Useful Thoughts

The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people. As you grow, your associates will change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are.

Friends that don’t help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don’t increase you will eventually decrease you. Consider this:

• Never receive counsel from unproductive people.
• Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeed themselves are always first to tell you how.
• Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person.
• Don’t follow anyone who’s not going anywhere. With some people you spend an evening: with others you invest it.
•  Be careful where you stop to inquire for directions along the road of life.
• Wise is the person who fortifies his life with the right friendships.
• If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl. But, if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights.

“A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.” The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate – for the good and the bad.

Note: Be not mistaken. This is applicable to family as well as friends”. Colin Powell.

BRB

Today on my way to work, I listened to Star 101.5 FM and had the pleasure of hearing Mofe Oyatogun (OAP) on the early morning belt, speak about how important it is to work towards your goals in life no matter the challenges you may face. Within the past couple of months, she’s been able to take a tour of her top travel destinations.

My discourse this morning is not about travel destinations but how we can take a cue from Mofe and achieve our own goals as well. One of the goals I had last year was a change of job because I felt the time had come to challenge myself in a new field that’s not related to the industry I work with. Every morning I would spare a glance at the stick it note on my wardrobe to remind myself of my next step in life. That was the only goal I could not achieve in 2010 though I was invited for some job interviews which led to nowhere. This is 2011 and in a couple of weeks, i’ll be resuming at a new organization which offers greater challenges in managing a global household brand. I’m excited and it brings to mind the popular maxim that you have to demand from life whatever you want.

Life might throw a couple of spanners across your way but eventually it’ll give you what you want. I’ll be on a much needed vacation as from 1st of June and won’t be back till July. However, you can check back for my travel logs and pictures of the tourist attractions i’ll be visiting. Ciao.

Word of the Month

Image via Wikipedia

Don’t just have career or academic goals. Set goals to give you a balanced, successful life. I use the word balanced before successful. Balanced means ensuring your health, relationships, mental peace are all in good order. There is no point in driving a car if your back hurts. Shopping is not enjoyable if your mind is full of tensions.

Life is one of those races in nursery school where you have to run with a marble in a spoon kept in your mouth. If the marble falls, there is no point coming first. Same is with life where health and relationships are the marble. Your striving is only worth it if there is harmony in your life. Else, you may achieve success, but this spark, this feeling of being excited and alive, will start to die.

One thing about nurturing the spark – don’t take life too seriously. Life is not meant to be taken seriously, as we are really temporary here. We are like a pre-paid card with limited validity. If we are lucky, we may last another 50 years. And 50 years is just 2,500 weekends. Do we really need to get so worked up?

It’s okay, bunk a few classes, scoring low in couple of papers, goof up a few interviews, take leave from work, enjoy your friends, fall in love, little fights with your loved ones. We are people, not programmed devices.

Don’t be serious, be sincere.

I came across these words and I thought it’d be a good idea of encouraging everyone out there to live life while taking out time to sniff the roses. Have a great week peeps.

Free Domain Names from UpperLink

In order to populate the .NG Registry with Active domains, Upperlink Limited is giving out 50,000 domains free. This promo will be on till the end of February or till the 50,000 free domains are exhausted.
This means that your open domains will not be paid for during this period.

Upperlink is giving out:

Free Domain Names
Free DNS
+
Complementary Services
Up to 50 free emails (7 GB Capacity each)
Free Website Builder and Tools
Free Hosting

However, there are conditions attached.

Please see the Terms and Conditions below.

Terms and Conditions
1. NIRA’s Domain Name Policy applies to domain registration.

2. Domains will be registered under the .NG extension for example for my domain to be registered on .com.ng will be registered as mydomain.com.ng.

3. The offer applies only to open domains .com.ng, .org.ng, .name.ng, .mobi.ng, .sch.ng

4. NIRAs policy on premium names stand please see NIRAs premium domain name list. Domains listed in this category cannot be registered, such domains will be auctioned.

5. For multiple year registrations only the first year will be charged. Subsequent years will be paid for, this means that if you’re registering for 5 years, the first year will be free, 4 years will be paid for.

6. Registrants of the offer must ensure that their domains are ACTIVE and constantly updated with web content, squatting and domain parking will not be tolerated, such domains will be deleted.

7. No domain name may be used, directly or indirectly, by any site that contains and not limited to fraudulent, defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, offensive, obscene, infringing, or threatening content. NIRA reserves the right to delete the domain if discovered that they are used for such activities.

8. The renewal fee of N1,500.00 must be paid by the registrant on a yearly basis to sustain the domain after the first year (2011 which will be registered free of charge).

9. Registrants must agree at the time of registration that, to the best of their knowledge, the name they are registering does not violate trademark law in Nigeria.

Do take advantage of this offer and register your ACTIVE domains NOW.

To sign up for free domains Click Here
http://www.upperlink.com.ng/web/?page_id=1

Send a mail to freeedomains@upperlink.com.ng for more details

NOTE
If you have already registered you can register new companies and tell others.

Defining your Future

I attended a meeting over the weekend. I had the opportunity of being addressed by a senior colleague, who I consider a friend and mentor. She’s simply amazing. Here are the excerpts of the address and hope it motivates you to define your own future.

• Have a vision – continually ask yourself what your vision is. Write it down and stick it in a conspicous place, where you can put your mind to it.
• See what you are prepared to see. If you focus on the negative, be prepared for the worst.
• Seize the day and fulfill your dream or goals to achieve success in life.
• Look within you; what do you feel? There’s never a particular age for excellence. YOU CAN CHANGE THE GAME.
• Have an inner dream (ignite your fire).
• Look behind you, what have you learnt?
• Leadership is not definite within a particular stage.
• Define what’s important and what’s not.
• Struggle to be part of the top 20 (I mean acheivers).
• Integrity is what and who you are.
• Develop yourself (dont’wait for your employer- this is the biggest calling of leadership).

Finally, I leave you with this chinese proverb:

“If you want to plan for a year, grow rice; If you want to plan for 10 years, grow trees; If you want to plan for a decade, grow men” .

What’s going on?

Working with people in an organization usually requires a lot of tact. Today, a colleague of mine at the Head Office sent a nasty mail carefully couched in polite terms to make it seem non threatning. I sent a response back using carefully worded thoughts which was aimed at hitting below the belt. Sometimes, I just can’t stand the unnecessary superiority exhibition that goes on within the workplace. Honestly, it’s infuriating. This brings me to another careful observation that I have made within the workplace. Have you noticed how a lot of people have thrown caution to the wind and casually express themselves in improper use of the English Language?

Granted it is not our mother tongue but, it is useful in terms of business and social communications since we live in a country with 251 diverse tribes. How else can we express ourselves better? We are not like the South Africans who were able to develop a new language (i.e. Afrikaans) for their larger populace in order to ease communication amongst indigenous and caucasian South Africans. While our lowering educational standards can be one of the reasons, I am of the firm opinion that we require a continous individual development program for better use of the English Language. Oftentimes, I shudder when listening to the radio during one of these call back programmes. I cannot help cringing when someone expresses themselves improperly while trying to air their opinions. I would have loved to state some of the way and manners in which Nigerian express themselves poorly but time will not permit me today. I guess ‘Jenifa’ is a good example that I can think of right away. So, I ask…..what’s going on?