Promise me more…

“I, too, have done my damndest
to kiss and touch and bless
and now I, too, am through with it all
and am simply like the rest” – Barry Taylor I, Too

We all have big dreams. We all want to do something about it. We are all probably up to something then stumbled upon this post.

From when I can remember someone has been promising me one thing or the other with a utopian reward.

“The right one has not been born yet…” “Your business will still work after you are done with your course…” “Finish the exam then we can go for ice-cream…”

Apparently, it will all work out if you do as it pleases this guy, these people… for them it is not the perfect time. For you, you just can’t get rid of the itch. It is obvious where am getting to. You choose your path. But wait there is more…

Promises; promises.

There has not been a shortage of free thinkers (shout out Dr. Stockmann). Every day I hear how people want to change the world with this initiative, reform and leadership. They all promise me the perfect world. Where my starving brother in Turkana and uptown sister will talk about their days in paradise. As long as I vote them in or offer them my friendship.

Thomas Moore proposed the utopian idea some time back. His logic seems radical and idealistic at the moment. The ideals will be easily accepted by any person struggling to make ends meet. But what of the rich that have gotten comfortable. We all know that people don’t find it easy to change. It takes time and effort… it’s sticky and messy. So how do we expect them to change?

Well we don’t… that’s the trick.

“Serikali! Serikali!”

We shan’t beg. We shan’t cry. What is our goal? To be comfortable too… you don’t need to own the whole of Central to be happy. All you need is a happy family, with all their basic needs met. It is violent to not do that for your family.

“All the gold which is under or upon the earth is not enough to give in exchange for virtue.” Plato.

Once the goal is set. Be creative. The beauty of a capitalistic economy is that anyone can get themselves out of the mud.

So get your hands in the mud. Get dirty and build something from it. (Guess which movie that is from… 🙂 )

So if they can get to the top; so can you…

I would not wait for promises that are 50/50. I’ll get on my feet; and do it myself because this is the perfect time.

5 Ways To Make Sure You Have Victories Each Day

We have gotten ourselves out the rut and gotten things rolling. Life is moving forward. In this busy world we live in we need to come up with easier ways on how to deal with monotony… how do you prevent yourself from getting back to another routine?

We’re going to share with you what I believe has worked for me this far.

+1 Be extremely ambitious

Very obvious it seems but not really. We need to find something that challenges us. Something that requires you to set goals. “Unrealistic goals” they call them.

I need to be able to read ‘A Feast for Crows‘ by the end of the week. As an example.

Why? How can you came up with innovative ideas if your goals remain constant?

+2 Make a list of interesting things you can do

There is a lot happening. Your boss, friend and family want a slice of your 24 hours. Remember those are your 24 hours. So make a funny list of what you would want to accomplish for yourself. Not necessarily changing your life; but putting a smile on your face…

This list made me smile…

+3 Support a charity or join a business

The reason anything exists is to solve a problem. This has lead to many innovations like the air plane to solve traveling issues.

The sooner you join a cause the faster ideas to improve or solve the problem arise.

+4 Do a pilot

We do not encourage risky behaviour without a safety net. For some it works out. But for most people unproven solutions don’t work out so well…

So try it out. Adjust and move on. You’ll find the best mix. And the mix will work for you.

+5 Ignore the hater

There will always be people that do not understand. If they are not offering constructive criticism don’t listen.

When they complain. Ask them to offer an alternative and listen for their answers… 🙂

Much love,
Steja.

Unlock The 7 Chakras

Those of you who have watched the series of Avatar will probably relate to this article so much better, but if you have not, it’s OK, I will explain from scratch. 🙂

via trendvee.com

Everyone has an invisible energy system called chakras. The word chakra means energy disc, vortex or wheel.

There are seven energy stations positioned from the base of your spine to the top of your head. It is therefore important to understand the nature of our energy system and how to support yourself in maintaining vital life-force energy, otherwise known as “chi” in Chinese.

This invisible energy system flows energy on pathways or meridians and the meridians have multiple pressure points that are means of working with the energy to keep it flowing which is actually the basis of acupressure, acupuncture and reflexology.
When your energy is leaking, weak, or frozen you feel depleted, heavy and even stuck! When you are energy-depleted and challenged, it is more difficult to manage your emotions, think positive thoughts, stay healthy and attract harmony into your life.

Well guys, it’s this simple:

I know this is not something Africans take particular interest to but it does help.

You could take time out and visualize. Here, you visualize a premeditated scenario and outcome, and infusing this outcome with emotions, you can program your subconscious mind to achieve otherwise impossible feats.

You could also heal your chakras by meditation. People use meditation to enter an alternate state of mind for enhanced relaxation, clarity, healing, and intuition and to unblock each of their 7 Chakras from the level of the subconscious.

You could also heal your chakras by a method that is actually becoming quite popular in Africa which is YOGA, yes; simple yoga which is not only tones of fun, but also energizes your lymph system, lowers your blood pressure, and elegantly connects your body with your energetic and spiritual nature.

There are also other ways to heal your chakras like rapid eye technology and crystal healing but I see no purpose of going further into those since let’s face it, you may never get to use them. Or probably you will… let us know…

You don’t have to spiral into depression and a feeling of self-helplessness, the power to your happiness and well-being lies with you. Work at healing a chakra a time and it will help you see how beautiful life actually is, and I speak from personal experience.

Though I do have to warn you, not all chakras are easy to open. For some, you will need to first accept you have a problem and it will require you to face your fears and take risks head-on because it’s like a battle with yourself but really, it’s not that hard to tame that mammoth in your head.

Those of you who have been sick at some point (especially with terminal illnesses), know how critical it is to stay positive because if you fill your head with negativity, you deteriorate really fast so keeping your chakras open helps in the healing. And some of you, who feel ill, may just be experiencing issues with your chakras which are closed or weak so your subconscious mind portrays it as illness.

This is a different point of view to wellness but bottom line is, stay positive and love yourself.

Love and positivity,

Steja.

STUCK IN A RUT

Welcome to March guys (the fact that its March already is slightly frightening)…Sad to say, every New Year, I always get so excited and make bucket lists of all the things I want to do when I cross over: so much positivism and letting go of the bad in the ending year. I think if I spent the whole year that way, I would accomplish so much. Sadly, ten days into the New Year and the shine has expired.

So this year, I decided to stick to the simplest of things. I took them out of a blog on Huff post.

1. Get more sleep
2. Watch less, or no, TV
3. Stop eating crap
4. Make time for exercise
5. Stop keeping a spotless house
6. Make love
7. Stop interacting with and worrying about your kids constantly
8. Stop waiting for your spouse to read your mind
9. Stop letting intrusive family members/ in-laws ruin your day/ holiday/life
10. Stop wishing you were different

Well, of course, not all of them apply to me but most more or less do. I also decided to learn a new skill and decided to go old school with crocheting. I started out this new skill with my co-writer. We went out, bought lots of wool and the crocheting sticks. We watched YouTube videos to get the hang of it. He was a natural while I just couldn’t get the hang of it. I couldn’t hold the stick right, the thread always got in a tangle. I was so frustrated, I decided to quit. Recently, I found the wool under my bed and decided to try one last time. These are the results…

That is my first retry. Don’t judge, we all have humble beginnings. But, 5 trials later, this was the result. And may I point out it exactly the same number of stitches as the first photo.

From zero to hero J I am glad I dint give up on it.

You may also have given up on your resolutions and its not even mid-year. The point of making resolutions is to challenge yourself. It doesn’t matter how bad you are at something, with practice, you get better at it gradually. If you have none, you can use the basic ten given above, well, at least the ones that apply to you. Scientifically proven, it takes 20 hours to completely learn a new skill. So if you are complaining and you have not even gotten past 5 hours, you are merely blabbering. After 20 hours, then you may complain.

This post is also to congratulate a friend who has talent in writing but had given up on it and has finally gone back to it after much postponing. Cheers. As my co-writer always reminds me, you are absolutely unique just like everyone else: so do what makes you happy and completes you even if it’s a little resolution. Feel free to give yourself a pat on the back and share your accomplishments or a nudge and share what you need to get done or habits you need to cut off.

Love and light,

Steja.

PS: Let us know what you wanna read about in the comments below.

Want to Get Unstuck?

Isn’t it nice to think that tomorrow is a new day with no mistakes in it yet?
― L.M. Montgomery

The sun rises the same each day. But never at the same time. Innovation and seeking ventures is the highlight of each entrepreneur. And their psychology is beyond the discussion here.

However, we would like to argue that everyone can be an entrepreneur without starting a business. Well, not really an entrepreneur in the strictest form, but rather in its risk management docket. It might seem farfetched but happier people are more likely better at risk management.

It is quite remarkable to think that happier people are those that choose, on a daily basis, to take on new activities. To rise differently.

Even though, I write all this I can’t be self-righteous and suggest that I do new activities each day. That I’m adventurous on a daily basis. I actually struggle with trying new things. Unfortunately, it is hard wired in my brain and stuff.

Moreover, studies have shown that our fear of new things is based on our need to distant ourselves from failure in whichever respect. Through history, all the new revolutionary ideas were embraced by generations that followed; for example, we can consider Galileo. We mentioned this in our jazz post that it is a trend to adopt the old and make it new.

So how can we try out new things with a new positive face? (I should have posted on a Monday)

1. Where am I?

A car has a handbrake that lets the car roll downhill if you release it. Similarly, habits have a particular trigger that sends us all on a behaviour.

So it’s up to us to identify the triggers to our habitual activities.

When do you drink excessively? After a long week at the office? After a big fight with the SO? Or with a particular group of buddies?

Same applies to habits of some benefit. We can develop patterns that give up space to develop ourselves. So when can I work out? After a long day at the office? Before? Or like me knew my brother comes from school?

This triggers remind you that something is to happen. But what about positive behaviour?

2. A cookie for a glass of water

It is 12 a.m. I should probably be a sleep. Allowing for my body to rejuvenate itself (I love this process, but not this venue). However, I’m awake staring at the large yoghurt pack and packet of Oreos. Yoghurt is healthy right? I’m hungry, right? No, not really. I have spent a lot of my time avoiding simple sugars from ice-creams, chocolate and pancakes… I’ve avoided this for weeks now.

I will not describe the embarrassment on my face after the clearing the oreos packets.

Well this is just how it happens. I strained my willpower. Unfortunately, my willpower ran out. And this happens naturally. Our willpower is like the fuel in your car. At some point it gets depleted.

So to milk as much from our willpower one has to realise that it does not hurt to take an Oreo per day, I recommend it. Actually, just like we cannot begin eating solid food immediately our first teeth appear. We have a weaning process. This allows us to get accustomed to the new environment.

So small rewards don’t hurt the process they accelerate it. So as I write this I am enjoying my glass of water than my box of cookies…

3. Train the O’ willpower

The army spends a lot of time training the cadets on the value of self-discipline. Training involves sacrifice.

This can be done easily by organising your goal in small operational objectives.

Imagine you have the goal to lose weight. Being specific 10kgs in 2 months. It cannot be done if the thought is 5kgs in the next month. Break it down to getting the workouts done before the end of the day.

Walk 10 minutes each day. Soon it will be 20 minutes at the end of the month you will be running for half an hour… Soon that weight will be shying off… 🙂

4. Repeat. Repeat? Was that the order?

Practice makes perfect. It takes 40 hours to gain a new skill. It can only come with time and repetition.

The degree of automaticity will increase exponentially with time.

No one can be a rally driver on the first go…

The sun rises the same each day. But never at the same time. So should you. You should rise with new ambitions every day with the same objectives. Anyway let us know what you think…

Much Love,
Steja.

Dream a little less

The weekend has come to an untimely end.As always…

But we won’t get to the next weekend if we don’t finish this one,right?haha.

I have always believed that my dreaming would get me to my zenith. Get me places.Whoosh me into the Eiffel tower. Until recently….

I have grown,and so has my perspective of everything.Things that I used to consider very important now are mere details.Nothing to write home about.

Of those things I have changed my mind about,is dreaming.

I have realized that indeed there is a difference between dreaming and setting goals.The former being a state in which one imagines how things would ideally fall into place in their favor.Of how things will pan out.The latter,is of a more realistic realm.And this is what I have come to appreciate.This aspect,is a world apart from dreaming.Here,you envision where you want to be.By a certain period of time.You also calculate the challenges expected,subtract them from the positives you will encounter.Add the experience you will have gained,multiply that by the perseverance you will have pumped into yourself and divide that by the tears you will have to shed before you see your goal achieved.

In both dreaming and setting goals,you say “Hey,I want to earn my first million by the time I turn 24.”.In dreaming,you’ll add,”And then go from continent to continent,changing the world.Chasing that paper.” In setting goals, you challenge you thoughts.”How will I get there?What will propel me to those heights?Who will support me most?Before I get to that level,where I can change planes like my underwear,where will I gain status fastest?I have x years left to achieve that.I should start now.”

Dreaming involves idealistic expectations.There is no failure,everyone supports you,you are a beast. In the goal setting arena,You realize that you will lose people you thought you’d never lose,you realize that you have to NEVER GIVE UP and that getting where you want to be requires sweat and blood.And WORK.

It’s good to be a dreamer,guys.But don’t get stuck in that dream world for too long.Even Cinderella had to work.

By Jackie.

Have a good week,y’all.
Dream less,Work more.

PS:

Click Howevered Heart for more adventures !:)