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Food for Living: Time to Hit the Ground Running
By Henry Ukazu
Greetings Destiny Friends,
It is my pleasure to officially welcome everyone to the year 2023. Permit to say a Happy New Year to you. I trust you all had a wonderful New Year celebration with your family and loved ones.
The New Year normally comes with many wishes, resolutions, aspirations, and renewed zeal to accomplish certain personal desires. It is easy to make resolutions and wishes, but the challenge is executing those tasks. If we are honest with ourselves, last year and in previous years, we made several resolutions regarding what we planned to do and what we would stop doing, but it’s quite unfortunate that within a few weeks of making such resolutions, we tend to fall back to our bad habits. The question now becomes, what’s the cause? This will be answered in a jiffy.
It should be noted that it is easier to learn a bad habit than learning a good habit. This is because it is easier to fail in life than to succeed. Failing in life is one of the easiest things, you don’t need to do much, all you need to do is do nothing, but for you to succeed, you need a lot of work.
In this article, I will share practical ways you can have a blissful 2023, and overcome any limiting beliefs in your mindset. It’s instructive to note that success is our heritage, but the mistake most of us make is the inability to grab what belongs to us. If you would like to make this year a success, you must be ready to roll your sleeves and do the needful. Nobody will do it for you. Most of the people we celebrate globally are celebrated because of their contributions to making the world a better place. They are not celebrated because they are nice, no; they are celebrated because of the work they did.
It should be noted that these great people were nobody the years before their exploits, but because they were intentional and strategic to get their work done, they did what they needed to do, and today, they are celebrated. So, if you want to be celebrated in 2023 or 2024, you must spend quality time to invest in your project.
As generally stated, success is not an accident, neither is it by luck. Though luck constitutes about 10%, but before the ten percent can manifest, you must be prepared to actualize the opportunity. But how do you actualize the opportunity? Simple. You can actualize it by hitting the ground running.
We are in the first week of 2023 and it seems to be moving fast. To make 2023 work for you, you must be ready to hit the ground running. As you rightly know; time waits for no one. The way you announce yourself matters a lot. Whether in politics, academics, family, personal or professional, people will address you the way you present yourself. Since this is the first week of 2023, you must hit the ground running by being disciplined in what you plan to do. When people tell you how disciplined and intentional they are, they will have no option than to give you the desired space you need, especially when you have made your intentions clear to them. Isn’t it true that the world sets apart for the man who knows where he is headed?
Since we are in the first week of 2022, you must take time to evaluate what worked and didn’t work for you in 2022 and previous years. Apply what worked and disregard what didn’t work. It is instructive to note that the world will not give us what we desire, rather, it will give us what we deserve. If you are aiming for any opportunity, you must hit the ground running by being innovative and creative. When you hit the ground running, the universe has a way of aligning with you by bringing all you need to actualize your dreams and desires.
Many of us came into 2023 with vigour, but it’s quite unfortunate that many of us have fallen out of track within this first first week of January. Again, what might be the cause? A lot of factors might have contributed to it. It could be that we didn’t prepare well. It could be that we didn’t have an accountability partner, it could also be that we overestimated ourselves and tried to overstretch ourselves; as a result become overwhelmed.
To make 2023 work for you, you need to be mindful of who you are? You need to ask yourself, who am I? This is the most important question you need to ask yourself. When you know who you are, what works for you and what doesn’t work for you, then you will know how to approach 2023. Why is this important? Most times we tend to judge ourselves by the work and standard of other people without minding the fact that we are all wired differently. When you understand what is unique about you, you’ll begin to unleash your potential.
Understanding who you are enables you to make the right choices because you are self-aware of your abilities. You wouldn’t want to do things that are beyond your capacity.
Another of the many ways to make 2023 work for you is by being disciplined. Discipline means being intentional in what you will do or will not do. The major reason most people don’t succeed in their resolutions is because they are not disciplined enough to know how to approach their plans. For instance, some people make bogus plans of the amount of money they will save every week or month without being realistic with their income. Some who are heavy drinkers might decide they won’t drink again instead of saying I will reduce my drinking habit from five to three. The point here is that success in life is a gradual thing, you can’t rush it. So, if you have a goal you will like to accomplish, you have to be honest with yourself on how you can achieve it. You can decide to break it down in small steps.
Another great way to make 2023 work for you is by tracking your progress. It’s normal to feel a certain way when you don’t measure up based on your expectations, especially when you put in the work and do the needful, let me tell you, if you have a heart of gratitude, you will realise that you made an effort which didn’t work. Imagine, if you have not done the work, how would you have felt? Do you know that done is better than perfect when perfect is not done? Someone can appreciate you for the effort you have put in, you can even develop it by improving it.
Finally, endeavour to have mentors or accountability partners who can help you critique or advise you on how you can improve. In one of my articles, Mentors Are Life Savers, I stressed on the importance of having mentors as a catalyst for success.
In conclusion, the year 2023 will be what you decide to make of it. 2023 will answer the name you give to it. If you call it discipline, gratitude, hard work, smart work, intentionality or even wealth, it will respond. But if you decide to call it luck, whatever, game, or life, it will give you the desired results and answers you deserve. The choice is yours.
That said, I wish you a blissful 2023 filled with vitality and opportunities. If you need someone to guide you through, feel free to reach out to me via the information below.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker, youth advocate and creative writer. 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
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
The importance of timing cannot be overemphasized. Timing is everything in life. It is critical to one’s success. You can lose your money and get it back in many folds. You can even lose your health and get it back all things being equal, but when you lose time, you can hardly get it back again.
The importance of timing can be seen in crops. Every crop has a season, a good farmer won’t plant maize when it’s time for oranges, nor will he plant pears when it’s the season for mangoes.
Time is very instrumental to the success and failure of anyone. Imagine having a meeting or interview at 9:00am and you arrive at 10:10am, it will take the grace of God to be interviewed. As an employee, apart from one not being able to diligently do his job, one of the fastest ways for an employee to lose his job is by being late to work.
When I was in New York Law School studying Taxation law, I did a course titled, the Problem of Timing. During the semester, I learnt about cash and accrued income. Let me do some academic exercise here. In cash income, just like the name entails, one is paid in cash as soon as the work is completed. It’s just like going to the market to make a purchase. One can either pay directly with cash or with debit or credit card. But Accrued income refers to revenue a company has earned by providing goods or services, but for which payment has not yet been received, one will have to do the work first before getting paid. This is applicable when one works in either a public or private organization where one is paid either weekly, bi-weekly or at the end of the month depending on the stipulated mode of payment.
It’s important to note that before the money is paid either in cash or accrued, one would have earned it. It’s just like one learning g before earning, and one will have to update to upgrade. These are just the practical principles that will work with life.
In the same way, in life there’s a seed time and harvest time. It’s a universal principle of life. Whether as a parent, entrepreneur, student or employee. As a parent, if you don’t train your kids very well, they will grow up to reflect the opposite of what you desire. As an entrepreneur when you invest in your business, you will get the reward in due time. As a student, if you take your studies seriously, your grades will improve, and as an employee, you stand to get promotions and opportunities when you add value to your work. In summary, one will have to put in the work before recognition comes on.
To understand how seedtime and harvest work, imagine where parents tend to like one child more than others just because they see potential in him, or he’s smart, hardworking or even creative. They fail to understand that every child is different and as such their timing can be different. Some kinds take time to develop.
I personally believe there’s something so unique about each individual which God has deposited in everyone of us. It’s just a matter of time for it to manifest. Your timing of manifestation is different from your siblings and colleagues.
Personally, I didn’t mature fast with my contemporaries. Overtime, I have seen much improvement in my personal and professional life. Maybe because I have added value to my work with the assistance of mentors and good friends, or God had to humble my colleagues and mentors . Why do I say this? During my formative years, I had little or nothing to show for it. I was looking at my contemporaries as mentor and seeing my mentors as small gods whose feat is unattainable, but now, the reverse seems to be case as I have developed capacity some of my colleagues are yet to attain, while I have even surpassed the achievement of my some of my mentors in some quarters.
In all these, they are all surprised how it happened. Some are yet to comprehend or articulate the feat. It’s just like watching a film where everyone slept and woke up to see the game and tides have changed. The secret behind it is the seed time and harvest time. I was probably learning the trade while in the wilderness, and when the training season matured and ripe enough to be harvested, I became attractive to almost everyone who loved the seed I was producing.
There are litany of examples of people, who have been in the wilderness during the seed planting season. Let’s take a case study of Joseph in the Bible, his journey to stardom took a little twist. Despite the travails he experienced in the hands of his siblings who sold him, his experience while in the jail, and with Portiphar’s wife, who tried to seduce him; they were all set ups for success. The moral here is Joseph seed time and harvest time was quite different, it wasn’t a smooth journey. Ordinarily, one would have cursed his siblings or his friends who were with him in prison and forgot him after they were released. But at the end of time, everything worked out for his favor. Joseph’s seed days were his dark days while in the wilderness.
Another inspiring story of note was that of Pastor Ibukun Awosika, the former board Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria. She once shared a pathetic story during her formative years of being in business. According to her, she sojourned for about 15 years. She cried because lines were not adding up for her and she wouldn’t do what her contemporaries were doing to get opportunities. At a point in her business, it appeared like she was in a race of own life because everything seemed to be against her, but at the appropriate time, lines began to fall in place for her. Appointments, business opportunities, favours and goodwill began to fall in place for her. Again, she had a fair share of seed time.
An interesting question I would like to ask you is, what’s your seed time? Have you ever been in the wilderness when you appeared to be fixed? It’s unfortunate many people are not willing to pass through the storms or experience seeds and harvest time. Amidst all these, one must do some work before they get opportunities. However, before such opportunities will come up, one will have to plant the seed.
In conclusion, seed time and harvest time is critical in the journey of life. Take a seat and determine what seed you would like to sow and what you’ll like to harvest.
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 Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Eric Elezuo
The Senate has suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghen for six months over her sexual harassment accusation and other disputes against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The Senate also withdrew her salaries for the period of the suspension, as well as her security details.
The chamber however, soft-pedaled on the salaries and allowances of her aides, who it was argued would not have any source of livelihood within the period.
Globacom is welcoming new customers on its network with the introduction of the e-SIM. The e-SIM activated in any Gloworld shop or Dealer outlet comes with an introductory free 5GB data when the customer buys a data plan of N1,500 or more.
Customers already on other networks can now join the Glo network with e-SIM as an additional SIM. Existing Glo customers can also enjoy this “SIM-less” freedom.
With the e-SIM, customers no longer have to worry about space for a physical SIM on their phones. The e-SIM is a software-based digital chip built directly into smartphones or wearable devices, thus eliminating the need for a physical SIM card for customers.
The use of e-SIM enables customers to have seamless switching between phone numbers without a physical SIM. It is ideal for upwardly mobile people who travel frequently. The e-SIM also guarantees security, as unlike physical SIM, it is harder to remove from devices. It is also eco-friendly and reduces plastic waste.
Globacom’s launch of the e-SIM enables enables it to cater to high-net-worth individuals and enterprise customers, and it also reinforces the company’s commitment to providing seamless and future-ready services to its customers.
A customer seeking to activate the Glo e-SIM needs to check the compatibility of the mobile handset by dialling *#06# on his or her phone. If an EID number reflects on the mobile screen, the device is e-SIM compatible.
“The customer can then proceed to the nearest Gloworld shop or Glo Dealer outlet to migrate to e-SIM. The process takes only a few minutes and the customer can thereafter begin to enjoy the use of an e-SIM”, the Marketing Department disclosed.
