WHEN YOUR BEST IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH

Lately, I have been inundated with so much that I have been trying my best  to stay afloat.  In this experience I found myself pushing to the background a lot of things that I needed to do because I was busy ‘trying my best’.

There is a ton of writing to do, rather than do it I have been ‘trying my best.’  Anytime someone asks me why I have not gotten any of the stuff done, I just give them the line that’ I am trying my best.  Recently, it dawned on me that trying my best is what I say, when I am avoiding to do what is required of me.  In order not to feel bad or indisciplined, I simply say I am doing my best.

 

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 Well, it doesn’t matter how much of’ my best’ I do; if it doesn’t meet the requirement, then my best just isn’t good enough then.

In living a dream, most of the stuff we will have to do on a daily basis are those things we will rather not do.  I don’t feel like doing any writing today for instance, but it is required of me.  After all, I am in the business of publishing and writing.  I really do not feel like reading today either, nor do I feel like prepping for the next training… but you know what?  All these are required of me if I will be a success.

If our personal best is good enough then there will be no need for standards whatsoever, but because we are human, sometimes, our best will not be good enough; at such times we must discipline ourselves to do what is required instead.

Here are a few tips that may help you focus on doing what is required for this week.

1.       BE INTENTIONAL:  Like I said, living a dream cannot only be dependent on what it is that we feel and ‘doing our best’.  This is why intentionality is a gift we should give ourselves. Once you recognise that your best does not help actualise the fulfilment of the goal; it is time to be intentional.  For instance, how am I going to tackle my writing lull? Tomorrow morning when I come in, I will do nothing else.  I will take receive no visitors and I will not read my emails.  I will sit at my desk and concentrate on writing for the first half of the day.

2.      TACKLE THE HARD STUFF FIRST – Once you are determined and intentional, it means you have cleared your desk and are concentrating on the task at hand.  The next step will be to list all that you are required to do.  Then prioritise and tackle them from the hardest to the less difficult ones.  In my case, I find that manuals are a lot harder to develop and write than manuscripts on life experiences.  So once I settle in, I will stick with the manuals first.  Hopefully, I will be able to deal with a few before I move on to the less difficult writings.

3.      UTILISE YOUR MOST PRODUCTIVE TIME – Everyone has a most productive time of day.  I find that mine is between 3.00 am and 10.00 am.  And because there are a lot of things required of me that I am behind on, I will be scheduling some writing time within these hours.  That means when I get up at 3.00 am, I will be dealing with the hardest tasks before I move to the easier ones.  Rather than use this time to read as I have done lately, I will commit to using it to do some serious writing.

4.      ELIMINATE TIME WASTERS; DELEGATE – Even though I said that there are stuff that are required of us that we must tackle, if we know how to delegate, some of these can be delegated to kick start the process.  For instance concerning the training manuals I mentioned, I can develop the scope of the material and assign someone else to collate and have me vet at the end of the exercise.  This way, I am free to deal with other required stuff.

5.      THINK BIG PICTURE – Finally, always think big picture.  What this means is you take time out to think about how accomplishing this required part of the work will impact positively upon that which you want to achieve.  Remember what success will look like when it is all done and maybe even picture what it will be like should you not be able to get it all done.  My thinking is that realising how not doing the required stuff can adversely affect our end result, is enough motivation to knuckle down and get it done.

The truth is that we will sometimes get in that place where our passion wanes and we are not exactly jumping over the moon to get our dreams moving.  However, while we feel that way, we still have to keep moving until we get to the goal.

My prayer is that you will make it NeverTheLess.  Because of your goal, remember that making it might mean doing not just what you feel like but even those you don’t feel like but are required of you.

Here is to your success!

Bidemi

HOW TO SUSTAIN YOUR WIN AND KEEP WINNING

Welcome! On today’s post, I want us to look at how to Sustain A Win and keep winning.  Most of us have been blessed with success at different points, and while some of us have been able to sustain the win and continue to use them to spin off more success, some of us have lost the momentum that success brought with it and are back on the grind trying to make another success happen?
Question then is; how does one sustain a win, while continuing to win?  Here are a few points you may find useful:

1.  REMEMBER WHERE YOU ARE COMING FROM – These days where everyone is an expert at something even though most are just arm chair pundits; always knowing what is wrong never knowing how to fix it.  It is extremely important that we don’t forget where it is that we have come. Remember when your dream was just an idea; never forget when nobody could see what you saw.  Do you remember the days when you had to answer the phone by yourself, manufacture the product alone, market it and keep your books all by yourself?  Do you remember why you always went back even when others thought you should give up?  Well, all these came together to give the win you celebrate today.  To sustain it therefore, it will be great if you always remembered that there was a day when you were small with no win in sight.
2. DON’T FORGET THOSE WHO BET ON YOU  – Every business or dream when properly executed becomes big and successful.  However, most times, they also evolve and find it cumbersome to do business with some types of clients and customers.  Unfortunately, these were the clients who even though weren’t quite sure how far the business will go put themselves out for you anyway.  Growing and succeeding to the point when they become ‘those people’ you don’t what to deal with anymore, is extremely risky.  Because success attracts, the tendency is much bigger and established clients will come knocking… to be able to keep sustaining the wins however, we must give priority to those who went out on the limb for us when no one else would.
3. KEEP LEARNING TO KEEP IMPROVING – Yes you are now a win and for some a point of reference, but it is wise to recognise that you still have a lot to learn.  One success or ten do not negate the fact that life is a forever learning school.  So despite the wins you have today, ask yourself; ‘what else do I need to learn and from whom’?  This is the only way to keep growing.  Remember it is said that the day one stops growing, that day he begins to die.
4. BE CONTENT YET NOT SATISFIED – The very religious usually will quote that ‘godliness with contentment is great gain’.  They use this scripture as the excuse not to want to grow beyond where they are; instead they keep revelling in out dated and expired wins.  There is always new territory to conquer so if you want to sustain the win you have today and keep the winning streak, one thing you must do is to recognise that even though you are content with that which you have, it is okay to aim for more and want to be more.  One win is not enough to rest on our oars especially where there is room and opportunity for other wins and successes.
5. KEEP UP WITH THE TRENDS BUT AVOID COMPLICATIONS – Change we are told is the only constant thing and even with our dreams and businesses, change is a constant.  The processes we started out with are bound to change over time… which means that what gave you this win may have not be able to give you the next one.  Change that does not compromise the quality of your product or service is something you should want to embrace if you want to be able to sustain your win and keep winning.
6. NEVER FORGET WHY YOU STARTED – I didn’t start my business because I wanted to make money, I started because I wanted to make impact.  It was while making impact that I realised that one cannot make impact and not profit therein.  So when things become challenging as they can be sometimes I am quick to remember that the reason why I embarked on the journey wasn’t money alone.  It is the same for you… to be able to sustain your win, never forget why you started.  Even if circumstances pushed you to start there must have been something you hoped to see in the end.  So as challenges come if you don’t forget why you started you should be able to keep standing.
7. NEVER, NEVER ARRIVE – I know a business that used to be the pride of all – those who ran it, those who worked there and those of us who were just customers.  We wore our badge with pride, we were too glad that we did business with this entity… professional bodies even attested to the fact that they were winning.  But then they arrived!  And when they arrived, they became sloppy, they became rude and they became ineffective… and slowly but surely we are no longer proud to wear the badge, we are quietly looking for others who we will be proud of.  In walking/working your dream, arriving is a bad thing… because arriving makes you do things you said you wouldn’t do when you started.  So my take? Never arrive if you will sustain your win and keep winning.

Till next week, I hope this is enough food for thought.

Here is to your success!

Bidemi

ANOTHER PLUS FOR SISTA POWER

 |  on March 1, 2013  |  No Comments

Hello people

Welcome to another day in the ‘blogafest’ for Sista Power. Today I have the review from my sista of the heart; Audrey Joe-Ezigbo. Please see her blog here: http://uniquely-woman.blogspot.com. As I have been reading all the reviews that have come in, I cannot help but say that even for me the PURPOSE of the book Sista Power is becoming clearer and now I am praying that it will fulfill destiny. I actually saw Audrey’s copy of Sista Power and all the markings and shadings are any authors joy. Thanks Sis.
Please note that this post is longer than usual but that is Audrey’s signature and it all makes sense. Enjoy and thanks for reading to the end.

SISTA POWER: MY REVIEW – AUDREY JOE-EZIGBO
Unputdownable! I first came across this word (if one can call it that) about 20years ago. It stuck in my mind and has been the one word that describes each great book I have been blessed to read. Sista Power is a great book, truly unputdownable ! It literally held me spell-bound for a couple of hours as I read it from start to finish. A powerful message! Very real! Sista Power reads like a guided tour through to the realization of one’s innate potentials and resources, and towards the fulfillment of God’s design for one’s life.
Two days later, I started and again read the book all over, only more slowly this time. I simply had to! I can honestly say that Sista Power is one out of a very small number of books that have commanded my attention enough as to merit more than one read. My proverbial green pen marked, circled, and underlined! Every section was weighty, nothing trivial. So much I readily related with; principles that not only make sense, but which with proper introspection are easy to apply and will clearly bring about an acceleration of destiny and purpose. I loved the fact that the language used was personal; an honest, no-holds-barred conversation between the author and myself.
I am a lover of women, a believer in the power of working together. Since I first heard Bidemi share what the Lord ministered to her on collaboration a few years ago however, the word ‘midwife’ took on a new meaning in my life. I have been blessed to have Bidemi and some other lovely ladies as my midwives. I have understood more in the past few years than ever before, the power that lies in women that put all else aside and choose to move forward as a collective, holding each other accountable to build up themselves, their families and the world around them.
That said, Sista Power caused me to take a good hard look at other areas of my life, other relationships and experiences I have had over the years. I have had to give a million more thanks to God for the midwives He sent my way but whom I didn’t realize at that point were part of shaping my destiny for the season.
Many things struck me very deeply in the book Sista Power. If I really had to review it as extensively as I would wish, I would probably be reproducing the entire book. It was that potent. But here as a few of the things that really stood out for me:

‘Your pulpit is where you are!’ This is a clear call to action; a reminder that time is running out and I must be about my Father’s business. I am called to midwife others, even as the Lord sends midwives my way. ‘There will never be a convenient time for the work that God has called me to do’. Right where I am, I must ‘make myself available and stretch myself for the Kingdom’. ‘Life is not going to wait and midwives are constantly on the move’. People are in my life for a season and in that time, I must deposit as much as I can into those I am called to midwife; while submitting myself to learn and grow from those whose assignment is to midwife me. I may only have ‘a few minutes to make impact (as a midwife) and after that the opportunity will be gone’. To be able to ‘recognize the timing and be adequately prepared to walk in it’, I as a midwife must ‘be in tune with the Holy Spirit and with God all the way’. So true!
‘The Masters business requires haste’. Sista Power reiterates this often and it resonates deep within me. I cannot afford to miss my moments. My God is a God of accountability. I must be constantly conscious of the things that He requires of me and be ready to deliver on them. I may not need more than a few minutes to make the impact that I am called to make and after that the opportunity will be gone. My mandate is to die empty of everything that the Lord has put in me with which to bless the earth, to bless His children. I must use those few minutes well.

‘God thrives on collaborations’ and ‘Sista Power is about the common good!’. There is a reminder that collaboration is not about recognition, for I have a God Who sees all things and is able to reward my silent labors. Sista Power is a reminder to take my identity in God who is the only One that completes and fulfills me.

‘What the world needs can only be found in God and not in a particular individual or groups of persons’. There is a clear call for me to stay in my strength zone, to remain true to who I am at my core. ‘Any collaboration requiring you to reinvent yourself to fit into it is definitely not meant for you’. I need to know who I really and truly am, to believe in myself completely in order to effectively midwife others to become all that God has called them to be. This confidence in self is critical because ‘sometimes our collaborations may look like they are insignificant’. I must be a difference-maker, a value addition, even in my smallest of endeavors. The agenda is of God and not of self! The building up is for the collective and not for self.

Sista Power defines collaboration in a way that speaks deep to the root of what I truly believe the world needs today: ‘Collaboration is therefore a coming together of two or more people to further the purpose of God for their lives. The agreement is therefore between you, your collaborator and God Who honors covenants and agreements’. Sista Power reminds each of us that ‘God is pushing the original plan… He wants men and women who understand that it is not about them, it is about the Kingdom of God’.

The core message of Sista Power from my perspective is aptly summed up as: ‘Change is the objective, Kingdom is the goal, altering the status quo is the method’. The big question then follows: ‘Who will you join to push God’s agenda?’ This is where I leave it. I pray this great book will minister to every reader as it has to me. I pray the Lord will help each reader discover the power of collaborations in their lives.

Be blessed!