IT’S WOVEN IN YOUR STORY
Successful people are those who had the commitment to answer the same questions we were all asking and later turned round to sell us their answers. They develop strength to lift the weight we are all struggling with and then they make a lifetime vocation of showing us how to do what they did. ~Dr Mensa Otabil
In his book Losing My Virginity, Sir Richard Branson told the story of how he started Virgin Atlantic:
“In ’79, when Joan, my fiancée and I were on a holiday in the British Virgin Islands, we were trying to catch a flight to Puerto Rico; but the local Puerto Rica scheduled flight was cancelled. The airport terminal was full of stranded passengers. I made a few calls to charter companies and agreed to charter a plane for $2000 to Puerto Rico. Cheekily leaving out Joan’s and my name, I divided the price by the remaining number of passengers, borrowed a blackboard and wrote: VIRGIN AIRWAYS: $39 for a single flight to Puerto Rico. I walked around the airport terminal and soon filled every seat on the charter plane. As we landed at Puerto Rico, a passenger turned to me and said: “Virgin Airways isn’t too bad – smarten up the services a little and you could be in business.”
Brendon Burchard in his best-selling book ”The Millionaire Messenger” also explained that each of us has a story the world is willing to pay for. Our stories stem from our experiences, the questions we answered; the problems we found solutions to, all of these make us to who we are today. We can bless the world with our stories while enriching ourselves from at the same time. After all according to Dan Kennedy ”People buy stories not stuff”.
It is easy for a person who has successfully lost a significant amount of weight to sell “weight loss” to others who are struggling with the same issue. She has a valid story, and others who are trying to do what she has done can see that it is doable.
You have been successful at something you once struggled with; you have found answers to some life’s tough questions; you have been delivered from something holding someone else captive. You have received comfort on some issues, so that you can comfort others with the same comfort you have received. That is your story. Don’t waste it. Use it to help others and make some money in the process.
Remember “People buy stories not stuff”. Wrap your product/service around your story and see how you’ll touch people on a more personal level.
Till I come your way again next week, go make some bulk with your story 
GROWING FROM THE PLACE OF STRENGTHS
“Jealousy is you counting other people’s blessing instead of counting yours. Stop looking over other people’s shoulders wishing we have what they’ve got. You have something someone is wishing he’s got too. Let us accept our strengths and learn to use them to our own advantage, for there lays our reward.”
Each of us is great at something. There are things other struggle with, that we do flawlessly without even thinking about it. Our strengths are talents given to us by God. When we work with strengths we can develop them into skills that can become beneficial to us and the world. our strengths are the stuff that separate us from others. When developed, our strengths set us above the average people, and make us the cream that always rises to the top.
We cannot be excellent at everything, we’ll always do some things better than others. The challenge we have as people is, sometimes we spend so much energy and resources to “work” on our weaknesses than we do on developing and maximizing our strengths.
Our weaknesses make us disadvantaged. Our strengths make us advantaged. We cannot grow from a place of disadvantage, we can only grow from a place of advantage. You can drink all the coffee in the world if you like, but you are not going to be a great Mathematician hate numbers. You may study hard to get a degree in mathematics, but you are never going to rise to the top of your field.
A well-developed strength area can overshadow our weaknesses in other areas. By weaknesses, I don’t mean flaw in characters, I mean things we are suck at. For instance, I’m a Fitness instructor but I suck at dancing. As a matter of fact when I started out learning the rudiment of Group Fitness Instruction, my coach told some other coaches in secret that I have come to waste my time and money, because my coordination was REALLY BAD. But three months later I was instructing classes. What I lacked in coordination I made up for in energy and physical strength that even my coach couldn’t believe eyes. I was a guest instructor for him twice in 2011 at The National Institute for Sport when he lectures.
I lead great classes today but I know where my strength lies. I don’t try to do complex choreography like those who are born dancers, I build simple combinations and make up for what I like in complexity with intensity. But I haven’t always been like that, there was a particular time I tried to take some lessons in a fitness dance format, so that I can add that to the other formats I teach. I had to come to terms with myself and accepted the fact that I can never be a great instructing a dance based fitness format that involves complex choreography because my strength is not in dancing.
Let us stop looking over other people’s shoulders wishing we have what they’ve got. You have something someone is wishing he’s got too. Let us accept our strengths and learn to use them to our own advantage, for there lays our reward.
I wish you a very great week of strength discovery and maximization!
IT’S ONLY ONE GIANT
They marched out in their numbers to face their enemies in battle. Their strength was in their numbers, their strategy was to use their strength to fight their enemies in this battle. Everything seemed alright as they matched in lines with songs of war. Their enemies saw their numbers and feared. Their enemies knew something had to be done quickly otherwise they could be wiped out. The armies of the enemies consulted with each other and came up with a strategy that put these mighty armies to flight.
The strategy was the voice of a 9-foot warrior whose name was Goliath. His presence was so terrifying that they didn’t just imagine he was strong, they knew he was strong. In him was presented a challenge to the army of Israel. As he spoke, the sound of his voice sent a chill down the spine of the greatest of the armies of Israel. And they all ran back from the battle lines.
He was a giant of a man. His strategy was to change the rules of engagement. “Give me a man to fight with me, if he kills me we’ll become your slaves, if I kill him you’ll become our slaves’’ he proposed. It was a proposal but that proposal changed the rules of engagement. The Israelites had gone out in battle with the strategy to use their numbers because their strength was in their numbers. But they changed their own strategy at the proposal of Goliath. His proposal was not forced on them, there was nothing shameful in them saying “No” to the proposal, because they had their own strategy before they set out in battle.
Why did the armies of Israel with so much potential ignore its own battle strategy and followed the rules set by its enemy? Why should I abide by the rules of my opponent, especially when that rule exposes my weakness? I couldn’t get my head around it as I read the story.
It is my personal belief that if Israel had refused Goliath proposal and charged against the Philistines’ armies, they would have won that battle the very first day. They could have just say “NO” with all boldness, and let the Philistines know they were not fighting according to Goliath’s rule. That way they confuse their enemies. They could then strategize to cut down Goliath first as they engage the Philistines in battle. But they gave into the device of their enemies and suffered in fear and uncertainty for forty days.
Do not panic when your opponent says “NO” to your strategy. Do not change your strategy because your enemy proposes something different. You had your own plan before you set out . You set the rules by which you want to engage the enemy. For all you know your enemy may be afraid of your strategy, don’t change your strategy to the advantage of your enemy.
Don’t prolong the battle. Fight with your strength. You don’t have a David with which you can fight Goliath yet. Go out in your numbers to strike down the giant.
WHOSE AGENDA ARE YOU RUNNING?
“People will always come with their emergencies, loads of thing they need you to do for them here and now, but you must realise that you are the most important person to YOU. Take care of YOU first, because if you can’t take care of YOU, you won’t be able to take care of others.”
The challenge we have with performance is not that we don’t have enough time to do what we need to do, the challenge is we waste too much time on things that are not important.
Making a daily to-do list, with focus on your goals can make you very productive. I started using a daily to-do list and I have seen improvement in my productivity.
When you have a marked-out plan your day, you have control over your agenda for the day. It also keeps you focused on what is important to you before you start responding to other people’s emergencies.
People will always come with their emergencies, loads of thing they need you to do for them here and now, but you must realise that you are the most important person to YOU. Take care of YOU first, because if you can’t take care of YOU, you won’t be able to take care of others.
Focus on being productive this week by reclaiming your agenda. Allow no one to flood your life with emergencies that leave you with no room for the expedient.
I wish you a very productive week.
BE TRUE TO YOU
“I decided long ago never to walk on anyone’s shadow; if I fail or if I succeed at least I did as I believe.” ~Witney Houston
“There is nothing glorifying in you living in the shadow of another. You don’t have to shrink for me to shine. You don’t have to decrease for me to increase. The sky is big enough for all to fly.”
As I grow older and get wiser I continue to appreciate the importance of knowing who and whose I am, and how important it is for me not to allow society and people’s opinion define me.
While I appreciate the opinion of others and take wise counsel from those I respect, I don’t want to comfort to other people’s expectation of me. I want to be true to God and myself. People change and so do their opinion. I cannot keep changing with people’s opinions, doing that will make me very unstable.
I personal believe that a sure way to a disastrous life is to try to please everyone. People will sing your praise today and ask for your crucifixion tomorrow. If you allow yourself to always be moved by what they say, you will never become whom God has intended you to be.
Being confident in whom God has made you to be is not arrogant at all. There is nothing glorifying in you living in the shadow of another. You don’t have to shrink for me to shine. You don’t have to decrease for me to increase. The sky is big enough for all to fly.
Above all, BE TRUE. BE TRUE TO YOURSELF. Don’t live your life as men-pleaser. Your race is not my race, my race is not your race. Focus on your own race, and stop bothering yourself about other people’s opinion. People will always form their own opinion of you, it is your responsibly to not allow people’s opinion form you.
I pray that this week we’ll live our lives to the fullest, and give God our best by giving the world our best.
A PRAYER FOR YOU
MY NEW YEAR RESOLUTION
“In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil. but a foolish man devours all he has.” ~King Solomon
It is not about how much we earn, it is about how much we are able to safe.
It is no doubt many of us must have spent some time to reflect on how well we have done in 2011. For me as a person, it was about taking a critical look at major areas of my life. One of such areas, was my finance. After a thorough look, I concluded I haven’t done well in that area at all.
Well, I had few of regrets…regrets over what I should have done that I didn’t do. Now, I didn’t judge my financial performance based on how much I earned, I judged my performance by how much I saved, and what I did with what I had earned in the course of the year. I know people who didn’t earn as much as I earned in 2011, and have done better than I did. So, I concluded having more money, it’s not about earning more, but about being able to safe more from what I earn.
We all know that as our earnings increase, our spending tend to increase also. My ‘New Year Resolution’ is to keep my spending low,and increase my savings. A year from now I want to look at my finances and be really proud of myself.
I already have my goals set for 2012, and I want every money that comes into my hands in 2012 to serve a good purpose. I have made up my mind to stop spending because money is available, and I have put some systems in place to help my decision.
I know it’s going to take a lot of discipline on my part, but I’m willing to do it, because I have realized that, some of my goals for 2012 would remain mere dreams on paper, if I don’t get my finances right…
PRAYING, THINKING, STRATEGIZING…
I have spent the past few weeks reviewing the past 12 months of my life. I’m thankful to God for the things I have been able to achieve. I’m grateful for all the opportunities I had, for the things that worked out well, and those things that were difficult and unattainable. I have also spent some time praying, thinking, and strategizing for the 12 months of my life. I have dreams and aspirations for the New Year, and I’m relying on God for grace to accomplish all that’s in my heart.
I know that except God builds the house, the laborers work in vain. Therefore, I’m praying so that I can see the house the Lord has already built, but I’m also thinking so that as I see the house, I have the depth to comprehend its pattern and strategy to build according to the pattern. I’m not leaving my life to chances in 2012. I want to make life happen; I don’t want life to happen to me.
I know I can’t make all the goals on my list happen at once, my strategy is to choose one goal, that will act as the catalyst, that one goal that when achieved can make most goals on my list happen. My distant mentor, Chalene Johnson calls it ”Push Goal”. It’s the one goal that makes all other goals possible. It is not my most important goal, but without achieving it first, the other goals on my list may not see the light of the day.
I have identified my catalyst goal, and I have taken it through a process known as “reverse engineering”. I have also identified the steps I need to take to make it happen. My focus now is to take daily actions that will move me in the direction of my Catalyst Goal. That means, I may have to say ‘No’ to some people and things, and say ‘Yes’ to some people and things.
Life becomes easier when we know where we want to go and how to get there.
I hope you are also making plans, and setting goals for your 2012, you see, we cannot allow life to happen to us. We need to take charge of life, and with God on our side, we’d look back a year from now and be able to say like Jacob said ”I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now, I have become two groups”.
It is my sincere prayer for you, my reader, that your 2012 will be full of good fruits, and that your hands will handle every good thing your heart desires.
Compliment of the season!
ZERO REGRETS.
It’s hard to believe we’re nearing the end of 2011 already, how time flies. This is the time of the year, when many people sit down to take stock of the last 12 months. It is a time of reflection on how we have fared with our goals and aspirations for the year. For some that reflection will bring gratitude, while for some, it may bring regrets. Regrets over things we should have done that we didn’t. Regrets over opportunities we allowed to slip pass us.
There may be many things that we had hoped to achieve this year, which we haven’t achieved. It is possible that we have allowed some opportunities to slip pass us, but I believe there were other things we have also done well. There were certain goals we set at the beginning of the year, and if we look back now, we’d see that we have surpassed some of them. I believe some of us have achieved certain things, that were not even in our plans for 2011, that we should be thankful for.
As you reflect on your 2011, be careful not to allow the regrets of what should have been, to drown your gratefulness for what have been.
I always try not to dwell on yesterday regrets, I sure do reflect on them and learn from the mistakes that brought them, but I don’t dwell on them, because I know there is always a tomorrow. I believe with each new day comes opportunity for a fresh start.
The past is in the tomb, there is no amount of regrets that can bring yesterday back. Instead of dwelling on what hasn’t worked, focus on what has worked, and be grateful for the opportunity of a new year that brings a new start.
THE TIME FACTOR
There are many factors that contribute to what we become in life. Some of these factors are factors we have little or no control over. We did not choose our parents, neither did we choose our countries of birth. We did not choose the opportunities we were born into, neither did we chose the challenges we were born into. Some were born on beds of roses, while some were born in manger. Circumstance surrounding the birth of a child is beyond that child’s control.
Although the factors listed above are beyond our control, some factors can be controlled, so that our end becomes better than our beginning, no matter how good or bad that beginning might have being. Our decisions, our actions, our relationships, all contribute significantly to what become of our lives.
One major factor we all have control over is “Time”. Time is the only factor that is equal to all. Both the rich and the poor have the same amount of hours at the break on each new day. Time levels everything. We can all use the time we have to gain the things we lack.
We can sit and cry all day blaming everything and everyone except ourselves, that will not change our situations. Until we do something with the factors that are within our control everything stays the same. How we all start in life may not be by our doings, how we end in life is by our doings.
We can commit out time to gain the health we want. We can invest our time to gain relationship we. Time can be used in exchanged for education. We can exchange our time for wealth. Time is the only means of exchange that is common to all. We can sit where we are and wish that things come to us or that things go away from us. The truth is nothing moves until we move it. Nothing will start until we get it started. Time is a current, it flows. Whether we move or not, time continues to move. Whether we act on our dreams or not, the years will go by. We shall all come to a point in our lives where we would either be full of gratitude or regrets.
What do you see your life becoming a year from now? Let the picture you see energize you into action. Stand up and do something about that situation. You have looked at it for a long time, now is the time to do something about it. If the situation is beyond natural invest your time in prayer before the supernatural God. If you need to lose weight put your time into regular physical activities. We all can use our time in exchange for whatever we need.
“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” ~Karen Lamb
This is just my Point of View.
