Inspiring Through 2015

For majority of us reading this article, I would like to presume 3 things about you.  First I presume that you are in the youth developmental stage of living. Second I presume that you are intent on #making2015count which is why you are here, not elsewhere. Third is that you are probably tired at staring at your goals at the end of each year and being discouraged to set new goals for the coming year. The danger in that pattern of negativity results in a lifestyle of apathy, or in what we may call Moogenic Neurosis (Google it for more info). My mission is to help you stay motivated and #inspiringthrough2015 in the pursuit of your goals, intents and decisions you have taken regarding 2015. By the way, Happy new year to you! I am not dealing with how to set goals here, but instead on how to keep in step with your set goals. So I begin!

No amount of psych up motivational talk or literature will actualise your goals for you. It boils down to you making a final decision to make changes in your life. Discontentment precipates change. When you have gotten tired of being stuck in the same place for years, whether be it your finances, relationship, career or business, you will then begin to take the necessary and strategic steps to change your situation and your life. So are you really tired of being broke, lonely, depressed, down with low self esteem? If it is so then your journey to #making2015count has begun!

You must be before you do. Do before you have-The Inside Out Approach. If your end goal is to have a fit body for instance, be a person with a fit body. Your values and beliefs must align with your goals. Possibility, success, wealth, confidence, discipline are necessary values in goal setting. Goals begin with being, having and then doing. Having a million naira begins with being a person with a million naira. Develop the mental capacity for your goals by imbibing the values coherent with those goals. ''If you want the secondary greatness of recognised talent, focus 1st on primary greatness of character.''-S.R Covey

Awake! A simple but great call to reality. We often set goals that we know in our hearts of hearts that can't be achieved. Mustering all the willpower, endurance and self belief we can get, we still will not be able to achieve them. Some goals are not for the present but the future. In setting goals, take into cognizance various issues: financial, time, human, intellectual limitations before you. There is a place of faith, but also importantly, of wisdom. Wisdom, the Scripture says, is the principal thing. So get wisdom by setting goals that are within your reach of achievement. Not too low, and not too high-just enough to keep you going!

In closing, don't embark on this adventurous journey alone. Factor in a friend, family member, mentor or personal coach as an accountability partner to put you in check. Your wife (if married and a male) or girlfriend will come in handy especially. Now that you have set your goals, find someone who can ensure your continuous productivity and motivation. Because there will be 'dark times'. Times when there will be doubt, self pity and lots of excuses. But your accountability partner will help you through these times pushing you to maintain momentum.

I wish you the very best of the years of your life in 2015. And I pray that 2015 would yield more results than all other years combined! Have a blissful 2015 friends!

Lessons from a fish!

For years now I have been working as an employee at a farm not too distant from my house. Even though I got admitted to the university, that didn’t stop me from still working at that same farm whenever I went on break. My work there involves feeding the fish, removing the shooters (ones with growth spurts), change their water...generally to make the fish happy, the boss glad and the customer content. There was this particular day when something clicked in my head while I feed the fish. The whole concept about time and timing suddenly made sense. Being a person who usually doesn’t fancy waiting to get something done, I began to see the whole picture. You see, I noticed that when the fish are at a particular stage of growth, it doesn’t look like things will get any better with it. From Monday to Friday, all week long, it seems all the fish are doing is eating and swimming. Nothing seems to be changing with them. They looked the same way they did the day before. This can drive the impatient and inexperienced farmer really wild. But if a wise and patient farmer keeps at doing the right thing of feeding the fish, changing their water, and providing the right conditions in the correct adequacy, with time, he will be amazed at the change that the fish will produce.

The concept also works in our daily lives. Sometimes things look slow, bleak and tiring. At such times its normal to want to give up and throw in the towel. The same stage you were in the business years ago still seems like the same place it is. The same position your marriage was few years after marriage is where it still is; arguments about no baby, not enough money, a bigger house etc still plagues your home. As a student, it seems the whole school thing isn’t just for you. Every of your former classmates have gotten their admission and you are still there writing SSCE and UTME. At every level of life, each person has his/ her own share of troubles. But just like a car sticker says, every problem has an expiry date. So friend cheer up and wait for your own time! With each stage of life comes a lesson that we have to learn before we can move on to the next. Life is in stages and men are in phases. It takes time but like most things, before becoming a wonder they start up as blunders. Know what stage you are in; learn the lessons well, when tests come, pass in flying colours! Only then can you be licensed to move on to the next stage.