Find out what WORKS BEST for you by yourself

If you do anything that necessitates taking similar actions periodically, then it means you partake in a routine. This sets you in a very good position to be a test subject of yourself. You are the specimen, the analyst, and you can regulate most aspects of this study of yourself. In science, they would say you possess valuable data – based on your daily actions; that if analyzed would be beneficial to other individuals and most importantly to yourself. Unfortunately, all this information is uncollected, and that which is known is a small percentage of data that appears in the form of outliers. But how exactly can you gather

How to Make 50% Progress in One Step

… but who cares anyway, my task is simply to share with you what I felt; and I too don’t care what you think or say. If I did care for a second, I wouldn’t be writing this here at all (actually there is some percentage of care in “I don’t care”). I would be discouraged straight away. That is something that has happened to me on several occasions in the last couple of years; I only cared about how you felt, what you always thought of me and similar. And what has it earned me? It has only kept me in my closet. And I have taken on only a face that is appealing to you, and not cared for what I truly felt inside. Every time I attempted to reveal my true self, I was either told that it wasn’t good enough or that I had to do more. I ended up doing what I truly wanted when no one is seeing – within my closed doors! That’s how much you affected me – yes you the people around me, my society! 

It is now a New Year, and a friend of mine opened up to me last week and showed me what I have been missing for years – to live my life in the open, and in whichever way I love to. And guess what, I won’t care no more what you think about me. It won’t matter at all. There are things I have always wanted to do, but had silenced them because I was afraid of what could happen if I dared. Now I know it is now or never! So I have decided that I shall do as I please, especially for issues that concern my personal progress and growth; probably along the way I shall meet those with similar direction and we shall move along together. For now I part ways with my old cowardly self. It’s now time for me to start that business I have always thought about but was worried of what people would think. Now is the time for me to approach my boss with that new proposal that is still hidden in my bottom drawer. I now have the potential to start that daily routine of taking over my life’s choices and activities. And guess what; remember that lady/gentleman I have always been afraid to tell how I feel? I am going to do that straight from here. It is now or never! That chapter one I started two years ago needs to be extended beyond the first paragraph. All because, it is now or never! And don’t get me wrong, am not doing it blindly; I have a plan (see how to). Already knowing what I want to do is 50% of the work. I have already set up a meeting with my physician to see how best I can train my body at the gym without harming myself. I want to lose a few kilograms, not because that is what society wants, but because it may better my health. I have also consulted with an architect to figure out which house plan is fit for my financial capacity and which one suits my needs. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t intend to start and finish it all at once. I have looked ahead and planned my full year; I intend to take it bit by bit. I now know when is best to ask my employer for that “paid vacation” so that I can do significant work on my projects. And about going beyond the first paragraph of my story, I have decided that I shall write at least one page every day(see how to start), and who knows what will happen within a month? And yes, I haven’t forgotten and I know am not getting any younger and am in my most productive years. So it is time I started planning for my old age too. In this regard, I have decided that I shall start saving. YES SAVING, you read it right!! I shall do it in a way that doesn’t compromise my current wellbeing. Am thinking of long term investments, and have already set up an appointment with a financial advisor. I guess I shall look up the advice of a nutritionist too, and ensure good dietary requirements of my body. And for that lady/gentleman I wanted to ask out, I guess I shall slow down a bit and decide later when it is best to approach her/him. I shall also be waiting on the not so urgent decisions that am about to make. I realized that in the past I was quick to make decisions that I later regretted. For example I shouldn’t have decided to open up that new bank account just because of a flyer and the sweet talking of the bank`s salesperson. Probably I shall close it and keep only one account that I can maintain. I also plan to leave my current four bed roomed house and go for a cheaper two roomed house. I intend to contribute the difference in rent to other investment options. And oh yeah, that monthly clothing buy will now be limited to only once a year. From now I choose financial awareness. It is now or never, and there is no going back! And now we get on to the hard one; how do I tell my friends that am going to limit my weekly overnight outings to only one every fortnight? But either way, I have got to tell them. And if they are surely my friends, they shall understand; probably now or in the future. And finally, remember that short course I wanted to take to upgrade in my field, how about I check its schedule and see how I could possibly enroll. It shouldn’t be hard now that I have cut my expenditure. Will it?

As you read this, probably you fit in somewhere in the above and feel like one of them is the kind of action you feel like taking. The power in moving forward lies in initially realizing that no one is going to do anything for you if you don’t; and also in the fact that once you decide to move forward, you are already 50% there. Truth is, it all isn’t going to happen in a single day; some of it will take years to realize, but with constant effort I guarantee that you shall be there. Making a good plan and sticking to it will work miracles; and so will your belief in your plans. And if you believe in a higher power, you may have to assert your belief more, and ask spiritual guidance for your goals too. Forget the pressure of society; it shall always be there whether you are at the top or the bottom. However you have to harness the pressure and expectations of society as stepping stone on your way to achieving your goal.

I rest my case knowing that all that happens next is your choice. And now that you know, what are you going to do about it?

See this to help you along your way to turning things over. All the best.

The World Owes me NOTHING

It's not yours or mine, but ours

The world owes me nothing. I have come to realize that in fact I owe the world a lot of things. This realization has come after finding out that am responsible for so much of what’s happening in the world. As I have grown up, I have been surrounded by selfishness of the highest order in all our societies. It is all a paradox of so many having and so many not having. In school I remember being taught how to divide five oranges among five kids and the answer always ended up with an equal share for each. In the real world, this is totally different; the person who has to do this division chooses to distribute zero oranges among the five kids, and opts to keep all the oranges to him/herself. Let`s go back for a second and ponder on this situation of five oranges to be divided among five kids. Logically, each child taking one orange is the perfect and harmonious way of solving this puzzle. Come on everyone, it’s not that complicated. But alas! We have millions of people converging meetings all over the world to solve this simple problem. Putting the oranges aside, on the assumption that mathematics is so complicated… how about facing the reality? Seven billion people on earth… with the technology to go to Mars, and to the moon and back, and we cannot end malaria, we cannot end famine, we cannot provide safe drinking water to those who need it – at least they are not at mars yet… something surely is wrong with this world; and we continue to perpetuate wars where we spend billions of dollars to kill one another as if malaria is not already killing enough of us; as if ALS is not killing several of us? And I sit back in my chair with my hand on my chin and wonder what world leaders are doing; and by world leaders I don’t mean Obama or Putin or whichever individual is in charge of those big positions. By leaders I mean you, you who is reading this right now, you who has the potential to do something, but choosing to keep a closed ear because it is not yet in your compound. Just because you have safe drinking water doesn’t protect you from the magnitude of similar challenges the world is currently engulfed in. Just because you stay thousands of kilometers away from Syria, Gaza, Somalia, Ukraine, DRC, Sudan, doesn’t make you safe if you continue to do nothing when injustices are being perpetuated by fellow beings… the world is watching as one group of people butchers the other; and soon it will be knocking at your door… and hope the person you helped will run to your rescue. I DO NOT support any act that involves taking another person’s life irrespective of the circumstances. There is opportunity to change and we better exhaust that before adopting other stringent measures other than taking someone’s life. I feel sad being part of the world where all this is taking place and not being able to make my opinion extend to everyone. But I also feel happy that probably this may initiate awareness among humanity, among us all to rise above our selfishness, our differences and only take pride in being human. Being human is the simplest we can do, especially in this world where we don’t live forever. As much as I acknowledge the mess taking place in the world, I also believe there are already individuals trying to make the world a better place than they found it. All the injustices are a result of someone’s actions. The future is not a good one… it will not be global warming challenging the survival of humanity, but rather the actions that man has chosen to take in the recent centuries- actions that largely call for “all man for himself” at the expense of everyone. The jungle law being among humans doesn’t sound like a challenge… since we are more dependent on one another and we need each other for survival. The rich need the poor and the poor need the rich. The rich need the poor so as to become richer and the poor need the rich in order to become richer. We cannot all be rich, and we shouldn’t all be poor; but we can attain a certain level of quality of life by being at similar levels, at least with the basics of life. I cannot over emphasize how things need to be done in order to change the system… but I predict that in future, chaos will be created, and the result of chaos is always order; the order that will result will be necessary to create the next trend in the next centuries. For now, let them suffer, let them be poor, continue bombing them, but soon, enough will be enough, when the militaries can no longer afford to shield the perpetuators of such injustices, then the guns will change directions. And don’t get me wrong, I know there are many hardworking individuals who deserve every bit of their efforts, and am happy with them…!! But there are also those who benefit at the expense of the poor, and they know it, and they continue to do so… Your time will expire soon and you will have no one to run to in the advent of these times. For now enjoy your empires, see them grow and soon you will watch them get crashed down. When you are doing something wrong, you always feel it deep inside you and you cannot say you didn’t know. This applies to everyone, me, you and whoever is living on this small pale blue dot. Your actions in this finite time will very much determine a lot for this small blue dot. I therefore call upon earthling in your own capacity to question your actions whether done in the day light or in the dark and make sure they push us forward as humanity. God bless.

Can we Edit a Blank Page?

We cannot edit a blank page, and a draft or sketch is necessary to make bigger progress

The art of starting from scratch to finally having something presentable is something that’s developed with time. For writers, one can spend a whole day, a week or even a year, staring at a blank page, with nothing to put down. Meanwhile for students who have assignments to complete, it’s a completely different story as you cannot afford to stare at an empty page for a year. In all, if there is nothing on the page, there is NOTHING to start with; but once you write a few sentences or paragraphs, there is a beginning and above all, something to edit! Most of us will find it easier to move forward once we get an initial push. Likewise, all our dreams or goals need to be initiated and that’s when we shall be able to identify what works and what needs a few changes to get better! Some of us have ideas of probably how to solve some of the world’s biggest challenges but we are still stuck at the ‘blank page’. As long as that idea is still held in your head and not brought to the real world, it cannot be ‘edited’.

What takes place as one continuously stares at a blank page is also interesting, it’s actually the time when ideas are evaluated in our head and fake ones are eliminated, while the most promising ones quickly raise our heart beats. It is these that finally make it to the blank page and in their vagueness can be edited later. Even the best of artists starts with a sketch, until it’s developed into the beautiful pieces we all wish to decorate our houses with. The phone, PC, aeroplane, radio, and the likes of such inventions all started in the same way and no doubt they are still being edited to-date. To make it even more interesting, the people who are currently remodeling these inventions are not the original inventors…! Your vague draft could be an inspiration for an even far greater discovery than you could ever imagine. So, still thinking twice about letting it out of your head? I would rather you don’t.

The fears that hold us back are nothing but mere obstructions in our minds and can be overcome once we make the first big step. The fear of being laughed at, of being judged, and their close ‘cousins’ such as laziness, negativity and lack of confidence, can all be surmounted into something that changes our lives altogether. And later when the task is done, the last full stop made, and the pages have dried, can we sit back and acknowledge how potent we are. But alas, very few people live to see this day as their ideas never get to see the light of day; they are literally buried in thought. So, the next time you get an idea or a hunch; don’t just rub it off as impossible or stupid, but rather try to actualize it and see how far it takes you.