Strange Habits Of Lifelong Winners

On The Path Of Winners

BY BAYO OGUNMUPE

Strange Habits Of Lifelong Winners

MOSTLY, our lives are pretty satisfactory. Our jobs are bearable, since we get along with most of our cowokers while our careers are moving along reasonable clip. At our leisure hours, our lives are happy too. Besides, we keep friends and family with room for happiness and companionship.

  However, there is room for you to think, that maybe, with a slight change in the way you handle your affairs, your lives could improve significantly. It is certainly true that it takes just a slight change in the way you live, perhaps a relocation to another city, to make a huge difference in your prospects for successful achievement.

  Try these simple, strange, habits for radically improving your life right now and see if the results you experience aren’t significantly better.

  One, always do what you say you are going to do. Long ago, I learned the importance of following through on my promises. While in High School in the 1960s, I spent summer holiday with my friend Shamsudeen Amali, in the home of Professor Robert Armstrong, then the Director of the Institute of African Studies, University of Ibadan. In the quarters of the professor, I came in contact with Bertrand Russell’s books. Armstrong had about ten different books of Russel, most of which I read avidly at the time. I enjoyed Russel’s command of language and I prayed to write like him. I even wrote Russell, then a Nobel prizewinner in philosophy, although he was a professor of mathematics.

  My dream of writing books was fulfilled only recently just because I voiced the desire and a friend paid for the publication in dollars. So, always do what you wish to do, even if you have changed your mind. You will build bridges of trust that will continue to improve your life over time. Two, the deeper you get into your career, the more time you spend at desks, robbing you any chances for exercise. But doctors have found that exercise does not just improve your physical health, it improves your brain as well, giving you greater focus, concentration, sharpening your memory and lowering stress.

  Three, change your scenery. Sometimes, it takes just a change of scenery to shake things up for the better. Researchers affirm that prosperity resides in neighbourhoods, that you could become more prosperous only by changing your residence. Therefore, for your prosperity travel to a different city or town. Take a vacation to a different country; just break out of your old routine. Four, give yourself a face-lift. Volunteer by joining a non-profit organization which is devoted to a cause you are interested in. such organizations include a cancer society, helping internally displaced persons find homes or helping the unemployed find jobs.

  Five, get a new set of friends by shifting your life into a higher gear and constantly adding new acquaintances. Your new friends will naturally foist on you, new perspectives and experiences. Six, change your career, unless you are very happy with your present occupation. A new career will throw you out of your comfort zone. Perhaps, you can improve your life b y taking a break from your current routine. Seven, stop trying to be someone you are not. Just be yourself, there is no other person like you; you are perfect the way you are.

  Eight, as a relief from boredom, attend week-long conferences. There is nothing like going back to school. It will keep your mind sharp, giving you greater opportunity to excel in your career. Nine, forgive that person whose remembrance irks you, makes you bluster. Truly, he has mistreated, cheated you. Instead of letting him hold you back, forgive him or her; then move on. Ten, it is easy to get stuck in a rut; get unstuck by pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. Do something each day that you normally wouldn’t do. Put yourself into an experience that would actually push you out of your set routine.

  Our champion today is Julius Rosenwald, the United States merchant and unorthodox philanthropist who opposed the idea of perpetual endowments. He frequently offered large gifts on condition that they be matched by other donations. He was notable for his aid to the education of blacks. Born in Springfield, Illinois in August 1862, went to High School and opened clothing business in New York City (1879-85), and Chicago (1885-95).

  Then, Rosenwald bought a quarter interest in sears, Roebuck and Company which became the world’s largest mail-order house and chain of retail stores. In 1910, he succeeded Richard Warren Sears as president and in 1925, became chairman of Sears. Under his leadership, Sears began manufacturing its own merchandise. Generous to charities; in 1917, he established Julius Rosenwald Fund, the chief purpose of which was the education of blacks. Augmented by other private gifts, the fund paid for the building of more than 5,000 schools in 15 southern states. In 1929, he built a Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and contributed heavily to the University of Chicago. He died in Chicago in 1932.