About 3years on… and attending that very simple 2day course – JCI Trainer is still proving to be one of the best decisions I ever made in my life as I still find lots of fun developing my skills, helping everyone I meet find purpose, new discoveries and fulfilment in their lives through Skills Development and training at JCI, at my company Y’ems Group and in other areas of life. Just like I learnt a long time ago… I have grown to become ever more convinced that there truly are essentially 2 things that’ll make you wiser in life… The books you read, and the people you meet.
After last week’s Skills development Session at JCI Bamenda Royal on my friend Mungai Nfi’s “Beating Procrastination”, we decided as an organization to put in practice the concept of taking 21 days to develop a habit.
“Did you know that, if you do something repeatedly for 21days it becomes a habit???? – Now You Know!
So we each picked 1 or 2 things we will try to make a habit and I decided to pick 1) Reading and 2) Meditating every morning. In that light, I decided to whip out my signed copy of Fon Amos’ “Napoleon Hill’s 17 Principles of Success” which I’ve been carrying around with me every time in my laptop bag for a little over 1year now and today has been one of the best mornings of my life… Let me share a couple of things I learnt from these principles.
Principle #1 –Define your Purpose
"The Starting Point of all human achievement is the development of a Major PURPOSE"
Principle #2 –Establish a Mastermind Alliance Group
No man can become a permanent success without taking others along. A group of brains coordinated in a spirit of harmony will provide more thought energy than a single brain, just as a group of electric batteries will provide more energy than a single battery.
Principle #3 –Keep Applied Faith
You sure as hell can do it... if you believe you can... It begins from within you! Life has a way of developing strength and wisdom in individuals through temporary defeat and failure. This is the point where you have to have faith in your passion and in your God.
Principle #4 –Go the Extra Mile
Render more and better services than that for which you are paid, and sooner or later you will receive compound interest on compound interest from your investment or as Mr Fon fondly puts it… always deliver more than expected… with passion.
Principle #5 –Assemble an Attractive Personality
When Ana asked Christian in the classic adapted screenplay “50 shades of Grey” the secret to all his success… he said to her… “...Business is about people, and I’ve always been good at people…” I too believe that Courtesy is your most profitable asset… and it is absolutely free. Your personality is your greatest asset or your greatest liability because it embraces everything you control… your mind, body and soul.
Principle #6 –Create Personal Initiative
This is all about using Organized Individual endeavour to motivate you to action and to pursuing your plans. Those who organize their efforts naturally get ahead faster than those who drift without definite aim or purpose.
Principle #7 –Build a Positive Mental Attitude
Staying positive as we’ve been told countless times is paramount in ripping the benefits of the other 16 principles. Keep your mind on the things you want and off the things you don’t want. As the old proverb says… be very careful what you set your heart on, for you will surely achieve it.
Principle #8 –Seek Inspiration and Enthusiasm
My friend Franklin Ngalim always says, to be Inspired is great… to inspire is incredible. I believe when you get inspired about something… you generate enthusiasm for that thing. Enthusiasm is a state of mind, it inspires action and best of all it is the most contagious of all emotions. If you want to get people join you to march into hell, be enthusiastic about your March into hell!
Principle #9 –Exercise Self-Discipline
I especially love what Walter Wayland says in his definition of The True Gentleman – “The True Gentleman is the man whose conduct proceeds from good will and an acute sense of propriety, and whose self-control is equal to all emergencies” – Self-control or self-discipline is taking possession of your own mind. It is managing yourself so that others won’t manage you for you… it is setting and living your and society accepted values. Without self-discipline, you are as dangerous as a car running down the hill without brakes or steering wheel.
Principle #10 –Accurate Thinking
Remember that worrying is not thinking. Thinking has power… is under your control… and must be used wisely. You must be able to organize your thinking. You must be able to carefully analyse information before accepting it, be it political, religious or any other type of thought.
The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance – it is the illusion of knowledge.
Principle #11 –Controlled Attention.
I learnt a valuable lesson 2014 when I decided to stop being that brilliant kid whom you knew you could call to come and solve your every problem… be it finance, marketing, IT, design, business, organization… though sadly enough with 0 emotional skills … and decided to focus my advancement in one area of FOCUS… I have been able to grown tremendously in this particular area and I believe I’m on the right path to my Vision… Remember, do not predict the future… create it.
Principle #12 –Inspire Teamwork
Together, Everyone Achieves Miracles… Teamwork is the willing cooperation and coordination of effort to achieve a common goal. One of the best decisions I’ve ever made was try to build a team to help me drive my vision at Y’ems Group… thanks to people like Mr. Bull, The General, Miss Pearson, etc… we’ve been able to go great lengths in developing our product and building our reputation. It’s just like with a good football team… like Real Madrid, or Barcelona… they rely more on harmonious coordination of effort than individual skill and it’s like someone said… Individual Effort towards a common goal… that’s what makes a team work… a community work… a society work.
Principle #13 –Learn from Adversity and Defeat
Steve Jobs after being fired 10years later from the company he built (Apple Inc.) took the time to remind himself what it is he loved… you know the rest of the story… he built NeXT and Pixar which eventually led him back to the top of Apple Inc. Every adversity or defeat you meet carries with it a seed of equivalent or greater benefit. I can relate to this statement and I believe it sincerely. While I don’t a fancy story as Steve’s I remember I was able to learn Web programming during a period of my life when I was brought down by illness and was stuck at home for a whole month (hilarious story which you don’t get to hear though, lol!).
Remember, the two people who never get ahead are “Those who do only what they are told to do and those who will not do what they are told to do!”
Whenever you fall… Pick up something…
Principle #14 –Cultivate Creative Vision
Creative vision is a quality of mind belonging only to men and women who follow the habit of going the extra mile. Creative vision is closely related to Faith… note that those who have demonstrated the greatest amount of creative vision are known to have been men with a great capacity for faith.
We must be able to develop creative vision… to believe in a possible unimaginable future and work our way towards that vision. We must be able to trust our gut and intuition for they already seem to know where we’re going.
Principle #15 –Maintain a Sound Health
Having all the money in the world is no use if you can’t get up in the morning to enjoy it… after curing my backaches and headache with a sleep-eat-movie 1week vacation, I came to truly understand that making sound health a habit is one of the requirements for success. You can’t do any work if you’re lying on a sick bed or lying in the cemetery. Since your brain controls your body, know that sound physical health is dependent upon a Positive Mental Attitude. Establish sound, well-balanced health habits in work, play, rest, study and nourishment.
Principle #16 –Budget your Time and Money
You must organize your budget and time to achieve effectiveness in our every endeavours… we all have 24hours in a day… this means time management is not necessarily about managing your time… but managing your activities… I have come to realize that when I draw my daily blue print and actually follow it… I tend to have a very productive day. Every successful person budgets time, income and expenditures within his means.
Principle #17 –Benefit from Cosmic Habit-Force.
I like to think of this as benefiting from the natural order of things… why was I born Nfor, how did I find myself here, why do I love what I do… and how can I make the most of these occurrences? There’s also the habits you create as you move along the journey of life. You are where you are and what you are because of your established habits, thoughts and deeds.
Remember, watch your thoughts, for they become your words… your words, for they become your actions… your actions, for they become your habits… your habits for they become your character… your character for it becomes your destiny.