Are You Useful Now?

A couple of days ago, I got a chance to watch Lincoln. Yet again, filmmaker Steven Spielberg helmed a story so enchanting and moving, it ought to awaken your unknown love for history. It was a beautiful masterpiece centered on Lincoln's life as a father, husband, friend and as the 16th president of the United States who marshaled the freedom of the slaves.

But for me, the scene that lingered long and vividly was the heated confrontation between father (Abe Lincoln) and his first born son, Robert. The civil war was poised to end and Robert has been steered away to enlist for war by sending him to Boston to become a lawyer.

While visiting soldiers who were injured, the stirrings in Robert's heart to be useful now came alive and burning. A momentary lapse in Lincoln's part, a slap against a son's defiance, furthered his son's desire to its boiling point. With or without permission, Robert enlisted his heart and life for war.

It's meaningful and moving and touching because I feel the same way. I don't want to be useful tomorrow, I want to be useful now. Not five years after but now.

Maybe we all go through this stage and season of self-doubt. We question our worth as a person based on how useful we are now. Are we doing what we always wanted to do? Are we living for something bigger than ourselves? Are we happy? Are we making a difference? Are we changing the world? Are we useful?

These are questions that are real and scary. If you answered yes, good for you. But a no echos the restlessness from within. It's a silent cry of desperation seeking freedom from the bondage of mediocrity and the common life. To be useful means to be important. It's a human desire common to all but only a handful achieves.

But what does it really mean to be useful? Only you can tell because your life is yours to live. You don't need to be president or a noble soldier to feel fulfilled. Just look around you, examine your motives and notice the little differences you are making on other people's lives.

Usefulness is all about perspective. As long as you are living your life according to how you were wired then that's useful. Birds fly because they were created with wings. Flowers bloom, the sun rises and sets, the moon beams at night and fishes swim. They are who and what they are because of their specific design. And you are who you are because God created you that way.

The moment you are feeling useless, go back to your creator. Only He can tell you what you were wired for.

How to: Develop Self Confidence by Napoleon Hill

Photo Credits: http://talknerdy2me.org 

Numerous self-help authors, motivational speakers and a plethora of books would tell us that self confidence is a key element in the formula of success. In fact, self confidence is normally where the journey to dream fulfillment starts. Besides creating lofty dreams, one needs to believe in one's self in order to make things happen.

Some people are blessed to grow up in an environment that breeds a healthy self-image. Unfortunately, most of us, I believe, grew up unsure of our capabilities and potential because of demeaning words spoken to us when we were younger by our parents, friends and other people. We are living in a negative world where it is very difficult to be optimistic. We are surrounded with people that are hell bent on pulling us down.

But if we truly and badly want to be successful in this lifetime, we need to develop the virtue of self reliance. We need to bank on our strengths, abilities and character to turn our dreams into realities. Before we can even start, we need self confidence.

Here are 7 declarations that we can take advantage to nurture and develop our belief in ourselves. Say it out loud and declare it everyday. It will make a world of difference.

The 7 Steps to Self Confidence by Napoleon Hill:

1

"I know that I have the ability to accomplish all that I undertake. I know that to succeed, I have only to establish this belief in myself and follow it with vigorous, aggressive action. I will establish it." 

2

"I realize that my thoughts eventually reproduce themselves in material form and substance and become real in the physical state. Therefore, I will concentrate upon the daily task of thinking of the person that I intend to be and of drawing a mental picture of this person and of transforming this picture into reality."

3

"I am studying with the firm intention of mastering the fundamental principles through which I may attract to me the desirable things of life. Through this study, I am becoming more self-reliant and more cheerful. I am developing more sympathy for my fellow man, and I am becoming stranger, both mentally and physically. I am learning to smile that smile that plays upon the heart as well as on the lips."

4

"I am mastering and overpowering the habit of starting something that I do not finish. From this time forward, I will first plan all that I wish to do, making a clear mental picture of it, and then I will let nothing interfere with my plans until I have developed them into realities."  

5

"I have clearly mapped out and planned the work that I intend to follow for the ensuing five years. I have set a price upon my services for each of the five years, a price that I intend to command through strict application of the principle of efficient, satisfying service!" 

6

"I fully realize that genuine success will come only through strict application of he "Golden Rule" principles. I will, therefore, engage in no transaction which does not benefit alike all who participate in it. I will succeed by attracting to me the forces that I wish to use. I will induce others to serve me because of my willingness to serve them. I will gain the friendship of my fellow men because of my kindness and my willingness to be a friend. I will eliminate from my mind fear by developing faith. I will eliminate hatred and cynicism by developing love for humanity."

7

"I will learn to stand upon my feet and express myself in clear, concise, and simply language, and to speak with force and enthusiasm, in a matter that will carry conviction. I will cause others to become interested in me, because I will first become interested in them. I will eliminate selfishness and develop in its place the spirit of service." 

The Zig Ziglar Legacy

"You can get everything in life you want if you will just help enough other people get what they want." 

                                                             

                                                              - Zig Ziglar

C.S. Lewis. Abe Lincoln. Winston Churchill. Steve Jobs. John Piper. Mahatma Gandhi. William Wilberforce. Theodore Roosevelt. Jose Rizal. Peter Drucker. And Zig Ziglar. These men are some of those whom I highly look up to. They are my inspiration, my standard and my heroes.

I never met any of them but they changed my life through their stories, writing and legacy. These men are one in a million because they fully lived and embraced their fate and destiny. Passion and purpose drove them to make history. Most of them are long gone but their legacy lives and will continue to be alive in the future because of their incomparable and incredible contribution to humanity.

Last November 29, 2012, I heard the news that Zig Ziglar passed away after losing his battle against pneumonia. A great loss for us who were touched and changed by Zig's unwavering passion to motivate people live their dreams by helping enough other people achieve their own aspirations. Zig's contagious enthusiasm towards life and success will continue to change lives for the generations to come. He may have lost the battle to a sickness but his was a full life nevertheless. 

I mourn the passing of one of my heroes and my mentor. I have devoured his books and I have listened to his audio messages again and again. He has made such a huge difference in my attitude towards life. He made a believer out of me. One of my most treasured quotes from Zig talks about choosing to become a meaningful specific rather than becoming a wandering generality. Up to this day, that philosophy pushes me to live life meaningfully not only for my sake but for the sake of other people too. 

This is Zig Ziglar's legacy. He's not after individual successes but he wants every story to be meaningful and significant. This is not done through selfish ambition and hoarding of all the wealth in the world. Real and lasting success is all about working together with other people. You will get what you want if you help your friend, your neighbor, your colleague, your family get what they want. It's a win-win situation. It is a timeless and proven philosophy of sowing and reaping. It's all about building relationships with other people. And the truth is, it is more fulfilling and satisfying to know that you are a part of someone else's success story.

And Zig, you have helped me immensely. Thank you for your dedication to help other people run after their dreams and goals. You are a major part of so many people's success story including mine. You will be truly missed.

Living a Passionately Purposeful Life

Photo Credits: www.inspiredgiftgiving.com

Finding your passion at an early age is a rare opportunity and an extraordinary blessing. It only means that God has given you more time to live life according to your heart's desires and His design. Use your time wisely and embrace your passionately purposeful life.

For most people, it takes many years of searching and suffering before they find the passion that makes them tick. Unfortunately, there are also people that never lived their passion. These are people who allow fear, circumstances and discomfort to hinder them in pursuing their dreams and aspirations.

Often, we are content to live the good life. As long as we have food to eat, a shelter to live in and money to meet our needs then we are content. Life is good. Then life becomes a routine where we wake up with less and less enthusiasm as the days go by. We end the day without any sense of fulfillment and accomplishment. Soon, we realize that twenty five years has passed and our lives are not an inch closer to what God wants us to have.

Living is not just about breathing air. You can be alive and dead a the same time. Your age may reach a century but if you are not living your passion and your purpose then your time on earth is meaningless.

God does not want that kind of life for you and me. Good is not good enough. He wants us to have a great awesome, exciting and a fulfilling life.

Don't stop searching and pursuing for your passion and purpose. Let God guide you as you embark on this journey that will change the course of your life forever. Once you find it, do not ever let go until your are living, breathing and tasting your passionately purposeful destiny.

How to Live a Better than Good Life

By Divine Grace Segunla

Who wouldn’t want to live a better than good life? I’m pretty sure that out of 6 billion people on Earth, probably all 6 billion would want, if not better, to live a good life. The promise of what’s good, and better and if possible perfect, is something we cannot turn our backs from.

Before we go any further, let me make sure and ask you, “Do you want a better than good life? “Are you sure?” “Really now?” Good. Then let me share with you the three secrets of the “better than good” life.

Zig Ziglar, a premier motivational speaker and a top selling author wrote one of my most favorite books of all time, Better than Good: Creating a Life You Can’t Wait to Live. In his book, Zig revealed the three pillars of the life we all want to live: passion, peak performance and purpose. We cannot continue to stay motivated in life unless we understand these three elements by heart.

Passion is indispensable in our quest for the full life. In the same way that gas fuels our car’s engines so as passion fuels our drive to reach the peak of our Everest. At the end of the day, it is our passion that will keep us focused on the target. It is passion that will awaken us the next day and will keep us going. It doesn’t matter what our field of endeavor is (business, career, sports, medicine and public service), without passion we are bound to fail. No one could have said it better but Zig, “Life is too tough to get to the top without passion.”

Life is harder than I thought. I didn’t realize that until I finished my journey as a student. The real world is more complicated than I expected. If I could, I would wish to stay a student forever. Then I don’t have to worry about my future. What is it in the world for me?

There will be times that we will be criticized, offended and hurt. We will fail countless times, discouraged in so many ways, disappointed by people we trust, disappointed by ourselves and ran out of resources. Everyday we will be tempted to give up and we might do just that without passion.

The first thing we need to do in order to live a ‘better than good ’ life is to discover our passion. What makes you tick? What you have natural talent for? What do you love to do?

Our greatest responsibility in life is to find out what we love to do and dedicate ourselves to it. Most successful men around the world would say, ‘I never worked a day in my life.’ They love what they do that’s why they’re not only good at it but they’re at their best. Passion plays a very important role in all great accomplishments. To get you started, answer the following questions. If you won a $1M, would you continue to do what you are doing? Would you stay in your current job?

I love it when Zig said, “Finding and developing passion is a journey, not an event.” Don’t stress yourselves if you don’t discover your passion overnight. It will not happen. There is a process that we need to go through. You might find yours earlier or later in life. It doesn’t matter as long as you commit yourself to discovering it.

The second element of a full life is peak performance. But we must keep in mind that we cannot function at our peak unless we know our passion. Passion is a prerequisite to peak performance. The moment you realize what you love to do, you must resolve to be the very best in it. Brian Tracy said, “Your life will only get better when you get better”.

In order to perform at our peak, we need to set goals, have a passionate plan and we need to develop ‘better than good’ habits. Do you know that 97% of adults have not made their goals? You cannot go somewhere unless you have a destination in mind. If you haven’t thought about it, then you need to sit down and set your goals. It may take you hours, a day, a week or even a month if necessary. What do you want to achieve in your lifetime? What do you want to accomplish? Sit down and write down your goals. There is no limit to the number of goals you can set. Sky is the limit.

How do you plan to achieve those goals? It’s time to develop a passionate plan. Tom Landry once said, “Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with the plan.” If Noah of the Bible built the ark 100 years before the flood then we ourselves need to back our goals with plans. The moment you combine passion with planning then good things will start to happen.

The most important thing to do after planning is taking action. The moment you stop taking actions, everything in your plan stops. Reading a good book about what you love to do, getting acquainted with people with the same interest as yours, mental reflection and prayer are all taking action. Make sure that everyday you are doing something to achieve your goals.

To complete the equation, we need one more thing. We need to develop as many positive habits as we can. Frank Outlaw warned us, “Watch your habits; they become character.” Character is what defines us. It becomes our destiny.

Habits can either make us or break us. There are good habits and bad habits, positive or negative and constructive or destructive. If we want to fully live the ‘better than good’ life we need to get rid of the habits that will only pull us down. We can do that if we commit to develop good habits. Eventually good habits will overcome bad habits. Here some of the habits we need to develop: reading books, getting enough sleep, eating healthy, frugal lifestyle, helping other people and more. The list could go on. They say that habits are formed if we do something continually for 21 days or more. You can start with one habit a time. Now, pick a habit that you want to develop and start doing it starting today.

The third element of a full life is purpose. Now that we have discovered our passion and we have resolved to perform at our peak, what’s next? Why do we want to do that? That’s when purpose will complete the whole dynamics of a ‘better than good’ life. Zig wrote, “Without purpose in life we are like the proverbial fool who is all dressed up with no place to go.”

The key question to ask is what really matters to you? What makes your heart sing? What do you dream about? What do you do when you have free time? Whatever it is, that’s what you are passionate about. That’s where your heart is and somewhere, connected to that passion is your purpose in life.