Tuesday, October 30, 2007

INCREASING THE SPEED OF THOUGHT

You've probably heard the joke that it's okay to talk to yourself as long as you don't answer yourself. Many times, in our culture, we find it strange to see someone sitting alone and apparently carrying on a conversation. But in actual fact, the only real difference between this person and ourselves is that we speak to ourselves without saying anything out loud.A lot of people feel that it's perfectly natural to hear your own voice speaking words inside your mind. In fact, everyone that I have ever asked has responded that this is exactly how theythink. Psychology tells us that the human mind operates with pictures, and that every thought is conveyed inside the mind as a picture or a series of pictures. Yet most of us think out our thoughts using words and language.Many ancient systems of philosophy have taught that this "chattering monkey" limits your thinking, and restricts you from ever finding "enlightenment". Zen and other forms of Buddhism strive to eliminate the flow of thoughts in the mind in order to allow the mind to perceive "satori", or the ultimate state of existence.Sometimes, when I am particularly focused on my thinking, I notice that a complete thought flashes through my mind, and then the chattering monkey starts up to describe the thought that just went through. One thought after another flash through my mind,and all of them get described with words, as if I had to explain to myself what I had just thought. And each time a thought goes through this process of being described, the next thought is put on hold until the words stop.It is at this time that I wonder "What would happen if I could stop the words and let the thoughts play themselves out in my mind?" After spending several minutes on this effort to stop the words, I realize that the time between thoughts is reduced to virtually nothing, and more and more thoughts speed their way through my mind. And the more I'm able to stop the words, the quicker my mind operates. Even in a state of wordless thinking, my mind clearly understands everything that takes place. I've actually tried to stop the words entirely. While it does speed up the process of thinking tremendously, it does have an unpleasant side-effect. I lose the ability to hold an intelligent conversation with another person. Here's what usually happens: I'm sitting somewhere letting my mind run freely and unrestricted. The level of my thinking is taking on enormous proportions, such as analyzing the ultimate nature of Life, or the intricate similarities between atoms and galaxies.Then someone approaches me and asks a simple question. My mind immediately presents a dozen different ideas relating to the question, and there is a very intricately detailed picture of the whole subject. And I'm stumped as to where to begin in order to respond to the question. Although I believe that it's possible to achieve a state of quiet mind while retaining the ability to communicate effectively, I have not felt it was ever a good time to go through the process. Mostly because of ego, as I never wanted to appear to be less intelligent than I was. What I have done, however, is to set aside time periods where I work to turn off the chattering monkey in order to focus my mental energies more effectively on a specific task. Although not as ideal, it seems to be a good compromise. And over the years, I believe that I am moving towards the ideal. Each session where I eliminate a fair portion of the chattering monkey, I gain sharper insights into the world around me, and the subject that I focus my attention upon at the time. Over time, this has given me a deeper understanding of many subjects, which in turn has increased my level of intelligence. I recognize which pathways of thought are effective since I have had the opportunity to let my mind travel a greater number of pathways.This results in quicker thinking, even when I'm not working on quieting the chattering monkey.In many situations, this has proven to be of great use, as I am now able to learn a subject in about half the time it used to take, and I am also able to quickly analyze a situation and find the similarities between this new situation and one I've studied previously. Only in the last couple of months have I started to learn about setting up websites and working with server scripts, cgi's, and MySQL databases. I may not be an expert yet, but that will only take a little more time. Not only can I work with all these things, but I can customize many aspects of the things I'm working with.There is a quote from Abraham Lincoln that sums up the importance of learning to speed up your thinking. The quote is "If I only had 6 hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend 4 hours sharpening the axe." You're going to spend the rest of your life learning and analyzing situations. Be smart and spend some time sharpening your mind. Set aside specific times where you quiet your chattering monkey. Give your mind the freedom it needs to quickly move from one thought to another. You'll be amazed at what you can accomplish.

PURPOSE, A WORTH FOR LIVING

I have sometimes seen people being asked the purpose behind certain things that they do. Some people often answered that they have no reason for such action. You must have a target in mind before you embark on anylife adventure. Achievers and heros often use their mind before their hands. Here lies the key of purposeful living and the secret of success. Alife without a specific purpose is a life without focus. When you are focus-less you will definately be valueless.
Don't ever venture on any journey without a purpose because it will end in commotion. The result is always a failure. It is simple case, if you don't know what you want, you won't get it.
Be challenged to live a purposeful life then you are welcomed to the gathering of distinction where success is being earned.

QUOTE FOR TODAY
" If a man has no purpose for living he is not fit to live." - Martin Luther King

THE GOAL OF LIFE

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11.

For many people in the world, real meaning in life is the next vacation, career success, or stepping up the income ladder. It is a life based on pleasurable experiences. Many a human being has toiled their whole life to gain a pleasurable lifestyle only to find a life that is empty and meaningless. You only have to watch television for one evening to discover that advertisers want us to believe this is the goal of life. The work-to-play theme is consistent with most advertising messages.Solomon was a man who had nothing withheld from his appetite. He was a great builder, a great businessman, and a great lover of women. Every imaginable pleasure was his. Nevertheless, he was to discover that these things alone could not satisfy the human soul.
A recent trip to a beautiful island left me grateful that God had allowed me to understand the futile trap of the work-to-play lifestyle. It is great to experience times of refreshing and visit beautiful places as long as we don't fall into the trap of thinking that these experiences equal a meaningful life. God's beautiful creation can so easily become a prison of emptiness if Jesus is not in the center of it. The apostle Paul said there is only one way to find meaning and purpose in life:I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great power for us who believe... (Ephesians 1:17-19).Knowing Christ brings the only real meaning and purpose to the human soul. Spend time today getting to know the Lord in a more intimate way. Then you will discover real meaning and purpose in life.

FAILING FORWARD

The difference between average people and achieving people is their perception of failure. There is no doubt in my mind that there are many ways to be a winner, but there is really one way to be a loser, and that is to fail and not look beyond the failure. Even an optimist has a very difficult time learning how to see failure positively. How a person sees failure and deals with it, whether he possesses the ability to look beyond it and keep achieving impacts every aspect of his life. Yet that ability seems difficult to acquire. Most people don’t know where to start looking to get it.
Failure is far more common than success; poverty is more prevalent than wealth, and disappointment more normal than arrival. Training for failure is a great concept and it’s the idea that prompted me to write this piece. The objective is to help you learn how to write this piece. The objective is to help you learn how to confidently look at failure in the face and move forward anyway. In life, the question is not if you will have problems, but how you are going to deal with problems. The increase of divorce, separation, heartbreaks and even some forms of nervous breakdowns is evidence that many people are training for success, when they should be training for failure. Failure is far more common than success and therefore, deserves more time in our daily lives.
I don’t know what problems you are facing in your life right now. But whatever they are doesn’t matter. What does matter is that your life can change if you are willing to look at failure differently. Every person has the potential and indeed capacity to overcome any problems, mistake or misfortunes. All you need to do is to learn to fail forward. If you are ready to do that, then let us go. Think about a recent setback you experienced. How did you respond? No matter how difficult your problems are, the key to overcoming them doesn’t lie in changing your circumstances. It’s in changing yourself. If you are to do that, then you will be able to handle failure. You should make a commitment to do whatever it takes to fail forward.
One of the greatest problem people have with failure is that they are too quick to judge situations in their lives and label them as failures. They need to keep the bigger picture in mind. You should always keep in mind that failure is not the following:

People think failure is avoidable – it’s not
People think failure is objective – it’s not
People think failure is an event – it’s not
People think failure is the enemy – it’s not
People think failure is irreversible – it’s not
People think failure is a stigma – it’s not
People think failure is final – it’s not
Remember, “it does not matter how much milk you spill as long as you don’t lose your cow”. The problems come when you see only the spilled milk and not the bigger picture. People who correctly see failure take it in stride.

QUOTE FOR TODAY
“I can accept failure but I can’t accept not trying.” – Micheal Jordan

Thursday, October 25, 2007

ADVERSITY THE BEST TEACHER

You will never make a cogent contribution in life if you have never graduated from the school of adversity. A man once said, "those who run away from adversaries never meet with advancement". You need to face the reality of adversity for your advancement to be announced.
Adversity makes a man to think wisely. It awakes the mental faculties of every serious mind. These are some of the possible questions adversity can prune you to; why am i in this level? What can i do to get out of here?
Adversity doesn't come to destroy a man, it comes to build him up. It is a factual saying "the best time to know whom a man is, is when he faces adversity". Your adversity is breeding ground for your lifting. Always view adversity with a positive mentality because adversity is an adventure to your advantages.

QUOTE FOR TODAY
"There is no education like adversity" - Benjamin Disreali

HOW IS YOUR BUSINESS DOING – Do you need a new strategy?

1. Do you see the truth about where your business is compared to competitors in the same market? Is there a need for change?
2. Conduct a market survey/flexibility reports
- Customers, non-customers and lost customers
- See if things can be done differently and how to meet the buyer’s needs
- See what to stop; what to do differently and what you can create so you can stand out. In other words, how can you change/improve your brand or strategy?
3. Draw a picture of where you want to be. That is, your new and improved vision. (This is based on the results of your research) You could present them to existing, old, lost and non-customer. Ask for their feedback. That will help you come up with a strategy on how to actualize the vision.
4. Draw a table that shows where you are and where you want to go. Go further to find how to get there. Discuss with everyone in the company and come up with one page strategy. Support in every way moves to take the company to its desired place. The idea is for leaders to
- Think differently
- Make moves that may not have been made before
- Be confident about them
- Forget the competition and focus on the consumers

FOUR STEPS TO SUSTAINED SUCCESS

Before we go on to talk about sustaining success, let us define what success is. Success is finding your purpose in this life and fulfilling it. Okay, let me break it down. It is to identify your unique niche and calling in life and strive to reach the pinnacle of it. So every step in the direction of improving your chosen line of endeavor is a success. “Success is not just the destination; it can be the daily experience of your journey!”
I believe that success that cannot be sustained is not real success. Enough of the telling of the tales of the glory days; the good old days! Is there nothing happening in your life today?
Why does the lottery winner often find himself back at square one in a few, short months or years after winning the lottery? He did not find the keys to sustained success. His was a temporary, transient experience of riches. Sometimes it is better not to taste than to have tasted it and lost it.
I am about to give you four simple steps to achieve and sustain success! For success to be sustained it must be owned. You must own your success. It cannot come from without, it must come from within. If you do not own it, it can be taken from you. But if you own it, even if they take the produce of it from you, you will be able to simply reproduce it. Okay. Let’s get down to business.

1). FIND YOUR PRODUCT
Basically, economic prosperity is attained from the platform of buying and selling. Even before the advent of money as a medium of exchange; the trade by barter was simply the exchange of products. Your bargaining power was dependent on the quality and quantity of product you possessed and your ability to convince your neighbor that he needed it. It is all about buying and selling. Every moment someone is buying or selling something. I believe that every one has a product in you. Sometimes your product could be that thing that you are overlooking because it comes so easily to you; but you fail to realize that it is not that easy for others. I write, teach and speak with ease. I took it for granted till I realize that many would spend sleepless nights trying to do what I do as second nature. One of my products is life empowering information packaged in easily understood media. I am an “infopreneur” What is your product? It could be the way you speak. It could be your ability to make friends easily. Oprah found out that her product was her personality, look what she has done with it! It could be your unique way of seeing things. What is your product? Find your product!

2) MASTER AND REPRODUCE YOUR PRODUCT
Once you have been able to identify your product, you must now master that product. Before you go to the market place you must master your product. The closer a product is to its natural state the cheaper it will be. The more refined and processed a product is, the more people are willing to give in exchange for it. That is why canned food is more expensive than the same food in its natural state. Too many people go to the market place with their product prematurely. Working and mastering your product is never a waste of time. With every refining process you put your product through the more value it is gaining. In the process of refining your product you might discover some by-products that may even be higher economic value than the original product. For example, the many by-product of refining crude oil potentially could generate far more revenue than the crude oil itself! Let’s go back to the main point. You must master your primary product to the point where you can reproduce it at will, at the same level of quality or increasing levels of quality, never lower. This is the principle upon which franchising is based. McDonald discovered a product, mastered the product, and then started to reproduce it. The product had been so mastered that when you step into McDonalds anywhere in the world it is the same. If you have mastered your product, mass reproduction should not reduce its essence or quality.

3) MARKET YOUR PRODUCT
Now that you have found, mastered and are able to reproduce your product. It is time to go to the market place. It is not sufficient to be a local champion. You have to get your product out there. Market your product! Do not just go to any market place. Identify with clarity what need your product meets and go to the market place of that need. You sometimes have to be able to show people that they need what they were not aware that they needed. Market your product. Take it far and wide.

4) HANDLE THE COMPETITION
Do not be overtly optimistic about life and the market place. There will definitely be competition. There will be those that will be doing similar things to what you are doing. But I found out that no two people are really doing exactly the same thing. There will always be a difference. In dealing with competition, do not try to pull down what others are doing rather, know the strength and uniqueness of your product and emphasize it! For example there are many teachers, writers and motivational speakers like myself but there is only one me. I have a unique way of processing information and presenting it. I simply emphasize my strengths. I magnify my office!

If you apply yourself to these four steps, sustained success will be a reality in your life. Get to work today! Find your product! Master and reproduce your product! Market your product! Handle all competition! All I have done is put you on the path to sustained success.

QUOTE FOR TODAY
“Success is not really a destination but rather a journey” – John Maxwell

THE BOOSTER ROCKET

" After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: "Moses My servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them-to the Israelites." - Joshua 1:1-2

A rocket launch is truly an amazing phenomenon to me. Tons of weight is stacked vertically to the sky with thousands of gallons of fuel exploding in a matter of moments. Soon the rocket drops its take-off boosters and uses additional boosters to move the rocket to the next stage of the mission. The first engines have a unique purpose...to get the rocket to the next stage.Joshua was known for almost 40 years as "Joshua, servant of Moses." God's preparation for him required years of selfless service, training in the desert, and tests of faith. Those preparation years were booster rockets designed to move Joshua into each new stage of his development and his ultimate calling.God allows each of us preparation times to lay a foundation that He plans to build on.
Some of those foundation times appear to be laborious and meaningless, yet these varied experiences are what God is using to frame your life for the message He plans to speak through you. Without these foundational experiences, the Jordan River can never be crossed and we cannot enter the Promised Land.Embrace these times of seeming inactivity from God. They, too, are a rocket booster to your next stage of your walk with God.Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

THE BENEFITS OF OBEDIENCE

This is what the Lord says-your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go." - Isaiah 48:17

My career has been in sales and marketing. Early on, I learned to distinguish the difference between features and benefits. Features represent characteristics of a product or service. Benefits are those things that directly profit or benefit me by using the product or service. For instance, my new computer has incredible speed and lots of memory (feature). This allows me to do things more quickly and easily (benefit). People are more concerned about the benefits than the features.God tells us in the above verse that there are some direct benefits to the features of His nature. He is a God who is committed to teaching His children in the way they should go. What is the real benefit of His teaching? He answers this in the next verse. "If only you had paid attention to My commands, your peace would have been like a river, your righteousness like the waves of the sea" (Is. 48:18).The Lord tells us that the benefit of allowing God to teach us and lead us in the way is peace and righteousness. Here is a guaranteed promise from God. I often use guarantees in my sales claims. Here is God's immutable guarantee: You will have peace like a river and righteousness like the waves of the sea! What a great promise!Are you trusting God with the very details of your life so that He can lead you in the way you should go? Are you allowing Him to teach you? Seek the Lord today for what He wants to teach you and allow Him to lead you, and you will ensure peace and righteousness in your life.

GUARD AND NURTURE YOUR CREATIVE IDEAS

Numerous creative ideas often perish in the abscence of protection. The funniest thing is that many people agreed with discouragement, distraction, procrastination, failure and people's opinion to destroy their creative ideas.
Rome was not built in a day. Every creative idea that is left without nurturing will definately be choked up in the midst of adversity. Be careful to protect and nurture your creative ideas, they are your life. It will welcome you to the realm of success if you care for it.

QUOTE FOR TODAY
"It is tragic when a tree dies in a seed or a man dies in a boy" - Myles Munroe

BE ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT NEW IDEAS

Whatever great heroic influence that has ever been made in the field of life is traceable to power of enthusaism. Enthusiasm is a dose of supernatural injection that strenghten the inner man. It compels a man to manifest heroically. Submit yourself to it! If you will ever reach the on-shore of distinction, enthusiasm must be in place. No man has ever reached the peak without enthusiasm. It makes the journey of heroism easy to walk in and it makes heroic influence easy to accomplish.
One of the ancient philosopher, Terence asserted that, "there is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it with reluctance." For you to acquire any needed skill in the walk of life at all; to become proficient in any heroic task, to do anything worthwhile one must be enthusiastic.

QUOTE FOR TODAY
"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm" - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

READ BOOKS!

I have just discovered something interesting, and i believe sharing it with everyone that visit this page will make me happy. It might be something you know or you do already, or possibly the first time you are hearing it, but it is something that really works and i will be glad if to see many see the light of it.Do you know that America has produced the largest number of billionaires in the world? and the toll up till today is as listed below,

Rank Worlds RichestNation/Region Number of billionaires Notes
1 United States 371
2 Germany 56
3 Russia 47
4 Turkey 39
5 India 36
6 United Kingdom 34
7 Australia 30
8 Japan 27
9 Canada 22
10 Brazil 18

Do you know what all this American Billionaires have in common? I guess you don't. Apart from the fact that they are all Billionaires, they all read books...I mean motivational Books...not novels. They read books, journals, books written to change lives, and that is the major secret behind their huge success.Very few geniuses are billionaires, only 1 out of every 100 are and the remaining 99 are people who out of the idea of this few genius created wealth from combining there energy with existing ideas, works, plans, and wisdom written with inks on paper by this great men dead and alive, who have studied the world, with will power and are now giving it to all to benefit from their knowledge.Even the scriptures advises us to seek knowledge so that we can be wise, without it, nothing works. Solomon became the wisest man ever because he sought God's wisdom, and with this he became wealthy. You too can be great only if you seek knowledge, it does come in different forms but the most readily available means is books, listen and learn, ask questions and develop that ability to perfect.

QUOTE FOR TODAY
" A reader is a leader, while a leader is a reader". - Myles Munro

Monday, October 8, 2007

ACT NOW!

We have to get to this point sooner or later. You’ve done the goal setting, the visualizing, the planning and analyzing. The next stage is to do something. You can’t plan, analyse, visualize or meet forever. It’s time to start. You have to take action to bring your dream into physical manifestation. You have to provide for the reception of the things you want to come into your life, for they won’t fall from the sky into your palms. Do the work that is required to get you the result you want.
You have to be responsible for the manifestation of your dreams. You have to be worthy of them. How do you become responsible without doing your own part of the contract? How do you become worthy without taking action? “After all is said and done,” says Sam Skinner, Roland Reagan’s Chief of Staff at the White House, “more is said than done.” To make the future come true, Peter Drucker reminds us, requires work rather than genius. Ask yourself: “Why don’t I just do it?” What’s holding you back?
You don’t have to know everything to do. Learn as you go along the doing process. As you take action, your result becomes your guru. When you get your results, compare it with what you set out to achieve, you make adjustments in your actions. This moment is the best time to strike out. This minute, this hour, this day, this month is the best time ever. The woman who wants to eat healthier has to start now to cut out the sugar and refined foods. The student who wants to pass the exams has to switch off the TV, reduce playtime and wake up earlier.
Move your butts. Make that phone call. Do the proposal. Talk to somebody. Listen to Henry Ford: “You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do.”
Henry Ford took the lead. You too can - starting today.

QUOTE FOR TODAY
“Just do it” – Ad slogan for NIKE athletic shoes

A JOSEPH STORY

" For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life". - John 3:16.
"I'd like you to help us develop our marketing program beginning in January," said the CEO of a sports product company. The consultant was delighted to have the opportunity. It was the first new business opportunity he'd had in some time. He had just come out of some very difficult business and personal circumstances in the last few years. A few months into the relationship, the CEO asked the consultant to manage the entire marketing department, placing him over the current marketing staff. It appeared that God was blessing his efforts with several successful initiatives. The consultant began to build a relationship with a few of the executives. One day, the sales manager came into his office and asked for help on a personal crisis. One thing led to another, and two months later, the consultant found himself leading the sales manager in the sinner's prayer in the sales manager's office.God prepares His servants in many ways to accomplish His purpose. The story of Joseph is repeated every workday in the lives of His people. The circumstances may be different, but the results are the same. God trains His servant through sometimes difficult "boot camps." When that training is complete, He places them in strategic places to be a provider-both physically and spiritually.Is God preparing you to be a provider in the workplace? Do not fret at the difficult training ground you may be required to endure. He has a plan. If you'll allow Him to carry out His plan, you'll be privileged to be used by the Master's hand. I know because I am that consultant.

QUOTE FOT TODAY
“Our lives improve only when we take chances, and the first most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.” – Walter Anderson

PERSISTENCE

You have a goal. You have faith that you’ll realize it. So what happens when obstacles, deviations and detours come? Many people fail in what they set out to achieve because they didn’t sustain their faith. At the instance life wants to test whether they are worthy of the goal they are seeking, they give up their faith and give into fear and doubt. Faith has to be tested. A faith that is not tested is no faith at all. It doesn’t matter the size of the goal.
Christopher Columbus was famous for discovering America. What many people do not know was that he was a very persistent fellow, and without this quality no one would know of him today. Columbus succeeded in sailing from Spain to the Gold Coast of Africa in 1479. He reasoned that if one could sail that far southwards and find land, one could also sail as far westwards and find land.
Without money and ships but full of a burning desire, he solicited from support from the Portuguese Crown. He met a rejection. He decided to talk to the English government. He met a brick wall, too. He held on to his goal. A year later in 1486, he sent a proposal to the Spanish government. They told him to wait for them to study it. Five years later, in 1491, the commission studying the plan said it was not feasible.
Columbus was not deterred. A year later, in 1492 he finally convinced the Spanish government to fund the project. That was not the end of Columbus’ troubles. On the voyage to the New World, his sailors held a meeting and decided to turn back. Columbus persuaded them to change their mind.
Be a discoverer. Hold on to your dream. Persist in your quest. Take the lead.

QUOTE FOR TODAY
“Life is like riding a bicycle; you don’t fall off unless you stop pedaling.” – Claude Pepper

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

GOD WANTS YOU TO SUCCEED

“He sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. So he prospered.” 2 Chron. 31:21 NIV

God wants you to succeed! But you’ve got to do certain things.
1. Set an achievable goal – Then work toward it, one priority at a time. Most things fail for one reason broken focus. So avoid distractions: “A double minded man is unstable” (James 1:8)
2. Write down your plan and establish deadlines – Most people don’t plan to fail, they fail to plan. Make a detailed list of activities and set checkpoints. Above all, guard and prioritize your time. “Use your head. Make use of every chance you get” (Eph 5:16 TM).
3. Visualize yourself attaining your goal – Talk and think in success pictures. Moses did. He made it to the Promised Land because “He had his eye on the One no eye can see, and kept right on going” (Heb 11:26 TM).
4. Stay informed. “A wise man will hear and increase in learning” (Prov 1:5 NAS). If you’ll pay for a good meal but not a good book, you value your stomach more than your mind. Observe, read, and grow!
5. Create a climate of confidence around you. You won’t experience victory while you’re talking defeat. Don’t rehearse your mistake that only reinforces your doubt. Remind yourself that your “sufficiency is of God” (2 Cor 3:5). With Him as your partner your success is guaranteed.
6. Help others become successful. “Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord” (Eph 6:8). That means conquering self-centeredness!
7. Put God first. You are His child, He wants you to succeed. What father wouldn’t? So deepen your relationship with Him. “Acquaint now thyself with him…thereby good shall come unto thee” (Job 22:21).

WHY GOD BLESSES

And David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and that his kingdom had been highly exalted for the sake of His people Israel. - 1 Chronicles 14:2King David learned an important lesson every leader must learn if he is to ensure God's continual blessing. He knew why God blessed him. It wasn't because he deserved it, though he was a man who sought God with his whole heart. It wasn't because of his great skill, though he was a great military strategist. It wasn't because he was perfect, for he committed some horrible sins during his reign as king. No, it was for none of these reasons. God blessed David for the "sake of His people Israel."God never blesses an individual just for that person's exclusive benefit. God calls each of us to be a blessing to others. So often we forget this last part.
R.G. LeTourneau, a businessman who built heavy construction equipment, came to realize this only after God took him through many trials. Once the Lord had all of LeTourneau, he came to realize that the question wasn't whether he gave 10 percent of what the Lord gave him. Rather, the question was, "What amount does He want me to keep?" LeTourneau was known for giving 90 percent of his income toward the end of his career and was a great supporter of world missions. But the Lord doesn't bless workplace believers just for the ability to give financially. God has given workplace believers many more gifts beyond the financial.What is happening with the spiritual fruit of God's blessing on your life? Is it clogged, or is it freely flowing to others? Ask the Lord to free you to be a blessing to those in your circle of influence.

TIME IS MONEY

Time is the most valuable resources given to man. It is the only acceptable currency, which is peculiar to the whole world. If you have a lot of money and no time, you’re still a poor person. A billionaire who has just a week to live might not be able to do anything tangible with the money. God does not give us money; he gives us time and we convert it to money. Your success in business life will be determined by your ability to use your time wisely. Your life is an accumulation of years; your years an accumulation of months, your months an accumulation of days, and your days an accumulation of hours. Looking at your life from this perspective, you will be more focus on how you spend your time.

KEYS TO USING YOUR TIME WELL
- Place Value on your time
If you have to quantify your time in monetary value, how valuable is it? How much would it be? In the universe today, we have the time wasters and the time savers. People have a lot of time to waste because they have nothing to do with it, they have no goals. On the other hand, people who have goals are so busy about reaching those goals and they have no time to spare.
- Be goal oriented
Because your time is as valuable as your goals, you must learn to place a high premium on your goals. Always approach everything you do with a goal in mind.
- Eliminate distraction
Distraction simply means to pull away from. Every single day of your life, people and circumstances will come your way from your goal. Distraction comes in various forms but they all have one purpose; to break your focus and waste your time. So keep focus and take responsibility to recognize it.

Your time is like an empty space; its value is determined by what you put into it. Don’t give everybody and everything free access to your space. Otherwise, it will quickly become a rubbish dump. Create your own space and fill with precious and pleasant things. Like anything else in life, time if left on its own, will go in any direction. Your times are precious, harness and use it well.

QUOTE FOR TODAY
“You cannot manage time you can only keep to time” – Mike Murdock