

DEDICATION

STILL FOR

Late Mr. VINCENT KELECHUKWU NJOKU

(1957 – 2016)

My Father, Hero and Best friend

DADDY I love you from here to the moon and back.
ACKNWLEDGEMENT

Writing a book is a bit like gathering some raw materials and through an extensive refining process, put them together. I can assure you that this is not done by one person. I want to specially acknowledge all those who have contributed towards making this great book a reality.

First, I want to give thanks to the Lord for giving me strength, wisdom and knowledge to put a book like this together. Without Him this would not have been possible. In a special way, I thank my parents Late Mr. Vincent Njoku and Mrs. Funmilayo Njoku for their care, support, prayers and love they poured on me. Dad and Mum, I love you from here to the moon and back. Dad I miss you like mad.

In the same manner, I want to thank my siblings beginning with my younger brother Kelechi Njoku for being a friend and a loving brother, Ngozi Njoku for being a good critic and the best sister in the world, Irechukwu Njoku for being there always, Sopuruchi Njoku for being my pastor and a caring brother and I can't forget Christian Njoku for being a helpful friend and a brother. If I am to return to this world again, I will want to have you guys as siblings.

My profound gratitude goes to my pastor Kingsley Ibe and his beautiful wife Mrs. Chidinma Ibe of Christ Apostolic Church (Canaan of Kings Assembly) for his love, prayers and for helping with the review of this book.

I can't forget to thank Chukwuka Nwabuogor for his ideas, encouragement, and motivation and for previewing this great book for me. Our pilot, I owe you one and hope to repay you with something bigger in the future. Thanks.

My special thanks goes to all occupants of Authentic Hostel B in Ekosodin – Somto, Austin, Frank, Tunde, KC, Tony, Chemezie, Nimat, Chidi, Francisco, Anita, Ebere, Onyeka, Richard, Emmanuel, Chris, Ada, Grace, Yvonne, Ehis, Kenneth, Josephine, Sammy, and Heather for all your love, support, ideas, motivation and for making my stay in the University of Benin a peaceful one and one filled with laughter, joy and fun. You guys mean much to me and thanks for impacting my life. I love you all.

Hearty thanks as big as Education 1000lt, I give to all my course mates and colleagues in the department of Educational Management (Economics, 2015 Graduating class). You guys have been wonderful and inspiring.

I must not fail to appreciate my friends Kenneth Ugoh and Phillip Mezue for their love, support, critics, and insults and for believing that this is possible. You guys are the best.

I must also thank Judith Uba, Peacequeen Okundia and Antonia for their endless contributions, support and care. I miss you guys plenty.

This book will not be complete if I forget to thank my sweet heart Anna Palmer for her love, support, care and for still standing beside me from UNIBEN till the very moment; I love you plenty.

Big thanks go to my pastor and mentor, Pastor Jonathan for his prayers and motivation. He is the one who gave me the idea of even starting the book in the first place, without him this book would not have been.

TABLE OF CONTENT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

ALL SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE BELIEVED IN THEMSELVES

THE WISE GENERAL

WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT YOU DOES NOT MATTER

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT YOU DOES NOT MATTER

THE TINY FROG

YOUR PAST IS NOT THE BLAME

CHAPTER TWO

YOU ARE THE ONE HINDERING YOUR GROWTH

CHANGE YOU MIND-SET

THE DESERT IS PRECIOUS

BE AN OPTIMIST

SEE THE GOOD IN EVERYONE

TREAT THEM NICELY

POWER OF WORDS

GOD MADE OUR WORDS POWERFUL

CHANGE YOUR WORDS

MONITOR YOUR SELF TALK

CHAPTER THREE

PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPEN

TEMPLATE FOR PRAYER

NO ENGINE CAR MOVING

YOU NEED TO PRAISE TOO

DAVID AND SOLOMON PRAISED GOD

YOU MUST HAVE FAITH IN GOD

DAD'S EMPTY CHAIR

CHAPTER FOUR

WE ARE ALL AFRAID OF SOMETHING

WHY YOU NEED COURAGE

ACCEPT FEAR AS PART OF THE PROCESS

BUTTERFLY COURAGE

CHAPTER FIVE

TIME IS LIMITED

SPEND YOUR TIME WISELY

HIGH VALUE ACTIVITIES

LOW VALUE ACTIVITIES

FIND THE CONSEQUENCES BEHIND

CHAPTER SIX

OLYMPIC ATHLETES PRACTICE

FOCUS ON THE PROCESS

YOU MUST WORK HARD

THE CHINESE BAMBOO

EVERYTHING IS LEARNABLE

PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

MAKE EXCELLENCE YOUR TARGET

CHAPTER SEVEN

FAILURE IS PART OF THE PROCESS

SOME FAMOUS FAILURES THAT FAILURE DID NOT STOP

DON'T LET FAILURE STOP YOU

DONKEY FAILURE

REMEMBER YOUR PAST FAILURES

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BE REMEMBERED FOR?

CHAPTER EIGHT

HANG IN THERE

BE STUBBORN WITH A PURPOSE

ANT PERSISTENCE

FALL IN LOVE WITH WHAT YOU DO

WHAT MY MOTHER TOLD ME

THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

CHAPTER NINE

EVERY GREAT THING WAS ONCE JUST A DREAM

WHAT ARE YOUR DREAMS?

WHAT IS SUCCESS TO YOU?

THINK AND DREAM BIG

POWER OF IMAGINATION

SOME GREAT MEN KNEW ABOUT IT

I USED IMAGINATION TOO

YOU SHOULD USE IT TOO

THE IMAGINARY BICYCLE

BELIEVE IT

CHAPTER TEN

THE WORLD GREATEST WINNER OF FRIENDS

YOU BECOME LIKE YOUR FRIENDS

FIRELIGHTERS AND FIREFIGHTERS

AVOID NEGATIVE FRIENDS

GET AROUND THE RIGHT PEOPLE

CHAPTER ELEVEN

GREAT PEOPLE ALL HAVE MENTORS

SOMEONE HAS DONE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO

THEY WON'T REJECT YOU

DAD MY MENTOR

YOUR MENTOR DOES NOT HAVE TO BE

REWARD YOUR MENTOR OR COACH

THE WHALE GRATITUDE

CHAPTER TWELVE

IT IS YOUR TURN

DROP THE EXCUSES HOLDING YOU BACK

I ENCOURAGE YOU TO

GO PLANT SEEDS
INTRODUCTION

"To me, a winner is someone who recognizes their God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses those skills to accomplish his goals. Even when I lost, I learned what my weaknesses were and I went out the next day to turn those weaknesses into strengths". - Larry Bird

Remember the motor of Guinness, "There is a drop of greatness in every man". Well, this is very true; that greatness is your talents and it is in everyone. Am sure you must have discovered yours by reading the first part of this book "TALENT – THE BOMB". These great talents of yours can be wasted if you just only discover them without developing them. But that is the essence of this book to help you develop those precious talents of yours into greatness.

You could waste a great deal of your life struggling to succeed with things that are not in harmony with your natural talents and strengths. You could also waste great deal of your life struggling to overcome the weakness related to areas where you simply do not have the natural talents to do so. Most people will tell you that your greatest improvement will come from overcoming your weaknesses. Well, I say No! Your greatest improvement will come from identifying your natural talents and strengthening them. You will tap into an unlimited source of wealth and success when you begin using your gift to creatively meet needs and solve problems for people. Psychologists tell us you're more likely to succeed doing what comes naturally to you.

Talents being gifts are not what you acquire or achieve. However, for you to be great and impact lives while using your talents you must improve them. Every one of us is born with the ability to be great at something. The secret lies in identifying that ability and putting it to work for you. We were all born average. Our responsibility is to develop our unique, average talent into excellent talent. Great people don't just wake up someday and become great, they discover something they can do and then put it to work with lots of practice. Michael Jackson didn't Moonwalk out of his mother's womb, neither did Einstein discover his theories at age 1, or 5. They all first discovered their talents, and then they went on to develop it before it made them what they were. This is exactly what you need to do too, to get from where you are now to where you want to be. Don Moen discovered his talent as a singer, he developed it by learning music and with much time spent practicing his ability brought him into limelight.

3 THINGS THAT YOU MUST ACCEPT

"I might only have one match but I will make an explosion" - Rachel Platten

There are 3 things that you must accept when it comes to developing your talent: It takes significant time, it takes significant effort, and it takes significant sacrifice. If you are not ready to accept all three, then take your chance with playing the lottery. If however, you believe that you are alive to make a difference, and want to make a difference, read on and I'll show you how.

Now you know what your natural talents are, you should focus on developing them in strength and you devote your life to working what is in harmony with your natural talents and strength. Most likely, this will be a much better use of your time and generally make you happier, more effectively, and more successful. Each person's talent is enduring and unique and each person's greatest room for growth lies in the areas of his or her greatest strengths. Your gift is your bargaining power with life.

In Rachel Platten's fight song she said "I might only have one match but I will make an explosion" it is time for you to make that explosion with that one match - your talent. And exactly how to make an explosion with your talent is what I will be showing you in the following chapters. Just keeping reading it gets more exciting.
CHAPTER ONE

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

"The only person who can pull me down is I, and I'm not going to let myself pull me down anymore." \- C. JoyBell C.

Self-belief is the belief that we have a fundamental ability to manage our lives. We believe in ourselves, we trust our basic tools: our mind (as an accurate processor of facts and reality), our emotions (as authentic expressions of who we are), and our actions (as effective instruments to fulfill our needs and desires). Believing in yourself is all about being sure that you are going to do whatever you want even if others were against you.

Self-belief is simply how much you love yourself. Your self-belief is the key to your personal growth. How you genuinely feel about yourself determines your impact on others more than any other thing. The more you like and respect yourself, the more you will like and respect others and the more they will like and respect you in return. The more you hate your life and yourself, the more you will hate other people and they will definitely run away from you. That way you will be bringing negativity to your life and that of others which is not a good thing. Your outer world of relationship is a reflection of your inner world of self-worth and value. Believe in yourself and that's all you need to be successful in developing your talent and accomplishing your goals.

If you are going to be successful in creating the life of your dreams, develop your talents, then you have to believe that you are capable of making it happen. You have to believe in yourself, your potentials, talents, dreams etc. whether you call it self-esteem, self-confidence or self-assurance, it is a deep-seated belief that you have all it takes – the inner resources and skills to create and get your desired results.

ALL SUCESSFUL PEOPLE BELIEVED IN THEMSELVES

"People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success". \- Norman Vincent Peale

There is one thing common with all successful people I have read about, talked to, watch and heard about; they were not the most intelligent in their class, some were not even educated or were school drop-outs, they were not the most talented in their field, some came from poor homes but they all chose to believe in themselves and that anything was possible. They all studied, practiced and worked harder than the others, and that's how they got to where they are today.

If an illiterate and a school drop-out can become a millionaire, if an illiterate can develop his talent enough to make him a successful musician, if I can write a great book like this one, then my friend you can do anything. If you assume in favor of yourself and act as if it is possible, then you will do the things that are necessary to bring about the result. If you believe it is not possible, you will not do what is necessary, and you will not produce the result. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Champions believe in themselves, even if no one else does. David believed in himself even when his brothers and the Israelites did not believe in him; that was the why behind his victory over Goliath. First thing every morning before you arise out of bed, say out loud three times "I believe I can".

THE WISE GENERAL

"Believe in yourself and you will be unstoppable". - Emily Guay

Long ago, there was a battle about to take place. One of the generals was talking about tactics with his team of officers. An officer interrupted him and shared his thought that the strategy was a waste of time.

"The gods have already decided who will win." he proclaimed.

"Are you suggesting that fate has decided the result in advance?" the officer asked.

"Yes, I am" the general responded. Then he took a coin out of his pocket and said, "So if I toss this coin and it comes up heads, we win, but if it's tails we lose.

"Is that how fate works?" asked the officer.

"Pretty much" said the general.

The general tossed the coin and it came up heads.

"See, the gods have decided. We can't lose now!"

They went to their troops with the good news and the soldiers marched into battle with renewed enthusiasm. After a glorious victory, the officers met in the general's tent to celebrate.

"So this is how fate works?" the general was asked.

The leader smiled, reached into his pocket and pulled out the coin to show the others. It was heads on both sides.

"No, it was the value of self belief. When the soldiers thought that we couldn't lose, I knew that we couldn't lose."

Sometimes, we think that the script has been written and that success is for a chosen few. I share this adapted story to encourage you to believe in yourself, and to have confidence in your abilities and gifts. You have to believe in your talents and gifts for it to work for you.

WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT YOU DOES NOT MATTER

"Care about what people think about you and you will always be their prisoner" – Lao Tzu

If having others believing in you and your dream was a requirement for developing your talent and becoming successful, most of us would never accomplish anything. My younger sister is one person who continually criticized me during the course of writing this book. Saying I should go find a job and start bring money instead of writing a book that will take me nowhere. Though sometimes it was a joke but I did not let that get to me. A friend once asked me "Who is going to buy your stupid book?" I guess I proved him wrong because am sure you bought this book or someone bought it and gave it to you and since you have gotten to this page you are not finding it stupid.

In developing your talent and pursuing your dreams you need to base your decisions about what you want to do on your goals and desires – not the goals, desires, opinions and judgments of your parents, friends, spouse, course mates, coworkers and siblings. Charles Schwab wrote "The man who trims himself to suit everybody will soon whittle himself away".

Believing in yourself is all about being sure that you are going to do whatever you want even if others were against you, even if dad said you should not, even if your friend said you can't and even if that wicked uncle said you won't. Usually, when you decide to take a big challenge or to do something that people failed to do you will find everyone putting you down? Don't let them. Quit worrying about what other people think about you and follow your heart, pursue your dreams and not theirs. When you have faith in yourself you don't need others to believe in you. Eminem in his song "Am not afraid" said "When I say am going to do something, am going to do it, I don't give a damn what you think am doing it for me". This should be your mindset.

Some people think that unless everyone agrees with them then they are wrong. This is completely wrong. No one ever succeeds without being rejected, without being seen as a fool or a dreamer. Don't worry if your goals seem crazy to other people; oftentimes the crazy ideas are the ones that have the greatest impact. Somebody is always doing what somebody else said couldn't be done. Remember it is the man who has done nothing that says nothing can be done. Success is determined by those who prove the impossible to be possible. And Walt Disney said "It is kind of fun to do the impossible". If people think that you are wrong or that your efforts will yield no results then just go against them by either convincing them with your point of view right away or by waiting until they believe in you by force when they see your success.

But the truth is that most of the time, nobody is thinking about you at all. They are too busy worrying about their own lives, and if they are thinking about you at all, they are wondering what you are thinking about them. People think about themselves not you. Think about it – all the time you are wasting worrying about what other people think about your ideas, your goals, your clothes, your life and your home could all be better spent on thinking about and doing the things that will achieve your goals.

WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT YOU DOES NOT MATTER

"In the end, people will judge you anyway. Don't live your life impressing others. Live your life impressing yourself" – Alexander BusyBrain

From the beginning of the world, men have been jealous of one another, men have criticized one another; so it is not a new thing to hear criticisms from your friends, parents, teachers, lecturers etc. it gets bad when you let these negative words and acts get to you. In fact, it should make you happy to know that people are even saying things about you because it means you are doing something. 2face in his song with MI "Nobody" said "If nobody talks about you, then you are nobody". So, people talking about you, whether positively or negatively is good news. It means you are somebody. Cynthia Occelli said "When people undermine your dreams, predict your doom or criticize you, remember they are telling you their story, not yours".

Even Jesus, perfect in love and motives, was criticized and misunderstood continually. People called Him a glutton (Matthew 11:19), people called Him a drunkard (Luke 7:34), people criticized Him for associating with sinners (Matthew 9:11) and accused Him of having a demon (John 8:48). But, in spite of experiencing misunderstanding, ingratitude and rejection, our Lord Jesus never became bitter or discouraged. He saw every obstacle as an opportunity; an opportunity to heal the sick; an opportunity to show love to sinners; an opportunity to forgive sinners; Jesus turned every trial into triumphs. You should do the same. Be yourself no matter what other people say. God made you the way you are for a reason. Besides, an original is always worth more than a copy. Believe in yourself and there will come a day when others will have no choice but to believe in you. Never give up on what you really want to do. The person with big dreams is more powerful than the one with all of the facts. Walter Gagehot wrote "A great pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do".

THE TINY FROG

"A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd." \- Max Lucado

There once was a bunch of tiny frogs who got together to arrange a competition to reach to the top of the highest tower in town. As the date for the competition was announced, the news spread everywhere and crowd in large numbers gathered around the tower to see this interesting competition and cheer on the contestants. The crowd did not really believe any of these little frogs were going to make it to the top of the tower. Yet they were curious...

The competition began, the frogs quickly started to ascend and the crowd cheered! As a few moments passed, someone from the crowd shouted, "Not a chance that they will succeed! The tower is too high!"

Another spectator said, "Yes, they will never make it to the top. It's way too difficult!"

As the competition continued, some of the tiny frogs began collapsing. One by one... tired... exhausted... But the race continued... as those who still had the fight left, passionately continued to climb higher and higher...

In the excitement and anxiety the crowd continued to yell, "It is too difficult. No one will make it!"

More tiny frogs got tired and gave up. They all continued to give up one by one, until there was only ONE little frog left in the competition who continued to climb higher and higher and higher... This one wouldn't give up!

This one tiny frog who, after a big effort was the only one who reached the top! This little soul was the winner! He made it! He got the glory! Naturally, everyone wanted to know how this one tiny frog managed to pull it off when every other contestant gave up. Everybody wanted to know how this tiny frog had found the strength to reach this goal that everyone else thought it was impossible. So, they asked questions. It turned out that the winner was deaf.

Winners never pay attention to what other people's opinions are when it comes to their dreams and goals. Focus on your goal and match in confidence. People who are not playing with you, people who are not helping you reach your destination, will always have opinions and generally – a negative one. Do not pay any attention to them. Believe in yourself, that's all you need.

YOUR PAST IS NOT THE BLAME

"We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it." \- Rick Warren

Self-belief is easily built if you had positive and supportive parents but the problem is that most of us had parents that were neither positive nor supportive at all and they passed unto us the same limiting beliefs and negative conditioning that they grew up with. But you must remember that is in the past now. I love what Maria Robinson said "Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending".

I once read a story about a little dog that had been kept on a twenty foot leash for years, tied to a tree. He had his home there and the owner came out to feed him and play with him occasionally. But the dog remained on the leash. He would see the other dogs playing, and he would run right out to the end of his leash. But he would not be able to get to them. He knew exactly how far he could go. He wanted to chase them. He wanted to go play, but he also knew his limit. If he went too far, the leash jerked him back into his little home.

One day, the owner felt sorry for the dog, so he decided to let him off that leash. Instead of removing the whole leash, however, the owner simply unfastened the leash from the dog's collar. The collar remained around the dog's neck, but it was not buckled anymore. The owner thought sure the dog would take off running, happy and free. He also thought that the collar made the dog beautiful. Another dog came along, and sure enough, his dog got up and took off running. But much to the owner's surprise, when his dog got to where the leash would have ended, he stopped right where he always did. A few minutes later, a cat came strutting by. This cat had tormented the dog for years. But that cat knew where to walk – just a couple of feet outside of the leash's range. Again the dog took off running but stopped right where he normally did.

The leash has been removed. The dog was free; he just did not realize it. His past is no longer holding him back. This is similar to some of us in some ways. We have been set free from our negative past. Jesus has set you free. John 8: 36 said "Whom the Son set free is free indeed". Your collar has already been loosed. The negativity from our parents and past is no longer holding us back. They are no longer the blame or excuse for our failures. They are no longer holding you back. I love the song "Free" by 2face. Where he said in the chorus, "I wanna be free, free like a bird". This should not be your song; you are no longer a captive of your past; you are now as free as a bird. I have learned that we cannot forget or throw away our past, but we must not let our past to control us either. We must learn and grow from our past failures, disappointments, and painful experiences. Reset our goals and priorities and move forward. Start today by untying the knots that are limiting you. There is no need for blaming them for your current level of self-belief. It is now your responsibility to take charge of your own self-belief. You must choose to believe that you can do anything you set your mind to – anything at all – because, in fact, you can. A brain research now indicates that with enough positive self-talk and positive visualization combined with the proper training, coaching and practice, anyone can learn to do almost anything.

Remember, if we always look back, we lose sight of what's ahead. Each time you think about a negative experience, you become angry or depressed. But the good news is that at anytime you can stop thinking about, discussing, and rehashing the past. You can let it go and begin thinking instead about your goals and your unlimited future. Helen Keller said "When you turn toward the sunshine, the shadows fall behind you".
CHAPTER TWO

YOU ARE THE ONE HINDERING YOUR GROWTH

"Everything changes when you change". - Jim Rohn

One day, the employees of a large company in St. Louis, Missouri returned from their lunch break and were greeted with a sign on the front door. The sign said: "Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym." At first everyone was sad to hear that one of their colleagues had died, but after a while they started getting curious about who this person might be. The excitement grew as the employees arrived at the gym to pay their last respects. Everyone wondered: "Who is this person who was hindering my progress? Well, at least he's no longer here!"

One by one the employees got closer to the coffin and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood over the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see himself. There was also a sign next to the mirror that said: "There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth: it is YOU.

You are the only person who can revolutionize your life. You are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success. You are the only person who can help yourself. Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your partner changes, when your company changes. Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life.

CHANGE YOU MIND-SET

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad". \- C. S. Lewis

Let's suppose a tree represents the tree of life. On this tree there are fruits. In life, our fruits are called our results. When we look at the fruits (our result) and we don't like them, maybe because they are not many, they are not sweet, they are not ripe or maybe they are too small. When we notice this, most of us tend to focus and put our attention on the fruits, our results; but what is it that actually creates those particular fruit? It is the seeds and the roots that create those fruits.

It is what's under the ground that creates what's above the ground. It is what invisible that creates what's visible. So what does that mean? It means that if you want to change the fruits (your results), you will first have to change the roots. If you want to change the visible, you must first change the invisible. Remember "When an egg breaks by a power outside, a life ends. When an egg breaks by a power inside, a life begins. Great things always begin from the power inside!"

If you want to change your life you must first change your mind. Your mind has all the power you need to get anything you really want in life. Your mind is the most powerful force in your universe. You are where you are and what you are because of your habitual ways of thinking. Your thoughts are as a result of your mind-set. And Steve Maraboli said "Once your mindset changes, everything on the outside will change along with it". The bible says "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he". Your thoughts are creative and they ultimately create your reality. A man becomes what he thinks about most of the time. A person's thought patterns are what lead to their feelings of potentiality, actions and results. Simply by changing your mind-set it is possible to change not only our outlook in life by also the actual results we obtain in life. Albert Einstein wrote "The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking".

Your conscious mind can only hold one thought at a time. Positive or negative you can choose that thought. Negative thoughts are caused by remembering the past event while positive thoughts come from thinking about your goals. Brian Tracy once said "Successful people tend to become more successful because they are always thinking about their successes". Our lives are not determined by what happens to us, but how we react to what happens; not what life brings to us, but the attitude that we bring to life. A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events and outcomes. It is a catalyst... a spark that creates extraordinary results. A positive attitude is a powerful force....it can't be stopped.

Peace Pilgrim said "If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think another negative thought". Watch your thoughts they become words. Watch your words; they become actions. Watch your actions; they become habits. Watch your habits; they become character. Watch your character; it becomes your destiny. Therefore for you to change your life, you must change your thinking and thoughts. After changing your thoughts you actually become a different person and get different results. The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts. These are the words of Claude M. Bristol "Thought is the original source of all wealth, all success, all material gain, all great discoveries and inventions, and all achievement".

So your mind-set is yours and under your control, so you can change it. Carol Burnett said "Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me". The change cannot come from others, it must come from you. Friedrich Nietzsche wrote "The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind". This should be our prayer: "God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the courage to change the one I can, and the wisdom to know it's me".

THE DESERT IS PRECIOUS

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude". - Maya Angelou

A young bride from the East during wartime followed her husband to a U.S Army camp on the edge of the desert in California. Living conditions were primitive at best, and her husband had advised against her move, but she wanted to be with her newly wedded husband. The only housing they could find was a run-down shack near an Indian village. The heat was unbearable in the daytime - 115˚ in the shade. The wind blew constantly, spreading dust and sand all over everything. The days were long and boring. Her only neighbors were Indians, none of whom spoke English. When her husband was ordered farther into the desert for two weeks of maneuvers, loneliness and the wretched living conditions got the best of her. She wrote to her mother that she was coming home. She couldn't take it anymore.

In a short time she received a reply which included these two lines, "Two men looked through prison bars; one saw mud, the other saw stars". She read the lines over and over again and began to feel ashamed of herself. She didn't really want to leave her new husband. All right, she thought, she is going to look for the stars. In the following days she set out to make friends with the Indians, asking them to teach her weaving and pottery. At first they were distant, but as soon as they sensed her genuine interest, they returned her friendship. She became friendly with their culture and history – in fact, everything about them. She began to study the desert, it too changed from a desolate, forbidding place to a marvelous thing if beauty.

She had her mother send her books. She studied the forms of cacti, the yuccas and the Joshua trees. She collected sea shells that had been left there when the sands had been an ocean floor. Later, she became such an expert on the area that she wrote a book about it.

What had changed? Not the desert; not the Indians. Simply by changing her mind-set she had transformed a miserable experience into a highly rewarding one. She had turned a dusty and hot desert into a precious one.

BE AN OPTIMIST

"Here's to the crazy ones. The misfits, the rebels, and the troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. They the ones who see things differently and from the positive side. They're not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can't do is ignoring them because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people, who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do." \- Apple Inc.

The dictionary defines an optimist as a person who expects a favorable outcome and the best in every situation. An optimist believes that tomorrow will be better than today no matter what the situation and things around him are telling him at that particular moment. Winston Churchill said "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty". An optimist expects his dreams to come true. A pessimist expects his nightmares to come true.

Norman Vincent Peale wrote "Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities - always see them, for they are always there". In changing your mind-set to change your thoughts you must become an optimist. Look for the positive side of everything, see only possibility in all situations and accept only the good in every bad. There is a story of two shoe salesmen who were sent to an island to sell shoes. The first salesman, upon arrival, was shocked to realize that no one wore shoes. Immediately he sent a telegram to his home office saying, "Bad business, No one wears shoes here". The second salesman was thrilled by the same realization. Immediately he sent a telegram to his home office saying, "Please send shoes, everyone here needs them".

Wayne Dyer said "If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change". We are individually responsible for our view of life. Whenever you are in a difficult situation ask yourself this question "What is the positive side of this thing, what is the good in this situation or what is the possibility that this thing will work out?"

Our minds is our garden, our thoughts are the seed, so we can choose to plant flowers or weeds but remember the Bible says "Whatever a man sows, this he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7). Our thoughts and actions towards life help determine what happens to us. You must keep your mind centered and focused on the things you want and care about. The Bible says you should fill your mind with "Whatever that is true, whatever that is honorable, whatever that is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things" (Philippians 4:8). You must feed your mind with positive messages that are life enhancing rather than dwelling on things that make you angry or sad. Keep your mind off the things you don't want, keep your mind off the bad things in a situation but instead focus on finding the solution and positive side of that situation. When Goliath came up against the Israelites, the soldiers all though, He is so big we can never kill him. David looked at the same giant and thought, He is so I big I can't miss. Learn to look for the positive. Not only will it help you feel better, you become more appreciative and optimist, it affects your body in a positive way, making you relaxed, centered and alert. Positive thought will cause the secretion of endorphins in the brain and will reduce pain and increase pleasure.

You will know you have the right mind-set when you act like the small businessman whose clothing store was threatened with extinction. A national chain store had moved in and acquired all the properties on his block. This one particular businessman refused to sell. The new competitors then said "Alright then, we will build around you and put you out of business". So, the day came when the small merchant found himself hemmed in with a new department store stretching out on both sides of his little shop. On the new competitor's banner "Grand Opening" was written boldly. The small businessman put his own banner stretching across the entire width of his small store, on it written "The Main Entrance". The key to achievement is being a How thinker and not an If thinker.

The key to dealing with any kind of negative thinking is to realize that you are ultimately in charge of whether to listen to or agree with any thought. Just because you think it or hear it doesn't mean it is true. Some of those thoughts are the voices of our parents, teacher or friends telling us it can't be done. Some of them are from our ugly past experience. You have to learn to challenge, talk back and replace those voices with positive ones. And you will be a happy person.

You should begin to start seeing the glass as half full rather than half empty. You should wake up each morning, jump out of bed, and throw your window open, take a deep breath, and say, "Good morning, God!" Rather than waking up each morning, drag yourself out of bed, stare out the window, and say "Good God, it is morning again". Jim Evans said "If you don't think everyday is a great day, try going without one".

SEE THE GOOD IN EVERYONE

"A righteous man sees righteousness in everyone". – Alexander BusyBrain

Resolve to be a positive person in every interaction. Look for ways to cause people to like themselves even more. See the good side of everyone you meet because in fact everyone has a good side. Even Adolf Hitler loved his dogs. If you want people to say things that raise your self-esteem, look for every opportunity to say nice things to others that raise their self-esteem. With every person you meet, look for something that you can say that will make the person feel better about him or herself. With every person you meet or know always ask yourself "What is the beauty in this person, what is the good side of this person, what is the thing I like about this person and when you get an answer don't resist to tell the person. No matter what happens, decide in advance that you will never criticize, condemn or complain. If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.

The Golden rule is "Therefore, however you want people to treat you, so treat them" (Matthew 7:12). If you want to have friends, you must first be a friend. If you want people to like you, you should first like them. If you want people to respect you, you should first respect them. If you want to impress others, you should first be impressed by them. When you do and say things that make other people feel good about themselves, they will want to reciprocate and make you feel good about yourself too. Just as you want people to like you, respect you and treat you nicely, each person you meet wants the same. The people that you like the most in your life are the ones who make you feel the best about yourself when you are with them. The people who like you the most are the people who make feel the same way.

Dale Carnegie wrote "You can make more friends in two months by becoming more interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get people interested in you". Another way to establish a good relationship with people and win them over to your side is to truly be interested in them, to listen with the intention of really learning about them. Smile at them. Learn their names and how to pronounce them. Get the spelling and the titles right. Be curious about other people, what they feel, how they think, how they see the world, what are their hopes, dreams and fears? What are their aspirations? Notice what makes them happy and unhappy. When people feel that you are really interested in getting to know them and their feeling, they will open up to you and share their true feelings with you much more quickly.

When you thought are more on others than on yourself, you will feel less stress. You can act and respond with more intelligence. Your production level increases and you have more fun. Additionally, when you are interested in other people, people respond to your interest in them by becoming interested in you too. They want to be around you and your popularity increases. This is the key to excellent relationship.

TREAT THEM NICELY

"When I treat other people with kindness and love, it is part of my way of paying my debt to God and the world for the privilege of living on this planet" – An elderly man.

Ben Carson in his book "Think Big" advised us to be nice to people saying that "If we are nice to others, others respond to us in the same way, and we can give our best for each other". Look at this if I express love and acceptance to you, you will experience love for me. If I express judgment and contempt for you, you will judge me back. If I express gratitude and appreciation for you, you will express gratitude and appreciation back to me. If I express words of hatred toward you, you will most likely hate me back. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote "Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and help them to become what they are capable of being." And below are some of the reasons Carson provided why we should be nice to people we encounter very day:

  * Everyone in the world is worth being nice to. Because God never creates inferior human beings, each person deserves respect, love, kindness and dignity.

  * We get out of life what we put into it. The way we treat others is the same way we ourselves get treated.

  * We don't lose by being nice to others because being nice always comes back to repay us in the long run.

Mother Theresa wrote this a long time ago "Spread love everywhere you go: first of all in your own house. Give love to your children, to your wife or husband, to a next-door neighbor... Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. Be the living expression of God's kindness; kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting." The Bible in James 2:1-4 told us not to only treat the rich and our friends with respect and love but we should treat everyone – the poor, the weak, that cleaner in your school or office, that police man in your street and so on.

POWER OF WORDS

"From the moment a child begins to speak, he is taught to respect the word; he is taught how to use the word and how not to use it. The word is all-powerful, because it can build a man up, but it can also tear him down. That's how powerful it is. So a child is taught to use words tenderly and never against anyone; a child is told never to take anyone's name or reputation in vain." \- Henry Old Coyote

The dictionary defines words as a distinct unit of language with a particular meaning, composed of one or more morphemes, and also of one or more morphemes that determine its sound pattern. According to Compton's Encyclopedia, the total number of words in the English language is around 750,000. Out of this large amount of words we only use 500 to 2000 at most, which represents only one half of one percent of the language. In Roget's Thesaurus there are more than 3000 words describing various emotions. Of those, there are 1051 words for positive and 2286 for negative emotions; roughly twice as many negative words as positive words.

Words are important. Words have incredible power to change, control and direct our lives. James 3:3 – 10 tells us that we put bits in the mouths of horses to control them; ships through very big are controlled with a very small helm and our month also a small member of our body but also controls our life. The author also tells us that out of our mouth proceeds blessings and curse but we should use it to bring blessing into our lives and that of others. Proverbs 18:21 also says that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue". This is true; wars have been started over words. People have been killed because of words. Deals have been lost because of words. Marriages, relationships and friendships have been destroyed because of words. In a better truth, love and friendship have been started over words. Healings and miracles have taken place because of spoken words too. Contracts and deals have been won with words too. Great words have motivated men to act in spite of fear. In fact, God created the world with words and nothing else.

Words for one, provides us with a vehicle for expressing and sharing our experience with others. Most of us don't realize; that the words you habitually choose also affect what you experience. Words have the power to create emotions, either positive or negative. The choice of certain words in describing a situation can raise or lower blood pressure, heart beat rate and respiratory rate. Words can make you happy or angry, creative or reactive and intelligent or confuse. A Chinese proverb said "Kind words can warm for three winters, while harsh words can chill even in the heat of summer".

Negative words create tension and anxiety. It can cause worry and stress. Irwin Katsof said "Quite simply, what you say is the single biggest factor that determines your happiness". Imagine how you feel when somebody calls you and says urgently, "We have a real problem here!" you immediately become uneasy and anxious. But imagine how you will feel if someone calls you up and says urgently "We have a real challenge! You will discover that you will respond with greater calmness and clarity.

GOD MADE OUR WORDS POWERFUL

"Da Da": Powerful enough to make a grown man cry when spoken for the first time by his son." – Unknown Author

God created the world by speaking it into existence. The world was framed by the Word of God. He created the visible world out of nothing. Hebrews 11:3 says Hebrews 11:3 "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear". What God speaks comes to pass. Over and over in Genesis 1, we see the words, "And God said." Whatever God said became reality. He said, let there be light, let there be plants, let there be living creatures, and finally let us make man in our own image. All of these things in the world are a reality today because God spoke them into existence thousands of years ago. All of creation is a result of God's word spoken in the beginning of time. Genesis 1:26 says that God created man in His own image and after His likeness and gave him complete authority over all the earth. So humankind was created in the very likeness of God himself. Just as God had the power to speak and create things from His spoken words, we too have been given the power to speak and create by our words.

CHANGE YOUR WORDS

"Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers". - Ephesians 4:29

The truth is your words put out certain energy or message that creates a reaction in others – a reaction that is usually returned to you multiplied. Everything you say produces an effect in the world. Everything you say to someone else produces an effect in that person. Know that you are constantly creating something – either positive or negative with your words. So by simply changing your habitual vocabulary – the words you consistently use to describe situations, health and the emotions of your life – you can instantly change how you think, feel and your life. Matthew 12:37 says "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned".

If you want to change your life, develop your talents, accomplish your dreams and change your destiny; then you need to consciously choose the words you use in describing your emotional states. Start avoiding negative words and start using positive words. Proverbs 16:23 – 24 says "The heart of the wise teacheth his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips. Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and health to the bones".

Yes, start using sweet words to describe those sad situations. I love the song "Give thanks" by Don Moen which says "Let the weak say I am strong and let poor say I am rich because of what the Lord has done for us" this should be your story. Let your words change from I am sick to I am health, from I am broke to I am rich, from I am weak to I am strong, from I am angry to I refuse to be angry, from am failure to am a success, from I am dull to I have the wisdom of God in me. Next time when someone asks you how are you? Instead of saying I am not ok, I just dey oh or I am fine I guess" say I am feeling on top of the world, I thank God for life or my favorite "I am great". The labels we put on our experience become our experience. Choose your words wisely.

MONITOR YOUR SELF TALK

"The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it". \- Jordan Belfort

Self talk is you talking to yourself, sometimes we talk to ourselves aloud but most of the time it is within ourselves – that is in our minds. We all talk to ourselves almost every time. We talk to ourselves before going to bed; before starting a new task; when we get out of bed in the morning and even while walking. Research indicates that the average person which is you - talks to yourself about 50,000 times a day. Most of that self-talk is about you, and most of that self-talk according to the psychological researchers is 80% negative. Your self-talk determines ninety five percent of your emotions. When you talk to yourself, your subconscious mind accepts these words as commands and as a result, your behavior, self-image and body language changes to fit a pattern consistent with those words you tell yourself.

If we start to pay more attention to our self talk, we may find that we are processing a lot of negative self talk. But if we start by taking just a few of those negative self talks one at a time and begin changing them into positive ones. What if you could learn to always talk to yourself like a winner instead of a loser? What if you could transform your negative self talk into positive ones? What if you could silence your thoughts of lack and limitation and replace them with thoughts of unlimited possibility? What if you could replace any victim language with a language of empowerment? And what if you could transform your inner critic, who judges your every move, into a supportive inner coach who would encourage you and give you confidence as you faced new situations and risks?

This knowledge can sometimes be distressing at first and make us feel somewhat powerless over what thoughts are permeating our minds and our lives. But we will feel much happier, stronger and more in control of our lives. Anyone and everyone can begin using positive statements to create change and improvements in their life. All it takes is the commitment to start and experience the positive benefits that this technique can deliver.

Once we have committed to change, to monitor our thoughts and to make positive changes to what we allow to flow through our mind, we can begin to focus and target the areas in which we most wish to bring about lasting change. Positive self talk or affirmations repeated consistently are the tool that allows us to focus our mind on what we do want rather than what we do not want. We can now focus our mind and energies on creating the life we want, develop our talent and live our dreams. Shad Helmstetter said "You can create the energy to turn your dreams into reality by knowing what to say when you talk to yourself". Remember to practice saying kind words to others by first saying kind words to yourself.

CHAPTER THREE

PRAY UNTIL SOMETHING HAPPEN

On persevering prayer: "I look at a stone cutter hammering away at a rock a hundred times without so much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the 101st blow it splits in two. I know it was not the one blow that did it, but all that had gone before."

Prayer is the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God. It is also a solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God. Prayer is a state of mind, where an amazing exchange happens! We hand over our worries to God and He hands over his blessings to us. Prayer is so important that believers need to receive grace from God to prayer. And not just once in awhile prayer but to pray without ceasing. We should pray every morning when we wake up and in the night before we go to bed telling God to help us develop our talents. Anytime we have problems or challenges concerning our talent or any other in our life we should pray.

We should learn to tell God in prayers to help us develop our talent and also thank Him for giving us the talent in the first place. Mark Littleton said "We should turn our doubts to questions; turn our questions to prayers; turn our prayers to God. The strongest action that you can take in any situation is to go to your knees and ask God for help". I like to use the word PUSH because it means Pray Until Something Happen.

Martin Luther said "The less I pray, the harder it gets; the more I pray the better it goes". Frequent kneeling in prayers will keep you in good standing with God. Pray as if everything depends on God. Pray everyday because seven days without prayer makes one weak. Prayer is the key of the morning and the bolt of the night. Faith and prayer are the vitamins of the soul; man cannot live in good health without them. In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart. Whatever is worth worrying about is certainly worth praying about. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us. (1 John 5:14) so go ahead tell God everything in prayer, tell him to help you develop your talents, tell him about your troubles or challenges, tell him about your goals and tell him to show you a way to achieve it.

Begin to realize more and more that prayer is the most important thing you do. You can use your time to no more better advantage than to pray whenever you have the opportunity to do so, either alone or with others; while at work, while at rest or while walking down the street, while eating, while bathing, anywhere, anytime and anyhow.

TEMPLATE FOR PRAYER

"If you don't pray you will become a prey" – Prophet Kinsley Ibe

Prayer is a natural response to God's work in our life. A helpful model for me as I respond to God in prayer is the ACTS model: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication.

  * ADORATION: Telling God how great he is, why he's great (merciful, kind, and so on), and how much we love him for it.

  * CONFESSION: Acknowledging to God any known sin that is displeasing to him so that we can come to him unhindered, completely surrendered and cleansed.

  * THANKSGIVING: Thanking God for his grace and forgiveness in our lives, and thanking him for all the things he's done for us and given to us.

  * SUPPLICATION: Asking God for things that we want. Let me give you some reassurance about this last piece of the puzzle: supplication. Once your heart and mind are in alignment with God, its okay to go ahead and ask him for stuff - personal stuff, physical stuff, an A on your statistics paper, developing your talent, whatever. He wants you to come to him with everything. There's nothing too big, nothing too small, so ask away, no matter how ridiculous you think it sounds. Asking is man's part. Giving is God's part. The praying belongs to us. The answer belongs to God. Prayer is not going to God for something needed and desired. Prayer is simply asking God to do for us what he has promised us he will do if we ask him.

NO ENGINE CAR MOVING

"Lord, help me to listen to you in prayer as much as you listen to me". – Alexander BusyBrain

A young man working in the army was constantly humiliated because he believed in God. One day the captain decided to humiliate him before the troops. He called the young man and said "Young man, take the key and go and park the Jeep in front".

The young man replied "I cannot drive!"

The captain said "But then asks your assistance from God! Shows us that your God does exist!"

The young man took the key and walked to the vehicle, praying the whole time. As a result he parked the Jeep to the place PERFECTLY well as the captain wanted. The young man came out of the jeep and saw them all crying. They all said together "We want to serve your God!"

The young soldier was astonished; he wanted to know what was going on?

Captain was crying, and he opened the hood of the jeep showing the young man that the car had no engine.

Then the solder said: See? This is the God I serve, the God who gives life to what does not exist. This God can revile your talent to you today. This God will make you a success, make you achieve your dreams; if only you will go down on your knees and pray to Him and "whatever thing you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them" Mark 11:24 (NKJV)

YOU NEED TO PRAISE TOO

"You can't worship God and have war in your ship" \- Prophet Kinsley Ibe

Praise is the act of making positive statements about a person, object or idea, either in public or privately. Praise is a favorable representation in words. Praise in a Christian sense is the act of worshiping God, singing beautiful song that glorifies him, saying great things about him like how great He is, how beautiful He is, how loving He is and telling Him how big and mighty He is. Praise is calling God beautiful names, telling Him what He has done for you, singing songs that glorify and praise Him and remaining Him things He has said in the bible.

Praise is a response of worship. Praise is a force, a machine and a tradition of Heaven. Praise is the highest work carried out by God's children. We can say that the highest expression of a saint's spiritual life is his praise to God. The best thing you can do for yourself and God is to be His worshiper. Praise and worship is the only food and the only thing we can give God. We don't play with those that feed us - like our parents and family members; that's how God will not play with us when we feed Him daily. Learn to feed God with praise and worship.

All they do in heaven is to praise God. All the twenty four elders in Heaven do is to worship God all the time. They were talked about in the book of Revelation. When you praise God, you bring down heaven on earth. Praise is a character needed to move things forward in your life. Praise is the elder brother to prayers.

DAVID AND SOLOMON PRAISED GOD

"Yes, worship of the loving God is man's whole reason for existence." \- A.W. Tozer

David said in a psalm that he prayed to God three times a day (Psalm 55:17). Yet in another psalm, he said that he praised God seven times a day (119:164). David was inspired by the Holy Spirit when he acknowledged the importance of praising. He prayed only three times a day before, but he later started praising the Lord seven times a day. And the bible said God so loved David and said that He Jesus will come from his lineage. What an honor for praising God.

When Solomon completed the building of Jehovah's temple, the priests carried the Ark of the Covenant into the Holy of Holies. When the priests came out of the Holy Place, the Levites stood beside the altar, sounded the trumpets, and sang with cymbals, psalteries, and harps. Together they sounded praises to God. At that moment, the glory of Jehovah filled His house (2 Chronicles. 5:12-14). Both David and Solomon touched God's heart and offered up sacrifices of praise that were pleasing to God. Jehovah is enthroned upon the praises of Israel. We should praise the Lord all our life.

In the Bible, we are actually told to boast every time the word "praise" appears— boasting is an element of this word. When we praise God, we are essentially boasting about Him and cheering in reverent adoration of His person and works. Unlike adoring fans at a performer's concert, it is God who shines His glorious light into our lives, revealing that everything about Him is praiseworthy.

We should sing praises to our God. We sing boasts about the greatness of our God with purity and vigor. We should proclaim His greatness to others in joy and excitement. We should spread words of comfort to the afflicted as we declare His goodness and sovereignty. We should boast confidently about our God in any and all situations. David in Psalm 146:1-2 said "Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being" (ESV)

YOU MUST HAVE FAITH IN GOD

"Faith is to believe what you do not yet see; the reward for this faith is to see what you believe." \- St. Augustine

Faith is another very important ingredient for the soup of life and developing your talent to be delicious and palatable. The dictionary defined faith as a feeling, conviction or relief that something is true or real without seeing having evidence. Here is an acronym for Faith: Forwarding All Issues To Heaven.

But the bible gives us the best definition of faith in Hebrew 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see" (NIV). It says that faith is being sure of what we hope for, you have got to be sure that you are going to develop that talent of your and use it to impact lives even when your finance, time, family and friends etc are saying otherwise. You have to move from the realm of hope to the realm of being sure.

The second part of the definition states that we have to be certain of what we don't see. Put in another words it means being sure of it as you are sure of your name. Being able to see it as you can see your hands every morning. You have to be sure that you will change, impact and make good money with your God given talent. You have got to have faith not just in developing your talent but in everything you do in life.

Let me give you some great definitions of faith so you will get the picture I am trying to paint.

  * Faith is the ability to see God in the dark.

  * Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

  * Once, all villagers decided to pray for rain, on the day of the prayer all the people gather but only one boy came with an umbrella. That faith! Prayer is asking God for rain, faith is carrying the umbrella.

  * Faith is putting all your eggs in one basket and asking God to look after it.

  * It was the same cloth of Jesus that the woman with the issue of blood touched and received her healing that the soldiers who crucified Him used in playing games and nothing happened. The difference there was faith.

  * Faith is very important tool you should have if you want to be successful in life and discover that talent of yours. Matthew 17:20 puts it this way

  * And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you (KJV).

Here, Jesus said if you have faith as big as a mustard seed you can move mountains but I say unto you that if it does not move the mountain for you, it will make you so big that you will walk over the mountain. If you don't walk over the mountain, faith will put you on a plane and you will fly over to the other side of the mountain. If that does not happen, faith will create a broad way in between the mountain for you to pass without stress. If again that does not happen, faith will give you the ability to disappear and appear on the other side of the mountain. Faith just has a way of getting you pass life challenges, problems and getting you to that beautiful future. Remember faith is not a pill you take but a muscle you use.

DAD"S EMPTY CHAIR

"What seems impossible one minute, through faith, becomes possible the next". \- Norman Vincent Peale

A man's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her father. When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed. The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit. "I guess you were expecting me," he said.

"No, who are you?" said the father.

"I'm the new minister at your church," he replied.

"When I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up."

"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man.

"Would you mind closing the door?"

Puzzled, the minister shut the door. "I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head." "I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, "Joe, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest. Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised, "I'll be with you always." Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me right now."

So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."

The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her daddy had died that afternoon.

"Did he die in peace?" he asked.

"Yes, when I left the house about two o' clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?" The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I wish we could all go like that."

Faith is the ability to see God in the dark. We live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
CHAPTER FOUR

WE ARE ALL AFRAID OF SOMETHING

"Have courageous thoughts during your most feared moments. Overcoming your fears will leave you unafraid and strong-minded." – Alexander BusyBrain

One thing I have come to discover is that we are all afraid of something. You are afraid, and I am afraid, and everyone you meet is afraid of certain things. We are all afraid as a result of our childhood conditioning. When we were born, we had two wonderful qualities. First, you were completely unafraid. The infant has no natural fears, except for the fears of falling and loud noises. Second, we were completely spontaneous. The infant expresses himself freely and openly, without any though or concern about what anyone else has to say or think.

But, as you grew up, your parents and the people around you began teaching you to be afraid. They began programming the fears into you that can hold you back for the rest of your life. When you began growing up and started exploring the world around you, they began telling you things like "stop!", "get away from there", "you can't do that", "get out of there", "that will hurt you" and so on.

So, all the fears you have right now is as a result of your early childhood programming and past experiences. Yes, past experiences. Think of it, you are afraid to start something new because you have failed once when you tried it. You are afraid to fall in love again because your heart has been broken once or before etc. Some sad and bad experiences of our lives have made and taught us how to become afraid of them.

You are also afraid of something because you don't understand them. Jay zee said "People fear what they don't understand". You are afraid of tomorrow or the future because you don't yet know what it will look like or what it will bring. Some little children are afraid of big cars like Lorries because they don't yet understand what it is. And when they do, they will come to love it rather than been afraid of it.

We are all afraid of something or better put this way we all have fears. These fears sometimes help us, but mostly they hurt us or hold us back from doing what we were born or suppose to do. But we all have them. You must be wondering right now "If we all have fears or if everyone is afraid, then what of the guys in the army, in the navy, in the air force, those who sky dive, those who travel to space and other planets, those who wrestle in WWE, those who race in Formula1 etc. Well the answer is simple. These guys are afraid and they have fears but they act in spite of those fears. They feel the fear but still go on to do the thing they love doing. Courage is daring to take the first step, or a different path. It is the decision to place your dreams above your fears.

Wait, do you think a soldier with his gun running towards the battle field does not have fears? I am privileged to have parents who are in the force and a granddad that fought in the Nigerian civil war and they told me that these guys have fears but at that time with courage have decided to bury those fears under their feet inside their war boots.

One of the hall marks of brave people is that they make it a habit of confronting their fears whenever they arise. When you confront something that is making you afraid and you move towards it like a soldier going to the battle front, the fear diminishes and loses its hold over you. But if you back away from the fear, the fear grows until it dominates your whole life. Glen Ford once said, "If you do not do the things you fear, the fear controls your life". So make it a habit of confronting your fears, of doing the things you fear, of acting as if you had no fears at all in a difficult situation, and soon your fears diminishes and your courage increases.

WHY YOU NEED COURAGE

"Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires some of the same courage which a soldier needs". - Ralph Waldo Emerson

A long time ago, Sir Winston Churchill gave the world a statement that's nearly good enough to be in the Bible: "Without courage all other virtues lose their meaning". In order words, what is truth if you don't have the courage to speak it? What is righteousness if you don't have the courage to live it? What is love if you don't have the courage to make yourself vulnerable? Without courage the other virtues lose their meaning, their worth and their power. Without courage how can you chose a new job when the old one is longer bring anything about from troubles and confusion. Without courage how can you find a new partner when it is no longer working out with the old one? Without courage how do you move to a new place when it is no longer comfortable living with the old ones? So you see all of these require some level of courage. We can't even improve our lives without courage. Opportunity does not knock; it presents itself when you have the courage to beat down the door.

Whatever you do, you need courage. Whatever course or decision you decide upon; there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. Even when you decide that you are going to develop your talent; you will find people that will tell you are wrong; that it is a waste of time; that it will not get you anywhere. That is why you need courage to be able to look them in the eyes and say "Am going to develop my talent and am going to impact lives with it". You need courage to be able to withstand their discouragement.

There are always difficulties arising that tempt you to believe your critics are right. So to map out a course of action and follow it to the end requires some of the same courage that a soldier needs. Anytime you are willing to stand up for something, someone else will be willing to take a shot at you. So you need courage to shot back at them or at least dodge the bullet. Nelson Mandela said "I learn that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it". The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

Courage enables you to spread your wings and be all that you can be. When you are driven by courage-fueled energy, you magnify your spirit's fulfillment. Courage is an antitoxin that you can apply to setbacks, hurts or duties. Courage gives you permission to express your individuality and stop others from clipping your wings! Courage guides you to focus on best results. Combining intention with action, courage arms you for success. Courage allows you to stand in your dignity. You don't need to manipulate situations. You know that storms will enter your life, but they offer opportunities for an honest assessment of your vulnerabilities.

ACCEPT FEAR AS PART OF THE PROCESS

"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear". \- Meg Cabot

As you move forward on your journey to develop your talents, you are going to have to confront your fears. Fear is natural. Whenever you start a new project, take a new venture, or put yourself out there, there is usually fear. Unfortunately, most people let fear stop them from taking the necessary steps to achieve their dreams. Successful people, on the other hand, feel the fear along with the rest of us but don't let it keep them from doing anything they want to do or have to do. They understand that fear is something to be acknowledged, experienced, and taken along for the ride. They have learned to feel the fear and still do what needs to be done anyway.

Anytime we want to move forward, obstacles, difficulties, problems and predicaments are always going to get in our way. You may experience a fear of rejection, a fear of failure, or a fear of making a fool of yourself. You may be afraid of getting physically or emotionally hurt. You might be afraid that you will lose all the money you now have or already saved. These fears are not unusual. They are just part of the process. If we are not experiencing any of this, then we are not moving forward.

So you should expect nothing less and you should even welcome such things. You should start seeing adversity and challenges as our friend, as a ladder to our next level in life and as compulsory or necessary for our growth in life. Every obstacle or challenges we overcome teaches us about ourselves, about our strength and weakness. Every obstacle shapes and helps us. No obstacle will ever leave you the same way it found you. You will either be better or worse but when we succeed in the midst of difficulty, we become stronger, wiser and more confident.

Remember what will not kill you will only make you stronger. Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to develop that your great and unique talent, do not sit at home and think about it. Go out and get busy. Tell yourself that until you develop that talent of yours, you will never stop no matter what happens. Remember the words of James F. Bell "Fear is met and destroyed with courage. Again and again when the struggle seems hopeless and all opportunity lost, the one with a little more courage and a little more effort will have victory".

BUTTERFLY COURAGE

"Courage is getting up to ride again after a really bad fall". – Alexander BusyBrain

Walking down a path through some woods in Georgia in 1977, I saw a water puddle ahead on the path. I angled my direction to go around it on the part of the path that wasn't covered by water and mud.

As I reached the puddle, I was suddenly attacked! Yet I did nothing for the attack was so unpredictable and from a source so totally unexpected. I was startled as well as unhurt, despite having been struck four or five times already. I backed up a foot and my attacker stopped attacking me. Instead of attacking more, he hovered in the air on graceful butterfly wings in front of me.

Had I been hurt I wouldn't have found it amusing, but I was unhurt, it was funny, and I was laughing. After all, I was being attacked by a butterfly! Having stopped laughing, I took a step forward. My attacker rushed me again. He rammed me in the chest with his head and body, striking me over and over again with all his might, still to no avail. For a second time, I re-treated a step while my attacker relented in his attack.

Yet again, I tried moving forward. My attacker charged me again. I was rammed in the chest over and over again. I wasn't sure what to do, other than to retreat a third time, after all, it's just not every day that one is attacked by a butterfly. This time, though, I stepped back several paces to look the situation over. My attacker moved back as well to land on the ground.

That's when I discovered why my attacker was charging me only moments earlier. He had a mate and she was dying. She was beside the puddle where he landed. Sitting close beside her, he opened and closed his wings as if to fan her. I could only admire the love and courage of that butterfly in his concern for his mate. He had taken it upon himself to attack me for his mate's sake, even though she was clearly dying and I was so large. He did so just to give her those extra few precious moments of life, should I have been careless enough to step on her.

Now I knew why and what he was fighting for. There was really only one option left for me. I carefully made my way around the puddle to the other side of the path, though it was only inches wide and extremely muddy.

His courage in attacking something thousands of times larger and heavier than himself just for his mate's safety justified it. I couldn't do anything other than reward him by walking on the more difficult side of the puddle. He had truly earned those moments to be with her, undisturbed. I left them in peace for those last few moments, cleaning the mud from my boots when I later reached my car.

Since then, I've always tried to remember the courage of that butterfly whenever I see huge obstacles facing me. I use that butterfly's courage as an inspiration and to remind myself that good things are worth fighting for.

Copyright 1997 Dave Kuzminski

CHAPTER FIVE

TIME IS LIMITED

"You may delay, but time will not". - Benjamin Franklin

Time is limited you don't get enough or more of it. It cannot be stretched. It is a fixed quantity. It is perishable; it cannot be saved. Time is irreplaceable; nothing else will do. It goes by with an absolutely unstoppable regularity. It is rightly said "Time and tide waits for no one". Time flies and never returns. A minute not usefully spent is an eternal loss that you can never get back. Time is irretrievable; once it is gone or wasted, you can never get it back.

The truth is that you have all the time there is, 24 solid hours every day all to yourself. The entire quality of your life will be determined by how you use those fresh 24 hours every day. This is a fact of nature to which you must conform, because it cannot be changed.

Your decisions about time usage tell you who you really are, what you really want, what your life is going to look like and where you are going in life. You can tell how important something is to you by measuring the amount of time you spend or is willing to spend doing that thing. Once you have discovered your talent, it becomes a very important aspect of your life which you should be willing to spend a good amount of time on. You can tell your true value and belief on something by the way and amount of time you spend on it.

I spent a lot of my time writing this book because I have a belief that at the end I am going to help you discover and develop your talent. And still keep you motivated. You should be willing to do that for your talent and for accomplishing your goals and dreams. And don't ever say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein, etc... But Leonardo da Vinci once said "Time stays long enough for anyone who will use it".

SPEND YOUR TIME WISELY

"Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you". \- Carl Sandburg

Time management refers to managing time effectively so that the right time is allocated to the right activity. It also refers to making the best use of time as time is always limited. Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. Peter Ducker said "You cannot manage time; you can only manage yourself."

It is a known fact that time cannot be saved, it can only be spent. It passes on quickly no matter what you are doing or what you do. The only power you have is to decide to spend your time differently, to spend your time on something important and more rewarding. If you waste time it wastes you. There is a proverb which says that killing time is not murder; it is suicide. It means by wasting time you are harming no one but on the other hand you are harming yourself.

Before we go on to decide what we are going to spend more of our time doing, we must know that there are two kinds of activities you spend your time on. And they are high value activities and low-value activates.

HIGH VALUE ACTIVITIES

"Until you value yourself, you won't value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it". \- M. Scott Peck

High value activities are the activities you do that bring the highest value into your life. These are the activities you do that you are paid for. These are the activities that draw you closer to your goals and dreams. These are the activities that increase your self-belief, confidence and self-worth. These are the activities you do very well. These are the activities that bring you joy, happiness and satisfaction.

Successful people know these because they spend more of their time doing things of higher value. They do more of the things that move them towards their goals and dreams faster. They spend time doing what they love that brings them satisfaction. They spend more time doing what will take them from this level to the next one. If you want to develop your talent and accomplish your goals, you have to start spending more time doing what will get you there. You have to start spending more time doing activities that bring you high value.

When I was writing this book, it was one of the activities that brought me high value because I knew I will be helping you discover and develop your talent, it will raise my self-esteem, it brought me great joy and happiness and it is helping me fulfill my purpose. As a student, reading your books is a high value activity. As a Christian, reading your bible, praying and going to church is a high value activity. As an author, reading other motivational and inspiration books is a high value activity.

As you are reading this right now, bring out a pen and a sheet of paper, then ask yourself these questions "What are the high value activities should be spending more time doing, what are the activities that put money into my pocket, what are the activities that will help me develop my talents and draw me closer to accomplishing my goals and what are the activities that bring me joy and satisfaction?" when you receive the answers to these questions, write them down in the sheet of paper I asked you to bring out, meditate on them every morning and start spending more of your time doing them. This is spending your time wisely. And when you get into the habit of only doing those things that move you toward your goals, your life will take off. Your results will improve. You will soon find yourself busy every hour of every day doing things that are helping you in some way. You will have no time left to spend on activities that aren't helping you to achieve one of your goals.

LOW VALUE ACTIVITIES

"Unfortunately, the clock is ticking, the hours are going by. The past increases, the future recedes, possibilities decreasing and regrets mounting." ― Haruki Murakami

Low value activities are those activities that you partake in that brings you little or no value. These are the activities you don't get paid for after doing them. These are activities that move you away from your dreams. These are activities that after doing it you feel like you have wasted that time.

Though most of these activities are bad and are things you should stop doing because they bring you nothing in return. While some of these activities are not bad, in fact they are fun, you enjoy doing them, and they bring you joy and satisfaction. Remember the time you enjoyed spending is not a waste of time. Examples of sure activities are playing video games both on phone, television and computers, chatting with friends on social networks, surfing the net, watching movies and television, playing both in doors and outdoor games, talking, interacting and playing with friends and so on.

Don't get me wrong here; I never said these activities are bad or wrong. I do them myself, all of them. In fact, I spend a large amount of my time everyday surfing the net, watching documentaries, TV series and chatting with friends. The only problem here is how much time you spend doing these things. The average Nigerian spends more than 6 hours every day watching movies and television. If you are one of these average people, by the time you are 60 years old you have wasted 15 years of your life watching television. That will be one fourth of your life. Common! You don't really want to spend one fourth of your precious life watching other people – the ones on television who are working, getting paid and living their dreams. The sad truth is that every time you are watching a movie or television, the person on the television screen is doing something more important than you. Psychologists have shown that the more television you watch, the lower are your levels of energy and self-esteem. People who watch too much television also gain weight and become physically unfit from sitting around too much. Your television can be an excellent servant, but it is a terrible master. So please don't let it lead you to not developing your talents. The choice is yours.

To stop doing these activities or reduce the time spent in doing them; start by asking yourself these questions "Do I get paid for doing these activities, are these activities drawing me closer to accomplishing my goals and living my dreams, are these activities helping me develop my talents, are they impacting and helping someone out there, are these activities making my life better? With the answers you get from asking yourself these questions will tell you whether you should stop doing them, spend less time doing them or even start spending more time doing them.

You are always free to choose how you spend your time. You are in control. You are in charge. You are in the driver's seat. You are the captain of your own ship. When you came out of your mother's womb, your palms were closed because your destiny is in there. So you are the architect of your own destiny. Each moment, you can decide to spend your time on high value activities or on low value activities. The sum of your choices will determine the quality of your life today, tomorrow and forever. The choice is yours.

FIND THE CONSEQUENCES BEHIND

"Time is our most valuable asset, yet we tend to waste it, kill it, and spend it rather than invest it". \- Jim Rohn

To know whether a task is high-value or low-value you will need to know the consequence behind the activity. Something is important to the degree that it has serious potential consequence for completion or non-completion. A task or activity is unimportant to the degree that it does not matter if it is done or not. For example, developing your talents can have enormous consequences that can impact your life and destiny. Completing a major task or project in school can have significant consequences on your education and life.

On the other hand, chatting with friends both online and face-to-face, reading the newspaper, surfing the Internet, watching television may be enjoyable, but these activities have few or no consequences. In other words, whether you do them or not makes little or no difference to your work or your life.

Benjamin Trego once said, "The very worst use of your time is to do very well what need not be done at all". No matter how well you do an unimportant task like watching television, chatting with friends etc. even worse, working on low-value tasks keeps you from working on the most important things you could be doing. Hard work on the wrong activities can be a huge waste of time and energy. Remember activity is not productivity.
CHAPTER SIX

OLYMPIC ATHLETES PRACTICE

"Every artist was first an amateur but with a lot of practice became a master". - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Olympic athletes pay the price. According to John Troup, writing in USA Today, "The average Olympian trains four hours a day at least 310 days a year for six years before succeeding. Getting better begins with working-out every day. By 7:00am most athletes have done more than many people do all day. Given equal talent, the better-trained athlete can generally outperform the one who did not give a serious effort, and is usually more confident at the starting block. Marathon runners run an average of 160miles a week at 10 mph. swimmers train an average of 10 miles a day, at a speed 5mph in the pool. It is not the will to win that matters – everyone has that. It is the will to prepare to win that matters. Steve Alford once an Olympic gold medalist in NBA was talking about Michael Jordan, he said "When I played with Michael Jordan on the Olympic team, there was a huge gap between his ability and the ability of the other great players on that team. But what impressed me was that he was always the first to come for practice and the last to leave."

Whatever you practice, over and over again, eventually becomes a new habit or skill. It is only a matter of time. In fact, it has been discovered that if you practice something over and over again for one month it becomes a habit. If you desire to improve and develop your talent, then you must practice. It allows you to break your own records and outstrip what you did yesterday. When practice is done correctly, it keeps making you better than you were yesterday. Richard Carlson said "You are what you practice most".

So, if want to be a dancer tomorrow, practice dancing today. If you want to be a musician tomorrow, start singing today, practice it every day and listen to other people's music. If you want to be author tomorrow, start practice writing today and read other great books by other authors. Joyce Mayer wrote "The way anything is developed is through practice, practice, practice, practice and more practice". Your talent will be developed through practice, practice, practice and more practice; there is no exception. Tomorrow victory is today's practice. Champions keep playing until they get it right. Behind every great achievement is a story of education, training, practice, discipline and sacrifice. You have to be willing to pay the price.

FOCUS ON THE PROCESS

"The best way to predict the future is to create it." \- Peter F. Drucker

The best musicians practice every day. The best athletes practice every day. The best writers practice every day. These are people who have a high average speed. Yes, their results are fantastic and they get to enjoy the fruits of their labor ... but it's not the results that set them apart, it's the dedication to daily practice. It's the fact that their identity is centered on being the type of person who does their craft each day. Here's the truth: it's your daily actions that will change what you believe about yourself and the person you become. It's about setting a schedule, showing up, and sticking to it. It's about focusing on building the right identity rather than worrying about getting the right result.

In case I haven't made it clear enough already: skill is something you can cultivate, and talent is something you're born with. You can become more creative, more intelligent, more athletic, more artistic, and more successful by focusing on the process, not the outcome. Instead of worrying about winning the championship, commit to the process of training like a champion. Instead of worrying about writing a bestselling book, commit to the process of publishing your ideas on a consistent basis. Instead of worrying about getting six pack abs, commit to the process of eating healthy each day and exercising. Instead of worrying about becoming a million, commit to the process of making money with your ideas. When you commit to the process, you will not be bothered about the result and if you remain committed to the process long enough without giving up, the result and your success is sure to come.

Anyone can be good at any skill if they make the necessary sacrifice required to nurture that skill. However, to be great, to be the best, you should focus on nurturing your talents. Give and put more time and effort to developing your talent and you will grow faster and go farther than you ever imagined.

YOU MUST WORK HARD

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure." \- Colin Powell

Every extraordinary achievement you see or have had of is as a result of thousands of ordinary achievements that no one ever saw or appreciated. Thomas Edison failed many times before he produced a working light bulb. Successful sports players spend hours practicing; getting their moves just right so when they perform in a contest it looks effortless. Every great accomplishment is the result of hundreds of hours of painstaking effort, preparation, study, and practice that very few people are even aware of. Successful people today are those who were toiling upward in the night while their companions socialized, watched television, or wasted their time on time killing entertainment.

You should bear in mind that there is no crown without a cross, there is no sweet without sweat and that one has to suffer before pleasure. You should realize that nothing good comes easy and that gold is not found on the surface of the earth. The other way round is defective, it will not last for long and will bring you no rest of mind. The great artist Leonardo da Vinci once wrote "If you want to be rich in a month, you will be killed in a day". Remember, Hope doesn't guarantee anything - hard work does. Marsha Evans "Working hard overcomes a whole lot of other obstacles. You can have unbelievable intelligence, you can have connections, and you can have opportunities fall out of the sky. But in the end, hard work is the true, enduring characteristic of successful people."

This book you are reading right now is as a result of about five years of constant reading of other motivations books, listening to audios messages, attending seminars and about eight months of writing of constant everyday writing. Yes, it took me about eight months to write this book with me writing at least a page of this great book every day. Sometimes with me typing it on my PC whenever there is light, sometimes throughout the night without sleep. If you want to be great with your talents, you should be willing and able to do more than that for it.

You can become whatever person you want to become if only you are willing to work at it long enough and hard enough. Your willingness to prepare thoroughly determines how well you will do, how far you will go and how much you will earn. If you put in hard work, you will eventually get something better out. Resolve in advance that you will invest whatever time it takes to develop your talents, become excellent at whatever you do, and be patient. Anything worthwhile takes a long time to accomplish. The longer you have to work to reach the heights, the greater will be the rewards when they finally come. If you want to get anything in life, you need to work very hard for it. Stephen King said "Talent is cheaper than table salt. What separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work." There is no shortcut to a lasting success; you will need to work hard for it. Success is not always achieved by hard work alone, but mix it with a little bit of organization and a little strength from God above and you'll have a winning recipe. Martin Luther King, Jr. has his own idea of what a hard work should look like. He said, "If a man is called to sweep the streets, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, as Shakespeare wrote poetry, as Beethoven composed music. He should sweep streets as wee that all the host of heavens and earth will pause and say, 'Here lived a great sweeper who did his job well".

THE CHINESE BAMBOO

"The heights by great men reached and kept were not attained by sudden flight. But they, while their companions slept, toiled ever upward through the night." – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

A great lesson of patience, persistence and hard work can be learned from the story of planting Chinese bamboo. Unlike most other plants, Chinese bamboo is quite unique on its own. When this bamboo is planted, watered, and nurtured for the whole growing season, it does not outwardly develop even just for an inch. Then, on the next growing season, the farmer must continue to irrigate, fertilize and care for the bamboo tree and yet nothing happens – it fails to sprout just the same. And as the seasons go in and out, the farmer has to continue caring for the bamboo for four consecutive years. What could really be discouraging is the farmer has nothing substantial to demonstrate for all of his labor in caring and growing the tree. Four lonely years of hard work and caring and yet you have nothing! And then on the fifth year, you must be prepared for something so amazing and incredible!

All the hard work seems to be paid off on the fifth year because that Chinese bamboo tree seed at last grows and not just growing as we normally see with other plants. The bamboo tree shoots up to more than 80 feet all in just one growing season! Now, that is a very astonishing demonstration of the power of nature!

Now, you might be thinking: Did the small tree loll inactive for four years and then just decides to grow dramatically on the fifth? I think the answer is quite clear for us to see. The little tree was actually developing itself underground by expanding its root system to make it tough enough to sustain its impending external growth in the fifth year and even beyond. Just like the Chinese bamboo; you must first develop your talents underground, expanding your roots while awaiting the large expansion will come.

EVERYTHING IS LEARNABLE

"The very best proof that something can be done is that someone else has already done it". – Bertrand Russell

While practicing and while developing your talents, it is important you have this in mind "Anything and everything is learnable". Including those skills that are not your talents can be learnable. Yes, you can learn anything that someone has done or is doing. There is nothing that is too difficult that it cannot be learned in this world. Everything that you need to learn to move to the top of your field has already been learned by hundreds if not even thousands of people.

Everyone who is doing well today was at one time doing poorly. Every person at the top of any field was at one time not in that field at all and did not know that it even existed. Every sport skill is learnable. Every Messi, Usain Bolt, Ronaldo, Mohammad Ali, The Rock, The Undertaker etc the list is too long, they where all once complete novice in that area. Every business skill is learnable. Everyone who is proficient in any area of business was at one time completely ignorant in that area. Any music skill is learnable. Michael Jackson did not moonwalk out of his mother's womb nor did Bob Marley sing reggae so well from his mother's womb. Every sales skill is learnable. Every top sales person was once a beginning sales person and unable to make a call or close a sale. Every leadership skill is learnable. Am not the one that said, "Leaders are not born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work and practice". All money making skills are learnable as well. Almost every wealthy person was once poor. Abraham Lincoln wrote "The fact that some have become wealthy is a proof that others may do it as well".

So if all this guys were born average just like you and me, how did they get this far? The answer is simple – at a certain point in their lives, they realized that the key to success was personal and professional growth. It was a dedication to constant practice and lifelong learning that has got them this far. And just as how these guys have gotten this far, you can too. You can learn anything you need to learn to achieve any goal you can set for yourself. In fact, a brain research now indicates that with enough positive self-talk and positive visualization combined with the proper training, coaching and practice, anyone can learn to do almost anything.

Achievers – whether in business, sports or the arts – are committed to continual improvement by practice. If you want to be more successful at what you do, you need to learn to ask yourself, "How can I make this better? How can I do it more efficiently? How can I do this more profitable" how can I do this with greater love? Chuck Gallozzi said "We have an innate desire to endlessly learn, grow and develop. We want to become more that what we already are. Once we yield to this inclination for continuous and never ending improvement, we lead a life of endless accomplishments and satisfaction".

PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

"There is nothing training cannot do. Nothing is above its reach. It can turn bad morals to good morals; it can destroy bad principles and re-create good ones; it can lift men to angelship". \- Mark Twain

Practice does not make perfect. Vince Lombardi's advice: "Only perfect practice makes perfect." To become an able and successful man in any profession, three things are necessary: Patience, Study and Practice. Martha Graham said "We learn by practice. Whether it means to learn to dance by practicing dancing or to learn to live by practicing living, the principle is the same. One becomes in such area an athlete of God".

Whatever you practice over and over again for a month eventually becomes a new habit or skill. I present you with the six Ps - Proper prior preparation prevents poor performance. Your willingness to prepare thoroughly determines how well you will do, how far you will go and how much you will earn. You should look everyday for ways to become better because the better you get at your job, the more likely it is that people will pay you more to continue doing it. And you only get better by constant practice and preparation. Remember if you are not getting better you are getting worse and nobody is going to pay you for a bad job.

Epictetus said "Practice yourself, for heaven sake in little things, and then proceed to greater things". In practice, start with little things then move on to big ones. To learn how to move mountains, one must first learn how to throw small stones. Little drops of water make a mighty ocean. He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying. So start practicing with small things, then gradually move on to big ones until you become the Oga at the top of your game. William E. Holler said "You can do what you what to do, accomplish what you want to accomplish, attain any reasonable objective you may have in mind, not all of a sudden, perhaps not in one swift and sweeping act of achievement, but you can do it gradually, day by day, and play by play, if you want to do it, if you work to do it, over a sufficiently long period of time".

MAKE EXCELLENCE YOUR TARGET

"Excellence is not being the best; it is doing your best". – Alexander BusyBrain

As you practice, make excellence your target and give your best to achieve it. One way that you can get the best from yourself is to set high standards for your greatest potential. To be number one, you have to train like you are number two. Make the sky your target and even if you miss it, you will fall among the stars, if you still miss that, you will fall on a tree top but if you make the tree top your aim, if you miss it, you will come crashing on the ground. No one ever attains very eminent success by simply doing what is required of him; it is the amount of excellence of what is over and above the required that determines greatness. I know you have heard it a thousand times before. But it is true – hard work pays off. If you want to be good and a master at what you do, you have to practice, practice and practice.

When you are not practicing, someone somewhere is. And when the two of you meet, given roughly equal ability, he will win. So, you have to practice everyday, when you feel like it or not, when you are tired or strong, in day time or night time. Andre Previn, a musician said "If I miss a day of practice, I know it. If I miss two days of practice, my manager knows it. If I miss three days of practice, my audience knows it".

CHAPTER SEVEN

FAILURE IS PART OF THE PROCESS

"When you fail, that is when you get closer to success." ― Stephen Richards

If I or any other person tell you that in developing your talent, in your career, in anything that your are about to start be it; business, relationship, profession and any other thing that you decide to pursue in life, that you are not going to fail. I and that individual will be telling a big beautiful lie. You cannot run away from failure. Failure is merely part of the process necessary for success.

In developing your talent and in any other thing you do in life expect to fail but don't quit when you fail. There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure. You must make a decision that you are going to move on. It won't happen automatically. You will have to rise up and say, "I don't care how hard this is, I don't care how disappointed I am, I don't care how many times I have failed, I am not going to let this get the best of me. I am moving on with developing my talent, I am going to achieve that my dream, I am building that house, I am getting married to that girl, I am getting that B.sc degree by all means, I am getting a new job or am starting my own business, I am moving on with my life.

Success is stumbling from failure to failure without any loss of enthusiasm. H. Stanley Judd said "Don't be afraid to fail. Don't waste energy trying to cover up failure. Learn from your failure and go on to the next challenge. It is ok to fail, if you are not failing, you are not growing". I love the advice of Handy Paush "The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show the people who don't want it badly enough. They are there to stop the other people not you". Yes, the brick walls of failure are there to stop the other people who don't want to develop their talents badly enough. Not you, because I know you want to develop your talent, you want to achieve those dreams of yours, you want to be successful and make the world a better with your talent. So the brick wall of failure can not and should not stop you. I believe and have faith in you, your wife/husband does, your father and mother do the same, and your friends do have faith in you. You born or unborn children are depending on you, you can't fail them. You own them a comfortable home, a beautiful mother or a handsome father. You own them good education, good health and a great family. You own them a great last name. So, you see my friend you can't quit just because you failed once or twice or even ten times. Let me show you below great men and women who did quit because they failed or because they were called failures.

SOME FAMOUS FAILURES THAT FAILURE DID NOT STOP

"Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure." — Napoleon Hill

**J.K. ROWLING** : J.K. Rowling, the author of the _Harry Potter_ novels was unemployed, divorced; raising a daughter on social security, waitressing and on public assistance when she was writing the first installment of what would become one of the best selling series in history. The book was rejected by a dozen publishers. The only reason it got published at all was because the CEO's eight year old daughter begged him to publish it. J.K. Rowling is now internationally renowned for her 7 book Harry Potter series and is the first person to become a billionaire from writing.

_"Failure meant a stripping away of the inessential." - J.K. Rowling_

**MICHAEL JORDAN** : It might come as a shock, but the man who became what many would call the best basketball player of all time didn't make his high school basketball team.

_"I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot, and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." - Michael Jordan_

**THOMAS EDISON** : Thomas Edison was partially deaf in one ear and fidgety. When Thomas was 4 he was sent home from school with a note. The note told his mother that he was to remove his son from school because he was "too stupid to learn". Thomas' mother decided to teach him herself. He only had 3 months of formal schooling yet went on to create numerous inventions like the phonograph. He's actually known as one of the most prolific inventors in history holding 1,093 U.S. patents as well as a lot of patents in the UK, France and Germany. Edison also famously invented so many light bulbs before creating one that worked. In talking about his invention of the light bulb, he said:

_"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that do not work." - Thomas Edison_

**OPRAH WINFREY** : Her childhood was frightful and filled with horrible abuse and abject poverty. She was fired from her television reporting job because they told her she wasn't fit to be on screen. But, like most successful people, Oprah doesn't dwell on stuff like that. She rebounded and became the undisputed queen of television talk shows. She's also a billionaire.

_"I don't think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good." - Oprah Winfrey_

WALT DISNEY: Today, Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks around the world, but Walt Disney himself had a bit of a rough start. He was fired by a newspaper editor because, "he lacked imagination and had no good ideas." After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn't last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He was turned down by over a hundred banks when he tried to get funding to develop Disneyland. He kept plugging along, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that worked. He built Disneyland and then the premiere of his movie Snow White. Today, most childhoods wouldn't be the same without his ideas. Every child's dream today is to get to Disneyland.

"All the adversity I've had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles has strengthened me... You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you". - Walt Disney

HENRY FORD: While Ford is today known for his innovative assembly line and American-made cars, he wasn't an instant success. In fact, his early businesses failed and left him broke five times before he founded the successful Ford Motor Company. Henry Ford also forgot to put a reverse gear in his first car. And this is what he has to say about failure.

"Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently". - Henry Ford

Most of us will stumble and fall in life. Doors will get slammed in our faces, and we might make some bad decisions. But imagine if Michael Jordan had given up on his dream to play basketball when he was cut from that team. Imagine if **Oprah Winfrey** had listened to her boss who told her she'd was not fit for TV and gave up her dreams. Imagine if Thomas Edison had quit when he failed the first time, or the tenth time, or the ninety ninth time; maybe there will be nothing like electricity today. Just imagine if all the other guys gave up because they failed or where called failures. Thomas Edison said "Failure doesn't mean that we are off the track to success. It merely forces us to take a detour to success".

There is one thing I have found with all great people: They once failed in their lives and they where once called failures but they did not allow that keep them from succeeding. They did not quit because of that, instead they used the brick wall of failure as a stepping stone to their destiny. Instead when the world told them they were failures, they turned and look the world in the face and said "Am great, Am a billionaire, Am a TV presenter, Am an inventor, Am an artist etc. And that is what you should tell the world when you are faced with failure and not quitting.

DON'T LET FAILURE STOP YOU

"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." \- Michael Jordan

Don't let your fear of failure stop you. Fear of failure is often the single biggest obstacle that prevents us from reaching our full potential. We worry about what will happen if when we fail. Realize that failure is relative. While you may interpret something as a failure, someone else may see it as a valuable learning experience. Often, failure is only failure to the extent you see it that way. What if true failure meant wasting your talent? What if failure was delaying action and missing opportunities because you didn't take that risk?

Think of the opportunities you'll miss if you let your failures stop you. Think about the opportunity I could have missed because I was called a failure. Failure can also teach us things about ourselves that we would never have learned otherwise. For instance, failure can help you discover how strong a person you are. Failing at something can help you discover your truest friends, or help you find unexpected motivation to succeed. Often, valuable insights come only after a failure. Accepting and learning from those insights is key to succeeding in life.

Success is determined not by whether or not you faced obstacles, but by your reactions to them. If you look at those obstacles as a containing fence, they become your excuse for failure. If you look at them as a hurdle, each one strengthens you for the next challenge in life, in developing that talent of yours and in becoming successful. Failure should be our teacher, not our undertaker. Failure is delay not defeat. It is a temporary detour, not a dead end. Failure is something we can only avoid by saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing. Proverbs 24:16 says "For a righteous man falls seven times and rises again." Napoleon Hill said "Before success comes in any man's life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is what the majority of men do. That is why the majority is just ordinary".

DONKEY FAILURE

"For a righteous man falls seven times and rises again". - Proverbs 24:16

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided that animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to save the donkey. He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly.

Then, to everyone's amazement he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed to see the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone to higher success. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up. If life continue throwing yams at you, just gather them all and make yam porridge from it.

REMEMBER YOUR PAST FAILURES

"Before success comes in any man's life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That is what the majority of men do. That is why the majority is just ordinary". \- Napoleon Hill

We have all failed one time or the other in our lives. You have probably failed in school; you failed in your relationship or marriage; you have failed your parents and friends one way or the other and you have failed yourself too maybe by not living up to your dreams. Yes, you have failed one time in your life, just relax and think about it you will probably remember them.

Remember how it felt when you failed; you did lose the trust and confidence of your parents, your friends left you and you were left alone because no one wants to be friends or seen with a failure. People maybe even your friends called you a failure. You probably felt like hitting your head on the wall but you did not or maybe you did but you are still alive right now reading this book. You probably felt like your world was coming to an end but it did not. And maybe you lost your self-confidence and so on.

The truth is you did not dead after you failed; you overcame the failure one way or the other and right now you have found yourself some new friends, you have one way or the other gotten back the confidence and trust of your parents back, you have moved on with your life and probably forgotten that you once failed. And it actually made you stronger and fearless.

With this mindset you should know that fearing failure is a waste of time. You should know that if you fail again you will not die. You should know that there is nothing to fear in failure. If you lose some friends you will get new ones. People will call you a failure but it will not change your name to that or make you one. Right now you should know that failure is a detour not a dead-end street. You should know that failure is temporal and not permanent. And what will not kill you will only make you stronger. The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow. For every challenge encountered there is opportunity for growth.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO BE REMEMBERED FOR?

"There is only one thing that makes a dream impossible to achieve: the fear of failure". - Paulo Coelho

What are you going to be remembered for, what are you going to tell your children, what is going to be written on the sand of time beside your name, what is going to be written on your grave stone? Is it going to be the world greatest quitter, the musician that never sang again because her friends told her she has a bad voice, the author that never published a book because the first three he wrote were failures, the greatest president we never had, the artist that was afraid to perform in front of a crowd because he failed the first six times, the actor or actress that never featured in a movie because stage fright, the entrepreneur that never owned or started a business because he was afraid of failure and taking risk or is it going to be richest man on earth, the Michael Jackson of our time, the greatest president of your country, the greatest motivational speaker I ever had speak, the Thomas Edison or Albert Einstein of our generation? You can let failure or the fear of it stop you. The choice is yours!!!

CHAPTER EIGHT

HANG IN THERE

"If I had to select one quality and one personal characteristic that I regard as being most highly correlated with success, whatever the field, I would pick persistence and determination. The will to endure to the end, to get knocked down seventy times and get up off the floor saying, "Here comes number seventy one". \- Richard M. Devos

It is natural in the achievement of any goal to come upon obstacles, to feel temporarily stuck on a plateau. This is normal. Anyone who has ever played a musical instrument, participated in a sport, or practiced a martial art knows that you hit plateaus where it seems as if you are making progress whatsoever. That's when the uninitiated often quit, give up, drop out, or take up another instrument, martial art or sport eventually they make what feels like a sudden leap to a higher level of proficiency. Be patient, hang in there, don't give up and you will break through.

In developing your talent, perseverance is another cube of sugar we must add to the coffee to make it sweet, if not our coffee will be very bitter and we will not be able to drink it. Robert Strauss wrote "Success is a little like wrestling a gorilla. You don't quit when you are tired – You quit when the gorilla is tired". My friend, in developing your talent you don't stop because you are tired – You stop when the task is done. You must hang in there until the task is accomplished, until you talent is developed, until you accomplish that dream. Frank Tyler observed "In every triumph there is a lot of try". But perseverance means more than trying or working hard. It is the willingness to bind oneself emotionally, intellectually, physically and spiritually to an idea or task until it is completed. Helen Keller said "We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough". Many people can muster up the courage to take action toward a new goal, but when they see no immediate result they quickly lose hope and pull back to safety and security. But for you to develop you talents, you need to hang in there and continue working and fighting after you have gone all in and before you have yet seen any results or rewards.

I kind of agree with Rick Ross in his song with Akon "Cross that line" when he said "If you don't get it, don't let it". Yes until you get what you are looking for in life, don't just let it go. Until you develop your talents don't let it go. Hold on to it till the end. Life is not easy for any of us. We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing we must attain. The secret of success is never let down and never let up. One of the must powerful success principles ever preach is "Never, Never, Never give up". One of the secret of success is to start from scratch and keep on scratching. You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you do not try. It's not whether you get knocked down; it's whether you get back up.

BE STUBBORN WITH A PURPOSE

"The world shouted at me "Give up" but hope whispered to me saying "Try it one more time".

Here is my best definition of perseverance. It is the definition by Rich De Voss which he said "Perseverance is stubbornness with a purpose". It is very difficult for people to develop perseverance when they lack a sense of purpose. But don't worry, you have a purpose and that purpose is for you to develop your talent; accomplish that dream and impact lives with them. With those and more as your purpose, be as stubborn as a He-goat that is been taken to the market to be sold. Yes, be that stubborn; don't allow fear, discouragement, challenges and doubt drag you to the market of undeveloped talents. Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragement and impossibilities: it is this that in all things distinguishes the strong from the weak. Napoleon Hill said "The most interesting thing about a postage stamp is the persistence with which it sticks to its job". What Mr. Hill is trying to tell us here is that we should be stocked to developing our talent the same way the postage stamp is stocked to developing our talent the same way the postage stamp is stocked to the postage. Let nothing separate you from developing that talent. Let nothing separate you from achieving that dream and let nothing separate you from being successful.

Lori Myers wrote "Your success is your responsibility. Take the initiative, do the work and persist to the end". This means that if you work hard and persist to the end, your success is sure. You must believe that your hard work, dedication and persistence will pay off; improve through continual learning and believe in your future. Anthony J. Angelo advised "Never let your persistence and passion turn into stubbornness and ignorance". A little more persistence, a little more effort and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. Common, go develop that talent of yours.

ANT PERSISTENCE

"Perseverance means stopping not because you are tired but because the task is done".

It happened in Southwest Asia in the 14th century. The army of Asian conqueror Emperor Tamerlane has been routed, dispersed by a powerful enemy. Tamerlane himself lay hidden in a deserted manger while enemy troops scoured the countryside.

As he lay there, desperate and dejected, Tamerlane watched an ant try to carry a grain of corn over a perpendicular wall. The kernel was larger than the ant itself. As the emperor counted, sixty-nine times the ant tried to carry it up the wall. Sixty-nine times he fell back. On the seventieth try he pushed the grain of corn over the top.

Tamerlane leaped to his feet with a shout! He, too, would triumph in the end! And he did, reorganizing his forces and putting the enemy to flight. He later won the battle because he did not give up. You should not too no matter what happens in the process of developing your talent and pursuing your dreams.

Joyce Spizer said "No" is a word on your path to "Yes". Don't give up too soon. Not even if well-meaning parents, relatives, friends and colleagues tell you to get "a real job". Your dreams are your real job.

WHAT MY MOTHER TOLD ME

"A prominent judge was asked what we, as citizens of the countries of the world, could do to reduce crime and disobedience to law and to bring peace and contentment into our lives and into our nations. He thoughtfully replied, I would suggest a return to the old-fashioned practice of family prayer." \- Gordon B. Hinckley

It was on a cold evening, the moon was in its full glory that night. Inside our parlor sat a very tall woman dark in complexion my mother Mrs. Funmilayo Njoku on one of the red cushions. The room was dark, PHCN don't give electric light that much in this part of the country. But the room was not totally dark because there was a LCD table lamp on the center table providing light to some part of the room. Even in the darkness I can still see her beautiful face, a face I have been seeing since the very first day I came into this cold world and I have grew to love this face very much; in fact, more than anything in the world.

As usual, this night we are gathered together for what most people call night devotion. Where we discuss and share ideas, where we talk about how the family will move forward, where we share our personal problems for answers and advices to be given to us. Then afterwards we worship and praise God, and then we pray before everyone finally goes to bed.

Today mum was the one speaking to us and her topic was "What is going to be your story?" This particular day she was telling us that failure, challenges and that obstacle were all part of the process of life and that they make the stories of our life interesting. She said facing challenges will give us stories that we will tell our children and others. She continued saying if we get everything we want from life the time we want it then there will be no story to tell. She went on to give us instances of things she went through while in the village many years ago. And how they all contributed in making her what she is today.

She advised us saying that we should all stand up and face our challenges and not shying or hiding away from it. That hiding away from your challenges does not make it go away rather they just keep increasing and keep coming. She remained us that attack is the best form of defense. She concluded her motivating and inspiring speech by saying "We should be man enough to face our challenges and not shy away from it. Facing our challenges will give us stories to tell our children like our mother has been using hers to inspire and motivate us and others. And of course make our lives more interesting and inspiring. Mark Houlahan said "If you want your life to be a magnificent story, and then begin by realizing that you are the author and everyday you have the opportunity to write a new page".

FALL IN LOVE WITH WHAT YOU DO

"Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful". - Herman Cain

One way to remain persistence with what you are doing is to fall in love with it. When you are in love with someone or something, you hardly give up no matter what you are going through. There is always this strong desire and passion for that thing that keeps you going.

In the Bible, when Jacob fell in love with Rachel he needed to work for her for seven years. After seven years of hard work, he was given Leah. He persevered and worked for another seven years only to be given Leah's hand-servant. After another seven years of hard work in the field, he was given Rachel's hand-servant and finally after finally persevering for 28 long years, Jacob was granted Rachel's hand in marriage. That's a man who is in love.

Fall in love with what you do and you can have that kind of persistence. Remember the words of John Mason "It takes the hammer of persistence to drive the nail of success". Will Rogers wrote "If you want to be successful, it's just this simple: know what you are doing, love what you are doing, and believe in what you are doing".

THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

"Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising up every time we fail". - Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is a real life story of engineer John Roebling building the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, USA back in 1870. The bridge was completed in 1883, after 13 years. In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island.

However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before. Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done.

He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built. Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.

The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was also injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to talk or walk.

"We told them so." "Crazy men and their crazy dreams, it's foolish to chase wild visions."

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roebling's were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever. He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task.

As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment. It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife. He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.

For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.

Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal. Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realized with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

CHAPTER NINE

EVERY GREAT THING WAS ONCE JUST A DREAM

"All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose". \- Brian Tracy

Every great invention, every great work of art, every inspiriting piece of music, every magnificent building and every great life in the world today is or was a dream of someone that he or she pursued with passion until it came to reality. Personal computers was the dream of Steve Jobs and Steven wozniak, Microsoft is the dream of Bill Gates, Facebook is the dream of Mark Zuckerberg, Electricity was the dream of Thomas Edison, Disney pack was the dream of Walt Disney, becoming the greatest pop star to walk on earth was the dream of Michael Jackson, Freedom for South Africa was the dream of Nelson Mandela, helping and caring for sick people was the dream of Mother Teresa, winning sinners over to Christ was the only dream of Jesus Christ while he was here on earth, helping you discover and develop your talent, writing this great book and establishing the YAT (You Are Talented) Foundation is my dream.

Every successful person alive today or dead were all dreamers, better still big dreamers. They saw all they wanted to be, they saw all they wanted to do, they saw all they wanted to invent and put all their energy into doing it; they put all they have into getting there, they believed in their dreams with their life and they did everything to bring the dream into reality. They were told by their by their parents, boss, friends and others that they were crazy, that they should go to school and get a degree in law, they were told it could not be done, they were also probably told it was a waste of time and energy, they were told their dreams were wild and not possible.

They were also given some reasons why it was not possible, maybe by giving them some reason why it was not possible or achievable. Some of the excuses may include – you don't have enough money now, you don't have a college degree, you are too old or too young, no one has ever done it before, you don't have such time to waste but these men and women did not let these people and their excuses stop them. They when ahead to pursue their dreams with all they have that very moment and today they are been celebrated. You can do the same. Napoleon Hill wrote "Man alone has the power to transfer his thoughts into physical reality; man alone can dream and make his dreams come true". Nothing is as real as a dream. Have the courage to reach for it. The poorest man in the world is not a man without a cent to his name, but it's the man who does not have a dream.

WHAT ARE YOUR DREAMS?

"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was in vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible". \- T.E. Lawrence

Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. Dreams can last for a few seconds or as long as 20minutes or even two hours etc. people are more likely to remember their dreams if they are awakened during the Rapid-Eye Movement (REM). The average person has one to three dreams per night while some may have up to five dreams in one night.

But this dream am talking about is not what you see when you sleep, dreams are what keeps you awake. When you stop dreaming, then you are just sleeping. Enya in her song "Paint the sky with stars" said that "Sleep only bring to those who sleep dreams that they cannot keep". Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things that escape those who dream only by night. Charlie Hedges wrote "A dream is not something that you wake up from, but something that wakes you up". So what kind of dream am I talking about?

A dream is an inspiring picture of the future that energized your mind, will and emotions, empowering you to do everything you can to achieve it. Your dream is a detailed description of what you want in life, where you want to be and what success means to you. Sharon Hull said "A dream is the seed of possibility planted in the soul of a human being, which calls him to pursue a unique path to the realization of his purpose".

So, what are your dreams?

WHAT IS SUCCESS TO YOU?

"What is success? To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived; That is to have succeeded". \- Ralph Waldo Emerson

One way to know the dream of someone is to ask him "what success to you is?" And this question also helps you to outline your dreams. Gone are those days, when I am asked "What is success to you?" And I will reply saying "Success is making so much money that my wife will not be able to spend it all in one day". But true success in life is not measured by how much you make, but by how much of a difference you make. The rap artist Rick Ross once said "By how many people you bless is how you measure success".

Right now, if I am asked "What is success to you?" I will reply the person saying "Success is helping that child discover and develop his or her talent; success is telling that man or woman in the street that Jesus so love him or her that He came to die for him or her; success is motivating and inspiring the young generation to be better people; success is feeding the hungry, praying for the sick and providing home for the homeless; success is when me and my money are working and preaching the gospel for our Lord Jesus Christ; success is becoming the best husband and father in the world; success is making the world a better place in any way that I can; success is making my neighbor feel blessed for having me as a neighbor; success is blessing the lives of my people and not just the lives of my parents and family members; success is sending a whole community of children to school; success is when that man or woman can say "Thank God, that Alexander Nnaemeka walked on earth, thank God that I met Mr. BusyBrain, God bless Alex I am now living a happy life and success is making heaven. God, ability, grace and the anointing to accomplish all this I ask in Jesus name Amen.

Herschel Walker said "I still say that I am a little different because success to me is not having the most money, or having the biggest car or the biggest house. Success is just being happy". My question to you reading this right now is "What is success to you?"

THINK AND DREAM BIG

"If I shoot at the sun, I may hit a star". – P. T. Barnum

In developing your talent you have got to think and dream big. You should begin the process of dreaming big by first knowing that the bigger your thoughts, the bigger the dreams you dream, the bigger the goals you will achieve. Think and dream about the great and big things you will do with your talents, lives you will impact with it, places it will take you to and the great life you will have. Allow your minds to continually float freely when they think about what is possible for you. See the blue sky as the only limit to everything and anything that you could possibly be, or have or do. Project your mind into the future several years from now and imagine what you want your life to look like. See the kind of house you want to build, see the kind of wife or husband you want to marry, see the kind of work or job you want to do, see yourself in the place you want to spend you holidays, see how you will like to spend every day, every week and every month of your life and see the perfect life you want for yourself. See the great end of your life, career and dreams from the beginning.

Reach for the moon. If you fall short at least you'll be among the stars. You can never dream too big, but you can think too little. Success comes from having dreams that are bigger than your fears. Thomas J. Vilord said "If you are not going to think big, don't bother thinking at all. When you think big, your results are big". And Victor Hugo warns "Dream no small dreams, for they have no power to stir the souls of men".

Your dreams should and must involve other people, it must affect lives. Your dream is not a personal thing; it should be for all humanity if possible. It should be about making the world a better place and it should be about impacting lives. And to create a balanced life, your dream should include the following areas of your life: work and career, finances, free time, health and fitness, relationships and family, personal goals and it should contribute in making the world a better place. Make sure you have dreams that are high enough to inspire you and low enough to encourage you. And never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. If you believe you can, then you will. Have confidence in your abilities, and then follow through with them. The time will pass anyway. Remember the words of Donald Trump "Think BIG! You are going to be thinking anyway, so think BIG!"

POWER OF IMAGINATION

"Imagination rules the world". \- Napoleon Bonaparte

Imagination is the ability to form a mental image of something that is not perceived through the five senses. It is the ability of the mind to build mental scenes, objects or events that do not exist, are not present, or have happened in the past. Imagination is the ability to form new images and sensations that are not perceived through sight, hearing, or other senses. William Arthur Ward wrote "If you can imagine it, you can achieve it; if you can dream it, you can become it".

Everyone possesses certain imagination ability. In some, it is rightly developed, and in others, it manifests in various degrees in various people. It gives the ability to look at any situation from a different point of view and to mentally explore the past and the future. Muhammad Ali said "The man who has no imagination has no wings". With your imagination, you can travel anywhere in the speed of light without any obstacles. It can make you feel free, though temporarily and only in the mind, free from tasks, difficulties and unpleasant circumstances. Carl Sagan said "Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere".

Imagination activates the creative power of your subconscious mind. Imagination magnetizes and attracts to you the people, resources, and opportunities you need to achieve your goals and develop your talent. When you perform any activity in life, researchers have found your brain uses the same identical processes it would use if you were only visualizing it. In other words, your brain sees no difference whatsoever between visualizing something and actually doing it. Visualization simply makes your brain achieve more. Imaginations make your subconscious mind to create solutions for getting the goals you want. It creates new levels of motivation. You will start to notice you are unexpectedly doing things that take you to your goals. You will start getting new ideas in the morning when you wake up, in the shower, while taking a walk etc.

Imagination is not limited only to seeing pictures in the mind. It includes all the five senses and the feelings. You can imagine a sound, taste, smell, a physical sensation or a feeling or emotion. Peter Nivio Zarlenga wrote "I am imagination, I can see what the eyes cannot see, I can hear what the ears cannot hear, I can smell what the nose cannot smell and I can feel what the heart cannot feel". A developed and strong imagination does not make you a daydreamer and impractical. On the contrary, it strengthens your creative abilities, and is a great tool for recreating and remodeling your life and your world. Donald Curtis said "We are what and where we are because we have first imagined it."

SOME GREAT MEN KNEW ABOUT IT

"Live your imagination, not your history". - Stephen Covy

No man understood the power of imagination more than Albert Einstein that's why he said "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world and all there ever will be to know and understand. To know is nothing at all but to imagine is everything. Imagination is the preview of life's coming attractions. Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere".

Another man knew and used the power of imagination was Nelson Mandela. Have you ever wondered how a man could live for over 27 years in a narrow prison cell without hope of ever getting out? Well, Nelson Mandela did it and he has written in his autobiography that visualization helped him keep his sanity and health in place while being imprisoned for over 27 years. Every day spent in prison, Nelson Mandela kept thinking and fantasizing about walking out of that cell and what he would do once free. That thought and visualization kept him alive and at some point became reality.

Another man who uses the power of imagination is Kaka. The profession Brazilian attacking midfielder who birth name is Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite. He was born in Gama, in Brazil. Kaka started his football career at the age of eight, when he began playing for a local club. He was later signed for his first professional contract with Sao Paulo FC at the age of 15. In 2003 kaka joined Milain FC for a fee of €8.5 million. While at Milain, Kaka won the Ballond'Or and FIFA World Player of the year awards in 2007. Kaka is known for his humanitarian work. In 2004 he became the youngest ambassador of the UN World Food Program. Kaka was also the first sportsperson to amass 10 million followers on Twitter. At the time of writing this book, Kaka was the fifth richest footballer in the world.

Kaka has been described as a quick, composed, balanced, highly skilful and creative team player. He possesses excellent ball control, awareness and positioning, and is capable of beating defenders in one on one situations as well as creating space for team mates. He possesses a great shot from any distance, super vision and fantastic passing and dribbling ability. Having performed predominantly as a playmaking attacking midfielder throughout his career, as well as other attacking positions, he is known for being capable of both scoring, creating and assisting goals, and is also an accurate penalty-kick taker.

Once in an exclusive interview, he was asked "How do you prepare yourself before each game?"

He said "Before each game after I must have been through with lots of training and practice. I put on my headsets and listen to soft and good music. It gives me the right mindset, clears my head and helps me focus on the game ahead. Then I also sit down, relax and visualize the whole head-on. I imagine myself doing what I know how to do best without errors and mistakes. I see myself dribbling; give great assist and scoring classical goals. I visualize my team mates doing their thing too and making sure we win the game. I also imagine our opponents performing at their best too. I hear the sounds coming from the fans – their claps, shouts and praising especially when I have scored a goal and I am celebrating. And it has helped me a lot in getting his far in my career". He said while concluding. If it worked for them, it will work for you.

I USED IMAGINATION TOO

"If you can dream it, you can do it". \- Walt Disney

Before I started writing this book, I have already imagined and seen what the book is going to look like, how many pages it will contain, how the beginning and end of the book will be, how I am going to arrange the chapters and pages, I imagined selling some copies of this book in seminars, conferences, schools, social gatherings, youth meetings, churches where I will give my speeches on discovering and developing your talents. I imagined a child running with joy and conviction written all over her face to her mum who was cooking in the kitchen telling her "Mum, I have discovered my talents and I know just how I am going to develop them" and the mum with surprise on her face will be like "What are your talents my sweet heart?" the girl with reply her saying sweetly "Singing and dancing". I imagined someone saying to his or her friend "Thank God, I read this book because I just discovered what my talents are and the book gave out great tips on how to develop them. I recommend that you go and get a copy of this book too". I imagined you reading this book to the end, then nodding your head and saying "Am really inspired by this book, my friends and family read this book and I will definitely hear Mr. BusyBrain speak."

YOU SHOULD USE IT TOO

"Reality is a projection of your thoughts or the things you habitually think about." ― Stephen Richards

Yes, I thought and imagined all this things about this book even before I wrote the first page. All men who have achieved great things have been great dreamers. You should do the same when developing your talents. So for example, if your talent is singing and you want to pursue a career as a musician. You have to imagine yourself sitting or lying down on your bed with your ear phones on writing your songs; imagine yourself practicing the songs in front of a mirror in your room; see yourself singing in front of a large crowd and the audience shouting your name, rejoicing and singing your praise, see yourself meeting, shaking hands and hugging big celebrities; imagine yourself in an aero plane going to places like Abuja, London, New York etc for shows; see yourself collecting cheque of millions after the show; imagine yourself in the studio in front of that big round microphone, with the those big earphones on and the Director and Dj pressing those many buttons on the turn table creating the beats for you to record your song with and finally see your album been released and you selling millions of copies after two weeks of release.

That's how you imagine and dream about developing your talents, your goals and anything you want in life. As an exercise takes anything about your life you would like to change or enhance like developing your talents. Sit back, relax, close your eyes and fantasize what you would really like to occur in your life. Imagine that you have no limitations on what you can be, have or do in life. Just for the moment, imagine that you have all the time, all the money, all the education, all the experience, all the friends, all the contacts, all the resources and everything you need to achieve anything you want in life. If your potential was completely unlimited, what kind of a life would you want to create for yourself and your family? Robert J. Collier "The great successful men of the world have used their imagination. They think ahead and create their mental picture in all its details and steadily building upon it."

THE IMAGINARY BICYCLE

"Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so". - Belva Davis

I'd like to share a true story, from over 30 years ago, that taught me something about the power of imagination.

I can still see his face as clearly as it if was yesterday. This simple young man visited the store often in my years as a clerk at the neighborhood drug store. Brentwood Drugs was located a short distance from a vocational center that serviced various special needs individuals. Many of them became "regulars," often arriving at the checkout counter with items that far surpassed their ability to pay. It was a comical exercise, convincing them to return the non-essentials. Barry, however, came to the cash register empty-handed.

"How much does it cost to buy a bell for my bicycle?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "We don't sell bicycle bells here."

Impatiently, Barry persisted. "I don't want to buy one. I just want to know how much it costs!"

"But we don't sell them" I insisted.

"I know" he retorted. "I just need to know the price."

"$1.99" I replied, pleased that I'd resolved the problem.

Satisfied, Barry left. A few days later, the whole exercise started again.

"How much does it cost to get a basket for my bike?" Barry asked.

"I'm sorry. We don't sell things for bicycles"

I replied, repeating my earlier mistake.

"I just want to know the price," Barry pushed.

From that day on, various prices were quoted for a large array of bicycle equipment. It became a routine that I looked forward to, although I always felt kind of sad because it seemed that Barry would never actually obtain these coveted accessories for his bike.

Later that year I was driving to an event with my family when I spotted Barry along the side of the road. I was stunned to see him peddling away happily on a fancy decked out bike. He was ringing his bell, and proudly operating the various gadgets he had acquired for his "wheels". The bike, however, was completely imaginary.

I've never forgotten this incident. Who's to say that Barry got any less enjoyment out of his imaginary bike that those of use with real ones? It was a remarkable lesson for me about finding joy and happiness through whatever means you need. I hope Barry is still riding.

In developing your talents, you have to imagine the things you will be doing with it, lives you will impact with it, the great and successful life you will build for yourself, places your talents will take you and see yourself doing them. See the end of your life, career and dreams from the beginning.

BELIEVE IT

"If the mind of man can believe, the mind of man can achieve". - Napoleon Hill

The real key to turning imagination into reality is acting as if the imagined scene, thing, feeling or smell were real and already accomplished instead of pretending it is a scene from the future or past, imagined it as though you are truly experiencing it in the present. It is a real event in the now. The great masters of antiquity have told us through the eyes that whatever you believe you become. If you believe and imagine in the now that you are whatever you wish to be then reality will not denial you it. What we imagined with faith and feelings comes into being. The bible said the same in Mark 9:23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. (KJV)

Denis Waitley said "If you believe you can, you probably can. If you believe you won't, you most assuredly won't. Belief is the ignition switch that gets you off the launching pad." The problem most of us have is that we look at our lives through the eyes of lack, looking at our present situation, seeing only what we don't have and dwell on that. We forget that this is also active imagination. You are imagining and actively pushing this lack into your future by dwelling on it as real in the now. Whatever you think about most of the time grows and increases in your life. If you are thinking and talking and visualizing your goals, you tend to accomplish far, far more than the average person who is usually thinking and talking about their worries and problems most of the time. Believing that you can is half the battle. An old Latin proverb says "Believe that you have it, and you will have it."

CHAPTER TEN

THE WORLD GREATEST WINNER OF FRIENDS

"A person can learn a lot from a dog, even a loopy one like ours. Marley taught me about living each day with unbridled exuberance and joy, about seizing the moment and following your heart. He taught me to appreciate the simple things-a walk in the woods, a fresh snowfall, and a nap in a shaft of winter sunlight. And as he grew old and achy, he taught me about optimism in the face of adversity. Mostly, he taught me about friendship and selflessness and, above all else, unwavering loyalty". \- John Grogan

Have you ever stop to think that a dog is the only animal that does not have to work for a living? A hen has to lay eggs, a cow has to give milk, a canary has to sing, a bee has to give honey and an ant has to work its ass off all day not even sleeping at night. How then does the dog manage to do this must be the question in your mind right now. Well the dog does this my being genuinely interested in man and being the best friend of man.

When you met him, while walking down the street even when you are ten feet from him, he will begin to wag his tail. If you stop and pat him he will almost jump out of his skin to show you how much he likes you. You see it in his eyes that he genuinely loves you. And you know that behind this show of affection on his part, there are no ulterior motives. He does not want to sell you any real estate; he does not want to marry you and he is not expecting a bribe from you. But all these he does because he loves and is genuinely interested in you.

Yes, the dog stays awake to guard you in the night while you sleep, comfort you when the world has left you, go on errands for you, follow you everywhere you go even when you don't it to come along and protects you not because you are going to pay it at the end of the month. A dog won't forsake its master because of his poverty. But because he is your friend and he is genuinely interested in you.

Yes, you guess it right the dog is the greatest winner of friends the world has ever known.

YOU BECOME LIKE YOUR FRIENDS

"You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with". – Jim Rohn

It is a simple fact of life is that you become like those who you keep as friends either for good or bad. You are the average of five people you spend the most time with. Why else are parents always telling their children that they should not hang out with "those children?" it is because they understand that you become like people you hang out with. They understand that if you keep hanging with "those children" you will soon start acting like them.

Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are. If you play with dogs, you will learn how to bark, if you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl, but if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to fly to great heights. If you fly with eagles, you will think and feel like an eagle. If you associate with turkeys, you will think, walk, talk and act like a turkey. You cannot hang out with negative people and expect to live a positive life. If your close friends are people who are lazy and undisciplined, people who don't have great dreams, people who are negative and critical, they will certainly rub it off on you.

All of us affect, and are affected by the people we meet, in one way or another. This happens instinctively and on a subconscious level, through our words, thoughts and feelings, and through body language. We should try as much as possible to be around positive people and to avoid negative ones. You need to hang around other big dreamers – people with big goals, people who plan to do something significant with their lives. Hang around people who are going to help you become all God created you to be.

Proverbs 13:20 says He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. (KJV)

So surround yourself with great friends, people who encourage you and not with fools like the book of proverbs call them. Spend time with people you want to be like. If you have friends that think developing your talent is a waste of time, it will not be possible, or your talent is not important, or they try to discourage you from doing what is right, drop them and look for the ones that will encourage you.

FIRELIGHTERS AND FIREFIGHTERS

"I just do not hang around anybody that I don't want to be with. Period. For me, that's been a blessing, and I can stay positive. I hang around people who are happy, who are growing, who want to learn, who don't mind saying sorry or thank you and are having a fun time". – John Assaraf

World-renowned marine artist Wyland said "There are two types of people – anchors and motors. You want to lose the anchors and get with the motors because the motors because the motors are going somewhere and they are having more fun. The anchors will just drag you down, get away from them. There are only two kinds of friends and they are firelighters and firefighters.

Firelighters are those friends that light the fire of your destiny and talent. They are the ones that encourage you, the ones that tell you things like "Alexander I know you are going to be great", "Alex we are going to get that money and become young millionaires", Lex you are going to impact lives in a positive way". Firelighters are your true friends.

Am blessed with a lot of those firelighters and that the why behind the success of this book. You know you have the greatest friends when the only time they make you cry is when you are laughing too hard. It is said that "True friends are like blood, you don't always see them but they come out whenever you are hurt".

Firefighters are the guys that fire of your destiny and talent preventing it from burning. They are the ones that make you feel inferior whenever you are with them. These toxic people depress you and take all the joy out of your life. They complain, condemn and criticize all the time. They only see the negative part of whatever you want to do. After you have spent time with them, you feel discouraged and de-motivated. They are your fake friends. Don't fear the enemy that attacks you; fear the fake friends that hugs you. Lil Wayne said "Lord, take care of my fake friends and leave my enemies to me".

AVOID NEGATIVE FRIENDS

"Keep away from people who try to belittle your dreams and ambitions". - Novelist Mark Twain

If you want to be influences in a positive direction, you need to spend time with people who think positively about you. Friendship is two or more people in a ship going to the same direction. C. S. Lewis wrote "True friends ... face in the same direction, toward common projects, interests, goals." So if you have people in your ship not going your direction, telling you that you are heading to the wrong direction, telling you that your talent is too small, telling you that you cannot be rich with your talent, telling you that developing your talent is a waste of time. What are you waiting for? Tell yourself "AM not going to saddle with downers. Either they move up or I move on". It is high time you push them into the open sea and find yourself some new friends. The rap artist Lil Wayne once said in his song "If you are not running with them, run away from them".

Speaker Joe Carson remarked "My friends did not believe that I could become a successful speaker. So I did something about it. I went out and found me some new friends". It is better to be alone than in the wrong company.

Until you reach the point in your self-development where you no longer allow people to affect you with their negativity, you need to avoid negative people at all cost. You are better off spending time alone than spending time with people who will hold you back with their victim mentality.

GET AROUND THE RIGHT PEOPLE

"Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born." \- Anais Nin

Successful people are often described as loners. This does not mean that they don't have lots of friends, but they don't go out for dinner and lunch with whoever is asking. They are selective in their relationships. They insist upon only spending time with people who make them happy and people they benefit from. If you are going to be successful, develop your talent and accomplish your dreams then you have to start hanging out with successful people. And start asking them to share their success strategies with you.

Experience doing what they do, read what they read, think the way they think, talk the way they talk and so on. If the new way of thinking and behaving works and gets you to your dreams – keep them but if they don't – drop them quickly and keep finding new friends. Monte L. Bean a successful business man once said "If there is any one axiom that I have tried to live up to in attempting to become successful in business, it is the fact that I have tried to surround myself with associates that know more about business than I do. This policy has always been very successful and is still working for me."

Make a conscious effort to surround yourself with positive, nourishing and uplifting people – people who believe in you, encourage you to go after your dreams, and applaud your victories. Surround yourself with possibility thinkers, idealist and visionaries. Your friendship defines you and they influence your personality, your opinions, your goals, your talent, and everything you want to accomplish – one way or other. Choose wisely.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

GREAT PEOPLE ALL HAVE MENTORS

''If a child shoots an arrow that reaches the top of a tall palm tree then it must be that an elderly person curved the arrow for him''. - Igbo Proverb.

Bob Nardelli president of Home Depot wrote "I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their maximum capability". Study anyone who is great or who did some great and you will find that they apprenticed to a great master, or several masters. You would never expect an athlete to reach the Olympic Games without a world-class coach. Nor would you expect an author to become a best-seller without a best-seller author as his mentor. Nor would you expect a professional football team to enter the stadium without a whole team of coaches. Nor would you expect a musician to win a MTV award with having a former MTV award winner as a mentor. A coach or a mentor will help you clarify your vision and goals, support you through your fears, keep you focused, confront your unconscious behavior and old patterns, expect you do your best, help you live by your values, show you how to develop your talent with ease, and keep you focused on your core genius.

If you want to achieve greatness, develop that talent of yours, accomplish that goal. Then you need a mentor and a coach. Pastor Aaron Williams wrote "Every Timothy needs a Paul; Every Ruth needs a Naomi". You need your own coach or mentor to be able to develop that talent and achieve greatness with it.

SOMEONE HAS DONE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO

"If you consistently and persistently do the things that other successful people do, nothing in the world can stop you from being a big success also." \- Brian Tracy

Anything you want to start or do, even that your gift you want to develop. Someone somewhere has already done it and achieved success. Do you want to develop your musical talent; someone near you is already a big time musician. Do you want to write a book; someone living on the street next to yours has published five books. Do you want to perfect your drawing gift, your fine art teacher in primary or secondary school is a guru. Whatever your talent is, someone close to you maybe your uncle, neighbor, friend's father, father's friend, your mum or church member has done it before. You can get a coach or a mentor by asking around, asking in places like church, school, social gathering and meetings, by looking around and thinking. Just make sure you find one and a good one please. Approach them and ask for help telling them you him or her to be your mentor or coach. One of the main strategies of the successful is that they constantly seek out guidance and advice from expert in their field. All you have to do is ask.

When you find one, ask how did they do it and let them know the process you're starting to undertake. Stress that you know it's your journey, but what love to use their strength as a guide. Take a look at them as objectively as you can. What seems to ground them, making them who they are? How did they find that? How do they stay true to themselves? How do they plan and organize their days? How do they dress? How do they walk, talk and behave with other people? What books do they read? Who do they associate with? What courses have they taken? What audio programs do they listen to?

These are just a few of the questions you should ask in order to find out what the successful people in your field are doing that you might also need to do.

THEY WON'T REJECT YOU

"A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could". - Unknown

Who told you, they will reject you? Are you afraid that they are going to turn you down? Well no, they won't because going to someone for help means you respect them, you wish to be like them and you know they are better than you. I know you must be asking yourself right now what if they turn me down. If they do, simply leave that person and move on to the next person maybe that one will agree. Just keep asking different people; until you find one don't give up. A lot of people have gone further than they thought they could because someone else thought they could. In secondary school, in sport, I had a coach who told me I was much better than I thought I was, and would make me do more in a positive sense. He was the first person who taught me not to be afraid of failure.

Mentors and coaches don't like to have their time wasted. When you seek out their advice and help... follow it. Study their methods, ask your question, make sure you understand the process, then as much as humanly possible, duplicate your mentor's efforts. You may even be able to improve on them.

DAD MY MENTOR

"I believe this with all my heart: The greatest coach of all time in my eyes is my dad. He instilled in me toughness and perseverance and just a never-quit mentality, and I thank him every day for providing me, for what he sacrificed his life for". – Scott Brooks

My father Mr. Vincent Kelechukwu Njoku is the only motivational speaker I know in person. He was always giving us motivational and inspirational speeches every morning when we wake up and night before going to bed. Everything thing he said had a quote to make it clearer and every advice he gave has a little motivational story to back it up. I wrote this book modeling him.

When I wanted to develop my talent in public and motivational speaking, I asked him for help on how to give a great public speech. He gave me a lot of corrections and tips on how to start, on how to conclude, on how to stand, how to walk, how to talk, how not to be shy and look my audience in the eyes. And all the tips and corrections he gave me, I have put them all into practice and it really helped me. Dad has always been my mentor and coach.

I remember when I was writing a computer handout for my students in Kanac computers. I told dad about it and he said why not write a text book, a text book will make you more famous, fetch more money and a lot of people will get to read it. That book turned out to be my computer text book "The basics of my personal computer". He was always been there for me whenever I needed anything like reviewing, funding, his time etc. I agree with Tiger Woods who said "My dad was my best friend and greatest role model. He was an amazing dad, coach, mentor, soldier, husband and friend."

Thanks dad and I really miss you.

YOUR MENTOR DOES NOT HAVE TO BE

"A mentor is someone who sees more talent and ability within you, than you see in yourself, and helps bring it out of you." \- Bob Proctor

Your mentor does not have to be someone you know in person. They must not be only the people you know, see and meet every day. They don't have to be your parents, your primary or secondary school teacher, you neighbor, your uncle, your mother's best friend, your pastor or former employer like in my own case.

There is something I have not mentioned since the beginning of this chapter and that thing is – aside my father Mr. Vincent Njoku, my pastor Prophet Kingsley Ibe and my former Employer Mr. kalu; there are other mentors that I do have. Some of these my mentors are Nigerians, some are not. Some are dead while some are still living. Some are famous and some are not that famous. Some are men and some are women. But they are all great, rich and are successful in their various fields of endeavor. They are all impacting the lives of others. They are all making the world a better place with their various gifts and talents. They are all living their dreams and imaginations.

I know the word "mentor" or "coach" does not match the description of my relationship with these great men and women. I browse about them, I listen to their messages; I attend their seminars, read their books, watch videos and documentaries about them, read magazines about them just to keep myself updated about their lives. I model my own lives about them too, doing what they have done to get to where they are not, study the challenges they overcame, so I know how to overcome them when they come my way too.

This should be the same for you. Everyone needs a mentor or a goal model – those who have been down a path similar to the one you hope to take and achieved goals similar to those you have set for yourself. These guys help you by directing you, by taking you through the steps necessary to realize your dreams. Don't only look for mentor that are closely related to you or that you know in person. Still look for the ones that have done what you want to do, those who masters in your field, and those who have achieved what you want to accomplish.

If for example you love math, reading the biographies of Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton can spark an image of you performing at their level of intelligence. They were both gifted with superior brains, and were both very hard working; you can make a significant contribution just like they did if you learn about them and use the information. If your talent is doing music, there are a lot of musicians you can model your life after. Read about them, listen to their music and study their lives. Take notice of all the things that are good that they did to accomplish their dreams. If your talent and dream is becoming an author, then you must also study the lives of your favorite authors, read their books, study there writing formats, attend there seminars and workshops, get to know them etc.

You can also browse about these guys. It is so unfortunate that most young people don't know any other website apart from Facebook and Twitter. What most of them don't know is that the internet contains more information than any other information source. It is said that it would take 1,000,000 human brains to store all of the information that can be found on the internet. You will learn from the internet in two months what you will learn in school for two years. So start browsing about your goal mentors, read their biography or autobiography, read about their lives, get to know how they got to where they are, what they did to get there, study the challenges they went through and overcame to the place they are now.

REWARD YOUR MENTOR OR COACH

"If you are not grateful, you are a great fool" – Prophet Kingsley Ibe

Brian Tracy said "Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation". Be prepared to give your mentor or coach something in return; even if it is something simple such as keeping them updated on your success so far or calling with new opportunities that might benefit them, look for ways to give gifts and things to your mentor or coach. Help others too. What a great reward to any mentor – to eventually have their former protégé out in the world helping others to grow!

THE WHALE GRATITUDE

"Always give without remembering, and always receive without forgetting." \- Brian Tracy

A female humpback whale was once entangled in a spider web of crab traps and lines. She was weighted down by hundreds of pounds of traps that caused her to struggle to stay afloat. She also had hundreds of yards of line rope wrapped around her body, her tail, her torso, a line tugging in her mouth.

A fisherman spotted her just east of the Faralon Islands (outside the Golden Gate) and radioed for help. Within a few hours, the rescue team arrived and determined that she was so badly off, the only way to save her was to dive in and untangle her... a very dangerous proposition. One slap of the tail could kill a rescuer. They worked for hours with curved knives and eventually freed her.

When she was free, the divers say she swam in what seemed like joyous circles. She then came back to each and every diver, one at a time, nudged them, and pushed gently, thanking them. Some said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. The guy who cut the rope out of her mouth said her eye was following him the whole time, it was so touching and that his life will never be the same.

CHAPTER TWELVE

IT IS YOUR TURN

"It is time to start living the life you have imagined". – Henry James

I have done my part and best to give you all the tips and principles you need to discover your talents, develop them and stay motivated while doing it. They have worked for me and for countless others and am quite sure they can work for you as well.

But this is where the information, motivation and inspiration stop, and the perspiration (provided by you) begins. You and you alone are responsible for taking the actions to discovering and developing your talent. Nobody else can do it for you. It has to be you and you alone.

Theodore Roosevelt wrote "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Right now and right there you have all the resources you need to start right now and develop precious talents of yours.

The bible in Ecclesiastics 11:4 says "Whosoever watches the wind will not plant; whosoever looks at the clouds will not reap". So don't look at your present situations, you have all you need and will ever need. I know you can do it. I believe in you. You know you can do it... so go out there and do it. I must tell you it is a lot of fun as well as a lot of hard work.

DROP THE EXCUSES HOLDING YOU BACK

"Ninety-nine percent of all failure comes from people who have a habit of making excuses." – George Washington Carver

If you want to create the life of your dreams, develop your talents and manifest with it, then you must take full responsibility of your life. This means giving up all your excuses. Excuses like am too young, am too old, I can't, I will try, not now, I don't have enough money, am not talented, my family will think I am crazy, it is too hard etc. You also have to give up all your victim stories, all the reasons why you can't and why you have not until now and all you're blaming of others and outside circumstances. You have to give them all up now and forever. O. J. Simpson wrote "The day you start taking complete responsibility for yourself and the day you stop making any excuses. That's the day you start to the top".

We all love to talk about all the reasons why we can't do something. We can find so many excuses to stop us from doing so many things. There are always enough reasons and excuses that can prevent us from reaching for our dreams. William Arthur Ward said "It is wise to direct your anger towards problems - not people; to focus your energies on answers - not excuses". So you see, I had to over look those unimportant excuses, I had to wipe them away from my heart and mind. I had to free myself from its hold. I made a decision not to let them hold me back. And that's the reason why you are reading this book right now.

You have to wake up to the fact that life is precious, so are your talents, and they cannot be wasted on excuses. Excuses are just excuses. Benjamin Franklin wrote "He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else". They mask our fears and the doubt we feel within. All our excuses can ever achieve is to prevent you from achieving your dreams, developing your talents and helping us not to reach our full potentials.

It is said that if you want something badly, you will find a way else, you will find an excuse. If you really want to achieve your dream and develop your talents then you will need to stop making excuses and start making plans and progress. If you want something bad enough nothing will stop you particularly excuses. Accept that your excuses are your worst enemy. If you really want to live your dreams and achieve your goals in life. You need to stop making excuses. You have to find the courage to follow your dreams. Don't let your excuses hold you back. Go with courage and go for your dreams with everything you have got. Remember, when you are stopped by an obstacle, find a way, not an excuse.

It is you who can decide not to take the necessary steps to develop your talents and reach for your dreams. So you have nobody to blame but yourself. Just let the excuses drop, in fact drop them yourself and take massive action towards developing your talents and reaching for your dreams; so that in the future you will be proud of your achievements. You can either be an excuse merchant and achieve nothing or you can be successful in achieving your dreams and developing your talents. It is really up to you the choice is yours.

I ENCOURAGE YOU TO

"Be a teacher to those below you, a student to those above you and a fellow traveler and helpmate to those on the same level". – Alexander BusyBrain

I want to encourage you to read this book over and over again several times. Underline or circle the things that are most important to you and reread what you have underlined or circled. You will discover that with each rereading; you will not only reinforce what you already know but you will also discover something new, some concept that perhaps did not register during the first time through. It takes a while to absorb and assimilate some or all the tips and principles in this book. So give yourself some time.

The greatest gift you can anyone is a gift of empowerment, love and improvement. What could be more loving than helping people you care about to discover their talents which will help them fulfill their purpose, make them happy and empower them to create the life they truly want from the depths of their soul? So I also want to suggest and encourage you to give several copies of this great book to your family members, friends, course mates, employees, employers, spouse etc. you will be amazed at how radically you can change a family and a life. You were born with the ability to change someone's life, don't waste it. Remember the words of Zig Ziglar "You can get everything you want if you help enough others get what they want".

Brian Tracy wrote "You are the architect of your owner destiny; you are the master of your own fate; you are behind the steering wheel of your life. There are no limitations to what you can do, have, or be. Except the limitations you place on yourself by your own thinking." We all have the power within us to create the life we want, the life we dream about and the life we were born to live. We all deserve to fulfill our full potential and manifest our true destiny. It is our birth right and our destiny but it must be earned through hard work and part of that work is first discovering your talent, and then developing them before manifesting with them. Jeremy Kitson wrote "Destiny is not a matter of chance; it's a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved".

Phil Collins said "In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn". One of the most powerful ways to learn anything is to teach it to others. It forces you to clarify your ideas, confront inconsistencies in your own thinking and more closely walk your talk. Most importantly, it requires you to read study and speak the information over and over again. The resulting repetition reinforces and improves your own learning. Another major benefit of teaching is this – the more you help other people succeed in life, the more they will want to help you succeed. People naturally support those who have supported them. And it also keeps you motivated.

The same will be true for you, if from today you finish reading this book, you will start looking for others to teach and discuss the tips and principles in this book with. You are free to teach it in your church, in your school, in any social gathering, in a seminar or workshop etc.

An old Chinese proverb says "If your vision is for a year, plant wheat. If your vision is for ten years, plant trees. If your vision if for a lifetime, plant people". I have the vision of a world where all people have discovered, develop and are using their talents in making the world a better place for us all. A world where all people are inspired to believe in themselves and their abilities and are empowered to reach their full potential and realize all their dreams. A world where everyone is happy working because they are using their talents. This world is very possible but it begins with you and me.

GO PLANT SEEDS

"Go plant some seeds. Go do some positive things for others. God's going to bless you". – Dr. Myles Munroe

Many years ago, in a very poor village in Ghana. There lived a young man named Kofi. He was about sixteen years old. All he ever wanted to do in his whole life was to make a difference in the lives of others. As a teen, he left home in search of riches and wealth to bring back to his village. He eventually ended up working on a cocoa plantation.

For seven years, he had no contact with his friends and family. One day he returned to the village. The people gathered around to see all the wealth and goodies Kofi has returned with. But to their surprise there was no big bag. Right there some of them started asking, "What do you have to show for seven years of being away? What did you bring back for us? Where are the riches? How can you come back empty hand?

The young man responded by reaching into his pocket and pulling out three tiny seeds.

"Is this all you have to show? Three tiny seeds?" someone asked.

Without speaking a word, he returned, went to the family hut, and planted those three seeds nearly. From those seeds grew the first cocoa plant to be cultivated in his nation. Today, cocoa is one of the primary crops in Ghana. According to legend, it was started by one African boy who planted it all his name was Kofi.

Anne Frank said "How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment, we can start now, start slowly changing the world. How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution...how we can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness" You now have all you need to discover and develop your talents and manifest with them. But it is not for you alone. It is for all of us. God has given us all special gifts, but they are not for us alone. Our gifts are meant to be planted where it can bless the lives of others, and with the fruits we can make the world a better place. I have planted a seed and you are benefiting from its fruits right now. And I am not going to stop planting till the day I die and go to meet my father in heaven. It is your turn to plant too for the rest of us to benefit from its fruits.

As you go on from today planting seeds with your talents in the lives of others and for yourself. I ask that you take your time to let me know how you plan to do this and how you have been able to do it.

Feel free to send me an e-mail at Alexandernnaemeka@gmail.com. I will love to hear from you. John Wesley said "Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. To all the people you can. And as long as ever you can". And Albert Pine wrote "What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us. What we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal."

Once you discover those precious talents of yours, I will like to know what they are and what plans you have about them. I will also like to speak to you, your friends or peers and family members about how to develop and harness those seeds of greatness into the bomb; at your school, church or any other social gathering.

CONNECT WITH ME:

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/busybrain_quote

Friend me on Facebook: http://facebook.com/alexander118

Subscribe to my blog: http://alexanderbusybrain.blogspot.com.ng

Give me a call: +2347037547753

E-mail: Alexandernnaemeka@gmail.com

If you enjoyed reading this book, won't you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer?

Thanks and am looking forward to meeting you in person.

Always remember YOU are TALENTED.

ALEXANDER BUSYBRAIN

