To Have More, We Have to Give More First

“Only by giving are you able to receive more than you already have.”—Jim Rohn

Kind people are like clouds, they receive only to give back.

Habits Are the Simple Answer

“You cannot change your future, {but} you can change your habits and surely your habits will change your future {for you}.”—Abdul Kalam

THE POWER OF YOUR WORDS

“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.” Yehuda Berg.

THE COMPOUNDING POWER OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR

“Life is a process of accumulation. We either accumulate the debt or the value, the regret or the equity.”—Jim Rohn

Never underrate the exponential power of your daily behaviours! This exponential effect is the major reason why habits are so important.

Today’s article will enlighten us on the invisible force that controls our lives so that we can take charge of the steering wheel before we are driven to a destination that is far from where we truly want to be. 

Awareness precedes choices!

Becoming the wise pilot of our own mental plane will enlist in our cause one of the greatest forces on earth; whereas failing to do so will put us in the same situation as the servile majority of the populace; the segment of people who are on the receiving end of their own lifestyles.

This force is what makes good habits a form of blessing that keeps on giving to its proactive builders. Conversely, it is the same force that makes bad habits a form of curse that never fails to sabotage anyone of its dutiful slaves. 

And I think the English polymath, John Lubbock, was referring to the consequences of good and bad habits when he said: “A pleasure is full grown only when it is remembered {for good}. True pleasures are paid for in advance; false pleasures afterwards, with heavy and compounded interest.”  

THE CYCLE OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR 

“Little drops of water make a mighty ocean,” is an old saying that is perhaps most relevant to the exponential power of human behaviour. It starts little and before you know it, it has become a mighty force; almost beyond the control of its maker. 

What begins as insignificant deed can snowball into either a big advantage or an awful disadvantage, with the passage of time; depending on whether it is good or bad. 

Therefore, you only need to be slightly getting better, day by day to reap huge benefits of compounding power. This means if you can do a handful of right things, on a consistent basis, you will be on your way to becoming one of the lucky few on this planet. 

And, it is so because doing well for a while greatly improves your odds of doing better for another while; until you can no longer live the wrong way, even in the face of temptation. Here in lies the magic of exponential force because the good cycle cements you permanently for fortune, health and happiness.

Likewise, you don’t need to be dramatically bad either. You only need to repeat some bad behaviours over and over again for a long enough time to attract the stiff penalties of compounding force.  This is so because people that can do a handful of wrong things, on a consistent basis are the ones who accumulate enormous damage for themselves in this life.   

What seems like nothing at the beginning can lead to self-destructive habits when repeated over time.

In short, those that are slightly getting better end up with the majority of the world’s splendours. While those that are slightly getting worse end up with all the hassles of servitude. This is why the German theoretical physicist, Albert Einstein said: “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. The most powerful thing I have ever encountered. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it.”

BUILD YOUR CHARACTER, DAY BY DAY

“The more we progress the more we tend to progress. We advance not in arithmetical but in geometrical progression. We draw compound interest on the whole capital of knowledge and virtue which has been accumulated since the dawning of time.”—Arthur Conan Doyle

The Scottish industrialist, Andrew Carnegie once said that, “The first essential for success in any calling of merit is sound character.”  And sound character, like leadership virtue, is not built in a day but it is a daily work in progress.

In his book, “The Compound Effect,” Darren Hardy explains to us that the greatest rewards hardly come from dramatic life changes but the simple fundamental behaviours that compound over time. 

It is on this basis that I want to urge you to build your character as investors build their equity portfolios. They don’t achieve it in one day; rather they build it one step at a time. So use the power of compounding force to your advantage by consciously choosing knowledge over neglect, every single day.

My practical tip on this concept is that we should choose to read at least a page of a character-building book, everyday. And with time, we will multiply in knowledge and vitality. 

Or we can care less about such behaviour, thinking it doesn’t matter.  And with time, we will find ourselves multiply in ignorance and staleness. The choice is ours! 

Meanwhile, we must not only study, we must apply what we learn for we advance only by doing.

Finally, in a world of compounding power, the development of our mind and character is practically the most profitable business anyone can ever build. And the best way I know to do it is: day by day. We live in a knowledge-based society. 

SEIZE THE DAY AND BEAT PROCRASTINATION, ONE TASK AT A TIME.

“It is easy to dodge our responsibilities, but we cannot dodge the consequences of dodging our responsibilities.”—Josiah Stamp

As red blooded Homo sapiens, procrastination is a natural malady that every one of us must conquer to reach our highest potential. 

From a very young age, we tend to struggle between doing and delaying what needs to be done. But now at this stage, we must understand that success will only go to those who have learnt to do now what others will rather do later. 

Furthermore, the real danger of procrastination is that, the simplest tasks can become really hard when they are allowed to accumulate into a big heap. As the American aphorist and professor emeritus of French, Mason Cooley said, “Procrastination makes easy things hard, hard things harder.”

Observably, those who delayed yesterday are likely to repeat the same thing tomorrow.  This is certainly a habit we don’t want to build. Unfortunately, some people do just, and they remain hooked on sloth, till the end of their lives.

In order for us to be free of such a disaster, I am sharing today one simple idea that we can use to overcome procrastination for good. And it is, to go small—or even very small— on the task at hand, no matter how hard or how big it actually is. 

GO SMALL ON THE TASK

“The man who procrastinates struggles with ruin.”—Hesiod 

Sometimes, it's easy to feel somewhat besieged by the utter volume of work on our desks. As a result, we find it even easier to put off the whole tasks for a while, until a while becomes dangerously longer than we can afford.

To counteract such ruinous temptation in the midst of massive tasks that are starring at us in the face, I suggest we ask this focusing question, “What is important now?” 

At any moment of confusion on what to do, when you have too many things to do, pause for a while and ask yourself the question, “What is important now?” And for that moment, forget everything else. Choose to think only of that important, one task.

Then again, if that one task is really huge, don’t dodge it because there is no better use of your time at the moment, than doing just that one thing. Instead, break it down into smaller parts that are easily doable by numbering the broken pieces from, say one to six. And, don’t mind whether the mini objective has an immediate effect on the task as a whole. Just make sure it is definite, meaningful and bite-sized.

By breaking this huge task into manageable pieces, it becomes far easier to beat procrastination and spring into action. More so, crossing off smaller parts of the giant task brings a wonderful sense of accomplishment to you as you proceed on the job. And the speed with which you will complete the task may surprise you.

This simple strategy—used on the basis of time—was responsible for the prolific output of the famous English Novelist of the Victorian era, Anthony Trollope who published more than forty novels on topical matters.

His smart methodology was to write 250 words every 15 minutes. And he would maintain this pattern for three hours each day. That is about twelve 15-minute blocks in a three-hour session. Quite simple but very powerful!

This approach engendered gradual progress which in turn created momentum that made it almost impossible for him to think about procrastinating. And with the corresponding feelings of effectiveness and motivation; he was able to achieve the mammoth feat of writing many successful books.

Back to you my enthusiastic reader; use this strategy to seize your own day, every day. Never let your irreplaceable asset slip away by always remembering the words of the President of the defunct Soviet Union,  Mikhail Gorbachev when he said: “Those who are late will be punished by life itself.”

ENVISION AND PURSUE A NEW DREAM

“The past is but the beginning of a beginning, and all that is and has been is but the twilight of the dawn.”— H. G Wells

When we dwell on the past at the expense of the future, we wane. 

This happens by wasting today to bemoan yesterday. That’s a double loss because we have lost yesterday and still not making the most of today.

The truth is this: no matter what has happened in the past, it is absolutely impossible for anyone to go back to before. 

A  better alternative to bemoaning is to start doing something today to make tomorrow better. And it starts by envisioning a new dream and vigorously pursuing it.

Therefore, we need to close the door on the past and use the present as a stepping stone towards a better future for ourselves and our world. 

We need to do something now.

DO SOMETHING NOW

As the efficiency expert and the author of Focal Point, Brian Tracy once advised:

“Always choose the future over the past. What do we do now?”

Consequently, the main question is: What am I doing now?

And here are some derivatives of that one question…

Now, am I envisioning a new dream?

Now, am I setting a new goal?

Now, am I creating a new identity?

Now, am I being more proactive?

Now, am I being more productive?

Now, am I doing something today that will live on to benefit others long after I am gone?

What about you? What will you start now for the sake your future self?

What will you start now to make your highest contribution to the world?

We all have a responsibility to become more in order to give back more.

Know this, your destiny and legacy will not be determined by what has happened to you in the past but your legacy and destiny will be determined by what you choose to do now.

So dare to pursue a direction that will allow you to stretch beyond where you are now. And help you grow by using your talents, gifts and skills in new and exciting ways. 

This is the way to be an active force in your own life. This is the way to take charge of your own destiny. This is the start of designing a life of substance and enduring meaning.

Moreover, when we choose to transcend our history by committing to a better future, we will begin to realize how resourceful we can be. We will begin to realize the impact we can make. 

Finally, if we can learn to do this relentlessly, then we will be headed in the right destination. Because we have held the key to our entire lives as the English writer and author of the satirical novella, Animal Farm, George Orwell eloquently put it that, “He who controls the past controls the future. He who controls the present controls the past.”