Changing your financial life through a changed environment

(Biz tool Kits)
BY BRIDGET OLOTU
TO change your life, you need to change your environment. Most of us know that if we want to lose weight, we have a better chance of success by going to a gym rather than to a restaurant. If we want to study, we choose a library rather than a noisy environment. If we want to relax, we leave work and go to the beach or visit a tourist centre. So if you want to be rich, you need to find an environment that is conducive to becoming richer; one that strengthens all three brains.
The power of environments: In changing your financial life, there is no way that is the only path to achieving your objectives. Some have reached their financial goals working as employees; some others have done same through self-employment, while a few others reached their targets through business ownership and investment. Even some others have had to juggle two or more of these routes to reach their targets. So, this is up to you. Be true to yourself. Whatever route you choose, you need to mind your environment. Find your own environment and your way to financial success because environment is the greatest teacher of all.

FOR you to develop your financial genius and change your financial life, you need to find the environment that supports the development of your genius.
For example, Tiger Woods’ environment is the golf course. He may not do well on a football field. Kanu Nwankwo and Austin Jay Jay Okocha only thrive on a football field. Unlike Michael Phelps, they might fail woefully in water sports such as swimming. Bill Gates probably wouldn’t have done better in any other field other than software development.
Chief Gani Fawehinmi of blessed memory would certainly beat most legal heavyweights in the courtroom but may never have known how to balance his accounts.
Alhaji Aliko Dangote is a clear example of a consummate entrepreneur. It was his trading and business acumen that brought him to limelight and has given him the tremendous wealth and fame he commands today.
Otunba Gadaffi, the CEO of Mobile Toilet business picked a common but important social need and turned it into a megabucks business. Some years ago, the business was worth over half a billion naira.
Dele Momodu of Ovation magazine may never have struck gold doing any other thing than journalism. His magazine has become a must read for the socialites and fashionistas; while many foreigners see the magazine as a window into Africa and Nigeria lifestyle. Professor Wole Soyinka, that literary colossus and very successful dramatist, mightn’t have gone too far if he sits and chairs meetings in management boardrooms.

BY showing you these examples, I am saying that there is no one environment that guarantees financial success. It is up to you to decide or discover which environment you are most suited for and that can support your development and transformation.
One of the reasons many people do not develop their genius is simply because they are lazy. Many just go to work to collect a pay check. It is easier for them to be average than to work hard at developing their genius.
My questions to you are, “What do you think your genius is and what environment is best for you to develop it? Do you have the courage to change environments?” Imagine your future … if you did.
If you are dedicated and have drive, you can find your genius and locate the right environment to grow your genius.
The right environment can be as simple as going to a library and reading a book by a person you want to be like, or by looking at magazines with pictures that capture the vision in your heart. It could be listening to a speaker that can help you discover yourself.
Success requires some degree of mental and physical toughness. If you can train your left brain to understand the subject, engage your right brain to come up with creative solutions, keep your subconscious brain excited rather than fearful, and then take action, while being willing to make mistakes and learn, you can create magic! You can develop your genius.

Olotu is the CEO/Lead Consultant, DEAIM Innovative Resources Ltd., bridgetolotu@gmail.com






How to really become happy
(LIFE COACH)
BY AGBOLADE OMOWOLE
THE ultimate goal of life is happiness and fulfillment. Take for instance, the average young person goes to the college or university and studies hard to graduate with flying colours.
Being a graduate with good grades makes him relevant in the job market. He probably wants to get a good job so he could make ends meet, and the reason he needs to do all that is to be comfortable and happy.
What is happiness? “It is a feeling of inner peace and satisfaction. It is usually experienced when there are no worries, fears, or obsessing thoughts, and this happens when we do something we love to do or when we get, win, gain or achieve something that we value,” says a human capital development expert.
Discover your true life purpose. The basics of living a happy life are determining what you love doing, and what you are good at. What are those things that you do almost effortlessly? What are those things that bring you fulfillment and a sense of inner peace? When you do what you love, you become happy.
Happiness is a mindset. Being happy is a thing of the mind. If you want to live a happy life, think positively. Think about the progress of others. If however, you want to live a miserable life, think negatively.
Happiness is determined by your interpretation of events. There are two sides to everything that happens to you in life. There is a bright side and a dark side to every event. You can become better from bitter life experiences. You can learn good lessons from bad experiences.
You are in charge of your emotions. Often, one can think that happiness is the outcome of positive events. In reality, happiness actually comes from the inside, triggered by outer events. That said, regardless of what happens to you, you can decide to be happy.
Choose to be happy. What are the things that make you happy? Do more of the things that make you happy, and less of the things that make you sad on a daily basis. If you let outer events influence your moods, attitude or behaviour, you become a victim of circumstances. You lose your freedom.
Appreciate what you have. Appreciation leads to happiness. Appreciate your life the way it is now, and then seek to improve it. Appreciate your friends, and your family members. Appreciate every act of kindness.
You have all you need. It is easy for you to think that you lack one or two things. The truth is that no one has it all. What you have is enough to take you to where you want to be. Don’t be conditioned by the society to feel that you need to have what the lady next door has. You should not compare yourself with others.
Enjoy life. Time ‘flies.’ Don’t be too busy with your life that you ignore enjoying yourself. Don’t let your life zoom off, enjoy it. Forget about the past and the future for a moment, and enjoy being here. Happiness should not only be experienced at the destination, but along the way to the destination.
Money is not equal to happiness. Money is an amplifier. It makes you become more of who you are already. If you have clear-cut goals, more money can make you achieve your goals faster. If you are confused, more money may increase your confusion.
Take charge of your finance. Money is important because of its purchasing power. Don’t spend on impulse. Spend from your budget. Learn to spend less than you earn because expenses will always rise to meet income.
Live on purpose with passion. What brings me the most joy is helping people to live the life of their dreams through my articles, life coaching and speaking engagement.
As you celebrate in this Yuletide season, don’t let your happiness end there. You can be happy for the rest of your life.