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Adding Value

Adding Value: Keep Working on Yourself by Henry Ukazu

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Dear Destiny Friends,

“Your next level requires transformation” – Germany Kent

I believe it will be in order if I say compliments of the season. The year is gradually coming to an end, and it is imperatively important we take time to examine how we fared in 2022. Though we have less than two weeks to wrap up the year, I strongly believe we can still make great impacts in our personal and professional lives.

While some businesses are winding up, some businesses are still sending proposals, working on already existing proposals, and exploring opportunities. Regardless of the setbacks, challenges and rejections you may have after investing time and money in a project, it’s instructive to note that, in the journey of life, you must not give up hope until you give up the ghost. If you feel like giving up hope, imagine a soccer match or basketball competition. Any team can spring up surprises until the final whistle is blown. What is the interesting thing about this analysis?  In life you must work on yourself if you desire to see any progress.

Working on yourself means different things to different people. As a health expert, it can be eating healthy and staying hydrated. It also requires quitting bad habits such as smoking and/or drinking. As a student, it requires you going the extra mile by reading, researching, sleeping late and waking up a little bit early. As an entrepreneur, it requires thinking out of the box. As a professional, it requires taking professional and certification courses.

As an individual, the best thing you can do for yourself is to work on yourself. Working on yourself could be learning a new skill, getting education, and adding value to yourself. One of the best things that can happen to any progressive being is to work on himself. Couple of years ago, I discovered the benefit of working on myself. Having studied the lifestyle of successful people, I discovered that when you work on yourself, the opportunities that will come to you will be priceless. For instance, when I began to create content online with my articles, books, videos, quotes, workshops, etc., via social media, I discovered my social currency began to increase.

It is instructive to note that it is better to work harder on yourself than to work harder on your job. This is because when you work on yourself, you are invariably working on your job because you are adding value to yourself. Don’t get it twisted, working harder on your job is good because it might be paying the bill. But the point I want to emphasize is that when you work on your job, you earn a living, but when you work on yourself, you earn a fortune.

Most people think life revolves around their job. No matter how much you are paid on a job; it can’t be as satisfying as the reward you’ll get when you innovate a product. To work on yourself; after your day’s job, go back home and ask yourself, what can I do to increase my income, market value, investment, etc. When you answer that question, you will begin to learn new skills, it could be a language, develop a product, business, service or even networking with resourceful minds. All these help to add value to your life, and it will in turn increase your value.

When you add value to your life, it will attract people to you and when people are attracted to your value, they will appreciate you by paying you for the problem you are solving or the service you are providing. It is pertinent to note that one of the most motivating values in the world is progress. You can only progress when you work on yourself by adding value to your life. It is worthy of note that people will only pay you for the value they perceive of you and the value you present to them.

According to Dr. Lucas D. Shallua, “You influence others better by working on yourselves to grow and add your own value; others will see what you have become and be attracted by what they see and observe.”

Working on yourself requires a lot of sacrifice. It will require you to eliminate what is working and what is not working. To add value to your life, you must endeavor to learn something new everyday, week, or month. It could be cooking, taking an online class, or even seeking mentors.

The benefits of working on yourself are priceless. It will increase your value at the workplace; it will enhance your personal growth and relationship. To do this, you must surround yourself with people who want to see you do well.

In conclusion, endeavor to add value to yourself if you desire to go far in life.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker, youth advocate and creative writer. 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 and President of gloemi.com. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com 

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Adding Value

Adding Value: How Choice Affects Your Life by Henry Ukazu

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Dear Destiny Friends,

One of the greatest strengths of a rational being is the freedom to do whatever they want. That’s a fact! But one thing is sure, and that is actions have consequences. Even at creation, Adam and Eve were given instruction to eat any fruit except a particular tree, but they disobeyed, ate the forbidden fruit, and were thrown out of the garden of Eden.

This simply means that as a human being, one is responsible for his own actions and omissions. Sometimes, we blame people as being responsible for our failures and mistakes, not realizing that nobody will insult your permission.

I have come to the realization that choice plays a fundamental role in our lives. The way we speak, the way we write, the way we dress, and the way we live our lives are all products of our choices. Before we eat a particular meal or even wear an outfit, we have several options. Before we serve any deity, we make a choice, and though there may be a level of external influence, we still have a role to play in the final outcome.

In recent times, I have developed the eyes of the eagle at looking at life from a vantage position. Anything I want, I strategically sit down and make strategic arrangements which will include what I need to do and what I need to deviate from. These are products of being intentional with our choices.

One of the greatest choices we’ll make as human beings is the choice of, who we will marry and how our life will become. I say this because we are the architect of our life. If you are intentional, how you live your life matters. This also entails the kind of jobs we do and the services we offer. They all define us in one way or another.

Some people are so intentional with their life that they make so much sacrifices spiritually, academically, financially, socially and even with personal development. They know what they want, and dare to go after it no matter whose ox is gored.

While they were intentional to plan their life by making sacrifices, some people are busy living their lives to the fullest and turns around to seek assistance from the person who has planned his existence. Life doesn’t work that way.

Just to let you know how decisive choice can be in the life of a progressive mind, consider President Donald Trump, who grew up to become a successful billionaire and two-term President. His brother, Fred Trump Jr., was an alcoholic who never managed to find success. It is interesting to know that they both have the same biological father and mother. They had the same upbringing, same school, but they had different outcomes. President Trump was intentional with his life and maybe his brother made a bad choice, or he was unintentional with this life.

The moral here is that we need to quit the blame game because we are the architect of our life.  “Nobody” really owes us anything. Any favor we get from people is an act of gesture and not entitlement.

So, do yourself a favour, stop blaming your parents or anyone for how your life turned out! It is not your upbringing or genes that make you a success or failure. It is the choices you make in life that make or break you. You can decide to take ownership of your life and change the course of your life for the better.

There are numerous people who have transformed their lives from negative to positive. It’s all about determination and making the right choices.

The choice we make as human beings can either make or mar us. As a man, if you are mischievous in sleeping around, with different women, attending night clubs with several women, spending lavishly without being prudent, it won’t be long before poverty locates you.

Today, I charge you to sit down, and reflect on what kind of life you want to live and begin to intentionally work on it by making the right choices. I look forward to seeing you at the top.

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 Design  and Unleash Your Destiny .  He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

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Adding Value

Adding Value: Stretch Yourself by Henry Ukazu

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Dear Destiny Friends,

Anyone who intends to go far in life must be intentional in stretching himself, and that explains why the importance of stretching oneself cannot be overemphasized. Nobody will assist anyone when they are not intentional in helping themselves. Someone’s ability to convince others of how passionate and dedicated they are concerning a given cause, position or project, is one of the weapons of inspiration that draws assistance. There aren’t many out there that stumbles into investing help where there’s no passion or dedication to a cause.

I will be sharing a personal, but practical experience that inspired this article with a background in my spiritual leader, Evangelist Ebuka Anozie Obi’s statement that, “I’m not preaching about Jesus Christ I heard, but I am talking about Jesus Christ I have personally experienced”. This statement captured my thoughts and mindset about this article.

In recent times, I have discovered the importance of being practical when writing or living generally. For instance, I got the inspiration to write this article a week ago when I visited the gym at my workplace. I was literally amazed to see the transformation that has taken place in my life.

The sad reality of life is most people want to go to heaven, but they are not willing to die. This means that a lot of people want to be celebrated, they are not willing to do the needful. How can people support you when you are not making an effort to succeed? Sometimes, ignorant minds want their benefactors, mentors or even destiny helpers to fasttrack their opportunities, but they are not willing to learn or do the associate work.

It’s instructive to note that your benefactors are not the lamb of God, who takes aways the sins of the world. They won’t do the work for you, rather, they will put the icing on the cake after the progressive minds must have done 90% of the work. This is just the reality of life.

Let me share a practical experience with you, I have a resourceful mentor with global influence. When my first book was ready for publication, I reached out to him to write the foreword, and he was glad. According to him, I have done something he has been willing to do for about 20 years. He was literally impressed to see my thoughts and efforts birthed into reality. The interesting thing about the success of my first book is that the book took me to New York Times, News12 in New York, United Nations in addition to introducing me to resourceful minds globally.

Imagine if I had not taken time to stretch myself, I wouldn’t have attained this height. That’s why I said, when you stretch yourself a little bit, there are bound to be opportunities and experiences that will come your way.

There was a recurrence of thesame experience when I incorporated my business, Global Empowerment and Mentoring Initiative, which helps uninformed youths and career professionals in self-discovery. Since forming the company, I have received invitations from resourceful minds, corporate organizations and contracts from the governments for training opportunities. I have also developed programs from my book and business. All this was made possible because I stretched myself.

Stretching oneself is not only limited to expanding one’s capacity, it also extends to expanding one’s mind. You can do this by reading and researching. It’s sad to know that many people find it hard to read and in fact, it is stated, if one wants to hide information from people, put it in a book because many people find it hard to read.

As human beings, we have an instructional need to stretch oneself. When we stretch ourselves, we’ll be surprised to see the level of opportunities we can attract to our careers, lives, and personal development. Stretching oneself is like taking risk, one will never know what to expect when one stretches oneself, but one thing is certain, we shall gain a new perspective and experience of life.

No great person has ever achieved success without stretching a bit further. They do this by taking unconventional paths which involve taking risks, taking certification courses, attending relevant events of interest, networking and learning from resource minds like mentors. All these are great ways of learning.

As a cultured Nigerian man, we have an adage that says, there’s no perfect time for one to learn, rather when an elderly person is speaking, a child who is there will pay attention. What does that mean? It simply means, when one stretches oneself, no one knows where the next opportunity will pop out.

For instance, when a recent graduate with a good grade, starts an entry level job, it might not necessarily be the grade that will secure the job, though it may contribute. It may surprise you to know that it may be your skills, extra work you have done or potentials that will give you the work. This simply means that one must add value to himself to attract opportunities, and attaining that opportunity entails comingout of your comfort zone.

Overtime, I have developed an intentional habit of updating my resume by adding value to my life by learning a skill every six months. Each time I add value to my work, I always see prospects each time I see someone of interest. I also evaluate my life and my work and see how I can edit my previous work and improve myself based on what I’m trying to achieve.

I don’t know what your storyline might be, but I’m here to encourage and inspire you to stretch yourself because nobody will save you other than yourself. The world is not a fair place, you just must do your best and leave the rest to God.

Do you know that stretching oneself also entails networking with resourceful and influential people. When you meet resourceful people with influence, endeavor to give them gifts as a token of appreciation for what they have either done for you, humanity or simply as a kind of gesture. That single kind gesture is capable of opening doors for you because it will separate you from other uninformed minds, who might be in the habit of begging without adding value to the person’s mind.

In conclusion, today I charge you to stretch yourself mentally, financially, socially, academically, spiritually, medically, professionally, personal development or in any other relevant area of your life and you will see your life blossoming.

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 Design  and Unleash Your Destiny .  He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

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Adding Value

Adding Value: Redirect Your Thoughts by Henry Ukazu

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By Henry Ukazu

Dear Destiny Friends,

No doubt, we are all familiar with the power behind thought, words, actions and principles. Much as these work in spectacular ways, the ability for one to direct and redirect them can be a game changer.

Whether one works in a public or private establishment, it is important to speak and act courteously because sometimes, it’s not really what one says that matter, but the manner of presentation.

Also, how parents talk to their children is very critical to their mental development, just as how two persons in a relationship talk to each other will affect their union. There’s no gainsaying the fact that words are powerful; they can make or mar a person of situation.

To imagine how powerful words are, consider how the pronouncements of the President of the United States of America can influence the stock market. In the same manner, the words of the President of any country can affect the country. Even the words of the Chief Executive Officer of a company can affect the company.

Uniformed minds are unaware of how potent words can be, so they speak without thinking about the damaging consequences of their words. As a rule of thumb, if your words won’t heal, please keep it. To buttress how damaging words can be, did you know there are certain people that will prefer you “hit” them than speaking to them in a condescending, derogative and denigrating manner.

The reason I had to lay the foundation of this topic on words is to show how our thoughts can affect our words. Isn’t it true that it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks?

Redirecting one’s thoughts work perfectly with our words. There’s power in the spoken words. Whenever we speak, the walls hear, the ground stamps, and the air spreads them. It’s one thing to speak the words and it’s another thing to implement and execute the words with the right actions.

In my journey to life, I have come to understand the importance of redirecting one’s perception to life. Sometimes, we look at life from a narrow position instead of from a broad holistic perspective. For instance, if one fails in an examination, instead of apportioning blame to other factors, how about owning up by going to the drawing board to know where they missed it. The same principle is applicable should one fail in business, marriage or health.

Again, spiritual development is very critical to one’s enhancement. A spiritually grounded person will have his thoughts properly channeled when he experiences a setback. For instance, we are taught not to question God when we lose a loved one because He gives life, and He takes life. We are also taught to give thanks to God in all situations. These are practical ways of redirecting one’s thoughts.

If you don’t redirect your thoughts, other people will redirect it for you, but to suit their own principles. In every sphere of life, we are either directing or redirecting our lives because remaining stagnant can be disastrous. According to Alvin Toffler, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn”. So, it is important to examine the life one lives, as an “an unexamined life is not worth living”, according to Socrates.

Sometimes, we allow the experiences and challenges we go through life to either affect us or define us instead of changing our outlook and attitude to the experience. Most times, we don’t know we have the power and capacity to change the course of our lives; that we can literally turn our pain into gain, our lack to abundance, and our disadvantaged position to an advantaged position. All this will only work if we are able to redirect our thoughts in the right way.

Did you know that your experiences in life do not influence what you think about? Rather, it is what you think about that creates your experiences in life. Life is just a realization of your thoughts. According to Napoleon Hill in his book “Think and Grow Rich”, “whatsoever the mind can conceive, believe, it can achieve it”.

Furthermore, your lifestyle determines your life star, and your personality creates your personal reality. Therefore, the key to changing your life is through changing your thinking. Changing how you think is like packaging your business or writing a business proposal. If you don’t put the right information with the right words, the recipient might not be able to process your application very well, nor will they give it a positive consideration which it ultimately deserves.

Nobody knows what’s in one’s mind except one begins to act. To x-ray how one can redirect one’s thoughts, try as much as possible to have a positive outlook to life no matter how rough life throws dirt at you because it is what you think that you become. If you start thinking or imagining a red car, I can almost guarantee that you’ll not only begin to see red cars, you will begin to attract red cars, red vans, red trucks and red colors because you have positioned your mind to red. This is simply because our thoughts shape your reality.

On a personal note, I have been able to redirect my thoughts, my words, my actions and more importantly my perceptions to life, and this has greatly helped me profess things differently. I no longer take ‘things’ personally. I see people’s actions through their lens. I hear and interpret people’s words differently based on their understanding; I see the reaction and attitude of people based on what they have been exposed to.

As I conclude this article, I would like to ask; how do you process information? How do you see life? How do you redirect your thoughts when life doesn’t add up for you?

In conclusion, today, I charge you to learn how to put to good use the words of Alvin Toffler, to learn, relearn and unlearn many healthy and unhealthy practices by redirecting and channeling your thoughts and actions to the right side of life.

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 Design  and Unleash Your Destiny .  He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

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