The Butterfly (Struggles)

To Lady Oprah Winfrey, "Where there is no struggle, there is no strength".

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. Until it suddenly stopped making any progress, and looked like it was stuck.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily, although it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man didn’t think anything of it, and sat there waiting for the wings to enlarge to support the butterfly. But that didn’t happen. The butterfly spent the rest of its life unable to fly, crawling around with tiny wings and a swollen body.

Despite the kind heart of the man, he didn’t understand that the restricting cocoon and the struggle needed by the butterfly to get itself through the small opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings to prepare itself for flying once it was out of the cocoon.

Listen to this; Our struggles in life develop our strengths. Without struggles we never grow and never get stronger, so it’s important for us to tackle challenges on our own, and not be relying on help from others.

The Bible book of James 5:10 says: "And the God of all grace, who did call you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered for a short time, will Himself make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you".

Dare To Take Risk

In the words of Mark Frost, an American novelist, screenwriter, director and film producer, best known as a writer for the television series Hill Street Blues and the co-creator of the television series Twin Peaks: "Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body. But rather, to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming…. Wow! What a ride!"

Too many people “play it safe.” This is the playground of mediocrity. It’s where average people live. They colour inside the lines, and always play by the rules. They fear the unknown, and rarely – if ever – venture outside the boundaries. People who “play it safe” are predictable. Their life is run by rules and routine. Their actions are often dictated by the opinions of others. This is the crowd that fights to keep things the same…

Risk-takers, however, are a different breed. They live in the realm of possibility and greatness. They are not afraid to live beyond the boundaries and to colour outside the lines. To them, there is no such thing as failure; only experiments that didn’t work! Risk-takers are marked by a sense of adventure and passion. They care little for the accolades of the crowd. They are more focused on squeezing everything they can out of every moment. They are not afraid to “boldly go where no one has gone before.”

Think about it. Try naming one historical figure that made a difference by playing it safe and being average. The vast majority of successful people are remembered for the difference that they made in their lifetime. And that difference required them to take risks and challenge the status quo. We are inspired by people who go beyond the norm and push the boundaries of possibility. Mediocrity, on the other hand, does not inspire. Nor does it lead to greatness. Success, however you define it, will elude you unless you are willing to push the limits you have placed on yourself, and that others have placed on you.

The Orville brothers would have never made their historical flight if they had listened to the naysayers. Henry Ford would have never invented the automobile if he had paid attention to his critics. David would have never defeated Goliath if he had allowed his own family to discourage him. The list goes on and on. Every major breakthrough in history – in business, science, medicine, sports, etc. – is the result of an individual who took a risk and refused to play it safe. Successful people understand this. Their innovation is the result of their adventurous spirit. They invent, achieve, surpass, and succeed because they dare to live beyond the realm of normal.

Betty Botter: The solution Mantra

One day, Betty Botter wanted to bake a cake. She bought some cheap butter to bake it. But something was wrong with the butter.

“This butter is bitter," said Betty Botter as she tasted the butter.

“If I put it in my cake batter, it will make the batter bitter. But if I put a bit of better butter that would make my batter better."

So, she went off to buy a better butter than her bitter butter. She mixed a bit of better butter into her cake batter. She tasted the batter and was happy that the batter was not bitter.

She adopted the best way to solve the problem. Because there will be always one.

If you have a problem, always think of the best way to solve it.
"Every problem has in it the seeds of its own solution. If you don't have any problems, you don't get any seeds." - Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993), American Author.
Isaiah 41:21, Produce your cause, saith the LORD; bring forth your strong reasons. 'In other words bring your problems let's find solutions...'

Till we come your way again, Success Breath is reaching you life and direct from the altar of Skyhigh Motivational,  and Benson Adima remains your in-house Motivational Speaker.

Betty Botter is a tongue-twister written by Carolyn Wells. It was originally titled "The Butter Betty Bought." By the middle of the 20th century, it had become part of the Mother Goose collection of nursery rhymes. 

Power Of Positive Thinking

The Power of Positive thinking is in the daily practice of positive thinking.

Simply trying to think positive when things go wrong is ineffective and often won't help. Instead, trying to apply positive thinking in a desperate attempt to change a negative situation after it has happened will likely backfire and lead to more frustration.

The real power of positive thinking comes from it's daily repetition. You need to practice and apply positive thinking everyday in order to reap the rewards of the power of positive thinking.

This means that you have to change the way you see things, change your words and regularly change what you think. Positive thinking requires that you eliminate negative thinking and this has to be done on a daily basis.

You see everyday we have thousands and thousands of thoughts. Most of them are meaningless and will have little or no impact on you. But amid all those thoughts you also have a number of negative thoughts and these are the thoughts that work against you and don't allow you to succeed. The negative thoughts that are tied to negative beliefs need to change. So if you repeatedly say something negative or have a negative phrase that you often say among friends then you likely have a negative belief tied to that negative thought.



So replace those negative thoughts that are tied to negative or limiting beliefs immediately. The best way to to do that is to replace them with positive thoughts and you have to do this everyday.

At first you'll be able to do this because you're paying attention to what your thinking and saying. But as time goes on you'll forget because the mind will go back to what it knows and will call upon those negative thoughts again and again. That's why you need to repeatedly change those negative thoughts as often as possible.

The real power of positive thinking comes when you apply positive thinking automatically. That happens when you automatically have positive thoughts, when you no longer have constant negative statements and when your mind is filled with more positive thoughts than negative thoughts.

Once you have positive thinking in place you begin to attract positive situations, positive people and you begin to take positive action so that you enjoy a more successful, happier and rewarding life.

Those who apply positive thinking are naturally more optimistic and upbeat. They enjoy life and they bounce back from setbacks quicker than negative thinkers.

If you're a chronic negative thinker then trying to apply positive thinking won't come easy. You'll have some setbacks and you'll want to continue thinking negative thoughts - that's only because that's what the mind knows. To change this you need to constantly change your negative thinking to positive.

So everyday catch yourself thinking. Track your thoughts. Change the negative thoughts to positive thoughts. Do this everyday. The more often you do this exercises the sooner your mind will move from being negative to being positive. This is how you begin to develop positive thinking that will lead to greater success.
Example
One teacher had two disciples. One of them had an auspicious positive vision and he always sought out good points from anything he observed while the other one had an inauspicious vision and always found out some negative or faults from his observations.

One day, the teacher went out to a park with both the disciples and while wandering in the garden, they came across a mango tree from which some ripe and juicy mangoes were hanging. On seeing this, the teacher thought to test both of his students. Therefore, he called them beside him and asked them to observe the tree full of mangoes very carefully. Then, he asked the first one, "My dear child, what do you think of this mango tree?"

The disciple answered instantly, "Teacher, in spite of people hitting this tree with stones, it gives us sweet and juicy mangoes. It feels hurt but still it gives us fruits. I wish all human beings learn this important message from the mango tree - to share their belongings even if they have to suffer for this."



After that, the teacher asked the same question to the other disciple, "My dear child, what do you think of this mango tree?" The student aggressively answered, "Teacher, this mango tree is no good and will not give mangoes by itself but only when we hit it with stones and sticks. Therefore, we should hit it hard to get sweet mangoes from it. That is the only way to get these mangoes. It is also clear from this tree that in order to get good fruits from others, we need to be violent and only when we become violent, then and only then will we get happiness."

Teacher was delighted with the answer given by the first student because he had an admirable vision and  appreciated the tree with positive vision while on the other hand the second student's answer dissatisfied him because he saw the tree with negative vision and insisted on learning the wrong way of getting fruits in life. He showered his blessings on the first disciple whole-heartedly.

So friends, even though the situation is same, it still depends on how we interpret it, which shows our mental status and the way we think of others. Let's take an example of lovely roses that have thorns on them. A person with an inauspicious vision would say, "Oh God! Even these beautiful roses have thorns on them", while a person with an auspicious vision would say, "Wow! What a wonderful creation of nature - a beautiful rose amongst thorns."
Always develop a vision that can find out something good even from a bad thing or person. And by doing so, slowly your mind and intellect will become pure day by day.

DEVELOP A POSITIVE VISION AND ALWAYS FIND OUT SOMETHING GOOD FROM EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE.

Moral: Positivity is the biggest strength in life. Success follows who are positive in all situations. Many great celebrities had one or more weaknesses but they were always positive for self, others and situations and hence became successful by overcoming all sorts of obstacles. A little poison of negativity about others in our mind can destroy our relationships with them. Everybody has definitely something that can be appreciated, we only need to apply positive vision and appreciate others.

Nothing is Impossible

I make bold to say that nothing is impossible under the sun. How do I come to this conclusion? The ever current manner for man's successful operation on earth insights my conclusion. "For with God nothing shall be impossible." - Mark one verse thirty seven. “…they are one people with the same language for all of them, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. Nothing that they have a mind to do will be IMPOSSIBLE for them!” –Genesis chapter eleven verse six. Another translation says ‘nothing they plan to do will be beyond them’; yet, God Word Translation puts it ‘Nothing they plan to do will be too difficult for them, King James 2000 Bible sum it up; ‘Nothing will be retrained from them, which they have imagined to do. That means nothing will be witholden from you, which you have purpose to do.
But there is a problem today, what is it? They are many children of God who are going about imagining nothing, planning nothing and purpose nothing, such people had either believe in impossible, resign to fate or at worse, nothing inspired them. Whatever it is with you I say nothing is impossible?
An International Speaker Author and Motivational Speaker, once sat across the dest of Philip Johnson, a renounced Architect. The motivator had a dream he wanted to share with Mr. Johnson. He wanted him to design a church building that would be all-glass structure.
“That is impossible”. Mr. Johnson said without hesitation. There and then, the motivator handed him a small dictionary, and told him to look up the world ‘impossible’. Philip Johnson was startle, and to his shock, he saw that someone had cut out the word impossible from the dictionary with a razor.
“That is right,” said the motivator. “The world impossible does not exist in my vocabulary”. It was a gag, but Mr. Johnson got the message, and went ahead to design what is now one of the world’s most beautiful cathedrals – The Crystal Cathederal in Garden Grove, Orange County California, USA, which was dedicated in Septemer, 1980.
We must have to believe. We must have to discover, understand and utilize the potential within us. It was Maric Curie who once observed that “Life is not easy for any of us, but what of that? We must have perseverance and above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that thing, at whatever cost, must be attained”.
Francois de La Rocheucauld lift my mood “Nothing is impossible; there are ways that lead to everything, and if we had sufficient will we should always have sufficient means. It is often merely for an excuse that we say things are impossible”.
Musa, a Lebanese understand that nothing is impossible to a willing heart. He encountered one of the usual problems in their region which devastated everything in their environment. And so towards Jordan he went with others.
On getting to a point in the desert, he decided that he was going to find water if he digs for it. When he announced this, he was greeted with Jeers and laughter. He was told one million reasons by experts why it will not be possible to find water and even if they do, that it will be salt water. To the people, he was a fool in fact a mad man.
But Musa believed in his dream. So the next day they began to dig for water, not with any sophisticated equipment but with their hands and anything they could find around in the desert. Day after day, under the sun they kept on digging. And for six months nothing happened.
‘I must say darkness comes. In the middle of it, the future look blank. The temptation to quit is huge. But he didn’t quite, he argued with himself that there is a way forward. He might understand that God has more ropes and ladders and tunnels out of pits than he can conceived’.
Then one day the sand became dump and with a little more digging they saw water. Not just water but fresh water. They did not jubilate but where is tears. Their persistence has paid off. One of them had this to say, “Now I can die, I’ve seen water come from the desert”.
Nothing is impossible in this world. Firm determination, it is said, can move heaven and earth. Things appear far beyond one’s power, because one cannot set his heart on any arduous project due to want of strong will. If determination is your anchor, there will be a constant supply of energy to accomplish your goal. I want to predict something historic “I’m going to become a President of Nigeria by the year 2039”. (Nothing is impossible).
According to Orison Swett Marden, “Confidence is the father of achievement. It reinforces ability, doubles energy, buttresses mental faculties, increases power” The key is in your hands.
God is a God of purpose; he does noting without a purpose. The purpose and plan of God for you is to excel and prospers. God has placed possibility at the finger tips of everyone. Infact God has made everything available to enable you to exceed boundaries it is now your responsibility to walk into it and tap that possibility.
Dear, I want to assure you that God the owner of our vision has promise to make a provision because he has given us the auction which is the solution to every situation. Once again, Nothing is impossible!
Be careful what you call impossible!

Till I come your way again, Benson Adima remains your in-house Motivational speaker, a Teacher, Author, Coach, Counsellor and a Human Resource Consultant.

How Far Can Your Dreams Take You?

... as far as the power of your imagination and motivation - Denis Waitley answered.
Imagination and motivation are powerful things, and with them on your side, you have all the reason in the world to achieve your grandest dreams.
Need proof?
Take the story of how the first bridge over the Niagara River near Niagara Falls was built in 1847….
You see, to build a bridge over the giant gorge, the builders first had to get a line over the canyon, from one side to the other—from the United States to Canada with roaring rapids underneath. Except the engineers couldn’t cross the river in a boat because it would go over the falls, the airplane hadn’t been invented yet, and the distance was way beyond bow-and-arrow range.
The designing engineer, Charles Ellet, pondered the dilemma until he came up with a revolutionary idea: to sponsor a kite flying contest. A $5 prize (a small lottery back then!) would go to the person who could fly a kite across the gorge and let it go low enough to the ground for someone on the other side to grab the string. It was successful—a young American boy won the contest on his second attempt.

The kite string, fastened to a tree, was used to pull a cord across, then a line, then a rope. Next came an iron-wire cable and then steel cables, until a structure strong enough to build a suspension bridge was in place. The bridge opened on August 1, 1848. And it all began with an idea and one thin kite string.
That string is like a single thought. The more vivid and clear the thought, and the more you come back to it, the stronger it becomes—like the string to the rope to the cable. Each time you rethink it, dwell on it or layer it with other thoughts, you are strengthening the structure on which to build your idea, like building a bridge over Niagara Falls.
But unlike a kite, there is no string attached to how high and how far your goals may take you. They are limited only by the power of your imagination and the strength of your desire.

A lot of us never see our dreams come true. Instead of soaring through the clouds, our dreams languish like a broken-down airplane confined to its hangar.
"The lord said to Abraham, ..... look from where thou art as far as you can see, to thee will I give it and thy seed for ever". - Gen 13:14-15. The problem with many of us is that we cannot see any thing. But a wise man once said 'If you can envision it you could have it'

Through life, I have come to identify five common reasons why dreams don’t take flight:
1. We have been discouraged from dreaming by others.
We have to pilot our own dreams; we cannot entrust them to anyone else. People who aren’t following their own dreams resent us pursuing ours. Such people feel inadequate when we succeed, so they try to drag us down.
If we listen to external voices, then we allow our dreams to be hijacked. At some point, other people will place limitations on us by doubting our abilities. When surrounded by the turbulence of criticism, we have to grasp the controls tightly to keep from being knocked off course.
2. We fall into the habit of settling for average.
Average is the norm for a reason. Being exceptional demands extra effort, sustained inspiration and uncommon discipline. When we attempt to give flight to our dreams, we have to overcome the weight of opposition. Like gravity, life’s circumstances constantly pull on our dreams, tugging us down to mediocrity.
Most of us don’t pay the price to overcome the opposition to our dreams. We may start out inspired, but through time we fatigue. Although never intending to abandon our dreams, we begin to make concessions here and there. Through time, our lives become mundane, and our dreams slip away.
3. We are hindered by past disappointments and hurts.
In the movie Top Gun, Tom Cruise plays Maverick, a young, talented and cocky aviator who dreams of being the premier pilot in the U.S. Navy. In the film’s opening scenes, Maverick showcases his flying ability but also displays a knack for pushing the envelope with regards to safety. Midway through the movie, Maverick’s characteristic aggression spells disaster. His plane crashes, killing his best friend and co-pilot.
Although cleared of wrongdoing, the painful memory of the accident haunts Maverick. He quits taking risks and loses his edge. Struggling to regain his poise, he considers giving up on his dream. The incident nearly wrecks Maverick’s career, but he eventually reaches within to find the strength to return to the sky.
Like Maverick, many of us live with the memory of failure embedded in our psyche. Perhaps a business we started went broke, or we were fired from a position of leadership. Disappointment is the gap that exists between expectation and reality, and all of us have encountered that gap. Failure is a necessary and natural part of life, but if we’re going to attain our dreams, then, like Maverick, we have to summon the courage to deal with past hurts.
4. We lack the confidence needed to pursue our dreams.
Dreams are fragile. They will be buffeted by assaults from all sides. As such, they must be supplied with the extra strength of self-confidence.
In Amelia Earhart’s day, women were not supposed to fly airplanes. If she had lacked self-assurance, she never would have even attempted to be a pilot. Instead, Earhart confidently chased after her dream, and she was rewarded with both fulfillment and fame.
5. We are missing the imagination to dream.
For thousands of years, mankind traveled along the ground: by foot, by horse-and-buggy, by locomotive and eventually by automobile. Thanks to the dreams of Orville and Wilbur Wright, we now hop across oceans in a matter of hours. The imaginative brothers overcame ridicule and doubt to pioneer human flight, and the world has never been the same.
Many of us play small because we do not allow ourselves to dream. We trap ourselves in reality and never dare to go beyond what we can see with our eyes. Imagination lifts us beyond average by giving us a vision of life that surpasses what we are experiencing currently. Dreams infuse our spirit with energy and spur us on to greatness.
Never stop dreaming!

That’s Not My Job

Once upon a time there were four men named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.  Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it.  

Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job.  Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it.  

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have.

You’ve probably see this one before, but behind the play on words, there is some great career advice.  The parable reminded me once again of the importance of taking personal responsibility for your personal and business success. 

1 Sam 17:34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 

35 and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 

36 ...this uncircumcised Philistine will not be exception. 

If you want to create the life and career success you want, don’t be like Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.  Be true to yourself.  Take responsibility for your life and career success.  Don’t let Everybody, Somebody,  Anybody or Nobody stop you from doing what you need to do to create the life and career success you want and deserve.

Take personal responsibility for defining what life and career success means to you.  Take personal responsibility for building your self confidence.  Take personal responsibility for developing the career success competencies you need to succeed.  Take personal responsibility for building and nurturing relationships that will help you create your career success.

Knowing is not enough.  Successful people will read the advice in these article.  And they will act on it.  Be a successful person. Committing to taking personal responsibility for your life and career success involves action.  You have to do the work if you want the career success. 

I know that action can be scary.  When you act, you run the risk of failing. Procrastination is the physical manifestation of fear and is a confidence killer. Act; especially when you’re afraid. Action is great career advice, and it gets at the heart of the little message at the beginning of this post.  Everybody, Somebody and Anybody could have acted and got the job done.  Nobody did.  Don’t be a nobody.  Do what you need to do to create the life and career success you want and deserve.

As a success coach, my point here is simple.  Successful people take personal responsibility for their life and career success.  They don’t procrastinate.  They act.  They set high goals and then do whatever it takes to achieve them.  Take responsibility for your life and career success.  As the story of Everyboyd, Somebody, anybody and nobody points out, you have to act.  Do what you need to do to become the career success you want to be and deserve to be.

That’s my take on the story of Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody.  What’s yours?  What will you do to make sure you are not a nobody?  Please take a few minutes to meditate/think on this.

Activate Your Reticular Cortex

One of my distance mentors sent me this letter, I thought it good to share with you.

Dear prof.benson

The Parable of the Talents is the primary reason for wealth or poverty throughout history. Do you ever ask yourself why some people retire rich and most people retire poor? Like you, this subject has fascinated philosophers, thinkers, mystics and teachers throughout the ages.

There have been so many cases of hundreds or thousands and even millions of men and women who have started with nothing and become financially independent that people are naturally curious to know why it happened and what are the common rules or principles that others can apply to become wealthy as well.

Why People Become Rich

One illustration of this key principle is called the parable of the talents. In the Bible, it says, "To him that hath, shall more be given, and he shall have abundance. But from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away."

Accumulation Leads to More Accumulation

What does it mean? In the modern world, we say "the rich get richer and the poor get poorer." The fact is that people who accumulate money tend to accumulate more and more. People who don't accumulate money seem to lose even that little bit of money which they have.

Why should this happen? The great success principle, the single idea that explains human destiny is simple. It says that, "you become what you think about, most of the time."

Control Your Thoughts

And whatever you dwell upon, grows in your reality. You create your entire world by the things you choose to think about and how you choose to think about them.

It just so happens that wealthy, successful people fill their minds with thoughts, words, pictures and images of wealth, affluence, success, productivity and solutions to problems in the marketplace, most of the time. These thoughts trigger the reticular activating cortex, the part of the brain that makes you more alert and sensitive to things that you have decided are important to you.

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Activate Your Reticular Cortex

For example, if you decide to invest in a mutual fund, you will start to see news and information about mutual funds everywhere. Mentions in newspapers and magazines will jump out at you. These notices have always been there but now you have sensitized your brain to pick them up and draw them to your attention with far greater frequency and vividness. This is the function and power of your reticular cortex.

Avoid Poverty Thinking

On the other hand, what do poor people think about most of the time? Unfortunately, poor people fill their minds with thoughts of scarcity, lack, poverty, being unable to afford things. They are always thinking and talking about how little money they have, how much things cost and how they wish things could be better financially. What they think about most of the time is how little money they have.

Think Like Wealthy People Think

Wealthy people from an early age think about how much they have, how much they want and all the different things they can do to acquire and earn the money and things they desire.

Find Out How Rich People Think

Here's a rule for you. If you want to become successful, find out what failures do and don't do it. If you want to be wealthy, find out what poor people think about, and avoid thinking in those ways. Instead, find out how wealthy people think. Find out what they read. Find out how they spend their time. Study their lives, read their stories and autobiographies and listen to their words when they are interviewed and on tape. The more you find out what financially successful people think and talk about most of the time, and do the same things, the more rapidly you will enjoy the same rewards that they do.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do to put this parable of the talents into action:

First, make a decision today that from now on you will think and talk only about the financial success that you desire. At the same time, you will refuse to talk about or dwell upon your financial problems.

Second, instead of saying, "I can't afford it," instead ask the question, "How can I afford it?" When you think of something that you want or need that you don't have the money for at the time, the only question you ask is, "How?" How can you get it? What can you do to achieve it? What are your options? How can you get from where you are to where you want to go? This type of attitude will change your life.

A Bigger Impact With Your Life

Here are 6 ways you can make a bigger impact with your life:

1. Fill The Gaps With Meaning. I have a friend who reads 40-50 books a year, while leading a large church full time and running a few ministries on the side? How? He says he always has a book with him. When he has 5 minutes or 10 minutes, he reads.
Whether you’re a reader or not, the point is excellent. He fills the gap with meaning. You have gaps every day:
When the kids are in bed.
When you’re stuck in traffic
When you’re waiting in line.
Between meetings.
While you’re waiting for someone to show up.
What are you doing with that time, other than checking Instagram or reading check out magazines that add zero value to your life?
Read a book. Listen to a helpful podcast.
Think. Journal. Pray.

2. Cut Out Trivial Pursuits

Any idea how much TV you watch? The average Nigeria watches 5 hours…a day. That’s. Per. Day.

And yet I have never heard anyone say “TV changed my life. Watching TV is why my life is filled with passion and significance.” The average 21 year old in Nigeria has spent 10,000 hour gaming over his life so far…more time than he actually spent in middle school and high school combined.
Not all TV is bad, and some argue that gaming can be good. But really…that’s a lot of hours.
Does binge watching really make the world a better place? Will levelling up really leave a legacy?
I’m just asking.
We need to relax and enjoy, but in the same way that you are what you eat, you become what you consume.
So curb the junk.

3. Rest When You’re Not Tired, But Not Longer.
The best quote on laziness I’ve encountered is this “Laziness is resting when you’re not tired.”
By all means sleep. Get 8 hours. 9. Seriously. Sleep is the secret weapon so many effective leaders carry.
And rest. Relax.
But there comes a point when resting stops being restorative and starts being self-indulgent. Stop resting when you’re not tired. Do something…meaningful.
Laziness is resting when you’re not tired.

4. Get up earlier.
Don’t miss point 3. Sleep. But do this by going to bed earlier, and then get up…early. I wasn’t always a morning person, but I love being one now. It’s when I do my best stuff. I write messages, blog posts and write creative ideas down first thing in the morning. Most of the people I know who are making a contribution with their life get up early. Rising early is like beating rush hour traffic. You’ve got the road all to yourself. Nobody’s emailing, texting or bothering you before 7 a.m.  As in pretty much nobody.
Your mind is fresh. It’s ready to go.
So go!

5. Track with people who are making a difference.
You’re going to need support on this journey. People will call you driven. Crazy. Obsessed. Abnormal. Weird.
That’s okay. Let them not understand that you refuse to waste your life. Not everybody understands, especially in this culture. So find some friends who get it, and encourage each other. Whether they live in your neighbourhood or whether they live 1000 miles away is irrelevant. Just find some likeminded people. And I have friends locally and all over the place who encourage and spur me on in life. I love them and am so thankful for them!



6. Don’t focus on immediate results.
You can’t be discouraged by current results. Your impact usually can’t be measured now. So don’t be discouraged if you think you’re not making much of a difference.
Rarely will your 4 year old stop you and say “Thanks for being such a wise father” or “Thanks for giving up ”. If you expect the reward of parenting to come in the now, you’ll be badly disappointed. You might not make it to the end.
But inevitably as kids grow up, they often do come back and thank you for the investment they never saw when they were younger. And even if they don’t, well, you know you did the right thing. So just keep doing the right thing. Every day. Eventually you’ll see the early indicators that you’re on the right track. You may have to reset the course from time to time, but don’t despise small beginnings.
For all of you trying to make a bigger impact…these is for you!

Focused Anger Can Birth Success..!

Focused Anger Can Birth Success..!

Anger can be the birthplace for solutions.
When Moses saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite, anger rose up within him. The situation that infuriated him was a signal for what God had ordained him to change. Anger is a clue to your Assignment. It is the Birthplace of change.
Situations only change when anger is born. You will not solve a problem until you experience a HOLY and RIGHTEOUS ANGER rising up within you to correct it. You must despise the present before the future will listen to you. If you adapt to your Present, you will never enter your Future. Only those who cannot tolerate the Present are qualified to enter their Future.
Anger reveals an anointing. The Anointing is the burden-removing, yokedestroying Power of God in your life. So, pay attention to whatever angers you. Your anger qualifies you to be an enemy of that problem. God is preparing you to solve it.
Anger merely requires proper focus. develop it. You must see your anger as an instruction from God to find the solution for the problem, obtain the weapons to destroy the enemy and develop a daily agenda designed by The Holy Spirit...to create change.
Angry people can dramatically change their generation. An angry man is an awakened man. An angry man changes the minds of others.
Many things are wrong in this country. But, they will never be changed until someone is angry enough about it to step forward and take charge.
Remember, you cannot correct what you are unwilling to confront.

Pushing To The Front

Successful businesspeople and entrepreneurs are characterised by indomitable willpower and unchangeable persistence.
Let me give you a live example to buttress this. 1895, America was in the grip of a terrible depression. A man living in the Midwest lost his hotel in the midst of this depression and decided to write a book to motivate and inspire others to persist and carry on in spite of the difficulties facing the nation.
His name was Orison Swett Marden. He took a room above a livery stable and for an entire year he worked night and day writing a book, which he entitled 'Pushing To The Front'. Late one evening, he finally finished the last page of his book and being tired and hungry, he went down the street to a small cafe for dinner. While he was away for an hour, the livery stable caught on fire. By the time he got back, his entire manuscript, more than eight hundred pages, had been destroyed by the flames.
Nonetheless, drawing on his inner resources, he sat down and spent another year writing the book over again. When the book was finished, he offered it to various publishers, but no one seemed to be interested in a motivational book with the country in such a depression and unemployment so high. As it is in Nigeria today. Our Hero then moved to Chicago and took another job. One day he mentioned this manuscript to a friend of his who happened to know a publisher. The book "Pushing To The Front" was subsequently published and became the runaway best seller in the nation.
Pushing To The Front was acclaimed by the leading businesspeople and politicians in America as being the book that brought America into the twentieth century. It exerted an enormous impact on the minds of decision makers throughout the country and became the single greatest classic in all of personal development people like Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Harvey Firestone, and J.P Morgan all read this book and we're inspired by it.
Dear, don't give up! Nobody is ever defeated until defeat has being accepted as reality. A bend on the road is not the end of the road. The end of one thing is the beginning of something new. And you must not give up in other to walk thru the new door.
Love You!

"Slow and steady wins the race".

The famous story of a race between a rabbit and a tortoise ends with a moral: "Slow and steady wins the race".
Once upon a time a tortoise and a hare had an argument about who was faster. They decided to settle the argument with a race. They agreed on a route and started off the race. The hare shot ahead and ran briskly for some time. Then seeing that he was far ahead of the tortoise, he thought he'd sit under a tree for some time and relax before continuing the race. He sat under the tree and soon fell asleep. The tortoise plodding on overtook him and soon finished the race, emerging as the undisputed champ. The hare woke up and realised that he'd lost the race. The moral of the story is that slow and steady wins the race.
 It continues.
The hare was disappointed at losing the race and he did some soul-searching. He realised that he'd lost the race only because he had been overconfident, careless and lax. If he had not taken things for granted, there's no way the tortoise could have beaten him. So he challenged the tortoise to another race. The tortoise agreed.
This time, the hare went all out and ran without stopping from start to finish. He won by several miles.
The moral of the story? Fast and consistent will always beat the slow and steady.
If you have two people in your organisation, one slow, methodical and reliable, and the other fast and still reliable at what he does, the fast and reliable chap will consistently climb the organisational ladder faster than the slow, methodical chap. It's good to be slow and steady; but it's better to be fast and reliable.
But the story doesn't end here. The tortoise did some thinking this time, and realised that there's no way he can beat the hare in a race the way it was currently formatted. He thought for a while, and then challenged the hare to another race, but on a slightly different route. The hare agreed. They started off. In keeping with his self-made commitment to be consistently fast, the hare took off and ran at top speed — until he came to a broad river. The finishing line was a couple of kilometres on the other side of the river. The hare sat there wondering what to do. In the meantime the tortoise trundled along, got into the river, swam to the opposite bank, continued walking and finished the race. The moral of the story? First identify your core competency and then change the playing field to suit your core competency.
In an organisation, if you are a good speaker, make sure you create opportunities to give presentations that enable senior management to notice you. If your strength is analysis, make sure you do some sort of research, make a report and send it upstairs. Working to your strengths will not only get you noticed, but will also create opportunities for growth and advancement.
The story still hasn't ended. The hare and the tortoise, by this time, had become pretty good friends and they did some thinking together. Both realised that the last race could have been run much better. So they decided to do the last race again, but to run as a team this time. They started off, and this time the hare carried the tortoise till the riverbank. There, the tortoise took over and swam across with the hare on his back. On the opposite bank, the hare again carried the tortoise and they reached the finishing line together. They both felt a greater sense of satisfaction than they'd felt earlier.
The moral of the story? It's good to be individually brilliant and to have strong core competencies; but unless you're able to work in a team and harness each other's core competencies, you'll always perform below par because there will always be situations at which you'll do poorly and someone else does well. Teamwork is mainly about situational leadership, letting the person with the relevant core competency for a situation take leadership.
There are more lessons to be learnt from this story. Note that neither the hare nor the tortoise gave up after failures. The hare decided to work harder and put in more effort after his failure. The tortoise changed his strategy because he was already working as hard as he could. In life, when faced with failure, sometimes it is appropriate to work harder and put in more effort. Sometimes it is appropriate to change strategy and try something different. And sometimes it is appropriate to do both.
The hare and the tortoise also learnt another vital lesson. When we stop competing against a rival and instead start competing against the situation, we perform far better. When Roberto Goizueta took over as CEO of Coca Cola in the 1980s, he was faced with intense competition from Pepsi that was eating into Coke's growth. His executives were Pepsi-focussed and intent on increasing market share 0.1 per cent a time.
Goizueta decided to stop competing against Pepsi and instead compete against the situation of 0.1 per cent growth. He asked his executives what was the average fluid intake of an American per day? The answer was 14 ounces. What was Coke's share of that? Two ounces. Goizueta said Coke needed a larger share of that market. The competition wasn't Pepsi. It was the water, tea, coffee, milk and fruit juices that went into the remaining 12 ounces. The public should reach for a coke whenever they felt like drinking something. To this end, coke put up vending machines at every street corner. Sales took a quantum jump and Pepsi has never quite caught up since.

To sum up, the story of the hare and tortoise teaches us many things. Chief among them are that fast and consistent will always beat slow and steady; work to your competencies; pooling resources and working as a team will always beat individual performers; never give up when faced with failure; and finally, compete against the situation not against a rival.

Thriving In Chaos

Thriving In Chaos
Can you believe all the chaos that is going on in our world these days?
In Syria more than 250,000 have died in almost five years of war in that country. Eleven Million others have fled their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other as well as ISIS militants.
Just Tuesday March 22, this week ISIS had bombed the departures area of Zaventem airport and one on a metro train in Belgium killing 30 people, 230 injured
Libya is being torn apart by political unrest and an unstable and brutal dictator general Khalifa Haftar and Militants sieged.
Back home in Nigeria, the fight between APC and PDP, Army and Boko Haram, Jonathan and Buhari, Biafara saga, Fulana Cattle Herders Cum Farmer's Melady, EFCC, Subsidy, Fuel Scarcity, Increase in Dollar and Decline of Naira, Unemployment, Inflation and Hardship, Bloody Politics in Rivers, leading to the death of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Okonta Samuel, an orphan from Illah area of Delta state.
Not only do we see these chaotic episodes, but people all over are thrust into chaos. Just a few days ago two families in our church are facing the chaos of a death in the family. I know people who are experiencing financial chaos, relational chaos, medical chaos, and chaos at work, school, home, and even internally dealing with those inner feelings of anger, insecurity, loneliness, and stress.
The truth is chaos is part of life. Someone once said ‘life is one chaotic adventure after another.’ So with all this pandemonium around us, how do we cope? How do we navigate through all this and remain in some semblance of peace and more than just survival? How do we thrive in chaos?
Now, I will not pretend that there is some quick answer to this, but I do know where to start. One of the best things that helps us as live this chaotic adventure called life is to have someone who can relate to us. You know, someone who has been there, been through it, knows what you are feeling.
We do have One who can relate to us, One who can identify with what we have or are going through.
Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest (Jesus) who is unable to sympathize with our infirmities, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are– yet was without sin.
That is huge! All of who Jesus is and has been through let’s us understand He knows our life. I came across a video from a creative Christian speaker, J. John, who took a few of the names of Jesus and related them to some of our walks of life. Here is some of what he said and I added a few of my own.
1. Jesus is the Bread of Life so Bakers could understand.
2. Jesus is the Water of Life so Plumbers could understand.
3. Jesus is the Light of the World so Electricians could understand.
4. Jesus is the Corner Stone so Architects could understand.
5. Jesus is the Bright and Morning Star so Astronomers could understand.
6. Jesus is the Hidden Treasure so Bankers could understand.
7. Jesus is the Life so Biologist could understand.
8. Jesus is the Door so Carpenters could understand.
9. Jesus is the Great Physician so Nurses and Doctors could understand.
10. Jesus is the Good Teacher so Educators could understand.
11. Jesus is the Lyly of the Valley so florists could understand.
12. Jesus is the Rock of Ages so Geologists could understand.
13. Jesus is the True Vine so Horticulturists could understand.
14. Jesus is the Righteous One so Judges could understand.
15. Jesus is the Purl of Great Price so Jewelers could understand.
16. Jesus is Wisdom so Philosophers could understand.
17. Jesus is the Word so Actors could understand.
18. Jesus is the Good Shepherd so farmers could understand.
19. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega so Scientists could understand.
20.  Jesus is the Way so Mapmakers could understand.
21. Jesus is the Truth so Politicians could understand.
22. Jesus is the Redeemer so Recyclers could understand.
23. Jesus is the Wonderful Counsellor so Psychologists could understand.
24. Jesus is the great supplier so Industrialist could understand
25. Jesus is the good news so Journalist could understand.
26. Jesus is the Image of God so photographers could understand.
27. Jesus is the Author and the Finisher of our faith so Publishers could understand
And we could take any of the other names for Jesus and show that Jesus is the One who can relate to any and all people. He not only speaks our life language, but has been through much of the same chaos you and I have been through or will go through. That’s so we would do what the next verse in Hebrews 4 says…
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.
I don’t know what personal chaos you are in the midst of or will go through, but I do know you will. It is a part of this chaotic adventure called life. When it hits, get help, don’t be alone and for sure draw near to Jesus as best as you know how. It’s not a magic fix and it will take great effort, and you may not feel better, but you will not just survive, you will thrive.
Jesus is not some distant deity, but our Saviour and Lord who longs for us to draw near to Him. Chaos or not, life is better knowing Jesus. Why not seek to get closer to Him.
Hebrews 13:5 ".... he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.
6 So that you may boldly say,
The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear..."
Happy Easter.

Assassinate The Assassin! - 4

Assassinate The Assassin! - 4
In the last three weeks we have mesmerised the thief "procrastination" and to sum it up I would be ditching you some practical proven Best Ways to Beat Procrastination. "Procrastination is opportunity's assassin." Therefore, you must read this to know how to stop this secret assassin that has assassinated many economic,  political and spiritual giants! These powerful principles foster productivity and perseverance instead of passivity and procrastination.
1. Plan and Prioritize Your Daily Schedules. Draw a practical timetable to guide you through your daily activities. Write CLEARLY what you intend to do at a particular time.  Clarity is the most important element of productivity. You should arrange your schedule in orders of their important so that if eventually you are not able to accomplish all, the less important we be postpone.

2. Concentrate. Focus on one thing at a time. Deal with distractions by letting telephone calls go into voicemail, hanging a "Do Not Disturb" sign outside your door etc.
3. Avoid Things That Make You Tired. The predominant reason why people put off tasks is that they are too tired. So get sufficient sleep and exercise and eat right. Most of all, pursue important task when energy levels are high; you'll accomplish them easily and quickly. That lead us to point
4. Break Important Task Into Segments: Break It Down. No matter what you're trying to accomplish, whether it's writing a book, climbing a mountain or painting a house, the key to achievement is your ability to break down the task into manageable pieces and knock them off one at one time. Focus on accomplishing what's right in front of you at this moment. Ignore what's off in the distance someplace. Substitute real-time positive thinking for negative future visualization.
5. Procrastinate By Working. When you find yourself procrastinating, allow yourself to procrastinate by engaging in another segment of work that you had earlier postponed.
6. You Got To Separate Work From Play. Woking makes you work more; playing makes you play more. As a person I like play. Oh! Yes I play a lot, in fact I also play on words. But when is time to work God has given me wisdom to strike a balance. I can boostfully say Benson Adima is a big time 'Hard-Worker', probably that was why I was able to won the 'Best Teacher Of The Year' in about three schools I had taught so far. When it comes to beat deadline you could count on me. There is something that pushes me to work, you may call it 'Motivation'.
7.  Think You Can. The more doubtful you are, the lesser your motivation. As a general rule, it's best to be your own number one fan.
8. Keep A Diary Of Your Daily Activities. And you're going to be amazed by the distractions, detours and downright wastes of time you engage in during the course of a day. All of these get in the way of achieving your goals. For many people, it's almost like they planned it that way, and maybe at some unconscious level they did. The great thing about keeping a time diary is that it brings all this out in the open. It forces you to see what you're actually doing—and what you're not doing.
Benson Adima remains your in-house Motivational Speaker with Skyhigh Motivational. Farewell For Now.

Kill The Greatest Thief Now! - 3

Kill The Greatest Thief Now! - 3
“The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their; strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away”. - Psalm 90:10.
You’ll recall that Moses was already 80years old when God called him to go and lead the children of Israel out of the land of captivity.  He knew however that the average lifespan of man should be 70 or at most 80.  And he understood that it was on the basis of God’s grace and mercy that he was given such task at that age.  He was aware that he was living on borrowed time.  And that was why he prayed to God “so teach us to number our days, that we may apply our heart unto wisdom”.
Like Moses, we ought to realize that our time on earth is borrowed and very short we may not realize how short it is; but we must understand that the wheels of nature are not made to roll backwards.
Everything presses on and on towards the end of our lives on earth.  We must be aware that there’s a limited time before us and time press us toward that sure days.  Thus we must profitably invest the limited time we have at our disposal.  Time waits for nobody.  Someone rightly said “you may delay, but time will not”.
Many times people spend time waiting for opportunities that may never come instead of rising up and making the best of the time and favour abilities they have available.

D. L. Moody, by his own confession made this mistake.  And it was a mistake he determined never to repeat.  He had been preaching in the city of Chicago, and that particular night drew his largest audience yet, His message was “what will you do then with Jesus who is called the Christ”.  Toward the end of the sermon, he began to feel very tired.  He therefore concluded with this statement: “Now  I give you a week to think that over.  And when we come together again, you will have opportunity to respond”.
After that, soloist began to sing.  But before the final note, the music was drowned out by clanging bells and wailing sirens screaming through the streets.  The great Chicago Fire had begun!  In the ghastly aftermath hundreds were dead and over a hundred thousand were homeless.
Undoubtedly, some who heard Moody’s message had died in the fire.  He reflected remorsefully that he would have given his right arm before he would ever give an audience another week to think over the message of the gospel.
This should open our eyes to the danger of delay and need to do all that we can for ourselves and our fellow men while till we may.  Learn from teacher: "it is natural that men extremely tired at the edge of their showcase". "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day! the night cometh, when no man can work” - Jesus.
Procrastination Is The Thief Of Time. Kill It!

Kill The Greatest Thief Now! - 2

Kill The Greatest Thief Now! - 2
It was Edward Young who wrote: "Procrastination is the thief of time." But Dr Chris Kwakpovwe called it the "BOMBER OF DREAMS." It comes like a big bomb exploding violently on our personal goals. After the explosion, all that is left is...regret. According to researchers almost everyone procrastinate, and up to 20% of us do so as a habit. Unfortunately, putting things off - besides making us less productive - also creates future stress. So, the reason for these series is to make sure that your plan for 2016 is not swallowed up by the "DEMON" called procrastination. I call it 'Demon' because it creeps into ones life like a comforter, but it becomes the consumer of your goals!
James 4:13 ..., ye that say, tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
Learn from this Spanish Proverb: "Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week." Why clog it with more activities? No wonder, George Claude said: "Putting off an easy thing makes it hard, putting off a hard thing makes it impossible." If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it. A year from now you may wish you had started today.
Years ago when I sought admission to University, I was living Under a stairway with little or no income to bank-on but after I took the bold step. God used different men and women to aided me. Thank God I didn't procrastinates that decision.
Stop thinking too long about doing a thing! Rather have a motto of DO IT NOW.
“Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” - Sam Levenson.
Oh, behold the fireworks from Benson Adima: "There will always be morrow but today is your day. Seize it!"

kill The Greatest Thief Now! 1

Kill The Greatest Thief Now!
In the next three weeks I would be discussing the Thief "Procrastination".
Procrastination is postponing what you are supposed to do now to a future date and it has pulled down many economic giants and killed many great dreams. “How time flies”.  And as if to buttress this, one of the greatest thinkers in history once advised, “know the true value of time, snatch, seize and enjoy every moment of it.  No idleness, no delay, no procrastination and never put off till tomorrow what you can do today”.
The rich man in Luke 12:16-21 was chained by the 'demon' called 'Procrastination'. See what he said in vs 19 - "And I will say to my soul, soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; .... He was so sure of many years! Like many people also have many weeks, many days, many hours and many seconds, in their dictionary. They postponed everything to moro or future. But God told the rich man in vs. 20 "Thou fool, this nite thy soul shall be required of thee.
Look, God is particular about this month, this week, this day, this hour and this second not tomorrow! Hear Charles Kingsley "Every duty which is bidden to wait, returns with seven fresh duties at its back." Close with Jimmy Lyons "Tomorrow is the only day in the year that appeals to a lazy man." Don't be that man! Don't wait! Always do it now by force.
Pr 27:1 says: "Boast not thyself of moro; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth."

Farewell For Now Till I Come Your Way Again, 'Success Breath' Remains Your Handy Motivational Segment.