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Adding Value

Adding Value: Challenge Yourself by Henry Ukazu

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Dear Friends,

Life is all about challenges, and every day we get one form of challenge or another. Whether you like it or not, you’ll surely get challenges. Challenges come from different shapes and sizes. The challenge can be personal or professional. The challenge can arise from either family, school, social, financial emotional, or even mental situations. In fact, dealing with challenges is a challenge on its own because it can be tasking. But I strongly believe every problem has a solution. What makes the difference is how you handle the challenge. Challenges can be likened to doors. In the same vein, problems are doors, they will never open unless you have the right set of key(s).

Let’s be honest, we all have at least one or two bad habits we’d like to ditch.

Every challenge that comes to you is a test to your mental and social capacity. Regardless of how the challenge comes, the ball is your court to address it, and how you address it will make the difference.

What really is challenging yourself and how do you challenge yourself?

Challenging yourself can mean different things to different people. The most insightful way of challenging yourself is to do better by not remaining in the same position. During the course of this article, we shall be discussing how we can challenge ourselves.

Leave Your Conform Zone

One of the best ways of challenging yourself is by leaving your your comfort zone. It’s always hard to bring change. Ideal change starts within. Leaving your comfort zone can mean taking worthy risk after exploring all options. If it works well for you, good, even it falls below expectation, you learn from the experience. In any case, there’s no harm in trying.

Improve Yourself

Success is not a destination, rather it is a journey. On a daily basis, one must strive to add value to his/her life. For example, you can decide to learn a new language, a new skill, a new trade, attend a seminar or even do an exercise on a daily basis, write a story, poem, a book, and network with people, travel. You can even decide to wake up early and do some work. These are great and resourceful ways of challenging yourself to do better. Be advised, if something doesn’t challenge you, then it doesn’t change you. You can even kick out bad habits by resisting the temptation of watching unproductive movies by going to bed early and meditating instead of watching

Overcome Your Fears

Living in fear is one of the most deadly and sad ways to live. A lot of people die before their death. This set of individuals are always apprehensive and scared of what might happen to them if their expectations are not met. No doubt we all experience fears in one way or the other, but living in fears can be likened to accepting defeat. A great way of overcoming your fears is by facing your fears. Are you afraid of failing, driving, and speaking up, marrying? If any of the answers is no, then you still have some hurdles to cross on your path to self-discovery.

Attend one career-related seminar a month

You can challenge yourself by taking a class on a career-related job. Every employer loves an employee who takes time to improve himself/herself on the job. Don’t settle for your current job position. Aim high in your career. Book conferences that are relevant to the industry of your profession. There, absorb the lesson.

Spend Less

As human beings, we are always in the habit of spending to get our wants and needs. However, a prudent way of spending is by spending on your needs and not wants. You can do this by prioritizing. Make a realistic budget and find out how you can cut back on something so you can invest more. Challenge yourself to step out of your current budget and develop a better budget for yourself. Money management is not about what you make – it’s what you do with what you make. Setting a savings goal can definitely be a challenge, and an especially uncomfortable one if it means cutting your spending to reach your goal. But in the long run, you’ll be so glad you challenged yourself in this way.

Exercise Daily

You don’t need to go to the gym to exercise. You can exercise at the comfort of your home. A simple 9-minute run around your neighborhood or an intense dance routine done in your living-room can do wonders for yourself. Aside from the obvious reason that exercise can help you maintain your regular weight or shed those unnecessary pounds, it can also aid in making you feel better about yourself by releasing endorphins. Exercise also helps you to focus well when you meditate rightly.

Start Small

A good way of challenging yourself is by starting small. The journey of a thousand miles begins with the right single step in the right journey.  That said, the best way is to start with small steps and put yourself in an uncomfortable situation. For example, if you plan to read a book every month, you can start by reading a page daily and them grow from there. In the same way, if you plan to write a book or do any productive task, you can challenge yourself by starting small nor matter how little it is.

In conclusion, challenging yourself entails, doing better than you were yesterday, last month, a year or even a decade. However, the best form of challenge is challenging yourself as opposed to competing with another person. You can do healthy completion, but don’t try to imitate another person. Run Your race!

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success. He can be reached via henrous@gmail.comnry Ukazu

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Adding Value

Adding Value: You Attract What You Like by Henry Ukazu

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Dear Destiny Friends,

“Your energy is in your currency. You attract what you are.”

We are all familiar with the saying, your network determines your networth. This is a fact because we attract what we give out. If one gives out love, they will receive love; if one dishes out negative energy and hatred, they are bound to receive negative energy and hatred. Life is literally a computer – garbage in, garbage out. Unfortunately, most people, who want to receive are not willing to give.

Moral: It is the energy and vibe we put out there that the universe gives us in return.

It should be noted that no one gives what they don’t have. If anyone wants to receive money, let him learn to give. Giving does not only entail giving money, but you can also give your time; you can share your food or gift, and assist people and volunteers. All these acts are channels of receiving.

One of the best ways of attracting people into your life is by being intentional and deliberate in what you do, and how you do them. Anybody that wants to be in your life, has a reason. For instance, if you share information about politics, health, academics, empowerment, religion, entertainment among others on social media, the people who love such information will be drawn to you.

Generally, nobody will associate with you just because you are a person; there must be a reason they like you, and want to be associated with you. If they don’t see value or prospects in you, they won’t associate with you. It’s just human nature.

Anybody in your life is there for a reason, and that explains why it’s advisable to be authentic in what you share both on social media and in real life. Whatever you share must reflect what you represent. So, when you fake your true personality, the real people who are suppose to assist or associate with you will be totally detached from you, leaving enough room for fake people, who are supposed to be far from you, to gain access. It is important to note that the algorithm on social media has been customized in such a way that it is what you like and comment on that the algorithm will bring to your attention.

Even with human relationships, one must be intentional on how they engage with people. Isn’t it true therefore that like attracts like. If you like soccer, music, education or fashion, it’s natural that people involved in similar professions will be attracted to your life.

To attract what you really want therefore, you must work or associate with people you like or aspire to be like. For instance, if you want to achieve your goals, then you must think, act and feel like a person who achieves your goals, and this can only work if you have the right mindset and attitude to life.

Again, to attract the right things into your life, one must practice the law of attraction, which basically means your feelings, thoughts and mindset must be in alignment. The impact of our thoughts and feelings has been the reason most people act the way they do. Positive thoughts and feelings attract positive experiences, while negative thoughts and feelings attract negative experiences.

Affirmation helps to attract blessings and opportunities. However, most people don’t know or understand the power of affirmation and how it works. The theory is very simple: if you think you are beautiful, you are beautiful, if you think you can do a particular thing, you can do it. On the other hand, if you think you can’t do it, you won’t be able to do it. It’s what you believe that will come to you.

Affirmations are positive statements that you repeat to yourself to help you achieve your goals. They can help you build your self-esteem, in addition to staying motivated in life. Affirmations work like magic. Just say it and believe in it. It will work out for you. If you wish to achieve any goal that is proving difficult, say to yourself, ‘I can achieve success; I will achieve my goals, I will l achieve success’. If you are lacking anything or need something, say, ‘I attract success and abundance into my life’. Affirmations are spiritual powers.

Affirmations work with the spiritual faith. If you believe in a god, deity, idol or inanimate object, they will work for you; if you believe in pills, ministers of God, herbal drinks – they will also work for you. Your belief factor is critical to your success in life.

Affirmations work with the mindset. There was a story about an old woman, who was sick. His son, who is a medical doctor, advised her to take a pill, she refused and requested an injection, but her son advised otherwise saying, a pill will work well for her. The woman said she sees people who normally come to the clinic, and he gives injections and they get better. All efforts to make her take the pill failed.

The son observed that his mother’s health was not getting any better, and he decided to insert water into the syringe and inject his mother. Guess what, in three days time, his mother became hale and hearty.

The moral of this story is that your belief factor is powerful. It’s what we believe that works for us. According to Dr. Yomi Garnett, “resolve to think about the best thoughts, work for them and expect the best results. Again, it is what you believe that will work for you.

In conclusion, your thoughts and mindset are powerful tools in attracting what you like. This is because everything you attract on the outside is a reflection of who you are on the inside.

The question one needs to ask himself therefore, is, what energy am I putting out there?

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator.  He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny and Unleash Your Destiny.  He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

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Adding Value

Adding Value: Being a Blessing is Good Business by Henry Ukazu

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Dear Destiny Friends,

It is universally believed that the joy of life does not consist of how happy one is, but how happy others can be because of them.

We live in a society where empathy, genuine love, patience, selfless service, and kindness are lacking. This is simply because most of us have lost our human nature, and as such completely drained of human conscience. We fail to understand that we are blessed to be a blessing to others.

It’s instructive to note that circumstances don’t say who you, they reveal who you are. One of the many ways to identify a real human being is to observe how they spend their time, money, and resources. When you become a blessing, you will use all you have in your possession to bless others. As a mentor, supervisor, manager, parent, employer, teacher or professor, you can counsel the younger generation. This is a clarion call for everyone to please use their position to help those who are beneath your capacity.

The highest form of blessing however, is to show appreciation to your creator, and this is done by blessing other people with your gift and talent. According to Hans Urs von Balthasar, “what you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.” You need to continually ask yourself, what will I do to be a blessing to others?

It is sad to see people who didn’t really believe they will receive fortune and opportunities in life acting like god when they become blessed. They forget their humble beginnings.

Being a blessing to others comes in different ways. You can be a blessing with your service, gift, time, words, resources, and many more. The world is in dire need of kind and selfless people who are authentic in their deeds as opposed to people who are good because of the favours and opportunities they will receive.

Did you know your destiny is tied to many people? This is because when you become a success, many people will begin to identify with you. This is why it is imperative for you to succeed. So anytime you feels like giving up, remember and consider the people who are depending on you.

Doing good is a habit that is not prevalent in contemporary times due to prevailing wickedness in today’s world. In fact, good people are not celebrated in our society. They tend to receive backlash because they are not following the bandwagon. We literally live in a wicked generation!

According to Dr. Yomi Garnett, a celebrated ghost writer, “Do all the good you can by all means you can, in all ways you can, in every place you can, at all times you can, to everyone you can, as long as you can. Count that day lost in which you have not done something good for another person.”

Doing good is not limited to giving someone money. Only myopic see financial assistance as the only means of doing good. We need to kick against the idea of using financial assistance to judge if someone is good or not. Did you know that there are things money cannot buy. For instance, there are people, who can give you loyalty, time, honesty, value among others, which are literally more than money. It’s only ignorant and myopic minds that appreciate money more than loyalty. Note that if the only thing you have is money, you are poor.

The good thing about doing good is that it comes back to you in ways and manners you cannot understand. Whether you are at work, at home, school or public space, show people love and kindness, in any little way you can.

According to a former American President, Benjamin Franklin, whenever you are in a public space, “be civil to all; sociable to many; familiar with few; friend to one”.

Moral: Being good costs less unlike being bad which takes a lot of negative energy.

It should be noted as well that you don’t need to have a lot to share with people or act to be good. Just be good because it is good to be good. Most people are good because of a condition or situation that has happened to them. But that shouldn’t be the case. According to Chidimma Kalu, “Don’t treat people as bad as they are, treat them as good as you are.”

There are many blessings that come to one when one becomes a blessing to others. Isn’t it true that givers never lack, and the giver’s hand always remain on top while the receiver’s hand is always below.

There’s a certain kind of joy that comes to one when one decides to show love and favour on someone else. On a personal note, whenever I give, there’s a kind of joy and feeling that always comes to my spirit. In most cases, I feel fulfilled.

Do you know it is a privilege and honour to bless others? When God gives you an opportunity to bless others, please grab it. It’s not right when you detach yourself from blessing others. Always remember what goes around comes around.

Whenever you see yourself in a position to help others, no matter how little it is, please judiciously cease the opportunity. By doing so, you are accumulating more blessings to yourself. But, when you fail to do the needful, the creator of heaven and earth can take you off the position and replace you with another person.

In conclusion, being a blessing to others is a privilege one must be grateful for. It is an opportunity to serve.

So, the question to ask yourself is, how can I be a blessing to someone today?

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator.  He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny and Unleash Your Destiny.  He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

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Adding Value

Adding Value: The Need to Add Value to Yourself by Henry Ukazu

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Dear Destiny Friends,

No one likes a liability. No one wishes to be a liability. These are undisputable facts in our contemporary society. As a result, anyone without a value is considered an anathema in the scheme of affairs. He can neither help himself nor someone else.

Regardless of how one sees life, value is at the centre of any assistance programmed to or fro any productive mind. Most persons, who need assistance, however, find it difficult to show a genuine reason such assistance should be rendered to them. It is worthy of note that most resourceful and selfless leaders who empower entrepreneurs, donate to Non-Government Organizations and support worthy causes, do it because they see value in the work. The reason is not farfetched: it is easy to build on existing foundation as opposed to breaking new ground without any track record.

Without a iota of doubt, free lunch is not guaranteed anywhere, and a good number of generally put their mouths where their money is, except one percent of the most celebrated people. Only selfless people who can support without any form of attachment are on rare occasions open to valueless adventure. These set of people can support someone who can’t pay them for the service or opportunity. It is pro bono opportunity.

Even at that, anyone who wishes to assist another generally has a reason for doing so; if for nothing else, at least they believe the creator will reward and favour them.

What therefore, is value? Value can be defined as the importance, worth, or usefulness of something. It can also be seen as a person’s principles or standards of behaviour. From another angle, it can also be the monetary worth of a commodity or property. Just like we all have different taste buds, value means different things to different people. What Mr. A appreciates might be what Mr. Be detests. Value is indeed priceless and, in some cases, it cannot be estimated.

However, Value in this context, means offering a service or selling a product.

As a Human Capacity coach with expertise on self-discovery, most times I come across youths and career professionals who need opportunity to thrive. Sometimes, I see people begging for money, sometimes, I see people who would like to meet their idol (mentor, celebrity, benefactor, etc.), but they don’t know how to navigate the process.

Each time I come across such people, I ask them several questions like, who are you? What’s your talent/gift? What can you do with relative ease? What makes you happy? If you are told, don’t work again in your life, what will you do with your time? What kind of causes are you passionate about? All these questions are targeted at knowing what the person likes to do, and what brings fulfilment to him.

What uninformed minds don’t understand is that one can literally get anything he wants in life if he know hows to cultivate his value.

For instance, anyone, who wishes to meet an influential person, must in the first step know what that person likes. He must come to terms with the fact that the person supports any of the causes relating to education, good governance, youth, health, women empowerment, sports, etc. It will be wise to know how your value can play a role in alleviating the problem or challenges that sector or cause is experiencing and see how you can solve the problem by adding value to the sector.

Hear this:

When you know the value you offer, and how to present the value to the desired people, the world will resonate with your service. The reason most people are poor is simply because they are not solving the right problem for the right people. One of the major reasons most people are neglected is because they don’t have any substantial value to offer. When you have value, people will generally be attracted to you.

In my personal relationship with the high and mighty in the society, I have discovered that nobody is too busy to pick your call or respond to your message. If they don’t pick your call instantly or respond to your message, they always find time to revert when you are a person of value to them. Your goal is to be sugar that ants will naturally be attracted to.

Proper use of value can attract wealth, opportunities, and relevance. When you know your value, you won’t be priced cheap. Most of the great people the world has celebrated have either been able to make a great impact in the world or solved a problem with their value. It should be noted that no value is higher or has more relative importance than another.

If you can sing, dance, teach, write, act or draw, you can literally use it and get whatever you need. I strongly believe that any day you discover your gift, that’s the day you become a millionaire. It should be noted that talent is not enough to make one valuable; hard work should also play a role. In addition, a progressive mind must endeavour to hone their talents by seeking ways to improve themselves because we live in a competitive world.

If you are in the academic space, continuous education should be your friend. If you are in the training space, taking certification classes should be your friend. If you are in the entertainment industries, getting theoretical knowledge should be your ally. All these added benefits help to add value to your life. Sometimes, it’s the extra work you do that adds value to your life or craft that makes you valuable and priceless because of the experience you have acquired.

Value can either be in the form of a product or service. A cursory look at the Forbes list of billionaires, will reveal that all the billionaires on the list either have a product or service they are offering to the world.

Sometimes, price is used to know the value a commodity possesses. The price of a Toyota Camry is different from a Mercedes Benz, Lamborghini, Tesla, Bentley, BMW, Cadillac, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lexus, Lincoln, Porsche, etc.

Do you know your value can be used to determine your expertise in a particular field? Your expertise does not have to be related to a degree or years of experience. Your expertise can come from your unique perspective or approach to your craft, your knowledge of your industry or a particular field career due to your gift or talent you pose.

When you know your value, your next big target will be to use your value to solve a problem in order to be compensated. Your value is not meant to be a hobby, rather, it should be horned for the service of humanity. You must understand the market to know how to market your value.

In conclusion, as you sojourn through life, endeavour to seek ways to add value to your life. Whether you are single, married, an entrepreneur, career professional, skilled or worker, the more value you have, the more opportunities, resources and relevance you will attract. This is simply because we live in a competitive economy. Nobody is indispensable in life. Never believe you are the best because somebody somewhere is competing for your position.

Isn’t it true therefore, that it’s easier to get first position, but more difficult to remain in first position? Hence the reason one should endeavour to continually improve himself by getting additional value.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator.  He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny and Unleash Your Destiny.  He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

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