personal development

CULTIVATING A GROWTH MINDSET – IV

Posted on by shalomesq

Happy Sunday family!!! This is the last day in the month of March 2019.

Usually I don’t post on Sundays, but my routine was altered a bit since I worked the most part of last week out of station but I will surely get back to the regular schedule ( i.e. post once a week mostly Fridays) in April.

Today, after the church service take some time to review your Q1 targets for 2019 & assess where you are on the way to where you are going.

Make adjustments based on my suggestions from recent posts on the topic of goal setting for 2019 as listed below:

Setting goals that’ll stick in 2019 – Part 1

Setting goals that’ll stick in 2019 – Part2

Setting goals that’ll stick in 2019 – FINAL

For the entire month of March, we’ve been looking at the series topic “Cultivating a growth mindset” which was a LinkedIn course I took about 5 months ago as part of an e-learning trial team for my company’s HR department. This class was taught by Gemma Leigh Roberts, Chartered Psychologist, Executive Coach, and author.

This is the 4th post in the series & there is really no time to summarize the previous posts, so please feel free to pause here & check them out as listed below before moving on.

PART I

PART II

PART III

GROWTH MINDSET

So, we’ve taken a look at the fixed mindset & mixed mindset, our focus today will be on the last type of mindset & the actual reason for this series, the GROWTH MINDSET.

A growth mindset, doesn’t believe there is a limit, it believes that skills & abilities can be changed & developed over time. The latest research from the fields of performance psychology indicates that people that consistently perform at their peak have one thing in common, it’s not a certain ability, it’s not a specific skill, it’s not even knowledge, it’s a mindset, and to be precise, a growth mindset.

Whether you want to push the boundaries of your current ability to achieve more, inspire and lead others to create success, or learn to thrive in challenging situations, a growth mindset is your fuel.

A growth mindset really is about lifelong learning and a belief in your ability to grow and develop. This will dramatically improve your performance, productivity, goal achievement, and happiness. It’s all about changing your thought process to view challenges and disappointments as opportunities to learn and develop.

Your mindset has the power to change your game at work and in your personal life. The key is learning how to make the shift towards a growth mindset and if you’re already there, learning how to maintain this way of looking at the world even when facing challenges.

I work with people everyday & I’m very observant. It’s amazing the type of mindsets I encounter in a 24hour period in which people just settle for their comfort zone & are not willing to try something new & they will fight you when you attempt to show them what the issue is & how they can get out of it.

Personally, I’ve been working on my mindset for years, I don’t take NO for an answer, I believe in the fact that I can find a solution to any problem, situation & challenges. One of my 2016 post explains this better, please click on link below.

SOLUTION PROVIDERS!!!

I also believe in the management consulting theory of small, continuous improvement developed by the Japanese (The TOYOTA Company) after World War II called “KAI ZEN“. The post link below sheds more light on this.

KAI ZEN

I have an abundant & not a scarcity mindset, so I share my thoughts & ideas with people on a regular basis not afraid that they will steal or use it as I believe I’m connected to GOD – THE SOURCE of all things– and I can not lack.

There is still a lot to unpack in this series but I’ll drop the anchor here for now.

Like the series graphic shows, an individual with a growth mindset does 7 things:

  1. Sees failure as an opportunity to grow
  2. Can learn to do anything, develop new skills & talents
  3. Sees challenges as a means of growth
  4. Knows efforts & attitude determines ability
  5. Sees feedback as constructive
  6. Is inspired & not intimidated by the success of other
  7. Likes to try new things

I have a GROWTH MINDSET!! What type of mindset do you have?

This is my snippet …….. I AM SHALOMESQ

CULTIVATING A GROWTH MINDSET – III

Posted on by shalomesq

Hello Family!! It’s the penultimate Sunday in the month of March & we are at the start of the 13th week of 2019. I usually don’t post on Sundays, but I’ve had to work out of station for a few days in the last week & that has altered my routine but my commitment of posting at least once a week still remains resolute.

How are things going with you?? Q1 is at it’s end, hope you are on-track with your 2019 goals, it’s time to take stock & fuel for Q2.

I will like to appreciate everyone who has given me a feedback one way or the other regarding this series & other posts on this blog. It’s quite refreshing to know that from my little corner of the world some form of impact is being felt as I contribute my quota to the pool of resources available out there.

Before we jump right into the flow, for the sake of those who are just joining the series, you can catch-up on the first 2 posts by clicking on the links below:

PART I

PART II


The series topic is “Cultivating a growth mindset” which was a LinkedIn course I took about 4 months ago as part of an e-learning trial team for my company’s HR department. This class was taught by Gemma Leigh Roberts, Chartered Psychologist, Executive Coach, and author.

MIXED MINDSET

In this post, we will be looking at the 2nd type of mindset, “The Mixed Mindset“. Traditionally, research focused on fixed and growth mindsets and nothing in between.

What we now know to be true is you may veer more towards a growth or a fixed mindset naturally, but actually a lot of people are somewhere in between and have a mixed mindset.

This means your mindset is part fixed, part growth depending on the situation, circumstances and how you feel about events going on in your life. This means sometimes you may feel like you have the ability to develop skills and talents and other times you may not.

Ideally, you want to develop and cultivate a growth mindset. This will dramatically improve your performance, productivity, goal achievement, and happiness.

It’s all about changing your thought process to view challenges and disappointments as opportunities to learn and develop. It’s about understanding you can develop skills, talents, abilities, and even your mindset over time.

There is a concept I’ve adapted from John C. Maxwell’s latest book “Leadershift: The 11 Essential Changes Every Leader Must Embrace” which is about the different mindset zones. And the graphic below helps to explain it better.

It’s really clear that zones 1 & 2 mindset are more of the fixed mindset type while Zones 3 & 4 fit into the growth mindset. Now going back to today’s topic, it’s easy to see how in different situations & circumstances there is a tendency to have a mixture. This is not a bad place to be, at least it’s better than staying at the rock-bottom zone with a fixed mindset & just cruising or coasting through life.

My challenge to you today is to check your views & perspective of life, mentality, truisms, beliefs systems, etc & honestly assess where you are. Once you know that, then start to make effort to progress from where you are now to where you ought to be.

“Getting better doesn’t just happen from wishful thinking. Getting better only happens with the discipline of doing better. Discipline is the requirement for progress.” — Jim Rohn

This is my snippet …….. I AM SHALOMESQ

CULTIVATING A GROWTH MINDSET – II

Posted on by shalomesq
growth mindset

Hello Family!! it’s Friday 15th March 2019!! Wow the year is really running fast & we are mid-march already, before you know it, Q1 2019 will be over.

How far are you with your set goals & targets for 2019? Are you still on-track or off the rails? The next 16 days might be a good time to reassess & realign yourself.

Cultivating a growth mindset – I

In my previous post above, I tried to set a bit of a foundation regarding the topic “Cultivating a growth mindset” which was a LinkedIn course I took about 4 months ago as part of an e-learning trial team for my company’s HR department. This class was taught by Gemma Leigh Roberts, Chartered Psychologist, Executive Coach, and author.

We looked at the mind as the battlefield & that if you win in your mind, you will ultimately win in life, it’s just a matter of time.We started talking about the mindset, which is the established set of attitudes held by someone & how this is a reflection of a person’s world view or philosophy of life.

A person can be accurately analyzed based on their mindsets to a lot of things in life & there are both positive and negative mindsets. The good news is that we have the power & ability to shift from one to the other with the key being our ability to learn.

MINDSET IS A CHOICE

Today, let’s take it up a notch!!! We were created by God as tripartite, Man (the human being) is a spirit, armed with a soul & lives in a protective casing called the body that enables us to function here on earth. We have a choice as regards the type of mindset we deploy & engage with in our lives.

Now there is a counter argument to this as most people will say you don’t have a choice considering that you don’t choose your parents, family, society, nation, the type of environment you were born into or grow in & that has a huge impact on your mindset. Yes I do agree but despite that fact, your life is still your life & no one is responsible for it other than YOU!

It’s great to blame others while you are younger & have people making decisions for you, but as you get older, you need to take the driver’s seat of your life & start to make choice decisions. Don’t let your background put your back on the ground, you have the choice to re-invent yourself & evolve to a better YOU despite the challenges of life.

I didn’t have the best of template to follow growing up, but at some point as I grew older, I took it upon myself to shred the old templates, created new & better ones of my own which I intend to pass on to my kids with the mandate to make it better than mine.

TYPES OF MINDSETS

There are 3 broad types of mindsets namely:

  1. Fixed Mindset
  2. Mixed Mindset
  3. Growth Mindset

FIXED MINDSET

As the name implies, those with this type of mindset truly believe that their skills and abilities won’t change, that they’ve reached a certain level and that’s where they can expect to remain.

They see failure as fatal, as the end of the road, they have the notion that everything in life has limits & once you reach that limit, that’s it.

Feedback is not constructive for these type of people, they are unwilling to try new things ( ideas, skills, etc), are threatened by the successes of other around them & they don’t do well under the pressure and challenges of life.

Did I just describe you, someone you know or an organization you know or work with at the moment?

Don’t worry, remember that one of the keys to shifting from one mindset to the other is the ability to learn.

Learning is a a very important ingredient in cultivating the right mindset, so it’s good to know where you are at the moment so that you can map out where you want to be & how to get there.

Do you agree you have a choice in life & about your mindset?

Do you have a fixed mindset?

Are you willing to learn & evolve out of that fixed mindset?

Altering your mindset takes practice, commitment, and focus. When it comes to how you think and process information, there’s no quick fix. But you can make small steps towards how you want to change that over time can make a big impact.

This is my snippet…….. I AM SHALOMESQ

CULTIVATING A GROWTH MINDSET – I

Posted on by shalomesq
growth mindset

Hello family, hope we are all doing great today? It’s Friday the 8th of March 2019 & we are 65 days into the year already, this means we have a whooping 300 days to go before we shout HAPPY NEW YEAR 2020!!

How are you doing with your goals for 2019? Hope you are still on track? I do hope your goals are aimed at ensuring growth this year.

I am a firm believer that we must better ourselves every year, the same way a software application developer releases new versions of their product as they solve some issues & provide further enhancement.

Because I am a personal development enthusiast, I am always attending webinars, online courses, reading books ( e-books & traditional ones) & always seeking for knowledge – which I regularly share on this blog – this new series is not strange to me.

About 4 months ago, I took a LinkedIn course (LinkedIn Learning is a premium service) on the topic “Cultivating a growth mindset” as part of an e-learning trial team for my company’s HR department. This class was taught by Gemma Leigh Roberts, Chartered Psychologist, Executive Coach, and author. This series will be a review of what I learnt during the course.

THE BATTLEFIELD

Now let’s set some background to this considering that we started this journey with the aim of not giving up despite the failure of last year, looking to set goals that will stick in 2019, comparing goals & growth noting that the ultimate reason to set goals is to achieve growth & growth is achieved by stretching beyond our comfort zone.

One thing that ties all of these together is the mindset.

During my penultimate year in college I moved from the hostel to join a very dear friend & colleague of mine who had the privilege of getting a one-bedroom self-contained B.Q behind a professor’s apartment. This friend of mine introduced me to a lot of things, he had books, CDs & a radical way of thinking that I totally admired.

He introduced me to the ministry of Joyce Meyer, T.D. Jakes, CeCe Winans, etc. One of the first Joyce Meyer books I picked up was “The Battlefield of the Mind“.

Human beings are tripartite in nature – We are spirit beings, with a soul & live in a body here on earth – and there is always contention (war) between the desires of the spirit & the body. The battle ground for this contention is within our soul – which contains our Emotions, Mind, Will, Intellect, etc – and whoever wins in your soul dominates the entire being.

Have you heard the expression “Emotions are bad leaders, but great followers“. Anyone ruled or lead by emotions is a disaster going to happen, but if put under check & properly supervised, emotions are fantastic.

Now this is not just some spooky or spiritual theories, it’s also been checked & proven true by researches done the field of performance psychology.

WHAT IS A MINDSET?

The English Oxford Dictionary defines mindset as the established set of attitudes held by someone. In psychology this is defined as a belief that orients the way we handle situations — the way we sort out what is going on and what we should do. In decision theory and general systems theory, a mindset is a set of assumptions, methods, or notations held by one or more people or groups of people. A mindset can also be seen as incident of a person’s world view or philosophy of life.

In basic terms, your mindset tells the world around you the type of person you are, a lot of things about you can be accurately determined by just reading or observing your mindset. So just like there are 2 sides to a coin, there are positive & negative mindsets, and anyone can shift from one side to the other at any point in time. The good new is that you have the power to change your mindset & the key is learning how to make the shift.

Permit me to drop the anchor here & let this simmer a little bit, we will pick it up in the next post as inspired.

Do you understand the power of your mind?

What type of mindset do you have?

Are you willing to change?

This is my snippet…….. I AM SHALOMESQ

GOALS VS GROWTH

Posted on by shalomesq
goals vs growth
goals vs growth

In the last 3 posts my focus has been on “setting goals that’ll stick in 2019” & we looked at 5 proven strategies to overcoming goal failure based on a Michael Hyatt webinar I attended late last year on the same topic.

To help catch up, the picture below summaries the 5 points in a lovely way.

5 strategies to overcoming goal failure

Today, this post is focused on pitching 2 ideas against each other. The first is the concept of goal setting & the other that of growth. Goal setting is very important but it will amount to nothing if actions are not taken to achieve them.

“Dreams may be imaginable but goals are actionable.” –Michael Hyatt

That process of taking actions in line with your goals helps to bring your dreams to a reality.

One of the key strategies that helps to guarantee the successful achievement of your goals is Strategy # 3 : Be In The Discomfort Zone

There is no point setting goals every year & making up resolutions if it doesn’t move you further along the path towards your ultimate destiny.

Every success you want to achieve in life is actually outside your comfort zone, nothing great happens in your comfort zone.

While talking on this point in my previous post, I gave an example of someone who is currently saving $50 a month.

If that person keeps setting this same goal every year, then there is no growth as that person is sitting in the comfort zone with no stretch.

The moment the person decides to set a new goal of $75 a month, then the wheels starts to turn as the focus will now be on how to achieve this new target.

That person is now forced to think differently, have a second or third look at how to get the extra $25 a month savings.

WHAT IS GROWTH?

According to the Oxford dictionary, GROWTH is simply defined as “The process of increasing in size”.

We see this happen around us in nature all of the time as we grow physically in our bodies & as plants, trees & animals grow in our environment.

The sad reality is that majority of us don’t grow in specific domain areas of lives, we generally leave it to chance & just tag along to see where we end up.

In August 2017, I took an online course with the John Maxwell Team on the 15 Laws of Growth & one of the first thing John said is that growth is intentional, you cant leave it to chance.

You have to be deliberate about it.

At some point I will share my thoughts & lessons learnt from that course, but now the focus is about goals vs growth.

“Growth is the only guarantee that tomorrow is going to get better” – John C. Maxwell

Naturally things don’t get better, because of entropy (lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder).

If you buy a brand new car today straight out of the factory, it’s at the best pristine state. The moment you start the engine, rev & drive it out, it begins to depreciate in value.

Take an apple, cut it into two & leave it for a while, it begins to change color & loose its freshness. So growing, advancing & making progress in life requires a force (spiritual) coupled with intentionality.

Just like traveling to space requires a force greater than the earth’s gravitational pull, getting to your ultimate destination ( destiny) in life requires a force.

Part 2

In part 2 of the series on goal settings above , I mentioned the 3 negative emotions that confronts us as we aim to set goals in the discomfort zone. These 3 emotions are actually indicators that you are on the right path & you just need to refocus your mind to overcome them & still take the right steps towards achieving your goals.

All of the 5 strategies of goal setting are important & relevant as long as the focus is growth. There is no point in going through all of the motions & activities if the end zone is not progression.

Personal growth keeps you prepared, constant growth is the preparation for opportunity. You don’t go into an opportunity, you grow into an opportunity. Everything in life that you’re ever going to want is based on your ability to grow & develop yourself.

The fruit of everything good in life begins with a challenge…Everything is uphill that’s worthwhile.

Are you just focused on setting goals?

Are your goals moving you forward?

Is growth the ultimate aim of your goal setting?

This is my snippet…….. I AM SHALOMESQ

SETTING GOALS THAT’LL STICK IN 2019 – Part1

Posted on by shalomesq

goals that stick

As we wrap up the month of January, I will like to share with you some recent information I got from a webinar I attended late last year on how to set goals that’ll stick in 2019.

This webinar was arranged by one of my coaches – Michael Hyatt (@MichaelHyatt)

I have been setting personal annual goals for close to 2 decades now & sometimes I hit the bull-eyes & sometimes I miss, but what I have seen constantly despite the success or failure is GROWTH.

You can review a couple of my previous posts on personal development & goal settings from the links below

According to Michael, there are 5 proven strategies to overcome goal failure.

I’ll take a stab at a few now, conclude in another post & hopefully it will be of help to someone out there.

Strategy #1

Get SPECIFIC about what you want. I’m sure we’ve heard about S.M.A.R.T goal setting technique & even the evolved S.M.A.R.T.R ( including R for Reward) or S.M.A.R.T.E.R ( adding E for Evaluate & R for Re-Adjust), no matter what technique(s) you adopt, it all starts with S for Specific. The more specific your goal is the higher the chances of achieving them. Setting a goal to save money or lose weight this year is good but it will become more achievable if  you are more specific of how much you want to really save  or how much weight you intend to lose this year.

A key factor that helps in being specific is to have a end in mind. Have a mental picture of what you will do with the saved money or how perfect you will look in that dress when you wear it. In the case of weight loss, I know some folks who actually ordered their dress in the anticipated size, kept it in their closet & looked at it everyday as a form of motivation. This picture & a vision of the end zone keeps you motivated.

Ask yourself these questions:
‣ At the end of this year, what will I want to have achieved?
‣ What will I regret not doing?
‣ What will matter most to me?

Another major action that’ll help you stick your goals this year as you go specific is to consider multiple domains, I personally call it the Wheel of Life. As human beings, our existence in life is tied to a number of domains & over the years I’ve identified about 6-7, but with the webinar Michael expanded my views using a different concept call The Circle:

The Circle of BEING
‣ Spiritual
‣ Physical
‣ Intellectual
‣ Emotional
The Circle of RELATING
‣ Marital
‣ Parental
‣ Social
The Circle of DOING
‣ Financial
‣ Vocational
‣ Avocational

I do realise that not everyone operates in all of the domains but no matter what, you do exist & relate with these 3 circles (or 10 domains) one way or the other.

Based on your preference, it’s important to prioritise & get clarity of your expectation within these domains so as to avoid blurry vision.

Action Point #1

Write 7-10 specific goals you want to achieve in 2019 with reference to the 10 domains. Just have like 1 goal per domain ( if possible)

Specificity matters because it makes your aspirations achievable.

“Dreams may be imaginable but goals are actionable.” –Michael Hyatt

Strategy #2

Concentrate your efforts on just a few goals. I’ve fallen into this trap a couple of times over the years in which I end up with like 25-30 goals & it’s not surprising that my success rate in those years were dreadful ( below 20%). However, my high success rates years in recent times ( about 60%) are tied to few goals upon review.

When you have so many goals, you weaken your aspirations & fracture your focus. To achieve big goals in life, successful people ( Winners) will tell you that your focus needs to be sharp & highly concentrated – The lazer type of focus.

“Man who chases two rabbits catches neither.” —Ancient Proverb

Action Point #2

Get 2-3 critical goals that you’ll be lazer-focused on every quarter ( 90 days)

30 days have passed…… Do you have set goals for 2019?

Are they specific enough to motivate you? Do they cover your multiple domains?

What are your targets for Q1 2019?……… Do you have lazer-focus?

This is my snippet…. I AM SHALOMESQ!!!

My 2018 Review

Posted on by shalomesq

2018_Gold_and_Red_PNG_Clipart_Image

Wow!! I am short of words after considering all that I’ve gone through & achieved in 2018.

It was indeed an awesome year & I want to say a big THANK YOU to my partners & supporters who helped in one way or another to ensure that the ideas & dreams that was conceived became a reality & a huge success.

Time will fail me to begin to mention each & everyone of you individually but be rest assured that I am super grateful.

Let’s do this again next year! I can’t wait…. or maybe I can…….

For many years, I have always set goals for myself, family & all that concerns me & I spend the first couple of weeks of a new year on a retreat, then regularly gauge my progress till a mid-year review in July & wrap up the year around November where I assess the scores for the year & start to prepare for the next one.

My scores have progressively moved from 10% up to about 70% & I am working hard to get better scores this year.

Traditionally we all start the year with excitement & set new year resolutions et al & even as early as 42 days into the new year, some might have fallen off the wagon already but dont let that quench the fire within you, there are still 323 fantastic days left to make 2018 a great year.

NEW YEAR! NEW STRATEGY!

If you are going to have a NEW YEAR, you are going to need a NEW STRATEGY!

You cant keep doing things the same old way & expect a different result. If you want to experience new things, then you will have to do things you’ve never done before. I will encourage you to spend time alone & just think about what you wanted to achieve in 2017 that you could not & find new ways of achieving them this year. It might require you to stretch beyond your comfort zone, but please be ready to explore, it could just be that you are not achieving them simply because you are not making moves.

Here are a few pointers:

REVIEW!

In the “7 habits of highly effective people” by Stephen Covey, the 2nd habit is “BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND”. It means to know where you’re going so as to understand where you are now, and take your next step in the right direction. I did that with the first 90 words of this post, I have a vision of what 2018 will be & I’ve had to cast that vision ahead of time.

Your vision or dream is the picture of the future you want accomplished & it needs to be clear so you know where you are going, understand where you are now & have the courage to take the next step to move you in the right direction to accomplish that vision or goal. Habakkuk 2:2

It will really help if you have a board or a journal in which you write your vision or goals & have time to regularly check them.

There is something really amazing about putting pen to paper & jotting things down, it literally moves the resources of the world to ensure it happens.

We know about setting S.M.A.R.T goals, i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic & Timely, but modern teachings about goal settings are now S.M.A.R.T.R with the inclusion of another R for either Reward or Review.

ACTION!

A vision without action is daydream!!

Writing your vision & dream is great, but it will amount to nothing if you dont take action.

You need to take steps in the direction of fulfilling your dreams, a journey of a thousand miles, begins with just one step.

Just like a ship looks great tied up at the shore, but it will never accomplish it’s purpose until it sails on the sea, so it is that a dream will look great on your board or in your journal, but will never become a reality until you work on it.

Make moves, take actions & see how the universe will start to align, you might feel that you are waiting on God, but God is actually waiting on you, dont let life happen to you, you happen to life.

Be bold & take courage! Joshua 1: 5-8

Courage is not an absence of fear, but the choice & willingness to do something despite the fear.

Regularly talking & thinking about your vision & dream are also major parts of taking action. Joshua 1:8 says this book of the law ( your vision & dreams) shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall mediate on it day & night.

From Hebrews 11:3, we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the visible was created from the invisible. You can also create your own world, your vision & dream by speaking as  2 Corinthians 4:13 says “we have the same spirit of faith, we believe & therefore we speak”.

TEAM!

Team-work makes the dream work!!

As you take steps towards achieving your vision or dream, you will realise that you cant achieve it alone. If your vision or dream will take only you to accomplish, then it’s either too small or not from God. A vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team, check out history & you will find out that any successful vision or goal or dream of high significance & impact had a team behind it. Even at the beginning in Genesis 1:26, God said “Let us make man…”

Start to look for partners & supporters ( those who have strength in the arrears of your weakness) to help you achieve significant results.

Habit 6 of the “7 habits of highly effective people” is SYNERGY. Synergy is the highest activity of life. Through it, we create new, untapped alternatives – things that didn’t yet exist. We unleash people’s greatest powers. We make a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

STAY SHARP!

The 7th habit is “SHARPEN THE SAW”

In our current age, information is power! What you know or dont know can make or mar your vision, dream & goal, so stay sharp! Develop the ability of a learner, ask questions constantly, dont be tired of acquiring knowledge. Your mind is a weapon, keep it loaded at all times.

To sharpen the saw means renewing ourselves, in all four aspects of our natures:
• Physical – exercise, nutrition, stress management;
• Mental – reading, visualizing, planning, writing;
• Social/Emotional – service, empathy, synergy, security;
• Spiritual – spiritual reading, study, and meditation;

To accomplish these, you need to be very intentional & proactive, you have to set the right priorities to manage yourself well within time.

I’m committed to doing all of these in 2018 & I encourage & challenge you to do the same & let’s compare notes in November to see how the year turned out.

My intention is to unpack various sections of this strategy as I make significant progress.

What will your 2018 review look like?

This is my snippet, I AM SHALOMESQ !!!

Living Intentionally – Final

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intentional

Hello everyone, this will be the last post in my series on living intentionally.

In the previous posts, we’ve looked at defining living intentionally, what it involves & what it allows you to do:

  1. Move from intentions to actions.
  2. Gain the value of front-end thinking, which involves having to plan ahead.
  3. Be inspired  to make everyday count.
  4. Make changes one step at a time.

In today’s post, I will like to look at the various areas that you need to live intentionally.

As previously stated, living intentionally involves living a deliberate,consistent & wilful life as defined by John C. Maxwell in his book Intentional Living &  also in a  couple of his presentations on the topic.

We must pursue Living Intentionally in the following areas:

Become intentional in the area of growth. The only guarantee of a better tomorrow is to grow. Change is the only constant thing in life & we must strive to get better everyday. In 2017, work to be a better version of your 2016 self, upgrade yourself across all lines. Learn a new skill or language, read new books, no matter what it is ensure that you add value to yourself.  Life keeps moving forward, if you stay stagnant, you will be left behind.

 

Become intentional in your attitude. Its a choice, attitude is the main thing, it makes a difference in your life. As the saying goes, your attitude determines your altitude. This is very important, going by the common HR mantra “Hire attitude & train skill“, your skill is great, but your attitude is much more important.

Become intentional in relationships. Be intentional with those you hang with. Be around people that will challenge & inspire you. Prov 13: 20 (NIV) says “Walk with the wise and become wise,for a companion of fools suffers harm“. If you hang around Billionaires, given enough time you will become one.

Become intentional in your purpose. Find your purpose & fulfil it. Dr Myles Munroe usually says ” When purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable“. Don’t just drift through life, know why you are here,what you are meant for  & the effects you need to imprint on the sands of time.

Become intentional in the area of significance. Success is mostly about ourselves,we are basically selfish people by nature & I am also guilty of this but I’m learning each day that significance is mostly about others.Its when you intentionally think about others & how to add value to them that you become significant. I’m beginning  to realise that if you help other people get what they want, other people will also help you get what you want.

Being significant is all about value add. You must value people, think of ways to add value to them, look for ways to add that value, take actions with the aim of adding value ( you add the greatest value in the area of your gifting, passion & the needs of people) & encourage others in your network to add value to people.

On a final note, most people don’t write their story………they only read their story. Living intentionally puts you in the driver’s seat of your life & ensure that you write your story.

Note

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This is my snippet, I AM SHALOMESQ!!!

Living Intentionally – 3

Posted on by shalomesq

intentional

This is a continuation of our discussion on  intentional living.

Living intentionally  involves living a deliberate,consistent & wilful life. In the previous posts, we discussed how living intentionally allows you:

  1. Move from intentions to actions.
  2. Gain the value of front-end thinking, which involves having to plan ahead.
  3. Be inspired  to make everyday count.

Today, we will be looking at how living intentionally allows you to make changes one step at a time.

In 2014, I took an online leadership course – Better leader, Richer Life– on COURSERA which was provided by The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania & I learnt about looking at your life as a structured system that you can work on & change.

It’s more like working through a jig-saw puzzle & in my experience, the best way to solve a puzzle is to firstly look for & put in place all the pieces that make the edges (or boundaries) & then place the renaming pieces one at a time.

My last post was about those boundaries & structures, making everyday count by intentionally having things you do & don’t do that sets you on a path to success. I ended  saying you don’t have to be great to start, but to be great you must start.

Seeing your life as a system makes you know that achieving those goals takes a process, it will take time, take effort & yes you will make mistakes or even fail at times, but you must not give up.

One of the key things here is to set the right priorities, I shared a section of this in one of my previous post. Based on the values I got growing up, my major priorities were God, Family & Career. I also love having the good things of life, but my priorities were set as good education, great career, home ownership, good cars, etc. By the grace of God I’ve ticked off a lot of these goals by taking them one step at a time & I’m working on a few as well.

In this case of achieving goals & being successful you must prioritise them according to either their level of importance to you or maybe ease of accomplishment.  There is a need to break them down into smaller achievable actions that you can focus on. FOCUS means Facing One Course Until Success!!!!

Focus is the difference between a laser beam & a touch light, with focus a laser beam can cut through things while a touch light cant.You must avoid idea of multitasking,studies have proven that with a high level of multitasking, productivity reduces.

I actually experience this a lot at work, I noticed that I am more productive & efficient when I list out all of my tasks, assign priorities to them & work on them one after the other than doing a little bit of this & that.

When it comes to achieving your set goals you must be intentional & know that you don’t have to change everything at the same time, but you have to start by changing something.

Do you want to save more this year compared to the last? Do you want to be in shape more this year?You must start one step at a time!!!

Are you living intentionally or just drifting by?

In the next post, I will be looking at areas in which you need to be intentional so as to be successful & significant.

This is my snippet, I AM SHALOMESQ!!!

Living Intentionally – 2

Posted on by shalomesq

intentional

At the end of my previous post, I asked a question, Are you living intentionally or just drifting by?

Living intentionally  involves living a deliberate,consistent & wilful life. It moves you from intentions to actions. Gives you the value of front-end thinking, which involves having to plan ahead. It also inspires you to make everyday count.

Ps1:1-3(NIV)  has been on my mind since the last post. To live intentionally there are things you must do deliberately & things you wont do deliberately on a daily basis so as to achieve your set goals.

It’s really interesting that to start the book of Psalms, God inspired David with a picture of someone that is blessed. Verse 1 indicates the things they don’t do – Walk in step with the wicked, stand  in the way of sinners, sit in the company of mockers- while verse 2 shows us what they do – Delight in the law of the LORD, mediates on it day & night. Verse 3 gives us the consequence of these deliberate actions- That person is exactly like a tree planted by streams of water, yields its fruit in season, leaf doesn’t wither & whatever they do prospers.

A lot of people want the result (verse 3), but are not willing to live a deliberate & consistent life ( which involves sacrifices & prioritisation as seen in verse 1 & 2). What are the things you don’t do as a matter of principle because of your dreams & the goals you’ve set for yourself? What are the things you actually do deliberately because of those dreams & goals?

I had a dream of getting my Master’s degree ( MBA) a couple of years ago from an internationally reputable institution. This was a difficult dream to achieve considering I had a full-time job as well as a family to cater for with all the related expenses.I couldn’t afford to resign & take a full year off, so I started looking for a business school that could meet all of my requirements, I was inspired by friends & colleagues who had done theirs & had even advanced to their doctorate.

So with a close friend of mine we challenged each other & researched until we found one in the UK ( at the time, the raking was 1st in the UK & 4th in the world) that offered distance learning for 3 years, with flexible payments & the MBA degree will be the same as those that did the executive one year full-time.

We jumped on-board & started in 2010, but I had to sacrifice a lot of time away from family, colleagues & friends to concentrate. I remember at the time I had to rearrange my time & daily activities to ensure I was asleep by 8pm ( almost everyday) so I could wake up by 4am to pray & study. To my colleagues at the time, it looked like I don’t sleep at all.

Just as promised, I was done by 2013, obtained my MBA degree with good grades & the skills I gained during that time also reflected in the quality of my work in the office, I had added value to myself & to the organisation & this put me on a platform to obtain admission for my Doctorate in a US university last year.

I shared this to let you know that living intentionally inspires you to make every day count & move you forward in the direction of achieving those dreams & goals. The secret to our success lies in what you choose to do every single day. I recall the great boxing champion Mohammed Ali saying that he doesn’t like the every day training ( of waking up early, working out & perfecting his art), but he loves being champion.

You must embrace your dreams & goals so much that the everyday sacrifice looks like nothing in comparison(Heb 12:2 NKJV).

Your dreams should consume you so much that it keeps you awake at night, it should motivate you so much that it becomes your 5-9 after your normal 9-5. Apostle Paul says in 1Cor10:23 GNB, we are allowed to do anything, but not everything is good, not everything is helpful.

Usain Bolt will tell you that to win triple gold medals in 100m, 200m & 4x100m in 3 consecutive Olympic games involves not doing everything, but only those things that are good & helpful to him achieving that goal.

You get no value out of intentions. The only person that can make a masterpiece out of your life is you. Stop waiting for someone to make your day, make your day yourself. Start by filing your day/calendar with what you want to do, then adjust your priorities, identify your key stakeholders,get help if required.

Remember it’s a process, it will take time, you will have challenges, you might even fail, but don’t give up.

Rome wasn’t built in a day, you don’t have to be great to start, but you must START to be GREAT.

This is my snippet, I AM SHALOMESQ!!!