Do You [REALLY] Need To BREAK THE BANK

Do You [REALLY] Need To BREAK THE BANK?

Do You [REALLY] Need To BREAK THE BANK?  That was my pointed question to my daughter few days back when she wanted to buy an add-on accessory and then she suggested she will dip into her PIGGY BANK.  I had to stamp my foot down and said NO because I thought she NOT Need To BREAK THE BANK because I didn't see at least even one valid reason to justify it.  It was neither an emergency nor a case in point where she was in 'dire financial straits'.  And lastly, although what she wanted to buy was a MUST-HAVE, that can wait once she's got the budget

Well well well, seriously, we should NOT stop going out and enjoying life because by then, life might be boring but we need to realize figuring out a strategy of NOT BREAKING THE BANK.  First off, a great way to NOT spending more than you want is to set a specified amount to spend each day or night you go out.  HOW do you know if you are breaching the threshold of overspending if you DON'T set a limit❓❓❓

Frankly, make sure your limit is LESS THAN what you have in your bank account for obvious reasons.  You CAN'T spend more than you have, and you certainly want money left over after the day or night is done.  Once you have established your BUDGET for that day or night, you need to STICK to it.  What's the point of making a limitation if you yourself WON'T follow through❌❌❌

The age-old RULE-of-THUMB is to pay in CASH [unless you're into a major procurement that will require bundled tons of $$$$$$.  Otherwise, the CASH you bring is the only CASH you'll have [UNLESS you'll run to the ATM BUT HEY DON'T DO THAT].  Fact is, once you run out of CASH, you CAN'T buy anything else.  BUT here's I am guilty of this because when I run out of CASH, I end up swiping my credit card.  So WHAT's the FIX?  Leave that credit card at home otherwise, trust me, you will likely succumb to swiping that plastic

Now, the WILD CARD is NOT the credit card BUT the debit card because the latter reinforces your confidence that you got MONEY IN THE BANK.  So what's our FIX?  You can transfer your debit card's balance in your savings account [UNLESS your savings account is linked to your ATM debit card !@#$%?  Otherwise, HAVE FUN, you can go out and have a great time WITHOUT BREAKING THE BANK❗❗❗

Tell-tale Signs of UNHAPPY PEOPLE

Tell-tale Signs of UNHAPPY PEOPLE

Anyone who can defined HAPPINESS?  So sorry folks, HAPPINESS comes in different forms and shapes that it can hardly be commonly defined across.  We know it WHEN we see it and we definitely know when it's taken ahold of us.  Nevertheless, there are Tell-tale Signs of UNHAPPY PEOPLE that should give us a cue of things💎💎💎

Let's face it, UNHAPPINESS is lethal to everyone around us, just like second-hand smoke.  The spreading fear here is that even if you  DON'T consider yourself to be UNHAPPY BUT being around with UNHAPPY people is linked to poorer health and a worse, a shorted life span.  Just one of the Tell-tale Signs of UNHAPPY PEOPLE📌📌📌

Truth is, UNHAPPINESS has much less to do with life circumstances than we might think.  If we think that the likes of Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg are twenty or a hundred times happier than the typical John Doe?  NO sirrrrs, studies show that they are only a smidge happier than the average Joes and Janes who work for them.  So, what are Tell-tale Signs of UNHAPPY PEOPLE📘📙📗

Again, life circumstances have little to do with HAPPINESS because much HAPPINESS is under our CONTROL, the very product of our habits and our outlook in life.  Even psychologists who study HAPPINESS found that genetics and life circumstances only account for about 50% of a person's HAPPINESS.   The rest is up to YOU💎💎💎

When we are UNHAPPY, it becomes much more difficult to be around them , let alone work with them.  UNHAPPINESS drives people away, creating a vicious cycle that holds us back from achieving everything that we're capable of.  UNHAPPINESS can catch us by surprise though.  So much of our HAPPINESS is determined by our HABITS [both in thought and in deed] that we have to monitor them closely to make certain that they DON'T drag us down into the abyss✅✅✅

What's Your PLAYBOOK?

What's Your PLAYBOOK?

What's Your PLAYBOOK [in life]?  OR, do you have one right now?  Otherwise, we really encourage you to craft one.  WHY?  Can you imagine if you're the pilot whose aircraft is about to takeoff and YET you DON'T have a FLIGHT PLAN?  Or if you're Football Coach Jose Mourinho or NBA Coach Gregg Popovich yet you DON'T have a GAME PLAN ahead of the game at hand❓❓❓

In life, our PLAYBOOK is the very BIBLE that will guide us in all our decision-making.  WHAT to do and WHEN, WHO goes WHERE, HOW to handle this or that scenario?  In brief, our PLAYBOOK in life is a thorough plan of action to achieve our goals, visions and success targets.  WHAT IF you DON'T have one?  It's GAME OVER EVEN BEFORE THE GAME STARTS💎💎💎

As a PRIMER, how do we craft one?  Oh Oh this takes a little dreaming, a little faith in the process of visualizing something beyond your current state.  If in case we're having trouble seeing WHAT we want in our life to look like, let us try the REVERSE approach wherein we ask ourselves, WHAT DON'T WE WANT IN OUR LIFE TO LOOK LIKE❓❓❓

IF we can PUT A THUMB on WHAT we DON'T like about our life, it will often help clear a little bit of the muck off that windshield of our life, and see things a little more clearly.  So WHAT'S next?  Spend a little time on WHAT we WANT life to look like, as that becomes the very END GAME of your PLAYBOOK [like it or not]✅✅✅

Let's start with the basics,  Plot your vision of things the first to third years.  Once you have that vision, then try WALKING BACK and create a set of benchmarks for each year,  WHAT do you want life to look like at the end of Year-2 and what do you want it to look like at the end of Year so that you're essentially progressing towards your 'FINISHED PRODUCT' by the end of Year-3.  Once you're done with this first BUILDING BLOCK, progressively move to visualize on the upcoming years after Year-3.  Where possible, please tag your PLAYBOOK WITH URGENCY ✅✅✅

Happier When We Embrace Our Difficulties

Happier When We Embrace Our Difficulties

It's just normal for us to avoid SUFFERINGS and DIFFICULTIES.  WHO wants it anyway?  BUT studies show that embracing DIFFICULTIES helps.  Oh, if we have a commonality, I guess most of us are sick of the news.  Politics.  War.  Protests.  Tragedies.  Ok Ok, I get it.  Life is difficult but what's unfathomable is WHY people seem to embrace VIOLENCE, BAD NEWS and events beyond their control AS IF they are the secret to their happiness.  BUT hey, we can be Happier When We Embrace Our Difficulties📗📙📘

The famous American Essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson, was quoted: "CAN ANYBODY REMEMBER WHEN THE TIMES WERE NOT HARD MONEY NOT SCARCE?  Since hardship and difficulties have always existed, how can we use them to make us HAPPY?  Is it possible that by embracing difficulty, we can find happiness❓❓❓

For alignment, can we agree that HAPPINESS is NOT the absence of problems but instead it is our ability to deal with them?  In fact, let us agree farther that more GOOD things happen to people than BAD BUT our problem is we have a NEGATIVE BIAS that makes us focus on the BAD.  For instance, when someone looks at us funny, we go on a tailspin.  Or another driver changes lanes a little close to us, we CAN'T wait to reach office and tell our colleagues someone 'CUT US OFF'💎💎💎

In most cases though, people really DON'T look at us funny.  BUT it is our perspective that sometimes distorts things to favor our bias but effectively, it ends up unfavorable to us.  And sometimes, people end up making risky decisions NOT because they want to hurt someone BUT because that's what people sometimes do.  Indeed, we have that pattern of making risky decisions❌❌❌

Our takeaway here is that while most of us probably expect a HAPPY life to be devoid of SUFFERING and full of constant joy, NO one has a life FREE of sorrow or pain and thus we should NOT insist our circumstances to change, that we will land a 'PERFECT' job.  Achieving unwavering HAPPINESS is an illusion BUT we can be HAPPIER when we EMBRACE our difficulties❗❗❗

DON'T Be Unvulnerable To Mistakes

DON'T Be Unvulnerable To Mistakes

How often do we get into that ordeal of an awful moment of clarity when we realize that we've screwed up?  WHAT happens next?  Our hearts and mind race, our paths sweat and our mouths dry up.  We consider our options and what to do next.  Hope NO one notices it?  Hide until it it blows over?  Pretend it NEVER happened?  Heyyy, DON'T Be Unvulnerable To Mistakes📙📗📘

BUT again, hope is NOT a strategy and taking timely action trumps passivity or avoidance.  And WHAT's the best thing we can do when we make a mistake is to be accountable and own it immediately.  For one, that averts a possible misunderstanding.  The benefit of immediate accountability is that we can clear and open communication about WHAT went wrong and WHY.  And hearing it directly helps diffuse possible rumors that could arise💴💵💷

Fortunately, by doing so, it will demonstrate our VULNERABILITY as a STRENGTH.  As it takes courage to admit when we've screwed up and face possible judgment and ridicule. it just makes sense that we "EMBRACE THE SUCK" that is VULNERABILITY and admit when we've made a mistake.  Insecure people will try to minimize their exposure by COVERING UP their mistakes.  We CAN'T be like them❌❌❌

From a first person basis, by acknowledging our mistakes, we'll learn from them instead of repeating them.  Studies show that by practicing this, very likely we will NO longer worry about being WRONG and instead, delight in being mistaken.  Just go to remember that we're doomed to repeat a mistake and CAN'T learn from it unless we acknowledge it✅✅✅

In a humble manner, this will send signals to others that we're just HUMAN [as they can be too].  But let us be mindful that NOT all are willing to admit to it for FEAR of looking incompetent.  Those WHO own up to their shortcomings signal that theirs is a CULTURE in which it's okay to be IMPERFECTLY HUMAN.  And when we model that behavior, we can likely create a more open CULTURE that embraces us NOT to be UNVULNERABLE TO MISTAKES🔖🔖🔖

What Goes Around Comes Around [Rated X]

What Goes Around Comes Around [Rated X]

Reposting this from Quora.com courtesy of the posting by Rebecca as Rated X [because this story is NOT suited for minors]: A housewife takes a lover during the day while her husband is at work.  NOT aware that her 9 yr old son was hiding in the closet, her husband came home unexpectedly so she hid her lover in the closet. The boy NOW has company.  BOY:  Dark in here.  MAN:  Yes it is.  BOY:  I have a baseball.  MAN:  That's nice.  BOY:  Want to buy it?  MAN:  No, thanks.  BOY:  My dad's outside.  MAN:  Ok, how much.  boy: $ 250.  Few weeks after, it happens again the boy and her mom's lover are in the closet together again.  BOY:  Dark in here.  MAN:  Yes it is.  BOY:  I have a baseball glove.  MAN:  That's nice.  BOY:  Want to buy it?  MAN: No thanks.  BOY:  I'll tell.  MAN:  How much?  BOY:  $750.  MAN:  Fine.  Few days later, the boy's dad says:  Grab your glove.  Let's go out, play baseball.  The boy says:  I can't.  I sold them.  FATHER asked:  How much?  BOY:  $1,000.  FATHER says:  That's terrible to over-charge your friends like that.  I'm going to take you to church and confess to the priest.  They go to the church and the father alerts the priest and makes the little boy sit in the confessional booth and closes the door.  BOY says:  Dark in here.  PRIEST says:  Don't start that sh*t again !@#$%&?

Fact is, there are laws that govern our universe, like Newton's LAW of GRAVITY which says:  WHAT GOES UP COMES DOWN.  The Law of Thermodynamics says that all things break down.  And there's the Law of SOWING and REAPING.  But for this Law of SOWING and REAPING, it is both positive and negative in a sense.  As we swing back to our life, this hits the nail on the stone because it can't be more relevant📗📙📘

As we look back, we'll find some who who pursued FUN while you pursued FAITH.  Some pursued PARTIES while maybe you pursued PRAYERS.  And while others REAP corruption or deadness, you're REAPING life.  That principle of KARMA also kicks in here as it means AS YOU SOW, YOU SHALL REAP.  Say one person did wrong to another.  The general habit is that the other person chooses to react by paying back in the same coin.  This is where the phrase "WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND" comes handy❗❗❗

Indeed this comes handy as it encourages POSITIVITY within us, saying 'IF KINDNESS AND POLITENESS IS WHAT YOU WANT TO COME TO YOU, LET THE SAME GO FROM YOU".  Sometimes we are wronged and as humans, some of us are tempted to do the wrong thing as well❌❌❌

GIVE WHAT YOU WANT TO RECEIVE.  If we yell 'you are a thief', what happens next is we will hear the word's echo.  What does this tell us is that the world is our own projection.  Everything you encounter is your own design.  KARMA is like the fruit of a mango tree.  The mango will yield the tree and the tree will yield the mango and the cycle continues.  Indeed, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND❎❎❎

STOP Managing Your Time!

STOP Managing Your Time!

Until this very moment, we keep hearing everywhere that we should do this:  to MANAGE OUR TIME.  But studies show that we must STOP Managing our Time because we are all BARKING AT THE WRONG TREE!  Apparently, one of the biggest red herrings in most of the productivity advice we see has to do with the relentless pursuit to CONTROL, wrangle, seek, carve out or MANAGE TIME📌📌📌

Now, here's the very blunt statement arising from those studies: MANAGE YOUR ENERGY, NOT YOUR TIME.  IF YOU DO THAT, TIME WORKS ITSELF OUT.  The studies show that the science of stamina has advanced to the point where individuals, teams, and whole organizations can, with some straightforward interventions, significantly increase their capacity to get things done💵💴💷

Heard of this story:  He was young, married, with four children, working 10 to 14 hours a day, felt perpetually exhausted, and found it difficult to engage with his family in the evenings, which made him feel guilty and dissatisfied.  He SLEPT POORLY, made NO time to exercise, and seldom ate HEALTHY MEALS. instead grabbing a bite to eat on the run while working📗📙📘

BUT hey, studies tell us that the core of the problem with working LONGER HOURS is that TIME IS A FINITE RESOURCE.  ENERGY is a different story though.  From a Physics perspective, ENERGY is defined as the capacity to work, energy comes from four main wellsprings in human beings:  the BODY, EMOTIONS, MIND and SPIRIT💎💎💎

In each, ENERGY can be systematically expanded and regularly renewed by establishing specific rituals, behaviors that are intentionally practiced and precisely scheduled, with the goal of making them unconscious and automatic as quickly as possible.  Quick FIXES: IF you're feeling tired, shorten a call by 5-15 mins.  PUT OFF a task for later when you know it will be easier on you.  OR do the thing BUT in a way that gives you a bit more ENERGY.  The key is to NOTICE YOUR ENERGY STATE, give yourself headspace to think about options.  Bottomline is STOP MANAGING YOUR TIME,  TIME TO MANAGE OUR ENERGY✅✅✅

[SECURITY ALERT] Cognitive Hacking Is IN BUSINESS

[SECURITY ALERT] Cognitive Hacking Is IN BUSINESS

Our thread today is NOT a plot or a part of any scare tactics BUT we strongly encourage you to please read through this SECURITY ALERT focused on this latest nightmare, that, like it or not, this Cognitive Hacking Is IN BUSINESS.  For alignment, let's define COGNITIVE HACKING as another form of cyber attack where threats manipulate the possible victim's PERCEPTIONS by exploiting their psychological weaknesses.  Attackers primarily use DISINFORMATION in their campaigns to fuel people's biases and prejudices📗📙📘

Now, before we get bogged down with COGNITIVE HACKING, let's identify the TOOLS and PLATFORMS leveraged well enough by COGNITIVE HACKING:

• SOCIAL MEDIA [with 4.7 billion people]
• FAKE NEWS SITES [80% of US adults got it]
• TROLL FARMS [Huge armies of DISINFORMATION SPREADERS]

The common confusion asked is:  Is COGNITIVE HACKING the same as spreading FAKE NEWS?  Given that FAKE NEWS SITES aren't the only tools COGNITIVE HACKERS use, we can say that spreading FAKE NEWS is just a subset of COGNITIVE HACKING.  So, how does COGNITIVE HACKING work💎💎💎

Let's dissect REAL-LIFE tricks of COGNITIVE HACKING.  Creating a celebrity is the TOP TRICK.  One way is to sway people into changing their perceptions is to employ a CELEBRITY ACCOUNT. Note that the CELEBRITY used DOESN'T have to be real.  This ruse involves four steps namely:  OBTAINING FOLLOWERS [11,500 followers], REPOSTING [55,000+ followers], GETTING regional fans [125,000+ followers] and BROADCASTING the account's popularity [300,000+ followers]❌❌❌

So what are our key takeaways here?  THAT biases and prejudices play a massive part in making COGNITIVE HACKING attacks work.  And the TARGETS should be easily duped into believing what the THREAT says.  Bottomline, let us be ALERT and CAUTIOUS when using social media. accessing FAKE NEWS SITES and TROLL FARMS.  Welcome to the COGNITIVE HACKING World❗❗❗

Have You Had Your 'SLAM DUNK' Yet?

Have You Had Your 'SLAM DUNK' Yet?

Have You Had Your 'SLAM DUNK' Yet?  Before we get embroiled into 'SLAM DUNK', let's agree that, in life, for you to get credited for a 'SLAM DUNK' means you have caused something so earth-shaking, so impactful as to significantly move the tectonic plates even at the dreaded San Andreas Fault in California.  But you have NOT been credited yet with that 'SLAM DUNK', DON'T unduly pressure yourself as long as you're committed to create that 'SLAM DUNK' in your life📗📙📘

Ironically, one of the most beautiful as well as painful things about us humans is HOW much we feel.  From our birth onwards, as we grew with more experiences, GOOD and BAD, some of those experiences that caused strong feelings would have made IMPRINTS in our life. As an imprint is a 'BELIEF SYSTEM' that equates to our embedded memory that sometimes alters HOW we see ourselves, that remains stored there.  And as time passes, that can turn into what feels like an ABSOLUTE TRUTH💴💵💷

Before we end up in a disconnect, to be credited with a  'SLAM DUNK'  could be translated with modest but SOLID milestones which can happen during our university days OR through our professional career OR through our commercial or entrepreneurial forays..  Either way, there is no hard definition of what a  'SLAM DUNK' is💎💎💎

Some of our IMPRINTS in life may seem trivial BUT they all can influence our PERCEPTION of life in ways that put a layer between YOU and YOUR REALITY at present.  Let's hold this intention of becoming aware of your IMPRINTS in your heart and see what arises over the next few days as you open yourself to recalling these early experiences.  And as you explore what you believe to be true about yourself, you will begin to recognize where those beliefs originated and hoping you will be able to bring into clearer focus whether they are actually TRUE.  In many cases, OLD IMPRINTS may either be NEVER really true or are no longer true❗❗❗

So, how is it?  WHEN was the last time you did claim or were credited with a 'SLAM DUNK'?  If your last/latest 'SLAM DUNK' was quite sometime back. there should be NO pressure for you to trigger another 'SLAM DUNK' anytime now.  And if you have NOT achieved any 'SLAM DUNK', it should NOT be another cause to trigger pressure because 'SLAM DUNK' performances do NOT happen everyday, and probably, NOT even every week.  Either way, we're egging you to include in your journal that goal of achieving a 'SLAM DUNK' within your journey✅✅✅

What's Your PROLOGUE In Life?

What's Your PROLOGUE In Life?

What's Your PROLOGUE In Life?  I doubt it if most of us have written up our respective PROLOGUE.  For alignment, let's agree as to what is PROLOGUE.  Simply put, IT IS THE STORY BEFORE THE STORY.  It is that short opening section in a book that is separate from  the main narrative💵💴💷

Taking place within the story itself, it will provide our reader [of our LIFE story] with the character backstory,   BTW, that PROLOGUE is different from the PREFACE which is written from the perspective of the author and it CAN'T be fictional.  It's also different from the INTRODUCTION or FOREWORD as the former is a summary of the author's arguments while the latter is written by someone other than the author📗📙📘

So, what can the PROLOGUE in our life do?  First off, we as the author, can leverage on the PROLOGUE to hook readers into our story by previewing WHAT'S TO COME.  And by giving a TASTE of MYSTERY or conflict to our readers, our PROLOGUE can whet their appetite for more.  The end objective here is to put our readers INTO THE DEEP and get them to ask inquisitive questions💎💎💎

So, where are we now?  Do we get your BUY-IN that it makes sense that you write up your PROLOGUE way before you start writing the STORY of your life?  Obviously, the very meat and core of things is your STORY as that will be your factual narration bereft of anything that's non-fiction❗❗❗

That PROLOGUE of our life is at our very own hands to write.  We can even write something NOT related to our main story and writing a PROLOGUE that is unrelated might be a sign that we [as the AUTHOR] are planting an 'IMAGE' or an IDEA we want the reader to subconsciously draw on.  Looking back into our life, please do consider that PROLOGUE as it may be optional, it gives you the chance to 'LEAD' your reader towards the narrative you're leaving towards to.  VERY IMPORTANT to note:  Ensure your LIFE STORY is non-fictional as nothing can be farther from the TRUTH❎❎❎