THIS CHILD WILL BE GREAT



 Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman PRESIDENT –ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF

This piece of work is about the life of an icon from childhood to stardom and without any additions a motivational book. It is an interplay of fate and destiny. A compact of the historical, present and futuristic information about Liberia, live of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her role towards the democratization of Liberia. But beyond this, the book is an encyclopedia for upcoming leaders and for achievement of great leadership. The book is a character molder.

The power of the spoken word, accepted, believed and pursued with vigor and absolute trust in God. The book focused on, her childhood to the position of presidency without any room for the conventional African wisdom that is gender sensitive.

Success as achieved by the author and character in this book was made possible by total adherence to the unmistakable values of life which are – hard-work, honesty and humility.

In the revelations of this piece of work is the manifestation of the words of Thomas Jefferson:

‘’we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights’’ -and the bible says he gave to each according to their strength’’

 

THE FORCE BEHIND THE JOURNEY TO PRESIDNECY - An old man visited the home of baby Ellen Johnson when she was born and why standing by the bed side said looking at the baby, ‘’this child will be great’’.  Her mother took in these words which later became a prediction, a dream, a goal and focus for President Ellen Johnson. She once said:

‘’at many of the junctures in which my mother recalled the words of the wise old man, my life seemed anything but great’’ Looking up to the prediction of the wise old man continued to give hope in the struggle to liberate her father land. Remove your eyes from your focus and all you see is obstacle. One’s believe in predestination banishes fear.

Be grateful to God and speak positive about your fatherland. The young Ellen was once told; ‘’Persons coming to Africa should expect to go through many hardships’’ and she wrote in reaction to the above quote;

‘’I expect it and was not disappointed or discouraged in anything I met with; and so far from being dissatisfied with the country; I bless the Lord that ever, my lot was cast in this part of the earth’’

Remain connected to your indigenous roots, be proud of who you are –the words of Ellen Johnson ‘’In the end I have been throughout my life, first and foremost, ahead of everything, a Liberian. Everything else came afterward’’

SMALL DECISIONS –Sometimes it is the small decisions in life that end up shaping our future the most.

SELF POTENTIALS – The ability to believe in one’s potentials is a pedestal for becoming a great leader and personality. Ellen Johnson’s words;

 

‘’One thing I had always believed in was my own potential, and I knew it did not lie in filing papers and collecting payments as the secretary in an auto garage. Nor as much as I loved my children, did it lie in simply raising them’’.

 

SELF DEPENDENCE – Ability to articulate the risk in every action to be taken is key in the pursuit for great leadership. ‘’when push comes to shove and at the end of the day, depend on yourself, no one else is guaranteed to be there –no one’’

No one achieves success in isolation of the subordinates -‘’In an organization, success in development depends upon a partnership between the Management and its staffers. But for such a partnership to succeed, staffers must believe their Management to be honest, efficient and willing and able to mobilize the resources for the common goal’’

‘’Success is not characterized by full knowledge but with idea and guts’’. This is the reason for the use of the old clitche –‘’business venture’’ to describe undertaken of a new business activity.

Redeployment and or Realignment on its own is not a challenge but the stand point from where it is viewed. Ellen at any point in time she was posted to different countries and assignments took all as great opportunities to develop herself the more and increase her contacts. All because she remained focused on her goal.

 

‘’ In life/job, one should consider realignment as not a period of surrender but a strategic retreat for growth, connections and respite.’’

 

Nonetheless, ‘’it is good to quit when the ovation is very high. This decision can only be taken if one is focused and remained focused’’.

 

In the course of life and living, one is encouraged to make and keep all contacts as they will come handy someday along life journey. Severing relationships is therefore not an option for any human and especially for upcoming leaders it is so.

‘’It is better and important to always keep the lines of communication open than to close them.’’

Leadership requires stamina, it requires a whole lot of acceptance, the ability to remain committed to your cause and to have the courage of your conviction. Any leadership operating contrary to this is bound to fail.

 

‘’Business collapses when the leader/Management ignores an increasingly displeased workforce or responds with more oppression’’.

 

To succeed, one has to become part of the organization’s culture. Everything centers on what is contributed to the bottom line and it is important to remember that…

A leader must be able and willing to tolerate criticisms. The least that can be done is to siege them and work on the ones that are constructive.

 

‘’The inability to tolerate criticism is a troublesome trait in any human being but in a leader it is especially so. As a leader you will get hit. You will get hit verbally sometimes with some very harsh words, you must be prepared to take criticism to stand still and let it just pass over you without resorting to retribution or revenge’’. Being able to take it is part of the price of leadership.

 

Leadership has many challenges and these challenges are Serious. Too often people in their eagerness to stand and command ‘’Follow me! neglect to consider the downside. They do not for example, consider the possibility of ostracision. But the truth is that if you want to lead and be hailed, you must also be prepared to be ostracized, because surely it will happen at some point in your career.

 

‘’If you want to lead, you have to accept that there will be conscious attempts to push you into forgetfulness. You have to be prepared to be very lonely sometimes’’.

 

When a leader allows what causes disunity or a cleavage to go for so long without addressing it forcefully and frontally, he sets the stage for disaster.

‘’What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life, all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations’’.

Violence is a vicious, contagious disease easily spread so much so is workforce dissatisfaction. The consciousness of Management to the welfare of the workforce is therefore key to the stability and eventual success of an organization. A workforce that has been radicalized will not be turned back. Progress maybe slowed by oppression but it will not be stopped.

Great leaders live their life with great moderation and simplicity and even greater integrity. They also leave their followers unified. Great leaders are decisive, focused, disciplined and honest.

 

‘’Unless a leader draw people to him or herself, either they are going to go into oblivion, thus wasting their contributions and skills or they will become an active force working against the agenda you try to set.’’

 

A leader is connected to the past and traditions but not bound by them. Leaders must sometimes force old traditions to give way for to new requirements. It requires understanding that sacrifices will be made and the willingness to make them again and again.

The greatest sacrifice is putting everything important ahead of yourself. In effect, to be a great leader is to sacrifice yourself, to be great leader means to get to a place where personal consideration and needs become secondary to the achievement of your goal.

Most leaders are not born with these qualities, instead their life encounters influenced them thereby molding them into great leaders.

 

‘’It is reasonable to think that certain people are born with these qualities but their experiences as they go through life serves greatly to add to and strengthen them.’’

 

Culled from: ‘’This Child Will Be Great’’- Memoir of a Remarkable Life, by Africa’s First                             Woman President - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf

 

 

 

YOU ARE WHAT YOU THINK

‘As A Man Thinketh’, by James Allen

The maxim, “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” embraces the whole of a man’s being, both his condition and circumstances in life.  A man is literally what he thinks, and his character is the sum total of all his thoughts.

Man is made or unmade by himself.  In the armory of thought, he either forges the weapons by which he destroys himself or fashions the tools with which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy, strength and peace.  Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this – that man is the master of thought, the molder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.  Man is the maker of his character, the molder of his life, and the builder of his destiny; he may unerringly prove, if he will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself, upon others and upon his life and circumstances, linking cause and effect by patience, practice and investigation.

A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, and just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free from weeds and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the wrong, useless and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection, the flowers and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts.

Thoughts and character are one, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer conditions of a person’s life will always be found to be harmoniously related to his inner state.

A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life.  As he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts, ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.

Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the material conditions of his life.  Men imagine that thoughts can be kept secret, but it cannot.  It rapidly crystallizes into habits and habits solidify into circumstances.

Thoughts of fear, doubts and indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly, and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure, indigence, and slavish dependence.  Lazy thoughts crystallize into weak habits of uncleanliness and dishonesty, which solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary. On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances.  Thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and decision crystallize into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances of success, plenty, and freedom.  Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the world will soften towards him and be ready to help him. 

The body is the servant of the mind, so thought has effect on the body and health.  Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in thought.  Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly body.  Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily as a bullet.  The people who live in fear of disease are the people who get it.  Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole body, and lays it open to the entrance of disease, while impure thoughts, even if not physically indulged, will sooner shatter the nervous system.

If you would perfect your body, guard your mind.  If you would renew your body, beautify your mind.  Thoughts of malice, envy, disappointment and despondency, rob the body of its health and grace.

There will also be no intelligent accomplishment if thought is not linked with purpose.  Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction.  They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pitying, all of which are indications of weakness, which lead to failure, unhappiness, and loss.

 

Culled from:  ‘As A Man Thinketh’, by James Allen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

‘Money Ball’



‘Money Ball’ by Michael Lewis

Introduction

This book by Michael Lewis delves into the reasons behind the mysterious success of Oakland Athletics, one of the poorest teams in US baseball league. The book was written in a bid to answer the question: how did one of the poorest teams in baseball, the Oakland Athletics, win so many games? In a game where players are bought at unbelievable prices, where winning / losing is a matter of who’s got the bigger financial muscle, Oakland A’s go on to make a baseball history with rejected players and rookie players.

Moneyball is a book in which Billy Beane, the General Manager of the Oakland A’s and main character of this book, works with one of the lowest budgets in all of baseball to win a World Series. In order to do that, he needs to find the best, cheapest, most efficient way to win.

So, while the New York Yankees went after the big name players, who has the five ‘Tools’ (talent) i.e. the abilities to run, throw, field, hit and hit with power and even good muscular looks. Billy Beane, sought out undervalued players like Jeremy Brown, a catcher with an arm that wouldn’t quit and an astonishing two-year record of 390 at bats, 98 walks, 38 strikeouts, and 21 home runs…who also happened to weigh in at 210 pounds. Because other teams weren’t able to see past these physical or performance flaws, the A’s were able to scoop the players up for a fraction of their true worth, enabling Beane to craft a well-honed team while staying within his meager budget.

 

Overview

Billy Beane started out as a major league prospect being scouted by the New York Mets. He is drafted by the Mets, and he decides to play pro ball, just for the money. After his professional career goes awry, he is hired by the Oakland A’s to scout and eventually becomes the General Manager. After a while, Billy runs into a problem: he has one of the lowest budgets in the baseball world to work with. To help him, he hires Harvard graduate Paul DePodesta and changes the philosophy of the game. While getting ready for the 2002 season, Billy had three things; the draft, changing the way the team is run, and an extremely low budget to worry about while Paul had his statistics; a new and better way of understanding amateur players.

The books tends to point towards efficiency. The New York Yankees had a payroll of over a hundred million dollars. The Oakland A’s had less but still enough to do well. The A’s could drastically drop their payroll from over a hundred million that the Yankees were spending, to only 40-50 million. In this way, the team with the lower payroll will ultimately do better if they maintain the level of efficiency while increasing the payroll to an equal amount. It is because the Yankees are perhaps the richest team in baseball, that they do so well every year. Assuming they only had a budget of half of what they spend, they would only make the playoffs once every five to ten years. On the other hand, the more efficient teams would pound the Yankees every time.

One thing I really liked about this book is that it gives a lot of good information on how to make the most efficient baseball team. The book was able to find how Billy Beane and his assistant Paul DePodesta are able to single out the most important statistics and create a formidable team.

Conclusion

Michael Lewis’ Moneyball is truly a baseball masterpiece. What you do if you had less than half the money of other teams to win a Championship? This is the problem Billy Beane and Paul DePodesta have to face. Do you try to out-smart the other teams? Do you buy a couple of really good players and hope for the best? Do you just give up? The answer to all these questions and more are in the pages of Moneyball.

 

Thank you!

CHANGE YOUR WORDS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE



CHANGE YOUR WORDS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE
AUTHOR: JOYCE MEYER

JOYCE MEYER is a renowned Bible teacher, Author and speaker. She has written more than ninety inspirational books, including: Do Your Self A Favour, Forgive, Living Beyond Your Feelings…and many others. She has also released thousands of audio teachings and a complete video library. Joyce’s Enjoying Everyday life radio and TV programs are broadcast around the world and she travels extensively conducting conferences. Joyce is happily married to Dave her husband and they are parents of four grown children and make their home in St. Louis, Missouri.

 

INTRODUCTION

Thesis of this book is Understanding the Power of Spoken Word. How words that come out our mouth can make or mar us. The words we speak can poison, heal, start war, fight wars, and can make peace. Words can lead men to pinnacles of good and it can plunge men to the depth if evil. The depth and power of spoken word can be compared to the beginning in the book of Genesis, when God created Heaven and earth with Spoken word. This book further reemphasizes focus on the right words, positive word and deemphasizes negative words. In other words we should make conscious effort to speak only positive and good words and avoid speaking evil and negative words by being in agreement with God.

 

DEVELOPMENT

Impact of Word

She told the story of her friend Therese a worker, everyone in her office loved her. She always had a kind word for everyone. She has an amazing ability to make people feel good about themselves. She is very smart. In her 5years on the Job, she had received three promotions, and her employer had recently told her that she was on a fast track towards a management position. If things continued the way they were going, she could even expect a vice-presidency within just a few years. One evening while working late on a project, she discovered that her boss has made a bad judgment call in a speech that he had written and asked her to edit. He had included a foolish joke that some could find offensive. Therese picked up the phone to leave him a voice mail and tell him her thoughts. “What were you thinking boss” she said. “Don’t you know the CEO will hate that joke? And he has no sense of humor. Unfortunately, instead of sending the voice mail to her boss, Theresa inadvertently pressed a button that sent the voice mail to everyone in the company. The next morning chaos ensued. She was not dismissed but didn’t get the next promotion or the one after. The push of a button had stuck down her future at the company. Never underestimate the power of your words, kind words can save life.

Taming your Tongue

In other avoid speaking negatively, due to unpleasant outcome. Taming your tongue has become necessary, taming is not an easy task, but God can help. As believers we have to pray God should help us speak the right things, to be a mouth piece for God, if we are not careful we can unwilling be a voice for Satan. Tongue is a fire, start speaking good things. James 3:7-10

Characteristics of a matured Christian

Maturity is a key point in taming our tongue to avoid negative words coming out of our mouth. Talking too much and speaking rashly are signs of immaturity, and they cause a great deal of trouble. Many people say things without thinking and they wound others. God’s goal for us is that we mature spiritually and are no longer controlled by our own thoughts emotions and desires. He wants us to learn his word and direct our lives accordingly. 1 Corinthians 14:20

What do you want in the Future?

As Christians, God has set aside gift for each one of us. He wants us to receive them, use and enjoy them, but sometimes we fail to understand how to cooperate with God to get things from his realm (the spiritual) into ours (the natural). We frequently fail to speak of things that are not manifested yet as if they already exist. For example God’s word encourages us to say we are strong even if we are weak. Joel 3:10

The writer also talked about her first lesson about the power of words, how she grew up in a negative atmosphere, and developed a negative mind, attitude and mouth. When she begin to study God’s word with seriousness, she made a diligent effort not to say negative things, but she realized nothing has changed and she complaint to God, God told her, yes, you have stopped saying negative things but you have not started saying anything positive. She made a long list of positive confessions of things that she would like to see happening in her life in future.

You can Bless or curse your future, most of us don’t use our mouth at all for what God gave it to us for. There is great power and authority in words. The kind of power we have depends of the kind of words we speak. We can curse our future by speaking evil of it, or we can bless it by speaking well of it.

 

Staying strong through the storms of life

We should be careful of what we say when we are going through challenges, dark moments, trials and tribulations. These situations tempt us to say and do all kinds of things that we would not in good times. It is extremely important at these times to stand firm and be very careful about what we say.

Jesus was tempted many times, yet never sinned. His words were filled with faith. He chose during this time not to talk much. Let’s avoid foolish talks when we are upset.

Let us avoid words like these:

·         I don’t understand why this is happening-where is God?

·         I can’t take any more of this

·         I hate this

·         I am giving up

·         God you don’t love me

·         I am confused. I tried to do what is right and look at the mess I am in.

·         Nothing ever works out right for me

·         I’m sick and tired of trouble.

Please say these words instead

·         God is my strength, and I can do whenever I need to do in life through Christ Jesus.

·         All things work out for good for those that love God and are called according to his purpose.

·         God is faithful, he never leaves nor forsake me

·         I am more than a conqueror through Christ who strengthens me.

·         I will not fear, God is with me

·         Gods timing is perfect, and this storm will end right on time.

 

CONCLUSION

As earlier said words can heal, they can also injure, they can build up or tear down. They can encourage or discourage. They can open a door of blessing or open a door of destruction. Please watch your mouth, don’t make joke of something that God doesn’t think it’s funny, don’t use the Lords name in vain.

Finally our words belongs to us we must be responsible for how we use them. Perhaps now that we view them differently we will use them in a better way. They are valuable, they are containers for power, and they produce life or death for us and all who hear them. They are gifts from God and when used properly, they are one of our greatest assets. The more you improve the way you talk, the more your life will improve. Words contains power of life and death Proverbs 18:21

I encourage you to read the book of proverbs and highlight every passage that talks about the mouth, our words or tongue. Joyce is really excited that this book will change your life. Enjoy your journey and remember to thank God for every little bit of progress that you make. No man can tame tongue, so pray daily, and ask for Gods help in making sure the words of your mouth are acceptable in his sight.

 

 

Seven Choices For SUCCESS and SIGNIFICANCE

Seven Choices For SUCCESS and SIGNIFICANCE
How to live life from the inside out



What is Success? Success is a journey to achieve what one has set goal at. Success doesn’t come to anyone but with strategic thinking, clear vision of what to accomplish, practical systems to achieve set goals and consistent execution, Success emerges.

When we decide what we want to achieve and we determine the first step to getting what we want, we simply plunge into action and do the first thing that will move us towards our goal.

Success is neither a matter of luck nor an accident of birth. It is also not a reward of virtue. With the seven choices for success, we are only responsible for our success and the joy therein. It is not just to succeed, but to use our success to impact people’s lives, to impact the world, to allow life flow from our inside and reflect out.

The choices we make determine the person we will become. The power to affect our future lies in our own hands. Every one of us has the freedom to choose how we will respond to the circumstances surrounding us. The will to win, the desire to succeed and the urge to reach one’s full potentials are keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.

Regardless of where we were born, what our financial positions are in life, when we love what we do and show passion towards our possibilities, we will experience joy and fulfillment from our inner selves.

The 7 key choices that determine our success include:

1.    Choose Transformational Patterns: Life is change, while growth is optional. For us to become successful in life, we must choose to transform our lives. The transformational choices are wise decisions that can change the direction of our lives.  Shaping our lives on path to success can be achieved by making a “To-be” list and adhering to it, for example, I want to be more generous, more patient, more learned, more passionate.

 

2.    Choose Energy Management over Time Management: There is need to focus on activities that contribute to the greatest value in our lives, while activities that contribute little or no value to our lives can be eliminated.

 

3.    Choose to Give: A natural Phenomena goes thus ”The more you give, the more you get…there is no happiness in having or in getting, but only in giving”

 

It is all about giving versus giving back; loving versus loving back. It is unconditional. Those who sow abundantly reap abundantly. This is the way a successful life thrives: invest one third in earning, one third in learning and one third in serving.

 

4.    Choose to be authentic: Authenticity trumps charisma any day. People want to do business with people they like and people they trust. Trust is a big thing. To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved. If people say they need you in their lives, then you have a great life. A successful man is someone who people trust.

 

5.    Choose to live a life in Balance: We come into the world head first and go out feet first; in between, it is all a matter of balance.  Every successful man needs to strike a balance with five kinds of capital: FINANCIAL, EDUCATIONAL, REPUTATIONAL, RELATIONAL and PHYSICAL.  It is Key to note that “A man’s reputation is what other people think he is; while his character is what God knows him to be”.

 

6.    Choose to be Positive: “A strong positive mental attitude will create more miracles than any wonder drug”. The first rule of developing a positive mental attitude is to act positively. A positive heart is thankful while whining is the opposite of thanksgiving. A positive heart will not complain about what it does not like. A man on his way to success will rather change his attitude towards a matter he cannot change than wear the cloth of complaint. A positive attitude at the dawn of the day will lead you to success all through the day. A great attitude is not the result of success; Success is the result of a great attitude. One’s beliefs lead to his behaviors and behaviors lead to results. If you don’t like the results, don’t fuss about your behaviors, examine and realign your beliefs.

 

7.    Choose to be a Risk Taker: The greatest risk in life is NEVER taking one. It is not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It is because we dare not venture that they are difficult. The process of growing and learning always involves risk and everything, from the smallest entrepreneurial business, to our country’s space program, was built on risk.

 

A man on his journey to success chooses to be a risk taker. If you take risk out of life, you take opportunity out of life. Risk management solves every problem. Successful people don’t avoid risks, they learn to manage them. They don’t dive off cliffs into unexplored waters. They learn how deep the water is, and make sure there are no hidden obstacles. Then they plunge into the water!

The risk management tools that can guide every inherent risk include: What’s the best thing that can happen as a result of taking this risk? What’s the most likely thing to happen as a result of taking this risk? What’s the worst thing that can happen as a result of taking this risk? These tools are applicable to anything in life - from buying real estate, entering into a partnership, evaluating a new job or travelling into a new city. If these tools are put in place, you’ll make some good decisions.

Conclusion: 

“Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start”.

 

Using the seven keys above, one can choose success and significance. A solid fact remains; success is not a matter of luck, not an accident of birth, not a reward for virtue. The most successful people are the ones who have something to do, somewhere to be and someone to love. No one is responsible for your success or joy. It all starts with the choices we make…they determine the person we will become.

 

Culled from:  Seven Choices for Success and Significance - how to live life from the inside out, by Nido R. Qubein