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Food for Living: Inspire Yourself
By Henry Ukazu
Greetings Dear Friends,
I guess you may have heard the saying, ‘the joy of life is not how happy you are but how happy others can be because of you’.
There’s always an internal feeling of warmth and fulfillment to know that because of the role you played in the life of someone, who can be a mentee or subordinate, they were able to succeed. I once highlighted that Mentors Are Life Savers in one of my articles with the same title.
Every being loves to be happy because happiness brings peace, tranquility, and clarity of mind. Once you have peace within yourself, family, organization and business, you are bound to have clarity of mind which will, in turn, make you focus very well in addition to being inspired to make right decisions. Therefore, it will be wise to say, peace is necessary for any rational and progressive mind/business to succeed. In the course of this article, we shall be exploring different ways we can inspire ourselves.
Every successful or great person was inspired in one way or the other. Every successful business was also inspired by another business, mentor or even the desire to solve a challenging problem in the society. We all need inspiration to move to the next stage in life. Thus the question now becomes, how can one get inspired?
Inspiration comes in different shapes and sizes. It can be internal or external.
Internal Inspiration:
Internal motivational comes from within. It’s just like the act of intuition. Internal inspiration is the best form of inspiration. This is because when the force is from within, it opens up with unlimited opportunities and potentials. It’s important to note that nobody can inspire you more than you can inspire yourself. Genuine inspiration always comes from within.
According to a philosopher, “I was thinking one day and I realized that if I just had somebody behind me all the way to motivate me I could make a big difference. Nobody came along like that so I just became that person for myself.”
External Inspiration:
This is the motivation that is derived from outside forces, e.g. music, mentors, books or even situations like hunger, poverty and life challenges. According to some schools of thought, external inspiration has been the reason they succeeded in life (business, home and academics). This group of people believes that without these external forces they wouldn’t have been able to achieve a great deal in life. Proponents of this theory fail to understand that, they were able to succeed because they had the internal zeal to succeed and the external forces only came as a catalyst. For example, publishing inspirational and motivating articles every week can be a challenging task because it takes discipline to commit to the task. However, as a prolific writer and author, I strongly believe, if one is not inspired, it will be hard for one to write nor matter how inspired the external factors are at play.
Techniques to get inspired:
Get Started:
The beginning of any task is usually the most challenging part. If you can begin a task with little or no resources, you can be sure of everything coming true if you are diligent. Take, for instance, you want to start a business, write a book, begin a Ph.D. program, contest for election, or even starting a good cause/campaign, etc. All you need is just a starting line for the universe to know you have a vision. A little push or inspiration can do the magic. Once you commit to this task, the universe has a way of coming around to support your work. You can also begin by breaking all your tasks in a little piece and taking them one step at a time.
Write your plan
Having a concrete blueprint on what you plan to do is another way to get inspiration. For example, you need to have an idea where you plan to be between 6 to one year, 3 years, 5years, 10 years as the case may be all things being equal. This plan will enable you to inspire yourself. Also, you can write down all of your goals and vision to keep track of where you are, and where you want to be. By so doing, you will keep track of how far you have come in life.
Reduce the daily distractions
Just like success needs concentration and positive energy, inspiration doesn’t work well with distractions. When you are easily accessible it will definitely become hard for you to focus. It’s quite unfortunate to note that many people spend less time on what really matters and spend more time on what doesn’t really matters. In order to change this habit, you’ll need to reduce the influx of distractions that is surrounding you. By so doing, you’ll be truly inspired to focus well.
Play music
Music can be a form of inspiration. I personally use music to get work done depending on my state of mind and what I am working on. A typical example was when I was writing my first book, music was one of my biggest inspirational energy, especially when I was down.
Be grateful
Most times we get caught trying to get to the finish point without taking time to take stock how far we have come. Being grateful for who you are and what you have been able to achieve in life can inspire you to do more. It’s always good to reward yourself and celebrate your successes (no matter how big or small they are).
In conclusion, it is pertinent to note that you are the ultimate measure of how far you’ll go in life. According to Wayne Dyer, “Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” If you don’t do the work, nobody will do it for you. Therefore, I charge you today, to inspire yourself.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success. He can be reached via henrous@gmail.com
Armed policemen have taken over the Wadata Plaza headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, as tension continues to mount over the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, which is expected to hold today.
Channels Television quoted an unnamed party official, who alleged that the police were deployed to stop the proposed NEC Expanded Caucus meeting.
Though some staff members of the party were initially allowed to go into the premises of the secretariat without any resistance from the police, they were later sent out.
Journalists were also been asked to leave the premises of the secretariat.
Some policemen were seen cordoning off Dalaba Street, which is the road leading to Wadata Plaza.
The Presidency has said there has been no change in the position of Senator George Akume as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“There has been no change in the status of His Excellency, Senator George Akume, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement made available to journalists.
The statement is titled ‘Akume Remains SGF.’
This followed multiple reports which quoted Presidency sources saying Tinubu had named his Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, to serve as the new SGF.
Onanuga said, “President Bola Tinubu, currently in Saint Lucia, has not made any new appointments.
“The information circulating about Akume’s replacement is untrue. Agents of mischief fabricated it.
“The Presidency advises Nigerians to disregard the fake news.”
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
It is everybody’s desire to be successful in whatever field of endeavour he finds himself. It can be in career, family life, business endeavors or personal development. But there’s absolutely nothing good that comes easy. Everything in life involves a lot of hard work, smart work, dedication, discipline, network, sacrifice, prayers, and determination among a whole lot if one is intentional to succeed.
Of a truth, success is not for the faint-hearted. In all honesty, everyone wants to be ahead of everyone, especially contemporaries and funnily enough, the average human being sometimes have a bit of ill- feeling when competitors arise or seem to outsmart them either with better quality or price. The good thing about this however, is that it makes one sit up.
Now, this brings us to the essence of today’s article. For anyone to be ahead of their competitors, they must fly like the eagle. Eagles are known for their powerful build, sharp vision, and fearless nature. They are highflyers, capable of soaring to great heights, and gliding for extended periods. Eagles are also known for their tenacity, using storms to their advantage to gain altitude. Other notable characteristics include their strong talons and beaks, used for hunting, and their protective nature towards their young. These are some of the qualities that make it unique.
The eagle is not regarded as the king of the sky for fun, no. The eagle flies so high because that’s where it gets a chunk of its strength. This ability enables the eagle to take its prey and predators alike to it’s abode where it will have enough emotional and physical strength to dismantle them.
I will be sharing characteristics of an eagle to enable us know why we ought to be like the eagle if we want to soar.
VISION
The eagle has a sharp vision. Their vision is so precise. They can see farther than any animal. They possess exceptional eyesight, allowing them to spot prey from great distances. As human beings, we must have eagle eyes to know what we really want, and what we don’t want. Vision allows us to go for what we desire and deserve. When we have vision, we won’t wait for anyone to tell us when to strike. We flow through the wind despite the waves and heavy current and associated challenges. When our vision is precise, it will give people clarity to understand how they can assist us.
Let’s take a closer look at great leaders of this world who have come and gone. There are many great leaders that came and went but one characteristic that is common in all is “Vision”.
Vision is a successful leadership characteristic
You must have a vision that guides and leads your team towards the organizations or societal goals. The vision must be big and focused. A big, focused vision will produce big results
FLIGHT
Eagles are known for their ability to soar and glide, using their large wings to their advantage. Eagles can fly up to an altitude of 10,000 feet, but they are able to swiftly land on the ground. At 10, 000 feet, you will never find another bird. If you find another bird, it must be an eagle.
An eagle doesn’t mingle around with the pigeons. It was Dr. Myles Munroe who said that. Pigeons scavenge on the ground and grumble and complain all day long. Eagles are not. They fly and make less noise waiting for opportunities to strike their next prey or glide with the current of the storm.
Great leaders are problem solvers. They don’t complain like the pigeons do. They love to take challenges as the eagle does when the storm comes. As human beings, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
It’s always good for one to take any fight to their home ground where it will give them advantage over their predators. For instance, a fish is stronger in water, but weak on land, a lion is stronger on land, but weak in water, a monkey is strong on trees but weak on air. Just like an eagle is strong on air and weak on water and land. That’s why it always takes its prey to the sky where they have greater advantage to shine.
As human beings, we also must know what we are naturally good at, the ability to know this will enable us to maximize our strength and work on our weakness. We can only do this when we know ourselves and what we are naturally good at. Our ability to focus on our expertise and what we are naturally good at will make us unique and ahead of our contemporaries.
TENACITY
The eagles are known for their ability to withstand storms and use them to their advantage, rising above the challenges. Watch an eagle when a storm comes. When other birds fly away from the storm with fear, an eagle spreads its mighty wings and uses the current to soar to greater heights. The eagle takes advantage of the very storm that lesser birds fear and head for cover.
Challenges in the life of a leader are many. These are the storms we must face as leaders to rise to greater heights. Like an eagle, a leader can only rise to greater heights if he takes up the challenges head on without running away from it. This is yet another leadership characteristic.
As humans, we all will experience challenges and setbacks, however, the ability to apply strength will go a long way to show how determined we are to overcome the hurdles that pose as challenges.
FEARLESS
An eagle will never surrender to the size or strength of its prey. It will always give a fight to win its prey or regain its territory.
Successful leaders are fearless, so we are expected to fear no man, but respect all men. They face problems head on. We are supposed to have the eagle fearless mindset regardless of how big the problem may appear. Confront your fear and rise or face your fear and run. The choice is yours.
VITALITY NATURE
One of the strongest characteristics of an eagle is their vitality. Eagles are full of life and are visionary, but they find time to look back at their life and re-energize themselves. This happens at about the age of 30. What happens is that when the eagles reach the age of 30, their physical body condition deteriorates fast making it difficult for them to survive.
What is interesting is that the eagle never gives up living, instead it retreats to a mountaintop and over a five-month period goes through a metamorphosis. As humans, we are expected to reexamine ourselves, retreat to a safe zone. We can do this by fasting as Christians, we can also do this by learning new skills, volunteering our time and seeking for mentors who can hold us by the hand to show us how the appearance of life is not the reality of life.
In conclusion, as human beings, we are encouraged to be like an eagle if we want to scale through life.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
