CONVENIENCE

Convenience is the zone of comfort which limits the full expression of potential. It is where dreams are never realized due to fear, and being risk averse. It is the place where good intentions never see the light of the day, where we are satisfied with average results. The city of convenience is filled with men and women who settle for less in life because they are afraid of taking new challenges that can usher in desired progress. The city is full of mediocrity and over populated with failures comfortable with being less than they are created to be.

People in this city would rather feed on job security than start the multi-million business that is in their hearts. They are with trapped potentials, unrealized dreams, and unfulfilled expectations; like generals who would never dare to go to war. They talk about the loftiness of their dreams but never do anything to achieve them. Success in life will never be established without the concerted effort to meet our desired goals. This week, step out of the convenience zone to nurture your dream because the best things of life are always outside the comfort zone. The big win will sometimes require taking big risks, riding over the storms of life.

Don’t ever be trapped in your city of convenience!

WORK

Work, whether we tag it hard or smart pays! Work gives us the singular privilege of releasing our potential. God gave the first man the privilege of work by giving him a garden to dress and keep. Work doesn’t kill but rather gives us the opportunity to live a significant life; fulfilled when we see the fruits of our labour. Hard or smart work wins over complacency, laziness and early contentment in life. The diligent always end up at the top where there is enough room while the lazy end up at the bottom where it is rowdy and chaotic. Hard or smart work is the basic rule in business, career or any life endeavour.

Diligence which is hard work in disguise does not require any special ability, intelligence, education or skill. It only requires each one’s choice for maximum effort and patient persistence. In a generation when most people are lazy and impatient, we can choose hard or smart work to rise faster and farther than our contemporaries.

Talent and training can leverage on diligence but both can never replace diligence. As we embark on another work week, we must embrace diligence and persistence as we release our potential through work, and we are bound to go places quickly with our skills. Lazy men are losers any day. They end up being oppressed by others in life because they always seek shortcuts.

Diligence is a choice each person has to make but you can help yourself up the corporate ladder through hard or smart work or be lazy and carry the ladder for others to climb. It is a matter of choice. The diligent man will always bear the rule or be promoted over those who are lazy.

FEAR

The story is told of a woman whose thoughts were so full of negativity such that, whenever her husband or and children step out of the house, she immediately starts expecting a phone call or the cops bearing the news of death, an arrest or a fatal accident involving her loved ones.

She was tormented by fear for several years until one day her next door neighbour came visiting. They sat chatting for a while in her kitchen when the neighbour noticed how absentminded and easily startled the woman was at the slightest sound around her. After some minutes of subtle questioning, the woman confided in her neighbour who prayed with her referencing Psalm 23 but the moment she was alone, her fears returned with full force. Panicking and trembling, she began reciting the same psalm over and over again until it became a heart-felt prayer.

Gradually, a great sense of calm and peace engulfed her and she felt like she had been stripped of a very heavy load. Relief like she had never known intoxicated her, filling her mouth with songs of gratitude.
This week, as we go about our business of living in the market place, let us turn every fear, anxiety, care and worry to God in exchange for faith by His grace, confident that He cares for us and has everything in absolute control

CREATIVITY AT WORK

Imagine you share an apartment with roommates and the dirty dishes are piling up in the kitchen. With every additional plate, empty space in the kitchen disappears. Eventually, the filth tolerance level of one of the roommates is surpassed and this poor person starts doing the dishes. Often this initiative encourages roommates to follow the good example. Everybody likes having such leaders as roommates, and human resource departments have a strong interest in recruiting these personalities as well.

In fact life itself responds to people who possess this quality.

“Folks who never do any more than they get paid for, never get paid for any more than they do” ― Elbert Hubbard

Ashley Lauren Perez, Sourcing Specialist at Wilson HCG noticed that whenever she gives advice for people to take initiative at work, many people respond with

“Why would I put in all this time and effort if I’m not getting compensated for it? Most of the time it goes unnoticed so what’s the point?”

She continued, regardless if those things seem to initially be true, you must remember to take a step back and see the big picture. Taking initiative doesn’t just help you potentially get a raise or promotion, it helps you grow. You will gain new skills, learn how to overcome challenges more effectively, and really get an idea of what you are passionate about and good at. Bob Nelson, author of 1001 ways to Take Initiative at Work says

“The biggest mistake you make in life is to think you work for someone else.”

A recent poll of executives asked, “What do you feel is the single best way for employees to earn a promotion and/or raise?” Topping the list for 82% of the respondents was “Ask for more work and responsibility.” It is not only the work or responsibility that matters, getting results does too. Taking initiative helps you get results faster, and opens up more room for you to hone your skills, perfect your craft and offer more value. The marketplace responds well to people that take initiative.