Life is beautiful, especially when one understands the secret of living. If only a man could be given the opportunity to live a particular life all over again, having known all the challenges that he will experience, he would do better if he were a wise man, but no man experiences this. Nothing in life remains the same, not even the people we get to live with, because everyone evolves. According to Heraclitus, no man ever steps in the same water twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man. Just as a newly purchased device has a manual, life also has its own principles or rules by which one can live to have a successful life. One does not just wake up to living a successful life, or to be successful; it takes deliberate actions, sacrifice, etc. To be successful, one has to work on the following:
The image your mind carries about yourself
James Allen said, 'As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.' What defines how much success one can have is what he or she sees himself or herself to be. You can’t be the type that believes you can do nothing but fail and expect success; if you want to make a man useless or retarded, kill his mind. Everything starts to work when you believe in yourself. Your ability to visualise a thing and see it to be achievable goes a long way to making you successful. Ensure you build your mind; make sure no one tampers with it. People who are great are found to have great minds. You can work on your mind by reading books. Keep in mind that your thought produces its own fruit as a plant produces after its own kind.
Having all your achievable goals penned down
Write down all your goals. It helps to keep track of your progress; we ought to be accountable for everything that happens in our lives. A person who is accountable to himself doesn’t fail. Writing our goals doesn’t mean penning down all our desires like it is a Christmas wish; we are to write down things we can achieve. According to John F. Kennedy, effort and courage are not enough without purpose or direction.
Discipline
To be better, one has to be very disciplined and handle things differently from last year. This year I will encourage everyone to pay attention to how they carry out their daily activities, as it is a determinant factor in how much one can achieve. You can have your goals well defined and still come out actualising nothing. I personally had to struggle with procrastination; I prayed and worked my way out of it. Procrastination destroys more deeply than we recognise; it steals everything quietly until there is nothing left. What should be done now should be done now, not tomorrow. A time lost can never be regained. We should be disciplined in all aspects of our lives, as this will cause us to be more productive this year. Do not allow any form of distraction, as there is a time for everything on this earth.
Humility
Don’t feel you cannot be corrected; there is still a lot to learn. You could even be learning from someone who you are far older than. Drop pride; nobody is perfect. Humility could save your life one day; a man who is boastful struggles to have good people around him. Nobody will be willing to help you if you are the type that is so full of yourself. No matter what you have, you still need people; in fact, you can decide to lose all your possessions, but don’t lose the good friends around you.
After all that has been listed above, the most important thing is that we serve God with all our heart because he is the giver of life and every good thing that comes with it. Follow Jesus, and everything your heart desires starts to follow you.May the love of our Lord Jesus Christ rest in our hearts.
Thank you.I invite 
