The Most Neglected Success Advice

Hi guys, my apologies for not being consistent so far with writing on this blog. I really have a lot on my hands right now and things have been happening so fast. But nevertheless, I will always make out some time to share some of the success insights I come across on this great blog.

Today, I'll be sharing with you one of the most neglected advice to succeed in life. A lot of motivational speakers and life coaches will usually say to you: "Work hard, remain consistent and never give up." That's the main highlight of most of the success advices you get.

They keep saying to you "Work without any days off," "work now while they party, you will reap the benefits later." and they always remind you that the darkest hour is usually just before dawn, so you should never think of quitting.

It's not like they are wrong about what they are saying.. It's just that sometimes this mainstream advice is too overrated and makes it seem as if success in life is just about hardwork.

By now, I guess if you've been following this blog you already know that some of the hardest working people are not the most successful. Success isn't just about hardwork as most of us have been programmed to believe.

It definitely involves some 'hard(if you want to consider it hard) work" anyway.. And I'm not saying working isn't involved in success. What I'm saying is that it's not the only factor. And that's why I'm sharing with you this particular success advice which I believe is one of the most neglected and key factors for a man's success. Read the next sentences as many times as you want and let them sink deep down into your subconscious mind:

You need people! You must build relationships with people if you want to succeed. You can't do without people, no matter what career you want to choose.

People matter and the way you relate with them as a human being matters as well. You can work as hard as you want, but if you don't at least try to relate well and build some level of relationship with other people around you, I think you're greatly limiting your chances of winning in life.

You must consciously care and build quality relationship with people. It doesn't just have to be family or close associates. You should try to go outside your comfort zone and genuinely care about the people.

One piece of information, one referral, one signature, one good recommendation from any human being can be the missing link to what you've been looking for all your life! And you have been busy working all your life for it when it could have been just starting up a conversation with a neighbor that could link you up speedily with it.

This life is like one huge puzzle game. You pick the pieces as you move.. Most of the missing pieces in your own puzzle are actually with some people who surprisingly may be right under your nose. There's no machine or psychic to tell you who has the link or not.. lol.  You have to navigate life yourself and find those pieces for yourself. How would you find it if you barely relate with people?

And how do you relate and build good relationships with people: Your words, your acts of kindness or assistance, your occasional gifts and going out of your way to show genuine concern over what's going on in their personal lives.

Look, people feel more connected to someone who really cares about their well-being than someone who only cares about his work.

If you take a peek at the lives of very successful people, you will find out that these people don't joke with attending important people functions, going for major parties, participating in community meetings, checking up on close friends and family etc.

Despite the fact they may seem very busy, but guess what? They still find time to socialize, communicate and mingle with other people. The successful people know this very well and that's why they stay on top.

If you're a people person, you'll hardly lose. Most of those people who you have built a trustworthy relationship with over the years will always be ready to stand by you and for you. You will be an individual who is not just on his own but an individual who is united with people.

And guess what... If you were working hard towards something and let's say you know about 100 people who you have built a good relationship with, you have multiplied your chances of achieving what you're working for by 100!

With effective communication, these people will know what you're involved with or seeking for and they will easily render you any information they get that can help you make progress. Combine that with your hardwork and you're flying high in no time!

In our world today, we are becoming too individual. Most of us only care  about ourselves, our pockets and our problems. We don't really care the slightest about saying a friendly "hi" to that neighbor or even find out why he or she is looking so sad. We hurry off to work, come back and we stay on our own.

Does it really help us that much? For most people, they think that staying on their own will help them avoid problems and will make them happier or better disposed to achieve their goals. But really, does it? Is any one of us really happy being totally alone and disconnected from people around us? It's a rhetorical question we all need to ask ourselves.

If you've been working too hard and not been networking or communicating well with people you come across, please just try this exercise for this week: Try to start conversations and genuinely care about at least three different people(who you come across with daily) for this week alone. You'll be surprised at the results before the end of this week.

Care and build a strong relationship with other people rather than just yourself and keep on winning.

This blog will always be dedicated to your success..

Until next time,

Ikechukwu

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Why You Have To Care

An insight today while looking on the mirror inspired me to write this blog post on why you have to care. And I hope it doesn't end up as one of those  motivational articles online, but rather inspires you to act right.

Today, I took a long look at myself in the mirror. I haven't done this is a long while as I have let myself become so caught up in my daily activities. So I was pretty surprised at the changes I noticed.

My hair had become less dark in color, coily and quite rough. This was new because I know how my hair normally looked. I realized that I hadn't really been paying good attention to my hair for a while now and that's why it decided to grow and look the way it wanted.

What has happened? I stopped caring for my hair the way I used to. This is very important to take note of. My hair won't continue looking all nice, awesome and well taken care of if I don't care about it enough through appropriate planning and required action.

Just because I had forgotten to care about it, I won't enjoy the benefits of the hair looking great.

Which leads me to this: Whatever you don't care about(which is important to your well-being) will get worse!

The reverse is the case for the things that aren't important to you or the things that tend to bring you down.

When you don't care about people that want to talk you down or say negative things about you, you'll feel much BETTER! It's detrimental to care about negativity in any form. Caring about negative things is what leads to worry.

So the rule is: Care about those things that make you better or feel good about yourself in any way and don't care about the things that make you feel terrible.


It's not just about our looks. If you don't care about your business and monitor its growth, your business will perform worse. It's a natural law.

If you stop caring about cleaning up your house or washing your clothes, these things will definitely get worse by becoming very dirty and stinky.

If you stop caring about your fitness and stop exercising your body or hitting the gym. Your body will go out of shape and start adding more fat to anywhere it feels like.

If you stop making that young man or young woman that you love feel the love you have for them, the person might start behaving in a way that you don't like.

Now get me, the fact that you have to care doesn't mean you have to OVER CARE! I can't spend all day caring about my hair or apply nice hair creams to it. I mean, I've got a lot more to do.

I can't call my loved ones 24 hours everyday simply to tell them I love them. At a point, they may think I'm crazy. And they need their breathing space.

I can't just spend the week cleaning up my apartment all the time. I mean, who does that?

The important thing here is to make sure your CARE is REGULAR!

It doesn't have to be TOO MUCH or TOO LITTLE.. Just ensure that it's regular to keep the momentum.

Decided to recreate a regular routine for taking good care of my hair and hopefully I know it will come back to its admirable state. I have just not cared enough about it for a while.

So let this blog post be a reminder to everyone of us. Sometimes we are carried away by our goals, dreams and aspirations that we FORGET to CARE about those things that look little, which we have to care about.

Our goals and motives are very important. However, let's try as much as we can to still create time to make our "care" regular. It's difficult to really keep up with showing care to the things that matter to us, but once we get it right, it becomes a very good habit.

And no matter how carried away we get, we will find out that we still regularly care about those beautiful things in our lives which we have to care about.

Don't forget to show care to the things that really matter to you and just keep winning!

20 Inspiring Picture Quotes From Goalcast

Have you heard of Goalcast? Well if you haven't, Goalcast is an inspiring community for achievers dedicated to helping you improve all aspects of your life. The community provides practical advice, resources and the motivation to help you realize your full potential. They believe that anyone has the potential to reach their goals no matter how ambitious and hope to be a source of motivation for people on their journey towards success.

I discovered them sometime last year and saw that they are driven by a similar mission as The Bold Winner's Blog, so I started following and sharing some of their content. In this blog post, I want to share a collection of 20 picture quotes from them which are designed using some famous people to keep you motivated and inspired in the daily pursuit of your goals. Enjoy:

So there you have it. I hope you were motivated by them? If you'll like to see more of their content, you can follow them on Instagram @Goalcast and on facebook using the same username. You can also check out their website: www.goalcast.com for more information or content.

Stay inspired and keep winning!

6 Life Lessons From Playing Tetris

I believe most of you already know the game of Tetris. It is usually a default game in most Java phones and early old games. If you don't know about the game of Tetris, a quick Google Search would better enlighten you. But here's a brief description of the game:

Tetris is a tile-matching puzzle video game, originally designed and programmed by Russian game designer Alexey Pajitnov. The Tetris® game requires players to strategically rotate, move, and drop a procession of Tetriminos(four tile block structure) that fall into the rectangular Matrix at increasing speeds. Players attempt to clear as many lines as possible by completing horizontal rows of blocks without empty space, but if the Tetriminos surpass the Skyline the game is over! You can play or read more about it here.

In simplest terms, the game of Tetris is about arranging falling shapes into horizontal lines which disappear once completed. You could turn these falling shapes or move the left or right. But you can't change the falling shape.

I have played and grown up with this game many years ago, however when I played it recently, my eyes were somehow opened to deep insights and I came to spot many life lessons from it. So here are the life lessons I learnt playing the game of Tetris..

1. Make the best out of whatever you're given.
In Tetris, Tetriminos fall from above. They're come in different structures. It could be a straight line, square, L-shaped or cross like shape. You have no control over the falling shapes you're given, but you have control over where to place it and its orientation.

This reminds me of the phrases: "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade," "You may have no control over circumstances, but you have control over how you react to them," and "We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails."

In life, we have no control over what we are given. You have been born into a country you didn't choose. You have wealthy, poor or average parents which you didn't choose. You didn't choose the way you look, your complexion, height or natural talents. You were given these things naturally.

The successful outcome of your life is greatly dependent on how well you choose to use these these things you were given which you didn't choose.

Many people fail because they spend a better part of their life rejecting and hating on what they were given. Instead of making any progress with the little they have been given wherever they find themselves, they keep comparing themselves with others and they never see anything good about themselves or their situations.

You see, we are all created equal. And wherever you have found yourself and whatever gifts you possess is exactly linked to your path to success. There's a reason why you have been positioned and gifted in that manner. 

It is by using these things you have for good that you find out the real reason why you were placed there.

Tetriminos will keep falling from the sky without you choosing them. That's how life is. You don't get to choose certain things. But the little you are allowed to choose, make the best use of it.

2. You may not always get what you want
This is an unforgettable lesson. While playing the game, you may tend to expect or wish for certain kind of shapes which will easily suit the arrangements you are making. However, you may not necessary be getting those.

As a matter of fact, you might suddenly be getting all other shapes except the exact one you really desire. What do you do? Do you quit? You just have to make use of what you're getting to build what you want.

So it is in life. In life, we wish for many things. Even when we get some of those things, we desire for more. Leading economists have argued that man's wants are insatiable. We always desire. However, if we are to keep our sanity and mental health, we must understand that we may not always get the exact things we desire.

If your life is structured in such a way that you cannot do without getting exactly what you expect, then failure is inevitable. To succeed like a bold winner, you must understand that things may not always go as planned and you must make counter arrangements just in case it doesn't go as you planned.

This is not lack of faith. It is simply preparedness for any outcome.

This understanding leads me to the next lesson:

3. Plan for the unexpected
In the Tetris game, you have to plan for the unexpected kind of shapes. While arranging blocks, you must try to make room for any kind of shapes which could show up so that you won't be in for unpleasant surprises.

If you fail to do this and you're always expecting the game to give you an expected shape, it won't be too long before you lose. And you will be unable to do anything because you didn't plan for anything else than what you expected. Don't be that incapacitated person.

That's how it is in our lives. Life is a much more bigger game with so many uncertainties and possibilities. Never in the history of our world has there been a time when serious planning is of such high priority.

We must learn to plan for the unexpected. You can't really prepare for everything, but you can prepare to a good extent for a number of outcomes in your endeavors.

Learn to stop putting all your eggs in one basket. If you're applying to one job and you've gotten invited for a test or interview, don't stop applying to others until that one is certain to have worked out.

You have very important files you can't afford to lose on your phone, don't gamble with it. Anything can happen. So if the files are so important, copy them to a laptop, hard drive or an email. It doesn't mean you believe any bad thing will happen. You're only getting prepared. What if a virus attacks the phone's operating system?

You must plan for the unexpected in life. That's the way to sail through. 

4. Time is precious. Don't waste it thinking, take action!
When you get to some levels in the game, the speed of falling Tetriminos(blocks) will increase. You will now have to think faster as they show up to find out the best place to place them in your building.

Here time becomes of the essence because if you take too long to think, the block will fall and land anywhere which could potentially ruin what you're building. So you have to think fast and direct it fast enough.

Here we see the importance of being time conscious and not thinking too much.

Thinking too much could lead to a disaster because you lose the time which you could've acted upon.

In life, there are situations that require us to act well in a limited period of time. The situations could range from your relationships, career, education, business or even your lifestyle.

You must understand the time involved in any of those situations and know how quickly you should come up with a solution and carry it through.

Many people have missed lots of opportunities in their lives because they didn't utilize their time well. Some people wasted their youthful years, the best time they may have used to develop themselves for opportunities in the future and they end up regretting it. Would you rather be found regretting?

Someone said that "time is money." I believe he said it because he understands many people place so much value on money, but fail to see the value in time! In some cases, you should spend money to buy you some precious time! Take your time seriously.

5. No matter how bad the situation looks, you can conquer it if you don't lose hope.
While playing Tetris, Sometimes I built a total disaster. The blocks lie around with poor arrangement and it's very difficult to see how I can rearrange everything to clear up the mess. But sometimes it happens.

I bounce back from a seemingly hopeless position to a very good position! How? It's hope and conscious action.

One thing I found out that put me in bad positions while playing Tetris is not concentrating. I may be talking to someone, trying to listen to news or warm up food. And then I start stacking up rubbish.

But when I suddenly become conscious of what I'm doing and play with focus, I bounce back to a better position.

In life, some of us find ourselves in bad positions because of the mistakes we made in the past. These mistakes could be as a result of our lack of concentration or ignorance. Whatever the cause, we must not lose hope.

One thing that could take you from a bad situation to a better one is your consciousness. You must suddenly become very conscious of exactly why you've been in that bad situation. And also be very conscious of what you have to do to turn it around. A religious life could help you build this type of consciousness.

It is that consciousness that will help you become much more careful with your actions and see the opportunities that surround you.

Many people can't see opportunities passing them by everyday because they are simply not conscious of it.

No matter how bad your situation looks, don't lose hope. Channel your focused consciousness on it.

6. To succeed, you must learn to build
The game of Tetris is similar to laying bricks as in building a house. The saying goes, "As you lay your bed, so will you lie on it." Building is conscious activity. You don't build anyhow. It takes planning, foresight and intelligent arrangement. It is when you build with these qualities that you become successful in whatever you're building.

If you play Tetris without building well in an arranged manner, you'll lose very quickly.

In life, we have to build. We are constantly being given something in our lives. It could be in the form of skills, abilities and etcetera.

If we do nothing with these things we are given or we despise them, we will lose and end up with nothing but bitterness.

Building is the way to live! If you build with the things you've been given, no matter how little you think it may seem, you will experience success in your life and you'll be surprised at how doors of greater opportunities will be opened to you.

The key to your success in life is building with what you're given. Hating what you're given and refusing to build will only make you fail quicker than anybody else. Love what you have been given and build with it. Trust me, you'll be grateful.

So those are the insights I gained from playing Tetris again after many years. If you're inspired by it, share with at least one person.

Stay sharp and keep winning!
Until next time,
Nigel.

Be New Every Single Day

All progress comes from our being new..
A musician keeps singing new songs.. An engineer keeps innovating new designs. A scientist keeps carrying out new experiments.

You don't have to carry over the past with you everyday you wake up.

Be new every single day. Don't be the same old person you were yesterday..

It's only when you're new every day that you experience miracles.

The past is usually a burden to us and when we stop letting it drag us behind, we become free to experience the beautiful things in the new.

Many people are stuck with either the good or bad experiences of their past that they cannot even live.

When you keep thinking about the past, you keep reliving it in your mind and you miss the beautiful opportunities to experience greater things which the present always offers you.

Many other people who have accomplished certain notable things in their lives tend to feel that they are complete or that they have arrived.

Once you start thinking that you're complete you start becoming dead.

Aspire for more and more everyday. There should be no point where you should get to and stop trying. Each level you attain calls you to a higher level.

Don't be the same old person you were yesterday. You can always be better than your old self and every single moment of today offers you that chance.

You see, the reason why some of us are still trapped in the same circumstances is simply because we have not changed our attitudes or tried to improve ourselves.

The circumstances you experience outside of you is often a mirror of your own person life.

If you find yourself in the same circumstances over and over again, you need to change and become new.

You can move a new neighborhood, you can change the way you dress, you can become more careful about your words, you can try a new method of doing something you've always done or you can make new friends.

There are many ways we can renew ourselves and our attitudes. And all it takes is conscious action. Be conscious of what you really want to achieve.

Be conscious of the things you always do. And try to improve them.

We must not let the circumstances or achievements of the past keep us stuck. We must celebrate our successes, but it shouldn't make us to relax and stop seeking to improve.

Because life is all about improvement and renewal. Reptiles shed off their old skin to reveal their new bodies. Plants die and their seeds grow again to renew them.

We must never get stuck at any point in mind or in body.

Always be new everyday and keep winning!

The Hoarders Mentality

A lot of people have this tendency of hoarding things and always keeping unnecessary stuff to themselves. They find it difficult to let things they don't need anymore go. Rather than let someone else have it, they prefer to hoard it. This is what I call the hoarders mentality.

A hoarder is more like a miserly person. He or she believes that it will never be enough for them and will continue to save up unnecessary things. But this is a big trap and demonstrates a poor mindset.

Winners know and believe that they will never run dry. This doesn't mean that they waste their resources, rather they aren't afraid to let go of the things they no longer need. And indeed, they never run dry. Beliefs are incredibly powerful.

Many of the things some of us still keep with ourselves aren't needed anymore by us, yet we just leave them with us for no good reason. You go to some homes, you find a large box filled with old clothes that are no longer in use. Why not share?

You bought a new gadget and won't be needing the old one, why not give it away to someone else that may need it rather than pack it up in the basement?

Winners usually live like Spartans. They only use or keep exactly what they need. Whatever they don't need has no business with them. As a matter of fact, allowing yourself get attached to things you should have given away keeps you lagging behind.

Winners are bold people who keep looking forward to new and better things deserving of their attention and time. As a human being who is always moving and changing positively, it's important you don't let attachment to physical things hold you back.

By giving away everything you don't need, you make room for exactly what you need! When you keep hoarding things, you keep yourself from progressing. Our mindsets should be reflected in our surrounding.

A positive mindset aspiring for new experiences, should be matched with surroundings that are continually renewed. These surroundings give good feedback to your subconscious mind and strengthens your mindset to stay anew.

But a surrounding that stays the same always, will subconsciously keep you thinking the same way. How do you renew your surroundings? By taking away the things you don't need and make few changes whenever you can.

You see, when you're always making your surroundings new by taking away what you don't need, you subconsciously train your mind to keep improving every single day without even knowing it.

Your surroundings must reflect your mindset.

So learn to take stuff you don't need away. It distracts you. Share those things to neighbors, friends or less privileged people who may need them. You will strengthen your relationship with these people by doing so and more especially your mindset for success. A win-win situation!

We shouldn't be hoarding things unnecessarily.

Hoarding things doesn't just pertain to properties, you shouldn't hoard paying people nice compliments or using your words to make them feel better. You shouldn't hoard your care and affection.

Yeah, we know that there are people who won't appreciate it when you care, but still care for people anyway. You're doing it for yourself. You never know how far your words can go to change someone's mind.

Many have been saved from committing suicide and other dangerous acts because of a nice word somebody said to them.

So when you're moved to say something nice or comforting to someone, just say it. It doesn't take anything away from you. Paying that compliment or saying something nice doesn't make you lesser than that person. You just make your world a lil much better as you've made that person's world.

If we can learn to love, share and give freely without holding back, we will make room for these things to keep manifesting in our lives. We will see that our minds won't be cluttered by things of the past because we've not cluttered our world with hoarded things.

We will find it easier to accomplish our goals and we build strong networks with people around us. I'll end with this short update by my friend Shola:

"The Hoarders

An aunt of mine died recently. She was a widow. She also had no child. She died in her late 50s. She has been buried.

When the family went to clean up her property, they were amazed. She was a hoarder. The type you watch on American and British reality shows.

 She had stuff filling her apartments. Piles of new materials. Piles of expired food products. Piles of gifts and souvenirs dating 10 years.

6 television sets. 5 new freezers. 4 new generating sets. New gas cookers. Kerosine stoves of the 80s. All new. Expired vegetable oil.

Decaying bags of rice. And so forth. There was no sitting space in a 4 bedroom apartment. Littered with junk.

Plenty of stuff was thrown away. Many shared by family members who had no clue on how she lived. I am certain she has a decent amount in the bank.

She was prudent. Almost much too prudent.

 Bordering on...

Many of us are like her. We can’t give away stuff that we do not need. We pile “junk” that might be useful to another.

We have clothes in wardrobes all over. We hoard everything we own. Lace of '92, gele of '88.
Many even hoard love and praise.

They hoard affection. No one is deserving of love. No one is deserving of help. When they lose, one they love, they cry, because they hoarded words of affection and more.

Life is meant to be lived. That we will die is certain. The uncertainty is when and how. The wise one lives everyday as the last.

This is not to be read as encouraging wastrels. Or failing to save for tomorrow. Empty your barns regularly to the needy so you also can have new stock.

At the end, the only thing you take with you, is your soul. Nourish that."

Inspiring wasn't it? His update inspired this blog post. Let's learn to share, give and love. It takes nothing from us and gives us everything.

Throw away your hoarders mentality this second and keep winning!

March On To Your Goals

It is a New month. It's the month of March. It's a period when you've got to ask yourself where exactly you're marching on to. Would you march on to your goals this month or would you rather fall back to your comfort zone? It's a question you should answer yourself.

It's already two months away this year, how time flies! We celebrated the New Year just like yesterday and we all made our plans and resolutions not long ago. But hey, it's already March, the third month of the year!

If you've been reading this blog, I believe it would be pointless to start reminding you of how important your time is as a factor of success. Time as you already know doesn't wait for nobody.

Whether you lie in bed all day or you go out every day and work towards what you want, time doesn't give a shit. Time is always on time and it doesn't stop for anyone. So the ball has always been in your court as regards the way you manage this time.

Today is the third day of March, thirty one days in January plus twenty eight days in February gives us fifty nine days.. Add three days to that and you got sixty two(62) days gone.

62 days gone like a flash. Ask yourself how closer you are to where you have always wanted to be after these days. If you don't have anywhere you want to be, well, that's fine, you can as well waste the remaining 303 days left. You shouldn't even be reading this blog.

But as a reader of this blog, I can bet that you want to be somewhere. I can bet that you're different from the rest of them out there who are so comfortable being stuck in their comfort zone. You have a vision and, a target and a big dream for yourself.

That's why it's important you ask yourself exactly what progress you have made so far. Maybe you've really been trying your best and working hard towards the goals you've set for yourself this year and you're not seeing results.

I want you to not worry and do not despair. For the fact that you were able to discipline yourself to work on those goals within these 62 days, you're already making progress. Whether you've seen results or not doesn't really matter for now.

You've already made progress because you worked towards those goals you set out in the beginning of the year.

What you should do right now is to go back to the drawing table and find out exactly what is wrong. Why aren't you making progress? Try to think about how you've been going about your efforts. Just take some time to think about approaching those goals through a better strategy.

Believe me, if you give some thought to it, you will definitely get some brilliant ideas and you may figure out where you're going wrong. What you need right now is to re-strategize your methods.

If you really care about those goals, you must not give up on them or relent because it appears you've not made progress. As I said, you've made progress by at least trying it.

There are many who haven't even tried. They're not even aware that they could experience what you're experiencing right now, they're still in the dark.

You're already steps ahead of them because in the process of this experience you're getting right now, you'll discover the best way to go about those goals. And you're already closer to success. But for those who haven't tried, they are still ignorant.

So be glad my friend, every disappointment is indeed a blessing in disguise because you get a chance to learn something and be better than you were.

If you're a religious person, you should also try to strengthen your relationship with your creator. Pray often and perform your acts of charity to the less privileged.

I personally don't really like to attribute challenges or setbacks to spiritual causes because I believe that despite our beliefs, we still have our individual roles to play as human beings. However, there are certain things beyond our control of which faith and devotion brings us solace.

That doesn't change the fact that as human beings we shouldn't try our own best. My problem with some people who pretend to be too religious is that they often attribute everything to spiritual causes rather than look critically at it to make changes.

They don't like to accept any responsibility, they depend on their beliefs or creator to do everything for them. I don't believe that is a true way to be devoted. You should be devoted, but you must not neglect the part you must play.

So, when all seems not to be working fine, by all means pray harder, but ensure that while praying, you also think deeply about the problems you're facing and try your best to work on them. Don't go and relax, then expect God to do everything for you.

If you've made some consistent progress within these days, congratulations, keep it up. Making progress alone is already enough motivation to keep up with what you're doing. Just keep on keeping on.

Some may have forgotten their New Year resolutions and plans. They're over with the euphoria of the New Year. They've dropped everything and now they're back to the same person they were. I don't wish this for anyone of you reading this article.

Positive change is something that must be constant in our lives as bold winners. At every moment, we must be changing to better humans. Every time we stop changing to become better, we become stagnant. And whatever remains stagnant dies and becomes stale.

A river that doesn't flow, stinks a lot because it remains the same. A river that flows is constantly fresh and alive. The movement of the river is what washes away those things that could make it stale.

So, just like the river, we must be constantly flowing and changing positively. Every time we decide to relax and go back to the way we had been in the past, we're standing the risk of being stagnant and stale.

Therefore, if you've not been working on those goals you set for yourself at the year's beginning, you better start this second to do something different towards it's achievement if you care about any progress this year. If you've forgot them, better find the book you wrote them down on and be conscious of them once again.

This is the month of March and this is a reminder to you to march on to your goals.

Believe me it's all about marching on, it's all about constantly flowing like a river, it's about movement. Life is all about movement.

And what are you moving towards? You're moving towards your dreams. Your moving towards where you desire to be. You're moving towards prosperity, achievement, love, joy, goodness and happiness.

I wish you the best of the month. Keep marching, keep moving and never stop winning!

Learn To See Beyond Money

Our world today seems crazed about money. When you ask the average person what he or she wants, you're certain to hear the word "money" in 90% of the responses you get. We've become so obsessed with getting so much money that very few people can see beyond it these days.

It's understandable why people seem to be so crazed about the cash. With so much money at your disposal, you can get anything you want, you can travel to places, you can buy any stuff, you can live big the way you want. So, money seems to be everything, right?

Well, in this article, I will try to make you see reasons why money isn't everything and why you should learn to see beyond money if you want to make sustainable progress in your life.

Money is very important and we really need it in our lives. I totally agree. I also need money and more money as well. However, I am not willing to sacrifice my ultimate happiness, fulfilment, peace of mind and strong relationships for the sake of money.

There was a story of a trader in a market who was fond of cheating anyone who came to his shop to buy things. For instance, if you wanted to buy something sold for 10 bucks, he would sell it to you at 100 bucks and he would go home happy.

Another trader who was just beside him was selling those things at a normal rate and each time after his neighbor cheated any buyer, he would turn to this other trader and tell him, "You see, you're not as wise as I am, I'm making money." The other trader would just ignore him and continue selling as normal.

What the first trader didn't know was that each time the customers he had cheated discovered the normal price of the goods they bought from him, they would vow never to come to his shop again. And they even went on to tell their friends who were bulk buyers to stop buying from the cheat.

By and by, this cheating trader kept losing customers and he started depending on just the money he had gotten from cheating. But the other trader's customers kept growing steadily. Even though he wasn't dishonest to charge exorbitantly, he was still making great profit as he sold off large quantities of his goods.

Months later after making serious losses, the cheating trader quit his business. He had failed because he failed to see beyond the money he was getting through cheating.

This example only touched on building trust as a valuable quality that is more important than money. When people trust you, money won't be a problem.

Now there are people who have a passion for something. This passion is what makes them feel alive and brings out that sparkle that shines through their eyes. They love it. It could be music, working on numbers, talking, playing football or other sports, cooking, writing, managing projects, engineering, teaching and etcetera.

It could be anything, but what makes it your passion is that you love to do this always. You could do it all day and you could never get tired of it. It comes naturally to you and you just connect to your higher self through it.

Now for these passionate people, there comes a time when it will look as if their passion isn't making money for them. Now, this passion makes them happy, but they start to expect money from it and if they aren't seeing any money, they get discouraged and they may consider quitting their passion to do something that makes money.

I don't know if you're one of them or if you've ever been in that state of mind, well here's what I think:
Finding yourself in this state of mind means that you're now thinking just in monetary ways. You're no more thinking beyond the money.

Why do you want money in the first place if not to be happy? Happiness is the true goal if you think about it because all the money we seek is just to enable us do or get things that will make us happy. So the big question is: If living your passion makes you genuinely happy, must you really have to be making money from it before you can happy?

Get me right, I'm not saying you cannot and should not make money from your passion. Of course you have to pay your bills and sort out stuff. My point is that it's not a MUST you make money from it and it's not a wise thing to drop your passion because it doesn't make money for you. Your passion makes you happy, so it shouldn't be dropped for any reason.

If you've really got to pay your  bills, try to make money from your passion, if it's not working, as it may not work sometimes, try to do something else or learn a skill that can help you pay your bills, but don't ever drop the passion because you can't pay bills with it. Keep the passion because its value to your general well-being is way beyond money.

You can merge the two.. You can make money doing what you love. If you can do it, that's the best. But sometimes, you may not be able to do it easily. Its not worth it sacrificing that passion because of this reason. Because if you had thought beyond Money, you will see that passion brings you happiness.

This example touched on thinking beyond money when it comes to your passion.

There are cases of people who have betrayed their friends, close networks and even family because of money. The thing these people fail to see is that whatever money they get from such betrayal will still finish and someday they will need to fall back on family and friends for support in some way.

When it comes to love, many of us face a similar
dilemma. He or she may love you genuinely, he or she may care about you so much and really desire your own good. But presently, the person may not have the money to do certain things for you that you may expect. Then you quit, you leave them because they seem to have nothing.

You then go for people who may not want or cherish you as much but they have the cash and you're fine with settling with them. This is called gold digging. You finally settle with them and you get so much money from him or her, but then as time goes on you start searching for something more, you start desiring genuine love and care because you've seen that the person never really cared as much.

The best and most desirable case is to find someone who really loves you and also has the cash(if you desire it). But often times it's not always the case. Would it be wiser in such a case to ditch someone who has demonstrated genuine love and care towards you for someone who may care less, but has got the cash? Up to you!

I've seen people who only treat rich people with respect and courtesy, but they are quick to insult and disrespect those who they believe don't have as much money as the wealthy.

What those people forget is that the table could turn at any time and the same people they treated disrespectfully today may be their bosses tomorrow. They can't think beyond the money.

I could say many more things to show you that money isn't everything and we should all learn to see beyond it, but I'll conclude with this:

Money is very important, but it's not everything. We sacrifice many things on the altar of money, but at the end of the day we find out that there are more things that are of greater value than this money.

Chase your money, but just remember that it's not everything. Your happiness, your well-being, your sense of fulfilment and general peace are of greater importance.

There are things that are not worth sacrificing for money. If you understand this you will see that money is everywhere, and it's not the true goal.

See beyond the money and keep winning! Some things aren't worth sacrificing or risking for money's sake. Stay sharp, the sky is the limit.

Keep Showing Yourself

In our world today, many shy away from showing themselves, their skills, natural inclinations and their talents because they don't want to be seen as proud or arrogant. They don't want people to stop liking them, so they hide the unique gifts they have and never give it a chance to shine.

I have personally been there and I felt I was actually doing the right thing. Nobody really told me to keep showing myself to the world. So growing up I often kept to myself and never really took advantage of the opportunities to showcase my talents and abilities. The good news is that I learnt my lesson the hard way and changed this weakness on time.

Our world is controlled by people who aren't shy or afraid of demonstrating what they are capable of handling and doing. These people always show themselves in everything they do. They have become so consistent at doing this that their whole essence becomes identified with their art. And the more they show themselves, their ideas, their talents to the world, the better they get.

That's why it's important you should also show yourself to the world out there. It's important you show off your talents, abilities and skills. That's what will get you noticed, that's what will attract to you the right kind of people you need in your life.

It was during a session on the writing of an effective resume with a group of other young people that my eyes were further opened to the reality of showing oneself. You need to see the content of some resumes. You need to see how everyone was demonstrating what they have achieved, how they achieved it and the awards and results they got. They were literally tooting their horns.

If you have always been afraid of showing yourself because of how others may perceive you, how will you toot your own horn when the occasion demands it? How will you gather experiences and link up with like minded people if no one knows what you're capable of doing? You must show yourself.

It's more like the biblical injunction of being a light unto the world. No one lights up a candle and hides it under the bed. A candle is lit to provide light that dispels darkness and allows us to see clearly. A hidden candle has no use to us.

You are that candle. The light you carry comes in the form of your talents, your abilities, your gifts, your passions and whatever it is that you have been blessed with knowing how to do. This light must never be hidden because it is expected that you light up our world using that light.

If you're complaining of what people may say when you are showing yourself, how will you ever grow and develop? You should remember that you're on this world for a mission. The mission is to bring out that light in you and inspire others to do the same. We don't necessarily have to shine this light in the same way, everyone has a different and distinct way to shine theirs because we are not meant to do the same things. 

Therefore, it would be really pointless and as a matter of fact stupid to sweep your light under the carpet because someone else feels intimidated by your light or will dislike you if you keep on shining.

Initially, some people will naturally get jealous of you when you're shining that light, but when you keep on shining that light, they will eventually get used to it and will be very much inspired to shine theirs as well. But if you let their jealousy stop you from shining, you simply become like them and instead of inspiring them to shine their own light, you inspire them to remaining the same.

Sometimes we tend to hide behind the cloak of humility and we erroneously feel that showing off what we have been blessed with looks like pride. But just take a look around you. Think of every highly successful man or woman you have ever known. You'll find out that these set of people are always showing themselves. They never stop.

They always turn up and they always do what they know how to do best irrespective of whose ox is gored.

You might be the best in mathematics in your class, keep showing yourself. Solve as much problems as you can and never shy away from solving mathematical problems. There's a reason you're gifted with such a great numerical ability. Therefore continue expressing it regardless of who feels envious.

You might be the best dancer or stuntman in a group, keep on showing yourself. That's what will get you noticed and earn you more opportunities to develop your art.

You might be very good at talking and expressing your ideas very well. You might be very good in winning any arguments. Others may envy you for this, but you must never stop showing this talent.

You could be blessed in a sport, you might be the best footballer in your school team, don't stop playing the sport. Keep showing up for tournaments. Keep shining.

Maybe it's comedy. You're good at making people laugh and you can change people's mood easily from sadness to happiness with your jokes, never stop showing this gift.

You might be fond of answering or asking questions in class, and naturally other students will say you're just showing yourself because they're jealous.
You shouldn't mind them, keep showing yourself.

I could give many more examples, but I'll conclude with this:

There's a whole lot of good reasons why you should keep showing yourself. Here's four of them:

1. You get better in what you do.

2. You build your self confidence.

3. You increase the chances of success through the networks it will help you build.

4. You gain more attention. And you know that having more attention is desirable for your success.

Being humble doesn't mean that you should hide your talents. Humility is all about respecting other people no matter their class and treating them fairly. It doesn't mean you should be afraid to shine your light and show yourself.

Keep showing yourself and expressing who you are.

Let them call it pride, it's their business.

Show yourself regardless.

The sky is the limit for you bold winner.

Stay sharp as always and never stop winning!

Afraid To Go Alone?

We live in a world where many people are too afraid to go alone sometimes. They always want to please the majority, they always to be with the majority and they are afraid to go their own path when they really have to. This has kept many of them from being successful.

How willing are you to go alone at some point in your life? How badly do you really want to stand out or leave your mark on the world?

Are you willing to sacrifice your highest aspirations just so you can go along with other people always? These are really important questions to ask yourself.

There are some people who have awesome dreams and visions of exactly what they want to do with their lives. You see their eyes glitter with excitement anytime they talk about it, but when you ask them why they aren't pursuing it yet, you may hear stuff like: "My parents don't want me to do it," "People say I won't make money from it," or even "It's not so popular."

There are many more answers like that from people who may have been blessed with wonderful gifts and ideas. Yet, they don't let those gifts blossom because they're afraid that the path isn't popular.

Now there's something you have to know: your parents or any other close person you have in your life is only there to guide you. Their role is limited to guidance and not making decisions for you.

The only one who is qualified enough to take decisions for you as long as you know the difference between right and wrong is YOURSELF.

You are so unique and you are not like anyone else. You are the only version of you in this world. And out of over 7 billion people on this planet, no one else thinks the same way as you do. And no one will ever do so till eternity. If you understand this, you should know that your strongest feelings and inclinations should not be toyed with for any reason.

If you were naturally born with certain gifts, let's say you can draw very well or you can sing, or you're good in setting things apart and building them up, whatever it is, learn to nurture it. Whatever natural talents you have, you should nurture and grow it.

A lot of times, I hear people complain that they want to do something else asides what they are naturally good in because others say there's no money in it.

It's not always about the money. That's the mistake many people make. They sacrifice their ultimate fulfillment and happiness on the alter of money. They could've been superstars, they could have been famous and extremely wealthy if they followed their talents and perfected it irrespective of what people said, but they drop it and start pursuing money.

Money will come naturally to you as long as you're passionately doing something that has the capacity to add some value to people's lives. It will definitely come. Keep this at the back of your mind. However, it is not the goal!

It's when you make money the goal that you become frustrated and unhappy when you seem not to be getting enough of it.

The real goal is to develop yourself and your capacities to the highest possible extent. You do this so selflessly and passionately that whatever you are doing becomes second nature. You become lost in your art, that's when it becomes magical and you see the kind of respect your art will command.

So when you are afraid of going that path that looks lonely because people have said there's no money in it, you will end up following those people to pursue the same things they pursue and you may never reach your highest potential.

You may have been discouraged and deceived into following the crowd because you heard  that what you want to do isn't so popular. The question you should ask yourself is: Who made all the popular paths popular? They are people like you and me who went their own paths just as they were inspired from the inside.

You may be the one destined to make that path popular in your environment. A new and lonely path might just hold the potential to set you apart and set you on a road to financial freedom. But you think "It's not popular. How many people want to do it?" And the reasoning becomes.. "Since other people aren't doing it or thinking about it, then it's not good." Right?

Let me let you in on a secret: You'll hardly find anything in a place where people are crowded. Even if you stand a chance to find something, you'll have to fight off fierce competition. There are people that are already there before you and more people are rush into it. It becomes difficult.

But when you're able to see potential in a field where very few people are playing, you stand a very high chance in becoming very successful if you go that path. In other words, less is more.

If you're always following the crowd, you will miss many things. I don't mean that you should always try to stand out and be on your own.

Sometimes, you have to go with the crowd, sometimes the crowd is right. But what I'm saying is that even though you blend in with the crowd when it's necessary, you must never be afraid to go alone when it's also necessary.

When it comes to success, you have to be extremely ready to go alone. Many people don't want to be as successful as you want to be. Some people just want to live average lives; get educated, get a job, get married, have kids and die. But I guess you want something more than that.

And if you really want it badly, you have to understand that you will do things that many average people won't do. Of course, when you are doing those things many people won't be with you, because many people don't share the same vision. Only very few like minded people (if any) will stick with you on that path. So you should be definitely willing to go alone.

There's no looking back. There's no expecting loved ones or family to support you or hold your hands as you're going. If they're ready to support this burning desire in you, then it's fine, or else you go alone!

Don't say because people aren't there to support you or encourage you, you won't go ahead with it. If you do so, you will be the one who lost.

You'll find out that when you are convinced to go alone even without support and you finally become very successful in that thing, those same people who never supported your idea will be forced to celebrate with you. Your parents who may have disagreed with your idea will commend you for going your own way.

Your friends who were skeptical about your idea will tell your story and the people who discouraged you will sing your own praise. At this point, there won't be any need to harbor hatred for them in your heart.

You'll forgive them very easily because the joy, contentment and fulfilment you've found from going your own way will be too large to even accommodate any hate.

Be willing to go alone if need be and keep on winning! Let walk together on the path to success!

- Nigel Ikechukwu ©2018

Live Above The Division

In today's world, lots of people are increasingly finding it difficult to live above the various forms of division which surrounds their lives. They find it difficult to think beyond where they come from or their religious preferences and this hinders them from a lot of things.

For one to actually be able to live comfortably and survive in a rapidly changing world, one must learn to be tolerant and to love other people irrespective of where those people come from or their peculiar sets of beliefs.

If only a man could learn to think beyond the confines of his own beliefs or roots, he would discover many ways of working in harmony with his fellow man.

Being tolerant of others and loving them doesn't mean you agree with everything they say or behave like them. It means being open minded enough to see things from their own point of view.

This will help you better understand the motives of these people and subsequently know how best to work with them.

Sadly, it appears many people have a mindset fixed on the contrary. They cannot think beyond the divisions they find themselves.

You come from a particular place, so everyone from another place is always wrong. You believe in a religion, so every other person who believes in another religion is an idiot.

They share the opinion that where they come from and whatever they believe in is far superior to those of other people.

Naturally, this attitude will definitely create conflict when working with people. There's no way that you'll feel superior about yourself that it won't rub off on others.

Your actions and your attitude will always reflect that sense of superiority. You will find out that you will always want to downplay other systems of beliefs different from yours and you will treat people who don't share the same origin with you unfairly.

If we cannot live above the division and learn to respect one another, then we cannot live in peace. At some point, those who are offended will feel the need to retaliate and the cycle continues that way.

A popular Nigerian singer, Hadiza Blell, better known by her stage name Di'Ja, was recently attacked with a statement mocking her Hausa origin and here was her reply on Instagram:
____________________

"I can understand the anger in the country. I can understand the disappointment most are feeling. I can understand the pain WE ALL feel when you just want things to work, but I cannot understand tribalism and insults in regards to personal life, personal religion and personal choice.

Most of us are born into what we now know. THIS ISN’T EVEN AN INSULT compared to the ones I get on the daily based on being Hausa, (you don’t want to see my DMs ) but it serves a purpose for today. I did not destroy our country. WE ALL DID BY ALLOWING IGNORANCE TO PREVAIL.

Tomorrow we will insult someone for being Yoruba; the next day on being Igbo; another day on being Idoma and so on. Keep in mind HORRIBLE/BAD POLITICIANS FEED AND THRIVE OFF A DIVIDED PEOPLE. We cannot expect the government to fix problems when we can’t fix US!

You want change?! Then it is time you begin to change your mindset. SURPRISE YOURSELVES and come together regardless of your differences. It is the only technique we haven’t tried yet. It is only then can we be the change we are looking for!

This is why MUSIC is my life because it surpasses all these man made divisions. Don’t be part of the system. Live above it and watch Nigeria become NIGERIA.

I will forever be proud of who I am, where I am from and what I am on my way to become and YOU SHOULD TOO. "

_____________________

The response was simply amazing coming from a musician who understood the indispensable value of living above mere divisions.

It's very important we understand this and try to put it into practice in relating with other people because ultimately we will find out that we are not so different from one another after all.

Many people miss out on wonderful opportunities to transform their lives simply because they were biased towards other people.

Let me ask you a question: Let's say you're believe in religion A and you're in deep trouble synonymous with a matter of life or death and you need urgent help.

Would you reject help from the first person that comes to you knowing he believes in religion B? Would you even think about the person's religion at that point in time? I bet it wouldn't even matter.

But every single day, most of us allow these things matter and keep us from the possibilities of building very good relationships with others.

Your success in life may not really come from only associating with people from your tribe, family or religion. You could be motivated and inspired to achieve much more simply by contact with someone who may be so different from you.

But we keep getting ourselves stuck in divisions and keep beating about the bush in our search for personal development.

Let's try to live above these divisions and work with other people. Let's drop the judgemental attitude and let's stop making assumptions about every other person who may be different from us by virtue of religion or origin.

I hope this pricks your mind positively. Stay sharp and keep winning!

Fast, Slow And Time

When you want something to happen very fast, you'll find out that time immediately becomes too slow.

When you want something to last for a very long time or go very slowly, time will start running like Usain Bolt or a rocket.

When you understand this and you want to be smart by pretending you want something to be slow when you actually want it to be fast or vice versa, your subconscious mind that knows the real truth will not be deceived. You'll find yourself experiencing the slowness or speed you pretend to want instead of the opposite that you desire.

So what do you do? Stop expecting things to come too fast or too slow. Allow things to happen naturally while preparing yourself for however it chooses to come.

You're expecting an email or a text message? Forget about it and do other things you have to do. It will come when it will.

You want to be successful in life and then you go on worrying about what time or at what age it will happen? Why worry about it? If you're working on yourself and you're doing something useful with yourself, why waste your time thinking about when it will happen?

Success will happen when it will as long as you keep preparing yourself without worrying about it. Success doesn't need to be timed or even expected. It only needs you to be prepared for it and it will come running to you like a beautiful lady with open arms.

You're with someone you love and instead of enjoying the person's presence, you worry about how long they will stay? Why? The person's presence should not be missed. It should be enjoyed totally, every second.

When you worry and think about how long the person will stay, you will miss the person's company because you're body present and mind absent. Then you even further shorten the time you worry about. Being absent minded is as good as he or she is not there.

When you think about that email, text or visitor you're expecting, you'll not be doing anything useful but rather worry over nothing.

When you worry about when you will be successful, you'll miss the time you should be using to develop yourself.

I'm not saying that you should not be time conscious. Time is important, should be planned and managed, but what's the point of wasting that time thinking about when something will happen or how long it will take as long as we can't really control it?

Can you control success, the time your visitor or email will arrive, the time your loved one may stay? You can't. So there's no point worrying about the time involved in what you can't control.

You should only think about how quickly or how slowly you want things to be when it's completely under your control. Because then you can manipulate it to your desired outcome.

I want to drink my tea real fast, I drink it real fast. Under my control. You get the point?

You should only spend time thinking about what you need to be doing to get close to where you want to be. You should think about the steps you should take. You should think about the progress you've made and the way forward.

But you should not always be thinking about when random things will happen or how long they will take. It's usually pointless thinking because you can't do anything about it. Just let it.

Allow random things to happen the way they want to happen, but don't miss the important things or create unnecessary misery by thinking too much.

Don't worry, be happy and you won't miss much. Life's good. Life is beautiful.

#boldwinner 

Cut The Fake Happiness Crap

With various happiness ideologies floating around the internet these days, an increasingly high number of people are beginning to accept crap as a norm in their lives.

They deceive themselves with a fake sense of happiness that they believe comes from knowing themselves and accepting all outcomes without resistance. It's high time we cut the crap.

I don't know why it appears that more and more people are buying into the concept of accepting whatever comes or just being happy with the unimaginable way they currently live.

It seems they are finding more reasons to remain in their comfort zones without having the tenacity to push through whatever obstacles or odds that may come to them during their pursuit of higher aims.

Think about it: Let's say you've been applying to get a job at a big firm. You keep trying and yet your application is usually rejected. Then someone comes to tell you that not being accepted into the job could be a good thing; it could mean you start up that business or you should consider working with another firm which you probably don't want to ever work for.

Then somehow you start buying into the idea. You stop making effort to pass through the necessary pain you need to pass through to get your desired job and you settle for a lesser job that seems more secure.

Or you go ahead to attempt starting a business you have no passion for which is likely to fail. And then you deceive yourself that you're happy not getting exactly what you wanted.

Or let's say you've been dating and you know exactly the kind of person you wish to have as a partner. And then you try to date people to find a compatible person, but so far you've not made much progress.

Then, someone comes to sell you a fake happiness crap. He or she tells you that you cannot find that person you really desire that you have to accept whoever comes and try to change them. Then you listen and you accept something below the standard you have set.

Maybe you're struggling and you're working hard trying to achieve success, then someone comes to tell you that you should have no desire and that you should be content with existence in order to be happy. Then you stop putting sufficient efforts to get to where you want your business to be and start being "content".

Or you've had dreams to make impact in your country or immediate community. It burns inside of you to see your society progress for good. However, people keep bombarding you with messages of how irredeemable your government is or how useless and corrupt your country is and how futile it is to even try to change it. And then you drop this strong drive and start living averagely without caring about your vision.

You may have failed many times at different things, instead of telling yourself the truth that indeed you've failed woefully and you really need to work very hard, You decide to buy into some crap that happiness doesn't come from trying to achieve things, it comes from within, then you settle into mediocrity and stop trying.

I believe you're already getting my point? I'm trying to say that a lot of people want life to be way too easy for them. They want to be happy in any way possible, but instead of working their way into that happiness by going for exactly those things they desire in their lives, they rather buy into ideologies that make them feel better and relaxed when they don't work.

True happiness comes from getting exactly what we want and seeing our dreams come to fruition. It's a trick to throw away those dreams into the trash can because you feel you've learnt something about where happiness comes from and who you are. You're only accepting those soothing posts because they make you feel better even though you know the truth that you've not been able to achieve exactly what you wanted.

This dangerous lukewarm attitude caused by that ideology is one of the reasons why most of our problems in the world today still linger. Many are tactfully dodging their responsibilities and the work they must do to be happy, instead they pretend that they're happy buying into all those philosophies about feeling good always. How can you feel good always?

Most of us don't care about what our neighbors are going through. We're so relaxed into our own happiness that we fail to see the challenges and threats we collectively face.

Whenever you're deceiving yourself with being happy all the time, you cannot see that children somewhere are suffering or that there are people that urgently need your help. You won't see that you have some serious work to do in this world to make it better for yourself and for others. You'll believe all is well.

But is everything really well? You read on the news every day about chaos here and there. There are endangered groups of people around the world, there are displaced persons, there is crime, there are genocides. There are many threats. But how on earth  can you ever see it when you keep pretending that you're always happy even without achieving your dreams?

Look, we're all here on earth for a reason. We all have a big role to play in helping mankind progress. It's not an easy deal to play that role. Because in playing that role, we will find ultimate happiness and help others find theirs.

Many people are looking up to you, most of which you're not even aware of. Some people are inspired by you,  your attitude and your zeal to achieve the best for yourself.

Why settle for less because of some crappy advice sold to you by one of these happiness peddlers? Why brake down on your drive and feign that you're happy and content?

Dude, look deep down into your heart, you will see the truth that the happiness you pretend to have out of contentment is false. You will see that those dreams you had are still burning within you and urging you to pass through the obstacles and pain you've been avoiding.

Listen to it and take up your weapons once again. When you man up and refuse to accept shit in the name of happiness, you'll be able to fearlessly face the challenges in your way and you'll achieve whatever you've dreamt of.

Then you will know happiness. You will also unknowingly inspire millions to follow your steps and still push for exactly what they want instead of buying into crappy advice.

We were born to work and contribute our quota to the advancement of the human race, let us not neglect or shy away from this collective responsibility because we prefer to take solace in crappy happiness. We would only be deceiving ourselves and things will get worse.

Be willing to go through the experience and continue passing through pain if needed to achieve exactly those things you've always wished for. Never throw those ideas away and pretend to be happy because you've not been able to achieve them. Man up to your pain and keep winning! 

Be Good For No Reason

I think this world would be a lot better if we could all be good for  no reason. If we make it a point of duty to simply be good to other people and to our immediate environment.

If we could form the habit of doing good without any expectation and being good  to our community for no reason, there  would be dramatic change. But the big question lies in the definition of being good.

On what basis can we say for sure that the actions we intend to take is a good one? Is it culture? Is it morality? Is it the scriptures?

For the  purpose of this blog post, being good here means showing love to others and helping them out when you can. It means being able to connect with the feelings of other people and help them solve any of their problems in any little way you can.

Actions that can be classified as being good could be: buying food for someone without them asking, visiting the motherless babies and providing them with the gifts you can, giving to a beggar or a homeless person, volunteering to help organize something nice, showing care love and concern to another person without expectation from them, occasionally sacrificing your pleasures for the good of someone else and etcetera.

The question: "Can we be good through acting violently or offensively?" will be the topic for another day. But it's a great principle to be good for no reason. It helps you act out of love and relieves you from making too much expectations from others which could turn you into a beast.

Being good for a reason is dangerous because the goodness comes from the reason(in form of expectations) and not from the heart. You could change to a very angry person if you're doing good for an expectation and then the expectation is not met. It could change you into a very hateful person.

Take for example, you're working very hard in your office because you expect the boss to notice you. You're doing everything good, working late, volunteering to do odd jobs and all that. You're doing it with the expectation of being promoted and then you didn't get the promotion. Most likely you'll stop doing it and adopt a negative or laissez affair attitude at work since your reason for being good wasn't met.

Most marriages and love relationships have stood the test of time simply  because one or both partners is dedicated to being good for no reason. Yeah, sometimes we have expectations from our partner, but those expectations must never at any point be the reason why we choose to be good and loving to them. Whenever our expectations from our partner becomes the reason why we are good to them, the marriage or relationship will tend to crash easily once the reason isn't satisfied.

For some reason, your partner may not be able to meet up with your expectations. Is that enough reason to stop being good or loving to him or her? Think about it. Because if the expectation is the reason for the love, then it's no different from a business rather than love.

People will not always reciprocate your good towards them, still be good anyway for no reason.

People will still be rude or negative to you when you're being good, still be good anyway.

People will say you know nothing and you're wasting your time when you're good, be good anyway!

There may be nothing in it for you after being good. The people you do good to may not even appreciate it. But be good anyway.

Because being good for no reason is good for you. It's good for your peace of mind and your spirituality. Being good heals your soul and puts you in a progressive state of mind at all times. You'll feel a positive aura all around you when you're good.

Most especially, you'll make the world a better place when you're good.

Check out this video on kindness:

Be good and keep winning!