THE POWER OF OUR BELIEF SYSTEM

Our belief system is a powerful part of our being. It decides who we are and what we become, both mentally and physically. The belief system is formed by perceptions and acceptance. When these perceptions of ourselves, whether false or true, negative or positive, are accepted as truth by our subconscious mind, they drop into our belief system and become reality.

I’m sure many of you remember the famous line from the movie Field of Dreams, “If you build it, they will come.” I would like for you to remember this: “If you believe it, it will be.” Any way you do the math, it still comes out the same: perception + belief = your reality.When we are first separated from our mother’s womb, we become like a tape recorder, and our subconscious mind is like a blank tape, waiting to be programmed.

As the analytical part of the mind is not fully developed until around age thirteen, the subconscious readily accepts and believes whatever it hears and sees as truth. Young children have no concept of who they are. Their self-image is formed by what they’ve been told by others and how they perceive things to be. It can even be formed by things they’ve overheard. “Ooo … He’s so bad!” “You look so pretty!” “You’re so strong!” “You don’t listen!” “She’s not good at math.” Think about it, what self-image are you helping to form in your child? Is it good, or is it filled with negatives? Children will live up not only to their own perceptions, but also to yours.

THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE OF NIGERIAN YOUTHS

It worries one to think that the future of the Nigerian youth is uncertain because it lacks direction. There is an argument that young Nigerians don’t have sound set of values or models to look up to. The reason for this write-up is to showcase inspiring Nigerians all over the world who are doing Nigeria proud, individuals the younger generation could model and pattern their lives after.

These individuals through what they do and through whatever instrument that is in their hand motivate and inspire the public. You see motivation can come in various forms and by various means.
Messages like “Be you, be free, be brilliant,” “If it doesn’t exist, then you are lucky; invent it,” “Hard is a reality, difficult is a myth…impossible doesn’t exist,” “People think it, great people think it and do it,” “Achieve the extraordinary” is a reflection

of the bank PHB’s work ethics. To succeed in any Endeavour, one must develop the habit of

thinking positive.

Mr. Atuche is a great thinker and it showed on the activities of the bank earning them the name the thinking bank. According to Dayo Lawuyi, former managing director of Dunlop Nigeria Plc, “Strategic thinking should be a team effort but the CEO must do the initial thinking…. All I have to do is to tell my colleagues about the vision because they are experts in their own fields. They will then come with their ideas and we create together. It is a team work but the CEO cannot exonerate himself from the leadership.”

Creativity is very important in whatever we are doing. It was Dale Dauten who observed “If you want to be creative in your company, your career, your life, all it takes is one easy step… the extra one. When you encounter a familiar plan, you just ask one question: What else could we do?”You must make it your business to be visible
We must be futuristic. According to Ted Levitt “The future belongs to people who see possibilities for profiting before they become obvious to all.” You will agree with me that the youths are the future. Lastly, we must appreciate God for the inspiration to do whatever we are doing.

TIPS ON DISCOVERING YOUR DREAM...#3

Here is the final stage. And hope my write was useful.
Food for thought…
Simplify: one purpose. Once you've defined your dream, focus on it completely. That means you need to put any other goals on the backburner for now, and have only one purpose in your life. Later, you can focus on other goals, but if you have multiple goals, you will become distracted and lose purpose. Focus so that you are keeping your focus on that one thing.

Use a mantra. A great way to keep you focused is to use Guy Kawasaki's idea of creating a mantra instead of a mission statement. Stew your goal down to a few words. Guys' mantra: empower entrepreneurs. What's yours? Once you've defined your mantra, print it out, post it up, and say it several times a day.
Set aside time each day. You will not go anywhere if you don't devote time to your dream. Set aside an hour (or at least 30 minutes) each day for working towards your dream. If you can do more, great, but one step at a time is all it takes. Set aside time either in the morning, or in the evening, or some time when you know you will do it every day. Make it a habit, and you will succeed.

Pretend you can't fail. Imagine that you cannot fail, that you may slip up and fall, but that you will get up and learn from that fall. Take away all fear of risk and loss, and believe in your success. Now act as if you cannot fail. And by acting so, you will make it happen.
Live as you want to be remembered. How do you want to be remembered when you die? This is a common method for deciding how to live your life. If you want to be remembered for realizing your dream, then don't start on it when it's too late. Start on it now. Live your life so that your dream actually comes true.

TIPS ON DISCOVERING YOUR DREAM...# 2

Here is a continuation. please read through i am very sure by the end of this post you would have discovered your dream and how to achieve them dreams.

Food for thought...

What environment do you enjoy working in? An office, a college, a classroom, a construction site, the ocean, the forest? Where you work is also an important factor in your dream job.
List your top 5 passions. Now that you've given various factors some thought, and tried some online tools, make a short list of your top 5 passions. If you don't have 5, list as many as you have. Then compare your top 5 passions, and rank them from top to bottom. This will be the starting point your guide to making your dream a reality.
How can you turn your passions into your work? Of the top 2-3 passions on your short list, can any of them be turned into your life's work? What professions use those passions as a mainstay of their work? How would you get into those professions, and do you think you would love what you do if you did them?

Create a clear vision. Clarity of vision is the key to achieving your dream once you've discovered it. Take some time to think about exactly what your dream is, what your dream job would be, how you see yourself doing it, where you are, what you're surrounded by, who you're working with, what tools you're using, the benefits to you and others. Write it down, and try to make it as clear as possible. You should be able to visualize this dream in your head. The more real it seems in your mind, the more likely it is that it will become reality.
Create a roadmap. Once you've clearly pictured your destination, what's left is creating a map for getting to that destination. Try backwards planning: what's the last step you'd have to do before attaining your goal? What would the last step be before that step? Keep going backwards until you get to the first step. Then focus all your efforts on that first step.

Brainstorm. Sometimes there are more than one road to get to a destination. Brainstorm a bunch of ideas for getting there, a bunch of actions you can take to move yourself closer to your destination. Then put them together into your roadmap. Even if you don't have a complete roadmap, having a clearly defined destination, and taking the first step, are enough to get you started.
Do research. Learn as much as you can about your dream. Check out some books from the library, do some web surfing, talk to others who are knowledgeable. Become an expert on the topic.

How are others doing it? Find others who are living your dream. Read about them, write to them, meet with them. Find out what steps they took to get there, what's required, how they did it. Then use that information for your roadmap.
Practice, practice. While you're taking your steps to realizing your dream, practice your passion as much as possible. Practice, of course, makes perfect ... and you want to be as good at what you want to do as humanly possible. This isn't an easy step, but it's worth it.

Get inspired. Find others who are trying to achieve the same dream, see what obstacles they've face and how they've overcome them. Put up photos from magazines to inspire you. Read motivational quotes. If you're inspired, you will have the energy needed to get there.
Get motivated. Along those lines, find motivation to keep you on your path. Motivation and focus are the keys to achieving any goal. What are your motivations? Making a public commitment, setting up rewards, inspiring yourself, tracking your progress and finding a partner are great ways to motivate yourself.

TIPS ON DISCOVERING YOUR DREAM...# 1

One of the most important rules of happiness in life is to do what you love. But discovering that dream job and what you are meant to do in life isn't always so easy.But what do you do if you don't know what you want to do? If you don't know what your dream is? This is a common problem, and many people wander through much of their life without discovering their passion, and go from job to job, unfulfilled and miserable.If that's you, don't give up. What follows is a list of suggestions that will help you discover your dream, and start on the road to living that dream. They're things that have worked for me and many others I've studied, talked to, interviewed and admired. If you spend time thinking about your dreams, you are taking the first step towards making them a reality.

Food for thought….
What are your hobbies? -- it means anything you do with your spare time. That could be books, reading about history, programming Linux utilities, writing on your blog, writing poetry, cooking, whatever. As it's clear that this is how you like to spend your time, and that you're willing to do these things without pay, Give each of your hobbies some thought, and think about whether they're things you love to do, and that you'd love to do for a living.

What are your talents? It's been said that each of us have at least one gift we've been given, and that the true purpose of our lives is discovering that gift, and sharing it with the world. There is much truth in that statement, and an important part of this process is discovering your gift. What are you good at? What talents do you have? What have you shown an aptitude for in your current and previous jobs, in school, in your personal life? Anything goes here.

Who do you like to work with? A dream job includes not only what you want to do, but who you are doing it with. You should truly enjoy working with these people. In this step, you can name specific people you love working with, or types of people (creative types, programmers, entrepreneurs, blue collar, etc.). Use your ideas here to help you envision your dream job (more on that below).

What do you like to work with? The tools of the job are very important. If you love working with computers (even a specific type of computer), that's a clue to your dream job. If you love working with clay, or paper, or people, or clothes, that's a clue. If you like working with a hammer, or a piano, you're off to a great start in discovering your dream.

A PLEA FOR THE NIGERIAN CHILD

The report specifically stated that over a million Nigerian under-five children die each year from preventable diseases such as whopping cough, polio, measles and pneumonia, making Nigeria one of the top 12 countries with the highest under-five mortality rate in the world. Also, according to the report, nearly a third of the country’s children are under-weight and about half of the country’s total population has no access to safe drinking water. The report further disclosed that the Nigerian child is faced with severe cases of under-nutrition, a factor which contributes to about half of all deaths among the under-five.
Condition of the Nigerian child still shows no sign of significant improvement. This much is apparent in the recent release of the 2008 United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) "State of the World’s Children Report". The section on Nigeria is tellingly grim, a very disturbing story of insufficient concern, if not outright neglect of society’s most vulnerable group.


This is the grim reality of the Nigerian child, an existence marked by the most difficult of struggles for survival, from the womb to the tomb. For most, it is a miserable life that more often than not is cut short as a result of the absence of the basic necessities of life. In life, he or she is often unloved, unwanted and even abandoned, left all alone to face society’s cruel fates.
In Nigeria, he or she is an adult even before he has matured, forced to fend for himself or herself and made to bear the burden of the gross follies and failures of the adults who run the affairs of society. He is the perfect study case in exploitation, neglect and abandonment.
On its part, UNICEF, in its concern for the Nigerian child has called on all the states in the country to implement the Integrated Maternal, New-born and Child Health Strategy (IMNCH), a policy that encompasses the Accelerated Child Survival and Development (ACCD).

According to UNICEF, the ACCD promotes the selection of low-cost and high impact intervention packages such as strengthening routine immunization, Vitamin A supplementation, exclusive breastfeeding, Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) and the use of Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs). These measures, if fully implemented May not just put us on the road to meeting the MDGs target date of 2015 for reducing under-five mortality rate by two-thirds, but more importantly improve the overall health and wellbeing of our children.
The Nigerian child has been battered and abandoned long enough. Is it not time we listened to his pleas for mercy, for concern, for love and above all his call to us to relieve him of the terrible pains he has been in since birth? Shouldn’t his everyday tears move us to action? Shouldn’t his cries be our cries, his pains, our pains, his hunger our hunger and his vulnerability our vulnerability also? He is precious and invaluable, God’s priceless gift to mankind. The kind of tomorrow we want for our country is dependent on the kind of investment we make in the child today. This therefore means that our future, including our desire to be among the top 20 world economies by 2020 is tied to what we make of him or how we treat him today. Here then is the stark choice before us: treat him well now and reap a bountiful future or continue to abandon him and the country will continue to be consigned to backwardness.

HAVING A POSITIVE ATTITUDE TO LIFE BRINGS MANY REWARDS

I am the type of person who used to have a very negative attitude to most aspects of life. I am not alone in thinking this way as most of the people I meet seem to be constantly moaning about different things and basically feeling sorry for themselves. This article looks at the reasons and benefits of having a more positive outlook on life.
About ten years ago I decided that I needed to have a change of approach. I wanted to be a happy and care-free person and was fed up of always being stressed and worrying about the future. To achieve this I started to read many self-help, confidence type books and websites.
There was a regular message which came from this literature which was to think more positive and to believe in your ability to succeed in whatever you attempt to do.
This is easy to write or say, but in reality it is difficult to implement in practice. Of course I tried but in truth I did not really believe in the whole practice. I would go into a task thinking, I can do this, but it would still end up in failure.
I could not understand what was going wrong so I therefore went back to the books to try to learn more. There was a new and even more important message which I had missed the first time around. What I had to do was to take a positive out of whatever happens to me, even if this is learning from my failings.
As an example of taking a positive from whatever happens in life, is something which happened in my family recently. My nan has recently passed away, she was eighty-eight. I used to visit her at least once a week at the flat where she lived. She was a very honest person and always talked very openly to me. Around two months before she died she told me that she was very tired and that she no longer wanted to be on this planet.
I was quite shocked by her admission and asked her what was wrong. She stated that she had nothing to look forward to and that she did not want to reach a point where she could no longer bath herself etc. She continued that she hoped that I would not grieve for to long when she did die and that she wanted me to be happy for her.
This was quite upsetting for me to hear but at least she was being honest of course. Two months later my dad phoned me and told me that my nan had passed away in the night.
I was obviously upset and the thought of never being able to see her again hit me hard. I then thought about what she had said and looked up to the sky and gave my nan a smile and a message, I love you.
I thought positive about the whole event and was actually happy for her. I hope that one day we will meet again.