By Bayo Ogunmupe
Explained herewith is how daily habits are influential in achieving our dreams. After witnessing live on television the destruction of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre on 11 September, 2001, I decided to quit my job as Associate Editor of Newswatch Magazine, Nigeria. Thereafter, my wife advised I should not relent in finding a new job as long as they pay regularly. This time around, I tried to put into practice my theories on multiple streams of income. That was when I changed my daily habits. Then I went to meet my friend, the late Doyin Mahmoud, who was then the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Daily Independent newspaper. Mahmoud appointed me a part time member of their editorial board. He said that was what was possible within their organization.
Now after 18 years of practising the daily habits, my life has changed a lot. I now wake up when I please which is one of the secrets of my enduring good health. I have added real estate agency to freelancing and blogging. I am also engaged in ghost writing, and the writing of feasibility reports for banking loans as a management consultant. All these happened based on my newly adopted daily habits. The following are salient habits of mine; I hope they will help improve your life and carry you to the next level of your career. Meditation is the first step for attaining your dreams. When you make meditation a daily habit, you will see a massive change in your life. It will help you conquer anger and stress. Your memory will increase in power. Your self awareness and self confidence will increase. The best time to meditate is before you go to bed at night. You may also meditate early in the morning if call to prayer by churches and mosques would not distract you. Thirty minutes of meditation is enough.
Visualization is the second daily habit. Visualization will make you a manifestation magnet. You can only be as great as you imagine. You become what you think. The words you speak become the house you live in. Whatever you can conceive and believe you can achieve. All around you is trying to pull you down to second class citizen. Evade it. You won't escape mediocrity if you lacked the courage to cut the weight that's holding you back. If you were born into an environment you don't fit in; it means you were born to help create a new world. He whoever is hungrier to reach the top will always get there before the man of talent. Visualization should be practised after meditation. It should last up to 30 minutes daily.
Gratitude journaling is my fourth daily habit. By journaling I mean writing in your daily diary all those things you are grateful for by that day. Many things you should be grateful for: food on your table; good health, the love of your spouse and for keeping your jobs. You should express your gratitude in writing in your notebook as a mark of thanksgiving to God. Write in your notebook anytime you are so minded. Do this for ten minutes or less. Reading your goals aloud is your next daily habit. Every morning you should read your short term and long term goals five times. You will be amazed to see all your written goals are achieved one by one. The best time to do this is in the morning.
Acquiring a new skill or honing an old one is another important daily habit. When I adopted writing as the fulcrum of living, I used to write long hand for the pool typists to deliver to the editors. Not long after, almost simultaneously, all the papers retrenched the typists including half of the sub editors. Thereafter, every editor, correspondent or reporter has to write, type set and edit his report by himself. This was forced on stringers and columnists as well. That forced me to hone my typing skills which I have abandoned decades ago. Even then, it is only recently that I can type straight from the head. The adoption of my daily habits has helped me conquer these challenges. It has increased my self confidence and doubled my creativity. You only need ten to twenty minutes daily to ruminate on new skills to conquer.
My sixth daily habit is reading about five chapters of a book or about 10,000 words in newspaper articles or blog posts. This also includes scribbling some ten pages in diary recording of personal quotable quotes. Since English is a foreign language to me, I am compelled to read in order to maintain adequate vocabulary for my articles. Having a daily reading habit is a tough policy for many in this social media era. If you would enhance your life, the reading habit should be a fanimorous idea for every ambitious writer. Similarly, I started writing a minimum of five pages in diary keeping every day. To me writing is another form of meditation. Once you enter into that writing mode, you will be so enamored by the habit that you will indulge in it at any available opportunity.
In conclusion, all these habits are good for your mental health, they will enhance your creativity; improve your knowledge and finally improve your finances. I firmly believe in "what you think, you become." It has brought me and abundance of health and happiness. As we're stepping into a new year, try these habits as a challenge for the new year. These new habits will kick the bad habits out of your life, helping you to lead a peaceful and joyful life filled with abundance.
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