The Swift Achiever

I’m so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark. – Mohammad Ali

   I have had opportunities in life that I missed out of because I was not swift enough. I am pretty sure that you will not think too far to identify such occurrences in your life also. In relationships, business, and vocations – they cut across every area of our lives – our lack of swiftness costs us more than we bargained for.

   In my desire for extra knowledge I love to read about and watch documentaries on eagles. From some of the things I have learned them I have picked some points to highlight in this discourse. The eagle is such an excellent hunter because of three things – sight, flight, and grip. It is of these characters I would write on.

  To be swift in any area of your life you must have an excellent sight. By this you will be able to identify opportunities from afar off. Eagles can see prey from over a kilometer – now that’s sight! Sometimes opportunities stare at us right at the face yet we do not recognize them. You must be able to distinguish an opportunity from that which isn't from a great deal distance. This is the very first step to swiftness.

   Also, you must have the capacity to plunge-in for the opportunity as fast as possible. This will require a fair deal of effort and practice and time. It takes time to become fully familiar with your flight accessories and to use them to the optimum. Your flight accessories are your talents, abilities, education and skill. You use them to nose-dive toward your prey.

  So, you have identified a great opportunity, you have plunged toward it and now it is just by you, what next? You must be able to take it and maintain a firm grip on it. Sometimes we lose opportunities either because they simply slip out or our grip was, in the first place, a weak one. It is one thing to take up and opportunity and a completely different thing to hold on firmly to it.

  With these you will be well on your way to eagle-like achievements!

If you don't fight you will DIE!

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say. "I used everything you gave me." – Erma Bombeck (American humorist).

More often than not we sit back and watch our lives fizzle away. We recoil and let life happen to us. In our bid to abstain from trouble we abstain from living. So, in effect, we become the walking dead – we have life in us but are not truly living life.

This is partly so because of how we have been raised. Our inner programming says, “If life does not give it to me then I can’t have it.” This mentality is a warped one because life responds to the demands you place on it. If you demand big you receive big if you demand nothing you receive same.

There are three ways you can fight back for your life:

Flee the comfort zone. We all have comfort zones. This zone is that which you are most comfortable in. You normally resist anything or anyone that seeks to push you out of this zone but it is this same zone that will kill you! If you remain in this zone you will not grow any better than you are. Get out of that zone today!

Dream big and pursue your dreams. Many fail to dream. They have concluded that weaklings dream – a sorry thought. In truth if your life will take any reasonable shape you must dare to dream and dare to pursue your dreams no matter the odds.

Live for others. Albert Einstein notably said. “Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” I must get to the point that life isn't only about me, I, and myself and so should you. Learn to think others into your life. This means that you should live to make others happy and to bring fulfillment to them.

Finally, declare again and again to yourself that you are a HUMAN BEING and you have dignity! You deserve to live life to the fullest… and you shall.

All BIG things start small

Our vineyards are in blossom; we must catch the little foxes that destroy the vineyards. Songs of Solomon 2:15 

    The names Bill Gates, Aliko Dangote, Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, and many others represent people that are perceived as being at the peak of their fields. They are the “BIG boys” in what they do. The media hype, the splendor and pomp that accompany the status leaves many young folks with an unsatisfied crave to be “BIG!”

       There is nothing wrong with being BIG. I reckon that it is natural to desire growth. When I was a child I craved adulthood at every moment. I wanted to eat whatever I wanted when I wanted, sleep when I felt like, talk to whomever I desired, and much more. In effect, I wanted to be all I felt I should be.

     As time went by, I grew to observe that NO-thing I did made me BIG. I didn't become BIG by thinking I was, I didn't become BIG by acting as though I were, I didn't become BIG even when I said I was!

      Gradually, I forgot about being BIG and now I am!

      Thinking back, I cannot recall any day that I actually saw myself grow. I now know that I had nothing to do with the growth process – nature simply took its course.

     As it was with my growth, and undoubtedly yours also, so it is with attaining that BIG boy status in your mind.

    Many young people make the various mistakes there are to make in trying to become BIG when all they needed to do was allow nature take its course.

 ...a person who wants to get quick riches will get into trouble. Proverbs 28:20.

     This is the course of nature: All BIG things start small.

     This also mean BIG businesses, BIG nations, BIG sportsmen and women, BIG singers and musicians – they all start small and grow big.

     Nothing is born BIG!

    This is an open secret of success. Do not let the splendor trap your heart. Do not let the over-bloated tales of the media ensnare you. Choose a worthy path for your life, enjoy beginning small in that path, work at growing daily, give both it and you time, and you SHALL grow BIG. Nature takes its course on all things… and that includes you!

Developing Great Habits

                  Habits are cobwebs at first, cables at last. – Chinese Proverb

  Bukassa, Samora, Toby, Chyna, are some of the dogs we grew up with. A visit to our house was surely a visit to the family with a dog.

  Of all the dogs we had there was George which I fondly remember because of his rather strange habit of jumping over fences.

  It started when George struggled a little but eventually began jumping over our four-foot-tall fence. Soon it was second nature to him. We didn’t like it and wanted to stop him so we increased the height of the fence another three and a half feet. Within a few days George was high over it! For George, jumping over fences was now an irresistible habit.

  As it was for our dog, so it is with people. We are all creatures of habits. Habits are those little actions you take so often that they become a part of you. Though initially small, our habits eventually become big, sometimes to a point we can no longer control. Your life is a testament of habits- you were not born the way you are today- who you are is a result of the habits you practiced.

  So, the question is not whether you have habits or not. The question is whether your habits are positive or negative.

  We are the same with George in that we all adopt habits. We are the same in that habits once adopted are difficult to stop, even if it means raising the fences. Nonetheless we, unlike George, are not dogs. We can change our negative habits. To do this we need to keep three things in mind.
    Today is in your hands: every morning keep in mind that it is a brand new day. When faced with a decision know that whatever choice you make will influence your habits, strengthening or weakening them. Choose to strengthen the positive ones and not the negative.

  Start small: ALL things start small and grow big. All negative habits started that way. Building positive ones in their place will also have to start that way. Take small steps in the positive direction. When you succeed (and you will), celebrate it. If you later act otherwise, don’t sweat it, it happens. Simply start small again and keep at it.

   Believe God: God has the ability to “keep you from falling,” (Jude 1:24). Hang your faith on this and enjoy a “fall-less” life of positive habits!

Grow Through Change

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound. - Paul (The apostle)

It is said that the only constant thing about life is change and when you think about it you will realize it is true. You do not need to do anything for change to occur. The moment a child is conceived the mother takes the right foods and does the right exercises but other than that she does nothing to the child to make it change state. When a river decides not to move, it may not change position but it sure does change in state- it becomes stale!

Consider these words: “Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert”, (Isaiah 43:18-19). He begins by saying we should not remember the things of the past so no more saying, “the good old days”! He is saying “get ready! Something new is about to happen! Change is about to take place!

    Change will happen: Change is the only constant thing about life. You do not need to believe it will happen to you for it to happen.

           Anticipate change: beyond knowing that change will happen you also need to anticipate its occurrence. In every aspect of your life expect change. Be on the look for it.

        Adapt to change: when things happen, learn to adapt to the new   conditions as fast as possible. This is your only lifeline for surviving change. In the theory of evolution Darwin observed, and rightly so, that it is not necessarily the strongest or smartest of creatures that survive the changes in their environments but the ones that know how to adapt fastest to it. For many great creatures their lack of adaptation has meant extinction. The apostle, Paul, stated of himself, “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me, (Philippians 4:12-13). What do you think he was talking about?

CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT THING IN LIFE!