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A man travels round the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.- George Moore. Welcome home!


Friday, November 5, 2010

Save,Invest for the Future

Friday, November 05, 2010
Wise people live in wealth and luxury, but stupid people spend their money as fast as they get it. Proverbs 21:20 (TEV)
There is a question you can ask yourself that will help you save more money: "Do I really need this?"
If you want God's blessing on your finances, you must learn to save and invest for the future. The Bible says a lot about making financial investments.
In fact, you can see that Proverbs 21:20 is God's IQ test! Let's see how smart you are: wise people save for the future, but foolish people spend whatever they get.
Would it surprise you to know that in Japan, the average savings is 25% of their income? The average European saves 18%. Yet, last year Americans spent 1% more than they made. Many people in retirement are going to be dirt poor because they didn't start saving early enough; they didn't practice the principle of investing in the future.
Now, there is a question you can ask yourself that will help you save more money. It's real simple. When you get ready to buy something ask yourself, "Do I really need this?" And then be honest enough to tell yourself.
For instance, do I really need a new car? Well, I know I'd like it. But, do I really need a new car? Do I really need this upgrade? I know I'd like it, but do I really need it?
A fundamental financial principle is this: when you spend your money, it's gone. Yet, when you save your money, your money works for you. The problem with most of us is that we work for our money instead of letting our money working for us. If you'll do it God's way, you can get out of debt and you can be blessed.
The Bible teaches that, when money comes easily, it disappears quickly, but money that is gathered little by little will grow. "Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time." Proverbs 13:11 (NLT)
Many people think, 'Because I can't save a lot, I just won't save.' But it's not about the amount you save. It's the consistency of saving. It adds up little by little.
So you pay God first and you pay yourself second. When you save, you are making your money work for you.























Monday, October 25, 2010

Using Stumbling Blocks as Stepping Stones

I have particularly blessed by this entry from Brian Tracy.Hope you will rich principles that will move your life forward.


Using Stumbling Blocks as Stepping Stones
By: Brian Tracy

Everyone makes mistakes and the busier you are, the more mistakes you will make. The only question is "How well and how effectively do you deal with the inevitable ups and downs of life?"

In this newsletter, you learn the difference between a positive and negative worldview. You learn how to benefit from your mistakes and how to remain positive in the face of adversity.

Let the Light Shine In
This is achieved through the simple exercise of self-disclosure. For you to truly understand yourself, or to stop being troubled by things that may have happened in your past, you must be able to disclose yourself to at least one person. You have to be able to get those things off your chest. You must rid yourself of those thoughts and feelings by revealing them to someone who won't make you feel guilty or ashamed for what has happened.

Using Stumbling Blocks as Stepping Stones
There are two ways to look at the world: the benevolent way or the malevolent way. People with a malevolent or negative worldview take a victim stance, seeing life as a continuous succession of problems and a process of unfairness and oppression. They don't expect a lot and they don't get much. When things go wrong, they shrug their shoulders and passively accept that this is the way life is and there isn't anything they can do to make it better.

On the other hand, people with a benevolent or positive worldview see the world around them as filled with opportunities and possibilities. They believe that everything happens as part of a great process designed to make them successful and happy. They approach their lives, their work, and their relationships with optimism, cheerfulness, and a general attitude of positive expectations. They expect a lot and they are seldom disappointed.

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Flex Your Mental Muscles
When you develop the skill of learning from your mistakes, you become the kind of person who welcomes obstacles and setbacks as opportunities to flex your mental muscles and move ahead. You look at problems as rungs on the ladder of success that you grab onto as you pull your way higher.

Two of the most common ways to deal with mistakes are invariably fatal to high achievement. The first common but misguided way to handle a mistake is the failure to accept it when it occurs. According to statistics, 70 percent of all decisions we make will be wrong. That's an average. This means that some people will fail more than 70 percent of the time, and some people will fail less. It is hard to believe that most of the decisions we make could turn out to be wrong in some way. In fact, if this is the case, how can our society continue to function at all?

Cut Your Losses
The fact is that our society, our families, our companies, and our relationships continue to survive and thrive because intelligent people tend to cut their losses and minimize their mistakes. It is only when people refuse to accept that they have made a bad choice or decision-and prolong the consequences by sticking to that bad choice or decision-that mistakes become extremely expensive and hurtful.

Learn From Your Mistakes
The second common approach that people take with regard to their mistakes, one that hurts innumerable lives and careers, is the failure to use your mistakes to better yourself and to improve the quality of your mind and your thinking.

Learning from your mistakes is an essential skill that enables you to develop the resilience to be a master of change rather than a victim of change. The person who recognizes that he has made a mistake and changes direction the fastest is the one who will win in an age of increasing information, technology and competition.

By remaining fast on your feet, you will be able to out-play and out-position your competition. You will become a creator of circumstances rather than a creature of circumstances.

Action Exercises
Now, here are three steps you can take immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, imagine that your biggest problem or challenge in life has been sent to you at this moment to help you, to teach you something valuable. What could it be?

Second, be willing to cut your losses and walk away if you have made a mistake or a bad choice. Accept that you are not perfect, you can't be right all the time, and then get on with your life.

Third, learn from every mistake you make. Write down every lesson it contains. Use your mistakes in the present as stepping stones to great success in the future.

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Sunday, October 24, 2010

Shortcuts are Always Short-sighted


by Rick Warren

Noah did everything just as God commanded him. Genesis 6:22 (NIV)

"A shortcut says, 'God, I think I can reach this goal a whole lot quicker my way than your way.' "

One of the pitfalls you will face as you chase your dreams during this Decade of Destiny is the temptation to take shortcuts.

These are the detours that come in life that tempt you to try to cut corners as you run toward your goals but these shortcuts will only get you off track. These may be moral shortcuts, ethical shortcuts, spiritual shortcuts, financial shortcuts, even relational shortcuts, where you start skimming in your relationships.

Shortcuts are always short-sighted. They distract you from getting where you need to go and from what God wants you to do in your life.

When we look at the life of Noah, we see he doesn't try to cut corners. Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

The temptation to take shortcuts is present throughout scripture -

  • Jesus was tempted by the devil to take a shortcut. The devil told Jesus to jump from the top of the temple and, when the angels caught him, it would prove to everyone he was the Son of God. And they would all worship him. But Jesus followed God's plan. Jesus was meant to die on the cross, not jump off a temple. God's plan was that Jesus would be glorified through suffering, not through showing off.

When you see a shortcut, it's usually a temptation to cut the corner financially, ethically or morally - just take a little shortcut. But you are also saying, 'God, I think I can reach my goal a whole lot quicker my way than your way.'

  • Sarah had a promise from God that she would have a baby, but by the time she was 80-years-old, she decided to take a shortcut. She told Abraham to get her handmaid pregnant. 'That will be our baby'. But that wasn't God's plan at all. He provided Sarah with her own baby, and Sarah's shortcut led to problems that have lasted for generations. Shortcuts are always short-sited.

Noah could have said, 'Lord, do we really need all of these animals? You know, why don't we just leave half the species here. The Sierra club will never know; Green Peace isn't around. We can just call the ones we leave extinct animals.'

But the Bible says, Noah did everything just as God commanded him. To reach the dreams God gives you, you must do things exactly as God tells you to do them.

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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Three Primary Virtues

Posted by Brian Tracy on Aug 11, 2009

three1Adam Smith, in his important book The Theory of Moral Sentiments, wrote that excellent people have three primary virtues: prudence, justice, and benevolence, in that order. Each of them is essential to the others and to the living of a full life in society.

Virtue #1: Prudence

The virtue of prudence refers to your developing the habit of providing well for yourself, your family, your friends, your co-workers, and your company. This requires that you think intelligently and honestly about the very best course of action to maximize your opportunities and minimize possible danger and threats. The habit of prudence means you investigate every investment carefully, think ahead about what might happen if you were to take a particular course of action, and take intelligent steps to guard against setbacks and reversals of fortune. The most successful people are those who are prudent in the conduct in all of their personal and business affairs.

Virtue #2: Justice is Blind

The second habit for you to develop is the habit of justice. This refers to your commitment to the establishment and maintenance of laws in society that protect the person and property of every individual. The American republic has endured for more than 200 years because it was carefully established by the founding fathers on the basis of law, not men. At every level of our society, specific laws are prescribed and laid down that are applicable to all people, regardless of wealth or station in life.

John Rawls, the Harvard philosopher and author of A Theory of Justice (Belknap Press, revised edition, 1999), once presented a question to his class that has been repeated often through the years.

Imagine that you could write the laws and create the circumstances of your society. You are given the power to prescribe the economic, social and political relationships that would exist in your country throughout your lifetime.

There is only one limitation on your power. You would set up this structure without knowing into what sort of family or situation you would be born. You would not know in advance what sort of physical condition you might be born with. Whatever system of laws and customs you decided upon, you would then be required to live by them for the rest of your life. What kind of structure would you design in this situation?

The answer to this question is the very essence of the concept of justice. The statue of justice, holding the balances and scales in her hand, is blind folded. True justice is therefore applicable to all people who live under a certain system, irrespective of their background. When you make the habit of justice an organizing virtue for your own character, you will insist that, whatever the relative power of the parties, everyone be treated fairly and justly in the resolution of any difficulty or dispute.

The habit of prudence is essential for personal success. The habit of justice is essential for the creation of a society within which a person can pursue his or her own best interests with the greatest of possibilities. The rule is that you should never want or demand anything from anyone else that you are not perfectly willing to accept for yourself.

Virtue #3: Benevolence

The third quality you must develop is the habit of benevolence. This is one of the hallmark characteristics of the truly superior person. Aristotle referred to it as one of the eight essential virtues, that of “generosity.” Most people are psychologically and emotionally structured in such a way that they are only truly happy and satisfied when they feel they are doing something that serves and benefits other people. When you give freely and generously of yourself to others, whether it is to members of your family or to members of the public, you feel more valuable and happier inside. When you dedicate yourself to serving your customers with the very best quality product or service of which you are capable, not only do you feel a deep sense of personal satisfaction, but you also put yourself on the side the angels when it comes to personal and business success. You remember the principle: “The more you give of yourself to others with expectation of return, the more good things there are that will come back to you from the most unexpected sources.”

The regular practice of prudence, justice, and benevolence leads naturally to feelings and actions of kindness, compassion, and tolerance toward other people. You become more open minded and flexible. You develop greater patience and understanding. You are less judgmental or demanding of others. You become a better and finer person.

Action Exercise

Imagine yourself to be a person of complete honesty and impeccable integrity. Is there any behavior of yours that you would change?

Friday, August 6, 2010

How To Handle With Frustrations

Sunday 4th of July, 2010 was a glorious day. We had a great time in the presence of God as we watched the women handle the church service climaxing their National Convention. Getting back Justify Fullhome we had so much to share together. My wife took time to feed baby, after which she slept. That gave us some space to take care of a few things with regards to our trip to Uyo, Nigeria the following day.

A few minutes later she woke up and that with a scream. We thought it was a normal wake up blues but were shocked beyond measure as we realised this was beyond normal. We did everything we could but she wouldn’t stop. More than an hour had passed yet my baby was nowhere near consolation. Carrying her, I was asking her what the problem was. She could only look at me and cry some more. I was so frustrated. At that moment I wished my baby could speak to me. I guess it would have been very strange for a four months old baby to speak but I wouldn’t have cared. I just needed clues.

My wife had asked me to pray for baby and we did. We prayed again and again but baby was really screaming. I left them in the room and came to the sitting room where I was ironing a few clothes. Standing before the ironing board, I began to scream, pouring my frustrations to God. I couldn’t take it any longer. I knew no reason why she should be crying that way and the One who knows why would have to do something about it or tell us what to do.

Somehow, I felt the need to bind any strange force afflicting my baby and that I did with very strong passion. Moments later I didn’t hear her voice again. My wife brought her to the sitting room and I noticed the screaming had reduced drastically. We wanted to go to the hospital but noticed she was really calming down and then it stopped and started to eat. A little while later she slept and that was the end of that shocking encounter.

Why Frustration?

The following morning while I was praying, I began to understand the reason behind frustration. I saw that lack of understanding leads to frustration. We couldn’t understand why our baby was screaming and so we were frustrated. Baby possibly wanted us to understand what was bordering her but there was communication breakdown. She couldn’t speak our language and we didn’t understand hers. And so frustration set it. Thank God who can understand the language of children and what a wonderful thing He did! He consoled her and put an end to our misery.
Delay can also be another formidable reason for frustration. No one actually likes delay. We want what we want when we want it. This is fostered by the times we live in. Ours is a generation of quick fix. Computers and other technological products have helped us reduce so much time required for many things. We don’t like to wait for anything. So when there is a delay, frustration sets in.

How to Handle Frustration

Be Calm
This is always difficult to do when you have a very frustrating situation but if you can do it, it will enable you to overcome the situation. Speaking through the Psalmist, God said, "Be still and know that I am God." That day I just kept quiet. Initially, I didn't know what to do and it will foolish to try to do something when you don't know what to do. Calmness helps you know what to do. Anxiety dissipates energy. That's why you can't be productive when you are under anxiety.

Take it to God
It is important we take our challenges and difficult issues to God. This is because He has perfect understanding of all things. He speaks and understands all languages and is all-powerful, so He’s aptly qualified to handle anything confronting us. We need to pray always for understanding and insight into issues because we can’t solve a problem we don’t understand. That’s why Solomon insisted on us getting understanding. He knew that life will be a bundle of frustration when you can’t understand your assignment in life and the challenges facing you.

The Power of Understanding

Understanding, among many other things will give you confidence.
When you understand a problem, you can confidently handle it. You can’t be afraid of a person or a challenge you understand. Confidence is the key to victory. It releases boldness. It gives you a winning edge. It enables you to handle your challenges calmly and surely. Confidence, according to Microsoft Encarta, is self assurance or a belief in your ability to succeed. It was confidence that made Paul to declare, “If God be for us who can be against us”. With such confidence, no wonder he was a great success. Confidence is the key to success and it draws it strength from understanding.

Secondly, understanding gives direction. When you understand a problem you can move confidently in the right direction and solve it. Direction is vital if we must win the battles of life. Direction means sense of purpose. Without a sense of purpose failure is inevitable. Nothing was created without purpose and when purpose is not known, Myles Munroe says, abuse is inevitable.

Again understanding provides security.
We can only secure a destiny we understand. Without understanding there is no security. Many people give away their lives for nothing because they lack understanding. There are many things you won’t do when you understand who you are and what you are supposed to do with your life.

Next, understanding provides peace and joy. Lasting peace and joy is a function of understanding. There are many things that want to steal your peace and drain your joy but when you understand the situation then you don’t have anything to fear. You can relax and be rest assured of victory.

Finally, understanding leads to promotion. Your promotion in life will be tied to your level of understanding. The more you understand your purpose in life and pursue it the more greatness you will enjoy.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

You are Fully Equipped

Hi, I recently came across this lovely, insightful and inspiring peom by Edgar Guest and felt it will be very beneficial to you. Take time to go through the five stanzas and you will be glad you did. Hopefully, it will start you off or further you in your journey to excellent and successful life. Have a great time.

EQUIPMENT – BY EDGAR A. GUEST

Figure it out for yourself, my lad,
You’ve all that the greatest of all men have had,
Two arms, two hands, two legs, two eyes,
And a brain to use if you would be wise,
With this equipment they all began,
So start for the top and say, “I can.”

Look them over, the wise and the great,
They take their food from a common plate,
And similar knives and forks they use,
With similar laces they tie their shoes,
The world considers them brave and smart,

You can triumph and come to skill,
You can be great, if you only will.
You’re well equipped for what fight you choose,
You have legs and arms and a brain to use;
And the man who has risen great deeds to do
Began his life with no more than you.

You are the handicap you must face,
You are the one who must choose your place,
You must say where you want to go,
How much you will study the truth to know;
God has equipped you for life, but He
Lets you decide what you want to be.

Courage must come from the soul within,
The man must furnish the will to win,
So figure out for yourself, my lad,
You were born with all that the great have had,
With your equipment they all began.
Get hold of yourself and say: “I can.”

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Currents of Favour

Watching waterfalls could be a very exciting and an informative thing. You will see how things and people have little problem swimming or flowing with the tide. You will also notice how it could be very difficult if not impossible to swim against the tide. Swimming against the tide obviously means to swim against the water currents and that can be disturbing.

In our lives also, it is possible to swim along or against the tide. Sometimes, I see people struggling to succeed in one thing or the other and it baffles me how very difficult it is for people to understand the reason for their struggles. Definitely, we will face challenges on our way to achieving greatness. But to swim against the tide is quite another thing. It leads to unnecessary failures and heartbreaks.

What do I mean by swimming against the tide? I mean trying to achieve success in any endeavour contrary to the principles and laws that govern success specifically or generally. Every durable success must be on the platform of principles. To succeed otherwise is to build on sinking sand.

It is important to understand that favour is like a river with high currents. When we swim along with the direction of favour, we struggle less and succeed without much difficulty. Swimming against the currents of favour is an energy sapping exercise that ends in futility. If you are doing something over time and there is nothing positive to show for it, take time to examine and re-examine what you’re doing and how you’re doing it. There should be a measure of success that should go with our endeavours. It may not be in the immediate but the signs will be there and the certainty of success will keep you going even when there are no tangible results.

To swim along the currents of favour, firstly, we must understand the direction of favour. Favour isn’t everywhere and in everything at least for an individual. If you get into a business or project you are not supposed to, then you are swimming against the currents of favour. You need to be sure that what or who you want to be involved with is what or who you are supposed to be involved with. You need to find out from God if you are in the right, else you will struggle unnecessarily.

Also, you could have a good idea but a bad location can sabotage your prospects. So, currents of favour, has to do with understanding the right location for what we want to do. Not all locations are good for everybody and everything. Companies site their building in strategic places that will enhance their businesses. We must know the right location for us if we want to succeed.

Moreover, not having the right people to work with can lead to swimming against the currents of favour. Right people will determine the success and durability of a project or relationship. When you work with wrong people, you will be wondering why all your efforts are not yielding commensurately. It will be like putting money in a bag with holes. Be careful with the people you identify with because they can make or mar you.

Next is diligence. The lazy man cannot but swim against the currents of favour. This is because it takes diligence to harness opportunities and openings and this is an impossible thing as long as any man is lazy. In spite of great difficulties, a diligent person will rise to greatness. Work does not kill only laziness does.

Understanding these things will enable us to keep swimming along with favour and experiencing great results and successes that are almost unimaginable.

Monday, February 22, 2010

WHY?


I am a thinker and the art of thinking requires that we sit down and ask questions. I understand that in Philosophy, questions are more important than answers. This is because questions provide the raw material for great results and achievements. Every great result achieved has been a direct product of questions. The more questions we can ask, the more raw materials we generate to work on issues and pressing problems. He is a failure who doesn’t ask questions because he will live within the range of the status quo.

Recently, I noted that I’ve not been doing a particular thing for a long time and the question was, “why did I stop doing that thing?” I had stopped for certain reasons which though may be genuine but were not sufficient enough to make me withdraw. It’s almost amazing what can happen when we begin to ask the question, why? If we are sincere, we will discover that why is so crucial, maybe more crucial than we can imagine.

What is so important about this question, ‘why’? Firstly the question, ‘why’ reveals the motive behind our actions. Why are we doing what we are doing? Why do we want to get into that business? It’s important to realise that intent precedes content. Intention is more important than action. This is because if our intention is wrong then our actions, no matter how good they may appear, will not be right. They can only be manipulative at best and seductive at worst.
Secondly, why defines our scope. It helps us to know region, our sphere of operation. Coca Cola Company is not into software development. Understanding why helps us to concentrate our energies to the right direction. Why helps us to focus. It limits us and maximizes us. It strengthens our resolves and invigorates us.

Thirdly, why helps us to know the resources we need to achieve our objective. It is important to understand why as it will enable us to know how and where to channel our resources. Lack of proper understanding of why, has led to so much waste of scarce resources. Because many people haven’t asked why they were created, they tend to dangle from one thing to another. This leads to waste of both time and energy. We cannot afford to waste our time on earth as we are not staying here forever. We have limited time and for us to maximize it we must ask the question, ‘why’.

The question why opens our latent resources. When you begin to ask why, you will begin to discover that you have what it takes to move far forward than where you are now. You will suddenly discover that you are more than what you are now. It will be a case of scales falling off from your eyes. You will remain where you are presently until you ask why.

Who do you direct your why to? Our most important questions must be channelled to God. This is because He is our Creator, our Manufacturer. He alone knows who we are and why we are. We must find out from Him. This we do in prayer and looking at the manual He gave us, the Bible. Inside that book are all answers you’ll need and more. No one knows a product like its manufacturer and no book can be more explicit than the manufacturer’s manual. Get the manual of God for your life and study it, then watch how your questions will be answered.

If you are still the way you were years ago, the reason may be because you haven’t asked the question why? Ask yourself, why am I single? Why am I poor? Why am I jobless? Why do I feel lonely? The more whys you can ask the better. Give your life a thorough look. Don’t settle for less when you can be more. Don’t settle for a mediocre life. Those who got to the topmost tops didn’t get there by wishing, they got there by asking why. They moved when the changed their reasoning about themselves and their situations.

The time to move forward is now but that will happen if you begin to question the status quo. The future belongs to the one who will ask why. You will never know what you can do until you begin to question yourself about you are doing and where you are. The time is now. Get up and take your destiny. Challenge your challenges and watch how thing can change. Don’t ever fail to ask this all important question, WHY.