So you want progress in 2015? Change your lifestyle

One of the deceptions about growth and vision is that you can attain where you want to be without altering your lifestyle.

Any vision that does not make a demand for you to change something in your lifestyle is not likely to take you far. This is because our position in life is a function of the way we use our lives. It is a function of lifestyle.

Both the rich and the poor have the same amount of time — 24 hours in a day. The difference is in how these hours are used. The more value you put into your time, the more value you will receive for your time.

I once wanted to get one of my favourite authors to come and speak at an event. He was to be brought down from New York.

Besides the business class tickets for him and an associate and five-star accommodation (which is to be expected), he does not speak for more than one hour.

BIG DREAMS

Then he will have a question-and-answer session for 30 minutes, and then he’s done — for a fee of nearly $200,000 (Sh18 million).

How valuable is your hour? If the balance of activity in your life is tilted in favour of activity that does not add value to you, then it will reflect in the value of your hour.

What is the net impact of your presence or your involvement in something? Some people are just present, while for others, their presence is what made the difference.

You are best suited to determine the value of your time. How much will you pay to spend time with someone like you?

Why is it important to re-evaluate how we use our time? It is because this time last year, some people had great dreams for 2014, and right now, they are looking back with regrets because their dreams did not materialise. 

YEAR OF STAGNATION
I saw this play out in the course of the week when having a session with a team from the same company. When asked what the year was like, one person said it was her best year ever and that she did things she did not think she was capable of doing.

She concluded by saying she needed to be stretched more in the coming year. Another person said it was a year of stagnation. Now, the truth is: no one, no organisation and no situation has the power to make you stagnate without your consent.

We are living beings and our lives are governed by our minds. For one to shift the blame for one’s stagnation on someone else, on some organisation or on some situation is a big lie. It is like blaming someone for stopping your mind from working.

What are you doing there?

If you are in a place where your mind cannot find expression, then what are you doing there? If your mind cannot find expression and you feel that you are still stuck there, then it is a personal choice and not a sentence.

STAGNATION CYCLE
Wherever the mind goes, the body follows.  Whatever we excuse, we cannot overcome. As long as we find excuses for stagnation and we find people to blame, the cycle of stagnation may continue for years to come.

Stagnation is not, has never been and will never be a sentence. It is always a choice.

When I see the attitude of some people, I absolutely understand why stagnation prevails in their lives. A wrong attitude will always produce stagnation even in the midst of the greatest opportunities.

If you are in the pit with the right attitude, it’s only a matter of time. You will get out. However, if you are in the palace with the wrong attitude, again, it’s only a matter of time. You will soon be out.

So, before you blame your stagnation in 2014 on someone or something outside of yourself, stop, think and remember, no one can make you stagnant without your consent.