I realize that a lot of people have issues about finding themselves, about gaining direction, about adding value, about securing a personal vision for themselves, about understanding and overcoming distractions, about identifying, understanding and managing their emotions, and a whole lot of issues centered around self-awareness and how to make meaning out of life.
I am inundated with these issues and more on a daily basis from people I come in contact with. It is the reality of the time as it's always been. It's nothing new.
I realize that I can't reach out personally to many for time and other constraints. Even some, who are close to me and who already have some personal relationship with me still have these issues. When they ask me a question, I realize that they have not read a certain post I put out there for them even when they received the newsletter. Then I ask them to go and check out the post.
When you read a post or any material of interest, do not just enjoy it. The purpose for reading is to engage with the content. It should not only entertain you, it should teach you. For it to teach you, you have to not only read it, you have to study it, you have to take down relevant notes, you have to meditate on it. Then you have to take action on it. This is very critical.
I wrote PERSONAL GROWTH BLUEPRINT, a self-discovery tool to start people out on the important journey of self-awareness and self-development. It's a free e-book. As we speak, some have not downloaded the document. When I ask those who have downloaded it if they have used it or if they have engaged with the content, the majority of them give excuses.
Many of us major on minor. We waste time on things that do not profit us. If you have a job, apart from the time spent at work and the salary you earn, what do you do for yourself daily? What you do for yourself daily is what you read, what you study, what you meditate on and apply towards your personal growth and development.
Personal growth and effectiveness takes personal commitment. I took responsibility for my own life through a decision I made in November 1994. I realized that the many "friends" that I surrounded myself with were fair-weather, beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking, party-attending and women-chasing friends; just as I was to them. Then I decided to separate myself from such. I have been on that journey ever since.
Nobody is coming to help you. You are going to take that responsibility upon yourself. If you are fortunate to find parents or guardians who send you to school and teachers who teach you the content of textbooks for the purpose of passing examinations (because they test what they teach), that's good.
Unfortunately, that is inadequate. Reason is that what they teach and test should be relevant to the real world. But is it? Those of you already in employment, you can tell if what you studied in college has anything to do with the value you add presently.
You have to find yourself. You have to find out who you are by yourself. It is a personal responsibility. I asked a question on my WhatsApp status yesterday: "Since you have been going to school, has any teacher taught you how to be self-aware?" Ask yourself that same question. Self-actualization is one box that houses self-discovery, self-awareness, self-development and earns you self-mastery. It takes time. Have you started the journey?
These are very critical factors for personal growth. Your formal education is good, but you can see how it has failed to solve the problems you have now. Any education [formal] that does not help you to connect with the treasure that God put in you, any education that does not help you to discover yourself, is a waste of resources. And if you do not rescue yourself from the grips of such education, you will not find fulfillment.
It is your gift that makes way for you. It is not your certificate or degree. But if you know your gift early enough and skill your gift with the right education, with studying the right course and earning the right certification, you would have earned for yourself a great gift, which is the main and only thing that God gave you to prosper with through service to mankind. Someone said that your talent is God's gift to you, but how you use it is your gift to God. I agree completely.
So when I share snippets through quotes, when I write articles, short and long, when I write a book, all I am trying very hard to let you see is the need for you to discover yourself and become what you have been created to be. What I am using is the opportunity of a limited time to share what I have received.
This is why I write everyday: To take advantage of a rare opportunity that I have discovered and developed. Over to you.
If you haven't already, click here to get your e-version of my book, ASCENTS AND DESCENTS.
