5 Ways to Keep The Dream Alive And LIVE It!

Ok so this is a mini rant. I've had it up to my eyebrows with excuses and reasons why people aren’t interested in breaking new ground or at least be ambitious enough to make their lives count. First things first; don't give up on your dream! Don't do it! The only reason you should give up on it is if you are certain that it’s not your dream or it’s a dream you formulated in your mind because you just wanted to prove a point or show people you could do it. That's not what I am taking about. I am referring to the vision in your mind’s eye that won’t leave you alone and when you think back to it, you come alive and you just know this is what you were created to do. Believe it or not a dream has been planted in the heart of each and every one of us and it is our responsibility to protect it and keep it alive. From all I have seen, heard and experienced, these are a 5 ways to be double sure that your dreams don’t die in a hurry:

5 Assumptions That Hold You Back

Hello people!! I missed writing and I am glad to be back but all in all it was a good time away because as they say 'iron sharpeneth iron'.

Ok so this is what I gathered from all the 'sharpening'. Most of the ideas we form in our lives aren't exactly true but they are assumptions that we grow to believe as a result of our experiences in life. I found out a few things of note and from experience, I can tell you that every excuse under the sun has branched out from at least one of these assumptions.

The List

Ok, so this is a piece I wrote a while ago in remembrance of my Aunt. She was my guardian throughout secondary school and was fondly called Aunty Bundle! I credit my love of books, research, and curiosity to learn and improve to her. I still can't help laughing at how boarding school in Nigeria was back then. It's still such a poignant piece and I keep learning from it each time I read it. I hope you will too! 

It was the end of mid-term break and I was ready to take back lots of wonderful goodies to boarding school as was the norm, at least before now.

I stood slightly behind the chair in which she sat, her huge and imposing structure well contained in her favourite chair. It was the one just by the front door with a view of the balcony full of beautiful greens and the road just beyond that. I stood to her left wondering what I was doing there and why my box of provisions wasn’t already packed and ready for me to leave in a few days. She held in her hand what appeared to be my provisions list and I was still perplexed as to the reason for my presence. Then it began:

Failure is Necessary

I remember when I was interviewing for an Analyst position in a Consulting firm many moons ago. One question I remember being asked was what I thought about failure.

At first I thought okay, is this a trick question? I am supposed to say failure is bad right? I couldn't decide what answer wouldn't sound phony so I just gave an honest one. 'Failure is necessary', I said.

He stopped taking notes and looked at me for a few seconds, then with more conviction and looking him straight in the eye, I said again, 'Failure is necessary because it's what makes you who you are. You can't say you have grown if you have never failed at anything'.

4 Success Tips to Learn from Children

I once read somewhere that when an adult asks a child ‘So what do you want to be when you grow up?’ He isn’t asking just to strike up a conversation, he is shopping for ideas!

The statement rings so true especially as I cast my mind to how precocious I was as a child. I never took no for an answer. Then I was introduced to the world of Television. I was on a popular children's show and we walked the halls of the influential and famous, from the Judiciary to the Football Federation. We interviewed military leaders in their offices and sat in the same room with CEO’s of large companies. 

Tell me you didn't smile at the end of this!

Ok so I found this incredible video on YouTube that I have watched over and over and over again. There's just something so pure, unpretentious and rich about this flash mob performance which has become hugely popular recently. It's no wonder it has recorded over 37 million hits since it was first recorded in November of 2010. It's a classic! Just goes to show that in all the hustle and bustle of life, we all still know deep down what is important, even if we refuse to acknowledge it.

'It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow'. (1Cor 3:7 MSG) Enjoy!

No be curse o, na true!

Ok so this is a mini rant. To who it may concern (including me!)

If you failed in the pure water business, you see your neighbour selling Coke and proceed to empty your storehouse and fill it up with Coke. You haven’t asked the most important question. Why did the pure water business fail into the first place? One would argue that everyone drinks Coke, Coke sells, Coke is a strong brand. Well what about water? We all need to drink it don’t we? In that case you cannot tell me that the product was the problem. So what went wrong? You most definitely will not succeed in this business either, except by some divine intervention you decide to look at your process one step at a time and objectively pick out what your weaknesses were. If not, prepare to close shop! No be curse o, na true!

http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=721  

You can call your frozen fish company Alleluia! Fisheries, or your garri mill, Success Is Mine Mills. If your fish are below par, rotten or of questionable quality in any way and your garri is half dried and full of stones, you are going down! The only people that will buy stuff from you are those who feel one thing –pity! Please I beg of you, don’t hinge the success of your product on your name alone. Look at the names that currently rock the world, Apple, Virgin, Trump! Does that give you a clue? The brand makes the name what it is, not the other way round. No be curse o, na true! (Let me state that I have nothing against these names and they are entirely fictional and were not intended to vilify any company or business in any way. These were purely for illustration purposes)

If you complain that your thighs are fat, your tummy is round, your feet smell, your arms are flabby and you haven’t done anything consistently over time to change it. Please save us the drama. You don’t really want slimmer thighs, a flat tummy, sweet smelling feet or toned arms. If you did, you would have got it by now. Forget the evil genes we all blame before we've done 10 reps of sit ups. You don't have it because you don't want it. If you don’t believe me picture how you methodically planned to buy those red stilettos even though you knew there was no kobo in your pocket. You didn’t have all it took to get it but that didn’t stop you did it? But because you didn’t have Nike trainers, joggers that matched and a pretty headband, you can’t be caught dead in scraggy gym wear and you therefore couldn’t go to the gym. Exactly! No be curse o, na true!

Get Up!!!

Just a l'il something to get you revved up and stay fighting. It's hard but it's worth it!!