The Answer To All Life's Challenges

If you could find a one-word answer to all of your life’s problems, what would it be? This article is meant to answer this question.

Success can simply be defined as getting up one more time after a fall. Therefore, when it comes to winning and conquering challenges, action is not just one of those things, ACTION is everything! No matter what you know, or how indispensable your plan is or how great the number of opportunities available to you, you can never rise above your readiness to move in the direction of your dreams.

Oftentimes the destiny of individuals or even a nation is hinged on just one action to be taken by a courageous leader. John F. Kennedy empowered American astronauts and scientists in 1960, and nine years later, man landed on the moon for very first time. Rosa Parks initiated a resistance against the stigmatisation of blacks in America and eventually Barack Obama emerged as the first black American president. Elder statesman, Anthony Enahoro moved a motion for the independence of our dear nation and today we are an independent nation.

The effect of your action today may not be as significant, but just as these seemingly small actions changed the destiny of nations, a single action you take today can set you up for greatness. Are you in a job you believe is not paying well enough to meet your financial needs? Then take action by looking inwards. Learn a new skill, read a book or enrol for a degree course. You don’t know how far you can go until you begin to take steps.

If you are struggling with a dangerous habit, take a bold step by speaking to a mentor, spiritual leader or friend. If you have taken enough actions on the five previous steps in this series you should have enough solutions that you can act upon.
In the face of various challenges that I faced during my NYSC year, I took a bold step to run a one-day project. This led me to meet the VIPs in Enugu state and eventually earned me a State Award as the third best corper in the state.
The world is full of dreamers but if you can be courageous enough to take actions towards accomplishing your dreams, no challenge would be strong enough to stop you.
Below are five suggestions that will help you.

1. BELEIVE IN YOURSELF. Most people don’t believe in themselves because they have allowed their past experiences and the opinion of others to define how they see themselves. You don’t need faith when everything seems to be intact. You need to believe when it’s like you are not seeing the kind of results you should be getting. Failure is the drill master for success and success would always test your resolve for greatness. Therefore you must prove to success that you are worthy of accomplishments. The more courageous actions you take, the more colourful your future becomes.

2. BE HONEST ABOUT YOUR TRUE ABILITIES. Although man has an unlimited capacity for greatness, we all have our unique areas of strengths and gifting. So, concentrate more on those areas where you can accomplish things cheaply and you’ll be sure to succeed more frequently than most other people. Know who you are and find out where you fit in. And then allow others to help you in the areas of your weakness.

3. DON’T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT. It is not all your actions that would yield great results, but if you are afraid of experimenting you may screen out the actions that would lead to your major breakthrough. Trying to avoid failure at all cost is not only a waste of precious time; it is also a waste of effort. Breakthrough ideas sometimes appear as foolish thoughts. So you must not overlook them.


4. VALUE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS. There are people who matter most to you in your life. You must respect them, value them and honour them. Your spouse, parents, children, mentors, friends, associates are people you must not ignore when trying to accomplish great feats. They possess the important comments, suggestions and insights that would lead you to your treasures in life. Occasionally you may encounter discouraging remarks from a loved one. Ignore them politely. Listen, but don’t accept everything you hear. Every constructive advice comes with positive suggestions that move you closer to your goals. Let this be your guide.


5. KEEP WINNING. You are only as good as your last victory. Therefore, act like every great boxer; visit the gym the next day after your last victory. That’s the only way to stay relevant and fulfilled.

Till next month. Cheers.

When Times Are Tough; Which Way Do You Go?

We are currently experiencing one of the toughest times in history. Each day that passes present us with challenges, stress problems, job insecurities, troubled relationships, health issues and so on. But does that mean that these challenges are insurmountable? Certainly not! However, this is only true for those who know how to deal with them. How then do we deal with challenges?

Everyone under the sun has two persons in them: a champion and a loser. No matter who you are and where you come from, your future would be essentially determined by the one you allow to dominate you. If the above title caught your attention enough to read on, then you are likely to be dominated by the champion in you. If you are currently asking, “How can I come out of the challenges I am currently facing?”, then the answers you seek are in the next few lines.

Having worked with various clients and friends, trying to help them to overcome very difficult emotional, career, business and health challenges, I would recommend the following seven-step process for overcoming any challenge you are currently faced with. Let’s start with the first step:

Step 1: Take a Break.

When you are faced with an overwhelming situation, this is the first thing to do: Stop. Sit down, take a deep breath and relax. Give yourself time to temporarily forget about the ‘mountain’ before you. Activity is not productivity. Understand that you are not in competition with anyone. Most of those you see running around, and round the clock don’t even know where they are going. Anytime you feel you are under pressure to ‘perform’ or keep running a failed project, it’s time to STOP. If you don’t, you stand the risk of making too many more mistakes.

The challenge is a pointer that something is wrong somewhere. Therefore take time out to catch your breath, and then you can start thinking. Start by counting your blessings. Thank God for the things that you can be grateful for; it could be a good wife or loved one who will always be there for you; think about that great job, good health, or ever-expanding business you’re blessed with. Think about the gift of life. Think about your past successes and breakthroughs. This would help you to restore your self-worth and gain confidence.

Your “Break” time is also the time to put the problems you are facing in the right perspective. Challenges are not equal to troubles. Seeing your problems as merely challenges makes you want to find solutions to them. But seeing your problems as troubles destroys your confidence and erodes your self-esteem. When you stop to think, your solutions flow to you so easily.

Your “break” time could be a regular time of the day probably in the early hours of the morning or midnight seasons. It could also be in form of a vacation away from a stressful job or project preferably outside your immediate environment. The brain often needs a new environment to capture inspired ideas.

According to Currie Ten Boom, “worry does not empty tomorrow of its problems, it only empties today of its strength”. Take a break and get ready to weather the storms of your life.