GET READY TO DEFINE 2015

 

Whether or not we like it, this year will end...and soon too. We may not have achieved everything we wanted this year but time isn't going to wait for us to see if per chance some of our expectations will still come true. While it is still very possible that we could still see some dreams happen before the year ends, I think it would be most advisable that we begin to plan ahead for the coming year. And the sooner we set on doing that, the better.

The reality is that quite a number of our results or a lack of them this year were based entirely on how we planned for them and also on how we went about to execute our plan. Life is primarily about cause and effect, and so what you put into it will determine what most likely you will get out of it. We will need to avoid the temptation of sulking all over the place about what and what didn't happen for us this year and instead take a very deep and cursory look at what we may have done or not done for us not to have had our desired results for 2014. It's called stock-taking and if we're honest and sincere enough with ourselves, we should be able to come up with a very fair and unbiased assessment of ourselves and how we've handled this year. It should show us what we did and got right, and what we did and got wrong. In any case, the main thing is to improve on our results in the coming year.

To ensure that we get results in the coming year, we must be ready to properly define how it will be for us. We can't afford to gamble our way through 2015 and certainly can't depend on luck to happen for us. Our lives are too precious and important to be lived based on chance, it is not even the way to live. So, here are a few pointers that I believe will help us achieve our goals for the coming year if we're willing and ready to apply ourselves to them:

Be Sincere

If you don't really desire a change in your life, then there's no need to have any expectation.  But if you desire change, then you must be very sincere about it. You must mean it. It mustn't just be one of those things we do because we see others do them. Change is only going to be possible if you're first of all sincere about it, because it is only then that you will now have the necessary drive to push forward towards your goal. Be sincere about yourself and also about the real change you truly want. Sincerity is the truth and is also the foundation for good progress.

Be Positive

You can't aspire towards change with a double-mind, with a mind that wants to push on one  minute and then the next minute wants to give up. No. You've got to be positive-minded about your goals and expectation for 2015 and not be sidetracked by anything contrary to your dreams. This is very important because it will not always be smooth sailing as you trudge along gradually and steadily towards your expectations. Keep your eyes on the goal no matter what.

Be Patient

Patience is a virtue many of us lack yet need for us to ever see our dreams come true. Our expectations are usually in a straight line inside our heads (as we've planned) but our realities are usually in a maze as we come to eventually realize. It doesn't necessarily mean that our dreams are wrong or impossible to attain but that there will always be circumstances and situations outside our realm of control that we must need to put up with as we work on getting to our goals.

Be Certain

You must be sure of where you want to go or get to in the coming year otherwise there's no point at all aspiring to get anywhere. Being certain of what you want helps you to stay the course and gives you an internal push that can't be given to you by anyone else, even those closest to you. Be clear about what you want and be certain about it. Then all your efforts towards it will not be scattered into other endeavors and you will have the necessary strength and staying power to pull through whenever obstacles or distractions come up to derail your journey.

Be Ready

Taking responsibility for your own journey is very important as no one else will do that for you. Being responsible means you're willing and ready to face whatever comes, that you're willing and ready to make the necessary tough calls, and that you're willing and ready to accept whatever outcomes may reveal themselves as a result of whatever judgment calls you made in the face of whatever situation that comes your way. Being ready will mean your being disciplined and diligent for your cause and would entail owning your decisions and actions. After all, it's your good life you seek for 2015 and so you better be ready to fight for it.

These are but a few vital principles that we must all take to heart as we approach the New Year. If we can adhere to them passionately, we stand a great chance of giving 2015 a good definition that in turn will lead to the attainment of good results.

I've already started putting my plans in place; I strongly suggest that you do likewise.

THE YEAR IS ENDING....

In about nineteen days or less, this year would be over. And it has indeed been a year filled with lots and loads of events and stories; the good, the bad, the ugly, the bizarre, the expected, the unexpected, etc, etc. All around the globe and in many spheres of endeavors different things have happened, to people, countries and continents. And you and I have been a major part in it, whether or not we believe it.

When the year started in January 1, I know I had hopes and expectations, and I'm pretty certain you did too. And I can say that those hopes and expectations were hinged upon certain dreams we all had from the previous year which we carried into this year and for which our desire meters (desireometer...my own phrase) was on a very serious high. I know that I felt like a man filled with some dream gas, intoxicated with so many dreams inside my head that at times I was guilty of causing my own confusion! But I won't be surprised if I was never the only one.

I said  Happy New Year! like everybody else and my eagerness just couldn't wait for the first few days in January to start.

I listened eagerly and with rapt attention at the preachings of my pastor as he detailed out God's plan for us all this year and I did my personal best to personalize the messages as much as I could. I sat down and penned down personal plans that included writing and releasing new books, audio and video products, improve on the excellence and regularity of my blog posts, starting my YouTube podcast as well as having my own radio program, roll out my dream empowerment seminar series and seriously improve on my financial investments, work on improving my health and seeing to it that I end this bachelorhood phase that I've been in for quite some time now. My expectations were quite more than I've listed above and I know quite a number of people also had a vast array of expectations too.

But the burning hope inside my heart that gave fuel to my passion and desire for the new year was soon to dissipate when reality hit me,

when I realized that there really is a marked difference between my expectations and my eventual realities. That my expectations were too much in a straight line whereas my reality was far much more complicated than that. That I had to wake up from my dream and properly face the realities on ground; the realities that my expectations were just too perfect but that my realities weren't.

So I've gone through 2014 with dogged determination based on all the great things I saw ahead of me in my mind but I also faced equally dogged obstacles that I'd not factored into the new year when it began. Mistakes have been made and opportunities missed. But I still have to keep on pushing on because the year still has some days left.

Now, I don't know if any of my dreams yet unfulfilled so far will eventual happen and I'm pretty sure there's little or no time for them to, but I would not because of that stop trying because I do realize that my efforts now are still forming foundations for my possible results or breakthroughs in the coming future. That future may be in the next nineteen days or it may actually be in the coming year, but I will keep on pushing on because I've come to realize that sometimes, the fact that you are slow does not mean that you are late. As long as I eventually get to my destination, that's all that will ever matter.

So, yes, this year is gradually grinding to an end but my own plans and expectations aren't. If some of them don't come true before December rolls out, I will wait for them in 2015 because I know I've sown some very precious seeds of proper planning and hard work and also because I know that I deserve my results. I will surely wait....

Is anyone with me on this?

FINALLY OUT!!!

The much-awaited second page-turner from my esteemed hot brain has finally landed! GIFTED! is now finally out and is guaranteed to bless your mind beyond measure! So, hurry and get your valued copies NOW!!!!

To get a copy, kindly send me an email on "michaelibiorika@gmail.com" or call me on 08062285589.

You will love this book...that I guarantee!

LEADING OF A DIFFERENT KIND (PART TWO)

In Part Two of this informative series, we will continue to look at the traits of the two kinds of leaders hip we have, that of the ruler and that of the leader.

THE BLAMER VERSUS THE FIXER

The ruler likes to blame others for what he may perceive as inefficiency or ineffectiveness by those under him. He rarely comes up with solutions but more often than not orders that the situation be rectified as fast as possible otherwise there would be consequences. He loves to put pressure on his subordinates and relishes the role of letting them know that they failed or that their incompetence is the reason why certain things have not worked out in the organization

The leader, on the other hand, takes a different approach. Even when he is fully aware that his subordinates were actually responsible for failure in certain regards, he still looks for a solution as quickly as he can to the problem. He does not shirk his responsibility of letting them know that they fell short of expectation, but certainly does not spend precious time hounding them over it as he realizes that there is precious work to be done and goals to be accomplished. So, he does the best he can to help them find a workable solution to the problem at hand.

THE KNOWER VERSUS THE SHOWER

The ruler always believes he knows a lot and far much more than the rest. He, however, only talks loads about what he knows but hardly puts any effort into showing what he claims to know. He feels no obligation in doing so as he thinks that everyone should be sensible enough to see that the position he occupies speaks of his brilliance. So, he cares less. Instead he likes to take all the credit.

The leader takes a very different approach. He is one who understands that knowledge is not an exclusive preserve of a certain few and also that no one can create knowledge, but that knowledge is encountered. On the backdrop of that, therefore, he does the best he can to show those working under him how it is meant to be done. He is not an armchair critic who may or may not have the gift of suave oratory, but is one who is much more concerned with teaching others because he is well aware that once they have been taught, the rest becomes easy. The leader then gives credit to whom it is due after his subordinate has gone ahead and used what he has taught him to achieve a desired result.

LEADING OF A DIFFERENT KIND (PART ONE)

We all need direction. To be sure of where we are heading and what we are doing. And the reality is that we often do look up to certain individuals for such direction, which should be expected. Every organization, for example, must have someone to lead it. Every family must have someone to lead it. Every clan, village, town, city, state or country must have someone to lead it. And the best ones that eventually get ahead are the ones given good leadership.

In very simple terms, to lead can be defined as, "To guide on a way, to direct on a course, or to serve as a channel." Whereas leadership is defined as, "The ability to lead;" or, "The activity of leading an organization or a group." 

Good or bad leadership is solely dependent upon people. Unfortunately, some people who have been privileged to occupy certain positions of leadership or authority don't understand that the purpose for one being the head is not for you to showcase yourself, but for you to lead that team or group aright and lead it in the way that it should really go. To accomplish good leadership, one must be able to easily carry along those whom you have been privileged to lead so that they follow you willingly and not necessarily because you hold them to ransom by threatening to withhold certain benefits like their salaries or allowances (though in truth, there are cases when such a tactic must be applied) or the use of some other force or arm twisting technique.

One way or another, we all fall into the leadership cycle. And we must realize that there's a difference between a leader and a ruler.

                             

While the true leader is concerned with ensuring that everyone plays their best part to the benefit of the group, the ruler is more concerned with lording himself over others and getting them to do his own bidding as he seems fit. In this article, I want to make a small attempt to distinguish between the two and hopefully help us choose the right kind to become as we go out there to lead any group of people.

AUTHORITY DEPENDENT VERSUS GOODWILL DEPENDENT

The ruler is authority dependent and seriously power drunk. His motivation is to have everyone cower at his presence or appearance and for them to always do his bidding whenever and wherever he says. He doesn't care a about people's feelings or whether or not they have the ability to carry out his directives. Just do what he wants otherwise you are grossly disobedient.

The leader is different. He depends purely on the goodwill of those he has been called to lead. Instead of lording over them, he tries to use his influence over them to get them to do what he wants. He understands that you can have power and yet have no influence but cannot have influence and not have power; and so he wisely utilizes that aspect of himself. People willingly want to work for him because they believe he feels for them and their welfare.

FEAR GENERATOR VERSUS ENTHUSIASM GENERATOR

As can already be deduced from above, the ruler prefers to instil fear into those he leads rather than confidence. The problem with him here is that he hardly recognizes that those under him will find it constantly challenging to carry out assignments as they are always looking over their backs and expect nothing else but harsh words and insults no matter what they do.

The leader, on the other hand, provokes enthusiasm in those who follow him, as he trusts them to use their initiative and creativity to help move the group forward. Because he is appreciative of their efforts, they are excited and always want to give their very best for the cause of the group as directed by him. He literally can get them to do things effortlessly and with hardly any grumblings because they are very much willing to jump whatever fence or swim whatever river he asks them to.

COMING SOON.....

BURN FOR REAL!

It was John Wesley who famously said, "When you set yourself on fire, people will come to watch you burn."

Of course, he did not actually mean that you should literally douse yourself with fuel and then light a match; though in our present world that indeed would still be a spectacle for many and quite a number would still love the view. No, he was actually talking about something else entirely. He was talking about you having passion.

Passion for what? you may ask. Passion for anything. Passion for that very thing that will make you stand out. Passion to make that positive change, to impact the lives of others as well as impact the life of our world. Passion that will herald you into being the very best you can ever be in this lifetime.

And why is that important? you may ask. It is very important because in this life, until you are able to accomplish or achieve the goal(s) for which you were born, you will never be fulfilled.

Every one of us was born with something unique, and that thing was not imbedded into us so that we can only climb the corporate, business, economic, religious or political ladders and be super heroes on planet earth. No. It is actually there so that after we've harnessed and mastered it, we can actually use it for the benefit of others.

The things we are truly passionate about can hardly bore us. Instead, we find ourselves being always eager to do them or to pursue them. Interestingly, and if you will be honest with yourself, you will discover that most times those things that excite you the most have no connection to money or fame or power. Football fans, for example, are more interested in seeing their teams win, and their vociferous chanting and shouting at every game are more emotional than monetary. In fact, they will always spend just to keep alive the dream of watching their teams.

In like manner, though the world of sports today has turned out to be a serious money spinner, most athletes and sportsmen and women tend to do their utmost best to win in whatever field they contest in so that the fans will go home emotionally satisfied.

 

Doctors who truly are passionate about the good health and lives of people tend to pay more attention to saving lives than to making loads of money.They will instead go beyond any boundary necessary to ensure that they help an ailing person in dire need.

The musician or singer naturally  loves to tell a story or pass across a message through music with the sole intention of  either helping or educating or enlightening people; so that positive change can come about in the society.

People who are passionate about finding solutions to problems in different aspects of life tend to be more engulfed and consumed with that assignment than with any other thing. They will constantly roam the depths of their God-given brains to seek out the best ways to better the lots of others. The list is endless.

Of course, we know that we also have those who would prefer to direct their passions in the wrong direction, but the best way to utilize passion is to pursue those things that will indeed help people and improve lives. That is what truly gives fulfillment.

The world constantly needs improvement and you definitely carry inside you part of what is necessary to help bring about such positive improvement. It goes beyond the money, position, power or fame you can ever have, to the positive impact you can assert upon the world if only you will find the right passion and direct it properly. Indeed, it's a massive and very important project to help improve our world; and until your passion weighs more than money, position, power or fame, that project you have before you may never be successful.

When you find out what you have been born to affect, it is pertinent that you let your passion roll on it. Most likely it is what you are naturally gifted at or something you just really love to do. When your passion rolls on it, everyone around you will see and know that you are consumed by a certain fire, and that in turn will attract people to you, especially those whose lives you most likely were designed to positively affect. Nobody will sell passion to you...you already have it, but you just need to find what  it is tied to first.

There is no time to waste as it will amaze you as to how many people are tied to the positive impact you have to give in this life. Don't always be waiting for something to happen, you make it happen. Yes, I am talking to the right person; I am talking to you.

It is time to burn for real!

The New Book That Is Coming....

Hi folks, I do know that I've been off the grid for quite a while now and so you've not been getting my posts as regularly as you would have loved to. My sincere apologies. I've been bugged down with quite a number of things, one of them being work on my new book (pictured above) which I'm hoping to release pretty soon. The book is actually a final manifestation of thoughts that have been festering inside my mind for at least five years. Finally, I've been able to sum everything up and put them down in what I believe will be a very handy and easy-to-read volume for everyone. I'm sure you will all enjoy it.

With that assignment now out of the way, I will be making concerted efforts to pick up from where I stopped and hope that it will be of positive value to all my ardent readers and followers on this page. Just pray for me.

Soon I will put up another thought-provoking post for you all. You won't have to wait long....

THE MINORITY REPORT

In this life, those who do not have much will always be more than those who do. That is the stark reality. And it is not necessarily because the few are better than the many, but because the few know certain things the many do not. It is also because the few are willing to run with what they know while the many, most times, prefer not to do so aside from stand from afar to sometimes deride the few who, through what they know, always seem to be ahead of the pack.

What you know more than another will certainly always keep you ahead of them. That's how it works in every area of life. And when it comes to money, if you know the truth about how it works more than me, you are guaranteed to always have it more than me. It's that simple. However, to many, the world of money is one maze of headache they can hardly understand nor wish to, since to them it's just a spiral of complications they could rather do without.

Yet we all need money and so must strive to understand certain basics about it; after all, it's what the few who seem to always have it in their possession know and it has helped them to continuously have a hold over it. The minority know a few basic realities about money that we either don't know or simply just ignore, and I've made a little attempt here to list a few out to help enlighten us. It's the report the minority know about and you really also should know about too.

1.  ANYBODY CAN MAKE MONEY
     Yes, anybody can make money. And the reason is quite simple...everyone has brilliant potentials stored up inside their brains that can be harnessed to ensure money comes to them. Making money really isn't an exclusive preserve for just a few, but then the few that seem to have more than most people have actually accessed their potentials and so tend to stand out from the rest of the crowd. You can actually make money whether it be consistently or occasionally and that is one reality you must consciously carry about inside your mind.

2.  ANYBODY CAN HAVE MONEY
     In the same vein also, anybody can have money. There's no rule under heaven that says you cannot have it. As everyone of us have the ability to make money, so also do we have the ability to have it. Those who seemingly have more money than others do not carry more than one head and neither are their brains of a different colour from ours. So believing in the truth that you too can have money is one reality that must constantly be on your mind.

3.  ANYBODY CAN MAKE AND HAVE MONEY BUT NOT EVERYBODY WILL
     Despite the above two realities though, there is another reality that evidently is more apparent than those. And that is the fact that though anyone of us can both make and have money, not everybody will. And the reason for that are varied, principal among them being that quite a number of people don't believe in points 1 and 2 above and so hardly exercise any effort to ensure that money comes to them or even stays with them. Once you start thinking that you don't deserve money or that it's just for a few or that it's even an evil to be avoided (which really is very absurd!), then you stand no chance of doing what is needful to ensure that you can always have the money you need to be able to always meet your needs.

4.  YOU HAVE MONEY WHEN YOU CAN ALWAYS MAKE AND KEEP IT
     Making money and having money aren't exactly the same thing. Quite a number of people make money from their jobs, businesses, investments and sometimes hobbies, but can hardly tell where all that money they make has gone at the end of the day. Having money is the ability to keep what you make that ensures that you can always dip your hand into it in order to be able to deal with needs that may arise from time to time. However, you cannot have money if in the first place you cannot make it; both of them must go hand-in-hand. And, you must learn the art and skills of ensuring that you always have money otherwise your ability to make it will be of no use to you in the long-run. Having money is all about control for it is only that which you control that you can direct, and only that which you can direct that you have master of. So, control is what you must learn to master to be able to make and have money.

5.  MONEY CAN NEVER LEAVE YOUR HAND WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION EXCEPT IT IS TAKEN AWAY FROM YOU BY FORCE
    An understanding of this truth will immensely change your concept about how money works. Money will never ask you to do anything that you don't want to do. It will never buy anything that you  don't want to buy; and can surely never leave your possession without your approval except someone else forcibly takes it from your possession or without your knowledge (which is what we call stealing). So, the master of your money is you and the way you want it to operate. Be rest assured that if you don't spend the money yourself on something or if someone doesn't take it from you without your consent, your money will always remain where you originally kept it no matter the length of time that passes by until you eventually make the decision to make use of part or all of it. Yes, money is that loyal.

6.  TO MAKE OR HAVE MONEY, YOU MUST HAVE VALUE TO GIVE
      To make money, someone must have to give it to you. So, assuming you don't steal it from someone else, the only and best way to get it is for someone or some establishment to hand it over to you. However, for that to happen, you must have some value to give in exchange for the money you expect and once that is possible then you're guaranteed money. So, if you have some value to give me which could be defined by what I really need but cannot provide for myself but which you possibly possess, then once am willing to accept your value offer I should also be willing to compensate you for it. Money then changes hands and you make money.

        To have money, I must have value to give to myself  because it is that value that is able to ensure that what I make is constantly not thrown away recklessly. So, educating our minds become paramount and very important because it's from our minds that we make the decisions as to what we intend to do with our money. If our minds are more patient than impatient whenever money enters our hands, the probability of us being reckless with it and spending it frivolously will definitely be quite low. And the less of the money we make that we spend, the more it is possible to have more in our reserves to use whenever we need to.

 

7.  MONEY IS SIMPLY THE TUNNEL THROUGH WHICH COMPENSATION IS EXCHANGED FOR VALUE
         Money in reality is just a representation of value received. It's just the channel through which we compensate people for handing over a certain thing of value to us, be that a product or a service. That is why money is defined in financial terms as an acceptable means of exhange.  And that is also why money is co-notated in various ways; it can be coins or bank notes or cheques or drafts or credit and debit cards or bonds or stocks and shares, etc.

This is a very simple report that all of us need to know about and strive to understand. The above mentioned are just some of the basics about money that the few rich fully understand and have done all they can to master, and it has definitely given them financial success. Once you understand how money works and you do your best to work it, it will work for you without fail. So please, study this report; it will help your money cause.

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD...

I have a few friends that I admire. I admire them because of what they all individually do for themselves. One of them owns and runs a very nice shop where she sells kiddies stuff, ranging from when the child is but a mere new born baby to about ten years or so. You get to see baby strollers, eating utensils, baby beds and rockers, lovely shoes for different occasions be they casual, sports or for parties. The list is endless. Another one of them owns his own IT and consulting firm. Still in its infant stages but yet making head-ways in the delivery of unique IT solutions and branding. Another owns his own mobile barbecue outfit, young but regarded as one of the undisputed best in the Federal Capital Territory, providing people with appetizing chicken or fish snacks that leave their taste buds itching for more. Another owns his own young but also thriving printing outfit, where he not only guarantees his clients quality prints of whatever they want that may range from letterheads, business cards, logos, banners, signage, etc, but also guarantees them a very creative design that befits their vision or dreams before it is printed. 

All of my aforementioned friends are very hardworking people, people with visions that burn within their hearts as they seek to fulfill all them so that they can always retire to their homes every day, with the hopeful pleasure of having achieved the plan for the day. And like them, I have other friends and acquaintances too, all daily pushing to better their lives, some running their own outfits, others working in offices of different kinds...but for sure, all hoping they could just have all the money in the world that would ease all their financial needs or plights. I feel them because I also have such dreams. Wouldn't it be so nice?

I believe it would be. But then, in reality, it isn't all that simple. For one, no one can ever have all the money in the world, so that desire is way off hopeless. For another, to really come close to having all the money in the world actually interprets to mean that we will always have the wherewithal to meet our needs our own selves without being under undue pressure. It's really the basis for which many, like my esteemed friends above, strive to have their own businesses, to gradually walk into the place of self-sustenance, the place where the sweat of financial hopelessness becomes a history that they can proudly archive and say they had conquered. Everybody seeks this level but, sadly (and I mean sadly) not many will ever get there. Why? 

Simple. Because they are poor.

Being POOR means PEOPLE OVERLOOKING OPPORTUNITIES REPEATEDLY. When we repeatedly overlook the many opportunities that come our way that are able to change our lot, we miss out on great life changing moments, moments that can empower us financially. The problem with most people in the poor category isn't the absence of money but rather the unwillingness to take advantage of chances to make some money, no matter how small. They keep dreaming, hoping and wishing for that day that the heavens will open up and rain down an avalanche of money into their laps that can change their lives and destinies forever. Such people will forever remain where they are because they have simply not understood that this life will always give everyone (and I mean everyone) opportunities to better their lot and that whatever they choose to do with it will determine where they may be per time, and especially as it relates to financial freedom. If they keep missing opportunities, they will keep being at the mercy of those who have more than they do. Always.

In contrast, being RICH means REASONABLE INITIATIVES CREATING HARVESTS. This is when people take time to mine the positive thoughts inside their heads that are able to create their financial change for them. When they spend time doing so, they create their own opportunities of making money or even eventually collide with other opportunities for which they have the mental solutions to and so are compensated by the owner of such opportunities. You don't need all the money in the world to get by, you just need to be RICH in your head and in your ability to recognize opportunities. 

Opportunities are basically needs of others, needs they themselves cannot meet but which you may be able to. The opportunities may be big or may be small but what matters is that you are able to recognize them and possibly able to take advantage of them by supplying a solution. And that is why I said at the beginning that I admire some friends of mine; because each one of them always have reasonable initiatives capable of creating harvests for them, which in turn, if sustained, can guarantee them financial freedom and free them from the mercy of those who may have more than them. Having the solution for pregnant women and mothers as regards their baby's wears or toys is an opportunity my friend took advantage of. Being able to provide IT solutions to individuals and businesses in the city in this present IT-driven dispensation is an opportunity my other friend took advantage of. Specializing in providing a great barbecue for parties, events and outings is an opportunity my other friend also took advantage of. And being able to tap into his creative ingenuity to give clients good designs and prints as value for their hard-earned money is certainly taking advantage of an opportunity. What reasonable initiative do you think you can come up with in order to provide a solution to someone that can in turn help change your financial landscape?  

In any case, financial freedom is simply always having the wherewithal to meet your needs whatever they are and whenever they arise. And when you eventually get to that level, it sure does feel as though you have all the money in the world!!!

The choice is yours.