The Intentional Life

Secrets to investing wisely in your financial, emotional and physical well being

[rolayoakhigbe]

Ditch Negative Self-Talk Our thoughts determine our lives. Negative thoughts about ourselves—be it our hair, skin, stretch marks, failures, or love life disrespect the woman God hand-crafted us to be. We’re his masterpiece, a work of art to be treated with dignity from others and ourselves. Negative self-talk is not humility. It’s self-defeat. It’s a toxic habit that muddies our ability to see ourselves as loved and treasured by God. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been dumped or divorced. It doesn’t matter if you can’t have kids. It doesn’t matter if you stink at house cleaning and you feel inadequate as a homemaker. It doesn’t matter if you can’t cook. It doesn’t matter if you don’t make very much money. It doesn’t matter if you feel too fat or too skinny. It doesn’t matter if you feel like a failure in your work. Nothing under the sun invites self-talk. It will only destroy your thought life. We believe what we say about ourselves. Negative self-talk spur lies through our hearts contradicting who Jesus says we are. It pushes hope, truth, and peace to the edges of our minds. The lies separate us from grasping tightly to Christ's love, blessing, and sovereignty. They sail us far from the abundant life of love, grace, and holiness God intended for us. Your negative self-talk doesn’t affect only you. It stings those around you. For example, if someone compliments you and her compliments don’t align with your negative self-talk, you’ll shoot it down. You won’t accept such admiration. You won’t acknowledge her effort to applaud you. In doing so, you push the blessings of others away. Today is the day to ditch negative self-talk. In the moments you catch an untruth slip from your lips, boldly proclaim you are a daughter of the King, beloved, and created for good works. Thanks @tiffanybluhm 🙌🏾🙌🏾#21waystothriveby45 #sundaymusings #wisdomnuggets #ditchthenegative #success #successtools #successtips #liveyourbestlife #liveyourbestlife2018

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Dream big! You'll be amazed at what's #possible once you remove the #limitations from your mind. Create a new #vision for yourself. This year no one can stop you, but you...

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Try something different this week. It may be doing something you haven't done before or doing the same thing differently. It doesn't have to be a massive event, small changes can make a big difference. So go ahead, you may just surprise yourself 😀 #dontmakeitcomplicated #juststart #youneverknowuntilyoutry

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Living Well

There once was a farmer who grew award-winning corn. Each year he entered his corn in the state fair where it won a blue ribbon. One year a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learned something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. "How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked. "Why sir," said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn." He is very much aware of the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbor's corn also improves. So it is with our lives. Those who choose to live in peace must help their neighbors to live in peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well, for the value of a life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who choose to be happy must help others to find happiness, for the welfare of each is bound up with the welfare of all. The lesson for each of us is this: if we are to grow good corn, we must help our neighbors grow good corn. It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the liberal man shall be rich! By watering others, he waters himself.

[rolayoakhigbe]

Live your best life ever!

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Your life is the result of what you think about and the decisions you make.

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Personal Finance 101: Always keep some funds aside for a ‘Rainy Day’

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Are your actions in alignment with your goals?

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You get one shot to live, make it count!

[rolayoakhigbe]

Invest in Yourself!

I recall a recent conversation with some friends who were complaining quite bitterly about the lack of training at their companies. While we were talking I asked a simple question: why not train yourself? Their response - since their organisations would benefit from the results of the training then naturally, it's the organisation's responsibility to train their staff.

I agree to a limited extent, but then I wonder if an organisation can possibly be more responsible for you than you are for yourself. In any organisation anywhere in the world there will always be many more development needs than existing resources can meet. So shouldn't people take charge of making sure these needs are met outside of what the organisation can do?

More worrying is the fact that a lot of people are happy to completely surrender their developmental goals to their employers rather than drive their personal development themselves.

I read an article recently where the author stated that if Bill Gates lost all his money today, he'd be wealthy again in no time because he had invested in his human capital. While this may be true for Bill Gates, the question to you is, are YOU investing in yourself? Do you realise that YOU are your greatest asset? Once you do, your perspectives and actions will alter dramatically.

Here are 4 ways to invest in your most valuable asset:

Read a book on a topic that interests you: Why? Reading opens up your mind in ways nothing else does. It expands your imagination, perspective and vocabulary at the same time. In the last one month have you read a new non-work related book or article? Do you engage the Internet and look for specific information or just surf? Pick up a book (it could be online or hard copy depending on your preference) and challenge yourself to read at least one new book a quarter this year.

Enhance your skills: Actively seek out ways to improve your skills. There's really no excuse not to as there's so much free information available now through expert blogs, ebooks, articles, webinars etc. on literally any subject in the world. Beyond the freebies, invest in quality trainings, conferences, seminars as these also give you networking opportunities where you an share thoughts and experiences with others.

Get creative: People often link creativity with artistry or musical skills, but that's only one aspect. Creativity exercises your brain as you think of ways of doing things differently. It doesn't have to be complicated, you can learn a new language, write an article on something that interests you, explore a skill you've always wanted to develop. Make a conscious effort to try something new consistently.

Take care of your body: You'll only ever have one body so take care of it. Imagine your body is a million dollar machine, how would you treat it? Definitely you'd fill it with the highest grade fuel (food), make sure the body work is top notch (exercise, good skin care and dressing) and won't overrun the engine (get adequate rest). You'd take it for regular service checks (medical check ups, rest and recuperation), and make sure nothing impairs the brain box (take care of your mental health). Sadly we often take our bodies for granted until something forces us to change our behaviour. Don't wait until that happens, be proactive.

Each of the points I've touched on is a whole topic in itself which I'll go into in more depth over the coming weeks.

I hope you found this useful. If so don't keep it to yourself, share with your friends and drop me a note I'd love to hear from you.

To your success.

[rolayoakhigbe]

Cash/liquidity is the lifeblood of any business. Most businesses don’t die because they run out of profit, but they will certainly die if they become illiquid. When you follow the money, you know when you are most likely to run ‘empty’ and can plan in advance to bridge that gap.

[rolayoakhigbe]

Follow the Money

In over fifteen years of interactions with literally hundreds of businesses, I have seen companies grow from start-ups to major corporates, but on the flip side I have also seen a number of businesses with potential fail.

While businesses succeed for various reasons, there’s a key principle which I’ve seen cuts across all sectors:

You need to FOLLOW THE MONEY.

Why is this important? Following the money helps you track your cash flow and when you track, you can better manage how much will go out, even if you can’t predict how much is coming in that period.

The truth is a lot of businesses don’t keep even the simplest records and this is a costly oversight. Keeping track of all monies going out and coming in doesn’t have to be complex and there are a lot of free/low cost tools available to help your business achieve this.

Following the money also helps you identify your key sources of income. You can easily identify which activities, products and customers are generating the most income for you. This helps you focus on the areas that will drive the growth of your business and also helps when making critical decisions on which products to discontinue or customers to ‘sack’.

Cash/liquidity is the lifeblood of any business. Most businesses don’t die because they run out of profit, but they certainly die if they become illiquid. When you follow the money, you know when you are most likely to run ‘empty’ and can plan in advance to bridge that gap.

At the end of the day profit may be vanity, but cash is king.

[rolayoakhigbe]

There’s something about having a goal that drives us to perform at our peak. Set yourself a goal to operate at a higher standard of life. Set your goals in crystal clear terms with realistic time frames and be disciplined about achieving the goals.

[rolayoakhigbe]

Don't spend it all: There’s a magical thing that happens when you deliberately set out to do this: you survive on less than you thought you could!

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When you have a bad day, a really bad day, try and treat the world better than it treated you.

Patrick Stump (via fyp-music)

[rolayoakhigbe]

Don’t wait until after you’ve paid all your bills to set money aside, otherwise you’ll never start.

[rolayoakhigbe]

How to handle Money

Handle [han-dl]

“that which may be held, seized, grasped, or taken advantage of in effecting a purpose”

Money. We all talk about it, we all need it for different things, we all use it, but not everyone knows how to handle it.  Money on its own doesn’t make a difference. It’s what you do with it that makes a difference. Imagine a person that has millions in an account, but lives an impoverished lifestyle. It just doesn’t add up.

Money shouldn’t be an end in itself, but a means to get to an end: a nice car, nice house, send the kids to good schools, or that designer bag you’ve been dreaming about :-) Where most people often miss it is they are not intentional about how they go about handling money effectively.

Here are 5 simple things you can do to start taking control of your money starting today:

1. Understand your money philosophy: What money means to you unconsciously affects the way you treat it. Our money philosophy is usually based on what we heard/felt growing up and how much we want to stay close to or get as far away as possible from that feeling.  To understand your money philosophy, go through your bank statement for the last 3 to 6 months and reflect on what you did with the money that has passed through your account. It’s always an eye opener believe me!

2. Don’t spend it all: Sounds simple enough right? Then how come there almost always seems to be more month at the end of the money rather than the other way round? The rule of thumb is to spend no more than 75% of your monthly income. There’s a magical thing that happens when you deliberately set out to do this: you survive on less than you thought you could! Because life throws us things we didn’t plan for from time to time, setting 25% of your income aside gives you a buffer when these ‘shocks’ happen.

3. Pay yourself FIRST: Before you pay any bill, as soon as you get the money in your hands or account move out 25% IMMEDIATELY to another account you don’t have easy access to. Banks typically offer a higher interest rate for accounts you don’t take money out of regularly so take advantage of this and let your money start working for you. Don’t wait until after you’ve paid all your bills to start setting money aside, otherwise you’ll never start.

4. Get more value for your time: We all get 24hrs in a day, no more, no less. Ask yourself “How can I get more value out of today”. What do you need to do to earn more income within the same 24hrs? Who do you need to talk to, provide a value added service for, or get a raise from? To get more value out, you need to put more value in.

5. Have a goal: There’s something about having a goal that drives people to perform at their peak. Set yourself a goal to operate at a higher standard of life. Set your goals in crystal clear terms of how much you earn, how much you have invested, right down to how many holidays you take a year and where you go. Set realistic time frames and be disciplined about achieving the goals. Remember, a goal without a plan and a deadline is just a wish.

When you follow these 5 simple steps for handling your money, your money will be earning money for you, you will have a higher standard for yourself and you will live a purposeful, intentional life!