God is Rich Investment Project / GRIP Media Uganda & GRM International-NGO
By GOD's Grace Let's Improve AfricaGENERAL INFORMATION AND TEACHINGS FOR LIFESTYLE CHANG
Randal Wright
“We live in very busy times. All of us have much to do. However, we should ask ourselves often what is it that we are so busy doing?”
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Spencer W. Kimball
"Time cannot be recycled. When a moment has gone, it is really gone. Wise time management is really wise management of ourselves."
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Thomas Edison
"Time is really the only capital that any human being has, and the only thing he can't afford to lose."
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Smiles
"Lost wealth may be regained by industry and economy, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance and medicine, but lost time is gone forever."
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Talmage
"Today is a day which we shall never have again. It rose from the great ocean of eternity, and again sinks into its unfathomable depths."
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Romans 13:11
“And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.”
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Doug Larson
“For disappearing acts, it's hard to beat what happens to the eight hours supposedly left after eight of sleep and eight of work.”
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J.K. Rowling
“It's a strange thing, but when you are dreading something, and would give anything to slow down time, it has a disobliging habit of speeding up.”
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Napoleon I
“There is one kind of robber whom the law does not strike at, and who steals what is most precious to men: time.”
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Charles Caleb Colton
“Much may be done in those little shreds and patches of time which every day produces, and which most men throw away.”
________________________________________ C.S. Lewis
“The Future is something which everyone reaches at the rate of sixty minutes an hour, whatever he does, whoever he is.”
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Mignon McLaughlin
“There are whole years for which I hope I'll never be cross-examined, for I could not give an alibi.”
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Alan Lakein
“Time = Life, Therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life.”
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M. Scott Peck
“Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it.”
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Michael LeBoeuf
“Waste your money and you're only out of money, but waste your time and you've lost a part of your life.”
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Mark Twain
“Time cools, time clarifies; no mood can be maintained quite unaltered through the course of hours.”
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Kay Lyons
“Time goes by so fast, people go in and out of your life. You must never miss the opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you.”
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“Yesterday is a canceled check; tomorrow is a promissory note; today is the only cash you have - so spend it wisely”
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A. A. Milne
“Time is swift, it races by; Opportunities are born and die... Still you wait and will not try - A bird with wings who dares not rise and fly.”
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Maya Angelou
“Since time is the one immaterial object which we cannot influence--neither speed up nor slow down, add to nor diminish--it is an imponderably valuable gift.”
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Thomas Sowell
“People who have time on their hands will inevitably waste the time of people who have work to do”
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Leigh Richmond
"There is a time to be born, and a time to die, says Solomon, and it is the memento of a truly wise man; but there is an interval between these two times of infinite importance."
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Lord Chesterfield
"Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness; no laziness; no procrastination;--never put off till tomorrow what you can do today."
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Carl Sandburg
“Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you.”
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Benjamin Franklin
“Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you will be hindered tomorrow. One today is worth two tomorrow's; never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.”
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Emerson
"Guard your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their
value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life."
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Richard L. Evans
"Time is the essence of all our opportunities. It is the dimension in which we live. We can't speed it up, and we can't sly it down. We can't save it and we can't hoard it. It is in a sense, like manna from heaven."
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H. Jackson Brown, Jr
“Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein.”
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Earl Nightingale
“Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.”
________________________________________ Martin Amis
“Sometimes I feel that life is passing me by, not slowly either, but with ropes of steam and spark-spattered wheels and a hoarse roar of power or terror. It's passing, yet I'm the one who's doing all the moving.”
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Benjamin Franklin
"If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be the greatest prodigality, since lost time is never found again; and what we call time enough always proves little enough. Let us then be up and doing, and doing to the purpose; so by diligence shall we do more with less perplexity."
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Arthur Brisbane
"Among the aimless, unsuccessful or worthless, you often hear talk about 'killing time.' The man who is always killing time is really killing his own chances in life. While the man who is destined to success is the man who makes time live by making it useful."
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Denis Waitely
“Time is an equal opportunity employer. Each human being has exactly the same number of hours and minutes every day. Rich people can't buy more hours. Scientists can't invent new minutes. And you can't save time to spend it on another day. Even so, time is amazingly fair and forgiving. No matter how much time you've wasted in the past, you still have an entire tomorrow.”
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Steve Jobs
“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
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Scoville
"Robert Hardy had a dream, and in that dream he thought he was to live only seven days. If you had only seven days to live, how would you live them? How did Robert Hardy begin? He began to study. He began to get ready. Did all in his power each day. He came to the seventh day; and he came near the end of the day. But all at once it was made known to him that he wasn't to die. He looked around and was glad, but he said, "Some seven days will be my last seven," and he lived every day as though they were his last. You will be in your last seven days soon, and may be even there now."
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William James
"The mind is made up by what it feeds upon."
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John H. Vandenberg
“We become what we think about most.”
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“Thoughts lead to actions.”
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Our best thoughts come from others.”
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The ancestor of every action is a thought.”
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William Shakespeare
“Thought is free.”
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Blaise Pascal
“Man's greatness lies in his power of thought.”
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Larry Lorenzoni
“The average person thinks he isn't.”
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Buddha
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought.”
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Sara Teasdale
”I have no riches but my thoughts. Yet these are wealth enough for me.”
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Doug Horton
“Thought precedes action, action does not always precede thought.”
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The revelation of thought takes men out of servitude into freedom.”
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George Barzan
“If everybody thought before they spoke, the silence would be deafening.”
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Thomas Jefferson
“The glow of one warm thought is to me worth more than money.”
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Norman Vincent Peale
“Change your thoughts, and you change your world”
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Henry David Thoreau
“Thought is the sculptor who can create the person you want to be.”
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Confucius
“Learning without thought is labor lost; and thought without learning is perilous.”
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it”
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Buddha
“Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace.”
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Mohandas Gandhi
“A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.”
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Ezra Taft Benson
“Those who think clean thoughts do not do dirty deeds.”
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“One cannot think crooked thoughts and walk straight.”
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J. Rueben Clark, Jr.
“A mind obsessed with sex is good for nothing else.”
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Psalms 94:11
“The LORD knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.”
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David O. McKay
“If we would change the world, we must first change people’s thoughts.”
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Sterling W. Sill
“The best way to improve our lives is to improve our thoughts.”
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Paul Fix
“The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it's unfamiliar territory.”
________________________________________ David B. Haight
“To develop good thoughts and acts, we must live and associate with good people.”
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David O. McKay
“Thoughts that most frequently occupy the mind determine a man’s course of action.”
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“We are at the end of our lives a product of our thoughts. Habits are formed by daily thoughts and hourly acts.
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Richard L. Evans
“Any man who can’t control his thoughts can’t control his actions, and any man who can’t control his actions isn’t safe in society.”
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Acts 8:22
“Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.”
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J. Thomas Fyans
“Just as rivers are colored by the substances picked up as they flow along, so the streams of our thoughts are colored by the material through which they are channeled.”
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George Bernard Shaw
“The secret of being miserable is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not.”
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Genesis 6:5
And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
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Buddha
“We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.”
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Buddha
“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”
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Isaiah 59:7
“Their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; wasting and destruction are in their paths.”
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Mohandas Gandhi
“Always aim at complete harmony of thought and word and deed. Always aim at purifying your thoughts and everything will be well.”
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Goethe
“All intelligent thoughts have already been thought; what is necessary is only to try to think them again.”
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“A thought which does not result in an action is nothing much, and an action which does not proceed from a thought is nothing at all.”
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Robert Frost
“All thought is a feat of association; having what's in front of you bring up something in your mind that you almost didn't know you knew”
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Abraham Lincoln
“All my life I have tried to pluck a thistle and plant a flower wherever the flower would grow in thought and mind.”
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Percival
“One hour of thoughtful solitude may nerve the heart for days of conflict - girding up its armor to meet the most insidious foe.”
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Susan Taylor
“Thoughts have power; thoughts are energy. And you can make your world or break it by your own thinking.”
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James Allen
“You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.”
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Marcus Aurelius
“Such as are your habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of your mind; for the soul is dyed by the thoughts”
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Axel Munthe
“A man can stand a lot as long as he can stand himself. He can live without hope, without friends, without books, even without music, as long as he can listen to his own thoughts.”
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Hebrews 4:12
“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
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Buddha
“All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.”
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Amos 4:13
“For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name.”
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1 Chronicles 28:9
“And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the LORD searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.”
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Buddha
“What we think, we become.”
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Proverbs 23:7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…”
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“Measure twice before sawing one”
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Samuel Goldwyn
“If I look confused it is because I am thinking.”
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Christian N. Bovee
“Few minds wear out; more rust out.”
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La Rochefoucauld
“Our minds are lazier than our bodies.”
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“Invest a few moments in thinking. It will pay good interest.”
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G. Behn
“Some people get lost in thought because it's such unfamiliar territory.”
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Zig Ziglar
“Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.”
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Wayne Dyer
“Self-worth comes from one thing - thinking that you are worthy.”
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“Some work is thinking and thinking is work.”
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Mahatma Gandhi
“Those who know how to think need no teachers.”
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Plato
“When the mind is thinking it is talking to itself.”
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George S. Patton
“If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn't thinking.”
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John H. Vandenberg
"We become what we think about most."
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William James
"The mind is made up by what it feeds upon."
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“The used mind is one of the few items that has more value than an unused one.”
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1 Timothy 4:15
Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them;
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Oscar Wilde
“A man who does not think for himself does not think at all.”
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“Think before you speak, you may find you have nothing to say.”
________________________________________ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Life consists in what a man is thinking of all day.”
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Voltaire
“Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too”
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“Thinking is the greatest torture in the world for most people.”
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Benjamin Lee Whorf
“Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.”
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Henry Ford
“Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason so few engage in it."
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Haggai 1:7
“Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.”
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Bruce Lee
“If you spend too much time thinking about a thing, you'll never get it done.”
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Thomas A. Edison
“There is no expedient to which a man will not go to avoid the labor of thinking.”
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Robert H. Schuller
“The only place where your dream becomes impossible is in your own thinking.”
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Proverbs 4:26
“Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.”
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Thomas A. Edison
“The best thinking has been done in solitude. The worst has been done in turmoil.”
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Hugh Nibley
"It is throwing your life away to think of the wrong things."
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David O. McKay
"Thoughts that most frequently occupy the mind determine a man's course of action."
________________________________________ Thomas Edison
"There is no limit to which a man will not go to avoid thinking."
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Mahatma Gandhi
“A man is but the product of his thoughts what he thinks, he becomes.”
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William Lyon Phelps
“At a certain age some people's minds close up; they live on their intellectual fat.”
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Bruce Calvert
“Believing is easier than thinking. Hence so many more believers than thinkers.”
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Winston Churchill
“Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning.”
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it”
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“Thought is action in rehearsal”
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William Zinsser
“Writing and learning and thinking are the same process”
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Voltaire
No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.
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Edmund Burke
“Reading without reflecting is like eating without digesting.”
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Lorraine Hansberry
“Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.”
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Walter Anderson
“You and I are not what we eat; we are what we think.”
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Winnie the Pooh
“Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?”
________________________________________ John F. Kennedy
“Too often we... enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
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Albert Einstein
“The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking.”
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“She that fails to command her thoughts will soon lose command of her actions”
________________________________________ Adolph Hitler
“What luck for rulers, that men do not think.”
________________________________________ Marcus Aurelius
“Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking.”
________________________________________ Thomas Paine
“A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”
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Napoleon Bonaparte
“Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”
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Albert Einstein
“Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking.”
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William James
“Many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices.”
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Donald Trump
“I like thinking big. If you're going to be thinking anything, you might as well think big.”
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Albert Einstein
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
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William Drummond
“He who will not reason is a bigot; he who cannot is a fool; and he who dares not is a slave.”
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Vince Lombardi
“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.”
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John Locke
“Reading furnishes the mind only with materials of knowledge; it is thinking that makes what we read ours.”
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Albert Einstein
“I think and think for months, for years. Ninety-nine times the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right.”
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“It takes 1 sec from a message to travel around the globe yet oftentimes one can’t travel through a ¼” thick skull in a lifetime.”
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David O. McKay
"We don't take sufficient time to meditate." I get up early in the morning…five o'clock, when my mind and spirit are clear and rested. Then I meditate…”
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Sterling W. Sill
“We have one of our greatest human experiences when we get an active idea working in our minds.”
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Ezra Taft Benson
"Thoughts lead to acts, acts lead to habits, habits lead to character--and our character will determine our…destiny."
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Goethe
“Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.”
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Tryon Edwards
“Thoughts lead on to purpose, purpose leads on to actions, actions form habits, habits decide character, and character fixes our destiny”
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Norbet Platt
“The act of putting pen to paper encourages pause for thought, this in turn makes us think more deeply about life, which helps us regain our equilibrium.”
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Terry Josephson
“No matter where you go or what you do, you live your entire life within the confines of your head.”
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Soren Kierkegaard
“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.”
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Abraham Lincoln
“When I get ready to talk to people, I spend two thirds of the time thinking what they want to hear and one third thinking about what I want to say.”
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Will Durant
“The trouble with most people is that they think with their hopes or fears or wishes rather than with their minds.”
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Alan Alda
“Begin challenging your own assumptions. Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in awhile, or the light won't come in.”
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Luther Burbank
“It is well for people who think, to change their minds occasionally in order to keep them clean.”
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Our job is not to make up anybody's mind, but to open minds and to make the agony of the decision-making so intense you can escape only by thinking.
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George Bernard Shaw
“Few people think more than two or three times a year; I have made an international reputation for myself by thinking once a week.”
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Albert Einstein
“The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.”
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Victor Hugo
“A man is not idle because he is absorbed in thought. There is a visible labor and there is an invisible labor.”
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John Erskine
“Opinion is that exercise of the human will which helps us to make a decision without information.”
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Kent Ruth
“Men can live without air a few minutes, without water for about two weeks, without food for about two months - and without a new thought for years on end.”
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Edward de Bono
“Traditional thinking is all about "what is" Future thinking will also need to be about what can be.”
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Sterling W. Sill
“How ridiculous it is to waste our lives experimenting with those things for which we already have the answers!
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Albert Schweitzer
“The man who has become a thinking being feels a compulsion to give every will-to-live the same reverence for life that he gives to his own. He experiences that other life in his own.”
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Brian Tracy
“A major stimulant to creative thinking is focused questions. There is something about a well-worded question that often penetrates to the heart of the matter and triggers new ideas and insights.”
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Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”
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Sterling W. Sill
“Ancient Chinese custom if you were a guest in one of their homes and you admired some particular thing, they would wrap it up and present it to you as a gift. But isn't that what life does.
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Buddha
“We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them.”
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John Maxwell
“As you begin changing your thinking, start immediately to change your behavior. Begin to act the part of the person you would like to become. Take action on your behavior. Too many people want to feel, then take action. This never works.”
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Sterling W. Sill
“One of the most productive things that we ever do in our lives is to think. To be able to think is to be able to decide, to judge, to have opinions and convictions, and to entertain a point of view. To be able to think is to be able to love, to believe, to work, to originate, and to organize.”
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Jim Rohn
“I found that when you start thinking and saying what you really want then your mind automatically shifts and pulls you in that direction. And sometimes it can be that simple, just a little twist in vocabulary that illustrates your attitude and philosophy.”
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David Suzuki
“People.. especially people in positions of power.. have invested a tremendous amount of effort and time to get to where they are. They really don't want to hear that we're on the wrong path, that we've got to shift gears and start thinking differently.”
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Rhonda Byrne
“Your life right now is a reflection of your past thoughts. That includes all the great things, and all the things you consider not so great. Since you attract to you what you think about most, it is easy to see what your dominant thoughts have been on every subject of your life, because that is what you have experienced.”
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Sterling W. Sill
Plants don't think. Animals are guided by the power of instinct over which they themselves have no control. Animals have a certain kind of brain that makes it impossible to learn anything except very simple things. No generation of animals ever learns anything from any previous generation. We act like animals when we fail to use this magnificent piece of equipment.
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Rhonda Byrne
“The reason visualization is so powerful is because as you create pictures in your mind of seeing yourself with what it is you want, you are generating thoughts and feelings of having it now. Visualization is simply powerfully focused thought in pictures, and it causes equally powerful feelings.”
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Mark Twain
“It is easier to stay out than get out.”
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Benjamin Whichcote
“None are known to be good, till they have opportunity to be bad.”
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William Penn
'Tis no sin to be tempted, but to be overcome.
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“Good habits result from resisting temptation.”
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Lane Olinghouse
“Those who flee temptation generally leave a forwarding address.”
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Proverbs 1:10
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”
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William James
“A chain is no stronger than its weakest link.”
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Terence
“Nowadays those are rewarded who make right appear wrong.”
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Sterling W. Sill
“No temptation is a temptation, unless we are entertaining it."
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James 1:14
“But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”
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2 Peter 2:9
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations…”
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Neal A. Maxwell
“If we entertain temptations, soon they begin entertaining us!”
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Oscar Wilde
“I can resist everything except temptation.”
________________________________________ Horace Mann
“He who cannot resist temptation is not a man.”
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William Shakespeare
“Devils soonest tempt, resembling spirits of light.”
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John Dryden
“Better shun the bait than struggle in the snare.”
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E.H. Chapin
“Temptation cannot exist without the concurrence of inclination and opportunity.”
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Walter Bagehot
“It is good to be without vices, but it is not good to be without temptations.”
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Margaret Oliphant
“Temptations come, as a general rule, when they are sought.”
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John Lubbock
“There are temptations which strong exercise best enables us to resist.”
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Orlando A. Battista
"Temptations, unlike opportunities, will always give you second chances."
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Oscar Wilde
“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”
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Samuel Johnson
“Man's chief merit consists in resisting the impulses of his nature.”
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Frederick Faber
“Every moment of resistance to temptation is a victory.”
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Mark Twain
“There are several good protections against temptations, but the surest is cowardice.”
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T.S. Eliot
“The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.”
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“Satan convinces us that even hell doesn't seem so bad if you don't have to go there right now.”
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Randal Wright
“The Adversary seldom loses when you play on his playing field. It’s called the home court advantage.”
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William Penn
“God is better served in resisting a temptation to evil, than in many formal prayers.”
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Robert South
“He who has no mind to trade with the Devil should be so wise as to keep from his shop.”
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Madeleine de Scuderi
“The virtue which has never been attacked by temptation is deserving of no monument.”
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William Makepeace Thackeray
“If you take temptations into account, who is to say that he is better than his neighbor?”
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Robert Herrick
“Temptations hurt not, though they have accesse; Satan o'ercomes none but by willingnesse.”
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Robert Orben
“Most people would like to be delivered from temptation but would like it to keep in touch.”
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Earl Wilson
“Ever notice that the whisper of temptation can be heard farther than the loudest call to duty.”
________________________________________ Alexander Pope
“But Satan now is wiser than of yore, And tempts by making rich, not making poor.”
________________________________________ James 1:2-3
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.”
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Horace Mann
“He who cannot resist temptation is not a man.... Whoever yields to temptation debases himself with a debasement from which he can never arise.”
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James M. Paramore
"A total commitment to anxiously serve the Lord and others is the surest way to overcome temptations of the adversary."
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Romans 8:2
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.”
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Richard L. Evans
"If we don't want temptation to follow us, we shouldn't act as if we are interested. No one ever fell over a precipice who never went near one."
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Gordon B. Hinckley
"When temptation comes your way, name that boastful, deceitful giant "Goliath" and do with him as David did to the Philistine of Gath!"
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Franklin P. Jones
“Nothing makes it easier to resist temptation than a proper bringing-up, a sound set of values and witnesses.”
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Aristotle
“I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self.”
________________________________________
James 1:12
Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
________________________________________
Franklin P. Jones
“What makes resisting temptation difficult for many people is they don't want to discourage it completely.”
________________________________________ Winston Churchill
“Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never - in nothing great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”
________________________________________ William Shakespeare
“Let a man be but in earnest in praying against a temptation as the tempter is in pressing it, and he needs not proceed by a surer measure.”
________________________________________
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“As the Sandwich-Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptations we resist.”
________________________________________
James Branch Cabell
“There is not any memory with less satisfaction than the memory of some temptation we resisted.”
________________________________________
W. N. Taylor
“Temptation rarely comes in working hours. It is in their leisure time that men are made or marred.”
________________________________________
Robert Browning
“Why comes temptation but for man to meet And master and make crouch beneath his foot, And so be pedestaled in triumph?”
________________________________________
Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
________________________________________
Henry Ward Beecher
“Temptations are enemies outside the castle seeking entrance. If there be no false retainer within who holds treacherous parley, there can scarcely be even an offer.”
________________________________________
Luke 8:13
“They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.”
________________________________________
William Penn
“For as men in battle are continually in the way of shot, so we, in this world, are ever within the reach of Temptation.”
________________________________________
Henry Ward Beecher
“All men are tempted. There is no man that lives that can't be broken down, provided it is the right temptation, put in the right spot.”
________________________________________ Jeremiah 2:13
“For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no waters."
________________________________________ Anne Baxter
“Idleness is a constant sin, and labor is a duty. Idleness is the devil's home for temptation and for unprofitable, distracting musings; while labor profit others and ourselves.”
________________________________________ Augustus William Hare
“The difference between those whom the world esteems as good and those whom it condemns as bad, is in many cases little else than that the former have been better sheltered from temptation.”
________________________________________
Edmund Vance Cooke
“So you tell yourself you are pretty find clay To have tricked temptation and turned it away, But wait, my friend, for a different day; Wait till you want to want to!”
________________________________________ William Butler Yeats
“Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.”
________________________________________ Joseph De Maistre
“Man is so muddled, so dependent on the things immediately before his eyes, that every day even the most submissive believer can be seen to risk the torments of the afterlife for the smallest pleasure.”
________________________________________ Robert G. Ingersoll
Temptations are as thick as the leaves of the forest, and no one can be out of the reach of temptation unless he is dead. The great thing is to make people intelligent enough and strong enough, not to keep away from temptation, but to resist it.
________________________________________ 1 Corinthians 10:13
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
________________________________________ Erma Bombeck
“For years my wedding ring has done its job. It has led me not into temptation. It has reminded my husband numerous times at parties that it's time to go home. It has been a source of relief to a dinner companion. It has been a status symbol in the maternity ward.”
________________________________________ Horatio Seymour
“After listening to thousands of pleas for pardon to offenders, I can hardly recall a case where I did not feel that I might have fallen as my fellow man had done, if I had been subjected to the same demoralizing influences and pressed by the same temptations.”
________________________________________ E. B. White
“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy. If it were merely challenging, that would be no problem. But I rise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savour) the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.”
________________________________________
Oscar Wilde
“Do you really think ... that it is weakness that yields to temptation? I tell you that there are terrible temptations that it requires strength, strength and courage, to yield to. To stake all one's life on a single moment, to risk everything on one throw, whether the stake be power or pleasure, I care not -- there is no weakness in that.”
________________________________________
Horace Mann
“The most formidable attribute of temptation is its increasing power, its accelerating ratio of velocity. Every act of repetition increases power, diminishes resistance. It is like the letting out of waters--where a drop can go, a river can go. Whoever yields to temptation, subjects himself to the law of falling bodies.”
________________________________________
E.H. Chapin
“It is a most fearful fact to think of, that in every heart there is some secret spring that would be weak at the touch of temptation, and that is liable to be assailed. Fearful, and yet salutary to think of; for the thought may serve to keep our moral nature braced. It warns us that we can never stand at ease, or lie down in this field of life, without sentinels of watchfulness and campfires of prayer.”
________________________________________
Buckminster Fuller
"Television is the third parent."
________________________________________
Lee Lovinger
“Television is simply automated day-dreaming.”
________________________________________
Jason Love
“So long as there's a jingle in your head, television isn't free.”
________________________________________
Samuel Goldwyn
“Television has raised writing to a new low.”
________________________________________
Fred Allen
“The triumph of machine over people.”
________________________________________
Ani Difranco
“Art may imitate life, but life imitates TV.”
________________________________________
Murray Schumach
“Television is the bland leading the bland.”
________________________________________
William C. Westmoreland
“Television is an instrument which can paralyze this country.”
________________________________________
Ann Landers
"Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other."
________________________________________
Dennis Norden
“Dictum on television scripts: We don't want it good - we want it Tuesday.”
________________________________________
S. J. Hayakawa
“In the age of television, image becomes more important than substance.”
________________________________________
Erma Bombeck
“In general my children refuse to eat anything that hasn't danced on television.”
________________________________________
Jason Love
“I could have been a doctor, but there were too many good shows on TV.”
________________________________________
Andy Warhol
“When I got my first television set, I stopped caring so much about having close relationships.”
________________________________________
Kate Moody
“Television tends to overpower and desensitize a child’s sense of sympathy for suffering.”
________________________________________
Nicholas Johnson
“All television is educational television. The question is: what is it teaching?”
________________________________________
“Television has changed a child from an irresistible force to an immovable object.”
________________________________________
Orson Welles
“I hate television. I hate it as much as peanuts. But I can't stop eating peanuts.”
________________________________________
Carl Sandburg
"The impact of television on our culture is just indescribable."
________________________________________
Ernie Kovacs
“Television: A medium - so called because it is neither rare nor well done.”
________________________________________
Woody Allen
“In Beverley Hills, they don't throw their garbage away - they make it into television shows.”
________________________________________
Lily Tomlin
“If you read a lot of books, you're considered well-read. But if you watch a lot of TV, you're not considered well-viewed.”
________________________________________
“The same media people that claim violence on TV doesn't influence people, are perfectly willing to sell you advertising time.”
________________________________________
John Barrow
“I have come to the feeling about television the way I do about hamburgers: I eat a lot of hamburgers and I don't remember a single one of them.”
________________________________________
Joseph B. Wirthlin:
“If television viewing choices serve as a valid measure of our society, they who choose evil surely are more numerous than they who choose good.”
________________________________________
Randal Wright
“The problem with TV today is not just too much sex, violence, profanity, dishonesty or crude behavior. It is too much TV, period.”
________________________________________
Alfred Hitchcock
“Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it.”
________________________________________
Joey Adams
“If it weren't for the fact that the TV set and the refrigerator are so far apart, some of us wouldn't get any exercise at all.”
________________________________________
Donna Gephart
“Today, watching television often means fighting, violence and foul language - and that's just deciding who gets to hold the remote control.”
________________________________________
David Frost
“Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you wouldn't have in your home.”
________________________________________
David O. McKay
"We must not close our eyes to the fact that there are conspiring men who would pollute young boys, and girls of corresponding age, for sake of increasing profits."
________________________________________
Alice Walker
“I'm always amazed that people will actually choose to sit in front of the television and just be savaged by stuff that belittles their intelligence.”
________________________________________
David Brinkley
“The one function TV news performs very well is that when there is no news we give it to you with the same emphasis as if there were.”
________________________________________
The great thing about television is that if something important happens anywhere in the world, day or night, you can always change the channel.
________________________________________
Kurt Vonnegut
“One of the few good things about modern times: If you die horribly on television, you will not have died in vain. You will have entertained us.”
________________________________________
Kurt Vonnegut
“Thanks to TV and for the convenience of TV, you can only be one of two kinds of human beings, either a liberal or a conservative.”
________________________________________
Trey Parker and Matt Stone
“I think that parents only get so offended by television because they rely on it as a babysitter and the sole educator of their kids.”
________________________________________ Sam Goldwyn
“Why should people pay good money to go out and see bad films when they can stay at home and see bad television for nothing?”
________________________________________
“TV. If kids are entertained by two letters, imagine the fun they'll have with twenty-six. Open your child's imagination. Open a book.”
________________________________________ Art Buchwald
“Every time you think television has hit its lowest ebb, a new type program comes along to make you wonder where you thought the ebb was.”
________________________________________
Edward R. Murrow
“Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.”
________________________________________
New York Times 1939
“TV will never be a serious competitor for radio because people must sit and keep their eyes glued on a screen; the average American family hasn't time for it.”
________________________________________
Andrew Ross
“The smallest bookstore still contains more ideas of worth than have been presented in the entire history of television.”
________________________________________
Daniel Marsh 1950
“If the television craze continues with the present level of programs, we are destined to have a nation of morons.”
________________________________________
Marvin Minksy
“Imagine what it would be like if TV actually were good. It would be the end of everything we know.”
________________________________________
Leo Anthony Gallagher
“I wish there was a knob on the TV so you could turn up the intelligence. They got one marked "brightness" but it don't work, does it?”
________________________________________
Rod Serling
“How can you put on a meaningful drama when, every fifteen minutes, proceedings are interrupted by twelve dancing rabbits with toilet paper?”
________________________________________
Groucho Marx
I find television to be very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go in the other room and read a book.
________________________________________
Jack Paar
"I have never seen a bad television program, because I refuse to. God gave me a mind, and a wrist that turns things off."
________________________________________
Ezra Taft Benson
"Records, radio, television, movies, magazines--all are monopolized by the money managers who are guided by one ethic, the words wealth and power."
________________________________________
“The average 6 year old child in America has spent more time watching TV than an entire lifetime talking to their fathers.”
________________________________________
Randal Wright
“Isn't it interesting that we place deadbolt locks on our doors to keep evil influences out and then allow and even invite evil influences into our home through television.
________________________________________
E.H. Methvin
“The typical youngster graduating from high school will have spent almost twice as much time in front of the television as in the classroom--the equivalent of ten years of 40-hour weeks.”
________________________________________
Rose K. Goldsen
"TV is more than just s little fun and entertainment. It's a whole environment, and what it does bears an unpleasant resemblance to behavior modification on a mass scale."
________________________________________
Gordon B. Hinckley
"I hope you are reading to your children, out loud. That's much better than watching television, much better. They won't get very much out of television except some bad thoughts."
________________________________________
Mignon McLaughlin
“Each day, the American housewife turns toward television as toward a lover. She feels guilty about it, and well she might, for he's covered with warts and is only after her money.”
________________________________________ Victor B. Cline:
“The amount of violence a child sees at 7 predicts how violent he will be at 17, 27 and 37. . . . Children’s minds are like banks—whatever you put in, you get back 10 years later with interest
________________________________________ Clive Barnes
“Television is the first truly democratic culture - the first culture available to everybody and entirely governed by what the people want. The most terrifying thing is what people do want.”
________________________________________ Lee Loevinger
“Television is the literature of the illiterate, the culture of the low-brow, the wealth of the poor, the privilege of the underprivileged, the exclusive club of the excluded masses.”
________________________________________
National Institute of Mental Health
“Television is a physically passive activity and generally discourages creative play. It can encourage a certain kind of passivity which leads to a “show me or entertain me” orientation by children.
________________________________________
Ben Logan
“Some children lose the ability to learn from reality because life’s experiences are more complicated than those seen on the screen. Teachers and parents, therefore, suffer by comparison when they cannot solve problems in thirty to sixty minutes.
________________________________________
Ray Bradbury
“The television, that insidious beast, that Medusa which freezes a billion people to stone every night, staring fixedly, that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little.
________________________________________
Gordon B. Hinckley
“I am suggesting that we spend a little less time in idleness, in the fruitless pursuit of watching inane and empty television programs. Time so utilized can be put to better advantage, and the consequences will be wonderful.”
________________________________________
Michael Medved
"If we wait for the entertainment industry to change its fundamental values, we may be waiting a long time. But we don't have to wait another day to scale back our own private consumption of television."
________________________________________
Randal Wright
"It's a paradox that most parents would never let their children associate with an undesirable person in their neighborhood, but many think nothing of letting them associate with the same type every day on TV.
________________________________________
Ezra Taft Benson
"Now, what of the entertainment that is available to our young people today? Are you being undermined right in your homes through your television, radio, slick magazines, and rock music records?"
________________________________________
Randal Wright
“The television industry claims they are only reflecting society with their programming and have no influence on behavior. If that is the case then why do businesses spend millions on TV ads that have no influence?
________________________________________
Edward Grimsley
"Many people will wonder why governments that are clever enough to devise ways to shield children from the dangers of prayer in classrooms should not be clever enough to shield them from the evils of vulgarity in entertainment."
________________________________________
Hugh Nibley
"Why do people feel guilty about TV? What is wrong with it? Just this: it shuts out all the wonderful things of which the mind is capable, leaving it drugged in a state of thoughtless stupor."
________________________________________
Ellen B. De Franco
“Before television, children played together more often, played outdoors more, spent more time being creative and inventive, and read more. Parents and children spent more time together, talked together more, shared more joint projects and chores, and ate more meals together.”
________________________________________
Ezra Taft Benson
“The leisure time of children must be constructively directed to wholesome, positive pursuits. Too much time viewing television can be destructive…It is estimated that growing children today watch television over twenty-five hours per week.”
________________________________________
Michael Medved
"Frightening media messages...pervade the news business, which really ought to be called "the bad news business" for its preoccupation with disaster and destruction. In broadcast journalism, killing is almost always covered, while kindness is almost always ignored. The more alarming a news item is, the more attention it receives."
________________________________________
M. Russell Ballard
“Televised violence has become so pervasive that the average high school student by graduation has seen eighteen thousand murders and many other acts of violence and sin. This being the case today, more parental review and monitoring is needed to protect our families from the current flood of TV violence and the effect it has on us
________________________________________
H. Burke Peterson
“Have you the courage to keep out of your home some television shows that are filled with suggestive sexual conversation—and even experiences? Have you thought lately how effective these shows are in piercing even the strongest spirits? …We must not feed ourselves a diet of trash!”
________________________________________
David B. Haight
"Parents…rigidly monitor the selection of television programs…and other forms of entertainment for your family. Foster in your homes a love of knowledge through uplifting literature; wholesome books; selective movies; classical and exemplary popular music; entertainment that uplifts and edifies the spirit and mind."
________________________________________
Michael Medved
"...Every day of the week they (TV Talk Shows) dredge up some human tragedy or new perversion and triumphantly display it for all America to share. I've seen an advertisement for a talk show on the subject "Lesbians Who Beat Up Transvestites." Now there's a major social problem that deserves hard-hitting TV exposure!"
________________________________________
Franz Von Geusau
‘TV intrudes on family life, paralyzes attention for others, and shuts off communication in the family. Hours of passive watching are replacing the precious moments of togetherness around the family dinner table for quiet talk and exchange of the day’s experiences and the precious moments of working together, playing games, or making music.”
________________________________________
Reo M. Christenson
“The steady drip, drip, drip of movie-TV sexual attitudes on our society has carried us far since 1965. This subversive influence on the young seems undiminished today. When the next Gibbon writes about the Decline and Fall of America, he won't be talking about communism; the entertainment industry will be the villain. It is winning America's heart while ravaging its soul."
________________________________________
George Bush
“We cannot blame the schools alone for the dismal decline in SAT verbal scores. When our kids come home from school do they pick up a book or do they sit glued to the tube, watching music videos? Parents, don't make the mistake of thinking your kid only learns between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.”
________________________________________
Jim Urbanovich
“Television keeps the masses occupied. What if everyone decided they wanted to make something of their lives? Television keeps the competition down and keeps more criminals off the street. What if everyone decided to go to law school or medical school? It would sure make it tough on the rest of us.”
________________________________________
“By the age of six the average child will have completed the basic American education.... From television, the child will have learned how to pick a lock, commit a fairly elaborate bank holdup, prevent wetness all day long, get the laundry twice as white, and kill people with a variety of sophisticated armaments.”
________________________________________
Gordon B. Hinckley
“Television is perhaps the greatest medium ever discovered to teach and educate and even to entertain. But the filth, the rot, the violence, and the profanity that spew from television screens into our homes is deplorable. It is a sad commentary on our society. The fact that a television set is on six or seven hours every day in most of the homes of America says something of tremendous importance.”
________________________________________
Gordon B. Hinckley
“It is naive to believe that a steady diet of blatant immorality, played out nightly in our living rooms, has no effect on people. I am always curious when individuals insist that what they watch on television or in movie theaters doesn’t affect them. . . . Are we really to believe that hours, leading to years, of television viewing will not affect attitudes about everything from family life to appropriate sexual relations?”
________________________________________
Joseph B. Wirthlin
“Another activity that can detract us from the proper way is watching television excessively or viewing improper movies. While fine productions on these media are uplifting and entertaining, we need to be very selective in choosing what we see and how much of our time such an activity deserves. Our precious time must not be diverted to the sideline attractions of vulgar language, immoral conduct, pornography, and violence.”
________________________________________ Michael Medved
"Unfortunately our children today seem to spend less and less time with their overworked parents, and so they draw more information about the world from the images on movie and TV screens. The true power of the media is the ability to redefine reality, to alter our expectations about what constitutes normal life. TV and the movies have abused that power by advancing the notion that wholesome, ordinary happiness is impossible."
________________________________________ Fredric Wertham
"Through TV and moving pictures a child may see more violence in thirty minutes than the average adult experiences in a lifetime. What children see on the screen is violence as an almost casual commonplace of daily living. Violence becomes the fundamental principle of society, the natural law of humanity. Killing is as common as taking a walk, a gun more natural than an umbrella. Children learn to take pride in force and to feel ashamed of ordinary sympathy. They are encouraged to forget that people have feelings."
________________________________________ Urie Bronfenbrenner
"Like the sorcerer of old, the television set casts its magic spell, freezing speech and action, turning the living into silent statues so long as the enchantment lasts. The primary danger of the television screen lies not so much in the Behavior it produces, although there is danger there, as in the behavior it prevents: the talks, the games, the family festivities... through which much of the child's learning takes place and through which his character is formed. Turning on the television set can turn off the process that transforms children into people"
________________________________________ Fedric Wertham
“The desensitization manifests itself on different levels. Children have an inborn capacity for sympathy. But that sympathy has to be cultivated. This is one of the most delicate points in the education process. And it is this point that the mass media trample on. Even before the natural feelings of compassion have a chance to develop, the fascination of overpowering and hurting others is displayed in endless profusion. Before the soil is prepared for sympathy, the seeds of sadism are planted. The clinical result is that feelings for others are interfered with. These youngsters show a coarsening of responses and an unfeeling attitude.” _______________________________________
Christa McAuliffe. "I touch the future. I teach." ________________________________________
"To teach is to touch lives forever."
________________________________________ Epictetus
"Only the educated are free."
________________________________________
Joseph Joubert
"To teach is to learn twice."
________________________________________
George Herbert
"One father is worth 100 schoolmasters."
________________________________________ Latin Proverb
"By learning you will teach, by teaching you will learn."
________________________________________
Bob Talbert
"Teaching kids to count is fine, but teaching them what counts is best."
________________________________________
J.F. Herbert
“In teaching, the greatest sin is to be boring.”
________________________________________
“Teachers teach more by what they are than by what they say.”
________________________________________
Matthew 7:29
“For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”
________________________________________
Goethe
"What government is the best? That which teaches us to govern ourselves."
________________________________________
Elbert Hubbard
"The teacher is one who makes two ideas grow where only one grew before."
________________________________________
"If the student fails to learn, the teacher fails to teach."
________________________________________
Will" Durant
"Education is a progressive discovery of our ignorance."
________________________________________
Tryon Edwards
"If you would thoroughly know anything, teach it to others."
________________________________________
Chuang-Tzu
"Rewards and punishments are the lowest form of education."
________________________________________
Treat the students the way you would want to be treated.
________________________________________
Child Age 7
"I've learned that I like my teacher because she cries when we sing Silent Night."
________________________________________
“Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions.”
________________________________________
Henry Brooks Adams
“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.”
________________________________________
Friedrich Neitzsche
“You are rewarding a teacher poorly if you remain always a pupil.”
________________________________________
"Change will not occur after hearing facts. It takes a feeling to get a change."
________________________________________
Ralph Waldo Emerson
"To know how to suggest is the great art of teaching."
________________________________________
Edward Everett
"Education is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army."
________________________________________
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time, and it annoys the pig."
________________________________________
Malcolm Stevenson Forbes
"Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one."
________________________________________
Edward Morgan Forster
"Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon."
________________________________________
“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
________________________________________
Thomas Carruthers
“A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary.”
________________________________________
Richard David Bach
"You teach best what you most need to learn."
________________________________________
Joseph Addison
"What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul."
________________________________________
Kurt Herbert Alder
"Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other."
________________________________________
Woody Allen
"I had a terrible education. I attended a school for emotionally disturbed teachers."
________________________________________ Mark Van Doren
“The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery.”
________________________________________
Elbert Hubbard
“The object of teaching a child is to enable him to get along without his teacher.”
________________________________________
Karl Menninger
“What the teacher is, is more important than what he teaches.”
________________________________________
Aristotle
"The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead."
________________________________________
“Teaching should be full of ideas instead of stuffed with facts.” _______________________________________
The Talmud
“When you teach your son, you teach your son's son.”
________________________________________
Theodore M. Burton
"The greater the teacher, the greater the pupil may become."
________________________________________
Vernon Law
“Experience is the worst teacher; it gives the test before presenting the lesson.”
________________________________________
“He who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”
________________________________________
Albert Einstein
"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."
________________________________________
M. Russell Ballard
“It is the parents’ duty to intervene when they see wrong choices being made.”
________________________________________
Nelson Mandela
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
________________________________________
“The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book.”
________________________________________
John Cotton Dana
“Who dares to teach must never cease to learn.”
________________________________________ Derek Curtis Bok
“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance."
________________________________________
Ernest Leroy Boyer
"A poor surgeon hurts 1 person at a time. A poor teacher hurts 130."
________________________________________
Aristotle
"Education is the best provision for old age."
________________________________________
“The greatest teacher that ever lived never had Power Point.”
________________________________________
Heber J. Grant
“Teaching by precept, without example, is mighty poor teaching.”
________________________________________
“All learning begins with the simple phrase, ‘I don't know.’”
________________________________________
John 13:15
For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. _______________________________________
“A good teacher is like a candle - it consumes itself to light the way for others.”
________________________________________
Proverbs 22:6
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
________________________________________
Bishop Creighton
"The real object of education is to have a man in the condition of continually asking questions."
________________________________________
Tryon Edwards
"To waken interest and kindle enthusiasm is the sure way to teach easily and successfully."
________________________________________
Albert Einstein
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything one learned in school."
________________________________________
Chinese Proverb
“Tell me and I'll forget; show me and I may remember; involve me and I'll understand.”
________________________________________
“In school you learn lessons and have a test. In life you have the test and then learn lessons.”
________________________________________
"They may forget what you said, But they will never forget how you made them feel."
________________________________________ Lily Tomlin
I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.
________________________________________
Albert Einstein
"It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge."
________________________________________
Ignacio Estrada
"If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn."
________________________________________
Confucius
Acquire new knowledge whilst thinking over the old, and you may become a teacher of others. -
________________________________________
"It is not so much what is poured into the student, but what is planted that really counts."
________________________________________
Aristotle
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it."
________________________________________
David O. McKay
“No greater responsibility can rest upon any man, than to be a teacher of God’s children.”
________________________________________
“One of the greatest abilities of a good teacher is ability to provoke people to think.”
________________________________________
"The secret of teaching is to appear to have known all your life what you learned this afternoon."
________________________________________
William Arthur Ward
“The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”
________________________________________
"If the virtuous lock themselves up then only the wicked will roam free. Monks lock up virtue as if it were a savage.”
________________________________________
Richard L. Evans
"Parents who indulge themselves 'in moderation' may have children who indulge themselves to excess."
________________________________________
Sterling W. Sill
"We are all human magnets. Our deeds, attitudes and thoughts attract in kind. Gets back with interest exactly what he sends."
________________________________________
H. Burke Peterson
“If our words are not consistent with our actions, they will never be heard above the thunder of our deeds.”
________________________________________
We are all human magnets. Our deeds, attitudes and thoughts attract in kind. Gets back with interest exactly what he sends.
________________________________________
Levi Edgar Young
“Teaching is unfolding the divine spark within every person into its fullest majestic purpose and scope.”
________________________________________
Horace Mann
“A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on a cold iron.”
________________________________________
M. Russell Ballard
“I believe that every human soul is teaching something to someone nearly every minute here in mortality.”
________________________________________
Patricia Clafford
“The work can wait while you show the child the rainbow, but the rainbow won't wait while you do the work.”
________________________________________
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.”
________________________________________
Kahlil Gibran
“The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.”
________________________________________
Marva Collins
“Don't try to fix the students, fix ourselves first. The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior. When our students fail, we, as teachers, too, have failed.”
________________________________________
Louis Johannot
“The only reason I always try to meet and know the parents better is because it helps me to forgive their children.”
________________________________________
Exodus 18:20
“And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.”
________________________________________
James Truslow Adams
"There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live."
________________________________________
Jacques Barzun
“In teaching you cannot see the fruit of a day's work. It is invisible and remains so, maybe for twenty years.”
________________________________________
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
“The best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself.”
________________________________________
Clay P. Bedford
“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives."
________________________________________
Nadia Boulanger
"Loving a child doesn't mean giving in to all his whims; to love him is to bring out the best in him, to teach him to love what is difficult."
________________________________________
Henry Peter Brougham
"Education makes people easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave."
________________________________________
“A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image.”
________________________________________
Alexandre Dumas
"How is it that little children are so intelligent and men so stupid? It must be education that does it."
________________________________________
Luke 24:32
And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? ________________________________________
Tryon Edwards
"The great end of education is to discipline rather than to furnish the mind; to train it to the use of its own powers, rather than fill it with the accumulation of others."
________________________________________
Anatole France
"The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards."
________________________________________
Robert Lee Frost
"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."
________________________________________
Kwan-Tzu
"If you give a man a fish, he will have a single meal. If you teach him how to fish, he will eat all his life."
________________________________________
Lady Nancy Astor
"Real education should educate us out of self into something far finer; into a selflessness which links us with all humanity."
________________________________________
William Ward
"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."
________________________________________
1 Peter 2:21
For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps _____________________________________
A bible scholar was asked which of all the translations of the Bible he liked the best. His reply was that he liked his mothers translation best for she had translated it into her own life.
________________________________________
Emma Golmam
“No one has yet fully realized the wealth of sympathy, kindness, and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure”
________________________________________
Robert Hutchins
'It must be remembered that the purpose of education is not to fill the minds of students with facts... it is to teach them to think, if that is possible, and always to think for themselves.' ---
________________________________________
Dan Rather
“The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called ‘truth.’”
________________________________________
Deuteronomy 6:7
“And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” _______________________________________
Noam Chomsky
"Education must provide the opportunities for self-fulfillment; it can at best provide a rich and challenging environment for the individual to explore, in his own way."
________________________________________
William Glasser
“We Learn…10% of what we read…20% of what we hear…30% of what we see…50% of what…we see and hear…70% of what we discuss…80% of what we experience 95% of what we teach others.”
________________________________________ K. Patricia Cross
“The task of the excellent teacher is to stimulate "apparently ordinary" people to unusual effort. The tough problem is not in identifying winners: it is in making winners out of ordinary people.”
________________________________________ Kathy Davis
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove…but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child."
________________________________________
Barbara Colorose
"If kids come to us [educators/teachers] from strong, healthy functioning families, it makes our job easier. If they do not come to us from strong, healthy, functioning families, it makes our job more important."
________________________________________
Alberta Siegel
"Every civilization is only 20 years away from barbarism. For 20 years is all we have to accomplish the task of civilizing the infants…who know nothing of our language, our culture, our religion, our values, or our customs of interpersonal relations."
________________________________________
Carl Jung
“One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers, but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. The curriculum is so much necessary raw material, but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant and for the soul of the child.”
________________________________________
Peter Drucker
“Teaching is the only major occupation of man for which we have not yet developed tools that make an average person capable of competence and performance. In teaching we rely on the "naturals," the ones who somehow know how to teach.”
________________________________________
Mario Cuomo
"I watched a small man with thick calluses on both hands work 15 and 16 hours a day. I saw him once literally bleed from the bottoms of his feet, a man who came here uneducated, alone, unable to speak the language, who taught me all I needed to know about faith and hard work by the simple eloquence of his example."
________________________________________
Deuteronomy 6:5-7
“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”
________________________________________
Thomas S. Monson
“The teacher not only shapes the expectations and ambitions of her pupils, but she also influences their attitudes toward their future and themselves. If she is unskilled, she leaves scars on the lives of youth, cuts deeply into their self-esteem, and distorts their image of themselves as human beings. But if she loves her students and has high expectations of them, their self-confidence will grow, their capabilities will develop, and their future will be assured.”
________________________________________
Grady Bogue
“Rightly done, teaching is a precious work. It is, however, the one human endeavor most damaging in consequence when done without care or competence. To carry a student in harm’s way because of either ignorance or arrogance—because we do not know or do not care—is an act far worse than a bungled surgery. Our mistakes will not bleed. Instead, they carry hidden scars whose mean and tragic consequence may not be seen until years have passed and remedy is painful and impossible.”
________________________________________
David O. McKay
“The character of a child is formed largely during the first twelve years of his life. He spends 16 times as many waking hours in the home as in the school, and 126 times as many hours in the home as in the church. Each child is, to a great degree, what he is because of the ever-constant influence of home environment and the careful or neglectful training of parents. Home is the best place for the child to learn self-control, to learn that he must submerge himself for the good of another. It is the best place in which to develop obedience, which nature and society will later demand.”
________________________________________
Erasmus
“Concealed talent brings no reputation.”
________________________________________
Oliver Wendell Holmes
“The world is always ready to receive talent with open arms.”
________________________________________
Dave Weinbaum
“If you can't excel with talent, triumph with effort.”
________________________________________
John Wooden
“Winning takes talent, to repeat takes character.”
________________________________________
“Great talents have some admirers, but few friends.”
________________________________________
Irving Berlin
“Talent is only the starting point.”
________________________________________ Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Every man has his own vocation, talent is the call.”
________________________________________ Desiderius Erasmus
“No one respects a talent that is concealed.”
________________________________________
Maya Angelou
“I believe that every person is born with talent.”
________________________________________
1 Timothy 4:14
“Neglect not the gift that is in thee.”
________________________________________
Albert Einstein
“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”
________________________________________
Honore De Balzac
“A man may and ought to pride himself more on his will than on his talent.”
________________________________________ Goethe
“A really great talent finds its happiness in execution.”
________________________________________
William Bernbach
“An idea can turn to dust or magic, depending on the talent that rubs against it.”
________________________________________
“Equality of opportunity is an equal opportunity to prove unequal talents.”
________________________________________
Michael Jordan
“Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence wins championships.”
________________________________________
Leo Buscaglia
“Your talent is God's gift to you. What you do with it is your gift back to God.”
________________________________________
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Talent is commonly developed at the expense of character.”
________________________________________
Honore de Balza
“A man may and ought to pride himself more on his will than on his talent.”
________________________________________
William Somerset Maugham
“Genius is talent provided with ideals.”
________________________________________
Ashleigh Brilliant
“The most exciting place to discover talent is in yourself.”
________________________________________
John W. Gardner
“True happiness involves the full use of one's power and talents.”
________________________________________
J. K. Rowling
“It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
________________________________________ Alexander Solzhenitsyn
“Talent is always conscious of its own abundance and does not object to sharing.”
________________________________________
Seneca
“Toil to make yourself remarkable by some talent or other.”
________________________________________
Baltasar Gracian
“Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.”
________________________________________
Benjamin Franklin
“Hide not your talents, they for use were made. What's a sun-dial in the shade?”
________________________________________
James Arthur Baldwin
“Beyond talent lie all the usual words: discipline, love, luck –but, most of all, endurance.”
________________________________________
John Wooden
“I'd rather have a lot of talent and a little experience than a lot of experience and a little talent.”
________________________________________
Cheryl Janecky
“Genius is simply focus on a topic long enough to discover your own unique talent within.”
________________________________________
Willa Cather
“In this world people have to pay an extortionate price for any exceptional gift whatever.”
________________________________________
Warren G. Bennis
“Great things are accomplished by talented people who believe they will accomplish them.”
________________________________________
Martin Ritt
“I don’t have a lot of respect for talent. Talent is genetic. It’s what you do with it that counts.”
________________________________________
Rosalynn Carter
“You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.”
________________________________________
Neal A. Maxwell
“The gross size of our talent inventories is less important than the net use of our talents?”
________________________________________
Henri-Frédéric Amiel
“Work while you have the light. You are responsible for the talent that has been entrusted to you.”______________________________________
Marvin J. Ashton
"God has given each of us one or more special talents....It is up to each of us to search for and build upon the gifts which God has given.
________________________________________
Cyril Connolly
“A lazy person, whatever the talents with which he starts out, have condemned himself to second-rate thoughts, and to second-rate friends.”
________________________________________
Goethe
“The person born with a talent they are meant to use will find their greatest happiness in using it.”
________________________________________
John Wooden
“Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work.”
________________________________________
John Wooden
“Talent is God given. Be humble. Fame is man-given. Be grateful. Conceit is self-given. Be careful.”
________________________________________
Woody Allen
“The talent for being happy is appreciating and liking what you have, instead of what you don't have.”
________________________________________
Anne Bronte
“All our talents increase in the using, and every faculty both good and bad, strengthens by exercise.”
________________________________________
Erica Jong
“Everyone has a talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the dark places where it leads.”
________________________________________
Henry Van Dyke
“Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.”
________________________________________
Mary Kay Ash
“Those who are blessed with the most talent don't necessarily outperform everyone else. It's the people with follow-through who excel.”
________________________________________
Goethe
“Talents are best nurtured in solitude, but character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.”
________________________________________
John Fitzgerald Kennedy
“All of us do not have equal talents, but all of us should have an equal opportunity to develop our talents.”
________________________________________
Hortense Canady
“If you don't realize there is always someone who knows how to do something better than you, then you don't give proper respect for others' talents.”
________________________________________
Brendan Francis
“If you have a talent, use it in every which way possible. Don't hoard it. Don't dole it out like a miser. Spend it lavishly like a millionaire intent on going broke.”
________________________________________
Amy Grant
“More important than talent, strength, or knowledge is the ability to laugh at yourself and enjoy the pursuit of your dreams.”
________________________________________
Thomas Kinkade
“Balance, peace, and joy are the fruit of a successful life. It starts with recognizing your talents and finding ways to serve others by using them.”
________________________________________
Isaac Newton
“If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention, than any other talent.”
________________________________________
Mark Twain
“We are always more anxious to be distinguished for a talent which we do not possess, than to be praised for the fifteen which we do possess.”
________________________________________
Sydney Smith
“Whatever you are by nature, keep to it; never desert your line of talent. Be what nature intended you for and you will succeed.”
________________________________________ Phillip Sidney
“A great deal of talent is lost to the world for want of a little courage. Every day sends to their graves obscure men whose timidity prevented them from making a first effort.”
________________________________________
Smiley Blanton
“The truth is that all of us attain the greatest success and happiness possible in this life whenever we use our native capacities to their greatest extent.”
________________________________________
Erma Bombeck
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left and could say, I used everything you gave me.”
________________________________________
Charles Horton Cooley
“A talent somewhat above mediocrity, shrewd and not too sensitive, is more likely to rise in the world than genius.”
________________________________________
Lisa Edmondson
“A talented trumpeter who toots his own horn winds up playing to an empty theatre. A talented trumpeter who lets others recognize his talent winds up a legend.”
________________________________________
Albert Einstein
“When I examine myself and my methods of thought, I come to the conclusion that the gift of fantasy has meant more to me than any talent for abstract, positive thinking.”
________________________________________
Albert Einstein
“I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my ideas.”
________________________________________
Les Brown
“I believe that life is a journey, often difficult and sometimes incredibly cruel, but we are well equipped for it if only we tap into our talents and gifts and allow them to blossom.”
________________________________________
Bill Shore
“Everybody has a strength to share. If we can tap into that – if people can find ways to contribute whatever their particular unique talent or gift is, then, that really can change the world.”
________________________________________
Pearl Bailey
“There are two kinds of talent, man-made talent and God-given talent. With man-made talent you have to work very hard. With God-given talent, you just touch it up once in a while.”
________________________________________ Jack Nicklaus
“He had a lot of talent, but didn't have much dedication, wasn't organized, didn't know how to learn, didn't know how to comprehend what he was doing, didn't try to learn how to get better.”
________________________________________
Thomas Wolfe
“If a man has talent and can't use it, he's failed. If he uses only half of it, he has partly failed. If he uses the whole of it, he has succeeded, and won a satisfaction and triumph few men ever know.”
________________________________________
Sophia Loren
“There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.”
________________________________________
Deepak Chopra
“Everyone has a purpose in life…a unique gift or special talent to give to others. And when we blend this unique talent with service to others, we experience the ecstasy and exultation of our own spirit, which is the ultimate goal of all goals.”
________________________________________
Brigham Young
"Every man and woman who has talent and hides it will be called a slothful servant. Improve day by day upon the capital you have. In proportion as we are capacitated to receive, so it is our duty to do."
________________________________________
Luke 12:48
“But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.”
________________________________________
John F. Kennedy
“I think this is the most extraordinary collection of talent, of human knowledge, that has ever been gathered at the White House - with the possible exception of when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.”
________________________________________
Calvin Coolidge
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.”
________________________________________
Sterling W. Sill
“One of the greatest possible sins would be to return to God the life which he has given us with our abilities undiscovered and our talents undeveloped an unutilized. One of Jesus most bitter rebukes was given to him who buried his talents in the ground.”
________________________________________
“To every person there comes in their lifetime that special moment when you are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to you and your talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds you unprepared or unqualified for work which could have been your finest hour.”
_________
Matthew 25: 19-21
“After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”
________________________________________
Matthew 25:24-30
“Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
________________________________________
Anthony Robbins
“Only those who have learned the power of sincere and selfless contribution experience life's deepest joy: true fulfillment…”
________________________________________
Loretta Girzartis
“If someone listens, or strectches out a hand, or whispers a kind word of encouragement, or attempts to understand a lonely person, extraordinary things begin to happen.”
________________________________________
Matthew 25: 40
“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
________________________________________
Albert Schweitzer
"I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I do know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who have sought and found how to serve."
________________________________________
Jeff Warner
“We are not put on this earth for ourselves, but are placed here for each other. If you are there always for others, then in time of need, someone will be there for you.”
________________________________________
James 1:27
“Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.”
________________________________________
George F. Richards
"This gospel we have received is one of sacrifice, service and self-abnegation from beginning to end. That is what constitutes the straight and narrow way that leads to life eternal."
________________________________________
Gordon B. Hinckley
"Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others.
________________________________________
“In giving he cannot help bringing something to life in the other person, and this which is brought to life reflects back to him; in truly giving, he cannot help receiving that which is given back to him.”
________________________________________
Joseph Smith
“Sectarian priests cry out concerning me, and ask, "Why is it this babbler gains so many followers, and retains them?" I answer, It is because I possess the principle of love. All I can offer the world is a good heart and a good hand.”
________________________________________
Randal Wright
“I usually have two feelings about service. The first is when I’m going to give service I feel as they I don’t like doing this and why do I have to do it. The second is when I give service I walk away feeling very good about what I did and having gratitude for the opportunity.
________________________________________
Elizabeth Berg
“There is incredible value in being of service to others. I think if many of the people in therapy offices were dragged out to put their finger in a dike, take up their place in a working line, they would be relieved of terrible burdens.”
________________________________________
Alex Noble
"If I have been of service, if I have glimpsed more of the nature and essence of ultimate good, if I am inspired to reach wider horizons of thought and action, if I am at peace with myself, it has been a successful day."
________________________________________
Helen Keller
"Happiness cannot come from without. It must come from within. It is not what we see and touch or that which others do for us which makes us happy; it is that which we think and feel and do, first for the other fellow and then for ourselves."
________________________________________
Mohandas Gandhi
“Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served. But all other pleasures and possessions pale into nothingness before service which is rendered in a spirit of joy.”
________________________________________
Mahatma Gandhi
"Consciously or unconsciously, every one of us does render some service or another. If we cultivate the habit of doing this service deliberately, our desire for service will steadily grow stronger, and it will make not only for our own happiness, but that of the world at large."
________________________________________
Eugene B. Habecker
“The true leader serves. Serves people. Serves their best interests, and in doing so will not always be popular, may not always impress. But because true leaders are motivated by loving concern than a desire for personal glory, they are willing to pay the price."
________________________________________
Spencer W. Kimball
"I have learned that it is by serving that we learn how to serve. When we engaged in the service of our fellowmen, not only do our deeds assist them but we put our own problems in fresher perspective. When we concern ourselves more with others, there is less time to be concerned with ourselves
________________________________________
Joseph Smith
“Nothing is so much calculated to lead people to forsake sin as to take them by the hand, and watch over them with tenderness. When persons manifest the least kindness and love to me, O what power it has over my mind, while the opposite course has a tendency to harrow up all the harsh feelings and depress the human mind.”
________________________________________
Henry Ward Beecher
No man is more cheated than the selfish man.
________________________________________
William Makepeace Thackeray
“Next to the very young, the very old are the most selfish.”
________________________________________
Joaquin Miller
That man who lives for self alone, Lives for the meanest mortal known.
________________________________________
William E. Gladstone
“Selfishness is the greatest curse of the human race”
________________________________________
John Ruskin
“When a man is wrapped up in himself, he makes a pretty small package.”
________________________________________
Henry Ward Beecher
“Selfishness at the expense of others' happiness is demonism.”
________________________________________
William Cowper
“Glory built on selfish principles is shame and guilt.”
________________________________________
Lord Byron
We are all selfish and I no more trust myself than others with a good motive.
________________________________________
Julio Cortazar
“Human history is the sad result of each one looking out for himself.”
________________________________________
Sir Robert Baden-Powell
“The good turn will educate the boy out of the groove of selfishness.”
________________________________________
Tertullian
“He who lives only to benefit himself confers on the world a benefit when he dies.”
________________________________________
“The force of selfishness is as inevitable and as calculable as the force of gravitation.”
________________________________________
Gordon B. Hinckley
“It is selfishness which is the cause of most of our misery. It is as a cankering disease.
________________________________________
Richard Whately
“A man is called selfish not for pursuing his own good, but for neglecting his neighbor's.”
________________________________________
Neal A. Maxwell
“Whatever the mix of work, the hardest work you and I will ever do is to put off our selfishness. It is heavy lifting!”
________________________________________
Henry Ward Beecher
“Selfishness is that detestable vice which no one will forgive in others, and no one is without in himself
________________________________________
John Owen
“Selfishness is the making a man's self his own centre, the beginning and end of all he doeth.”
________________________________________
Charles H. Parkhurst
“The man who lives by himself and for himself is likely to be corrupted by the company he keeps.”
________________________________________
Henry Wheeler Shaw
“Take the selfishness out of this world and there would be more happiness than we should know what to do with.”
________________________________________
Oscar Wilde
“There are many things that we would throw away if we were not afraid that others might pick them up.”
________________________________________
“Our prayers are often filled with selfish "wants"; God always answers with what we need.” ________________________________________
Sam Veda
“People, who rise above their petty individual selfishness and work for the welfare of society are considered patriots.”
________________________________________
Napoleon Hill
“Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.”
________________________________________
Oscar Wilde
“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.”
________________________________________
Helen Keller
“As selfishness and complaint pervert and cloud the mind, so love with its joy clears and sharpens the vision”
________________________________________
Cesare Pavese
“If you wish to travel far and fast, travel light. Take off all your envies, jealousies, unforgiveness, selfishness and fears.”
________________________________________
Blaise Pascal
“Those who do not hate their own selfishness and regard themselves as more important than the rest of the world are blind because the truth lies elsewhere”
________________________________________
Neal A. Maxwell
“Selfishness is much more than an ordinary problem because it activates all the cardinal sins! It is the detonator in the breaking of the Ten Commandments.”
________________________________________
W. L. Orme
“If all the people in this world, in which we live, were as selfish as a few of the people in this world, in which we live, there would be no world in which to live.”
________________________________________
Adam Smith
“To feel much for others and little for ourselves; to restrain our selfishness and exercise our benevolent affections, constitute the perfection of human nature”
________________________________________
William Arthur Ward
“Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate. It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.”
________________________________________
Mary Cholmondeley
“Every day I live I am more convinced that the waste of life lies in the love we have not given, the powers we have not used, the selfish prudence that will risk nothing and which, shirking pain, misses happiness as well.”
________________________________________
Sir Walter Scott
“Sordid selfishness doth contract and narrow our benevolence, and cause us, like serpents, to infold ourselves within ourselves, and to turn out our stings to the entire world besides.”
________________________________________
B. C. Forbes
“The human being who lives only for himself finally reaps nothing but unhappiness. Selfishness corrodes. Unselfishness ennobles, satisfies. Don't put off the joy derivable from doing helpful, kindly things for others.”
________________________________________
Ezra Taft Benson
“Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride. ‘How everything affects me’ is the center of all that matters—self-conceit, self-pity, worldly self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking.”
________________________________________ Neal A. Maxwell
“In one degree or another we all struggle with selfishness. Since it is so common, why worry about selfishness anyway? Because selfishness is really self-destruction in slow motion.
________________________________________ Robert D. Hales
“Selfishness is so frequently at the core of family relationship problems. When individuals focus on their own selfish interests, they miss opportunities to listen, to understand, or to consider the other person’s feelings or needs
________________________________________ Neal A. Maxwell
“The early and familiar forms of selfishness are: building up self at the expense of others, claiming or puffing credit, being glad when others go wrong, resenting the genuine successes of others, preferring public vindication to private reconciliation, and taking “advantage of one because of his words”
________________________________________ James Allen
“The selfishness must be discovered and understood before it can be removed. It is powerless to remove itself, neither will it pass away of itself. Darkness ceases only when light is introduced; so ignorance can only be dispersed by Knowledge; selfishness by Love.”
________________________________________ Dalai Lama
“I believe all suffering is caused by ignorance. People inflict pain on others in the selfish pursuit of their happiness or satisfaction. Yet true happiness comes from a sense of peace and contentment, which in turn must be achieved through the cultivation of altruism, of love and compassion, and elimination of ignorance, selfishness, and greed."
________________________________________ Gordon B. Hinckley
“Why all of these broken homes? What happens to marriages that begin with sincere love and a desire to be loyal and faithful and true one to another? There is no simple answer. I acknowledge that. But it appears to me that there are some obvious reasons that account for a very high percentage of these problems. I say this out of experience in dealing with such tragedies. I find selfishness to be the root cause of most of it.”
________________________________________
Gordon B. Hinckley:
“Selfishness so often is the basis of money problems, which are a very serious and real factor affecting the stability of family life. Selfishness is at the root of adultery, the breaking of solemn and sacred covenants to satisfy selfish lust. Selfishness is the antithesis of love. It is a cankering expression of greed. It destroys self-discipline. It obliterates loyalty. It tears up sacred covenants. It afflicts both men and women.”
________________________________________
H. Burke Peterson
“The dictionary describes a selfish person as one who is ‘concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself: seeking pleasure or well-being without regard for others.’ May we add, a selfish person is often one who refers to ‘I,’ ‘me,’ and ‘mine’ rather than to ‘we,’ ‘ours,’ ‘yours,’ or ‘theirs.’ This person is anxious to be in the limelight, to be on center stage in life’s little dramas. He or she may be a poor listener, or a conversation monopolizer. Selfishness is the great unknown sin. No selfish person ever thought himself to be selfish.”
________________________________________
Benjamin Franklin
“God helps those who help themselves.”
________________________________________
“Self-assurance is two-thirds of success.”
________________________________________
Edmund Hillary
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”
________________________________________
“Success comes in cans, not cant's.”
________________________________________
Sonya Friedman
“The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others.”
________________________________________
Mark Twain
“To succeed in life, you need two things: ignorance and confidence.”
________________________________________
Vince Lombardi
“Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence.”
________________________________________
Richard Bach
“Argue for your limitations and, sure enough, they're yours.”
________________________________________
Michael Jordan
“You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.”
________________________________________
Edmund Hillary
“It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”
________________________________________
Thomas Carlyle
“Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment.”
________________________________________
Robert F. Kennedy
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
________________________________________
Eleanor Roosevelt
“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.”
________________________________________
Sven Goran Eriksson
“The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure.”
________________________________________
Pietro Aretino
“I am, indeed, a king, because I know how to rule myself.”
________________________________________
Zig Ziglar
“You are the only person on earth who can use your ability.”
________________________________________
Stan Smith
"Experience tells you what to do; confidence allows you to do it."
________________________________________
W.C. Fields
“It ain't what they call you, it's what you answer to.”
________________________________________
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you.”
________________________________________ Henry Ford
“Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right.”
________________________________________
Sally Field
“It took me a long time not to judge myself through someone else's eyes.”
________________________________________
“It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not.”
________________________________________
Allen H. Neuharth
“I quit being afraid when my first venture failed and the sky didn't fall down.”
________________________________________
Charles Schwab
"The man who trims himself to suit everybody will soon whittle himself away."
________________________________________
Wendy Wasserstein
“Don't live down to expectations. Go out there and do something remarkable.”
________________________________________
Peter T. Mcintyre
“Confidence comes not from always being right but from not fearing to be wrong.”
________________________________________
Les Brown
“Other people's opinion of you does not have to become your reality.”
________________________________________
“The best way to gain self-confidence is to do what you are afraid to do.”
________________________________________
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“The man of genius inspires us with a boundless confidence in our own powers.”
________________________________________
Brian Tracy
“Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.”
________________________________________
Johann von Goethe
"As soon as you trust yourself, you will know how to live."
________________________________________
Helen Keller
"Never bend your head. Hold it high. Look the world straight in the eye."
________________________________________ Roy L. Smith
"The man who cannot believe in himself cannot believe in anything else."
________________________________________ Malcolm S. Forbes
“Too many people overvalue what they are not and undervalue what they are.”
________________________________________
Samuel Johnson
“Self-confidence is the first requisite to great undertakings.”
________________________________________
Mark Twain
“Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered - either by themselves or by others.”
________________________________________
Thomas Alva Edison
“If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”
________________________________________
Henry David Thoreau
“What a man thinks of himself, that it is which determines, or rather indicates his fate.”
________________________________________
Jean Sibelius
“Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic.”
________________________________________
Muhammad Ali
“It's lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believe in myself.”
________________________________________
Roger Staubach
"Confidence comes from hours and days and weeks and years of constant work and dedication."
________________________________________
Helen Keller
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
________________________________________
Bruce Barton
“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.”
________________________________________
Mary Kay Ash
“Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway.”
________________________________________ Norman Vincent Peale
“Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”
________________________________________ Roderick Thorp
“We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.”
________________________________________
Vincent Van Gogh
“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”
________________________________________
Buckminster Fuller
“I am convinced all of humanity is born with more gifts than we know. Most are born geniuses and just get de-geniused rapidly.”
________________________________________
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.”
________________________________________ Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Confidence... thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live.”
________________________________________ Dale Carnegie
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
________________________________________
"Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have."
________________________________________ Arthur Ashe
“One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation.”
________________________________________
Robert Collier
“Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.”
________________________________________ E. E. Cummings
“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”
________________________________________
Norman Vincent Peale
“Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.”
________________________________________
Marcus Tullius Cicero
“If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started.”
________________________________________ Marcus Tullius Cicero
“Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks in great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.”
________________________________________ Robert A. Heinlein
“A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.” ________________________________________
Cicero
“Confidence is that feeling by which the mind embarks on great and honorable courses with a sure hope and trust in itself.”
________________________________________
“If you really put a small value upon yourself, rest assured that the world will not raise your price.”
________________________________________
Bruce Barton
“Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance.”
________________________________________
Mahatma Gandhi
“The history of the world is full of men who rose to leadership, by sheer force of self confidence, bravery and tenacity.”
________________________________________
Dalai Lama
“With realization of one’s own potential and self-confidence in one’s ability, one can build a better world.”
________________________________________
Andrew Carnegie
“The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled.”
________________________________________ Nathaniel Branden
“The tragedy is that so many people look for self-confidence and respect everywhere except within themselves, so they fail in their search.”
________________________________________ David M. Kennedy
“…:Personal integrity creates self-confidence, which improves our ability to make decisions. This increased self-confidence influences all of our personal relationships.
________________________________________
“Self-confidence gives you the freedom to make mistakes and cope with failure without feeling that your world has come to an end or that you are a worthless person.”
________________________________________
Walt Disney
“The secret of making dreams come true can be summarized in four C’s. They are Curiosity, Confidence, Courage, and Constancy; and the greatest of these is Confidence.”
________________________________________
Michael Korda
“If you don't believe in yourself, then who will believe in you? The next man's way of getting there might not necessarily work for me, so I have to create my own ways of getting there.”
________________________________________
Golda Meir
“Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.” ________________________________________
Marie Curie
“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”
________________________________________
Alan Alda
“Laugh at yourself, but don’t ever aim your doubt at yourself. Be bold. When you embark for strange places, don’t leave any of yourself safely on shore. Have the nerve to go into unexplored territory.”
________________________________________
Norman Vincent Peale
“Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.”
________________________________________
Mark Victor Hansen
“Don't wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions. So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.” _______________________________________
Virgil
“Rumor grows as it goes.”
________________________________________
Horace
“Nothing is swifter than rumor.”
________________________________________
Irish Proverb
“Who brings a tale takes two away.”
________________________________________
“The easiest way to keep a secret is without help.”
________________________________________
“Do not repeat anything you will not sign your name to.”
________________________________________
Douglas Malloch
“The biggest liar in the world is They Say.”
________________________________________
Nellie Nae Batson
“Rumors are like a flame blown by the wind.”
________________________________________
Bill Martus
“We need to get out of the rumor stage and into the facts.”
________________________________________
Thomas Carlyle
“History is the distillation of rumor.”
________________________________________
Edward Counsel
“Rumors generally grow deformed as they travel.”
________________________________________
Jean-Noel Kapferer
“Rumors are the oldest form of mass media.”
________________________________________
Charles R. Swindoll
“Those who feed on rumors are small, suspicious souls.”
________________________________________
Roya R. Rad
“Rumors are mostly a projection of the individual who started them.”
________________________________________
Ouida
“A cruel story runs on wheels, and every hand oils the wheels as they run.”
________________________________________
Kenneth D. Mcllroy
“Rumors are like wildfire; you are burned up before you know it.”
________________________________________
John Tudor
“A rumor without a leg to stand on will get around some other way.”
________________________________________
Will Rogers
“Rumor travels faster, but it don't stay put as long as truth”
________________________________________
Shana Alexander
“Trying to squash a rumor is like trying to unring a bell.”
________________________________________
“RUMOR, n. A favorite weapon of the assassins of character.
________________________________________
“Rumors are rumors because they are not true!”
________________________________________
Jewish Proverb
“What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.”
________________________________________
Chinese Proverb
“What is told in the ear of a man is often heard 100 miles away.”
________________________________________
Bertrand Russell
“No one gossips about other people's secret virtues.”
________________________________________
Josh Homme
“Foolishly play with the fires of rumor, only to risk being burned by its treacherous flames.”
________________________________________
Edgar Watson Howe
When you are in trouble, people who call to sympathize are really looking for the particulars.
________________________________________
Dolley Madison
“It is one of my sources of happiness never to desire a knowledge of other people's business.”
________________________________________
Joseph Smith
“Rumor with her ten thousand tongues is diffusing her uncertain sounds in almost every ear..”
________________________________________ Brian Koslow
“Never make negative comments or spread rumors about anyone. It depreciates their reputation and yours.”
________________________________________ George Washington
“Serious misfortunes, originating in misrepresentation, frequently flow and spread before they can be dissipated by truth.”
________________________________________
Kahlil Gibran
“If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.”
________________________________________
Douglas Adams
“Nothing travels faster than light, with the possible exception of bad news, which follows its own rules.”
________________________________________
Rhys Bowen
“You know what rumors are like--like a jar full of moths. Once they escape, they're all over the place.”
________________________________________
Mark Schindler
“Where the public wants to understand but does not receive any official answers, there are rumors. Rumors are the black market of information.”
________________________________________
Terry Ann Knopf
“Old rumors never die; nor do they fade away. They simply lay dormant for a while until the next appropriate time appears.”
________________________________________
Erich Goode and Nachman Ben-Yehuda
“Rumors are hearsay; they are told, believed, and passed on not because of the weight of evidence but because of the expectations by tellers that they are true in the first place.” ________________________________________
Peter McWilliams
“The media tends to report rumors, speculations, and projections as facts... How does the media do this? By quoting some "expert"... you can always find some expert who will say something hopelessly hopeless about anything.”
________________________________________
Benjamin Franklin
“I resolve to speak ill of no man whatever, not even in a matter of truth; but rather by some means excuse the faults I hear charged upon others, and upon proper occasions speak all the good I know of everybody.”
________________________________________
Tom Cruise
“Today, people can say anything they want. Sudd_______________________________
Tom Cruise
“Today, people can say anything they want. Suddenly it gets in the rumor mill and then it evolves and then somehow it becomes fact and you say, What is this? You know, why don't you ask me?”
________________________________________
Joyce Hansen
“People who spread rumors are like walking infections. The lying words from their mouths spread like disease from person to person. The only way to stop the disease is to keep your mouth shut.”
________________________________________
Howard W. Hunter
“How sacredly do [we] regard the good name of another?...Do we pass on spicy bits of entertaining conversation…repeating rumors and stories which have not been submitted to the test of truth?”
________________________________________
Stephen Leigh
“Rumors are like lightning on summer tinder, producing flames that dance in flickering brilliance from person to person, sometimes flaring in great conflagrations of exaggeration before finally extinguishing themselves in the cold waters of fact.”
________________________________________
Gary Alan Fine and Bill Ellis
“Rumors are often recycled. People rely on those narrative templates that have proved to be plausible and durable in the past. Rumors appear, are spread, and then disappear--ignored--until similar circumstances make the stories appropriate once again.”
________________________________________
Cass R. Sunstein
“Rumors are nearly as old as human history, but with the rise of the Internet, they have become ubiquitous. In fact we are now awash in them. False rumors are especially troublesome; they impose real damage on individuals and institutions, and they often resist correction. They can threaten careers, policies, public officials, and sometimes even democracy itself.”
________________________________________ Hebert Spencer
“Even the absurdest report may in nearly every instance be traced to an actual occurrence; and had there been no such actual occurrence, this preposterous misrepresentation of it would never have existed. Though the distorted or magnified image transmitted to us through the refracting medium of rumour, is utterly unlike the reality; yet in the absence of the reality there would have been no distorted or magnified image.”
________________________________________ Marvin J. Ashton
“I am acquainted with a wife and mother who is chained securely at the present time to a life-style of murmuring and criticism. She is the first to point out faults in her husband or to repeat neighborhood gossip. How damaging is a habit that permits fault-finding, character assassination, and the sharing of malicious rumors! Gossip and caustic comments often create chains of contention. These chains may appear to be very small, but what misery and woe they can cause!
________________________________________
Buddha
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
________________________________________
Marvin J. Ashton
“Even though reports and rumors pertaining to misconduct and misbehavior are readily available and can make good ammunition for those who would injure, bash, or damage, the Savior reminds us that he who is without sin may cast the first stone (see John 8:7). Ugly reports and conversations are always available to those who would promote the sordid and sensational. None of us is yet perfect. We each have failings that aren’t terribly difficult to detect—especially if that is the aim. Through microscopic examination one can find in almost every life incidents or traits that can be destructive when they are magnified.”
________________________________________
Cicero
“Man's best support is a very dear friend.”
________________________________________
La Rochefoucauld
“A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.”
________________________________________
Mary Kay Ash
“People will support that which they help to create.”
________________________________________ Earon Davis
“It takes community to maintain a human.”
________________________________________ William Shakespeare
“It is not enough to help the feeble up, but to support him after.”
________________________________________
Mark Twain
“I can live for two months on a good compliment.”
________________________________________
Dean Smith
“I do believe in praising that which deserves to be praised.”
________________________________________
Xenophon
“The sweetest sound of all is praise.”
________________________________________
Catherine the Great
“I praise loudly, I blame softly.”
________________________________________
George W. Crane
“Appreciative words are the most powerful force for good on earth!”
________________________________________
Grace Pulpit
“A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out.”
________________________________________
Marianne Williamson
“Family... a group experience of love and support.”
________________________________________
H.E. Luccock
“No one can whistle a symphony. It takes a whole orchestra to play it.”
________________________________________
Edward Gardner
“If we would just support each other – that’s ninety percent of the problem.”
________________________________________
Marcus T. Cicero
“Man’s best support is a very dear friend.”
________________________________________
Anatole France
“Nine tenths of education is encouragement.”
________________________________________
Katharine Butler Hathaway
“There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend.”
________________________________________
“Judicious praise is to children what the sun is to flowers”
________________________________________
Zig Ziglar
“If you're sincere, praise is effective. If you're insincere, it's manipulative.”
________________________________________ Goethe
“Instruction does much, but encouragement does everything.”
________________________________________
David Berg
“Always remember, everyone is hungry for praise and starving for honest appreciation.”
________________________________________
Charles Fillmore
“We increase whatever we praise. The whole creation responds to praise, and is glad.”
________________________________________
Edmund Burke
“Applaud us when we run, console us when we fall, cheer us when we recover.”
________________________________________
Princess Diana
“Whoever is in the distress can call me. I will come running wherever they are.”
________________________________________ Robert Burton
“A dwarf standing on the shoulders of a giant may see farther than a giant himself.” _____________________________________
Arabian Proverb
“The nail supports the hoof, the hoof the horse, the horse the man, the man the world.”
________________________________________
Therese of Lisieux
One word or a pleasing smile is often enough to raise up a saddened and wounded soul.”
________________________________________
Anne-Sophie Swetchine
“We deceive ourselves when we fancy that only weakness needs support. Strength needs it far more.”
________________________________________
Kathy Ireland
“I work with wonderful people who support me. And, my beliefs are that the business needs to serve the family rather than the family serve the business.
________________________________________
Princess Diana
“My first thoughts are that I should not let people down, that I should support them and love them.”
________________________________________
Mitch Thrower
“Invest a little time and genuine support with real-world exchanges of information – grounded in what truly interests those in your world.”
________________________________________
Jess Lair
“Praise is like sunlight to the human spirit: we cannot flower and grow without it.”
________________________________________
Abraham Lincoln
"I am a success today because I had a friend who believed in me and I didn't have the heart to let him down...”
________________________________________
Goethe
“Correction does much, but encouragement does more. Encouragement after censure is as the sun after a shower.”
________________________________________
Elizabeth Harrison
“Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize.”
________________________________________
Ovid
“The spirited horse, which will try to win the race of its own accord, will run even faster if encouraged.”
________________________________________
Michael S. Rosenberg
“Man tends to root for the underdog, because he fears that he will find himself in that same position far too often.”
________________________________________
“A word of encouragement during a failure is worth more than an hour of praise after success.”
________________________________________
Robert Martin
“Taking an interest in what others are thinking and doing is often a much more powerful form of encouragement than praise.”
________________________________________
Susan Jeffers
“For some reason, when you become a support to others, you become bigger than you are.”
________________________________________
John Schwartz
“Nothing lifts your spirits or fills your heart more than giving your support and time to a good cause.”
________________________________________ Eleanor Holmes Norton
“The only way to make sure people you agree with can speak is to support the rights of people you don’t agree with.”
________________________________________ Maya Angelo
“I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.”
________________________________________
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in results.”
________________________________________
Richard M. DeVos
“Few things in the world are more powerful than a positive push. A smile. A world of optimism and hope. A "you can do it" when things are tough.” ____________________________________
Socrates
“Think not those faithful who praise all thy words and actions; but those who kindly reprove thy faults.”
________________________________________
Elizabeth Harrison
“Those who are lifting the world upward and onward are those who encourage more than criticize.”
________________________________________
John Wise
“Students that receive encouragement from their parents to participate in a program that they're interested in are more likely to succeed.”
________________________________________
Mary Kay Ash
“No matter how busy you are, you must take time to make the other person feel.” important.
________________________________________
Orison Swett Marden
“There is no investment you can make which will pay you so well as the effort to scatter sunshine and good cheer through your establishment.”
________________________________________
Katharine Butler Hathaway
“The support of one’s personality is friends. A part of one’s self and a real foundation and existence.”
________________________________________
Anne Sophie Swetchine
“We deceive ourselves when we fancy that only weakness needs support. Strength needs it far more.”
________________________________________
John Wesley
“Bear up the hands that hang down, by faith and prayer; support the tottering knees. Storm the throne of grace and persevere therein, and mercy will come down.”
________________________________________
George M. Adams
“Note how good you feel after you have encouraged someone else. No other argument is necessary to suggest that never miss the opportunity to give encouragement.”
________________________________________
Wayne Dyer
“I think my mission is to support people in being steadfast in not having thoughts of harm - thoughts of judgment, worry, or hatred - directed toward themselves or others.”
________________________________________
Princess Diana
“I’ve always thought that people need to feel good about themselves and I see my role as offering support to them, to provide some light along the way.”
________________________________________
Edward VIII
“I have found it impossible to carry the heavy burden of responsibility, and to discharge my duties as King as I would wish, without the help and support of the woman I love.”
________________________________________
R. Buckminster Fuller
“You can rest assured that if you devote your time and attention to the highest advantage of others, the Universe will support you, always and only in the nick of time.”
________________________________________
William Arthur Ward
“Flatter me, and I may not believe you. Criticize me, and I may not like you. Ignore me, and I may not forgive you. Encourage me, and I will not forget you. Love me and I may be forced to love you.”
________________________________________
“Most of the high spots in our lives come about through encouragement. I don't care how great, how famous, how successful a man may be, he hungers for applause.”
________________________________________
Robert Collier
“Most of us, swimming against the tides of trouble the world knows nothing about, need only a bit of praise or encouragement - and we will make the goal.”
________________________________________
Charles M. Schwab
“I have yet to find the man, however exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.”
________________________________________
Alec Waugh
“A man desires praise that he may be reassured, that he may be quit of his doubting of himself; he is indifferent to applause when he is confident of success.”
________________________________________
Albert Schweitzer
“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.”
________________________________________
Cavett Robert
“Three billion people on the face of the earth go to bed hungry every night, but four billion people go to bed every night hungry for a simple word of encouragement and recognition.”
________________________________________
Booker T. Washington
“I believe that any man's life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement, if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day, and as nearly as possible reaching the high water mark of pure and useful living.”
________________________________________
George M. Adams
“There are high spots in all of our lives and most of them have come about through encouragement from someone else. I don't care how great, how famous or successful a man or woman may be, each hungers for applause.”
________________________________________
David Joseph Schwartz
“Here is the basic rule for winning success. Let's mark it in the mind and remember it. The rule is: Success depends on the support of other people. The only hurdle between you and what you want to be is the support of other people.”
________________________________________
Valerie Bell
"Let your eyes light up when your children are around. Laugh more. Tell them how empty and quiet it is when they’re not there. Enjoy the things they bring to your life. Attend their activities, not as if they were compulsory for parents, but throw yourself into their lives."
________________________________________
Orison Swett Marden
“No young man starting in life could have better capital than plenty of friends. They will strengthen his credit, support him in every great effort, and make him what, unaided, he could never be. Friends of the right sort will help him more, to be happy and successful, than much money.”
________________________________________
Sidney Madwed
“The finest gift you can give anyone is encouragement. Yet, almost no one gets the encouragement they need to grow to their full potential. If everyone received the encouragement they need to grow, the genius in most everyone would blossom and the world would produce abundance beyond the wildest dreams. We would have more than one Einstein, Edison, Schweitzer, Mother Theresa, Dr. Salk and other great minds in a century.”
________________________________________
William Mcdougall
"Will is character in action."
________________________________________
Leon Battista Alberti
"A man can do all things if he but wills them."
________________________________________
Victor Hugo
"People do not lack strength; they lack will."
________________________________________
Benjamin Franklin
“He that cannot obey, cannot command.”
________________________________________
Martin Luther King Jr.
"The time is always right to do what is right."
________________________________________
Douglas Macarthur
"It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it."
________________________________________
Euripedes
“Do not consider painful what is good for you.”
________________________________________
Plato
“The first and the best victory is to conquer self.”
________________________________________
Theodore Roosevelt
“With self-discipline most anything is possible.”
________________________________________
Aristotle
“What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not do.”
________________________________________
William Feather
“If we don’t discipline ourselves, the world will do it for us.”
________________________________________
Robert Kennedy
“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.”
________________________________________
"It's not the work that's hard, it's the discipline."
________________________________________
Icelandic Proverb
"He who lives without discipline dies without honor."
________________________________________
"A colt is worth little if it does not break its halter."
________________________________________
Jim Rohn
Unless you change how you are,you will always have what you've got.
________________________________________
Jyrus
"He conquers twice who conquers himself in victory."
________________________________________
Benjamin Disraeli
"The secret of success is constancy of purpose."
________________________________________
Aristotle
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."
________________________________________
Gordon B. Hinckley
“Cultivate within yourselves the mighty power of self-discipline.”
________________________________________
Napoleon Hill
"If you do not conquer self, you will be conquered by self."
________________________________________
“Self discipline is the key to everything. I believe it down to my core.”
________________________________________
Thomas Jefferson
"Do not bite at the bait of pleasure till you know there is no hook beneath it."
________________________________________
Mortimer J. Adler
"True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline."
________________________________________
Joel Osteen
"What you keep before your eyes will affect you."
________________________________________ Helen Keller
"One painful duty fulfilled makes the next plainer and easier."
________________________________________
Jim Rohn
“Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”
________________________________________
Plato
“For a man to conquer himself is the first and noblest of all victories.”
________________________________________
Jyrus
“He conquers twice who conquers himself in victory.”
________________________________________ Louis XIV
“There is little that can withstand a man who can conquer himself.” ________________________________________ William Penn
“If thou wouldn't conquer thy weakness thou must not gratify it.”
________________________________________
Jim Rohn
“For every disciplined effort there is a multiple reward.”
________________________________________ Roy L. Smith
“Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.”
________________________________________
“He who lives without discipline dies without honor.”
________________________________________
Randal Wright
“Living the ‘easy’ life today seems to make a ‘difficult’ life tomorrow.”
________________________________________ Plato
“The first and the best victory is to conquer self.”
________________________________________ Bum Phillips
“The only discipline that lasts is self-discipline.”
________________________________________ William Safire
“The right to do something does not mean that doing it is right.”
________________________________________ Henry Ward Beecher
“No man is such a conqueror, as the one that has defeated himself.”
________________________________________ Marie Chapian
“Lack of discipline leads to frustration and self-loathing.”
________________________________________
Claudius
“No one is free who does not lord over himself.”
________________________________________
Katharine Hepburn
“Without discipline, there is no life at all.”
________________________________________
David Campbell
"Discipline is remembering what you want."
________________________________________ Chinese Proverb
"Great souls have wills; feeble ones have only wishes."
________________________________________ Jim Rohn
"One discipline always leads to another discipline."
________________________________________ Lao Tse
"He is strong who conquers others; He who conquers himself is mighty
________________________________________
James 1: 22
“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
________________________________________ William Arthur Ward
“The price of excellence is discipline. The cost of mediocrity is disappointment.”
________________________________________ Barry Werner
"The essence of self-discipline is to do the important thing rather than the urgent thing."
________________________________________
John Milton
“He who reins within himself and rules passions, desires, and fears is more than a king.”
________________________________________ Grenville Kleiser
“By constant self-discipline and self-control you can develop greatness of character.
________________________________________
Harold Taylor
“The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can become.”
________________________________________
Epictetus
“Practice yourself, for heaven's sake in little things, and then proceed to greater.” ______________________________________
Jim Rohn
“We can have more than we've got because we can become more than we are.”
________________________________________
Robert Frost
"The world is full of willing people, some willing to work, the rest willing to let them." ________________________________________
7 Habits You Must Stop Doing if You Want to Achieve Your Dream Goal
80% of all strategic plans sit on shelves after their creation, never to be used. People drop pretty much that same percentage of New Year’s resolutions by week two of a new year. Here’s the problem: we can focus all we want on a vision, mission, etc. and write out well-thought out steps to achieving our dream goal. But the hard truth is all that work and investment will mean absolutely nothing if we don’t address first things first. That is, getting rid of the very roadblocks to our success — bad habits.
The science to achieving what you want and who you want to be is not so much learning the art of goal setting and great planning. It has much more to do with dropping the habits that are holding you back right now. Bad habits are the routine thinking and things we do both consciously and unconsciously that sabotage achieving our goal. They are the reason now — and if you don’t address this core reason — three months, one year, five years down the road you are bewildered, frustrated, wondering why you’re not where you want to be.
1. Stop procrastinating
“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping old ones” (John Maynard Keynes).
Procrastination is a no-brainer. But the habit is, again, not so much in the actual non-action than the thinking around the actions you need to take to getting to where you want to be. Procrastination has different sources, but the big ones are around thinking small and so creating glass ceilings that continue to keep you small.
You look at others achieving their dreams, get into comparison thinking, think of all the reasons you’re at a disadvantage in that comparison, think of all the things you need first to get going, focus on the things that are missing, and all the reasons you can’t move forward unless such and such is in place.
Remove yourself from all that mind chatter. Visualize yourself stepping out of your own head and body and as a bigger version of you looking back at yourself and all that thinking and thinking. Extend compassion and forgiveness to that you who has been keeping herself small. Tell her you see (or hear) the words in her head she’s repeated over and over. Tell those thoughts they’re done their work of protecting you. And change those thoughts by, for example, changing ‘I’m not business savvy enough’ to ‘I am learning to be super business savvy’. Switch them! Say bye-bye to untrue thoughts by replacing them with words that enable healthy and productive thinking around your goals.
2. Stop focusing on the future
“Remember then: there is only one time that is important — Now. It is the most important time because it is the only time when we have any power” (Leo Tolstoy).
Ironically, it’s the focus on action and your very goal that’s been paralyzing you. Breathe. Take your focus off the goal itself, the steps to getting there, and back to your breath. The habit of living in the future to the neglect of being present will not get you ahead. To get ahead you will have to learn to keep your eye on the goal and live life now, being fully present in the… now.
When you bring yourself back to the now, you become so much more aware. Getting to your goal doesn’t happen by following a strict strategy or strategic plan gurus and mentors lay before you because they achieved their dream goal a certain way. Your circumstance, strengths, essentially who you are, will determine that you do things a bit differently to that ‘guru’s’ path.
Yes, there are tried and proven steps to achieving goals, but no two people are the same. You won’t be able to do things the very same way another person did. Bring yourself to the now, breathe and look for opportunities in the now that present themselves. They become clear to you when you step out of hustling your way into the future and breathe.
3. Stop racing after multiple goals
“Getting rid of the things in your life that are not adding value will allow you to take the time and focus you have put on those things and place it on the things that are adding value” (Kathy Stanton).
Anyone who has achieved their big dream goal will tell you that they had to develop laser sharp focus. Often high achievers want to do it all at once. Rid yourself of the thought now that you must do it all.
Some things are wonderful to have and do, but for the next months or few years they have to go. Maybe they were never truly in alignment with your ultimate dream goal and to live true abundance, joy, meaning and impact.
Ask yourself, is doing such and such going to support my dream goal or is it a distraction for a purpose that in fact takes me away from my ultimate purpose and goal. Remember, we can have quite a few great goals but to put in the energy, time and investment will mean a distraction from the big one. We can’t do it all at once. We are human. Drop the habit of trying to achieve this, that and the other because they’re all great, and focus on the one big goal and what truly matters in life.
4. Stop perfectionism
“However, don’t let perfectionism become an excuse for never getting started” (Marilu Henner).
Perfectionism keeps you frozen. It’s rooted in fear of not achieving your goal or doing things well enough. Perfectionists get easily distracted in the detail and lose sight of the big picture. Details are important but they become your Achilles heal when you allow them to hinder the real progress you need to be making.
Fear of getting it wrong will creep up continuously. Tell fear where to go. Literally. Breathe and take that step forward, regardless. If you make a mistake, forgive yourself, learn and take another step forward. It’s okay to stumble and fall. Every great entrepreneur and anyone who achieved something incredible made quite a few mistakes to get to their ultimate dream goal.
Looping back to #2, breathe and bring yourself into the present. When you do, you allow yourself to innovate and begin to enjoy the process. When you focus on perfection, you are blind to innovation, are at risk of beginning to hate the whole goal and what you’re doing to get to it, and sabotage ever seeing light at the end of the tunnel.
5. Stop being in your head
“Don’t think too much. You’ll create a problem that wasn’t even there in the first place” (Unknown).
Stop being in your head all the time, thinking, planning, re-doing the plan, etc. etc. I’ll loop back to #2 over and over because it’s so critical to breathe. Getting to that ultimate dream goal is about learning the art of innovating, and that can only happen by breaking the pattern of thinking and being that keeps you small. It’s an unconscious pattern of thinking that creates an illusion of comfort and predictability.
Innovation happens with impulses, insights, sensing where the energy lies for you to embrace and work with, and always in present time. Once you have an ‘impulse’ (idea, insight, guidance) to do something, get up and do it! Do some type of action, even if it’s super tiny, that is in your goal’s alignment.
If you wait, then you allow fear, worry, and doubt to creep in. They always do to keep you small, not intentionally to keep you small, but that’s what they serve to do. When you act on that impulse, you begin to trust yourself more, dare yourself more and actually do more to get to where you want to be. You create the habit of acting on your guidance and ideas, and that’s precisely what we need to achieve big goals.
6. Stop stuffing the schedule
“So rather than trying to do too many things at once, switch over to a mindset of focusing on just one thing while you are working” (Timo Kiander).
We’re looping back to # 3 where we not only get distracted by things we thought were important but by tiny things too. Whenever we’re about to take that one step forward, our brain scans the environment for something else. Now that you’re aware of this, nip it! Nip the habit by preparing for focus. Before you take the step towards your goal, shut off your phone, close all other tabs on your computer. Don’t lie to yourself that you’ll just answer a list of emails to get them out of the way. Shut out all those tiny distractions before you begin, and not by beginning them!
Your dream goal doesn’t get stuffed into your schedule. Clear your schedule to make the energy and time. Productivity doesn’t really happen with trying to do all the tiny things at the same time. Multitasking is not for the big goal. It distracts from the critical ability to focus and be present.
Your dream goal is not subject to other people’s schedules and preferences. You want to truly achieve that big thing? Not only prepare to focus and clear your schedule — start to practice saying ‘No’. Achieving big goals is learning to be a leader of your destiny and life. Put your goal and the things that truly matter in life ahead. When someone asks you for a favor or your time, weigh in on how that might distract from what matters before you say ‘Yes’.
7. Stop focusing on the past
“Stop living in the past. The only thing we should do about what happened yesterday is to learn from it. Yesterday, good or bad, is history. Tomorrow is a dream, a hope, a passion. Don’t let your history destroy your dream” (Edwin Mamerto).
You are growing into a bigger version of yourself in order to achieve that big goal. You grow into the level of being, acting and thinking that supports the energy of your goal.
When you focus on who you’ve been in the past, your failures and what others have claimed as your limits, you freeze. Forgive yourself, and forgive others. Free yourself from their chains and your own chains. Truly, truly find it in your heart to forgive. Set aside time to meditate on forgiving transgressions and mistakes. You are doing yourself and your ability to do great things the chance you need and deserve.
You are growing, learning, and so worthy of your amazing goal. If you have a dream in your heart, I fully believe it is planted in your heart because it is yours to be and to have. Now you have to step out of the old energy that’s held you stuck and step into and breathe the larger version of you. Stop the habit of reliving the past over and over. Make a decision to close that chapter through forgiveness. And move on!
TRUST YOURSELF: A practical guide to achieve any goal and live beyond fear
Life is not meant to be easy.
There are seemingly infinite constraints (e.g., genetic and environmental) stopping you from being and living as you wish.
However, the primary obstacles stopping you from being and living how you want are:
- The lack of trust you have from yourself and others
- Your emotional intelligence — specifically, your ability to understand and manage your emotions, what psychologists call emotional regulation
Until you can be trusted, first by yourself, and then by others, you’ll never be who you want to be. You’ll always be living a lie. Inside, you’ll never feel clarity, congruence, or conviction. Said Mahatma Gandhi, “To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”
Additionally, until you can understand and manage your emotions, you’ll always be a slave to them.
Safety is overrated.
Sadly, most people are living a lie. They don’t keep commitments even to themselves. They don’t accomplish their goals and dreams. They are bound by fears and other emotions they so desperately want to avoid.
Nevertheless, if you’re willing to do the hard interior work of living a life of trust and emotional freedom, there are absolutely no limits to your growth and potential.
Part 1: Trust
“Trust is like the air we breathe. When it’s present, nobody really notices. But when it’s absent, everybody notices.” — Warren Buffett
Mergers and acquisitions are high cost and high risk endeavors. Generally, doing background checks and examining every detail of a company takes substantial time and money.
However, when Warren Buffet acquired McLane Distributions from Walmart, the whole thing took a matter of hours and no due diligence at all.
How is this so?
From Buffett’s perspective, Walmart had high credibility as seen in the integrity of the leadership and the track-record of the company. Furthermore, Buffett’s own reputation and influence were high — no one wants to publicly do him wrong. The result of this high level of shared-trust was a win-win acquisition that was both fast and cost-effective.
In his book, The 5 Dysfunctions of Team, Patrick Lencioni has said, “If we don’t trust one another, then we aren’t going to engage in open, constructive, ideological conflict.” If you’re not willing to be honest and vulnerable, your relationships — including the one with yourself — will be shallow.
In such relationships, each party is too concerned about their own feelings to confront the reality of the situation. As a result, the relationship doesn’t progress and evolve, but remains stuck.
But what about your relationship with yourself?
Developing a Relationship of Trust with Yourself
Dr. Stephen R. Covey tells the story of being over-seas and being in a men’s clothing store. He was interested in buying a nice suit jacket. Stephen asked the salesman about the price, knowing it would include an additional fee when he crossed the border.
The salesman said, “Just wear it when you leave the country. Then you won’t have to pay the additional fee. They’ll never know.”
Covey responded, “But I have to fill out a ticket of everything I purchased while in this country.”
The salesman answered, “Just don’t mention it.”
Covey replied, “Sir, I’m not concerned about paying the extra cost. However, I am concerned about what you’re teaching the young man you’re training.” The salesman happened to be on-spot training a new employee.
As you might guess, Covey didn’t purchase the jacket.
This story has enormous implications.
The following list of questions come from the book, The Speed of Trust, by Stephen M. R. Covey.
Before answering the questions, note that people have a hard time answering questions about themselves honestly — an apparent lack of self-trust. We generally judge ourselves based on our intentions while judging others based on their behaviors.
Do you cut corners or alter the truth to get desired results?
Are you honest in your interactions with others?
Is there a mismatch between what you think and what you say, or between your values and your actions?
How clear are you on your values?
Do you stand up for something when others disagree?
Is it hard for you to acknowledge when someone else is right?
How open are you to changing your mind?
How consistent are you at setting and achieving personal goals?
How well are you at keeping commitments to yourself and others?
How much do you really care about the concerns of other people?
How often do you think about why you do what you do?
How often do you do the deep interior work of improving your motives?
In your dealings with others, do you primarily focus on getting what you want? Or do you actively seek solutions that are a win for everyone involved?
Based on your behavior, do other people think you have their best interests in mind?
Have you identified your strengths and focused your work around them? Or are you unclear on your strengths and spend time focused on your weaknesses?
Have you gained the knowledge and mastered the skills to thrive in your work?
How much time do you spend improving your knowledge and skills to improve your work and life?
How often do you finish what you start?
Trust Defined
Trust can be broken down into two things:
- Character — your integrity and intentions
- Competency — your skills and results
If you don’t have both character and competency, trust will be low. For example, you may have all the right skills, but lack integrity. Or, you may have high integrity, but lack the needed skills for a specific task.
This is why confidence must be earned. A price must be paid to have confidence in yourself and others. The price is trust.
You can’t be confident if you’re not competent. If you lack the knowledge and skills, you won’t believe you can achieve your goal. If you lack the integrity to stick to your plans and keep your commitments, you won’t believe you will achieve your goal.
How often do you tell yourself you’re going to do something, and not do it?
If you’re like most people, the answer is several times per day.
Did you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock? Loss of personal trust.
Did you sit on social media longer than you wanted to? Loss of personal trust.
Anytime you live beneath your personal standards or fail to keep your personal commitments, you lose trust in yourself. To repeat Mahatma Gandhi, “To believe in something, and not to live it, is dishonest.”
Isn’t it strange that the person we lie the most to is ourselves?
The fastest way to gain trust is to start doing what you say you’re going to do. Start with little wins. If you tell yourself you’re going to get up in the morning to go to the gym, do it. If you say you’re going to eat clean for a week, do it. If you want to be nicer at work, do it.
Very few things are as psychologically damaging as consistently lying to yourself.
Dysergy of Goals
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” — Mahatma Gandhi
Although you already know what you should do, like most people, you often don’t do it.
You eat foods you know aren’t good for you.
You pursue goals that are externally — not internally — motivated.
You settle because you don’t trust yourself to be who you really want to be.
We all do.
According to control theory, having dysergy, or conflict, between your goals creates emotional distress.
Dysergy is the opposite of synergy.
It happens when the pursuit of one goal impedes you from achieving your other goals. For example, you really want a happy family but can’t pull yourself away from your work. So your family suffers. And ultimately, so do you.
Or, you have the goal of waking up early in the morning, but you also want to please other people. Your habit of late-night drinking with your friends is at the expense of your desired morning routine.
Your lower-order goals, like being social, pull you away from your higher-order goals, like fulfilling your life’s work.
Dysergy.
Human beings are holistic — when you change a part of any system you simultaneously change the whole. You can’t change a part without fundamentally changing everything. When one area of your life is out of alignment, every area of your life suffers. You can’t compartmentalize a working system.
Consequently, your goals should all synergistically support and propel each other forward. Success in one area of your life should simultaneously facilitate greater success in all other areas of your life.
Eventually, you’ll have to give up the things you’re only pretending to want to please society or your peers. You won’t be able to do this until you trust yourself.
Look at your current goals. Are any of them in conflict? Are you awkwardly trying to fit together things which simply don’t fit together?
Is there any form of justification in your various pursuits?
Are any areas of your life pulling you away from what you really want?
Are you over-committed?
What non-essential pursuits or stuff could you remove?
Approach Vs. Avoid Goals
All goals fall into one of two categories:
- You’re attempting to pursue/approach something (e.g., “I want to get a raise”)
- You’re attempting to prevent/avoid something (e.g., “I don’t want to get fired”)
When your goals are framed as “performance-avoid,” you’re walking on egg-shells. You’re on the defensive. You’re trying to maintain your position as opposed to moving forward.
Conversely, when your goals are framed as “performance-approach,” you’re on the offensive. You’re exposing yourself, confronting risks, and willing to fail. Your seeking to advance your position.
One study found that students who framed their goals as performance-approach had a higher self-concept and confidence than students who framed their goals as performance-avoid.
Another studied examined the relationship between personality types and goal motivations. The study found that extroversion, positive emotions, and behavioral activation were related to performance-approach motivations. Conversely, neuroticism, negative emotions, and behavior inhibition were related to performance-avoidance motivations.
Do you act, or inhibit action?
Do you initiate, or wait?
For a long time, many of my goals were framed as performance-avoid. As a non-conventional doctoral student, I simply didn’t want to “rock the boat” too much. As a result, I inhibited a lot of actions I wanted to take. Rather than being proactive, I was often reactive. This filled me with negative emotions.
Looking back, I realize I had an enormous distrust in myself and others. I didn’t think people would understand me and my differing viewpoints. In many ways, my paradigms are starkly different from the majority of my colleagues. I was too afraid to express my views and be myself.
However, after having developed a higher sense of trust in myself, I’ve been more authentic about my viewpoints and objectives. To my surprise, many of my colleagues appreciate and even respect my views and my approach to work.
This could have never happened if I always remained on the defensive. You can’t avoid problems your whole life and expect to get anywhere. Yes, trust requires vulnerability — both with yourself and others. Is that scary? Absolutely. But is it necessary and worth it? Without question.
You cannot have a true connection with yourself and others without trust. Furthermore, you cannot tackle big challenges without trusting yourself and trusting others. Avoiding failure and inhibiting action can’t move you forward.
Congruence of Goals and Confidence in Achieving Them
In order to have confidence and emotional well-being, you need four things related to your goals:
- Your goals need to be intrinsically meaningful to you
- You need to have trust in your knowledge and abilities to achieve your goals
- You need to be moving toward your goals at a speed you are happy with
- You need to consistently attain/achieve your goals
The Need for Intrinsically Motivating Goals
Social approval is one of the biggest conflicts to intrinsic goals. Some social circles are, frankly, less accepting than others. If you find yourself surrounded by people you can’t be your “authentic” self around, you may need to change your environment. Your environment — including the people you surround yourself with — should synergistically facilitate your goals, not dysergistically conflict with them.
Synergy of goals doesn’t reflect a lack of “tension” between you and your environment. Tension, or difficulty, is often what leads to the greatest mental breakthroughs and most beautiful art. For example, the challenges I face striving to be a young foster parent actually help me in the development of my career.
A life of ease is not the goal. But synergy and clarity absolutely should be the goal. Thus, being a foster father synergistically facilitates my goals as a writer, and vise-versa. Both are ultimately leading me to the live I’m striving to create.
Are your goals synergistic?
Does your environment facilitate or conflict with your goals?
You Need Effective Means at Achieving Your Goals
An enormous obstacle to achieving your goals is having ineffective means at achieving them. For example, you may want to become financially successful but you don’t know how to. This is why people seek therapy or coaching — to learn better ways of getting where they want to go.
The how matters.
How you do something is often as important as why you’re doing it. Said Barry Schwartz, “Ninety percent of adults spend their working lives doing things they would rather not be doing at places they would rather not be.”
The question is, why?
For the most part, these are intelligent people. The problem is, they have not yet found an effective means for achieving their desired ends. In other words, they are working jobs they hate because they don’t know how to create a life doing what they love.
I have a consulting client who fits this model. Currently, he’s on the 9–5 schedule and prepared to work a job he’s not passionate about until age 60 (at which point he can finally do what he wants).
The first question is: What does he want?
The second question is: Is his current means effective at getting what he wants?
He already knows his current “path” toward his goals is ineffective. It keeps him working long hours when he wants more flexibility and freedom.
But there are costs to changing his life. Some of these costs he’s not sure he’s willing to make — like moving into a cheaper home or away from family.
You can’t have it all.
Are you willing to give up what you currently have for what you truly want?
Are you settling even when you know the path you’re on is ineffective?
Are the fears and anxieties involved in changing your life and relationships too much to deal with?
What’s crazy is, the life my client wants and is willing to wait until age 60 for is completely available right now! Yes, he’d have to confront some scary emotions, have some hard conversations, and make some adjustments to his lifestyle. Indeed, there would be “costs” involved. But what he wants is completely available, right now.
You Must Actually Be Achieving Your Goals, Consistently and Frequently
The only true way to experience congruence and confidence in yourself is to consistently achieve your goals. The process is simple, but difficult:
- Remove dysergistic goals, which primarily come from a lack of personal honesty or seeking social approval
- Pursue goals that are intrinsically motivating (giving you a strong why)
- Develop an approach — rather than avoid — orientation in order to activate positive emotions and behaviors
- Find effective ways at achieving your goals fast
Simple, but not easy.
Completely possible though.
And when your life is in alignment, nothing can stop you. Everything in your life becomes a virtuous cycle. You’ll develop the ability to achieve bigger and bigger goals at faster and faster speeds. When all your goals support and sustain each other, effectiveness is the natural outcome.
You Get What You Ask from Life, No More and No Less
Tony Robbins tells the story of being confronted by a homeless person on the street. The man asked Tony if he had a quarter.
Tony thought for a moment and responded, “Is that all you really want? A quarter?”
The man responded, “Yes sir! Absolutely! That’s all I need.”
Tony shrugged as he dug his hand into his pocket. He pulled out a quarter and held it in front of the man’s face. “You get what you ask from life, no more and no less,” Tony said to the man.
Puzzled, the man took the quarter, stared at it for a while, looked back at Tony, and slowly walked away.
Hence, Tony’s mantra: “Remember: we all get what we tolerate.”
Your life is a reflection of what you’re willing to tolerate. If you have dysfunction relationships, that’s because you’ve tolerated dysfunctional relationships.
If you struggle with money, that’s because you tolerate not being financially free.
Your life reflects your personal standards, or the standards of society which you bought-into.
The beautiful thing is, you don’t have to settle any longer. You can hold yourself and those around you to a higher standard. But it must start with you. If you want more love in your life, you must give more love. People, and life in general, is a mirror pointing back exactly what you put out.
How to Create an Empowering Vision Board
Vision board ideas and examples are incredibly useful and inspirational when making your own. I’ve designed this post to show you how to make your own vision boards and how to use them to maximize your visualization practice!
Also known as dream boards, these simple devices are one of the most valuable visualization tools available to you. The inspirational collages serve as your image of the future – a tangible example, idea or representation of where you are going. They should represent your dreams, your goals, and your ideal life.
Your brain will work tirelessly to achieve the statements you give your subconscious mind. And when those statements are the affirmations and images of your goals, you are destined to achieve them! – Jack Canfield
By representing your goals with pictures and images you will actually strengthen and stimulate your emotions because your mind responds strongly to visual stimulation… and your emotions are the vibrational energy that activates the Law of Attraction. The saying “A picture is worth a thousand words,” certainly holds true here.
If you have already defined your dreams, it’s time to illustrate them visually.
What is a Vision Board?
A vision board is a visualization tool which refers to a board of any sort used to build a collage of words and pictures that represent your goals and dreams.
They can be bought from a professional supplier or made with cork or poster boards. By placing visual representations of your goals into one space, you can easily visualize them frequently. Remembering to look at them daily and imagine them as if they have already come true is one of the best ways to activate the Law of Attraction.
How Do You Use a Vision Board for Goal-Setting?
The best way to achieve your goals is to keep them top of mind, so you’re always looking for ways to move yourself closer to them – and a vision board is the perfect tool to help you do that.
By putting a vision board somewhere you can see it every day, you will prompt yourself to visualize your ideal life on a regular basis. And that’s important because visualization activates the creative powers of your subconscious mind and programs your brain to notice available resources that were always there but escaped your notice. Through the Law of Attraction, visualization also magnetizes and attracts to you the people, resources, and opportunities you need to achieve your goal.
By adding a visualization practice to your daily routine, you will naturally become more motivated to reach your goals. You’ll start to notice you are unexpectedly doing things that move you closer to your ideal life. Suddenly, you find yourself volunteering to take on more responsibility at work, speaking out at staff meetings, asking more directly for what you want, and taking more risks in your personal and professional life – and experiencing bigger pay-offs.
It’s pretty cool stuff!
How to Create a Vision Board that Depicts the Future You Wish to Create
Find pictures that represent or symbolize the experiences, feelings, and possessions you want to attract into your life, and place them in your board. Have fun with the process! Use photographs, magazine cutouts, pictures from the Internet–whatever inspires you. Be creative. Include not only pictures, but anything that speaks to you.
Consider including a picture of yourself on your board. If you do, choose one that was taken in a happy moment. You will also want to post your affirmations, inspirational words, quotations, and thoughts here. Choose words and images that inspire you and make you feel good.
You can use your vision board to depict goals and dreams in all areas of your life, or in just one specific area that you are focusing on. Keep it neat, and be selective about what you place in your vision board. It’s a good idea to avoid creating a cluttered or chaotic board… you don’t want to attract chaos into your life.
Use only the words and images that best represent your purpose, your ideal future, and words that inspire positive emotions in you. There is beauty in simplicity and clarity. Too many images and too much information will be distracting and harder to focus on.
If you are working on visualizing and creating changes in many areas of your life, then you may want to use more than one vision board. You might use one for your personal goals and another for career and financial goals. You might even want to keep your career vision board at the office or on your desk as a means of inspiration and affirmation. Whatever you decide to do, learning how to make a vision board – and using it regularly – is the best way to visualize your ideas and dreams to fruition.
Here’s My Simple 6-Step Process for Making Empowering Vision Boards:
1) Create a list of goals you’d like to achieve in the next year
In order to visualize your goals, first you need to know what they are. Spend some time getting clear on exactly what you want your ideal life to look like, and what you need to accomplish in the next 12 months to launch you closer to your goals.
Chapter 2: “Be Clear Why You’re Here,” and Chapter 3: “Decide What You Want,” in my best-selling book, The Success Principles, can help you with this process.
2) Collect a bundle of old magazines with beautiful pictures
If you’re not a magazine reader or currently don’t have any magazines at home, ask your friends to give you any they no longer want. You should also be able to pick some up for just a dollar or two per magazine at your local thrift store. Or you could check out your local recycling depot. Ours has a “free stuff” corner where you can pick up all the magazines you could ever want at zero cost. Maybe yours does, too?
3) Find pictures that represent your goals and inspire you
Schedule a couple hours one evening or weekend to go through the magazines and cut out pictures that represent your goals and speak to your heart in some meaningful way. Fun tip: The last time my staff and I made vision boards at my office, we turned up the radio and had a little musical party going on as we cut out our images, which made it a very vibrant, fun setting to visualize our goals!
When looking for images in the magazines, look for those that immediately make you say, “Yes! That is what I want in my life!” They don’t have to be physical objects or literal interpretations of what you want in your life. Instead, focus on how the images make you FEEL.
For example, if you’d like to move to a home with waterfront property, don’t worry if you can’t find a picture of your perfect “dream home.” Perhaps a picture of an idyllic ocean sunset will be enough to inspire you. Or if you’d like to attract a new romantic partner into your life, instead of hunting for a picture of a man or woman who meets your physical ideal, find a picture that represents love to you – an image of two people holding hands, or even a picture of a heart, for example.
4) Make a collage out of your photos
Once you have collected enough photos, it’s time to make your vision board! Go to your local craft or dollar store and buy a large piece of construction or poster paper. A corkboard or large piece of paper would work as well. Then glue, tack, or tape your pictures to the paper or corkboard in an arrangement that is visually pleasing to you.
5) Add motivational “affirmation words” that represent how you want to FEEL
Your vision of your ideal life shouldn’t be focused on “stuff” so much as on how you want to FEEL. For this reason, I like to add words to my vision board that describe how I want to feel on a daily basis – such as: “joyful,” “abundant,” “powerful,” “fearless,” “loved,” “strong,” “healthy,” “loving,” and “financially free.”
Take some time to create a list of words that describe how YOU want to feel. You can either search for these words in your magazines or write them yourself. Then add them to your vision board in a visually attractive way.
6) Take a few moments to contemplate your vision board every day
To get the full benefit from your vision board, it’s important for you to place it somewhere you can see it every day. I recommend you take a few minutes to look over your vision board at least once or twice a day. I like to review my vision board right before I do a guided visualization, so my goals are top of mind as I train my mind to attract what I truly want into my life. I also like to review it every night before I go to sleep, in order to prompt my sub-conscious mind to come up with new ideas while I’m sleeping on how to achieve my goals. That way, I wake up in the morning bursting with motivation to succeed – and am far more likely to notice and act on opportunities that will bring me closer to my goals.
How to Use Your Dream Board
Try keeping your vision board on the nightstand next to your bed. Leave it standing in an open position as often as you are comfortable with, and spend time each morning and evening visualizing, affirming, believing, and internalizing your goals.
The time you spend visualizing in the evening just before bed is especially powerful. The thoughts and images that are present in your mind during the last forty-five minutes before going to sleep are the ones that will replay themselves repeatedly in your subconscious mind through¬out the night, and the thoughts and images that you begin each day with will help you to create a vibrational match for the future you desire.
As some time goes by, and your dreams begin to manifest, look at those images that represent your achievements, and feel gratitude for how well the Law of Attraction is working in your life. Acknowledge that it is working. Don’t remove the pictures or images that represent the goals you’ve already achieved. Achievement of the goals in your vision board are powerful visual reminders of what you have already consciously and deliberately attracted into your life.
I recommend you write down the date you created your dream board. The universe loves speed, and you will be amazed at just how quickly the Law of Attraction responds to your energy, commitment, and desires. Much like a time capsule, this board will document your personal journey, your dreams, and your achievements for that particular year. It will become a record of your growth, awareness, and expansion that you will want to keep and reflect back upon in years to come.
It’s a good idea to create a new inspiration board each year. As you continue to grow, evolve and expand, your dreams will too. Your vision board is meant to be kept and cherished. They chronicle not only your dreams, but your growth and achievements.
Completed Vision Board Example:
Here is an example of what my personal vision board looks like in my office on the back of my door.
You can use this as a template to create your own inspiration board.
Final thoughts on using your completed vision board:
- Look at your dream board often and feel the inspiration it provides.
- Hold it in your hands and really internalize the future it represents.
- Read your daily affirmations and inspirational words aloud.
- See yourself living in that manner.
- Feel yourself in the future you have designed.
- Believe it is already yours.
- Be grateful for the good that is already present in your life.
- Acknowledge any goals you have already achieved.
- Acknowledge the changes you have seen and felt.
- Acknowledge the presence of God in your life.
- Acknowledge the Law of Attraction at work in your life.
- Look at it just before going to bed and first thing upon rising.
I hope I’ve inspired you to create your own vision board. Your ability to visualize your dreams will serve as a catalyst in their creation.
Invaluable Strategies to Help You Reach Your Big Goals
I will take you through five fundamental strategies that will help you get inspired, realign with your dreams, and allow you to confidently make the decisions that will move your writing career forward.
#1 | What’s at the core?
Creating a platform and an author business without first knowing exactly who you are and what you stand for, is an uphill struggle.
If you’ve been trying to set goals for your writing career, without first knowing and understanding the reasons why you do what you do (and the people you’re doing it for), you’ve likely been spinning your wheels.
Before you can develop any plans for the year, you must first identify your core values.
This will require lots of thought, reflection, self-awareness…and perhaps even some brutal honesty.
- How do you feel about things like money, status, image, achievement, success or failure?
- What do you expect of yourself, and what do you currently assume about your abilities?
- What do you stand for, what do you believe in, and when you boil it all down, what REALLY matters to you, both personally and professionally?
Your objective is to discover and own those core desired feelings, beliefs, and the world view that drives everything you do.
Be careful to consider which values are truly your own, and which have been inherited, internalized or thrust upon you.
Understand, too, what is holding you back. What’s preventing you from achieving success or reaching the goals that you’ve set for yourself? Shine a light on any fears, beliefs, or assumptions that have been working against you in the past, so that you can put strategies in place to overcome these obstacles.
It’s only with this conscious understanding (and acceptance) of the deeper you, that you can begin to create goals that align with your values, and move you in the direction that you genuinely want to go.
How to Apply This:
As a writer, your personal and professional growth are intertwined.
- Define your vision (What do you do, and who do you do it for?)
- Your mission (What do you provide?)
- And your values (How do you interact with your readers, and how do you operate your author business?)
#2 | It’s not just the goal, but how you feel when you get there.
One of the biggest issues with goals is this yawning gap between where you are now, and where you’ve told yourself you need to be.
It’s not always easy to stay committed to the big, audacious goals you set for yourself at the beginning of a new year, especially if they are a reflection of someone else’s values, and not your own.
After doing the work to uncover your core values, your vision and your mission for your writing business, it’s easier to see why it’s not just about the goal, but about defining what winning looks, feels, smells and tastes like when you get there.
Therefore, your to-do list needs to have a purpose – moving you toward your goal, but staying connected to your why.
So for every goal that’s set, ask yourself why you really want this, and what you need to do today (this week, this quarter) to achieve it.
Don’t fall into the trap of connecting your self worth with the volume of books you sell, an Amazon ranking, or the number of people who visit your website each month.
Rather, focus on how you can approach your writing, your business and even your personal life, to start feeling happy and successful in your own eyes.
How to Apply This:
Past performance is not an indicator of how this year will shape up, especially now that you’ve begun to understand where your previous efforts fell short.
Stop focusing on what you’re not achieving. Believe in your own inherent value. Set goals based on your measure of success, and not some external validation.
#3 | Take inventory.
To move forward, it helps to know where you stand right now in terms of results, assets and resources.
Take a look at what you’ve done over the last year and do a post mortem. What worked last year and why? What are you most proud of, and what goodness did you bring to your audience that received the highest engagement?
Ask yourself:
- What were your biggest wins last year, and what did you do in order to achieve them?
- Out of everything you did last year, what 1 thing made you feel the best?
- Also take a look at what didn’t go so well. What didn’t work, and why?
Identify 3 very high stress moments. What could have made those times a little easier? Compare your time spent to your goals and visions for your writing and business. Did you spend your time on the things that truly matter to you?
By tracking your progress, you will be more aware of what’s working and what’s not – then you can do more of what’s moving the needle for your career, and stop wasting your time doing things that aren’t helping you achieve your goals.
Next, get clear on your business financials. Even if your career is in the fledgling stage, knowing where you stand financially allows you to make critical adjustments to keep your author business healthy and growing. Running your business solely on instinct is not wise. It makes it much more difficult to make timely decisions or plan for future growth.
Finally, list out all the time, money, skills and other resources you have available to you currently that can help you reach this year’s goals. Make a note of any gaps that need to be filled. Will you need to take a course, purchase a new software, or pay a cover designer, for example?
How to Apply This:
Track your your stats (regularly), and keep an eye out for any trends in the data.
But remember, a metric is pointless unless it can be traced back to a meaningful outcome for your business. Focus only on those things that impact what you’re aiming to achieve (eg: book sales each month, email list growth each month, words written each month, etc.). Then take the time to review the info you collect weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly to ensure you stay on track.
#4 | Plan for growth.
Now that you’ve defined what success looks like (in #1 and #2), and have begun to think about how to measure it (in #3), it’s finally time to start the planning process for this year.
Let yourself get excited about the possibilities. Think about what you want for your writing career, what you want personally in life, and the experiences you want to create for yourself or the people around you.
What strategies would you like to continue or start implementing based on what you’ve learned above?
In terms of growing your author business, there are three distinct areas to focus on:
DISCOVERY
How will my potential readers discover my books/business this year?
- based on your last year review, what strategies worked well to increase your reach?
- what are the core strategies you will implement this year to get in front of your ideal audience? (Fine-tune or do more of what worked last year.)
- what additional strategies will you test this year? (Choose one or two.)
- what will you need to do, learn, etc. to implement these strategies?
- Starting completely from scratch with your writing business? Pick the low hanging fruit and start with the simplest strategy you can implement quickly, given your current skill set and resources. Examples might include guest blogging, guest podcasting or doing interviews. (Be sure you’re getting in front of your ideal audience.)
AUDIENCE BUILDING/ENGAGEMENT
How will I convert these people into fans, followers and subscribers?
- based on your last year review, what strategies worked well to get people to like, follow or subscribe to your email list?
- what are the core strategies you will implement this year to engage and serve your readers (what content will you share, and how will you add value?)
- what additional strategies will you test?
- what will you need to do, learn, etc. to implement these strategies?
BOOK BUYERS
How will I convert these people into book buyers?
- based on your last year review, what strategies worked well to convert subscribers into buyers? (Or to increase book sales?)
- what are the core strategies you will implement this year to increase sales? (By consistently improving your discoverability while focusing on audience engagement, you communicate your value and build loyalty.)
- what additional strategies will you test? (Consider strategies that will increase trust or make the buying journey more rewarding.)
- what will you need to do, learn, etc. to implement these strategies?
How to Apply This:
Refer to the list of tools, skills, people or other resources you outlined previously. What will you need in your corner to accomplish your goals and the core strategies you’ve noted above? Keep it simple by choosing only one or two main strategies in each area of your business to focus on.
If you have more time, or are a little further along in your platform building, you can test a few additional strategies. Dump the things that are getting in the way or not moving you in the direction of your goals, and automate as much as possible.
#5 | Plan big (and specific), then break it down.
It may seem counterintuitive, but working backward toward your goals is often the best strategy to map out the specific actions you are going to take to achieve them.
Lay out your goals for the year, then break them down into 90 day stretches. What needs to be done quarterly for you to achieve your purpose-driven goals for the year?
Then take these quarterly strategies, and break them down into meaningful weekly, and then daily tasks. Are some of these tasks recurring? Can any of them be outsourced? Batched?
Remember, you’re looking for the fastest, simplest way you can reach your goal. Don’t get distracted by all the things you could do. Stay focused on what you should do to get where you want to go.
Ideally, you want to take out all the ambiguity about what you need to get done each day. Create a daily routine and develop systems and processes where you can.
It’s valuable to understand the difference between your role as CEO of your author business (which includes planning and strategy, and determines your direction) and worker bee (which includes the implementation and execution of strategies, and determines your progress).
How you prioritize your time, as well as your understanding of the difference between urgent and important tasks, can also help you plan your days, weeks and months more efficiently.
While most of us have the natural tendency to spend our time on the tasks in quadrants I and III (tending to urgent tasks like putting out fires or finishing that article before the deadline) – we shouldn’t be.
Rather, we should review our task list and spend the majority of our time on the things that fall under quadrant II – important but not urgent tasks. These activities have an outcome that leads to us achieving our goals.
Take the time to list all of the activities and projects that you feel you have to do (no matter how small), then put each activity into one of the four categories.
- For the tasks that you’ve placed in quadrant I (and those that will pop up), leave some time in your schedule to handle unexpected issues and unplanned, but important activities.
- Quadrant II tasks are those that will help you achieve your professional goals, so you should be investing more of your time working on the tasks that you’ve placed under this quadrant. These tasks may not seem urgent today, but are important for long-term development and strategizing. This also helps ensure quadrant II tasks don’t turn into quadrant I tasks!
- Tasks in quadrant III prevent you from achieving your goals, so block specific time slots for phone calls, favours and other requests, and delegate what you can.
- Tasks that fall under quadrant IV are time wasters and don’t contribute to your desired outcomes, so avoid or postpone any of the tasks you’ve listed in this quadrant.
How to Apply This:
So now that you’ve broken your big goals down into core strategies and specific tasks AND you have a clearer idea of what’s important rather than just urgent, let’s look at ways to execute your goal-focused to-do list.
1 || TIME BLOCKING
By regularly blocking out sections of your day or week for important tasks, you are creating the space needed to accomplish the things that actually matter. And blocking out time for specific activities allows you to focus on one task at a time – limiting distractions, procrastination and stress.
Schedule a set time “block” on your calendar with the intention of completing a specific task during that time. Generally, a scheduled block of time should be between 20 to 90 minutes (with no distractions or multi-tasking). I’m testing and tweaking the Pomodoro Technique, which is 25 minutes of focused work, and then a 5 minute break. Of course, some tasks may take more than one “Pomodoro” to achieve, so you’d need to account for that in your time block.
Task “batching” is also an important consideration when you’re planning out your time blocks, as it’s the constant switching between tasks that gobbles up the hours in your day. Therefore, group tasks logically by their function, location or even your body clock (i.e., when you’ll be at your peak to perform those tasks the best).
If you create videos for your author website or YouTube channel, shoot a week’s worth (or even a month’s worth) at one time, since you will already have your equipment and lighting set up. If you are most inspired and creative in the early morning, block your writing time early in the day, and schedule marketing or reactive work (like answering emails) later in the day.
2 || SPRINT PLANNING
I first learned of this technique through Mariah Coz of Femtrepreneur.co, and it’s kind of “next level” time blocking. With sprint planning, you’re “time blocking” projects, rather than individual tasks.
So, instead of making a little progress on several projects, the approach is to focus exclusively on one project at a time – and actually complete it before moving on to the next. (Sounds so crazy, it just might work…). ?
Just like time blocking above, your goal is to eliminate the distractions and stop switching your focus. Each sprint equals two weeks (two sprints per month, six sprints per quarter).
Look at the project(s) you’ve planned for the first 90 days of this year, and consider breaking them down into sprints:
- Planning a book launch?
- Setting up your author website?
- Building your email list and reader community?
Break the planning process down into sprints or 2 week chunks, and devote your time and energy to that project only for those 2 weeks. (No cheating!)
3 || NEXT DAY PLANNING
Start today’s work yesterday. By dedicating ten to twenty minutes every evening to clarifying your schedule for the next day, you’ll find your productivity skyrocket.
- At the end of each day, write down and prioritize the 3-6 most important things you need to accomplish the next day.
- Start the next day by focusing on your top priority.
- Move any unfinished tasks from the day before to the following day’s to-do list.
To take this a step further, consider adding a weekly planning session to your schedule. Take an hour before you’re done work for the day on Friday (or perhaps every Sunday evening), to re-align with your goals, and review your top priority projects and tasks for the week.
Review what went well, what didn’t, and determine if there are any adjustments that need to be made.
This weekly “check-in” not only ensures that the right stuff is getting done, but also allows you a moment to reaffirm that your goals are important and worth working toward.
Bringing it All Together
Now it’s time to go back over everything:
- your core values, your vision and mission for your author business
- what you want to feel when you reach your goals
- your results from the past year; what worked and what didn’t
- your plans and core strategies for growth this year
- and your strategies for breaking things down and actually implementing your big plans this year
What word or phrase encapsulates your intentions, aspirations and emotional energy this year?
Keep this word or phrase visible – near your workspace, on the cover of your notebook, as a screensaver on your computer, or a reminder on your phone – to ground you everyday as you pursue your goals this year.
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Mission Statement Example One
I. Mission Statement
My mission is to act as an instrument of positive change in my family, my work and my community. I will utilize all of the talents that God has given me and will participate in all aspects of my life with energy, purpose and gratitude. I will utilize my talents in strategy and administration to ensure that my home is loving and calm, my workplace is productive and positive and my community is responsive and growing. Through this focus I will give more than I take and will provide a positive role model for my children.
Guidance
I am guided by a spiritual belief that everyone has a purpose on this earth and that we are all called to serve in some capacity. I also believe in the power of gratitude both as prayer and as a motivation to serve. I will not be guided by the promise of money or fame in making my life choices.
Important Relationships
Husband - I will have a relationship with my husband based upon love, trust, respect and laughter. We will continue to nurture our life-long friendship and will never lose sight of the fact that we are more than just parents. We are partners. I will respect his individuality and will support him in achieving his life goals.
Children - I will love and care for my children. I will teach them to respect themselves and other people. I will never lose sight of the unique individuals that they are and will support them in the paths that they choice for themselves. I will give them my time and attention and as such will ensure that they always know that they are loved.
Work - I will approach my job with energy and passion. I will find a position that allows me to utilize all of my talents. I will help facilitate organizational goals and will be a positive influence on my co-workers. I will never cheat myself or my employer by working solely for a paycheck. Should I ever find myself in that position I will find other employment.
Community - I will participate in my community. I will participate in volunteer activities for my school, church and community to help ensure that my community prospers. I will be a willing volunteer and won't hesitate to lend a helping hand when and where it is needed either locally or globally.
Self - I will not compromise my principles and/or dreams based upon the opinion or disapproval of others. I will be true to myself and my purpose, in doing so I will be a better wife, mother, friend, daughter and employee.
Learning
I will gain academic knowledge through completion of my MBA. I will gain spiritual knowledge through adult Bible classes and a study of other religions. I will gain physical strength through continuation of my running. I will gain wisdom by living my life in congruence with my life's purpose. I will gain personnel strength through my faith.
Self-Esteem and Security
I measure my self esteem by my ability to look at myself in a mirror and genuinely smile.
I derive my self esteem through my ability to set goals and meet them. I have learned to set goals that I have personal control over. If all else fails I keep a success file which I review if I need added evidence that I am a successful person.
Strength
I draw my strength from God. Specifically I draw my strength from people and places where I see or feel a divine presence- the road I run on, my daughter's faces, music and art. I transform weaknesses into strengths by developing an action plan that divides big goals into very small steps. I find that if I take one small step every day pretty soon I am well on my way.
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Mission Statement Example Two
A. Life's Mission
My mission in life is to model all aspects of my life to reflect my Christian beliefs and values of faith, honesty, hope, kindness, forgiveness, and love. My mission is to remember that each day is a gift, and to live each moment to its fullest. My mission is to provide as much love and support to my friends, family, co-workers, and those who need it. To happily share my gifts, talents, and wealth with those who are less fortunate, and to do all I can do to keep myself from getting caught up in the rat race of materialism and greed. My mission is to be brutally honest, to myself and to others, in all that I say, think and do. My mission is to be a trustworthy friend and employee.
My mission is to provide a loving, Christian home to my yet unborn or unadopted children, and to help them grow and learn the right and wrong, good and bad on their own, to grow up and live happy, healthy, morally true lives. My mission is to provide unconditional love to my family with my entire being, with an open heart and mind to any challenges that may arise. My mission is to teach by example. My mission is to listen. I will always put my family before my career and professional goals.
My mission is to act in a manner that promotes and demonstrates respect; for myself, for others, for all of God's creatures and all living things, for mine and others' property, beliefs, and opinions, and for the earth. My mission is to stand up for what I believe in; always. Even, and perhaps especially, when it is uncomfortable. My mission is to live simply. My mission is to accept responsibility; for what I have done, and for what I have not done. To forgive myself and others. To accept responsibility for my mistakes and learn from them, and to welcome constructive criticism, and use it to become a better person. My mission is to cherish my health and the health of those around me, and to make decisions to maintain and improve it.
To act honorably and graciously in situations that are challenging. To assume nothing, and to expect the best from people. My mission is to appreciate differences and to value diversity, and to never forget the lessons I am always learning. My mission is to do whatever I can to improve our community and our society; socially, ethically, environmentally, and aesthetically. To respect the wisdom of experience, and to value integrity. My mission is for all of my actions to have the best of intentions; honest, ethical, and true to what I believe. My mission is to live a life outlined by the word of God, and to let my conscience be my moral guide.
The end result will be a rewarding life well lived.
B. Guide
The primary motivating factors in developing my mission statement is my faith, and my heart. I feel that I have a strong sense of morality,and I want that to show through in how I live my life. I am pretty fundamental - I want to live simply and share what I have with those who do not have much. I want my actions and my thoughts to reflect the person that I hope I am becoming, and I want to feel good about all that I do, every day. I do not want to be a victim of corporate Africa; I do not want to be motivated by the dollar, and I do not want to fall into a pattern of greed. Perhaps I do view the world through rose colored glasses; if so, I like wearing them, and hope I can continue to do so.
C. Relationships
Spiritual
The most important relationship in my life is between God and myself. Without Him I would not have a life to live, and without Him I would have no strength, no values, no soul. I want to be sure that all I do reflects God's word, and that my thoughts and actions reflect my Christian values. My faith goes before me in all that I do, and it gives a purpose to my life. I can only see this intensifying through the years.
Family
Family has is the next important relationship. My husband is my soul mate and partner in life, and I love him to the very depth of my heart. We hope to soon have success in starting a family of our own, through birth or adoption, whatever is meant to be, and we anxiously await the day that we can love and nurture our children in person instead of just in our hearts. I have a strong relationship with all of my family and extended family, which I cherish and work to maintain. Family is important for growth and learning, and for understanding who you are. Family has been for me and will continue to be the cornerstone of my life, and I will do all that I can do so that my life is a positive role model for our children and for my family. My family will come before my career, even if I have to leave the workforce to do it. Part of my mission is to provide unconditional love and support for my family, and help them to grow spiritually, morally, mentally, and emotionally, into strong and happy adults.
Friends & Neighbors
I have many close friends that I have been blessed with on my life's journey so far, and they have been vital in helping me become the person I am, and in continuing to become the person I strive to be. I am thankful for them, and place a high value on their friendship and presence in my life. I consider them family and care deeply for them, and will continue to work at maintaining these friendships.
Professionally
Removed in order to maintain confidentiality.
D. Learning
The mind is a terrible thing to waste. Though that is truly a cliche, it is one that I thoroughly believe in. I think the value of education is priceless, and plan to further my own as well as doing all I can to provide the best opportunities to my family. We read often, and as a husband and wife, try to broaden our horizons through books and literature as opposed to mass mainstream entertainment. This is a value that we hope to instill in our children as well.
E. Self Esteem and Security
My self esteem is primarily determined by my conscience, and my level of satisfaction with myself and the decisions I make in life. In my high school years, we moved around often, and after attending my 9th school by the time I reached the 10th grade, I had learned that it is foolish to base your self esteem on what others think of you. In my life, the buck stops here. I hold myself to high standards, and I hold myself fully accountable for my actions, successes, and failures. I learn from them, and I use my experiences to help me become who I want to be, as defined in my mission statement. In the end, my utmost level of accountability rests with God. I am not to judge, but when I come to that point, I want to know that without a doubt, I did the best I could do in all that I did. I wouldn't have it any other way.
F. Strength
I derive my strength primarily from my faith, and from my relationship and daily conversations with God. This is how it has been for me since I was old enough to truly understand what it means to have a faith, and live your life with it. I derive my strength from my family and friends, and from my conscience. I value criticism and use
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Mission Statement Example Three
Overall Mission Statement
My goal in life is to be a great friend and wife to my husband. A wonderful mother that teaches her children not just right and wrong, but how to be healthy, happy, successful, responsible adults who can do the same for their families. I want to not lose sight of who I am and the person I am meant to be in the process. All the while, honoring God with the choices I make and the way I live my life.
My Guide
My guide is God. I truly believe that if you put God first in everything you do, He will direct your path. I pray. God has also placed in my life a husband and close friends with whom I can confide if I am struggling with a decision, looking for guidance, or just need encouragement.
Important Relationships
My husband : Being married for me is like running a marathon. At first you take off all happy, full of excitement thinking: “no sweat”, “I can do this!” Then there are the hills. Down hills breeze right by, but those up hills, boy, you start thinking: “What am I doing here?” “This is ridiculous! I should just quit!” Pretty soon everything hurts, parts of you even go numb.
Then you remember why you started this race in the first place. You learn to pace yourself and just enjoy running. I married my husband so I can grow old with my best friend in the world. And sometimes we loudly remind each other of that.
My Children: A very long time ago I heard Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis state: “If you bungle raising your children, I don't think whatever else you do well matters very much.” It is a statement that has stuck with me. My children and I have wonderful relationships based on love, trust, respect, and honesty. Each time I dive into one area of my life too deeply, for example work, the effects show up visibly in the lives of my children. It is then that I am reminded of Mrs. Onassis's statement. I see the need to pull back, re-evaluate what I am doing and get back on track. Raising my children well and maintaining good relationships with them is, to me, the most valuable thing that I can accomplish in this lifetime.
Other Family Members: My extended family is a unique blend of beautiful characters held together by the word “family”. From the spirited Irish Republicans to the Italians who solve everything with wine and pasta, each have their own opinions, tastes, and humor. Generally, I just try to be blend in, go-with-the flow when it comes to the in-laws. As for my parents and my brother I make a point to stay close to them and be supportive. They are a big part of my connection to who I am and where I came from, that is something I do not want to forget.
Friends: I have a few. They are the people that God blessed you with to lift you up when no one else can. They are the people that cry with you when something bad happens. They are the people that listen when you really need to talk. Friends understand when you answer the door in your pajamas and your house is a mess. Why? Because they know you would do that for them. Those are my friends.
Employee within the Firm : I have been both an employee and a manager. As an employee I first have had to recognize my learning style. I am a person who is very detail oriented. I need to understand things a little more in depth than most people. I am not afraid to work hard and learn something new. No matter what the job is, I always try to do the best I can.
As a manager, I felt it was important to have clear expectations of employees, to give them adequate feedback and training so they can do their job well.
Learning
Learning is a never-ending process. To be successful in business, education and experience are the best combination. An MBA will help me to build on what I already know about business. In the future I want to pursue my Ph.D. in accounting and teach college.
Self-Esteem and Security
My life had some rough beginnings. I remember moments when my life came close to ending. Some of those moments were at the hands of another. There were very dark confusing years that followed. All the people who thought they saw a spark of hope in me. All of those who said I couldn't make it. My self-esteem comes from knowing that I not only beat the odds, I knocked them out of the ballpark. I made all of those people who reached out to me proud; and surprised those who thought I couldn't.
My family is my security. They remind me that life is good and no matter what challenges come my way, the sun will still shine in the morning and they will still be there to help me through.
Strength
My strength is in my faith. I know God and He knows what I can handle. I do not always feel up to the things He puts in my life, but with prayer and time, I am able to meet these challenges head-on.
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Mission Statement Example Four
Overall Statement of my Life's mission
My mission in life is to glorify God and to do God's will. The roles that I fill in my life are roles that God has provided for me and I need to conduct myself, as God would want me to. I have responsibility to lead my family in a Godly way, toto show people in my life a Christian life style and understanding, and in the community what God would want from everyone's life.
My Guide
I am guided in my mission by God's will. I know what God would want from me as I spend time in prayer and ask for his guidance in all things that I do. The times that I feel lost in my life are the times that I do not spend the appropriate time in prayer or allow for my desires of worldly positions to overtake my actions. The thing that I will not allow to guide my decision making is the pursuit of worldly desires. The point that I allow these worldly desires to provide me guidance is the point that I stray from what God would want from me.
Important Relationships
Wife - I desire from my relationship with my wife to laugh every day, to love and respect each other, and to work on our relationship every day of our lives. My goal is to work towards a life long partnership that changes and evolves as our lives evolve.
Children - being a father to 3 beautiful children is a challenging and fulfilling role, I desire to be a role model, a teacher and leader in their spiritual development, a good provider, a life long partner in their lives. I desire for my children to respect, honor, love, and truly desire my kids to want to be part of our family. I desire for our kids to be tied together through their entire lives and want to carry on our family's values and traditions after my wife and I move to a final destination of heaven.
Other family members
• Son - my relationship with my parents is extremely important to me, I want to support my parents in all decisions that they make, to remember that all that I am- they showed me the way, and to make their lives as easy as possible as they grow older.
• Brother - my relationship with brother over the years has been strained to the point we have not kept in touch. My relationship with my brother needs to continue to evolve to the point we can be active participants in each others lives.
Friends as a group - my relationship with my friends needs to take on a life of its own, early in my life my friends where very important to me but as time as continued I have grown away due to my career, family, and educational commitments. I desire to rediscover those relationships along with growing new ones. I would like to make time to have meaningful relationships with people outside of my current inner circle
Business partner -getting ready to begin my new business with a friend and colleague I want to build a relationship of mutual trust, respect, and life long partnership that does not lose the friendship element of what we have today.
Learning
Formal - I want to complete my MBA and potentially continue with my learning in some aspect. At some point in my life I would like to take the knowledge of business that I have learned and teach at some level.
Spiritual - I desire to continue to build my relationship with God and learn how to be the Christian that he would have for me to be. This area of learning has been one that I have put off at times, that I have not been as committed to as I should be, and needing to fulfill.
Self-Esteem and Security
I maintain my self-esteem and confidence from several sources. My primary source is my relationship with God; spiritually I am confident that eternity is the ultimate goal and that by my relationship and trusting Jesus Christ as my savior. My second source of strength comes from my upbringing. My parents taught me to be confident in myself, to trust that I will make the best decisions, and to respect all people regardless of who they are and where they come from. My mom particularly taught me that I own my own self worth and self esteem. You cannot be strong within relationships with others if you are not strong and happy with yourself. I feel that the times that I struggle with these things are the times that I lose confidence in myself or stray to far from God. When I recognize the symptoms, then I spend time praying and reading God's word. When I feel I am not happy, I push myself back to learning either mentally or physically through the workout routines.
Strength
My strength comes from my relationship with God. Strength for me is a function of prayer and my relationship with God. My wife provides a source of strength through love, understanding, and encouragement. These two sources of strength in my life provide guidance and direction as I live day to day.
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Mission Statement Example Five
_My Mission Statement
Overall Statement of My Life's Mission
“Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.” – George Bernard Shaw
My life's mission is to come upon my undiscovered talents that best bring about perfection in the material and spiritual worlds, as well as be a giving and loving man in my important relationships and those that may extend beyond my immediate circle.
My Guide
“I do not try to dance better than anyone else. I only try to dance better than myself.” – Mikhail Baryshnikov
I believe that where I am right now is the right place for me to be; this does not suggest I take a passive role in my life.
Important Relationships
“To handle yourself, use your head. To handle others, use your heart.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Partner: The relationship shall be of mutual respect and where I can differentiate between that which is satisfactory (significant other) and that which is perfect (significant other, if improved).
Child / Next Generation: Until I have a child of my own, I extend myself to my nephew and Godson (who are both back in St. Louis) any way that I can but wish that I were physically closer to celebrate their birthdays and every holiday with them.
Parents: I love my parents. I always welcome their unconditional love and advice. I shall continue to work toward transitioning our parent-child relationships into adult-adult relationships.
Siblings: I could afford to strengthen my relationships with my two step-sisters (on my father's side) and adopted brother (my late mother adopted him when we were adults). Presently, my knowledge of the events in each of their respective lives remains at a high-level.
Friends: My friends are an extension of my family. I love to converse and explore new ideas with friends, will always offer to bring them chicken soup if they are sick, and work harder to not be heavy-handed with advice.
Employer: I will use the power of communication, industriousness, and efficiency to get my work done and rise to any challenge, hopefully whilst ensuring that my goals and values are aligned with the mission, vision, and values of my employer.
Community: In August 2007, I moved to Minneapolis but have yet to engage in volunteer opportunities within the literacy, health, and/or arts communities. I would like to resume my volunteering efforts upon graduation from Carlson.
Learning
“Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
I consider myself a work in progress and a love of learning assists in my quest for self-improvement. By keeping an open mind and appreciating thoughtful academic research, well scripted television banter, provocative articles, friendly social networking sites, books of interest, and smart and funny conversations during hours of happiness, I hope to have a more tolerant, imaginative, and positive approach to my personal, social, and professional lives.
Self-Esteem and Security
“Be yourself. There is something that you can do better than any other. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
There are many ups and downs in life but as the above quote says, there is something that I can do better than anyone else. Now it is just a matter of inducing this competency and sustaining it.
I derive my worth from the quality of my relationships, the material and spiritual things in my life, and knowing that I have faith – all of which are measurable with a smile. I try my hardest not to compare myself to others since we are different persons with different experiences; but that is not always the case, therefore, I seek to turn insecurities in opportunities or discard them as irrelevant.
Strength
“Anger is only one letter short of danger.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
Two primary sources from where I draw strength to achieve my life's mission are the interactions with and feedback provided by family, friends, and colleagues, and the ideas that challenge my existing way of thinking. Also, by being versatile in my communications with others and sympathetic to my surroundings, I can learn to be less demanding of myself and others – decreasing the disappointment when my demands aren't met and reducing the potential for pessimism.
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Mission Statement Example Six
Overall Statement of Life's Mission
My Mission Statement
I am here on a mission --- a mission from God. Ok, before someone calls the guys in the white coats, let me explain. God has given this mission to all Christians; Jesus said in Matthew 28: 19: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” My mission is to tell people how much God loves them and how much he wants to be a part of their lives. While all Christians have been given this mission, we are each given different gifts to use in order to accomplish our mission, as Paul says in Romans 12:4-6a: “ Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.” I believe that God has given me the gift of telling others about him; some call this the gift of evangelism.
God's goal is to have the entire world know Him. As Paul said in 1 st Timothy 2:4: “[God] wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” My goal is a bit smaller; I would like my family, my friends, my colleagues, my neighbors and all those I come into contact with to come to know God as their leader and provider. I hope to accomplish this through my words and through my actions.
To this purpose God has given me many resources; a good job that pays well, a good education, the chance to travel, family, friends and much more. I also am aware that I need to put these resources to good use, as the Bible says in Matthew 13:12: “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him,” and in Matthew 6:20-21: “ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” To accomplish my mission I will share what I have with others.
As I go about my mission I want to be someone others see as a person who not only speaks the truth about God but who demonstrates it. 1 st Corinthians 13:1 says: “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” My life must be a reflection to others of the love God has for me. As Matthew 5:16 says; “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Actions alone will not be enough, as Romans 10:14 says: “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? “ My actions must be accompanied by an explanation of my faith.
I want my life to model the verse from Acts 10:2 which states: “He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly.” And I can think of no better words for my tombstone than a paraphrase of 1 st Corinthians 13:13 “And in her life we saw these three things: faith, hope and love, but her greatest demonstration was that of love.”
Ultimately I will know how successful I have been in reaching my goal when I am reunited with all my loved ones in heaven. As Romans 6:5 says: “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.” Yes, there are other things I would like to accomplish before I die, such as learning to fly a plane, teaching at a University, losing weight and others, but nothing is more important to me than to have my loved ones join me in Heaven. After all, as Matthew 16:26 reminds me: “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” And as Philippians 3:20-21 says: “… [O] ur citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
My Guide
My guide through this journey of life is God. I receive direction from him through his Word, the sacraments and prayer. As Psalm 119:105 says: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” God is always there to guide my decisions through what he has written in the Bible. In the sacraments of baptism and communion that I receive at church, I am united with God and my weaknesses (or sins) are forgiven. Through prayer I can have conversations with God. As Philippians 4:6 says: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” These three things: reading the Bible, praying and participating in the sacraments at church, provide the framework for my mission, my goals and how I make many, if not most, of the decisions in my life.
Important Relationships
The following are the groups with whom I have relationships. There is an order of importance in this list, as Gayle Sayers said: "The Lord is first, my friends [and family] are second, and I am third." (Sayers and Silverman, 2001, back cover). There are other relationships in my life but these three come first.
My God and I
I realize that nothing I have done merits the love God has for me. As Ephesians 2:8-9 says: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” Nor was I able to make it to God on my own. As Martin Luther said, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all sins to me and all believers, and will at the Last day raise up me and all the dead, and give unto me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true!” As a result of my belief in God, my life has been changed to be a reflection of Him, as Ephesians 5:8 says: “ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.”
God wants my relationship with him to be personal. He wants me to talk with him and he with me. I can turn to him in times of trouble as He says in Jeremiah 29:12: “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you,' and again in Psalm 50:15: “… call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."
God wants me to trust in him, as he says in 2 nd Corinthians 5:7: “We live by faith, not by sight.“ He wants to be my guide and helper through all circumstances in my life. 1 st Peter 5:7 summarizes this: “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
Lastly, God has put me here for a specific purpose. As Ephesians 2:10 states: “ For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” To accomplish the purpose God has for me, I must keep my relationship with Him fresh and vibrant through prayer and daily study of His Word. I must trust him in all things and constantly seek His guidance in my life.
My Family and I
God provided me with loving parents and grandparents who helped me at an early age to understand God's love for me. They not only taught me about God and his promises but their lives provided a living example for me that formed the basis of my faith today. I want to be that kind of person for my sister and brother and their families, especially for my nieces and nephews. I want them to see those same attributes of faith, hope and love that existed in my parents and grandparents. My greatest thrill would be to overhear someone talking to my nieces or nephews and saying something like 2 nd Timothy 1:5: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your Aunt Becky and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” I would love to stand up with my entire family and say as in Joshua 24:15: “… But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD."
I have a close relationship with my mother, brother and sister and their families. Our love is unconditional; it cannot be separated by the enticement of money. We do not keep tabs of who owes whom nor how much Mom has given one person over another. They know that they can depend on me for anything they need: physically, emotionally and financially, and I know I can depend on them.
My Friends and I
Since I don't live close to my family, my friends are an important part of my life. I have both Christian and non-Christian friends, both locally and throughout the world. I use as a guide in my relationship with my non-Christian friends verses 22-23 from Jude 1 which says: “Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.” This ties back to my basic mission of life of telling others about Jesus. My Christian friends provide me with support and encouragement, serving as role models on how to be effective in my mission.
My friends (and family) have my unconditional love. 1 st John 3:16-18 explains this love I have, it says: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” In other words, my friends know that what is mine is theirs, but even more, that I would physically give my life for them.
Lastly I believe that a part of being a friend is to be an encourager as well as wanting only good things for them. As Hebrews 3:13 says: “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness,” and Philippians 2:4 says: “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
Me, Myself and I
As a single person, I am accountability to myself. First, to honor myself (and God) by treating my body with respect, as 1 st Corinthians 6:18-20 says:
“Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”
Second, I should enjoy the things God has given me, as James 1:17 says: “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” God gives me more than just money; He gives me friends, family, faith, and much more. I know God has provided me with things not only for use in my mission but also to use for my enjoyment, however 1 st Timothy 6:17 warns me to not put my trust in my possessions, it says: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” While I have many things, I do not consider that I own them, instead I consider that they are but on loan to me for use by others as well as myself.
Lastly, unlike many people I am not afraid to die nor am I afraid to live. As Philippians 1:21-26 says: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me.”
My Job and I
Because of my Christian framework, I believe that I should give my all to doing the job that I have been given, as Colossians 3:23-24 says: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” In my dealings with my co-workers I try to follow the advice of Galatians 6:10: “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.” So at work, I treat all people with respect and honesty.
However in business, especially the higher up you go, there are always people around whose ethics allow them to “stab others in the back” or who expect you to do all the work. In these situations I look to Matthew 5:41-44 for advice; “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” God calls me to go the extra mile and to love those who would hurt me.
My Neighborhood and I
The following Bible passages provide the framework for my relationship with my neighborhood; Luke 10:27 says: “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself;'" and Romans 13:9-10 says: “The commandments… are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”
As an affluent American, I could afford to live in a large house on a big track of land; however, I live in a small house in a “blue collar” neighborhood. “Keeping up with the Jones” is not a part of my way of life. Instead I believe in helping out my neighbors by taking care of their walks, loaning out my possessions such as my fertilizer spreader, my snowblower, my lawnmower and other equipment. I let my actions demonstrate my faith and whenever possible tell of this faith to my neighbors.
My Church and I
My church is an important part of my life, as I am a part of a church family. 1 st Corinthians 12:27 states: “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
As part of this family, I provide encouragement to other members of my church. I also provide support for church by giving my time to teach Bible Class or to sing in the church choir and by giving my resources, such as my money and my possessions to the church. In addition, I weekly attend church service to as Ephesians 5:19-21 says: “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
My Community and I
I believe God is asking me to share my riches with people in need, not only my riches but also my time. As Romans 12:13 says: “Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.” In addition, I believe that God is calling me to obey the government, to pay my taxes, and to respect my leaders, this is in keeping with Hebrews 13:16-17: “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased. Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”
We are living in times of stress. However, God is calling us to choose love instead of hate. I want to live at peace with all people and take every opportunity to pray for not only my friends and family but for the entire world. This is in keeping with Romans 12:18 that says: “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.“
Learning
My wisdom comes from God as Proverbs 9:10 says: “"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” I could never learn all there is to learn as Psalm 139:17 says: “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” The core of my learning comes from reading and studying God's word. Wisdom comes from God and is mine for the asking as it is stated in James 1:5: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” What some people think is wise is not, 1 st Corinthians 3:19 says: “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight.“ My wisdom comes from experience and from God's presence in those experiences; 1 st Corinthians 2:13 says: “This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.”
Of course I will continue my learning through the completion of my Masters Program as well as by reading the paper, watching television news, the history channel and other educational shows.
Self-Esteem and Security
My self-esteem comes because I know God loves me as Jeremiah 31:3 says “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Sin is the one thing that can dent my self-esteem, however God has told me that he has forgiven me my sins as 1 st John 1:9 says: “ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
My security is found in following God's direction as Psalm 16:8 says: “I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken .” I know also that God is watching out for me as Matthew 10:29-31 says: “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.” I put my hope in the knowledge that God has the best in mind for me. I know this because it is confirmed in the words of one of my favorite Bible passages, Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” This is way I am able to sing with certainty “ My Hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus Name. On Christ the solid Rock I stand; All other ground is sinking sand”.
Strength
My strength comes from my faith in God. First I know he is always with me as 2 nd Thessalonians 2:16-17 says: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”
Second, I know that it is not by my strength that my mission will be accomplished for Isaiah 55:10-11 says: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”
Third, I believe that the saints who have gone before me are cheering me on as Hebrews 12:1-3 says: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.”
Fourth, I know that nothing I do can separate me from God. He says in Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Lastly, I know that God is always with me as he said in Matthew 28:20: “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." Even when I moved to England, I knew he was with me because Psalm 139:9-10 says: “If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”
I don't worry about my weaknesses because God turns them into strengths as 2 nd Corinthians 12:9-10 says: “… 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” Not only do I not worry about my weaknesses, I know that God has given me someone to help me when I am weak. The Holy Spirit helps me as Romans 8:26-27 says: “ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.”
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Mission Statement Example Seven
Overall Mission
I believe my goal for my life is best expressed by a Cal Ripken Jr. comment about Baseball. He said, “ I want to leave the game better than I found it.”
I heard this quote at an early age, and as my life has gone on, I have found this is a simple metaphor for life. Cal wanted to play the game of baseball in such a way that the game would be better because of him. It would be better because of the example he provided other ball players. It would be better because of how fans saw him. It would be better because of the other players he was able to mentor throughout his career. Along with this goal, Cal had another goal. He didn't want to do anything to jeopardize the game. If he messed up, he wanted to contain his error so as few people as possible would be affected.
This is the same way I want to live my life. I want the world to be a better place because of my actions, and because of the impact I have on other people. Also, on my bad days, where it seems I can't do anything right, I hope I don't mess things up too badly. A simple illustration of this point is that I do not drive when I've been drinking. But, moving back to the larger meaning, I envision myself improving the world thru my relationship with my wife, with my daughters and with my family. I also want to lead by example. I feel a good attitude, whether it is at sports or in the office, is a valuable mentoring device. With that said, I will take the opportunity to act as an example and teach anyone I meet. I've taught youth league basketball. I've volunteered on numerous organizations and committees. I try to foster good relationship with my friends. Overall, I try to lead a good life.
Mission Guide
What guides me? I am a rule deontologist. I have a set of rules that I refer to for any decision I make. I find that regardless of how simple the decision, I refer to these rules. I've found this to be a subconscious act. I wasn't even aware I did this until I began analyzing myself as part of this course. I'm constantly review my decisions against my rule set.
Following are my current top 10 rules.
1. What would Jesus do?
This is my interpretation of Divine Command. To me, this doesn't mean follow the rules of the Church, or follow the Ten Commandments. It means that I should try to make decisions similar to those Jesus made. This is an impossible rule to consistently follow, but should be the basis for all my decisions. In other words, for me this rule by itself has consistency and feasibility issues. The remaining rules are needed to fill the gap between this ideal behavior and what's actually realistic.
2. Be able to look yourself in the mirror each morning.
If I can't accomplish rule number 1 and I do end up participate in unethical behavior, I hope that I don't commit any act so repulsive as to loose respect for myself. While this doesn't provide strict guidelines to follow, its generalizability makes it powerful. I often refer to this rule as the litmus test or tie-breaker concerning difficult decisions.
3. Those without sin can cast the first stone. Don't judge yet thee be judged thyself. Walk a mile in their shoes.
All these sayings summarize my 3 rd rule. I try not to judge other peoples behavior and thoughts. I feel that you can never truly know why someone acted as they did, and there is no way to know if you would act differently if you were in the same situation. As a result, don't judge others, because if you judge them you'll act differently (and usually less favorably) toward them.
4. I want to leave the game better than I found it.
Cal Ripken Jr. said this about baseball. I feel the same way about life. I want to act in a way that improves society, either by example or action, so the world is a better place after I leave.
5. Protect the innocent.
This is another broad rule that is directly related to rule 6, and supercedes rule 6. I feel there are certain demographics that should be protected and sheltered from the evils of society. I frequently equate this rule to children and the disabled. But I do expand this rule as the situation dictates. For example, if a decision is being made to fire an individual, and that person isn't involved in the discussion, I try to act in a way that provides respect and shelter for that individual. I also apply this rule to justify minimum wage, workplace diversity, and other questionable societal issues.
6. Freedom of choice is critical, even if that freedom could allow others to hurt you or your loved ones.
I think freedom is imperative to society. We need to give people the freedom to act however they like. In some cases, we need to give people the freedom to make tough decisions, knowing that people could disobey these decisions and hurt themselves or society. While this is a risk, taking away that freedom has a greater loss than living with the possibility of tragedy. I use this rule to justify the existence of companies, products and social causes that I do not agree with. I would rather these products exist than live in a repressive society. With that said, I think there are certain groups that need to be protected, so laws are required to protect those groups. Laws are required to limit freedom in certain cases.
7. Admit when you are wrong and accept punishment with dignity.
I learned this in college, and it basically went against family values I was taught. I had the option of hiring a lawyer to help me reduce a sentence for a verdict I was guilty of committing. I couldn't see the reasoning behind this. Instead I investigated other avenues and found a rehabilitation program for first-time offenders. This was a culmination of many events that resulted in me adding this rule to the list. I believe taking responsibility for your actions and failures is essential to development. Trying to get out of trouble usually results in getting into more trouble. It's best to stop the cycle, admit you are wrong and accept responsibility for whatever punishment will follow.
8. Don't say anything about someone who isn't present that you wouldn't say in front of them.
This is another simple rule that I use frequently. When truly used, it grows to encompass not only words, but behavior. In fact, it personally has iterated to have nearly the same meaning as treat others the way you'd like to be treated. But for me, the foundation is not to talk or act questionably bad behind someone's back. I find myself in many situations where I feel pressure or am inclined to break this rule. For this reason, this rule is in my top ten.
9. Use the 80-20 rule.
This rule states that it's easy to make decisions that impact 80% of possible outcomes, but difficult to make decisions that capture the remaining 20%. I interpret this as the decision that seems the best on the surface is usually the best decision. Digging into all possible circumstances and consequences is often wasted effort. I've found that if you make a decision based on good intentions (see rule 10 for possible conflicts) things will usually work out for the best.
If, unfortunately, unimaginable consequences occur, be flexible to adjust your decision and rational to include this new information. This, by it's nature, makes cost-benefit decision making more difficult for me, because I often overlook the remaining 20% of people due to this rule.
10. Trick me once, shame on you. Trick me twice, shame on me.
In other words, learn from your mistakes. I find that I often trick myself into questionable behavior. I often don't question the entire situation, because I'm happy being ignorant of all the implications. This rule could also be stated, it's easier to ask for forgiveness than for permission. Meaning, people are apt to forgive bad decisions if you claim you didn't know what you did was wrong. Regardless of whether you trick yourself or another person does, you should adjust your list of rules as needed. Add, modify, reorganize rules as needed to continue personal growth and help prevent unwanted behavior.
I adjust these rules often. I change their sequence. I add and remove rules. I believe I usually alter the rule set in an attempt to resolve consistency issues in my life. As I discussed in my position paper, I was raised in a family that preached similar rules to what I have listed, but practiced deception and exploitation. At times, when I don't reference my rule set, I fall back into exploitation. At work, I could easily convince myself to go home with office supplies or to lie on an expense report. It's only when I consult my rule set that I realize the inconsistency and stop the behavior.
I have to admit, it only takes me a split second to review a decision against my rule set, but I do perform this review. Again, I didn't even know I was doing it before this class started. It had always occurred subconsciously. At times when I fall back into exploitation, I may find that I add a rule to my top 10 that allows me to perform unethical actions. For example, if I wanted to inflate an expense report, I could alter my rule set to rationalize this behavior. This change would make my action rational, but would create a consistency conflict that would begin to bother me. I would refer to this conflict as guilt. To remove the guilt, I would end up changing my decision and readjusting my rule set back to one that is both rational and consistent.
Given this background, I have to say I struggle with what controls me. The greater good usually prevails, but I am human and I do make poor decisions. In these cases, I would say that power, or egoism, control me. I find this painful to admit, but at these points of weakness they do control me. I usually win, that is why I don't consider myself an egoist. I also know my initial tendency is to exploit. This also adds to my struggle. I feel I have to change my default decision because my initial thoughts are unethical and exploitive. I find that if I don't refer to my rule set, I can easily make unethical decisions that completely go against the goals I've set for myself. This is the battle I fight.
Important Relationships
Spouse
Ideal Relationship
Ideally I want to be the doting husband. I want to provide the ultimate life for my wife. I want to remove all worries from her life. I want to provide whatever she may desire. In my ideal relationship, my wife and I would take time to discuss the deep philosophical issues we witness in our life daily. I'd want us to hardly disagree on the trivial activities of life. I'd want to live our lives in a way that our children can tell just by looking at us that we are in love with each other. I'd want our children to describe their parents as “being in love”.
Actual Relationship
My actual relationship with my wife is drastically different. We debate the complex issues of life as well as the trivial. At times, we have these debates, or fights, in front of the children. I focus 90% of my energy on getting thru the chores of the day which includes work, the house, paying bills, taking care of children, etc. I spend the remaining 10% of the day in personal time preparing for the next day. I rarely spend time with my wife. Time I spend with my wife is not spent doting, or nurturing, or loving. Time spent with my wife is usually spent comparing scorecards we keep on our activities. We compare these scorecards when we argue, because we desperately want to convince our partner to take on more responsibilities. My wife and I are in marriage counseling to help with this. I imagine if things continued down this path, our children would say we love each other but are too caught up in daily life to show each other that love.
Children
Ideal Relationship
Ideally, I want to “be there” for my children. My father was a consultant and traveled frequently. He was basically away during the week and busy with chores during the weekend. I knew my father loved me, and knew he showed his love by working so hard; however, I wanted my father to be more involved in my life. That is the role I want to pay in my daughters' lives. I want to be involved. I want to play with them. I want to help them learn. I want to teach them of the mysteries of life. Since I was a child, I've had a vision of my daughter pointing to a star in the sky and asking me about it. In this vision, I tell her that the star is actually a planet. I go on to tell her specifics about the planet. She's amazed by how much I know. To her, Dad is a superhero.
Actual Relationship
I do take time to be part of my daughter's lives. I do make time to play with them, and teach them. I consider myself fun. I consider myself a good father. Right now my daughters are too young to point to a star and ask questions. If they did I wouldn't be able to tell them anything about them. I couldn't point out a planet, from a star, from a plane, from a satellite.
Extended Family
Ideal Relationship
My wife and I moved to Oregon, after we got married. We stayed there on assignment for one year. This helped us realize how important family was for us, because neither of us had family on the West coast. We moved back to the Mid West, where our family is located, with the belief we'd take advantage of living so close to family. We said we'd no longer miss the small events of life. We'd make time to be there for all important moments. We'd be the family members who traveled for Baptisms, weddings, birthdays, etc.
Actual Relationship
In actuality, since we've moved back from Oregon, we routinely decide not to travel due to these obligations. We've missed two Baptisms since we've moved back. We find it extremely easy not to attend less formal family events. However, once we realize we're ignoring family, we do make the effort to join in.
I think part of our missing events is due to our family's current stage. We have a two-year-old and a six-month-old. Given this, I think our lower level of family involvement is somewhat justified. As the children get older, I foresee us traveling to more events.
Friends
Ideal Relationship
I have a small amount of core friends that I keep throughout life. To me, these friends are family. I want to be there as a family member would be to my friends. For example, I want to be the friend who helps my friends move, paint, or work on a similar project.
Actual Relationship
I have helped friends move and paint. I believe I am a good friend; however, due to my current family complexity I haven't had as much time for extended family or good friends. I need to spend more time maintaining these relationships as the girls grow up and I gain more free time.
Employee of XXXX
Ideal Relationship
I consider myself a loyal employee. I have this romantic notion that XXXX is there for me and I am there for XXXX. As a result, I want to take positions that allow me to help XXXX as much as possible. Also, I want to act with integrity, even if it may hurt my own career.
With this said, I know my family is more important than work. I do not want to make the same mistakes I feel my father made. I want to have a good work-life balance. I want to be able to leave work for a family emergency. I'd like to be able to take a vacation without calling into a meeting or carrying around a laptop.
Actual Relationship
I think I am a loyal employee. I think I do act with integrity at the office. I have acted in ways that improve the company but hurt my career. Also, I do balance work and life effectively. I do have moments where I have to call into meetings when I'm on vacation; however, I try to limit this and I do enjoy vacation time. I have to admit that there are times when I let work take control of me. I do find myself working at 1am in the morning. However, I think I quickly recognize when this occurs and I take actions to resolve this conflict.
Learning
A few rules summarize my learning style. First, I want to try everything once. Second, I don't judge, unless I want to be judged by others. To me, these rules merge into the perfect learning spirit. To summarize, I think you learn best by experiences. You should try anything once. Also, you shouldn't be arrogant and think anything is above you. There isn't anything you shouldn't do. For example, an overly masculine individual should try to paint, write, dance, etc. Similarly, a feminine personality should spend a day on the farm, should go fishing, should try to fix a tractor, etc. This is my method for learning. I want to keep trying things. I want to keep learning.
Security
Through introspection and thru counseling, I've found that I depend on my core group of family and friends for my security. I get this security thru confidence. I get this confidence by succeeding at new situations I place myself into. This is directly related to my comments about learning.
To cut to the chase, I'm a “Type A” personality. I am a pleaser. I need to succeed at events. I also need to witness my success through someone else. I depend on others to rate my performance. I find it is like a mirror. I think I am “good”, but I need someone present to be able to see the “good” inside of me.
In reality, this means I lack self-confidence. I need someone present to validate my confidence. As a result of this, maintaining my self-confidence, maintaining my security has been and will continue to be one of the key struggles of my life.
Strength
This is also related to my learning style of trying things. I gain strength and confidence from having accomplished new activities. I draw upon these successes when I have new challenges or new situations I'm presented with. As a result, I feel that I turn challenges into strengths.
Digging deeper into this point, I find that I concentrate on a shortcoming or a weakness I have. I eventually attack that weakness head-on, trying new things and putting myself in situations where the weakness is exposed. My goal in doing this is to eliminate the weakness. I've tried to address a number of weaknesses in my life, from my lack of self-confidence, to talking in public, to questioning power figures, to admitting when I need help. All these are issues I struggled with over my life. I haven't completely addressed each of these issues, but at least I've started attacking them.
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Mission Statement Example Eight
I. Mission Statement
A. Overall Mission :
My mission in life is basically to be a good and honest person. I want to be a good wife, daughter, sister, mother and friend. In addition, I want to be a good employee and have a successful career without ever having to compromise the principles that guide my life. By ‘good,' I mean that I want to be honest and trustworthy, compassionate and caring, loving and forgiving, and above all, I want to be a productive member of society. If I can accomplish my mission, the results may not be tangible, but they will bring me personal satisfaction.
B. My guide:
The moral values taught to me by my parents and my religion is what guides every aspect of my life. I will never allow ambition for power or money to influence my mission or my daily life if it means that I have to compromise my principles.
C. Important Relationships:
Spouse: My relationship with my husband is that of a friend. I would like to continue to nurture this relationship with mutual respect and trust, and be supportive of him.
Child: I am expecting our first child in November. I would like to have a relationship with my child like the one I have with my own parents. I want my child to be able to openly discuss any aspect of his life with me. I want my child to respect me not out of awe or fear but out of love. In turn, I would like to give my child the respect, trust and friendship that come with unconditional love.
Other family members : My relationship with my parents has always been one of admiration and respect. I've always tried to emulate their lives and tried to live by their guidelines. I am not always able to spend as much time with them as I would ideally like due to the geographical distance separating us, but whatever time we get together, I would like to show them how much I love them.
My relationship with my siblings has been one of love and support for each other. I would like to continue to be supportive and let them know that I am always there for them. For me, family is the most important thing in the world. My husband's family is also an important part of my life for the past five years since we've been married. Their outlook to life is a little different from that of me and my family probably due to cultural differences, as my husband and I are from different countries, but I respect their opinions and they have accepted me as I am. When they are here, I do a lot of things out of respect for them that I normally would not do. I try to make their visits to my home comfortable and enjoyable.
Friends: I don't make friends easily. I am a friendly person and have many acquaintances, but only a select few are true friends that I would trust with my life. Once I consider someone a friend, I will go all out for that person. If they ever need me, I will never think twice about helping a friend. This is however, a fine line, because if a friend asks me to do something illegal or immoral or unethical, then I would have to refuse even if it costs me the friendship. However, I also know that the true friends that I have will never put me in a situation where I would have to choose between them and my principles and that is the reason they are my friends.
Employee: I've always been a loyal and conscientious worker. I've been known to go above and beyond the call of duty. I'd like to continue to work with that ideology, without thinking of what benefits I may get. To me the biggest benefit of being a good worker is my reputation and my credibility. A few years ago, when I was still very new at my job, I had recommended a friend for an internship position, and when he was interviewed, the team lead said, “We are hiring you because XXX has recommended you. We have great confidence in her judgment.” This to me was the greatest compliment I could receive because I knew that my co-workers respected my honesty and integrity and knew that I would never recommend someone unless I felt that they were competent and good for the position. I have refused to recommend friends and family members at times when I felt that they were not a good fit for the job, and have had to face their resentment and displeasure. But I was not willing to compromise my integrity for the sake of friendship.
D. Learning: I believe that life itself is a learning experience. In addition, to my formal education, which includes pursuing an MBA degree, I am also an avid reader of novels from all over the world. This exposes me to different cultures and lifestyles. I also like to watch movies from other countries. I occasionally read religious books. I have read the Quran and the Bible as my father is Muslim and my mother used to be a Catholic. Also, having grown up in India , I was also exposed to Hinduism, Sikhism, Buddhism and some other sects. Exposure to different religions and cultures has made me more open minded and tolerant to diversity.
E. Self Esteem and Security: I derive my self esteem from my family. They have always been incredibly supportive and have always believed in me. They always encouraged me and told me that I could do anything I set my mind to. I derive my security in the knowledge that my family is always there for me, no matter what.
F. Strength: Although I am not a deeply religious person, I have a strong faith in God and believe that whatever happens to us happens for a reason. In the Holy Bible, it states that God gives each person only as much as that person can bear. It is this belief that gives me strength in the most adverse of situations.
Mission Statement Example Nine
My Mission Statement
Overall Statement of My Life's Mission
My life's mission is to provide a stable, positive environment that enables my family to grow and prosper. I want to create a legacy for my children to add to and pass along to their children. As humans, we don't live forever. And, for most of us, we won't end up in the history books. However, this doesn't resolve us to be forgotten when the final bell rings. I truly feel that we can live forever in the sense that the generations that come after us will use the lessons and values that we taught them. I feel particularly strong about this belief as a parent.
In order to do this, there are many smaller objectives that I must meet. First, I feel that I need to help them develop their own moral framework from which they will make all decisions, both in business and in life. Second, I feel that I have a responsibility to help them establish a sense of work ethic. Third, I need to give them a sense of self-worth and self-esteem through positive learning. Fourth, I must set a good example when it comes to a stable family environment. Fifth, I need to help them to see the virtue in the never-ending process of learning. Finally, I feel that I need to instill a sense of discipline that keeps them moving along this path. This list is not all-inclusive; rather, it is the list I am currently working with. If history is a good predictor of the future, I will certainly learn more, and hopefully improve and expand my list of objectives to better accomplish my life's mission.
My Guide
I feel that I am very fortunate to have a guide to accomplish my life's mission. My guide is not one person or one thing; it is the experiences that I have had, the people that have taught me along the way, and my interpretation of it all that illuminates the path to my future. The beauty of being an interactive member of society is the exposure to other people, their values, and their experiences. It is comparable to eating at the world's greatest buffet; every ideal, every value, and every experience is there to learn from, but you only have to take away what you choose to. This concept applies to both my professional life and personal life. As a young manager, I always try to adopt good examples of leadership from those around me. As a young parent, I do the same with other parents.
Important Relationships
My Wife
The relationship I have with my wife is arguably the most important relationship I am involved in. It is also one of the most challenging. It is with this person, who is both physiologically and psychologically different, that I must meld with to create the stable environment that I discussed in the first paragraph. Our relationship, apart from our children, is one of unconditional love and respectful compromise. Yet, we can never truly be apart from our children, so our relationship is the flagship of the family's stability. The better we are at working together to make a brighter tomorrow, the more easily we will be able to help our children to become successful. In looking at it, my life's mission is really the mission of “our” lives.
My Children
I see my relationship with my children as the cornerstone of my life's mission. I don't aspire to be in the world's history books. However, I don't think that I'll be a failure for not making my mark on the world; I aspire to simply be a great character in the history of my family. To accomplish this, I must accomplish all of the objectives set forth at the beginning of this paper. When all is said and done, I don't intend to keep any success secrets to myself; if it has the potential to help out my children, I will pass it on. My function in the relationship is to develop my children, and hopefully propel them to a life even more successful than my own.
My Family
My relationship with my family is a mix of learning and passing along information. The relationship is as much a place as it is a thing. I go there to feel the comfort of the group that helped to develop my character. This group continues to provide me with wisdom, and I readily take it. Additionally, I am able to do this with another great group, my family through marriage.
My Friends
This group is where I go to relate common issues, to unwind, and to socialize. I tend to learn a great deal from this group. Most of this group is the same age as my wife and I, and they are constantly facing the same challenges that we are. It is easy to relate to this group, and friendship comes easily. We often turn to this group for advice on parenting, savings, home improvement, and a vast array of other issues that we come across. Usually, their knowledge is fresh off the chopping block; whereas our parents can give us advice from years ago, this group can give us advice from situations that happened last week.
My Employer
I think my relationship with my employer relies heavily on loyalty and respect. It is not just that I am loyal to my employer; my employer is also loyal to me in the sense that they allow me to maintain a stable family life by providing me with income and benefits. I feel that my function in the relationship is to do things that make the organization a better place to work, and a better place for customers to come to. Even in uncertain economic times, my end of the relationship doesn't change. Regarding ethics, I feel that I bring a great background through both my upbringing and the career path that I have been on over the past 10 years. I feel very fortunate to have attended an undergraduate institution that founded itself on integrity, character, and loyalty.
Learning
For me, there are several different types of learning, and I intend to pursue each of them for as long as I'm able to. As a logistician, on the job training, formal schooling in the form of advanced degrees, and networking with peers are three venues that I use to gain wisdom and knowledge. Outside of work, I tend to learn from all of the groups mentioned above. Some of this learning takes place formally, but most of it is informal. Without a hint of doubt, the best route for me to continue learning is through astute observation and listening. Many people spend most of their lives talking, and spend little time listening. Years ago, I came across an entertaining quote. Though it has little to do with wisdom, it does hint at the virtue of listening.
“Tis better to be thought of as a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.”
If I have something good to say, or something of value, I feel that it is important to pass it along. For the most part, however, I am more interested in what those around me have to say. I won't advance far by re-hashing the thoughts already in my head; in order to learn and grow, I need to find new thoughts, and new thoughts tend to come from the teachings of others.
Self-Esteem and Security
I derive my self-esteem and security from my family, and to a lesser extent, from my work. Recently, my wife and I moved from Colorado Springs to Duluth, with a 3 month old daughter and not a single job between us. It was during this time period, when both of us thought that we had found “the bottom,” that I had a moment of clarity. Regardless of what happens at work, and provided that you have properly laid the foundation, your family is always there for you. A good family is security, and it positively impacts self-esteem. Within a couple of months, we both had jobs, and we were back on our feet. We had hit “a” bottom, but probably not “the” bottom. We crawled back out, and we brought our new lesson regarding the importance and indomitable nature of the human family with us.
Strength
I draw my strength from my wife and children. Additionally, I draw strength from other family members, from knowledge, and from work. This type of strength tends to reside in the mind. Though it is a bit of a stretch, a mind is like an investment. The more you put in, the more you tend to get out. With the mind, each bit of knowledge you put in tends to make you a better, wiser person. Every day, either at work or at home, I become better at what I do by gaining new knowledge and applying it. This gives me strength.
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Mission Statement Example Ten
Personal Mission Statement
A . Mission Statement
My overall mission is to reach a point
- Where I am in a comfortable and satisfied with my financial status. I want to be in a sound position to support my parents, sisters and my future family.
- Where I am in a comfortable and satisfied with my emotional and spiritual state. I want to be in a state of inner peacefulness and state of enlighten knowledge.
- Where I am comfortable and satisfied with my contribution to my culture and religion. I want to get a deep understanding of the history and background of my culture and religion
- Where I am comfortable and satisfied with my contribution in making positive social and political changes in my country.
- Where I am free of obligations so that I can devote my time to do what I want.
B. Guide
I don't have a set of explicit guidelines that shape my life. Other than not hurting/harming others in anyway and doing what is the best for my family everything, I haven't followed any rules consistently. My family has gone riches to rags and to just barley surviving (financially), because we took the social and moral high ground in our family business investments. Given this background, it is hard for me to justify to do anything that is not in my (and my family's) best interest. As much as I have been a supporter of socialism, I realize I have been following Adam Smith's philosophy in my personal life. For the last ten years or so, my family's well being has been the sole criteria in my decision making process. Of course my religious and cultural background would guide me subconsciously to a certain extend. My respect to cultural norms of the place I live will guide my choices to a certain extent.
C. Important Relationships
1. Spouse
I want an equal partner in life who will understand my personal life experiences, my family, my culture, and my religion. I will try to understand her background and honor her expectations as well.
2. Children
Having children is something that has not entered my mind yet. If and when I have children, I know that I would like to raise them in atmosphere in which they would know and appreciate their cultural and religious heritage.
3. Other family members
My family is the most important thing in my life. In particular, the dearest and most important people in my life are my sisters. For all practical purposes, I am the functional head of the family. My sisters' successful future is my responsibility. I maintain a friendly but a protective brotherly relationship with my sisters. We are a closely knit family; yet there is that cultural aspect of distance and tension between each member. All of us deeply care about each other and would not do anything to harm other, but the love for each is never explicitly expressed; it is implicitly expected and understood. In fact there is not a single word in my language that I can use to express my “love” to my family. The relationship and the communication in the family is becoming more open, friendly, warm and discussion based rather than the traditional distant, implicit and command based structure.
4 . Friends as a group
My friends play an important role in my life. I have managed to make many friends during my college and professional career. As it is the case for many international students in this country, I and all my close friends became a family. The relationship within this group of friends is always deep, personal and long-lasting. My friends are my source of comfort during tough times as well as celebrating partners through good times. I spend all my free time with my friends, some times at a cost of my personal priorities. As a group, we will go all out to help each other and be very much involved in each others personal matters. Because of this very personal and invested nature of my friendships, lately I have felt the need to make new friends. I hope these new friendships to be just friendships, nothing more - nothing less.
5 . Relationship as an employee within your firm
I believe in giving my best to my employer. But I also expect good faith effort from my employer to provide me adequate financial compensation and a successful career path. I believe in a cordial but strictly professional atmosphere at work, but I expect my employer to understand there is world beyond the workplace. At the same time I would also keep personal life interfering with my professional life. I consider my colleagues as a source of inspiration and a source of knowledge. I also expect my employer to be ethically and socially conscious.
6 . Spirituality
I consider myself to be a spiritual person. Religion is something personal and private to me. But I don't believe I am bound by a firm doctrine. My religion DELETED fits with my philosophy of life; it gives me the choice to follow the things which I believe to be right, correct or applicable to my situation. Other than expecting my religion to be an invisible guiding hand, I don't put my religion as a focal point of my life. It might guide to my decisions and beliefs but it doesn't dominate my decisions and beliefs.
D. Learning
There is no question that my education has increased my knowledge and wisdom. My concern about my education is that it was geared towards making me a successful career professional. My education has not been towards knowledge for the sake of knowledge or personal development. All my formal education so far was done with a goal of getting a good paying job. Following my heart and studying was always an option, but not a practical one. I wasn't forced to choose the path I chose, but it was something I had to do and it was something I have no regrets doing. It was a byproduct of the needs of my family and my future financial stability.
I learned more from my overall life experience in regards to achieving personal development and wisdom. Ideally, I would have preferred to study more about my culture and religious philosophy. I would have preferred to study about social issues and policies and the implications of such policies facing my region.
E. Self-Esteem
Overall, my self-esteem is derived from my pride in my culture, my family, my upbringing, my accomplishment and my optimistic nature. My parents taught me to be self confident and to behave dignified under all circumstances. That plays a large role in shaping my self-esteem.
In my mindset there are two levels in self-esteem. One level is in my daily life, in my immediate world with my friends, coworkers and neighbors. There, I derive my self-esteem by my achievement in education & profession, involvement in the community and in my conduct. In the second level of self-esteem, my self-esteem per my tradition is intermittently linked to self-esteem of my family. This plays out in my realm of relatives, my home town and in my extended family network. Here, my self-esteem is derived from how my family had fared and conducted itself over the past 25 to 30 years.
F. Security and Strength
I draw strength from my spiritual roots and my life experience. Most of my strength and sense of security comes from knowing my capacity, my ability to adapt to surroundings, my sense of morality to do the right thing and my belief that good things happening to good people. I gain strength from the experience from living in middle of a civil war. From hiding in bunkers dodging shelling and aerial bombardment to moving from town to town to avoid getting caught in crossfire, my life has forced me to be scrappy and scramble. This experience had helped me to become toughened and be mentally strong. It also gives me reason to believe I could survive under tough situations and be a good human being.
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Mission Statement Example Eleven
My Mission Statement
Overall Statement of My Life’s Mission:
My mission is to enhance the lives of my family, those around me, and myself through my actions. I want to live so that these individuals' lives are better for having had contact with my life, even in the slightest way. I think we often take for granted the amount of impact one person can have on their surroundings and how something as little as a smile can have an influence on someone’s life.
In this ongoing pursuit, I wish to care for my family, achieve a career that leaves people better off, experience as much of this world’s beauty and culture as I can, and to do what makes me happy, whatever that may be at the time.
My Guide:
My guides through life are the very people whose lives I would like to affect. I think that I can take away something from everyone and everything I encounter. Within every experience there is some value; as long as something can be gained from that experience, then nothing is wasted. Past events are what makes us who we are and what type of person we have become. All I can do is make the best choice based on what I know at the time.
Important Relationships:
My Family: These are the people who have built the foundations for me. They raised me and always will be influencing me. My father, my mother, and my two younger brothers have provided me with the experiences from which I’ve learned more than anyone else in this world. They push me to do my best and to be a better person and I do my best to return the effort. I would not be who I am without them.
My Friends: These people are a big influence in my life. They help me to see things from a perspective outside of my family. They remind me that the differences between us are what make us wonderful. They’ve helped me to develop socially and taught me a lot about myself. I like to think that anyone I have ever called a friend has left me a better person.
Myself: I feel many people underestimate the relationship that people have with themselves. If one doesn’t know one's self and evaluate the way one does things, I think personal growth can never be fully achieved. I believe self reflection and looking inward is essential and can teach a person a lot about themselves. I think that I know myself; there are things that I have taught myself, and I am able to criticize myself and make better choices based on that critique.
As an employee: I feel that past employers have taught me quite a bit about my work ethic and what kind of relationship I want to have with future employers. I want my future employment to be one of mutual benefit. I want my employer to know that I will work as hard as I can to accomplish the tasks that are set before me. But, I also want my employer to work for me by providing the type of work environment that is conducive to my success, not only in work but in life as well.
Learning:
As I have previously mentioned, I firmly believe that every encounter with someone and every experience has something that can be taken away from it. These are the lessons that help us to develop and to better ourselves. I feel that wisdom can only be gained by understanding; that there are two sides to every coin and only by understanding the logic behind both sides can we truly make a choice we feel is right.
Self Esteem and Security:
My self esteem and self worth can be derived from knowing myself. I know that I am a good person at heart. I know that I can achieve much when I apply myself. I know what makes me happy. And above all else, I know that I am loved unconditionally by my family and friends. These truths are what sustain my self esteem and self worth. They are the things that are truly valuable to me, and life's ups and downs will not change that.
Strength:
A recent movie had a line, “ Why do we fall, sir? So that we might better learn to pick ourselves up.” Life is full of ups and downs, successes and failures. I’ve had many of both in my life and on many different levels, but by merely trying my best I have found success even in failure. As long as a person learns that, one never fails. This concept gives me strength. Although I am going to experience wins and losses, it is what I learn that makes me who I am.
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Mission Statement Example Twelve
My mission is to provide true joy, fulfillment and real value in living for myself and for others. The source of this is God. I will honor and worship God with my life.
My Guide Society and the whims of man will not be my guide. God's Word is my ultimate guide and against which I judge my thoughts and behavior.
Relationsips
Spouse. Susie is my best friend on earth. I will honor her with my thoughts, words and actions.
Children/grandchildren. I will bring real joy to their lives and will balance my life to make sure I have time for each one.
Employee. I will fulfill my responsibilities with integrity and diligence.
Friends. They will know me as a caring, dependable person they can turn to in a time of need.
Learning I will develop my mind through reading, studying, observing, and experimenting in multiple contexts. My primary source of wisdom comes from the Holy Spirit.
Self-esteem and Security Susie is a significant source of my self-esteem. But I am ultimately secure in the faith that Christ died for my sins and that I am justified by His love.
Strength I’ll draw my strength and the power to accomplish my goals from the power of God. With God's help, I will strive to transform my weaknesses into strengths.
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WHAT IS A VISION BOARD?
The idea of a vision board can sound a bit bogus or even confusing. How can visual images have an impact on your ability to pursue and obtain your goals? Can’t you just do the above and close your eyes? Well, vision boards are actually more than just images on a piece of paper.
So, let’s start by taking a closer look at the concept of a vision board.
The definition of a vision board
How to define a vision board? As the name suggests, vision boards are essentially a board full of images. But instead of having random images attached to the board, the aim of a vision board is to focus on your goals and dreams. Vision board’s images should be images you see in head when you think of what you want to achieve, gain or create. The board is there to be used as a tool for clarifying, maintaining and concentrating your focus on these goals. It’s about making your ideas and dreams in your head more concrete.
The goals can relate to any area of your life. You can have a vision board about your business objectives or the path you want your career to take. It could also relate to specific aspects of your personal life. You could create a vision board around your hopes as a human being or the things you want to achieve in your life, whether in relation to having a family or being able to travel a lot.
Let’s say you want to become a successful CEO. Your vision board could include images that reinforce and direct your focus. Perhaps images of tall buildings, of the university classes you need to take, the industry you want to lead in and so on. The whole idea of a vision board is to take your dreams and to visualize them on a board. And there is the key to a definition of a vision board: it’s hard to define in detail, as each vision board is unique for the purpose and the person.
Your vision in life is different from my vision in life; therefore, your vision board will look different and highlight your specific dreams with the images you see. The essential thing to understand is that vision board is a visual expression of your goals.
The objective of a vision board
You might be thinking what is the purpose of the board. At the start, I asked you to close your eyes and imagine your ultimate goal. Why can’t you just do this when it comes to achieving a specific objective? What is the purpose of doing it on a board? A vision board serves three core purposes. The objectives of a vision board are:
- To identify and clarify your goals – Visualizing your goals on a piece of board will make the goals more concrete. You turn the abstract ideas in your head into real images. The thought “I want to earn more money” can become a much clearer objective when you stare back at pictures of cash and the things you can buy with it, such as cars, homes and holidays. You clarify the goal. Instead of saying, “I want a nice career in publishing”, you use the images to identify what you mean by ‘a nice career’ and what specific aspects of publishing you are looking to work in. A vision board’s purpose is to take an idea or a goal you have and turn it into a concrete objective you can clearly visualize. The purpose is to know exactly what success or happiness looks like to you.
- To reinforce your daily affirmations – The purpose of a vision board is also to act as a daily reminder of your dreams. Think about it; when is the last time you sat down to think about your goals? You probably thought of them when I asked you to close your eyes, but it’s unlikely you do that exercise every day. Who could blame you? Our lives are busy with work, leisure and family time; we can’t constantly be thinking about our dreams. But this is important in order for you to achieve our goals (more later!). With a vision board, you create a visual representation of your goals and you are reminded about your goals every day. You can glance the board and receive affirmation of the road you are walking on.
- To maintain focus on the goal – As well as reinforcing your daily affirmations, the purpose of a vision board is to help you maintain focus. If you just think about your objectives, it’s easy to start sidetracking or accepting less than you actually wanted. You might end up saying, “Well, I’ve now become senior manager. I should be happy about this, it has made my life comfortable”. A vision board keeps your eye on the ball. You don’t want to be senior manager; you want to be a CEO. The daily reminder of your ultimate goal ensures you don’t settle for less and you don’t accept shortcuts. You work towards the objective you want.
A physical or a digital vision board?
So far, a vision board probably has brought you images of a cardboard cut-out hanging on the wall. Although a vision board is generally a physical board with images, photos and text, you can create a digital version of the vision board if you want. The physical version of a vision board can be made on any piece of material that allows the attachment of clips, such as photos, newspaper cut-outs and so on. You can use a pin board, a cardboard, or any sort of sheet where images can be glued, taped or otherwise attached.
The other alternative is the digital version, which means copying and pasting images to a larger board. You can do this version with any sort of image-editing software. Microsoft Paint or Adobe PhotoShop are good programs to consider.
While you might find the physical version more difficult to compile, it can be easy to be kept as the ‘daily reminder’, since you can attach it almost anywhere – ensuring you come face to face with your vision board regularly. A digital copy can be easier to forget about. You can avoid this by having it displayed as your desktop image or a screensaver! Ultimately the choice of opting for a physical or a digital vision board is up to you.
Three types of vision boards
So, a vision board is a visual representation of your goals and dreams. As I’ve mentioned, the board can be used to clarify, affirm and focus your goals in all areas of life, from business to private life.
The types are suited for the varying needs and requirements you might have from the project. After all, we don’t all have the same kind of understanding of our dreams – some are more certain of what they want, while others only have a broad idea of the goals they are hoping to achieve.
The ‘Opening and Allowing” vision board |
The ‘I know exactly what I want’ vision board |
The themed vision board |
When to use? Use the board if you are not quite sure what you want. You have a broad vision of your goals, but you are a bit comprehensive about the details. This also suites situations where you know what you want to change, but perhaps you aren’t sure how. |
When to use? Use the board when you know exactly what you want and you can pinpoint the things you want to get or achieve. You are sure about how to change the things around you and you just need a bit of motivation and focus. |
When to use? Use the board when you want to focus on a specific theme, such as ‘work’ or ‘a birthday party’. It’s similar to the other boards, but the objectives are narrowed to a single theme or idea. |
So, if you are certain of your objective, you are more guided in making the vision board. You will be more aware of the images you want for the board, since your vision is clear already. On the other hand, if you aren’t 100% sure of what your goals are or how to get there, you will need to spend more time exploring images and picking out things that appeal to you.
WHY CAN A VISION BOARD BE EMPOWERING?
If you’re still a little unsure about the empowering nature of a vision board, let me try to convince you with some data. Because vision boards are not a silly idea, or a high-school-era scrapbook for dreamers, but they can truly push you forward to achieve your goals. Vision boards work because of three specific reasons:
Visualization is a great exercise of the mind. The point relates to the idea of the law of attraction. The concept is that by focusing our thoughts into a specific thing, we can attract it into our lives. The thing you are thinking about will translate into reality. So, if you are always thinking negative things will happen to you, it will be so.
On the other hand, if you think about positive things, you will receive positive things. Perhaps the idea sounds a bit far-fetched to you or you think it’s for hippies only. But what if I told you the world’s best athletes use the strategy to become great? According to Psychology Today, professional weightlifters have the same parts of their brain activated when visualizing a lift as they do when they are actually performing the acts.
In fact, research has shown mental practice (thinking about the performance) is nearly as effective as the actual physical act of doing something. By doing both (visualizing and the actual performance), you receive better results than by just doing either on their own. And visualization board is the visual exercise you will do for your mind.
Just like an Olympic athlete would visualize the perfect swim in his head, your vision board is visualizing your ideal career path or business objective in your mind. By creating the vision board and using it correctly, you are conditioning your mind towards the objective. You are able to visualize the things and the feelings you want to achieve and by doing it make it easier to actually achieve them.
Clarify your true objectives and desires. A vision board will also help you understand your goals and desires clearly. You move away from the abstract thoughts of “having a good career” or “living in a nice house” to actually identifying what this means. What does the nice house look like? Do you want three bedrooms or four? Does it have a swimming pool or not?
If you don’t clarify your objectives, you will find it hard to work towards achieving the goal. How can you find the dream house if you have no idea what it would be like? You’ll end up wasting a lot of time talking to real estate agents and attending house viewings with such a broad concept. On the other hand, if you make it clear you want 3 to 5 bedrooms, in the south side of the town and within 1km of the sea, you narrow down your objective. You make it easier to start looking.
The same is true for any business objective. If you just say, “I want to grow my business”, you don’t really define success or the objective. You might be selling one more pair of shoes this year compared to last year’s growth, but is that really enough? A vision board ensures you are actually aware of what it is that you want to achieve; what it is that success looks like.
Once you know this, you are more able to work towards it because you know what needs to be done. You know not to contact the real estate agents in the north side of the town because that’s not where you want to live. The setting of clear objectives works for your benefit. In fact, research has shown how setting goals increases achievement.
Visualization is a powerful motivator. Having those tangible, clear goals in mind will boost your motivation to achieving them. An abstract idea, such as “having a great career”, can seem more daunting than stating, “I want to work at Apple”. You might be thinking it’s exactly the opposite, since working for a major company might seem like an impossible idea if you’ve just graduated.
It’s easier to say “I want to own a car” then saying, “I want a Land Rover”. But when it comes to being motivated and working towards the goal, research has shown how setting clear objectives increases likelihood of results. Knowing the role you want or the specific car model will provide you more information on which to act.
You know Apple’s hiring policies, you can contact people who work there and you can check the skills they are looking for. If you want the Land Rover, you can check the prices, you can check the requirements and so on. You can design actual steps to getting closer your dream. You can remind yourself each morning with the vision board what working at Apple looks like. You can see the image of you inside that Land Rover and feel the extra motivation.
4 STEPS TO CREATING AN EMPOWERING VISION BOARD
Creating an empowering vision board isn’t difficult. Nonetheless, you want to take enough time to for the creative process to guarantee best results. You definitely don’t want to end up making it in a hurry, as this could just lead to a half-hearted attempt and yield negative results. You need to put thought into your vision board and really look at what you want to achieve from it in order to make it work.
So, don’t try to rush it or do it with a tight schedule. If necessary, take a breather away from the project and get back to it later if you seem unable to focus your thoughts.
So, what needs to be done to achieve an empowering vision board?
Step 1: Clarify your goals
The most important part of the process is clarifying your goals. You might think this is the easy bit – you must be thinking, “Surely I know what I want!” But do you really? The truth is we sometimes think we want something, when in fact we don’t. This isn’t just our own fault, as society and the people around (no matter how loving and caring) can add pressure on us. You should have a family and a career by 30 and you shouldn’t spend time on creating social good but profit, and so on. There are all sorts of messages around us, making it rather confusing to know what is real and what is not. Do you really want to own that flashy car or is it just because you think it might bring happiness?
For the vision board to empower you, it’s essential to have a vision that you actually care about. In order to visualize your goals, you need to select the kind of vision board you want to choose. Do you just have a theme in mind or are you sure exactly what you want? Essentially, you want to have an idea of what it is you are visualizing: a long- or short-term goal and in business or private life?
Once you know this broad framework, you can start looking into your goals and objectives in detail. It’s important to note that you can define how broad you want your vision board to be. Some people create it about their life goals in all areas, while others might focus more specifically on their family or career.
So, how do you know which are your true goals? A good way to start is by answering the three big questions:
- Who do you want to be? Define the kind of person you want to be and how it relates to your chosen vision. Are you hoping to be kinder, for example, in your career? Would you like to be someone who is always ready to help others? Think about the characteristics you want people to attach to your name. Use these as a way to visualise your goals and the associations you have. If you are creating a vision board for a team or a business, the question is about the kind of business you want to be. Do you want to focus on being sustainable? Do you want to be known as the ‘customer service’ company?
- Where do you want to be in life? You want to also carefully think the place you’d want to be in life. This doesn’t necessarily mean in terms of a physical location (although you might want to be somewhere specific), but the kind of life situation you are aspiring to. Would you like to be surrounded by a big family? Do you want to live free from obligations? What are the physical and non-physical surroundings you aspire to and desire in your heart? Again, for a business or a team this is about the place you’d want to be. A multi-million, midtown business or a family run, locally known small business? What is the aspiration for the future?
- What experiences do you want to have? Think also about the experiences you want to achieve, not just the feelings and skills you want to gain. Do you want to explore the world? Are you someone who wants to try out new things and test your limits? It can be helpful to think about the experiences and things you want to do when you are clarifying your goal. Perhaps you want to travel the world before you start a family. Life’s not just about feelings or material things, but also about the things we experience and go through. You can also think about the experiences you want the team or the business to experience. It could be team-building related or participating in a local small business competition.
If you find answering the above questions or thinking about your goals in detail rather difficult, don’t be afraid to look for inspiration. You don’t have to wait for the ideas to pop into your head. Gather inspiration from different sources, such as:
- Magazines, newspapers and books
- Online images, websites, forums and blogs
- Your old photographs and journals
Be open to ideas, and stop and pause when you get an idea. At the start, you might find it helpful to scribble things in a notebook. Writing things down, even if it’s just a few words, can be helpful and clarify your goals.
Step 2: Start gathering your materials
Once you are clearer about the purpose and function of your vision board, you can start gathering the materials. Browse the sources mentioned above with an open mind. Look at the images or quotes, thinking which appeal to you and which don’t. Don’t be too strict at the start, unless you are definitely clear about the exact images, words and quotes you want to use in your vision board.
If you are looking for the picture of a coconut on a beach, find the exact picture and don’t settle for less. On the other hand, if you aren’t completely sure about the images you want to use in the final board, simply cut the ones that appeal to your for one reason or another. Don’t think about the image or the text too much, but just set it to one side and keep looking.
The key to an empowering vision board really is about the feeling – what image speaks to you, for whatever reason. You need to select the kind of material that creates an emotion within you. There’s no point in using images of horse to visualize your desire to roam free, if the image doesn’t speak to you. Remember to keep your ideas and thoughts at the core.
Don’t cut a picture of a dove to represent peace just because it is generally considered to depict peace. You need to pick exactly the images that speak to you and which create a specific visual image in your head. If a tall building means success to you career-wise, then that’s what you should go for.
Once you have enough material, images or text, you can start going through them in more detail. You specifically need to consider the picks in relation to your goal and objective. What was the main vision for your board? Perhaps it was the things you want to get within five years or the place you want to be in with your career in ten years down the line. Now, how do the images or quotes you’ve chosen relate to this goal?
Ask yourself the following questions to clarify the purpose of each image you’ve chosen:
- What draws me to the image or the text?
- What is the meaning of the image or text in terms of my goals?
- Is the image or text something I truly yearn for?
If you have a lot of material at hand and you’re still looking for the direction with your vision board, you can further divide your images and texts. For example, you can place them in categories such as: mind, body, emotions, career, finance, relationships, and fun.
You might notice a specific pattern, which helps you identify the purpose of the vision board clearer. You might have plenty of images and texts about physical health and wellbeing – perhaps you are looking to live a healthier life and you know exactly what it now looks like.
At this point, you want to pick the images and materials that relate to your vision and remove the ones that don’t quite fit the bill. Don’t necessarily throw away any of your gathered materials. Dedicate a box for them in case you ever want to come back and update your vision board or create a new one.
Step 3: Include affirmations to your vision board
One of the central purposes of a vision board is to affirm you through your journey to achieving your goals. It’s naturally essential then, to guarantee you include affirmations to your vision board and use them as your advantage. If you can create a vision board that gives you hope and self-belief, you are on the right track.
You don’t want to end up in a situation, where your vision board is daunting and causes you to feel stressed out. Instead of looking at the board and thinking, “How will I ever be able to achieve that”, you want to say to yourself, “I can achieve that and I will achieve it”. The affirmation and the support you receive from the vision board is crucial for empowerment. With the daily dose of “Yes, we can!” you guarantee you are subconsciously working towards your objectives. You get that belief in your ability and the goals don’t seem as fat-fetched anymore.
So, how can you guarantee your vision board supports your vision and strengthens your resolve? First, you want to think about the pitfalls you think you might experience. What are those little voices in your head whispering? These are the things you say to yourself when you are putting yourself down or trying to convince yourself to not do or say something.
Perhaps it’s about you not being worthy enough, or not working hard. When you know the words you use to hurt your resolve, consider the words that would counter it. What inspires you and motivate you? Be kinder and more honest with yourself, don’t think ‘buts’ – just focus on the positive feelings and affirmations.
The key is to focus on the sentences you can add to your vision board which talk to you and which help you in achieving your goals. For example, if your vision board is about progressing on the career ladder, your affirmation could be “I have the perseverance to overcome problems.” Other great affirmations to keep in mind, include sentences such as:
- I am learning.
- I am worth it.
- I have the perseverance to overcome problems.
- I inspire myself and others around me.
Keep the affirmations short and simple. Don’t pick a winded sentence such as “I believe I can be the best friend because I’m kind-hearted and passionate about helping my friends.” Instead, opt for a shorter and more concise message like, “I’m a great friend to my loved ones” or “My mission is to help others thrive”. You can choose to represent the affirmations either as sentences printed over the images or you can simply pick images to your board, which remind you of the affirmations you want to tell yourself.
Step 4: Glue, stick and paste your vision board
You’re almost there! The hard part is over and the fun can begin! It’s time to design your vision board and create something special to push you towards your dreams. If you are designing a digital vision board, the process is almost the same. Instead of having to cut and glue your images, you can simply copy and paste them to your liking. Try different designs and a variety of ways to organize and group your photos. You can have your board and place the images without gluing them first, to get an idea of what the final product looks like.
This is a good moment to take a step back and carefully consider your chosen images. Are you visualizing exactly what you wanted? Does it speak to you the same way you thought it would?
If you don’t feel the vision in your images or outline, keep trying until you find the images, texts or designs that work. Like I’ve said before, you don’t want to opt for something that’s “just about right”; you need to have a vision board that speaks to you and highlights exactly what you are hoping to achieve in the future.
Read your texts out loud and talk yourself through the vision board. Tell yourself the affirmations and the stories behind each image. What does it represent? What does it bring to your goals? How will it change the way you live and work? By having to think these through, you guarantee you’ve chosen the right designs for your vision board.
It can be a good idea to think about the colors and textures you use. Different colored images and text can create different emotions and reactions.
Each color has a different meaning and you might have a different reaction depending on the color. Perhaps you find ‘freedom’ the color blue and you want your vision board to outline this. You could then choose different shades of blue to your board and to focus on this specific color. You might want your vision board to energize you and you find color yellow to be perfect for this. So, you should add splashes of yellow and perhaps print out the key words in a yellow font.
On the other hand, if you associate green with negative emotions, try to avoid adding it to your vision board. Furthermore, you can even play with the textures. There’s no reason you can’t add a bit of fabric to your vision board if it somehow relates to your vision. Perhaps you want to smoothen out your life and have less worries and a tiny piece of velvet reminds you of this! You can be playful with your vision board – it is up to your imagination what kind of things you add to it. As long as it helps you focus on what is important to you and your ability to achieve goals, you can freely play around with images, texts, colors and textures.
If you have a single image that speaks to you the most or perhaps it’s the key to your vision board’s objective, you want to place it right in the middle. The middle is where you want your focus to be, as you’ll probably glance at it first every time you look at the vision board. When you are happy about the images you’ve chosen and the outline of the vision board, you can start gluing in your images. And if you really hate cutting clips and gluing things together, just use a magnetic board and attach your images to the board with magnetic power! There are no excuses for not creating a vision board.
HOW TO USE A VISION BOARD
But you’re not done yet. Developing an empowering vision board is not just about the process of creating the board. What you do with the board after it is done is also auspicious for success. You need to make the vision board part of your everyday life in order to reap the rewards.
Look at your vision board regularly
Your vision board should become a central part of your day. You don’t want to spend a lot of time designing it and putting it together, only to stick it in the back of the cabinet. The whole point of the vision board is on the concept of visualization – of you spending enough time looking at your objectives and going through them in your head. But how can you visualize if you aren’t even looking at your board?
So, you need to ensure you look at your vision board regularly and spend a bit of time focusing on the images. Don’t just glance at it and think you remember all the images with their specific meaning to you and your goals. Take a good look at your vision board and spend a few minutes analyzing and thinking about the images you chose.
Why did you cut out that picture of the Land Rover? What does the image of an increasing stock market sign mean to you? By focusing on your images and visualizing the concepts in your mind, you reinforce the objectives and your resolve to obtain them.
In order to guarantee you do the above regularly, you shouldn’t just try to remember to use the vision board. You need to ensure the vision board is placed in a way that makes the effort of looking at it effortless. Yes, you do need to spend a bit of time visualizing your board, but you don’t want to spend any time getting it in your view.
Therefore, you want to place the board somewhere where you can see it without having to do anything or having to remember you must look at the board. If you’re using the vision board for personal goals or objectives, you could hang it to your wardrobe door, bathroom mirror, or even the fridge door. Any place like this, which ensures you come to face to face with your board regularly and without having to make an effort, is a good place.
It could be your garage door or the bedroom ceiling – it doesn’t matter as long as you are able to come into contact with the vision board and be able to spend five minutes looking at it. If you are using the vision board for a team or business project, you can place it somewhere for the team to see. It could be a place on the meeting room, in the coffee room, or perhaps even in the hallway. The key is to ensure people who are part of the vision board regularly come to contact with it and spend a few minutes exploring the board.
So, what is the best time to look at your vision board? You want to look at it either first thing in the morning or the last thing at night. These are both times, where you will be open to affirmation and you might be seeking for the extra bit of focus. Starting your day by visualizing your goals can ensure you spend the whole day working towards these objectives without necessarily thinking too much about it.
On the other hand, night time is a good time to spend a few minutes reminding yourself of the dreams ahead of you. By focusing them just before the bedtime, you can actually ensure your sub-consciousness continues to think about these objectives while you sleep.
Keep track of your progress
You should also take time to track your progress. It might seem like progress is slow, especially if you are focusing on big life goals or business objectives with your vision board.
But you are constantly moving and with the help of the vision board, you are probably even floating towards the desired objective. The problem can be to recognize this movement. We don’t tend to achieve big life achievements in leaps and bounds.
The CEO didn’t wake up one morning to find out he or she was at the top of the game. Just like you won’t suddenly have a lot of money on your account – overnight success isn’t really a thing. Success happens when you work hard and put your focus on the right things. Even when success seems sudden, plenty of steps and small objectives have needed achieving first. If you just focus on the ‘big’ objectives, you might lose sight of the small steps you’ve taken towards the goal.
With a vision board, you want to spend time examining these small movements because they act as a powerful affirmation. If you notice positive changes, especially after you start using the vision board, you can speed up your progress further and gain a lot of positive energy from your successes.
So, pick up a notebook or use a journaling app to track down your use of the vision board and the positive changes you are witnessing. Be mindful of the things happening around you – don’t just search for the big clues, but focus on your feelings and emotions as well. You might not have managed to increase your salary yet to buy that dream car, but perhaps you notice a more positive attitude towards learning new skills or developing yourself.
Eventually, you might notice this positive attitude spill over and provide you a bonus at work. Of course, your journaling doesn’t just have to focus on the positives. If you seem to be moving to the opposite direction from your goals, you need to stop to think why it might be. Are you sure the vision board represents your desires and objectives? Are you spending enough time visualizing it? Be aware of the changes around you and make changes to your routine or even the vision board itself if needed.
Celebrate achievements
As you notice positive progress, take time to celebrate success. While a vision board is a powerful motivation in itself, you can always boost your resolve further by rewarding positive changes and behaviors. Don’t think your achievements or progress are small, but take time to appreciate the small changes you are making.
You don’t need to buy yourself a gift for each small step or take a vacation for achieving a mini goal, but you want to take time and embrace the successes as they happen. Small victories lead to big gains. If you tell yourself you’ve done well, you affirm your path is the right one and you push yourself harder. It’s too easy to dwell on the mistakes and to feel like you aren’t getting any closer.
But if you recognize each achievement and take note of how well you’ve done, you realize that you aren’t standing still or moving backwards. You can strengthen your resolve by noticing how you are actually getting closer to your vision. Don’t lose sight of your big objective.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Vision boards are powerful tools for solidifying your dreams and turning them into reality. The process is perfect for identifying your goals and understanding what exactly you want from life. Creating the board can be almost a therapeutic experience, clarifying your head from the thoughts and desires that aren’t really part of you.
The process and the actual vision board will help you focus – something which is essential in the modern world. You don’t lose sight of what you truly want to achieve or settle for less. Perhaps above all, the vision board supports you in your journey towards those goals. It provides affirmation; you get that boost of self-belief when you look at your chosen images and remind yourself of the objectives ahead of you.
The great thing about vision boards is the flexibility they offer. You can use them for a variety of goals, from becoming a better person to achieving your dream career. The visualized format for obtaining objectives can be used for personal goals or created for a team or a business as guidance to achieving success. So, don’t waste any more time, but start thinking about the dreams and desires you want to visualize!
How to Fulfill Dreams
“Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” – Gail Devers
I’ve discovered over the past year that dreams come in all shapes and sizes. But their fulfillment is almost always found in the same 7 steps…
1. Select a dream to fulfill. Some of us have so many dreams swirling in our minds, we don’t know where to start… while others of us are unable to put our finger on even one. Whether the decision be to write a book, run a marathon, buy a home, or find true love, fulfillment always starts with the intentional identification of one single goal and the heartfelt conviction to accomplish it. Take some time. Pick one. And then, set out to accomplish it.
2. Believe it is achievable. Unfortunately, too many people will never accomplish their dreams because they simply refuse to believe in themselves. Optimism is absolutely required for dream fulfillment and life enjoyment. If you don’t have natural self-confidence, make finding it your first dream to accomplish. If you do have self-confidence, begin to specifically direct it towards your chosen goal.
3. Ask for help. People have gone before you. Learn as much as you can from them. When I decided to run a marathon, I talked to my co-worker Carole almost every single week. When I decided to write an ebook, I talked to Jeramiah (technology), Martha (editing), and Jana (title/outline). Each had information that I needed and played a significant role in helping me accomplish my dreams. Don’t let your pride be the one obstacle that keeps you from them. Instead, humble yourself and ask for help.
4. Adjust your life as necessary. By definition, if you have not accomplished your dream yet, you’ll need to adjust your lifestyle to accomplish it. And while some of the adjustments may be major, they always start small:
- Running a marathon starts with running one mile.
- Writing a book starts with deciding on a subject.
- Clearing your home of clutter starts with cleaning one drawer, closet, or room.
- Losing 50 pounds starts with changing one meal.
- Buying a home starts with saving one dollar.
Fulfilling your dreams will require you to change your lifestyle – one small step at a time. And while there may be a large number of steps to take, the good news is that the first one is completely achievable… and so is the second…
5. Set a deadline. Deadlines force our hand and call us to action. Therefore, it is absolutely essential to pick a realistic timeline and get moving. Buy a home in the next 3 years. Fix your marriage in the next year. Lose 20 pounds in the next 6 months. Or start a blog in the next 30 days. Find a calendar, a red marker, and a day. Go ahead, circle it. After all, a dream without a deadline is just a wish.
6. Tell others. I have found limitless encouragement by sharing my dreams with others. The number of people cheering for me automatically doubles. Soon, it triples. Suddenly, I’m not just trying to let myself down, but I’m trying to not let my friends down as well. And the cost of failure has just increased.
7. Stay focused. By nature, dreams will require perseverance. There will be successes and failures along the way. Those who persevere through the failures will accomplish their dreams. Those who give up will return to step #1. And if you’ve gotten this far, why would you want to start over? Instead of allowing failures to kill your dreams, use them to refocus you and your resolve.
On a side note, I realize all too well that the circumstances of life ebb and flow. I humbly recognize that the positive circumstances of my life this past year have allowed these dreams to be accomplished. One major illness, accident, or misstep could have derailed any of them listed above. If you currently find the circumstances of life derailing you from reaching your dreams, let me encourage you. Don’t lose hope. Just redirect your dreams.
Read carefully and understand the below Advice from Mr. John Githaka who is the founder & CEO. Fountain Enterprises Program
Mr. Githaka was so ambitious from childhood that he managed to join the only secondary school he ever wished of joining, (while everyone else selected 3 schools, he only did one school); he went to the university he dreamt of and pursued the career he'd wished for.
But after becoming an architect (the only job he knows he could make money without struggling) he realized that still, he didn’t have the clout & clamor of a billionaire. He wanted to make more money. So he listed down 10 billionaires in Kenya. The likes of Njenga Karume, John Michuki, Chris Kirubi, Mwai Kibaki etc & embarked on a study about these people. His main aim was to discover what happened with them. When was their turning point? What did they discover? What do they do? What don’t they do? Obviously, these are b men, with normal upbringing & faced the same challenges as their peers but there came a time when they broke loose from their peers & ended up where they are.
So in 3 years, he tried & met 9 out of the 10 billionaires, just to try & discover them. After interacting with them, he found 5 things about these guys that they have in common & made them be where & what they are.
The five things are:
1. They Understand The Power Of Many (Numbers.)
The richer you are, the further you go away from your business (you disassociate self from the business), but the poorer you are, the more you want to identify with your business.
Successful business people do not have “my business”, instead they have “our business idea". That’s why when you go to a place like Silverprings hotel, chances are some employees there do not know who owns the place & have never seen him/her. But when you go to a poor person’s business, that person is always there, worse even acting as the cashier, accountant, attendant, etc. The trick of business success is in numbers not in self.
As long as you have a personal business called “mine” then be sure you are headed to poverty. People die but companies don’t die.
2. They Are Serious Borrowers.
Borrowing money is their cup of tea & signature. If you have never borrowed money, you will never lend money; & cant lend it if you don’t have it. A bank is a broker between the poor & the rich. The only place where the two meet is in a bank. The poor brings the money & the rich takes it. A poor person saves the money because they have more money than their thinking capacity. So they keep the money there so they can go & think what to do with it… Rich people come to pick that money because they have many ideas than the money they have. So they come to pick that money to go & implement those great ideas. Only poor people operate savings & fixed deposit accounts. Fixed deposit accounts are for the living dead. People who undertake & commit that they will not think about any idea for that money until the expiry of that period of time, otherwise they will be penalized. Rich people operate current accounts. Therefore, a bank exists purposely for 2 reasons:
A) For the poor to bring in the money
B) For the rich to come & take it away.
Banks make more money from borrowers than savers. Hence they respect the former more.
3. They have High Level NETWORKS!
These people as explained in the 1st point believe in the power of many. As a result, they have many likeminded friends who can be of benefit to them. They have friends all over. Rich people have no age, tribal, geographical or gender boundaries. It doesn’t matter who or what you are as long as you are of value to their ventures. Building such networks need alot of travelling & interacting with people. People never get rich in their hometown. Somebody who dreams of being rich, regardless of their age or status, must have; a Driving license (because they will own a car – its criminal to be seeing cars everyday but never own one.), a Passport (because you must travel widely to expand your networks & to sharpen your mindset – If you have been buying a suit in Kenya for Ksh. 30, 000) & find it in China at Ksh. 800, your language & ideas change). You must know how to swim because you are going to have fun & relax.
4. They Are Great Risk Takers!
As long as you avoid taking risks, you are headed to the grave poor. Taking risks is like walking in the dark. You know where you are going but can’t see it. Better still, you are more confident & secure when you are accompanied than when alone. The more people you are, the more secure, hence the 1st point. Risk taking is about numbers.
5. They Have Read The BIBLE!
They understand & make use of the parable of the sower. The seed is the shilling. They put the shilling on fertile land. They simply know where to put their money & where not to put.
They understand the current business trends & make business decisions with this in mind. If you bought a plot 5 years ago at Ksh. 500,000, you are worth nothing 5 years later except that plot even if it will be worth 2M. A rich person will invest that same money somewhere where it will be worth 2B within the same period of time. That’s why you find a 2-bedroom hse varying from Ksh. 2,000 to Sh. 80,00 or even more from one place to another. Or a cup of tea ranging from 5 bob to Ksh. 1,000. Yet when you ask all these business people, you will discover that each one of them decided the price. Why the variance? They know the value chain. In business the “Higher you go, the cooler it becomes….. & the lesser the pressure". A landlord collecting 2,000 for a 2-bedroom house has more problems than his colleague collecting 80,000 for the same house elsewhere. While one has to literally come collecting payments at 4am every 1st day of the month (lest the tenant escapes), the other’s money is safely banked in his account even before the month ends. While one can even bargain with the tenant about the rent, the other is fixed, & you either take or leave it. While one, regardless of the cheap rent has few tenants, the other has a problem of too many tenants coming to look for housing. Same with the tea business. The one for 5 bob, the cup is bigger than the 1,000. Yet the 5 bob one can even “choma” you if you are not careful & you can even pay later if you don’t have cash unlike the 1,000 one. Chances are the 5 bob businessman doesn’t even have a bank account or goes to save, & he does everything in his business.
You should know where to put your money. Create value for your cash, don’t battle with market prices. They are not your limit. It’s better to be the last among the rich than to be the 1st among the poor.
A Poor (POOR) Person Is One Who Passes Over Opportunities Repeatedly.
Life is the Best Teacher of all. Most of the time, life does not talk to you. It just sort of pushes you around. Each push is life saying, wake up. If you learn life’s lessons you’ll do well. If not, life will just continue to push you around. People do two things. Some just let life push them around. Others get angry and push back. But they push back against their boss, or their job, or their husband or wife. They do not know its life that’s pushing.
Life pushes all of us around. Some give up. Others fight. A few learn the lesson and move on. They welcome life pushing them around. To these few people, it means they need and want to learn something. They learn and move on. Most quit, and a few fight.
The main cause of poverty or financial struggle is fear and ignorance, not the economy or the government or the rich. It’s self-inflicted fear and ignorance that keeps people trapped.
Most people live their lives chasing paychecks, pay raises and job security because of emotions of desire and fear, not really questioning where those emotion-driven thoughts are leading them.
It’s just like the picture of a donkey, dragging a cart, with it’s owner dangling a carrot just in front of the donkey’s nose. The donkey’s owner may be going where he wants to go, but the donkey is chasing an illusion. Tomorrow there will only be another carrot for the donkey.
If people are prepared to be flexible, keep an open mind and learn, they will grow richer and richer through the changes. If they think money will solve problems, I am afraid those people will have a rough ride. Intelligence solves problems and produces money. Money without financial intelligence is money soon gone. An intelligent person hires people who are more intelligent than they are.
Most people fail to realize that in life, it’s not how much money you make, it’s how much money you keep.
You must know the difference between an asset and a liability, and buy assets. If you want to be rich, this is all you need to know. “Rich people acquire assets. The poor and middle class acquire liabilities, but they think they are assets”. If you want to be rich, you’ve got to read and understand numbers. If you want to be rich and maintain your wealth, it is important to be financially literate, in words as well as in numbers.
An asset is something that puts money in your pocket; A liability is something that takes money out of your pocket. If you want to be rich, simply spend your life buying assets. If you want to be poor or middle class, spend your life buying liabilities.
Wealth is a person’s ability to survive so many number of days forward… or if I stopped working today, how long could I survive?
So what kind of assets am I suggesting that you or your children acquire? In my world, real assets fall into several different categories:-
- Businesses that do not require your presence. I own them, but they are managed or run by other people. If I have to work there, it’s not a business. It becomes my job.
- Stocks.
- Bonds.
- Mutual funds.
- Income-generating real estate.
- Notes (IOUs).
- Royalties from intellectual property such as music, scripts, patents.
- And anything else that has value, produces income or appreciates and has a ready market.
Begin by acquiring assets that you love. If you don’t love it, you won’t take care of it.
Great opportunities are not seen with your eyes. They are seen with your mind. Most people never get wealthy simply because they are not trained financially to recognize opportunities right in front of them. The main reason most people are not rich is because they are terrified of losing. Winners are not afraid of losing. But losers are. Failure is part of the process. People who avoid failure also avoid success.
Find an opportunity that everyone else has missed. You see with your mind what others miss with their eyes. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on building a better hamburger and know little to nothing about business systems.
There is gold everywhere; most people are not trained to see it. Without a strong reason or purpose, anything in life is hard. If you do not have a strong reason, there is no sense reading further. It will sound like too much work.
LIFE LESSONS:
“Stop looking at the glass as half empty. Block out anything that is taking away your joy.” “The real way to create joy in your life is to ask yourself this question: What are you doing to create joy in other people’s lives?” The Bible Says in Luke 6:38 that, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again”. “We should never take more than we give. It’s about serving others and helping others. It’s an inner deal. Start to look for something bigger.” “Everything we do, every decision we make, is with you in mind”.
It’s not what you are that holds you back. It’s what you think you are not. “Every single person is going to be tested. If you’re at a plateau right now, you’re being tested. Don’t let your plateau become your flatline.” Always be looking for opportunities that give you a chance to do more of what you love. With enough effort and persistence you can create your dream job by finding a need for something that doesn’t exist yet. This also applies if you want to start your own business. It doesn’t matter if you have a major in art history, corporate finance, or environmental studies, you can learn to be an entrepreneur and apply that knowledge to any field. It’s not about your educational background or where you went to school. What matters most is how well you can identify a need for something others want and that you have the guts to follow through.
Did you Know GENERAL INFORMATION AND TEACHINGS FOR LIFESTYLE CHANGE The Principle of Stewardship????.
Stewardship is not “what you have,” but instead it asks, “what are you doing with what you have?” It is all about managing your resources so they will increase. Stewardship is the practice of systematic & proportionate giving of time, abilities and material possessions based on the conviction that these are a trust from God to be used in His service for the benefit of His Kingdom”.
God’s Word says, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,…So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?” - Luke 16:10-12.
Become Your Own Job Creator:-
More and more, companies and individuals are shifting away from full-time salaried jobs to hiring freelance or contract workers. Individuals have to adapt to this ongoing trend.
Let’s face it:
Making a living today is just not how it used to be. Landing a full-time job takes more time and effort, and there is no guarantee that there will be a job with your name on it. So we had better start figuring out how to make a living!
Freelancing is no longer reserved for writers or graphic designers. In a world where every job is temporary, micro-jobs may be the new norm for people in many fields. Whether you are an accountant or a teacher, every professional can create their own opportunity.
Navigating this new environment is very challenging and intimidating for those of us who are used to the old way of doing things. However, there are 10 simple steps you can take to reboot your career for the new era:
1. Know what you are good at or what you want to do
The foundation of career success is knowing what you are good at and what you want to do. Without a specific target, your ability to successfully articulate what you are looking for is diminished.
What to do: Conduct a thorough self-assessment, ideally with the help of a career counselor or even a friend (family members are not very objective when it comes to helping you with this).
If you have a particular skill or interest that stands out from the rest, this is the place to start. One mom I know had spent so much time learning how to deal with her son’s severe allergies that she is now working on developing a small business helping other parents understand allergies after becoming a certified coach. Children with severe life threatening allergies are becoming more and more common.
2. Look around you and see what people need
Start with people in your community.
Conduct a survey of your family and friends via Facebook to see where there might be a need. If your community has a Yahoo group or something similar, put your questions out there. If you recognize the need, offer your services to a school, church or synagogue auctions.
That is a great way to test the waters, while also getting word out to a large group of people about your services. And if you do a decent job, the least you’ll come away with is a testimonial. The most, a new ongoing client and referral source.
3. Find the right job boards for you
Today, there are an enormous number of websites that are seeking people to complete projects of every size and dollar amount. On a site like Elance.com, you can bid for projects ranging from $100 to create a custom itinerary (which is what one creative professional did out of her passion for exotic travel) to $10,000 for website design.
According to their website, Freelancer.com helps professionals in “software, writing, data entry and design right through to engineering and the sciences, sales and marketing, and accounting and legal services.” As the captain of your career, your job is to establish a broad and diverse pipeline of work.
Don’t get turned off by the initial low rates. While you may not get paid the rate you want (or need) for your first assignment, clients are getting to know your work and will pay you more the second time around. It’s an investment in future work. You are building your portfolio of work, and you are building up your confidence to ask for more money the next time you prospect a consulting opportunity. You’re also gaining potential testimonials and referrals for more work down the line.
Where to go: TaskRabbit.com, Elance.com, Fiverr.com, 99designs.com, 3to30.com, Care.com, Freelancer.com, Solvate.com, icrunchdata.com, sologig.com, Flexibleresources.com, and other freelance marketplaces
4. Give yourself a real title
Just because you are not “employed” in the traditional sense doesn’t mean your new title is “unemployed.”
Whether you want to call yourself a freelancer or a consultant or an imagination engineer, the bottom line is that you don’t need an old-school job to give yourself a professional identity. You have a wide range of skills, and it’s up to you to determine by what skill set (or sets) you want to be known. Whether you have developed your skills through education or just good old experience, if you give yourself a title and believe in what you do, people will believe in you.
5. Find out what others are willing to pay for your skills
Shop around and find out what others are charging for their expertise.
People who work for themselves are often more candid about what they charge than employed professionals making a salary. Use freelance sites as a starting point, or check with the freelance association for your industry. Remember, you may charge a lower rate to get your business going, but as you get your name out there and your confidence and freelance experience grows, you will gradually be able to increase your rate.
6. Become social media savvy
Social media is the launch pad to establishing your visibility and credibility.
No matter where you are in your career today, everyone needs to jump on this bandwagon. Successful job search strategy relies more on self-promotion than on a passive search approach.
Whether it’s The Gap or Coach, every product and business needs to market itself; the same goes for us as individuals. Establish our own personal brand and market it, boldly.
Where to go: The most popular contenders are Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, WordPress.
7. Cultivate new skills
No matter what field you are in, expanding your skill set can only enhance your services and ability to increase your income. Do the research first. Study job descriptions for your ideal job, and see what are the skill sets that you don’t possess yet. Social media may be one of those skills, or maybe it’s HTML. Identify which services are in demand on the various freelancing sites mentioned above. Retooling and keeping up with technological advances is critical if you want to be of value in the marketplace.
8. Learn the art of shameless self-promotion
When you are looking for a job, many people ask their friends to see if there are positions at their companies. While this is great, and I highly encourage you to reach out to everyone you know, it is also somewhat limiting in the case that there are no jobs available immediately.
After you have put the word out there about looking for a traditional job, you can then follow up and let everyone you know that while you are looking for full-time opportunities, you are also setting up shop as a consultant and you are available to provide XYZ services. Use good ol’ email, Facebook, and LinkedIn to market your services, initially, to your family and friends. Add in the websites mentioned earlier and you will soon start to cultivate a clientele.
9. Create your own business card
You don’t have to be “employed” by a company to have a business card. You are the business, and you should get in the mood to market yourself! Figure out your value proposition: what are the key skills you offer? Voila! You have the content for creating your own business card.
Don’t forget to create a strong LinkedIn profile and add that to your card. I recommend that you create a business profile on LinkedIn too, but you need to have a business URL for that. Trade in your Gmail account for an inexpensive domain name (www.YourName.com) at sites like namecheap.com. If you have set up a business page on Facebook (free), add that too, in addition to any other social media links that people can use to learn about you and your work.
Where to go: Design your own cards at sites such as Vistaprint.com and Moo.com.
10. Build your confidence with a group
At the core of a successful job search, whether it’s for traditional employment or for contract freelance work, is a confident and thoughtful person. No doubt, marketing yourself can result in lots of rejection, but what is a job search, after all?
This approach of marketing yourself does indeed require a thick skin, but, hey, what have you got to lose?
Find a group of cheerleaders who can support you when you’re feeling down. Better yet, create your own support group to get your new consulting or freelancing business off the ground. This is called a “Business Mastermind” group, and it’s the brainchild of Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich.
Not only are there a lot of people in the same place as you who could benefit from mutual support, but by pulling together you will gain ideas and a network of a small group of people as well as a group to be accountable to. The group can help you stay focused and confident as you work toward your goal.
They say “luck favors the prepared,” so give some of these steps a try and prepare yourself to be hired. You just never know who might need your skills. But if they don’t know you exist, they can’t hire you.
What is a Job Creator?
We think about job creation typically as something that happens to us. Somebody out there in the world starts a company that needs people to do all the things that make that company run efficiently. More people needed. More jobs created. Less unemployment. Hooray!
I don’t disagree that this is a good thing, but what I don’t get is why we can’t apply this on an individual level. If you’re unemployed or feeling unfulfilled from your current job, why can’t you be your own job creator?
It all starts with becoming a modern entrepreneur. Taking your future into your own hands and making changes instead of just sitting around waiting for good things to happen to you.
It’s the difference between active living and passive living.
Now, just because you’ve adopted this mentality doesn’t mean you can make things happen right away. There’s a learning curve and you have to start with small steps that eventually lead to big wins.
Here’s a good place to start.
Don’t be afraid of success
If you want to get places in life and achieve great things, you need to squash your fear of standing out. Most people think they fear failure, but what they really fear is too much success.
When you reach a certain rung on the success ladder, more responsibility rests on your shoulders and it’s harder to hide from all the nay-Sayers, blame-passers, and excuse-makers.
There will always be people who disagree with you and some of them won’t be very nice about it. What you have to remember is that you can’t change those people and you shouldn’t want to. You are among the doers and action-takers. You don’t need to waste time on haters.
Once you’ve nailed the successful mindset, that confidence your exuding is going to be noticed by the people around you.
What does that lead to? More opportunities.
Know how to stand out
Shoot for above average. You’d be surprised how many people are doing completely average work on a daily basis. Think of creative ways to set yourself apart by paying attention to the little things you can do to improve the quality of your own work.
Make sure you’re genuinely interested in your industry before you go in for a job interview. Read up about current events and learn about company policies before you walk into the room.
Don’t be afraid to share your own ideas about how you could make something better because people value honesty and respect individuals with their own opinions.
Find your place (or create it)
Sometimes the perfect career for you may not have been created yet. If that’s the case, you have your work cut out for you, but finding ways to realize your passions should be fun.
Taking initiative can open some pretty big doors because you are more than the sum of all the jobs you’ve held in the past. People value experience more than job titles.
Always be looking for opportunities that give you a chance to do more of what you love. With enough effort and persistence you can create your dream job by finding a need for something that doesn’t exist yet.
This also applies if you want to start your own business. It doesn’t matter if you have a major in art history, corporate finance, or environmental studies, you can learn to be an entrepreneur and apply that knowledge to any field.
It’s not about your educational background or where you went to school. What matters most is how well you can identify a need for something others want and that you have the guts to follow through.
What next?
It’s time to take a long hard look at your career and think about where you see yourself 5 years down the road if nothing changes. Is it a happy thought? Or are you too afraid to look?
It’s okay if you’re not feeling fulfilled 100% of the time. I don’t think anyone is ever fully satisfied. But your career is kind of like a relationship. It’s a big part of your life and you need to set boundaries, grow as an individual, and if things aren’t working out, you need to make changes.
Start investing in your future today so that you can create more opportunities for yourself down the road and reach your potential.
. . . When people become aware of a "job" that they need to get done, they search for a product or service to "hire" for getting the job done effectively.
Disruptive innovators grasp the "jobs-to-be-done" better than anyone else because they spend hours, days, and sometimes months watching people use products and services to fully understand the jobs that people are "hiring" products and services to do. Sometimes the jobs are surprising (like Christensen discovered when watching adults frequently "hire" a milkshake to do the job of not getting bored during a long commute). Often these observations pay off with ideas for new products and services better-suited for the job that needs to be done.
The same approach can benefit you as a "job creator." Ask yourself what jobs-to-be-done do you care most about. Which ones are you most competent at? Or, which ones are the companies you’re targeting in your job search willing to hire you to do?
Set aside time to systematically create richer, deeper insights about jobs-to-be-done. Spend a half day a week just watching, taking notes, and if appropriate, videotaping or photographing people using different products and services that are interesting to you (or with the products of targeted companies in your job search). As you watch, constantly ask, "What’s surprising or unexpected?" to help you discover new features, products, or services that might do the jobs even better, distinguishing you from other job candidates.
While sometimes it makes sense for you to consider your career moves in the context of what's currently available, increasingly I think that we need to take more of a "job creation" approach--looking for the intersection between problems and needs and our own skills, talents and passions. It may be that we are creating freelance opportunities for ourselves or we may be looking at creating new positions within companies or organizations. Either way, we are thinking about how we can create our own work, rather than just doing the work that is presented to us.
Replicating the social business equity investments with unemployed youth around the world can help solve the age-old problem of unemployment, not just in the poor countries but in any country and can turn job-seekers into job creators. Entrepreneurship allows everyone to be an active citizen, saving people from state dependency or reliance on charity.
If you possess unique skill sets and you believe you have something to offer and just happen to be looking for a career-level position then; why not try to create your own position within an established corporate entity you admire. You can have a higher level of control in opening dialogues towards employment. Indeed, you must possess some if not all of the following:
Great writing skills
Great speaking skills
Incredible research capabilities
An unflinching belief that you have something truly valuable to offer
In truth, economic growth is about production. It’s about producing more with less. Thank goodness for it. In the world’s poorest and most backward countries seemingly everyone works all day and every day. But in the U.S. and other economically advanced countries that have embraced the robot-equivalents of the past, kids are free to enjoy childhood, the elderly are able to enjoy retirement, plus mothers and fathers get to devote more of their time to watching their kids grow up. All of the latter is due to labor-saving advances throughout history that have showered us with staggering abundance for less and less in the way of labor inputs. Robots once again signal more of this wondrous same.
What type of small scale manufacturing industries can you start in your house/home?
Coming up with small manufacturing business ideas can help you completely change your life for the better. It does not matter whether you have the capital or the machinery to manufacture that product or not. Nowadays, you can be a manufacturer while using other people’s equipment. You can even start a small scale manufacturing business right in your bedroom like chalk production, match sticks or candle production.
Small Scale Manufacturing Business ideas
Setting up a Fruit Juice Production and Packaging Plant
You can start this business without a factory of your own. All you to do is leverage on the experience of the existing fruit drinks manufacturers, while doing the branding in their company name. This system has encouraged new entrants to get into the industry.
Custom Beads Making
Beads could be strung into various designs in Bags, Necklaces, Earrings, Belts, Wallets, Flower Vases and Handset Holders among others. Beads also come in all manners of materials, shapes, sizes and colours.
Bead stringing is a career that you can live on. It is prestigious and profitable. If you aspire to grow in this career. All you have to do is to learn how to make beads in commercial quantity.
Ice block production
Ice block sales business involves the use of deep freezer to make ice block in plastic container or polythene bags. The business involves the production of solid ice block by putting clean water in any small container in order to make difference sizes of ice block available to consumer of different categories.
These businesses thrive well in areas where there is incessant power outage, and also in over-populated places like motor parks, market places, schools, commercial and business areas, any place there are human beings and activities demand a cooling off either by a bottle of cold drink or a wrap of sachet water (pure water).
The type of deep freezer use in the production of ice block is the electronic deep freezer with a high capacity compressor and the capacity of blocking is 136 litres of water into ice block.
Cassava chips production
This is the most common form in which dried cassava roots are marketed and most exporting countries produce them. The chips are dried irregular slices of cassava roots, which vary in size but should not exceed 5 cm in length so that they can be stored in silos.
The present method of processing chips is very simple, consisting of peeling, washing, chipping the cassava roots, and then sun drying the slices or chips. The recovery rate of chips from roots is about 20-40% depending on the initial dry-matter content of the cassava roots and the final moisture of the chips.
Production of cold water starch
This is a special and unique product for household use, dry cleaners and for textile industries. As the name implies it is used in cold pure water, and its binding agents is authentic. It renews restores and revives old materials. No heat source is needed in its application. Put any desired quantity in cold water. It dissolves within a minutes and restored. The major raw materials are much available anywhere in the Country and the good thing is that they are locally sourced. One of such materials is cassava starch or any kind of starch you can find.
The machinery to be used are, Boiler, Mixer, Dissolution pot, Weighing scale; and all these can be fabricated locally or better still, have local alternatives depending on your production capacity and this may not cost you much. For example you can use a spoon or bowl to measure your quantity, large local pots for your boiler and drum rotating spinner for your mixer.
Exercise Book Production
The market for exercise books is huge. Exercise books are mostly used by kids in school. Since, you are dealing with a branded exercise book, you have to be creative. Think of several things that can attract a kid and that should be what you would have on the cover of your exercise book. Cutting machine is between, Final trimming.
Pure Water Manufacturing Business
You can either package in sachet or plastic bottles. Some people even use plastic cups. Your packaging materials must also be treated such that any impurities must be removed. In starting this business, you need to have a good environment, factory, treatment plant and equipment, tanks, bore-hole, pumping machines, packaging machines, generators, distribution vehicles, etc.
You can make high sales during the dry season, which starts October of every year and ends around April. You make maximum sales during this period, but in the rainy season – which starts from May till September, there is usually a fall in sales. So you have to get accustomed to that.
Yoghurt Production
Yoghurt is produce by controlled fermentation of milk by two species of bacteria (Lactobacillus sp. And streptococcus sp.) The sugar in milk (called lactose) is fermented to acid (lactic acid) and therefore causes the characteristic curd to form. The refreshing qualities of yoghurt are rather not new, and its popularity as a nutritious food, especially among the weight conscious, has increased greatly in the recent past. Apart from the fact that yoghurt is a fast selling product, the returns on investment is nothing less than 50%.
Processing Vegetable for export
The dried vegetables are good for the United States market and other far eastern countries, while the fresh vegetables are very good for the UK market. You can buy the drying machine from Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi (FIIRO) while you can get the locally fabricated machine from the welders.
If you don’t have the money to buy one, you can always take your vegetable to existing foodstuff exporters that have the drying machine. The packaging depends on the specification of the buyers, e.g. 25grams 50grams, 100grams, 1kg, 2kg, 5kg. A lot of orders are currently coming from UK and USA.
Frozen Chicken Production
A lot of people prefer not to go through the stress of slaughtering and preparing live birds because frozen chicken can easily be stored and used at will, thereby saving time. Many also believe that it is cheap than buying a live fowl.
Start-up requirement are space, knives, tables, basins, heat source, stove heater, soap, hand towel, extra hands, freezer and generator .You need to go directly to the chicken farms to source for your live birds cheaply. You can also position yourself to supply small hotels, restaurants eateries.
Insecticide manufacturing
Unlike other continents, Africa possesses harmful insects that enter every home in our big cities. This is because we are in the topical part of the world. So insecticide is widely used in Africa. It is very easy to market to supermarkets, local shops, hawkers etc. Just make sure you create a good network of retail and wholesale stores. With proper branding and packaging, you are sure to capture the market in no time.
Soap and detergents manufacturing
Soap exists as solid (bar or tablet), liquid and powdered forms. Soap is a form of cleaning agent used for laundry and domestic utensil, car, etc. In liquid form, it is used as lubricating and cleansing agent on food, drinks and machinery. Soap is therefore an essential commodity, which is universally used in all households.
In fact, it is universally asserted that the amount of soap consumed in a country is a measure of its level of civilization. Soap therefore is not a luxury, but a necessity. The cost of establishing this type manufacturing enterprise is usually low, hence it is very viable.
Leather Belt Manufacturing
You can also start a business specialized in making and supplying leather belts to men’s and ladies fashion shops. Belts in different colours with a variety of buckle types could be made in different styles. If you have never tried making leather goods before, contact a craft supplier to find out what is involved and what materials are available.
Foam production
The usage of foam is wide. For example, it is used to produce chairs materials or beds, pillows, underlay foam for carpets, cars motor cycle seats etc. Even though it is easy to produce this product, there is still scarcity of high quality foam in our markets.
Production of maternity wear
You can start a manufacturing business that specializes in designing, making and selling of maternity wears for expectant mothers. This is an area of clothing where your designs will be up against less competition, but can still be sold through numerous outlets throughout the country.
It is also an opportunity to provide good designs by having your design in a brochure or you can place an advert in selected magazines, with a more easily identified target readership.
Caustic soda production
Caustic soda or sodium hydroxide is perhaps the most important alkali. It is one of the basic chemical products produced and utilized in large quantities; and it enjoys extensive usage in the manufacturing of chemicals, cellulose film, rayon dyes, cleaners, pulp and paper etc. The production process involves brine production, purification and electrolysis.
In conclusion, these are the top small business manufacturing business ideas you can venture into today. Just make sure you do your own feasibility research, write a business plan and gain adequate knowledge about your proposed industry.
Low Cost Small Business ideas:-
1. Transportation service
If your parent has an old car that has been abandoned for a long time, you can fix it and start a micro transport service. Chances are your fellow students need transportation to and from campus. And most of the time, the transport arrangements by school authorities are not very good.
So, your college colleagues would be willing to pay you to transport them. They will prefer your services to that of the college because yours will save their time and provide more comfort and flexibility.
2. Tutoring service
As a college student, chances are you are particularly good in one or two subjects. You’ll make a lot of money by offering to teach others who are having problems with those subjects — most especially if they are very important subjects that students must pass before promotion or graduation.
3. Career counseling
If you have good communication skills, you can meet the recruiters and employers in the on-campus career center to learn what they are looking for in job applicants. Then you can become a career coach and counselor simply by leaking these secrets to other students.
4. Sports training service
If you are a good athlete and sportsman, think about starting a personal sports training service aimed at teaching fellow students who are interested in becoming skilled sportsmen like you. You can use either an on-campus facility or a local fitness facility off campus.
5. Party promotion
Most college students love partying. So, you can make decent income if you know how to promote parties and get the best deejays and party people to events. You can also organize shows involving celebrity singers and entertainers.
6. On-boarding services for international students
If your college admits students from other countries that have never lived in your country for long, you can start an on-boarding service for international students. Such students find the campus environment
If you are compassionate, and you enjoy meeting new people, you can set up a hospitality or familiarization program for international students. You can either collaborate with the office of students’ affairs in your school or run your business independently.
7. Graphics arts design services
If you have a knack for creative design and you are very good at it, you can start a graphics design business. You can offer your services for both students and college professors who want to beautify their research and reports as well as their presentations. You can also make additional income by designing banners for events and occasions in your college and by designing creating greeting cards for birthdays and holidays.
8. Freelance writing services
If you are very good with words, then you can start a freelance writing service. This would involve handling writing assignments for clients — not fellow students, because this is unethical and against the rules in virtually all schools and colleges. You can hook up with clients over the internet by registering an account with freelance outsourcing sites.
You can start a blog for marketing your writing services and promote your business in online forums and via social media. Writing assignments that you’ll be handling for clients include articles, blog posts, ebooks, sales copies, press releases, business proposals, and so on.
9. Dog walking services
If you love dogs and other pets, you can start a dog walking service. If some of your colleagues come to school with their pets (though this is not allowed in most schools), you can advertise your services to them. Before starting, consult a professional vet to get tips on how to care for dogs and other animals.
10. Hair styling service
You can start rendering your services as a hair stylist or professional barber. Everyone loves to look good, and good hair care is one of those factors that improve one’s overall appearance. So, you will make a lot of cash off of your colleagues by starting this business.
11. Babysitting
Working class mums always need babysitters to take care of their children while they work or attend to their businesses. You can cash in on this opportunity by becoming a baby sitter and earning extra income to support yourself through college.
12. Event planning
There are series of campus events from student parties to award nights, matriculations and convocations. You can offer your services and help in planning such events and get paid for it.
Although starting up might be challenging as you will need to be able to convince sponsors that you can handle the job perfectly. You can offer to do the first few jobs for free and start charging when you have proven yourself to be an excellent event planner.
13. Residential and Commercial Cleaning
As a student, you can also make money from cleaning other people’s homes or offices. Most people are often too busy to clean their homes or offices themselves so they simply outsource these services to other people. You can take out few hours daily from studying and get cleaning jobs to help you earn extra income.
14. Fitness Trainer
Our society has made keeping fit a necessity and many people are looking for ways to keep fit daily. Not many people have the time to visit a gymnasium and would gladly pay for a personal fitness instructor to come into their homes and train them instead. If you are someone who is passionate about sports, you can become a fitness trainer and earn decent income from it.
15. Pet Grooming: Everyone loves a clean and nice smelling pet but most people either do not know how to groom their pets or simply do not like doing these themselves. You can become a pet groomer and make extra income from it. You will be required to bathe the pets, trim their hair and sometimes take them out for fresh air and exercise.
16. Photography and Videography
Students love to capture beautiful moments in photos and there are chances of making good money if you are a very good photographer. You can also record live campus events on video tapes and sell them for a fee.
17. Master of Ceremonies (MC): You can also become an MC and anchor campus and off-campus events and parties.
18. Food Delivery: As a student, you can make money as a part-time chef or by making pre-packaged meals and selling them to fellow students.
19. Sewing-: You can make good money from helping students mend their clothes.
20. Dance and Music Classes: If you are really good at dancing or play any musical instrument well, you can become a music or dance instructor.
21. Gardening: Do you love gardening, trimming lawns and beautifying homes? A lot of people wouldn’t mind paying you to help them keep their homes and gardens beautiful.
22. Start Selling E-books
As a student, there will be topics you are passionate about and you can make money by writing e-books about them and selling them on the internet. Writing books would not cost you money but a little bit of your time and energy and this can easily be done alongside studying. When writing your e-book, you must make sure you research hot keywords in that niche and use them so that people can locate your e-book easily through search engines.
23. Start Building Mobile Applications
Mobile Apps are hot right now and many businesses and individuals are hiring people to build mobile applications for them. Do you have programming skills? Then you can also make money as a student by building mobile apps and publishing them.
23. Start Blogging
You can create a blog on blogger.com or WordPress and start writing about topics you are passionate about. All you need to start this is your computer and internet connection. If you write well and you gain much blog traffic, you can make money from Google AdSense or other third party advertising agents.
24. Consider Affiliate Marketing
What an affiliate marketer does is to help promote products and services of other companies and earn commission from sales made. You will need a good knowledge of web marketing, sales copywriting and pay per click marketing to become an affiliate marketer.
25. Freelance Writing: You can provide ghost writing services to people who need it and get paid for it.
26. Offer Virtual Assistance Services
A lot of busy professionals would not mind getting extra help in reading their e-mails, responding to enquiries and organizing meetings and tasks for them without having to hire a secretary or personal assistant. Many people prefer to hire a virtual assistant who would work from home. You can become a virtual assistant and offer such services as long as you have a computer and an excellent internet connection.
27. Start a Resume Writing Service: If you are very good with words and information presentation, you can help people write their resume in ways that would attract employers and get paid for it.
28. Offer Bookkeeping Services: If you are really good with accounting, you can become a bookkeeper and offer bookkeeping services to business and individuals online.
29. Engage in Website Design and Flipping: As a student, you can go into website designing and get paid for it. You can also buy websites that are undeveloped, develop them and then sell them for a fee.
30. Do Search Engine Optimization Jobs
Companies and business owners are always looking for ways to place their businesses at the top of search engines such as Google and Bing. You can make money by helping companies improve web page ranking.
31. Provide Language Translation and Transcription Services
As a student, you can offer language translation services. If you are very good in a second language, you can help people translate documents from that language to English or vice versa. There are also lots of opportunities for transcription services on the internet. Transcription entails converting recorded speech to written text.
32. Start Organizing Webinars: You can organize seminars online known as webinars and share your ideas on a certain topic that people would be interested in while you charge attendance fees.
33. Become an Online Nutritionist: A lot of people are looking for ways to eat healthy so as to prevent diseases in future and a lot of people are also looking for diet plans for weight loss online. You can make money by selling weight loss meal plans or nutritional guides to people online.
34. Become a Ticketing Agent: As a student, you can make money from selling air travel tickets to people who need it on the internet.
35. Become an Online Tutor
If you are smart and very good academically and wouldn’t mind imparting knowledge in others, you can make money by becoming an online tutor. There are websites that offer such services and you can sign up to become one of their tutors or you can create your own website and start helping students get better at their academics.
36. Become a Graphic designer
If you are very good with graphics, you can make money by becoming a graphic designer. There are websites where you can offer your services and get paid for it. Such websites include Freelancer, Odesk etc.
37. Start a Property Finding Service
You can offer property finding services to fellow students searching for accommodation or even to non-students. You will need to go around and search for vacant houses and list them on your website so that people who need such accommodation can contact you. However, you will need to create awareness for your website by printing flyers and telling as many people as you can.
38. Establish Online Directories: You can also create online directories and charge companies for listing their businesses.
39. Engage in Online Surveys: There are lots of opportunities to make money from filling out online survey. Simply register on a legitimate paid survey site and get paid when you answer survey questions.
40. Online Reputation Management (ORM): A company’s reputation translates to sales most of the time, which is why companies pay people to manage their product and brand reputation online.
41. Buying and selling stuff online has become one of the big money-earners in the digital age. The challenge comes in offering something unique or which stands out from other product offerings in the marketplace.
42. Cute and unique gift items presented in a website can sell like hotcakes especially during seasons like Christmas and Valentine. Reasonably priced cupcakes with creative designs can likewise capture the attention of pastry lovers or food gift buyers browsing the web.
43. Computer enthusiasts who use the Internet for research, emailing, and playing online games may find huge appeal in taking part in a business like testing new games and providing feedback on the games.
44. Making personalized invitations for occasions like baptisms, bachelorette parties, birthdays and special events may also turn out to be a money earner for students.
45. Students can also usually find making websites, writing and posting blogs about places they have been to or products they have tried a good way to earn money. It does not take a genius to try out and succeed in these unique business ideas for students.
46. Other creative ways for college students to make money and enjoy themselves in the process; depending on their hobbies and interests are arranging/mixing songs (which require initial investment on equipment); offering photography services with background design and CDs; and making beaded jewelry.
47. Indeed, students have many ideas on cool stuff they can sell that other kids would love to purchase. For some students who know where to source goods like slippers/sandals with a design twist, cute kiddie costumes or teen apparel.
48. Students can also choose among the reputable affiliate marketing programs online that sell products; then they can allot time to learn details about products the affiliate companies sell, like jewelry, supplements, apparel, gadgets, home wares.
49. Another business idea for students is using a leading e-commerce site to sell goods. What young enterprising individuals need to do is simply take good photos of the products they intend to sell and post these online, along with a concise product description so that potential buyers can bid on them. Careful judgment must be used though, when dealing with online customers as there are individuals who are not really serious about buying but keep bidding.
In conclusion, I want you to know that some unique small business ideas for students may be inspired by existing products in the marketplace. Take for instance milk teas, which now come in various delicious flavors and are snapped up by beverage loving customers.
Most small business ideas that start out small end up churning out huge profits, and the best thing about such businesses is that youngsters can manage them from the comforts of their homes or neighborhood.
Where are the best and latest small scale industries to start:-
School and Office Supplies
These products are normally in demand all year round, so entrepreneurs need not worry about the assurance of making sales. Especially with a large number of businesses and schools situated in the urban areas; products such as pencils, pens, paper of different varieties, notebooks, and others will always be in constant demand.
Customized Jewelry
People, especially women, love to accessorize themselves, cultural yet fashionable place, customized jewelry businesses are sure to grow. You can invest in buying a small jewelry-making kit and create necklaces, earrings, and bracelets that are uniquely designed for each of your customers. Creativity and a good marketing tactic are two overwhelming factors that will determine if you will succeed or fail. There is also a lot of scope for business sales for this particular industry when you consider the number of foreign tourists visiting. Not only can product popularity be gained nationally, but once attained, the same popularity could well be a stepping stone to international exports.
Greeting Cards
In this increasingly small world, special occasions occur all year round, and thus the constant need for greeting cards. Even the advent of online greeting cards hasn't in any way decreased the demand of printed greeting cards; as humans love, appreciate and connect more with tangible materials. You need not invest much for a business of this ilk; all it takes is creativity and resourcefulness. Unleash all those creative juices and produce cards with attractive designs and patterns that aren't to gaudy and I'd safely say that you'd do mighty well!
Fast Food Restaurants
Most people believe that it is imperative that one has ample resources, well into the thousands, as start-up capital in order to open a restaurant. But you don't really need to spend much, especially if you already own a small space that can be turned into a canteen. You just have to buy the ingredients that you will need to whip up your menus for each day.
Your menu doesn't necessarily have to be top-of-the-line; you can begin with simple recipes. Remember that food is one of the basic necessities of man and people must eat regardless of their economic situation. A point to be noted is that your business must be built on the foundation of exceptional customer services.
Thrift Shops
These are one of the businesses that are sure to become very profitable. Many people like buying second-hand items because they are rather affordable and fit their budget. Aspiring entrepreneurs can sell second-hand items like clothes, bags, and accessories for low prices
Rental Services
If you own an extra room in your house or building, renting them out to other people can earn you money and if the location is great, a certainly substantial amount of income. This would help you reap huge profits, because you do not need to shell out cash as a business capital but instead just cover their basic amenities(water, electricity and maybe cooking gas).
Digital Photography
Almost everyone owns a digital camera, so you can use this gadget to generate a steady source of income. Rush ID services are often sought for, especially in cities, so you can take advantage of this.
Wooden Furniture making
If you are skilled at handicraft, then you can surely earn huge amounts of money from this kind of business. You can create and design wooden furniture at an affordable price for the residents of your community just the way they want it to be. A good relationship with residents of your neighborhood is a recipe for success in this business.
Home decorations(Knick knacks & bric-a-bracs)
Creativity really pays off and pays well. People love decorating their homes with vases, chimes, figurines, and other things that can visually beautify their home. You do not need to buy expensive products particularly, but can improvise, design & create your own and sell them at competitively nominal prices.
Paintings
If you are artistically gifted, then let it shine by creating paintings for the people in your community. Not only will you be able to express your artistic side, but you would also get paid for it.
Livestock Farming
Livestock farming is a booming business and the trend is not dying anytime soon. With 150+million mouths to feed daily, there will always be demand for livestock products. However, lack of technical know-how and the use of crude equipment are the major factors hampering the growth of this industry. If you can come in with adequate knowledge and the patience to nurture this business, you will reap immensely. Now you can choose to either venture into livestock breeding of animals or better still, you can stick to livestock feed production or equipment retailing.
Poultry farming – Egg production, meat production, hatchery or day-old-chicks production, etc.
Cattle Farming – Diary (milk) production, beef, etc.
Goat Farming
Sheep
Fish Farming
Piggery
Grasscutter Farming
Snail Farming
Agro-products exportation
We are blessed with a lot of food and natural resources; and most of these natural resources are raw materials needed for the production of some finished products. Every day, tons of raw materials and food products leave the shores of our country to other countries such as India, Vietnam, China, USA, UK, Brazil, etc; yet, the demand is never met. You can become an exporter by simply registering with the Export Promotion Council and decide on the specific product you wish to export. Examples of products highly in demand are Chili pepper, Kola nuts, Bitter Kola, Cassava flakes (Garri), Cocoa, Groundnut, Yam flour, Cashew nuts, etc.
Mining
Our Country is blessed with a lot of mineral resources like Limestone, Coal, Iron ore, Bitumen, etc.. If you have the financial capacity and a team, you can position yourself in this sector.
Setting up a private mini refinery
There are lots of business opportunities in the oil and gas sector. Building a private refinery and refining crude oil is another business you should look into because there is a lot of potential in it.
Inland waterway Transport
There are lots of opportunities in the transport industry and inland waterway is one of them. Our Country has a broad network of inland waterways comprising rivers, creeks, lakes and seas; yet, transportation still remains a challenge because investors are yet to tap into water transportation. A lot of countries such as Italy, Thailand, etc have effectively been utilizing their waterways as a means of transport; thus reducing the traffic congestion on the road. All you need to do is to incorporate a company, obtain license from the state and import or purchase some locally fabricated boats; and you are in business.
Establishing a Television and Radio Station
Now it is a known fact that the mass media industry is saturated in our Country. However, this is only true for some cities. I have travel through several parts of the countries and discovered that most states have no private TV station, and only rely on the government own TV stations; which are very incompetent, uncreative and unreliable. I see an opportunity for entrepreneurs and investors with interest and competence in broadcasting or mass media. You can either choose to setup a radio station or TV Station.
Setting up a security company
There is a huge demand for excellent security services. As the government battle to improve the security situation in the country, individuals and corporate entities are now becoming aware of the fact that security is not the responsibility of the government alone; it is a collective responsibility. Hence, the current increase in demand for security guards, bodyguards, executive protection professionals and security gadgets or devices. As an entrepreneur or investor, you can setup a security guard recruitment or training company, or you can setup a bodyguard agency. Also, you can import and retail security products and safety devices.
Sewing of specialized uniforms
There are over 500 schools (both Crèche, primary and secondary) and each of these schools have a specific uniform or attire for their students. Okay, let’s look beyond educational institutions. Do you know that other individuals and corporate organizations are in need of uniforms for their security personnel, staff, etc? There are also a lot or military (Army, Air Force, Navy), paramilitary (Civil Defense Corps, Police Force) and non-paramilitary (Road Safety, Traffic Warden, Kick against Indiscipline, Vigilante groups, etc) organizations that make use of uniforms. You can position yourself as a uniform supplier and make money from it.
Construction Company
Our Country is still a developing country especially in the area of infrastructure but this is set to change in the nearest future. Massive constructions are currently on-going ranging from bridges, roads, towers and skyscrapers, etc. If you run a construction company oversee, or you have the financial capacity to assemble the needed team and machinery for a construction company; then this is a business you should invest in.
Real Estate development
I have met a lot of individuals with money piling up in the bank, but they don’t seem to know what to do with that money. Yet, on every business trip I make, I hear stories of people facing accommodation problems; not because they can’t afford it but because there is none within their choice of location. Also, I hear woeful stories from students in various universities and other high institutions who live under harsh conditions; not because they want to or can’t afford a comfortable place to live; but because there is no conducive apartment in close proximity to the institutions.
I also know the stress, effort and resources it took me before I got an office space both within and outside the country. What these facts or complaints are pointing to is that there is a massive need for buildings, both residential and commercial. It is a known fact that shelter is one of the basic needs of man. Now for those who wouldn’t want to go through the ups and downs of running a business, you can choose to invest in development of hotels, school hostels for students, shopping malls, residential apartments, events and conference halls, etc.
Set up a writing company
If you are current with trend, you would have observed that most jobs in the United States are now being outsourced to countries like Philippines, India, China, etc. And as things stand now, a trickle of such outsourcing jobs are coming and one of such jobs is Article Writing or Ghostwriting. Do you have passion and skill for writing? If yes, then you can either choose to write from home as a self employed freelance writer or you can setup a company, employ competent writers and source for jobs online. This business is easy to get into and it is very profitable.
Call center agency
Have you called the customer care service of a telecom network before? Or have you tried sending a message or complaint to a corporate organization before? Do you know that those who take your calls, complaints and respond accordingly are not employees of the companies you patronize; neither do they operate in the premises of the company. If you are hearing this for the first time, then welcome to the world of “Call center outsourcing.” You can setup a call center agency and work for big companies on a contract basis. One sweet fact about this business is that you can start it from home and it doesn’t require much startup capital unless you want to scale up by employing more helping hands.
Recruitment Agency
The labor market is becoming tougher and there are over five million unemployed youths in the Country. Another hard fact is that companies are no longer employing full time in-house staff; they are now using the services of recruitment agencies to employ people based on contract basis. This strategy is aimed at reducing the cost of doing business by avoiding the cost of conducting a recruitment exercise and also avoiding employee claims and benefits. This is the sole reason why banks and other companies are sacking their workers on daily basis. So rather than fight the trend, why not profit from it by setting up a recruitment agency and connect jobseekers to their dream jobs. You can also be a corporate executive headhunter and make money poaching competent staff from one company to another.
Importation of wears
Clothing is another basic need of man. Regardless of the economy, people must wear clothes and this includes shoes, bags, underwear, perfumes, etc. Now there is a fast growing trend now and that is “Used clothes” or “Recycled clothes.” Since the economy is getting tougher and there’s need to be clothed, the masses have resolved to buying used clothes rather than new ones. Still yet, there is a market for new clothes; for men, women, and kids. You can source your materials from China, Hong Kong, Italy, France, Dubai, India, etc.
Haulage and logistics
Haulage and logistics is another booming business because regardless of the weather, people must haul their goods from one location to another. In fact, haulage or trucking business is one of the most profitable businesses so far; though it is management intensive. However, you can start with just a truck and see how it goes. You can choose to focus on hauling containers for clients from the seaports to their various destinations or better still, you can choose to haul products of specific companies such as breweries, production companies, etc. You can also haul perishable goods from farms and villages to the marketplace or you can haul specialty products such as frozen foods, petroleum products, gas, etc. Now there is also an opportunity for those who want to venture into haulage business but do not want to be bugged down by management requirements. All you need to do is to buy a truck and contract it to a Haulage and logistics company; which will in turn pay you a specified amount weekly or monthly based on agreement.
Outsourced bus service
This is another form of haulage business, but this time you will be lifting humans. This is a business that requires providing transportation services to organizations that cannot afford to buy a vehicle in-house. Your clients in this case can be schools, religious organizations, NGOs, etc. Now just imagine providing a bus and a driver, to be shared by three or more schools that can’t afford to own their own private bus; and you will catch the vision of this business.
E-Services
Our Country is catching on with the rest of the world with respect to technology. If you are technologically inclined, you can setup shop and start offering e-services to clients. Example of such e-services include Web designing and development, App development, Digital marketing services, Search Engine Optimization services, Banner design services, Bulk SMS services, Online registration of exams such as JAMB, WAEC, professional courses, etc
Daycare centre
The demand for quality childcare service is increasing daily. Parents are now working harder just to generate enough income to keep the family going, thus leaving them with less time for the children. Now to be honest with you, there are a lot of daycare centers existing but only a few are providing exceptional services; and parents that cherish their kids are never comfortable leaving their kids in a child care centre whose environment is dirty. If you can come in with exceptional service and creativity, you will make money from this business. Another thing you must know is that you can start this business from home.
Training centers
Every year, millions of people sit for examinations and tests and most of these people usually need some kind of trainings or tutorials. You can position yourself as a provider of such training and make money off this niche. Examples of trainings you can offer include skill vocational acquisition training, corporate management skill training, etc. You can also conduct tutorial for individuals writing professional exams.
Waste Management
Waste management is another business with a future potential. Now there are several businesses you can start within the waste management niche and these include waste recycling, waste disposal, junk hauling, organic fertilizer production, etc.
Food processing
Another profitable industry to consider is the food processing industry. The concept of this industry is simply to take raw food materials and turn them into finished products. In fact, there are a lot of businesses you can do in this niche and examples of such businesses include Tomato puree production, Oil palm processing, groundnut processing, Fruit juice production, Rice milling, etc.
Alternative Power Installation
As the world goes green, Even though the government has taken steps to deregulate the power sector by granting licenses for Independent Power Plants, granting a free import duty for the importation of power generation equipment and commissioning several power projects, this will never hamper the growing demand for alternative power generators such as solar panels, wind mills, Inverters, etc. You can either make money by importing and retailing these materials or you can choose to focus on installations.
Plantation Farming
Do you have a fertile vacant land and you know that you won’t be developing any structure on it in the nearest future? Then why not start a livestock farming, crop cultivation or plantation farming. There are a lot of cash crops you can plant, nurture and forget; and they will keep providing you with steady returns annually. Examples of crops you can start a plantation around are Orange, Plantain, Kola nut, Oil palm, Cocoa, Cassava, Yam, etc.
Manufacturing
You can also venture into small scale manufacturing of products that are in daily need. You don’t need to build a factory or industrial plant; you can start on a small scale from your room or a rented store or apartment. Products you can start manufacturing include Toothpick, Tissue paper, Serviette, chalk production, candle, Match sticks, nylons and polythene bags, cartons, paper bags, etc.
Bottled water production
I get calls from individuals almost on daily basis who are interested in setting up a “sachet water” (Pure water) production plant. Now let me tell you the honest truth, the sachet water or pure water business is saturated and the business may die off very soon. Why did I say this? Well, I got information from a reliable source that there is a long term plan to ban the production of sachet or nylon water; so as to stem environmental degradation and checkmate blocked drainages. So once this bill is passed into law, the sachet water production industry is toast. The only solution I foresee that can keep this business afloat is the establishment of a nylon recycling plant. However, to avoid being a victim of this yet-to-be proposed policy, it is advisable you venture into bottled water products and establish yourself as a brand.
Why it is important to encourage cottage and small-scale industries
There are meagre resources to develop large-scale industries. However, a program for developing and promoting small-scale industries both in rural and urban areas is more feasible figure 1 shows the advantages of establishing such industries.
Advantages of establishing small-scale cottage industries
Cottage and small-scale industries are labor-intensive and provide employment to 80% of the industrial labor force. This reduces the unemployment and offers opportunities for self-employment.
Traditionally, women are not encouraged to work outside their homes. Cottage or small-scale industries like carpet-weaving, candle-making and handicrafts can be established in houses and women can be gainfully employed. This increases the active labor force.
These industries also meet the local demands for industrial goods, and save foreign exchange spent in imports.
There is a demand for rugs, carpets, brassware, handicrafts and embroidered work in the International market. These goods provide 30% of the export receipts of the manufacturing sector.
When people are employed gainfully in villages, the migration of people from rural to urban areas will reduce. The acute problems of housing, sanitation, education, transport and health will be reduced in urban areas.
Many districts are under-developed. With the expansion of such industries, the regional disparity in income can be reduced.
These industries make effective use of local raw materials which also promotes primary industries like agriculture and mining.
Small-scale industry does not require much capital and high technology. I.T is suited to the traditional economic set-up.
Cottage and small-scale industries do not use much imported material or equipment.
The waste of large-scale industries, particularly the cotton, sugar and steel industries, can be used to make by-products.
Home Decoration
There is a web of cottage and books industries. In almost every village, there are a number of such industries depending upon the size of the village and the demand for the products. The establishment of such industry is closely related to the availability of raw material traditional skills, climatic conditions and, in several cases, the local specialization in the organized factory sector.
There is a large variety of handicrafts available. They are not only aesthetically pleasing items, but they are also serve the needs of local people.
Some of these industries produce important export items. Recently exports of non-cotton products have faced increasing trade barriers as public opinion in industrialized countries has expressed growing concern about child labor, environmental and health standards. These concerns are being addressed now.
Carpets
In the small scale industries, the most important is the Carpet weaving and its center are located almost all over the Country. It is also significant in economic terms and they make valuable contribution in exports. Cotton is the raw material required for this industry. They employ women and children for the production of fine hand woven carpets and for the production of wool silk or a mixture of the two, as the carpets are of great significance. Therefore, children are employed and child labor takes place.
Ceramics
Clay and terracotta pottery and utensils continue to be of great practical importance. Many of the designs of urns, pitchers, bowls, jugs, plates, and pots seen today are almost identical to those un covered at archaeological sites around the country. Distinctive glazed blue tiles are used to decorate many of the great mosques.
Problems of cottage and small-scale industries
Cottage and small-scale industries contribution to the GDP is only 5%. There are certain problems associated with these industries that are mentioned below:
Profits are limited and they are mostly spent on the daily expenses of the owners. They do not have extra capital for expansion of these industrial units.
Economies of scale are not available so production cost is higher. Goods produced in small-scale industries cannot compete in open market if the same goods are manufactured on a large scale.
The wholesaler, who takes most of the profits, exploits the owners of the small-scale industry. In some cases goods are sold to wholesalers at cost price, which discourages the owners and they reduce the quality and quantity they produced.
In rural areas, where the electricity is not provided, small-scale industries are difficult to set up. Even the great fluctuation in voltage and power break-downs cause damage to the electric motors. The commercial rates of electricity have also increased significantly which hinders the growth.
The craftsman and artisans learn their skills and production methods from their elders. The provision of technical advice and further training is limited...
Economic Impacts
While large enterprises employ many individuals, small-scale enterprises in the United States account for nearly half of the gross domestic product. Small-scale enterprises help stimulate local economies by providing local individuals with jobs, as well as products and services to community members. Moreover, such enterprises help diversify and grow their respective industries, as many women and minorities make significant contributions to the small-business world. When there is a rise in small-scale enterprises, countries may see reforms in basic rights. For example, some U.S. states now allow sole proprietors without employees to have access to group health care. In times of recession, however, the SBA states that small-scale enterprises can account for a large number of employee layoffs.
Types of Small-Scale Enterprises
Small-scale enterprises exist in almost every industry. They can range from mom-and-pop convenience stores to small manufacturing plants.
Additional types of small-scale enterprises can include privately owned restaurants, law firms, inns, bakeries, architectural and engineering firms, dry cleaners and construction contractors.
The Small Business Administration (SBA) sets the size standards by industry for what it considers a small-scale business. In general, these standards reflect a business's number of employees as well as the average annual receipts. In the mining and manufacturing industries, companies with 500 employees or less are considered small scale. In non-mining and manufacturing industries, the SBA defines businesses with $7 million or less in annual receipts as small scale.
Construction, Manufacturing, Mining
In mining, all businesses except those in mining services are small if they have 500 employees or less. In manufacturing, close to 75 percent of businesses are considered small if they have 500 employees or less. Some manufacturing businesses can have up to 1,500 employees. In construction, businesses have 500 or fewer employees but the average annual receipts vary. The SBA says contractor businesses in the general and heavy construction areas are small if they have average receipts of $33.5 million or less. Contractor businesses in special trade are allowed $14 million or less, those in the land subdivision area get up to $7 million, and those in the dredging business can have annual receipts of up to $20 million.
Retail Trade and Service Industries
Many businesses in the retail trade and service industries are defined as small if they average $7 million in receipts or less. Some exceptions in retail trade businesses include grocery stores, department stores, car dealers and businesses selling electronics. Businesses in these industries can have up to $35.5 million in average annual receipts. The SBA makes exception in the service industries for businesses in computer programming, data processing and systems design. They are allowed up to $25 million in annual receipts. There are other service business exceptions, including engineering companies but they are all capped at $35.5 million in receipts.
Wholesale Trade and Other Industries
When it comes to wholesale trade businesses the SBA defines small-scale businesses as those with 100 employees or less. Many of these companies deal with products from small domestic manufacturers. Other industries that have small-scale businesses include agriculture, transportation, communications, utilities, sanitation, real estate, finance and insurance. These industries vary so much in structure that the SBA determines their size standards on a case-by-case basis.
Considerations
The SBA sets size standards based on mandates from the Small Business Act. The main reason for this is to create fair competition between businesses bidding for federal government contracts. The Small Business Act defines a small business as one that is independently owned and operated and is not dominant in its field. No small-scale businesses are government contractors but many make a majority of their revenue selling to the federal government.
Soap and Detergent:
Though this industry is very competitive, this production business idea a profitable one.
What you need is creativity to distinguish your product from the crowd.
If you have a way to make your product unique in the market, people will always patronize you.
The two products are daily need products and they are in high demand.
You can never fail in this business if you know what you are doing.
It is very important to get the best hands to work for you and use the right formula and equipment for your production, so as to get quality product.
Remember, there are so many soap and detergent industries out there, people will patronize good product only.
Drinking Water Production:
Drinking water made the list of viable and evergreen manufacturing business ideas because it is an indispensable thing in life.
There is a general belief that you cannot do water business and fail.
Yes, I agree with this belief because it has been proven and tested and found to be true by many entrepreneurs.
One cannot fail in this business if you know the right things to do and how to do them.
Drinking water production can be in different categories such as sachet, bottled or even gallons.
The most important thing in this business is the source of water and the purification method you employ.
You must ensure you have a good source of water and employ the best technique to purify the water.
If people discover that the source of your water is bad or you are using an outdated or bad method of purification you will lose customer and your business will be in problem.
The market of water business is ever ready and you will enjoy the market as far as you produce quality product.
Animal Feeds Manufacturing:
Although anybody can do this business but it is best for agriculture expert who have enough experience in animal feeds.
If a non-agriculture expert wants to venture into this business he must involve the hands of an expert so that things will be done in the right way.
The demand for animal feeds is on the increase every day as people are venturing into livestock farming to keep up with the increase in the world population.
With the rate at which the world population is growing now, the only way out of food crisis is to embrace agriculture and that is what is already happening.
This has positioned animal feed production business in the fore front among the evergreen and viable manufacturing business ideas.
The market is there, so you don’t have problem with that.
As for other business what you need to succeed is quality product, because farmers are ready to spend on quality product that will give good returns on investment.
Book Manufacturing:
This is another evergreen and viable manufacturing business idea because book is a daily need product.
like water, animal feeds, soap and detergent, book is very important and is used by all categories of people.
Book is used by students in schools and colleges to write note, it is used in the offices to take record, it is used at home, it is used in the church, in fact it is used everywhere.
This simply means that there is ready made market for this product. You can specialize in the production of exercise books or high education books or special record taking books or venture into the production of all categories of books depending on the start up capital that you have.
You must ensure you produce quality product always and be creative especially with the graphics on the cover of your books because this attract people most, especially young students.
Chemical Manufacturing Business idea:
There are some chemicals which are in high demand both in schools and industries.
Examples of such chemicals are ethanol, ethylene, caustic soda etc. Most of these chemicals are easy to produce and require relatively low capital to set up.
This business is very lucrative because the production cost of most of this chemicals especially ethanol is very low compare to the cost at which the product will be sold.
This manufacturing business idea is virgin because many entrepreneurs have not discovered the rich business potential of this sector.
The market is ever ready because people need these chemicals on a daily basis for manufacturing of different products.
Biogas Production:
This is the one of the latest viable, evergreen and lucrative manufacturing business ideas.
This manufacturing business is not only profitable but is in total support of the world environmental protection effort.
The best way to produce gas is through waste product because everything is natural and it will not pose any environmental pollution unlike the gas production from crude oil.
It has also solved the problem of waste disposal because almost all the waste products can now be used to produce biogas while the remains after production can still be used as fertilizer on our farms.
This business is easy and cheap to set up. All you need is the equipment and waste products.
The market is also ready because the gas generated can be used to generate electricity, cook at homes, used in industries etc.
This business is evergreen and there is no fear of being out of business.
Yoghurt Production:
Yoghurt manufacturing business idea is a profitable and viable business that can be started with low capital.
The business can be started from home and you will be having good returns on investment immediately you start production, this is because it is also one of the products that are in high demand by people.
The equipment and the raw materials are the things you need to get started with this production business and they can be gotten with some money. Another thing you will need in this business is distributing van to distribute the products to your customers.
Bag design and Manufacturing:
Hand bag design and manufacturing find its way into the list of viable and evergreen manufacturing business ideas because of high demand of this product by almost everybody.
There are different types of bags but the one that caught my attention most is ladies hand bags.
Ladies cannot go without hand bags, it has become their habit and they can spend any amount of money on quality and well designed bags.
This has made this business a lucrative one and it is a promising manufacturing business idea for entrepreneurs that are creative. What you need for this business is a modern sewing machine and your ideas.
When I say your ideas I mean you must be creative to come up with designs that will be unique and stand out in the market because that is what people are interested in.
Don’t forget to use quality materials to get quality product because no matter how good your design is, if you compromise on good quality product, customer will flee away from your product.
You can sell the bags to wholesalers or retailers or sell to consumers directly depending on the volume of production.
You can also sell them online by displaying them on your website, social media networks or eCommerce website like eBay, amazon etc.
Shoe Design and Manufacturing:
This business is just like bag design and manufacturing business. Everybody wants to use top class design and quality shoes. This simply means the market is ever ready to accommodate the product at any time.
To be successful in this business, one must be creative and come up with latest design that cannot be found elsewhere. This evergreen manufacturing business idea can be started from home and even with low capital.
Ready Made clothes manufacturing: People now prefer to buy ready made clothes than to buy clothes and give to a designer to sew.
This is because people find it easy to buy from a shop without undergoing the stress of going to anybody to sew for them.
They also get very quality, well designed product at the same or even cheaper price than a badly designed clothes that one designer will sew for them.
These clothes are sewed with modern sewing machine and good technology. The business is lucrative and requires relatively low capital to set up.
You don’t necessarily need to be a designer before you can do this business, if you have the capital, you can set it up and get the best hands to work for you.
You can market you products in different ways such as advertisement, posters and handbills, displaying the product online especially on social networks and eCommerce sites etc.
You will need to get an apartment to display you products and where people can meet you to buy. It is not advisable to sell at the same place where you are producing, get a separate apartment.
Notably, foreign investors require a minimum of US$100,000 in planned investment in order to secure an investment license from the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), whereas for local investors, the minimum planned investment requirement is US$50,000. Local investors, however, may proceed with their investment without licensing with the UIA.
Investment opportunities worth staking your money in:
1. Commercial agriculture
The World population stands at over 7 billion people while Uganda’s population, growing at a rate of 3.2% is over 40m people. Urban population globally is also growing. This presents an opportunity for a bigger market and as the East African Community takes centre stage, any potential investor shouldn’t over look the agricultural sector. There are numerous investment opportunities in livestock production, crop production and the whole agricultural chain. Notably, Uganda not only has fertile soils but also favorable climate compared to her counterparts in the region. A recent World Bank report says Uganda’s comparative advantage is in agriculture and education. The research says Uganda is only exploiting 2% of her entire agricultural potential. This explains why foreign investors are opening up vast farmlands in various parts of Uganda. Commercial farming means using irrigation system, improved seeds and inputs as well as mechanization.
2. Information Communication Technology (ICT)
According to UIA, Uganda’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is one of the most vibrant within the region, as good legal and regulatory frameworks exist. The newly developed and highly qualitative ICT infrastructure is also ready to accommodate more future investments. Opportunities in ICT include establishment of information and communication infrastructure and broadband services, business process outsourcing services, computer and related equipment hardware assembly, high level ICT training facilities on international standards, ICT business services incubation, hardware repair training facilities, software development niches, setting up information technology virtual zones (ITVZ), and setting up Internet service provider facilities in other parts of Uganda. With the information age, any investment in ICT will definitely be worth it.
3. Early childhood education and technical institutions
It is a public secret that Uganda is the region’s education hub, explaining why students from Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania flock Ugandan Universities, Colleges and Secondary schools for better quality education. In 2012, the education sector attracted over US$ 50 million (about Ushs125bn) from foreign students alone. However, given the many universities and secondary schools, real investment opportunities do exist in early childhood education and technical institutions. Corporate and middle income earners are for the best day care centers as well as quality primary education. This is because they understand that children develop rapidly during their early years and the experiences they go through have implications for their (children’s) well being, school readiness and later success in life.
Therefore, an investment in a day care centre and primary school with enough facilities is worth it. Also, any potential investor should look at technical education. This is because technical students are job makers compared to their counterparts who go to universities only to graduate seeking for white collar jobs. Positively, Ugandans are beginning to embrace technical education and the recent introduction of “Skilling Uganda” by the government is a testimony that investment in technical education is not only worth but will reduce youth unemployment significantly. Currently, youth unemployment stands at 62%.
4. Real Estate
“I have a feeling that large scale housing projects for the low to middle income workers require a large boost of investments compared to what we can generate locally,” “The future is of efficient cities” it is important to build a city with modern infrastructure/buildings for the middle and low income earners. Thus, investing in housing and real estate in Uganda is another lucrative investment that investors should consider seriously. You can decide to invest into construction of low cost housing in urban and semi urban areas. Or you can invest in provision of construction equipment and manufacturing of building materials.
5. Tourism and Hospitality
A World Bank report indicates that Uganda’s tourism earnings in 2012 hit over US$1 billion, significantly up from 2011 when estimates put tourism income to over US$800 million. Importantly, Uganda’s tourism has recorded steady growth over the last ten years. Indeed various reports point to Uganda as one of the top tourism destinations not only in Africa but the world at large. This presents investment opportunities in tourism and hospitality. According to Uganda Wildlife Authority, there are opportunities for development of new eco-tourism products and services, within and outside the national parks, by the private sector or through public private partnerships.
These include but not limited to luxury tented camps and cottages, House Boats, Cruise Launches on the Nile and Sport fishing on the Lakes Victoria, Albert, Edward and George, Walking Safaris in the wilderness areas and the volcanic craters, Canopy Walkways in tropical forests and sky trams, Mountaineering packages for Rwenzori, Elgon and Mgahinga Mountains, Nature walks, game farming, game ranching and sport hunting on private property (private wildlife reserves) and Internal air transport services to the national parks and other domestic touristic hubs. To sum it up, we need young smart people to package tourism products; invest in islands, parks, Martyrs (Uganda Martyrs) many people go to visit Mecca and pay, so we can also package our martyrs and reap from them.”
6. Manufacturing and Food Processing Industries
According to UIA, Uganda’s manufacturing output has also been expanding by more than 10% annually over the last eight years. Opportunities exist in virtually all areas, ranging from beverages, leather; tobacco based processing, paper, textiles and garments, pharmaceuticals, fabrication, ceramics, glass, fertilizers, plastic/PVC, assembly of electronic goods, hi-tech and medical products. Importantly, once the agricultural sector is developed and embraced by more Ugandans on a commercial level, more agro based industries will be set up. This will greatly reduce Uganda’s expenditure abroad as value will have been added to the produce previously imported in raw form. This will also create more employment opportunities.
7. Forestry
Forestry also is ripe for investment. With over 4.9 million hectares of rich forest vegetation, Uganda possesses abundant potential in areas like timber processing for export, manufacture of high quality furniture/wood products and various packaging materials. There are also opportunities in afforestation and reforestation, especially of medicinal trees and plants, and soft wood plantations for timber, pulp and poles. Globally, carbon trading is increasingly becoming an investment avenue aimed at reducing emissions and slowing climate change. This system involves growing forests on a large scale for the purpose of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the investor is paid handsomely.
8. Fish Farming
Like forestry, fisheries deserve a mention independent of agriculture. This is because it is the second highest foreign exchange earner for Uganda, with export revenues amounting to an estimated US$1160 million from only 20,562 tons of fish export in 2012. Notably, fish production is low in Uganda because subsistence fish farming dominates. Large fresh water expanses are home to a wide variety of fish products and investment opportunities are available for fish farming and the establishment of more fish processing factories on lakes other than Lake Victoria.
9. Bonds and Equities
There are a lot of investment opportunities in Uganda’s capital markets. Investing in stocks not only presents an opportunity to have ownership in a company but also get good returns. Many corporate and businessmen across the world invest heavily in bonds, equities and other asset classes. A potential investor can get more financial and investment advice about the stocks market from investment advisors like African Alliance Uganda as well as stock brokers.
10. Information Marketing: This is one of the hottest and easiest online business now, it’s all about looking around you, identifying the problems people have, then you set to work to try to get the solution for them, let’s take Unemployment for example, sure you know a lot of people are looking for jobs. So therefore these unemployed people will appreciate anything that will increase their chances of getting a job.
You can now go online and make research on how to easily get a job, how to prepare for interview, how to dress for the interview and how to write a compelling CV, after gathering all these information, you compile them into an article, guide or eBook and call it “Get That Job Of Your Dreams” or any other catchy title that will attract your audience, so that is your information product you can now create a sales letter which you will distribute to subscribers and sell your information product to them.
You can create information products on various niches like, weight loss, Making Money, Traveling etc just identify a need and get to work on it.
Information products can be in the form of eBook, Video, and Audio
Our Country is currently riddled with problems and the government is currently battling to tackle these problems. I am talking about challenges such as security, infrastructural decay, unemployment, power failure, corruption, fall in education standard, accommodation, etc. The average minds believe these problems can never be resolved and if it is to be resolved, it should be done by the government. However, people with entrepreneurial mindset know that these problems are opportunities; and only those who act will turn these opportunities into profitable businesses. In all honesty and humility, I want you to know that I am currently profiting from the security situation in the country by providing a solution to a specific security challenge. The eye of most entrepreneurs and investors doing business in the Country is usually on big Cities. However, tremendous opportunities are laying waste in other small cities.You see, in this day and age, anyone can be his or her own boss. All you need to discover is what your particular gift is. For example, are you very comfortable working around computers? Do you keep up with the latest software and hardware information, which seems to be changing almost daily? And are you able to take that knowledge you have gained and turn it into a resource that someone would be willing to pay money for? Then you would have no trouble as an entrepreneur and master of your destiny.
11. Wedding planner: If you’re one of those people who can’t help but flip through bridal magazines and think about various wedding arrangements in your daydreams, wedding planning might be the perfect thing for you. A great way to get started is to develop a website on the topic, get to know people online, and offer your services throughout the community.
- Isaiah.46:8 (show yourselves men – Mwelage ng’ Abasajja), 2Timothy.1:1-2
- As a Man I should have a Successor.
- Men do not fear. Men should develop boldness. God has not given us the spirit of fear
- Men are entitled to fight poverty.
- Men do not sleep like Women.
- Being a Man is to be creative, have Wisdom.
- Owa manyi atekwa okweraga nga Mulamu ne nga Afudde.
- A man is supposed to be Strong by character.
- God makes Loving men. Who love their Job, what they do, love their Family.
- A man is supposed to love what his wife & children loves. And God Loves.
- Omukazi bwakusinza sente Mutandika Okuwa ebiragiro ebyenkana. Omusajja Otekwa okuba ne Account ensava.
- God created a man with sound mind. Oyiyiza family yo. Planner, organizer a man of all seasons. Okozesa obwongo bwo okumanya ensi bwetambula.
- Omusajja Owamagezi Amanyi ge agasena wa Mukama.
- Omusajja Owa Magezi Alunda ensolo, Agula ettaka. Era atereka sente ze mubifuna.
- Okuzaala abangi sikuzala Magezi; zaala bosobola okulabirira.
- Ng’okyalina amanyi Save now. I have to save 10% of my income, 10% for God & 20% Akiba ya Muswahiri; 60% zezokozesa ne family yo n’ebirala.
- Some things Millionaires Know but don’t tell Anybody:-
- You can never be a Millionaire until you take a decision to become one; it takes a decision to become rich. It’s a hard Job, to become a millionaire it is an exclusive decision. Executive decision. You’ve got to take that decision not become poor.
- Millionaires know that for you to become Millionaire, you must take responsibility of your money. How much you’re going to keep & how much you are going to spend, to save for future use.
- You can not be a millionaire without the practice or the discipline of Saving. When hard times come
- They know that Prov.23:5 is real (Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven) never allow your money to grow wings.
- Millionaires never do things to show off. If you’re going to be anything in this world stop doing things for show off. They know spending is not happiness. Women who are married to millionaires need to be taught how to live in a millionaire’s home. They have to be taught the same mentality that we have. They don’t do things out of budget. Women buy thing on impulse.
- Millionaires know the source of their Income, so they protect their nest. Eliminate flies from your Mudala. Protect your Business; you can’t play games with your Job. It is not how much you get.
- Millionaires know there things which you cannot get from a shop, stores or anywhere:- (i) Blessing, (ii) Favor, (iii) Grace (iv) Acceptability (v) Opportunity (vi) An Open door. Real millionaires know there is more than hard work. Some who are clever or smart enough have found a scripture saying “The Blessing of the Lord makes rich and God adds no trouble/ sorrow to it. Most millionaires also give. The principle is Money attracts Money. When money leaves your hands it will attract money. The scripture says “Never be anxious of anything, but with every need, in prayer and supplications, and thanks giving let your needs be know unto God. Learn to pray for your business.
- If you don’t Plan to succeed, you have Planned to fail.
- Business Opportunity Identification
- Opportunity Etera Kulabikira Mubuzibu.
- Amazima Galeta Opportunity.
- Olina Okulaba Ebizibu Abantu bye Balibamu Olusi kwosinziira Okuzula Opportunity. Nonya kizibu ki abantu kyebalina Ononye Solution.
- Tolina Kulemera Mukintu Kitalina gye kikutwala, Zuula
- Miss allocation of resources. (Obulunzi, Obulimi, Olusuku oba Ente bisinga emotoka oba Bodaboda).
- Tubeere bayiya (Okulowoza – Omuntu kyalowoza ekyo Kyali). Buli Kiseera Okulowoza ebikutwala Maaso. Okwerekereza Otulo. Strategic Thinking, Set Goals; Ntuka ntya Wali, Nva ntya Mukizibu Kino, Njakukola Kino, Berako Kyokolerera.
- Obutekiririzamu (Obugaga Obutakwerabiza Katonda). Obutesasira, Tuve Mukugayala. Tukope, Tukyuse embeera, Tukyuse Emirimu. Kyusa Mangu Leero Endowozayo, Tandika okulaba ekisingako.
- Beera Nebirowozo obiteke Munkola. Teri Kintu kyonna kyogenda Kukola nga Totandise. Omukisa gwo Ogutadewa, Lwaki Werimitinga.
- Tuve Mukutya, Fearing Risks, Teriyo kintu kyangu kirimu makulu, okutya Okulya ebanja. Bwolya ebbanja otekwa okuba ne Cash flow, ate bwewewola oba bwokola plan tokyusa kyusa.
- Continuity, Abaana basembeze Mumirimu, balage bwokola sente, balage amabanja golina.
- Networking – okukolagana na bantu, okunyumya Naddala ebikwatagana ne Business.
- Okulunda Ente, Embuzi, Okusimba Emiti.
- Kola bulungi omulimu gwo gwokola.
- Unity in Marriage – Okwesigangana N’okutwala Amagezi omwagalwa wo gaba akuwadde.
- Omusajja ne Katonda we (a man should take God as number one).
- Omusajja n’ Amaka ge. Your Home/Family as a Man should be Stable. Take responsibility, Educating the Children.
- Omusajja n’emirimugye, Omusajja otekedwa okubako kyokola.
- Tutunulire Amaka ne Family.
- Ekigendererwa bwekitategerekeka enkozesa embi teyewalika.
- Sente za bank tezikola party, teziwasa mbaga era tezigula Motoka.
- Revamping Missed Opportunities.
- Success Kyeki? Obuwanguzi, Okuyitamu kyeki?
- Obugaga Mpisa. Empisa ng’okukuma Obudde ne Sente, You have to be prepared.
- Empisa ezokukubisamu mu sente.
- Good networking with good people Mungeri ereta enkulakulana. Tokola mikwano kujijamu bujja.
- Strategic Thinking. Okukola ng’obaza. Tomala gasasanya sente nga tomaze kubaza. Obugaga mpisa nga n’obwavu nabwo bweziba empisa.
- Abavu tebakuma budde. Tebalina discipline ya sente.
- Abavu tebamanyi kukuma mikwano.
- Okukola emikwano emilungi ng’ogikuuma. Toginyunyunta
- Emikisa gikuyitako gyitya?
- The inability to recoginise an opportunity. Obutaba nabusobozi kulaba mukisa gwa nkulakulana.
- Obutetegekera Mikisa gyo nga gizze.
- Okutya Nobutaba Nakukiriza nti Omukisa ojja kugusobola. Kino kibaawo eri abo abatetegese.
- Always be in God’s Presence: Laba nti saawa binna obeera mu presence ya Katonda. Mubiseera byo ebirungi, ebyenaku byonna, you need God’s presence. Even in business, Katonda Yasinga okumanya business. We are partners with God. You have to pray your part, and God does his part. Olwa Magezi ga Katonda Oja Kulaba abalala bye Batalaba, olwo omwoyo Omutukuvu ali nawe.
- Weteke Mu mbeera nti saawa biina amatugo ganonyereza amawulire agakwataga n’omukisa gwe nkulakulana. Okola kino kiyinza okukwetagisa okukyusa ebifo byobeeramu ennyo. Abaana ba Katonda ebiseera Tubimala Mungaambo.
- An Opportunity is Simply a Problem waiting to be solved. Olusi kuba kunonya ekigonjolo ekipya ekitabangawo, olusi kwekulungiya oba okusitula Mutindo gw’ekigonjolo ekiriwo. It could be brand new solution that never be invented before or an improvement over an existing solution. Tweteke mumbeera enonyereza wa awali ekizibu, ekizibu ekyo kisalire plan, plan eyo gwe mukisa ogugenda okukulakulanya. Mukama bwa kulaga ekizibu aba akulaze nusu, aba akugambye nti gonjola ekintu ekyo ebintu oba obulamu butambule.
- Keep yo antennas out: Weteke mu mbeera nti amatu go nendowozayo enonyereza wa awali ebizibu byoyinza okugonjoola. Gwe mukisa gwolina okugonjola.
- Wetekemu empisa z’obugaga: Tulekerawo okwonona Obudde, Tulekerawo obutewa mukisa kuyiga, Kwana Kubayina byebakoze, tobanyunyuta, weweyo okubakolera kubwerere amagezi gobajamu gali worthy sente nyingi okusinga zebalina okusasula.
- Gulawo Company eyiyo, Buli kintu kyonna munsi zona ezikulakulana Kiyinza okutegekebwa bwoba ng’omanyi okunyumya na bantu (Anything and everything can be arranged if you know how to talk to people).
- Be independent enough okukola omwoyo kyaba akugambye.
- Sente sinzibu kufuna bwoba ng’olina ebirowozo ebirungi.
- Building Business Network in the Church:
- God called us to be Leaders. We have to be witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Oli Mwesimbu oja, Kukola Business.
- Who is a Business Person? Ye Muntu alina kyakola – A Person with a regular Operation and Trade.
- Straight Forward (Ebibyo Birambulukufu) ebintu byaffe nga Tubikolera Mumusana. – Obutabanabwenkanya – Okulimba – Obulyazamanyi.
- Overcoming Fear of sharing and making your Faith available.
- Basic Tools of witnessing being a Christian Business Person in the Church.
- The key aim is not to please the people but to please God. Business nga enetambula Osaba Mukama. Seek the guidance of God.
- Oli Mwesimbu Mukutambula kwo, Oli mulambulukufu. Ebiseera ebisinga Yesu tatusingana nga Tulina.
- We have to walk by Faith, Mukama Twagala Kukola Kino.
- We need fellowships where somebody can talk to us in our lives. Bwoba oyagala business yo ekulakulane soka otereze enyumba ey’ omwoyo. We have to testify Jesus in our businesses.
- Avoid Temptations and run away from evil. Tukemebwa nga Twagala Tukole Amagoba amangi. Tubeere ba Business men Abesimbu.
- Bwetuba nokwagala eri emirimu gyaffe nabakozi baffe tuja kuba ba businessmen balungi.
- Accountable to all you actions. Obeere nga Omanyi embalirira y’ebitabo byo, obeere muwandiisi wabitabo ng’omanyi zoyingiziza ne zofulumiziza. Bank all yo sales intact. Wewale okuba nga tolina sente munsawo. Sente yona etundidwa gibankinge mu bank. Osooka ku saving oba Kubankinga nga Tonaba Kutandiika Kusasanya sente zo.
- Men are poor managers of money.
- Be Honest. Obwesimbu ye degree yaffe enene ennyo Ffe abalokole.
- A man is a bread winner at home.
- Prove yourself as Man, show yourself, be strong, be brave, be courageous.
- Business gwe Mulimu oguvaamu sente, omulimu oguvaamu amagoba.
- Deuteronomy 26:12, Malachi 3:10, James 1:27; Tutekwa Okuwayo Ekimu Ekyekumi. Isaiah 61:1 - The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; We have to Develop from one level to another. Exodus.35:20-26, Genesis 4:20-22, Ephesians 4:28 Tulina Okuba abesimbu. God has never depended on lazy people. Wezamu weka amanyi. Genesis 13:2 (And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold) & Gen.18:19, Gen.26; Job.1:1-3; Job.29:12-25; 1King.19:19-21; Isaiah.48:17. Am the Lord who teaches you how to prosper. Matthew.13:55; Acts.20:33
- Topalapalanya, Tolimbalimba. Ng’okolagana Bulungi ne bano.
- Respect others.
- Planning (Otekwa Okutegeka – When, How, Where) Be Creative.
- Financial management.
- Diligence, commitment or hardworking.
- Wewale Okwejalabya.
- Out Sourcing and Managing Finances.
- Tekitwetagisa Kulowoza Ku nsimbi zoka (Capital).
- Kola research ku kyoyagala okukolera ddala, Tokopa bukopi byabalala nga bwebabikola, olina Okunonyereza nomanya bwebabikola.
- Obwetavu Butonda Omulimu. Emirimu mingi naye we don’t Identify.
- Kola business Plan (Wandika Omuwendo, Bigula bitya, Bitunda bitya, bituka bitya mu katale, baki ababigula, wa wogenda Okukolera Omulimu guno).
- Tewegerageranya na bantu abakusinga ennyo.
- Abantu bogenda Okukoleramu emirimu balina mpisa ki, mulimu Abempalana, Abatayagaliza, abalemesa, Abamalamu amanyi, Zuula byebatakola Bulungi Mumirimu gyabwe. Bakete nga Bwononyereza.
- Oli wa Mazima.
- Totandika Mulimu Na Sente nyingi nnyo, Soka Oguyige. Tandika omulimu ne sente zona zolina. Tandika Omulimu n’omuntu gw’ogenda okusasula obusasuzi.
- Okusa munkola, ng’okola entekateka. Tuyige obugumikiriza, teri kintu kitandika mulundi gumu.
- Mission and Objectives.
- Financial Management (Okuyiga Okufuga Ensimbi). Okuyiga Enyingiza nensasanya Ya Sente, Business ne Bweba ntono, Okukola Stock Taking Buli Kiseera. Ziruwa Zosavinga, Ziruwa Zoyongera Mu Stock. Okufisa nosiga. Tuyige Okusasira.
- Jokoma Okubeera n’emikwano emikyamu gyokoma okufuna ebizibu.
- Funna Emikwano gyeweyabizaamu.
- Jeirah=Provision. Tosobola Kuwangula Bwavu Okujjako ng’osazewo.
- Your Heart, Olunaku Lwolokoka Katonda atandikirawo Okukuwa Omukisa. God looks at the Heart, Buli kyoyayanira Munsi Kitandikira Mumutima. In Business the Truth is Parallel.
- Deuteronomy 28:1-14 & Hebrews 11: (By Faith – Bwonogondera Ekigambo Kya Katonda no Kikola Toja Kusigala Kyekimu.
- Deuteronomy 8:1-20 Bwoba nga Onokola Ekintu Olina Okukola Endagano ne Mukama. Bwoba nga Otambulira mukwagala kwa Katonda, alina Plan yo. We are partner with God; we can not do it all alone without Him.
- Bwoba ng’oyagala Okukola Sente, ebyabanandaba batya biteke Kubali.
- Bagging is not a Solution.
- God’s Plan is to Trust you, Ye Katonda akwesiga Nakuwa sente.
- Building a Business from the Scratch nefuuka House Hold Name.
- House Hold Name; Business yo Netunda nekwatta Wonna nga Buli Omu nga Ayayanira Byokola.
- Growing with your Business.
- Strength/Bold - Amaanyi go gavawa, gava eri Mukama. You a chain of Prayer
- Weakness – Tolina Kutya (Omukisa gwa Katonda gukusanga Wonna Mukibuga oba Mukyalo – Akutunulira Oplaninga otya, Plan zo Ye Katonda Zajuririza).
- Obwesiga. Oli mwesigwa Mwebyo Byokola, Oli Mwesigwa eri Mukama. Bwoba nga onogagawala, soka opulaninge engeri gyonofunamu sente. Waliwo byofuna olwobwesigwa, notasibwa Amabanja ga Bank. Weyigirize Empisa Ezoku Savinga.
- Time – no what you want to do. Make a plan of what you want to do.
- Be Diligent in whatever you are doing – Beera Mwesimbu.
- Be Consistent – Nyweza ekyo Kyolina.
- Be Trust Worthy – Market yourself, and be Smart.
Goal, Plan, Product and Skill.
- How can I Save and Invest Money:
- Togezako okwegaya no mulundi nogumu;
- What is the Bank? Keeping Money & Helping People to get Money; Plus giving People Financial Advisory Service.
- Beera ne Plan Yebyo ebintu Byoyagala Okukola, Make it a Written Plan. If you don’t write it, it becomes a wish. Tokoma Mukubirowozako Bulowoza, Twala Obudde Owandike byoyagala Okukola. Bwomala Okuwandiika Ojakulaba Ng’olina Obwetavu Bwa Sente, awono ngotandika Okukunganya Sente.
- How can I Save and Invest Money:
- The main Problem we have is ourselves. We do not make decisions; we have to start saving right now. An Account in the Bank is a Security for my Life.
- We have to discipline ourselves – The discipline of Saving, you have to forget other Troubles. We have to Change our Attitude.
- I have to pay myself, monitoring how power, water has been utilized. Get other alternatives for Electricity & Water – Like Solar & Harvesting water from Rain + Swamps. Monitor food we use at home.
- We must attend to our needs first. We’ve to take care of our spending. Put it on paper; make a List of your expenses. Know what you desire & Want.
- Reduce the number of dependants at Home. Another problem we try to be friend to everybody.
- A Loan is good when you use it wisely.
- We need to avoid short cuts.
- What is Invest? Is the use of Money with a hope of making more. When do we Invest, How do we Invest.
- James 1:5 & Philippians 4:13 (ask God to give you Wisdom and Strength).
- We have to make Connections. We need to have good relationship, Permanent Friends.
- Deuteronomy 8:18 (we need to have Power; God gives us power to get rich). We have the brain.
- We need to start small. Big things can break you.
- We should not fear (2Tim.1:7) God did not create us with the spirit of fear.
- Do not speak to everybody about your dreams.
- Obwesigwa (Bazimba Buzimbe Mu Bantu).
- Omusajja odda Mukifo kyo ngoliko kyokola. Omulimu gwokola gwonna.
- Otekwa okwegatta ne business yo nefuuka kitundu ku bulamu bwo. Omulimu gwo guwe time. Ebiseera byo obimala muki.
- Ngatonaba kwetekateka teri agenda kuwa bintu bye.
- Waliwo ebintu byokola nga tonatuka woyagala. Abantu nebakulaba nebakwesiga.
- Otekwa okulaba ng’omulimu gwo gugenda mu maaso.
- Okukola ennyo kwekukola ebintu nga bwotekedwa okubikola. That’s being smart, creative.
- Obedience bakola kikole.
- Olina Okukola Self Evaluation. Fa kumuddaala gwo. Be creative, Beera Mwesigwa eri Obulamu bwo. Buli gwolaba Owa Maanyi alina Challenges enene oba eza Maanyi Zeyayitamu. Challenges Katonda Zakozesa Okukuba Okukujamu Okutya. Faith without Action is dead. Bako n’Omuntu akuwabula.
- All valuable Things are hiden in hard Rocks. Obako Omuwendo gwosasula.
- Kola ng’otereka, nezikokolima nazo Gali Magi. Involve God in Your Business, Seek God’s guidance & Direction, Help the Poor and Needy.
You don’t necessarily need to be a designer before you can do this business, if you have the capital, you can set it up and get the best hands to work for you.
You can market you products in different ways such as advertisement, posters and handbills, displaying the product online especially on social networks and eCommerce sites etc.
You will need to get an apartment to display you products and where people can meet you to buy. It is not advisable to sell at the same place where you are producing, get a separate apartment.
Notably, foreign investors require a minimum of US$100,000 in planned investment in order to secure an investment license from the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), whereas for local investors, the minimum planned investment requirement is US$50,000. Local investors, however, may proceed with their investment without licensing with the UIA.
Investment opportunities worth staking your money in:
1. Commercial agriculture
The World population stands at over 7 billion people while Uganda’s population, growing at a rate of 3.2% is over 40m people. Urban population globally is also growing. This presents an opportunity for a bigger market and as the East African Community takes centre stage, any potential investor shouldn’t over look the agricultural sector. There are numerous investment opportunities in livestock production, crop production and the whole agricultural chain. Notably, Uganda not only has fertile soils but also favorable climate compared to her counterparts in the region. A recent World Bank report says Uganda’s comparative advantage is in agriculture and education. The research says Uganda is only exploiting 2% of her entire agricultural potential. This explains why foreign investors are opening up vast farmlands in various parts of Uganda. Commercial farming means using irrigation system, improved seeds and inputs as well as mechanization.
2. Information Communication Technology (ICT)
According to UIA, Uganda’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is one of the most vibrant within the region, as good legal and regulatory frameworks exist. The newly developed and highly qualitative ICT infrastructure is also ready to accommodate more future investments. Opportunities in ICT include establishment of information and communication infrastructure and broadband services, business process outsourcing services, computer and related equipment hardware assembly, high level ICT training facilities on international standards, ICT business services incubation, hardware repair training facilities, software development niches, setting up information technology virtual zones (ITVZ), and setting up Internet service provider facilities in other parts of Uganda. With the information age, any investment in ICT will definitely be worth it.
3. Early childhood education and technical institutions
It is a public secret that Uganda is the region’s education hub, explaining why students from Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania flock Ugandan Universities, Colleges and Secondary schools for better quality education. In 2012, the education sector attracted over US$ 50 million (about Ushs125bn) from foreign students alone. However, given the many universities and secondary schools, real investment opportunities do exist in early childhood education and technical institutions. Corporate and middle income earners are for the best day care centers as well as quality primary education. This is because they understand that children develop rapidly during their early years and the experiences they go through have implications for their (children’s) well being, school readiness and later success in life.
Therefore, an investment in a day care centre and primary school with enough facilities is worth it. Also, any potential investor should look at technical education. This is because technical students are job makers compared to their counterparts who go to universities only to graduate seeking for white collar jobs. Positively, Ugandans are beginning to embrace technical education and the recent introduction of “Skilling Uganda” by the government is a testimony that investment in technical education is not only worth but will reduce youth unemployment significantly. Currently, youth unemployment stands at 62%.
4. Real Estate
“I have a feeling that large scale housing projects for the low to middle income workers require a large boost of investments compared to what we can generate locally,” “The future is of efficient cities” it is important to build a city with modern infrastructure/buildings for the middle and low income earners. Thus, investing in housing and real estate in Uganda is another lucrative investment that investors should consider seriously. You can decide to invest into construction of low cost housing in urban and semi urban areas. Or you can invest in provision of construction equipment and manufacturing of building materials.
5. Tourism and Hospitality
A World Bank report indicates that Uganda’s tourism earnings in 2012 hit over US$1 billion, significantly up from 2011 when estimates put tourism income to over US$800 million. Importantly, Uganda’s tourism has recorded steady growth over the last ten years. Indeed various reports point to Uganda as one of the top tourism destinations not only in Africa but the world at large. This presents investment opportunities in tourism and hospitality. According to Uganda Wildlife Authority, there are opportunities for development of new eco-tourism products and services, within and outside the national parks, by the private sector or through public private partnerships.
These include but not limited to luxury tented camps and cottages, House Boats, Cruise Launches on the Nile and Sport fishing on the Lakes Victoria, Albert, Edward and George, Walking Safaris in the wilderness areas and the volcanic craters, Canopy Walkways in tropical forests and sky trams, Mountaineering packages for Rwenzori, Elgon and Mgahinga Mountains, Nature walks, game farming, game ranching and sport hunting on private property (private wildlife reserves) and Internal air transport services to the national parks and other domestic touristic hubs. To sum it up, we need young smart people to package tourism products; invest in islands, parks, Martyrs (Uganda Martyrs) many people go to visit Mecca and pay, so we can also package our martyrs and reap from them.”
6. Manufacturing and Food Processing Industries
According to UIA, Uganda’s manufacturing output has also been expanding by more than 10% annually over the last eight years. Opportunities exist in virtually all areas, ranging from beverages, leather; tobacco based processing, paper, textiles and garments, pharmaceuticals, fabrication, ceramics, glass, fertilizers, plastic/PVC, assembly of electronic goods, hi-tech and medical products. Importantly, once the agricultural sector is developed and embraced by more Ugandans on a commercial level, more agro based industries will be set up. This will greatly reduce Uganda’s expenditure abroad as value will have been added to the produce previously imported in raw form. This will also create more employment opportunities.
7. Forestry
Forestry also is ripe for investment. With over 4.9 million hectares of rich forest vegetation, Uganda possesses abundant potential in areas like timber processing for export, manufacture of high quality furniture/wood products and various packaging materials. There are also opportunities in afforestation and reforestation, especially of medicinal trees and plants, and soft wood plantations for timber, pulp and poles. Globally, carbon trading is increasingly becoming an investment avenue aimed at reducing emissions and slowing climate change. This system involves growing forests on a large scale for the purpose of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the investor is paid handsomely.
8. Fish Farming
Like forestry, fisheries deserve a mention independent of agriculture. This is because it is the second highest foreign exchange earner for Uganda, with export revenues amounting to an estimated US$1160 million from only 20,562 tons of fish export in 2012. Notably, fish production is low in Uganda because subsistence fish farming dominates. Large fresh water expanses are home to a wide variety of fish products and investment opportunities are available for fish farming and the establishment of more fish processing factories on lakes other than Lake Victoria.
9. Bonds and Equities
There are a lot of investment opportunities in Uganda’s capital markets. Investing in stocks not only presents an opportunity to have ownership in a company but also get good returns. Many corporate and businessmen across the world invest heavily in bonds, equities and other asset classes. A potential investor can get more financial and investment advice about the stocks market from investment advisors like African Alliance Uganda as well as stock brokers.
10. Information Marketing: This is one of the hottest and easiest online business now, it’s all about looking around you, identifying the problems people have, then you set to work to try to get the solution for them, let’s take Unemployment for example, sure you know a lot of people are looking for jobs. So therefore these unemployed people will appreciate anything that will increase their chances of getting a job.
You can now go online and make research on how to easily get a job, how to prepare for interview, how to dress for the interview and how to write a compelling CV, after gathering all these information, you compile them into an article, guide or eBook and call it “Get That Job Of Your Dreams” or any other catchy title that will attract your audience, so that is your information product you can now create a sales letter which you will distribute to subscribers and sell your information product to them.
You can create information products on various niches like, weight loss, Making Money, Traveling etc just identify a need and get to work on it.
Information products can be in the form of eBook, Video, and Audio
Our Country is currently riddled with problems and the government is currently battling to tackle these problems. I am talking about challenges such as security, infrastructural decay, unemployment, power failure, corruption, fall in education standard, accommodation, etc. The average minds believe these problems can never be resolved and if it is to be resolved, it should be done by the government. However, people with entrepreneurial mindset know that these problems are opportunities; and only those who act will turn these opportunities into profitable businesses. In all honesty and humility, I want you to know that I am currently profiting from the security situation in the country by providing a solution to a specific security challenge. The eye of most entrepreneurs and investors doing business in the Country is usually on big Cities. However, tremendous opportunities are laying waste in other small cities.You see, in this day and age, anyone can be his or her own boss. All you need to discover is what your particular gift is. For example, are you very comfortable working around computers? Do you keep up with the latest software and hardware information, which seems to be changing almost daily? And are you able to take that knowledge you have gained and turn it into a resource that someone would be willing to pay money for? Then you would have no trouble as an entrepreneur and master of your destiny.
11. Wedding planner: If you’re one of those people who can’t help but flip through bridal magazines and think about various wedding arrangements in your daydreams, wedding planning might be the perfect thing for you. A great way to get started is to develop a website on the topic, get to know people online, and offer your services throughout the community.
- Isaiah.46:8 (show yourselves men – Mwelage ng’ Abasajja), 2Timothy.1:1-2
- As a Man I should have a Successor.
- Men do not fear. Men should develop boldness. God has not given us the spirit of fear
- Men are entitled to fight poverty.
- Men do not sleep like Women.
- Being a Man is to be creative, have Wisdom.
- Owa manyi atekwa okweraga nga Mulamu ne nga Afudde.
- A man is supposed to be Strong by character.
- God makes Loving men. Who love their Job, what they do, love their Family.
- A man is supposed to love what his wife & children loves. And God Loves.
- Omukazi bwakusinza sente Mutandika Okuwa ebiragiro ebyenkana. Omusajja Otekwa okuba ne Account ensava.
- God created a man with sound mind. Oyiyiza family yo. Planner, organizer a man of all seasons. Okozesa obwongo bwo okumanya ensi bwetambula.
- Omusajja Owamagezi Amanyi ge agasena wa Mukama.
- Omusajja Owa Magezi Alunda ensolo, Agula ettaka. Era atereka sente ze mubifuna.
- Okuzaala abangi sikuzala Magezi; zaala bosobola okulabirira.
- Ng’okyalina amanyi Save now. I have to save 10% of my income, 10% for God & 20% Akiba ya Muswahiri; 60% zezokozesa ne family yo n’ebirala.
- Some things Millionaires Know but don’t tell Anybody:-
- You can never be a Millionaire until you take a decision to become one; it takes a decision to become rich. It’s a hard Job, to become a millionaire it is an exclusive decision. Executive decision. You’ve got to take that decision not become poor.
- Millionaires know that for you to become Millionaire, you must take responsibility of your money. How much you’re going to keep & how much you are going to spend, to save for future use.
- You can not be a millionaire without the practice or the discipline of Saving. When hard times come
- They know that Prov.23:5 is real (Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven) never allow your money to grow wings.
- Millionaires never do things to show off. If you’re going to be anything in this world stop doing things for show off. They know spending is not happiness. Women who are married to millionaires need to be taught how to live in a millionaire’s home. They have to be taught the same mentality that we have. They don’t do things out of budget. Women buy thing on impulse.
- Millionaires know the source of their Income, so they protect their nest. Eliminate flies from your Mudala. Protect your Business; you can’t play games with your Job. It is not how much you get.
- Millionaires know there things which you cannot get from a shop, stores or anywhere:- (i) Blessing, (ii) Favor, (iii) Grace (iv) Acceptability (v) Opportunity (vi) An Open door. Real millionaires know there is more than hard work. Some who are clever or smart enough have found a scripture saying “The Blessing of the Lord makes rich and God adds no trouble/ sorrow to it. Most millionaires also give. The principle is Money attracts Money. When money leaves your hands it will attract money. The scripture says “Never be anxious of anything, but with every need, in prayer and supplications, and thanks giving let your needs be know unto God. Learn to pray for your business.
- If you don’t Plan to succeed, you have Planned to fail.
- Business Opportunity Identification
- Opportunity Etera Kulabikira Mubuzibu.
- Amazima Galeta Opportunity.
- Olina Okulaba Ebizibu Abantu bye Balibamu Olusi kwosinziira Okuzula Opportunity. Nonya kizibu ki abantu kyebalina Ononye Solution.
- Tolina Kulemera Mukintu Kitalina gye kikutwala, Zuula
- Miss allocation of resources. (Obulunzi, Obulimi, Olusuku oba Ente bisinga emotoka oba Bodaboda).
- Tubeere bayiya (Okulowoza – Omuntu kyalowoza ekyo Kyali). Buli Kiseera Okulowoza ebikutwala Maaso. Okwerekereza Otulo. Strategic Thinking, Set Goals; Ntuka ntya Wali, Nva ntya Mukizibu Kino, Njakukola Kino, Berako Kyokolerera.
- Obutekiririzamu (Obugaga Obutakwerabiza Katonda). Obutesasira, Tuve Mukugayala. Tukope, Tukyuse embeera, Tukyuse Emirimu. Kyusa Mangu Leero Endowozayo, Tandika okulaba ekisingako.
- Beera Nebirowozo obiteke Munkola. Teri Kintu kyonna kyogenda Kukola nga Totandise. Omukisa gwo Ogutadewa, Lwaki Werimitinga.
- Tuve Mukutya, Fearing Risks, Teriyo kintu kyangu kirimu makulu, okutya Okulya ebanja. Bwolya ebbanja otekwa okuba ne Cash flow, ate bwewewola oba bwokola plan tokyusa kyusa.
- Continuity, Abaana basembeze Mumirimu, balage bwokola sente, balage amabanja golina.
- Networking – okukolagana na bantu, okunyumya Naddala ebikwatagana ne Business.
- Okulunda Ente, Embuzi, Okusimba Emiti.
- Kola bulungi omulimu gwo gwokola.
- Unity in Marriage – Okwesigangana N’okutwala Amagezi omwagalwa wo gaba akuwadde.
- Omusajja ne Katonda we (a man should take God as number one).
- Omusajja n’ Amaka ge. Your Home/Family as a Man should be Stable. Take responsibility, Educating the Children.
- Omusajja n’emirimugye, Omusajja otekedwa okubako kyokola.
- Tutunulire Amaka ne Family.
- Ekigendererwa bwekitategerekeka enkozesa embi teyewalika.
- Sente za bank tezikola party, teziwasa mbaga era tezigula Motoka.
- Revamping Missed Opportunities.
- Success Kyeki? Obuwanguzi, Okuyitamu kyeki?
- Obugaga Mpisa. Empisa ng’okukuma Obudde ne Sente, You have to be prepared.
- Empisa ezokukubisamu mu sente.
- Good networking with good people Mungeri ereta enkulakulana. Tokola mikwano kujijamu bujja.
- Strategic Thinking. Okukola ng’obaza. Tomala gasasanya sente nga tomaze kubaza. Obugaga mpisa nga n’obwavu nabwo bweziba empisa.
- Abavu tebakuma budde. Tebalina discipline ya sente.
- Abavu tebamanyi kukuma mikwano.
- Okukola emikwano emilungi ng’ogikuuma. Toginyunyunta
- Emikisa gikuyitako gyitya?
- The inability to recoginise an opportunity. Obutaba nabusobozi kulaba mukisa gwa nkulakulana.
- Obutetegekera Mikisa gyo nga gizze.
- Okutya Nobutaba Nakukiriza nti Omukisa ojja kugusobola. Kino kibaawo eri abo abatetegese.
- Always be in God’s Presence: Laba nti saawa binna obeera mu presence ya Katonda. Mubiseera byo ebirungi, ebyenaku byonna, you need God’s presence. Even in business, Katonda Yasinga okumanya business. We are partners with God. You have to pray your part, and God does his part. Olwa Magezi ga Katonda Oja Kulaba abalala bye Batalaba, olwo omwoyo Omutukuvu ali nawe.
- Weteke Mu mbeera nti saawa biina amatugo ganonyereza amawulire agakwataga n’omukisa gwe nkulakulana. Okola kino kiyinza okukwetagisa okukyusa ebifo byobeeramu ennyo. Abaana ba Katonda ebiseera Tubimala Mungaambo.
- An Opportunity is Simply a Problem waiting to be solved. Olusi kuba kunonya ekigonjolo ekipya ekitabangawo, olusi kwekulungiya oba okusitula Mutindo gw’ekigonjolo ekiriwo. It could be brand new solution that never be invented before or an improvement over an existing solution. Tweteke mumbeera enonyereza wa awali ekizibu, ekizibu ekyo kisalire plan, plan eyo gwe mukisa ogugenda okukulakulanya. Mukama bwa kulaga ekizibu aba akulaze nusu, aba akugambye nti gonjola ekintu ekyo ebintu oba obulamu butambule.
- Keep yo antennas out: Weteke mu mbeera nti amatu go nendowozayo enonyereza wa awali ebizibu byoyinza okugonjoola. Gwe mukisa gwolina okugonjola.
- Wetekemu empisa z’obugaga: Tulekerawo okwonona Obudde, Tulekerawo obutewa mukisa kuyiga, Kwana Kubayina byebakoze, tobanyunyuta, weweyo okubakolera kubwerere amagezi gobajamu gali worthy sente nyingi okusinga zebalina okusasula.
- Gulawo Company eyiyo, Buli kintu kyonna munsi zona ezikulakulana Kiyinza okutegekebwa bwoba ng’omanyi okunyumya na bantu (Anything and everything can be arranged if you know how to talk to people).
- Be independent enough okukola omwoyo kyaba akugambye.
- Sente sinzibu kufuna bwoba ng’olina ebirowozo ebirungi.
- Building Business Network in the Church:
- God called us to be Leaders. We have to be witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Oli Mwesimbu oja, Kukola Business.
- Who is a Business Person? Ye Muntu alina kyakola – A Person with a regular Operation and Trade.
- Straight Forward (Ebibyo Birambulukufu) ebintu byaffe nga Tubikolera Mumusana. – Obutabanabwenkanya – Okulimba – Obulyazamanyi.
- Overcoming Fear of sharing and making your Faith available.
- Basic Tools of witnessing being a Christian Business Person in the Church.
- The key aim is not to please the people but to please God. Business nga enetambula Osaba Mukama. Seek the guidance of God.
- Oli Mwesimbu Mukutambula kwo, Oli mulambulukufu. Ebiseera ebisinga Yesu tatusingana nga Tulina.
- We have to walk by Faith, Mukama Twagala Kukola Kino.
- We need fellowships where somebody can talk to us in our lives. Bwoba oyagala business yo ekulakulane soka otereze enyumba ey’ omwoyo. We have to testify Jesus in our businesses.
- Avoid Temptations and run away from evil. Tukemebwa nga Twagala Tukole Amagoba amangi. Tubeere ba Business men Abesimbu.
- Bwetuba nokwagala eri emirimu gyaffe nabakozi baffe tuja kuba ba businessmen balungi.
- Accountable to all you actions. Obeere nga Omanyi embalirira y’ebitabo byo, obeere muwandiisi wabitabo ng’omanyi zoyingiziza ne zofulumiziza. Bank all yo sales intact. Wewale okuba nga tolina sente munsawo. Sente yona etundidwa gibankinge mu bank. Osooka ku saving oba Kubankinga nga Tonaba Kutandiika Kusasanya sente zo.
- Men are poor managers of money.
- Be Honest. Obwesimbu ye degree yaffe enene ennyo Ffe abalokole.
- A man is a bread winner at home.
- Prove yourself as Man, show yourself, be strong, be brave, be courageous.
- Business gwe Mulimu oguvaamu sente, omulimu oguvaamu amagoba.
- Deuteronomy 26:12, Malachi 3:10, James 1:27; Tutekwa Okuwayo Ekimu Ekyekumi. Isaiah 61:1 - The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; We have to Develop from one level to another. Exodus.35:20-26, Genesis 4:20-22, Ephesians 4:28 Tulina Okuba abesimbu. God has never depended on lazy people. Wezamu weka amanyi. Genesis 13:2 (And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold) & Gen.18:19, Gen.26; Job.1:1-3; Job.29:12-25; 1King.19:19-21; Isaiah.48:17. Am the Lord who teaches you how to prosper. Matthew.13:55; Acts.20:33
- Topalapalanya, Tolimbalimba. Ng’okolagana Bulungi ne bano.
- Respect others.
- Planning (Otekwa Okutegeka – When, How, Where) Be Creative.
- Financial management.
- Diligence, commitment or hardworking.
- Wewale Okwejalabya.
- Out Sourcing and Managing Finances.
- Tekitwetagisa Kulowoza Ku nsimbi zoka (Capital).
- Kola research ku kyoyagala okukolera ddala, Tokopa bukopi byabalala nga bwebabikola, olina Okunonyereza nomanya bwebabikola.
- Obwetavu Butonda Omulimu. Emirimu mingi naye we don’t Identify.
- Kola business Plan (Wandika Omuwendo, Bigula bitya, Bitunda bitya, bituka bitya mu katale, baki ababigula, wa wogenda Okukolera Omulimu guno).
- Tewegerageranya na bantu abakusinga ennyo.
- Abantu bogenda Okukoleramu emirimu balina mpisa ki, mulimu Abempalana, Abatayagaliza, abalemesa, Abamalamu amanyi, Zuula byebatakola Bulungi Mumirimu gyabwe. Bakete nga Bwononyereza.
- Oli wa Mazima.
- Totandika Mulimu Na Sente nyingi nnyo, Soka Oguyige. Tandika omulimu ne sente zona zolina. Tandika Omulimu n’omuntu gw’ogenda okusasula obusasuzi.
- Okusa munkola, ng’okola entekateka. Tuyige obugumikiriza, teri kintu kitandika mulundi gumu.
- Mission and Objectives.
- Financial Management (Okuyiga Okufuga Ensimbi). Okuyiga Enyingiza nensasanya Ya Sente, Business ne Bweba ntono, Okukola Stock Taking Buli Kiseera. Ziruwa Zosavinga, Ziruwa Zoyongera Mu Stock. Okufisa nosiga. Tuyige Okusasira.
- Jokoma Okubeera n’emikwano emikyamu gyokoma okufuna ebizibu.
- Funna Emikwano gyeweyabizaamu.
- Jeirah=Provision. Tosobola Kuwangula Bwavu Okujjako ng’osazewo.
- Your Heart, Olunaku Lwolokoka Katonda atandikirawo Okukuwa Omukisa. God looks at the Heart, Buli kyoyayanira Munsi Kitandikira Mumutima. In Business the Truth is Parallel.
- Deuteronomy 28:1-14 & Hebrews 11: (By Faith – Bwonogondera Ekigambo Kya Katonda no Kikola Toja Kusigala Kyekimu.
- Deuteronomy 8:1-20 Bwoba nga Onokola Ekintu Olina Okukola Endagano ne Mukama. Bwoba nga Otambulira mukwagala kwa Katonda, alina Plan yo. We are partner with God; we can not do it all alone without Him.
- Bwoba ng’oyagala Okukola Sente, ebyabanandaba batya biteke Kubali.
- Bagging is not a Solution.
- God’s Plan is to Trust you, Ye Katonda akwesiga Nakuwa sente.
- Building a Business from the Scratch nefuuka House Hold Name.
- House Hold Name; Business yo Netunda nekwatta Wonna nga Buli Omu nga Ayayanira Byokola.
- Growing with your Business.
- Strength/Bold - Amaanyi go gavawa, gava eri Mukama. You a chain of Prayer
- Weakness – Tolina Kutya (Omukisa gwa Katonda gukusanga Wonna Mukibuga oba Mukyalo – Akutunulira Oplaninga otya, Plan zo Ye Katonda Zajuririza).
- Obwesiga. Oli mwesigwa Mwebyo Byokola, Oli Mwesigwa eri Mukama. Bwoba nga onogagawala, soka opulaninge engeri gyonofunamu sente. Waliwo byofuna olwobwesigwa, notasibwa Amabanja ga Bank. Weyigirize Empisa Ezoku Savinga.
- Time – no what you want to do. Make a plan of what you want to do.
- Be Diligent in whatever you are doing – Beera Mwesimbu.
- Be Consistent – Nyweza ekyo Kyolina.
- Be Trust Worthy – Market yourself, and be Smart.
Goal, Plan, Product and Skill.
- How can I Save and Invest Money:
- Togezako okwegaya no mulundi nogumu;
- What is the Bank? Keeping Money & Helping People to get Money; Plus giving People Financial Advisory Service.
- Beera ne Plan Yebyo ebintu Byoyagala Okukola, Make it a Written Plan. If you don’t write it, it becomes a wish. Tokoma Mukubirowozako Bulowoza, Twala Obudde Owandike byoyagala Okukola. Bwomala Okuwandiika Ojakulaba Ng’olina Obwetavu Bwa Sente, awono ngotandika Okukunganya Sente.
- How can I Save and Invest Money:
- The main Problem we have is ourselves. We do not make decisions; we have to start saving right now. An Account in the Bank is a Security for my Life.
- We have to discipline ourselves – The discipline of Saving, you have to forget other Troubles. We have to Change our Attitude.
- I have to pay myself, monitoring how power, water has been utilized. Get other alternatives for Electricity & Water – Like Solar & Harvesting water from Rain + Swamps. Monitor food we use at home.
- We must attend to our needs first. We’ve to take care of our spending. Put it on paper; make a List of your expenses. Know what you desire & Want.
- Reduce the number of dependants at Home. Another problem we try to be friend to everybody.
- A Loan is good when you use it wisely.
- We need to avoid short cuts.
- What is Invest? Is the use of Money with a hope of making more. When do we Invest, How do we Invest.
- James 1:5 & Philippians 4:13 (ask God to give you Wisdom and Strength).
- We have to make Connections. We need to have good relationship, Permanent Friends.
- Deuteronomy 8:18 (we need to have Power; God gives us power to get rich). We have the brain.
- We need to start small. Big things can break you.
- We should not fear (2Tim.1:7) God did not create us with the spirit of fear.
- Do not speak to everybody about your dreams.
- Obwesigwa (Bazimba Buzimbe Mu Bantu).
- Omusajja odda Mukifo kyo ngoliko kyokola. Omulimu gwokola gwonna.
- Otekwa okwegatta ne business yo nefuuka kitundu ku bulamu bwo. Omulimu gwo guwe time. Ebiseera byo obimala muki.
- Ngatonaba kwetekateka teri agenda kuwa bintu bye.
- Waliwo ebintu byokola nga tonatuka woyagala. Abantu nebakulaba nebakwesiga.
- Otekwa okulaba ng’omulimu gwo gugenda mu maaso.
- Okukola ennyo kwekukola ebintu nga bwotekedwa okubikola. That’s being smart, creative.
- Obedience bakola kikole.
- Olina Okukola Self Evaluation. Fa kumuddaala gwo. Be creative, Beera Mwesigwa eri Obulamu bwo. Buli gwolaba Owa Maanyi alina Challenges enene oba eza Maanyi Zeyayitamu. Challenges Katonda Zakozesa Okukuba Okukujamu Okutya. Faith without Action is dead. Bako n’Omuntu akuwabula.
- All valuable Things are hiden in hard Rocks. Obako Omuwendo gwosasula.
- Kola ng’otereka, nezikokolima nazo Gali Magi. Involve God in Your Business, Seek God’s guidance & Direction, Help the Poor and Needy.
You don’t necessarily need to be a designer before you can do this business, if you have the capital, you can set it up and get the best hands to work for you.
You can market you products in different ways such as advertisement, posters and handbills, displaying the product online especially on social networks and eCommerce sites etc.
You will need to get an apartment to display you products and where people can meet you to buy. It is not advisable to sell at the same place where you are producing, get a separate apartment.
Notably, foreign investors require a minimum of US$100,000 in planned investment in order to secure an investment license from the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), whereas for local investors, the minimum planned investment requirement is US$50,000. Local investors, however, may proceed with their investment without licensing with the UIA.
Investment opportunities worth staking your money in:
1. Commercial agriculture
The World population stands at over 7 billion people while Uganda’s population, growing at a rate of 3.2% is over 40m people. Urban population globally is also growing. This presents an opportunity for a bigger market and as the East African Community takes centre stage, any potential investor shouldn’t over look the agricultural sector. There are numerous investment opportunities in livestock production, crop production and the whole agricultural chain. Notably, Uganda not only has fertile soils but also favorable climate compared to her counterparts in the region. A recent World Bank report says Uganda’s comparative advantage is in agriculture and education. The research says Uganda is only exploiting 2% of her entire agricultural potential. This explains why foreign investors are opening up vast farmlands in various parts of Uganda. Commercial farming means using irrigation system, improved seeds and inputs as well as mechanization.
2. Information Communication Technology (ICT)
According to UIA, Uganda’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector is one of the most vibrant within the region, as good legal and regulatory frameworks exist. The newly developed and highly qualitative ICT infrastructure is also ready to accommodate more future investments. Opportunities in ICT include establishment of information and communication infrastructure and broadband services, business process outsourcing services, computer and related equipment hardware assembly, high level ICT training facilities on international standards, ICT business services incubation, hardware repair training facilities, software development niches, setting up information technology virtual zones (ITVZ), and setting up Internet service provider facilities in other parts of Uganda. With the information age, any investment in ICT will definitely be worth it.
3. Early childhood education and technical institutions
It is a public secret that Uganda is the region’s education hub, explaining why students from Kenya, Rwanda, Sudan and Tanzania flock Ugandan Universities, Colleges and Secondary schools for better quality education. In 2012, the education sector attracted over US$ 50 million (about Ushs125bn) from foreign students alone. However, given the many universities and secondary schools, real investment opportunities do exist in early childhood education and technical institutions. Corporate and middle income earners are for the best day care centers as well as quality primary education. This is because they understand that children develop rapidly during their early years and the experiences they go through have implications for their (children’s) well being, school readiness and later success in life.
Therefore, an investment in a day care centre and primary school with enough facilities is worth it. Also, any potential investor should look at technical education. This is because technical students are job makers compared to their counterparts who go to universities only to graduate seeking for white collar jobs. Positively, Ugandans are beginning to embrace technical education and the recent introduction of “Skilling Uganda” by the government is a testimony that investment in technical education is not only worth but will reduce youth unemployment significantly. Currently, youth unemployment stands at 62%.
4. Real Estate
“I have a feeling that large scale housing projects for the low to middle income workers require a large boost of investments compared to what we can generate locally,” “The future is of efficient cities” it is important to build a city with modern infrastructure/buildings for the middle and low income earners. Thus, investing in housing and real estate in Uganda is another lucrative investment that investors should consider seriously. You can decide to invest into construction of low cost housing in urban and semi urban areas. Or you can invest in provision of construction equipment and manufacturing of building materials.
5. Tourism and Hospitality
A World Bank report indicates that Uganda’s tourism earnings in 2012 hit over US$1 billion, significantly up from 2011 when estimates put tourism income to over US$800 million. Importantly, Uganda’s tourism has recorded steady growth over the last ten years. Indeed various reports point to Uganda as one of the top tourism destinations not only in Africa but the world at large. This presents investment opportunities in tourism and hospitality. According to Uganda Wildlife Authority, there are opportunities for development of new eco-tourism products and services, within and outside the national parks, by the private sector or through public private partnerships.
These include but not limited to luxury tented camps and cottages, House Boats, Cruise Launches on the Nile and Sport fishing on the Lakes Victoria, Albert, Edward and George, Walking Safaris in the wilderness areas and the volcanic craters, Canopy Walkways in tropical forests and sky trams, Mountaineering packages for Rwenzori, Elgon and Mgahinga Mountains, Nature walks, game farming, game ranching and sport hunting on private property (private wildlife reserves) and Internal air transport services to the national parks and other domestic touristic hubs. To sum it up, we need young smart people to package tourism products; invest in islands, parks, Martyrs (Uganda Martyrs) many people go to visit Mecca and pay, so we can also package our martyrs and reap from them.”
6. Manufacturing and Food Processing Industries
According to UIA, Uganda’s manufacturing output has also been expanding by more than 10% annually over the last eight years. Opportunities exist in virtually all areas, ranging from beverages, leather; tobacco based processing, paper, textiles and garments, pharmaceuticals, fabrication, ceramics, glass, fertilizers, plastic/PVC, assembly of electronic goods, hi-tech and medical products. Importantly, once the agricultural sector is developed and embraced by more Ugandans on a commercial level, more agro based industries will be set up. This will greatly reduce Uganda’s expenditure abroad as value will have been added to the produce previously imported in raw form. This will also create more employment opportunities.
7. Forestry
Forestry also is ripe for investment. With over 4.9 million hectares of rich forest vegetation, Uganda possesses abundant potential in areas like timber processing for export, manufacture of high quality furniture/wood products and various packaging materials. There are also opportunities in afforestation and reforestation, especially of medicinal trees and plants, and soft wood plantations for timber, pulp and poles. Globally, carbon trading is increasingly becoming an investment avenue aimed at reducing emissions and slowing climate change. This system involves growing forests on a large scale for the purpose of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the investor is paid handsomely.
8. Fish Farming
Like forestry, fisheries deserve a mention independent of agriculture. This is because it is the second highest foreign exchange earner for Uganda, with export revenues amounting to an estimated US$1160 million from only 20,562 tons of fish export in 2012. Notably, fish production is low in Uganda because subsistence fish farming dominates. Large fresh water expanses are home to a wide variety of fish products and investment opportunities are available for fish farming and the establishment of more fish processing factories on lakes other than Lake Victoria.
9. Bonds and Equities
There are a lot of investment opportunities in Uganda’s capital markets. Investing in stocks not only presents an opportunity to have ownership in a company but also get good returns. Many corporate and businessmen across the world invest heavily in bonds, equities and other asset classes. A potential investor can get more financial and investment advice about the stocks market from investment advisors like African Alliance Uganda as well as stock brokers.
10. Information Marketing: This is one of the hottest and easiest online business now, it’s all about looking around you, identifying the problems people have, then you set to work to try to get the solution for them, let’s take Unemployment for example, sure you know a lot of people are looking for jobs. So therefore these unemployed people will appreciate anything that will increase their chances of getting a job.
You can now go online and make research on how to easily get a job, how to prepare for interview, how to dress for the interview and how to write a compelling CV, after gathering all these information, you compile them into an article, guide or eBook and call it “Get That Job Of Your Dreams” or any other catchy title that will attract your audience, so that is your information product you can now create a sales letter which you will distribute to subscribers and sell your information product to them.
You can create information products on various niches like, weight loss, Making Money, Traveling etc just identify a need and get to work on it.
Information products can be in the form of eBook, Video, and Audio
Our Country is currently riddled with problems and the government is currently battling to tackle these problems. I am talking about challenges such as security, infrastructural decay, unemployment, power failure, corruption, fall in education standard, accommodation, etc. The average minds believe these problems can never be resolved and if it is to be resolved, it should be done by the government. However, people with entrepreneurial mindset know that these problems are opportunities; and only those who act will turn these opportunities into profitable businesses. In all honesty and humility, I want you to know that I am currently profiting from the security situation in the country by providing a solution to a specific security challenge. The eye of most entrepreneurs and investors doing business in the Country is usually on big Cities. However, tremendous opportunities are laying waste in other small cities.You see, in this day and age, anyone can be his or her own boss. All you need to discover is what your particular gift is. For example, are you very comfortable working around computers? Do you keep up with the latest software and hardware information, which seems to be changing almost daily? And are you able to take that knowledge you have gained and turn it into a resource that someone would be willing to pay money for? Then you would have no trouble as an entrepreneur and master of your destiny.
11. Wedding planner: If you’re one of those people who can’t help but flip through bridal magazines and think about various wedding arrangements in your daydreams, wedding planning might be the perfect thing for you. A great way to get started is to develop a website on the topic, get to know people online, and offer your services throughout the community.
- Isaiah.46:8 (show yourselves men – Mwelage ng’ Abasajja), 2Timothy.1:1-2
- As a Man I should have a Successor.
- Men do not fear. Men should develop boldness. God has not given us the spirit of fear
- Men are entitled to fight poverty.
- Men do not sleep like Women.
- Being a Man is to be creative, have Wisdom.
- Owa manyi atekwa okweraga nga Mulamu ne nga Afudde.
- A man is supposed to be Strong by character.
- God makes Loving men. Who love their Job, what they do, love their Family.
- A man is supposed to love what his wife & children loves. And God Loves.
- Omukazi bwakusinza sente Mutandika Okuwa ebiragiro ebyenkana. Omusajja Otekwa okuba ne Account ensava.
- God created a man with sound mind. Oyiyiza family yo. Planner, organizer a man of all seasons. Okozesa obwongo bwo okumanya ensi bwetambula.
- Omusajja Owamagezi Amanyi ge agasena wa Mukama.
- Omusajja Owa Magezi Alunda ensolo, Agula ettaka. Era atereka sente ze mubifuna.
- Okuzaala abangi sikuzala Magezi; zaala bosobola okulabirira.
- Ng’okyalina amanyi Save now. I have to save 10% of my income, 10% for God & 20% Akiba ya Muswahiri; 60% zezokozesa ne family yo n’ebirala.
- Some things Millionaires Know but don’t tell Anybody:-
- You can never be a Millionaire until you take a decision to become one; it takes a decision to become rich. It’s a hard Job, to become a millionaire it is an exclusive decision. Executive decision. You’ve got to take that decision not become poor.
- Millionaires know that for you to become Millionaire, you must take responsibility of your money. How much you’re going to keep & how much you are going to spend, to save for future use.
- You can not be a millionaire without the practice or the discipline of Saving. When hard times come
- They know that Prov.23:5 is real (Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven) never allow your money to grow wings.
- Millionaires never do things to show off. If you’re going to be anything in this world stop doing things for show off. They know spending is not happiness. Women who are married to millionaires need to be taught how to live in a millionaire’s home. They have to be taught the same mentality that we have. They don’t do things out of budget. Women buy thing on impulse.
- Millionaires know the source of their Income, so they protect their nest. Eliminate flies from your Mudala. Protect your Business; you can’t play games with your Job. It is not how much you get.
- Millionaires know there things which you cannot get from a shop, stores or anywhere:- (i) Blessing, (ii) Favor, (iii) Grace (iv) Acceptability (v) Opportunity (vi) An Open door. Real millionaires know there is more than hard work. Some who are clever or smart enough have found a scripture saying “The Blessing of the Lord makes rich and God adds no trouble/ sorrow to it. Most millionaires also give. The principle is Money attracts Money. When money leaves your hands it will attract money. The scripture says “Never be anxious of anything, but with every need, in prayer and supplications, and thanks giving let your needs be know unto God. Learn to pray for your business.
- If you don’t Plan to succeed, you have Planned to fail.
- Business Opportunity Identification
- Opportunity Etera Kulabikira Mubuzibu.
- Amazima Galeta Opportunity.
- Olina Okulaba Ebizibu Abantu bye Balibamu Olusi kwosinziira Okuzula Opportunity. Nonya kizibu ki abantu kyebalina Ononye Solution.
- Tolina Kulemera Mukintu Kitalina gye kikutwala, Zuula
- Miss allocation of resources. (Obulunzi, Obulimi, Olusuku oba Ente bisinga emotoka oba Bodaboda).
- Tubeere bayiya (Okulowoza – Omuntu kyalowoza ekyo Kyali). Buli Kiseera Okulowoza ebikutwala Maaso. Okwerekereza Otulo. Strategic Thinking, Set Goals; Ntuka ntya Wali, Nva ntya Mukizibu Kino, Njakukola Kino, Berako Kyokolerera.
- Obutekiririzamu (Obugaga Obutakwerabiza Katonda). Obutesasira, Tuve Mukugayala. Tukope, Tukyuse embeera, Tukyuse Emirimu. Kyusa Mangu Leero Endowozayo, Tandika okulaba ekisingako.
- Beera Nebirowozo obiteke Munkola. Teri Kintu kyonna kyogenda Kukola nga Totandise. Omukisa gwo Ogutadewa, Lwaki Werimitinga.
- Tuve Mukutya, Fearing Risks, Teriyo kintu kyangu kirimu makulu, okutya Okulya ebanja. Bwolya ebbanja otekwa okuba ne Cash flow, ate bwewewola oba bwokola plan tokyusa kyusa.
- Continuity, Abaana basembeze Mumirimu, balage bwokola sente, balage amabanja golina.
- Networking – okukolagana na bantu, okunyumya Naddala ebikwatagana ne Business.
- Okulunda Ente, Embuzi, Okusimba Emiti.
- Kola bulungi omulimu gwo gwokola.
- Unity in Marriage – Okwesigangana N’okutwala Amagezi omwagalwa wo gaba akuwadde.
- Omusajja ne Katonda we (a man should take God as number one).
- Omusajja n’ Amaka ge. Your Home/Family as a Man should be Stable. Take responsibility, Educating the Children.
- Omusajja n’emirimugye, Omusajja otekedwa okubako kyokola.
- Tutunulire Amaka ne Family.
- Ekigendererwa bwekitategerekeka enkozesa embi teyewalika.
- Sente za bank tezikola party, teziwasa mbaga era tezigula Motoka.
- Revamping Missed Opportunities.
- Success Kyeki? Obuwanguzi, Okuyitamu kyeki?
- Obugaga Mpisa. Empisa ng’okukuma Obudde ne Sente, You have to be prepared.
- Empisa ezokukubisamu mu sente.
- Good networking with good people Mungeri ereta enkulakulana. Tokola mikwano kujijamu bujja.
- Strategic Thinking. Okukola ng’obaza. Tomala gasasanya sente nga tomaze kubaza. Obugaga mpisa nga n’obwavu nabwo bweziba empisa.
- Abavu tebakuma budde. Tebalina discipline ya sente.
- Abavu tebamanyi kukuma mikwano.
- Okukola emikwano emilungi ng’ogikuuma. Toginyunyunta
- Emikisa gikuyitako gyitya?
- The inability to recoginise an opportunity. Obutaba nabusobozi kulaba mukisa gwa nkulakulana.
- Obutetegekera Mikisa gyo nga gizze.
- Okutya Nobutaba Nakukiriza nti Omukisa ojja kugusobola. Kino kibaawo eri abo abatetegese.
- Always be in God’s Presence: Laba nti saawa binna obeera mu presence ya Katonda. Mubiseera byo ebirungi, ebyenaku byonna, you need God’s presence. Even in business, Katonda Yasinga okumanya business. We are partners with God. You have to pray your part, and God does his part. Olwa Magezi ga Katonda Oja Kulaba abalala bye Batalaba, olwo omwoyo Omutukuvu ali nawe.
- Weteke Mu mbeera nti saawa biina amatugo ganonyereza amawulire agakwataga n’omukisa gwe nkulakulana. Okola kino kiyinza okukwetagisa okukyusa ebifo byobeeramu ennyo. Abaana ba Katonda ebiseera Tubimala Mungaambo.
- An Opportunity is Simply a Problem waiting to be solved. Olusi kuba kunonya ekigonjolo ekipya ekitabangawo, olusi kwekulungiya oba okusitula Mutindo gw’ekigonjolo ekiriwo. It could be brand new solution that never be invented before or an improvement over an existing solution. Tweteke mumbeera enonyereza wa awali ekizibu, ekizibu ekyo kisalire plan, plan eyo gwe mukisa ogugenda okukulakulanya. Mukama bwa kulaga ekizibu aba akulaze nusu, aba akugambye nti gonjola ekintu ekyo ebintu oba obulamu butambule.
- Keep yo antennas out: Weteke mu mbeera nti amatu go nendowozayo enonyereza wa awali ebizibu byoyinza okugonjoola. Gwe mukisa gwolina okugonjola.
- Wetekemu empisa z’obugaga: Tulekerawo okwonona Obudde, Tulekerawo obutewa mukisa kuyiga, Kwana Kubayina byebakoze, tobanyunyuta, weweyo okubakolera kubwerere amagezi gobajamu gali worthy sente nyingi okusinga zebalina okusasula.
- Gulawo Company eyiyo, Buli kintu kyonna munsi zona ezikulakulana Kiyinza okutegekebwa bwoba ng’omanyi okunyumya na bantu (Anything and everything can be arranged if you know how to talk to people).
- Be independent enough okukola omwoyo kyaba akugambye.
- Sente sinzibu kufuna bwoba ng’olina ebirowozo ebirungi.
- Building Business Network in the Church:
- God called us to be Leaders. We have to be witnesses of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Oli Mwesimbu oja, Kukola Business.
- Who is a Business Person? Ye Muntu alina kyakola – A Person with a regular Operation and Trade.
- Straight Forward (Ebibyo Birambulukufu) ebintu byaffe nga Tubikolera Mumusana. – Obutabanabwenkanya – Okulimba – Obulyazamanyi.
- Overcoming Fear of sharing and making your Faith available.
- Basic Tools of witnessing being a Christian Business Person in the Church.
- The key aim is not to please the people but to please God. Business nga enetambula Osaba Mukama. Seek the guidance of God.
- Oli Mwesimbu Mukutambula kwo, Oli mulambulukufu. Ebiseera ebisinga Yesu tatusingana nga Tulina.
- We have to walk by Faith, Mukama Twagala Kukola Kino.
- We need fellowships where somebody can talk to us in our lives. Bwoba oyagala business yo ekulakulane soka otereze enyumba ey’ omwoyo. We have to testify Jesus in our businesses.
- Avoid Temptations and run away from evil. Tukemebwa nga Twagala Tukole Amagoba amangi. Tubeere ba Business men Abesimbu.
- Bwetuba nokwagala eri emirimu gyaffe nabakozi baffe tuja kuba ba businessmen balungi.
- Accountable to all you actions. Obeere nga Omanyi embalirira y’ebitabo byo, obeere muwandiisi wabitabo ng’omanyi zoyingiziza ne zofulumiziza. Bank all yo sales intact. Wewale okuba nga tolina sente munsawo. Sente yona etundidwa gibankinge mu bank. Osooka ku saving oba Kubankinga nga Tonaba Kutandiika Kusasanya sente zo.
- Men are poor managers of money.
- Be Honest. Obwesimbu ye degree yaffe enene ennyo Ffe abalokole.
- A man is a bread winner at home.
- Prove yourself as Man, show yourself, be strong, be brave, be courageous.
- Business gwe Mulimu oguvaamu sente, omulimu oguvaamu amagoba.
- Deuteronomy 26:12, Malachi 3:10, James 1:27; Tutekwa Okuwayo Ekimu Ekyekumi. Isaiah 61:1 - The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; We have to Develop from one level to another. Exodus.35:20-26, Genesis 4:20-22, Ephesians 4:28 Tulina Okuba abesimbu. God has never depended on lazy people. Wezamu weka amanyi. Genesis 13:2 (And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold) & Gen.18:19, Gen.26; Job.1:1-3; Job.29:12-25; 1King.19:19-21; Isaiah.48:17. Am the Lord who teaches you how to prosper. Matthew.13:55; Acts.20:33
- Topalapalanya, Tolimbalimba. Ng’okolagana Bulungi ne bano.
- Respect others.
- Planning (Otekwa Okutegeka – When, How, Where) Be Creative.
- Financial management.
- Diligence, commitment or hardworking.
- Wewale Okwejalabya.
- Out Sourcing and Managing Finances.
- Tekitwetagisa Kulowoza Ku nsimbi zoka (Capital).
- Kola research ku kyoyagala okukolera ddala, Tokopa bukopi byabalala nga bwebabikola, olina Okunonyereza nomanya bwebabikola.
- Obwetavu Butonda Omulimu. Emirimu mingi naye we don’t Identify.
- Kola business Plan (Wandika Omuwendo, Bigula bitya, Bitunda bitya, bituka bitya mu katale, baki ababigula, wa wogenda Okukolera Omulimu guno).
- Tewegerageranya na bantu abakusinga ennyo.
- Abantu bogenda Okukoleramu emirimu balina mpisa ki, mulimu Abempalana, Abatayagaliza, abalemesa, Abamalamu amanyi, Zuula byebatakola Bulungi Mumirimu gyabwe. Bakete nga Bwononyereza.
- Oli wa Mazima.
- Totandika Mulimu Na Sente nyingi nnyo, Soka Oguyige. Tandika omulimu ne sente zona zolina. Tandika Omulimu n’omuntu gw’ogenda okusasula obusasuzi.
- Okusa munkola, ng’okola entekateka. Tuyige obugumikiriza, teri kintu kitandika mulundi gumu.
- Mission and Objectives.
- Financial Management (Okuyiga Okufuga Ensimbi). Okuyiga Enyingiza nensasanya Ya Sente, Business ne Bweba ntono, Okukola Stock Taking Buli Kiseera. Ziruwa Zosavinga, Ziruwa Zoyongera Mu Stock. Okufisa nosiga. Tuyige Okusasira.
- Jokoma Okubeera n’emikwano emikyamu gyokoma okufuna ebizibu.
- Funna Emikwano gyeweyabizaamu.
- Jeirah=Provision. Tosobola Kuwangula Bwavu Okujjako ng’osazewo.
- Your Heart, Olunaku Lwolokoka Katonda atandikirawo Okukuwa Omukisa. God looks at the Heart, Buli kyoyayanira Munsi Kitandikira Mumutima. In Business the Truth is Parallel.
- Deuteronomy 28:1-14 & Hebrews 11: (By Faith – Bwonogondera Ekigambo Kya Katonda no Kikola Toja Kusigala Kyekimu.
- Deuteronomy 8:1-20 Bwoba nga Onokola Ekintu Olina Okukola Endagano ne Mukama. Bwoba nga Otambulira mukwagala kwa Katonda, alina Plan yo. We are partner with God; we can not do it all alone without Him.
- Bwoba ng’oyagala Okukola Sente, ebyabanandaba batya biteke Kubali.
- Bagging is not a Solution.
- God’s Plan is to Trust you, Ye Katonda akwesiga Nakuwa sente.
- Building a Business from the Scratch nefuuka House Hold Name.
- House Hold Name; Business yo Netunda nekwatta Wonna nga Buli Omu nga Ayayanira Byokola.
- Growing with your Business.
- Strength/Bold - Amaanyi go gavawa, gava eri Mukama. You a chain of Prayer
- Weakness – Tolina Kutya (Omukisa gwa Katonda gukusanga Wonna Mukibuga oba Mukyalo – Akutunulira Oplaninga otya, Plan zo Ye Katonda Zajuririza).
- Obwesiga. Oli mwesigwa Mwebyo Byokola, Oli Mwesigwa eri Mukama. Bwoba nga onogagawala, soka opulaninge engeri gyonofunamu sente. Waliwo byofuna olwobwesigwa, notasibwa Amabanja ga Bank. Weyigirize Empisa Ezoku Savinga.
- Time – no what you want to do. Make a plan of what you want to do.
- Be Diligent in whatever you are doing – Beera Mwesimbu.
- Be Consistent – Nyweza ekyo Kyolina.
- Be Trust Worthy – Market yourself, and be Smart.
Goal, Plan, Product and Skill.
- How can I Save and Invest Money:
- Togezako okwegaya no mulundi nogumu;
- What is the Bank? Keeping Money & Helping People to get Money; Plus giving People Financial Advisory Service.
- Beera ne Plan Yebyo ebintu Byoyagala Okukola, Make it a Written Plan. If you don’t write it, it becomes a wish. Tokoma Mukubirowozako Bulowoza, Twala Obudde Owandike byoyagala Okukola. Bwomala Okuwandiika Ojakulaba Ng’olina Obwetavu Bwa Sente, awono ngotandika Okukunganya Sente.
- How can I Save and Invest Money:
- The main Problem we have is ourselves. We do not make decisions; we have to start saving right now. An Account in the Bank is a Security for my Life.
- We have to discipline ourselves – The discipline of Saving, you have to forget other Troubles. We have to Change our Attitude.
- I have to pay myself, monitoring how power, water has been utilized. Get other alternatives for Electricity & Water – Like Solar & Harvesting water from Rain + Swamps. Monitor food we use at home.
- We must attend to our needs first. We’ve to take care of our spending. Put it on paper; make a List of your expenses. Know what you desire & Want.
- Reduce the number of dependants at Home. Another problem we try to be friend to everybody.
- A Loan is good when you use it wisely.
- We need to avoid short cuts.
- What is Invest? Is the use of Money with a hope of making more. When do we Invest, How do we Invest.
- James 1:5 & Philippians 4:13 (ask God to give you Wisdom and Strength).
- We have to make Connections. We need to have good relationship, Permanent Friends.
- Deuteronomy 8:18 (we need to have Power; God gives us power to get rich). We have the brain.
- We need to start small. Big things can break you.
- We should not fear (2Tim.1:7) God did not create us with the spirit of fear.
- Do not speak to everybody about your dreams.
- Obwesigwa (Bazimba Buzimbe Mu Bantu).
- Omusajja odda Mukifo kyo ngoliko kyokola. Omulimu gwokola gwonna.
- Otekwa okwegatta ne business yo nefuuka kitundu ku bulamu bwo. Omulimu gwo guwe time. Ebiseera byo obimala muki.
- Ngatonaba kwetekateka teri agenda kuwa bintu bye.
- Waliwo ebintu byokola nga tonatuka woyagala. Abantu nebakulaba nebakwesiga.
- Otekwa okulaba ng’omulimu gwo gugenda mu maaso.
- Okukola ennyo kwekukola ebintu nga bwotekedwa okubikola. That’s being smart, creative.
- Obedience bakola kikole.
- Olina Okukola Self Evaluation. Fa kumuddaala gwo. Be creative, Beera Mwesigwa eri Obulamu bwo. Buli gwolaba Owa Maanyi alina Challenges enene oba eza Maanyi Zeyayitamu. Challenges Katonda Zakozesa Okukuba Okukujamu Okutya. Faith without Action is dead. Bako n’Omuntu akuwabula.
- All valuable Things are hiden in hard Rocks. Obako Omuwendo gwosasula.
- Kola ng’otereka, nezikokolima nazo Gali Magi. Involve God in Your Business, Seek God’s guidance & Direction, Help the Poor and Needy.
Our Mission