Tag Archives: Success

Book Review, Personal development

Friday Book Review with Chuks | Why Authors Fail by Derek Doepker.

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I’ve been struggling personally with writing a book and I felt it might be your personal challenge too.

Writing a book has lots of advantages. Key amongst this is placing you as a thought leader in your field. And if you’ve been following this blog, you’ll discover the direction we’ve been going:

Helping those who love their career create a niche for themselves in that career.

And if this is your goal, because it’s mine too, then I think you’ll need to write books as one way to share your insight and establish your presence.

So, what has Derek Doepker got to say about why authors fail?

Struggling Authors Don’t See the Big Picture From the Start. Why are you writing? What topic do you want to write on? Have you done your research?

Struggling Authors Get Themselves Habitually Distracted. One of my valley zones! I’ve discovered that if you don’t block time to write, it’ll be difficult to accomplish a blog post let alone a book.

Struggling Authors Believe Passion is all it Takes. Writing is bigger than passion. Derek prescribed these: identify the skills you need to develop, practise those skills until you become proficient, identify which skills you can delegate to others and find, hire & manage others with skills that can complete the task.

Related:

Struggling Authors Worry About Perfection. I’m getting off this gradually. In fact, if you’ve been following, you’d have seen some errors here too. That’s not to say I don’t try to correct them. Yet, I know that perfection comes from action not waiting.

Struggling Authors Lack Accountability. Everyone is busy. No one wants to complement. Yet, we’ve forgotten that one will chase a thousand but two ten thousand.

Struggling Authors Don’t Know Their Audience. I’m breaking away from this too. And that’s why I’d advice you get to create online platforms to begin to connect with those you want to write for. Try to have physical contact with them too. It helps. You can check this Why Publishers Want Authors With Platforms.

Struggling Authors Don’t Follow Proven Formulas. Another hitch! But be careful. Following a formula does not mean you can’t alter it. It means having a good plan to start with while you can adjust as you proceed.

Struggling Authors Worry Too Much About People Pleasing. There should be a balance between knowing your audience and trying to please everyone. You need to know that every book will be criticized.

Struggling Authors Don’t Deliver Ongoing Value. Hmmm… This is important too. If you want to be a good author, it’s not a one off thing. No. It is not… Start using your Whatsapp to offer value. What about your Facebook page? IG account? Twitter?

Struggling Authors Don’t Innovate. What are you going to do to make your book different? What element will you add to make it more exciting? That can include a quiz in each chapter or a game or a teaser or something… Imitation + Creation = Innovation.

Struggling Authors Don’t Utilize Their Greatest Resources. I was blown off when I saw this… Gush!!! Your greatest resources are fellow writers like you. See what the author said about this one:

Struggling Authors see other authors and authorities as competitors. Successful authors see them as companions.

I’ll stop here. The book contains at least 17 points. To get the real deal off it, you can get a hard copy here or send me a message to get the soft copy.

For me, the one that remains hot is this: authors fail because they refuse to start writing daily.

Book Review, Career Development, Personal development

Friday Book Review with Chuks | The 9 Dimensions of Success by David Nielson.

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Can you imagine today is 3rd of January, 02:24am and I’m publishing this work now. Is the year running so fast again?

I can hear the fireworks blasting and smelling in my New Year’s night imagination. But you know what, business goes on. Life goes on.

Well, let’s see in this video, what insights David E. Nielson has in his book: The 9 Dimensions of Conscious Success.

I so much love this video because it’s short and the questions for each point is mentioned there. So, as you listen, it’ll be good to have a pen to note them.

For our quotes, we’ll not have it this week. Just have a time to brood on the questions David Nielson raised in the video.

Again, welcome to 2020 and my first post for the year. Why not dive into that project of yours and do something about it now?

It’s not about showing up in the office. Rather you should be able to answer the question, “What did I produce today?” after each day.

Our next book review will be on the 17th of January, 2020. Keep your eyes and heart attuned and don’t let the traffic 🚃🚕 of Lagos (or the busyness of your city) make you loose your peace!

Do have a sweet and successful 2020 building your niche in your career!

Career Development, Personal development

4 Things to Make Your Goals Achievable in 2020.

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I think I’ve mentioned this before that I started goal setting when I was seventeen. And I’ve looked at certain years with despair. Why?

After going through books like GOALS by Brian Tracy I don’t understand why my goals will not be achieved. Looking closely, you’ll see that this is one of the reasons we don’t set goals.

Yet, I still do set goals. Why? I’ve discovered these four secrets. There might be others but this is what I’ve worked with that has produced results, including this blog.

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Are your goals CONNECTED TO YOU? You don’t set goals for me. I set goals for me and you for you. Why? I know where it hits me the most. And you know where it hits you the most.

What triggers a musician might not be what triggers a salesman. Let your goals be yours. In that way, it’ll be easier to feel inspired by it.

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Are you taking strategic ACTIONS?

The universe doesn’t give you what you ask for with your thoughts – it gives you what you demand with your actions.
Steve Maraboli

Are goals animate?

SO, why do I set a goal to write a book and I refuse to put down a pen daily to write… After a while, I grumble that goal setting doesn’t work.

Setting goals without acting on them is like having a desire to cook and eat beans but then you decide to put few cups of uncooked beans inside a pot, on the stove without lighting the stove.

What will you get after 1hr?

After taking actions, are you willing to be PATIENT? I can remember my first date… Chai! I palpated that day like I was going to see a Governor. After the whole euphoria, I landed at Kilimanjaro restaurant. Guess what?

She wasn’t there. Guy, I waited o. No reason am… We die here! She finally came and we “prayed” lol! I knew my goal. I acted but see, I waited o.

Everything we do on earth has an element of time in it. Do you know when I started dreaming of having a blog?

Patience is not sitting in your house and expecting to loose 8kg. It is visiting the gym, over time, with an expectation of the result you desire.

Are you LEARNING ALONG THE WAY? If I tell you the number of blog sites I’ve created, you’ll laugh at me. The sites are on but I won’t share it now.

As a teens coach, one of the first assignments I had in 2016 was to speak to a group of teens in a school I’d not been to. See, it was so tough. I had the passion but do it nah… If I hear!

Until I started practising weekly, I was just day dreaming about speaking to teens. Today, I know I can stand anywhere to talk with teens. Why? I’ve acted on it over time and I’ve learnt what doesn’t work and what works.

I think sometimes when we don’t act on our goals, we don’t know what we need to stop doing and what to start doing.

The first feedback you get as you act on your goals is usually to differentiate what works from what does not.

As 2020 comes, please take time to apply these principles to each of your goals: make sure it’s connected to you; take actions daily – babe take action; be patient and then keep learning (the learning includes knowing when to throw away some goals).

Merry Christmas in arrears and Happy New Year in advance!

Book Review, Career Development, Personal development

FRIDAY BOOK REVIEW WITH CHUKS | MANAGE YOUR DAY TO DAY: Build Your Routine, Find Your Focus and Sharpen Your Creative Mind by Jocelyn K. Glei

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Going through this book gives a broader perspective of the time management framework.

I’m in Enugu (Coal City, Nigeria) but I also understand that the vibe in Lagos is on a higher level. Several times, I ask myself,“Do you want to be a local player or a global player? “

This alone gets me thinking and more importantly for 2020, I’m having a whole new structure for my time. Why? I want to be a global player and this book has helped shown me how.

Can we ride and see it?

The POINTS?!

  • Do your most productive work early in the day and reactive works later in the day.
  • Learn to organize your workspace to inspire work. Like set a particular music or set the tables in a manner that tells your mind it’s time to work.
  • Learn to block out time daily when no one will disturb you no matter what. (I’m personally learning this… So, from 8am till 11am, it’s hard to catch me free.)
  • Schedule time for creative thinking. This can be different from work. It can be early in the morning before dashing out for work.
  • Don’t allow perfectionism eat you up. This has nothing to do not going for the best. However, use all you’ve got to deliver the best you can while knowing when to submit a work and move on to the next.

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  • Much of what we are taught about multitasking is scam. Studies have shown that the tasks that we can multitask effectively are those that are highly automatic like walking and talking… dancing and singing… While in the activities that require our conscious mind, what we do is task switching. And task switching is highly unproductive. The alternative? Finish a task and move or break a task into bits of finishes so you can take breaks at those times.
  • Learn to build renewal into your work day. As you do your work, find time to rest. (This disturbs me the most. The average African employee and employer sees rest as waste of time. We are the least present at vacations. We don’t rest yet the economic systems speak of who is ahead.)
  • One of the authors, Lori Deschene says this about the social media thing:

  • Keep your long term vision or goals in front of you so that it helps when you prioritize your day.
  • Place huge value on your imaginations than on technology.
  • What if you do things everyday at certain times just to play, for fun?

QUOTES!

“I don’t wait for moods. You accomplish nothing if you do that. Your mind must know it has got to get down to work.” Earl S. Buck

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle

“It’s not the load that breaks you down. It’s the way you carry it.” Lena Horne

(I melted when I saw this quote directly above. If you did physics in school, you’ll grab it faster.)

“Tell me to what you pay attention and I will tell you who you are.” Jose Ortega

“The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say no to almost everything.” Warren Buffet

“You can do anything but not everything.” David Allen

(Wow! My head is telling that the reason for this is that our time and energy is limited.)

“Look at the word responsibility – RESPONSE-ABILITY – the ability to choose your response.” Stephen Covey

“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.” William S. Burroughs

“Creativity is not a talent. It is a way of operating.” John Cleese

(While I agree with the last line of this quote, I disagree with the first line. What do you think?)

“Inspiration is for amateurs, the rest of us just show up and get to work.” Chuck Close

“The artist who aims at perfection in everything achieves it in nothing.” Eugene Delacroix

(Hmmm… I think this doesn’t mean don’t strive for excellence.)

“Creation is in part merely the business of foregoing the great and small distractions.” E. B. White

The Questions?!

The primary question this book poses for me is this: Do I have control over my time? Have I scheduled my most important tasks for the day on the most important times of the day?

Check the 12 points I mentioned above and gauge it with your life.

2020 is coming soon…! The website of the editor of this book jkglei.com/

Book Review, Career Development, Personal development, Personal finance

Friday Book Review with Chuks | The 15 Laws of Growth by John Maxwell.

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One of the best books I’ve read about personal growth is this. In fact, it’s like a ritual for me to read it before each year starts.

I’ll share few of the laws and insights from the book and if you need it, you can oder for it here.

  • The Law of Intentionality – Growth doesn’t just happen. Waking up and sleeping daily might require no much work but personal growth is different.
  • The Law of Awareness – You must know yourself to grow yourself. In essence, if your colleague in the office goes for a training on content creation yours might be for public speaking, ending what you know you need.
  • The Law of the Mirror – You must see value in yourself to add value to yourself. Don’t you think this might be the reason you’ve not bought those books… you don’t think you deserve it?!
  • The Law of Reflection – Learning to pause allows growth to catch up with you. Just think about it.
  • The Law of Environment – Growth thrives in conducive surroundings. Your company can inspire growth in you or dissuade you from growing.

  • The Law of the Rubber Band – Growth stops when you loose the tension between where you are and where you could be. Hmmm… Are you too comfortable in First Bank that you don’t want to grow again?
  • The Law of Tradeoffs – You have to give up to grow up. Anywhere you want to grow, you must be ready to sacrifice something or else…!
  • The Law of Modelling – It’s hard to improve when you have no one but yourself to follow. Even self made billionaires receive inspiration from others – dead or alive.
  • The Law of the Ladder – Character Growth determines the height of your personal growth.
  • The Law of Contribution – Growing yourself enables you to grow others.

Lots of quotes to look at but then we can just look at these:

“A time comes when you need to stop waiting for the man you want to become and start being the man you want to be.” Bruce Springsteen

“No one can produce great things who is not thoroughly sincere in dealing with himself.” James Russell Lowell

“Almost every man wastes part of his life in attempt to display qualities which he does not possess.” Samuel Johnson

“You cannot win if you do not begin. The people who get ahead in the world are the ones who look for the circumstances they want and if they can’t find them they make them.” John Maxwell

“Most of the accomplishments I’ve achieved in life I began to attempt before I was really ready.” John Maxwell

“If you put a small value on yourself rest assured the world will not raise the price.” John Maxwell

“There are things in life that you have to work for and there are things you have to wait for.” Anonymous

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“The great composer does not set to work because he is inspired, but becomes inspired because he working.” Ernest Newman

“The first step toward success is taken when you refuse to be a captive of the environment you first find yourself in.” Mark Caine

“God’s gift to us: potential. Our gift to God: developing it.” Unknown

And now the part I love the most… Better is a wise question than an array of unsolicited answers.

  • Do you think you’ll wake up one day in 2020 and notice that you’re a footballer without training?
  • Are there TEDx videos you need to listen to as get more insight into public speaking?
  • What apps are you downloading for 2020 because you know you need them to grow?
  • Do you think the place you live now is inspiring you to dream bigger? What if you begin to spend time at Kilimanjaro restaurant once in a week?
  • Who is the best in your field in Lagos or Enugu or in any state in Nigeria?
  • Can you book an appointment to meet with the person in 2020?
  • Are there personal projects you’ll undertake in 2020 to stretch you beyond your comfort zone? (Open that manuscript again and complete the book…)

  • Are there books you need to read in 2020? (Am actually going through that now and into 2020.)
  • Are you worth a training of N40,000? If yes, what if you go for a Project Management training in 2020?
  • What certification does your organization requires for you to be promoted?
  • Who would you want to help grow in 2020? (Remember, wing yourself will help you grow other.)
  • What did you fear the most in 2019? How can you break that in 2020?

The truth is this: life does not get better with time and that includes 2020. It only gets better by choice.