My Mind - My Only Real Limitation

I know it's been a while and to be honest I can probably list a million and one reasons why I haven't been able to write anything in a while. Funny enough, it is not for the lack of something to write but I have been struggling with the issue of what is relevant to people and what can I write that would have the most impact. I decided today to go with something that I have been struggling with recently and I am hoping that a few of you can relate to it but above all that a handful of you would take something out of it that would encourage you and motivate you to continue pressing forward and looking and marching towards that goal that you want to achieve.

Recently, I launched a new venture with a friend and even though the road was anything but smooth, we still did it and broke so many barriers that were placed on us to actually see our dream come true. We faced every obstacle and problem and found a solution and continued to move forward. There were days that we were totally discouraged and days that we really felt like quitting. The funniest thing of all for me was, for every victory we thought we had, there were a million and one issues coming quickly behind to make that victory seem inconsequential.

Recently, it seems like i have been stuck in a rut and it seems like the venture would never break through to the next level and it seems for every strategy we try, it fails to yield the desired result and it actually was frustrating me for a while. Until recently, I sat down and begin to say to myself, in spite of every obstacle, every doubting Thomas, every negative thought or negative comment and people's disbelief, we still launched so then, what is the problem?

Truth is the problem is me, I have built up a limitation in my mind that the venture would not succeed and because of that, I am not as committed to it as I should be. Truth is whether I like it or not, if it is going to fail, it would fail but I need to stay committed and work hard at it to not fail, so that even if it does fail, it won't be because I did not work hard, keep at it, commit to it and do everything that I was supposed to do. let it fail because of external factors that I had no control over and really and truly could not find a solution to. I need to continue to believe as I have always believed that distractions would always exists, nay sayers would always exists, my negative thoughts and doubts would always exist but what matters most is how I rise above all this. Once I allow these things to defeat me in my mind then no matter what I would be defeated. Truth is the only reason I would not succeed is I have already accepted in my mind that I would not succeed, as a man thinks in his heart so is he....uhmm

So what is it that you are working towards? That exam, that Job interview, that business venture, that weight goal, that financial goal; you would only fail if you have made up your mind that you cannot succeed. The only limitation we can never overcome is the one we place on ourselves.

Experience has taught me that the moment I believe I can do it, I suddenly have strength and most times I can think clearer and begin to see solutions to the problem. Taking that limitation off my mind, begins to open up possibilities, opportunities and solutions and how to overcome a problem.

The battle always has to be fought and won in the mind first...As a man thinks in his heart so is he.

One Step at a Time

It's been a while since I have written anything and the funny thing is I've really missed writing but I have not been able to write because I've been struggling with what to write.

Recently, so much has been going on and because of that my mind has been running riot and anytime I try to write, I cannot actually settle on what to write on. I feel like I have so many things I really want to write on and end up not writing anything.

Truth be told it says a lot about my life situation at the moment. Life has been very busy at the moment with my normal 9 to 5 job, my triplets at home, my home front to keep and then launching a business. This does not include every other extra-curricular that I have committed to. I can probably go out on a leach and say everything else in my life apart from the new business is routine for me regardless of the challenges that come with them, somehow I can always find a solution to problems happening on the home front or at work or with my children or hubby but the new business has been a different ball game altogether.

From the inception of the idea to the launching, the business had always thrown challenges at me and my business partner, sometimes we would run into so many issues on the same day from regulatory issues to business process issues to financial issues to just agreeing on little things. When we run into issues on the same day, we sometimes get very overwhelmed by the whole thing, that knowing where to begin finding solutions become overwhelming. There have been days where we would both just ignore the issues hoping they would go away but as we all know problems never disappear till you actually solve them. There have been days when we’ve probably both contemplated quitting, funny thing is none of us has been brave enough to voice that out to each other. When we finally decided to do a test launch, which we are in the middle of, it just seems like the problems have become more but it now seems like we are handling it better. We don’t get overwhelmed by many problems when they all come at us at once, actually we are now more like, what’s the solution and most times its solution A, B and C.

I’m sure you are wondering how we have managed to get to that point of not being overwhelmed by many problems, the one thing we both have learnt throughout this journey is to take it a step at a time. Do not try to solve all the problems or even one problem in one go, it is better to take a deep breath and break a problem down into all its necessary components by thinking and working through it one component or one step at a time. Once you learn to solve a problem one step at a time and go through the right process, you don’t feel as overwhelmed anymore and it becomes easier to actually come up with a feasible solution.

Every problem in life has a solution and every obstacle in life can be overcome if only we would take a deep breath and not let the problem, issue or obstacle overwhelm us. The only way for us not to be overwhelmed is to always take things one step at a time. Think a problem through one step at a time before attempting to solve it, do not just dive in and attempt it solve it blindly. When you dive in to solve it blindly, a lot of times you end up creating more problems and make matters worse. It is better to understand the problem, issue or obstacle and then spend time thinking it through and then coming up with a solution that makes sense and would actually work. Like the popular saying goes, Rome was not built in a day, life’s problems, issues cannot be solved in a rush, take it one step at a time.

Evaluating where you are now

Today is the 26th of May, waoh, almost the end of the 5th month of the year and somehow we are into the half of the year 2015. I'd say so many people are beginning to take stock of where they are at and where they thought they would be at this point of the year. Some of us have surpassed those goals, some of us just about met those goals, some of us are a few miles off and some of us are way off.

I would like to say a big congratulations to those who have surpassed their goals, congratulations to those who just about met their goals, well done to those who are a few miles off and I’ll give a big ovation to those who are way off especially if they are still putting in the work to achieve those goals because they are resilient enough to stay with it.

The funny thing with goals sometimes is that when they are set, we only have an idea what and how we are going to go about meeting them but most of the times we do not see or know the challenges we would face in other to meet those goals.

My post today is really for those who think they have not met the goals they set out to achieve by this time this year. One of the key ways to progress further is to take a realistic, honest and critical look at the situation we find ourselves in. The question we need to ask is why did we not achieve these goals. Were the reasons within our control or out of our control? If they were within our control, how can we deal with the reasons and how can we stop them from happening again. If they are out of our control, how can we get round them, what are our alternative solutions? What can we do to get back on track? Sometimes we also need to ask ourselves if the goal we set at that time is still relevant or if we need to discard the goal and set a new one. Goals change every time. Goals change because our outlook to life changes and we either get a new perspective on things or a new revelation happens and we have to change what we want to achieve. When I started out in my career, my ultimate goal was to be a financial director of a company, to be honest that has changed, now I want to be an entrepreneur who owns many companies and I am also very interested in social entrepreneurship. My goals to achieve my maximum potential has not changed but I have discovered more about myself, I have come to understand myself better and because of that my goals have changed. This has also made 2015 goals change as well.

This year has been very busy and challenging for me but i have come to understand myself better. The truth is I have achieved more goals than i set out to achieve already but I am also far from where I wanted to be now in 2015.

Sometimes when you think you are far away from your final destination, you need to take a hard look at yourself, sometimes there are soft goals that you have achieved, I call them the softer goals. Things like discipline, resilient, metal strength, character, better judgement, all these things are very important to be able to achieve those final goals.

So we all need to look at all our goals and evaluate where we are at, what we have done wrong, what we have done right, what has worked for us and what has not worked for us and come up with a plan to move forward.

I will end with this, it does not matter how far away you think you are from achieving your goals, they are still very much achievable, you just need to re-evaluate where you are and come up with a plan to keep moving forward, you have come this far, now is not the time to give up. LGP is cheering for you.

Resilience

It's the beginning of the second quarter of the year. How are we all doing with our new year resolutions and all those goals that we set at the beginning of the year 2015.

for some of us we carried goals over from 2014 into 2015 and swore and promised ourselves that all these dreams, goals and ambitions would be realised before the end of the first quarter of 2015. Does that sound familiar to anyone. well if it does, then keep reading, and if it doesn't, well still keep reading, who knows when you might need this post.....

for me, the year started with a bang, i put so many things into motion and had a plan of what I wanted to achieve within a 3 month timeframe. oh well, some I have been able to meet, some I am very much struggling with, though I'm not so sure struggling is the word to use.

When we set goals and have ambitions, sometimes we tend to forget that the actualisation of these goals though dependent on us is also very much depended on outside factors, some of which we can not control.

For every goal we make up our minds to achieve, we need to remember that there is a very strong possibility that we would be met with obstacles and challenges. These obsatcles and challenges play a very big part in if we actually meet our goals in the end. Though to be very honest, how we deal with these challenges and obstacles is the final piece in the puzzle of achiveing our goals.

I can say without a shadow of doubt, we have all faced challenges and obstacles this year on the road to achieving our goals, for some of us we have been able to stand strong in the face of it all and are still pushing towards these goals even though the timing we set for ourselves might be a little off but we are still going strong and are determined to achieve against all odds. For some of us, we went into over drive mood and over time mood and still achieved it within the time frame but I'm sure you felt the dent physically, mentally and emotionally. For some of us, it took going back to the drawing board, doing more research, getting more insights while putting the dream or goal on hold for a while and for some of us, we just gave up.

For me, the first quarter of this year I have found myself in all three situations I have described above but i refuse to be in the fourth category, "THE GIVE UP" category. For me, all my experiences have made me understand the word "RESILIENCE". Truth is I have been tested to the very core of my make up this year but through it all by the grace of God, I have kept going and going and would continue to go. Why? because I have a vision that I belive in strongly, beacuse that goal that I set at the beginning of the year is something I believe in.

I have learnt that trying to get people to believe in your vision or to buy into an idea is hard and is very difficult to do. You would hear many pessimistic and negative opinions and many reasons as to why it can not be done and all the likes. There would also be some people siting on the fence, those who are not against the idea but would be willing to support when it becomes successful. Truth is I am grateful for all of them and all of these experiences because it has helped me build character, helped me go back to the drawing board, helped gather knowledge and above all it has strengthened my trust and faith in God. It has reminded me that in everything, I need to depend sole on Him.

I really have to come to understand the word  "RESILIENCE".

You might be wondering what does the word "RESILIENCE" mean literally. Well "RESILIENCE" means "the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity" basically no matter the beating you take and no matter how much you fall down or no matter how hard life throws circumstances and chalenges at you, you still get back up.

I particularly like this definition "the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness."

So no matter how hard it has been this year for you to achieve a particular goal or dream, make up your mind to be "RESILIENT", hang on for a little while longer,you will be surprised how much you can achieve. The way I see it is, if you are still going to be alive tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, then you might as well keep working towards that goal and dream. Its still better than sitting around doing nothing, plus do you want to spend your life wondering what could have happened.

I feel like I also need to say for some of us to build resilience, we need to chnage our cycle of friends, people who have goals or dreams they are working towards instead of hanging around people who just want to coast through life. For some of us we need to seek out a mentor or use the internet to our advantage and start reading about the failures that successful people had to deal with.

So whether it is an exam, or a new job, a promotion, a business venture that is your dream or goal this year and you have had so many failurees this year, heard so many NOs, keep at it, get RESILIENT.

Take the Bull by the Horn

Taking the bull by the horn is a very scary and hard thing to do that a lot of us wouldn't dare think of it not to talk of physically doing it.

I've found myself saying that statement to a lot of people recently and even to myself and tonight I really sat down to think about what it really means and represents.

Success does not come easy, behind every success story there are sacrifices, obstacles, trials, failures, tears, shut doors, disappointments, betrayal and I can go on and on. But to eventually become a success, you have to be able to look all these things in the eye and deal with them and overcome them and keep pushing forward regardless. On facing these things, sometimes we become discouraged, frustrated, angry and a lot of times we feel like giving up. The truth is in spite of all these things and how we might feel at these times, we need to keep pushing forward, somehow we need to find that inner strength to keep fighting. We NEED TO TAKE THE BULL BY THE HORN.

If we don't, then that dream would never become a reality, that product would never be manufactured, that book would never be written, that company would never be founded, that Job would elude you. Whatever it is, no matter how tough it gets, you need to keep trying and pushing and one day that SUCCESS would be yours.

With everything I have been able to achieve, I always found out that at the edge of my breakthorugh is when the pressure is worse, that's when I feel like quitting, that is the point where i feel like I can no longer continue but the key is to persevere beyond that point and once you can get past that breaking point, somehow victory comes and even if victory does not happen, I find that I become stronger and gain more inner strength to continue.

I love Thomas Edison, a guy who failed 999 times at inventing the light bulb but he was quoted to have said that he learnt 999 ways on what to do better. That is classic. The point is to see the lessons in our failures and keep pressing on. It is also reported how his laboratory burnt down when he was in his sixties, apparently he told his children to go get their mother because she would never see a fire like that again in her lifetime. He still rebuilt his laboratory after the tragedy. He said he figured he would live till about a hundred, what would he be doing if he didn't rebuild his laboratory and continue his work. Point is he looked troubles and disaster in the face and took the bull by the horn and he was unstoppable.

Taking the bull by the horn makes us an unstoppable force not because we have all the answers or can do it all by our strength but somehow no matter what comes our way, we keep pressing on, we keep fighting on, we keep praying through, we hold on to faith and hope knowing that after it all, there lies a better tomorrow.

My advice "TAKE THE BULL BY THE HORN"

YOU - The only obstacle

lately, I have been struggling to understand why only a certain percentage of people who talk about wanting success actually achieve that success. It troubles me to see people who Years back were full of hope, ambition and high aspirations and right now there lives seem to be worse than it was years ago or stagnant. Some of these people were people I secretly wished that I had the ability to talk about the things I wanted to do with such passion. Thinking about these things made me reevaluate my own life. It made me reevaluate my successes and my failures. I realised that none of my successes came easy or were achieved without any obstacles, but inspire of the difficulties I encountered, I persevered, I studied hard, researched the solution to the obstacle, I prayed to God for direction on how to go about overcoming the obstacle, I sought help, advice and I pressed on towards the mark, I remained focused on achieving the goal, I kept moving on towards the prize because I believed in that goal enough or was passionate about it enough and I said to myself failing was not an option, I did not give up. What l learnt was I did not overcome the obstacles to my successes because it was easy for me to but I overcame them because I made a choice that I was going to achieve that success regardless of the many obstacles. I made up my mind to win. When I look at my failures, I realised that somewhere along the line, I decided, please I can't kill myself, if it's not working out, that's it - I give up. I refused to be bothered, I did not sit down or stay with the problem enough to be bothered to find a solution. I refused to seek for help or advice, I could not be bothered to try, I allowed myself to become demotivated, I lost sight of the prize and somehow I convinced myself that the goal either did not matter to me that much or I simply just gave up. It dawned on me that the common denominator between my successes and failures was me, myself and I. The difference between the two was how I handled the obstacles that came my way. Uhmmm, so I suddenly realised, the only thing or person that can ever stop me from achieving and goal is ME. My attitude to the problems or obstacles I encounter would determine if I end up winning or losing. Truth about life is that every road to success or great inventions is paved with many problems, failures and obstacles but we have these inventions today because of how the inventor chose to handle or see these obstacles. Obstacles, problems, failures along the way should really be seen as ladders that should propel us or help us get a step closer to our goal or achievements. I love the analogy of a road to somewhere you are driving to, all of a sudden during the course of your journey, you encounter bumps, flooded areas, pot holes and because of that you decide to turn back and not go...uhmmmmm, truth is most drivers find a way to manoeuvre past these potholes, bumps, flooded areas, diversions to get to their destination. The same should apply to our lives which is so precious to us. The truth is we would always and I mean always encounter problems, obstacles, failures and fallings but the only thing and the biggest obstacle that can stop you from achieving your dreams in life is how you choose to handle the obstacles you encounter. So basically only YOU can stop you from getting to your desired destination. It is time to make a choice not to allow YOU to stop you from achieving your goals for 2015. Let 2015 be the year where YOU make up your mind to stay focused and inspired against all odds. If it ever gets to a point where you feel overwhelmed and are on the brink of giving up, my advise seek help, reach out to people to help you, get a mentor and above all pray for God's wisdom and direction, He is our ever present help in time of need.

What is in your stuffing?

Have you ever wondered why after cooks or chefs who make the Christmas or thanksgiving turkey put so much emphasis on how the stuffing for the turkey is prepared. They place so much emphasis on how the stuffing has to be a certain texture, taste or have certain ingredients. They are very particular about where they buy the ingredients, the certain bran and so on and so forth. for them, what makes a perfect turkey is the perfect stuffing that goes into the stuffing. If the stuffing turns out bad, it is more than likely, the taste of the turkey would be equally bad. Let me bring it to myself a little. I am very particular whenever i have to eat patties or what we Africans call meatpie. For me, the stuffing in the pattie or meatpie has to be a certain taste for it to be perfect. It so important to me that i wuld only eat a meatpie of which i know the source. I recently discovered one that came close to perfection in Dublin especially when it is hot, lets just say my waste line has never remained the same since then. I recently started working on a project in a new job. Let's just say, as luck would have it, someone was leaving the organisation as i was starting. The person's job has nothing to do with the projects i have been employed to do. The CFO asked if i would provide some certain cover till he was able to replace the person and he made certain reference to some knowledge and experience on my C.V. Last week, he said to me, i hope you are as good as you are doing your own job as you are at doing the job of the cover that you are doing for me. I laughed.....But the truth is, it was a true test of the stuffing on the inside of me. What knowledge do i possess, what expertise do i have? An employer would only pay you for your knowledge or expertise. Companies spend top money on projects especially for skills that they feel are scarce in circulation. Companies also pay top notch for people who they feel are an asset and possess knowledge and skill that would help drive their companies forward strategically. When companies go into the market to recruit, they are always looking for the best candidates, meaning they are looking for the candidates with the best stuffing. I read an article recently written by a guy that had spent so much time around very successful people, one of the things he listed that these people do is the fact that they have a quest for knowledge like no other people he knows and they surround themselves with people who know, basically people who they feel are stuffed with the right things. I have learnt that one of the keys to success is investing in yourself, basically stuffing yourself with the right ingredients. You are only as good to a potential employer or client if you have your own business as the quality of the stuffing on your inside. The bible says it better than anyone else "it says we need to study to show ourselves approved unto God, a workman that has nothing to be ashmaed of, rightly dividing the word of truth", this basically means invest in yourself as a christian by spending time in the word of God so you can fully understand what it means to be a Christian and understand fully who you are in Christ and know what is expected of you. The bible to a Christian is the manual we need to go through life successfully, if you don't spend time in the word of God, how can you live successfully. Basically the amountof time you spend in God's word will be parallel to the stuffing you are made of as a Christian. I leave you with this, to be successful in whatever you choose to do in life, you need to spend time investing in yourself, educationg yourself, reading the right books, getting the right mentorship, basically doing anything that would make the stuffing inside of you the RIGHT STUFFING. Make 2015 a year where you invest in yourself to get the RIGHT STUFFING inside of you. STUDY TO SHOW THYSELF......

How clueless am I ?

The beginning of the year is when we all write down those lofty dreams that we have the good intentions of attaining. I particularly love people's spirits in January, it's all full of hope and the right attitude to succeed. It's so funny how in January, almost every one has that winning and can do attitude.Somehow we are all upbeat about our aspirations at the beginning of the year. I'm one of those people who when people tell me what their dreams are or what they hope to achieve, I immediately ask them how they intend to go about achieving those dreams. To be honest, it saddens me that 90 percent of the people actually do not have a clear plan on how they are going to achieve that dream, basically they are clueless about what to do to get to where they want to get to. The hard truth is nothing really happens by chance or mistake and the sooner people come to terms with that, the better for them. A successful life just doesn't happen, it has gone through a process. It's a little wonder how we never hear of a successful person until they become successful, that is because that successful person had to go through a process. Realisation of dreams goes through a process like everything else in life. I'll liken it to the most natural thing in life, growth of a human being. An adult human being is born a baby, then the baby has to be fed, nurtured and taken care of to become a full,grown, healthy and functional adult. The kind of nurturing and environment the baby is raised in determines if the baby grows up to be a functional or dysfunctional adult or even dies due to malnutrition or abuse. The same applies to all our dreams, we need to nurture them, do the right thing and expose them to the right environment to ensure they do not remain as just dreams but grow into reality or just die along the way. Now the bigger question for many of us, is what do we need to do to make these dreams a reality ? Basically, what clues do we need? In 2015, I intend to encourage a lot of people to begin to gather the right clues by way of getting access to the right information that would help make their dreams a reality. I'll encourage people to ask for help where needed, seek out people who could answer your questions, people who can point you in the right direction. Search the Internet, ask successful people, get the right information- basically get the right clues. 2015 is not the year to suffer in cluelessness or ignorance. It's the year to arm yourself with the right tools to become all you have been designed to be. Have a good week ahead and keep your questions coming.

2015!!! What's in store for us?

I'd start by saying a big congratulations and welcome to 2015. I consider it a honour to be here still breathing, still standing and excited about what opportunities the next 365 days hold for me and you should as well.

I intend to keep this piece as short as possible. We all start the new year on a high note because somehow everything new has the power to make us feel excited, hopeful and in possession of faith and strength to take on the whole world. The birth of everything new breeds hope. Everyone rejoices at the birth of a new child, everyone rejoices when they wake up in the morning, a lot of people I know always attach significant hope to their birthday. A birth of a new invention brings joy to its inventor. Everything new and unique is always celebrated. Steve Jobs is remembered today for his various inventions.

2015 is a new year, a birth of a new invention, rekindled hope, a birth of a new hope. What would you do with the opportunity of 365 days of birth of new inventions, rekindled hope, births of new hope. Everyday in 2015 is an opportunity to make that goal, that dream, that vision a reality. The bad news however is 2015 only has in store for us all what we choose to retrieve from it. We will only be as successful as we can see, basically it all depends on our capacity. The manifestation of our dreams, goals and visions in 2015 is very dependent on how much our mind can perceive and how much we persevere and fight to overcome all the obstacles 2015 brings our way.

We at LGP would like to say a big thank you for being a part of what we do in 2014 and we are really looking forward to a bigger, better and greater 2015.

On behalf of LGP I say a very big congratulations for the many successes, realised dreams, achieved goals and manifestation of visions in 2015.