How to make this New Year Count?

 It is a new day, a new moment and a New Year. The Previous year has been filled with joys and lessons of its own.

Besides growing a year older, it brings a lot of hope and aspirations that are waiting to be fulfilled.

Resolutions and promises are waiting for their execution. I personally can get quite superstitious about the 1st of January.

But this year I am not going to buy into that obvious lie. For me, this is the year of Slaying BS. I am going to focus on cutting out things rather than only fulfilling my New Year's Resolution.

Some Areas of Focus

It is easy to think that Self Development is only about you. I think this is farther from the truth. It is also about community and people.

If you ever wondered why people join cults or keep bad company, besides feeling good they are looking to better themselves.

I think New Year's Resolution is a way of expressing it. Rather than dismissing the whole exercise, we must write some of the things we would like to achieve in the coming year.

Don't look at them as targets but choose to accept them as aspirations. They are no longer just targets you desire but desires that seek to be a reality.

Areas such as Health, Public Image, Finances, etc. are some places we can work on.

Enablers vs Empty Routines

I am sure you have heard me promote Journaling and Affirmations. I believe these are tools that enable us and remind us of what we need to focus on.

Focus is the main game,  there are a lot of people and things vying for attention. I think it is also important to bring in some enthusiasm, it makes the routine more fun and filled with a healthy passion.

Just doing activities may bring some amount of results, but sustainable results are something we all want.

Having the right kind of situation may not always be possible. Sometimes we need to take control and make things a possibility in the light of change and dynamic situations.

Developing a System that works for you

All Routines are not empty, I think only those that are not connected to some goal or personal joy are.

It is important to work on a system. Systems work together to achieve a focused task, Think of a clock. So many working parts and one goal,  telling you the Time.

We can break down our goals into tasks that work together as a system. Of course, using and modifying the system would be essential.

Think of them as updates on your Mobile phone, we plug the gaps and improve the working of your device. Similarly, we can modify the system we create to help ourselves.

Oh, it may not work, Yes that is a possibility. But think about it you are working on your goals and taking concrete steps towards fulfilling your aspirations or goals.

Using Patience

Being Patient is sometimes the only resort. We must build it up as a part of our usual routine.

It is also a reminder we don't need to get it right the first time. In some cases, we may also need to seek help from others in fulfilling certain goals.

Be Patient and give yourself a chance. Be that Boss you always wanted. The one that motivates you and understands you too.

Lastly, learn from others

Competing with yourself is all good. But what's wrong with raising your standards and learning from others.

You can broaden your (mental) horizon by looking at things from another person's point of view.

Competing with self has its limitation and why be limited.

Concluding Thoughts

I would like to conclude by wishing each one of you a very Happy New Year. May you truly have a fulfilling and joyous year.

Thank you for the constant support and time you take to read my thoughts. Do share it with others.

Remember it's your Year, your time and your response. See you in the next post. Ciao! 

Fate and Astrology: How to deal with bad Predictions?

Astrological Charts have not been kind to me. They have scary and depressing predictions about my life.

I must confess that they have also been kind at times. I am semi-sceptical about it, but it kind of rings in your head, 'What-if all this is true?'

One thing I know is beliefs can be so powerful. What we believe about reality and life influences the way we live and think.

Stories we tell ourselves are powerful; beliefs also have an influence over our lives.

I think affirmations and visualization exercises work around these principles. They are not magic, but habits that can be impactful and powerful if done right.

Working with Affirmations and Visualizations

Our Goals need to be Time-bound

I think Affirmations and Visualization are tools that work well with Self-motivation. Like anything, they need to practice well and understand properly.

Just because an Expert or Influencer says it works doesn't automatically guarantee it will work for you.

I personally look at them as tools to help me achieve goals. Goal Setting is very essential to achieve success and without them, I don't see how practising it is sensible.

Another essential element is Time. Goals need to be Time-bound.

Keeping Goals vague and without attaching time to them, could hardly be effective.

It could be you don't believe in yourselves or maybe your goals are big and audacious, If the latter is the problem I think it would essential to put some more belief in yourself. I would also add that you should also connect it with reality.

Working my Reality Vs. My Reality working me

Work to create our own Reality

One thing about history and especially Prehistory is that we have worked our way through various obstacles to get here.

We have been masters in creating the world we live in. So I believe we ought to work to create our own Reality.

Of course, we are not God to be in complete control of all variables. So we control what we can.

Let me try to list some of things we things we can control:

• Time we spend
• Things we do
• Our attention
• Our Investments
• Where we live
• Our Professions and our professional Goals
• Personal Goals
• Thoughts
• Hobbies

Etc. etc.

Fate, Faith and Fears

If Fate were to be true we would still need to do our thing

I am not dogmatic about Astrology or any other pseudoscience being True or False but I know even If Fate were to be true we would still need to do our thing.

We would not stop living, we would still keep our Faith in goodness and selves alive.

Fears are not something bad, it is our biology dealing with the perceived threats. But we have minds that can help us deal with our fears.

We can put it in perspective and not let Fate or our fears dominate us. Sometimes we need to have Faith in Life and be an overcomer.

I think faith can be an abused word, Faith is something we exercise every day when it comes to many things, not just Religion.

I don't think it is a baseless hope; we don't need to rationalize everything and know everything and it also doesn't mean you are going to make the right choices automatically.

Using Hope as a weapon

One thing to learn from movements and Freedom struggles is the power of Hope. Being hopeful is powerful and can drive our actions with passion and love.

Hope presumes a goal or an outcome. It has positive expectations coupled with it (I don't believe Negativity is not useful)

We must stop assuming Failures and Detours are bad. They teach us what not to do, Sometimes failing a certain number of times may be normal or expected.

Fantasy is entertaining but reality can be an eye-opener and encouraging. Being Hopeful is about focusing on what is positive and what can be built.

H.O.P.E. - Have Only Positive Expectations

In Conclusion

To summarize it we can say being Hopeful is about practising how we focus on things.

Do we have to allow things to control us or how we give importance to our actions? How can we be in control and manage our choices effectively?

I believe being Hope is a Strategy and should be used to our Benefit. Thank you for taking the time to follow our Blogs.

Do join the discussion on our Facebook page. See you in the next blog post.

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Photo by William Fortunato from Pexels

Self Employment was always not a choice for me. I loved teaching and working with young bright minds.

They are full of life and curiosity. If there is one thing you must know about me, I really love knowing answers to questions that ring in my head.

I never stop till I get the right one. It just keeps on hitting my head and I just start spending precious time getting the answers.

Self Employment can really limit that, and when it is coupled with Parenting (God Bless you) it can be difficult.

But for many Self Employment is a choice and it something they really enjoy.

But I don't think that 9 to 5 work is necessarily a bad option.

Job sucks? What!

Check out some of our Products

You must not be thinking critically if you think that Self Employment is easy.

I have heard a lot of people tell me that, but what they don't tell you that one can try a part-time gig too.

You don't need to leave your current job. It really is unnecessary, unless if that's what you think is right for you.

On a personal level, I think Self Employment encompasses many roles. You are just not the guy repairing the Computer or creating that website, you are also the person actively marketing yourself and innovating your game.

People will only see one part of the picture, I believe there is more to it. When you are working at a job certain aspects are taken care by others.

You get a platform to show case your best. When you are Self Employed you got to work on developing a platform that is relevant to you and the industry you are working with.

Thank Goodness for the Internet

Reasons I Started this Blog

I think internet is the best thing after vaccines (Lol, a lot of anti-vaxxers are going to hate me for this one).

Besides all the wrong information and fake news, you get to share what's on your mind and how you feel.

It helps you network with people and get quality material too. Whether it is prospecting and selling it is competitive but much more comfortable in a way.

I must say there is a lot I need to learn but I think it is worth it. The internet has introduced me to many quality people and ideas that have helped improve the quality of my life.

Before taking the plunge

I am not going to share here some Iron clad Rules that are unbreakable. But I think they are useful.

It is both the things I have actually used and the things I have not done. Let me jump into some of them.

Rule 1: Manage your resources well

Money is an important resource and when used well the another powerful resource called time it can be powerful.

Time we all get and have using it well is key to business or self development. I have personally found it useful attached a vision or purpose to it.

It gives it a direction and goals to make the journey more meaningful. It helps us fight unnecessary distractions and journeys that can take us off tangent.

I believe as a Self employed Professional using various strategies we can multiply our resources.

For example, If we are trying to multiply Time we can simply outsources some of the work and work on the parts we have a mastery over.

When it comes to money we can employ wise and judicious strategies to invest our money.

Rule 2: Build your skillset

A good vision and strategy can fall short in the absence of a poor skillset. Skillset primarily comprise of hard and soft skills.

Developing these skills is essential to working successful projects. I think it essential to build and continuously sharpen our skills or at least acquire skilled talent from the marketplace.

Going Self Employed does not mean you have to do it alone. You can work with other freelancers and businesses to help you with your projects.

Rule 3: Build a Personal Brand

I believe Personal Brand is like Self Help with a bit of Marketing thrown in for good measure.

It can be a really powerful mix. As a Professional who is into Solopreneurship working on yourself and building Goodwill can help you move far ahead.

Personal Branding will help you showcase the best of  'You'. This will help be ahead of your game and beat the competition.

I think it is very necessary to build yourself as a Professional especially as a Self Employed Professional

Conclusion

Feel free to share your experience. If you have any questions do reach out to me. I would like to stress one thing before I leave you.

Appreciate your journey, Don't be to hard on yourself if have been dealt by life a Sh*t sandwich. Self Employment is a journey.

All journeys are not the same, People will support you and some won't, I think that is a part of the learning process.

Let me leave you with some recommendations on Resources you could use on this new journey.

Resources

Crucial Steps to Start a Business

Books to move quickly to your next Project

Life is a Teacher, Are you listening and taking notes?

Bad things happen …

Life is also about the things you don't like

Why does bad things happen to not so good people? Sometimes I know the answer to this question, but whatever may the answer; there is only truth I take with me.

I take the truth that life is a constant teacher. It forces us to stop and reflect.

One such reflection was something on the notion of my view of body. I rest in the believe of the sacredness of the body. Our body is not merely a vehicle but also a home we rest in. 

Consumeristic side of culture 

Wisdom is waiting to be heard

The consumeristic side of culture may turn it into some kind of idol for worship. Let me confess I have fallen for this wrong idea.

While looking back at my Google photos I realised that I have been living with a poor notion of myself.

Having children had given me a Dad bod but not accepting myself was not a motivation but an excuse to feel bad.

People playing God

Sometimes we may be carving our own misery rather God actively doing so.

Yes, I have started paying attention to my body and working on keeping it healthy. But this experience has thought me to take care of myself by a healthy Self acceptance.

Why is this so important Chris? I would answer that by saying that the way we see ourselves and accept ourselves may be the way we see others.

In Conclusion

Do Bad things have only side to it? Are they only filled with pain and emptiness?

Bad things can teach us how to stop and pay attention to things we thought were under your control.

They challenge you and keep you alert. Don't let them overwhelm you.

Breathe, Stop and Learn... Life is a teacher and it teaches you.

Thank you for your time and stopping by! If you have questions you want me answer you can frame your question as mail and send it across.

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Short Guide: Letting go of pain when you feel stuck in a Situation

Hey! I missed you guys this week. My son was down with high fever. Thank goodness he is better now.

This week has been crazy, life can get you stuck sometimes. It was an opportunity to use what I preach and write about. 

I practiced a lot of stuff (Self help related, of course). I got back to researching theology and philosophy. I can spend hours studying these topics (Whilst spending time baby sitting etc.)

At some point of time we all feel let down by life or ourselves and it may not even be these things it could be a terrible situation that gets us stuck. 

For me it was my child' s health for others it may be a relationship or something else. How do we deal with these situations?

(Maybe)You can pray these away, but I will share with some powerful ideas I found out.

Here are some points I tried:

Accepting the present situation

Could this situation be an opportunity?

Accepting a situation comes when we are present and aware of what is going on. We don't need to decide the outcome mentally. It can be stressful and we may not make the best of the moment we find ourselves in.

You have options

You choose and don't let the situation dictate your choice

Do you think you are cornered or you have hit a wall? That can be a difficult situation. I have been there, I can share with you how I dealt with the problem.

I try looking at the situation objectively. Taking a note of the possible outcomes. Speaking with a friend or counsellor has personally helped.

Journaling the journey

Journaling is awesome...Write your own story!

I journal using my mobile phone. I have my phone with me all the time. Why not use it to write a note or two. It has really been useful. 

When I want to review or check how I felt at a particular situation I just browse through my notes on phone. It is that simple. If you are concerned about privacy just use an app locker.

Meditate or pray your tensions away

Lol... Ignore the Brand Mantra part

I am not trying to evangelize or anything. I think it is practical and it works. Personally, I just tune my thoughts out and close my eyes, I just lose myself in the moment, just focusing on my breath. 

It is s a relaxing experience. It refreshes me and feel energized. I pray too, it connects me with my higher purpose and puts things into perspective. 

Conclusion 

I believe life happens to all of us and we all face situations that can cripple us. 

But being there for others and yourself is important. Self care is also important to you and it can help others. 

I would like to leave you with this quote from my Twitter Feed.

Choose to percieve your situation differently, limitations are signposts leading you to focus on your strengths.#nolimits #motivation #selfhelp #chriseducator

— Christopher Dias (@Kiss_toff) October 17, 2021

I wish you an awesome week ahead and the very best. Do consider subscribe to our Newsletter... See you guys in the next blog post.

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