3 Keys To Keep Up With A Goal

Everyday day is a seed, it comes with opportunity enough to solve problems, meet needs and improve self. A society is only as improved and developed as its inhabitants are informed and developed. It is like a system, where one person's improvement can influence that of the whole. In the strive to meet daily challenges, amidst much commitments, commitments are miss committed. Like in a football game, the objective of each team is to hit the goal as many times as possible to win (as long as they do this more than their opponent). But some games sadly end barren. And one would wonder a full match could not produce a goal. Your ability to see patterns and understand them determines passage, in the maze of affairs. Like in a football game, each team is strategically structured to stop the other from scoring while they themselves work to score. A team will definitely score when they see the pattern through the other team's opposition. Everything in life has a pattern. That's why success is not always of strength or skill, but working according to the natural laws about anything. There are three simple yet important keys that will help one keep track of one's goal, unfavorable situations not withstanding

1. Focus: when you find purpose, focus on it. This is according to the law of sequence. First things first, you can't focus on what you don't see; you can't take what you have not discovered. It's one thing to have a goal; it's another to have another goal. There will always be goals to achieve. As long as there is progress in any venture there would be new problems and innovative demands. For these to be met, goals sometimes need to be set amidst existing ones thereby increasing commitment and possibility of losing sight on the most important things. When it gets tough in football match, a team might lose focus on goals while trying to handle the surging offense of the other team. The sun will burn out flesh with the help of a convex lens, ordinarily it can't. You must not necessarily abandon every other commitment just to achieve one goal, that's not wise, is it? Focus in concise definition is giving each goal or commitment the justified required attention in its given time.

2. Consistency: with consistent heat, a stone will dissolve in boiling water. There is no progress in inconsistency. You will be a pioneer in what you initiated, but if you start a thing and show consistent improvement over time you will perfect in it. Consistency is not mediocrity. Mediocrity is maintaining the status quo (even when the status quo is below standard). Consistence is continual progress no matter how slow or gradual.

3. Persistence: consistency is not always possible without persistence. Consistent progress is not without obstacles and failures but it's in the ability to rise and still improve. With persistence, consistent heat will dissolve a stone in boiling water; that's a proverb anyway. One cardinal virtue and common factor in every worthy achievement is you guessed right, determination. As much as I know it is not always an inborn virtue, it's developed like many other virtues. The world will wait for a determined man.

He is not in haste

Time is not always against him
Usually he is against time
With consistent determination he focus on the goal
To achieve it
The world will wait for him
Because he rides on the back of three
Three cardinal virtues that nature respects.

How Your Emotions Can Affect Your Health

Have you ever heard the term emotionally induced illnesses (E.I.I)? If you have what do you think of it? if you haven’t heard about it, well you know about emotions because we all tend to have a good doss of them each day. It will interest you to know that your emotions mean more than mere feelings. A colleague of mine automatically fell ill, few hours after he bought a pair of shoes. The price he paid for the shoe was grossly disproportionate to its quality. Emotion is a state of mind that manifests itself by sensible changes in the body – William James. It all boils down to the mind again, everything begins from within. It would never be easy to maintain pleasant emotions always especially in times like these, with disasters, economic crisis and personal hurricanes. We are apt to react with an emotion at certain circumstance and every emotion has an equivalent effect, whether positively or negatively. Over 50 percent of those seeking medical aid today have E.I.I. Emotions like fear, anger, happiness, unsatisfactory attitude or emotion, sadness, disgust etc we call common are by no measure common in their effects. It is not criminal to respond with bad emotions at unpleasant situations but on the other hand it doesn’t help your health. This is what I mean.

1. Anger: when one shows the emotion of anger, the blood cells circulating in the blood increases by half a million per cubic millimeter, the outlet of the stomach muscles tightens, blood pressure rises by over 75% etc
2. Fear: here there is a squeezing down of blood vessels supplying the brain.
3. Dissatisfaction: anyone who is aggressively dissatisfied is a candidate of ulcer.

Now here are some recommendations for keeping pleasant emotions.

a. Learn to laugh: there is no better medicine than a good laugh. Some people are blessed with such cheerful temperament that they seem not to get upset by anything. But not to worry if you are not such. Learn not to always backlash yourself at every mistake. There are some things so serious you have to laugh at them.- Niels Bohr. it actually takes less effort and muscles to laugh than keep a sad emotion. A smile does more good to your soul. To make mistakes is human; to stumble is commonplace; to be able to laugh at yourself is maturity.
- William Arthur Ward
b. Treat every blunder at the point: this will reduce regrets later on as well as self backlash. A manager I know does not waste any time to reprove his workers at any misdid, in doing this he is usually get unpleasantly emotional but the next moment after that scene, he becomes jovial again. That way he makes his point without making enemies as well as ensure his healthy emotion.
c. Respond with pleasant emotions at unpleasant actions. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be realistic with your emotions, doing this at times might also look really ridiculous but you still have to consider the benefits.

Negative action + negative emotion = increase the chances of E.I .I
Negative action + pleasant emotion = cancels and reduces the chance of E.I.I
Good emotions are your best medicine. Can you control your emotions? If you can you, you have a hold on your health.

Cause And Consequences; How to Achieve Optimal Results

When it happens like bang, what quickly become obvious are the consequences, and rarely the cause. And when the cause eventually comes to mind, we tend to excuse it with the urgent demands of the obvious (consequence). Common sense tells us that the best way to solve a problem is to treat its cause and its consequence. But do we always look in the direction of the cause when the consequence is quite obvious and calling? Reminds me of Derek Prince during World War II while he was serving as a medical orderly with the British forces in North Africa, and I quote,

A British soldier had come into our reception station with a shrapnel wound caused by a bomb exploding near him. He took off his shirt exposing a small puncture wound in his shoulder. The edge of the wound was slightly black. Thinking of the ready to use sterile dressing that was part of our medical equipment, I said to the medical officer, “shall I get a first field dressing, sir?”
“No, that’s not what’s needed,” the doctor replied. “Bring me a probe.” The doctor had the man sit on a chair. Then he struck the little silver stick into the man’s wound and wiggled it around gingerly for a few moments. Suddenly the man let out a yelp and goes up in the air. “Now fetch me the forceps,” the doctor said. I gave him the forceps which he inserted into the wound in the area where the probe had located a foreign body. Cautiously he extracted a little piece of black metal. After cleaning the wound, he finally said to me, “Now you can bring the dressing.”
Afterward he explained, “You see, the piece of shrapnel that caused the puncture was still there. If you just cover that shrapnel up with a dressing without removing it, it will be a continuous source of infection and will cause further complications.”

Now on the other aspect of cause and consequences, is the Pareto principle or the 80-20 rule. Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th century economist postulated that a large share of wealth is owned by a small percentage of the population. Put more simply, 80 percent of consequences are as a result of 20 percent of causes. Now, how can this apply to goals and personal achievement?

I often tend to push myself to an extent on the cause effect issues; though it’s a sort of character test. I strive to achieve 80 percent of results with 20 percent of required time. Very demanding, you would say; but very helpful as well, especially in restoring focus, concentration and determination in producing results for a given task.
If principles are said to be natural laws, then the Pareto principle will be an effective tool that could transform ones effectiveness and consequently ones life. Knowing that we need 20 percent of our engagements to yield 80 percent of the results needed, the question is, “out of the many things we do or can do, what is that 20 percent that will produce the 80 percent result that we need? In other words, what are the most important things in your life that would create the defining results? Can you draw a line between the 80 percent less effective things and the 20 percent effective ones?

You can separate the few major problems from the many possible problems so you can focus your improvement efforts, arrange them according to priority or importance, and determine which problems are most important using data, not perception.

Avoid That Hurricane The Funny way

As environmental hurricane rage, it sweeps things off its path. We also encounter some other kinds of hurricanes that pose identical threats in our personal lives. But what prompts these hurricanes? And how can they be avoided? The good news is that hurricanes don’t just happen. They give signals which eventually help in detecting them. From the ocean where they evolve, hurricanes foment with a warm source. If you notice the stages of a hurricane development, they begin with heating up of ocean temperature, then a bad weather, then the storm, and the hurricane. Quite synonymous with how trouble evolve. It begins with a little disagreement, a grudge, some other in betweens, tempers flaring and then the bang (whatever that means). It takes two to tangle, so watch it when it begins to get warm. But that’s the bad side of “hot” though; we want the good side – “to be hot, – like blazing”.

For the purpose of this post, there are two kinds of hurricanes. The one that just happened in the U.S. called Irene (environmental hurricanes) and the one that is currently happening in every other part of the world (personal hurricanes). The former destroy structure while the latter, persons. Both are however identical in the effects they leave behind – a devastating effect. It is fascinating seeing these environmental hurricanes shatter houses and toss cars like cartons, their effects are obviously conspicuous. The personal hurricanes don’t demonstrate their wreckage like the former. They occur on a more regular basis so people think of them as natural.
We are stunned by circumstances at a point in life. Sometimes these personal hurricanes get so tense we think we won’t see the next. Personal hurricanes don’t form from sea beds; sometimes we initiate them by our actions and inaction. Whether these hurricanes come to test us or make us fail, I do not know. But one thing I know, good things fall into place for us when we do well. Disaster happens when we do the opposite. Personal hurricanes require wisdom to handle, or better still avoid.

Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them – Albert Einstein.

Here are some tips you might consider in handling the hurricanes
1. Don’t panic but keep a cool head and be coordinated.
2. Work your senses, get information, and observe your environment.
3. Turn off the warmers and turn on the coolers.
4. Get your speed on. There might be need for take off any moment.

This post was prompted by my observation and comparison of hurricanes with life issues that seem to trouble us. When hit with such personal hurricanes, we should begin with being as calm and coordinated as possible. One sure way to kill a hurricane: Take away its warm source which is what happens when a storm moves over land.

Getting Off The Launch Pad

It’s take off time, are you ready? I have seen good ideas with fine plans and the right resources to implement them but they never get of the launch pad. It’s really unfortunate to see very good ideas linger for years on the launch pad when it should actually be sky bound. But come to think of it, why do people stay long on the launch pad beyond the required time estimate even when they are good to go, sometimes they have all it takes to be sky bound but they still cant it take off.

It’s not that they want to remain on the launch pad, nor do they lack the intention and desire to be sky bound, to take off that project or dream or to implement that idea; it’s not also a question of not knowing how to take off, but often of ability. It’s that little something, that initiator to spark up the desire and verve in them. This tendency is also in agreement with Newton’s first law of motion which states that a body will remain in its state of rest or uniform velocity unless acted upon to change by an external force. I will share with you some helpful tips to get yourself off the launch pad into the heights.

1. Begin with a plan: when you have dream or an idea the next thing you should go for is a plan. It’s very important. With a plan, you know what to expect, it will help you chart out all possible solution to the challenges you might encounter. The process is as good as the plan.

2. Act upon the plan: a good plan does not get job done no matter how great and strategic it may seem. A plan can only prove effective when acted upon. To act upon a plan, accept your plan as a blueprint that can help you achieve your objective. Commit to your plan. Your level of commitment to the plan depends on how much you believe in the plan. So try as much as possible to create a good and workable plan. Comply with the plan. Take significant disciplined steps toward implementing it, get the right counsel. Without counsel plans/purposes are disappointed, but in a multitude of counsel they are established. Build a good team around you.

3. Don’t fall in love with the launch pad: a lot of things can be happening in the launchpad; there the rocket doesn’t do much but wait as it is prepared for takeoff. Launch vehicles could stay on the launch pad long enough until it’s ready for take. Some people so much enjoy the preparation period that they are carried away by the simplicity and fun of this stage (compared to flight phase), thereby extending and delaying the take off of their dreams or projects or ideas. Sometimes it could be due to laziness or fear of the task which lies ahead. Don’t make your umbilical attachment to the plan of iron such that you can hardly detach from it. I wrote a comprehensive post on this.

4. Go in packets: one step after the other, some people take a mega project the first time all at once and they are weighed down by it. They strive for perfection in getting the bits and pieces together to get a perfect picture; this keeps them longer on the launch pad. Big vehicles don’t make sudden turns. When you remember how enormous the project is and the effort it takes to put all the things together you loose the inertia/ motivation to spark the take off. Start with pin point smaller projects and execute them. Then you will gain satisfaction of accomplishing a task well and the necessary momentum to take on larger ones, than taking up large projects that might ground you and at the end you make a mess of it.

I believe that small is better, big is beautiful. Start small and then move to the big. But in whatever you do, just don’t let it end on the launch pad. Don’t remain on the launch pad of planning, planning, planning, waiting and never achieving anything. Start with the small, get sky bound and you will gain the motivation and momentum to take on the big.

Drawing A Line Of Distinction

In business chances are that a business is likely not be up to snuff few years after establishment if it doesn’t have a strategic plan and a good marketing strategy for the venture. Likewise in life, one might stay stagnated at a level or even slip if one does not take sound steps to advance ones life. We all at one point or the other struggle with productivity, either we want to be productive or to improve on our productivity.

For this to happen we must get to understand certain things. Any productive person or rather any one who seeks progress must know the truth that ones life doesn’t consist in everything he does or finds himself doing. You must understand that getting yourself entangled with every endeavor you find yourself does not work altogether for your productivity. That’s why we have priorities. Know what your life and success depends on. Some things are important and some things needful. It’s nice to strive for productivity in everything we can lay hands on, but in all those, what we really need to sustain our living is in few.
Splitting your strength into many important things will deprive you the concentrated effort and focus to strive at and achieve that which is helpful and necessary for your living. I am not opposed to getting involved with as much as you can, in fact I encourage variety; however the point I want to emphasize is, it’s our responsibility, and to the benefit of our ability to be productive to know as well as draw a distinction between that which is important and the actual helpful things that will eventually have more impact in our life.

There are things that your life depends on. There are endeavors that your success and development depend on. Drawing a line between these creates focus and enhances the best application of effort. There things that sustain your living and there things that enhance it or spice it up. When you are needful of real food you don’t go-getting spice, do you? You will do yourself a lot of good in drawing a distinction between these.

Lift Your Life By Learning

What can lift up a life from mediocrity to proficiency? What can take one from novice to expert? What makes the difference between an expert and a learner? It is that which he knows. One thing about knowing is that it comes by learning. One can only know when he learns that which he doesn’t know. What differentiates a successful person from an ineffective person is often that which he knows and applies in his business. Little wonder the bible says

my people perish for lack of knowledge

. From that statement, people don’t perish for lack of money, or because they have no one to help them, neither is it because there isn’t enough opportunity that comes their way. What you know can stand you out, however people often say that what don’t know cannot kill them thereby giving room for ignorance, but I think it actually can.

There are regular people who have taken responsibility of there life, and lifted themselves to great preferment by learning. Sometimes people break limitations in their lives by getting to learn one new skill or the other. Opportunity often comes to those who conscientiously work after it. By now I believe we already know that

success is not an accidental discharge

.

Tell me what is missing in your life and I will tell you what you do not value enough to make every effort to achieve-Mike Muddock. There is literally nothing one can’t achieve if one set one’s mind to achieve it, going at it with the right principles.

> Make a habit out of it: habits are as important as the eventual success you intend to achieve. Like I said earlier success is not an accidental discharge, you have to learn and adapt success habits that will eventually form your character; that personality that is apt to achieve success. Form the habits of learning.

> Adapt the DON’T a day habit: the savor of old age is experience, but experience doesn’t only come with gray hair. That you have experienced a situation doesn’t make you an expert in it. Learn to know, know to show yourself competent in what you do. Experience is a combination of knowledge and skill gained through doing something for a period of time. You don have to wait until you are old to gain experience. DON’T a day is an acronym for discover one new thing a day. You will eventually lift your life in the process of learning one new thing each day. form the habit of learning a new thing everyday, make notes of your discoveries, improve on it and you will be amazed by the outcome.

> Don’t learn to forget easily: what good is it when you can’t use what you learn because you forgot it. In real life situation, you apply what you know or remember. A coach said of his player that he is the only player who implements in the field of play that which he practiced in the training ground. Overcome forgetfulness with the power of repetition. Anticipate situation, pre-play and practice solution. You get to remember what you understand and repeat.

> Apply what you learn: they say no knowledge is a waste, that’s true in a sense but knowledge can get stale and obsolete. So make the most of it when you have it. What is the essence of knowledge when it cannot be applied to solve a problem or meet a need? You say there is no opportunity to utilize your skill; opportunities are created. If you have the opportunity to learn, you equally have the opportunity to lift your life.

It was written of a man who kept cows, he rode upon one of them, as it is useful in that country with a book laid on her horns that served instead of desk, and so he studied all the day. After some years he grew so learned that he took his degree and came to be a great mandarin.