The power of the to do list : Why?

This part of the series is for those of you who still believe it is ok to go without a to-do list. Why would you need a to-do list? Well I could go around the reason and let it sound really detailed and difficult but I won’t. It is simple enough. You can’t keep everything in your head and expect to be very effective. Right there, that is all that you need to know about it. Now I would go ahead to still explain if you haven’t agreed yet.

When you are a highly busy person you would increasingly realize that your brain is not the best place to store certain information. Like the day you were supposed to get to an appointment which was lets say 9:00 in the morning. Your brain might remember but not necessarily on time. Well this would likely be the story of someone who decided to store all appointments and tasks in his or her head. Now let’s take a guy who has a to-do list and updates it religiously. Well you would notice the following. He wakes up on the morning of the meeting looks at his to-do list and from his list of activities he sees it right there, Meeting at 9:00, he didn’t have to leave all that work to his mind to recollect, all he did was to simply run through the list of things he had scheduled for the next day, and any time he looked at his list there it was right in his face for him to start working on.

I could go on giving examples but I am sure that if you sat down to think of the number of times you forgot something though it was very important I am sure that you would realize that if you were using a to-do list that wouldn’t have skipped your mind.

It is this element of the to-do list that makes it so powerful your ability to accomplish a lot could be increased considerably when you use this most powerful tool

Remember it is far better to store things on a piece of paper or any storage device than in your head unless it is a secret.

Aknowledgment for christmas message picture

I will like to thank Salvatore Vuono for the wonderful picture of the Christmas tree.

Merry Christmas

 

My Christmas message

 

Hi folks out there, I hope you have had a wonderful year so far. It has been an interesting one for me too and I hope you have taken time to enjoy every moment of this season.

Todays post is about enjoying the year. And I feel that should be my theme for this Christmas season. It is Christmas and some of you would be in a celebratory mood seeing that your year has gone well, you might have more money in the bank and you also might have finally gotten rid of your lonely past and moved on, but no matter what is going on currently in your life I think it would be beneficial to you if you took time to enjoy this very special day. It is important that you learn to be grateful for what you currently have in order to be able to move on to what you want. I think gratitude is the best way to enjoy this years Christmas. So go out and have fun (responsible fun) and enjoy Christmas with family or friends or even better both of them. You can’t let any thing get you down, you need a break from all the pressures of life and I think you should really take time of to clear your mind.

The big message is this it is in your own interest to enjoy this day. I am not a very Christmas kind of person but I feel it is important to take a break from your regular life and concentrate on things that are also important in life. Having good memories can help you go through bad times.

So enjoy this festive season and MARRY CHRISTMAS to all of you.

 

The power of the to-do list : How?

The question most people pose to any new concept or even if it is not new to them upon being reintroduced to it they generally like to know how this system or concept or theory will be implemented.

Now that you know exactly what the to-do list is the how can take center stage. It is as simple as I have described earlier on. Just get yourself a simple piece of paper a pencil or a pen and then you are done. You can optionally decide to write boldly on top of it as a sort of a heading “to-do list”. It is as simple as that. You now have in your hands the basic tools of warfare for tackling time and tasks.

Wait, it is not yet complete you are now half way through. To make it complete look for a place to sit and then with your to-do list in hand, start writing down the list of tasks that you will like to complete by the end of the day. You can list them just the way you want to either in the order that it comes out of your head or in the order of priority (that is the most important task first). Another way practiced is to handle the much more difficult tasks first.

Doing this at the start of your day and updating it as you go along the day will be beneficial. The tools are not limited to paper alone but any writing device can be used.

It might look like this is not enough but believe me doing this alone will quickly move you into a better position in handling tasks.

Remember, you take a piece of paper or a note book or a PDA. You find a good place to sit down and you immediately start writing down in the form a list of things that you will like to accomplish by the end of the day preferably early in the morning.

The power of the to do list Intro

The rest of this series will be devoted to answering questions concerning the use of the to-do list. The following questions will be answered.

How?

Why?

When?

Is there and element of science tied to this

Some more questions will be added as time goes on and the format given above is likely to have some changes but it will still give you the insight that you need to know about the to-do list.

The Power of the To-do List

I know many of you have read a lot bout the to-do list but recently I took some time to think about it and if it has been any help to me in my quest for self improvement.

I for first timers the question is will this simple thing make any difference at all in making me much more efficient in my work?

My answer and from my experience is a resounding yes it is true that the to do list can work wonders in your life in all that you endeavor to take part in. if you really have intentions of moving away from a mediocre life style to one that is much more fulfilling I suggest that you get your self involved heavily in the use of one of the most powerful tools in the world which is the to-do list

I learnt about this quite late in my life when I was a teenager and at that time due to my lack of action orientation I never seriously implemented it. Now looking back at time I would have done more using this very important tool to take the quality of my life to a higher level.

There is so much power in getting up in the morning and putting down a list of things that you desire to do by the end and the close of the day. There is a sense of so much more purpose. If I were to advise you on getting your life together, one of the first things I will like to introduce to you is the to-do list.

My advice for you for this week is that if you do not have one get one for yourself and try it out this week. For majority of people the effects are almost instant.

There is so much to talk about when it comes to the to-do list and I will be making a short series about the to-do list. Today’s article is going to be an introduction.

Simply get a piece of paper or note book or a pda and put down the list of the things you hope to accomplish by the end of the day each day first thing before the start of the day and I will get back to you in the next article on this powerful tool.

Climbing back to the top 5 : Opportunity

Opportunity

The next step is seeing the opportunity. There is a saying that practice makes perfect, that saying is very true. Life actually is about repetitions and practice and if you still haven’t grasped this concept then this then the other steps will not really help you. I think it is important to approach setbacks with this attitude. You should be able to see the mistakes and know that you are on the road to becoming perfect at what you do.
When setbacks arise, it is time to look back and decide for yourself, what is there to be learnt from this situation in which I find myself so that I can perfect my ways. That is what life is all about. Getting perfect at what you do and sharing you experiences with the rest of the world.
I hope this series has helped you so far.
Remember practice makes perfect.

Climbing back to the top 4: Self Improvement

After going through the steps that have already been discussed it is time to go forward and start the self improvement process
Now that you have seen your weaknesses through changing the rules of the blame game, you have a unique opportunity to tackle the bad habits you have acquired head on. Reading articles from self improvement websites like this one is a good step. The Internet is filled with a lot of articles that would help you tackle any problem that you have.
One thing to remember when doing this is to be disciplined. Ensure that whatever solution you find and plan to apply in your self improvement should be done with as much discipline as possible. Never give up until you see results from your self improvement plan.
Remember that it is in your own interest to improve yourself in every way you never know what good luck this could bring your way.

Climbing back to the top 3: Blame game

Blame game
The next line of action to take is what I call the blame game. I think it is important that you learn something about the blame game.
Normally humans have the tendency to put the blame on someone or something for any failure. What ever the situation there is someone to blame. Playing the blame game is not necessary a negative thing. What is important is the rule by which you play the game. Traditionally the blame game would mean that you look for someone to blame except yourself. When you turn this rule upside down you come up with a rule that says that you should look out for all the things you did to contribute to your failure instead of someone else. Someone has to be blamed and that should be you. This will enable you see your weaknesses and hopefully give you the chance to see what you could have done better.
Remember it is always better to look out for what you could have done to prevent that defeat or failure.

Climbing back to the top 2 : Acknowledging Defeat

In part one I introduced you to my mini series on climbing back to the top to day we discuss the first step to take to getting back to your game and performing at an even higher level

Acknowledge your defeat and get over it.
The first step you should take from having a defeat is to acknowledge your defat and your current situation. Someone might say that I have been through this step already and all the tears in my eyes is proof of it. I still think it is good to sit down and look at the bigger picture. Look back at you previous attitude and the approach you took before your defeat. Then the next thing will be to look at what caused the defeat. Now at this stage it is important for you to look at all factors that might have come to play. You will now have to take time to encourage your self that you can come out of it. Stay away form negative minded people. Such company would make it impossible for you to get any where with your climb up. Find something to do to take your mind of the pain of defeat. Go out with friends listen to music anything positive just get your mind of that pain and get yourself ready for a good start back to the top.
Just understand that you lost a race and get over the pain. This will help you to get into the frame of mind for another try.
Remember your comments are always welcome.

Climbing back to the top 1: Introduction

Recently I found out that getting back up from a heavy defeat is something not that easy to do.
Picture this situation. You are in a competition (it could be academic, sports you just think of it) every body in this competition is given equal opportunity to make it to the end and even given enough time to prepare and sharpen their skill. After so many months of preparation you are given a chance to prove what you are made of.
On that final day, you stand out with your chest out having some pride, knowing that you have every card up your sleeve to help you come out victorious. On that final day something terribly goes wrong. What you aimed for you fail to achieve, it is not a quiet defeat but rather a much more public one. Disgrace is written all over your face. Everyone expected at least something from you. Instead you turn out to be the worst competitor. At this moment you are at your lowest point and you lose all the fighting spirit within you to go on with life.
I am sure most of us have been in similar situations like this. One thing that you will all agree with is that coming out of such situation is one tough fight. Sometimes it seems like you will never recover from such a situation.
I will like to share with you in the coming weeks some of the steps you can take to walk out of such a situation and quickly move back to being victorious.
Your comments and suggestion on this topic are welcome.

NEW SERIES: Climbing back to the top

I have been working on a series "Climbing back to the top". It is one that I did because I felt that everyone needs some sort of guide in life especially during times when you do not feel that you would be able to make it out of a huge upset or disappointment. It documents my thoughts on how to get out of a disappointment or setback and I picked these tips from my own life experiences. I hope you all do enjoy it. i have not finished it yet but it is supposed to be a five part series I hope it helps you in developing yourself.
The first post will comeout on Monday.

Don't Stop

Don't Stop even in the face all opposition. When you try and it just doesn't seem to work. Don't stop. You might decide o try new ways to get that result but nothing really seems so come out of all you efforts. Please and please listen my friend. It is at this very point that you wish to give up that you should work harder, it is at this point that you should put in more effort. It is at this point that you should, never think of giving up. Take it from me I have seen a lot of people make the classic mistake of giving up when they know that they are following the right path to their dreams.
I know what it feels like and I have been there a lot of times in my life. And any time I gave up, the regrets were worse than ever. Giving up has cost me a lot more than you can imagine and I have learned enough to know that the better option is not to give-in. If you are at a point in your life where you feel you have had enough please re-think you decision. You cannot let you dream die just because you have to pay a price. And if there was no price to pay then it wouldn't be worth it.

Again Don't Give up, Don't Give-in, simply Do Not Stop.

Time Control

Hello guys it’s been a while. It just finished reading this letter from Albert Mensah and I think I should put it on my blog. I think you will gain a lot from this. It hit time management straight on the head. One more thing if you think this is sounds familiar and you are doing it already know this, you are on the right path and you will just have to be persistent and disciplined to see results in your life. Please enjoy this piece from Albert Mensah and feel free to make comments or send me mail.

I always get asked about tips and techniques for effective time-management. Here's a quick list of 6 of the best tips designed to help you take more control of your time;
1. SPEND TIME PLANNING AND ORGANIZING.
Using time to think and plan is time well-spent. In fact, if you fail to take time for planning, you are, in effect, planning to fail. Organize in a way that makes sense to you. If you need color and pictures, use a lot on your calendar or planning book. Some people need to have papers filed away; others get their creative energy from their piles.
2. SET GOALS.
Goals give your life, and the way you spend your time, direction. Set goals which are specific, measurable, realistic and achievable. Your optimum goals are those which cause you to "stretch" but not "break" as you strive for achievement. Goals can give creative people a much-needed sense of direction.
3. USE A TO DO LIST.
Some people thrive using a daily To Do list which they construct either the last thing the previous day or first thing in the morning. Such people may combine a To Do list with a calendar or schedule. Others prefer a "running" To Do list which is continuously being updated. Or, you may prefer a combination of the two previously described To Do lists. Whatever method works is best for you. Don't be afraid to try a new system -- you just might find one that works even better than your present one!
4. CONSIDER YOUR BIOLOGICAL PRIME TIME.
That's the time of day when you are at your best. Are you a "morning person," a "night owl," or a late afternoon "whiz?" Knowing when your best time is and planning to use that time of day for your priorities (if possible) is effective time management.
5. CONQUER PROCRASTINATION.
When you are avoiding something, break it into smaller tasks and do just one of the smaller tasks or set a timer and work on the big task for just 15 minutes. By doing a little at a time, eventually you'll reach a point where you'll want to finish.
6. REWARD YOURSELF.
Even for small successes, celebrate achievement of goals. Promise yourself a reward for completing each task, or finishing the total job. Then keep your promise to yourself and indulge in your reward. Doing so will help you maintain the necessary balance in life between work and play.

Quote's from OPRAH

Today’s post will be different from previous posts. Today we will take a look at a name I need not tell you much about, OPRAH. Oprah Winfrey has made it to levels that only a few have made it and to which most of us will like to reach. I read an interview she had with popular business and entrepreneurial website Evancarmichael.com and here are some of the quotes I picked up. I think it is important to read them and learn something from it. Hope you enjoy it and feel free to leave your comments.




“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for,” she says. “Always continue the climb.” Oprah Winfrey
“take five minutes to centre yourself in the morning…set your intention every day…if you don’t have five minutes, you don’t deserve to have the life of your dreams.” Oprah Winfrey
“We are each responsible for our own life – no other person is or even can be,” says Oprah. That is why it is crucial not to let challenges, be they your own characteristics, events, people, or other uncontrollable factors, act as barriers between you and your goals. Oprah Winfrey
“You are built not to shrink down to less but to blossom into more,” she says. “The right to choose your own path is a sacred privilege. Use it.” Oprah Winfrey
“I don’t care about being bigger, because I’m already bigger than I ever expected to be,” Oprah says. “My constant focus is on being better. Should I be doing multimedia video production? Or seminars on the Internet? How can I do what I’m already doing in a more forceful way?” Oprah Winfrey
“The big secret in life is that there is no big secret,” she says. “Whatever your goal, you can get there if you’re willing to work.” Oprah Winfrey
According to Oprah, the biggest hurdle people need to overcome in order to be successful is their belief that there are limits to how much they can accomplish. Goals need to be set and set high; expectations need to be limitless; and ambition cannot be restrained. “If you believe you can only go so far, it is an obstacle.” Oprah Winfrey


THANKS for reading. Here is the link to Oprah Winfrey's biography

Here is the link to Oprah Winfrey's Website

Making something out of nothing

Typically as an entrepreneur this is what one is all about. Today I was sitting behind my television when I noticed that a cartoon series, Top Cat, that I hadn’t seen in a long time was about to come on, so I decided to wait and see it one more time. It has been more than seven years since I saw it and I remembered that I really liked it when I was a kid.
Now Top Cat in this episode called a meeting with all his friends drawing their attention to a serious issue that had come their way. This issue had to do with the fact that the company that he owned together with his friends was going down the drain, at that moment they had nothing left and were broke. Then after a little bit of brain storming with his friends he came up with an idea to organize a guided tour for a couple of tourists making their immediate neighborhood a tourist attraction using the rich history of their neighborhood. Then his friends reminded him of the fact that they had nothing historic about that neighborhood. Top Cat didn’t let this bring down his hopes; instead he decided to make up stories to tell the tourists on these guided tours for which the tourists will pay a certain fee. Top cat was a true hustler.
Now let us get one thing clear, I am not supporting the use of fraudulent activities to make one wealthy, I am just drawing your attention to the mind of the hustler that Top Cat has. It looks so brilliant the way he looked at himself having absolutely nothing and making something out of it. He had lost all his money but he thought of something to do with the nothing around him. Knowing that the real asset he had was his skill of interacting with other people. True entrepreneurial minded people look at a situation where there seems to be nothing at all and decide to make something out of it. They look at a situation that others look at and see nothing and when they look at it they see it very differently, right there they see that opportunity to solve a problem to give some service that people need that they didn’t realize that they needed. By putting value on that thing they can hopefully put a price that people will be willing to pay for. They are able to put more value on an existing service therefore creating a new product and immediately taking market share.
So it may be something that already exists but you decide to put in more effort and more value on it and service other people’s clients better. Sir Richard Branson once said, I will come and take the customers of the incumbents (i.e. already existing companies) and treat their customers even better. That is an entrepreneur creating opportunity where there seemed to be non and looking at something that didn’t look like it was worth much and deciding to use it in a different way that brings maximum value to people therefore creating value which can be paid for and in the long run creating a business.
I was watching a BBC program on business when I here’d it loud and clear creating something out of nothing. One of the panelists created a karaoke company. I do not know much about that how that will work but how was she able to create a business out of karaoke. This really is what entrepreneurship is all about. Basically these are the three things I learnt from this broadcast.
One is to get a skill learn something that has some skill that could help people, research and create new technologies in that area or new ways of doing the same thing in that area.
Two is to follow your passion because it is easier to do something that you are passionate about even when things aren’t going on well in the economy and in your business. To know if you are passionate about something ask yourself if you will still do the same thing for free (if you were not being paid for it).
Three is to look out for opportunities around you to do something and when you have an idea irrespective of your resources get out there and start something. Do not be afraid of failure.

There is a lot to talk about when it comes to this topic we will talk more about this in other post. Just keep on reading the life’s lessons blog.

Facing setbacks

Something you should note and expect is that on the way to fulfilling your dreams you will face setbacks. Your comfort zone soon will come back calling because things will get tough. In doing anything that is truly worthwhile things are going to get tough whether you like it or not. And the fact that you have the passion for it or even if it is something that you want really bad doesn’t mean that you are going to have it easy. First you will feel some rejection from your own body. It is either you are going to face your first set back in mastering whatever skill there is to be mastered or you may face setbacks from your environment.
Let me use the example of a wannabe pro basketball player.
You might be someone who watches NBA on television and see what the stars do. You like it, you are really interested in basketball you want to be able to make the kind of play you see Kobe Bryant do. You have basketball wall papers on your wall at home and on your pc. You visit the website of your favorite basketball team almost everyday. When you daydream you think of making that slum dunk, that three pointer which wins the NBA playoffs for your team and lifting the NBA trophies for your team and the MVP of the season. You think about the attention you will get if you were a basketball star. So now your mind is set, you want to try a career in basketball. Anytime you daydream of playing basket ball you feel like getting to the court to try out your skill so you do go out to play ball with a couple of friends. within a few minutes of play you realize that your game on the court is so pathetic and you are no where near playing with the guys in your hood. Your body is not fit enough and you just don’t have any skill but you really want this life of a basketball player.







So you sit up and decide that you have to set some goals concerning this love of yours because you do not just want to play ball but you want to be able to play professional basketball in the NBA. You ignore the guys a little and practice with a friend of yours who wouldn’t ridicule you so you can concentrate on developing some skill. So you start shooting hoops and after 5 minutes of shooting you are so tired you can’t jump or run and you are really exhausted. You realize that you need to work on your personal fitness goals. And so you go ahead and do something about it. You decide to work out every morning doing some jogging and a few pushups to get your body in shape and gain some stamina. In the evening you go out and practice basketball. It looks all good at this point on the first day then the next day you suddenly feel lazy and do not want to get up, but you finally get up and do some jogging you don’t fell like running too far and you feel really lazy but you get around it. Now you are tired and you have to do some pushups getting to the target number of pushups you give up saying to yourself you are too tired today. In the evening you do just a little time of practice. By the fourth day you realize that you just can’t get out of bed so you sleep some more. You wake up and you realize that you couldn’t make it to your morning work out. well you console yourself saying that you are going to make it up with practice at night time comes for practice you go out, do sometime of practice you soon feel tired and unmotivated to do more practice for yourself. It all gets to a point where you feel too lazy to pursue something that at the beginning you wanted so bad. So you realize that accomplishing anything and I mean anything that is worth while is not easy. By worth while I mean where what you want to do will put you on top of your game or industry. It requires a lot of hard work and a willingness to do the things that will get you there because trust me, the journey itself and the things you will have to do to get there is not as easy at it may seem. You will also realize that you will have to put yourself in a mental state that will allow you to do all of these things that will take you to your dreams.
So now you look back, take a reality check and realize that those basketball players you see playing for your team are not just talented they work hard to get to where they are. Now you decide that to do this and reach your dreams you need a change of mind and you resolve to be disciplined in doing the things you have to do to get to where you want to get to. You quickly resume your training session and go on with practice whether rain or shine you do what you have to do.
Note: here is something you can do that will help you along the way. Sometimes when trying to apply discipline decide this and this is much more effective after you have tried severally to do something to adopt a new habit without success. See what you want to do as something that will give you a new experience that you have not yet experienced and tell yourself that today you want to see what it is like to do it. For example you want to stop yourself from watching TV because you are addicted to TV and this is affecting your productivity. So decide someday that today I want to know what it really feels like not to watch television for a day and rather spend time doing something else. Move into full swing. During the day you will soon feel the temptation to turn that TV on, but when you feel the urge, tell yourself that this experiment has to succeed and you just want to find out what it feels like to do so you go on and by the end of the day you will have built some resistance and hopefully you will get used to living without TV. Soon you wouldn’t feel dependent on television.