Talking about age, to some ladies, it is just numbers, and to others, it is a great determinant if they will give a yes or no to a proposal.

To those who see age as just numbers and that it has nothing to do with their ultimate decision, good for you, but If you are one of those who don’t know if you can cope with being joined to a man who is a year or ten years older than you, then this post is for you, you’ll find one or two things to guide you in this decision you are about t make.

Questions To Ask Yourself

1.       1.  Can I Submit To This Man?

Submission is what is expected of every woman in marriage. I have often heard that submission(RESPECT) is one of the greatest need of a man.

Sit down with yourself and ask if you’ll be able to submit to this man even though you are older than him.

By default, our word always feels the man must be older than the lady as that is the only way the lady will find it easy to submit as it wouldn’t look like she is submitting to a man who is younger than her.

But then, submission isn’t only a function of age, while his being older makes respecting/submitting to him easier but if you’ll look at it closely, you’ll see that there are some people asides him that are also younger to you that you respect without any grudge.

So, ask yourself this question.

2.       2.  Is This Man Mature?

While there are men who are mature in every area that matters at 25 years of age, there are some men who are not as matured as the 25 years old man even though they are 35.

Talking about maturity, you might want to ask yourself,

Is he spiritually mature (Does he have a relationship with God)?

Is he financially mature (what is his relationship with money)?

Is he emotionally mature (How does he deals with his feelings)?

Ask yourself these questions, your answers will guide if you are going to say a yes or a no.

3.       3.  Will I Need To Tell My Family Members?

It might be no big deal to declare the age of your man if he were to be older than you to your immediate family, but since you are the older one here, this is a big question to be answered.

The reason why you need to answer this question is so you know how to tell you parents and siblings. Will you tell them as soon as the relationship starts, or you’ll hold on till after some years in marriage.

Telling your family might lead to them not respecting him as he should be respected, so you might want to hold back from telling them initially until much later when they have come to respect him for who he is and not just the date on his birth certificate. This is only a suggestion as you know your family and its dynamics.

4.       4.  Can This Man Lead Me?

Beyond the numbers of years he has lived on earth, does this man have a sense of purpose, or is he just one of those men who believes whatever will be will be and so they can just fold hands and watch life as it unfolds.

Age has nothing to do with how serious he is with life, it has more to do with individuals than it is with the number they bear.

Can he lead you?

Does he have a sense of purpose and direction?

Ask these questions.

These questions are only to serve as guide as you weigh it in your heart of hearts.

Don’t throw away a good man whom God sent to you only because of his age, but if after deliberations and prayers, you then feel you are still going to say no, by all means do that. No one will live in that home with you.

Continue to pray for another son of the Father, and I believe he’ll have him delivered to you in no distant time.

You can also brood on this scripture 

I am young, and you are old, so I was afraid to tell you what I think. 

I told myself that you ought to speak, that you older men should share your wisdom. 

But it is the spirit of Almighty God that comes to us and gives us wisdom. 

Itt is not growing old that makes us wise or helps us to know what is right.

Job 32:6‭-‬9 GNT

Has this post helped you, have you gone through a similar situation, feel free to share in the comments section.

So Much Light!

Social media can be both a blessing and a curse depending on how you use it, but irrespective of all that, you are still supposed to have a little control over your life no matter how small.

This era is quite a digitalized time and everything seems to be bubbling, but there are times when you just have to take a step back from the seemingly fast-paced world and see if you are still you and can enjoy your space even if there are no likes or followers looking at you.

Many people are of the opinion that SM is fake as people only post their highlighted life on it, while this might not be the total truth, but it is still true to a great extent.

Some months back, a lady on my timeline was posting how she was trying to make her braids all by herself, she showed us the process and the total number of hours it took her in getting the final result ready.

Then she mentioned something I consider profound, she said and I quote loosely that she could have left us out of the process and only one to show us the finished product and the start creating lovely hashtags for the finished product. But that is what a whole lot of people do, they'd leave you out of the whole process and make you feel as though nothing is really working in your life.

You'll agree that we all need a break sometimes from these apps that people only post their highlighted lives on.

Pointers That You Need A Break

1. You are becoming depressed due to the perfect life of your online friends

Yes.

Social media pressure is so real.

It is on the media that you'll see the kind of car your friend is driving and you wouldn't even care to know if that car is a non-policy car from the company he work for.

Yes, companies give non-policy cars to their members of staff, it is a car just given to be able to take the employee around and should be want to leave the job, and if his appointment gets terminated, he'll have to drop the car.

And even if that friend of yours bought the car with his money, what makes you think that you can't also work to be able to afford that.

If you start seeing yourself beginning to compare the life of the random person you see online or even that of a friend, and then you begin to use that as a yardstick to judge your life, and you keep falling short, now might be a good time to go offline till you are in a much better place so that you won't end up committing suicide or worse, thinking that God is not faithful.

2. Important Things In Your Life Are Beginning To Slack

You no longer pray

You can't meet with deadlines at work

Assignments are left undone.

The pile of your unread books keeps increasing.

All because you took a seat to Instagram and spent four solid hours there busy scrolling down different news feed. News feed that you can never exhaust even if you stay there for a week, there will always be something new.

If you discover that there are things you consider important that you no longer have time for because you are on the media for hours without end, now might be a good time to take a break until you are able to come back in control.

How to go on The Break

Uninstall the app

Uninstall it and if you'd want to go to the extreme, you can delete it for the duration of your break.

Fill the time with something worthwhile

Recommendations

~Read books

~Take online courses

~Bond more with your offline friends

~Be happy to be by yourself

~Go to places, have fun, take pictures and just let the pictures be on your phone since you don't have to upload them for the world to see.

Remember you only live life once, so determine to live it to the fullest.

Even if you have a business to run online, you can have two phones, one for personal use, and the other, strictly for your business.

So when you are on break but you still need to run your online business, you pick up your business phone and do business on it.

If you'll still be coming online because of your business, make sure you respect yourself enough to only do business when you're online.

No one will know when you stop attending to customers and quickly log into an app, but you know. So respect yourself enough to take a clean break.

One of the thing about social media break is that it'll help you see if indeed your life is full of there are no likes and comments from followers.

It just put things in the right perspective for you.

December is here, month of reflection, take time and go offline.

If you are very active online, you might post it on your timeline or even decide to go offline without prior notice. Whatever you do, just take the time offline to detox.

Let me tell you this for free, you will come back from the break feeling refreshed.

So much light!

This is one book I think everyone should read.

I wrote in a post some months back about how I read this book as a 100 level undergraduate in the university, and how after that I still went ahead to buy it during my NYSC year, you can read that post here

I had thoroughly read that book, but then recently, this month to be precise, I found my heart been stirred to read this book all over again, this is not because I don’t have other books to read, but I just knew it in my knower that this is one book I should be reading and I am grateful, I didn’t miss this season.

At a point during my reading, I got to a point where I felt that this book is not just for ladies, but even for men too. So if you are a man reading this, you might want to get a copy.

Below are some of the lessons I learnt from the book.

1.       1. Learn To Have A Great Life Going By Yourself

This is the lady part, where you spend enough time by yourself to be able to get to know exactly who you are on the inside.

The author calls it, singing a solo on your own so that when another voice joins, it will only create a lovely harmony.

While it will be great to have a beautiful duet, make sure you have enough going as a lady on your own, because that will even help you realize whom you will need to bring on board.

2.       2. Learn To Handle All Seasons Of Your Life

Life is in seasons.

Just like it is in the natural, there will be spring when everything is getting busy, and then summer when it becomes overly busy with a whole lot of things to do, and then by fall, your responsibilities starts getting reduced and then by winter, you’ll finally sit on your chair and wish you had more to do.

To think that there will be a time as the fall is amazing, but before then, get busy.

3.       3. There is more to being a lady than being female

I found this statement extremely profound.

While every girl child never choose to be a female, but being a lady is by choice and we can choose to be one.

I know there are already 1001 rules that you must abide by if you are a lady, but beyond those rules, be an oasis; someone that provides refuge, relief or a pleasant contrast, be an haven where people can come into and be feel safe. A lot of bad things is going on in today's world already.

Be the different one.

4.       4. Give Equal Attention To All Parts Of Your Life

This is a prerequisite to becoming a balanced and total individual.

Giving attention to all parts of your life means you are not tipping on this side or the other, but all sides are being maintained and are operating maximally.

While this might seem like a lot to do, but then, with the right structures in place, you’ll begin to see that every aspect of your life is moving towards a desired direction.

5.       5. There is An Advantage That Singleness Gives You

The quality of the married lady that you will be is directly proportional to the quality of the single lady that you presently are.

It is a good thing to be married as you now have someone who is committed to be on your team for life, but before you get joined to that significant other, the period in between is a great one.

In the author’s words

‘… But it is the single woman who has time to develop true spirituality. She is not encumbered with the concerns of children or mate…’

Been married is a great thing, but it does come with a level of responsibility of taking care of a husband and children, and while that isn’t bad in itself, but the married lady’s attention is now shared between equally important activities which isn’t so with the single lady.

If you’re single, now isn’t the time to cry that there is no ring on your finger but to use is pursuing your God-given dreams, whatever that is.

This is a time to strengthen your self on several different levels.

This is a time to strengthen your economy, your spirituality and your personality.

Each area needs to be strengthened so that you can clearly discern, when offers comes, whether you are in love or in need.

Singleness is an advantage, use it well.

I believe I have done my best in stirring your heart to read this book if you haven’t.

Have you read the book, what did you gain?

I look forward to reading your comments.

So Much Light!

I was on Facebook recently, and a lady made a post about how she didn’t understand where the weekend flew to, that literally means the weekend went by too fast.

From the interactions on her timeline, I  realized that most people who work Nine-five also have this challenge too.

You’ll agree with me that Thank God It's Monday is not as common as Thank God it's Friday. I doubt if you have never heard Thank God It’s Monday.

While both days are just like any day of the week, one of days is dearly loved and the other is awfully dreaded, like some people begin to have headaches once it is Sunday evening in anticipation of  the week day that comes right after it.

This doesn't have to be you; you can look forward to Monday without any feeling of dread.

So, if you would like to know how to go about this, then keep reading.

1. Limit Your Online Presence During The Weekend

This is a personal rule for me that have helped tremendously in making sure I am well rested and all pumped up before the beginning of another week.

Stay off major social media especially the ones that bombards you with too much news.

I for one stay offline till late in the night on most weekends, the only exception is when I receive a call from work to submit a report and because I have a commitment to my employers, I come online to send my report and then go back offline.

Though I'll admit that it is easier to stay totally offline till a stipulated time than it is to come online and then switch off your data.

So, if your lifestyle permits you, stay offline on most weekends. You'll be able to literally increase the days in your weekend by doing this.

2. Have A List Of Things To-do 

The list is not supposed to limit the fun or the rest you will be having, but it only makes sure that you rest alongside doing other great things that your work schedule might not have allowed you to do during the week.

If you have a job that is very demanding, it is only expected of you to do the things that really matters to you during your weekends.

The list does not necessarily have to be anything fancy or overwhelming, they should just include what you will want to do.

It might include

•         To tidy up my room
•         Spend two hours in intercession
•         Read my book for the month for one hour
•      Spend two hours watching a great movie

This is only a guide; you can modify the list to suite your personality.

One reason you might be dreading Monday might be because you haven’t used your weekend well, if you constantly do the things you really want to do, you might end up eagerly looking forward to Mondays, and even if it doesn’t become your favorite day of the week, you would be able to stop approaching it with a sense of dread.

3. Arrange Your Clothes For The Week During Weekend

Since you are not online and that gives you extra hours to do the things that really matter, also use that spare time to sort out the clothes you’ll be wearing for your week. 

Doing this makes you feel more in control.

There is just this thing about arranging your clothes during the weekend, most likely Sunday, you feel ready to take the week heads on.

4. Do Other Things That Makes You Feel Happy

You definitely can’t control your weekdays to a large extent especially if you are in paid employment, but your weekends are yours to do what makes you truly happy.

You might not be able to play ball after work hours but you definitely can incorporate that into your weekend.

Yours doesn’t have to be playing of ball, you know what makes you happy, try to incorporate them into your weekend.

5. Learn To Be At Peace With your Colleagues/Superiors And Enjoy Your Job

Every job has its high days and low days, there are days when you feel so good and you look forward to staying in the corporate/business world for a long time, and there are other days when you feel so overwhelmed with work-load that you feel like typing your resignation letter almost immediately.

Trust me when I tell you that I have been in the two extremes.

Even when you have superiors that are hard to work with, try to look for a way to be able to have a good relationship with them, because if you don’t, it will make you detest your job and it will make you dread every new week.

Love the things you have to do at work as well as learn to be friendly with the people you work with; both superiors and colleagues.

This will invariably help you look forward to coming back on Monday because you will be coming to a home away from home, and since you spend more of your waking hours at work, it is only wise that you have a cordial relationship with everyone.

While there are certain dynamics that must be put into consideration to the tips mentioned above, like your little children if you are married, school work if you are running a weekend program and so on. 

Whatever it is, you can still work with these principles, modify them to fit your lifestyle, have a great weekend, and resume to work on Monday with so much zest.

Cheers to more Thank God It’s Monday

So Much Light! 

Personal finance is one aspect of life that you need to pay attention to. 

While you might not be able to determine what happens to the money in CBN, but you can definitely control what happens to the money you recieve credit alert for at the end of the month or when you offer a service.

To be able to be an highly successful individual financially, then you have to keep an eye on where your money is going.

During my days in the University, I didn't have any other source of income asides that which came from home, and because there was no other person I could call, no rich uncle somewhere or big sister somewhere, I knew I had to be prudent in my money game if I ever want not to go sleeping around with men for money.

The same principles helped me during my NYSC year, when I got my first job post NYSC as well as when I got a promotion too and my income was increased.

Even if you come from a family where you have people whom you can put a call to and recieve a credit alert, you must not completely rely on them because you can't do that for long before those involved get tired.

Most people are of the school of thought that if there is a raise in their income or if they recieve a gift, then they'll be able to save more.

But often times, contrary is the case.

Wants will always increase with an increase in money at hand, and except if you are a person who is extremely discipline, the increase in salary won't make you save more.

If you earn fifty thousand a month and can't save five thousand, the same reason why you can't save at least 10% of that money is the same reason why you won't be able to save five hundred thousand out of five million.

Money will never at any point be enough, and spending all when your paycheque comes is one sure way to poverty.

You do not need to earn more to save more.

Save from the seemingly little that you have in hand.

Don't wait for the time when you will have in excess as habits doesn't just change just at the snap of your fingers. Remember that old habits die hard.

It takes a whole lot of discipline.

So if your excuse for not putting aside money for the future is because it is not enough, then you need to start changing that mindset because it will never be enough except you save some and then multiply it as you go through life.

One reason why most think that their salary isn't so much to save from is because they're spending money on frivolities. By frivolities I mean things that are not very necessary.

I understand that you are the one working for the money and so you deserve to enjoy from the labor of your hands, while that is good, just make sure you aren't eating with all your ten fingers, and that you are not eating your tomorrow today.

Splurge a little, but keep your eyes on the goal.

See it this way, if you eat it all today, what will be there to eat tomorrow?

One truth that should guide you is that life is in phases, Life is all about seasons, and no matter how good or terrible a season is, it has only come and it will go.

The thing you can do to make sure that when that season goes, you do not have regrets is by making sure you have the needed wisdom to manage the available resources now.

Save with friends you can trust, put money together to invest too.

It is great when we are all moving forward together.

You don't need to earn a extra Naira to be able to save, just cut down on some non-essentials and you'll be amazed at the amount you will be able to put away into something profitable.

You might need to come with food from home instead of eating out at work.

You might need to cut down on your data consumption.

You know what your non-essentials are, do the right thing by cutting down on them, and thereby giving you more money to save.

Design a structure that works for you, but no matter what happens, make sure an amount goes from your income into your future.

As you go along in life, you'll also increase in value and as such, money will also flow towards you, when this happens, don't only increase your standard of living, also increase your savings/investment rate too.

I sincerely desire that you PROSPER and be in good health, even as your soul prospereth.

This is the will of the Lord for you, and you are not permitted to live any less that what he wants for you!

So much Light!

One of the thing that makes relationship great is the fact that both the man and woman are from different backgrounds and so have different perspective to things, while this might make the relationship more fun as there are two people who totally have different ideologies to things, but this fact can also be the bedrock of disagreement.

Talking about looking great at all times, some individuals have gained so much mastery over their appearance and have found what was works for them, but others haven’t gained so much mastery. 

Jude had grown up seeing ladies wear good looking clothes, his mom and three sisters are always looking all put together at all times, Lola on the other hand grew up among two brothers and had some point started dressing like a tomboy to be able to blend with her brothers.

Jude went to the bank to settle some major debits the bank had been making on his account, while he was at the bank, he meets Lola who is one of the account officers in the bank. He collects her number to be able to reach her as regards his account, but he had hidden agendas, one thing led to another and after some months they get engaged.

Few months into the relationship Jude can’t seem to believe that he is engaged to a lady who doesn't even know the size of her gown.

***

The issue of dressing might seem very minor but it can definitely become something major especially when two lovers aren’t on the same page concerning it.

As you read on, bear in mind that anybody can change, even the worse dress-sensed person can become a great dresser just with a little push in the right direction.

What should you do if you want to help a partner who is a poor dresser? Here are five suggestions:

1. Communicate

Talk with your partner

Have a heart-to-heart communication that centers around your love for them but how (s)he isn't dressing well as you would appreciate.

Watch your tone and make sure you are not being judgmental so that the other person doesn't see it as though you aren't proud of them.

I was once in this shoe of being judgmental (I’ll share it one day in the nearest future).

2. Send Pictures 

Do you see pictures of clothes that will look good on your partner?

Then send it to them.

After you have talked it out, (s)he might sincerely want to get started but doesn't even know where to start, so send recommendations to them.

They might not end up buying that particular piece of clothing, but it will get their creative side in motion.

3. Buy What You Want

Is your lady wearing skirts that make her look 47 at 27, then you might want to take the bull by the horn and just buy what you know will look good on them.

New skirts.

New gowns.

New trousers if she wears them

New shirt for the man (this kind be a little tricky especially when buying shirt for a tall man)

New tie

Get a male or female friend to recommend a fashion designer that knows his/her onions and ditch your partner's tailor. The reason your partner’s tailor-made clothes haven’t been coming out right might be because of the person who sews the clothes

I'll suggest you stay away from buying underwear especially if you are not married. 

4. Send Money For A Wardrobe Overhaul

The reason why the lady might not be looking as put together as you want might be due to the fact that she is on a very tight budget.

He might be trying to pay off car loan at work, or saving money for another degree and can't seem to part with a naira to spend on clothes.

This is where your help comes in.

Sending of money should go both ways, as the man can send to the lady, and lady can send money to the man as well.

Be sure you are in a committed and defined relationship so that you don't have regrets of the money you spent except of course you love charity.

Dressing is an important part of life, and we all have to consistently up our game in this aspect.

Are there other ways to help our partner’s dress better that has not been addressed in the post, do share your thoughts with us.

So much light ***

So, we started this series on the last post, if you missed it, you can read it Here

I apologize for not putting up a post here last week Thursday, there was a lot going on in my home country Nigeria, and I just had to stay offline for about four days, I know I could have scheduled the post to drop, but the whole situation was just so overwhelming that my going offline was sudden, I really do apologize. 

Hope I am forgiven? Thanks for saying yes.

So, back to today’s post.

Like we established in the last post about how important making plans alongside what we believe that the Father is drawing our hearts towards, and how our making plans or putting structures in place does not in any way mean that we aren’t dependent on God for the success of our lives.

Trusting God is essential, praying is also very important.

A wise man once said, praying without planning is like playing and not knowing.

It is like someone wanting to harvest rice after the four months planting period but then doesn’t want to plant. The man can pray all he wants for the four months planting and watering period, but if he doesn’t do anything about planting, he won’t harvest rice at the end of the four-months period.

1 Corinthians 3:6

I {Paul} planted the seed, Apollos watered the plant, but it was God who made the plant grow.

It will be sheer folly to keep crying out to God to bring increase or make grow a seed that Paul hasn’t planted and Apollos hasn’t watered.

A lot of things in life requires our input.

When making plans and setting goals, do well to make plans on what you can control so that you won’t end up becoming frustrated when things don’t go the way you want.

There are things that are totally in the hands of God to do for us, but there are a lot of things which are also in your hands to do.

If you are about to get started, go to a solitary place, if your room can accomplish that for you, that’s fine, if you need to go out of your home to get the serene environment that you desire, that’s fine too.

Take a look into your life, sit down with a journal and biro and then begin to write where you are at the moment in different aspects of your life; your spiritual life, your social life, your financial life, your career life, and as many aspects of life that are peculiar to you.

What courses are you supposed to start taking on your career path?

How many hours will you start devoting to pray and study the word in order for you to deepen your relationship with God?

Create out time to be on your own.

Have time to mediate. After the order of Isaac who was said to be meditating in the cool of the evening {Gen 24;63}

Create out time for personal retreats, it might be in your room or somewhere else, but just have time to be alone, reflect and just make plans.

Start accepting responsibility, stop shifting blames. 

In all your great plans, do well to have your ears tuned into what God is saying, you might have planned to stay on a job for five years to be able to have at least Ten Million Naira in investments before leaving, and you are sticking to the plan. But all of a sudden, you begin to sense in your spirit, or what I’ll call you begin to know in your knower that it is time to move even when you haven’t even stayed on the job for three years.

If you do decide to leave as instructed, you’ll definitely see that it will make sense even if it doesn’t go with how you have your life figured out.

Related: 5 Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Quit Your Job

Trust that from now going forward, you’ll begin to accept responsibility and start doing grand things and awe-inspiring as the Lord helps.

Remember, in all the plans you make, continually pray that God’s will be established and that you do not plan your life outside God’s will for your life, because His ways and plans are so great and much better than anything we might have on our drawing board.

So much Light ***

Hmmmmmm

I used to battle with this too.

I mean why should I plan my finances when I can trust God, confess positive and have the very amount I need delivered right into my account.

Some of us, having enjoyed supernatural supply at a point of need totally forget that while God causes miracles to happen but we are not to live life everyday waiting for one spectacular thing that will happen. 

It is continuous reliance on the supernatural at all times that has led some people to false prophets who guarantee them all they want even when they are not going to do anything themselves.

Yes, we expect to live a life of continuous favor, but that doesn't stop us from taking responsibility for our lives.

Mr John's wife is pregnant and he got informed when she was four weeks gone, he has another thirty-eight weeks to prepare for the birth of his child, he has a job that pays monthly income, but rather than putting a stipend aside that will accumulate over the period of eight months, he doesn't do anything about it, and when his wife suddenly calls that she has been rushed to the clinic and it seems the baby is about to come, that is when he goes into overdrive.

I am quite aware that there are times when life doesn't go as planned, but that shouldn't mean we should put structures in our lives or make plans. 

I wrote a post about when life doesn't go as planned, you can read it here.

What It Means To Take Responsibility For Your Life

- It means you have recognized that there are things God can do and there are things you must do too.

Salvation is free, it has been paid with Jesus' blood, but to access it, we need to confess Jesus as Lord and accept God's offer of salvation.

That is how it is with every aspect of your life too.

There are things God will do, and there are others you must do too.

Your walk with the Lord won't become consistent if you just leave it to chance

Your relationship with your significant other or friends won't get deepened if you don't give it the time it needs.

Your financial life won't receive a positive change if you won't look at your statement of account at the end of the month to see where your money is going into.

You have a responsibility too.

That you have plans is not same as not trusting God, your action on the other hand only shows that you believe what the Lord has said so much that you are comitted to seeing it materialize.

The Lord tells you that you are building a home for the orphans in your state, while you have faith that that word spoken from the mouth of the Lord will be done, but you also go and consult a real estate agent to know what it will cost and the best place for the orphanage home.

Is your meeting an agent a pointer that you don't trust God?

Of course not.

You have only proved that you believe what the Lord has said and you are committed to seeing it see the light of the day.

Most times, we take trusting God as something that would totally take all the things we are supposed to do and placing it all on God.

Our God is all powerful, he can do things without us, but He has chosen to do it With us, trust that he'll surpass our grandest plans.

Amen.

My thoughts were all over the place, trust you were blessed.

So much Light.

As much as we are on the planet, there will always be a lot on our desks and a lot craving for our attentions.

For Loveth, it might be balancing school work, fellowship activities, a business she is doing by the side and a demanding project supervisor.

For Sola, it might balancing life as a career woman, a mom, a chorister in church as well as a lady who convenes bible study for women every month in her home.

Paul has the responsibility of being a father, a boss at work and also a pastor in church.

There are so many times when there is just a lot to do with seemingly little or no time to get it done, and then we all start craving a particular thing; BALANCE. 

How do we do ALL the things we have to do and do them well is the question on every lips.

I’d share a thought that a woman I respect so much shared in a particular program I attended over a year ago.

She said, ‘To achieve balance, you must know what balls God would have you juggle at different times in life, if you can discern that successfully, then you would look like some one who has her life figured out.’

Yes, we admit that there are different things calling for your attention at every point in time, but one major mistake we often make is thinking that we have to do everything at the moment. It is almost impossible to get everything done at every point in time.

 Let’s look at ways in which you can get things done and then you can sleep ever night knowing in your very core that you are doing what you are meant to do at every point in time!

Prioritize

To prioritize or draw up the things you want to do, you must know how important the balls you want to juggle is, and to do that, let me take you through the Covey's Time Management Matrix.

Not everything is important at every time.

Some things are important and not urgent

Some things are important and urgent

Some things are not important but urgent

Some things are not important and not urgent

Oftentimes, while you think that you have to do everything at the moment; it is most likely that those things are not as important as you really think they are only if you can stop to peruse at it for a moment.

So when next you think there is a lot to be done, subject those things through this test.

Learn To Say No

After prioritizing and knowing what is important, learn when to say no.

When people hear say no, we are always quick to think that we are to say no to others, but often times, it is first saying no to those things our body craves for, and then saying yes to those which really matters to us.

Learn to say no to another extra hour of aimlessly surfing the net.

Learn to say no to that chit-chat that is adding nothing positive to your life.

Learn to say no to another extra hour of sleep especially when you have slept enough over night.

In other words, be disciplined!       

There is too much at stake if you aren't disciplined.       

Ask For Help

No award is given to someone in the grave, and to be able to stay on earth well enough to bless the world with everything God has deposited on your inside, then learn to delegate.

It wouldn’t be great that you rob the world of your gifts and talents because you have spread yourself thin across all boards.

Learn to ask for help when you need it.

There are also great people doing great things who are willing to help you only if you are ready to ask for their help.

People who live a whole life are people who have been able to leverage on the gift of people to be able to get things done.

If there are aspects of your life that you feel you are not doing so well in, then seek help in those aspects.

Look At The Bigger Picture

One of the ways you can make sure you never settle for less is to look at the option you’ll get if you decide not to have a thoroughly full and fulfilled  life.

Look at those around you at the moment, look at people living the kind of life you envision in your future and look at those people who are chief complainers; the opposite of what you want to become in your adult life.

Then choose which reality you would want to become in your life.

Then let the thought of that reality influence your every day life.

 Trust that we are strengthened by the Lord who gave the assignment.

Amen

#Beam