2013….MULTIPLE TALES

Today, 31st December 2013

The mood in the office is slowly winding down; we have come to the end of business for the day, for the month, for the year. It has been a wonderful year filled with its ups and downs. The office is settling down from all the rush and shouts from supervisors dishing out instructions, from the never ending issues in the Head office and outlets; I look up and say PRAISE GOD for giving us another 31st to savour.

2013 has come and it is winding down, there has been their high point and moments I never wished happened but did and I learnt lessons from (Hard lessons). I travelled round 10 states in a space of 2 months in the course of the job and this came with diverse challenges. I met people and learnt a lot. I travelled to Kenya and South Africa on vacation and it was a memorable trip. My job got even more tasking when I travelled for vacation and my handover note couldn’t guide my team to stand in. My planning committee for the year end bonding session was dissolved amidst some unfounded allegations. I was refused entry visa into Gods own country. Well I can’t forget this most important part when I was promoted to a mid-level management level. This was awesome, although it came with beef and hate (Not out of place) I strive through it all to become who I am today.

In life, we meet a lot of challenges that test us to breaking point. When people lie against you or just set out to spoil your countenance, times when your bosses would ask you to do a task and turn around to disown you when the odds fails. Times when what doesn’t concern you directly would be tied to you in a bid to rope you into something that is messy, I have stopped to ask myself “is it really worth it?” but how would you write your autobiography without these stories? How would you mark the sands of time without these challenges?

The friends I entered 2013 with are still very much around, for this I appreciate God. For all those times when I think my dream has not come to pass and I quarrel with God my maker, I apologize. For the times when I feel like I have been let down by my friends I take back all those wasted energies. For the times when I feel people around me have become burdens and I just tell white lies just to get them off my back, I regret. For times when I snap at those who try to console me after a heated session with my boss, I apologize.

My life has consistently become a projectile figure ever rising even in the midst of the onslaught. I am confident the best is yet to come. I hang up my pen …..sorry my keypad and wish you all HAPPY NEW YEAR

See you on the other side of 2014.

YOU CAN REACH THE WORLD

Once a bird asked a bee, after a continuous hard-work, you prepare the honey. But a man steals the honey. Do you not feel sad? Then the bee replied: Never! Because a man can only steal my honey not the art of making honey!

Here are 3 ways to care less about who takes from your creations and care about the art of making more.
1. There is more in you – This is your creation. There is an endless deposit of creativity in you to tap from and to keep improving. Continue to dig deeper to unearth more deposits.

2. Change your mindset – A scarcity mindset will inhibit your ability to do extraordinary things with your gifts and talents. Think abundance. Be generous.

3. Reach the world – You have been called to impact your world. Do it. A bee may only be producing honey in isolation for 1 beekeeper, but that honey can reach consumers thousands of miles away.

You too can reach the world by doing the little you can

VALUES

A few weeks ago, I told you the story of a little boy that called his employer anonymously and tried to apply for his own job.

The employer turned down the request insisting that the current employee brings enough value to the table.

I want to trigger some creative thinking in your mind as 2014 approaches. These thought patterns and the appropriate actions will make 2014 a year of establishment for you in your career, business, family and all other endeavours.

You can summarize the points below as: “In 2014, bring VALUE to the table”

1) Valuation – There is a need to appraise yourself. How are you doing at work? How are you doing as an entrepreneur? How are you doing at home?

2.) Art – What is your ‘Artistry’ or Skills level. Review your skills. Identify the skills you need in 2014 and make concrete plans to acquire them. Brush up your skills.

3.) Line of business – Review your business concerns. Ask questions like: Do I need to diversify? What is the trend in my industry? Where is the future of this industry? Then position yourself for increase in 2014.

4.) Unique Selling Point – What do you do better than anyone else and how can you hone that USP and create more value and more margin? What are the possibilities in the new possibilities?

5.) Ethics – Do you take cognizance of the impact of ethics and culture in how you do your work as an employee and how you run your business as an entrepreneur?

There is work ahead and the rewards for proper positioning in 2014 are great.

In 2014, bring VALUE to the table.

LIFE CHANGES

I got this piece from a friend and thought I should share with you all..it makes for interesting reading…

A carrot, an egg and a cup of coffee… You will never look at a cup of coffee the same way again. A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose. Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me what you see.” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma. The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?” Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity, boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. “Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? “Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?” Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and hardened heart? Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hour is the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

May you have enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human and enough hope to make you happy. The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way. The brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; you can’t go forward in life until you let go of your past failures and heartaches. When you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling.

Live your life so at the end, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is crying. You might want to send this message to those people who mean something to you (I JUST DID); to those who have touched your life in one way or another; to those who make you smile when you really need it; to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down; to those whose friendship you appreciate; to those who are so meaningful in your life. If you don’t send it, you will just miss out on the opportunity to brighten someone’s day with this message!

DO THIS ANYWAY

January didn’t seem that long ago, but here we are in December.

It is a new month, but also the last month of the year and I’ll like to share with you the words of Mother Teresa (original version by Dr Kent M. Keith).

Keep these in mind and finish the year on a high!

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favour underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

We are in the month of giving; I encourage you to insert ‘thanks’ before it. It then reads ‘Thanksgiving’.