Diamond in the dirt

Have you ever felt disheartened, downtrodden, unsupported? Have you given up? Have you ever succumb to the pounding thought that "I will never amount to much", "I will never be a professional or financial success"  Come on, admit it....I believe everyone single one of us has had our fair share of doubts and discouragement. However, I believe today marks a significant change in your life, career, education and relationship. Follow me!

In order to win in any sphere of life, we must develop the 'attitude' to win. Winning is not a singular occurrence, its a process that must be adhered to. A winner understands that winning requires numerous challenges, injuries, defeats and pressures from various sources. But a winner - is the man that know the answer to this question - 'How do we stand and remain strong when the world, the economy or your current situation seems to be a heavy burden? In the beautiful words of Mariah Carey "...cast your fears aside [be]cause you know you can survive, so when you feel like hope is gone just look inside you and be strong and you will finally see the truth that a hero lies in you". [Hero]

10,15, 30 years ago, many of us may have had a very interesting, yet unforgettable science lesson about how [supposedly] coal [a dirty, unwanted, often discarded material] through a very rigorous and lengthy process becomes transformed into diamond [one of the most beautiful, edifying, prestigious item anyone could own]. Do you remember how fascinated you were?

Many who believe that natural coals plays a significant part in diamond formations, have attributes this belief to numerous factor including very high temperatures and pressures. Approximately 100 tons of mud needs to be mined to produce one carat of diamond. The lesson here is simple - To reveal the gem within - Pressure is a necessity!

Pressure is a essential part of your success. Are you willing to embrace the pressure? Pressure and challenges will enable your transformation from coal to diamond....

Find your inner strength today - Shine in face of adversity...

P.S Please don’t start digging up your garden for diamonds...

Good Luck

The Secret is.......HARDWORK - but its no secret!!!!!

TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY BEFORE ITS TOO LATE…BUT ITS NEVER TOO LATE!!!

Life is really what you make of it!

There is no amount of secrets that you need to discover, no amount of soul searching you need to endeavour, no amount of food, exercise, knowledge, material objects etc… that you need, to make life what it truly is. The only thing you need to inscribe into both your conscious and subconscious mind is the term we hear about over and over and over again; HARDWORK, if you haven’t come to that realization already then I suggest you just CHEAT and skip forward to the end result, which is simply HARDWORK.

It takes a certain character to try and follow the creed of a successful person(s) but honestly it takes a ‘mad man’ to really follow the creed of a successful man or woman. There is no point setting the benchmark of your dreams low, it was Donald Trump who said, “think BIG” and he is absolutely correct.

It is frightening to know that there are no short cuts; there are no secret paths that the government have access to and give to special people, you have to really and I mean really grab hold of any opportunity when one presents itself. Almost like a machine one has to become, “people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the one who do” Steve Jobs –

Tomorrow is never guaranteed and yesterday can never be changed so where can we deploy our strategy….well the only realm left is the present; it is the window of opportunity that we live; in real-time.

Our actions and decision that we make affect our future of course BUT surprisingly it also affects our past (think about it)…

If you are going to take one thing away from todays message I would suggest that you understand that “IF YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE READY THEN YOU ARE, THERE IS NOTHING ELSE TO IT; BUT IF YOU GO IN WITH ANY DOUBT, WITH ANY HESITATION, THEN YOU ARE AS GOOD AS DEAD”

There is an opportunity in front of you right now TAKE IT!!!

Tim Ferris couldn’t have said it better “the most important actions are never comfortable”

I’m glad you have decided to understand, it is the first step……have a fantastic week!

Defeated!!

The 37th American President Richard Nixon stated a life-changing lesson, by which I would suggest we adopt and make our life motto. He quoted "You've got to learn to survive a defeat. That's when you develop character". It is imperative that we understand and accept the fact that we will encounter challenges, in fact, at times we may find our selves cowering in the [boxing] ring of life, sometimes running from the shadows of failures and many times over-whelmed by failed attempts and endeavours. But according to Pat Buchanan, always remember, "Defeat may seem like a heavy blow that may attempts to keep you down, but please remember - Defeat has its lessons as well as victory".

Every person has had their fair share of challenges, however, the ability to learn from your failures and arise - is the secret ingredient that separate the unfulfilled from the successful. As Facebook files its IPO, the amazing life of its founder Mark Zuckerberg, comes to light. Mark has faced multiple situations that sought to cripple his dream of creating the world most successful social network, however, his determination and resilience - saw him arise as a champion. Richard Branson and Barack Obama are also students of the 'resilience school'.

There is nothing wrong with been knocked down. Staying down is the ultimate problem. Champions never stay down. Are you a champion?

When the going gets tough and you feel like you cant take it anymore, just remember in the words of on my favourite band 'Floetry' all you got to do is say YES" Say YES! Say you refuse to let defeat restrain you from attaining your goals'

Atkins (1985) quoted - "Admitting defeat can be easy, however, your ability to regain composure and get back on the treadmill of life - will ensure your triumphant victory"

Develop a mentality that nothing will stop you from achieving your goal.

Good Luck

What will you do with it...????

It was Thomas Kida who once said, “…don’t believe everything that you think”.

We live in a society where we are constantly bombarded with information from all angles, hence the era we live in - the information age. Information nowadays travels at light speed, some is received in its truest nature and pure, but most like Chinese whispers becomes convoluted. It has left us in an awkward situation as individuals to deal with such high intense traffic of information, from social networking to news and even education. Interpretation can lead us up and down the correct and incorrect paths, essentially the person who knows ones self and direction of their journey will know what information is worth gathering along the way.

Investing time into your own personal library of thoughts allows you to make sure you know exactly what pieces of information are missing, only the person who has a clear sense of direction and is undeterred by irrelevant kinks in their system will prevail to the final destination.

Being able to filter out what information is useful or not is a skill that comes with experience. It is applicable to all aspects of life. How many times have you argued with loved ones, friends and acquaintances and exhausted valuable time and effort when that energy could have been transmuted into something more productive; we have all been there haven’t we?

The only way to push things forward is to become much more disciplined, we have to be more concise…by the time you have decided what you want to do with the information you have just received someone somewhere has already interpreted it to suit their situation, and has either made good use of it or has let it affect them in a negative way….either way like energy, information is just transformed into something else; its up to the possessor at that instant to do what they wish with it.

From studying some of the most successful people in the world when it comes to utilising information to attain their goals, it is evident to see that there are clear similarities in relation to what they do with it. No matter where the information comes from, they automatically assume that many others have the same information; therefore it becomes a race to the finish line. They also maximise the value of the information to cater to their situation; being decisive allows them to quickly disregard ‘non applicable’ information but nevertheless they may mentally file it away for a later time. These two skills are imperative to learn as a stepping-stone to achieving something worthwhile.

If its only one piece of information you take away with you today let Winston Churchill’s words resonate with you, “true genius resides in the capacity for evaluation of uncertain, hazardous, and conflicting information”

Have a wonderful week!

Get grateful

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom" Marcel Proust

An unknown author caught my attention this week with an amazing quote that I believe can and will transform the way you live your life, they quoted "If you can't be content with what you have received, be thankful for what you have escaped". Think about it! Regardless of your current circumstance - we all have something to be appreciative and thankful for. Just in case you can not think of any, let me name a few of mine:-

Family - I am surrounded by a loving family, which includes a troublesome sister
Health - I am well and nourished
Friends - I am thankful to have people that I can confide and seek advise from
Relationship - A woman that is supportive of my goals and desires

Im sure you can also name a few. Take a few moments today to write down the things you are grateful for, as Marlon Jacobs stated "There is always, always, always something to be thankful for". William Ward further reiterated this point by quoting "God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say 'thank you'?"

Eric Hoffer stated that "The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings" .Regardless of your adversities and challenges, please understand that they are other aspects of your lives that one must be grateful for. Start today!

Ralph Marston famously noted "What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it-would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have". Become thankful today.

Have a thankful day

Laying Plans...

Laying Plans…

“the reason for time is so that not everything doesn’t happen at once” Albert Einstein

There is a war going on in everyone’s lives at any one time. We must accept that all warfare is based on deception; it is only through this understanding that we have the opportunity to win. Our subconscious mind is a powerful enemy and acquaintance. We are in a constant battle between right and wrong, desire and opportunity, happiness and sadness etc…only through proper structure can we be victorious.

The general feeling for most of us based on what I have experienced so far is that 2012 is a year for victory; to be victorious we must lay out the correct plans. Think about it, there is a certain methodology when creating masterpieces, whether it comes from heightened intuition, detailed analysis and evaluation or even just pure genius; there is always a method. You will only learn and grow should you choose to accept your personal method, embrace it and move forward. Thus laying down plans for this battle can only bring you one step closer to winning the war and achieving the goals, which you rightly deserve.

Sun Tzu says, “ the general who wins the battle makes many calculations in his temple where the battle is fought, the general who looses the battle makes a few calculations beforehand, thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat…”.

The deity of the universe laid out plans for order or else the would be chaos…how many of you can say you have clear plans in your minds eye right now what are your plans for victory are this year? If you don’t know then I suggest you go back to the drawing board and make some tactical plans for the future you; it is that simple. Whatever you want to be, have and do by laying down your plans right now you will gain the everlasting opportunities to achieve them, if you don’t then you will perish into the abyss of a vicious cycle and become trapped in the system.

A wise man once said “…in some great hour of your life, when you stand face to face with either and awful trail or opportunity, when the structure of ambition and life work crumbles or arises in a moment you will be brave….you can then fold your arms calmly, look out undismayed and undaunted upon the ashes of your hope…” knowing that you have a PLAN! (Goodman 1985)

Who is ready for war this week?...Lets go!!!!

                                        CONSCIOUS MIND VS SUBCONSCIOUS MIND 

Good Luck

Welcome to the year of vast opportunities, also another proposed world ending, endless romances, London Olympics and celebrations of your fulfilment, or we can just called it 2012.

I would love to begin 2012, by sharing a quote with you by Haran Yahya, he stated a great truth when he said “I always wonder why birds stay in the same place when they can be fly anywhere on the earth. Then I ask myself the same question”. Ask your self a very simple question right now “why I’m I in the current situation or circumstance that I find myself today” – do you mind if I answer it for you? Maybe it is because you refuse or choose NOT to fly. 

Haran’s metaphor suggests, that we can do anything we wish  [sounds cliché right?], however, there is great truth to it. You just need to follow a few steps. Firstly, decide what is it you wish to achieve, secondly, gain the necessary tools [qualifications, contacts, knowledge, etc] and thirdly and most importantly, take flight, do it, attempt, pursue, chase it NOW, etc.

Let me ask you another question. “If you knew you could not fail, what would you do today”. Please take a moment to think about this question, in fact grab a pen and paper and begin to list down, the things that you would attempt right now if the only consequence of your actions were success. I would :-

•    Tell her that I love her
•    I would empty my bank account and start that new business
•    I would bungee jump
•    I would work my arse off and gain that well deserved promotion.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

They say ‘Red Bull’ gives you wings to endure your day. Well I believe the knowledge that you can’t fail can empower you to endure your year.

Many of us fail to fly, simply due to the crippling fear associated with failure. Have you ever seen a baby bird learning to fly, its climbs to the edge of the branch and leaps off, knowing that its wings will carry it [I made this up, I have no idea how a little bird learns to fly, but hey its sounds cool right?] Imagine how great you will feel, if you take a risk and you win. You will be and feel unstoppable! And that’s where champions are made.


I have always wanted to say this – so fly little birdie, fly.

Have a great week