So I hate to admit it but i’m not rich. Phew, there, I’m out of the closet. Apparently tho, If you took the time to really sIt down and study rich people closely, you would come to the other shocking revelation of the day.

Rich people aren’t really any better than you! Yes, they aren’t smarter, more beautiful or even as fun as you. So why are they rich and your not? Well according to T. Harv Eker, bestselling author of “The Secrets of the Millionaire Mind“, there are 17 distinct differences between you and the rich, which are:

1. Rich people believe: “I create my life.” Poor people believe: “Life happens to me.”
2. Rich people play the money game to win. Poor people play the money game to not lose.
3. Rich people are committed to being rich. Poor people want to be rich.
4. Rich people think big. Poor people think small.
5. Rich people focus on opportunities. Poor people focus on obstacles.
6. Rich people admire other rich and successful people. Poor people resent rich and successful people.
7. Rich people associate with positive, successful people. Poor people associate with negative or unsuccessful people.
8. Rich people are willing to promote themselves and their value. Poor people think negatively about selling and promotion.
9. Rich people are bigger than their problems. Poor people are smaller than their problems.
10. Rich people are excellent receivers. Poor people are poor receivers.
11. Rich people choose to get paid based on results. Poor people choose to get paid based on time.
12. Rich people think “both.” Poor people think “either/or.”
13. Rich people focus on their net worth. Poor people focus on their working income.
14. Rich people manage their money well. Poor people mismanage their money well.
15. Rich people have their money work hard for them. Poor people work hard for their money.
16. Rich people act in spite of fear. Poor people let fear stop them.
17. Rich people constantly learn and grow. Poor people think they already know.

So, I’m taking a bit of time, well plenty of time to dwell on these and compare with the rest of my life to identify why i’m not rich yet. I hope this helps you because I want everyone of you to succeed.

Shalom

By Michael Dalton Johnson

Our lives are often swept along by the duties and responsibilities we have assumed. We don’t have time to reflect on the course of our lives. If your obligations and commitments seem to control your life, you’ll find these observations useful.

You are great. You are far greater than you imagine. You are a unique entity given the power to create your own life. When you look outside yourself for self-definition you are giving your power away. However, when you understand and accept that you alone possess the power to define yourself and your life, there are dramatic changes. You will find new clarity, focus and confidence. You’ll also find that using this incredible gift is both exhilarating and challenging.

You are in charge. Think of your life as a movie. You are the writer, director, producer and star. You choose your co-stars and extras. Whether the movie is a smash or a flop is in your hands.

Your thoughts determine your outcomes. This is one of the great mysteries. There are a lot of theories about this phenomenon but no one really knows how it works. However, it does work and reveals the astonishing power of your thoughts. If you think you are average, you are. If you think you can’t win, you won’t. Conversely, if you see yourself succeeding, you will. If you expect great things to come to your life, they’re on their way.

You bring others with you. Your courage and confidence to examine your life and make changes will have a profound effect on those around you. When you lift yourself up, others are lifted up too.

Your life. Your responsibility. The first and most important rule is to take responsibility for everything that happens in your life. Following this rule puts you in command. Winston Churchill said, “The price of greatness is responsibility.” While I’m certain he was talking about fighting wars and leading nations, his statement applies to your life as well.

You have the power. Life will inevitably send you your share of setbacks, problems, disappointments and losses. These things are beyond your control. How you react to them is not. Listen to the voice within you and realize you have a choice. You have the greatness to persevere, to forgive, to smile, to lift yourself and others up and to move on.

Seeds of Greatness

You can be a total winner, even if you’re a beginner
If you think you can you can, if you think you can you can
You can wear the gold medallion, you can ride your own black stallion
If you think you can you can, if you think you can you can

It’s not your talent or the gifted birth
It’s not your bank book that determines worth
It isn’t in your gender or the color of your skin
It’s your attitude that lets you win

It doesn’t matter what you’ve done before
It makes no difference what the halftime score
It’s never over ‘til the final gun
So keep on trying and you’ll find you’ve won

Just grab your dream and then believe it
Go out and work, and you’ll achieve it
If you think you can, you can
If you think you can, you can

By Denis Waitley

The other day I was speaking to my cousin who is one of the closest people to me and he shared a very interesting revelation. You see he has a dream to own an Audi S8 which costs over 120,000$ and thats before the local revenue boys even ask for your shipping documents. Not to mention he wants to have a net worth of about 5million dollars in the next 5years. Now thats a BHAG!

Now, he realised that to actually achieve these dreams, he needs to have a much larger Mindspace than what he currently has. What is Mindspace you ask? Well some call it mind set but i say it’s the capacity or scale of the positive and empowering thoughts and beliefs you have.

Basically as long as your thoughts and beliefs are congruent with your dreams, you will achieve them. In my cousins case, if his thoughts and beliefs allow him to comprehend flying to Germany to customize the machine he wants, wire the money to Audi, put it on a plane to deliver it, give URA another cheque of UGX 100Million, then reach into his wallet and pull out another UGX 250,000 to fill up the gas tank, well lets just say it will probably happen very quickly. His Mindspace tells him that this is as normal as putting on clothes.

However, if his Mindspace is too small, well lets just say the closest he’ll ever get to that machine is pictures and videos on the internet.

Napoloen Hill says “What ever the mind of a man can concieve and believe, he will achieve” and the Master Himself says “As a man thinketh, so is he”. The point I’m trying to make is that our mindspace dictates directly the kind of results we have in life whether they be successes or failures.

My cousin rightly realised that inorder to achieve his dreams, he absolutely needs to increase his mindspace. Further more, his mindspace has to grow so that he can also accommodate the changes necessary to actually own such a car. The house where he will park that car, the maintenance costs to run it, the amount of money he’ll need to carry in his wallet daily, the friends he’ll have(and enemies), the standing in society that he’ll project, the level of business transactions he’ll be executing.

A great Mindspace is essential for a great life!

So if you have a dream, you will have to enlarge(or shrink) your mindset to accommodate that dream and everything that goes with it. Basically wealthy, successful and happy people have very large and positive mindspaces while poor, unhappy failures have tiny dark mindspaces.

So i ask again, how’s your mindspace?

It’s almost an obsession of mine to understand how to be a super achiever in my own life and this blog is dedicated to sharing with you what I learn. Brian Tracy is one of the foremost success gurus out there and a personal favorite of mine. He says success comes when you have these seven C’s in firmly in place. Here are Tracy’s 7C’s for your success.

After having studied top achievers and peak performers over the past 25 years, I’ve concluded that these unique men and women, have in most cases, mastered what I call the Seven C’s of Success.

1. Clarity—Eighty percent of success comes from being clear on who you are, what you believe in and what you want.

2. Competence—You can’t climb to the next rung on the ladder until you are excellent at what you do now.

3. Constraints—Eighty percent of all obstacles to success come from within. Find out what is constraining, in you or your company, and deal with it.

4. Concentration—The ability to focus on one thing single-mindedly and see it through until it’s done takes more character than anything else

5. Creativity—Flood your life with ideas from many sources. Creativity needs to be exercised like a muscle; if you don’t use it you’ll lose it.

6. Courage —Most in demand and least in supply, courage is the willingness to do the things you know are right.

7. Continuous learning—Read, at the very least, one book a week on business to keep you miles ahead of the competition. And just as you eat and bathe, organize your time so you spend 30 minutes a day exploring e-mail, sending messages, going through Web sites, because like exercise, it’s the only way you can keep on top of technology. If you get away from it, you’ll lose your edge.

A series of events over the past few days have left me feeling low spirited, frustrated and defeated. I feel like a fraud and a failure. I’m not the person living the life I know I should be.I’m not achieving my goals or following my dreams. To encourage myself I decided to rewrite one of my favorite poems by Marriane Williamson, “Our Greatest Fear” that I came across in my usual morning readings.

What is My Greatest Fear

My Greatest Fear Is n­ot that I am Inadequate,
My Greatest Fear Is That I am Powerful Beyond Measure,
That I can do and achieve beyond my wildest dreams
It is my Light, ­not my Darkness That Frightens Me,

I Ask Myself, who am I to be Brilliant and Wise?
Who am I to be Wealthy and Respected?
Who am I to be Handsome and Loved?
Who am I to be Talented and Fabulous?

But the real question is, Who Am I not To Be?
I am a Child Of God, a Prince in His Kingdom.
My playing small does ­not serve the World.

There is ­nothing enlightened about shrinking
So that others won’t feel insecure around Me.
I was born to manifest the Glory Of God within me.
It is n­ot just in some people out there; it is in Me too.

And, as I let my own Light shine,
I am consciously giving you permission to do the same.
As I am liberated from my own fear,
My presence automatically liberates You.

~The Apprentice~

A couple of months ago, I was speaking with the Rogue King, about what drives us to do the things we do and make the choices that we do. He suggested to me that perhaps we should look deeper, to our core values.

So what are our core values? Well simple put they are the things we believe in the most that direct what and how we think about our life. There are hundreds of values that we each hold but some hold more power over us than others. For example some peoples core value is love. For others it’s family or power, money, religion etc.

It is important for us to know and choose our core values are because they color everything we do in life. It’s like our constitution. A person whose core value is Family for example will make all decisions about what they do around their need for family. The career he chooses, the car he drives, the type of person he marries. It’s all connected.

I decided to look at my own core values and I thought I’d share with you what I have chosen to be my guiding values in order to achieve my dreams and life purpose.

Love

I live and give love to all around me including myself. I give love regardless of how I feel but as directed by Gods word.

Responsibility

I am 100% responsible for my life and the results I experience. Everything I am, have or experience is a result of the choices and actions I’ve made in the past. I always have the ability to choose my response in life.

Integrity

I live congruently with my beliefs and principles and do not compromise them. My word is my bond.

Positivity

I maintain a positive attitude at all times, always looking for the upside in every situation. I believe every problem is an opportunity disguised.

Faith

I put my complete trust in God and the gifts, skills and talents he has placed in me.

Teachability

I am a constant learner, always striving to get better each day, in every way.

Courage

I stand and face my fears each and every day to accomplish great things. I seek opportunity and not security.

Compassion

I extend kindness, compassion, understanding and grace to all who need it.

Giving

I am a generous giver of my money, time and resources for the highest good of all.

Self Discipline

I maintain strong control over my will, emotions, passions and thoughts at all times keeping them focused for my greater growth

Diligence

I work hard at everything I do with the utmost care, excellence and attention to detail.

Excellence

I hold myself to the highest standards in all  that I am and do. I do not live according to the worlds standard but to Gods

Health

I work diligently to ensure y body is in great physical condition through healthy lifestyle choices

Creativity

I believe in using all of my God given creativity to imbue my life, relationships, work and passions with fun, excellence and impact

Personal Growth

I constantly seek to improve on every area of my being through learning and application. The better I am, the better my life will be.

Vision

i always have a clear Godly vision for my life which i pursue daily.

Peace

I seek to live in peace with everyone in as much as it depends on me. I gaurd my inner peace and I’m guided by it.

I am still discovering more of myself and adjusting accordingly. Some values we have don’t benefit us and it’s imperative to identify them and remove them while picking out ones that pull us forward. I’d like to hear some of your core values so drop me a line.

Shalom

Hey everyone, Happy new year to you all and welcome back. It’s great to be alive and back again for a new year. You could be sick, in jail, or dead or dying but nope, here you are reading this blog. So lets thank the Master for life and another chance to do things better.

The beginning of the year is a particularly intriguing time. It’s perhaps the only time in the year (except for our birthdays) that we really take time to reflect on the past and future seriously. Thats why resolutions are generally made at the start of the year.

For the last three years I’ve been in the habit of not making resolutions. I find that new year resolutions generally set me up for failure. They are usually not made with the right convictions and then followed up with really weak efforts. By end of March, I’m caught up in the waves of daily life and nearly forgotten most of my resolutions . Then the end of the year comes and I beat up myself because I didn’t even make a scratch in my resolutions. Does that sound familiar?

My solution to this crap cycle is to have a constant set of personal goals that I work on regardless of whether its a new year or not. I find this to be much a more progressive and fulfilling approach. Have your 3months, 1year, 5year and 10year goals at all times. They give direction, focus and hope.

An interesting alternative for new year resolutions is having an overall Yearly Theme. I found this on Steve Pavlina’s blog, an individual whose material i find to be exceptionally deep and insightful. His approach is to have a general theme for each year. For example 2008 his theme was Health, 2009 Relationships. This gives you a nice framework that helps you focus on a particular area of your life for one whole year whilst still working on your regular life goals.

Whatever you choose to do for 2010, what I can say is any resolution, goal or theme is better than just floating through the year and seeing what happens. As the saying goes “if you don’t know where your going, any road will take you there”.

I read somewhere that we tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in a single year and underestimate what we can do in ten years. It hit me so hard to realise that we’ve just completed the first decade of the century! Think about that for a moment. 10 years. I think of all that i could have achieved by now if i’d only made serious commitments and goals ten years ago!

Heck, i simply decided to have flimsy resolutions and see where the year takes me. Now I’m still as far away from achieving my dreams as i was 10years ago! That is disturbing. I’m certainly not going to make that mistake with the next ten. I encourage you not to make it either.

So I bid you health, wealth and love in every aspect of your life in 2010. May be prosperous, may you become a greater person than you ever dreamed, may you conquer giants and love and be loved deeply. And may the Master be your guide, your strength, your refuge and your hope in this year and beyond. Amen

Let’s make 2010 a spectacular year.

Shalom

“I hope you live more, love more, laugh more, dare more, take mind blowing risks and achieve more in the new year.” New years SMS from a friend

Today in my mail, I discovered a pleasant bonus in one of my weekly inspirational newsletters. The 13 absolutely unbreakable laws of success by Brian Tracy, one of my favorite motivational speakers. Here it is in simple and no nonsense breakdown of things you must learn to do to achieve great and lasting success in your life. I give you, the 13 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Success.

1. The Law of Control:

You feel good about yourself to the degree at which you feel you are in control of your own life.

2. The Law of Responsibility:

You are completely responsible for everything you are and for everything you become and achieve.

3. The Law of Direction:

Successful people have a clear sense of purpose and direction in every area of their lives.

4. The Law of Compensation:

You are always fully compensated for whatever you do, positive or negative.

5. The Law of Service:

Your rewards in life will always be in direct proportion to the value of your service to others.

6. The Law of Applied Effort:

All things are amenable to hard work.

7. The Law of Overcompensation:

If you always do more than you are paid for, you will always be paid more than you are getting now.

8. The Law of Preparation:

Effective performance is preceded by painstaking preparation.

9. The Law of Forced Efficiency:

The more things you have to do in a limited period of time, the more you will be forced to work on your most important tasks.

10. The Law of Decision:

Every great leap forward in life is preceded by a clear decision and a commitment to action.

11. The Law of Creativity:

Every advance in human life begins with an idea in the mind of a single person.

12. The Law of Flexibility:

Success is best achieved when you are clear about the goal but flexible about the process of getting there.

13. The Law of Persistence:

Your ability to persist in the face of setbacks and disappointments is your measure of your belief in yourself and your ability to succeed.

Shalom

Lately, I’ve been thinking about what some of the sites and blogs really successful people visit regularly. I mean, have you ever wondered what blogs Gates, Buffet, Branson or Madiba visit regularly to learn, or get encouragement? Well, i’m definitely not in the league of those dudes, yet; but i felt i’d share with you my favorite watering holes. I’m confident that alot of these will help any one grow their business, their relationships and themselves. So here it goes, in no particular order.

1.Crosswalk.com

A complete portal for Christian content, featuring blogs, devotions, financial, marital and career advice articles. This is where I start my day. Nothing like a fresh word from The Master to set my heart on the right path for the day. An excellent site.

2. The Art of Manliness

I am a man and true manly men in this day and age are an endangered species. This site is dedicated to recapturing and rekindling the dying art of being a man. I love it cause it breaks things down as simply and straightforward as can be. No being politically correct here. Just sweet, kick-in-the-butt advice on what Manliness is all about. A must read for all males!

3. Problogger & Daily Blog Tips

These are both community sites for professional bloggers. They have excellent articles on blog writing, monetization, SEO and memberships. A great resource for those who want to make a living or business from blogging.

4. Steve Pavlina’s Personal Development for smart people

This has to be my all time favorite blog for personal development resources. This guy has some questionable spiritual beliefs but overall, his insights and advice are timeless. I keep going back again and again to the archives section and always find something new to read and learn. Awesome resource. Highly recommended.

5. CNET Crave

This one appeals to my love of all things geeky, techy and gadgetry. It helps keep me informed about all the happenings around the globe. Considering that it’s a part of the CNET family, it’s a definate trusted source. A daily stop for technophiles.

6. Inc.com

A wonderful community for all things Entrepreneurial. It has articles, showcases, blogs and advice. It’s a great stop for inspiration and growth for small business owners.

7. Enterpreneurs Journey

A lovely site that appeals to both Entrepreneurs and Bloggers. Yaro Starak is accomplished in both these areas. He has a wonderful insight, avudde wwala (he’s come from far). He’s what you’d call a blogger entrepreneur, a guru in internet marketing. His posts are usually quite long but well worth the read.

8. Six Revisions & Hongkiat

I am by profession, a designer. Web, Graphic and Motion. These sites are a daily source for inspiration, trends and tutorials for me. A great help in my daily work. Highly recommended to all designers. DesignKingdom.ug is my own initiative to offer the same value to Ugandan artists, similar to these two sites.

9. Income Diary

A blog created by 20year old Michael Dunlop. It’s all about blogger entrepreneurs with interviews, advice, tips, success stories. I love this cause it makes an emphasis on showing you how you can live the internet lifestyle, those who are living it and how practically you too can live it. Inspiring is the word.

10. Darren Hardy’s blog

Darren is the editor of Success Magazine. His blog is obviously all about achieving success in all areas of your life. It’s updated only about once a week but a great resource nonetheless.

11. Dan Millers Blog

Dan is a Christian Entrepreneur and Life coach. As a Christian myself, it’s important to me to achieve my success in an honest and integrity based manner that glorifies The Master. Dan has excellent articles and posts that help me see what all other success gurus talk about in light of biblical principles. Love-lu-lay.

So ofcourse I have a ton of other sites I visit regularly but these are the ones i feel most drawn to regularly. I would advise everyone of you who visits tons of blogs to use Google Reader to effectively manage all your different feeds. Blogspirit will help you manage all your Ugandan blogs.

I’m always looking to add more wonderful resources to continue my personal growth and I would like to here from you. What are some of your daily reading lists?

Shalom

“Always keep learning. It keeps you young.”-Patty Berg

“In a time of drastic change it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.“-Eric Hoffer

“There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence to see for themselves.“ -Will Rogers