Evans Akpo

When your current situation is not supporting your growth. – Be willing to let go of what no longer serves you. Some situations, places, hobbies and people have expiration dates. As you grow and change, so do your needs. Staying in situations that no longer serve you will only keep you trapped and running in place. Give yourself permission to break free of what’s holding you back. Create a positive change.

When you resist good opportunities out of fear of the unknown or what others may think. – First off, forget what others think. What do you think? Instead of holding onto what isn’t working, be open to exploring new ideas and making room for what will work

When you feel numb. – When we feel numb to life, it’s because we’ve lost passion and motivation. Ask yourself if you’re just going through the motions every day. Shake up your routine. Try doing more of what you love each day – make it a priority on your planner and watch your enthusiasm come back. Make the positive change.

When you start to lie to yourself and others to avoid the truth. – Lying creates inner turmoil, shame and guilt. Instead of letting these feelings fester, ask yourself what you’re running from that you’re are afraid to admit. If you aren’t doing what you say, ask yourself why you’re over-promising. When your actions no longer align with your words, it’s time to rethink things. Actions will always speak louder than words.

While there are plenty of positive changes we seek in life – new relationships, new experiences, better education, etc. – for most of us, change represents uncertainty. With uncertainty comes insecurity and worry. The truth is, change isn’t always easy to deal with, but it’s something we have to embrace openly. We have to force a smile as best we can and push ourselves forward.

Most of us want change as much as we are afraid of it. We say things like, “I’m so unhappy in my marriage, but I’m afraid of being alone.” “I’m sick of working in a corporate cubicle, but I make decent money.” “I can’t stand where I live, but I own my home and it would be hard to sell.”

When we resist change, it’s because we’re still holding on to what life is asking us to release. Whether it’s planned or unplanned change, we are being asked to re-examine our path and consider what direction we really want to travel.

Change is part of living. And whether you like it or not, it’s going to take place with or without your approval. It could be something small (your company assigned you to a new project), or gigantic (death, divorce, or disability). Life has a natural way of forcing us to grow.

With responsibility comes commitment and the trait of never ever giving up. Remember even when there are other people out there that have contributed towards and are jointly responsible for your successes in life, ONLY YOU, are responsible for your failures! Let me explain… Yes, others may have had a role to play in your mishaps and failures, but it is your choice to remain a failure. People with responsibility learn from their failures, pick themselves up and try and try again until they succeed. That’s responsibility.

I was in ChristChurch London when I heard this word preached about acceptance being the key to growth. I thought it out this way after that sermon, that was years ago about the subject of love. Sadly, many people believe that when they love someone, only that person can make them happy. They also wrongly believe that their love gives them a right to attempt to change that person and that this partner must do things for you in order for the love to be complete. The biggest mistake people make is thinking that love means that you are always in a good mood, see the brighter side of life and are constantly positive about everything around you, and that this feeling is all because of the person that you love. Interestingly, and this may come as a shock to you, love is not being scared of getting hurt and being jealous over another person.

Phew! If that’s the case, then what is love really all about?

Firstly, love is about acceptance. It is about accepting the person you love for who they are. Not wanting to change them, not believing that they could be better, but accepting that person for exactly who they are in this very moment.

Therefore, unconditional love is the second important aspect of love. Once you fall in love with this person, it doesn’t matter what they do, or who they become, where they live, how their circumstances change or whether they become ill – your love remains the same. And finally, love is completely selfless in that when you love, you expect nothing in return. This means that your love has no boundaries or expectations. Basically you love the other person unconditionally without any expectation of love in return. Whether they stay with you or leave you, your love remains the same.

Your beliefs don’t make you a better person, your behavior does.Your behavior stems from your belief. If you belief humans are good, you treat them good.
As humans we are quick to judge people by what religious groups, cultures or race they belong to, and we base this judgment on their behavior. Yet we forget this is exactly what we have done – we have based our opinion on their behavior, and not on what that belief, religion or culture actually represents. So before judging any group, culture or religion in the future, don’t judge it by the ‘rotten apples’ out there, rather judge it by those who actually walk their talk and follow a lifestyle of purity of spirit.

Napoleon – The world suffers a lot. Not because of the violence of bad people, but because of the silence of good people. Never complain about a situation if you are not prepared to do anything about it. I have found that today, we live in a society of complainers, yet no one stands up and demands 100% service. How then can you complain that things aren’t working? If you decide not to vote in an election and the wrong party wins, don’t complain – you didn’t vote or stand up for who you believe in. If service is bad, or someone does you in – speak up so that it doesn’t happen again. Silence is what lets inefficiency, unprofessionalism, bad service and bad people get ahead. Stop being quiet – stand up for what is right!

Just because you are struggling, does not mean you are failing. Every great success requires some kind of struggle to get there. Opportunity always comes with opposition – hang in there.
Speak to any successful self-made person. It’s rare that something lands on your lap and takes no effort. Most success stories start out with much struggle and hardship. It’s all part of the journey. I once read a great quote by another unknown author that said, If no one criticizes you, then you are not doing anything right! In other words, when people oppose and challenge you – that’s when you are seen as a threat – and that’s a sure sign you are on the right track. Makes sense… doesn’t it?