The 5am Club: Own your Morning Elevate your Life (Book Review)

Robin Sharma author of The 5am Club is a Leadership expert that help others to be more productive in their affairs. The 5am Club is based on a concept that the author has been using to teach sports superstars, music icons, members of royalty, CEOs of legendary companies and celebrated entrepreneurs for over twenty years.

The 5 AM Club is a terrific fictitious story of two people who wanted a to have productive, peaceful and prosperous lives. They coincidentally met in an event with Mr Stone Riley who later mentored and taught them how to live a successful life.

Some quotes in the book

Life’s too short to play small with your talents. You were born into the opportunity to become legendary. You’ve been built to achieve masterwork level projects, designed to realize unusually important pursuits and constructed to be a force for good on this tiny planet. – The Spellbinder

The greatest starting point for winning in your work and making a splendid life is joining The 5 AM Club

The moment when you most feel like giving up is the instant when you must find it in you to press ahead

Ideas are worth nothing unless backed by application. The smallest of implementations is always worth more than the grandest of intentions

No matter where you are on the pathway of your life, please don’t let the pain of an imperfect past hinder the glory of your fabulous future

All change is hard at first, messy in the middle and gorgeous at the end

Punctuality is the trait of royalty

 

The 5 AM Club would teach you:

i. How successful people start their mornings and maximize it to be more productive

ii. formula to use that would make you wake up early and feeling inspired.

iii. How to maximize your day for exercise, self-renewal and personal growth while avoiding distractions.

And much more.

Click on this to download and don’t forget to share it with your friends and family.

If you find this very helpful, I'm sure being part of an outstanding community such as our Facebook Group to get updates on the latest gist and intellectual information will not be as an option.

Do well to leave us a comment on the comments section below.

To your innermost growth,

Antonza Calvin Karim

 

The Richest Man in Babylon (Book Review)

The Richest Man in Babylon a book written by George S. Clason in 1926 shares principles people can obey to obtain financial freedom. Knowing fully well that money is required to bring our ambitions and desires to fulfillment, the author shares unchanging principles that can be obeyed to obtain it. Like the law of attraction, the principles shared in this book are unchanging as a result, pay attention to them.

Some quotes in the book

You must learn to live upon less than you earn and seek advice from those who were competent through their own experiences to give it

You must learn to make money work for you

A part of what you earn is yours to keep

The author shares The Seven Cures of a Learn Purse and The Five Laws of Gold that can enable one to fatten his/her purse.

The Seven Cures For a Lean Purse

1.  i. For every income, you receive keep and pay yourself. Save 10% or one-tenth of it for yourself.

2.  ii. Write down the things you will spend on, select those things that are necessary, and cross out the unnecessary things.

     iii. Put your money into laboring that it may reproduce its kind even as the flocks of the field and bring to thee income, a stream of wealth.

4.  iv. Before thou entrust money as an investment in any field acquit thyself with the dangers which beset it. Be not be too confident of thine own wisdom in entrusting thy treasures to the possible pitfalls of investments.

5.   v. Build your house.

6.   vi. Insure a future income. A man may buy houses or lands for this purpose.

7.   vii. Cultivate thy own powers to study and become wiser, to become more skillfull.

            

        

The 5 Laws of Gold

1.   i. Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family.

2.   ii. Gold laboreth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds for its profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field.

3.   iii. Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling

4.   iv. Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in business or purpose which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in it.

5.    v. Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who followeth the alluring advice of trickers and schemers or who trust it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investments.

Though The Richest Man in Babylon was first published in 1926, it has inspired many in the 21^st century and enabled them to gain financial independence. Click on this link to download and don’t forget to share it with your friends and family.

If you find this very helpful, I'm sure being part of an outstanding community such as our Facebook Group to get updates on the latest gist and intellectual information will not be as an option.

Do well to leave us a comment on the comments section below.

To your innermost growth,

Antonza Calvin Karim

 

 

Tips on How To Stay Healthy

You may have probably heard the famous saying that health is wealth. In as much as we desire and work hard to earn more for ourselves and loved ones, we should not also forget to keep ourselves healthy. With good health, you’ll be able to reap the benefit or fruits of your labour.

One best way to pay attention to your health is to rest. After working for a long period of time, resting would be of great help to you. In as much as we try to create time to rest our bodies, sometimes unplanned circumstances occur, and you find yourself in the rat race of working 9 to 10 hours stretch without time to rest. But notwithstanding, all things are possible, you can create moments at your workplace when you can mark out a little amount of time (say 10 to 15 minutes) to rest.  Resting is important because it activates your mind and ensures that you gain more energy. Some people might ask questions like ‘are rest days important?’ or ‘are rest days good?’. I think the answer to such type of questions is yes. If you are the type that works from Mondays to Friday, you can set out the weekend to rest. Finally, to rest is essential because it enables you to gain focus, think critically and be more productive.

As we all know, water is life; therefore, the intake of sufficient amount of water is vital for us to stay healthy. Water cleans up the waste product and aid digestion in the body. After working for a full day, you definitely would have lost water through sweat from your body. Taking water can enable you to maximize your energy and boost/enhance your brain function. What water does to your body is of great importance compared to what other liquid substance you take would do.

Water should not be substituted with soft drinks because they do have a side effect such as but not limited to heart disease, risk of cancer or even diabetes. Ensure you stay hydrated at all moment because doing so would keep your Kidneys healthy. You don’t want to spend your finance on dialysis if peradventure your kidney fails.

Sleeping is also another way to keep yourself healthy. The National Sleep Foundation Recommends that Adults between 26 to 64 years sleep for 7 to 9 hours. Sleeping is essential because it enables you to gain back lost energy that was lost while working. Sleeping also keeps your heart healthy. In as much as it is good to sleep, sleeping too much should be avoided.

Another way to stay healthy is by regular exercise of the body. Exercising keeps us fit and reduces the risk of diseases such as stroke, heart disease, overweight and high blood pressure. You sure wouldn’t want to use your hard-earned money to treat unplanned sicknesses and diseases.

Staying healthy would give you the ability to work hard and smart in your job or business. 

If you find this very helpful, I'm sure being part of an outstanding community such as our Facebook Group to get updates on the latest gist and intellectual information will not be as an option.

Do well to leave us a comment on the comments section below.

To your innermost growth,

Antonza Calvin Karim

REDEFINING IDENTITY

A lot of times in our lives, we are faced with challenges that makes our mind believe what is false and so, we tend to look down on ourselves.

Do you know what that means?

You're saying that your creator probably got it wrong somewhere in the making. Mind you, nothing God made was ever a mistake or was never good enough  for God saw all He had made and He said, it was good.

In any circumstances you are probably swallowed up in, there's always an echoes of voices, but it depends on which voice you listen to  there is the true voice and the false voice. The reality of our problems sometimes makes us believe there's no hope again, hence we give up but if there is a problem, there is a solution to it  for problems are meant to be solved. The challenges we face are only there to build us, and give us the opportunity to grow. 

"Opportunity can become obstacles, same way obstacles can become opportunities; it all depends on how they are being interpreted by the mind of a person" DR MYLES MUNROE.

Don't get entangled in your challenges to become a slave to your fears, but be the master and choose to rise above it, choose what to believe. Don't believe the false voice that says you're not good enough; you can't do it; just give up; you're a looser; you're a failure; you'll never get an A; you won't last long; you are dull; this disease runs in the family, it is hereditary, so it's normal; nobody loves you; you're ugly; can anything good comes out of you?... and so on.

Giving in to all of these false voices is dependent on you and what you know and believe about yourself. How about you start believing the truth about yourself, for a lot of people have swallowed the pills of the devil's lie, and they can't see the truth in them.

On a fateful day, a course mate said to me that I am dull, whether she meant it or not, it got to me and I thought it was true because of the reality of my low test score that day, I believed that statement for a very short period, but I didn't let it define me.

It's high time you redefined your identity. Maybe you're not moving any further because you've believed in a lie for so long. Open your mind for the light to come in. How about believing that you can do it, and you're the best of your kind. Logically you may accept the reality of the challenge you're faced with but never let it define you. 

"The picture we have of ourselves, will always determine how we respond to life."

DR MYLES MUNROE.

Only in God is the truth about you  His creation. You will never be able to embark on the journey of your identity or destiny, if you keep listening to false voices. Guard your heart from the lies and stay focused on the truth to set your mind right.

Why Strategy is Important

Ideas are all products of our imaginations, they are first thought about in the mind before they become realities. You must have heard people say ‘Ideas rule the world’. Indeed, Ideas rules the world, but then, how can an idea rule the world if it is not brought forth to become a reality? If only inventors left their ideas in their mind there is no way what they produced would have ruled the world.

The person who wants to build a new house tells his idea to the architect who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. The same thing goes for a person who needs a software/program for his business. He tells software developer or programmer about his ideas, who then design the blueprint of the software that is to be created before embarking on the project, the list goes on. Therefore, it can be clearly seen that ideas are thought about first before a plan is brought about to make it a reality. 

Strategy, on the other hand, is a plan that is used to achieve one or more long term goal. Some might ask questions like 'Can strategy be learnt?' or 'Can strategy be taught?'. The answer is yes to both questions. I will tell you why strategy matters in a story. An example of how a strategy was carried out effectively could be seen in the ancient battle that took place between the Greeks and the Trojans. For about 10 years the Greek armies had tried to go into Troy during the Trojan war to no avail. Then Odysseus who was the leader as at that time came up with a strategy that changed the story of the Greek battle forever. 

The Greek kept on repeating the same thing for about 10 years that was why they never won the battle. Sometimes we keep repeating the same habits financially and then expect ourselves to gain access to wealth. It’s no longer news that everyone wants to be financially independent but the question is what strategy is used to carry out that plan? For example, a person that earns $25.72 (about 10,000 Naira) monthly who refuses to save/invest in something gets it wrong. A wise decision to make is to keep at least 10% of his/her income. All that is earned is not all that should be spent. The amount earned monthly might look little but with a good strategy, that same amount of money can go a long way to help the person who earns it to become financially free.

The Greeks even though they were powerful tried their best to defeat Troy for about 10 years but they failed because of a bad strategy, but when Odysseus came up with something that was not usual (a good strategy), they were able to defeat them with ease. You might also earn $514.43 (about 200,000 Naira) but with a bad strategy, you can find yourself broke at the end of the month. It was Albert Einstein who said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. Sometimes to see results in our Financial lives, we need to change the strategy that we are using.

What strategy have you used or are you using to change your Financial Story?

If you find this very helpful, I'm sure being part of an outstanding community such as our Facebook Group to get updates on the latest gist and intellectual information will not be as an option.

Do well to leave us a comment on the comments section below.

To your innermost growth,

Antonza Calvin Karim

Latest Google Scholarships for Virtual Career Certificate Programs

Tech jobs are highly in demand in today’s online-focused industry, and with Americans relying on technology to work, attend school and socialize from home, that demand isn’t going away anytime soon. In light of that need, Google is preparing to launch three new Career Certificate Programs and is offering 100,000 need-based scholarships for non-traditional students looking to break into a new industry.

Google’s Career Certificate Programs will take approximately three (3) to six (6) months in order to complete. Meanwhile, no previous experience required. Students are to use the digital platform Coursera to access the class. Upon completion, students gain access to resources to help “facilitate their job search and interview preparation,” according to the Program’s website. Upcoming programs offer certification for data analysts, project managers or UX designers - jobs that Google estimates as averaging wages of $66k to $93k a year.

To attract students to their platform, Google offers one final boon – if students apply to related roles at Google, then during the hiring process the company will treat their certificates as the equivalent of a four-year degree.

Google hopes these programs will help Americans struggling to find high-paying work connect with in-demand growth fields. But they’re also an attractive option for traditional students who are not planning to enroll for the Fall 2020 semester due to COVID-19. If you’re taking a year or just a semester off, perhaps a Career Certificate Program sounds appealing? You can trust Google to deliver a reliable online program, and you can learn anytime and from anywhere.

Because there are many college scholarships out there doesn’t mean you have the time to go searching, and many won’t even match your profile. We’ve done the work and Selfdevhub.com is totally free. We have the search algorithms to save you time in finding, and applying to tech scholarships. 

--

To your utmost growth, 

Maga Godwin.

If you find this very helpful, Inspire your friends by sharing with them. We encourage you to join our Facebook Group  

Leave us a comment on the comments section below

You may also SUBSCRIBE to SelfDev HUB's newsletters in order to get latest updates directly sent into your mail box. 

After subscribing make sure you check your email for a verification link and click on it to verify your subscription.

Why you should pay attention to your Financial Life

Everything created was made for a purpose. The manufacturer saw the result of the product/service that was to be created in his/her mind first. A clear picture of what problem the product/service would solve was first seen in the mind before the manufacturer went ahead to create it. Moreover, no manufacturer wants to start creating a product without knowing what problem that product would solve. They see the big picture of what they want to produce then they goto plan and strategize on what to do to make that idea become a reality.

For example, Alexander Graham Bell who is best known for the invention of the telephone transformed communication as we know it today. The purpose of his invention was to create a device that enabled many messages to be transmitted over wires at the same time. Funded by investors, it took a period of at least 4 years (1871 – 1875) for that purpose to become a reality.

Also, the purpose of why the electric dynamo was created in 1831 by Michael Faraday was to solve the problem of generating electric current. Today, the electric dynamo is used in generators, turbines, and windmills to generate electric current.

Compulsory education was introduced in Nigeria in the 1970s to ensure that the problem of ignorance and illiteracy is solved. In Nigeria, students spend at least 16 years in school to acquire formal education.  Parents begin taking their children to school at an early age where they are groomed, trained, and equipped so that they will end up becoming responsible and productive people in society. At the end of every term/semester, parents are expected to pay their children's school fees.

There is always a reason why something is done. You buy food to eat to solve the problem of hunger, you buy books to read so that you would educate and exercise your mind, you pay to learn a skill to aid yourself financially after using that skill to work for someone.

The question arises when you know what problem you want to solve but yet you lack the financial backing to support yourself. Probably, you have the idea of creating something that would be of great value to humanity but unfortunately, there is no financial backing. What do you do? This is the reason why you should pay attention to your financial life.

Building relationships with strategic people and people of influence that would sponsor you financially whenever the need arises is one way to pay attention to your financial life. Joshua S. Nimmak, a well-renowned clergy from Nigeria puts it this way, "If you have to use money to buy everything you desire, then you're truly broke”.  A relationship could be a huge asset that would help you in a lifetime. It is important to pay attention to the people you know who have the potential of becoming great. Build a solid relationship with those kinds of people and you would be grateful you did so for a lifetime because when you need financial assistance at a particular point in time, they will be right there to help you out.  Successful people are also in need of something, try as much as possible to find what that thing is, then use that opportunity to build a relationship with them. 

Kindly share things you have done to be able to receive financial assistance from other people.

If you find this very helpful, I'm sure being part of an outstanding community such as our Facebook Group to get updates on the latest gist and intellectual information will not be as an option.

Do well to leave us a comment on the comments section below.

To your innermost growth,

Antonza Calvin Karim

QUEST FOR KNOWLEDGE AND CLARITY

We live in a civilization where ignorance is an antagonist to positive development, achievement and success, and therefore the quest for knowledge around and within us can’t be abjured. For this every reason, we are inquisitive for the knowledge of things we have no or little information of, in order that our decision making is knowledge based and not impetuously based on assumptions, which aren’t always factual.

Think about it – Is there any day where questions are not asked, no matter how minute the detail of the question? I don't think there is a day without a quest for knowledge and clarity of things. The mind is designed as the seat of reasoning. Therefore, it is inborn for any human to be inquisitive about what he or she has no knowledge of, for the mind is wired to accommodate and scrutinize knowledge for proper application towards producing functional and required results. For when you don't ask questions about those things you are or not familiar with, you will have no or less knowledge about them and in turn become unproductive. Lack of knowledge results in ignorance, and ignorance deprives one of opportunities and achievements. A lot of people have missed a golden opportunity, due to ignorance, and some are in regression, due to the lack of knowledge. "Your questions introduce you to solutions" Dr Mike Murdock.

Let's travel back in time when we were kids. You will discover one characteristics of children is that, they are agog to know things. A child can ask questions more than ten times a day, because he or she is curious in knowing and understanding what is vague to him or her, and sometimes you find him or her giving out the same information he or she just learnt to friends. 

“It is ideal to talk about what you truly have comprehended but you cannot successfully and confidently discuss what you have no knowledge about.”

“The essence of asking question(s), is for clarity, and when there is clarity about a thing, there is an investiture of confidence and peace to the mind.”

“It is detrimental to sternly hold unto assumptions.”

Let’s look at this story of a student who had a lecture scheduled for 8am and on his way to school, he met the supposed lecturer for that course just by the road side boarding a cab at 7:45am. Without any further enquiry, he presumed there wouldn’t be the lecture for that course and went on to face other activities, but little had he known that the lecturer rejigged his schedule for the lecture with a quiz at 8:10am prompt. The student’s assumption that the lecture won’t hold, cost him to miss the quiz. 

Our mental health is as important as the physical health. People put a lot of stress on the mind, trying to figure out a situation, or exhausting themselves over subtle details of things, when they have the option to just ask the question that unfolds the subtlety, rather than becoming passive in getting understanding or clarity.

“To figure subtle things out, is to ask questions and asking the right questions.”

Are there things you should have had long ago if only you had asked, or a relationship you would have saved if only you tried to ask the right questions, or a contract you should have gotten if you had asked certain questions, in order to make your decision based on knowledge?

If you must know – ask.

If you need wisdom – ask.

When it seems too difficult – ask.

When you need clarity – ask.

To find, you've got to seek.

To gain access, you've got to knock.

To possess, you've got to ask.

"Unasked questions are rarely answered" Dr Mike Murdock. 

Never Give Up on Your Quest to Success

Most people give up because they lack some sort of support. Some are simply because they lack the necessary resources, others do not even have the motivation it takes. While, some do not have the full knowledge needed for the commencement of a project, or a course, etc.

Winners never give up

I implore you to start from somewhere, yes! You can start from anywhere, from any level you are right now. Start that project, put forth into the practical use of that idea, get a mentor, make a research about that business. 

Sometimes, you will be rejected, but I beseech you to please never back down! I can assure you that It is absolutely not the right time to back down but rather, the right time to start and to put more effort.

This is Brian, the man who ended up creating Whatsapp. Despite being rejected by Facebook and Twitter...  He never gave up, Brian continued to believe in himself and his abilities. 

Be encouraged and have faith as you work towards your goals in life. 

--

To your utmost growth, 

Maga Godwin.

If you find this very helpful, Inspire your friends by sharing with them. We encourage you to join our Facebook Group  

Leave us a comment on the comments section below

You may also SUBSCRIBE to SelfDev HUB's newsletters in order to get latest updates directly sent into your mail box. 

After subscribing make sure you check your email for a verification link and click on it to verify your subscription.

Follow These Four (4) Steps Before Building a New Website

Today I'd be sharing with you the four (4) critical tips in which you should put into serious consideration so that your understanding of how the process of building a website professionally can be made simple by knowing the right approach to building a site from scratch.

When building a new website, it's very essential to understand and identify what the website will be used for, what the site is all about.

Is it an E-commerce site, or a Blog? Are you building for a private organization? What features do they need?

How can you implement these features without having to waste too much time and effort trying to develop the site?

You may want to consider other questions that I may have not mentioned here. You see, when you look at it from the perspective of these questions, then and only then would you realize the importance of following the four steps I'm about to mention. Meanwhile, if you've been part of the Google Africa Developers Scholarship #GADS2020, you should be familiar with these four steps that every developer should consider when building a new website.

So here goes the for steps or processes:

1. Build Mockup Pages first.

Yes, practice working with mock-ups. An initial set of files that constitute your website or its pages can be referred to as a mock-up, or as scaffolding, if they only exist to display an initial visual design. This means that a mock-up page of your site can be regarded as a prototype that portrays visually how the components of the real website pages are arranged or placed, a graphical visual representation of how the actual website is expected to look.

See the example below:

Website Mock-up/Prototype

You need to build a prototype of the real website you intend to design or develop. This can be done in several ways but I am going talk of just one way which I use and consider the most convenient way on how to do this, but you may as well google for other means if you so desire.

Website Mock-up/Prototype

So, how do I set up my mock-up or prototype? I simply use a software called JUSTINMIND, it allows users to make a prototype for websites by either importing it from Sketch, Adobe XD, or Photoshop. I preferably start a new prototype.

NOTE: If you have any software other than this or a method aside this one that you use and feel might be better, please kindly share with us on the comment section below.

2. Build the skeleton of the entire pages

Just a quick heads-up!

Beware that it would be absolutely misleading or confusing to use the term "framework" as a substitute for the skeleton. Though it is not totally wrong, I'd advise you not to refer to the skeleton of a website as a framework because, the term "framework" usually refers to something like Flutter, ASP.NET, or Angular.

So what exactly is a skeleton of a website?

"The basic HTML skeleton is the set of tags required of every HTML web page you build.

You are to build your HTML skeleton using the prototype you've designed.

3. Add CSS 3 (Style)

In this section, we'd see reasons why we need to learn CSS3 and the packages or features that it comes out of the box.

Why CSS3?

The primary reason as to why most developers use CSS3 is basically because of its flexibility in handling. Take it from me, CSS3 is just so flexible and when you get the hang of it, it becomes even easier to recall and implement.

Merit of CSS3

CSS3 helps to achieve multiple column layouts with simple implementation method, for GADS participants, I'm sure you've all watched the "Practical HTML5" course on Pluralsight by Gill Cleeren. Also, CSS3 comes out of the box with "handling multiple background images" feature. If you've somehow missed this topic as a GADS student, or for the very fact that you're just a newbie developer looking for the best guide, click here to sign for the course on Pluralsight. Existing users can also use the link I just provided.

4. Add JavaScript (Functionality)

These days, a site without UX and well-structured UI is almost very annoying... But hey, there are static websites out there that tell very brief information and this is for one or more reasons depending on what the owners of the site desire to have placed therein. Meanwhile, such a site must have an appealing user interface (UI). JScript enables developers to add functionalities to their site. I'd personally recommend you learn JSscript no matter how hards you find it to be. The easy way out is to get engage with projects, get a mentor, yes! Find one, you must not meet physically with your mentor. Get serious! If you haven't decided what career you aspire to attain in life, you really need to do that first before spending time and effort investing in programming for the web or any other platform.

With the four (4) processes mentioned above, I hope you now have a better understanding of what you should focus more energy and time on. This article was intended to help you rate all four with equal priority so that you don't disregard any.

--

To your utmost growth, 

Maga Godwin.

If you find this very helpful, Inspire your friends by sharing with them. We encourage you to join our Facebook Group  

Leave us a comment on the comments section below

You may also SUBSCRIBE to SelfDev HUB's newsletters in order to get latest updates directly sent into your mail box. 

After subscribing make sure you check your email for a verification link and click on it to verify your subscription.