02 Tuesday Feb 2016
Posted in Quotes
Tags
focus, meditation, oprah winfrey, Pico Iyer, Quotes, sitting still, success, The Art of Stillness, wisdom
In an age of acceleration,
nothing can be exhilarating than going slow.
In an age of distraction,
nothing is so luxurious as paying attention.
And in an age of constant movement,
nothing is more urgent than sitting still. – Pico Iyer
Image credit:www.viralnovelty.net
24 Sunday Jan 2016
Posted in Motivation, Quotes
Tags
Arianna Huffington, expectation, happiness, living, positivity, Quotes, rumi, SuperSoulSunday, wisdom
Image Credit: Pinterest.com
12 Tuesday Jan 2016
Posted in Motivation
Tags
2016, author, free books, freebies, girl-power, habits, health, life, mindfulness, oprah winfrey, productivity, purpose, reading, rituals, sign-up, success, thought, Twisted in a Positive Way, wisdom, women, writing
Hello and Happy New Year. I know I am more than a bit late considering that we are almost half-way into January but like they say, better late than never aye? I hope you all had awesome Christmas breaks if you can still remember it, lol!
I have some exciting news from this end. I have been working really hard on my next book which is scheduled to be published in July this year so I have become a bit of a night owl to meet this deadline.
To celebrate the New Year and the future release of my new novel, I have decided to make 3 chapters of Twisted in a Positive Way completely free!!! Awesome right? I think so too. To get the free chapters and other exclusive content such as free copies of my novel, sample chapters from my new releases in addition to other cool stuff, just sign up to my mailing list here. I promise I won’t crowd your mailboxes with junk.
If you just want to download the free chapters of Twisted in a Positive Way without signing up to my mailing list, click here to get for free on Okada Books
Okay, over to today’s post:
I have spent a lot of time thinking about the habits that differentiate successful people from regular people. What do they do that gives them the extra edge over the rest of us? My search has led me to listen to a number of interviews featuring some people I really admire. It was through this search that I stumbled upon an article written by By Samantha Thornhill which lists 20 daily rituals of the most badass women. It is important to point out that even though this post refers to badass women, the rituals are not limited to only females and can be practised by anyone despite their gender. I have listed 10 of them below: Ps: I liked number 7 the most.
Not literally, but maybe. Most successful women are up by 6 a.m. Business leaders are said to accomplish more in those early hours than the average person does in days. This means getting to bed early too, since sleep deprivation went out of style along with shoulder pads.
We so easily forget what a miracle it is to be alive. Let each day birth you into a state of gratitude for the day ahead, and give thanks for everything that you have.
Coffee, green juice, green tea, rooibos, chai, smoothies, hot chocolate, water with lemon, wine, whatever. Without exception, every badass woman alive begins or ends her day with a drink. (I personally drink green tea. It tastes absolutely yucky but it is filled with anti-oxidants which are very good for you.)
Walking through the day in your mind or writing a list of things you hope to accomplish is incredibly centering, and it’s so gratifying to cross things off as you go along (I can vouch for this one. It truly works wonders).
Artist and social entrepreneur Rha Goddess tells “Gala” that she sees personal transformation everywhere: “In every interaction. Every conversation. Every intention. If we’re awake we recognize we have the opportunity – every single moment of the day – to heal, transform or affirm something about the truth of who we are, and what we say is important,” she states.
Swim. Drink eight glasses. Splash it on your face. Dunk your weary bones in a full tub with Epsom salts. Have an ongoing love affair with our world’s most precious resource.
Arianna Huffington, who champions 7-8 hours of sleep a night, wouldn’t be much good to anybody if she didn’t poise herself for the bustling day ahead. She tells Soulcyle: “A big part of my morning ritual is about what I don’t do: when I wake up, I don’t start the day by looking at my smartphone. Instead, once I’m awake, I take a minute to breathe deeply, be grateful, and set my intention for the day. ” (Awesome right?)
Most of us will not spend two hours a day working out like Gwyneth Paltrow, but no matter when we get it in, anywhere between 15-45 minutes of exercise a day releases stress and clears the dome…and let’s not forget to stretch! The world’s most successful women get their best ideas during exercise or right after.
According to the “Los Angeles Times,” reading on your cell phone or iPad before bed can affect sleep habits by sending signals to the brain to stay alert. Lena Dunham says she keeps a stack of books by the bed. Fall asleep reading.
If you are the type to fall asleep face first on a glowing screen, it’s good for the soul to plug out sometime—even if it’s just to put your phone to bed along with you.
I hope you enjoyed reading through the list and picked up some tips from it. Which of them did you find that you already practice and which ones you plan to take up? To read the full list from femde.com, click here
Culled from: http://www.femde.com/article/30758194/20-daily-rituals-of-the-most-badass-women
Image credit: http://www.algemeiner.com/
31 Thursday Dec 2015
Posted in Motivation
Tags
2015, 2016, happiness, letting go, living, motivation, moving forward, New Year, progress, wisdom
Hello everyone,
With today being the last day of 2015, I thought to share with you a profound and pertinent message, written by one of my favorite authors, Paul Coelho. I found it both insightful and I hope you do too.
Read below and have a pleasant New Year in advance:
One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through.
Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters – whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished.
Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents’ house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden?
You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened.
You can tell yourself you won’t take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that.
But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved: your parents, your husband or wife, your friends, your children, your sister.
Everyone is finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill.
Things pass, and the best we can do is to let them really go away.
That is why it is so important (however painful it may be!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home.
Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts – and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place.
Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them.
Nobody plays this life with marked cards, so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose.
Do not expect anything in return, do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood.
Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else.
Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the “ideal moment.”
Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back.
Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person – nothing is irreplaceable, a habit is not a need.
This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.
Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life.
Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust.
Stop being who you were, and change into who you are.
Culled from Paul Coelho’s Blog: http://paulocoelhoblog.com/2015/12/27/closing-cycles/
Image credit: www.interstaff.com
12 Saturday Dec 2015
Posted in Motivation
As part of my marketing efforts to generate interest for my novel, Twisted in a Positive Way, I have been doing some social media promotion, as well as answering interview questions from other bloggers. As a result of this, I have also gained more Facebook friends and few more Twitter followers.
One of such Facebook friends was a man I will call Gerard Smith for the purpose of this post. (Apologies to all the actual Gerard Smiths out there)
So Gerard Smith added me on Facebook, I checked his profile and saw that we had two mutual friends so I accepted his invite. Not long after accepting his invite, he made a nice comment about one of my pictures so I checked out his profile and saw that he had only 5 pictures, all of which seemed very recent. I thought that was odd, but decided not to think too much about it.
Later, he sent me a message wanting to know how my day went and I replied, asking how he knew me because I could not recognise him.
Gerard responded stating he did not know me but saw my picture and “liked” me. In my head, I was wondering how someone could possibly like someone without knowing the person. Surely that person could turn out to be a serial killer. So I replied with “fair enough”.
One thing that was very obvious from our chat was that Gerard had a poor command of English, often using “were” in place of “where” and “your” instead of “you are” amongst other mistakes.
When I asked where he lived and he replied “uk”, I then checked his profile again and it stated his location as Clapham, Lancashire. Still something didn’t seem right so I asked what part of UK he lived in and he replied, “clapham”.
Now, I know of two different places called Clapham here in the UK. One in London and another, in the North Yorkshire region.
Still, I wanted to test Gerard, so I asked him where Clapham was located and he stopped replying.
He finally replied the following day with just one word, “south”. This got me thinking, surely someone who lives in Clapham, Lancashire should know that Lancashire is not in the south.
At this point, I had all the evidence I needed to prove that our friend Gerard was a catfish and an unintelligent one at that.
Based on my very brief experience, there are 5 quick ways to spot a catfish.
Facebook has been around for long enough for people to have more than a few pictures on it so if someone adds you and he or she has only very few pictures on it, this should be a flag. You should even be more worried if all the pictures appear to have been posted recently and within a short period of time. This shows that the profile was created hurriedly.
Dot Con: The Art of Scamming a Scammer
If the person sending you messages on Facebook has a very poor command of English, this usually points to the fact that the person is located in a different region (perhaps a non-English speaking region) from where the person is claiming to be based.
This points to the fact that the person doesn’t live there at all. Surely you should know where the city you live in is located.
If a person you accepted his invite immediately starts saying he likes you or starts professing feelings for you, then this should be a massive red flag. I have heard of love at first sight, but surely not that fast.
This point is self-explanatory.
In the end, use your intuition and if something does not seem right, don’t be afraid to use the block button because in the end, it is better to be safe than to be sorry.
Image credit: http://socialnewsdaily.com/11296/catfishing-infographic/
03 Thursday Dec 2015
Posted in Motivation, Quotes
Tags
2015, addiction, attitude, happiness, inspiration, leo tolstoy, mindfulness, motivation, novel, perfection, publishing, social media, success, wisdom
December is finally here! I can’t believe that it has been almost 5 months since I wrote my last blog post. “Where has all the time gone?” I keep asking myself.
You would remember in my last post I wrote about the crowdfunding campaign for my new novel, “Twisted in a Positive Way”. The campaign was successful and even though I didn’t hit my funding target, through the campaign, I was able to generate a lot of publicity and interest for it. It was finally published and is available for purchase on Amazon in both kindle and paperback format in the UK click here to buy, and the US click here to buy .
I would like to use this opportunity to say thank you once again to everyone who pre-ordered and spread the word on the campaign. I am humbled by all the feedback I have received so far. One of the funniest feedback I received was from a reader who said that she was quite cross with herself for leaving the book at home for one day and couldn’t wait to get home to continue from where she stopped.
If you have read the novel, please feel free to leave a review on Amazon website stating that you purchased the book through the crowdfunding campaign by clicking here.
Moving away from the subject of my novel, I had a discussion earlier this week with my friend who I would call John. Let me tell you a little bit about John.
John is a nice guy, has a good job working in one of the essential services here in England. He earns a very decent salary, has a nice two bedroom house and drives a good car. To everyone, John lives a comfortable life.
In reality, John is not a happy man because he feels he is overweight. This feeling has affected his ability to speak to women and has caused him to lose his confidence because he feels that they would not find him attractive on account of his weight.
Now, in the time I have known John, I have never really noticed the extra pounds. All I see is a nice, funny, hardworking and blessed young man.
When I got home that night, after my meeting with my friend, I pondered how we humans seem to constantly be obsessed with our idea of perfection. Like John, we think about the things we feel are not perfect in our lives and end up forgetting all the wonderful things we have going for us.
The TV and print media have not helped with this, every day we are bombarded with photo shopped bodies and filtered images subtly telling us what we should look like. Even when we are not are not trying to look like the models and characters on TV, we find ourselves sometimes comparing ourselves to our friends and colleagues.
Thinking about this reminded me of a story I heard years ago. A young man had sought a job for months and finally he got his dream job with the exact pay he wanted and was so happy. He called all his friends and told them of his news and they all congratulated him. He continued in this state of happiness until he spoke to one particular friend. This friend like others, congratulated him and asked him how much he was to be paid. Out of curiousity, he too asked his friend what his salary was. After the phone call, his mood changed because he realised that his friend was making more than him. The fact that he had sought this job for months did not seem to matter. He was no longer happy about it.
Perhaps it is time to stop this neurosis and start recognising all the numerous blessings we have. Whenever you find yourself thinking those gloomy thoughts, consciously stop yourself and instead, think of three things in your life which you are thankful for and dwell on those things instead. They may not be massive things. You could even be thankful for the nice cup of tea you just had, knowing that someone out there is craving for just that and cannot get it. Perhaps you could be thankful for the fact that you just had a nice hot meal knowing that someone out there would gladly swap places with you if they had the opportunity.
Now, I am not saying that you should adopt a lackadaisical attitude to life and not seek self-development and improvement, what I am saying is that it is better to take these steps towards improvement from a place of gratitude having it at the back of your mind that there is no such a thing as perfection.
Thank you for reading and please feel free to leave your comments. I look forward to reading them.
Love,
Chika
Image credit: jarofquotes.com
20 Monday Apr 2015
Posted in Motivation
Tags
attitude, dreams, excellence, friends, goals, life, motivation, success, wisdom
This is a repost from a blog I had about a decade ago. Even though it has been a decade since I originally wrote this, I believe the lessons are still very valid for the times we are in…
Read below;
This topic has been on my mind for a while but no introduction ever seemed to fit. It was not until this morning, I was trying to wipe water that spilled on the floor. I had my bowl of water and my mop, and then my mind did a flash back to a HIV advert I watched on MTV about a year ago. Two young guys were about to go diving. The first guy insisted on going in with their safety gear. His friend said, “No we always go in with it, there are no sharks around. Let’s just go in this once without it.” The guy still argued with his friend a bit but finally his friend convinced him and they both dived in without their safety gear. True to the way life usually works out, they both got eaten by sharks.
It is a fact that those we constantly associate with have the power to either add to us or subtract from us. When we constantly interact with people, before long, we find ourselves beginning to act, speak and think like them.
If your inner circle is made up of people who constantly and without fail, sit around and engage in idle chat and gossip, while arguing about non-issues, before long, you would find yourself doing the same.
On the other hand, If your inner circle is made up of people who are focused, driven and serious minded, you too will have no choice but to be like them.
There have been a number of literature that have been dedicated to explaining the impacts of friendships and associations. The Bible also supports it in Proverbs 13 vs. 20 which states:
He that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.
I like to believe that there are 5 different kinds of friends. They include, Refreshers, Refiners, Reflectors, Reducers and Rejecters. Below is a brief explanation of each category;
Refreshers: These are friends or acquaintances who strengthen your faith, encourage and energize and motivate you towards achieving your goals and vision. They too have big dreams and share a similar vision with you. When you interact with these people, your energy level goes up and you stay inspired.
Refiners: This group of people clarify your vision. After interacting with a refiner, you leave the room feeling more energised and with a clearer definition of your vision. They are very similar to the refreshers.
Reflectors: This group of people neither add nor subtract from you. They only mirror your energy. You have a great time interacting with them but you do not feel that you have learnt anything new, neither do you feel worse off. Most work colleagues fall into this category.
Reducers: These are people who actively/unconsciously try to diminish your goals and efforts to bring you down to their comfort level. Most of the time, they are people that are too afraid to see beyond their present situation and they get uncomfortable when they see someone with a large vision. You find out that, after interacting with such people for a long period of time, you feel like your energy levels are down. Perhaps you may feel some feeling of dismay after a long period of interacting with these individuals.
Rejecters: These are people who do not understand you or what you are trying to achieve. They keep criticizing everything and do not attempt to understand. After interacting with a rejecter, you may feel a sense of discomfort and lack of peace.
I believe that it is very easy to categorise your friends and acquaintances into the five categories stated above using their word patterns and reactions to concepts and ideas you come up with. It is now your responsibility to consciously decide who you want to keep in your life and who you need to perhaps not have that close association with if you know that they are/may become hindrances to the fulfillment of your dreams and vision.
I hope this has blessed you as much as it has blessed me.
Have a fulfilling week ahead.
Love,
Chika
02 Saturday Nov 2013
Posted in Motivation, Quotes
Tags
attitude, excellence, motivation, positive, thought, wealth, wisdom
“The ingredients to Success are known to all BUT the recipe to Success is known to few. Every person will be successful provided he has something to offer to the society/humanity. The only thing then he has to do is to “time” his offering.
If it is too early then he has to be “Committed” to his offering, and stand the test of time.
If it is too late (where others are offering the same), then he has to be “Determined” to find and improve his Unique Selling Point and focus on reaching his audience.” – Ravi Shamrao
Image Credit: dreamstime.com
29 Sunday Sep 2013
Posted in Motivation, Quotes
Tags
attitude, courage, daring, excellence, motivation, success, thought, wisdom
Hi friends,
It is another Sunday, the beginning of what would be a fruitful week. I just finished restoring my phone after I did a factory reset that took hours and began the process of preparing myself for a new week.
This process of preparing myself for a new week, usually involves either mentally picturing what I aim to achieve in the week, dreading the week (if it looks like it would be a boring one) or listening to inspiring interviews and messages. While still deciding which it would be, I came across a tweet from Oprah Winfrey (not addressed personally to me of course…hehehe I wish) that referred to Super Soul Sunday and I decided to look up the show on Google.
My search led me to an interview she had earlier this month with Brene Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. During the insightful interview (try to watch it if you can), Professor Brown mentioned a quote by Theodore Roosevelt which resonated greatly with me. I will leave you with this quote and I hope it inspires you the way it inspired me.
See quote below;
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Have a pleasant week ahead
Image credit: bbc.co.uk
24 Tuesday Sep 2013
Posted in Motivation
Tags
attitude, excellence, happiness, motivation, success, thought, wisdom
Hi friends,
Recently, I have been concentrating more on posting quotes which I have found to be inspirational and not written anything more personal. However, yesterday, a friend of mine referred to a post I made two years ago on an old blog I used to run. I had actually forgotten about this post but her comment caused me to read through it and I was amazed at how much the key message still applies. So I thought to repost here…
I hope this inspires you as it inspired my friend.
See below…
20th October 2011
It has been close to 4 months since I last wrote in my blog. In this period, I have succeeded in completing some crucial coursework, completing my dissertation for my masters program and doing my viva (defence of the dissertation). I have also joined a network marketing program, that has paid off real well (that is gist for another post) and lost some weight.
More important than all these accomplishments are some important life lessons I learnt during this period. One of which I would share with you today.
A number of us are familiar with optical illusions, one of which is in the picture above. This picture is a fusion between a young woman and an old woman. A couple of people see just the young woman wearing a hat with her face away from them while other people just see the face of a really old woman. Whichever category you fall into does not change the fact that both views exist.
Life is exactly like that. Most times we look at a situation from a particular perspective without realising that a different perspective very different from what we see exists. An example that readily comes to mind is a personal experience of mine.
Some months after I arrived into the United Kingdom, I was very desperate for a part time student job that I could combine with my studies, due to the fact that my resources were dwindling at an alarming rate. I kept applying and applying but got the same polite rejections. Finally, I got a call from a company for an interview. I was so delighted and prayed so hard for it to work out. I went for the interview and did very well. I was invited to a trial shift but I was told by the manager that I needed to go for another one, as he was not sure if I was up to the standard. 3 trial shifts after, I was told that I could not be employed for the role. At that point I was already tired and a bit devastated because I had put in a lot of effort and I felt the job was for me. I had no choice but to move on.
Two days later, I got a call from another company that I had applied much earlier in the year. I had actually forgotten about that application because I didn’t get a call when I expected. I was invited to an interview and I was offered the job two days after the interview. I must say, that the job I finally got was a much better one with a slightly better pay package, better working conditions, free outfits etc. I was amazed at how things worked out. I had been so focused on the view of the other job that I did not step back consider other views.
Right now, you may be gunning for something that is causing you a lot of pain because it does not seem to be working out. It may seem to you that you have to be on that path or no other. Have you considered stepping back a bit to think that just maybe, you are not on the right path and that a more rewarding path exists elsewhere if only you decide to adjust your view? It could also be that you are on the right path but you are just wearing the wrong shoes, i.e. using the wrong methods to solve the problem. This life is really not as difficult and complicated as most of us make it out to be.
Every single situation has more than one view to it. We just need to step back a bit and look within for it.
Till you read from me, have a blessed weekend.
Image credit: coolopticalillusions.com
Twisted in a Positive Way 