that you choose, in advance, how you are going to allocate your time. This helps to ensure that you use it in the best way that will move you towards achieving your goals.

You may not have heard the phrase “the time value of money“. But I want you to consider this scenario carefully. A dollar in your hand today is worth more than a dollar in your hand a year from now. Why? The key difference is what you can do with that dollar next year. You can invest that dollar right now in any business or even in an interest – bearing project and have $1.05 at the end of the year. If you decide to take your money in a year, your opportunity cost (foregone investment) will be five cent. Not to mention what inflation will have done to your purchasing power within the time frame under consideration.

Now think about how many hours you are losing each time you engage in those irrelevant activities. Apply the same thought process to when you ARE actually working – maximizing your time. Decide what better use of your time IS every time. Having this at the back of your mind always will ensure that you always decide what the best use of your time will be. Time is money and money is time. So, choose today invest them wisely.

Meanwhile, let me leave you with this short movie.

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Technorati Tags: opportunity

Compliments of the season. As we get set for the new year, I will want us to take a look at an important question…”where do you see yourself or your business in 5 years?”. If you can not answer this question in 5 seconds, then you need to sit down right now and take a look at your life or business. Some years back, in my final year on campus, five of us were faced with this same question. We were about to graduate from the university and the future stared at us.

Each of us shared our picture of where we would be in 5 years. Looking back today (about 7 years after), I am proud to say that we have achieved everything that we shared at that time.  Now, take a look outside your office now…Spend the next 5 mins watching people pass before you. How many do you think out of those passing before you have specific goals in their life? Do you think they have any specific thing they are pursuing with vigour? I am sure if we decide to take a survey now, we would find very little. This is exactly why many achieve little.

Many people’s paychecks are not large enough to pay their bills because they have no goals. They have no concrete plans on how to improve their life or expand their knowledge so as to increase their value to the society. They wake up each day with their ship heading nowhere.This season is a time to set yourself free and set goals for your life and business.

All tangibles objects began as goals or ideas in the mind of people. So, if you will achieve anything in life, it must be first exist in the form of an idea or goal. This is the starting point. Get out of the camp of many that just exist from day to day, week to week or even year to year without goal or a picture of what they want to achieve in life.

Spend this festive period to design a five-year goal for your life and business. Find half an hour when you know you will be free of all distractions. Use it to make a list of all goals that come to mind.  Include the most outrageous goals you can imagine. Don’t worry about whether the goals are realistics or unrealistics at this point. Just write down everything that comes to mind. After you have written down all your goals, now go over the list and carefully pick out the five which are the most important to you.

Be careful not to fall into the situation where your goals concern only your business or your career. Think of your marriage (even if you are still single), your friends and other important areas where you feel you can improve your life. Write these 5 down on a set of cards and paste them where you can see them everyday. You may need to put one of the cards in your wallet. Just ensure that your goals are visible to you. The result? Your life will always be focused on specific goals. And you will be making progress in all important areas of your life with a steady and consistent pace. Start today and carve out a goal for your life and business.

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Technorati Tags: business, goals, career

If you would always reach an optimal performance each time you get to work, you need to take time out of your busy schedule to recharge. Regular relaxation is essential for a long life and personal effectiveness. Here are some techniques for relaxing physically that Brian Tracy shared in his book, “Getting Rich Your Own Way“.

Take Time Off Every Week: Work only five or six days per week and rest completely on the seventh day. This may be hard to achieve if you are just starting out in business. But as you work on building your business, put this in your plan. If God could rest on the seventh day, then you have no excuse. Create this time-off yourself and you will be glad you did.

Get Your Mind Busy Elsewhere: One good you can do yourself is to make this time-off really a time-off. Do not take home your work and there is no need trying to catch up on reports. Those reports will not run away before you return to work. Ensure that you do not do anything else that requires mental effort. Let your mind relax completely. This is may be a good time to get busy doing things with your family and friends. Whatever you decide to do, discipline yourself to shut your mental gears off completely for at least one 24-hour period every seven days.

Get Away on Mini-Vacations: Take one vacation as often as possible, and during that time, refrain from doing any work. This is one thing that most of us are not used to. There is always a believe that the business will not go on if you are not involved physically in the day-to-day running. This is not absolutely true. If your business can not survive outside you for some days, it shows that there is a problem somewhere. And you need to address this as soon as possible. Like I said earlier, time-off is not attempt to catch up on even a few small things.

Take Big Chunks of Down Time: Yeah, you read it well. You need to take at least two full weeks off each year during which you do nothing that is work-related. You will have to decide between working or relaxing; you can not do both. Whenever you carry your work to vacation, you are not recharging your mental and emotional batteries. The end result? Your guess is as good as mine. You will come back from your vacation just as tired as you were when you left.

Give Yourself a Break Today: Why not start today and take one-day off work. if you are in paid employment, ask you boss that you need a day off. Explain the need for you to recharge especially the impact that it will have on your performance at work when you resume at work. Put your immediate concern out of your mind. Choose not to think about it. So, give yourself the break you need now.

If you are thinking about how you can achieve all these, Brian Tracy also pointed out three action excercises. You may take a look at these and see how they apply to you. First, plan your weeks in advance and build in at least one day when you will relax from work completely. Make a commitment to keep this date. Some things will come up that will want to place a demand on you to change your plan. But stick to your plan. Refuse to give in to any distraction.

You may also need to reserve, book and pay for your vacations several months in advance. You can even think of a vacation programme that does not offer refund. The catch is this…Once you have paid the money, it is most likely that you would go on the vacation than put it off. Finally, decide that you will not work at all during your vacations. When you are at work, work. And when decide you want to rest, rest 100% of the time.

Do you have a difference approach on how to recharge? You can use the comment section to share your tips and helps. I am sure many other people will be blessed by your experiences. I am waiting to read your comment. Keep succeeding.

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Technorati Tags: business, business owner, success, Brian Tracy, vacation

Millions each day (if not more) are afflicted with and effected by the habit of procrastination. How many times have we all said, “Oh, I’ll do it tomorrow”? Procrastination kills dreams faster than you can even have them. When we procrastinate, we take no action and consequently – nothing is born. There is need for you to take action irrespective of what you want. No obstacle is big enough to stop you from living your dream. God has deposited in you everything you need. No matter how big your goal is or the challenge on the road, you can achieve it if only you will take the first step today.

SO, GET STARTED NOW…Guess what? Tomorrow never comes. Yeah, it never does. Tomorrow only appears in the mind. Have you ever considered the fact that the tomorrow you were talking about yesterday is the today you are in now. I used to get frozen in my tracks, when it comes to reaching for my dreams. The idea of starting and running a successful business seemed so daunting that I didn’t know where to start… There was always something “more important” or “necessary” to do and my vision took a backseat… day after day after day. But I took the bull by the horn. I moved towards my goal. I started a business part-time but I ensured that I keep moving towards my goal. The steps may be small but I am definitely not stagnant.

I bet you know what I’m talking about too. You too can make the decision today to move towards your dream. First, have a clear picture of what you actually want. Then, make a commitment to do something in line with your goal every day. Give it everything you have got and ensure that you DO SOMETHING about it! It doesn’t matter how poorly you do it. Like Nike suggests, “Just Do It“.

Will you still watch your dream pass you by? Make a commitment to getting started today. This is YOUR season if ONLY you will decide to face your challenge and go for your goal. Remember, excuses will take you no where. Take ACTION NOW.

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Technorati Tags: Start a business, goal, procrastination, dream, successful business, dream

1. Make the commitment to reach your goal: “One person with a commitment is worth a hundred who only have an interest.” Mary Crowley. Your goal is worth nothing without your commitment to follow through on it. Lack of commitment is one of the reasons why many people do not [achieve their goals. Many have great goals and even wonderful plans to achieve the goals. But without a personal commitment, nothing will be achieved. You need to constantly remind yourself that nobody can achieve your goal for you. Your employees or your boss is only working at achieving his goals. So, how committed are you to your goals?

2. Be accountable: Commit yourself to detailed accountability. Look for someone that you respect and share your goals with the person. If possible, get a mentor that you know would be interested in you. Remember that mentors are not there to help you achieve your goals. They are to ensure that you remain on the right track. But I bet you this is worth much more than you can quantify. Also, develop the habbit of recording your progress toward your goals every night, and list the six most important things you need to do the next day. This daily discipline is not only key to reaching your goals but also gives you motivation to keep going.

3. Build your life on a sold foundation of honesty: A life and / or business built on strong character, integrity, trust, love, and loyalty is definitely going to succeed. The progress may not be visible but it will pay off. This foundation will give you an honest shot at reaching any goal you have set properly.

4. Break your intermediate and long-range goals into small bits: Imagine that your goal is to have a certain amount of turnover in your business within the next one year. While this is may be a great goal, the implication is that you will have to wait till the end of the year before you know if you achieve your goal or not. But if you break it down into monthly turnover, this is easy to measure. Moreover, you will be able to know on time if you are close to your goal or not.

5. Be prepared for change: Something are definitely not within your control. The foreign exchange flunctuation, radical changes in oil prices, weather, inflation, interest rates, government policies etc. are things that you can not control.  So, you have to consider this when setting your goals. Stick with your decision to move toward a goal – but be willing to change your direction to get there as conditions and circumstances demand.

6. Share your “give-up” goals: I can not over-emphasise the importance of sharing your goals with people. While this will help you stay on your toes, it will also do you much good. Assume that your goal is to give up drinking, being rude, or even procrastinating, you will surely see people that will encourage you. They can even help you track your action towards achieving your goals. So, don’t keep your goals to yourself only. Share it and get the help that you need.

7. Become a team player: Nobody is created an island. If God could create Eve and bring her to Adam, then you definitely need people. I have not seen any person who became successful alone. Just take a look around you. The people they are working with may not be visible but I bet you there is little they can achieve without the support they get from their team. One thing you need to consider when in working in team is what you are going to add to others. Focus on how you can help others achieve their dreams. The people you may be working with may even be your employees. Just have it in mind that they have their goals that they are trying to achieve. And if they can’t get to achieve their personal goals working with you, they will leave you and you might have to start over again. Always remember: “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want. Zig Ziglar”

8. See yourself reaching your goal: The main reason why you set your goals is because you want to achieve them. It is, therefore, important that believe in yourself. Constantly put the goal before you.  In your imagination, see yourself achieving whatsoever goal you have set for yourself. Can you see yourself receiving that diploma, getting that job or promotion, making that speech, moving into the home of your dreams, achieving that weight-loss goal, hitting that turnover target? This is necessary if you will achieve your goals.

9. Document your achievement: One reason why you have to do this is the effect it has on you. Every time that you reach a goal, your confidence will grow. See your achievement motivates you to work towards achieving bigger and better things. After accomplishing any goal, make it a habit of recording it in your Journal, Weekly Planner or Palm Pilot.

10. Give yourself no other option: Challenges will come on the way. They are there to refine you. But whether you will achieve your goals depends on how you respond to tough circumstances. Most people give up when all that they need is just to try one more time. They give up when they would have hit their target in the next attempt. Join the league of the few that succeed because they did not give in. Give yourself no other option.

Above all, remember, what you get by reaching your destination is not nearly as important as what you become by reaching your goals – what you will become is the winner you were born to be! The first step is to know where you are going. If you do not know where you are going, you will undoubtedly end up somewhere else. You can do better, you can achieve more, you can be the best God has created you to be. So, start now to make your dreams happen!

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Technorati Tags: goal, business, achieve your goal, accountability, mentor, team player, dreams

If your parents are like mine, you would agree that they always have their own plans. Parents seem to know what is best for their children. Why the child keeps dreaming and looking forward to pursuing his dream, the parents would normally be working out their agenda for the child. You will hear statement like, “I want you to be a doctor“. “That my friend that is a medical doctor is doing very well“. “You have to be an engineer“. I am sure you heard something like this if not exactly the same when you were growing up as a child. You may be fortunate to make your final decision as regards the course you would study in the university. But the story is definitely different for most people.

You may have studied a course chosen for you by someone else but the choice is yours to make the best use of what you have got. You need to revisit your childhood dream. Wait…what are those things that you were dreaming of when growing up as a child? I believe this is the time to do some soul-searching to find out what you would rather be doing at the moment. Imagine for a second that you are living your life and suddenly missed out on what you were supposed to be doing. The truth is that this is exactly what happened to many people. Instead of living their dream, they result to following the route of least resistance. Many give reasons why they should continue doing what they have been doing – living someone’s dream.

Just as many successful people have had to realise that their parents’ goals were not theirs, you too have to find what makes you tick. Every successful person has had to set his goals and pursue them. The question I want you to answer now is, “if you are not living your life, then whose is it?” If you are not going to think about your life, then who will? The past may be beyond you now, but you have the power to change the present. Choice is a freedom we can all exercise. We are all in charge of writing our own movie and that movie is our life.

Imagine that you are sitting in front of a computer now and you are typing a scene as it comes to mind. What kind would you want to have? Somehow, I have a feeling that most people would not choose their present situation. It would not only be boring to write, it would be no fun to watch. So, why are you living out a script that you would never write? Give yourself a little freedom now to develop into someone you would actually like to be. The only person that can and that will give you a chance is yourself. Nobody can do this for you.

Too many people want status quo to remain the same and that includes you. So, you have to do everything to separate yourself from this group of people. If it means going for another course in the university, it is worth it. You have the ability to change your present situation. You are already equipped with what you need to move beyond mediocrity or whatsoever that may be holding you back. Make up your mind today not to follow the easy route. If you would really live your dream,  you have to do what the successful people normally do. Move beyond the common.

I will leave you with what Donald Trump said. “Write your own script. Then produce it yourself and find yourself living the way you want to. That is freedom; that is power and that is winning“.

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Technorati Tags: ideas, plans, dream, successful people, Donald Trump

Are you blaming others for what happens to you? Do you still live in the realm of pushing responsibility to others? Someone said that the difference between witchcraft and medicine is that when a man falls sick, witchcraft makes him ask, “who did this to me” while medicine makes him ask, “what did this to me“. This practice of blaming others account not only half of people’s failures  but also for failure to cash in on failures. When you keep blaming others for whatsoever happens to you, there is no way you can identify the cause of the failure and learn the lesson. As such, you would not be able to prevent the recurrence of this in your life. As long as you do not recognise failure fow what it is, you can not deal with it.

The second stumbling block is blaming oneself…Do you find yourself saying, “Why do I always say the wrong thing”, “Why is it that it is when it gets to my turn that something else happens”, etc. Then you ar guilty of this stumbling block. This is usually a quick and easy way to brush off a failure that probably runs much deeper and requires more consideration than people are willing to admit.  Instead of wrestling with the problem behind the failure and resolve it to prevent recurrence, many people blame themselves and let it go at that. This does more harm that good. It plants the deep feeling of inferiority and insecurity. Abraham Lincoln failed many times before he became the president but he was far from being a failure. Excessive self-blame opens the door to guilt feelings. You will keep finding fault in whatsoever you do when clearly the actual cause is being left unattended to.

The third stumbling block is having no goal: We all must know where we want to go if we are going to get anywhere. It is easy to drift along when you have no goal. Are you currently going through school as if you are doing your family a favour? Or you are only interested on your salary in your current job? These are signs that you don’t have a goal. You are definitely not aiming for anything. The people who go places and do things make the most of every situation. They are ready for the next thing that comes along on the road to their goal. They know what they want and are willing to go an extra mile. The question now is, “what is your goal?” What are you living for? Think about this and take action today.

Another stumbling block is taking short cut: An electric current will follow the line of least resistance but a bulb glows precisely because there is resistance. Many choose instinctively what seems to be the shortest, easiest, and quickest way to success only to discover that the success was illusory.  Too often, the shortcut is responsible for the choice of unsuitable goals which then lead to unsatisfactory success. Refusal to observe established rules of decency and honesty is definitely one major short cut that we all need to watch.

Do you find yourself being held by any of these stumbling blocks, decide to do something today. Take charge of your life and give yourself no other option. The ball is in your court. You will succeed.

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Technorati Tags: success, Abraham Lincoln

The story has been told and retold countless times about the battle of Waterloo. Poems have been written and songs have been composed detailing every conceivable aspect about it. History and legend have it that after the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte’s army and victory of the Duke of Wellington over the French, Napoleon was taken away and imprisoned. Even though Napoleon was in prison, he carried himself  with dignity.

Some years later, he was asked the great question by some reporters.  Why did the English won at Waterloo? Is it that they have a superior army or weapons? His response was revealing. Napoleon’s eyes slowly swept across the room. The silence was so deep that it was almost deafening. You could have heard the proverbial pin drop. Then he replied, “The English fought five minutes longer.” From the mouth of the great general himself came the answer, “The English fought five minutes longer”. Many times, five minutes longer is all that it takes. Though times have changed from the days of the Emperor Napoleon, many things still remain the same.

Victory, sometimes, is just a few minutes away. You may be saying that you have a peculiar case. Yes, I know, we all go through terrible times. In today’s world many are faced with crisis after crisis. For most, there is never enough money, no jobs, poor relationships, ill health and the list could go on and on. Of course, there are good times too, but the hard times usually block many people’s vision of the good times. You need to keep reminding yourself that there is always light at the end of the tunnel. When things get really bad is not the time for you to give up. That is the time to pursue your dream. If you need help, don’t be afraid to ask. Anything will do – a kind word from a friend, a paragraph from a good book, an inspiration from the word of God, even a stray piece of music from the radio.

Some people will always be there for you. Others will turn and run from you, fearing for their own well-being. Still others may throw you a crumb of money, or food and hope you will not ask for more. Be grateful to God. Your job is to just keep on keeping on. When you are down in the arena and the dust is in your mouth and you can hear the screaming of the crowd, remember, “The English fought five minutes longer.” Sometimes it is so bad that one day at a time is too long. So go one hour at a time. And if that is too long, then how about five minutes at a time?

Success is sometimes just yards or minutes away. There are times when the last few yards may seem like miles and the last few minutes may appear to be hours. But if you keep on keeping on, if you do not let hope die, if you have faith in the goodness of the universe and the Force that created us, you will win in the end. So, just before you give up, remember that your dreams can become your reality…

Tags: success,, persistence,, decision

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Technorati Tags: Success

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I hope you find some, if not all, of these articles very useful. Remember, it is not what you know that matters but what you do with the knowledge you have. Decide this week to act on your knowledge.

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The main focus of the upcoming Carnival is Starting A Business. Are you an entrepreneur and / or you have been successful running a business, share your experience on starting and running your business. Visit PACE and submit your post.

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Technorati Tags: PACE, entrepreneur