HOW TO BE A WORLD CLASS VISIONARY (PART 2)

“Sometimes there’s no evidence that your dream or your vision, or your idea – is a good idea. There’s no evidence. And sometimes there’s no evidence that this is the right time to do it. But the big question is: Where are you looking for evidence? Don’t look in your checkbook to decide whether or not you believe in your dream. Don’t look at the stock market or the news. The only place to look to decide whether or not you believe in your vision and your dream and your idea – is in your own heart”. –Marcia Wieder, CEO, Dream University

[There is no doubt that Vision is one of the greatest values of Life Signatures. Today’s post comes to us through permission from the Chief Visioneering Office at Visionary Business University, Jeffrey Howard.

In 2010, Jeffery launched Visionary Business University of which I was a student, lining up awesome faculty members such as Mary Morrisey, Micheal Gelb, Shawn Duperon, Max Simon, Eric Lofholm among others.

In the very first class, Jeff and Marcia Weider talked about this topic, “12 Ways to Become a Master Visionary in the 21^st Century”. It is from the excerpts of their interview that we will learn some nuggets about vision as well as ‘How to be a World Class Visionary’. This is a continuation from the previous post...enjoy]

Marcia Wieder, CEO and Founder of Dream University

Jeff: So let’s dig in to those twelve ways be a twenty first century visionary. Can you walk us through your process for that?

 (Allow me to step in here and enumerate the 12 points since this is a long discussion)

Marcia: Yeah, so this came out of the three years of soul searching. So we’ll just do the abridged version here, but I would say the first thing is:

1. 1.       You’re a twenty first century visionary if you’re comfortable with uncertainty: I love it. One of the best quotes I ever heard on this came from Tony Robbins, where Tony said that, and I’ll paraphrase because I don’t have the exact words, but it was something like, “you’re level of passion in life is directly correlated to the level of uncertainty you can comfortably live with.” That we really feel so passionate and alive in the face of uncertainty.

1. 2.       The next thing, number two: You are a twenty first century visionary if you have extraordinary faith. You’re able to act on what’s important to you without assurances, promises, or guarantees. So it’s like your ability to walk on faith without having the strategy or even clear next step. I always think about that wonderful Raider’s of the Lost Ark scene where Harrison Ford has to step out across the chasm. He has to step out completely on faith. And he’s looking down and he’s seeing a bottomless pit, but at some level, he’s able to find the place inside of him that has faith. And he steps out and lo and behold…

Jeff: The bridge is there…

1. 3.       I love this next one: A twenty first century visionary knows the secret to enlightenment. So let me tell you what it is. I was at a Pachumama Awayan’s fundraiser luncheon and my dear friend and client Jack Canfield walked in and I said, “Jack, Jack, I discovered the secret to enlightenment.” He leaned in and three people were with him, they all leaned in. I said, “The secret is to relax.”

1. 4.       Number four: You practice getting empty. A twenty first century visionary knows how to empty. This has to do with the exhale again. You empty so that you can actually hear the voice of the divine and/or feel its presence. You might create rituals, or sacred space as a way to invite this in. To live on purpose requires three things. One is that we have a sacred or spiritual practice so that we can hear the quiet deeper wisdom voice beneath the ego. Two is that we know what’s unique and special about us. Three is that we can find a way to be of service with it.

1. 5.       So number five: Twenty first century visionaries are living on purpose because they’re connected in with their essence or soul. They’ve learned how to relax and to let the ego fall away, not fall apart. We need the ego, but one of my favorite questions is, “Is your ego in service to your soul, or is your soul enslaved by your ego?”

1. 6.       Number six: You are aware that miracles happen in their own time, and you are able to wait rather than asserting your will or effort too soon. You trust the process enough to let it unfold. Impatient sometimes, but that’s why going back to relaxing and exhaling is good. It all ties in together.

1. 7.       Number seven: You are a twenty first century visionary if you are receptive and know that give and take is not the same as give and receive and that giving and receiving need to be done in balance. So you practice restraint, allowing space for the space where true creation and original thought happen. So it’s really an interesting thing. Visionaries aren’t often on send mode. Just sort of talking and outputting. They know how to pause. I love that proverbial pause button. They know how to empty. They know how to relax. They know how to be receptive and allow, actually draw out of others, and really wait for the right moment to be really effective and really strategic.

1. 8.       Number eight: You’re a twenty first century visionary if you don’t primarily live as a problem solver, we touched on this already, but more as a creative force. You’re aware that it is more powerful to move toward what you want, than it is to move away from what you don’t want. So just a different energetic, yet both creation and destruction serve. I think in general visionaries are more, I don’t know maybe I’m off on this one, but they’re more, I want to say they’re more open-minded, but in some ways they’re not. In some ways they’re more opinionated. Maybe they’re just more of everything.

1. 9.       Number nine: You have a conscious relationship with the silent witness, the part that can see many points of view, all sides, and new perspectives. You are a big dreamer with great imagination, and have the willingness to traverse new terrain, which of course takes us back to number one, uncertainty.

1. 10.   Number ten: You are collaborative rather than hierarchal. You have the courage, clarity and commitment to share dreams and ideas, empowering others to take ownership. That means, delegating is like the small baby step in this department. Visionaries know how to inspire and enroll others. They know how to empower others. They know how to put the right person on the right seat in the right bus, going the right direction. They know how to say, “No more,” and, “No thank you.” So that the right person can take the lead on something that they’re passionate about.

Jeff: Sure, instill creativity in others and instill responsibilities in others as well, which most of us have probably held close to the vest for a long, long time.

Marcia: Absolutely. But I love when I can find team members who can do something better than me.

Jeff: I totally agree.

1. 11.   OK, number eleven: As a twenty first century visionary, you are crucial to the dream movement’s ultimate dream, which is to make the world a better place. I know that with one highly intentional step the world can and has changed.

1. 12.   And finally – and this is interesting because it’s where we started Jeff – but Number twelve: You are a twenty first century visionary if you have tremendous integrity. Beyond keeping your agreements with yourself and others, you answer to a higher source. And you have a purpose, mission, vision, calling, and dreams in all areas of life. I think that the healthiest visionaries are not just consumed with their work.  Sometimes they are consumed with their mission, but I think that there really is something about creating a ‘dream come true’ life that really is about looking in all different areas and different aspects of your life.

So my commitment to being a twenty first century visionary basically is this…

My purpose is to believe.

My mission is to help others believe in themselves and their dreams.

My vision is to lead a dream movement in order to make the world a better place.

And I would say also, my calling is to help us remember who we are and why we’re here.

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Marcia Wieder, CEO and founder of Dream University and is leading a dream movement. With over 20 years coaching, training, and speaking experience, her inspiring message, style, and wit has touched audiences from 50 to 5,000 at companies like AT&T, Gap, and American Express.

Whether she’s speaking at the Stanford Business School, speaking to executives in

China, or addressing young women at Girl Scout Camp, Marcia’s riveting style deeply

impacts audiences worldwide.

She’s the personal dream coach to Jack Canfield, she stars in Beyond the Secret with Bob Proctor, and she’s a member of the prestigious Transformation Leadership Council, along with John Gray and Marianne Williamson.

As past president of the National Association of Women Business Owners, she was often in the White House, where she met former U.S. Presidents Ronald Regan, Jimmy Carter, and George Bush Sr., and as a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, she urged her readers to “Take the Great Dream Challenge.”

Marcia has appeared several times on Oprah, the Today Show, and in her own PBS TV special has written fourteen books that have been translated into numerous languages.

Her newest is called Dreams are Whispers from the Soul.

THE FIVE FRUITFUL BATTLES TO WAGE CONSTANTLY

"Warfare always surround the birth of a miracle" ~ Dr. Mike Murdock

Every waking moment, there is a fight going on. There is a fight for space, a fight for customers, a fight for peace, a fight for revenue growth, a fight for food, a fight for water, a fight for prominence...and so on. There is this famous quote that goes something like this:

"Every morning in Africa, an antelope wakes up knowing that it must outrun the fastest lion or be killed. Every morning in Africa  a lion wakes up knowing that it must outrun the fastest antelope or starve to death. Whether you are a lion or an antelope, when morning comes, you had better be on the run"

That tells you something. Someone else said these words, "This is not peace, this is just the absence of war"

OK, I do not want to sound scary, but the truth of the matter is that intentionality means fighting for something/someone that matters to you. One way or another, no one is exempt from a fight. We are all drafted.

For those who want to live, love and matter, they do realize that one way or another, they have to put on some effort to fight for their turfs. If you were to realize your Life Signatures and leave a legacy behind you must not only be drafted, but you must also draft yourself. You need to choose some battles to fight. The following are five major battles that you must wage to remain relevant in life.

1. The Battle to excel in the current assignment: You cannot live on post pone mode. You cannot operate on 'I wish I knew' Mode. Neither can you base your life on the hope for tomorrow. You have today. You have today's assignment. The most difficult battle you will ever fight is the battle for relevance today. It is the battle to be the very best in what you are doing now. Many people wait for the ideal not knowing that the ideal comes by doing what we can do now! Tweet this.
2. The battle for daily growth: Growth is a daily intentional endeavor. I am talking about growth in terms of your passion. If you do not do something today that remotely or directly contributes to the growth of your passion then you are dying slowly. You need to have a daily schedule of growth. Growth never happens on its own, it happens with the nudge of intentionality.
3. The Battle for Momentum: It has been said that one of the biggest causes of failure is broken focus. If you want to cause trouble to a visionary, just give them another mandate. Once you have noticed what matters in your life, the greatest battle you will ever wage is to maintain consistency and momentum with what you are doing. This, I believe, is one of the biggest battles that we face for our Life Signatures. We can only be great finishers to the degree that we build great momentum of consistent positive action! Tweet this. We know that a scratched DVD does not play...and so does a 'scratched' routine.
4. The Battle for Congruency: Some people do not care about how results come, just that they are results. In the end, they say that the end justifies the means. Not for Life Signatures! Anyone interested in living to leave a legacy knows that processes must be followed. Shortcuts never help. As a visionary, you have values, you have a vision and a mission. You will not allow life to pass by while these matters of congruency go unattended. To be congruent means that there is harmony of integrity in yourself as you pursue your legacy. In other words, it's not just all about money!
5. The Battle for your Personal Brand: Everyone has a brand. Three things about a brand: First to know it, second, to own it and third to show it. This ought to be a daily battle. At any one point in time, you are either knowing your brand, owning it or showing it. What's your brand? Do you know it? Knowing it is a battle...and let's all blame the education systems. Owning it is a battle...no one is exempt from this. It is also a choice. Showing it is deliberate. Mine for example is Life Signatures. If you searched for Life Signatures on twitter, you will find a good representation of quotes there. I am showing my brand.

Kim George said that life has no business giving us everything we expect. In other words, if you want something, you will have to square it out for it. It's a battle and that is the latest news from Life Signatures.

Makes sense?

WHEN AFRAID TO ASK...

In my family, we had the first ever bereavement when our first born brother passed on. I was just in my early teenage years. It hurt so bad! He was a great friend and playmate.

When he was ill for the first time, he got admitted to a Mission Hospital back in the village. My mum would be with him full time taking care of him at the hospital. The rest of us would go check on him at set visiting hours.

So there was this fateful day that I had to go see them. It rained so heavily that day. Given that the roads were not tarmacked then, the public transport vehicle I used dropped me about three kilometers from the hospital. I walked that distance. It was around Four in the evening.

I walked straight into the ward where my brother was admitted...lo and behold, he was not there! My mum was also not there! I feared the worst! You see, back then, we did not have cell phones to easily call and locate. I was a young boy barely 14 years of age, and I was thoroughly scared!

So what do you think I did? I walked home in stunned silence...knowing full well the worst had happened. I did not dare talk to the nurses and ask them anything about the whereabouts of my brother. I mean, why would the ward he occupied be empty? 

Honestly, I feared greatly that the nurses would confirm my suspicion. So I walked home and told nobody of my findings. I remained tensed the whole evening. I started waiting...back then, a death would be announced by loud shrieks of mourning women. I waited for those terrifying mourns the whole night, tossing back and forth. I must have dozzed off once or twice...and soon, one of the most difficult nights of my young life ended.

Morning came, and with it my mum. She seemed Ok...she was not alarmed. So everything was fine. I narrated to her my ordeal the past evening. Mother and son exchanged those 'knowing looks'...that story has never been shared with anybody until today...as far as I can remember.

But here is the deal: I could just have as well asked the nurses! Granted, they could have confirmed my fears...they could also have dispelled them. One way or another, I would have faced my worst fears sooner and save myself the emotional turmoil! Why postpone the worst?

Today, I am briefly addressing the fear of asking. A young man is afraid to ask his dream girl out because he is afraid that she will say no. A young salesman is afraid of meeting the Manager because he is afraid that the sale will not be effected. 

A CEO refuses to face the brutal facts about the revenue of his company because he is afraid that news will cause him to make painful changes.

Why on earth do people get scared of asking? I submit it is because they are afraid of exploiting what seems to be their only option available. They think that when they exploit that option AND GET THE DREADED NO, they will be right back on square one.

Square one needs lots of energy to move away from. It always is a place of serious discomfort. No one wants to be there. Therefore, psychologically, we 'mirage' the asking. We put it forward. We kind of hold onto it (the not asking) like our best kept secret. This provides a psychological safe haven of the thought that the option will still be always available to be exploited. It is kind of like an insurance. 

So, we stay in that 'Potential' State yet me move not even an inch. 

When afraid to ask, remember that the best you can do right now is ask

When afraid to ask and you do not ask, you are increasing your chances of defeat

When afraid to ask, acknowledge the fear, but go ahead and ask anyway.

You will save yourselves lots of time, emotions and energy that is otherwise wasted on the 'illusion'.

Makes sense?

FIVE STEPS TO BECOMING TOP EMPLOYERS' TARGET (Funny Video Inside)

At the back of our minds, we are all conscious of the fact that achievement and success has always been, is and will always be a process, at least this side of heaven. That is why most of us, and all of us really should always be figuring out our 'next level'. 

I have come to realize that growth is made in any area of our lives through levels. I have also come to realize that it is very easy to become satisfied with one level and stay there. The only problem with that is that life does not wait for you. 

Can you imagine if you were comfortable with your first Motorolla phone that looked like a roll-on anti-perspiration (Motorollon)?

Can you imagine if you were comfortable with crawling and stayed at that level?

Can you imagine if you were OK with your level of formal education and stopped learning? (By far, this is one areas that kills many people. Either people graduate and stop learning, or are dropped along the way by the system and consider themselves dumb!)

So, here are the several steps to use that will guarantee you a seat at your most coveted next level.

1.     Be there Now: This is a simple principle that says that the body does not go where the mind has not been! I recently trained a team of men and women that would help me in a project that I am running. After showing them the organizational heirarchy, I told them to start seeing themselves as if they were on the level above them now. You know that works, It worked for me. You are doing yourself a great disservice if you always think of yourself right now as who you are instead of whom you can be.

2.     Decide to be massively excellent where you are: This has been a major motto for me in life. Literally everywhere I have been since I got into active employment, I have left an indelible mark. You do not deserve the next level if you have not mastered the current one. This is one of the biggest life principles that people forget.  Most people unfortunately are trashing their current positions as they look forward for new ones. The only result is a delay in ascending to the next level!

3.     ‘Race’ against yourself: Highly successful people who will ascend to the next level faster than others have mastered this habit. They daily and consistently put their life on the line as they play it all out…there are no crowds to cheer them, there is no medal to be won…but they ‘race’ ruthlessly against themselves. They beat their own deadlines without instructions from a boss. They track their progress. They re-evaluate their situation again and again. They constantly set the bar high and always seek to beat it. They put time frames in accomplishing their goals. Sooner or later, the world takes notice of such visionaries. Don’t wait to be told. Be reflective and proactive. The next level beckons. This is what Jim Rohn's mentor told him: "If you want to be wealthy and happy, learn this lesson well: Learn to work harder on yourself than on your job"

4.     Understand the Difference between Relief and Comfort: Is there a human being (or even an animal) in the whole wide world that doesn't love comfort? We all love comfort. However, comfort never takes you to the next level. Comfort is the reward for mastering your current level. Relief on the other hand is the temporary reward for a purpose-filled task being completed. It is the prize you get immediately after enduring the pressure to finish a task. If you really want to get to the next level faster, you need to experience relief at very short intervals. That means you are taking massive action. That means you are growing.

5.     Build Reserve Energy: The winning athlete in this short video understood the importance of finishing strong. You cannot do that without lots of reserve energy. Reserve energy comes through persistent and consistent training. Finishing a ‘race’ is the most important thing. Sometimes, the need to experience relief from the current pressure can really work against you, so you drop out of the race prematurely…like helping a butterfly in its pupa stage, like getting the cake out of the oven minutes before, like digging up a bean seed that you planted few days ago, like actually walking down the finish line instead of running. When your strength to propel you to a finish is greater than the relief you get when you finish, you have mastered your current race and are now ready for the next level!

 If you will do these things, your ascendancy to the next level will be reversed: Instead of hunting for the next assignment, you will be head hunted! It works!

HOW TO GET A JOB IN AN INSTANT!

"Anybody can have a job in an instant by engaging their mind" ~ Life Signatures 

"If laughter is an instant vacation, then serious thinking is an instant employment"! ~ Life Signatures

The popular saying is that 'an Idle mind is the devil's workshop'...well let me ask this: Whose workshop is a wondering mind? That is a question worth answering. It is said that only 2% of people do actually think...and thinking does not mean jumping from one thing to another...but I digress...

When a mind is wondering, it is because there is not enough pressure at present to focus it onto one thing! A wondering mind is either a product of indiscipline, mediocrity or better yet...a Master!

A wondering mind is also reflective of lack of discipline in meditation and focus.

"The biggest job vacancy world wide to be filled by more than 90% of humanity is for Self Executive Officers" ~ Life Signatures

One of the components of being a happy achiever comes from the ability to force oneself to be single-minded in terms of focusing one one thing and achieving it before moving to the next. The Bible says that a "double minded man is unstable in all his ways" I could not have said it better. Isn't it amazing that stability is directly linked with a 'concentrated' mind?

"A curse is always on the unused talent" ~ Dr. Mike Murdock.

Many job hunters and seekers deprive themselves of this awesome opportunity to be employed before they are employed. I can tell you that there is so much to do in one single day for a jobless person that they might even need more hours! I kid you not. Here is how to get a job in an instant: Stop all the traffic and FOCUS your mind and start thinking. Thinking about what? About your life. Where you have been. Where you are. Where you are going. Your Legacy. Your Vision. Your Life Purpose. Your Goals. Your Values. This kind of 'concentrated thinking' is an instant job, and in my take, it is much more valuable than a job for a monthly pay check. I kid you not again! To not do this is likened to 'hiding talents'...and as Mike Murdock puts it, there is a curse in that. SELAH...


The only pressure at the moment is how they can put food on the table and pay for their housing and clothes.

A mind at pressure is such a blessing...although we all hate pressure and love comfort.
You know you are under pressure when:

• There is need yet there also lack,
• Your reputation is at stake,
• You are working on something you never have before,
• You are just about to lose something or someone you cherish,
• A line has been drawn, the stakes have been raised and your happiness depends on rising up and beating the deadlines...and so on

No doubt that a mind pressured will never be the same...and the life under pressure is a life under growth.

That being said, we should also note that the recipe of mediocrity is a helter-skelter topsy-turvy mind.
In order to move to the next level, there must be pressure applied to one's life, and by extension, to ones mind either:

• By Force: Most popular with mediocre people who wait for the forces of life and nature to force them into action.
• By Choice: The mainstay of Master Stellar Visionaries who force themselves to be under personal pressure to attain something on a daily basis through cultivated discipline over time.

 Applied pressure forces the mind to focus. Focus leads to growth which in turn leads to maturity of

which continued results in Mastery.

At Mastery levels, the mind can now be at liberty to wonder around while a Genius task is being done...a task that was cumbersome and awkward at first. For instance, while you have mastered driving a manual transmission vehicle, you can do a thousand other things while driving. This was not possible while training for the same.

Amazingly a wondering mind is either the product of a Master or the mainstay of a mediocrity.

Are you jobless? Retrenched? Fired? There is a job to do right this hour...you want to believe me on this one. I have been there, done that, I have the T-Shirt and this article to show of it!

WHY LIFE IS SIMPLER THAN WE THINK

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I'll return to the womb of the earth" ~ Job

In my estimation, life is simpler than we complicate it. Life is to me, a binary of two possibilities. The wise would know exactly what phase they are in, and most importantly, what phase they could be in. That's it!

Here is the curveball: We have finite minds. We do not grasp all there is to grasp at a go. We cannot escape the mirage that life offers us daily. At some point, we see our possibility and realize where we are in relation to were we could be. So when we get where we thought previously that we could be...we realize that it has become where we are...and there is another where we could be...! That my friend...is the structure of our life metamorphosis.

That is all there is in life. Two major possibilities.

Let me explain. If we are to use the analogy of hunting gold mines...there are only two states we all ought to operate in: 

1. The Highway to Our Goldmine
2. The Goldmine itself.

That is it. There is no other complication in life.You are either currently on top of your gold mine or on the highway towards it! Now...there are two types of people on the highway: There are those who know that they are on the highway to their goldmine...and then there are those who are clueless.

There is only one group of people on top of the Goldmine...those who knew all along that they where on a journey towards it...think about it!

We need to realize what our Goldmine is. Each of us has one Goldmine...and it is only one Goldmine that is needed. The creator in his own infinite wisdom made our Goldmine first...and then formed us. In us, He put all the things we need to gravitate towards that Goldmine.

He put in the map of passion. It is revealed by what excites us...as well as that which infuriates us. He put inside of us the compass that would take us there...our talents and our giftings. He put inside of us an eternal landmark that will guide us to the Goldmine...our hearts. He put inside of us all the necessary tools that we need to take us to the Goldmine...our personalities.

The highest calling we have in life is not to find our Goldmines...but to use our Goldmines for the greater good of 'others'. 

So, back to the message: You are either on top of your Goldmine...or you are on the Highway towards it...only if you realize that fact and consciously live it.

The most interesting thing is that the Highway to the Goldmine proves to be the most intriguing phase...and in my submission, the most important phase of our lives than being on top of the Goldmine itself. It seems to me that there is much more glory in mastering the road signs of the highway to the Goldmine...than knowing how to use the Goldmine itself.

Either way, you must dig it. Gold never appears on the surface. That is why at whatever level or phase we find ourselves in, we cannot term it useless...and I am speaking regarding the Highway moments of our Life Signatures. The road to a Goldmine of our lives will be littered here and there with some deposits of gold. The tragedy would be to camp at those deposits at the expense of discovering the Goldmine.

The biggest tragedy though is never realizing what phase one is...and therefore just exist to pay bills...count the days and anniversaries, birthdays and special occassions until that time we go back to the womb of the earth...naked!

Do you know the phase you are in?

THE SECOND BIGGEST ENEMY AFTER FEAR AND ITS 6 CURES

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”~ Calvin Coolidge

No doubt that the greatest hindrance to progress and success is fear. Everyone agrees about this. However, at some point in time, there are those who will dare face it head on and break it's hold on them.

I have come to realize that fear has a very strong relative...whom many people will face immediately after smashing him in the face with an inspired action.

In my very first post on Life Signatures, I encouraged people to break the paralysis that fear brings by being active in doing something...anything. That message still makes sense. There is no bigger cure of fear than a visionary finding something physical to engage his mind in. Fear's primary agenda is to paralyze people from expressing their signature on earth.

For many people who are in the process of conquering it, they know that fear is not conquered by one blow of action. It is conquered by incessant and persistent action. That is why fear has cropped up a very strong relative called inconsistency so the two of them can be successful in their primary agenda.

You know that it has been rumoured that habits create character. Habits are born out of persistent and consistent action. Consistent action is both a function of passion and discipline.

I have come to learn that we were created to be engaged in something we are passionate about. Yet I have also learnt that that passion will not come to the fore by itself...passion must be pursued by persistent action.

Let me say it again: The second biggest enemy after fear is inconsistency. When you go out and start something then you break the cycle...you get exactly what fear wants you to get in the first place...paralysis.

If you see a successful person, they most certainly would have paid the price of staying consistent in their pursuit of dreams that matter to them.

Many people will tell of their varied secrets of success, but none of them beats this: Never Giving Up!

Here is what you can do to guarantee consistency:

1. Plan your actions: Before hand, make sure that you have set aside two things: Time and Place for the action that you will be taking. Make sure that everything on your timetable is planned around your inspired action. The biggest reason as to why people are inconsistent is because they do not plan to be consistent!
2. Track Your Actions: There is a lot of inspiration that comes from daily tracking your action and rewarding yourself some scores whenever an action or actions are completed. These will effectively help you track your performance index. Granted, sometimes the chain might be broken, but with a tracking formula, you will be able to record the reasons as to why the chain was broken and act on them.
3. Use manageable pieces: People give up because they bite off way too much than they can chew at a go. Someone has never run 4 Kilometers in years...yet they want to start off by running 10 Kilometers on their very first day of taking inspired action! It will backfire on you. Start slowly, increase the temple over some days. Take your time. Remember, it is a coalition of small things over time that will guarantee major changes...not grand and major things at once.
4. Use small time intervals: There should be a very minute time interval between your inspired actions. A long delay between your inspired actions attracts laziness and causes you to be susceptible to breaking the chain of inspired actions.
5. Accountability: Throw your heart in the ring. Tell someone like a mentor to hold you accountable on a consistent basis on the action that you promised to take
6. Review your progress occasionally: It is important to take a look back at where you have been. See how you have been doing. See what can be changed. See how better we can do some things.

It is not just taking action that kills fear, it is incessant persistence of inspired action that finally delivers the goods.

Have a persistent day, won't you?

3 REASONS WHY YOU MUST ABSOLUTELY LOVE BEING OBSCURE

Here is the thing...everyone born of a woman, starting from Jesus Christ to the Queen of England, from Nelson Mandela to Barack Obama was once obscure. You might be saying...well...Jesus Christ was not obscure...but you might be wrong. It would not need a front runner to point Him out of a whole crowd of people if He were as prominent as you think. The very Son of God was also obscure at the beginning of His ministry!

Life Signatures has been read by thousands of people all over this world...but guess what? Three years ago, Life Signatures was a mere random thought...obscure at its best! One can still argue (and indeed I am arguing) that Life Signatures still is thoroughly obscure in relation to the vision that I have.

The funny thing is that many people would like to put off that garment of obscurity like some flee-infested garment. It is a matter of perception. Of course people would tell you that being obscure is not such a good thing.

The result? Many people are shouting/ touting themselves to prominence without savoring the fruits of being obscure. Many more never leverage their obscurity, but spend the precious opportunity scheming for a way out...as fast as possible, seeking prominence.

For the sake of this blog, prominence can be taken to mean the moment you ascend to your own platform to be recognized by others. It could mean attaining a goal...like finally being married. Yet the best way to stay prominent is through the darkroom of obscurity.

Sounds paradoxical right? Let me explain:

1. Obscurity is Nature's way to shield you from falling long before you can Master Walking: It is what you do while obscure that will most certainly count when you get your moment of prominence. This effectively means that we should love obscurity much like we love the shade of a tree that shields us from the hot sun. Here is the thing though..we should know deep inside our hearts that  being obscure is a temporary phase...of which we are in control of the exit door. 
2. Obscurity is an Opportunity to explore your Potential: You have absolutely no idea what pressure you would be under when prominent. People think that when they have ascended their thrones, that is when they will be able to explore their potentials...that's hogwash. When nobody is recording....no cameras are rolling...that is when you can explore your full potential without any form of pressure. You can't practise giving a good speech when you have just been elected can you? You do it in obscurity. Embrace obscurity at all costs...but realize that it is for a temporary season of which you are in control of the escape door.
3. Obscurity is the Dark Room to Develop your Beauty: For good measure, obscurity can be a painful phase in someone's life. When you are a bride's maid instead of the bride, when you are an assistant for years instead of the C.E.O, when you are bypassed for that promotion....when you lose that job, when you get dumped by your fiance, when you are thrown out of the house of not being able to settle the bills...it is a dark room. However, this dark room is absolutely necessary for any life signature worth its salt. You need this, believe me you do. Nelson Mandela had is 27 years in prison. The Prince of Egypt had his 40 years. The Prime Minister of Egypt (Joseph) had his half youth years in Slavery...and then in prison while in Slavery. Most certainly, Lawrence Namale has had his time in obscurity too...like those years he went barefoot in the village not even thinking he would ever go past visiting his mother's home...Our beauty and depth of our platforms is developed strong in obscurity!

Obscurity is not necessarily bad....

A great mango tree was once an obscure seed...look at your obscurity season as a seed rather than an eternal season of harvest

Anybody want prominence? Try obscurity...you will get there!

7 REASONS WHY YOU MUST BE A TOUT

My excuse for using public transport is that my car got an engine knock some time back. That was a traumatic moment for me that I do not want to think about. I just would like the whole episode to be wiped out of my mind.

So this morning, as I knew my schedule was not that tight, I found a taxi from Kampala road that was plying my route. It was virtually empty. Needing some time to just relax and clear off my mind, I decided to study the attitudes of the people around me...starting with the driver of the taxi and of course the 'noisy' tout who was calling out for passengers.

In a developed public transport system, there are designated bus stops and taxi parks, thus obliterating the touting system out of the roads. That was not the system that I was using today...or any other day.

The taxi being empty did not discourage the tout from calling out for passengers. He was aggressive, and creative enough. The driver on the other hand was smart enough to act as if they would be on the way any minute...to maintain the already captured passengers who might be in a hurry.

I realized the following things:

• I would not have entered the vehicle if I didn't hear the tout calling out my route.

• More people would not have kept filling the taxi if the tout stopped touting.

• The tout seemed to have this automatic faith that at some point in time, the taxi would be filled.

• If the tout did not work (tout), he would not be paid even if the passengers got in without his efforts. And this is the most interesting fact.

• With the increase in number of passengers, it is easy to convince more to get on board since they know that the taxi would be moving on soon.

The road to success is never like the organized transport system I talked about. Success, as much as we want to organize it to comfort and less disturbance, will only thrive to the degree that we tout...think about that.

The following are seven lessons as to why all visionaries should become their own touts for their Life Signatures

1. Find a taxi to tout about: This speaks of your passion/business/job...yet we would encourage you to make sure that whatever it is, it contributes to your Life Signature. Unless you find your passion, it would be difficult to talk about your own success. It is imperative that everyone finds their 'mountain' and climb it...and like I have said it here eternally...make sure that this matters to you!

2. No matter how unlikely and empty it is, get started! We all like finished products...but somebody worked, took action to make it a reality. In my next post, I am going to talk about the beauty, safety, and advantages of obscurity. To be honest, nobody will be successful if they waited for their 'taxi' to be filled up. All successful people have one thing in common...they were obscure at some point!

3. Success is not designated, it is touted: Waiting just never works. The more you wait, the more you delay. You might fulfil your purpose in life finally but after so much wasted time. Think of how many people would have been impacted.Waiting is wasting! Then again, success is never handed to us. It never knocks on our doors. We are the ones to go after it, knock on its doors and if need be, smash its gates opened with our incessant actions. You cannot wait for success, you tout it out!
   

4. The more you tout, the faster your results: Anybody can run a two Kilometers race.There are however those who would finish that small race faster and move on to other things. Here is the thing...the more we churn out actions about our 'mountain' the more we find the ways to climb it in a shorter time. There needs to be a very small interval if any, between our last shout and our next shout about our taxis.

5. You just grow a thick skin: Do you think the tout gives a hoot what other people think? Hardly! He could not care less! His sights are set on filling the taxi with passengers...that is what matters to him now...and he is gonna get it done.  That is exactly how we should go about developing our passions. Of course there are people to please...but who cares? I am serious. If we would stop for a minute to see how many people we can please on our pursuit of our assignment, we would not succeed. That is why touting our way will make us grow this thick skin that would help us not be bothered what others might think. Just grow that thick skin as you work on your genius. By the way, it normally is an illusion that people will think, they have got enough on their plates to be bothered!

6. A bird in the hand...is worth two in the bush: Take good care of your 'acres of diamonds'...it is what you have now that attracts what you want. The most underrated thing on the face of the earth is what people already do have...relationships, talents, skills, passion, opportunities and so on. Most people want the granduear to think 'this is it!' To be honest, if you would document what you have for you now..and just use those, your taxi would be filled sooner than you think.

7. Loud and consistent: Let not a single second pass when you are quiet. Keep working on your genius...researching, reviewing, promoting, marketing, connecting, adding value...just keep doing it. Nike said it best, "Just do it!" Nothing can replace this. If that taxi  has got to be filled, that tout cannot let a single minute pass without touting. It is in one minute that a family of seven can pass by looking for your taxi while you are quiet. Keep touting! You never know who is listening! Keep working on your genius. You just have no idea how far it goes.

Sooner than you thought, your taxi is full...and when it is, there is no stopping you. We all really need to borrow a leaf from these taxi touts, don't you think?

FAILING WITH A SMILE...

"There more I look at it, the more I think it is folly to eliminate #Failure from our lives. We are not God"! ~ Life Signatures 

I just had a heated ‘discussion’ with my colleagues about why there was no much euphoria in Kenya after the Olympics like there was in Uganda. A small detail to mention is that Kenya won several medals while Uganda came out with just one Gold medal courtesy of one Stephen Kiprotich.

They tell me that Ugandans are more celebratory and love appreciating small things…I tell them that their purported ‘small thing’ is a rare gold medal after 40 years of waiting. I tell them that Kenyans average at least 5 gold medals each year…the discussion is a stalemate…so I move on to add one more post to this blog.

That gentleman Kiprotich said something very interesting. He said that he practiced or rather trained for that gold medal for more than five years. He says that one day, he raced against the great Haile Gabrselassie. During that meeting, he asked for tips on how he can be great.

As it were, Stephen lost that race…yet with a smile on his face. That was not the only race he lost. Yet that smile still was on his face. He knew what he was aiming at. Sweet loses those were for the man knew that race by race, he was inching closer to his greatest goal.

Stephen already embraced what I strive to embrace myself...loving to fail. Here is the thing: We all hate failing. We would all go to all costs to avoid failure. Yet again and again, even from birth to our first baby steps, it is failure that has shaped us.

It is misfortune that creates revolutions

It is oppression that creates activists

In Kenya, it was that second President who many consider a dictator that made people clamor for a new constitution.

It was Stephen's subsequent failures that made the man an Olympic Gold Medalist,

It was the 1000 failed experiments that made the bulb a reality.

My own life has seen great 'revivals' because I failed in the first place.

Something tells me that the shortcut to peace and success is a big old embrace of failure. Why is that?

There is only one thing that causes failure...ACTION. Is it any wonder that great ideas are just that--Ideas?

Is it any wonder that many people do not take the very next simple action towards success because they fear to fail?

My life in 2013 will be marked by audacious action taking...kind of like hunting for failure. I perceive that i have been comfortable for too long waiting for the right thing at the right time with the right people...a rarity in itself.

It is time to put a smile on my face and celebrate my taking action more than the feedback I get from it--whether I fail or succeed.

You wanna join the quest? Its gonna be fun!

YOU SEE POISON, I SEE MEAT. LET'S EAT!

Isn't it amazing how different we see the same thing? It has been said that one man's meat is another's poison. Meat and poison moments occur to us invariably all along our lives. How we see ourselves in these situations will determine our outcome in life.

A story is told of one of God's Generals called Dwight L Moody, the nineteenth century preacher. Moody was in London during one of his famous evangelistic tours, several clergymen visited him wanting to know his secret (And there is that word again...secret).

How, and more specifically why--was this poorly educated American so effective in winning throngs of people to Christ? Moody took the men to the window of his hotel room and asked each in turn to tell him what they saw. One by one, the men described the people in the park below.

Then Moody looked out the window and tears began coursing down his cheeks. "What do you see Mr. Moody?" One of the men asked.

Moody replied, "I see countless thousands of souls that will one day spend eternity in hell if they do not find the Savior".---Erick Reese, S.H.A.P.E.

Another story is told of a basketballer who sprained his right arm. Being a right handed player, he found it challenging to practise even on his own. However, he decided to do something with his situation. He started practising with his left hand.

It must have been infuriating and frustrating trying to do something new at his age. Persistence and determination was key. He never gave up. To the casual observer, this sportsman is just passing time. It all depends on how we see things. One man sees trouble, another sees opportunity. In the end, what seemed to be a misfortune in the sportsman's life makes him even better for he now can dribble with both hands equally well!

Does he want to break his hands again? Of course not. Would he wish he never broke his hands in the first place? Well...that all depends. Meant or poison? You decide!

I have said in the previous post that life accords us opportunities in between now and our next break. It is wise to take the in betweens more seriously and do something about them than to wait for the break to come. Everyone the world over is waiting for their ship to come...problem is that there are fewer harbors for 7 billion people at a go.

A salesman gets into a village selling shoes. Calls back his headquarters and laments that nobody in the village wears shoes...that his adventure is a waste. A second salesman calls his headquarters and demands that they send tonnes upon tonnes of shoes...no one in the village wears shoes...what an opportunity!

Tough situations will always be with us. What an opportunity! What a chance to make the best out of it. I encourage all the visionaries of Life Signatures to tune in their brains to the opportunity network... no not when all is cozy and rozy...but when all is rough and tough. There in lies our opportunity.

What are you looking at today? What do you see that others do not see? Think about it!

WE ARE MUCH MORE RESILIENT THAN WE THINK

"The object of your desire has probably always existed around you, but your mind and eyes weren’t open to “seeing” it". ~ Darren Hardy

What if you left your house in a huff, boarded a bus to town and only halfway through the journey you discover that you forgot your wallet? What would happen?

Here is the situation: You are totally cashless at that moment in time. Does it mean that you do not have options? Let me ask it this way: Will you at the end of the day find yourself back at home?

The bus people need their fare…

You cannot go back home, your day will be messed…

You will still have to go back home in at the close of the day…

Do not forget that you might need some cash for lunch…

What would you do?

Ok, let us then flip the scenario to a different one…albeit very common across the globe.

You are jobless. You have no income. You have a family to feed. You have rent and other bills to pay. You have to eat…and you have no income. Let us ask the same question. Does it mean that you do not have options?

I personally think that this is one of those most powerful questions that we need to answer. The answer to this question needs to be so embedded in our subconscious. I bet you that the reason many people are stuck is because they do not give themselves much credit.

To be fair, I think being stuck is being stuck regardless of the magnitude. An individual who is stuck at home because of lack of bus fare is just as stuck in his situation as a visionary who is stuck on publishing his book because of lack of finances. 

It is the same ‘stuck’, if you will, just multiplied several times. My point in saying that is to say this: we always have options…and at times if we are pushed hard enough, we will get unstuck somehow.

Another scenario is this: In the midnight hour, your 7-month old baby falls scaringly sick. You have no cash to take him to hospital. What are you going to do? I bet that the pressure exerted upon you by virtue of your love for your child will compel you to do just about anything, including waking up your neighbor whom you are not in talking terms with. You know I am right.

So what is the difference between those ‘extreme’ situations and the one situation that you are stuck with right now? The difference is care. The difference is also created by the pressure. The care and pressure are forces too great that overwhelm anything that stands against you: fear of rejection, shame and embarrassment, procrastination and outright laziness.

In short, what we are saying today is that for the most part we are not stuck. For the most part, we just have awkward ‘illusionary roadblocks’ ahead of us. If we can bring ourselves to generate enough internal power to overcome these roadblocks, nothing really can cause us to remain stuck.

The next time you find yourself stuck, get to analyze the situation by asking yourself this questions:

What Am I really afraid of?

What is the inevitable?

Is there anything I can do immediately?

What do I have to lose for doing it?

What do I have to gain for venturing out?

This is a more pragmatic way of looking at a stuck situation than just to generalize the ‘stuck’. In fact, in doing this, you avail yourself with several options that you can take. Most people in a stuck situation would want someone else to help them out…the way I think life is designed is that if we can just zero in on ourselves, we might have more options than we think we do.

Have a problem solving week, wont you?