The dawn of a season

“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending” ~ Carl Bard. Take heart and give way to the new season. This is my first article for this New Year since my website was hacked. Time flies and waits for no one. Whether you like it or not time will not wait for you. We have just been ushered into a new season and it is still the right time to start afresh or build up on the gains achieved from the past season. If you are like me and like to set goals please go ahead and set them. Set this season as the turning point that will see you grow in your weakest areas of your life.

In order to grow you must obtain what is necessary for your growth but, as you are at all times a complete thought entity, this completeness makes it possible for you to receive only as you give; growth is therefore conditioned on reciprocal action just the same as like attracts like. The challenge for you this year is to obtain what is necessary for your growth; stop those detrimental habits; build on your business skills; improve on interpersonal relationships; improve on your reading habits and grow spiritually.

The challenge

“How you respond to the challenge in the second half will determine what you will become after the game, whether you are a winner or loser” ~ Lou Holtz. Think for a moment, what you would be if you were not a husband or wife, father or mother, or brother or sister, if you were not interested in the social, economical, political or religious world. What then would you be? Think about what you were last year; how much you achieved; and how much more you did not achieve; do you want to stay in the same position or do you want to climb the ladder of self-improvement or would you rather take a few steps backwards? The choice is yours.

The challenge therefore, for me is to find the right combination and balance of tools or rather characteristics for a more fulfilling personality. The target should be to find the ingredient’s necessary for my growth. In order to grow I must then, obtain what is essential for my growth. My growth then is dependent on what I take in. Remember first that all growth is from within. Since all growth is from within it is therefore, my responsibility to feed on the right material that will help me grow.

For me to ensure that I reach the optimum growth levels for this year I must make sure that I develop the right mental attitude. This will mean a constant renewal of my mind. I must make a deliberate policy to buy and read self-improvement and development materials. It will also mean that I need to focus more on the positive things in life.

Manage your thoughts

It is very amazing to know that all things in the world began as a thought. Even at creation I believe that, God must have first thought before speaking. The saying “as a man thinks so is he in is heart” holds water for me. You always produce what you think. Your outside world is a true reflection of your inside world. If you think cheap you come out cheap. If you set your mind on mediocrity you get exactly that and vice versa. I can challenge you that nothing in this world has ever been invented without first being conceived as a thought or an idea by someone. I have noticed that the world has a way of giving us back what we predominantly harbour as thoughts. If your thoughts are mostly negative news, you are sure to get the negative.

This then makes me realize that one of the most important tools we have as human beings is the mind which is the thinking organ. If you can control what thoughts you harbour believe me you are destined to achieve greatness. In this new season I challenge you to start learning how to control and manage your thoughts.

Be proactive and not reactive

The human nature is that of being reactive. Meaning we always wait for the situation to happen and then react after wards. This means that most of the time we are firefighting. That is the difference between successful individuals and those of us that are struggling with life. If you want to be ahead you must be proactive and not reactive. I used to be like this and I can confess that this firefighting syndrome has not completely gone away from me. The best way to handle life is to be prepared for every eventuality. To be proactive is to take measures in advance for an event that will occur including the unexpected.

Like I said this is a new season and with it comes a new tide of everything. The challenge this season is to build on the little gains achieved for being proactive and not reactive. I want to believe that being reactive is a sign of laziness and no lazy person can be successful.

Conclusion

As per tradition for me every New Year is a new season and I always make resolutions and set goals for it. This is one of the best tools I use to measure my progress towards reaching my personal development goals. I hope and trust that you have formulated goals for yourself to keep you going. Bye for now and remember to always “standout tall and be counted”.