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If you are gearing up for an article writing career, I’m sure this is among the many questions you will ask yourself.
But trust me, there is always no ideal time to learn everything. Even your degree is just a percentage of knowledge.
So you keep building upon it by going for a Master’s, a Ph.D., and later publishing research stuff here and there.
Article writing is not any better. You will learn the basics quickly, but to satisfy your clients better and understand industry trends, you must keep digging and doing it repeatedly.
Otherwise, you are going to become archaic.
Learning Article Writing and Factors Affecting Students
I learned the basics of freelance article writing in a month. Learning freelance writing for some could take much less time or more than a month. It depends on a couple of factors I will be showing you below.
Let’s jump into them.
1. Your Interests
If writing has always fascinated you, you will learn freelance article writing much faster than someone with no interest.
Back in the education system, while in high school, we used to be asked to select courses that we would love to pursue at the university.
And as fate would have it, the selection could pick your best or your worst choice. Should the latter happen to you and you never get to address it in time, you will struggle through university studying a course you never wanted to pursue.
Unless you develop grit and resilience, it will be a dead end for you.
Some students pursue courses in blogging and freelance article writing out of deep interest and passion. Others get on board to experiment or as a last resort.
Which category do you fall into?
2. Dedication and Commitment
There is a difference between doing something because you have been told to and doing something because you are committed and dedicated.
You will learn freelance article writing quickly if you commit to studying writing. Students with dedication and commitment learn fast, get good results and outshine others.
When was the last time you were committed to something? How did you handle it, and what were the results?
With dedication and commitment to learning article writing, you will make it part of your daily routine. Also, you will want to go the extra mile to learn stuff that is not even part of the course you are trying to study.
And that is how you become a trailblazer.
3. You want to Be your Boss / You want Freedom
Essentially, freelance article writing is self-employment. You freelance left, right and center without being affiliated with any company.
And if it happens, you are affiliated with one; you are not tied to it with some Conflict of Interest policy. So you write, finish your assignment and move on to the next client.
It all boils down to what you want in life. So, if you are this person looking to graduate from an average employee to self-employment and eventually run your own business, this is one of the ways to go about it.
As a freelance article writer, you will have the flexibility to do other worthwhile stuff in life, like tending to your hobby and spending more time with your loved ones.
4. How Well Have You Mastered Your Language?
How good are you at reading and writing? That’s all you need to get started in your journey to becoming a top-notch freelance writer.
It would be pretty difficult for you to soldier on as a writer if you haven’t mastered your language. So whether it’s French, German, Dutch, or English, you want to have an excellent mastery of it.
Mastery comes by reading the works of other writers and understanding the typical expressions in your language.
Can you write grammatically correct sentences? Are your sentence structures making sense? Are you good at spelling or fall for the apparent mistakes? Is your work original? You don’t plagiarize or copy past stuff.
However, failing to grasp the above sets you on a poor foundation as a freelance writing learner.
.
5. Practice
Some learn, finish and stop. Some learn, finish and keep practicing.
Five years down the line, we have two distinct groups of writers. Article writing is akin to studying a computer; the more you interact with it, the more you master it. It’s a technical course.
It would be best if you practiced it; otherwise, you would lose.
Always have a desire to understand the latest stuff in writing. What are the industry trends? What are top influencers in the space saying about content creation? Are there other avenues or skills I can explore as a writer?
Practising and being an open-minded writer sets you up for speedy growth and success.
Wrap Up
And that is it if you want to know how long it will take you to learn freelance article writing. There is no ideal time.
You can be a quick learner who will be done in a month or a slow learner who may need more space and time. But the bottom line is that learning for you never stops; it just keeps improving.
You can enrol in our paid course here, learn the basics of article writing, and start making money online as a writer.
In 2013, while still a student, there was some hype about making money online through writing, but I didn’t pay much attention. Well, in 2021, I’m making money online and paying my bills through writing. How did this work?
Let me explain.
I started writing out of a passion. That led me to create this blog back in 2015. The thought that one could make money online hadn’t occurred to me yet. My blog was like my personal journal online, where I could document stuff happening in my life from time to time.
My constant presence in the online space ushered me into academic writing. I did it for a while but stopped. I was still figuring out something worthwhile to do with my four-year horticultural knowledge.
That is not to say academic writing is not worth the hassle. I just felt I wasn’t cut out for it.
Learn freelance writing here for free and start making money online. The offer ends in June.
Later on, I learned that people, especially students, were doing lots of article writing and making money online. I didn’t believe it. I thought it was the typical hype. Then, a roommate told me about iWriter.
At the time and even now, iWriter is a site where you can register, send cover letters to jobs posted or bid, win a gig and make money.
I tried iWriter and miserably failed. I couldn’t keep up with the first deadlines.
Did I give Up?
No, I didn’t.
I didn’t bid for more jobs on iWriter, but I continued posting personal stuff on my blog. Should I mention that I also kept reading avidly on subjects of interest such as horticulture and gardening, governance, politics, and self-help?
I met a dude who told me he had been making money on Odesk, current Upwork, for a while. I guess I was the laggard who wanted to see before believing. My mind wasn’t much into it and so I didn’t pay attention to the nit and grit of the story.
In 2017, I joined Upwork.
Bade for several jobs, sending cover letters to potential clients as frequently as I could.
Some cons noticed my desperation and pounced on my naivety and desperation.
The guys sent me several writing jobs with fast deadlines that could hardly allow me to sleep. I ignorantly signed the contract out of Upwork. To cut it short, they slipped away with my $120.
Did I give up? No.
I landed another gig with a client from Bangladesh who asked me to write pest control articles for his blog paying me about $6/1000. Again, I was a newbie starting with little pay but happy that making money online became a reality.
Why my Start and Progress was Slow
Life has some basic truths you can’t ignore. However strong or wise you think you are, you will always need a mentor in any facet of life.
In my case, I didn’t have a guy to walk me through the steps of making money online until later. So I learned things the hard way.
Mistakes to Avoid as a Beginning Freelance Writer
Bidding the wrong clients
Failing to know my skill-set and strengths.
Trusting people too easily without verifying the facts or contract details. It got me conned.
Slow implementation/Procrastination. I could learn something new but take ages to implement or execute.
Not bidding and pitching for jobs regularly.
Failing to network and work on my skill-set
Asking for and settling for too little.
I will add more of my mistakes when I remember. Haha
Man! I don’t want you to go through my experience. But, neither should you take long to eat the fruits of your hard work online.
I realize most people were like me back then. You think you can write and start making money online, but you still feel you don’t measure up to the task yet. I was there when I started.
Making money online from the comfort of your home is easier done nowadays. Isn’t it fantastic to make lots of money while having a good time with family as you wish? Think about this.
Positive thinking has many benefits, including good health, mind-relaxation, hardworking habit, and most important,Success in life.
There are several positive thinking strategies recommended by science that play an effective role in your life and keep track of success.
Your thoughts are the pre-steps of your actions. You cannot beat your bad time without a positive thinking habit.
Finally, huge numbers of failed people blame their luck and lack of resources. History has lots of examples that show that resources and luck do not matter.
Only positive thinking and attitude are required that can lead you to success.
What is Positive Thinking?
Positive thinking(also known as an optimistic attitude) is an attitude to stay encouraged in the bad situations of life and think that things will be better in the future.
A positive thinker not only thinks but practically shows a positive attitude and finds ways to make the situation better.
Finally, you will see the positive thinking benefits in your life, just as theAmerican gymnast Mary Lou Retton said:
Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.
Does Positive Thinking Work?
Photo by Los Muertos Crew
The mechanism is very simple. An optimistic attitude reduces the stress on your mind, gives you the courage to deal with the situation, and gives hope that the bad time will end soon.
Studies have proved that positive thinking has benefits that are required thing to be successful in life.
So no matter whether you have resources or not, if you have an optimistic attitude, you can win the success game.
What can be the Effect of positive Thinking on your Life?
Your thoughts are directly related to the level of stress.
If you think negatively, you increase stress on your mind which will increase the situational fear in your mind, and as a result, your decisions, plans, and actions will not be effective.
Positive thinking has great effects on the mentality. It keeps your mind stress-free and peaceful. With a peaceful mind, you can plan better and deal with any situation.
How to Develop Positive Thinking Habit
I can understand, that it is not easy to overcome your negative thoughts. But you have to do it because success in life will not be possible without an optimistic attitude.
Roy T. Bennett, a politician, and a writer has told a formula for creating a positive thinking habit:
Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.
You will automatically start thinking positively by following this formula practically. Following are the positive thinking strategies that will help you to build it as a habit.
1. Be the Boss of your own Thoughts
The very first thing is to control your thoughts. You have to stop your mind from thinking negatively and concluding bad results.
Just do your job and give yourself courage that the result will be good.
2. Think that you can
You have to keep yourself motivated. Mental health professionals tell a simple trick to motivate you on your own.
You just have to stand in front of a mirror and say that you can do the job that you want. Repeat this exercise every day in the morning and the evening.
3. Stay in the Company of Positive Thinkers and Encouragers
Do your companions taunt you? Do not worry! They are just trying to say that if they could not be successful in life, you also cannot.
You have to resist them with an optimistic attitude and if not possible, try to avoid them and find some people who can encourage you.
4. You must have an Ideal Personality
I am sure that you already have a tycoon in your mind and dream to be successful like him.
If you want to take all the benefits of positive thinking, first read your ideal personality’s biography and know how he became successful.
5. Read Encouraging Books, Stories and Watch Movies
The stories of people who became famous and successful without resources will surely give you courage and force you to stay positive in every situation.
So, reading motivational books, stories, biographies, and watching movies can help you to build positive thinking habits.
How do Positive Thinking Strategies Lead to Success?
You have read five methods or strategies for building an optimistic attitude. You may also want to know the benefits of positive thinking.
1. Makes you Social
This might be the coolest effect of positive thinking. People always like positive thinkers as an optimistic person can suggest the solutions or at least give them the courage to face them.
Hence after developing this habit, you are going to be more social.
2. Improve Decision Power
This is another great positive thinking benefit that will lead you toward success. If your decision power is good, then the output will also be good.
In addition, positive thinking makes you a critical thinker so, you will always analyze different aspects of a problem before proposing a solution.
3. Keep you Relaxed
You will remain stress-free even in the worth conditions, and your mind will be focused on thinking of the solution to get out of a bad situation.
This all will be happening if you have thrown away your negative thoughts.
4. Keep you Focused
After following positive thinking strategies practically, you will be more focused on your goals. As a result, you will work in a better way and keep progressing toward the goal.
Wrap Up
We hope you have learned something today about positive thinking and its relation to success. If you found this content enjoyable, please share it with friends and family. You can also subscribe to our blog and get a free e-book on positivity.
Would you say life is positive or negative at your current life status? Can we be intentional about positive living? Your answer will depend on the major event(s) happening in your life.
The world is still reeling from the effects of a pandemic that has left many with no jobs, businesses down the drain, loss of loved ones, stress, anxiety, and so much more.
At this point, it’s important to pause and ask, how are you doing?
It’s okay not to be fine. We live in a world of social media, where we are predisposed to show more of our brighter sides than the negatives.
And so anybody going through hell will find it unbearable watching success stories that may not even exist in the first place.
Practising positivity is a good thing. It will shape you into a better person by building your spirit and soul into one wonderful human being. We focus too much on seeking material wealth at the expense of our emotional well-being and happiness.
What’s the point of building so much physical wealth and yet lacking people to enjoy the wealth with?
To avoid drifting in that direction, you must build your life into a positive being who will desire to grow in all facets of your life.
If you had tried something before and failed, there is a reason for being angry with yourself or negative at most, but you don’t want to put yourself in that situation.
We got some positive living techniques that we believe will help you on the trajectory towards becoming a more positive human being.
5 Positive Living Techniques towards a Positive Path
Positive living techniques are the practices or habits you can incorporate into your life to give you more positive energy.
If you are a negative person or always find yourself bordering on the negative side of things, we hope you can unlearn the negative habits and learn to live with positivity.
1. Watch, Read, and Listen to Positivity Materials
Sometimes, we try hard to be positive on the outside, yet things are the exact opposite on the inside. You know, smile, fake some confidence, be nice or kind.
But all these aren’t going to make a difference if you don’t change from the inside. The person we reflect on the outside is always a true self of the person we are on the inside.
However much you try faking this, the true part of you will always come out. Therefore, one of the positive living techniques you should embrace should be towards building your inner self.
That means you interact with positive material to build your spirit and soul. Watching a positive film or reading a novel with a positive story profoundly affects your positivity.
It doesn’t have to be a film or a book; positive clips or excerpts could bring the difference. You can make this technique a daily practice. It could be your morning routine. The more you interact with positive stuff, the happier you will become towards life.
Even if you are going through a negative experience, you will have the capacity to focus on the positive because you are building your inner self to be that person.
2. Count your Blessings
Photo by RODNAE Productions
Every time I count my blessings, I tend to forget my problems. No one is immune to life problems; one day may turn out good, while the next could be the worst day of your life.
That does happen occasionally, but you want to focus on your wins more than your losses. To count your blessings, you don’t need to win or achieve a bigger goal than your dreams.
Being grateful for the little, simple things in life brings the difference. Being healthy and having a loving family should be enough reason to make you grateful.
Moving forward, you can develop the positive living technique of counting your blessings at the end of each day.
Think of anything that made you smile, whether it was that positive feedback from a client, a colleague, the hearty laughter of your child could all count on making you positive about life.
3. Focus on the Lessons Learnt, not the Challenges
As stated earlier, challenges are part of our lives. Your marriage could be going through a rough phase.
Or maybe your job has become too demanding, or you can’t seem to get over with debts. No problem is permanent.
Eventually, your difficult situation will pass. But what you want to check is not whether the problem is there but whether you have become a better person than you were. Whether you can embrace positive living as opposed to leading a negative life.
After struggling with a series of debts in my life, I realized that if things were going to change, it would be me. I started being intentional about my expenses and tracking where my money goes.
I’m becoming a master of my money, and no matter how much I make in a month, I track my expenses and savings to ensure I don’t go down that drain again.
I have learned to multiply my income sources, and save and build my investments as time passes. Take every challenge in your life as an opportunity for growth and development.
Fine, your relationship isn’t working right now; you are underperforming at the workplace; are there any lessons you are drawing from such experiences?
Focus on the lessons you are learning and not the problem.
4. Treat every day as a New Day
Life is predictable but also unpredictable on many levels. No one ever saw the pandemic coming and that it would crash the economies of many countries.
We face unpredictable circumstances that shift us onto a new level or further crush us in our lives. And that’s why no day can ever be the same. Each day comes with its share of both the good and the bad.
The problem starts when we start living in the past. What you want to do is treat each day as a blank page.
Whether you slept hungry yesterday or had a sour day at work is no ticket for making your today gloomy.
Even if you are still in recovery mode the next day, that day is a new day for you, and you need to handle it as such.
The problems of yesterday are lingering around, but you have the prerogative of writing a new script. Choose to fill the blank page of your new day with good things.
5. Talk Good About Yourself
Photo by SHVETS production
It’s a sad reality, but people keep talking negatively about themselves and expect to attract the opposite.
Talking good about yourself is one of the fundamental positive thinking techniques you should practice in your life. Listening to self-positive talk is healthy because you keep affirming the good about yourself.
This has the ripple effect of lifting your spirits, giving you a new dose of energy, and giving you a positive outlook on life.
As we advance, watch how you speak about yourself. Watch how you speak about yourself in front of other people.
People could be talking well of you, but it also matters how well you speak of yourself. Stay positive by speaking positively of yourself.
Wrap Up
We hope these five positive living techniques will set you on a positive thinking path in life.
You may not see the results tomorrow or even in a couple of months, but if you keep practising them, something else is shifting on your inside: your subconscious to make you a more refined person in life.
To get more tips on positivity, subscribe to our blog and grab yourself a free e-book on positivity. If you don’t get the e-book, email us, and we will forward the book to you.
Is positive thinking an illusion, or is it the secret to living a successful and rewarding life? Can success be linked to a negative mind? I highly doubt that. What about positive thinking quotes? Do you think we should interact with them and to what end?
To start with, some believe that positive thinking is an unrealistic way to live life. They argue it’s akin to building castles in the air. Or rather, it’s like whitewashing your problems.
But we must agree that darkness and light cannot be in the same room. Take positive thinking to be the light and the negative mind to be darkness. All these can’t be in the same person.
Of course, we will not ignore the fact that there are specific areas of your life where you could be struggling with negativity.
If you are always a positive thinker, life will turn out to be positive for you. On the flip side, a negative mind will undoubtedly attract things that border on the negative.
Trailblazers, captains of industries, and great athletes always have this one thing in common: positivity. Not that they were born with a silver spoon, but over time, they decided that in the pursuit of their goals, no matter the hurdles, they embrace positive thinking and leverage it to achieve their goals.
Suppose you are torn between positive and negative thinking and whether these two comparisons exist or work; In that case, you may want to look at our list of positive thinking quotes from different authors and maybe use them as a panacea to counter a negative life.
Positive Thinking Quotes
“A positive attitude is something everyone can work on, and everyone can learn how to employ it”.
Joan Lunden – American journalist and TV show host.
2. “It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts”.
Robert H. Schuller, American televangelist, author, pastor, and motivational speaker
3. “I was determined to share my positive approach and not let diabetes stand in the way of enjoying my life”.
Paula Deen, American TV personality, Cooking show host.
4. “Say and do something positive that will help the situation; it doesn’t take any brains to complain”.
Robert A. Cook, Pastor, Christian author, and radio broadcaster
5. “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will”.
Zig Ziglar -American author and motivational speaker.
6. “No matter what you’re going through, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel, and it may seem hard to get to it, but you can do it and just keep working towards it, and you’ll find the positive side of things”.
Demi Lovato, an American actress, and singer
7. “Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation”.
Michael Jordan, former professional basketball player, businessman
8. “When you wake up every day, you have two choices. You can either be positive or negative; an optimist or a pessimist. I choose to be an optimist. It’s all a matter of perspective”.
Harvey Mackay, American businessman, and author
9. “You’re going to go through tough times – that’s life. But I say, ‘Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.’ See the positive in negative events”
Joel Osteen, American televangelist, pastor, author, and businessman
10. “That’s my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck’s back. If it’s not positive, I didn’t hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy”.
George Foreman, former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister, and author
11. “Do what is right, not what is easy nor what is popular”.
Roy. T Bennett, Author of The Light in the Heart
More Quotes by Roy T. Bennett
12. “Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you choose wisely”.
13. “More smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate”.
14. “Don’t let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It’s your life, not theirs. Do what matters most to you; do what makes you feel alive and happy. Don’t let the expectations and ideas of others limit who you are. If you let others tell you who you are, you are living their reality — not yours. There is more to life than pleasing people. There is much more to life than following others’ prescribed paths. There is so much more to life than what you experience right now. You need to decide who you are for yourself. Become a whole being adventure.”
15. “Start each day with a positive thought and a grateful heart”.
16. “Believe in yourself. You are braver than you think, more talented than you know, and capable of more than you imagine”.
17. “Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create”.
18. “Good consistent habits are the hallmarks of a successful life”.
Job Kiniale, Life coach and author
19. “Do not allow negative thoughts to enter your mind, for they are weeds that strangle confidence”
Bruce Lee, Martial Arts instructor, and Philosopher
20. “This is one of the most important themes I want you to take from me: Stay as positive and upbeat as you can possibly be. I’ll say it many times: if you can dream it, you can be it”.
John Calipari, American basketball coach, won the NCAA championship in 2012
21. “At some point, you just have to decide you’re going to be confident. Then, as you do, you’re going to have more success”.
Mike Leach, American Football coach
22. “The originality of your ideas is an expression of the fertility of your mind”.
Wale Akinyemi, Kenyan author and motivational speaker
23. ” I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter”.
Walt Disney, an American entrepreneur
24. “You have to listen to the people who have a negative opinion as well as those who have positive opinions. Just to make sure that you are blending all these opinions in your mind before a decision is made.”
Carlos Ghosn, Brazilian born businessman
25. There’s nothing more important than attitude, and it’s YOUR choice.
Mike Krzyzewski, American basketball coach
Well, at the end of the day, quotes are just quotes. The thing is, you should be your own source of positivity. Let’s say quotes just come in handy to catalyze or unleash the positivity that is already inside it. Some positive thinking quotes are going to make sense, while some will make no sense at all. You be the judge.
And that is it. Just like positivity is a choice you make, so is negativity. You can see that most of these positive thinking quotes are coming from people who have some significant success in their lives, whether in business, sports, or a calling. Join the positive champions by subscribing to our blog for more positivity tips via our free ebook.
Do you have a bad day? Maybe you missed a necessary appointment, a date failed, or your presentation turned out badly at an office meeting.
How do you keep it positive during the day or the rest of the week?
Notably, as humans, we will always have positive and negative thoughts flowing through our minds. That’s acceptable.
The negative thoughts you are having in your mind right now could be bad news, an awful experience, or a negative remark about you.
Is there something you could do about your negative thoughts and feelings, or should you let them settle in and make you bitter, angry, and miserable?
Don’t think about that route because we got eighteen positive thinking exercises that could be the antidote you need for your negativity.
Let’s get straight to them.
18 Positive Thinking Exercises For Success
1. Pause and Take a Breath
Have you ever talked so fast? Maybe the MC called on you to give a speech at a family meeting or a friend’s wedding, and all hell broke loose.
After the speech, you don’t remember a word you said.
You let nervousness reign messing you up. You probably finished talking while burning up on the inside on how you made a fool of yourself.
Next time you find yourself in this situation, take things slow. Pause and take deep breaths.
Focusing on your breath will bring you back to the moment. You will stop focusing on yourself, get your mind calmer, and handle the situation better.
2. Use the Mirror Technique
When you stand in front of a mirror, what do you see? Yourself, right?
Can you use positive words to describe the image you see in front of you?
Your comments could go like, “I’m confident,” “I’m in control.” I love and accept the person I am.”, “I’m fearfully and wonderfully made.”
You could make this a routine and do this every morning when you wake up. The positive words you speak of yourself keep you cheerful, enabling you to handle the rest of the day with a positive mindset.
3. Believe you are Succeeding
It’s easy to give up when you see everything is going to fail. That is going to make you negative.
Whether it was a short-term or long-term project you were dealing with, you don’t want to go through with it as if you are forced to handle it.
In everything you do, believe things will work out, and of course, you will start coming up with ways of making them work.
Thank me when you succeed.
4. Be Active
One other way to exercise positivity is to be active. A sedentary lifestyle is more routine and doesn’t count much in keeping you positive, especially when you feel negative.
Get out there and take a hike.
Lift weights, and you will feel you have pumped something out of your chest.
At the end of it all, you will feel more positive than when you started.
5. Talk and laugh at the Challenges you are facing
I didn’t say you share all your problems with the world, but making fun of them makes you ease up and stop killing yourself on the inside.
In fact, you will see them as usual and something temporal that you can go through and overcome.
When things get tough, we are constantly told, get tougher, but we should be careful not to do this at the expense of our health.
Don’t play strong when you are dying on the inside. Talk and laugh at life challenges.
6. Practice Positive Affirmation
Positive affirmations are positive phrases that you can repeat over your life.
They help you counter the negative thinking pattern you have always had and believed about you. An example of a positive affirmation could be, “I’m getting better and better every day.”, “I’m making it.”
If you are having issues with your self-esteem, you could tell yourself, “I’m a problem solver,” “I’m beautiful.”, “I adapt quickly to change.”
Repeating these positive phrases in your life help to change the negative thinking pattern you have had before.
“Can’t work,” “Not possible,” “won’t,” “just surviving.” Use less of such words in your daily talk.
And if possible, avoid them at all costs when describing or referring to yourself.
Opportunities come dressed in overalls. When you cling to negative words such as “I can’t handle it better than Mr. X,” or “it’s not my thing,” talk about what you can do best.
If you stick to positive words long enough, your mind will start changing towards a positive outlook on life, and you will see life isn’t as bad as you thought it was.
12. Track your Thoughts
We are good at watching other things but our thoughts. That’s how negative thinking finds a way into our brain, develops into a pattern, and becomes second nature to us.
Learn to keep track of your thoughts. Treat negative thoughts as passing clouds and let the positive ones settle in.
Some thoughts will make you angry, bitter, or unhappy with yourself.
Yes, those are the negative thoughts you should track and identify whether it is a pattern that you can drop altogether instead of allowing them to take root.
13. You Could Use a Little Help from an Inspirational Book
Are you a reader? If yes, you could use your reading habit to be a positive thinker by reading the inspirational books around you.
Reading about someone succeeding or going through a similar problem and overcoming it will motivate you.
You will be optimistic and open your mind again to endless possibilities to overcome your hurdles.
14. Be Happy Where you Are
I get it. The pay isn’t good. Your relationship is turning out differently than you thought it was. You wish to live in a better place than you are now.
Holding these kinds of thoughts only makes you miserable and negative.
Is there another side of the coin?
As Dr. Joe Vitale, “The fastest way to get where you want is to be happy with where you are.”
Life is a journey, and the difference between where you are and where you want to be is time. What you are doing with your time is what makes the difference.
15. Analyze a problem for what it is and find the best solution to it
Okay, you are heading to a destination North, and you just realized you don’t have enough bus fare. That’s a problem.
Should you sit down and start counting the other problems you face and how they are making you miserable, or should you find a workable solution to the current situation?
The fare to Destination North = X
Cash available = Y
Cash needed = X-Y
How to raise (X-Y)
Check your emergency fund
Borrow a loan
Ask a friend
Postpone the journey
You just analyzed a problem and found solutions to solving it. Could you use the same approach to solving other challenges in life instead of crying at your problems?
16. Let go of the Past
The past is at the last second. Whether you were bombarded with success or failure, it just remains the past.
Don’t bask too long in the glory of the yesteryears. Neither should you tarry longer than is healthy for you in your past failures.
To move forward as fast, you need to make peace with your past.
You cannot change what happened in the past, but you can change your present for a better tomorrow.
Dwelling on the past makes you negative, killing your optimism in life.
17. Count your Blessings
It’s easier said than done. But start counting, and you will get shocked.
In your pursuit of success and a better life, you have taken the things you worked hard to gain for granted.
The smartphone in your hand just allowed you to read this blog post from the comfort of wherever. Ooh, no, you are in the toilet? Hahaha.
But you get the drift, right?
That time you feel you are losing it; when your life gets you between a rock and a hard place; when progress seems slow, count your blessings.
You will find yourself more optimistic about handling the present challenges better.
Do you build better relationships with people, or are you the person people keep avoiding?
If you are not building better relationships with people, you are doing a great disservice to yourself because all your blessings, your increase, and abundance will come through people, and to be more precise, a man.
Well, how often do you communicate with the people you have saved on your phonebook? You’ll build great relationships with people when you know how to keep in touch and build great relationships with them.
Unfortunately, sometimes you can spend time and money searching for solutions to your problems somewhere else when you carry those solutions and move around with them.
Why so? Because you stopped valuing the contacts on your phone book and felt you needed new ones. You feel they need you, but you don’t need them. That’s the problem you got, man!
I didn’t say you should not network and build new friendships. But equally, you shouldn’t ignore old friends just because you feel they aren’t significant in your life.
Build Better Relationships with PeopleNo Man is an Island
Show me a self-made man, and I will show you a liar. Even if you were to learn a skill on YouTube on your own, someone had to post that video for you to find it there.
Life has some honest and straightforward truths that we always keep ignoring yet cost us our money, time, and other resources.
Because you were once poor and now have begun making money, you start feeling you should cut off your friends because you feel they don’t measure up to the current you.
You feel they are pulling you down.
You feel you can call people who matter and forget about the ones you feel can’t bring a significant change in your life.
Unfortunately for you, this mentality is never right, as just anybody could be successful.
The success you are looking for is not in heaven. It’s on earth, among the people you keep ignoring. Some of these people look cheap and primitive, but they carry your blessings.
In John the third chapter, twenty-seventh verse, John mentions that no one can receive anything unless given to him from above.
If the Lord releases your blessings, he will release them through a man.
He is a Spirit being. You don’t expect him to come down from heaven and bless you. But he will use his servants and other people as vessels of his blessings to bless you.
Similarly, he can also use you for his noble purpose that you may be a blessing to someone else’s life.
Here is why you need to build better relationships with peoplein 2022
1. All great testimonies are connected to man/People
Was there a time you gave a testimony that wasn’t connected to a man? The far you have come is because of the people who have been around you.
In 2nd Kings chapter 13, we are told that Moabites used to raid the land of Israel. In one raid, they found Israelites trying to bury a man. Out of panic, the Israelites threw the body in Elisha’s graveyard. The man came back to life when the corpse touched Elisha’s bone.
I’m passing across the point that all your blessings will come through a man. If you start counting your blessings, every one of them has been through people. The blessings will come through the solid relationships you have established with them.
Before joining campus, you needed a man to guide you through your course selection. A man was instrumental in enabling you to close the deal on that business you are running today.
If married, it’s apparent that you met your wife through people. The bottom line here is that your blessings came through a man; for more reason, you should build better relationships with people.
2. There is Nothing you are Trying to Achieve that a Man hasn’t Achieved before
Now, the world is said to be 4.5 billion years old. Think about all the people who have lived before you.
If you were to get a chance to meet some of them today, which isn’t possible, of course, everybody would have a story to tell. They would tell you about the dreams they had. Their goals and what they were able to achieve.
Talk about any field, career, vocation, or calling in the world; there is nobody that hasn’t gone before you. That tells you something. To succeed, you need people for the apparent reason that they have gone ahead of you. They have learned from their failures and are wise enough to share with you their experience.
In 1 Kings 19;19-21, Elisha left everything he had and all he was doing to follow Elijah. Of course, he followed Elijah because he wanted to be like him – a prophet. The only way Elisha could become a prophet was to learn from another prophet.
3. There are People you Ignore in your Life, yet they Carry your Blessings.
In 1st Samuel 16, the great prophet in Israel, Samuel had visited the home of a farmer and a herdsman, Jesse. The Lord had sent him to anoint the next king of Israel after King Saul had lost God’s glory because of disobedience.
After vetting all the elder sons Jesse thought were the best fit to be kings in Israel, none was found to qualify.
Little did they know that the youngest son in the home, David, carried the family’s blessings. He was the one who was anointed to be king in Israel after King Saul.
If David had not been a king in Israel, Jesse would have been another man in Jesus Christ’s genealogy. But more fundamentally, him being part of Jesus Christ’s genealogy already put him in the records of Bible history.
To his brothers, David was a sheepherder and a messenger to run errands in the home. But what God saw in him is not what others saw.
There are people you keep ignoring and delude yourself that maybe they amount to nothing in your life. But they could be the very people who will make a mark in your life.
4. Some People will Take you to Greatness because of your Small Assistance in their Lives.
Your greatness could be lying in your remote assistance to someone else. Years back, I walked with two of my peers along a street leading to the main town center. Along the way, we met an older man who was pushing a loaded wheelbarrow.
Seeing us passing by, he requested our assistance. My peers ignored him. Deep down, I wanted to help the older adult but fell under peer pressure.
I regretted not helping the older man. Honour is not much of a hefty price to pay. And it could open other blessings you never imagined you would ever have in your life.
The story goes of a bright young lady in a particular village who had just won a scholarship to undertake her higher education in the United Kingdom. I will call her Rachel.
While at home, Rachel used to run their family shop at the nearest trading center. Almost daily, an old village man used to pass by the shop. His better days seem to have gone by, and he wasn’t much of a pleasant sight to look at.
All Rachel could do was greet him and offer an empathetic smile. But you won’t believe it when I tell you what the greetings of Rachel led to.
Just before she flew abroad, the older man got wind that Rachel was flying to the UK in a few days to come.
The man got in touch with Rachel and asked her for a walk in town. They headed to the nearest bank, where the man withdrew money over $2000/Ksh.200,000 and handed it over to Rachel.
All for what? Greetings? Honour? Her case was not even about offering any assistance. She received her financial blessings by just showing respect and greeting the older man. Even smiling at a stranger is enough to start better relationships with them.
5. A Man will Mentor You.
I wouldn’t have begun my freelance writing journey if I had not met with Walter Akolo, the Freelancer Kenya founder.
Walter runs two popular groups on Facebook. Remarkable Freelance Writers in Africa and Awesome Transcribers in Kenya.
Through these groups, Walter has mentored and keeps mentoring thousands of people in their journey as freelance writers and internet marketers.
You feel you are good at something, but you need a man as a mentor to shape you in your craft. But you will unleash your potential better when you have a mentor to walk you through every step of the way.
God uses older men in the faith to mentor young ministers in the gospel. Timothy had Paul.
In Ruth 3, we see Ruth’s mother-in-law, Naomi guiding her on what to do to win Boaz’s heart. Thanks to Naomi’s motherly advice, Ruth got married to Boaz. The two are part of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. What a wonder!
6. You need to let go of a Man Who Has Become a Burden.
Build better relationships with people because, among them, there is a man there who carries your blessings. On the contrary, men could also become burdensome. In that case, you may have no option but to let them go.
You are not the manager of the universe. There is a limit to how far you can go in helping or standing with someone. And sometimes, a man could become a burden for one reason or another.
Some will take advantage of your generosity. Others will be too much to bear. There are some tasks you can’t involve some people because you know they will be a burden.
Take the example of David and Hushai in 2nd Samuel 15:33-35
The Bottom Line
See it this way. If you are the person who keeps ignoring people intentionally, know that you are ignoring your blessings. However much you have achieved or how far you have income in life, you still need people.
When life misfortunes come knocking, which no one is immune to, you will need the same people you think you don’t need to stand with you.
I have a list of unconventional wisdom nuggets to share with you before we wrap up 2021.
I’m not mean. Whatever I learn, you learn and we move forward together, don’t we?
We are just counting a few hours into the new year. I thought it wise to write this post before we cross over. Isn’t that the next big thing? ama ni pekee yangu nangoja kuvuka mwaka?
People always have their own reasons that make them loathe the month of January. From where I live, it’s the month that the sun is always hotter than ever with a dusty wind blowing you right, left and center.
It makes your lips appear dry and cracked. Ooh, January! 😂🤣
Never mind that you made your deep pockets shallow during the festive season. All on what? Eating and making merry? By the way, Christmas is the only time people meet with their larger families, so it’s worth spending an extra coin, right?
13 Unconventional Wisdom Nuggets
I have lived long enough to know when someone is making me look stupid or would want to take advantage of me.
Some bad events in my life have occurred not once but twice because of my sheer lack of keenness about lessons I should be learning in life.
And so while traveling from one town to the next, I put together this list I call unconventional wisdom nuggets to break down life for what it really is.
Be wise about life and thank me later. On the flip side, play with fire and get burned.
1. Don’t Do Business with Relatives
I have been a keen reader of life enough to know that business with relatives is never the best of arrows to use in your quiver. This is unconventional wisdom you won’t read in books or magazines.
If things go south in the business, you will have yourself to blame. You will be the loser and there is little you can do to seek redress.
Where in the world will you take your uncle or cousin? to the police? C’mon, you know where this ends.
I didn’t say they shouldn’t be your customers. They can buy from you as much as they want but don’t make them your business partners.
The case of Tuskys Supermarket’s downfall in Kenya arose due to siblings’ rivalry and greed. It was a family business. Though not directly related to what I’m trying to say, to some extent it rings a bell.
Relatives will take advantage of your blood relationship to manipulate you, steal from you, or simply tarnish your reputation.
Relatives should remain relatives unless it’s an immediate family-owned business with well-learned people.
2 Lend Money you are willing to Lose
The person who comes to you to borrow money is never the same when you call them to ask for your money back.
Most people when borrowing money are always humble, respectful and honest looking until they get hold of your cash.
While this is not always the case with all the people who borrow money from you, a lot that happens is bad news.
All hell breaks loose when they don’t honor their promise and you have to keep calling them to ask for your money back.
Some will be outright rude or feign sickness that they have never suffered from before.
To keep your piece, lend money you are willing to lose or choose to be called stingy. Haha. Apply some unconventional wisdom in your money dealings.
3. You Can Give Money to Strangers but Lend
People can be sly. And mark me right, I’m not being pessimistic or negative. I have a first-hand experience of some of the things I’m writing about.
I met a lady online doing Network marketing. She befriended me asking me to join her network marketing team but I politely declined.
However, she was very persuasive and kept posting images of Mpesa transactions showing her team members making a kill.
Still, she didn’t woo me in. All I asked her was to train and mentor me to be a good network marketer so I could get the skills and use them for my own gain.
She agreed to my request and said there was nothing for free and so I will have to pay her $15/kes1500 for the training.
We agreed that I shall be paying the amounts in bits. We had known each other for less than 3 months when one Friday, she asked me for kes300 to be returned on Monday.
I send her the money because it’s the money I could easily spend on lunch. That was the last time I heard from her.
Any person you have known for less than a year is a stranger. Unconventional wisdom demands that you don’t commit to them any valuable resources you have.
The trick with them is always to stay closer to you as possible, know your vulnerabilities/weaknesses and pap!
They strike when the iron is hot.
4. People Watch your Actions, not your Words.
A lot many times we are always easy with words. And beware of people who talk too much. Even the Bible warns against too many words for in them sin is not absent.
Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut
Proverbs 10:19 (NLV)
Almost always, people have leeway with words. If you get caught in a compromising situation all you have to do is to use your mouth to absolve yourself from blame. Aren’t lawyers making money with law interpretation and words?
However, we easily forget that people will hear your words but also watch what you do after. Be the person who keeps promises no matter how small.
You want to be the person whose yes will be a yes and no a no. The common Swahili saying goes “Tenda mema nenda zako”
Kenyan politicians have a way with words but a large zero on their report cards. A typical Kenyan politician could easily sing his way to parliament, get there and pass no tangible laws or mismanage CDF funds.
He later comes back to his constituents in the next election with a bag of empty promises and sings his way back to parliament again.
Unconventional wisdom dictates that you be a man of your words by honoring them through the right actions.
5. Bosses are the Most Unliked People 🙄
Sorry for being brutal with the truth here, but people seldom love their bosses. Most people sulk, whine, and loathe their bosses/managers for myriad reasons.
Sometimes the juniors complaining are right but some other times they are wrong as well. Your boss could be the insecure type who isn’t happy to see you outshining them. This is because to them that means you are about to take their position.
According to the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene, it’s never a wise move to outshine your leader or boss.
However, sometimes people outshine their bosses even when they are not trying to. And that alone is enough reason for tension and friction in the workplace.
On the same knot, some bosses have character issues or are either poor at communication and this really creates a lot of friction with their juniors.
Nevertheless, not all bosses can be branded as bad. Some are really good mentors and can groom you to heights unimaginable.
If you can’t tolerate your boss, find another one or start working for yourself and quit your current job. It’s easier said than done, right?
Unconventional wisdom denotes that working for yourself is the surest way to grow rich.
Where there is a will there is a way
6. Motivational Gospel vs. Doctrinal Gospel. Be Grounded on Absolute Truth
Well, I began by saying I have some unconventional wisdom to share with you as we wrap up 2020. Some of my wording is going to be a little bit radical.
You are free to share your reservations in the comments section below.
I’m a believer and ascribe to the fundamentals of the Christian faith that Jesus was born of a virgin Mary, died, resurrected, ascended high above the heavens and is seated at the right hand of the father.
He is our great advocate and intercessor before the father. As believers, we are in him justified he is us glorified.
However, I have been in the church long enough to hear lots of sermons from different preachers and pastors of the word. I can only come to one conclusion: Much of what is touted as the gospel isn’t doctrinal but more of motivational/prosperity speeches with little grounding on doctrine.
The sad part is that people or rather churchgoers have been so accustomed to the prosperity gospel that when you introduce the gospel about who you can be in Jesus and how you can build a strong relationship with him, you look like a liar.
You become boring to their itching ears.
It’s true that believers are inheritors/partakers of the Abrahamic blessings. You will also agree with me that believers have been asked to seek God’s kingdom and his righteousness and all things shall be added unto them.
But our focus shouldn’t be on the blessings, it should be on God and his kingdom and other things will be added.
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
Matthew 6:33 (NLV)
Let me Preach 🙂
Unfortunately, believers today practice the above verse and vice versa. They seek things first then God later. By seeking things first, they pray less, attend fellowships less, study God’s word fewer times, and everything less.
And this situation most likely stems from insufficient to zero grounding on doctrine because of wrong teachings of the word or none at all.
For example, do believers give because they are blessed or they will be blessed? Everything Jesus has done for the believer is in the past tense. Any gospel talking about Jesus will do is another gospel.
For the non-believers, Jesus will do, because they are not yet in him but for the believers, he has done it all. But wait, Jesus did it and finished it all even for the non-believers.
He will not come from heaven again and be crucified to save those who don’t believe. All they have to do is believe in the finished work of the cross, repent and seek to grow spiritually.
I will not teach but I would encourage you to start listening to preachers of grace such as Joseph Prince, Abel Damina, and Andrew Wommack.
7. Build True and Genuine Friendships with People
I know of people on my phonebook who will only call because they are in distress or need a favor.
Once they get what they want they vanish only to remember you when they are in trouble again.
Those are not friends. I refer to them as parasites because they only show up to ravage your resources. They are like the devil who only shows up to rob, kill and destroy.
To amount to something in this world, you need people. You can’t keep behaving in a way that makes them second guess you and expect their support.
If employed, never make the mistake of believing all your office colleagues are your friends. When you lose your job, a few will keep in touch or even remember to say Hi.
That’s when you will know who your true friends are. Sorry but true friendship is about to give and take. You have to sacrifice your time, money, skills and energy to keep your friendship blossoming.
8. Guardian Angels in Life are Real. There is One for You
Unconventional wisdom denotes that their people in your life who will always vouch for you even when you suck sometimes.
I’m a freelance writer on the sidelines. While looking for work online, I happened to bump into my guardian angel.
We met in one of the Facebook freelancer groups. We were all looking for freelance writing work. He happened to get one sooner and even asked me to lend him a hand.
He loved my work from the word go. Since then, he has always been referring me to potential clients over and over. Even when I seem to do a poor job sometimes, he still believes in my skills and ability to deliver.
We always share our joys and successes and keep encouraging each other in the freelance journey. I believe everyone has this kind of person in life. Someone who is always rooting and vouching for you.
Methinks this kind of situation arises when you have proven your worth and are reliable in your craft or skill.
9. How Good are your Negotiation Skills? Believe me When I say you Can Negotiate through anything in Life
I recently got married. I’m from the Abaluhya tribe in Western Kenya. According to our customs, a young man intending to get married has to pay a bride price of 13 heads of cattle. And 2 goats to accompany the cattle.
So before a young man cements the marriage relationship with her wife to be, it’s a must he pays dowry. What precedes dowry payment is dowry negotiation.
In my case, I had very good negotiators who gave me a breather during the dowry period. Phew!
The message I’m trying to drive home is that you can negotiate through anything in life. Be it a job interview, a business deal, a contract and you name it.
You may not be the best candidate for the job but the panel may ask you “Why do you think we should give you this job?”
Negotiate!
My Upwork Story
I’m a freelancer on Upwork and at one point my account got suspended indefinitely. UUUUiii. My account was dormant for so long because I kept bidding for jobs in vain.
I had also followed some bad advice from an acquaintance that got me suspended from the platform.
I was suspended from working on the freelancing platform. It was on the 24th of April 2018. One of the darkest days of my life.
Notification of my suspension from Upwork
Well, I was so disappointed, to say the least. I started telling myself I’m not cut out for writing. I took a break and forgot about writing on Upwork for a while.
But something changed in me after getting inspired by Walter Akolo’s weekly emails in my mailbox.
I chose to appeal their decision and Alas! These guys accepted me back. Couldn’t believe it. I was shocked I could be this good in making a case. See the screenshot below.
My appeal case to the Upwork marketplace
Check the date. hahaha, I had given up on Upwork for almost two years. Oooh, man. Giving up is easier done than said.
See their response below
My Upwork Account reactivation
One of the happiest days in my life this year was on the 31st of January this year. My Upwork account was reinstated.
Currently, I have an ongoing contract on the platform.
My current contract on Upwork
You can negotiate through anything in life. You can go to the American embassy in your country and negotiate why they need you in their country. ooh yes!
10. Siblings should Learn Teamwork Early before Adulthood
My dose of unconventional wisdom is still here.
Siblings! please! Learn teamwork when you are still young and leaving in your parent’s house. It becomes difficult to do anything meaningful as a team when you haven’t built this culture during childhood.
With age comes more responsibilities. Once you get a job or start a solid business, as a young adult, you are expected to move out of your parent’s home and start paying house rent and other bills.
Sooner you get married and you gonna start changing diapers. With your own family responsibilities, it’s increasingly hard to merge your resources with your siblings to run a project at your home place.
In most cases this happens, if you had never built the culture of doing things together as siblings.
As adults, one sibling is always trying to win the support of the rest in vain. It’s only through calamities or catastrophic events that you find such siblings pooling their resources together.
It isn’t the perfect scenario if you ask me. Build teamwork early in your family.
11. Borrow Money and Invest
The statement – Poor people save rich people, invest sounds like an insult to the efforts of the poor to become rich. But it’s another brutal truth you can’t ignore.
The poor and middle class save most of their hard-earned cash in banks, SACCOs and microfinance institutions. The rich and wealthy or rather those with a wealth mentality go borrow this money and invest.
Ten years down the line, the investors are richer, the savers are not even an eighth of their financial goals.
I would say this, don’t just save because of the 50/30/20% rule. Save with a goal for a certain period of time and go invest that money.
It’s better you buy a flock of sheep that give birth every 9 months than put your money in a bank that gives you less than 9% interest per annum on your annual savings.
Bonds and shares are other better investment opportunities you could explore.
Also, think of ways you can multiply your income streams to manage your current lifestyle. With more income streams, you will have more to save and invest.
Don’t be afraid of borrowing huge loans via your payslip to invest. That’s what the rich are doing and moving forward.
Economics teaches you to manage scarcity or what is there. So, for how long are you going to manage your salary? Unconventional Wisdom can teach you better.
Kes10,000/= in 1999 could buy a lot more than the same amount of money in 2020. I bet you are wise enough to see that. So why not invest?
12. Learn Early What Works for You so You Can Save Much Time and Energy
In life, there is always a stage of exploration and discovery before one settles down with a cutout path in life.
This reminds me of the common saying that life begins at 40. But sometimes we tend to waste much time with things that aren’t cut out for us.
The world, I believe would be a better place, if people knew well enough their purpose and calling. But what is the situation now? We are being defined by our education system and not who we are deep on the inside.
Someone went to school and studied Computer Science but their passion is not even in Computers but Agriculture. But society will want to pin you down by your degree and not your personal interests and passions.
In the journey of life, their things you try over time and they come to work out really well. On the contrary, some flop terribly.
Watch yourself, and know your strengths, skills, abilities and most importantly your passion so that you can leverage them into your destiny.
13. We have Many Success Stories but Few Tangible Mentors
In the West, when a simple, down-to-earth individual becomes a billionaire, you hear later they published a book or a memoir about their journey.
Of course, not all millionaires or billionaires in the West do become authors. In my country, success stories are all over, but you can count real tangible mentors who can walk with you through the murky waters of success in life.
That tells you something, the individuals behind the success stories are shady. I don’t mean to say all successful people should publish books. I don’t hate the rich and not all wealthy people are shady but you need to look at the top billionaires in Africa and make your case.
But the least they can do is to mentor young people to be the giants they can be. My hat off to the Zimbabwean tech and media billionaire Strive Masiyiwa.
Strive has been using the Facebook platform to mentor young people into entrepreneurship and self-employment.
A challenge for you: Become your own success story and mentor someone else into your path.
Conclusion
I hope you found it intriguing and interesting. There is more I could write but I feel 3000 words about unconventional wisdom are enough for today. I leave to read and be the judge. If you want to join this discussion, feel free to leave a comment below. Wishing you a prosperous 2022.
Really? Do good things come to those who wait, or is it just one of the many statements with white lies we know of?
The other question is, wait for what things from where? BBI team? Jubilee or Uncle Sam?
The Waiting Wilderness
The world today makes you want good things thick and fast. So how in the world are you going to wait for good things to come your way?
Someone the other day was wondering why I haven’t bought a car yet. It
In fact, I’m tempted to believe that today’s social norm is not about being rich but about looking rich. It’s about the perception you are rich.
So, all a young man needs to do is buy a fancy car? Some fancy clothing and build some mansion in the village or a suburban plot of land somewhere and bam! You are damn rich men! Even with no money in your bank account or valuable assets.
Yet society will perceive someone walking in faded blue denim jeans and a Jubilee Tuko Pamoja T-shirt as poor. 😂😂
The irony is this guy could be yule msee when you are cash-strapped, and all your friends and enemies have turned their backs on you. Ye ana mali but hucheza chini, you get?
Yeah, the aforementioned scenario accurately reflects the happenings in society today. Instant gratification, over-expectations, and flamboyancy dot the material world of vanity.
You are entitled to your opinion, but the wisest man to have lived saw all these, and he wrote in his book of Proverbs 13:7 (NIV):
One person pretends to be rich, yet has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.
A young man from University wants to be paid Kes 60,000/ USD600 on their first job. Bro! I like your ambition, but people begin from the bottom and rise the ladder.
Sit and Wait or Act and Wait?
The statement “good things come to those who wait” shouldn’t be understood to sit, do nothing, and wish for some miracle to happen.
While waiting, you invest in yourself and build good habits that will make you a better version of yourself.
What are your dreams? or what is your purpose? Who do you want to become?
Are you serious about your dreams and what the future holds for you? Then you should learn to wait. Fast or quick isn’t always right. Well, it could also be right but not the best for you.
Waiting doesn’t mean drowning in alcohol and indulging in sensational sex to feel you belong.
It’s all about taking responsibility for your life and making every decision you make the count.
How to Wait for the Good Things
Photo by James Wheeler
1. Get Busy and Productive
I will use a common saying here again – An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
You have 24 hours in a day. You can choose to get engaged and productive or idle and destructive.
I have seen young people getting busy and avoiding activities that would destroy them. Similarly, I see young people who keep destroying themselves.
Jack, a young man I know, is a great footballer. Daily except for Sunday, he is always on the football pitch training for the next tournament. Rarely do you find him sleeping in bed idle?
In three words, he is fit, disciplined and focused.
He knows he can be a great footballer, so he invests time in fine-tuning his gaming skills.
Mary and Ian
Mary is in the Praise and Worship team in their church. Often, when you look for her or ring her, she will tell you she is singing or praying at church.
How about Ian? He is always in his father’s business stall, helping him run the family business. He has little time for reckless and irresponsible living.
Ian is learning to be a businessman, doesn’t he?
A Stark Contrast
On the other hand, Allan is the exact opposite of the two above. He eats large chunks of food, but he is very idle. And have you noticed how idle people get hungry very fast? —-
Allan can spend the whole day binge-watching movies on a laptop or the TV set and chatting with ladies on the phone.
Mark you, we live in a time and age where you can read Personal Development books on your Smartphone or study a free course online.
Farming today is no longer a reserve of the old in society. Young people can embrace it, and Allan is no exception.
Because of his untapped strength and idleness, Allan occasionally fornicates with young girls in the neighbourhood. Ignoring the fact that he could contract STDs, get impotent or killed with Viagra or sire a baby he isn’t ready to take care of.
He also secretly goes to house parties, smokes weed, and drinks alcohol. Ooh, poor boy! Bad habits die really hard.
And I don’t hate men; ladies have their fair share too. Laura has been caught severally by her parents sneaking. She does this in the wee hours of the night.
And for what reason? To drink and sleep with her boyfriend, old enough to be her father. Pathetic!
2. Keep Good Company
Guys! The truth is simple and plain or plain and simple? Ni kizungu ilikuja na meli but you get my point, don’t you?
Have you noted that if someone is trying to explain something simple to you in so many words, he is lying or not sure what he is saying?
I come to tell you, “Bad company corrupts good morals.”
In the waiting period, learn to keep good company. Learn to walk with people you admire and aspire to be.
Even amongst your peers, some are better than you in life skills. You can learn something from them, right?
Good things come to those who wait by keeping good company.
3. Pray Without Ceasing
A prayer is a form of communication.
But in this case, you are not communicating to your friend but a higher power or deity – God.
I know young people who pray. But a majority don’t. How I wish they could learn the secrets of prayer early in life and build this habit all the way.
Prayer invokes the power of God over natural situations in your life. It generates tremendous power to cause seismic shifts in your destiny and moulds you into the person your maker wants you to become.
Prayer aligns you with the vision and purpose of God over your life.
In your waiting time, don’t sit idle. Join prayer caravans and seek God with all your heart. Walk with the prayer warriors and see your life get transformed.
And for the record, you don’t have to be in church to pray. Are you travelling? Pray. Seated somewhere? Pray. Walking in a park? Pray. If you can communicate when driving, it means you can pray when driving.
Wrap Up
I feel I haven’t written enough of this post. But I hope you understand it the way I’m trying to. Good things come to those who wait, and you better learn to wait.
Life is a journey, and you must enjoy your time in the waiting wilderness. Because you will remember those days when you get over with them.
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Do you want to improve your life, or do you ever think about improving your life? If so, that’s a good thing. It means you are development-conscious, and want a better version of your current life.
On the contrary, the process of improving your life is not as easy as you may think. It is as hard as coming out of your comfort zone. Like a child learning to walk, it’s about breaking out of the current you into the future.
Improving your life means investing in yourself so you can be better at something. In the marketplace, being a jack of all trades never sells. Therefore, for you to stand out, you need to offer more value than ordinary folk.
I’m sorry if you expected me to talk about money. Young adults, you will have to bear with me here. Money should be a means to an end. And that’s why billionaires keep making it when you think they have made it already.
So. let me cut to the chase. Here are four ways you can improve your life.
How to Improve Your Life
1. Enroll in an Online Course
Photo by Karolina Grabowska
The world is a global village thanks to the digital space we currently live in. You could easily get a certificate or diploma from MIT with a smartphone and internet bundles from your telecommunication provider.
Take advantage of the free online courses on the internet today to have a vantage point in the marketplace. An online course helps spruce up your work skills, whether at your workplace or in your business.
Young people through college shouldn’t waste their precious time editing their social media profiles repeatedly.
Coursera is a common online course platform where you could study lots of courses, whether free or paid, and earn yourself a certificate. For the record, the Ministry of ICT Kenya is in partnership with Coursera to provide workplace skills for the Kenyan youth.
You can download the Coursera app on your phone and keep going.
Improve your life by studying some more so you can earn yourself a fortune.
2. Learn a New Language
Photo by SHVETS production
A new language can open you to other frontiers in life, whether local or international. Which language are you interested in? Is it French, Swedish, Chinese, or your country’s local language? Start learning it right now.
Like studying an online course, learning a new language makes you valuable in the marketplace. Multinational companies would be happy to hire bilingual employees.
Learning a new language will open your venture to more marketplaces if you are an entrepreneur or doing business.
A translator who knows has the added value of working with people from different walks of life.
To get moving, quickly download the Duolingo app on your smartphone or desktop and start learning. It’s never too late. They teach you a new language at both basic and intermediate levels.
3. Practice Mindfulness
A lot is happening in the world today. You are lucky to be alive if you are reading this. The world economy is now grappling with a pandemic. We have lost lives. People have lost jobs. We have lost businesses, and some are struggling to maintain valuable relationships.
Against such a catastrophic backdrop, it helps to maintain your mental health. One simple way to practice mindfulness is by meditating.
Early in the mornings or late in the evenings, set aside time to meditate and have a serene time with your thoughts. Don’t make it harder, so you give up faster.
Meditation could be as short as three minutes or as long as 20 minutes. May you have been thinking about a way you can have more mental clarity or focus. Or maybe you want some relaxation after running up and down the entire day and to ease some tension? Meditation is what you need.
Start off by downloading the Headspace app on your phone and get shit done. By practicing mindfulness, you let go of the tension and the worries; you become more productive, improving your life.
4. Interact with Better People than You
Photo by Bruno Bueno
If you are ever the best in your circle, you better start thinking of finding a new outfit. It’s only by challenging ourselves that we can improve our lives.
The common adage goes that birds of the same feather flock together. You are wise if you surround yourself with people who you want to become like.
“I have no successful people around me?” You may ask. Though important, you don’t have to interact with successful people physically to feel you are doing something worth your time.
You could interact with their ideas online. Read their books, listen to their podcasts, and watch their shows. It’s that simple.
What do you want or what is it you are looking for? A successful marriage, wealth, to be an accomplished entrepreneur. You name it! Society is never in lack of trailblazers and icons in your line of interest.
Wrap Up
There is nothing I have recommended to you on this post that I’m not doing myself. Young people, especially if single with some money in their pockets, have a lot of free time they could use to improve their lives
We all have 24 hours in a day. You could kill it with loose women and men or binge-watching on Netflix, but it’s your life anyway, right? Nevertheless, if you want to improve your life, try these four tips, and let’s talk later.
The digital space has made many online resources available at our disposal than we could ever imagine. You are just an app away from improving your life. Whatever journey you are on in your life, there is always something you can do to make it better.
