Why don’t people like to take risks?

If you look at human history, nation’s history and our own personal family history you will notice that the stories that inspire us the most are of those who were willing to take the risks against all odds. Just think of the story of David and Goliath, Queen Elizabeth the first and England during world war two. Those stories clearly illustrate the important of taking risk in the mist of impossible odds, it almost like the courage that you could not find while waiting to take the action is sometimes provided when you actually take the action. One of the biggest enemies of risk taking is procrastination.

Procrastination

Sometimes we find excuses not to do the things we need to do in order to get to where we need to get to. You will hear people say, the weather is not favourable, the time is not right or I will wait to do this when the conditions are right. What this does is it gives them an excuse to stay where they are. To them I would say do put on your rain coat and work with the weather you have been given, the time is always right as that is the only thing that is constant and never changing we only get 24 hours of it so start using it wisely.

Procrastination can be cancer that if not checked and remedied early can cause inaction and indecision in other areas of your life. The victims of this cancer are Lyning in many grave yards today with their dreams unfulfilled. Because procrastination robed them off the courage and will to do whatever dreams they have in their hearts. It is my mission to help cure this cancer but I will need to start with you. PLEASE FIGTH PROCRASTINATION. Because it is a robber of dreams, hopes and achievements.

“If you don’t have ago you’ll never know, and if you don’t begin then you can never win. But even if you have been if you have been putting your life off, remember it’s not how you finish that really counts. It is up to each and every one of us to make our life really happening and if nothing is ever ventured the nothing can be gained. This is truly your time. So take a deep breath, step into life and go for it” Bill Longridge

Why don’t people like to take risks?

For the most part majority of people are afraid to take risks. They are afraid of the unknown, afraid of leaving their comfort zone, or afraid of changing their patterns and routine. The opposite is true for people who take risk and change things around them, they embrace the unknown, they are happy to leave their comfort zones and by changing their patterns and routines they invite the world to join in and experience the world they have created. Let’s look at some of the reasons why people are scared of taking risk.

Fear

It could be the fear of a boss, a person, a reaction or change. Whatever fear it is it deny’s a lot of people the opportunities experience the best the world has to offer. Some fear has its root in past experiences. Very often we might experience rejection from our parents or peers or even girls or boys and we grow up afraid of rejection, so we let our fear of rejection lock us out of great and wonderful opportunities to meet other people and get to know them. This sort of fear limits us and normally clings on to past experiences evaluating the present using the past. To release yourself for this always remember that every person is different.

On the other hand they are those who have a low opinion of themselves. Maybe because of what they have been told over and over again about how stupid they are, or that they will never amount to anything, or don’t even think about. These words that other people have spoken over their lives have imprisoned them to the point where they think lowly of themselves. I want you pose and list the positive things people have said about you, now list the positive things you personally know about you? Now every time you are tempted to think negative about yourself look at your list of positive that is who you truly are.

The value of risk taking

In life you will find that everything we do that has a reward to it also involves some risk. There is no reward without risk. You cannot go from crawling to walking without the risk of falling down. When a baby decides that he does not want to crawl for the rest of his life, he will keep getting up and falling down until he learns how to walk. He would not be rewarded with walking or running if he did not take that risk.

If you want to date you have to risk rejection and ask somebody out first. It may take six to seven times before someone says yes but you will have your reward when they do. You have to take risks to reap rewards. I remember I was rejected recently but I felt good and satisfied because at least I was brave to ask. I can’t image anything worse than not risking it. What I do know is I will step out again and again and each time learning and growing and eventually a door will open.

God wants you to get up and take some risks so he can help you. His word says that he will guide your steps but he cannot guide your steps if you are sitting on your behind. Step out and move a little and God can direct you and guide you into some areas you need to take risks so that you will gain great rewards.


Remember we are all waiting for you to step out and pour out you gifts and talent. You are not going to fly without risking the fall. You already have wings why don’t you just flap them and begin to fly. I sense some reading this blog have music that we long to hear, some have books that will transform and revolutionizine our thinking, and some have inventions that will change the world. Friends why don’t step out now and begin to take control of your destiny.

The value of risk taking

“Man or woman cannot conquer new oceans unless they are willing to lose sight of the shore “ Les Brown

A lot of people are risk adverse so they would avoid anything that would require them to stretch beyond their current comfort zone. What they don’t realize is you cannot achieve success without first stepping out. They have become comfortable with just getting by and being average. The truth is unless you step out and start doing what you think you can achieve you will always be still wondering whether it is possible to achieve. I want rouse you to stop playing it safe and push your boat out and start conquering oceans.

Allow me to illustrate about a month and half ago I stepped out and started writing this blog. Up to this point I have always said to myself I will start my blog on day. When I actually stepped out and started writing this blog, my writing has improved, I no longer think of writing as a daunting task. I actually enjoy it become it engages my mind and increases my understanding of the topics I write on.

Second illustration is from a book called the richest man in Babylon. There was a livestock merchant who travelled from town to town buying and selling cattle, sheep and goat. Now during this time the Babylonian army was at war with a city called Assiria. One day this livestock merchant set out to buy livestock and as he got to Assiria night was setting in. And since during the war nobody was allowed in at a certain time, He pitched his camp outside the gate.

Now during the night at around 12 O’clock a rich Arab Merchant whose wife was very sick he arrived and asked the livestock merchant if he wanted to buy all his stock for half price. The livestock merchant was in a double mind whether to take a risk and buy at that time and get the whole lot and get for half price. But because he was risk adverse he said he will wait until the following morning. Well at around 5 O’clock at the first break of sun light the city gates where open and the Arab merchant had offers of 10 times the amount he wanted to sell at mid night. The livestock merchant am sure went away crying and blaming himself for not taking the opportunity.

Stop and take stock are you missing out on opportunities because you are waiting for the right conditions?

A life driven by purpose

It is said that there are 3 kinds of people, those who are not aware of what is happening. Something significant could be happening around them but they will bury the heads in the sound like an ostrich and let every opportunity pass them by. Second is the type who asks what just happened, this are the sort of people who hear of what happening, think to themselves it can’t happen is and once it happens they say to themselves what just happened. In other words they don’t believe in the possibilities. And lastly they are those who make things happen they are the ones who cause society to progress, improve our standard of living and create opportunity they are the purpose driven crew. Here are further benefits for living a purpose driven life;

Purpose will motivate your life- If you want to have zeal; passion and enthusiasm in life discover your purpose for living. You know when you have purpose and it truly get holds of you it does not matter what life throws at you, you will be able to stand up again, and again and carry on, on the journey.

Purpose will focus your life – One way to become more productive and effective in life is to know what to focus on. Purpose will help you get your priorities right and focus on what is important and discard what is not. Without a clear purpose you will keep changing direction, jobs, and relationships hoping each will bring the answers you grave to get you fulfilled. But when you have purpose you will clear understand what is for you and what is not.

Purpose will prepares you for eternity- People always strive to create a legacy for themselves here on earth, yet what matters most is what God thinks about how you have lived in life. You only live in your life time, and after you die you have to give an account of your life. At the start of life we have all being given a purpose to full fill here on earth. If you go back from where you came having not fulfilled your mission and not taking your time to find out about God and his Jesus Christ is son. I would encourage you to think it over and mediate on these words of john about Jesus

John 1:4-5 “In him was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it” That some light is still shining today while you still have time here on earth make sure you comprehend it.

A life driven by purpose

A purpose driven life is a life that has a spring in its steps and momentum to move in the direction of achievement and success. It refuses mediocrity and strives for the goals that it has before it. It stands up and carry’s on pressing forward when it experiences difficulty, set backs and problems. In other words it learns that trials, difficulty and problems are to be overcome. So when it encounters them it learns lessons and forges forward to the pre-planned destination. Here are further benefits of the purpose driven life.

Purpose brings meaning to your life – You know why people go to palm readers, witches or rely on astrology is because they want to find meaning in their lives. When life has no meaning we struggle and we don’t feel fulfilled. The purpose driven life gives meaning to your life which spars you to take action and improve your life and that of those around you. The truth is without GOD you can’t really find the meaning to your life. Someone once said that the greatest tragedy is not death, but life without purpose, because purpose gives you hope and without hope you can’t live a purpose driven life. The true source of Hope is purpose.

Purpose will simplify your life- Purpose will help you determine what’s on your agenda every day. Instead of being pulled into many different direction and confused on what you should do, purpose will present with the list of activities that are worthy for your time. It will also release you from the pressures that other people put on your time. Purpose will help you indentify the time stealers in your life. By this I mean the things that we start doing intending to do them for say 2 minutes and we end up doing them for 3 hours.

My time stealer was playing bricks on my black berry; I used to play that game for like 3 hour and I always only intended to play it for two minutes. I realized after about 3 weeks that if I did not delete that game off my black berry my life would be ruled by the game of bricks. Because I had purpose I was able to overcome this and re focus on my purpose. Can you indentify your time stealers? What are they? What are you going to do to get rid of your time stealers?

A life driven by purpose

According to the free internet dictionary purpose is the object toward which one strives or for which something exists; an aim or a goal. You will be called a man or woman of purpose if you are determined and have resolved to reach your goals regardless of what obstacles, feeling, or emotions you might have. This is the man or woman marching forward regardless of opposition, discouragement, past experiences, and have their eyes fixed on the goal ahead of them.

A life driven by purpose is a life looking forward to what’s going to be achieved, attained and accomplished in future. It’s a life that has chosen to move on and forget about past hurts, bad memories and unhealthy worrying. It is a life that has, sort to forgive others and sort forgiveness for its own wrongs from God. You will know you are around such a life because most of the time what it talks about is positive, solution seeking and always seeks to encourage and empower you and itself to progress in life.

There are five benefits that Rick Warren talks about in his book; we will look at these tomorrow. This life is not controlled by materialism and its source of approval is not in others but the goal set before it. This is the life I believe that brought electricity to the world, invented some of the best medical breakthroughs in history, helped add value to your life by giving you an opportunity to learn and is constantly working behind the scenes to bring out new inventions thereby raising our living standard. You have been given the key to open the door to a purpose driven life, embrace it and gave us an opportunity to enjoy what you have to offer the world

The Value of drive

I hope as we have been looking at the value of drive you are begging to identify what drives your own life. Your drive can sometimes hide your motives, and if you really what to know what is your motive for doing sometime search your heart and think about what is the primary force ruling your actions? Whereas motive is the reason, aim or intention for doing something, drive guides motive into how and why to do it. Now let’s look at three more things that can drive our lives;

Driven by fear-sometimes past traumatic experiences such as being abused by some can cause us to fear. Or some people come from families where they have over protected and controlling parents, then over time they become afraid of doing things by themselves. These people miss great opportunities because they are afraid to venture out, instead they play it safe, avoiding risks and trying to maintain the status quo. The next value I will be taking about in the next two days is the value of risking taking so if driven by fear tune in I will definitely have a word to encourage you.

Driven by the need for approval- there are those who let other peoples expectation about their lives control them. It could be career demands that their parents have placed on them, or performance expectation that coach has for them, or even may friends controlling their lives. If you find yourself in this category, my advice to you is “that the followers or a crowd normally get lost in it” (Rick Warren), if you want to surely fail please and follow everyone.

Driven by Materialism- there some people who are driven by the desire to acquire the latest Gucci bag, the latest I-phone or the latest thing in fashion. They think that having material possessions will bring happiness in their lives. What they don’t realize is that having material things only make you happy for a little while, because things change quicker we eventually become bored and want bigger, newer or latest versions. Do fail into the trap of believing that having more money will make you happy. Don’t get me wrong I want you to make as much money as you want just don’t let money and material stuff make you.

The value of drive

In his bestselling book the purpose driven life Rick Warren advices that a person can be driven by guilt, resentment, anger, fear, materialism, need for approval. Let’s explore these further and get a clear understanding how the value of drive works;

Driven by guilt- This is the sort of person who is ruled by regrets and the need to hide their shame. The source of these regrets and shame originates from memories. Simply put they allow the past to control their future. A while back I was running and looking behind me to see if a bus was coming, and as I kept on running I kept on bumping into different people. One person complained

“Can’t you watch where you are going?” the next person said

“Ouch!!!! Did you have to step on my foot mate?” and still the 3rd one said

“Are you crazy cant you watch where you are going?”

Guilt driven people are always looking backwards and constantly hurting themselves with painfully memories. They are prisoners to their past, the best way to release yourself from this sort of painful torment is by learning from your experiences and constantly focusing on the lessons rather than the hurt and reason for the hurt.

Driven by resentment- the people driven by resentment always feel bitter and offended over something that someone did to them. Instead of seeking forgiveness and redress to the hurt they hold to it and it becomes a video they play over and over in their mind. What they don’t realize is the only person they are hurting is themselves, as they person who offered them might have moved on and no longer remembers the episode. The best way to drive yourself out of resentment is to guide yourself into forgiveness and let go and let God.

Driven by Anger- a person driven by anger is easily irritated, enraged or annoyed. Because of some past experiences they are always on the defensive. They easily blow up and explode onto others. In friendship you have to be careful about such people because they would normally get you into trouble than good. Stop at think for a moment, do you know anyone who is driven by any of these characteristics mentioned above? Have you at a point in your life been driven by one of the above characteristics?

The value of drive

The common definition for the word drive is to propel, control, direct and guide. Pertaining your life if I was to ask you what control’s it, what propels it, what directs it and where do you get your guidance from what would your answer be? The value of drive can be looked at as the source of the energy that influences, rules and control your life. Generally when you ask people at different points in their life they will tell you they are either driven by a problem, pressure, and deadline to meet, a painful memory, a haunting fear, their circumstances or emotions

1. Driven by problem

There are those who are driven by problems to which they see no way out so their main focus is on the problem. They think of the problem and focus mainly on the negatives aspects of it. While there are those who a driven by the need to find solution to the problems they are facing. The solution focused people drive themselves out of any problem they face.

2. Driven by pressure

Whether it is political pressure, peer pressure and organizational pressure, those driven by pressure are influenced by the pressure exerted by a peer group in encouraging a person to change his or her attitudes, values, beliefs or behavior in order to conform to group norms. Social groups affected include membership groups, when the individual is "formally" a member (for example, political party, trade union), or a social clique. A person affected by peer pressure may or may not want to belong to these groups. Peer pressure can cause people to do things they would not normally do, e.g. promote hatred, take drugs, smoke, get a girlfriend, marry, get a job, have children, buy items they don't really need (cars, houses, boats), etc. So always check those around and how they influence you and remember to remain true to yourself, your values and beliefs.

3. Driven by deadline

Sometimes we set unrealistic deadline or people set deadlines that we have to meet and the duration of reaching this deadline the attainment of it becomes the primary focus of our life. A classic example is towards the end of every year and end of April most accounts departments for many firms have a deadline to meet and during this period everything is left on the way side and the primary focus is on the year end.

I will encourage you stop and have look at yourself and ask what is driving your life?

THE VALUE OF HARDWORK

When I say that so and so is a hard working person what picture comes into your mind? To me the picture that comes to mind is of someone who comes to work on time, consistently achieves their set goals or objectives, always lending a hand to other members of team because the understanding of together we are stronger.

While excellence deals with doing things right and creatively, hard word deals with putting your heart and soul into your task at hand ---giving it 100%? Without using shortcuts, slacking, or cheating! People who are committed at this level of service are always easy targets for promotion and progression in any organization. You would be surprised that research has shown that only 5% of the work force are committed to this level of productivity.

Ask your this question are you with the 95% or 5%?

ZIGGY DUST-DANCING ROAD CLEANER

Zizzy dust as we have come to know him is a polish road sweeper in Chiswick, West London. He rose to stardom on you tube and world press by showing extra-ordinary passion to his work (sweeping the street). What has marked him out from other road sweepers is the fact the he sweeps, dances and have fun while he is doing it. Here is a couple of comments from the people who have seen Ziggy dust, zinging on the streets.

Jackie Carr said: "I love the dancing bin man who works in Chiswick High Road. He makes me smile every time I see him." Kieran Loughran said: "The dancing bin man is a breath of fresh air." (Sourced from the evening standard) How many of us would say something that positive about a street sweeper. I bet not many, when you pursue excellence with passion in what you do, you will get you noticed even in places where people would not normally notice you.

Now here is what the man himself had to say about his road sweeping?

"I dance while I am working as it makes it more fun. I love music and dancing. I am used to performing and I get a great reaction from people in Chiswick. Mothers stop with their children and dance with me and one old lady phoned the council to say she wanted to take me for a cup of tea on my break. It is not the most interesting of jobs but I am very happy doing it as I make other people happy and have made lots of friends." (From the Evening Standard Newspaper). To him what gives him joy in his work is the people he makes happy.

If you want to have a laugh and see why ziggy is making people happy please follow the link below for a video of Ziggy in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THFTwkNJVe4

The 8 things that the value of excellence will require of you

If you are passionate about your work, have a persistent commitment to quality, and will continue with a relentless attention to details then you will have the essential markers of excellence. Quality work and an appreciation for the importance of details benefit not just the clients a business serves; these attitudes and habits also bring joy and peace of mind to the person who delivers the work. To know how to do something exceptionally well is to enjoy it. The last four habits you need for excellence are;

5. Paying attention to details

The thing behind every outstanding act is always found in the smallest of details."If you long to accomplish great and noble tasks, you first must learn to approach every task as though it were great and noble. Even the biggest plans depend on the success of the smallest components. Many people downplay small details, dismissing them as minutia-the "small stuff," that we're encouraged to ignore. But, in fact, our whole environment is simply collection of small details.

Successful people, in many walks of life, understand the importance of detail: Watching CSI you will notice that crime scene investigators know that it's often the smallest, most obscure detail that results in the arrest and prosecution of criminals. In Athletes coaches are all too aware that one minor misjudgement can swing momentum to their competitor and result in a loss rather than a win.

6. Loyalty

Watch your words, never speak negatively about your boss or be around those who do because you do not want those seeds to be planted inside of you. Loyalty includes taking charge of bad thoughts. Don’t think of your boss in a bad way. Every thought you have produces something in my life. Negative thoughts will produce negative fruit in my life. Make it your deliberate effort to focus mostly on the good parts and before you know it as you think so it will become.

7. Perception

Pay attention to the perception that your boss has of you because it is generally his reality of you. Anytime my boss sees me working it should as if I am working hard. Perception is more powerful than truth. If my boss perceives me as a hard worker I will get a raise. Remember your boss can’t be there every single hour to see how hard you are working so the limited time he is there make sure he perceives you as a hard worker. Perceptions guard it, protect it and enhance it.

In case you are wondering what is the 8th thing you have to do to becoming excellent, commit to doing the first 7 things and before long the 8th will become clear to you when it does will you please post a comment on my blog and let me know?

The 8 things that the value of excellence will require of you

Every time I come across someone who is in pursuit of excellence I astonished how rich and valuable it is to be around them. First it is the pace and momentum by which they do things, the energy they exude and the beauty of seeing their finished excellent work. If you want to cross over into excellence you must be willing to pursue the following habits;

1. Love solving problems

Don’t be intimated by problems, take them head on. Because in the process you will be learning something new, that will help you understand your job better or perhaps even maybe yourself. Research has shown that people who like solving problems are almost always promoted in their places of work and always also easy to get along with.

2. Discover what is the most important thing to the person you are serving.

When I was a teenager I used to work for Marks and Spencer and my boss at the time set us targets. But his main thing was he wanted his staff workers to be on time every morning. Even though I met and exceeded my targets he was always unhappy with me then, because of my time keeping. Eventually he had to let me go because I was hitting my target for work but not the target that is important to him that is time keeping.

3. Serve or give of yourself as you would like other people to give/ serve to you.

Imagine you are the most important person around, how would you like to be served? Now imagine you are serving yourself when you’re serving someone else. What kind of service would give to you? Give that to others you will be surprised how this simple exercises elevate your excellence and joy in serving.

4. Be willing to do or give more than is required of you

The people we celebrate in history, literature and religion gave more that was required of them. Think of mother Teresa and the orphans and the poor of Calcutta she gave more than was required of her and now even those she is dead she has inspired thousands of people to follow in her footsteps.

Friends will you please be committed to a life lived excellently by loving to solve problems, indentifying what is important to the people we serve, giving and serving others as we would like to be served and a willingness to do and give more than is required of us. Please write areas where you want to start serving excellently?