ARTICLES

Prioritize for Success

2011 is winding down in 13 days. In the northern hemisphere this heralds the end of autumn and the beginning of winter.  Animals like bears, hibernate. For some humans, it is usually a time to pause, review and take stock of the year gone by. This is a great practice. Reviewing your life; what happened academically? How did you relate with your family? How were you as a friend? How were your friends to you? Have you learnt a new skill or a quality of being?

As you age another year, have you taken on more responsibility without being asked or told by your parents? Have you clearly written your goals for 2012? How do you see yourself on New Year’s Eve 2012? Can you see yourself smiling like a Cheshire cat- happy that you have surpassed your goals or moody and depressed because 2012 was no different or worse than 2011.

Humans have barely begun to tap their potential. We are designed to create and co create better lives.

We can do this in so many ways. The first step is Mastery of Self. If you are a beginner in the Science of Self, the first item on your list should be time management.

1.   MANAGING YOUR TIME

Whoever you are, wherever you are and whatever you do on planet Earth, you, like the rest of us have only 24 hours a day. What you do with your time determines the success or failure outcomes that face you.  Ask yourself:  If I want to be smiling, pleased and happy with myself this time next year, what must be in place in my studies, health and social interactions? Then work backwards. Maybe more time coaching yourself in your subjects and less time surfing the net or television. Don’t get me wrong, the TV and the Internet have its place. They educate, entertain, inform amongst other things. However if you have plans to further your education or join the family business after “O” Levels /SPM,  some fundamentals must be in place. Getting the string of A’s is the end result, and opens the door for better opportunities. However the lifelong skills that you gain from discipline and focus can only come when you tap that Source from deep within. When you exercise your Will and say “ I want to excel beyond anything, you open the door to greater levels of being, thinking and doing”- think of Jobs and Gates. The next item is list making.

2.   LIST MAKING

On average the human mind thinks 65, 000 thoughts a day. We are bombarded from every angle. Very successful people take the top prioritize things and get them done. So my invitation to you is this-  Every night pick 7 things that you ABSOLUTELY have to do the next day and get them done. It could be practicing 50 math questions in trigonometry or running 4 kms or doing 50 pushups or cleaning your room, ironing your shirts. It can be anything that ties you up to your final goals.

Pick 7 every day and DO IT!! If you can’t find 7, you are not being real with yourself. There is always something to do, some positive action to take.  The third item is gratitude and appreciation.

3.   EXPRESS GRATITUDE AND APPRECIATION

Make it your lifelong habit to appreciate everything that you have and thank the people around you that make your life work, your parents, siblings, extended family, friends, teacher, neighbors, staff at checkout counters in the mall. This one action alone can bring about general well being and satisfaction in ways that you could not have imagined possible. It does not matter if people around do not appreciate your gratitude. You are not doing it for them. You are doing it for you.

Always appreciate the people around you. Your appreciation of them will be the spring board to take your talents to the next level. Donald Trump, billionaire industrialist tycoon lives by this adage- he is generous tipper and pays his people well for jobs well done.

4.   GOALS

Without goals and visions we perish, we just move along and take on other peoples projections on us. Excellence comes from focus. Start with something small. That you will clean your room 3 times a week without being told. You will finish all your homework for the week before dinner time on Saturday. It can be anything at all but a goal must take you out of your comfort zone. It must cause you to stretch and expand your thinking. A great goal to have for 2012 is to read biographies of 30 successful people! It may rub off on you. Keep your goals list to about 10. Write it down and make it happen!

With that I bid adieu, my friends. Wishing you all a great year ahead and congratulations for all that you have realized and accomplished this year. God Bless.

Allow Your Greatness To Unfold Now,

Sophia