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.

THE UNCOMMON RESOURCES

Life is more than just sitting down, stretching hands and legs doing nothing. Not too long ago, I was critically examining how humans have been orchestrated by the great power of Almighty; in mind and body. In that aura, something out of ordinary was dropped in my subconscious. This is unusual, I said to myself. Fortunately, I was at the acme of alertness and as such, I got hold of it. Times without number, I have heard people speak about vast resources of nations in diverse scope. You hear things like the natural resources, mineral resources, and agricultural resources (all these resources are common resources), to mention but the few, which amplifies the economic value of a nation. There are resources inherent in each and every individual of which man has remained insensitive to. They are enormous than mere perception can behold, gigantic that imaginations cannot comprehend. These resources are peculiar and uncommon. Uncommon in that, man has not been able to recognize it and effectively exploit it. These uncommon resources are known as “mind resources” which can also be referred to as “the gold mine of the mind”.

Mind resources, are the giant in a man. The mind resources are the greatest asset of man. They are innate and unlimited. It is the seed planted in every man regardless of the race and gender which is expected of man to harvest and manifest. But today, how many persons are really harvesting and manifesting it? It will interest you to know that those who have discovered this gold mine of the mind can only mine not more than 25% of it in their life time. Even at that, as little as 1% of these resources exploited make a big difference. These uncommon resources effectively tapped into are gateway to effectively utilize and maximize the common resources. The problem the society is facing today is not necessarily in the exploitation of these common resources but the exploitation of the uncommon resources.

However, it should be noted that, when you are living your dream, you are exploiting your uncommon resources. When you are fulfilling your God given purpose, you are exploiting your uncommon resources. When you are being creative and maximizing your potentials, you are exploiting your uncommon resources. When you are always trying your best possible to alter the status quo of the society for a better living, you are exploiting your uncommon resources. These categories of persons are great asset to the society, the nation and the world at large. One of the purposes of existence is to fully exploit these resources of the mind and manifest it.

The first step towards exploiting these uncommon resources is self discovery. In our society today, we have many youths who don’t really know themselves but claim to know themselves. This reminds me of the words of a great philosopher named Socrate; “Man know thyself”. He is not foolish to have said such. He saw what was imperceptible to the ordinary man in his days which is now a reality in the 21st century. Knowing yourself is a genuine knowledge (in the wisdom of Socrate). Self discovery is awareness of purpose and the assurance that you can be all you can be. There’s a lot about you that you lack knowledge of. The earlier you accept this fact and begin to seek yourself out the better. When you have discovered yourself, you are invariably telling yourself that you believe yourself and recognize the rare deposit in you, and that you are ready to exploit it. A self discovered man is a purpose driven man. That’s why; you have to discover yourself to become uncommon and extraordinary. It takes an uncommon man to exploit uncommon resources.

I have come to understand that, what the ignition does for a car, that’s exactly what self discovery do to a man. It sets ablaze mediocrity and comfort zone, and triggers man to maximize his potentials. You don’t need to be a gold miner to be able to excavate these uncommon resources. The most important tool in this mission is self discovery. Self discovery to these uncommon resources can be likened to “force” in Newton’s first law of motion which states that, “an object will continue to be in its state of rest unless acted upon by an external force”. Self discovery brings you to your purpose. Researches have shown that, unpleasant situations/challenges most times reveal a man to himself. What this implies is that, there’s a greater you in any situation you find yourself. Why not take advantage of those challenges rather than cry out your eyes? Challenges have the power to shape a man’s future and discern his destiny.

Effectively exploited mind resources, breeds creativity and idea that creates a better world. Did you know that, seminars, empowerment programs, skill up programs, name it, featured in assorted forms, are all working towards achieving the same purpose? That purpose is, “how these uncommon resources can be exploited in toto”. Big organizations/companies are looking out for people who can exploit their uncommon resources and also motivate others to do same. It was John F. Kennedy that said, “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education. The human mind is our fundamental resources”. The world will become a better place to live in, if and only if these resources are astutely exploited. Some of the challenges we are encountering today as individual and as a nation are actually the result of unexploited resources of the mind. Majority of those persons with unexploited resources are can of warm to development. How I wish they could discover themselves and realize that their mind is a fundamental resources.

Furthermore, there are people who have tapped into their mind resources and are emitting impact in the world today. This sect of people ends up changing the world. Bill gate of Microsoft is a concrete example. He has been able to tap into his uncommon resources and still tapping into it. Today, his idea and creativity is making a better world. What about the young and vibrant CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg? They are the fathers of information age because they understood the power of their innate resources. I can’t stop appreciating these rare breed of humans. Maybe you are thinking you are still very young to irk your life with societal challenges. Have you forgotten Malala Yousfzai who won a Noble Peace Prize for her “heroic struggle” for girls’ right to an education at 17years of age? There’s greatness without limit in you.

Finally, your mind resources require a do-it-yourself approach. Not even your closest ally can exploit these resources on your behalf. You have to take responsibility. Don’t be that man who has barrels of crude oil deposit in his garden and still leaving a critical poverty life. It is an abuse to creativity, innovation and development not to exploit these rare deposits in you.

There are great resources in you-Discover them.
You have a gold mine in your mind- Exploit it.
Never forget that you are an uncommon breed with uncommon resources.

ACHA HARRISON

The PAST Has Done Its PART, Arise o FUTURE!

Oh my past!
Unusual greetings I bring to you.

See how time flies
It seems like yesterday
The future unfolding itself slowly but surely
Yesterday’s lessons learnt now fine tuning pathway for continued existence.

Still in the world of uncertainty
Knowing not what holds of the future
Yet, you have sufficiently armed me to the teeth for this brave new world.

Alas, you are not bed roses as it seems
But, you have gently polished away my rough edges
And bit by bit you have well-built a relationship between my future and I.

Oh my past!
I’m not lazy in the brain to have forgotten your great maxim of achievement;
“Come what may, never give up on your dreams"
I’m confident to voice out that, it has kept me striving higher and higher.


These great lessons shall not end at this time
The world and generations to come must guzzle from this pot of uncommon wisdom
Letting them know they can be all they can be.

Acha Harrison

OH SOUTH AFRICANS, WE ARE ALL AFRICANS

Oh South Africans!
When did you dream up black on black racism?
When did you start unleashing this animalistic brutality on us?
When did you instigate another dimension of racial discrimination amongst us?
When did your African brothers become inferior to you?

Oh South Africans!
Are Africans now foreigners in Africa?
Where is the black brotherhood we have always cherished?

Oh South Africans!
How long shall we continue with this tradition of harming ourselves?
How long shall we continue to live with scars of hatred?
How long shall we continue to war ourselves?

Oh South Africans!
Why have you accepted to inch towards breaking apart Africa/Africans?
Why have you chosen to bring back what we have fought against in sweat and blood many years ago?
Why have you decided to give us another pain in the neck?

Oh South Africans!
We knew you to be the pride of Africa in terms of brotherhood
Africans least expected this barbaric act from you
You have brought ignominy upon black brotherhood.

Africa Oh Africans!
Violence is not the solution
Let’s say no to Afrophobia/Xenophobia
We are all Africans.

Acha Harrison

Nigerian Youths: The Hope Of Nigeria

The political affairs in Nigeria today, has really blindfolded us and feed us with myopic view of the thousand youths with youthful blood running in their veins fleeing this country daily in search of greener pastures. For too long, we have been so attached and highly sensitive to political matters and have left the salient issues unattended to.

It hurts me most seeing the hope of our great country flee our motherland for a better life which they believe they can source abroad. We are fleeing our home hoping to see it better when we return; what an act of superficial mindedness void of future for our nation. Indeed, the mighty has fallen.

There’s no doubt that we are facing problems and challenges in our nation state today but what problem is worst than absconding from these problems and challenges? The spirit of fleeing our motherland for no just cause has so much eaten deep into us as we are ever ready to undertake uncalculated risks through several mountains, deserts and rivers undermining the consequences. This solution that most youths resort to is causing us more destruction than the actual challenges. It will shock you to know that, our parents support it, the government support it indirectly, and even the educated youths are also advocates of this pain in the neck. I kept asking myself this; is it actually the lack of knowledge that’s causing our people to perish or lack of its proper application?

As I am drafting this article, many youths are on their way out of the country and many are making plans and setting strategies to ebb the country. Thousands have lost their lives trekking abroad through the Sahara desert and thousands have also lost their lives sailing through the sea. Still, the number of youths embarking on this suicidal exodus is on geometric progression. If I may ask, is it that our destiny is programmed to function only abroad? What about the talents and skills we got? The truth is, our desperation for the unknown is really leading us to doom. It is high time we began to rethink and induce a paradigm shift as a nation. Nigeria is our home and we are the hope of Nigeria.

In my childhood days, I was told that Nigeria is one of the most blessed nations in the world. And also that, Nigeria is the giant of Africa. As I grew up, I began to understand the truth in that which I was told many years ago. I have being asking myself these salient questions right from the very day I began to get the glimpse of the country I live in. And I am still asking, is Nigeria still one of the most blessed countries in the world? Or were we blessed by God and suffering from the curse of men? Are we still the giant of Africa we used to be? Undeniably, there’s a burden that need to be lifted.

Nigeria is not just a blessed nation in terms of natural resources, cultural heritage, agricultural resources, and stable climate but also, her youths are blessed with talents and ideas beyond measure (history vindicates this fact). The challenges we are facing today as youths, is that, we lack value for our talents and skills and the passion is not there to uphold us motivated. I believe we can begin to address this first and foremost through reorientation and enlightenment.

Imagine the outcome years from now, if the youth whose population encompasses about 80% of the entire Nigerian population, acquires knowledge and skills in relevant fields coupled with their individual special talents and unquenchable passion and putting it to work. It is becoming more obvious than ever that, planting the greener pasture we rummage around for abroad is very possible here in Nigeria, but it requires the collective and active effort of Nigerians.

The last time I checked, humans were still teleogical being (purpose driven) and Nigerian youths are not an exception to that; we have a dream and purpose to bring alive. Are you still asking yourself, what is my purpose in life? If you don’t know your purpose in life as a youth, I urge you to realize that one reason for your existence on earth is to find it.

I have not given up on Nigeria, and I know, Nigeria has not given up on me either. It is time to arise as vibrant youths and initiate a turning point that will gradually build the Nigeria of our dream. I humbly enjoin every youth of this great nation both home and abroad to do same. The future of Nigeria is still bright. Collectively, let us build our motherland.

God bless Nigerian youths.
God bless Nigeria.
God bless Africa


ACHA HARRISON

THE LITTLE BUT BIG DIFFERENCE

If you can't make a BIG DIFFERENCE
Make a LITTLE DIFFERENCE in a BIG WAY

If you can't impact MILLION LIVES
Impact A LIFE
It makes A MILLION DIFFERENCE

If you can't cause CHANGE in the WORLD
Cause a CHANGE in your FAMILY
It does make A HUGE DIFFERENCE in the WORLD

If you can't FLY
Don't undermine your RUNNING abilities
It makes A GREAT DIFFERENCE.

If you can't WIN SOULS
Win A SOUL
It does make A DIFFERENCE in God's kingdom.

If you can't be A LIGHT to the world
You can illuminate A LIFE that does
It really makes A DIFFERENCE.

If you can't cause others SMILE
Cause yourself SMILE
It does make A DIFFERENCE to the next person.

If you can't take ONE GIANT STEP
Take a series of LITTLE STEPS
It makes A BIG DIFFERENCE.

If life posses as A MARATHON
See it as SERIES OF SPRINTS
Indeed, it makes ALOT OF DIFFERENCE.

THE LITTLE DIFFERENCE WE MAKE TODAY
IS THE POTENTIAL BIG DIFFERENCE OF TOMORROW.

10 QUESTIONS YOU MUST NOT FAIL TO ANSWER DAILY

At any given time, life is stock with unanswered questions, but it is the courage to seek these answers that continues to give meaning to our lives.
Hopefully, after reading these questions, your mind is going absolutely crazy with all sorts of thoughts and ideas. If possible, get a notepad and pen down your answers and ideas.

1. What or who would you be if you knew you
couldn’t fail?

2. If you could get a message across to a large group of
people. Who would those people be? What would your
message be?

3. In one sentence, who are you?

4. What do you want to accomplish? And most
importantly, why — what’s your motivation?

5. Where do you expect to be in five years time?

6. Who are the 3 most important people in your life?

7. How would the world be different if you had never been born?

8. If your life was a movie, what would the title be?

9. When you’re 90-years-old, what will matter to you the most?

10. What would people say about you at your funeral?

Don't fail to answer these questions again by tomorrow. Nobody is 100% good at answering these questions. That's why you need keep answering them daily.

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”

10 FACTS YOU MUST NEVER FORGET

We are going to be considering ten important facts that you must never forget in order to keep soaring. The difference between great men and common men lies in these facts. The difference between you and the you you have always dreamed of becoming, lies in these facts. To get the best of it, analyze your life even as you study each points.

Challenges Makes You
Unfortunately, majority admits that, challenges are obtacles to success. I don’t agree with that. Show me a man who has never encountered challenges and I will show you a great failure. Challenges are not purnishment but rather, a great teacher stocking her students with the necessary skills to get to the top. The problem is not that there’s a problem, but seeing every challenges as a problem.

You went for an interview and your name wasn’t short listed among the selected few, that’s a challenge; a challenge that you should never to give up. What about sitting for an exam and the result turns out to be the unxpected, that’s a challenge too. How you respond to these challenges is what really defines you.

Dreams Are Roadmap
I love dreamers, no man gets to me without having dreams says Success. Dreams are pathways to a great future. I’m still searching the world to see that successful man that never had a dream. But for now, there’s not a soul. The more you dream, the clearer your route to this great future. You’re never too old to dream a new dream. Joyce Meyer once said, “A 2Naira pencil and a dream can take you anywhere”. Do you have a dream?

Attitude Sustains You
Dreams can take you to the top, but it takes attitude to remain there. It’s not neccessarily food that sustains a man, but having the right attitude does. Many has been dragged low because of ATTITUDE. The most valuable asset you can posses is a positive attitude towards your life. Bad attitude is an enemy of great dreams and destiny. It’s good to have great dreams, but much more, have a positive attitude.

Friendship Can Build And It Can Also Destroy
You cannot be associating with chickens and expect to live like the eagle. Your friends are the second you. What they say to you and how you relate with them has a way of affecting your life either positively or negatively. Ask yourself this question, is this friend really adding value to my life or bringing out the worst in me? Being social does not mean you should accept everyone that comes your way as a friend. Keep friends that uplift you up in all ramification. Always keep in mind the words of Warren Buffet, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 mins to ruin it. If you think about that, you ‘II do things differently.”

Believing In Yourself Counts
We might ask ourselves, what tools do we have? What can we count on? You can count on youself. Beleive me, yourself is your best ally. You know who you are, even when sometimes it becomes a little blurry and you make mistakes or seem to be veering off, just go deeper. You know who you are. You know the right thing to do. And when you make a mistake, it’s alright—just as the song goes, pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and start all over again.”—From Patti Smith speech at Pratt in 2010.

One thing that no man can do for you is, believing in yourself on your behalf. You must develop that energy of self belief if you want to go far in life. Self confidence comes from the degree of your self belief, which in turn dictates your self worth.

Loving What You Do, and Doing What You Love
Fulfilment is doing what you love doing and at the same time being paid for it. The job you are into, is it what you love doing? Doing what you love is a product of dream pursued. There’s a great joy that resides in loving what you do and doing what you love. Most successful men are men who do what they love and are being paid for it.

Failure Is Never The End
It took Thomas Edison 10,000 times before he was able to invent the electric bulb. Guess what he said, “I haven’t faiiled, I’v found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Do you have such lingering spirit as Edison?

What about Abraham Lincoln? He failed in business twice and was defeated in 8 elections before becoming the 16th President of United States. He never accepted failure as failure but he took it as an opportunity to begin better.
Failure is an opportunity, maximize it to your advantage. “The greatest glory lies not in never falling, but rising every time we fall.”—Nelson Mandela. Never forget that, tough people last longer.

Getting The Right Knowledge
The difference between a Lawyer and a Doctor is the knowledge they got and how they impact with the knowledge. Ignorance is like a cancerous cell, it can kill. Get out of your confort zones and go for the right knowledge. Your esoteric knowledge is what makes you outstanding in a crowd. Get that knowledge that makes you different from the many.

Action
If you have been following these various points critically as outlined above, you will notice that there’s no point void of ACTION. You must act in order to achieve success. Nothing comes to the docile man, the dilligent gets the greatest portion.
Act on your dreams, be dilligent towards your goals and believe me, success will come to you.

Spirituality
Above all, be spiritually inclined. Every physical being you see today, is a product of spiritual discernment. You cannot be greater than who you worship. If you worship a stone, don't expect to be wiser or greater than that stone. So, build your self spiritually and everything you desire will come to you.

TOUCHING LIVES

A colourful day filled with positivism
With the smile of a hero all over my face
My dreams are coming alive, I said to myself.

Yet another day for impact
Unique and peculiar
Purpose meeting hope
Big dreams coming alive.

I waste not this day on worries
Like a king I take charge
What an awesome day to soar great

The future is now
A time to create a lasting impact
Creating moments of love
And touching lives.

ACT, IT MAKES A BIG DIFFERENCE

To become is to act
To act is start
Bearing the end in mind

To wish is to day dream
When void of action
To have is to have worked for it
With all dilligence

To think is to explore
Merging the mind and the brain
For a voyage to the world of ideas

I am
I have
And I won
All because I acted.

THE LOST FUTURE

My bright future is gone
Tears of a wasted future running down my cheeks
Like the watershed of River Nile.

Losing focus
Losing direction
Neglecting my dreams
Oh, what a great future gone.

Reflecting back on my past
Great memories of how I started strikes me intermittently
'The future is so bright' was my motto.

What does the future hold now?
Nothing worth reckoning
Begging for a candle to lighten my world
What an irony of a lost destiny.

All because I neglected my dream
Wasted my time
And that led to my wasted future.

To all youths
Dream big
Act on your dreams
A LITTLE start can amount to a BIG end
Tomorrow might be too late.