Indecision

You hear it a lot people saying that they do not or did not have a choice but we know deep down that its simply not true. It is an undeniable fact that life is about choices, we make concious and unconscious choices every waking minute of our lives. We choose to wake up from a beautiful sleep and to go to work, we might choose to fake illness and call in ill. We choose the foods we love, when we pick a brand of our favourite ice-cream against another we are making a choice. Well you can argue that choosing a brand of your favourite ice-cream is not as difficult as some of the choices we are faced with in life. I concur however the most arresting situation is indecision, when we do not make a decision we delay the inevitable.

When you are undecided whether to turn right or left even the wind will carry you in any direction. When you do not choose that's when you blame fate because you have left an important decision to it and consequently there is no need to complain, whine and moan because of what fate will decide for you. In most cases indecision is caused by fear of making a wrong decision however when you do not make a decision it will affect you, you will continue stress over it. As you know stress is too arresting it will essential time that could have been spend pursuing activities that pushes you towards your goal, if its unchecked it will manifest itself physically.Suffering from stress can weaken your immune system and that can lead to a lot of health problems. Some of these problems can be of a psychological nature but a lot of them tend to be physical. Emotional stress can lead to high blood pressure. All that just because you feared making a wrong decision.

You need to tackle indecision I have devised a four part action plan to tackle indecision today:

1. Acknowledge the choices you have to make, in cases where you have multiple choices streamline them to just two by eliminating those you do not want earlier. You will need to weigh the pros and the cons of the choices you have.
2. Whether your choice is about business or a personal life, consult a professional adviser, it might be a lawyer, a marriage therapist. Seek counsel from a person who has your best interest at heart, sometimes its best to get such counsel from a person who is detached from the situation you are facing.
3. Begin with the end in mind, what is it that you want to achieve, that will make your decision easier. As I mentioned above indecision is caused by fear for the worst, its human nature. You will need to develop a positive mindset that whatever happens you will be fine. Even if it turns out that you made a wrong decision in the long run it will be a learning curve for you. Trust your instincts you might not have all the facts before you act but believe in your self.
4. Above all ACT, make a decision, stick to it do not look back take that leap of faith. when you act even the wind will propel you forward.

I want to leave you with a quote from a poem by a German author, poet and dramatist Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:

“Then indecision brings its own delays,
And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days.
Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute;
What you can do, or dream you can, begin it;
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.”

The Five Immortal Lessons From Steve Jobs' Legacy

Today the world of business and technology mourn the death of one of the greatest entrepreneurs to have ever lived. Jobs' life undoubtedly had a profound impact on the tech industry and the way individuals interact with technology. As tributes pour its of no debate that Steve was the best CEO in the last three decades. He was a towering pioneer in all the fields of business he undertook; the Apple Mac revolutionarised the business of personal computing, while personal computers powered by Microsoft software ruled work places, Jobs envisioned people-friendly machines with mouse controllers and icons to click on to activate programs or open files. Pixar changed the world of animated movies forever, Avatar and the new world of 3-D would not be here were it not for Toy Story. The iPod changed the way people carried their entire catalogue of music, the accessory and after thought of iPod the iTunes threatened the entire music industry, CD sales fell, Apple's iTunes store, which has sold more than 16 billion songs since its inception in 2003, has revolutionized the album-based model historically championed by recording studios into singles priced at 99 cents delivered completely online. Then came the iPhone which single handedly toppled Nokia's market share in mobile and smart phones, More than 250 million devices running iOS have been sold worldwide. It became the first iconic touchscreen computer - and ushered in the beginnings of a new, 'post-PC' era. The iPad is slowly starting to take over the world of laptops. Apple's iPad, which was introduced in August 2010, was the fastest adopted consumer electronics device in history, with 3 million units sold within the first 80 days.

Jobs was just 21 when he founded Apple Computer in 1976 with his 26-year-old friend Steve Wozniak in his family garage. From such humble beginnings the company grew into one of the world's most valuable firms, posting second quarter profits of $731 billion in July on revenue of $28.57 billion despite the worldwide economic turmoil. Jobs built the most valuable technology company in the world by market capitalization, with a current market cap of 350.67 billion U.S. dollars. At a time when computer and device manufacturers like Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Dell are struggling to maintain consistent profitability levels, Apple has seen an upward trend in profit margins, with a net profit margin of more than 21 percent in its most recent fiscal year. Comparatively, HP and Dell have remained stagnant at approximately 7 percent and 4 percent respectively, according to their most recent annual financial statements.

There are plenty of lessons to learn from Steve Jobs for aspiring entrepreneurs and others that are already running their own businesses.

Lesson Number 1: Opportunities Are Right Where You Are
If you look at all Steve Jobs and Apple's products you will soon realise that prior to them coming up with an innovative product, that particular product was already there. Before the Mac and the iMac where launched personal PCs existed, Steve and Apple just made them better. Before he introduced the coloured iMac, PCs were the ugly and ubiquitous characterised by their beige colour. CDs an Albums was the only way to buy music until Apple under the visionary leadership of Steve introduced the iPod and its digital accessory iTunes changing forever how people purchased music. Mobile phones were not new prior to the introduction of the iPhone but its introduction knocked of Nokia of the perch. Nokia had a grip-like hold on the market share of mobile and smart-phones. They did not have invent a new product all they did was to change the existing products, look around you, look at the business that you are in what can you do to change your products? What is it that you use today in your business or at home that you can greatly improve, the ideas and opportunities are right where you are. One the most valuable axiom of business is to find a need and fill it. That is exactly what Steve Jobs and Apple did, they found a need for their products and filled it innovately. If you are already in business what is it that you can do today that can change your industry? That is what Steve and Apple did, apply it to your industry and the results will be amazing.

Lesson Number 2: Do What You Love
You will never make any money doing things that you do not love, you might have found a need but if you are emotionally detached from your day to day activities even the profits will be affected. Steve indulged in a hobby that he loved building the macintosh back in 1973 in his parent' garage with his childhood friend Steve Wozniak, the money followed later. They did not know whether their prototype of apple computer which you plugged into a television was going to make money. They followed their passion and did what they loved, do the same find your passion do what you love and as they say the rest is history.

Lesson Number 3: Follow You Intuition and Trust Your Instinct
Everybody will remember Steve Jobs' inspiring speech to student at Stanford University where he studied initially before dropping out. One of the things he mentions is how his biological mother who gave him up for adoption wanted to ensure that his adoptive parents were college graduates in order that he will go to college. When his first set of parents decided not to take him, the second set were only schooled right up to high school but did promise Steve's biological mother that he would be college educated. So his adoptive parents used their lifetime savings to send him to Stanford University an expensive college. After six months Steve could not see the value in it, he had no idea what he wanted to with his life and he had no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. So he decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. There is one instance where he trusted his instinct, some inner voice told him all was going to be fine. Just before he dropped out he decided to take a calligraphy course which he says later helped him in designing typography which is used by PCs and Apple Macs today. There was no way that he knew for sure that the calligraphy class was going to help him however that did not stop him from taking it. What is your sixth sense telling you, listen to it and develop the habit on following on it trusting it that it will lead you to greater success.

Lesson Number 4: Determination: If At First You Don't Succeed, Dust Yourself and Try Again
It is pretty obvious that if you are going to be successful you will need the ability to get back up when you have been knocked down. Steve Jobs embodied this principle, after being forced from Apple in the mid 80s, it could have been easy for him to retire and spent his fortune sailing on a super yacht but no he went on to start another computer company NeXT which Apple bought in 1997 for $429m setting the return of Steve Jobs to Apple. In business and in life we all encounter unpleasant circumstances, there are times when we knocked off the pedestal but its the mark of champion to be able to get back up.

Lesson Number 5: Leave a Legacy: Be Inspirational
Today's tributes as the world remembers Steve Jobs are along the lines that he changed the world. Not only is it true that he changed the world but he also inspired others to do the same, in 1984 when he was hiring John Sculley from Pepsi he lured him with the words 'Do you want to sell sugared water, or do you want to change the world?' All the staff at Apple have a belief that they can change the world, they are not only working but they are trying to put a dent in the universe. Such type of inspiration is the reason why the teams at Apple are known to work 90 plus hours a week to make their dent in the universe. All the industries job worked in he changedthem forever,chaging the world a multiple times. You may not be able to change the world but real leaders and visionaries such as Steve Jobs strive to do that which is the difference between a manager and a leader.

There are many lessons from Steve Jobs some are industry specific but he has left a legacy which all aspiring entrepreneurs and business people should emulate. R.I.P Steve Jobs.

The Approach

A lot of people go through life by taking short-cuts however if you are to achieve success in whatever you endeavour to achieve there are no short cuts. You might have gone through school by cramming for exams and probably got away with it; but with this recipe to success you cannot cram in order to achieve the desired results. You cannot skip the unpleasant parts and just cherry pick what you want and then expect to have the desired results. Just like I explained in my previous posting the path to success is like baking you are following a recipe there are different ingredients, you cannot leave some out and just make do with those you like.

As a matter of fact this recipe to success which we will reveal in subsequent posts shares the same natural cycle that governs farming. I do not know if you are familiar with farming, my parents were subsistent farmers and there was a natural cycle that we followed I cannot imagine it being done any other way. In Zimbabwe where I was born the farming season started just on the on-set of the rainy season which came around October/November which is also the start of a very long African summer. The preparation of the land was first, tilling and weeding then you would plant the seeds on instinct of that it would not be two or three days before the first rains fell, and naturally we would wait for the planted seeds to germinate. As the plants shoot from the ground and start their growth, we had to pay attention we had to taking out weeds that would choke the growth of our plants and take the nutrients intended for our plants. We had to wait right when the plants have matured to harvest them for corn which is commonly farmed by subsistence farmers such as my parents. As I have illustrated above farming follows a natural process which however impatient you are you will have to follow. Suppose you decide you do want to till the land and will just go ahead and plant the seeds, the rain might not permeate the top soil in order to germinate the seeds. Say you decide to skip the planting of the seeds and will just wait the harvest; well I do not have to tell you what you will find come harvest time.
Before we delve in there is an essential fact that we need to address; the issue of scepticism or doubt which is essentially lack of faith. One important aspect is to acknowledge that you have probably failed that is why you are reading this and that the path that we will reveal has worked for countless people who have found success both in their chosen vocations and as well as their personal life. You cannot go into this half-hearted it is not about trying and then seeing what will happen. It will produce half hearted results, with the path it is black and white, there is no middle ground here, it is either that you are in or you are out, you cannot sit on the fence, you have to give this your all if you want the desired results. Remember that what you sow is what you reap; you can expect a different result to that that you put in. As Johann Wolf van Goethe said;

“Nature understands no jesting. She is always true, always serious, always severe. She is always right, and the errors and faults are always those of man”.

In my next post we will look at defining success and the importance of knowing what you want.

The Elusive Secret of Formula To Success

Is there a formula to success many people have asked in their quest for success in life? The answer is yes there is a secret formula which if followed to the letter guarantees success. Let me home this with an analogy, suppose you want to bake a chocolate cake that you might have seen in a magazine or on television. You will need to get the recipe, look at the ingredients, obtain them if you do not have them and prepare to bake your cake according to the recipe and the method. If it is the original cake that you saw in a magazine or on TV that you want then you will need to follow the recipe and play a very close attention to the method in order to get you the required results. However if you decide that to follow part of the recipe and skip some other parts then the result will be different to the original cake that you wanted to bake. As a matter of fact you will end up with something totally different. Well I suppose you can say its easy when baking a cake to stick to the recipe, but the same principles applied in baking/cooking apply in your quest to be successful.

Like everything else in life, there is nothing new under the sun, there are new numerous examples of people that have been successful in life so in essence you will not be trying something new here. However while it is possible to list all the traits of successful people and just get people to emulate them you will find that in-itself does not guarantee success. Do not despair though because I have mastered that elusive secret formula to success it has taken me almost 12 years to get to this level. I am willing to share this proven formula to success with you. Over the coming weeks I will reveal the formula to you and if you follow it to the letter I do not only promise you success but I guarantee you that you will be successful.

Here take my hand and walk with me on this incredible journey that will change your life forever.

The Road Well Travelled

As you search for personal excellence you will find that at most times you need to shred the blueprint that you had followed all along which has led you to this very moment when you feel the need to start all over again. This need to start again is not a U-turn because just going back will not help your situation, remember you have been on this road, you are familiar with its terrain, the twists and turns, going back will not improve your situation. What this situation is calling for is a totally new and different direction to the one you have been all along. My friend Godfrey calls it "repositioning yourself", to me its taking a new direction, you are leaving the road well travelled and you are about to set out in a new direction. There are things to note if you are to navigate well in the new road:

1) The road you are leaving, the blueprint you are discarding, the position you re leaving is very common which means a lot of people are on the same road as you. Some are aware or have even reached the same level of awareness as I assume you have now otherwise you would not be here; that they need to change direction. The only thing that is holding them back from discarding the disastrous blueprint from taking a new direction is that they are taking comfort in numbers. This a busy road, with so many people in it, not everyone can be wrong they try to justify why they should not change direction even though they are convinced its a wrong direction. As long as there are other people whom they relate and equate themselves to, are seemingly travelling on the same road as they are they feel that there is no need to change. Before the start of my journey to self discovery I was guilty of the same behaviour, I was in the habit of postponing dealing with my debt problem taking comfort in the fact that in the west, we live in debt fuelled society so its normal to be in debt. "Everyone has debts", I used to say to justify my inaction in tackling an impeding problem. As you leave this well travelled road just remember you there will be fewer people in the new direction you are taking. The new direction is a road less travelled with a fewer people on it, you will need to have strong self confidence and a firm believer in your intuition otherwise you might find yourself making a U-turn to the familiarity and comfort of underachievement and of failure.

2)This a new road remember, you have not been here before so you will need to know all you have to about this road if you are to navigate it safely and successfully. Before the modern day amenities it could have been difficult or even unthinkable to change course. It would be a trial and error exercise, I am not saying that this new journey you are embarking on will be error free, it is only that the number of errors have been minimised by the development of humans, advancement of education and technology. If we are literally talking about taking a new direction then in this day its quite easier its a matter of re-programming your satellite navigation system and you will have instructions on how to get to your destination.

I cannot overstress the the above point it is very important; as matter of fact it is the core of my post today. Suppose you want a change of career, you feel stuck in your present job maybe the prospects of getting ahead are dim or let us just say you need a change. You will need to equip yourself with all that you need in order to succeed in your new career. Lets just say you have decide to be come an actor, you might want to start by taking acting lessons whether you choose to rely on books on acting that you can find at the local library or you feel you will need to go back to college full-time and earn an acting degree is immaterial. What is important here is that you acquire everything that you can possibly get in order to do well in your new career. This principle applies to any career change, you might want to be a professional chef or to run your own business, you will need to invest time and money to prepare yourself for the change.

The other issue you need to be aware of is that for some change of direction will take longer in terms of time but do not despair it still can be done. Nothing lasts forever, it might seem long to enrol at University and learn medicine for 7 years but eventually the years will pass and in the end you will become a doctor. As you take this new direction remember to keep your eyes on the prize, it is the focus and zeal that will make time pass. It is never too late to change course, to take a complete new direction, to leave the road well travelled. Take a moment and think where you are now, is it the direction you want to take? Are you going to accept mediocrity of the road well travelled over the true potential of who you can truly be. You can be anything you want to but if you do not change direction you will always lament "why me" as most of the users of the road well travelled do.

What Are You Concentrating On?

Osama Bin Laden is dead, you must have heard it on TV, read it on newspapers, they are all full of his story, how he died and all the gory details if you want them. Last week it was the royal wedding, we were inundated with the images of Katie & William. Before that it was the earthquake and Tsunami disaster in Japan. For newspaper editors/proprietors, TV producers, News Anchors it is okay for them to be fixated on these issues, after all it sells their papers and brings viewers to their TV channels. But for you the attention that you pay to these world issues should only be cursory, there is no need for you to know the nuances of every issue. Now as you sit there with your mates debating the legality of the US Navy Seals in killing Osama, just ask yourself; What has that to do with me? How does it improve my personal position? Do I personally benefit from the death of Osama such that you need to read every transcript of every newspaper on how he died?

People concentrate on issues and activities that have no benefit to them, they are so knowledgeable when it comes subjects which have nothing to do with them. I know it because personally I used to waste time concentrating on non-issues. I remember well that I spent 2008 scouring websites about Barack Obama, I knew where he would be visiting next, what speech he would give and how other newspapers reported it. But I was no journalist no was this to an assignment at work or school but foolish fixation on issues that have/had no bearing on my personal life. It was late last year when I was on this journey of self discovery and personal development that I finally kicked the dreadful habit of concentrating on non issues. I still see the trend amongst some of my friends and some of my family, people accumulate useless information and spend years concentrating on issues that have no bearing to their development. It is no wonder that the very same people complain that they never have time and also are surprised why they are not getting ahead in life.

Take for instance one my female friends, she works hard during the week and only has some spare time during the weekend. Her free time is spent on BBC watching the omnibus episodes of "Eastenders", she is actually an authority in the BBC soap, she knows all the characters, she also sometimes can deduce the plot for the next episode. She gets so animated when discussing "Eastenders", when she has finished watching the omnibus she also watches re-runs of past episodes she stored on her satellite box hard drive. But my friend is not employed by BBC as a researcher nor is she a script writer looking for ideas, she is a care assistant. Last year she refused to partake in an National Vocational Qualification sponsored by her employees citing the lack of time, yet she is willing to amass useless information that does not improve her position.

Do not get me wrong there is nothing wrong with watching your favourite TV program some of the most successful people I know do it, they use TV programs to unwind. However they differ with my friend above that they never concentrate on anything which is not directly beneficial to how they want to improve their positions in life. Finishing all the stages of "Farm-ville" on Facebook my sound impressive to friends but if you not games software developer it will not benefit you improve your situation. Being the best amongst your mates when it comes to "Super Mario" on Nintendo Wii might be something to brag about but if its not benefiting you you are wasting your time. For those that concentrate on being entertained, amassing massive hours of watching television, films and reading newspapers having a reputation of being authority on current affairs they pay the ultimate price. They are the same folks that are constantly complaining about not having enough time, they are disillusioned by their positions in life. remember they are not doing anything to improve themselves by taking the extra knowledge about their chosen field of expertise making themselves competitive in today's economy. As a consequence they remain where they are knowing all about what is happening in Libya before everyone else knows about it. Yet they know little or nothing about the about the work they are involved in.

Whatever you concentrate your time on just remember that you will be coming an expert in that field therefore it is imperative that you are concentrating on issues that are beneficial to you. Its no wonder that some of the most successful people develop a life-long habit of learning, they do subscribe to the notion that education finishes when you graduate from college or high school, they are forever taking any available opportunity to improve themselves. Learning does not mean just attending a formal course part-time or full-time, it also involves self teaching. The world wide web is awash with information, if you are a graphic designer are you keeping up to date with developments in your industry and familiarising yourself with the latest tools. There is no need to waste your time and then mourn about how circumstances conspire to keep you down have a look at what you are concentrating on and ask yourself if its beneficial to you. Katie and William are now married but for you to cut those newspaper clipping and keeping them will not benefit you at all unless you sell Royal Memorabilia and gain monetarily from collecting Royal trivia leave it to those who do.

Do Something About It

Sometimes we are exasperated with our position in life it could be financial problems we maybe be struggling with too much debt on minimal income. We may be experiencing marital problems, a cheating spouse or a relationship breakdown. We may be struggling to obtain gainful employment, we are applying everyday but we are luck if we get an acknowledgement. Or it could be any other type of problem that we might encounter in our lives. We have now resorted to using such exclamations as "I cannot stand it anymore", "Why me?", "God I wish the earth would just swallow me up", and sooner than we know it we sucked in the vortex of helplessness, worry and anxiety.

What we need to understand is that we are already in a problematic situation irrespective of how h anxious we become or how much time we devote to just thinking about the problem. Thinking about the problem in itself rather than the solutions to the problem will only lead us to the point of exasperation, which does not solve the situation. While its important to look at our lives, acknowledge and own up to the mistakes we have made in order to learn from them so that we do not repeat the same mistakes again in future it is where we stop mentally dwelling on the problem. A continual look or thought about our problems is the one that triggers the feelings of helplessness which will manifest themselves physically when we are stressed such that we have headaches, we become grumpy, negativity starts to creep in finally we give in to low self esteem. By doing that we block our intuition or sixth sense to the nudge they give us that will lead to the solutions to our problems.

Once you have identified the problems that are impeding you in your success, happiness or health, lets immediately shift our mental focus from the problems to the solutions. If you have money problems, focus your mind on the solutions, to cry yourself to sleep but never looking at the solutions will not help you. If its debt that is dragging you down, start debt management. If its amount of money that you earn which is not enough focus on how you increase your income. If marital problems, an alcoholic or cheating partner have you communicated about it, if you have have you also tried therapy. For my fellow Africans I not only referring to a professional therapist that you have to pay for, but the traditional system of therapy that provided by older aunts and uncles. Is it job hunting have you tried to think outside the box of sending CVs, responding to employment adverts to something drastic and dramatic such that the potential employers will want to do nothing other than hire you.

All I am saying is if there is a situation in your life that you do not want there is no point worrying about it without acting. Do something about it, be solution focused rather than to dwell on the actual problem and live in fantasy land of thinking that it will disappear on its own. You dont like your job change it, you no longer benefit from your relationship move forward. If its debt pay it off do not just sit there do something about it.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Lessons From Arsene & Arsenal Football Club

Today the fickle and fair-weather fans of Arsenal Football club are disappointed. Partly because of the results of last night's match against arch-rivals Tottenham as well as media fuelled obsession with how many years have passed since Arsenal won a major trophy. But true Arsenal fans count their blessings, they would not swap their position with supporters of say West Ham. Yes its true Arsenal have not won a major trophy in the last 6 years, but they have been consistent for 15 years. Never have they finished outside the the top 4 teams in England a feat which can never be underestimated. Not only have they out-performed some the teams on financial steroids, they have over the years played some of the most eye-watering football on a shoe-string budget. The Arsenal board should be commended for their inspired appointment of Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger in 1995. They broke the mould when they replaced George Graham with a foreign born manager which was a first for the English Premier League. He is acknowledged by many as a manager who introduced free-flowing football in England as well as enforcing professionalism beyond the playing field in things such as nutrition, training and off-pitch conduct.

Mr Wenger is one of the few most enlightened people in the world, as a result people who are not at the same level of illumination often misunderstand him. It is also a misnomer that such a highly intelligent person chose to work in one of the most competitive industries in the world, for he does not compete with anyone despite his job requiring him to prepare for competition with a different team every week, he only competes with himself. He has said it in interviews that he is a futurist just like yours truly, he only looks at tomorrow he is never bothered about yesterday's performance. He truly understands however good or bad the performance was, he cannot change it. He knows that he can however change what happens tomorrow by concentrating on today. Its no secret that when preparing for the next competitive match he does not watch the opponents. Like I mentioned above, he is never concerned about the other team, only the performance of his own team bothers him. He has truly mastered that when he does his best, then it does not matter how the other team fairs. He is only concerned with surpassing his last personal best, knowing that by doing that he will one day surpass some of the best teams in the world. He is aware that success cannot be overnight it takes time to be achieved. He is has refused to succumb to media driven pressure which mirrors today's world and its obsession of "the sauna and jacuzzi syndrome"; people want to sweat but they never want to work out. That's why its immaterial if Arsenal does not win the Premier League this year they are winners in more ways than one.

So what lessons can we take from this:
1. Success is not overnight
2. Avoid competition with anyone other than yourself
3. Never be concerned about past events which you cannot change, rather;
4. Concentrate on now, knowing that if you do your best today then you have tomorrow figured
5. Do not be concerned about what will people say about you its not a factor in your quest for success
6. Being number 1 is not the only way to win, there many other ways in which success can be measured.

Have a great day!

The Importance of Setting Goals

In the movie Alice In WonderlandAlice meets Cheshire Cat and asks 'Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?' 'That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat. 'I don't much care where'said Alice. 'Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat. 'So long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation. `Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat,`if you only walk long enough.'

Most people approach their lives like Alice, they do not care which they go as long as they are going. They do not have specific goals and time plans on how to realise their goals. Then they wonder why they do not reach their goals, its not rocket science as to why they fail to achieve their goals; they never had any. Most people confuse working everyday with achieving goals, they think as long as I am working I surely must be getting ahead. Their lives is all adhoc, they just make things up as they go, hoping it would lead them to the lives they dream about.

When you decide to embark on a journey by car, you will have a destination to which you will be driving. You will probably consult a map to determine the best route or the shortest or the most efficient one and to calculate how long it will take you to drive there. You will also calculate the fuel you will need for the journey, if not you will find out before hand if there fuel stations along your route if you run out of fuel. There is no way you would just get in the car and start driving, deciding mid-journey where you want to go. Yet that is what most people do in their lives, they do not have any destinations, they do not where they are going it is no wonder they never arrive.You need to set goals, short term as well as long term, you need to write them down, consult them regularly just like a map or sat-nav to see if you are on course. Sometimes it seems daunting to long-term goals, like a 5-10 year plan, but the best way to tackle the inertia is to concentrate on achieving your daily goals, if you are on course everyday then you will be on course at the end of the week, month, year. Visualising yourself as you reach your goals will also provide you with the needed motivation to tackle whatever tasks that lay ahead. Be realistic about the goals you choose, its no use setting goals that are unachievable for you to give up on the whole exercise.

Many people are vague about what they want in life, they profess to want to be successful. They think having money equates to success but wealthy people have money as a result of their success. If you want the results of success then you should also willing to take the necessary steps that will bring you those results of success. If you do not set goals you will be reacting to situations and you will leave fate and chance to dictate what happens to you. Start today do not procrastinate!

You Cannot Change The World But You Can Change Yourself

A Jewish man incarcerated at the concentration camps in Dachau, Poland made a startling discovery one day. After a great length of time being physically abused which included brutal canning he decided to stop reacting to the abuse. Before his decision, he had reacted like what a normal person in similar circumstances would have done; cry and plead with his tormentors. He discovered that when he cried as in wailing it just incensed the tormentors more, they increased the canning, it became more brutal more sadistic. He found out that his tormentors took pleasure in causing him pain and they enjoyed it more when he cried, instead of his wails acting as a deterrent on the contrary it spurred them to be more brutal. So one day before he was due to be canned, he made a decision that nor matter how hard, how brutal and sadistic the canning would be he would not react and give his tormentors the pleasure of seeing him suffer. He stopped crying, wincing and grimacing no matter how hard, brutal he was canned. At first the tormentors increased the canning but he refused to cry, he just stood there and took the brutal beating without ever showing an emotion. The tormentors were confused, they thought he had put extra clothing to cushion the blows, but alas he was as were other prisoners dressed flimsily. At first the non-reaction of this prisoner spurred the tormentors until they discovered that it made them physically tired while the prisoner was actually unaffected by it all. Then they decided not to bother canning that particular prisoner as it served no purpose.

Life is like that, you can choose to react to the challenges that life throws at you and let your reactions boggle you down. The world is full of depressed people who chose to react to their circumstances with feelings of helplessness, guilty anxiety and fear. Yes there is racism in the world, there is tribalism, sexism ......and a whole litany of unpleasant circumstances out there, you cannot control that, but what you can control is how you to react to those circumstances. You can sit there twiddling your fingers blaming Mugabe for your life's turn of events or you you can get up and take the necessary action needed to change your life. No one can do that for you, not your spouse not your parents, teachers, siblings, friends, society or the government only you can and you alone is the author of your own destiny.