9 TIPS ON TIME MANAGEMENT.

Many small businesses IN NIGERIA find themselves stretched for time in an economy that requires businesses to do more with less to stay competitive. That’s why it’s wise for entrepreneurs to develop good time management habits so that everything that needs to be done gets done.

Here are 9 time management tips to help you work smarter and use your time wisely.
1. Buy a week-at-a-glance appointment book and use it religiously. Write everything that you need to accomplish in this book. This book is your brain!
2. Differentiate between the urgent and the vital. The urgent may be making a lot of noise to get your attention, but it is rarely vital that it be done right now or at all.“The vital task rarely needs to be done today. The urgent task calls for instant action. The momentary appeal of these tasks seems irresistible, and they devour our energy. With a sense of loss we recall the vital tasks we pushed aside. We realize that we have become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent.” –Charles Hummel
3. The key is not to prioritize what is on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.
4. Keep track of your time by 15 minute increments for 2 weeks to see how you actually spend your time.
5. Say “no” to the project, not the person. You cannot do everything everyone asks you to do.
6. Learn how to effectively delegate. This means picking the right person, giving clear directions, setting benchmark and due dates, and then letting them do it.
7. Procrastination has a lot of different causes: fear, boredom, perfectionism, an overwhelming task and unclear goals. Identify the reason behind procrastination, so you are solving the right problem when dealing with it.
8. Set goals. They help you prioritize your activities and let you know that you have succeeded.
9. There are 1,440 minutes in a day and 29020 days in an 80 year lifetime. Take control of your time and make this year the year you do what you want.

3 PROVEN STRATEGIES TO ACHIEVE YOUR DREAMS IN THIS MELTDOWN

Don't let your goals and resolutions fall by the wayside. Chances are that to achieve your dreams and live a life you love, those goals and resolutions are crucial. Goal setting and goal achievement are easier if you follow these three steps for effective and successful goal setting and resolution accomplishment.
.... You need to deeply desire the goal or resolution. Napoleon Hill, in his landmark book, Think and Grow Rich, had it right. "The starting point of all achievement is desire. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat." So, your first step in goal setting and achieving your dreams is that you've got to really, really want to achieve the goal.
.... Visualize yourself achieving the goal. "The greatest discovery of my generation is that human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind." says Lee Iacocca .What will your achievement feel like? How will your life unfold differently as a result? If the goal is a thing, some gurus of goal setting propose that you keep a picture of the item where you see and are reminded of it every day. If you can’t picture yourself achieving the goal, chances are – you won’t.
.... Make a plan for the path you need to follow to accomplish the goal. Create action steps to follow. Identify a critical path. The critical path defines the key accomplishments along the way, the most important steps that must take place for the goal to become a reality. Stephen Covey said, "All things are created twice. There's a mental or first creation, and a physical or second creation of all things. You have to make sure that the blueprint, the first creation, is really what you want, that you've thought everything through. Then you put it into bricks and mortar. Each day you go to the construction tool shed and pull out the blueprint to get marching orders for the day. You begin with the end in mind." He's right. COME BACK FOR THE NEXT 3 POINTS.

41 Lazy Habits that can mess you up

Laziness is the disease that all of us suffer from. Laziness is a lack of desire to do pretty much anything that benefits a human being in a positive manner. Laziness is the opposite of productivity.

Laziness is procrastination which is basically delaying doing things until they become absolutely necessary. Here are a short list of habits that you should avoid if you want to achieve self control and make your life worth living again.

1.Stop watching too much TV!
2.Limit Facebook
3.Forget about MySpace and 5 million other social networking sites
4.Stop wasting time on Digg and Reddit
5.Stop staying up late
6.Stop over eating
7.Eating late
8.Eating too early (Like 3AM!)
9.Skipping breakfast
10.Rushing your meals
11.Neglecting to brush teeth
12.Neglecting to floss
13.Using Google for everything!
14.Neglecting a good night’s rest
15.Eating fried food
16.Picking your nose
17.Farting and burping in public
18.Careless attitude
19.Getting to work late
20.Getting to class late
21.Sleeping at meetings and classrooms
22.Eating out everyday
23.Writing a blog once a month
24.Not taking shower daily
25.Not taking a crap regularly- Yea. Some people don’t even do this because they’re too damn lazy!
26.Not exercising
27.Leaving work until last minute
28.Browse the Internet aimlessly
29.Not taking shower regularly
30.Idling for long periods of time
31.Over eating
32.No exercise
33.Smoking
34.Eating fast food daily – Stop going to McDonald’s for breakfast/lunch and dinner. Watch Super Size Me to get an idea what it does to you in a matter of only few weeks!
35.Stop delegating - If you want a cup of water or the remote GO GET IT YOURSELF!
36.Stop driving and walk to short distances.
37.Stop finding shortcuts – Getting things done take time and effort. Taking shortcuts all the time is a lazy way out of doing hard work.
38.Don’t wait until the last minute in the morning before getting up and then have to rush to get ready for work or school.
39.Don’t leave anything until the last minute.
40.Not cleaning after yourself – There are so many people who use the bathroom but do not wash their hands after. Forget about #1, some people don’t even bother washing their hands after doing #2! Even worse than that, some people don’t even wash their arse when they take a dump. How disgusting can a person be if they don’t properly wash their arse or wipe properly?? This is sick and it bothers me.
41.Stop eating when not hungry!
I could go on but can’t think of anymore…I’m sure there are hundreds of other lazy habits that affects us negatively and create setbacks everyday.

AGE, DREAMS AND ACHIEVING YOUR DREAM

The unborn baby is in a completely different world physically and psychologically to the adult, or even to the six-week old baby. Although we cannot be certain of what the unborn baby dreams, we can give an educated guess. The information behind the guess arises from the experience of people who undertake very deep psychological explorations into the unconscious using modern therapeutic techniques. In a sense they are like deep-sea divers who don special equipment to explore the depths of the unconscious. What they report is that their baby self, existing as it does without language or focused self-awareness, lives in a world of complete identification with the forces of life creating it. Toward the end of its life in the womb it begins to have a more focused sense of a relationship with another being – its mother. Before that there was no feeling of separation. Because it has not yet experienced vision, its dreams are long slow experiences of sensation, of feeling. One explorer of these deeps, attempting to put his experience into words expresses it as follows:

Unknown to myself I am the swimmer.Music I do not hear moves me toward the sea I do no know.For I am the music - Each movement a beat - Each swift turn a passage in the flow of life.I know not - Yet I am a swimmer in the river,Close to me as my own unknown, without boundary.I am the imperative - Survive!Fear is my being, reaching tendril fingersInto the great ocean toward which I swim -Immense beyond all my experience of fear,Older than I am I go fearfully fearlessTo the sea.

This sea toward which this little swimming life form is moving is birth. Frighten because it is a huge new world that it already senses ahead. Imperative because its whole urge is to live, to survive, and it must enter the ‘sea’ to continue living. This is because all things in existence change, and the little swimmer’s season of life in the womb will end. So not only is it dreaming about what it senses it is moving toward, but also it faces in dreams what its own inner changes are.

TIPS ON HOW TO LIVE YOUR DREAMS

There are many steps in realizing your dreams…
The first thing is to make a decision that you want to actualize that particular dream.

The next step is to write down in graphic detail what the outcome of the dream looks like. So you actually start with the end in mind. if your dream is to have a beautiful new home for you and your family – then write down what you imagine the home looking like, who will be living there, imagine walking through the home and the emotions that you feel, the things you hear, the smells. Write it all down like a little story as if you were there and living it. The main thing people have to keep in mind when they want to realize their dreams is That they have to take ACTION to realize their dreams – it is all very good and having a clear dream and then imagining it frequently, however when the opportunities arrive to allow them to access that dream then they need to take ACTION.
Many people don’t take action and are often surprised that their dreams and goals aren’t coming true – the first step is getting clear on the dream in your mind and the next step is getting in action in the world to ensure that your mental image collides with reality. Another piece of advice that helps me often when challenges arise – “Don’t give up before the miracle arrives”. Just keep taking the next obvious step and the next step and the next you will reach your dreams!!!!!!!!!

SET YOUR GOALS AND CELEBRATE!

Hey! you need to read this and practice. it did help me in an unquantifiable way.

Studies tell us that only 3% of people in the USA set goals, and they are among the wealthiest people in the nation! Worldwide the percentage is probably lower. Why so low? There are several reasons, but the one that concerns us the most at Ziglar Training Systems is lack of know-how. When we ask people why they don't set goals they often say, "I don't know how."Isn't that remarkable? We send children to school for 12 years in America before they graduate from high school. Many of them go on to trade schools, colleges and universities. We teach them many important disciplines including history, economics, literature, science, and so forth, but we miss one critically important skill: goal setting. We award them their degrees, pat them on their backs, and send them into the world full of wisdom, but ill-prepared, almost always, to design and pursue the lives they really want.And all that's required to change this deficiency is a single semester, even half a semester, devoted to teaching goal setting. It doesn't seem likely that we're going to change the American educational system any time soon, or the world's educational system, but that's not going to stop us from teaching you how to set goals.The letters and phone calls that we receive at Ziglar Training Systems are social proof that our goal setting programs work. We know that goal setting will help you change your life for the better, it will help you get what you really want from life. And when you do, that's reason for all of us to celebrate! So for the next several weeks we are going to help you set goals. Whether you're already a goal setter, you used to set goals and quit, or you've never set goals, these lessons will help you build a better life. They'll also help those you share them with, so don't be shy about forwarding this information!Lesson 1. Dream! Let your imagination run wild while you fill up a blank sheet of paper with everything you want to be, do or have. Many adults have lost their ability to dream and that's unfortunate. By dreaming you instill hope for your future, and with hope there's possibility. So your assignment this week is to dream. During this next week devote at least two private sessions to dreaming. We want you to create a Dream List filled with ideas. Your list should include at least 25 dreams about what you want to be, do or have.Lesson 2. After you complete your list, wait 24 to 48 hours and read each item on your list and answer the question: Why? If you can't verbalize in one sentence why you want to be, do or have this dream, then it's not a dream and it won' become a goal. Cross it off your list.Lesson 3: Ask the following five questions of every dream on the Dream List you created last week.1. Is it really MY goal? 2. Is it morally right and fair to everyone concerned? 3. Is it consistent with my other goals? 4. Can I emotionally commit myself to finish this goal? 5. Can I "see" myself reaching this goal? 6. You must answer "yes" to all five questions for each goal, or cross that goal off your list.Here are some points to ponder: Is it really MY goal or is it a goal someone else wants me to pursue? Is it the right thing to do? Will achieving this goal distract from achieving other goals? Goals are often difficult to achieve. Are you sure you can make the commitment to pursue this goal and see it through? If you can't "see" yourself reaching this goal, you probably won't.Take time during this week to think about the questions above and answer them. Once you're finished, your Dream List will probably be a bit shorter than when you started out. That's okay because you're now closer to identifying the goals that you really will pursue and can achieve.Lesson 4:Ask the following seven questions of every dream that remains on your Dream List (or goals list).Will reaching this goal . . .1. make me happier?2. make me healthier?3. make me more prosperous?4. win me more friends?5. give me peace of mind?6. make me more secure?7. improve my relationships with others?If you can't answer Yes to at least one of these questions for each goal, eliminate that goal from your list. Be sure to consider your family when you answer these questions. And do not confuse pleasure with happiness!Here we go with Lesson 5:After asking the questions posted in Lesson 4 you will have eliminated some of your goals. Actually, they were not goals, just thoughts or desires at this point, so you're better off without them.Separate your remaining list of goals into one of three categories: Short-range (one month or less to achieve this goal), Intermediate (one month to one year to achieve this goal), or Long-range (one year or more to achieve this goal).This lesson will help you quickly determine whether or not you have a balanced perspective between what needs to be done now, versus your dreams for the future.Remember: Some goals must be BIG to make you stretch and grow to your full potential. Some goals must be long-range to keep you on track and greatly reduce the possibility of short-range frustrations. Some goals must be small and daily to keep you disciplined. Some goals must be ongoing. Some goals (i.e., weight loss, sales success, education, etc.) may require analysis and consultation to determine where you are before you can set the goals. Most goals should be specific. A "nice home" is not as good as a "3,000 square-foot, Tudor- style home with four bedrooms, three full baths, and two living spaces."Here we go with the final lesson:After tracking your first few goals on the General Goals Procedure Chart you are likely to have many additional goals that remain to be charted. Take time now to chart those goals. If you need a copy of the chart, send a blank email to editor@zigziglar.com?Subject=GoalsChart. The word GoalsChart (as written) must be on the Subject line of your email!Be sure to work each goal through the process of the chart. Be selective. You may not be able to work on all of your goals at one time! Don,t over do it. If you only have time to complete one or two goals for the remainder of this year, don,t apologize. Do a little bit more than you can, but do not overextend your time to the point that you don,t complete any of your goals. Do not get frustrated by the process! Work the system and it will work for you. We can fill a book with the number of letters that Zig receives about the effectiveness of his simple goal-setting program. Trust the system.Once you have charted your goals and plotted the activities that you intend to do to fulfill your goals, pat yourself on the back! You have just spent more time planning your future than most of your friends, relatives or associates will ever invest! Good for you.

WHAT MAKES GOD SMILE?

Have you ever in your life time thought of the things that make God smile? Here are few tips to keep God smiling at you.
The smile of God is the goal of your life. Since pleasing God is the first purpose of our lives, it’s important that we discover how to do it.

God smiles when we love him absolutely
God smiles when we obey him wholeheartedly
God smiles when we praise him and thank him always
God smiles when we use our abilities.
God smiles when we trust him completely.
What he looks at is the attitude of our heart and I’m sure we want God pleased by the goals of our lives.