Once l got started on writing my Blog l experienced a big sense of excitement and accomplishment. l had finally managed to step out of my comfort zone and display my thoughts openly. Although l felt nervous, l understood that courage is not the absence of fear but advancing your idea despite the fear.

A while after, l started noticing that, there wasn’t much traffic at all to my Blog. Granted that this Blog is based on my reflections and aimed at personal development. Still I secretly hoped that people will start to take notice, but no one was even slightly interested.

It seemed that the more l wrote the less people were interested in reading my Blog. My excitement slowly started diminishing, the doubt began to sneak in. Suddenly this idea didn’t seem thrilling anymore.

 Reflecting on these feelings made me realise, what l was going through was not unusual or specific to me. It’s what everyone goes through. Often, once you get started you will have to endure a period where nothing seems to be happening.

 Terry Saville stated that we all have a lottery or microwave mentality, we wish for instant success. However we have to develop a crock pot mentality, we have to wait no matter how long it takes. Every successful person needs to learn the art of waiting!  Achieving success at anything takes lots of patience.

Being made aware of all this made me realise that, I could be patient and l was resolved to keep on writing.  It wasn’t about how many people were reading, it was about keeping me focussed to pursue my goal.

 There is evidence to support that being patient and never giving up leads to phenomenal success.

The other day, my associate related to me how devastated she was because the people in her life whom she thought were her best friends had berated her for being arrogant and conceited.

This associate of mine is diligent in striving for success, constantly improving herself and pushing the limits and boundaries of personal development and growth. She is relentlessly pursuing the journey of revamping her life despite all the challenges she faced.

 Apparently, this incident had troubled her deeply and l understood the reason for this. She is kind, would never deliberately seek to undermine or sabotage anyone. It’s just not in her nature!

However, because l was detached emotionally to the situation, l could see what she could not.

 Dr Miles Munroe observed that success is predictable! Commonly you can see signs of success before the crescendo of triumph. The signs were clear, evident and visible to me. After working hard to improve sometimes we often dump down our progress to fit in. The pain of rejection can be too much to bear!

On the other hand, Dr Cindy Trimm recalls that one of the first signs of success that she ever experienced was rejection. She argued that rejection is an indication that you have outgrown a relationship, it no longer has the capacity to support your progress or greatness.

 Dr Trimm goes on to illustrate that being rejected from your close ones is God’s way of delivering you from culture. Culture is what creates the paradigm and it is impossible to advance further than what your paradigm will allow. No-matter how many opportunities you get, you will always default back into struggle, so your paradigm has got to be shifted.

Rejection occurs because when people fail to control you, rejection follows. Subsequently, when God connects you to your true identity, you will stop asking for permission to be or do anything and this will be unfamiliar to your friends.

Rejection is required to maintain continual progress to success!

Successful populace believe in a higher power than themselves. They frequently petition their  requirements to God, the Universe and other religions.

I believe most success principles are bible based but there is no acknowledgement of this because of the negative implications of being associated with a religion. John Maxwell is a world renowned leadership expert,  who teaches skills based on these principles.

The law of attraction is a belief that you attract what you think about into your life. This is underpinned on a bible verse, as a man thinketh in his heart so is he (proverbs 23vs7).  Personally I don’t feel qualified to preach and any individual who chooses to read the Blog, should be made to feel welcome regardless of their belief because Jesus encouraged us to love each other.

Successful individuals are spiritual not religious, they acknowledge that a human being has a physical body and a soul which is attached to God or the universe.  The sovereign God, the creator possesses the universe in all its entirety and can grant all requests .  Provided, the soul understands Gods expectations such as exhibiting moral virtue. Being in touch with the spiritual side is what this is all about.

 The soul, being the mind can be connected to God. Once connected, you are able to communicate to God or the universe and petition your requests.  Subsequently after submitting your request, believe and receive. ( Matthew7 vs 7-8)

Florence Schivel Shinn revealed that, the desires of our hearts are already existing in the spirit realm. Our role is exercising faith until everything has manifested. Steve Harvey stated that the Bible is so effectual that some people have chosen a single verse and utilised it to achieve tremendous victory   over different challenges in their lives.

The process is simply ask and believe then wait to receive. Believing (maintaining your faith) is a big part of success principles. However taking inspired action or working towards your goal, engaging in personal growth, literally committing all, within your physical power is what is meant by waiting to receive.  During the period we wait to receive, our requests are being moved from the spirit realm to the physical side where we then to begin to experience them.

Yesterday whilst driving my children to school, a Disc Jockey on radio insinuated that imagining a million dollars and expecting it to appear is tantamount to foolishness!

Naturally l strongly dispute this statement. Clearly this is one of the reasons l always adopt to concentrate on faith building sermons as opposed to listening to the radio. I do make exceptions though when l have children in the car. Which explains why l heard this. In retrospect l am glad I heard this pessimistic babble as it emphasises and justifies taking action to protect myself from cynical influence.  Listening to the radio for a few minutes might appear innocuous whilst being counterproductive in achieving the state of mind needed to revamp your life.

I’m not sure how much transformation this Dj is desiring in her life.  l perceive that if you are determined to experience a fulfilling life, you have to implement what you have never done before! Doing what you’ve never done before involves using your imagination more often to create the life you desire.

Unquestionably, in the creation world everything was instigated by the power of the imagination.  Each and every product that we notice surrounding us was imagined into existence by a human being. Absolutely all developments in the human kind such as electricity, aeroplane , cars etc were created using imagination. Imagining is so vital that even school children are being taught to utilise this skill in their development.

 l also got to discover that dreams, (the drive for success)  in  life  are created by tapping  into the imagination.  I generated my dreams by simply imagining the kind of life l desired to have.

Subsequently l wondered if l was being indulgent and l deciphered that God speaks to us through the desires of our hearts and places dreams in our hearts.  I was blown away.

It’s not possible to be transformed into what you never imagined in your mind. Neither is it  possible to obtain or create what you never conceived in your mind.

Imagination makes it possible to visualise your future.  It a plausible success principle that l am implementing in my life. It is effective.

Every Cloud has a silver lining.

One day my friends and l were talking about a girl who had been subjected to the most unbearable racist behaviour at Nottingham University. The story had gone on to feature on ITV.

Although racism is prevalent not everyone is prejudiced towards other races.  My friends are a testament to this.

 Anyway after musing about this occurrence, my friends turned towards me and asked if l had experienced any racism at all? Although this question was presented sincerely, I was stunned into silence by that query!

 I struggled to come up with an answer. The reason being, not wanting to endure any pity from my companions. This question made me realise that my friends were oblivious, to the true extent of the situation at hand. I appreciated this, as they had never travelled my journey.

 I endeavoured to enlighten them that not only had l faced racism, it was something that l dealt with every single day.  As opposed to encountering it occasionally.

I believe the silver lining to the racism cloud is deciding to achieve more in my life despite the negative rhetoric encompassing me.  My drive then becomes striving for success despite the odds and the statics.

 I suddenly realised that l couldn’t continue viewing racism negatively but to appreciate it for what it led me to become.

If you are constantly rising above adversity to aspire for success you are already on your way to becoming successful. All successful individuals understand that success can be a series of decisions that you make over a period of time.

What is the cloud in your life and how can you use that emotion positively?

Yesterday a video, about a Nigerian lady who was begging for money in Canada went viral. This lady claimed, she didn’t have sufficient cash because the government in Canada was offering her “very little money”. The person filming her went onto to ask why she had left Nigeria in the first place and she explained that the government in Nigeria was mismanaging the economy. As a result, there was extreme hardship.  To evade the poverty in Nigeria she relocated, for a better life in Canada.

I do not know the full story of why this lady was begging, but l couldn’t help but wonder why the video had gone viral. Scrounging for money to purchase food for your own children from mere strangers, appears negligent. It came across not only as irresponsible but shameful too.

It was obvious that the better life was eluding her still in Canada. Being also African, l am no stranger to the nefarious, oppressive and defective ways of a Junta Government.  But l am also aware that they’re numerous success stories of Africans in spite of these corrupt governments. Why? They have opted to take charge of their circumstances.

My question to this lady is, when do we stop playing victim and institute taking responsibility for our own lives?

No one is going to issue out an official invite for you to come and partake in the journey labelled, your own life! Think! You’re the only existing common factor here. Those two governments are not conspiring against you. In fact, they probably dislike each other, and they are not concerned about you. You are the reason why people think less of Africans.

Taking responsibility for your life and actions is a proven success principle. It is literally impossible to improve your life, if you are playing the,” blame game” and thinking that someone else, apart from you is to blame for your situation. I believe that accepting full responsibility of your situation  facilitates the progress needed to  empower yourself.

I suggest you take a close look at your life.  Introspection might provide the answers as to why things are the way they are. Sometimes blaming others is easier than admitting failure. However, that is exactly what you may need to do to take charge of your life. Start investing in yourself and you will find the truth and the truth will set you free.

When l set about finding out how to be successful, l was immensely thrilled to ascertain that, desiring change was one of the key attributes for pursuing success.

Having said that, my excitement quickly became short-lived after noticing that this desire is a fickle feeling which is best described as sporadic! It is a wish that every person engages in every so often, everybody wishes their life to change!  To advance my quest l needed to do more than wishing.

Desire or wishing for something to come true was not enough to transform life. It is precisely the reason, why my life had remained stagnant. l required ambition, a strong desire to achieve something! In reality, it was mandatory to implement ambition as a minute by minute mentality.  In order to maintain a burning desire to transform my life, l had to be intentional and strategic!

 Successful individuals have a strategy consisting simple steps, to maintain the required state of mind that facilitates triumph. If it was effortless each one of us would be wealthy. The strategy involves simple habits you have to adopt in your life to achieve success.

They have several habits to achieve this and one of those is affirmations, they religiously affirm detailed goals, dreams etc for at least 2 times a day.

 Initially I came across affirmations in the early two thousand (2003) while watching a comedy called, “All of us”. One of the leading actresses Neese James, who was full of humour, would walk up to the mirror and tell herself how beautiful she was. At the time l thought it was just that, a joke!

I discovered that, talking to oneself loudly, as loony as it seems, is what it takes. Tony Robbins teaches affirmations in great detail. Joel Osteen’s “The power of l am” Sermon, explains how every statement, that follow the words, l am, eventually become true in our life.

I have ascertained that in order to preserve a burning desire.  It will take tossing aside my inhibitions and chanting away happily day and night. My husband and kids are completely fed up as I sometimes get too loud and wake them up in the morning lol. If only they knew what l know l bet, they would be even louder than me!

 One of the most highly recommended ideology, in the field of success is seeking mentorship from a notable person who has already achieved success!

Evidently this cuts down, significantly on the journey to accomplishing success.  It minimises mistakes so often attributed to failure. The notable person can also offer their knowledge, counsel, guidance and expertise to implement decisions leading to a favourable outcome.

The dilemma is, established notable people charge a sizeable amount of money which may be too pricey initially when starting out, as l discovered. Specifically, not being able to afford all the necessities of life, propelled the desire to achieve more!

In the same context, l am cognizant of the fact that successful people charge a substantial amount because they understand the value of their time and expertise! They’ve worked hard and invested plenty of resources, time, effort and money to be where they are! Being on the opposite end of the journey makes me appreciate where they are, all the more. However in spite of all these obstacles l still need their knowledge, in order to grow into the kind of person that attracts success.

As this Blog is about sharing my experiences you will be pleased to know that l had the privilege of spending time with some of the very important public figures on earth!  

I have spent time with Bishop T.D Jakes, Joyce Meyer, Dr Cindy Trimm, Dr John Maxwell, Tony Robbins, Lisa Nichols, my girl Terri Savelle Foy (especially fond of this one) etc the list is endless. In fact I make it a point to spend time with them almost every day. Hence investing in myself isn’t always about paying out money for courses and conferences etc. Although these are also important aspects of personal development, it is also about utilising free time to access free educative material produced by successful dignitaries. This might be the only way of investing in personal growth initially.

Although honestly speaking, l never met any of them in person. I simply seek out their messages on you tube, podcasts and buy their books! Success lives a trail behind, they love to share how they achieved victory and l take full advantage of that!

In December 2016 l received the finest present l never knew l needed in my life! It was a present so essential that it  caused a paradigm shift and  changed the trajectory of my life for the better!

My dear little sister had travelled all the way from Australia to England and presented me with a gift titled “ A little God time journal for mothers”.  l looked at it curiously and even though l knew what it was, l still went ahead and asked what it was and what l was suppose to do with it. It was such a novelty no one had ever given me anything like it before!

Little sis obviously found my question very amusing, as she was already, an old hand at journaling. She replied, you write in it silly. What do l write in it l asked? Anything she replied, even how you’re feeling, she said. Wow, thanks l said, secretly thinking this is the most useless present and was sure to gather dust on my book shelf and it did.

 The journal came into my life during the time l was experiencing a great deal of stress and l never thought it might help with this. Boy was l wrong!

 Exactly 2 months after she gave me the Journal I opened it and started scribbling my thoughts!  It was liberating! Literally the weight fell of my shoulders as l began to scribble.  l only paused to get tissues. Tears were rolling down uncontrollably , collecting onto the journal and messing up my writing. l wiped the tears and persisted to scrawl until l felt depleted.

 This is how l discovered and implemented the success principle of journaling to gain clarity, focus  and direction in my life. It is therapeutic, it enables me to de-stress. Writing allowed me to analyse my situation critically! l started seeing where l was clearly i.e stress, burnout and started recording how l wanted it to be. I noticed that writing your thoughts is more peaceful than talking about them! This is a successful principle that works!

My pivotal moment of understanding was realising that sometimes the next action to take is to stop and do nothing! This means doing nothing concerning your life purpose!

Before l realised this, I would rummage the internet and social media to look at business ideas and observe what other people were doing. I thought l was looking for inspiration! The more l did this, the more l felt discouraged and demoralised. It seemed that people were far too ahead of me and had all achieved so much at a much younger age than me!  I was filled with regret about not having started sooner. I dreaded starting anything to avoid making a complete fool of myself. It appeared to be a hopeless situation!

I didn’t realise that in order to create something you need to first go through a period of silence. All the answers are found within.  Engaging introspection enabled me to gain access to dialogue in my mind. Paying attention to this voice was an eye-opening moment.  It became apparent to me that this was my impediment. That inner voice was full of defeatist chit chat. No wonder I hadn’t been able to get started!

After hearing this, I resolved to go into an even deeper silence by silencing this gloom ridden voice. l became intentional about listening to faith and confidence building messages.  l was emphatic and very strategic, when l was driving, exercising, cleaning. Anytime l heard that bleak voice l responded by shutting it down!

During listening to these messages my inner voice began to slowly change to an upbeat and constructive voice. This helpful and practical inner voice empowers you to become the creative that you need to be. When you change your inner chit-chat, you are able to come up with an original creation. Even if you tap into a flooded market. The product you create will be uniquely you.  When you decide to chase your dream or your purpose your greatest asset is you!