As Ara was dropping the call, someone knocked on Ara's door and entered.
'Good afternoon Oluwashindara'
'A lovely afternoon to you Eyimofe' Ara said smiling.
'And to what do I owe this wonderful visit? Ara asked as she made a signal for him to have his seat.
'I came to see a client around here and I decided to stop by' Mofe replied.
'So how are you doing? Mofe asked.
'I'm doing great as usual' Ara said while hoping he didn't get to listen to the phone call she had with her brother.
'You said you were not going be in Lagos last weekend, where did you go to?
'I went to a place in Sango for a time alone out of the regular hustle bustles of lagos' Mofe answered.
'Is that where your parent's live or you stayed with a friend?
'Hmmmmmm... let's just say I was there alone for the weekend' Mofe said not wanting to say he was in the house he built in Sango, if for anything he wanted his friends to like him for who he is and not what he has.
'Forgive my manners, let me get you water' Ara said as she stood up to give him water from the cway dispenser in her office.
It's a pity I will be closing early today that you came visiting'
'That's no problem at all, I will gladly take my friend home' Mofe said
'Be careful what you say, you may take me home and get stuck in the usual Lagos traffic' Ara said as she tidied her desk.
'Anything for a friend' Mofe said and smiled.
Few minutes after that they were on their way home as a song by Nathaniel Bassey was playing from the car stero.
Ara's phone rang, she checked the caller and discovered that it was her friend Bimpe.
'Hello Hello o, how are you doing over there' Bimpe said into Ara's ears
Mofe reduced the volume of the song.
'Fine Fine, I'm doing great here'
'I was missing your voice and that's the rseason why I called' Bimpe said
'Missing my voice? I must have won a lottery o' Ara said and they both laughed.
Bimpe and Ara continued talking when Bimpe suddenly remembers the issue about Ara's boss and decides to ask
'And how is your boss, hope he has changed?
'God has really taken control of that, he no longer disturbs me. He even went as far as apologizing to me for the difficult times he put me through' Ara said and caught Mofe stealing glances at her.
'Thank God for that, I'm confident that God's plan for you is not for you to marry a married man jare' Bimpe replied and they both laughed again.
They talked some more during which Bimpe told her she would coming home for the new year. Ara received the news with so much excitement that she was still smiling after ending the call.
'Must be a dear friend' Mofe said in a way to intiate conversation.
'She sure is. she is a dear friend who is currently outside the country on a study leave and should be back in time for the new year celebration.
Mofe was thinking of how best to ask about the 'he' Ara mentioned while speaking with her friend.
'And who was the 'he' you mentioned while talking to your friend? He might as well get it out.
'Oh that! We were talking about my boss, he was interested in me few months back, but all that is in the past now' Ara said.
Mofe couldn't explain the relief he felt at what he just heard, but he quickly switched to another topic before she could notice the effect of her words on him.
'Hope you have started writing your goals for the coming year? Mofe asked.
'I am not someone who writes o, I just flow with life' Ara said gesticulating with her hands
'I think that is not too good. how then do you measure your growth, how do you say if indeed you are improving when you don't keep a journal. I am not aalways very organized too, but I set realistic goals for my life.
He coughed and continued
'You can begin by setting goals in some main areas of your life like spiritual goals, financial goals, social goals and mental developmental goals. By doing that, you will be able to measure your growth' Mofe said.
'So how do I go about setting all this goal? Ara asked
'Okay. Your journal may look like this
Under Spiritual Goals
Your spiritual Yearly Goals could have:
To develop a more concrete relationship with God.
To read the Bible through this year.
To intercede more for people.
Then to further break it down, your monthly spiritual goals could look like this:
To have a consistent daily devotion which will help you achieve your yearly goal about developing a more concrete relationship with God.
To study the book of Genesis which will help you achieve the goal of reading the Bible through in a year.
To spend a minimum of 30 minutes in prayer which will help you achieve the yearly goal of interceding more for others.
Then your daily to-do listcould look like this. I believe you know what daily to-do list looks like? Mofe asked Ara
'Yes, although I don't stick to it' Ara replied.
'Okay no problem'
He continued
To have your daily devotion which will help you achieve the monthly goal of having consistent daily devotion.
To study two chapters of Genesis which will help you achieve the monthly goal of studying the book of Genesis.
To do a 30-minute prayer walk which will help you achieve the monthly goal of investing 30 minutes in the place of prayer.
To become mentally developed, your goals could follow this trend:
Your mental yearly goals could look like this:
To have a personal library of not less than 12 books by the end of the year.
To make friends with people who challenge me mentally.
To create or belong to a book club.
Then your monthly mental goals could look like this:
To buy a book by joyce Meyer this month which will help you achieve your yearly goal of to have a personal library of not less than 12 books by the end of the year.
To make friends with Derin (you can put the name of an individual who challenges you mentally) which will help you achieve your yearly goal of making friends with people who challenge me mentally.
To join an online book club which will keep me more committed to my mental development and which will help fulfil the yearly goal of joining a book club.
Then your daily to-do list could look like this:
To read two chapters of Joyce Meyer book.
To chat up Derin.
To post lessons learnt from my book in the book club
Social Goals
I have to begin to call people
I have to create out time to chat with my friends ( Even, when you can't call, once you have subscribed for a month, this should be very easy to do. Make a daily list of people within your circle that you have to chat with).
I have to make friends with people who are also serious with their lives.
I have to minimize the time I spend on social media.
In a means to limit the time I spend on social media, I as a person put it into my to-do list.
So, in my daily to-do list, you could see something like 'don't go online until 8pm'.
There are times when by the end of the day, month or year when we would have surpassed your goals, but that shouldn't keep us away from making them.
'Your goals does not have to follow this trend, this is just a guide' Mofe said conclusively while taking a mock bow behind the wheels.
'I never saw it in this light, I will definetely do something about it. Thank you Prof' Ara said as she clapped for him.
About 10 minutes later, she alighted at the T-junction leading to her house while Mofe reversed to start his journey to his office space while thanking God he was a boss of himself and didn't have to report to anyone.
He made a mental note to make up for the two-hour break he had spent with Ara by working two hours overtime in the office.
Next Episode comes up on Saturday
