Fish Story: Inspired Sunday

Worth reading...this fish story

The Japanese have always loved fresh fish

But the water close to Japan has not held many fish for decades.

So to feed the Japanese population, fishing boats got bigger and went farther than ever.

The further the fishermen went, the longer it took to bring the fish

If the return trip took more time, the fish  were not fresh.

To solve this problem, fish companies installed freezers on their boats.

They would catch the fish and freeze them at sea.

Freezers allowed the boats to go farther and stay longer.

However, the Japanese could taste the difference between fresh and frozen fish and they did not like the taste of frozen fish

The frozen fish brought a lower price.

So, fishing companies installed fish tanks.

They would catch the fish  and stuff them in the tanks, fin to fin.

After a little thrashing around, they were tired, dull, and lost their fresh-fish taste.

The fishing industry faced an impending crisis!

But today, they get fresh-tasting fish to Japan.

How did they manage...?

To keep the fish  tasting fresh, the Japanese fishing companies still put the fish in the tanks but with a small shark

The fish are challenged and hence are constantly on the move.

The challenge they face keeps them alive and fresh!

Have you realized that some of us are also living in a pond but most of the time tired and dull....?

Basically in our lives, sharks  are new challenges to keep us active.

If you are steadily conquering
challenges, you are happy.

Your challenges keep you energized.

Don’t create Success and revel in it in a state of inertia.

You have the resources, skills and abilities to make a difference.

Put a shark  a positive and self foward looking challenge in your tank in the year 2016 and see how far you can really go.... Isaiah 40:30-31 read it please ....

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CALL TO ACTION: OCCUPY THE PLATFORM

Billionaire In Your Twenties

Being a billionaire is everyone's dream, but a reality for only a few of us. Reason being that we are either not doing things in the right way or we are not moving the right direction. Everyone's goal is to be more and do less. I mean who loves working that hard. But I came across this article by Tucker Hughes ( a billionaire at 22) on www.entrepreneur.com and was more than amused . Take a look and learn about 7 ways of becoming a billionaire in your early 20's

1. Age is just a number.

2. Reinvest in yourself.

3. Avoid decision fatigue.

4. Build a resilient mind.

5. Think big. Be big.

6. Be methodical.

7. Believe in yourself.

TUCKER HUGHES

CONTRIBUTOR

Director, Hughes Marino's Orange County Office

    

As of this writing, I’m 22. In the last 12 months I’ve generated a million dollars in commissions in one of the most competitive industries on the planet, where my average competitor is at least double my age with 10 times the tenure in the business. I have a master’s degree from a prestigious university, which I received when I was 20 after fast-tracking four years of school. I’ve traveled to more than 50 countries, completed 13 triathlons and have an extremely happy, stimulating life.

Things are very good -- but the future wasn’t always so bright.

When I finished graduate school, I moved to California's Orange County to launch a new office for my family’s commercial real-estate business. The first couple of months were brutal, and I quickly came to the conclusion that the success we’d have (if any) would be astronomically more difficult than I could ever have imagined. Despite being an overachiever all my life, I found myself wondering how to truly excel in the real world when it all finally mattered.

After reinventing the wheel for myself time and time again I’ve come to realize that the secret to millennial success in the business world is a combination of grit and creative thinking. Here are the seven mental shifts I implemented to turbo-charge my growth.

Embrace your youth wholeheartedly. If you spin your age as an asset, which can be done in a variety of ways, it can be an extremely powerful differentiator. The moment you begin to give yourself an excuse for not being successful is the moment of almost certain failure.

If you believe you can really make it then you will make it. Besides, there is nothing people want to see more than a hard-working, intelligent and dedicated young professional who succeeds. Create a snowball of momentum that makes people want to be a part of your life.

The safest investment I’ve ever made is in my future. Read at least 30 minutes a day, listen to relevant podcasts while driving and seek out mentors vigorously. You don’t just need to be a master in your field, you need to be a well-rounded genius capable of talking about any subject whether it is financial, political or sports related. Consume knowledge like air and put your pursuit of learning above all else.

I also believe that it is critically important to spoil yourself to a healthy extreme in order to reward your hard work and avoid burnout. Consider splurging on memorable experiences and luxuries that will enhance your lifestyle. I get a weekly massage like clockwork, and it is one of the best productivity hacks I employ.

Attention is a finite daily resource and can be a bottleneck on productivity. No matter the mental stamina developed over time, there is always going to be a threshold where you break down and your remaining efforts for the day become suboptimal.

Conserve your mental power by making easily reversible decisions as quickly as possible and aggressively planning recurring actions so you can execute simple tasks on autopilot. I know what I am wearing to work and eating for breakfast each day next week. Do you?

The biggest differentiator between mediocrity and meteoric success is the ability to work productively for hours at a time. These long stretches are when important work is almost exclusively completed. Focus is paramount and, without intentionally developing mental stamina, you won’t be able to effectively compete with those who have systematically built up their endurance over decades in the business world.

Fast track your skills by being mindful of distractions and recognizing when you begin to wander out of focus. Perform a thorough analysis of your daily activities each night and aggressively seek opportunities for improvement.

The science behind goal setting and its remarkable ability to accelerate success is infallible. If you don’t already have your one-, five- and 10-year goals written out and visible to you on a daily basis, do so right now. I read mine the second I wake up every single morning. Now ask yourself, what would have to happen to accomplish your 10-year goals in just one year?

The inherent power in maintaining consistency with your acknowledged goals can work both positively and negatively, and is cause for concern if you anchor yourself to a slower timeline of achievement. Be mindful and diligent in charting an optimal path that pushes you to your limit.

Plan your work and then work your plan. Perhaps my biggest breakthrough was large-scale automation of my marketing systems. I created a process that allowed me to quintuple my marketing output while increasing my conversion rate considerably.

The simplest way to put your own content plan in motion is to create a multi-step campaign that touches a prospect through a variety of different mediums every week for at least a month. Follow a logical order and craft your content in a persistent way, while never becoming annoying.

Not in a sales role? You can take a similar approach to any analytical, creative or administrative position by developing rigid organizational systems that help improve your efficiency when faced with repetitive tasks.

If not you, then who? Someone has to make it, and nothing is stopping you from being the person who accomplishes your wildest dreams. Nearly every person who has ever failed has had an excuse. Successful people have stories of the challenges that they overcame with creative solutions. The moment you confidently feel that there is nothing you can’t learn or develop to solve the most complex of problems is the moment of guaranteed greatness.

If you still aren’t sure how to begin, start with a promise to work towards the achievement of consistent excellence each moment of every day. This is the basic building block and mentality with which I am building my career.

Keep it simple and remember that success is not an entitlement. If you really want to excel, you have to get out there and earn it every day for the rest of your life.

Credit www.entrepreneur.com

Join Fellow young dreamers and make it happen too

Disappointed on Christmas Day

Merry Christmas

They say Christmas is the time to meet and share as friends and family. This Christmas I decided to go back to my roots, deep in Nyeri County to carry out the ‘annual ritual’. Well it has been months since I visited this place. Unlike the noisy, busy and not so fresh environment in Nai, I find a calm, receiving and fresh environment in Nyeri. I was back home. FYI this is where I  grew up, from a breastfeeding infant to a breast chasing adolescent and now opus dei, ooh wait really? Let’s leave that for now.

So I got a chance to meet some of my old friends who I only get a chance to see on Facebook, of course not twitter or instagram, for obvious reasons. I have met former classmates who are ‘happily’ married, others are single mothers, runaway fathers while some like me , have decided to concentrate and study Opus dei, please note its studying not practicing .

On 25^th evening I decide to visit the nearest shopping Centre; an old and dust place with utmost 5 shops, 7 churches, 14 bars (something usual in central Kenya), a coffee factory and one barber. I almost forgot the popular hotel owned by my neighbor, they call him Senegal>> a name adopted after him being a popular Supporter of Senegal in its heydays. Being a popular face around here, I put on hooded jumper to avoid attracting attention. Attention in our shagz means you will part with at least 20 bob for every tom dick and harry who greets you or else they will walk away saying how broke you are and praying that the gods strike you with a thunder ; this is a no go zone for a man of high reputation like me who has been unable to clear a 750 bob loan on mshwari, so its safer to hide under the hood.

Soon enough I find myself in Senegal’s hotel. Lucky for me , no one notices me easily. I settle for a table at the corner, I make a quick order of Uji Kubwa which is served in a calabash; of course it’s a tradition here. As am quietly flipping through the newspaper (dated 22^nd January 2005) , I overhear a discussion by 3 guys (wachira, Kamotho and waiganjo) who are very well known to me being that they were 3 classes ahead of me in primary school. They are discussing Kabiru, a seven years old boy who has been living with his grandma since he was born. Kabiru’s mum, Wanjira was married when Kabiru was 3 years old but the man could not take the boy since he was not his. So Wanjira left the boy with the grandmother and went ahead to be married by this guy who did not want to take up the son. For all those years, the boy has known nothing but suffering…

The story continued on and on, I was not able to concentrate as my mind tried to figure the situation of the boy whose mother sacrificed for her selfish intentions, the man who cares more about himself than a little boy who cannot even eat an eight of his plate, the woman who makes a boy suffer from her mistakes, I am disappointed in this society which allows this to happen.

Do we embrace love before ambition, what are our priorities? Why do we sacrifice what matters for what seems smarter. Do we love people for their perfections or the flaws that make them perfect? Call it judging people or whatever you may but we can do better.

Ashamed 

CHRISTMAS.

Personal reflections

This year has been something.
A twist of challenges and opportunities,
My faith has been tried and tested,
My heart shaken and broken,
But yet I can say am better and stronger.

I approach the coming season with courage,
Sharpened by my past,
Strengthened by my desires,
cautious of spirited derailers,
I am surely winning this race.

I have learnt to set my own limits,
The limitless limits,
Call me a dreamer,
But I know success is never by chance,
I am doing my calculations beyond my imaginations.

From dawn to dusk,
Christmas to Easter,
From soft to hard times,
I remain the same guy ,
DEFINED BY A FUTURE, REFINED FROM A PAST

Merry Christmas and a happy new year!!1

best wishes, take care of yourself, your life matters

COURAGE

Fear and courage are two inseparable words. Yes I just said inseparable. You must overcome your fears for you to be considered courageous, and vice versa. Majority of people might consider themselves courageous but yet they have not been able to overcome their fears. You are either courageous or fearful.

Courage to me means standing up for what you believe in and who you believe you are no matter the circumstances surrounding it. The bing dictionary describes courage as the ability to face danger, difficulty, uncertainty, or pain without being overcome by fear or being deflected from a chosen course of action or the ability to do something that you know is right or good, even though it is dangerous, frightening, or very difficult. 

You do not become courageous by just doing everything there is to prove yourself worthy, but, you become courageous by having a chosen course (principles) , standing by it and being ready to go any distance to ensure that it is done. So before you stand up and talk of or act in courage you have to build a good value foundation. If you have values, you are ready to die for them; that’s courage.

When your values define you, courage becomes automatic. When you compromise your values ,cowardice becomes your definition. We live in cowardly society, people who are not willing to stand up for what they believe in, people who compromise their values for short term gains. We have lost true meaning to ourselves, that is why corruption and other acts of moral decadence are rampant. We have not been able to stand up even for the smallest values. We are ready to compromise anything for some filthy short term gains.

Cowards piss me off. I love courageous people, people who fight for their values to their last breath. That’s the kind of a man my father brought up to be. I want to live a courageous man. A man who has the audacity to stand up to; fake systems, a compromised society, a valueless generation and established cowards and stand up for CHANGE. Have you ever stood up for something?

#teamcourage