From Security Guard to president, Meet Gambia’s new president, Adama Barrow

Adama Barrow, a successful property developer who has never held public office, has defied the odds to score a shock victory in The Gambia’s elections.

His victory in the small West African nation’s presidential poll is arguably an even bigger shock than that of fellow property mogul in the US, Donald Trump.

Mr Barrow’s opponent Yahya Jammeh, had ruled the country for more than two decades, but said if God willed it, his presidency could go on for “a billion years”.

Before the 51-year-old was chosen in September as the candidate to represent seven Gambian opposition parties at the election, he had spent 10 years working in property, having started his own estate agency in 2006.

In the early 2000s, he lived in the UK for several years, where he reportedly worked as a security guard at the Argos catalogue store in north London, while studying for his real estate qualifications.

British media have even reported that while guarding the shop on Holloway Road, he made a citizen’s arrest on a shoplifter, which resulted in a six-month jail term.

It was also during that period that Mr Barrow is thought to have followed in the footsteps of millions of other African football fans, choosing to support Arsenal FC, at that time his local club.

He was born in 1965, the same year his country gained independence from British colonial rule, in a small village near the market town of Basse in the east of the country.

Throughout his campaign, he pledged support for an independent judiciary, as well as increased freedom for the media and civil society.

Six things about Adama Barrow:

Member of the Fula ethnic group, born in 1965, the year of Gambian independence
Reportedly worked as a security guard at Argos in the early 2000s while studying in UK
Returned home in 2006 to set up property business
Supports English Premier League football team Arsenal
Nominated as the candidate for coalition of seven opposition parties, promising greater respect for human rights
A devout Muslim who is reportedly married with two wives and five children
He described his opponent as a “soulless dictator” and promised to undo some of Mr Jammeh’s more controversial moves.

“We will take the country back to the Commonwealth and the International Criminal Court (ICC),” he told the Anadolu Agency.

He also criticised the lack of a two-term limit on the presidency and condemned the jailing of political opposition figures.

Speaking to the BBC three days before the election, Mr Barrow said that Gambians “had been suffering for 22 years” and were ready for change.

He scorned the achievements of his opponent, who boasted of having brought The Gambia out of the stone age with his education and health programmes.

The hospitals President Jammeh had built had “no drugs… or quality doctors”, the schools “no teachers, no chairs… no good educational materials”, he said.

They were “white elephant projects”.

Although he became treasurer of the main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP) party in 2013, Mr Barrow was not a household name in The Gambia, described as “little-known” even by one of the local media outlets supporting him.

Mr Barrow, who has two wives and five children – according to the Gambian newspaper The Point, was especially popular among young voters – who have been badly hit by the country’s struggling economy.

Many thousands of Gambians have made the perilous journey to Europe in search of jobs.

So The Gambia’s new leader has great expectations on his shoulders – as he makes history in a country which has not had a smooth transfer of power in his lifetime.

10 TRAITS OF GENUINELY SMART PEOPLE (THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH INTELLIGENCE)

Not so long ago researchers discovered that smartness does not equal intelligence. Intelligence is systematically measurable and defined as an ability to acquire new knowledge and skills and to use them. On the other hand, smartness is a collection of often
counterintuitive traits that help you reach your goals through sometimes unorthodox means.

Genuinely smart people do not have to be ‘brainiacs’.
Most often than not, they will go through school being average, never drawing attention to themselves by being stellar performers, athletes, or spelling bee champions. Their unique skill set will help them out more in the real world, which is not boxed into a set of academic rules and expectations. Highly intelligent people have the upper hand in a well-organized, structured environment, but they will still often be outperformed by smart individuals who might not be their intellectual equals.


Why is that? What do genuinely smart people have that the intelligent ones lack? For starters, intelligent people are overly confident. They know they are smart, and will often take ‘mental shortcuts’, believing that they are doing the math faster that way. The truth is, they are skipping it all together. This leads to a number of embarrassing mistakes – just think of the bat and the ball question! – that smart people side step with ease.
So, are you just ‘paper smart’ or are you genuinely intelligent? Take a look at this list of characteristics genuinely smart people possess and find out!

1. Their mind operates in a constant state of flux
They are always uncertain of their wants, desires, ambitions, and even thoughts. They are also well-aware of that. They let that uncertainty drive them forward because they believe it breeds possibility. In other words, they don’t encapsulate themselves in a certain frame of mind because they know that limits their true potential.

2. They think before they speak
Their mouth is rarely quicker than their brain. When you ask a smart person a question they will take their time to answer. They don’t rely on their wits to guide them to a good answer; they think long and hard before giving one, especially on important questions.

3. They aim to contribute
Genuinely smart people add to a conversation only if they feel that they can contribute something to it. You won’t see their Facebook walls full of opinionated status updates. They speak only when sure that they can bring something meaningful to the table. And if they don’t have something constructive or insightful to say, they’ll most likely keep their mouth shut.

4. They think for themselves
You’ll be hard-pressed to convince a smart person into doing anything they didn’t have time to think about. They refuse to let other people’s ideas mold their reality, and they don’t hold anyone to be infallible. They will rarely conform just for the sake of fitting in, and they dismiss the notion that a majority is always right.

5. They are not afraid to be wrong
Genuinely smart people don’t let their ego run away with them. They are perfectly capable of admitting mistakes and acknowledging that they are, possibly, not the smartest person in the room.

6. They offer a different take on things instead of simply correcting others
They are rarely argumentative and nit-picky. Instead of correcting other contributors, smart people will respectfully offer their opinions on the matter, and make their case using facts and logic. Their answer doesn’t have to be a right one, but it will offer a fresh perspective and deepen the discussion.

7. They are not antagonistic
Genuinely smart people know that, once you lose your cool, all hope for constructive discussion goes out the window. That is why they avoid being argumentative and picking fights with others. After all, you’ll attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. They know it, and they use it.

8. They trust their gut
We often get off the track thanks to their wild-running impulses. Smart people don’t allow themselves to get sidetracked and derailed easily. They ignore impulses and stick with their instincts, often forgoing short-term benefits for the sake of long-term goals.

9. They are problem solvers
They think long and hard about their problems and how to solve them, preferring steadfast solutions to temporary fixes. That is why other people often turn to them when in need. For that reason, they themselves consider this particular trait both a blessing and a curse.

10. They don’t care about what you think
How many times have you’ve been stopped dead in your tracks just because you considered what other people will think before doing something? If your answer is often, then you have some work to do on your ‘smarts’. Genuinely smart people rarely take into account how others will feel about the decisions they make. They pursue their interests without the fear of looking foolish or being judged by others.

Source-learningminds.com

13 QUOTES THAT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE FROM THE PRINCE OF DUBAI

From the tallest building in the world, the worlds largest shopping mall, the worlds largest flower garden, the worlds first 7 star hotel, home to the 7th busiest airport in 2014 and is host to the World Expo 2020.

Prince Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum still remains vigilant among the crowd while maintaining a huge heart for philanthropy.


While Prince Al Maktoum has built a budding metropolis out of the desert which is loved by many, he also has some wise words on innovation, creativity and women to live by.

ENJOY!

1. Failure is not falling to the ground; it is remaining there once you have fallen and the greatest failure is when you decide not to stand up again.

2. The race for excellence has no finish line.

3. With each new day in Africa, a gazelle wakes up knowing he must outrun the fastest lion or perish. At the same time, a lion stirs and stretches, knowing he must outrun the fastest gazelle or starve. It is no different for the human race. Whether you consider yourself a gazelle or a lion, you simply have to run faster than others to survive.

4. We may not live for hundreds of years, but the products of our creativity can leave a legacy long after we are gone.

5. Our job is to provide an environment that unlocks women’s potential – one that protects their dignity and femininity, helps them create the necessary balance in their lives, and values their talents and potential. Given this environment, I am confident that women will perform nothing short of miracles.

6. Life was created simple and it is important to live it as such. Simplicity is inherent; it leads to peace of mind and tranquility.

7. Everybody starts small. We all begin life as a single cell. Every business starts as one person with an idea. How fast you go, how far you get, is in your hands. The bigger your vision, the bigger your achievement will be. Will you stumble on the way? Perhaps, but we cannot let fear keep us small. We have to be brave to be big.

8. A true leader is one who creates a favorable environment to bring out the energy and ability of his team. A great leader creates more great leaders, and does not reduce the institution to a single person.

9. Helping those less fortunate than us is a blessed opportunity to show thanks for the gifts of life that we ourselves enjoy.

10. The key to corporations’ rejuvenation, civilizations’ evolution, and human development in general is simple: innovation.

11. how do we prepare our children and future generations for such times? How do we equip our countries to compete, not only today, but in the coming decades as well? The answer lies in honing our children’s creativity, and providing them with the analytical and communication skills needed to channel it toward productive ends.

12. To sustain innovation, businesses must attract and retain the most creative and productive minds.

13. A great vision needs not only a great leader, but also a great work team with diverse leadership qualities.

21-YEAR-OLD JEWELL JONES, BECOMES YOUNGEST PERSON EVER ELECTED AS STATE REPRESENTATIVE IN INKSTER, MICHIGAN, USA

At 20, the young

African-American councilman, who is the first politician in his family, became the youngest person to ever sit on Inkster’s six-member City Council, after he was sworn into office in November.

Inkster is a majority African American suburb in Detroit with a population of more than 25,000.
Jewell, who represents the city’s 11th District, was also a full-time student at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

“WE WON THE ELECTION – YOU AND I MADE HISTORY, YET AGAIN. I’m looking forward to serving you all,” he wrote on Twitter with a picture of his 22,574 votes against Republican Robert Pope’s 11,563.

18 Signs To Show That You Have High Emotional Intelligence

“Emotional intelligence is the “something” in each of us that is a bit intangible. It affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions to achieve positive results.”
When emotional intelligence (EQ) first appeared to the masses, it served as the missing link in a peculiar finding: people with average IQs outperform those with the highest IQs 70 per cent of the time. This anomaly threw a massive wrench into the broadly held assumption that IQ was the sole source of success.

Decades of research now point to emotional intelligence as being the critical factor that sets star performers apart from the rest of the pack. The connection is so strong that 90 per cent of top performers have high emotional intelligence.

Emotional intelligence is the “something” in each of us that is a bit intangible. It affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions to achieve positive results.
Despite the significance of EQ, its intangible nature makes it very difficult to know how much you have and what you can do to improve if you’re lacking. You can always take a scientifically validated test, such as the one that comes with the Emotional Intelligence 2.0 book.
Unfortunately, quality (scientifically valid) EQ tests aren’t free. So, I’ve analyzed the data from the million-plus people TalentSmart has tested in order to identify the behaviors that are the hallmarks of a high EQ. What follows are sure signs that you have a high EQ.

1. You have a robust emotional vocabulary
All people experience emotions, but it is a select few who can accurately identify them as they occur. Our research shows that only 36 per cent of people can do this, which is problematic because unlabeled emotions often go misunderstood, which leads to irrational choices and counterproductive actions.
People with high EQs master their emotions because they understand them, and they use an extensive vocabulary of feelings to do so. While many people might describe themselves as simply feeling “bad,” emotionally intelligent people can pinpoint whether they feel “irritable,” “frustrated,” “downtrodden,” or “anxious.” The more specific your word choice, the better insight you have into exactly how you are feeling, what caused it, and what you should do about it.

2. You’re curious about people
It doesn’t matter if they’re introverted or extroverted, emotionally intelligent people are curious about everyone around them. This curiosity is the product of empathy, one of the most significant gateways to a high EQ. The more you care about other people and what they’re going through, the more curiosity you’re going to have about them.

3. You embrace change
Emotionally intelligent people are flexible and are constantly adapting. They know that fear of change is paralyzing and a major threat to their success and happiness. They look for change that is lurking just around the corner, and they form a plan of action should these changes occur.

4. You know your strengths and weaknesses
Emotionally intelligent people don’t just understand emotions; they know what they’re good at and what they’re terrible at. They also know who pushes their buttons and the environments (both situations and people) that enable them to succeed. Having a high EQ means you know your strengths and you know how to lean into them and use them to your full advantage while keeping your weaknesses from holding you back.

5. You’re a good judge of character
Much of emotional intelligence comes down to social awareness; the ability to read other people, know what they’re about, and understand what they’re going through. Over time, this skill makes you an exceptional judge of character. People are no mystery to you. You know what they’re all about and understand their motivations, even those that lie hidden beneath the surface.

6. You are difficult to offend
If you have a firm grasp of whom you are, it’s difficult for someone to say or do something that gets your goat. Emotionally intelligent people are self-confident and open-minded, which creates a pretty thick skin. You may even poke fun at yourself or let other people make jokes about you because you are able to mentally draw the line between humor and degradation.

7. You know how to say no (to yourself and others)
Emotional intelligence means knowing how to exert self-control. You delay gratification, and you avoid impulsive action. Research conducted at the University of California, San Francisco, shows that the more difficulty that you have saying no, the more likely you are to experience stress, burnout, and even depression. Saying no is indeed a major self-control challenge for many people. “No” is a powerful word that you should not be afraid to wield. When it’s time to say no, emotionally intelligent people avoid phrases such as “I don’t think I can” or “I’m not certain.” Saying no to a new commitment honors your existing commitments and gives you the opportunity to successfully fulfill them.

8. You let go of mistakes
Emotionally intelligent people distance themselves from their mistakes, but do so without forgetting them. By keeping their mistakes at a safe distance, yet still handy enough to refer to, they are able to adapt and adjust for future success. It takes refined self-awareness to walk this tightrope between dwelling and remembering. Dwelling too long on your mistakes makes you anxious and gun shy, while forgetting about them completely makes you bound to repeat them. The key to balance lies in your ability to transform failures into nuggets of improvement. This creates the tendency to get right back up every time you fall down.

9. You give and expect nothing in return
When someone gives you something spontaneously, without expecting anything in return, this leaves a powerful impression. For example, you might have an interesting conversation with someone about a book, and when you see them again a month later, you show up with the book in hand. Emotionally intelligent people build strong relationships because they are constantly thinking about others.

10. You don’t hold grudges
The negative emotions that come with holding onto a grudge are actually a stress response. Just thinking about the event sends your body into fight-or-flight mode, a survival mechanism that forces you to stand up and fight or run for the hills when faced with a threat. When the threat is imminent, this reaction is essential to your survival, but when the threat is ancient history, holding onto that stress wreaks havoc on your body and can have devastating health consequences over time. In fact, researchers at Emory University have shown that holding onto stress contributes to high blood pressure and heart disease. Holding onto a grudge means you’re holding onto stress, and emotionally intelligent people know to avoid this at all costs. Letting go of a grudge not only makes you feel better now but can also improve your health.

11. You neutralize toxic people
Dealing with difficult people is frustrating and exhausting for most. High EQ individuals control their interactions with toxic people by keeping their feelings in check. When they need to confront a toxic person, they approach the situation rationally. They identify their own emotions and don’t allow anger or frustration to fuel the chaos. They also consider the difficult person’s standpoint and are able to find solutions and common ground. Even when things completely derail, emotionally intelligent people are able to take the toxic person with a grain of salt to avoid letting him or her bring them down.

12. You don’t seek perfection
Emotionally intelligent people won’t set perfection as their target because they know that it doesn’t exist. Human beings, by our very nature, are fallible. When perfection is your goal, you’re always left with a nagging sense of failure that makes you want to give up or reduce your effort. You end up spending your time lamenting what you failed to accomplish and what you should have done differently instead of moving forward, excited about what you’ve achieved and what you will accomplish in the future.

13. You appreciate what you have
Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn’t merely the right thing to do; it also improves your mood because it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23 per cent. Research conducted at the University of California, Davis, found that people who worked daily to cultivate an attitude of gratitude experienced improved mood, energy, and physical well-being. It’s likely that lower levels of cortisol played a major role in this.

14. You disconnect
Taking regular time off the grid is a sign of a high EQ because it helps you to keep your stress under control and to live in the moment. When you make yourself available to your work 24/7, you expose yourself to a constant barrage of stressors.
Forcing yourself offline and even–gulp!–turning off your phone gives your body and mind a break. Studies have shown that something as simple as an e-mail break can lower stress levels. Technology enables constant communication and the expectation that you should be available 24/7. It is extremely difficult to enjoy a stress-free moment outside of work when an e-mail that will change your train of thought and get you thinking (read: stressing) about work can drop onto your phone at any moment.

15. You limit your caffeine intake
Drinking excessive amounts of caffeine triggers the release of adrenaline, and adrenaline is the source of the fight-or-flight response. The fight-or-flight mechanism sidesteps rational thinking in favor of a faster response to ensure survival. This is great when a bear is chasing you, but not so great when you’re responding to a curt e-mail. When caffeine puts your brain and body into this hyper-aroused state of stress, your emotions overrun your behavior. Caffeine’s long half-life ensures you stay this way as it takes its sweet time working its way out of your body. High-EQ individuals know that caffeine is trouble, and they don’t let it get the better of them.

16. You get enough sleep
It’s difficult to overstate the importance of sleep to increasing your emotional intelligence and managing your stress levels. When you sleep, your brain literally recharges, shuffling through the day’s memories and storing or discarding them (which causes dreams) so that you wake up alert and clearheaded. High-EQ individuals know that their self-control, attention, and memory are all reduced when they don’t get enough–or the right kind–of sleep. So, they make sleep a top priority.

17. You stop negative self-talk in its tracks
The more you ruminate on negative thoughts, the more power you give them. Most of our negative thoughts are just that–thoughts, not facts. When it feels like something always or never happens, this is just your brain’s natural tendency to perceive threats (inflating the frequency or severity of an event). Emotionally intelligent people separate their thoughts from the facts in order to escape the cycle of negativity and move toward a positive, new outlook.

18. You won’t let anyone limit your joy
When your sense of pleasure and satisfaction are derived from the opinions of other people, you are no longer the master of your own happiness. When emotionally intelligent people feel good about something that they’ve done, they won’t let anyone’s opinions or snide remarks take that away from them. While it’s impossible to turn off your reactions to what others think of you, you don’t have to compare yourself to others, and you can always take people’s opinions with a grain of salt. That way, no matter what other people are thinking or doing, your self-worth comes from within.



Written by Travis Bradberry of www.wakingtimes.com

8 YEAR OLD BECOMES YOUNGEST PERSON ACCEPTED TO UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS

This eight year old exuded so much #BlackGirlMagic that the University of North Texas was inspired by her.

Jordin Phipps earned herself a spot at the University of North Texas with a $10,000 scholarship after she caught the attention of administrators with her motivational video.

According to ABC News , Jordin’s mother Nicole Smith, a University of North Texas alum, captured her on video reciting her class’ motivational phrase while dressed in the university’s t-shirt.

“I am smart; I am a leader. Failure is not an option for me,” proclaims Jordin in the

video. “Success is only moments away… I have the attitude of a North Texas Eagle.”
The video was posted to the University of North Texas’ Facebook page. The university surprised the young student at her elementary school last Thursday to present her with the scholarship.
Congratulations, Jordin!

credit – essence.com

Meet 24-yr-old Nigerian Who Finished Medical School In Europe While Running Four Businesses!

This woman is Dr.Oluwo Adedunmola, a recent graduate of the Medical School at theUniversity of Debrecenin Hungary.Throughout her 7-year sojourn learning the healer’s trade, Dedun maintained four businesses all by herself and still managed to avoid academic failure.

Now we all know Medicine is not an easy course of study – by any stretch of the imagination. But to combine that with running four businesses in a foreign country and still managing to succeed at both is just something of dreams.Dedun runs Dedun’s Cakes, a four-year-oldcake and pastry company; Hair by Dedun, asix-year-old hair styling business that caters to every hair texture ;DedunCooks, a six-year-old Nigerian food catering business, and Belle Artistry by Dedun, a new beauty-focused business she started earlier in 2016. Apart from all of this, she also runs an inspirational blog and aYouTubechannel –talk of being versatile.

Through her businesses, Dedun was able to live non-dependent on her retired single motherand she was still able to make and save enough to pay for her Masters which she would be starting next month at the Rome Business Schoolin Italy.“I was miraculously able to combine all these without repeating a year in the 7 years of Medical school while achieving utmost financial independence from my retired single mum. I was able to make and save enough to pay for my Masters which I’m starting next month at Rome Business School, Italy.

I’m sharing my story to inspire others that it doesn’t matter what your situation is, you can always challenge yourself to achieve great things whether you are a 17-yr-old (like I was when I started) or older,» says Dedun.I am already inspired and if you are reading this, you should be too. These days we don’t hear of young people like this accomplishing such remarkable feats anymore. This woman should serve as an inspiration for everyone still sitting on their asses instead of going out and making theirown path in the world.

Dedun’s message is simple: No matter what you are facing or your current circumstances in life, you can always push yourself to achieve great things regardless of your age – and I agree with her.

75 IMPECCABLE SMALL BUSINESS ADVICE FROM 39 BILLIONAIRES

Richard Branson – Virgin Group
1. “ As much as you need a strong personality to build a business from scratch, you also must understand the art of delegation. I have to be good at helping people run the individual businesses, and I have to be willing to step back. The company must be set up so it can continue without me.” – Richard Branson
2. “ To be successful, you have to be out there, you have to hit the ground running, and if you have a good team around you and more than a fair share of luck, you might make something happen. But you certainly can’t guarantee it just by following someone else’s formula. ” – Richard Branson

Ingvar Kamprad – IKEA
“Waste of resources is a mortal sin at IKEA.” – Ingvar Kamprad
4. “Ten minutes are not just one-sixth of your hourly pay; ten minutes is a piece of yourself. Divide yourself into ten units and sacrifice as few of them as possible in meaningless activities. Most things still remain to be done.” – Ingvar Kamprad

Carlos Slim Helu – Telmex Corporation
5. “ When there is a crisis, that’s when some are interested in getting out and that’s when we are interested in getting in. ” – Carlos Slim Helu

Aliko Dangote – Dangote Group
6. “To succeed in business, you must build a brand and never destroy it. One competitive advantage I had when I ventured into manufacturing was my brand “Dangote,” which I diligently built in the course of my trading commodities.” – Aliko Dangote
7. “Manufacture, don’t just trade. There is money in manufacturing even though it is capital intensive. To achieve a big breakthrough, I had to start manufacturing the same product I was trading on; which is commodities.” – Aliko Dangote

Oprah Winfrey – Harpo Studios Production
8. “Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness.” – Oprah Winfrey
9. “Follow your instincts, that’s where true wisdom manifest itself.” – Oprah Winfrey
Orji Uzor Kalu – Slok Group

10. “A good businessman must have nose for business the same way a journalist has nose for news. Once your eyes, ears, nose, heart and brain are trained on business, you sniff business opportunities everywhere” – Orji Uzor Kalu
11. “A good businessman sees where others don’t see. What I see, you may not see. You cannot see because that is the secret of the business… the entire world is a big market waiting for anybody who knows the rules of the game.” – Orji Uzor Kalu

John D. Rockefeller – Standard Oil
12. “There’s no mystery in business success. If you do each day’s task successfully and stay faithfully within these natural operations of commercial laws which I talk so much about and keep your head clear, you will come out all right.” – John D. Rockefeller
13. “The ability to deal with people is as purchasable as a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other thing under the sun.” – John D. Rockefeller

Bill Gates – Microsoft
14. “The most meaningful way to differentiate your company from your competitors, the best way to put distance between you and the crowd is to do an outstanding job with information. How you gather, manage and use information will determine whether you win or lose.” – Bill Gates
“You’ve got to give great tools to small teams. Pick good people, use small teams and give them great tools so that they are very productive in terms of what they are doing.” – Bill Gates

Larry Ellison – Oracle
16. “If your cash is about to run out, you have to cut your cash flow. CEOs have to make those decisions and live with them however painful they may be. You have to act and act now; and act in the best interest of the company as a whole, even if it means that some people in the company who are your best friends have to work somewhere else.” – Larry Ellison
“When you innovate, you’ve got to be prepared for people telling you that you are nuts.” – Larry Ellison
J. Paul Getty – Getty Oil
18. “The man who comes up with a means of doing or producing almost anything better, faster or more economically has his future and his fortune at his finger tips.” – J. Paul Getty
“In times of rapid change, experience could be your worst enemy.” – J. Paul Getty

Warren Buffett– Berkshire Hathaway
20. “In the business world, the rear view is always clearer than the wind shield.” – Warren Buffett
21. “Somebody once said that in looking to hire people, look for three qualities; Integrity, intelligence and energy. If they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it; it’s true. If you hire somebody without the first, you really want them to be dumb and lazy.” – Warren Buffett

Henry Ford – Ford Motor Company
22. “The competitor to be feared is one who never bothers about you at all but goes on making his own business better all the time.” – Henry Ford
23 .”A business absolutely devoted to service will have one worry about profits. They will be embarrassingly large.” – Henry Ford

Henry Ross Perot – EDS
24. “Business is not just doing deals; business is having great products, doing great engineering and providing tremendous service to customers. Finally, business is a cobweb of human relationship.” – Henry Ross Perot
“If you see a snake, just kill it. Don’t appoint a committee on snakes.” – Henry Ross Perot

Ted Turner – CNN
26. “Do something. Either lead, follow or get out of the way.” – Ted Turner
27. “ Managing isn’t that difficult, you just have to score more runs than the other guy.” – Ted Turner

Michael Dell – Dell Inc
28. “ Don’t spend so much time trying to choose the perfect opportunity, that you miss the right opportunity.” – Michael Dell
29. “Recognize that there will be failures, and acknowledge that there will be obstacles. But you will learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others, for there is very little learning in success.” – Michael Dell

Steve Jobs – Apple Inc
30. “Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.” – Steve Jobs
31. “To turn really interesting ideas and fledging ideas into a company that can continue to innovate for years, it requires a lot of disciplines.” – Steve Jobs

Donald Trump – Trump Organization
“Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you are generally better off sticking with what you know and the third is that sometimes, your best investments are the ones you don’t make.” – Donald Trump
33. “It pays to trust your instinct.” – Donald Trump

Jeff Bezos – Amazon
34. “If you’re not stubborn, you’ll give up on experiments too soon. And if you’re not flexible, you’ll pound your head against the wall and you won’t see a different solution to a problem you’re trying to solve.” – Jeff Bezos
35. “Things never go smoothly.” – Jeff Bezos

Sam Walton – Wal-Mart
36. “ The secret of successful retailing is to give your customers what they want. And really, if you think about it from the point of view of the customer, you want everything: a wide assortment of good quality merchandise; the lowest possible prices; guaranteed satisfaction with what you buy; friendly, knowledgeable service; convenient hours; free parking; a pleasant shopping experience. ” – Sam Walton
37. “ Appreciate everything your associates do for the business. If people believe in themselves, it’s amazing what they can accomplish. ” – Sam Walton

J. K. Rowling – Harry Potter Series
38. “Never be ashamed! There’s some who will hold it against you, but they are not worth bothering with.” – J. K. Rowling
39. “Anything is possible if you’ve got enough nerve.” – J. K. Rowling

Ray Kroc – McDonald’s
“If you’re not a risk taker, you should get the hell out of business. ” – Ray Kroc
41. “ When you’re green, you’re growing. When you’re ripe, you rot. Are you green and growing or ripe and rotting? ” – Ray Kroc

Mark Cuban – Broadcast.com
42. “ Do your homework and know your business better than anyone. Otherwise, someone who knows more and works harder will kick your ass.” – Mark Cuban
43. “ Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you. ” – Mark Cuban

Larry Page – Google
44. “ But you don’t need a huge company, just a computer and a part-time person. So you don’t need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea. You can do it in your spare time, you can really work on ideas and see if they take off — rather than trying to raise tons of money, millions of dollars for an idea that may or may not work. And once you have the product and people are using it, it’s very easy to raise investment. ” – Larry Page

John Johnson – Johnson Publishing
45. “ My management style is based on the art of communication. For communication is an art, not a science. It is an emotion, not a statistic. And the best communicators know instinctively that to communicate effectively you must bypass intellectual centers and tap into the deepest fears, hopes and emotions of your audience. ” – John Johnson
46. “ I’m convinced that the only way to get ahead in this world is to live and sell dangerously. You’ve got to live beyond your means. You’ve got to commit yourself to an act or vision that pulls you further than you want to go and forces you to use your hidden strengths.” – John Johnson

Li Ka Shing – Hutchison Whampoa
47. “ Broaden your vision, and maintain stability while advancing forward. That is my philosophy.” – Li Ka Shing
48. “ Businessmen must move with the times…the correlation between knowledge and business as the key to success is closer than ever. ” – Li Ka Shing

Mukesh Ambani – Reliance Group
49. “I think that our fundamental belief is that for us, growth is a way of life and we have to grow at all times.” – Mukesh Ambani
“The organizational architecture is really that a centipede walks on a hundred legs and one or two don’t count. So if I lose one or two legs, the process will go on and the growth will go on.” – Mukesh Ambani

Philip Knight – Nike
51. “Good campaigns define who you are. We have to get consumers’ attention. We don’t have six months to check with focus groups.” – Philip Knight
52. “Our job is to wake up the consumers. If we become predictable, that’s not waking them up.” – Philip Knight

Pierre Omidyar – E-Bay
53. “ Build a platform – prepare for the unexpected…you’ll know you’re successful when the platform you’ve built serves you in unexpected ways.” – Pierre Omidyar
54. “Be an enzyme – a catalyst for change. As a slogan, I don’t know if that’s ever going to be right up there with Ich Bin Ein Berliner, or “I Have A Dream,” but there’s a lot of truth to it.” – Pierre Omidyar

Ralph Lauren – Polo
55. “ Your vision is very important. You should know whom you’re selling to, what your marketing and advertising says about you, and whom it’s speaking to. Me personally, I don’t try to please everyone. I understand who I am selling to and I work towards that vision all the time. ” – Ralph Lauren
56. “ It’s about broadening your scope through history and living your life. Tune in and pay attention. ” – Ralph Lauren

Rupert Murdoch – Fox Broadcasting Corporation
57. “ In motivating people, you’ve got to engage their minds and their hearts. I motivate people, I hope, by example – and perhaps by excitement, by having productive ideas to make others feel involved. ” – Rupert Murdoch
“The world is changing very fast. Big will not beat small anymore; it will be the fast beating the slow. ” – Rupert Murdoch
Craig Newmark – Craiglist
59. “ Sometimes you gotta be fast so you don’t waste the time of others. ” – Craig Newmark
60. “ Follow through with basic values, and remember to provide good customer service. ” – Craig Newmark

Dave Thomas – Wendy’s
61. “ What do you need to start a business? Three simple things: know your product better than anyone. Know your customer, and have a burning desire to succeed. ” – Dave Thomas
62. “ Take care of your business and your business will take care of you. ” – Dave Thomas

Gerry Schwartz – Onex Corporation
63. “ We’ve got customers. We’ve got suppliers. We’ve got employees. We’ve got unions. We’ve got communities. We’ve got all of these things that go into making up whether a business succeeds or fails. ” – Gerry Schwartz
64. “ Investments are like trains, and if you miss one, don’t worry because another one will come down the line. ” – Gerry Schwartz

Walt Disney – Disney
65. “ You are dead if you aim only for kids. Adults are only kids grown up, anyway. ” – Walt Disney
66. “Tomorrow can be a wonderful age.” – Walt Disney

Barry Diller – Expedia
67. “The world is changing. Networks without a specific branding strategy will be killed. I envision a world of highly run companies without room for all the overhead the establishment networks carry.” – Barry Diller

Giorgio Armani – Armani
68. “ Remember that, in the end, the customer doesn’t know, or care, if you are small or large as an organization – she or he only focuses on the garment hanging on the rail in the store. ” – Giorgio Armani
69. “ In this business you can’t have a destination, an arrival point. Otherwise your competitors will overtake you, or you become complacent. ” – Giorgio Armani

Craig McCaw – McCaw Cellular
70. “Changes occur because there’s a gap between what is and what should be.” – Craig McCaw
71. “Filling a need that others aren’t addressing has always been a focus of the companies that I have been involved with.” – Craig McCaw

Leslie Wexner – Limited Brands
72. “We are poised for accelerated future growth and we need the depth and breadth of leadership to achieve it.” – Leslie Wexner
73. “Express is well into the process of substantial transformation and is providing itself as a significant dual gender, high quality apparel brand. While much work needs to be done, we believe the opportunities for growth across our brand are significant.” – Leslie Wexner
Carl Icahn – Billionaire Investor
“In life and business, there are two cardinal sins. The first is to act without thought and the second is not to act at all.” – Carl Icahn
75. “You learn in this business; if you want a friend, get a dog.” – Carl Icahn

MEET 30-YEAR OLD NIGERIAN TECH ENTREPRENEUR THAT MAY RUN APPLE OUT OF BUSINESS IN AFRICA!

A 30-year-old Nigerian phone entrepreneur by the name of Michael Akindele has been making great strides in the mobile device market — so much so, that he has been challenging tech giants such as Apple. The company, SOLO Phone, was started in 2012, and Akindele serves as director and co-founder. The company is aimed at delivering mobile solutions, services, and platforms to consumers all at a reasonable price.

The company’s smartphones are priced at $150 and come with up to 20 million free songs licensed by Sony, Universal, and Warner. Its latest release is an app named Video-On-Demand, available to all Nigerians with an Android device and makes available Nollywood and Hollywood movies. SOLO Phone is making strides in the market and can definitely challenge other giants within the market, believes Akindele.

Akindele was born in the United States to Nigerian parents on Aug. 29, 1984. He returned to Nigeria at two-years-old but returned to the states ten years later. He was educated at Alexandria, Virginia and graduated from T.C. Williams High School, and then moved on to George Mason University in Fairfax. While at George Mason, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a focus on computer science and information technology. This gave him the ideal background, knowledge, and platform to building his company.
His work as a technology consultant at Accenture also helped him to gain first-hand knowledge in his field. This is where he started working on “The Apprentice: Africa,” which was the American version of Donald Trump’s “The Apprentice.” He returned to Africa in 2007 to help produce, develop, and distribute the show, which gained a huge following in Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana and Kenya during the 18 weeks it was aired on the continent.
Before SOLO Phone, he had a company called Fusion Mobile, but it did not last very long because of a lack of funding and persons not believing in an African manufacturing phone company. Adlevo Capita, however, changed all that in 2013 when they partnered with Akindele. This led to the birth of SOLO.

Tayo Ogundipe is a telecom specialist who led the push to develop the company and has experience working with companies such as Sony Ericsson and HTC. His experience led to the realization of SOLO on Nov. 22, 2013. Since then, the reception from the public has been tremendous, as they seek to provide experience-driven and strong digital content to both the young and the old. What has been keeping consumers interested and has set SOLO apart from others in the market is the high content and services it provides at such an affordable price.

MEET AFICAN-AMERICAN 8YEARS OLD, THE YOUNGEST STUDENT ADMITTED TO UNIVERSITY OF NORTH TEXAS, EARNS $10,000 SCHOLARSHIP

HERE AREN’T many eight-year-olds putting together their college admissions packages, but Jordin Phipps girl did just that — without even realising it.
The youngster was surprised with a $10,000 scholarship and guaranteed admission to University of North Texas (UNT) last week after a video of her reciting her educational mantra was shared with university officials.
Jordin’s mum Nichole Smith filmed her last month reciting the daily motivation that she and her classmates at Watson Technology Center recite.

“I am smart. I am a leader. Failure is not an option for me. Success is only moments away. … I have the attitude of a North Texas Eagle,” Jordin said while sporting a UNT Eagles shirt in the video.

Nichole, a UNT alumna, shared the short video on the university’s Facebook page. The video has since been shared more than 90,000 times on multiple platforms.
“They contacted me and said they wanted to present her with a scholarship,” Nicole, a special education teacher, told ABC News.
UNT officials surprised Jordin at a school assembly.

Rebecca Lothringer, UNT’s director of admissions, told Jordin that she had won the Presidential Excellence Scholarship for Leadership, a $10,000 prize normally awarded to high school seniors or transfer students.

The eight-year-old is also guaranteed a spot in UNT’s Class of 2030.
She is the youngest student to be accepted to the university, according to Lothringer.
Source- Africanleadershipmagazine blog

Meet DRu Sandile Kubheka, South Africa’s Youngest Doctor Ever at 20yrs

Dr Sandile Kubheka from Pietermaritzburg has made South African history by qualifying as the youngest doctor ever at the age of 20.

Kubheka graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees (MBChB) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)’s Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine with distinctions in obstetrics and gynaecology.

He matriculated from Siyamukhela High School at the age of 15 after having started school at the age of five.

“I am the first in my family to graduate with a medical degree,” Kubheka told Talk Radio 702’s Koketso Sochane.

Kubheka, who is the youngest of five children, strives toward answering a calling to heal patients’ suffering from diabetes, HIV and tuberculosis.

He says he also plans to specialise in internal medicine.

The young doctor, who speaks with a maturity well beyond his age, says he’s proud to carry a beacon of hope for his generation.

“In me, they see that ours is not a lost generation. This goes beyond my own achievements. It is humbling to know that people are motivated by my story.”

Kubheka wished his mother a ‘happy father’s day’ and makes it clear that without her willing sacrifice, he would not have achieved his life-long dream.

“She was a single mother to five children. My mother was also a father figure to us.”

Kubheka enjoys his work with rural communities that often don’t have access to medical treatment.

His passion for assisting the disadvantage granted him the motivation to help register the Happy Valley Clinic as a non-profit organisation during his years as a student.

The enthusiastic doctor acquired an interest in endocrinology after being inspired by UKZN’s Head of Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Professor Ayesha Motala, as well as a family member who suffers from Type 2 diabetes.

As a result, he served his internship at Grey’s Hospital and hopes to eventually register for a Masters of Medicine degree super specialising in endocrinology.

“I am also fascinated by the endocrine system. Medicine is a profession that is always changing and as a doctor, you should always improve your knowledge.”

Wow, 11 WAYS YOU CAN MAKE MONEY WHILE YOU SLEEP

Do you remember in the past we were warned to be careful about being in debt because interest never stopped charging us, interest never slept, never took a day off, never took a holiday. Well the reverse is true, as well.
Is your money making money while you sleep? Does it sound too good to be true? Since we still live in the age of the interest, it’s not that difficult to earn extra money on the side.
With that in mind, here are 11 ways that you can actually earn money while you sleep.

1. Start a blog.
Perhaps the most popular way to earn a passive income is by launching your own blog. It only takes a couple of minutes to setup and is cheap to start - just purchase your domain name and pay for hosting.
After that, start creating amazing content that people would be interested in reading or sharing. For example, if you’re an accountant that has helped small business owners with their taxes, then that could be your blog. I personally have my invoicing blog to help customers know everything there is to know about invoicing. This draws thousands of signups a month.
Make sure the topics you write about are popular. If you still love your pet rock, I doubt there would be enough people visiting your our site to monetize it. But, you never know.
Once you’ve gained a following, you can start making money from of your blog by:
-Earning commissions as an affiliate. This is where you push other people’s products or services on your site. Make sure these products or services are relevant to your blog. For example, that accounting blog could become an affiliate for accounting or invoicing software. Once you find an affiliate partner you’ll be given a unique code so that whenever a visitor clicks that link on your site you’ll earn your commission.
-Sell-advertising. If you’re site has the traffic to become an affiliate, then it may also be good enough for advertisers to purchase ads on your site. You may start off small, like making under $20 per ad. But, you may eventually be able to charge triple digits. Again, you site must be quality.
-Find sponsors. This is slightly different than just selling ads on your site. Sponsorships may be a one-off piece of sponsored content or permanent logo embedded in your footer.

2. Sell your own information product.
If you’re knowledgeable in a certain area, then you can start creating products, such as eBooks or videos, and selling them on your blog. It may take a lot of work to create and market your products, but once all the leg work is over, you can just set back and collect the proceeds.

3. Earn royalties.
If you’re a talented musician, actor, or author, then you could earn royalties from your work. In other words people will pay you for using your work or creative assets.
If you aren’t talented enough, but still interested in earning royalties, then check out Royalty Exchange . It’s a marketplace where you can buy and sell royalties.

4. Create a membership community.
If you’ve proven yourself to be a authority figure, then you can create a membership community where you pay a monthly fee to receive additional high-quality content and information that’s not available to non-members.
One of my favorite examples is Timothy Sykes who makes more than $100,000 per month in passive income through his membership community which discusses how people can make money in trading penny stocks.

5. Install an autoresponder.
Another common online business model is using autoresponders to sell services, products or memberships. This is where people leave their email address on your site and then they’ll receive an automated email containing the link to download products or quality information you have to offer, as well as follow-up with a series of emails.
You’ll a need service like OptinMonster to make this possible. I also recommend you read this Quick Sprout guide to get started with autoresponders.

6. Flip websites.
If you’ve put in the time and effort in building a website and you have gained a lot of traffic, then you may be able to sell it to an interested party by listing on marketplaces like Flippa. I've bought and sold a lot of sites here and made a lot of money.

7. Sell physical products.
Just like with a blogging site, there are several ways to earn a passive income by selling physical products. Probably one of the best known ways is by selling your old junk on eBay. But even if you don’t have anything left to sell you can start drop shopping. This is where you sell products for a company on eBay or Amazon and they’ll take care of the rest - including shipping.
You can also launch your own eCommerce store by using Shopify. They literally give you everything you need to sell products online from a complete online shop to including buy buttons on your social media channels.

8. Invest in stocks or shares.
When you invest in stocks you become a stakeholder. That entitles you to a share of their profits. Investing in stocks has been a popular way to earn a passive income for years, and thanks to the internet, it’s easier than ever to research and invest in stocks on your own.
Keep in mind that the stocks you invest in can change throughout the various stages of life. For example, I look for investments that can benefit my daughter, such as a CA529 plan that will go towards her college tuition .

9. Peer-to-peer lending.
Companies like LendingClub , Propser , and Harmoney have created a new industry where anyone can become a lender. They will then match you with a consumer who either prefers or has trouble securing a loan from a bank. You can earn a higher interest rates on the loans you issued since you’re dealing directly with the borrower.

10. Rent out property.
Thanks to Airbnb, you can rent out your home while on vacation or your vacation home when not in use. You can also rent out your garage, parking space, or unused office space. It’s a nice supplemental income without really doing anything except placing an ad.

11. Hire a middleman.
This is also known as arbitrage and is basically where you have someone else do the work for you. For example, you could start a dog walking service or web design firm, but outsource the actual dog walking or coding to someone else. You’re much better doing anything except being the middleman who is in charge of marketing these services.

Source?- Entrepreneur.com

She Built an App Without Knowing How to Code - and Is Now a Millionaire

As a recent transplant to Seattle, Tara Reed was sitting in her new apartment, staring at the blank walls. “I’d started to get interested in fine art, and it struck me how annoying and labor-intensive it would be to find art I liked for my new place,” she says. “For food, music, fashion, movies, I could just tap an app and get a personal recommendation. But the fine-art world hadn’t caught up to that.” So, Reed, who now lives in Detroit, helped it catch up: She launched Kollecto.

“At first I thought it would be more service-­based, like video-chatting with an art adviser, but I overestimated how comfortable my customers would be talking about art,” she says. “You know what you like and don’t like, but that doesn’t mean talking to a professional isn’t scary.” Reed, who worked in marketing at Microsoft and Foursquare, didn’t know a lick of code, but she used a patchwork of existing tech to create a more comfortable way of shopping: It’s a (very nonjudgmental) bot that walks users through a survey, and offers curated selections of art based on their tastes.

Kollecto’s success led to a TEDx talk on helping other entrepreneurs build apps without code (and a consulting side gig that brings Reed’s net worth to just over $1 million). “A lot of people get stuck trying to build the perfect thing, but being scrappy and not coding a full app meant I could move faster, and I wasn’t afraid to make changes,” she says. “When people ask me for advice, I tell them: Get going. Chances are, you’ll have something wrong, but you won’t know until you test those assumptions with actions.”

credit – entrepreneur.com

MUST READ: LEAVE EVERYTHING YOU'RE DOING AND READ THIS IMPORTANT MESSAGE

A sick person in a hospital bed was visited by relatives. The patient was on an oxygen MACHINE and therefore couldn’t speak.
As they stood beside the bed, the patient took a pen and a piece of paper and wrote a note which he gave to one of the relatives who put it in his shirt pocket without reading and they continued with their conversation.

After a few minutes, the patient died. The relative later picked the note from his pocket to know what the dead man had written. And guess what! Sadly the note read..
“please move away from there, you have stepped on the oxygen pipe. I can’t breathe again , you are killing me”.
Lesson:

Do you postpone reading posts, ? Or do you ignore picking calls because you are already close to the caller. They might be helpful to you or to somebody… particularly at a most critical time.
Please pick your calls, read that note. NEVER POSTPONE ANYTHING.

The 6 Attributes Shared by Young Millionaires

Being a millionaire is very rare in our society. Many work their whole lives and never reach the status. Of course, they'll validate that any way they can, saying things like "I don't care about money," "Millionaires aren't happy," "I don't need that much money." I'm sure you can think of 30 others validations. You don't make a million by accident, and if it's not a goal you sure as hell won't hit it.
This article isn't about the money, it's about interrupting the belief system you currently have and propelling you toward real wealth. Here is what I've discovered over the past 10 years and the common themes you'll see in all Young Millionaires.

1.URGENCY
The best companies on the planet love young talent, they love those who are on purpose, and those with a sense of urgency to their life. Google is hiring more teenagers than college graduates, and even a 12-year-old who is just beginning high school.
Realize, now matters more than any other time, and the "someday isle" mentality is killing so many dreams. Opportunities are only opportunities if you're taking full advantage of them. Young millionaires always do, and they are consistently reaching for new goals and ambitions. You must have a sense of urgency that most of society doesn't have if you're serious about success.

2. Elevated Influence
Behind every young millionaire you'll find an educated and wise mentor. I have yet to meet any millionaires or billionaires who don't have mentors that guide them, challenge them, and focus them on thinking bigger. They understand deep down that it's impossible to grow, learn, and become the person needed to reach the million mark without an exceptional network behind you. Success rises and falls on who you associate with so make sure you stay aware of your surroundings. You can systematize a lot of things, but you can't systematize time so make sure you're always spending it with the right people.

3. Maximizing your Strength
One of my favorite Gary Vaynerchuk quotes of all time is "I suck at 99 percent of stuff, but I go all out on that 1 percent I'm good at."
We're conditioned by our teachers, peers, parents, uneducated coaches and everybody else pumped to give advice that you must "learn to work on your weaknesses," and "strengthen your weaknesses," but all young millionaires focus 100 percent on their best skills and strengths. They learn to surround themselves with people who compliment their weaknesses, or they delegate them. You'll never get wealthy focusing on things you aren't good at. What is your one thing? What can you become the best at? Now, once you master that area, and start producing real results, you can then move to something else. The jack of all trades is seldom exceptional at anything, and usually broke as well.

4. Never trade time for money.
Young Millionaires realize they'll never become wealthy trading time for money, and neither will you. It's ok for awhile, but at some point you have to focus on scaling and leverage.
One of the reasons entrepreneurship, network marketing, direct sales and internet businesses are growing exponentially is because of the endless possibilities and upside. It's not easy, and it takes risk, but you must see past the risk and focus on the rewards. Focus on the power of leverage and how to create consistent income without trading time for money. Investment properties, membership sites, building a brand, partnerships, affiliate marketing, different types of programs, etc. Take some time to really analyze if you're maximizing your time. If you are trading time for money make sure it's an intelligent trade.

5. They don't worry what others think of them.
You must drop the need to be liked if you want an extraordinary life. People who care what others think of them will always be limited to others opinions. You best believe Young Millionaires take very few opinions and have a extremely thick skin. They study how to be mentally tough .
When you pursue greatness don’t expect others to support you, because you’ll represent the courage, strength, and vision they don’t yet have. The remarkable innovator, Steve Jobs use to say “your time is limited so don’t waste it living somebody else's life.”
Young Millionaires trust their vision, and have an unshakable confidence in what they do, even when everyone else is doubting it. I challenge you to stay fearless in everything you do. The reason most don’t take risks, live on the edge or push the envelope is the fear of what others might think of them. If you want to live the life you truly deserve, one of significance and fulfillment you must give up the need to be liked by everybody.

6. Producer first, consumer second.
MJ Demarco in " The Millionaire Fast Lane," talks about the importance of being a producer first, and a consumer second. Here is an excerpt: "Applied, this means instead of buying products on TV, sell products. Instead of digging for gold, sell shovels. Instead of taking a class, offer a class. Instead of borrowing money, lend it. Instead of taking a job, hire for jobs. Instead of taking a mortgage, hold a mortgage. Break free from consumption, switch sides, and reorient to the world as producer. To consume richly, produce richly first. Unfortunately, most people have it backward: consumption and no production. Producers get rich. Consumers get poor. Switch teams and reorient as a producer first, a consumer second. Make wealth attracted to you!"

Those focused on building something bigger than themselves, and those on purpose, are always producing results, not consuming.
I challenge you to take these seriously, and become more intentional in all you do. Most people spend the first half of their lives saying they are too young, and the second half saying they're too old. The time is now, and there is no tomorrow for champions. This is the greatest time in human history for those who take 100 percent responsibility for their economic well being.
Credit. PETER VOOGD

Learn How To Learn

It's important to remain curious, constantly learning and moving forwards.


To be creative you have to always be learning and always trying to find ways to make learning an enjoyable game for yourself.

Knowledge is different from learning. Knowledge is a stockpile. It's a static accumulation. It is more important to learn than to know.


Learning is not about creating a store of knowledge. To learn, the mind has to be completely free. The mind cannot learn for a purpose. It has to explore in an open ended way.

The great English artist David Hockney constantly explored and learned new mediums. Hockney's early paintings of swimming pools in Los Angeles were in acrylic, a new painting medium. He worked with the new Polaroid camera's to produce photo collage's using many prints of a single subject to create a composite image. He drew with Quantel Paintbox, a computer program that allowed him to sketch directly onto the screen. At the age of 73 he created hundreds of portraits, still lives and landscapes using the IPhone and IPad.

You have to remain curious throughout your life, constantly learning, moving forwards and exploring new ground.

Learning calls for sensitivity and awareness to your interests, not slavish memorisation of information. The most important skill you can develop is to learn how to learn.

Copyright Rod Judkins. This article is based on a chapter from Change Your Mind: 57 Ways to Unlock Your Creative Self (link is external) by Rod Judkins

Are You Too Busy to Be Yourself?

People convince themselves they are important and worthwhile because they're busy. It's a modern problem: Everyone is rushing around but few are doing what they really want to.

Many people spend their lives hurrying about pleasing their boss or family but rarely themselves. They spend their lives racing, but however fast they go, they never seem to achieve anything.

It's a 21st century problem. Or is it?

"So it is: we are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill-supplied but wasteful of it…Life is long if you know how to use it," wrote Roman philosopher Seneca in his book On the Shortness of Life, written 2,000 years ago. It could have been written yesterday.

In modern life, busyness is a distraction from living. Many dutifully fulfill their obligations but fail to do anything truly worthwhile. Ancient Romans suffered exactly the same problem.

Seneca berates us for failing to see time as a valuable commodity. We value objects but squander our most valuable possession. He could be talking about contemporary life when he says, "For suppose you should think that a man had had a long voyage who had been caught in a raging storm as he left harbor, and carried hither and thither and driven round and round in a circle by the rage of opposing winds? He did not have a long voyage, just a long tossing about."

Busyness is as an addiction that prevents us from truly being ourselves, he believes. "No activity can be successfully pursued by an individual who is preoccupied…since the mind when distracted absorbs nothing deeply, but rejects everything which is, so to speak, crammed into it."

Seneca could be speaking directly to us: "Everyone hustles his life along, and is troubled by a longing for the future and weariness of the present. But the man who…organizes every day as though it were his last, neither longs for nor fears the next day."

It seems the world of ancient Rome and the modern city are identical in their ability to distract us from what we should really be doing—living our own lives in our own way.

Rod Judkins MA, RCA- Contributor

5 Great Ways to Kickstart Your Morning

A good day starts with a great morning ritual. One that consists of healthy habits, some quiet time for yourself and successful routines.

How you spend your morning is how you spend the rest of the day, and basically how you spend your whole life, as it is a series of days.

And if you manage to start each one with a few of the following, you're sure to have the life of the people you look up to – the great successful role models of our time that know how to be productive and are mindful of everything they do.

So here are the best things you can include in your morning ritual:

1. Get up early

It all starts here. It won't really matter what you're going to do first thing after getting up, if it's already noon and everyone else has got so much stuff done.

That's a keystone habit, a powerful one. It takes time, but it's worth it. Once you implement this every day, it will affect other habits – you'll have more energy, be more productive, go to bed earlier, find time for yourself, etc.

Also, there's something magical about the early hours of the morning. So use them in the best way possible.

 

2. Meditate

All you need to do is try to empty your mind for a few minutes.

Don't think too much about the position of your body, whether you've eaten before that or not, don't try too hard or try to control your thoughts.

Just relax, breathe deeply, let go of all your worries and leave what happened yesterday or what might happen today behind. Your goal is to stand still, enjoy the silence and focus on your breathing.

Do that each morning and soon you'll be able to keep that state for longer.

Meditation has a phenomenal effect on your mind and soul.

 

3. Write

Writing is a therapy. It's a beautiful experience where the mind wonders and you get to follow its journey by writing down the thoughts it gives birth to.

Here, you also need to just go with the flow. Write whatever comes first in your head and don't think about how it looks, whether you'll share it on your blog later, or if it needs editing.

Write your problems out. Share your secrets, dreams, desires and fears with a piece of paper. This way you'll get them out of your head and will clear your mind for the day.

Plus, you get to do that in the best time of the day – the early morning – when your mind is still not fully awake, and dares to think of unusual ideas and interesting scenarios.

 

 
4. Drink a glass of water with lemon

Most of the times our body just needs water, nothing else. And after sleeping for so many hours, it's dehydrated.

Give your immune system a boost and get some vitamins by adding lemon juice to it.

Lemon also alkalines your body very well which serves as a great way to keep the inflammation down.

You can also drink it warm.

This way you'll wake up the body pleasantly. It will feel great that you don't burden it with the usual dose of caffeine and will celebrate that by being fresh all day.

 

5. Figure out your MIT's.

Another thing highly productive people do is to decide which their most important tasks are in the morning, and then start working on them right away.

Choose 3 of them and stick to them until they are completed.

If you work without any distractions and really commit to that, you'll be proud to say that by noon you'll have finished more things (essential ones) than most people do for a whole day.

It will also become the driving force that will get you motivated to keep yourself busy with other important stuff, and thus you can soon master productivity.

It's not a coincidence that all successful people out there, who dare to follow their dreams and put effort into reaching their goals every single day, have habits like these.

It's what really works. But nothing can convince you more than trying it out for yourself.

That's the best way to kickstart your day, make the best of your morning and get ahead with what you want to achieve in life.

 

What other things can you add to this list?

This originally appeared on addicted2success.com-Lidiya K

10 Fearless Questions Every Successful Person Asks Themselves

You know what success means to you, you've set your goals for the year, and you're committed to making them happen.

Congratulations.

Or maybe you haven't done any of the above, but you still want to make 2015 your most successful year to date.

Whatever situation you are in, I've got ten tough questions you must ask yourself regularly over the next 12 months.

Let's get started before one of us loses our nerve:

 

1. Am I Harnessing the Power of Small Daily Wins?

It's difficult to accomplish a major personal or professional goal through a short bout of intense productivity. For example, if you want to write a book this year it's unlikely that you'll write this goal in a single week or even in a single month.

Instead, concentrate on progressing your goal a little every day. This way you'll be able to make steady but determined progress without burning out.

If you want to write a book, for example, commit to writing three hundred words every day. Three hundred words a day for 365 days is over 100,000 words, which is longer than most books.

2. What's On The Other Side of This Coin?

Achieving a big personal or professional goal is a satisfying feeling.

Last year, I wrote a book that I'd been planning for a long time. Self-publishing this book on Amazon was a pleasurable moment. Then, several weeks later I discovered I'd uploaded a version of the book that didn't include the correct chapter headings.

Although I was able to fix this error, the idea that I'd released a sub-standard version of my book, which people bought, hurt me. Now, I realise the pleasure of publishing is connected to the pain of learning from a mistake like this.

3. Am I Outside of My Comfort Zone?

I may be in the minority here, but I love January. The New Year is a time for looking forwards, not backwards.

If you follow familiar routines and habits and pursue last year's experiences, you will have an easier life but you'll also get the same results. That's fine if you're happy with your progress, but most successful people want to push themselves beyond past accomplishments.

Successful writers constantly force themselves to get outside of their comfort zone by writing in new genres, by setting more demanding deadlines and by reaching out to larger audiences. Stephen King, for example, wrote for several years under the pen name Richard Bachman.

4. Have I Meditated Today?

Like you, I'm obsessed with the habits of successful people. Almost every master I've read about or studied practises meditation in one form or another. The benefits of meditation are many.

Some high-profile individuals who practice meditation in one form or another include the self-help guru Tony Robbins, blogger Leo Babauta of Zen Habits and even Ellen DeGeneres.

If you're struggling to bake meditation into an already busy day, concentrate on building a habit of meditating for just three minutes. If you can't spare three minutes, you probably need to ask bigger questions about how you spend your time.

 

5. Have I Marked My Accomplishments?

Successful people take time to mark their key accomplishments. Several blogs I'm a member of occasionally send an email to their list when they've hit a milestone. These emails make me (and the other readers) feel like part of their community.

If you want to become a writer, for example, you could mark the first time you publish an article. If you want to set up an online business, you could mark the launch of your website. If you want to become an early riser, you could mark the first time you get up at your desired time five days in a row.

You don't have to mark your accomplishments publicly, but it is helpful to quietly acknowledge these moments with a friend or family member and thank those who helped you.

 

6. Have I Forgiven My Failures?

Welcome to the other side of the coin.

There's as much to learn from failure as there is from success, but it's dangerously easy to get up hung up on the past. And sometimes there's a perverse satisfaction in playing a tape of old memories where people wronged you, got in your way, and stopped you from achieving your goals.

If you're struggling to break free from negative past experiences, try keeping a journal and documenting your anger, your resentments and your failures. Then, when you're finished writing your journal, leave these negative experiences there where they belong, and move forwards with your day.

 
7. Is it Time for a Re-invention?

Author John Le Carre says,

"I am still making order out of chaos by reinvention."

I was a failed journalist, I was let go from a dream job, I worked in the wrong career for years. These experiences brought moments of chaos into my life, but they also gave me a chance to start a new phase of my life, whether by choice or necessity.

Ronald Regan was an actor before he became president. Gandhi was a lawyer in South Africa before he became India's political and spiritual leader. And the rest of us who are working today, will have to change careers at least five times in our lifetimes.

If you're just experienced the loss of a job or the failure of a business idea, take stock of the lessons you gain from these experiences. Yes these moments are confusing, but they are also an opportunity for tremendous personal growth.

8. Is This Task Written Down (in a list)?

I love lists. This blog post is a list. One of the most popular blog posts on Addicted2Success is a list. And if you want to become more productive and achieve your goals this year, you must use the power of lists.

David Allen is a huge proponent of getting ideas out of your head and onto a list. He writes, "It's critical that your full psychic attention be available for the work at hand."

When the tasks you've got to complete aren't rattling around in your head, you will be free to write, to create, to work on your business and to create the kind of life you've always imagined.

 

9. How is My Grasp?

There's saying in zen, that you should "hold things lightly."

The world is in a constant state of change, and we have far less control over our environment and what happens to us than any of us like to admit.

Don't become too attached to an idea of yourself, to a project that you're determined to finish, to a habit or to a way of doing things.

When you hold things lightly, you are better prepared to adapt and re-adjust when your business needs a redirection, when a habit has become unhelpful or when something there's a crisis in your personal life.

 

10. Am I Prepared?

Abraham Lincoln said,

"Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

Now there was a man he knew the value of preparation.

We can't all be as successful as Lincoln but we can learn from him.

Each Sunday, I conduct weekly review. I plan the blog posts I'm going to write in advance, I review the ideas I have for new articles and I update my To Do lists. This weekly review gives me clarity and purpose when I sit down to write during the rest of the week.

Take time today to plan ahead for the following week. Ask what resources you need for your current projects, what projects you're neglecting, and if there's anything you're overlooking.

Do this and you will save the pain and frustration of working on the wrong things at the wrong time.

 

Be Brave

Each one of these ten questions has the potential to open up a hundred other questions about how your spend your time and where you're going. Questions are troublesome like that.

If you're feeling overwhelmed, don't worry.

What I want to get across to you is the importance of taking a moment out of every day, every week and every month, and reviewing what you're doing, where you're going and why.

I want you to look success in the eye this year, I want you to hold its gaze, and I want you to get what your really want.

Are you brave enough?

 

Leave a comment below and let me know how you go with these questions.