On June 14th, 2014, I had the privilege and the honor to be the guest speaker at an African Youth Event in Denver. The topic of conversation, with the youth, was “Life is about choices, not chances”. I first shared the videos on Facebook and people seemed to enjoy them. Now I am sharing with you, the readers of this blog. There are two videos, part one is the presentation and part two, the Q&A session. Thanks for watching!
Part I
Part II
Life is not easy, that’s an understatement. In fact we were never promised that it was, but sometimes we do lose sight of that. Therefore we complain and whine when things do not go our way. When the going gets tough, only the tough get going. That is the reason why you need to have a strong motivation, a strong why, why you do what you do, why you want what you want. Life will knock you down, it is just a matter of time. When it does and your motivation is weak, you will fall on your face and getting up may not be easy.
Zig Ziglar once said that people often complain that motivation doesn’t last. To which he replied: “neither does taking a bath – that’s why we recommend it is daily”
What is the driving force behind what you do daily! Why are you getting out of bed every morning to go do what you do? Is it to earn a living? Is it to care for your family? Or is it to achieve your goals and live the life of your dreams? Whatever your reason is, just know that it is up to you. What you want is yours for the taking. However, do not lose sight of what motivates you, keep your eyes on the prize if you will. There is no use waiting for something big to happen, start where you are and what you’ve got and that will lead you to something greater.
A new year, a new you, right? Will it become reality this time around? Every January 1st, so many people commit to paper new resolutions, only to forget about them by February 2nd. How many times have you decided to do something and did not follow through? How many of your new year’s resolutions did you accomplish last year, or the year before? You don’t need to answer those questions, but you know in your heart what the reality is. Many people abandon their goals or break the promises they make to themselves every new year because they become uncomfortable. Comfort is a word cherished by the masses, but what they fail to realize is that success does not live in the comfort zone.
This year instead of making a list of resolutions you won’t follow, try investing in yourself. The most important investment you will ever make, is the one you make in yourself. However until you know and value who you are you will never take that leap. Given the fact that you are the most important person living, why would you take yourself lightly? Your Maker didn’t! He made you unique and in His own image. He gave you all the power you need you to be, do, have your heart’s desires. But you are stopping you, by not investing in yourself, no one else is. You are like a very fertile soil, whatever you sow in that soil, you will reap in great abundance.
When you think of investment in the financial arena, the higher the ROI, (return on investment) the higher the risks. The good news is when you invest in yourself, there are no risks, only rewards. So what are you waiting for and how do you invest in you? You might be waiting for the right time, which is just an illusion. The time is never right, there will always be something that will prevent you from doing something else. You just have to prioritize and start now. You can invest in yourself by reading good personal development books (or listening to them in audio format), learning new skills, attending seminars in your field. The list can go on and on, it all depends on what you want to do with your life.
Whatever the case know this: there are no plateaus in life, you are either climbing or sliding. The only way you can maintain your balance on a bike is by moving, if you stand still you are going to fall, life is no different. Wherever you work, if you refuse to keep up with new skills or new technologies coming out every year, your job is on the line. For instance being a computer literate is no longer a fancy skill it is now a basic necessity in the workplace.
Investing in and developing yourself is the way to the top. Two friends, John and Paul are savvy engineers with Phds, they now have the job of their dreams at a big firm. John is the best employee in terms of attendance and getting the job done. However Paul gets promotion after promotion, leaving his friend at the bottom of the ladder where they started. What is Paul’s secret? He spends his evenings and weekend reading on personal development but also taking leadership and management classes. It is clear that his investment in himself is paying great dividends.
Investing in yourself will set you apart from the masses, but you must be willing to take the road less travelled. It will not be easy, but you have to be willing to do what’s uncomfortable today so that you can enjoy comfort tomorrow. You already have the gift of life, all you need now is to give yourself the gift of development, developing and unleashing the great powers in you, so that you can savor the best that life has to offer.
Question: What advice do you have on new year’s resolutions? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Contrary to popular belief, your aptitude does not always determine your performance. You can be very intellectually capable or very physically able but if you have a bad attitude, your performance can and will seriously be undermined. What is attitude? It is usually defined or explained as a “an inward feeling expressed by behavior” So, really! Do we just have to monitor our behavior in order to improve our performance? Is it that simple? I believe there is more to it than that. The way we perceive and interpret our circumstances and things around us, our own self-esteem have a direct impact on how we perform.
Basically, we do have a choice! It is not what life throws at us that is important but how we react to it. We all heard the saying when life gives you lemon, make lemonade! There is no need complaining about it, it is just like crying over spilled milk, not helpful. That is why happiness and inner peace come from within. All the materiel possession or money in the world will not make you happy if you have a negative mental attitude. Likewise all the security in the world will not give you inner peace if you always
We’ve all heard the saying “we become what we think about”. We also know that what we focus on expand, and yet many people have a very pessimistic outlook on life. It is true that negative thoughts make they way into our minds from time to time. However we have no business inviting them let alone making them comfortable there. Being a pessimist will keep us in a constant state of fear. We are afraid that what we truly want will not happen. However by thinking about that over and over again it we will become our reality; indeed, the law of attraction is here to make sure of that.
How we talk to ourselves determines whether we are a pessimist or an optimist. When we have positive conversations with ourselves we tend to expect good things to happen to us. We tend not to worry because we know things will turn out fine and they usually will. We see more of what we anticipate. Optimists are happier people and accomplish more in life. The state of mind of an optimist is more conducive to success. On the other hand, the pessimist expect the worst and blame themselves for whatever goes
There are lot good people out there whose sole purpose in life is to make the world a better place. I subscribed to that cause a very long time ago. I spent most of my waking time, reading about and researching people like that. Recent I virtually “met” a gentle named Orrion Hudson, who in my opinion, is doing a tremendous job, bringing his bricks for the construction of this edifice called the world.
According to the website besomeone.org, “Orrin Hudson was watching the news one night in 2000 when he saw a story about seven employees shot, execution style—for $2,000 in the cash register. That’s when he realized evil prevails when good people do nothing. He sold his business and founded Be Someone to teach something positive to inner city kids: the focus, discipline and patience required by the game of chess.”
Mr. Hudson is changing young people’s lives “one move at time”. Like this master motivational speaker, I truly believe that our success in life should not be measured by how much money we have at the bank, or how many cars or houses we own. But rather, by how many lives we change for the better by lifting people up when they are down, or just believing in them until they can believe in themselves. Our success in this life should be ultimately evaluated by whether we left this world better than we found it.
Today’s Wednesday Motivation, obviously, is from Mr. Orrion Hudson of Besomeone.org. If you have kids in your family, you do not want to miss this video. I found it very inspiring and was very touched by it. Watch out for the definition of K.A.S.H
Question: Do you believe that the game of chess can teach young people success skills? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
Have you ever asked yourself why you are here on this earth, or why you do what you do? If you haven’t, now is the time to take a minute and reflect upon it. Most of us are like people running on a treadmill, making a lot of noise but going nowhere. Not knowing your purpose in life will jeopardize your achievement. If you don’t find out what you were called for to do, you will spend your life building someone else’s dream.
Whatever you are doing right now may not necessarily be your why, or may be it is! Only you can determine that. However, here is a tip: if time and money were not a problem, if you were a billionaire with no worries about income, how would spend your time, what would you do? Whatever your answer is, that’s exactly what you should be doing, that’s what you
In his book The power of Intention Dr. Wayne Dyer tells a story where her daughter, Amber, was recipient of one small act of Kindness, which ended up going a long way. On her way to her University, she always passes thru a toll road. One day as she was coming thru, she reached out for her purse to pay the toll, but the toll both attendant told her not to worry about it because the person in front of her had already paid for her toll. Surprised, she insisted, “but I am traveling alone”. Yes I understand said the toll both attendant, however the the gentleman instructed to tell the next person to come to have a great day, the toll has already been paid. The young lady thanked the attendant and drove off beaming with joy. She could not wait to share her blessing with the first person she meets.
That small gesture of kindness started a chain reaction. Her recipient shared it with some friends at the University and many of them started doing the same thing, thus making the day for a lot of people. Amber decided to pay it forward one day while she was at the grocery store. Behind her was a lady with a toddler who was very antsy, noticing the uneasy situation, Amber decided to let the woman check out before her. The lady thanked her
Are you blocking the channel of your good? Many people are under the impression that giving will deprive them and enrich the recipient. Others think that they just do not have anything to give, specially when they are broke. However the truth is quite the opposite. Giving will help us get more, as a matter of fact, we can not get until we give and we do always have something to give. We can always give a smile, comforting words or a helping hand to name a few. Today I would to share with you some fundamental truths about giving from Catherine Ponder. If you are not familiar with her, I would recommend you pick and read her book “The Secret of Unlimited Prosperity“. In that book she writes:
By the act of giving, you open the way for the things within your reach to appear quickly. These things have been wanting to come to you all the time, but were blocked by your lack of giving, because there was no free channel through which they could appear. Your giving opens and frees the channel. Always when there seems to be delay, confusion, or a block between you and your good, that block lies within you, and not in some outside circumstance or personality. When you give under divine guidance, you dissolve the block and open a channel for your good. Then nothing can stop its manifestation in your life! (Nothing has stopped its manifestation previously but your own lack of giving.)
Question: Can you think of any instance where you know you get what you wanted by giving something first? You can leave a comment by clicking here.
In this brief video, Steve Jobs explains the intricate relationship between passion and success.
In the same line of thought, Kevin W. McCarthy author of The On-Purpose Person goes even further when he says:
Your capacity to reach the depth of who you are determines the height to which you might rise! Define your standards for success. Some measure success in dollars earned or possessions owned. Others answer a call where success is measured in terms of lives saved, mind taught, people served and love given.
Question: What is your definition of success and how do you measure it? You can leave a comment by clicking here.