AWAKE THE SLEEPING GIANT IN YOU

There are so many sleeping potentials in us that we can really awake. As I have always averred, knowledge(both of yourself & things around you) can generate ideas. How do you get knowledge? Go for it.
After acquiring knowledge, then what?
You must activate your knowledge by putting it to work. Exercising your knowledge is as important as going for knowledge. A dormant knowledge is not better than ignorance. Putting knowledge to work requires you yielding yourself to practice, learning from mistakes while trying to solve problems. Problems are hidden solutions that can be unveiled.
Practice is nothing more than preparation for outstanding potential maximization. I failed not because I didn't know what to do, but because there was a loophole in my preparation. Abraham Lincoln will advice that, when given ten hours to cut down a tree, it is wise to devote your first six hours sharpening your axe. Nothing beats preparation.
To be relevant and useful to the society you must activate your knowledge by putting it to work.

DETERMINATION BIRTHS POSSIBILITIES

I subscribe to the school of thought that, determination births possibilities. The mountain top is for the few who are ready to take the first, second and the rest bold steps to the top undermining the challenges that attracts giving up. Determination activates focus, enthusiasm and confidence in you. It caused Thomas Edison to invent the electric bulb after many failures which he described as the processes needed to make it work. What about Abraham Lincoln who failed in eight elections before he became the 16th President of United States? Or have you forgotten Oprah Winfrey? Hey, I am not trying to feed you with these biographies for writing sake but to let you know that you have no reason to give up. If you fall nine times, rise up ten times. Be dogged about that you so desire. With passion, determination can be built and with purpose, passion can be generated. I enjoin you this day to stay driven in purpose and shine bright like diamond in the realm of greatness.

LIFE—MOTIVATIONAL POEM

If someone made you smile, shows them yours.

If someone helped you out, thank them.

If you're loving life, be grateful.

If you hate life, become patient

If you open a book, read it.

If you go to school, learn something.

If you fall, get back up.

If you ask for help, gain wisdom.

If you're in recovery, keep the faith.

If you fail, try again.

If you go to church, praise the Lord.

If you care about someone, let them know.

If you’re in a struggle, keep pushing forward.

If you're holding a grudge, let it go.

If you’re living in the past, plan for your future.

If your friends are negative, get new ones.

If the friends are positive, learn from them.

If you're saying you will do it tomorrow, do it today.


Brian Fulginiti
Author

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

Photo Credit: Dawn Rawlins 

Whatever be your action in life, you're actively creating a future. Did I just say that? Oh, yes, I said it. Your action, be it good or bad, conscious or unconscious, you are progressively creating a future. What this implies is that, all your action in life counts. The fascinating aspect of all you do is that, there's always a result called FUTURE. This can also be referred to as the cause and effect of life.

History and science have proven that, your thought determines your actions. The way you think determines the way you respond to things happening around you. Those responses determine your emotions. Your emotions determine your actions, and your actions determine your results. The future is in fact, the result of your daily thoughts. The pathway to your future is fashioned by what you think and how you respond to what you think.
So what are you thinking?

A man named Napoleon Hill once said, “WHATEVER the mind of a man can conceive and believe it can achieve”. This is one of Hill’s hallmark expressions. If you are sensitive enough, you will understand that Hill was talking about ANYTHING imaginable (not selected things) that the mind conceives and believe is attainable. This is tantamount to the famously well-known “garbage in garbage out” principle of a functioning computer system. The mind operates on information of thoughts fed into it. Whatever information thought that goes in informs you and forms you. What goes in makes an immense difference. It is now left for you to choose what you permit in.

Man is a product of thought. You cannot rise above the level of your thinking. What you think, you manifest and become. It has been said that, you attract thoughts, people, and experiences which are congruent with how you think and feel about yourself. If you want good health, perfect job, the right life partner, wealth, success, you must develop a self image that is compatible with these very thoughts, namely good health, perfect job, right life partner, wealth and success. Herbert Harris was not wrong when he said that, “your thought is the foundation of your life experiences. These experiences begin with your self- image, the thoughts you have about yourself”.

I want you to begin to see yourself as a bullet in a gun, the trigger as your actions and the hand that pulls the trigger as your thought. For the bullet to actualize any purpose, it requires a pull on the trigger which is the thought that generates the action that sends the bullet out on a mission. Whatever be your thought, there’s always an outcome. This outcome depends on what your thought is. It may either be positive or negative. So I ask again, what are you thinking?

From my experiences of life, I have come to understand that greatness is attracted to the man who thinks positive. You cannot be thinking negative and expect positive things to happen to you. It doesn’t work like that. The Holy book made us to understand that, as a man thinks, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). It pays to be positively minded.

Lastly, there is no better time than now, to flee from the cocoon of your comfort zone and ignite the unusual greatness in you. If you must witness a great future, you must be positively & actively involved in creating such a future. Guide you thoughts with all diligence for out of it spring forth the experiences of life.

Choose Your Friends Wisely

There's this popular saying that goes thus, “show me your friend and I will tell you who you are". This statement is 100% true... You know why??? Chicken does not fly with Eagles even though they are of the same family. They are not classmates.

Discipline begins with the calibre of friends you mingle with. Your friends are indeed a reflection of who you are and what you seek to achieve in life. Like beget like. The kind of friends you keep has the power to either catapult you to your destiny or lead you to destruction. One of the easiest ways to achieve success/greatness in life is to associate with people who are aiming what you are aiming or those who have already achieved it (Role Model). When you dwell in the company of great men, you begin to think and act like a great man which makes it easier for you to become great.

Permit me to say that, your friends are your closest information bank. What information does is to inform you and at the same time form you. What kind of information bank are you keeping?

It was Henry Ford that said “ My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me".
Choose your friends wisely.

RECREATE YOURSELF, ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS

To succeed, you have to sacrifice most things in life; your time, resources, including certains friends ending relationship with you. Sometimes, you will find yourself in the face of fear; that is the time to prove that you're not afraid of failing because you know challenges has to be conquered in order to get to the pinnacle of success in life.

The sky being the starting point, the road being endless, this is never a time to give up. Who said you can’t do it? It's just more of hearing that you won't do it. When I hear that, instantly I think why not; when there is a will there is a way. When you feel hopeless, that doesn't mean you have to stay lost. You will find yourself in the search of being greater than you were being told. So, if you're told that you can't read, find a book and study, If you're told you can't write, pick up a notebook, find a desk and write. Prove them wrong. There should be none dictating your life for you, as to what you can do and what can't do. You might not succeed at the first trial, that shouldn't give you reasons to quit. Don't allow people to define you or shape your destiny. The most influential people you see today, have been knocked down so many times. But do you know what? They never settled for less and they never gave up. They saw that as an opportunity to become stronger to reach out for their goals. If I gave in to negative words, I would be afraid of speaking my words. Why because, nobody wants to be bored with negativities. They have heard and experienced much more than you have. So what do you want to tell them that's new under the heavens.

I have been knocked down so many times that I feel like screaming from the mountaintop to the world. I have also seen people with their heads down, with feelings and belief that there's no good in the world. I have come across many like that. The only time we should have our heads down is when we are praying. If you keep your head up and strive on, instantly you're ignited with an unusual power. That kind of power that is not measured by body physique but by the strength of the heart and the will of the mind.

My dream is to see the domino effect of how people can change their life for the good, become positive in the territory of negativities. The truth is, most people are going to fall into a pity state because of ignorance. But you really need to get to that level when your heart switches to the mindset level, reminding you that your voice can reach out to thousands of people, causing you to find your talents and maximize your potentials.

Why stay down, why think negative, what will this prove to you or anyone. Absolutely nothing. I accept that I can’t do everything I want to do, but one by one I see people changing their hearts, people getting up, people rendering and getting help. You might fall against the wall, but do you realize you have a support and something to lean on?

I found myself walking around not having enough money for my next meal. But looking at the homeless guy on the roadside, what came up next was, how I can feed him? The greatest war going on now, is in your mind. This war leads you to make choices and decisions that might either uplift you or pull you down. Still, your mind is what keeps you in bed all day. Snoozing you to accept the fact that, there's no cause for alarm. Your mind is what tells you; you can finish that tomorrow (Procrastination). Also, that same mind, can tell you to push on, to rise each time you fall and never to give up.

Helping someone in need, when you're in need of help, giving a smile to a someone even when he doesn’t deserve it, is a product of love and dream towards touching lives and causing smile. It takes the unusual to get the unusual. This can be a way to change our body and mind to be more positive and productive.

I always wish I got the best job, had the most money, ride the nicest latest model car in town and live with the most adoring wife and beautiful kids. But it never was, though am still hoping to see that special day of my dream come true. But, even when the expected didn't manifest, the only hand out there was a Sunday sermons at church, and it gave me a reasons to appreciate the live I got and to work out everything I desire in life. You have to learn to work out your destiny and shape your future. I found so much when I had so little. Why do you think the richest people are so sad, and a homeless person who gets a free hot meal is so happy? I leave you to think about that.
I have never seen a successful person say I will get to that tomorrow in what he knows he can do today or having the attitude that, it will come to me, let me relax and wait for it. All successful men have one thing in common, I call it, “The Do it Now Sprit". You have to do it now, tomorrow might not offer you same opportunity as today. Cease the opportunity, maximize the moment.

Have you been pushed before, even when you were already on the ground? How did you feel? Did you see it as a punishment or as an opportunity to rise? It doesn't end your chapter in the story. It's under your jurisdiction to re-create yourself and rewrite your story.

I learnt to live each day of my life with an attitude of challenging myself. It usually goes with questions. Questions like: How can I fix this? Why don’t I try it again and again? Can you solve that problem? Yes of course. Give me a pad and a pen and let me try? What next? I refuse to accept the statement of, “I can't" mentality into my life. If I do, it will be oxymoron living a motivated life.

Could you believe that friends got surprised when they heard I was into motivating people? They said and I quote, “Brian, when do you have time for yourself?" My reply to that question was, the time I have for myself comes from motivating people and telling them never to give in.

There's so much about you that you lack knowledge of. To discover that, generate that 'will power'. If you have physical pains just nurse your body or get your physician involved. If you are struggling with depression, write it down and talk it out. You don’t have to look back and to see where you coming from in order to see where you are going to. Don’t blame someone for your failure. It is your duty to prove wrong, the critics and theories of people about you. Remember, you have a profound ability to remain motivated. You don't necessarily have to be the strongest man in the world for you to conquer challenges and achieve your dreams. The body will conquer what the mind believes.

BRIAN FULGINITI

BARACK OBAMA'S MIND BLOWING QUOTES

1. The future rewards those who press on. I don't have time to feel sorry for myself. I don't have time to complain. I'm going to press on.

2. We can't ever let an extreme minority derail our progress again. It's time to get back to solving real problems.

3. Hope is the basis of our nation, the belief that destiny is written by us.

4. Be careful with what you post on Facebook. Whatever it was, it will someday come up in your life.

5. Focusing your life solely on making a buck shows a certain poverty of ambition. It asks too little of yourself. … Because it’s only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you realize your true potential.

6. Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

7. A change is brought about because ordinary people do extraordinary things.

8. If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress.

9. One voice can change a room, and if one voice can change a room, then it can change a city, and if it can change a city, it can change a state, and if it change a state, it can change a nation, and if it can change a nation, it can change the world. Your voice can change the world.

10. You can’t let your failures define you. You have to let your failures teach you.

11. Change is never easy, but always possible.

12. We may not be able to stop evil in the world, but how we treat one another is entirely up to us.

13. There is no excuse for not trying.

14. Each path to knowledge involves different rules and these rules are not interchangeable.

14. The best anti-poverty program is a world-class education.

15. You have the ability and gifts to do whatever you want". It is your turn now to change the world. Yes we can!

16. What makes a man is not the ability to have a child but having the courage to raise one.

17. We now live in a world where the most valuable skill you can sell is knowledge.

18. We must lift ourselves up, dust ourselfs off and begin the work.

19. Our values call upon us to care about people we'll never meet.

20. Yes we can.

Don't forget to add yours in the comment box.

SEVEN STEPS TO GET YOURSELF INSPIRED

Everyone wants to be inspired. Like a rubber band stretched, inspiration stretches you out of your comfort zones. Below are the ways through which you can get inspired and live a fulfilled life.

DISCOVERY
Learn to discover inspirations around you, be it a simple greeting or even a simple smile you get or be inspired by someone’s successful story or just a simple struggling story that comes out good. Inspiration is everywhere, find it.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY
If you can’t find that, just make your family, friends and those persons close to you your inspiration. You friends and family can be a great source of inspiration to you. Though you can't change your family but you can choose your friends who can give your life an uplift.

Have you ever thought of all the efforts they made just for you to have and live the life you have got? Have you ever thought of all the encouraging words they said and their willingness to support you no matter what happens? If you can combine all of that, you can be motivated. Yes, you can be motivated. You can do it, just do your best and have a strong belief in yourself.

ATTITUDE
Attitude is everything. Don't worry if others are putting you down, don't let it limit you, don't let it quench your zeal. You can turn those negative things into positive ones. You can use it as a great source of your motivation and as a challenge to prove them wrong. Why not learn from Maya Angelou words that never ceases to inspire me:

“You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise."

DREAMS
Your dream can be your source of inspiration. Do you have dreams? Nothing worth having exist outside the world of dreams. “What are you prepared to give for your dream? If it is not everything...stop pipe dreaming”—T.F. Hodge. What you're prepared to give your dream can an immense source of your inspiration. You have to learn to give your dream all it desires from you in order to partake of it's reality. Dream the dream, but much more act on the dream.


DETERMINATION
More importantly you have to have a great determination; so great that you always on the side of never giving up. Remember a strong determination can take you anywhere. You can't always rely on people to cheer you up and to be your inspiration, determination comes from one's self. Just like the saying goes, “You can find inspiration from others, but determination is solely your responsibility." Be determined in all you do because, that's an undiluted source of inspiration you can find nowhere.

LEARNING
Never stop learning
Never stop learning
Never stop learning.

Learning is a gradual process. The inspiration you need to excel in life, business, marriage and spiritually might be on the next page of that book you are reading or even that book you have bluntly refused to read. To keep growing, keep learning. Books are great source of inspiration gotten via knowledge. Studying about someone who has succeeded in your field of endeavor can be a source of your inspiration. Find that man and study him and how he did it diligently.

SELF BELIEF
You are the best inspiration your life needs. Your inspiration can come from the level of your self belief. Do you believe in yourself? Believing in yourself can drive you crazy to work and generate a great deal of passion you never imagined. If you can't find inspiration outside, hey- inspiration is within. Inspire yourself by believing so much in yourself. This can only be possible via what you got to offer (your worth). What can you do with what you have? If you can answer that, that can be the beginning of your inspiration.

I hope these inspires you to keep inspiring yourself. Don't forget, “Everything about you lies within you"

NOTHING ABOUT YOU WITHOUT YOU

Most time, I begin to wonder why people sit on the burning coal of impossibilities in the midst of thousand possibilities for no just course. Forgetting so soon that the power of great possibilities depends on our mindset justified by our words. Same goes for impossibilities. You are either a product of possibility or product of impossibility. There exist no middle ground.

Imagine someone saying, I can't with all surety, the last time I tried, I failed woefully. Please don't involve me in matters like this again. Unfortunately, he was right to have said he can't. If you say you can't, you're right to failure. But if you say you can, you're right to success, no matter the length of time it takes you to get there. This was why Henry Ford rightly asserted and I quote, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't—you're right”. No one can soar above how and what he thinks of himself. Your breakthrough is directly proportional to your mindset and your words. Positive and negative virtues cannot reside in the same mortal. They are unlike appellations. They generates a repelling force on each other.

I can. Yes you can. I can see myself doing the extraordinary in the hub of impossibilities. Of course you're doing the extraordinary. To envisage yourself as being, you have completed half of the journey in the attainment of your goal. That's the power of Positive Mental Attitude. Who do you see yourself becoming 10 years from now? Yes 10 years from now. Becoming what you desire depends on what you think of yourself now. You must have heard of the saying, “the future is NOW". Have you ever thought of why such sayings proceeds from the heart of man, and decoded by the tongue in form of words? It is not a misnomer believing the future to be now. But a dead end, not knowing the future is now. The future is now because, it is not a product of wishes but a product of creation. The act of creating the future is the act of now. You can create the future now, not even tomorrow because it has no power of igniting the flames of determination inherent in you. Everything about the 'future', is everything about the 'now'.

Just as you're the captain of your soul, you're also the captain of your future. How do you want your future? Do you want it Great or Small, Bright or Inky? It all depends on you. Refuse to live in the minor future of this generation. To do that, it requires of you taking a proactive stance in the creation of that future. Action is what your great future requires from you in order to become a reality. You can only make it great by ACTIONS geared toward your dreams. You lack clear knowledge of how close the future is to you, so don't give up.

There's nothing about the future, that's not about you. In the creation of your future, you are the alpha and the omega. You are the Michelangelo of your future, the author of your history. If you are still depending on someone to dream the dream and create your future for you, it is time to wake up, wake up and face reality. Stop finding ways to paint and beautify excuses to suit why you never made it. The world have drifted from the era of listening to excuses to the era of listening to success stories. What story are you going to tell 10 years from now? Don't forget, you have the creative skills to create your future. If you don't, not even your closest ally will do that for you.

Like air, you need to rise
You're the dream and hope of many
Don't fail your generation
Rise to your dreams
Rise to your future and create it.

FIVE LESSONS OF FALLING TO RISE

If I should asked twenty persons, if they would loved to fail, I believe 99.9% of them if not all, will give a NO answer to my question. Even you that’s reading this article, will you like to fail? Everybody wants to succeed but none wants to fail on their way to success. Nobody wants to be a student to failure. Everyone is on the rising side, no one wishes to fall. Sometimes it is important to fail inorder to understand the principles of success. “Never walk away from failure. On the contrary, study it carefully and imaginatively for its hidden assets”—Micheal Korda.

It Reveals You To Yourself
If there’s one lesson I have learnt from failure, it remains the mien inwhich it reveals me to myself. In the midst of failing, if you leer mindfully, you will get to understand the message it’s passing across to you. Failure qualifies a man for success. You can never remain same after experiencing the teachings of failure. Either you’re being elevated or you are depressed as a result of it. It all depends on your reaction (Attitude) towards it. Have you ever asked yourself this, why do great men value failure so much? If you can answer this, then you will appreciate the lessons from the world of ‘falling to rise’. Failure marks the genesis of a new epoch in a man’s life. An epoch of self discovery and self worth.

Failure Is The Tuition For Success
Do you know success has a price? Just as we have tuition fees in Universities and High Schools paid by the students to management, same goes for success. You must be primed to pay the price of failing and never giving up if you must obtain the prize called success. No man has ever succeeded without failing. Michael Jordan once said, “I have failed over and over again-that is why I succeed”

If you are not failing, it is crystal clear that you are being passive. The man that has never failed, is the man who has never tried something new. Don’t be surprise when you fail so hard that i seems all hope is gone, know in your heart that there’s a great success ahead of you, of which you are paying the price for. Common men are debtors to failure. To be great, you must pay the price for greatness.

Failure Is Not The End
“Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end”—Denis Waitley. Failure is just the beginning of success for those that can uncover its true nature. Failure is neither a limitation nor a dead end to success but rather an opportunity for you to begin better.
“When I was young, I observed that nine out of the ten things I did were failures, so I did ten times more work”—Bernard Shaw

Failure is not the end
Don’t give up!
Don’t give up!
Don’t give up!

It Is A Stepping Stone
Failure is the bridge to our great future. To get to that future you must pass through that bridge. It will interest you to also know that, there is no shortcut or alternative route to that destination. Understand the so called failure and utilize it in the making of your dream a reality. This was the very reason Dale Carnegie opined that, “We must develop success from failure. Discouragement and failure are the two surest stepping stones to success.”

It Is Part Of Success
Until now, we know failure to be the opposite of success. Failure is part of success not neccessarily the opposite. Have you heard of any success story without a failure story inclusive? I believe there’s none. “Behind every successful man, there’s a lot of unsuccesful years”—Bob Brown . Learn to measure your success by the number of times you failed and never gave up.

Failure Reveals—Learn From it.
Failure Is A Price—Pay It
Failure Is Not The End—Don’t Give Up
Failure is a stepping Stone—Mount it
Failure Is an Opportunity—Seize it

Never forget the words of Pete Zafra, “People who are afraid to fail can never experience the joy of success”

THE PHOTO STUDIO AND THE REAL WORLD

I was at the photo studio where I went to take a photo shot of myself few days back. As I got to the studio, waiting for the photographer to come and capture the young guy with great mind, I realized that there's something about the studio of which I'm becoming sensitive of. It was the photo studio and the real world. I was trying to relate myself, the photographer, the camera, the printer and the studio environment to what actually happens in the real world.

Here comes the photographer with his camera ready to capture Acha Harrison in his smart outfit. Firstly, he arranged the background to suit the nature of the picture I wanted. Then, I made it known to him that I needed just two copies of a “Wow" and “Superb" picture of myself.
He captured me many times (7 different images to be specific) at different angles and I went inside the dressing room to change my dress code in order to get the other desired picture of myself. As I came out of the dressing room, guess what? The guy was waiting for me to come out in order for him to altered the background of the studio as against the previous one. This was done, in order for the picture to blend with the background. I was taking note of each of his actions.
He captured me 4 different times and he was done.
The next step was for me to select the two “wow" and “superb" pictures I needed from these many captures; one from each of the outfits. I got the two pictures I needed quit right but that was not all.

I realized that the photo studio can be likened to the REAL WORLD where different people from different background dwell. The picture I had in mind is the DREAM I wish to transform to a reality.
The photographer is the ACTION, the camera the MINDSET and printer is the medium through which DREAMS are transformed into REALITY

How do I mean? It is what I feed into camera that I see and that's what the printer produces. If I smile, what I get back is a smile. If I squeeze my face like the ancient gods of the Babylonians simply because I feel there's nothing good about this world, honestly, that's what I still get in return. It is GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out).

For your future to be great, you need a dream with the right mindset towards that dream. How do you give your dream the right mindset? It's simply by believing in your dream and acting on your dream.

Did you know that out of the 11 pictures I took, I selected only the best two I was satisfied with? Those two were printed out. As I said earlier, my mind was already made up even before I left for the studio that, I needed just two photos, nothing more nothing less. So any photo that doesn't fall in line with my decision is not fit to stay. What this implies is, in your journey of life, you are going to come across distractions. That's the nature of life; you will see the good, the bad and the ugly. What you focus on the camera is what really matters. Is it the good, the bad or the ugly you are focusing your camera on? The choice is 100% yours. For me I choose to focus my camera on the good and positive. The negative is only for theoretical use, it can never be of practical importance.

I hope this inspires you to focus on the good rather than focusing on the bad and ugly aspect of life.

SLAVE TRADE IS NOT SELF TRADE

Don't give up, it’s not over, even when you fail, is not over, until you give up then it’s over.
Right from the days of the holy book, the only types of youth who fail and keep on failing are those who fail to realize their God given potential. I have come to realize that the greatest thing a man should dread is a youth with self confidence. The self confident youth remains the youth of the hour.

Four things comprises a resourceful youth which makes the world too small for his exploit; Perfected Thought, Positive Words, Productive Actions, and Prominent Deeds. The greatest imprisonment one can find himself is not poverty but rather self trade of potentials.
Looking at some great men who never gave up even when conditions were not favorable, they only had hope, vision, focus which made their plans and dreams a reality.

Many people who knew their potential never failed. Daniel in the holy book as a Babylonian slave, that fact never marred his dreams for becoming great; he made a name and did exploits even in another realm. Many of them did exploit even Joseph amongst others.

Unfortunately, most youths complain that their failure is traceable to their background which is the hindering factor to their aspiration towards greatness. I want to challenge you that even children of the African slaves made history not because they were from a slave background but because they made up their mind to become great.

We will be considering some African originated blacks who made their name international figures. Black skin to them was never a limitation; they saw slavery as a stepping stone to greatness. It may interest you to know that most of the Caribbean nations were first developed by Africans including about 300 Islands.

Martin Luther king (jr.) whose great grandfather is from Edo state, today is celebrated as a hero; a former great grandchild of a slave who never sold his inbuilt potentials. Today, his dream has come to pass and the world has come to understand what he meant when he said, “I HAVE A DREAM"

Also, Chiwetel Ejiofor whose grandfather was from Delta State, an Igbo man born fatherless. He grew up a captive. To many, this alone is enough to justify failure but Ejiofor never gave up. Today, his is forever a celebrated world class figure. He never saw failure as an option even when he was black mailed as a black, but he white mailed himself because he had a vision of greatness.

Who said you can’t make it? Have you forgotten George Washington Carver? He was the son of a slave, born in the farm, but made up his mind by making the farmland his stepping stone to greatness. Just put in a stroke more you will sail through.
Don’t religiously relegate yourself, don't slothfully slew your potential, don't mournfully meander at the pool of opportunity.

Lastly, if you can’t creep, sail, if you can’t sail, walk, if you can’t walk, run, if you can't run, fly, in all, just keep moving because you are almost there.
Don’t forget that, “No one is too young to impact their society & to be the cause of CHANGE" — Acha Harrison

Kessington Okwegwali.
[Author]

DON'T QUIT

Have you ever asked yourself how Thomas Edison, Bill Gates, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Kings, Winston Churchill, Harrison Ford, Martin Luther King Jr, Oprah Winfrey, Henry Ford, to mention but a few made it to the top? Have you imagined a world without the contributions of these indefatigable zealots? Has it ever come to your subconscious why their name ceases to depart the faces of the earth?
If there is one thing I learnt from them, they DON'T QUIT. Quitting was never an option or alternative. 95% of our success or failure in life can be traced to the decisions we made at the yield point of our challenges. There is never a time in a man’s life when everything happens as planned without challenges or obstacles. That is the beauty of life.

Shortly, we will be examining the lives of Leaders, genius, businessmen, and academicians who in spite of the devastating chaos that came their way, were still able to drive their dreams to reality. We are who we are today because of the challenges of yesterday and how we were able to resolve them. If we must continue to excel, we must develop that excellent spirit of not quitting. Challenges are not curses as we see it to be most often, but an important bridge between success and failure. Problems are compulsory equations of life one must solve for success to recognize you.
Study the expression below critically:

F←A+B→S

A: Dreams, Goals, Visions, Aspirations.
B: Challenges, Obstacles, Rejections, Problems.
S: Success, Breakthrough, Reality.
F: Failure, setbacks, unfulfilled dreams
The arrows indicate the direction of our dreams

At point “A”,is the dream and vision waiting to be transformed into reality, “B” is the challenges one must overcome, and “S" is the success and reality. Firstly, a Dream(A) can become a Reality(S), if we able to put the Challenges(B) in its rightful place. How? By not quitting,(A+B→S). Beware also that; if you quit, the equation of life has no option than favour the backward expression,(F←A+B). The above equation indicates that, there is never a success, dream come through without challenges. If you are able to overcome the challenges, your success is guaranteed and if otherwise, failure becomes inevitable.

“You are too stupid to learn” said Thomas Edison’s teacher to him. With that alone, quitting would have been the best and easiest option at that moment. But that was not all. He got fired in his first two jobs for not being productive enough. Perhaps that’s why he failed 1000times before inventing the light bulb. Amazing! The interesting thing about him is this; he took failure as the best route to success. He never rejected it as his right partner to his destination neither did he complain of it disturbing his pace. He was ruggedly and doggedly determined. Believe me, that route is not a funny one neither is such a partner friendly. But that doesn’t eliminate success either. I have come to understand that many don’t go far in life because they lack understanding of this route and such a friend.

He started speaking when he was 4years of age, and learnt to read at 7. He was intellectually challenged, slow witted and anti-social as was described by his teachers and parents. Was that all? No. At 16 he failed an exam that would have offered him the opportunity to be trained as an electrical engineer. Despite these Achilles heel, he never gave up. Today, Albert Einstein is forever remembered for the Theory of Relativism. The life of Albert Einstein has made it clearer that; it doesn’t matter the conclusion of others about your future but how you accept it to be that counts when he said, “If the facts don’t fit the theory, change the facts”.

Stephen King a renowned American Author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction, and fantasy got his first book rejected 30times. Guess what? He discarded the manuscript and he almost gave up. Thank God for his wife who retrieve not just the manuscript, but also, a generation of writers. Stephen King remains an inspiration to many writers including me. She encouraged him to give it a trial again. Today, his books have sold more than 350million copies. Now I understand why Thomas Edison said, “Many of life’s failure are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up”.

If you still believe your situation doesn’t worth more trial, let us consider the life of this high spirited man, Abraham Lincoln.

Follow the résumé critically as my friends refers to it. Picture your life and that obstacle as you study through.
1831 Lost his Job
1832-Defeated in run for Illinois State
1833-Failed in Business
1834-Elected to Illinois State Legislature (Success)
1835-Sweetheart Died
1836-Had Nervous Breakdown
1838-Defeated in run for Illinois House Speaker
1843-Defeated in run for nomination for U.S Congress
1846-Elected to Congress (Success)
1848-Lost re-nomination.
1849-Rejected for Land Officer Position
1854-Defeated in run for U.S Senate
1856-Defeated in run for nomination for President
1858- Again defeated in run for U.S Senate
1860-Elected President (Success).

It looks an awesome glum résumé sticking your imagination how he got to the top. Doesn’t it? He never settled for excuses even after been defeated in 8 elections. What about the nervous breakdown and the death of his fiancé? They were not enough reasons to quit. We all have all it takes to get all we desire.
Instead of thinking of quitting, why not ask yourself these few questions first:
1.How can I resolve this problem?
2.Have I failed more than Lincoln?
3.What will Lincoln, Edison, or Einstein, do if he was to be in my situation?
4.Does quitting really worth it?
5.Of what benefit is quitting?
6.What if, this is the last step to my destiny?

STOP AND GO THROUGH THE QUESTIONS AGAIN
If you can sincerely asked yourself these questions in the midst of your challenges, and answer them appropriately, I believe your next action isn’t a problem.
Stop seeing every obstacle, problem, failure, rejection as a curse. One very important fact I must establish here is this; in every failure there is success, in every rejection there is projection and in every obstacle lies a miracle of greatness. Extraordinary men don’t quit, and that’s what makes them extraordinary. Why not give it one more trial. Quitting will take you nowhere.

A father once said to his boy, “Son, you have got to set a goal and never quit". Remember George Washington?
The son said, “Yes”
“Abraham Lincoln?”
“Yes”
You know what they all had in common?
“What?”
The father said, “They never quit. Remember Azador Mclgle?”
The kid said, “No. Who was he?”
“See, you don’t remember him! He quit!
To be remembered for something, you must strive on no matter what.

If you really believe in what you are doing, and you know what you want from what you are doing, quitting will only be a word found in the dictionary. Never, never, never quit, said Winston Churchill.
Lastly, challenges do not just come empty handed, but with packages of success and failure. The choice is yours. As for me, I will choose success by not quitting and I enjoin you to do same. And this can be summed up in the words of Nelson Mandela; “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising each time we fall."
If Edison, Lincoln, Ford, and Einstein could do it, you too can do it far better. Pick up the plough and never look back, buddy!

ACHA HARRISON

WAYS TO IMPROVE ON YOUR ATTITUDE

Attitude as was rightly said in one of my poetic articles; “Greatness Through Attitude”, It is who we are, how we act, our desires for greatness…to get to the mountain top, you need an extraordinary attitude. The right attitude matters a lot when it comes to tackling life challenges. It is our courage, hope and optimism when life throws blows at us; our decisions and where we stand in times like this, is a reflection of our attitude.

“There is a little difference in people” said W. Clement Stone. “But that Little Difference makes a Big Difference”. The Difference is ATTITUDE & the Big Difference is whether it is POSITIVE or NEGATIVE”. W. Stone in his wisdom, clearly classified attitude into two (Positive & Negative). The determinant factor is our actions and reactions in life.

In times when things aren’t working as planned, all hope seems to be lost, losing a huge capital sum in your business or facing rejection. What are you responses? Are you among those screaming to the world that life is HARD and being unfair to you? This brings us to the words of Martin Luther King Jr and I quote “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy”. This is where our true colour and nature is revealed; here the Big Difference comes into play and the tough people exhibiting their true kind. The Big Difference is how you fix the problem and not the blames; reflected in your success story or excuses. This is the very reason Robert H. Shuller said; “Tough times never last but tough people do”
Below are the steps you should take to improve your ATTITUDE:

ALWAYS BE OPTIMISTIC
The human mind is so delicate and unique that it accepts whatever that is fed into it. And you behave what your mind has being trained to accept. Now I understands why Henry Ford said; “If you think you can or you think you can’t, whichever way, you are right”. Optimism is something we cannot do without when it comes to positive attitude. When you speak positive words, think positive thoughts and see the first letter in the word OPPORTUNITY as letter “O” and not “ZERO”, you see the law of attraction proofreading you. To improve your attitude, you need to stay positive and live a positive driven life.

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH LIKE MINDED PEOPLE
1 Corinthians 15:33 made us to understand that; evil communication corrupts good manners. And it went further to enjoin us not to be deceived. You are who you are today because of the people that completes you. And who are there fellows? They are your friends. Maybe you would have being better than you are today if had met some kind of persons in life or still, blindfolded to your dreams if you had met some persons in life. When a lion begins to associate with dogs, watch carefully, very soon it will start feeding on grasses. Who you spend most of your time with to a large extent contributes to your attitude towards life. Surround yourself with people of same dream and vision, and see yourself a step closer to your destiny. Don’t forget this, he who chooses to dine with the cannibals, sooner or later, will be eaten.

BE YOURSELF
It is your right to be you. Don’t let what others say distract you to your second version. Be the first version of yourself. Be your real self and don’t act to impress people. Just as Ralph Waldo Emerson once said; “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment”.

BE TRUTHFUL
To improve on your attitude, you need to say the truth always. We have to remain truthful even in times of trials and challenges. This factor will not be complete if the words of Mahatma Gandhi are left out, when he said; “Many people, especially ignorant people, want to punish you for speaking the truth, for being correct, for being you. Never apologize for being correct, or being years ahead of your time. If you’re right and you know it, speak your mind. Speak your mind even if you are a minority of one. The truth is the truth”. We must learn to tell the truth at every slightest opportunity because you can’t change the truth but the truth can change you.

DON’T COMPARE YOURSELF WITH OTHERS
You don’t have to compare yourself with others, simply because you want to belong. Never allow the success of others hinder you from making your own plans. They are not you and you are not them, stop making it look same. To be beautiful connotes BEING YOUSELF. You don’t need the acceptance of others. You need to accept yourself. This was the very reason Bill Cosby said; “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone". Just be the best of you and you will dwell in the midst of great people.

REFLECT ON YOUR SUCCESS RATHER THAN FAILURES
The thoughts of success gives you edge over failure, it makes you happy and joyous. Let your thoughts be success powered rather than killing your happy moment with past failures. You have to let go. Let the foundation of your mindset be based on these two rules:

1.Reflect and focus ONLY on success
2.Don’t forget rule 1.
YOU CAN STILL BE THE BEST YOU CAN IF YOU CAN PRACTICE THE ABOVE STEPS. YOU ARE NOT TOO OLD TO GROW OR TOO YOUNG TO CAUSE CHANGE.


ACHA HARRISON.

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SIX FACTORS THAT DEFINES YOU

Uniqueness and being indifferent are products of what defines you. You are what you are because of these factors that defines you and what defines you dictate your personality.
Your ability to pilot these qualities is so essential when it comes to how you approach life challenges.
Below are the Six Factors that defines you.

1. SPIRITUALITY
Humans are small deity and the foundation of your spirituality reflects who you are and your authority in life. You cannot be better than you in the spiritual realm.
As Romans 8:6 rightly opined “For to be carnally minded is death;but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Your spiritual discernment makes you you.

2. ENVIRONMENT
Environment is one of the most important qualities that qualifies you.The things around you influences you either positively or negatively. The environment you find yourself cannot leave you the same way you were.
Maybe you might have being a genius if you have found yourself in certain environment.

3. FRIENDSHIP
Friends you keep says much about you and such influences your personality. A wise man dwelling in company of fools is not different from them either.
Bonds of friendship binds you positively or negatively to the YOU. You cannot exercise your personality beyond this bond.
Friendship is byy choice, choice into becoming YOU.

4. THOUGHT
Manifestation are evidence of thought.“ O LORD, how great are thy works! and thy thoughts are very deep( Psalm 92:5) The circle of your thinking impacts on your personality and you cannot be better than the environment around your mind. The flow of information in your mind contributes to who you are. You cannot think as the ordinary man and expect to exhibit extraordinary qualities.
We should be mindful of what we think and should be able to direct our thoughts.

5. INFORMATION
Information forms you, you are the best reflection of your information content.
Daily, we all strive to acquire knowledge by increasing and improving our information content on a particular field.
The difference between two individuals in character and understanding can be traced to their information content and how they utilize the information.

6. DREAMS
Edger Cayce once said that “dreams are today's answer to tomorrow's questions”.
He that cannot dream cannot feature in the reality of the future. Of what essence is life when you cannot dream? If you think am being nervous about this, ask personalities like Bill Gate, Steve Jobs, Wole Soyinka, Mark Zuckerberg amongst others.

Dream equips you with the necessary wings to soar into the great future. You are you as a result of the dreams you dreamt or the dreams you failed to dream.
Joseph in the Bible was a dreamer and the Bible recorded him a great man.
The extent you can reach in life is determined by the extent you can dream the dream. Great men are not known by the weight of the dollar in their pocket but by the quality of their dreams.

The reason why some people gets to top more easily than others is due to the things that defines them. Your failure does not define you but your dream does.
Change the world of the things that defines you and all other things follows suit.

10 Essential Key Points on Success

1. POSITIVE MENTAL ATTITUDE

2. HARDWORK

3. CONSISTENCY

4. GOAL SETTING

5. DETERMINATION + FOCUS

7. MENTORSHIP

8. Dissemination of KNOWLEDGE

9. READINESS TO LEARN

10. ABOVE ALL SPIRITUALITY.

Success is as simple as it sounds. The majority of us see failure even in success which inactivates the powering force of goal getting. Achieving set goals begins with the paramount exercise of positive mental attitude which of course boils down to being optimistically conscious. At that stage of consciousness, consistency evolves with hardwork, directing plans to its prognosticated zenith echelon of success. It takes determination to learn and to learn is nothing but readiness. In the land of success exist great men with uncommon mentality.
It takes spiritualality to see beyond the ordinary. Ordinary men sees the ordinary while great men sees beyond the ordinary paving way for their extraordinary qualities and exhibitions.

Lastly,I will end by leaving you with this thought; you are the pilot of your success craft and wherever you directs it there it goes.



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