New Year Resolutions

So the year has come to and end and we are now on the chapter of another one. Every commencement of the year is never complete without new years resolutions. It is everywhere, its the talk of every one, every company. We are all excited to have a new slate from where to start on after all it's a new year and a new year should start with new beginnings. Well I do not know about you, but where I come from, New Year is a BIG deal and new year resolutions are part of it too. I am going to guide you on how to effectively make your new year's resolutions, that is if you have not done so..

What I learnt from last year
Last year I decided to take a new approach as far as new year resolutions are concerned. I decided not to have a big list of resolutions but cut them down to minimum. For the first time in my life I had only one resolution, one goal to achieve and it was all about me. Making me a better person. It is amazing how focusing on me made me grow this last year. I discovered a new me, or rather a me that I did not know existed, potentials that were laying unexploited and opportunities not yet explored. A whole new world opened up before me, an amazing world with unlimited possibilities. It is true that until you know yourself, you will always limit your skies and your wings to fly.

With this also comes the knowledge that it does not matter how much you have in your cup but what you have in it, if it is poison you better get rid of it, if it is wine well then call your friends and family and celebrate. Till the day you know what is in your cup, what is on your mind, that is the day you start to grow a new to unlimited horizons. If you have not yet take this reality check, I recommend you do so as soon as possible otherwise you are on a journey leading to nowhere.

One goal, one thing, one accomplishment at a time
Having this piece of information was important, I knew I had many dreams, many goals that I wanted accomplished in my lifetime. With this also came the realization that all of them can not be accomplished at the same time, one thing at a time, one goal at a time led to more accomplished work. If you thought that only your house needed de-clattering, think again. How clattered is your mind, your ideas, your goals? Reason why you should write them down, this will help not only to de-clatter you mind but help you to organize your goals and prioritize them. You will also realize that the accomplishment of one goal makes the achievement of the other nearer and easier. Make a point of picking one goal at a time, work on it, if you need to lay a foundation for another do so without losing your focus on the first one. The main idea here is to focus till completion. If you have the talent of working on multiple goals simultaneously without losing your focus, better for you. If you are anything closer to me where fewer goals work better than many, hold my hand and lets rock this.

How do you know if you are a fewer goal oriented person?
Check on how many ideas you have had in the past, how many projects you have started and how many of these have been accomplished. Do your projects lay unfinished? Do you still have a dream of finishing these projects? Does the passion of those projects still burn within your heart? If the answers to the questions above is nothing but yes, then you are a one goal or fewer goal oriented person. Re-write your unfinished projects in regard to their importance and priority putting into consideration the amount of time and money you need to accomplish them. Pick them one by one and work on then till completion before you pick another one. I know some of our last years resolutions lay in this category, do not put failure where it is not due, a continuation mark will do. And yes before I forget, we do also realize with time that some pursuits are not viable, they were neither goals nor our part of our dreams but a euphoria at the time. There is nothing wrong in admitting mistakes, be brave and noble enough to drop such as they will only drain your energy, passion and resources. Life is still good and too short to be wasted on trivial matters as such.

So what are my resolutions this year?
Personal development and more personal development. When personal development ceases, so do our dreams, goals and life as a whole. I will borrow this slogan from my mentor "small changes, big results" and work on this slogan towards my bright future. Sometimes all we need is to make a small change in what we eat, the time we wake up, the number of tasks we accomplish everyday, the way we talk to people, the strategies we employ from day to day operations, the people we associate with and we are open up to enormous possibilities and opportunities for growth. This is our year, lets rock it one goal at a time.

How Your Faith affects your Success Part 1

What is Faith?
Faith is the complete trust and believe in someone or something. Today we are going to discuss about faith in someone, and that someone is you. How much faith do you have in yourself? Do you know the relationship between your faith and your success?

I am going to give you a true story, names have been changed for privacy purposes. Mary and Jane got employed in a marketing company on a similar date. Mary’s academic papers indicated that she was a A student and always at the top of her classes unlike Jane who was an average student. It was only natural that the company expected Mary to be a better performer as compared to Jane. The company expected that Mary would bring in more customers, more sales and higher profits. Ironically at the end of the financial year, Jane's performance was almost twice better than Mary's and she looked highly motivated too. Mary on the other hand was demotivated, her performance was below target. So what happened to Mary? How was it possible that an average student became a better marketer than an A student?

Mary and Jane came from two different academic institutions. Mary was taught that getting good grades was the key to get a good job, earn good money, have a good life and this was success as far as she was concerned, what else would she ask for. What they never taught her was what comes after securing a good job. On the other hand Jane was taught that good grades were not enough to make her a successful person, securing a good job was not the end but the beginning. She was taught that in order to succeed in life she had to believe in herself and her abilities to handle new situations and challenges. This little aspect differentiated Mary and Jane out of the academic world. Education is important, it is a key to success in life, but education alone is not enough, we must have knowledge on how to handle and use what we have acquired academically to achieve success. How do you build faith in yourself?

“Education doesn’t just take place in stuffy classrooms and university buildings, it can happen everywhere, every day to every person.” – Richard Branson

Belief in Yourself
Faith is believing in yourself even when the whole world does not. The worst thing you can do in life is to stop believing in yourself. There will come a time when no one is going believe in you, that does not mean you have to do the same. You are the only person who knows you best, no one is ever going to know you better than you do apart from God. Seeking approval from other people all the time is not going to take you anywhere, remember everyone has been called for a purpose and each calling is unique. The Lord God Almighty has called you for that purpose and He has planted a seed in you, it is this seed that gives you ideas, prompts you to do a certain task or follow a particular project. No one else has been called so, yes I know many can be called for a specific mission, but every mission has a particular task that only you and no one else can fulfill. People are going to see things differently from the way you do, that does not make you superior or inferior to anyone else, it simply means you are bringing unique ideas to the table to enhance the final product.

Belief in Your Ideas.
Faith is believing in your ideas however small they may look. I work in an airline industry I have had I had a privilege of working in the cargo department for three years as a Ramp Agent and Load Master. Our manager was a good leader and he had introduced brainstorming sessions once a month where everyone including the loading agents could point out shortcomings and give suggestions on how to improve operations. The loading agents used to shy off at first because they were not used to the idea of giving their views in such a forum, this was a forum that had powerful people in the company and they felt intimidated by their presence, however little by little they warmed up to the forum and gave in their contributions. I remember very well, how 90% of the the ideas that were implemented and became successful came from the ideas that were initially thought to be insignificant. The ideas were small yes, one of them they included making a small alterations to some of the loading equipment to avoid wear and tear. The changes not only deterred wear and tear, they greatly improved the rate of consumption of power consumption, reduced manpower per equipment and saved time in loading and money for repairs. This idea alone saved the company over $10,000 per month. Was it a big idea? Most people thought it was a small idea. Did it come from an engineer in the company? It came from a loading agent who saw a problem, came up with a possible solution and someone believed in him but he believed in his idea first.

You have to belief in your ideas first in order to succeed. When you believe in your ideas, it becomes easy to convince others to support you in the journey to drive your idea, project, or mission to a positive end. People will believe you more when you believe in your self and in the agenda you are bringing to the table.

Belief in Your Potential
Faith is believing in your potential. Have you ever been surprised when people tell you how good you are in something you never thought you were good at? It has happened to me many times, this blog is a living testimony of a result of believing in my potential through what others saw in me. People have seen your potential by the time they point out that you are good in something more so if it comes from trusted people and unexpected people or strangers. If you hear it severally from different people it is time you believed in it and move on with it.

Your boss may entrust you with a task at work out of the blue not in line with your key responsibilities, most of us will either find an excuse as to why we cannot do it, or complain of additional workload. Minority will gladly take it up and see it to conclusion. These are the same people who move easily and quickly up the career ladder and we keep on wondering how they manage to do it. They believe in their potential not only in handling normal tasks but also what has been entrusted to them by faith.

“Take a chance. It’s the best way to test yourself. Have fun and push boundaries.” – Richard Branson

When your boss decides to give you a task, it is because they know you can handle it, they have seen your capabilities, take it up and do it, do not give yourself excuses as to why you cannot handle it. In our culture we have a saying that states “ If they believe in you, believe in yourself” One common mistake most people make is belittling themselves and their capabilities, yes you have to be humble and not blow your own trumpet, but that does not bar you from performing your tasks with confidence and to completion.

Belief in God
Faith is believing in God and his promises. If God has said he made you in his own image, believe in it. He is the greatest master Creator of the universe and everything in it. He is the master of knowledge and He says that nothing is impossible through Jesus Christ as long as we walk in faith. When we lack faith we have no stand, we have no focus, we can easily be swayed and tossed around, we hand over our power to others and give them a ticket to use us to accomplish their goals and not ours; this is what many politicians do, they take advantage of our little faith and use us to accomplish their goals. If you have faith, you know your purpose, you have a clear vision and you know the path to take to achieve that mission. Let us move by faith, let us believe in God, let us believe in what God has called us to be, conquerors , high achievers,winners in everything we set out to do.

****Best Words of Advise***

But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. James 1:6

How to Achieve Peace in Your Life.

In a world filled with strife peace often seems too elusive to even hope for. If you are a child of god, the scripture makes it clear that peace is indeed possible. God is a God of peace, and peace comes from Him. Peace with ourselves and others makes it easier for us to achieve our goals. Where there is no peace, there are chaos and you do not expect success and progress to be born out of chaos.

Below are a few guidelines on how to achieve peace in your life.

Embrace the presence of God.

You will be able to achieve peace only when you embrace the presence of God in your life. If you have no peace, perhaps you have taken your eyes off Jesus. The scripture says, ”And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7) .The peace we are talking about, the peace that comes from our creator will be with us if we do not deviate from the right path. The path of righteousness.

Learn to forgive

Learning to forgive is a sure way to achieve inner peace. A heart that holds grudges is a heavy heart and peace cannot dwell in a heart that is heavy. I have learn through life that forgiving others makes my heart lighter, they do not have to ask for that forgiveness, i an not doing them a favor. I an doing myself a favor. The hear-ache goes away, in return you have that nice feeling like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders. That is the felling of peace, that peace that everyone should strive for.

Help others.

In Learn to extend a helping hand to those who need it in order to achieve peace. You will not be able to find inner peace if you know you did not do your part when you had a chance and your help was needed. Can you recall a time when you have that inner voice that calls you to help and then you ignore it? What happens next? Another voice repeatedly asks, did i do the right thing?, maybe i should have helped, what if i had helped/ could this be avoided. It id our guilty conscious nagging us. If we make this mistake repeatedly, we will always have that guilt conscious, a big obstacle to peace achievement.

Stay out of debt.

Dept is one this i will always avoid if I can, there were times i had a lot of debts and loans with the bank and a non stable income. Those were some of my worst days of my life. I lived in constant fear of what will happen if i lost my job today? How will i pay of my loans, my debts? Will they understand?. I remember the day i was able to clear off my debts, wow it was such a nice feeling. If you have been in my situation you know what i am talking about, there is so much uncertainty .If you can avoid it, stay out of it. Dept is one thing that has robbed over 70% of individuals off their peace. Living with the constant fear of when the bank is going to seize your property or avoiding your friends due to debt is not exactly a way of living a peaceful life.

Be organize.

Peace is organization. Organization makes it easier for us to accomplish our tasks in our daily life with less struggle and gives us time and space to relax. When we are organized we are able to accomplish more as well as meat our goal. We will not have to worry about not meeting our datelines, leaving things undone or our employer or tutor being on our neck over unfinished or low quality work. We will not have to worry not attending a friend's wedding or your child's football game because you forgot about it or something came up suddenly and then live to regret not going. It is that inner peace you have knowing that everything will fall in place because it has been allocated it own time. It is that peace you have when you enter your home or office and know where you will find anything you may require for that day easily because everything has a home. It is the feeling of confidence, relaxation and focus.

Give love.

Give love to everyone, it is one thing that is not going to cost you anything but will earn you a lifetime of genuine friends, keep your family intact and grant you timeless joy and peace. We will not be able to find peace if we are in turmoil over hate. Hate and peace can not dwell in the same house. We have to sweep our house clean of hate to give room for peace to reign. Yes i know that some people will not appreciate the love you give them, that is natural, other will hate you for giving it out. Our Lord Jesus face the same fate but that did not deter him from loving us. He loved us anyway and he is the prince of peace. Do not get me wrong, loving others does not mean you give them a ticket to walk all over you, you need to be firm, set your boundaries, help when needed and correct according, just like Jesus did. If we learn hoe to love effectively, achieving peace becomes eminent in our life.

If you has enjoyed this post, please let us know. Share with us more ways on how we can find peace.

**** Best Words of Advice ****

"Turn fro Evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it." ( Psalms 34:14)

The best way to boost your confidence.

Your level of confidence is directly related to your success. We all have those moments when we feel inadequate, which is alright, however insecurity is a dream killer. We have to boost our confidence consistently to enable us pursue our dreams with focus and vigor.

Below are a few ways on how you can boost your confidence.

Positive affirmation

Negative thinking and self talk is a sure way of killing your confidence. The best way to avoid this is to have positive affirmations about yourself and affirm them daily. I have a few of my own I can share:

• I am beautiful
• I am a great achiever
• I am an organised person
• I am focused on my goals
• I am a great person

You can have as many as you like, the more the better.

Believe in yourself

You have what it takes to succeed, you have to believe it to make it.. If we do not believe in ourselves, it does not matter if the whole world believes in us, our self confidence will crumble. Let us take our positive affirmations seriously and believe in ourselves. Our confidence will grow gradually.

Be proactive

Let us be proactive in approaching any situation in our lives. The more proactive we are, the more projects we undertake. From experience, the more you participate, you gain skills which build expertise and expertise brings confidence. You will realize in no time that tasks which were a challenge become a habit and you wonder how you could have found then hard initially.

Be ready to make mistakes

There is always a first time for everything. I remember well my first French class, everyone including the teacher thought I was a nonredeemable case considering the numerous mistakes I made in my first year. Guest what?, I was the best in French at the end of my four years in training and this came with an award. I never did shy off from my mistakes, on the contrary I made a lot of them till I was confident enough to handle it.

What are some of confidence boosters that you know? Please be free to share with us.

****Best words of advice*****

What you believe, you become

Making the most out of what you have.

It is common to hear of I would do more if I had more money, was in a different company or country, if I had good friends, a better childhood, a better job .... the list is endless.

Yesterday I was listening to an interview on television hosted by Jeff Koinange. Jeff was hosting James Mwangi the CEO of Equity Bank and founder of Wings to Fly. Wings to Fly is a foundation started by Equity Bank to offer learning opportunities to bright students from less privileged backgrounds.The program has benefited many families in Kenya and has gotten a lot of support around the county. The CEO was accompanied by two student beneficiaries, a young lady a gentleman.

What impressed me the most was the closing statement from one of the beneficiaries. “Getting the best grades is but a bridge to get you to a destination. What you do when you arrive will depend on how you make the most out of what you have.” Some of us may not have the privilege of a helping hand as the students in this program, but that does not mean we can not live our dreams. As the young lady, one of the beneficiaries in this interview said, “God will use what is in your hand to make  great things happen just as he used the staff in Moses’s hand to do great Miracles.”

How do we make the most out of what we have?

Know what you have

When you know your strengths and what you have at hand, a talent, a skill, it makes it easier to align your goals and pursue them.

Align your goals with your talents and skills

It is more easier and enjoyable to pursue goals aligned to your talents and skills.

Accept your situation and limitations

Once we accept the situation that we are in and our limitations, we are in a better position to note the kind of support we need and from who.

Always ask for help

Never shy off from asking for help. Yes, we are not living in an ideal world but you may be shocked to learn how many people are willing to give you the support you need out there.

Know where you can get help from and the right people to approach

This is where most of us fail, we know the kind of help we need but we do not know how and where to get it from, ask around from friends and churches, schools can also be of help. My best ally, go online, there is so much information online of groups and organizations who offer support in line to specific needs. Word of caution, always validate online information before execution.

Never give up

It does not matter how many times you have to try, never give up. A valid dream will always burn inside you, if strategy one does not work, change course but never the goal.

****Best Words of Advice****

Where there is a will, there is a way

Emerging up strong after a storm in your life

We all have been there in one way or another. That dreadful moment when you wish all is a dream that you will wake up from, only for it to dawn on you that this is reality. The only wish on your mind is for the earth to open and swallow you up. Of course this never happens, the reality is; you are here, the worst has happened and life must go on.

We have had those moments when we have faced betrayal from the people we love the most in our lives. It could be our parents, our siblings, our mentors, spouses, friends or even our employers.

It is unfortunate that the betrayal of people we trust the most hurt us the worst. We would all love for this not to happen, but sometimes it happens. What next? What do you do when the people you love the most, the ones you trusted your life with, tear your life into insignificant pieces and throw them back on your face? How in the world are you going to pick them up, how are you going put those pieces together into a life that you once had? The truth is, life is never going to be the same again. You have two choices; pick up those pieces, glue them together with pity and walk around miserably with a constant reminder of what you used to be OR let the pieces be, build a new life and give it a new heart. For a heart to have been broken, it was not strong enough. If you have to pick up those pieces, let it be for the sole purpose of learning those weak areas, so that you can replace those weak materials in your life with bold and stronger ones.

What I have learnt in life is that people avoid associations with those who walk around with self pity; we all want to be associated with people with shining hearts, people who ooze with confidence. We all want glamour that is who we are; it is what the world is. I have been through the best moments in my life; they have given me immense joy, they have also boosted my confidence and self worth, however it is the worst moments that have given me strength, they have led me to discover my inner self, they have taught me the value of patience, keenness, trust, love and forgiveness. The best gifts you can ever dream to have in life. It is through the worst moments of my life that I have re-discovered my true-self, my potential and what I am capable of.

My dear friend and reader, do not be afraid of challenges, never be afraid of people who break your heart or life. Proudly pick those pieces  and make something new, stronger and fabulous out of it. Do not worry if those pieces cannot be picked up, all you need is a magnifying glass to study them; all you need to know is that the new heart and life you are going to build is never going to be anything closer to the broken one. It is going to be superior.

*****Beast words of Advise******

After the storm comes sunshine.

Soaring above the storm

I love the eagle bird, not only because it is a strong bird, it is the only bird that I know that flies against the storm. It takes immerse courage to fly against a storm. Once in a while I like being an eagle. I like the freedom that comes with it, the courage to walk into unfamiliar grounds and the fearlessness of it all.

I have been able to accomplish more in life when I walk around as one. What does it feel like being an eagle? Let’s find out.

An eagle is visionary

Eagles have a keen vision. Their eyes are specially made for long distance focus and clarity. Having a clear vision is a pathway to achieve our goals.

Eagles are fearless 

An eagle will never surrender to the size or strength its prey. It will always give a fight to win and regain its territory. Whatever challenges we have in life, we should always strive to overcome.

Eagles are Tenacious 

When other birds fly away from the storm with fear, an eagle spreads its mighty wings and uses the current to soar to greater heights. I use challenges as stepping stones and learning points to achieve my goals. It is far much better than self pity.

Eagles are high flyers 

Eagles can fly to an altitude of 10,000 feet, but they are able to swiftly land on the ground. They fly high unlike other birds and make less noise waiting for opportunities to strike their next prey or glide with the current of the storm. Great achievers are problem solvers, they do not complain. They love to take challenges just like an eagle.

Eagles never eat dead meat 

 An eagles never scavenges, it eats meat from a prey it kills itself. I like being with people who can think, make informed decisions and take action; the change thinkers and change makers. Remember the people you hang around with and the books you read makes you who you are eventually. 

 Eagles take time to rejuvenate 

At the age of 30yrs, an eagle physical condition deteriorates fast making it difficult for it to survive. It retreats to a mountain top to rejuvenate for a period of five months; a process that is quite painful but necessary (link). The process gives it a rebirth enabling it to live another 30 years. We all need to take a break from our daily lives and regain our strength. A vacation will do, but do not forget to learn new skills to enable you to fit in to life changing trends.

Eagles nature their young ones 

This is my best part, “Never give people handouts, and teach them to fish”.  An eagle nests in the highest part it can find, and I mean highest. When it’s time for the young ones to fly, it carries the young ones on its back flies very high and lets it fall suddenly. The mother will catch it before it fall to the ground and the process is repeated till the young one can fly on its own from higher grounds. If the young one goes back to the nest the eagle will tear the nest apart and force the young one off the cliff till it learns to spread its wings.

****Best words of Advise****

There is an eagle in each and every one of us that wants to soar high; there is also a hippopotamus in us that wants to wallow in the mud. Choose to be an eagle today.

How to Achieve Self acceptance

I have learnt through life that self acceptance is the source of true happiness. Accepting yourself boosts your self esteem and builds your confidence. You are able to accomplish much in life and easily achieve your goals. Self acceptance oozes out of us, it radiates to all around us.

Self acceptance is mirrored in our action towards ourselves and towards others. The level of our self acceptance will determine how we choose to be treated by those around us and how we treat others. A high level of self acceptance gives birth to respect towards others and to ourselves. This is a must have to everyone.

How do we achieve self acceptance?

Avoid comparing ourselves to others.

Comparing ourselves to others generates pain because there will always be someone who is better looking than you, someone who has achieved more or someone who is better than you in one aspect or another. Do your best, look your best and live within your means.

Be grateful.

Be grateful for who you are, what you have and what you have achieved. Count your blessing and achievements more often than your failures. Take failures as leaning points and stepping stones in your journey.

Learn to forgive yourself and others.

We all make mistakes in life. Forgiving your self is the best thing that can happen to you. You will also find it easy to forgive others in the process. A non forgiving heart is a cancerous heart.

Respect other people and their views.

You do not have to agree with everyone nor their views, but learn to respect them. It is a high maturity of self acceptance.