Setbacks should not set you back
I wonder how the world would be if we never had to struggle for anything that we wanted. For anything that we want, all we have to do is to wish for it. I realize that the world would not be as much fun as it is. Everyone would be the world richest, no one would have to work for another person, and many more. So in essence, setbacks are needed in life so that we can appreciate what we have.

It is important to always know that setbacks would come one way or the other in everything that we do every day. It is our core job and responsibility to not let the setback define our future. We would not let setbacks stop us from achieving what we set out to achieve. Realize that on your path to becoming that very successful person, your situation might not be right for the goal ahead and the setbacks are there to mold and shape you into what you need to be to achieve those goals in the future.

So whenever you face a challenge, realize that it is building something in you and what you need is to patiently follow through. Successful people only realize the path they are on after they have patiently followed through. No one really knows the outcome, all you have to do is to enjoy the path and learn as much as you can. Setbacks and challenges are to realign us to our core goals and the earlier we see them that way, the better for us.

So look today with a positive mindset at the challenges you are facing and believe that it is preparing you for something way greater. And with patience and perseverance, you can win. A positive mindset goes a long way to reassure you that everything, in the end, would be alright. So look at things positively, seek God and keep pushing. In the end, it would make sense.

Thanks and God Bless.

Be The 1%
Sometimes, we find it very difficult to make some decisions. For me, I am learning a new way to figure that out. I call it the 1% rule. To make a decision, simply ask yourself if everyone would do it. If everyone would probably do it, then it might not be the best use of your decision.

Why have I come to this conclusion? For me, I realize that the people we consider successful are people that do what others would not do.

Would everyone consider spending the night reading about something or spend the night watching a movie? The answer is clear. Would most people prefer to gain monetary benefits from everything that comes their way or would they prefer to help another in such a situation? The answer is also clear. Look closely at some of the things most people would naturally do and try to create a better path for yourself.

It is important that we understand that simply because everyone does it does not make it right and also carefully understand that simply because you can do it does not also make it right. So think carefully about what you want to spend your 1% on. Make it something that would make you a better version of yourself. Ask constantly if what you are doing would make you someone your future self would be proud of. Then go for it.

Do not let the circumstances around you determine what the end would be for you. You have to be willing to go above your situation at every point. Reach out to people, seek help, and keep pushing. Keep going and be the 1%. Your future self would be proud of you. Thanks and God Bless.

Be Happy
Watching a video about Oprah this morning made me realize that tough times does not mean that we are being punished. It simply means that we are being prepared for the great tasks ahead and that when things are tough, the most important thing we can do for ourselves is to keep pushing forward. As such, when you face challenges, be happy, at least they show that you are on a path to something great and wonderful.

Challenges bring out the best in us. Everyday. So when you face a challenge, be happy. Well, that is one of the most difficult things to do since we as humans, we always want conditions that are comfortable and favorable and we would not like anything to spoil our mood. However, sometimes what takes us out of our comfort zone is building us for something bigger than our comfort zone. It does not matter how we see the situation, the most important thing is how we react to it.

React with happiness. Push forward with happiness. Keep going with happiness. It could have been worse. You tell yourself that. And while it is not worse than it currently is, all you need and have to do is to keep going. Forward. Now more than ever. Realize that the goal is right ahead and the challenges are the confirmations that you are on the way. If everything was easy, everyone would get it. So while we keep striving, we remain happy and grateful.

Grateful to God that we are indeed alive and have the opportunity to overcome our challenges. No challenge is ever too big to defeat. You first have to believe that you can do it and then go do it. Keep going. Keep pushing. That is all that you need. And while pushing, you need to have your mood straight. Be happy and seek God. In the end, it would all make sense and the dots would eventually connect. The challenges would connect to the success and you would realize that the success would never have been possible without the failure.

Thanks and God Bless.

Imagine The Future
Sometimes, thinking of our daily tasks and challenges can make us not see the future goal or plan. When we are too busy with everyday tasks, we sometimes do not have time to look up and see what is ahead. The everyday tasks are enormous, but sometimes, the only thing we can do is to take some minutes off and imagine the future. Think and realize what you can do that would make the future a little bit better than it currently is.

It does not always have to be something about work. It could be about your behavior. Could you imagine the future and think of one of your habits that you need to improve and work on. So on whatever you are doing today, take a few minutes off and realize how much the future can be if you just improved just a little bit today. Take a few minutes to imagine the future and see the endless possibilities that could happen.

All that matters is that we get better every day, and sometimes when we look into the future, we are able to see what area of our lives need improvement so that we can work on that. Comparing our present and our imagined future can sometimes fill in the blanks for us on the most important ways we can improve every day. You might want to perform a task now but when you imagine its effect in the future, you might either desist from doing it or put in more effort to get more results.

Thinking and imagining the future is a good way to improve and become better at what we do. And sometimes thinking about the future involves projecting into the future where we might not be part of the equation and that is truly scary, but should also motivate us to do more with the time that we have now. It matters that we imagine the future and improve on it every day. Thanks and God Bless

Do Something
Every day, my bed seems to speak to me to sleep on it just a little longer. And when you realize it, you have slept for close to an hour. When it is time to go for the morning exercise, your body seems to tell you that you are already healthy and might not have any need to exercise. Many more people are on their beds, sleeping, your body would say. Why won’t you also join? To write an article, the hands say just skip for today, you would have something to write tomorrow.

But when you do not listen to the bed, you get up and get the day started. In the end, you realize it was better to have done something rather than simply remaining on the bed even when your alarm has gone off. At the end of the exercise which your body wanted you to not go for, you feel much better, both in your body and in your spirit. You wonder how you would have felt if you did not go for the exercise. For the article, you push and start writing something and in the end, you have an article that is capable of changing a person’s life.

So many of us have a lot of things that our minds crave instead of doing what we know deep down is the best for us. We know it is the best, but we sometimes prefer instant gratification. But if you delay the instant gratification just a little longer and do something simple that takes you closer to your goal, you realize that you are changing little by little. It matters that we do something no matter how little every day even when we feel like not doing it. If you feel like not waking up from the bed, simply open your eyes, that would at least set your body to realize that you are awake. Anything that makes you realize that you are not asleep can push you from being asleep to being awake. And you keep going, one task at a time.

Doing something is important because everybody at rest seeks to want to remain at rest and a body in motion seeks to always want to remain in motion. So if you do not start, you might remain seated, but if you give it just a little trial, you see you push yourself from where you are and closer to where you want to be. No matter what you are going through today, look for something simple and push on that. It does not have to be a grand task. A simple step at a time is all that you need.

Take a simple step today and keep going. Simple baby steps every day. Thanks and God Bless.

Just A Little More Everyday
To become better at anything, you need to keep doing it over a period of time until you can do it without as much as thinking about it. It becomes very difficult to keep up with a new habit every day and we feel that we are not quite destined to play that role. But before you give up, realize the tasks that you are now very good at and how it all started.

Remember the first day you tried to walk, crawl, or even talk. It seemed as if you did not even understand a bit of any of those things. But now, some of these activities you do without even thinking about it. Those tasks are the same as the new tasks you are trying to learn now. They are difficult at first, but the more you put in just a little more every day, you realize that one day, you are not as bad as you thought you were.

All that matters is that you consistently put in the effort towards doing something you want to become better at. That is the way to achieve a goal ahead of you. Some days you would default, but remember that it is not the failure that defines us, it is how the response to the failure that makes all the difference. The difference between winning and failing is sometimes simply getting back up and doing just a little more.

But sometimes, the effort is not what even matters. Sometimes the most important thing you need in everything you are trying to do is to pray. Pray about it and seek God in whatever it is you are trying to achieve and be better at. We sometimes seek effort only but God is more important. So today, realize that you need to put in work every day to achieve whatever it is you want. Merely wishing would not make it happen. You need to put in the work.

But when you put in the work, all that is left is to pray about it. You have tried and all that is left is for God to control the situation. Many people call it luck but I call it God. The one who makes everything happen even when it seems impossible. So today, keep pushing on that goal a little at a time, never relent and always seek God in all your affairs.

Thanks and God Bless.

Help As Much As You Can
I remember as a kid the families we always looked up to. Those families that usually had the latest television set and the latest movies every day. Those families whose light never go out even when the general electricity goes away. Some of those families are still doing fine but a lot more have moved lower in the ladder and this got me thinking about my present life.

How many of us live as if we are going to continue to have what we have today? There is no guarantee that what you have today would be there tomorrow. If there is no guarantee, the best thing you can do then is to help as many people as you can with what you have because, in the end, it might just go away as fast as it came. It is important to realize that life sometimes is beyond our computation and analysis and when we think or feel that we are in control, things happen and everything falls apart.

So since we are not in total control of how life goes, the best we can do is to control what we have today. We can control how we relate to and work with other people. We can learn to do more and be of more help to other people around us. It is important to know that what goes around comes around. If you help people, in the end, help would come back to you. It matters that we ponder over these words, what goes around comes around. We might not accept that now, but look at the lives of people around us and realize that the good never in the end suffer, it might take a while, but in the end, good always pays. And for those we did bad, we all would one day see the outcome.

So to everyone out there who is in a position to help another person, do the best that you can to help make another person’s life wonderful. In the end, we do not know how it would all end, but the most important thing is what you put forth is what you would see in the future. So it is important that we learn to help as many people as we can with all that we have. In the end, it matters. Sometimes, it is not about helping everyone, it is about helping that one person to make sure they get what they are supposed to get. Helping even a single person is equal to helping humanity because in the end, you do not know how much impact what you did would have.

So please go out today with a mindset to help. It does not have to be a grand gesture, it might just be as simple as smiling at that person who no one seems to notice. It is about sharing a word or two with close friends and relatives. It could be anything that would sincerely make another person’s life better than you met them. In the end, our goal in life is to make an impact, that is it. So please help today.

We need everyone to be helpful to one another as we cannot say for sure how everything, in the end, would turn out. Thanks and God Bless

Inaction Is The Enemy
That we might not know the outcome is not the worst thing to happen to any of us, not doing anything about it is the worst possible thing that could ever happen. So many things happen every day and people say to you, be realistic, it can never happen. You look as it passes you by and you believe what everyone has said, it cannot be done. You give up and you do not do anything about it.

One thing is for certain. It can never happen if you do not do anything about it. When you do something about it, the chances that it would happen increases even if it is by a margin of 1%. So to everything you ever told yourself, it cannot be done, put in a little effort. Probably your chances of making it happen might increase. The most important thing that you have to realize is that no one knows what the outcome would be. You, me or anybody.

People that say they know simply want to project the past into the future. If it happened like this yesterday, it might well happen again today. But forget that, put in the best that you can, one day you would look back and that effort you put would have led you somewhere. It might not lead you to what you were looking for, it might have led you to something even greater. Greater than you ever imagined. So what is stopping you? If you let anyone stop you, then you and only you are to blame in the end when everything happens. Most time people regret what they did not do rather than what they did.

People regret not having spent more time with their loved ones, not having to put in more effort and a whole lot more. Yes, people also regret the things that they did, but you need to know that it would be smaller than what they wish they did. Time is of essence and time waits for no one. Remember that. Tell yourself you want something and go for it. You do not need anyone to tell you what you cannot do. We can be with God what we want to be and no man can ever stop what God has in plan for us.

God is real. God is with us if we never lose faith and hope. People might laugh when you say that but realize that the goal is the future. Not now. Let every one be and do what they want to do to you. In the end, it matters that you take even a small step towards making your goal a reality. A small step today is what you need to get started. In the end, it would matter that you took even the smallest step. Things might not look right now, in the future, it would. The dots would connect and you would only wish you started earlier than you did.

Start something today and never let inaction ever stop you. The world is your playing field and God is with us all the way. Keep going. Thanks and God Bless.

Be Extraordinary
We tell ourselves every day that we want to be the best at what we do, yet we live life ordinarily. How do we expect to have an extraordinary life if we live life ordinarily? I asked myself this question today and I realized that to become extraordinary, you have to do what you do every day more than the ordinary way it is done. If you want an extraordinary life, you have to be willing to put in the extra to every ordinary task that you do.

If you want to excel at what you do, you need to be willing at every moment of every day to be willing to go just a little further than everyone else would. If you want to be better as a person, you have to begin to do a little more than what everyone does. In your job, in your life, in everything that we do, we need to begin to put in the extra effort. To become better at that task, you need to be willing to put in the extra hours needed. The ordinary hours would not be enough to get you that extraordinary performance that you seek.

When you seek to become extraordinary, you do not need to do a grand task to make you different, all you have to do is a little extra to the ordinary things. Keep pilling up the extra things you do until one day you realize that you are no longer doing what everyone is doing. To be different from everyone, you have to be willing to what no one else is willing to do. You have to be willing to give up just a little more of your comfort, a little more of your time to that task, a little more time to your family and spouse. Just a little more is all that you need to make the difference.

The little you would need would depend on the career or life path you are on. For a runner, it might just be as little as completing that race a second earlier, for a student, it might just be reading just a little longer than you used to, and for everyone, it just means doing a little more than you do every day. I realize that leaders can lead simply because they are able to make others do just that little more than is needed every day.

Understand today that the extraordinary life you seek would not come to you if you continue to spend your time ordinarily. You have to be willing and ready to push just a little more. A little more is all you need to make the difference. In the end, we get the life that we lived. You want an ordinary life, live ordinarily. For an extraordinary life, live extraordinarily. The world awaits your greatness. Thanks and God Bless.

Kindness Pays, Be Kind
With what is happening in the world these days, it sometimes seems very difficult to be a kind person. People say all sort of things like bad things happens to good people or that people change because other people influenced them. But the more I see life, the more I realize that the only way we can achieve life to its fullest is to be kind. People sometimes do not want to be vulnerable, so they hold their cards close to them, and sometimes being nice does not seem to pay off in the end.

For me, kindness is not that immediate goal you receive because you were nice a minute ago. Kindness is that thing that pays off years after you have forgotten that you ever did it. It is those moments when you seem to have the upper hand at winning the situation, but you look into the future and simply be nice and kind to the person next to you. Being nice does not always seem to have a clear way to pay back, but when you trust and believe that being vulnerable does not mean that you are weak, sometimes, only in our vulnerability can we enjoy life to its fullest.

Some people seek to not want to fall in love again because they were vulnerable once and see what it cost them. They had their hearts broken. So they promise themselves that they would never give away their hearts and live life distrusting everyone that comes their way. Yes, that makes you secured. But for how long? How long do you want to continue living half of life? When would you give in your all and be the best that you can be?

Kindness might not seem like the best thing to do, but I assure you that you would in the end never regret being nice and kind to people. You might not see the exact outcome of what you are doing, but when you think about it, you would realize that it is important that we be nice and kind. And when we talk about being nice and kind, people think of other people. Sometimes, being nice is about being nice and kind to yourself first. It means watching how you spend your time, how much exercise you have and what type of food goes into your system.

All those are the simple parts that makeup kindness. And to other people, it starts with the little things we consider minor. Like greeting that person next to you on your way to work, smiling at that person who you walk by every day, taking time to speak to family and friends. These are the basics of kindness. Kindness does not have to be a grand gesture like donating all your wealth to the world. That is certainly kindness, but you can start with the very small things. In the end, it was not about how much wealth we had, it is always about how many lives we are able to affect positively.

Being kind affects us and not only the people we are nice to. It makes us happier. Being happier makes us more productive. Being more productive makes our job better and the world generally a better place. And once you have tasted the joy in being kind, there is no going back. There is nothing that would ever make you any less kind than you are.

So it matters that we spread joy and kindness to the world, we give it without expecting anything in return. Only that for God to help you in all your affairs. It matters that we all realize that the world is not but a number of days and one of the best ways to enjoy the world is to be kind and nice to others. We do not know how we might meet another day. The world needs more kindness. Please let us be kind to one another and love one another. It would make the world a better place. Thanks and God Bless.

About Making An Impact
We think about making an impact as making a striking change in the world such that on hearing our name, everyone rises and respects us. But sometimes, we might not get the opportunity to do something so big that the whole world would have to hear about it. That is okay because even when we do not have the opportunity to do something big, we always have an opportunity to do something so small.

For me, my greatest fear is to be in a community and never making an impact. It is about not making an impact in work, school, and other endeavors of life. But I have come to realize that sometimes, all we need to do is to pick a very small area and start from there. We might not be able to change the world at large, but we can considerably change one or two person's life and that would make all the difference in the world for them.

Yes, we want to make a lot of impacts, but for me, I have realized that it is better to focus on one or two areas very close to us and make an impact than to seek for a very big cause we might not be able to change. It is important to look closely at your environment and realize the people that need our help the most and see how we can impact their lives. It is important that we see the world more than just a place to make money and leave, but a place where we have the opportunity to make another person’s life a wonderful one.

For me, that is the definition of impact. Helping another person make possible what they never felt could be possible. That could mean a lot to a lot of people. And when you give out, it comes back to you in a million fold. When you help others grow, you also grow and become a better version of yourself every day. So it does not matter if you are not able to change the world, what matters is that you have helped at least one person move their state of mind and improved them to become better versions of themselves.

It is important that we help others grow so that in the end, we grow together and become a much better force than if we were simply on our own. Unity always wins.

Thanks and God Bless.

Parents, Your Kids Are More Important
I hear people say that a poor person should not give birth if they do not have enough money to take care of their kids, and I must now say that rich parents should also not give birth if they do not have time for their kids. It is becoming clearer every day that for any society to grow, it must give attention to its upcoming leaders and the natural mentors for these future leaders are the parents, and when they do not give attention to their kids, how do we expect to grow as a society.

While growing up as kids, we had one of our parents at home always reminding us of why our fathers might not be around most of the time. They made us realize that the fathers were out there trying to make ends meet for the family and the mothers did well to give their time and attention to their kids to make them become better leaders in the future. As such, mothers held better roles than fathers since the fathers would only have to care for today, but mothers care and build for the future.

The society together with the parents was involved in grooming and developing a child. Now, mothers have handed over their roles to the school teachers, and fathers have handed over their roles to their wives. And fathers are simply the machine for making ends meet. I cannot begin to imagine how we got this far. Most of the time when you look into a society and see that it is improving, it has a lot to do with the families that make up the society, but now that even the family structure is off, how do we hope to build societies that would last in the future?

Parents now seek to have more time harnessing more wealth so that their kids can be comfortable in the future as if being comfortable is the key to a successful life. Sometimes your comfort zone is what would limit you. Do not get me wrong, I do not mean that you should allow your children to suffer, but thinking that leaving your kids with enough money would not make them suffer is simply an incorrect life assumption.

It is better to teach your kids manners so that no matter what the situation of the future is, they are able to stand morally, spiritually and educationally sound. Simply focusing on the educational part and being impressed that your child can speak good English or do some maths calculations very fast would not serve them in the future. That time you spend with them improving them, sharing life experiences, and understanding life from your children’s perspective is the most important thing you can give to your kids.

That kids that grew up from families that were not considered rich and were able to become one of the world’s richest people shows that money is not the most important factor in training and grooming a child. Your time to understand how your child thinks and reasons, what things should they focus more on are more important than simply focusing on feeding, clothing, and sending them to school.

Our forefathers understood that children are the most important investments and as such, did all they could to make time and even make sure their kids learn manners and more importantly understand that wealth is not the only thing a child needs to succeed in life. If a child on his/her own cannot create wealth, what would they leave behind for their own children, your own wealth? Well, you can be that rich, but how many parents would be that rich.

If as a parent, you cannot guarantee to spend an hour a day with your kid discussing on very important issues, then I believe you need to work on that. Your excuses that you do not have time would not cut it in the future when your kids are out of control and are causing havoc in the society. Regretting that you did not spend enough time with your kids in the future would not be enough to make your children become better. The time you have is now.

Parents, kids are growing way faster than we can ever imagine. Have a discussion with a kid today and he/she knows what you knew when you were in your 20s. A kid of about 8 or 9 already knows that. The time is NOW. The time to make sure we focus more on our kids is NOW. Tomorrow might be too late. Make it happen. Help your children grow and make them become the best that they can become. Thanks and God Bless.

How Is Today Different From Yesterday?
If you do the same thing every day, you would get the same results. Would you not like that your today is better than your yesterday? Everyone would love that. But if you do not change the actions of today, you would get the same results as yesterday. When we do the same thing every day, it does not matter that we live to a 100 years old, life would simply seem like hours counting down.

But if we did something different today, then indeed our days on earth would have been different. So I ask you today, how is your today different from your yesterday? Are you still limited by the same thoughts, the same imaginations as yesterday, would you not like to excel better today than you did yesterday? Tasks like going beyond your limitations, you have to improve every day. You cannot keep doing the same thing.

You need to develop a routine for some actions in your life. But does actions should be actions that push you forward in your other areas of life. When those actions push you, you have to go further in other areas of your life. Do not do the same thing and expect a different result. It does not happen. Look around today at some of the limitations you have set for yourself and see what you can do to beat it. It is only a limitation because it limits you. When it does not limit you, it is no longer a limitation.

And sometimes we set limitations for ourselves that are not tested. I cannot do this, I cannot do that. You stop yourself from doing a whole lot of things simply because you think you cannot. Someone once said, whether you can or you cannot, you are right. So whatever decision you make today, you are right. You are right to follow it, right to accept whatever the condition is. But also, you are right to break out of what is limiting you right now and the lands of no limitations.

You and only you can make that decision today. Start now. Start today. Live a life that is different from yesterday. You would appreciate yourself in the end.

Thanks and God Bless.

Ask Yourself This Question
Let me ask you a question. If you had 10,000 dollars to invest in one of your friends or family such that you would not have to work any day in your life and 10% of that investment would be your monthly salary, who among your friends or family would you invest in? I came across this question yesterday while watching a Ted talk. I quickly began scanning through my list of friends, then later, something struck me.

Who among my friends who bet their 10,000 dollars on me? To be sincere, I could not really think of any. I began thinking deep and observed to myself which attributes in me would make any of my friends want to invest in me. I am still pondering over that but now, I am not in the same place as I was yesterday. Thoughts have began to change and I am better understanding what I can do to become a much better person.

Enough of asking myself that question. Do the same to yourself today and now. How many of your friends can invest their all into you? That is too far. Can you sincerely invest your all into yourself? Be sincere and true to yourself. If you cannot, what is stopping you? Start from there and begin to understand that you can always be better than wherever you currently are. That the conditions would be better, but first, we have to also become better versions of ourselves. We do not always have to think that things would just change, we sometimes have to be that change.

Think closely and begin to imagine what is stopping you. How much better do you want to become? What can you do today that a year from now, you would become a better version of yourself? Success is not one big action. Success is a number of small activities joined together. And what is a failure? It is not one single failed action. It is a string of failed actions for a long time.

So a little change today can make all the difference you could ever care about. Look at the simplest thing you could do today to make you become a better person. Then start from there, you might not see the cumulative success, but remember, it is the small actions that become the big action. Start now, start small, and keep moving. For me, the simplest thing I have decided to stop doing is watching movies at night, which makes me wake up late. Waking up late makes me not focused at work. Not focused at work makes me stressed at work. I come back and hope another movie would help relieve the stress while the major problem was always the movie.

The small things are always around so that we can see and make changes. Look around today and make the necessary changes. We can be much better than we are and can start now. Start today and be better.

Thanks and God Bless.

Fall, Get back up, Learn and Keep moving
It seems as if we can never achieve perfection no matter how much we try to achieve it. We seek out for a goal, we keep pushing, we fall, and then we get back up again and start from where we have fallen. There does not seem to be a way in which we can simply achieve all that we want without having to make a mistake or fail at some point.

Understanding that perfection might not really be what we need would really help us go far in life. Realize that what is most important is getting started, falling and getting back up. In the end, the falling and getting back up was never random. That is the most important thing you have to realize. Understand that whatever happens has a plan. So when things do not go your way, get yourself back up and keep going. Keep moving forward.

Life does not always have to go the way we planned it. Well, we are not fully in control so how do we hope to control it all. When things are happening that you could never anticipate, the most important thing is to look deep inside and see if the fault is not from you. Sometimes we look too far for a problem that is simply close by. When you have looked close enough and cannot find the problem, then you can look further.

Realize that not all mistakes are from an outside force. Some of them are due to our carelessness and lack of time management. Whatever reason we might have would not suffice. All you need to understand is that life is a learning center, the most important thing to do is to always learn from every situation that happens. You do not need to be perfect in your understanding, but to always look for the lesson in everything you learn.

In school, we are told what we would learn before class starts, but in life, we understand what we are supposed to learn when the lesson is over. So understand that you need to look for the lesson in everything that happens. We are not perfect, but we can improve day by day, become better the more we learn and in the end become better versions of ourselves.

We might not achieve perfection in whatever we work on, but we should realize that we can be much better than we currently are. So fall, get back up, learn and keep moving. The whole world awaits your success. Thanks and God Bless.

The Challenges Are The Opportunities
We complain and groan that things do not go our way. That some selected few have been earmarked for all the wonderful things on earth and that the remaining people would just have to live with what is available. But I say to you today that whatever your experience in life is, this statement is not correct. It is in the challenges of life that we find opportunities.

Yesterday, I was looking at a picture that said that one of the most searched sentences on Google from Nigeria was how to make Banga. Well, for a lot of people, it would seem like a challenge that with the power of what Google can provide, we as a country is still yet able to harness its power. But what if you looked at the positive side, at the demand for making Banga. What if anyone could start a blog or a website on how to make Banga and probably name the domain banga.ng?

Challenges are the pathways to opportunities and the more you are able to see challenges as opportunities, the more you would complain less and work harder. It does not seem to come easy. Every great thing seems to always come from a lot of hard work and in the end, we gain the reward. So seek for whatever challenges you face today and see how you can find the opportunities in them. If you find it challenging, then another person might also find it challenging. Then simply fix it. That is all you need to do.

By complaining and whining about challenges, we are doing one thing well. Complaining. But does that solve the problem? Obviously, it does not. So the most important thing you have to do is to realize that complaining would not make the challenge go away, as such, we have to be willing to look for the opportunity and keep looking until we find it. Life does not always give us a finished product, it gives us the raw material from which we are meant to find the solution.

Every time you face a challenge, assume you have been given a raw material. Then find time to extract the impurities out of the challenge. All you would be left with is simply the main product. And sometimes challenges does not mean the solution is out there, sometimes it simply means that we are the ones that are the raw materials and we would need to work on ourselves to have a finished product. A product everyone would like and appreciate.

Always find ways to refine and improve yourself every day. We are not perfect. So when you realize a challenge, look inwards first, then look outwards. Challenges are the pathways to opportunities.

Thanks and God Bless.

Be Your Own Competitor
When we look at the people around us, we realize that quite a lot of people are ahead of us in one aspect or another, but most importantly, that we are also ahead of some people in one aspect or the other. As such, sometimes we feel comfortable looking at the people behind us and we feel we can take a quick break or we look at the people ahead of us and we think we do not have the time to relax.

This is not really bad unless you want to keep competing with others. But the most important thing to realize is that we should compete with no one other than ourselves. The context of competing with ourselves is to be better than what we were an hour, a day, or a year ago. Nothing more than that. When we seek to compete only with ourselves, the best indeed does come out of us. But when we compete with others, it is very possible that we aim too little that we reach it.

And when we do, we feel like we have arrived. Instead, you are simply aiming too low. You have not yet realized what the best in you can be. But when you compete against your standard’s of yesterday, you become a better version of yourself. In competing with yourself, the only sure thing that happens is that it becomes a habit. And when it becomes a habit, you are able to sufficiently push yourself. The power and motivation to continue comes from within. It does not come from seeking to compete with others.

So it is important that we seek to become better versions of ourselves, but the standard should never be about how much we did compare to others, it should be about how well we did against what we are capable of doing. However, also be careful to not drag the bar too low when you compete with yourself. Understand what your vision is, and be the best possible of it. Then seek plans that make you that version of yourself.

So start today, look inwards, and seek to find that vision and goal you want to achieve. Then follow it and let that be your standard. Making people your standard depends on factors from outside and in becoming the best version of yourself, you would need to have a lot of energy coming from within. Only then can you begin to become that person you truly are supposed to become.

The time to start is NOW. Start today and be the best that you can ever be. Compete only with yourself. The world is your stage. GO.

Thanks and God Bless.

The Time Is Now
Every time an opportunity knocks on our door, it appears in a way that looks like it can never make sense to pursue. But some years down the line, we wish we took that opportunity. And every day, these types of opportunities knock on our door and we sometimes wish the situation was better, so we could have handled it. But sometimes, the situation does not get better and all we have to do is to seize the opportunity and make do with what we have.

We can never understand the power of what we can achieve if we do not try. And time keeps flying that what is gone some few minutes sometimes take a few years to get back. So never wait for an opportunity to be right, you can start with what you have and keep moving forward. Opportunities are not supposed to be well-formed, otherwise, everyone would have taken it.

Imagine if great people waited for the time to be right to start some of what they accomplished. Imagine if Microsoft, Google, and every other great company out there waited for the time to be right before they came to the market. We might still have been using classroom-sized computers till this moment. So it is important that we start with what we have and the time that we have because it matters that we get going and changing along the way.

Obviously, the waterfall model does not work in achieving our goals. W cannot wait for everything to be right, if we have to wait, then we can never proceed. So look around today for an opportunity that you can make better. Look at what you can do and become invested in that. It might take years before you receive the result for the opportunity. But know that you would never receive any result if you never started.

Start now, start today. When you start, then the condition becomes better. If you never start, everyday moves you farther away from the goal. The time is now, start now. Thanks and God Bless.

Be Your Own Motivator
We love to have people who push us to become better versions of ourselves, but sometimes those people are not around and all you have to do is to be that person for yourself. Be that person to tell yourself that you would never limit yourself and that you would keep pushing to attain greater heights. It is better and easier when you have people who push you, but sometimes, you do not get it and you become that person.

So look around today and ensure that you place yourself in a company of people who push you forward every day. But when you cannot find, you have to be that person for yourself and be that person for the people around you. It is important that we keep growing and becoming better every day, but sometimes, it just does not come easy and when it gets tough, you get tougher.

I realize that a lot of us would really do much more than we are doing if we had people who encouraged us and pushed us forward. But sometimes, those people are also busy becoming better versions of themselves and might not have all the time to attend to you. So it is in this time that you also look inward and seek for a path to forge ahead.

It is important that we realize that not everything would make sense now. The dots would look too far apart, but someday, the relationship between the dots would be clearer than you ever imagined. Things would fall into place, but before then, you have to realize that you have to sort some of the issues out yourself while you hope to find someone to help keep pushing you forward.

In the end, it matters that we become our own motivators, our own mentors, and supporters. That you might not get that from people now and that is okay. Everyone is busy with one thing or the other and it is important that we look inward and seek greatness. The world can be better and we can also be better. But for now, we would have to go in all alone.

Start now. Start today. Look inward. Encourage yourself, motivate yourself and keep moving forward. In the end, the pattern would show itself and it would all make sense.

Thanks and God Bless.

Define Your Limits, Then Break Them
We look at something and we say this is impossible, then another person looks at it and says it is possible. You ask yourself what the difference between these two people are, and more time than none, it is about the belief not only about having the ability at the time to solve that problem. The person who says it is possible has only removed any limitations from his imagination and when that happens, limits become limitless.

So ask yourself today what your limits are. Have you ever told yourself that some things are not possible and that it is not in your place to make it happen? That all you can do is to sit and complain about why some things are not the way they are supposed to be. Then I ask you, for how long would you continue to complain and wish that everything was right.

Things do not just fall into place. You need to put in some effort to make it really happen. So ask yourself what is stopping you from putting in more effort and thought into making that action a possibility. It is important that we have the right answers, but sometimes, no one has all the answers and for those who do have some answers, they had to put in the effort and thought to get it. Why would you want your case to be different?

What your limits are would limit every aspect of your life and as long as you are confined by your limits, you would never be able to achieve those goals you have been imagining. And time flies so fast that you wonder where they went if you do not use them wisely. So ask yourself what the limits are and go out there to break them.

Understanding your limits and going out there to break them elevates your thoughts in a lot of areas. When you break your limit in one part of life, it makes you realize that it is possible to break the limits in other areas of your life. And when you break one limit, and the next, and the next, you are on your way. And you can start today.

Ask yourself about some of the limits you have created for yourself. Limits that would reduce your chances of achieving that goal. Then set out to break them one at a time. When you do, you realize it was never as tough as you imagined. It was all about your imagination and the more you can create and execute better imaginations, the better for you in achieving the great dreams and goals you have.

Life does not always go as planned and as such, we should learn to know that not everything always works out as planned. That in trying to break your limits, that you might not have the results you anticipated, but that is okay. Remember, nothing is ever really random. There is a higher plan. So keep pushing and keep moving forward. Limits are in our imaginations. Break them, break free and achieve your goals in life. And remember to always seek God on your path to breaking your limits.

Thanks and God Bless.

It Is Not Random
The more I learn about machines, the more I realize that things can never be random. Started learning how machines can be made intelligent sometimes ago and all I could imagine was how we became intelligent. If science keeps saying that we simply evolved over time as if time simply creates new possibilities, then we must have a rethink. Nothing is random.

If it would take science years to come up with a very abstract model of the brain, then it means that we have to begin to accept that there is indeed a creator for everything on earth. If there is indeed a creator for everything on earth, then nothing really is random. When we do not understand, it seems random, but when we do understand, we see the patterns and understand that everything that happens is never a coincidence, it was all planned to be the way it is by the best of planners.

So look around you today and appreciate the wonderful favors God has bestowed upon you and realize that everything around you is not random and that God has a plan. All we have to do is to put in our best and seek God’s favor in all our affairs. It is important that we seek God in all our affairs and to understand that everything happens according to God’s plan and nothing, in the end, was just random.

So seek God today as you begin all your affairs. Thank God for the life that you have been bestowed with and seek God’s protection and guidance. In the end, nothing is random. So we should behave as if there is a creator because there is indeed a creator.

Thanks and God Bless

The Dots Will Connect
Life sometimes seems like chaos and things happen that we cannot understand. Things happen that it seems as if it were all random, but you know what, they are not. The events in your life are not random but have been planned by the best of planners. All you need to do is to be as prayerful as you can be and put in the efforts possible.

Because when you look back, in the end, the dots do indeed connect. And that event that you do not think would lead you anywhere might be leading you to the partner of your life. That school that you do not want to attend might be teaching you something that you would need in another part of your life.

Events that happened to great people when looked in isolation sometimes do not make sense. But in the end, they are forever grateful for that single event that has changed their lives and their loved ones forever. So whatever happens today, know that it is part of the dots and that in the end, the events would all make sense and you would be happy it did happen.

All you need is to pray, put in the best possible, and always seek the positive side of things. It matters that you do because when these events happen, the positive side is not always obvious. But with more time and effort, the positive side becomes so obvious that you wonder why you did not see it earlier. You can only connect the dots when you keep going and keep pushing.

So continue to seek to connect the dots every day and as such, continue to seek God, be the best possible, and seek for the positive side. In the end, the dots would connect. Have a blessed day.

This is part of the Internet Society and partners’ commitment to ensure that the next generation of Internet leaders are primed to advance an Internet of opportunity for all. As a result of these efforts, many young people are now contributing to the Youth Special Interest Group and to regional meetings, such as the African Internet Summit, EuroDIG, and others.

Visit http://www.opportunitydesk.org/2018/07/04/internet-society-youthigf-program-2018/ for more info.

Be part of the Internet Youth Forum in Paris this November for an all funded event
http://www.opportunitydesk.org/2018/07/04/internet-society-youthigf-program-2018/

You Have To Keep Pushing
The world is like riding a bicycle. To keep moving, you have to keep pushing. It is not enough that you exerted effort yesterday. Yesterday is gone and to continue to remain on that bicycle, you need to put in a new effort as if you did not put in any effort yesterday. So when you want to relax because you have given in so much effort, remember that you are relaxing only for a while and you would need to get back into the game as soon as possible.

Also when you fall off the bicycle, you do not sit there complaining. Because complaining does not move you any further. So when you fall in life, remember that falling is temporary unless you make it permanent. Remember you can rise as fast as you fall if you do not remain in the same spot. So many relationships between life and riding a bicycle. At some point, you cannot even ride the bicycle. Now you are in charge.

So remember that it takes a while to get used to some things in life and that is fine. So while you are still falling, remember that to achieve your goals, you need to keep pushing until the finish line. And for you, there is no finish line, you finish one round only to be greeted by another round. So keep going, keep pushing and remember that you are on a bicycle. Your position on the bicycle depends on if you keep moving or give up.

And sometimes, all you need to do is to get a better bicycle. So do not focus only on exerting effort. Sometimes you need to check your bicycle and determine if you are on the right bicycle and if the bicycle has all you need. Sometimes, it is not all about the effort, it is about the medium. So consider both while trying to achieve anything in life. It matters that we never give up and keep pushing because we all do not know what the future holds.

All we can do is to try out something and hope the future spans that way. So start now, continue on that task you wanted to give up on or start that task you have always procrastinated on. The time is now.

Thanks and God Bless.

The Little Things Matter
Sometimes we seek to find very big moments to be happy but it is the little things around us that make all the difference. The little smile your friend smiles at you, the little calls you receive from your parents and a whole lot more. All these, in the end, add up to make up for some of the most wonderful experiences we have in life.

So look around you today and be grateful for all that you have. Realize that some of the few things you undervalue are what someone somewhere is seeking. The peace you are currently enjoying is what some countries cannot wait to have. The salty food you are trying to pass down your throat is what someone else is praying for.

Look around and be grateful for the little things because we sometimes value them only when they are gone. The air you are able to breathe, the family you are able to call your own. Love and appreciate all that you have now before they are gone forever. Look at life from a positive angle and enjoy all that you have. Someone somewhere is seeking for what you have.

Have a blessed night. Thanks and God Bless.

What Is Your Greatest Strength?
We face challenges every day and it sometimes weighs us down. We are so down that we sometimes feel it is not possible to proceed. However, the only thing I have realized is that no matter how good we become in anything we do, challenges would still come. It seems as if challenges have been wired into almost any task we want to embark on.

Probably challenges are what makes the distinction between the good and the bad guys. Was just wondering if everything was easy, everyone would have done it and it probably would not have made sense. So it matters that challenges are present to separate the good from the bad. So when you face challenges, realize that it is a process to determine whether you are among the good or the bad guys.

When you face challenges, look at where your strengths are and focus on that. The more we focus on the areas we cannot control, the more we seem to lose control of the situation. But when we focus on our strengths, the weakness, in the end, becomes so little that it does not matter anymore. What you focus on materializes. That is the key.

So if you want greatness to manifest in you, focus on the areas where you can achieve greatness. No matter how much we complain about our situation, someone is thriving in that situation. So it means again that the situation is not the most determinant factor. Our focus is.

So ask yourself today what your strength is and focus on it. It would not be easy, realize that the challenges are what makes you stronger and better. So look to challenges as a way to find out what your strengths are. Look at your focus and never look back. Focus on your strengths.

Ask yourself today what your strengths are and follow it. Thanks and God Bless.

Experience Life Differently
I recently met two people who experienced the same thing at some point in life. In the end, they came out as different people. When you meet both of them, they are experienced in what they have encountered, but you see two different people coming out of the same experience. I wondered to myself what the cause of the difference was, and then it dawned on me.

We cannot determine how life would go with us, so the only thing we can do is to determine how we are going to approach everything in life. Something that we can control is how we feel, so all we have to do is to set our feelings right and ensure that no matter what happens, we continue to give in only the best that we can ever give.

People say I have experienced a lot which is why who I am today. Sometimes, I simply say what you have experienced was just bringing out who you really are, not really changing you into something else. So the next time you want to say you became what you are because of your experience, remember what you experienced was simply unearthing what really was inside of you.

Why I believe this to be true is that when two people face the same condition, they usually do not come out as the same people. If the experience was really what made one person, why did it not make the other person? So I speak to you today to experience life differently, having the highest level of love and optimism that you can ever have. It matters that we have a great feeling about life because in the end, the experiences we encounter just bring out the real us.

So seek today to look at life differently even when things are not going the way you planned. Someone else could go through the same condition you are in and become better than what you would end up becoming, find what that person would do and take a similar path. In the end, it matters that we create a better mindset and feeling about what happens in our environment, because we sometimes think our environment change us, but no, we are simply being refined by our environment into what we really are. We just never found the right condition to be that.

So begin today to look at life from the good side and realize that whatever condition you are currently in does not determine who you would be, your response to the experience is all that matters. Seek God, find how you can be better and go for that. Remember, we can never undervalue the impact of the environment and our conditions, but in the end, our reactions win.

Go out there and win over your situation. Thanks and God Bless.

Just Do Something
Been on my computer for the past 30 minutes thinking of what to write about. And it got me thinking on how sometimes we sit there waiting for a spark of inspiration to light up our day when we already have all we need to get started. It sometimes does not come as a magical moment, all you have to do is to start something and eventually, you would get somewhere.

This has really got me thinking in areas where I am still waiting for something to happen. It could have indeed already happened if I stopped waiting and simply go for it. It matters that we stop waiting for the wonderful opportunity and simply step out and do something. Just doing something most of the time would take you from where to are to somewhere else and when you do a little more, you would realize that you are finally where you wanted to be all along.

Life does not always appear as we picture it in the movies but we can do something towards making it happen. So I speak to you reading this today while waiting for that wonderful opportunity to step up and get out there. Just do something and in the end, it would matter. It would matter that you never allowed yourself to remain in one place at all times. It matters that you keep pushing and keep moving forward.

But be careful to know when you need to not only be putting in strength but also applying wisdom. It matters that you are not in one place, but once in motion, learn not only to apply strength but to learn to apply wisdom in all that you are doing. In the end, it would make sense that we did not simply sit and wait for the opportunity to come to us. We stepped out towards the opportunity and by God’s grace, we got it.

Never despair in what God has in place for you, but also learn that you need to put in the effort before anything comes out. You need to put in the time and not sit there waiting for the wonderful opportunity to come. You have to go get it. Start now and have a blessed day ahead of you.

Thanks and God Bless.

MrJavaS:
As a computer science student,I have come to realize that the course is very lucrative but extremely underestimated by many people.

However,I think CS is as lucrative if not more than the likes of medicine and surgery.The educational system of this country doesn't really pay attention to skills.Innovation is not encouraged and everything depends on garbage in garbage out.

I have seen CS students that cannot even operate computers,talk less of building static websites (HTML and CSS).Why the hell should we continue to remain average and still complain about the unemployment in this country?

The truth is that we all need to sit up and improve our skills.We have very few people who can actually write really good code.I think we all need to improve our skills and stop wasting time on unnecessary activities.

Wow, what a fantastic suggestion. Cannot present this any better than you have done. Keep up the good work boss.

Fail Fast Or Win Fast
In life, we want to make the safest decision every time and as such, we try as much as possible to consider all the options that we have before making any decision. This is fine, but we sometimes wait too long and this is bad. It is important that we make decisions wisely, but to also make them as fast as we can.

Take life as a school where you can only get better with more practice, if you fail to take enough practice, you might just end up thinking you know something, but a simple example would floor you. Same as life, we are all practicing and it is important that we sometimes give up the fear and move on. No one can ever tell what the outcome would be, so try the best that is humanly possible, then make the decision and move on.

Spending too much time on making a decision is not a guarantee to make the best decision and also spending too little time is not. Realize that other factors also play a role in making decisions. So seek to find what those other factors in your decision are and stop focusing only on getting more time.

One other way to really make very good decisions and move on is to surround yourself with people you really look up to. Seek their advice on the matter and try to conclude as soon as you can. Many dreams are still in the waiting room waiting for the owners of the dreams to make up their minds. Not very sure what would happen, make the mistake and fail fast. When you fail, you get to learn that one more method does not work, and you have one less path to worry about.

Essentially, it matters that we consider our options before taking any decision, but never stay too long trying to make a decision. No one really knows the outcome and you would have to try before you find out. In the end, it is important that you realize that failure does not define who you are, it is just an event that happens even to the best of us. So look at the case closely, make a decision and move on.

If it is a bad decision, you learn from it. Then you never have to make the same mistake again. If it is a good decision, you have won and you have more time to do some other things. If you make so many bad decisions, you eventually would be left with making good decisions, and if you make good decisions quite enough, it means you have improved.

So it matters that we consider our decisions properly but never remain in a fix about making a decision. Make that decision today and move on. Learn from it and keep going. The goal is to fail as fast as you can, learn from your failure, and get better. So that you can make better decisions tomorrow.

Start now, consider your options. Make a decision, fail fast or win fast. Thanks and God Bless.

Can We Predict The Future?
Notice: Read with Caution
The question I ask myself every day is if we can ever predict the future. But maybe that is the wrong question to ask. A new question I ask myself is can we predict the past. What do we need to be able to predict what happened in the past? If we can indeed predict the past, then we can also predict 2 seconds from the past, 3 months from the past and probably then we can find ourselves predicting the future.

But to be able to predict anything about the world would sound impossible. The sheer number of possibilities in the world is so mind-blowing that we can just give up on knowing anything about the world. Yes, the world seems to be in chaos since one outcome somewhere can change the entire direction of the universe for eternity. Imagine what would have happened if Hitler’s parent never met. Would there have been world war 2, would 6 million Jews have died, would Israel seek to have Palestine? A lot more of these questions show how difficult it is to predict the future.

But this simply means we cannot predict because we do not have all the information about every other thing. So does it mean that if we have all the information about everything, we can be able to predict the future? Our exact and precise future. Well, the answer is only if we try. For me, I do not really seek to only find a way to predict the future, but what if we could make outstanding discoveries along the way and probably realize that the world was just a fractal pattern. Something that keeps repeating itself over time.

So we might not have to study all of humanity to be able to predict the future, but be able to study just about a small part of it and then the small part replicates itself into the big world that we have today. In essence, they say history repeats itself and all you have to do is to learn from it so that you do not repeat it. Probably by learning from it, you have just learned a different part of itself and as such also repeats itself.

When you look at it, a certain set of people would always behave the same way. So in essence, people repeat a lot of the things they do and as such, might just have been a pattern all along. Could it be possible that someone understands your everyday pattern that they can repeat exactly what you are going to do? When we can have that, and have it for everything on earth, then we can begin to move towards predicting the future.

We can predict the future since we can predict what happened in the past with a great level of accuracy. The past would repeat itself in the future if the same exact things happen again. So in essence, we might not really need to bother about learning so much about the future as much as learn more about the past. In the end, the past and the future are just a fragment of time.

In the end, the world is all about patterns and all we can do to predict it is to understand the pattern so well that we can repeat it. For me, this would be the greatest achievement in the world if we are able to predict even a second into the future.

Thanks and God Bless.