LIVING ABROAD

Men, it's been long since i published. Thanks to God for my new laptop pc. This has made internet browsing and writing much easier for me. Right now, am abroad. Am in Dubai, United Arab Emirates for a United Nations Learning exchange program which i partook in during my summer holidays. As a young Nigerian striving for excellence, i feel so delighted being part of this. I have been able to network with different people successfully. I've also learnt a lot about living abroad- most especially in the area of personal finance. I have learnt that planning, discipline and self control are very important when living abroad. i've also learnt the power of money-making through creative thinking. I gonna go right now, bcos it's about one hour past midnight, i gonna leave the street now ( using a wireless network on the street). Hope to continue tommorow. Stay safe and activated to succeed.
....to be continued

A NEW DAWN

In The Name Of God, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful

It's indeed a new dawn, a new period and season for thanks and upliftment. I feel surprised and delighted typing this post right now. Did i ever believe i could be doing this four months ago?

It's quite evident that i blogged last on november last year. In fact i've never been comfortable with it, but a kind of force kept holding me back. I thought of writing once in a while but i kept procrastinating.

Recently, i asked myself for how long this stagnated life will continue. Then i made a firm decision within myself that i will pursue whatever i want to accomplish against all odds. I prayed for guidance and assistance and wow! the idea struck!

This is one important success trait i will never forget. It is known as belief. Once you believe you are going to achieve something, you'll be motivated to move towards accomplishment. I made a firm decision within myself that i would write this month. And because, i kept that firm belief strong, thats why i am happy to return to my blogosphere after four months. I hope to keep accelerating my effots and keep my motivation going.

Remember, if you believe, you will concieve and then achieve. I always recite this affirmative command to drive me frequently " I AM A MAN NOT A BOY"

Till we meet soonest, stay activate to succeed.
Thanks to God Almighty.

P.S Pls don't forget to subscribe for Activate Your Success E-zine (spam-free) here http://archives.zinester.com/64971 . Thanks

The Anatomy Of Hapinness (Sahbad's Thoughts)

In life, we all need ease. Without ease, there can be no peace. And without peace, there can be no rest.
So think about it, why not spread the fragrance of peace, patience and rest? In summary, why not share HAPPINESS?

A happy heart is an efficient heart. A dull heart is a dying one.
So my dear, cheer up if u're down. When there is life there is hope an when there is hope, there are opportunities. Therefore, no matter what difficulty you go through, remember thats it's a temporary detour. After hardship comes ease. Your birthplace is not your permanent address.

SUCCESS IS FOR EVERYONE WHO WANTS IT. YOU TOO CAN WANT IT AND HAVE IT.

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LIFE

It is important to view life from more than one facet. Most people view life as a difficulty while some as a challenge. But i'll prefer to call life a journey. Life is a journey because it involves different stages and steps.
Man doesn't attain heights in one minute or second. It will take him stages. For instance; to become a professional in some field, an individual will need to go through pre-school, elementary school, high school and college. You can see from the example given that life is a stap-by-step process. Taht's why i call it a jorney. You need to move gradually until you get to your destination.
Life as a journey requires ingridents or 'fuels' as i would prefer. These things are neccessary in making us enjoy and actualize life. They are numerous but include; PATIENCE, PRESERVANCE, DETERMINATION, FORESIGHT, INSIGHT, POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE, PRAYER, HOPE, CONSISTENCY, CONFIDIENCE and so many others. I will break each of them down, Godwilling, in subsequent write-ups. More importantly, you should know that you get out of life what you give to it.

SIX QUALITY TIPS TO MANAGING YOUR TIME

Time Management Tips, Step #1: High-Level Prioritization
Good time management first requires that you have some idea of what it is you're trying to accomplish with the time spent. This requires that you set goals. If you aren't sure what goals you'd like to pursue, the first step is to identify what things are most valuable to you in life. These are your core values. Once you have identified them, selecting goals will follow more naturally.

Time Management Tips, Step #2: Low-Level Prioritization
Once you have identified your goals, the next time management step is to create plans for how you'll accomplish them, such as those that would end up on a daily to-do list.
In good time management, the most important aspect of to-do lists is to have one place where you can list all of the things you need to do in the near term, such that you can see what you're dealing with all at once. The next step is to prioritize these into things that must be done soon or immediately, as opposed to those things that can or should be done later.

Time Management Tips, Step #3: Efficiency
True masters of time management carry out steps 1 and 2 instinctively, but then go further by being more productive during the same limited 24 hours in a day.
The first step in efficient time management, after you've prioritized, is to match tasks of a given size with appropriate available time blocks. Try to accomplish large tasks first. You can always fill in the gaps with smaller tasks. Anything that lets you break large tasks into small tasks, such that they can be performed during the inevitable delays forced upon other tasks.
Next, find ways to multi-task. Examples include handling calls while driving (using a safe, hands-free cell phone setup), and listening to recorded books-on-tape while exercising.
Finally, if you feel yourself switching back and forth from one task to another, without making much headway on any of them, it's time to switch gears. You've entered "overwhelm," and it's common but curable. Switching between tasks takes time and energy of its own, so the solution is to force focus. Clear other items off the day's to-do list, or just circle one of them and say "I will accomplish this before working on anything else."

Time Management Tips, Step #4: Motivation & Overcoming Procrastination
Procrastination is the enemy of all time management plans. The problem is best thought of in terms of momentum: When you're not doing something, it's hard to begin. Once you've started, it's easy to continue, and sometimes even difficult to stop.
The trick when you can't get started is therefore to take some very small, easy step forward. It can even be a trivial step, such as looking up a phone number or doing a search on the Web. In this way, we don't get intimidated by the enormity of the large objective in front of us. We just focus on the first baby step. And then take the next, and then next, and pretty soon, we're so involved with the task that it's easy.
Another great trick is to enlist outside help. Just as having a personal trainer or workout partner makes you virtually guaranteed to show up at the gym on time, any outside influence (for better or worse) usually gets more attention than our own inner voice.

Time Management Tips, Step #5: Flexibility
Those who are most skilled at time management understand that unanticipated events are a normal part of life. They schedule their time with the expectation that they will need to make last-minute changes. The first thing to keep in mind is that constant adjustment WILL BE required. A good plan is one that permits flexibility and has built-in contingency alternatives.
One simple trick for making all of your time management more flexible is called "pad and fill." "Padding" refers to giving yourself a little more time than you expect a task to take. This is particularly helpful when planning tasks that contain much uncertainty or involve other people. A simple example is drive-time; if you expect a drive to take 20 minutes, give yourself 30. This allows for unanticipated traffic, the need to stop for gas, taking a wrong exit, etc., and will actually make you a much safer driver because you won't feel compelled to take unnecessary risks out of haste.
"Filling" is what you do with unused padding, such as if your drive only takes 20 minutes when you have given yourself 30. The key is to always have something handy that can easily be worked on in 10 or even 5-minute increments, such as while waiting for an appointment to begin. By carrying reading material, or notes required to make a business call via cell phone, you can turn 20 minutes waiting for an oil change into productive or even quality time.

Time Management Tips, Step #6: Perspective
It's worth noting that all time management should be done within a larger life perspective. Taking time to smell the roses is not just a cliché, it's vital to making your time spent be something more than efficient-it should also be meaningful.
If you find yourself getting too stressed about time management, consider taking a big step back and revisiting Step #1, in which you take a close look at your values. If health and happiness are two of your values, then it runs contrary to them to get stressed by the details of time management. Figuratively speaking, it may be time to climb a tree to see the woods. Don't be afraid to just take things off the front burner and put them onto the back burner. It's even okay to put goals on hold, or cancel them altogether if your priorities have changed.
Note: Your time spent should be something more than efficient; it should also be meaningful
Source: www.mygoals.com

THE LAW OF BALANCE

Whatever you do in life, you need to know that proper balancing is important. We're all bound by individual diversities in desires, thoughts and activities. You must realize that you ought not to satisfy one desire at the expense of another. This is because true fulfillment comes with satisfaction and satisfaction leads to happiness. We might have specific aspects of our lives, but I will like to point out some areas in which success is concerned. The earlier you identify them, the easier it is for you to plan for your success.
Physical/Mental Success (Health)
Professional/Academic/Career Success
Family/Social/Relationship Success (Personal)
Spiritual Success (Religious)
Financial Success
These five areas include what most of us desire. But the important point is this; They are all inter-related and need to be balanced up. Neglect of one area for the other could lead to No Success. You also need to set your priorities right and stay focused. Keep your determination strong and nourish it with hope and prayer. All the best!

LENDING OUR HANDS

Imagine yourself waking up in the morning without a sign of happiness. Your heart is filled with hopelessness, fear and despondency. How would you feel being in a state of neglect without a comforter or motivation? Such an experience is quite a bitter one and I’m sure you wouldn’t like to have a taste of that.

However, do you know that millions of people like you and I wake up and sleep without smiles on their faces everyday? Some of us live happily almost throughout our lives. Yet, we do not take time to pause and think of those without the privileges we have. Putting ourselves in their position and knowing how they feel.
It is no doubt that different things could destroy peoples’ state of mind; poverty, sorrow, pain, failure, suffering, personal/emotional problems and a host of others. These things develop into problems for such people which may end up affecting their physical and mental well being. In subsequent sections, I talked about how you can solve your problems by being positive. But what about others? We must never think of ourselves alone. We have to justify our purpose by helping others. The true essence of life is bringing essence from other’s lives. Whatever we do for others affects us directly or indirectly.

Making a positive impact in other’s lives is one of the ways of appreciating the blessings of our Creator, God Almighty. It’s not just about giving testimonies or chanting praises alone, but our attitude towards his blessings and to others. Creating a turning point in a person’s life could be as simple as putting a smile on such individual’s face. A smile is not just facial expression. It goes a long way in defining a person’s state of mind. Yes, a smile could make an individual’s day meaningful! So why not go out there make meaning in a person’s life!
Helping our fellow human beings is a very vital role as success-builders. Achievers don’t build success for themselves alone, the also build for others. One good thing about helping others is that others help us when we are in desperate need. Touching lives is not about just giving material things. But it is about giving out one simple thing which is love. The best gift one can give and receive is to love and be loved. Let’s put in our best in meeting people and identifying their problems even if they try to hide it. Let’s have a willing heart to help them even in the smallest possible way.
Sharing our happiness gives others the opportunity to acknowledge the special blessings of God. It gives us a great sense of fulfillment and crowns our achievements by creating a good record for us in the presence of our Creator and humanity. So my dear reader, why not look around to find a soul to touch with kindness? This is because what goes around definitely comes around.

LEND A HAND TODAY!

THOUGHTFULNESS: The Mr. Nice Guy Syndrome
Making success in life is not just about applying the necessary steps. One’s attitude towards people also matter a lot. Whatever we want to do or achieve, we should always know that we can’t be all-in-one. We will need people around to assist us in one way or the other. People could render assistance, advice, professional help or useful information to us. Our attitude towards them will determine how we’ll be treated in return. We have to bear in mind that we are not in this world alone. We are neither in the same condition as some other people. We could either be in a better or worse condition than them. This is why we need to stretch our hands of kindness to others. We need to consider them and give our best to them.
It’s quite unfortunate that nowadays, most people who believed to have achieved or made upward steps in their lives do not realize that without thoughtfulness, their accomplishments are insignificant. That means that they are just achievers in their own room. Their achievements read no meaning to people. In brevity, their success is valueless. A person who cannot use what he has to help his neighbor has nothing. The most provoking is that such ‘mirage-dwelling’ guys don’t have humanitarian manners. They see themselves as smarter as or better than others. They take some people as super-human and some others as inferior. This kind shouldn’t be in an achiever’s personality. Individuals that are proud and pompous fail to realize that every creation of God is important. God never creates inferior or ‘sub-standard’ human beings. We are all the same in God’s sight, regardless of family background, ethnicity, religion, education, financial status, nobility and so on. When we are assigned a leadership position, we have to treat everyone justly. If you are senior personnel in an establishment, you ought to treat everyone, junior, senior and those that even do menial jobs like cleaners. No one should be restricted from your love. What makes you think that you couldn’t have been in the same position as that laborer or cleaner on the street? It’s all by the special grace of God. That is why you need to appreciate that favor by being nice to others. You might never no what useful help that ordinary person has for you, which could even save your life. You being a pro, lawyer, doctor, or whatever does not make you smarter than a bricklayer or clerk. Though, you attained your heights as a result of your hard work and God’s grace. But you should remember that you did not do it all by yourself. There are some behind-the-scene individuals who gave their best and inspired you. Don’t prejudge or underestimate anyone. That person could be your only life saver in the future!
NICE GUYS FINISH FIRST!
However, you must take note that there are some people who take advantage of your being nice to exploit you in any possible way. You need to use your foresight and handle situations diplomatically. We don’t need to be harsh or unkind to such people. All one needs is wisdom to know when, where and how to avoid them. I hear some people say; "Mr. Nice Guy gets nothing in return". But to be honest with you, being nice pays on the long run. As John F. Kennedy said; "Don’t think of what you will receive from your nation, think of what you can give to the nation". You just play your giving part, and see what awaits you.


Moreover, we must remember that we get from life what we give to it. This is because Nice is as nice does. Also, everyone in the world is worth being nice to, because God never creates inferior human beings. Each person deserves respect and attention. We can’t lose anything by being nice. Kindness is like paying one’s dues to God and the world for the privilege given to live in this planet. In fact, kindness is charity, not just material things alone.
A MAN WHOSE HANDS ARE HELD TIGHT CAN NEVER RECEIVE ANYTHING
In conclusion, it is important to know that behaving kindly to others is a way of setting right examples for others. It’s a way of correcting ‘humanitarian culprits’ and building our leadership qualities. If we are nice to others, others respond in the same way, and we can give our best to each other and make the world more hospitable.