40,000 AND COUNTING!

Someone once said to me that, "Your dreams cannot come true when you're asleep but when you're awake; when you get up and do something about them."

And God knows I dream too much! From when I remember being a small boy running all over the place announcing my myriads of dreams, things I hoped to be in the future - a pilot, boxer, footballer, an engineer, a doctor, a rich man, a cab driver (oh yes, I had that dream once, but please ask no further!) - till date, I cannot but wonder why I had so many. Maybe it's just in my DNA. Yet dreams truly don't just happen because you're the one who has them, it takes far much more than that to see them come to pass.

I've always wanted to express my thoughts through my writings and through the airwaves (radio and TV), and though it hasn't been as smooth sailing as I would have loved it to be, that it can even happen in the first place is something to be glad about and to give God unreserved praise for. So you can imagine my stunned mood when I heard a few days ago that my radio programme PAUSE & PONDER MOMENTS WITH MICHAEL IBIORIKA on 99.9 KISS FM ABUJA has an average weekly listenership of about 40,000! Yes, 40,000! I honestly thought it was around like 100 or a bit more...but 40,000 hit me hard! And I'm told the number could increase!

Which in itself is good news, truly; a vindication that the dream isn't just something that I wanted to do but something that needed to be done. I've always been motivated by a desire to help people improve their personal and financial lives by helping to improve their minds. And I realized that for me to do so, always providing quality information in its simplest form that can help people with positive decision-making was very necessary.

But then it is also humbling to know that so many people tune in weekly to hear what I have to say because their expectations will definitely put a weight on my shoulders to always deliver something of value to them regularly. And for me to be able to do so, only God can empower and guide me through with His abundant grace. I pray for His grace! And for everyone who wishes me well, your prayers would be most appreciated. And I must surely appreciate some people who have always believed that this could go far....Yinka Akinsulie, Michael Oladipo and Samuel Sofoluwe, three guys who kept prompting me. Thanks loads. Deborah Ekara, Solomon Ekene, Elias Bassey, Martins Damisa, Blessing Alfa, Eyza Icha and Pastor Temi Odejide all have warm shout-outs from me. Thanks for being great friends and motivators.

Dreams can be fun to have but what's more satisfying is the achievement of those dreams. Never relent in the pursuit of that which God has blessed you with especially when it's targeted at blessing and empowering people. My mission remains the same whether it's through my books, the radio programme, possibly TV in the future, or my other products that you should eagerly look forward to.

I am Michael Ibiorika and I really like people to always take out time to pause and ponder. Because in so doing, you could end up having a better perspective about your possible next action which in turn could benefit you more.

You are worth much more than you think!

P.S.
For those who reside in the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria, why not tune in to 99.9 KISS FM Abuja every Monday morning by 9.55am.... You will be blessed! 

SOMETHING FOR NOTHING

We all dream of a good life. We all feel and believe we deserve it. We all want a step-up from our present level or circumstance to something better, something way, way better than what we presently experience. And it doesn't really matter where we presently are in life, both the poor and the rich always want a better life.

Everybody wants a status change. The poor want to be rich and the rich want to be richer. Some seek societal influence and so aspire for political, business or educational power. Politicians want to be gods over men, businesses want to be sole suppliers of goods or services, while academicians want to be respected for being the "best' brains on planet earth. The list is endless.

Quite a number of people with dreams really think their dreams will just come to pass because they are the ones who have them. They believe that because they have some great ideas in their heads it automatically equates to success about to happen as their ideas cannot be faulted as they most likely must be the best ones around. Imagine then the frustrations that follow when they're hit with reality, that just because you have a potential world-conquering idea doesn't mean you will actually conquer the world. For in truth, only the ideas that work will actually rule.

Serious effort must be made and a price paid for dreams to truly come to pass. My acronym for PRICE is PAY RELEVANT INSTITUTIONS COSTS EXPECTED. There is a cost we must pay at different levels and to different institutions if we truly desire to succeed....you must pay the cost of proper study if you want to excel in your exams; you must pay the cost of building sincere friendships if you want to excel in your relationships; you must pay the cost of delivering true and enduring value to clients (potential and actual) if you want to excel in your business, etc. 

We cannot expect to get something for nothing. It's like gambling with your life's dream. Nothing just happens in this life. It takes time to build anything good because to build involves a process and that process involves effort. 

Locate the relevant price you need to pay for your dreams and determine to pay it to the fullest. Then watch your dreams happen for real.

·      

WHAT'S STOPPING YOU?

A simple question.

But is your answer going to be that simple? The major goal you have in life, does it have just one challenge or a multitude of challenges? What you set out to achieve in your life this year, has it been an easy ride so far, a wobbly one or it just hasn't kicked off yet? Who or what do you think is to blame if things haven't yet moved at the pace that you would have really wanted them to? You? Other people? The government? The economy? Your physique? The area or house you presently live in? Your background? Your family? The school you went to or never got the chance to attend? Your employer? Your employees? The type of cloth accessories you have? Everything else that I haven't mentioned?

What's stopping you?

We should all ask this question to ourselves because our candid answer(s) to it will determine a lot for us. Real as some or most of the above obstacles may seem to us, no obstacle goes out of the way except you either push it aside or step over it or simply go round it. And whatever you choose to do, running away from any obstacle is never a positive move.

People abound the world over who have stepped over their challenges and pushed their lives' fortune to another level. I've always wanted to write books ever since I was a teenager growing up years back and I certainly have had my own share of obstacles and challenges, from family members to so-called close friends. But I knew that an excuse for not pursuing a strong lifelong dream would forever leave me miserable for as long as I live, so I finally bottled up the determination to write and publish the books I believed were residing inside me...no matter what. As at today, I have two books out and the possibility of one or two more being released later this year. I also have been able to go on radio with a special programme that had first resonated in my heart some five or so years ago. There are many people in the world today who have all overcome various adversities or challenges to eventually achieve their dreams and are now successful.

I haven't yet achieved all I'd like to but I know that life isn't a sprint and I'm willing to take it one positive step after another. I'm willing to ignore the obstacles standing before me and instead concentrate on where I'm going until I eventually get there. And I know I'll get there...soon. I no longer give myself an excuse.

You have so much going for you that you just won't be fully fulfilled except you accomplish what is laid up in your heart. The world is waiting for your unveiling, but it's not the world that will unveil you to it. You will need to look those obstacles and challenges in the eye and decide how your future will be.

Will anything still stop you?

P.S.
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A LITTLE MONEY HOMEWORK...

Money, money, money!

I need it and so do you. We all have bills to pay and things we'd love to acquire. Places we'd like to travel to or businesses we'd like to start. Without money we really can't buy or pay for something we want.

For many money is an enigma and an intriguing thing. One moment we have a bit, the next moment that bit has gone...and we can't really say where it went! In this article today, I will try and give you a little help on how best to account for the little money you have and how to possibly ensure you stop losing so much every time. It's just a simple homework.

Every year for the past seven years, I've always had a target of savings I would love to have by December 31st. Because I've always been aware of the reality that money speedily leaves my hands to deal with a myriad of things, I realized that if I wasn't careful I would end up having little or nothing by the end of the year and subsequently nothing to kick-off the new year. I couldn't really explain why my money was always either not enough or even non-existent by year end! 

So I came up with a plan to first of all track all the money I was making and all the money I was spending. I realized it was the only way I could be close to being certain as to how my money was moving. And to do that I got myself a book, which I now demarcated  into half. The first section was to record every  money that entered my hands, whether as salary, a loan, a gift or from any small business I must have done. And the second section was to similarly record every money that left my hands irrespective of what I spent it on or to whom I gave money to; as long as it left my hands, it entered that section.

If you're able to do likewise, what will become very glaring to you as it was for me, is that quite a lot of money actually passes through your hands in a whole year, but because the money doesn't come to you in one major bulk, you rarely realize that some good money had been in your possession over time. But once you can as much as you can keep a record of every naira and kobo that comes into your possession, you see it clearly. When I did it, I was pretty surprised at how much went through my hands in one whole year! You should do the same thing with the second half of the book, recording as much as you can all the money you spend no matter what it is spent on.

Collating both what comes in and what goes out on a monthly basis helps you to have a good idea of how you're using your money, and then you can now critically look at the things you've been spending money on and ask yourself if you truly need to spend money on them. There's a good possibility that you will see and identify a few items that you really could do without and that you may just need to stop wasting money on. And once you're able to do that, money usually spent in that direction on a steady monthly basis will stop going there and can now be saved every month. Imagine being able to identify one N20,000 somewhere that you spend monthly (as was in my own case) that you really don't have to...in 12 months that will be a whopping N240,000 saved!!!!

The pleasant surprise that gave me further emboldened my resolve to continue keeping my records and subsequently helped me to identify some unnecessary spending habits of mine, which further helped me to put a stop to such spending, and instead redirect such money into savings.

I really think you should try this for yourself because the inherent reward is quite immense and very satisfying. You will be surprised to find out that you've always had the money you anxiously always look for in all your daily or monthly hustles.

P.S.

Comments about this piece would be most welcome. You can either comment on my blog or on my Facebook  wall.

Thanks.

YOU NEED TO PAUSE & PONDER A MOMENT...

In this world we all presently live in, everybody is in a rush to meet up with many things that are themselves a rush! We are in a hurry to get to work, in a hurry to get out of work, in a hurry to dive into relationships and in a hurry to dive out of them! We are in a hurry to gain admission into higher institutions of learning and in the next breath very eager to quickly finish. We are in a hurry to decide what professions our children should pursue or what status of persons they must end up marrying. The list is very long indeed. We are just so much in a hurry and make decisions every day quite oblivious of the repercussions of every single one, the repercussions on others or on our environment.

We truly need to slow down. No matter how hasty we are to do something or to get anywhere, we will never be able to outrun time. No matter what we do, time will never stop for our sakes. So it is in our own best interest that we slow down, pause and properly think about what we are either rushing after or rushing into, for we could very well just be saving our lives or futures by doing so.

Taking full control of our lives begins with actually being able to control how we behave in the face of pressing or calm situations. Every time we have is actually an opportunity to make a mark, whether positive or negative, and the decisions we make therein are very key to the results that follow therewith.

Knowing where to go or what to do per time is very important to every human being and so one could understand the reason behind some of our haste, especially if we feel or believe we simply cannot afford not to do something quickly or get an expected result soonest. But the fallout may not be favorable to others around us or to the vicinity in which we find ourselves.

It will cost you nothing to calm down a bit to properly weigh up your available options before you eventually go ahead with what you've planned. In some cases, if you do slow down a bit, you would eventually realize that your original option wasn't the right one to take but that you had allowed the pressures of either time or other people or possibly circumstances dictate what you really should have done. 

You want to feel relieved and fulfilled when you've taken a decision, don't you? So my personal suggestion to you is that you simply pause and ponder before you make that decision; it could be really worth your while in gold!

P.S.

In a few days from now, one of my pet projects and dreams will hit the Abuja radio airwaves. It's aptly called PAUSE & PONDER MOMENTS WITH MICHAEL IBIORIKA. So for all inhabitants of Abuja and its environs, be on the lookout for this radio programme as I'm very sure it will bless and benefit you richly every week. You can afford not to bother but do you really want to take that chance? Kindly pause and ponder a moment and be blessed beyond your wildest dreams. I promise you, you will love it.

DANCING WITH GOLIATH

Merely looking at his burly figure, I knew that if he punched my face, my handsomeness would be distorted; and that if he grabbed my neck, I was more or less dead! So, going toe-to-toe with him wasn't anywhere close to being a very good idea. I needed another tactic to tackle him, to take away his strength advantage, to not lose the fight.

I chose the element of surprise. It was a calculated risk. It was either going to work or I was going to pay the price of failure. Either way, I had little or no time to settle down and come up with another plan; and, besides, what other tactic would work against the boy mountain in front of me, whose desperate spoil for a fight could already see him hurtling towards me in anger?

As he came in to tango with me and possibly hand on me one of those powerful fists of his, I crouched under him and grabbed him by the waist. Then, in one full swoop, using his momentum towards me, I moved slightly back, put as much strength in my legs as I possibly could, and lifted him sky high. And still in the same swoop, I banged him against the ground with all the force that I could muster!

Everyone was stunned...the bully, the crowd and even me! It even took me a while to realize my victory. But in the instant that it took me to realize it, I knew victory wasn't complete until I had stuffed the mouth of my fallen adversary with sand. So I started scooping and pumping sand into his mouth as he dazedly and frantically tried to fend me off. Within seconds my friends and some of his supporters had yanked me off him, and I found myself riding on the shoulders of my friends. It felt very good to win...for once!

True story. It happened when I was in elementary school.

We all have goliaths to face in our lives, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a person; it could be anything that causes us untold and painful distress. That we have such opposition though does not mean that our lives are over or that we can never make progress; neither does it mean that we must always cower in the face of whatever person or circumstance is bullying us. We cannot afford to give up.

I'm not implying that adverse situations that we face are powerless against us or cannot harm us. No. I'm instead advocating that every giant we come up against must have a weak point, which we can locate and take advantage of. If no such weak point exist, then it would imply that such a giant is perfect...but in truth there are no perfect people or perfect situations (good or bad) on this planet. So, the giant can be beaten, we just have to find out how. 

Running away from our challenges with the hope that someday or somehow they will eventually disappear is an illusion we simply cannot afford to have if we truly want to live satisfied or fulfilled lives. In reality, life itself isn't a joy ride until you're able to conquer your challenges and ride on them! We stay with what we accept and fight what we don't. And the giants before us we really cannot afford to accept, we just need to fight.

But our fight must be guided by wisdom...

1.  We should learn how best to apply our own strengths to any situation.
2.  We must never go toe-to-toe with our challenges but instead always look for better ways to tackle the problems.
3.  We must be willing to fight till the end and give it all we've got.
4.  We must show no fear and be confident in ourselves otherwise we would have already lost the battle before it has even begun.

This year, we need to resolve in our minds that those things that constantly bullied us in times past will stop being a recurring decimal in our lives. We've had a dance too many with them and it's time the dance came to a permanent stop.

Everybody Has a F.E.A.R!

Some people may choose to deny it and try to be all macho about it, but the truth is that every one of us have one fear or another constantly tugging at our hearts and minds from time to time. And there is a veritable reason why that is so...it's simply because no one has the power to do everything. We are imperfect beings and all have limits. We are all gifted, no doubt, may have ambitions or visions of what we would love our lives to be like, but it does not take away the reality that we all have limits. 

This awareness makes us skeptical about our plans at times, whatever they may be, and can really put pressure on our minds and lives. And if we're not careful, we could end up dreading certain days, moments and situations. We could end up believing that some things may never ever work in our favour or that we may never amount to anything. Well, in truth, that just shows that we are mere human.

The reality is that, irrespective of how we feel, we are responsible for what happens next in the midst of our fears. And, interestingly, fear itself carries within it acronyms that we could look at and decide if we want to make progress or if we want to stay put. We could either FORGET EVERYTHING AND RUN.....

 or FACE EVERYTHING AND RISE.....

The difference between defeat or victory in our lives will depend to a great extent on how we choose to handle our fears. We can decide to stop working towards our dreams or goals because of the foreboding we may have based on whatever facts or experiences we may have had...or we may decide to use our fears as the springboard to go forward no matter what. The choice ultimately is up to us individually.

But we must never forget...that nothing good and enduring in this life truly comes easy and that we will need to push ourselves a little bit more if we are ever going to excel or achieve some of our dreams. This life doesn't offer free lunches, it's one reality that we must all be willing to come to terms with. Every one of us will have obstacles to face, mountains to climb and battles we just have to win. If we truly value our lives and our dreams, we must be really ready to soldier on irrespective of the pains we may suffer along the way. Besides, any fear we have is what we choose to have and not necessarily what we should have. It's up to us.

This year, resolve in your heart and mind that you will give a few things a better go this time around. That exam you've been dreading for a while now because you've failed it a couple of times; that business you so love but somehow still has refused to pan out well for you; that relationship that keeps failing to be because you keep losing your guts; that job that you keep missing because you always lose your way at the last minute.

Everybody has a fear. But the presence of fear doesn't mean something is impossible to achieve. Fear is just a material that cloaks the reality of what is obtainable. I would rather you face your fears and rise up to the occasion that only you can.

What will you do now, my friend? Keep on running and stalling or take the bull by the horns and climb up your ladder of victory and success?

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!!

Happy New Year folks! Welcome to a new year, a new season and possibly a rewarding and very profitable twelve months for all of us. I see goodness, great things, breakthroughs and plenty, plenty testimonies on the horizon! It's going to be a good year, my friends, and I sincerely hope you're as hopeful and expectant as I am.

I bet you are. Quite a number of us have already made new year resolutions, while some of us have heard from some of our religious leaders that what we really need are new year revelations. Whether you have a resolution or a divine revelation as to how you want this year to run for you, it's all good. Our dreams matter to every one of us and achieving them is key to our fulfillment and sanity. We must achieve important goals this year, we must improve on what we accomplished from previous years. And as long as you see yourself walking up the ladder of success, that's all good.

But there's something I really need to bring to our attention here. Quite a number of us have stepped into 2015 with virtually the same mindset that we've had in previous years...the same mindset that didn't produce much for us in time past, and we just think it's all in the new resolutions and the new revelations. We probably think all we need to do is press the dream button and everything will start to fall into place.

Ehh...so sorry, but we will need to wake up from whatever sleep we're presently in and face the reality of how life really works. By now you should have realized that dreams do not automatically happen and that even after your new resolution and new revelation, something  needs to be added to them for your dreams to make it out of your mind and head into the world of reality. Something so obvious and key but yet so rarely given the prized attention it deserves. It's called SELF-DISCIPLINE and we are all going to need it in greater measure this year if we are ever going to see those dreams come true.

Self-discipline will ensure that journey we've started towards our dream does not end prematurely. It's the main fuel that drives us, most times slowly but definitely surely towards our dreams. No matter how much we've jumped and shouted about our new year resolutions and new year revelations, without cultivating this essential spirit of self-control, we may as well just wave a very big goodbye to our dreams for 2015.

Having self-discipline will help us reduce our excuses. Even when things don't really turn out as pretty as we expect them to, we don't lose focus because of this one very important virtue. Self-discipline helps build our character and confidence, helps improve our responsibility rate and persistence levels, it helps us to strive steadily towards our goals, helps to give good value to our work, helps us with our leadership thrust, can improve our businesses and can also help increase how and what we earn. Self-discipline will certainly have a positive effect on how we handle our time, and is guaranteed to help improve our happiness, marriages, families and friendships....if we will all be willing to put ourselves under some more control than before. Self-discipline will guarantee success if we will just calm down and let it be our mantra and pivotal principle for 2015.

Let's not repeat this year those things that didn't give us any success in previous years. Sometimes the vision, dream or plan could be great and mind-blowing, but because self-discipline is absent all that ends up being a waste and the year itself ends up being filled with frustrations and disappointments.

It was Walt Disney who said that, "All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them." I believe him. Not because it's a statement that bounces off positively inside my spirit, but because he has been proven time and time over that it is true.

I don't intend to be disappointed this year and so I'm ready to push my self-discipline levels up another notch in the different areas of my life that I've targeted need change. I need serious success and believe I will get it; but I will only deserve it if I'm committed to work hard towards it.

Are you ready? I am.