Yesterday I was with a friend, and while we spoke the issue of money became part of the conversation. He spoke about all the things he would do when he has money, you know the normal talk and please don’t pretend because at some point we had either fantasized or even said the things we will do. Speaking  about doing this and that is not bad; the only issue was the things he wanted to do with the money like buy a fancy car, go on luxury trips, etc. I believe our meeting was kind of timely and fate wanted our path to cross yesterday because I haven’t seen him in a while. Secondly I met him when the topic we have chosen to talk about this week is riches. From our previous discussions if you recall we mentioned what constitutes real riches and money or financial security/freedom was the least though very common. Due to popular demand we will be talking about that today and I hope that very good friend of mine is reading this because he was actually the inspiration for this.
One of the reasons why people remain in a particular financial state is because of the perception they have about money. People see money as a tool to just acquire possessions that they want and not what they need. In real sense most people are like kids buying toys that they don’t really need, only difference is since they are much older, they need older toys thus the toy car they wanted as kids translate to a fancy car, the amusement park they wanted to go to translate to luxury trips. Now, don’t get me wrong I believe is good to give yourself a treat once in a while but the purpose of you doing that is very important. Most people who do most of the things I spoke of above usually don’t have a good financial plan, the spend way above what they have without plans of getting what they have spent back.
Sometimes I blame most of this on pop culture and I will tell you why; most people especially youths love and adore music stars, movie star, models etc. this people usually portray a life style of extravagance and luxury to their viewers which I believe is all part of entertainment, but what their audience pick out of all this is the lifestyle. So what do you expect from a young lady who sees ‘’Keeping Up With The Kardashians’’ all the time. She would model her life after them and would literally want to keep up with them same applies to a young man who patronize a similar show. If most of these stars could actually take their time and show their audience the sacrifice, energy and sweat they put into their craft, I believe it will do a lot more for their audience. Now let me ask do you feel that these superstars run their show without a good financial plan? I believe certainly not.
Before I go let me give you this advice; if you want to know how to use your money, don’t look at a rapper, actor or model look at people like Bill Gates, Richard Brandson, Elon Musk, Mark Zukerberg, Jack Ma etc. Follow their examples get into their minds and know the way they think via their books and publications. You would be surprised what you will learn. Our next discussion will be on how to use money wisely, to ensure you don’t run dry of cash. So this is where I leave you for today, like I always say keep working towards success and I will definitely see you at the top SAAKPE(that is goodbye in TIV language).

Is a very beautiful morning in my part of the world, actually am just getting up from my bed so let me first of all say a quick good morning to you all. Also, if you reading this and is not morning over there just bear it in mind that the greeting also covers you (or you could just pretend is morning over there as).

In our previous meeting we were able to discuss and talk about the wrong ideology people have about riches or wealth and I hope we were all inspired by that. Today will be a sequel to the previous publication and we will be focusing on what real wealth/riches constitute of. At this junction I would love to add, if you happen to be joining us for the 1st time, I recommend you read the previous publication in order not to be lost along the way.

Quick question; what does real riches/wealth constitutes of? I don’t read minds but I guess 7 out of 10 persons reading this right now just thought a five letter word called M.O.N.E.Y. if this is your answer you so wrong. There is more to being wealthy than just having money. Being wealthy entails you to be successful in every area of your life. You having a robust bank account or steady cash is merely a marker or sign of success.  Let me use this analogy; someone who is suffering from a sickness like malaria usually displays some signs/symptoms like fever, red sore eyes etc. In the same way, wealth has its own markers and money just one out of the many. Now, let me shock you further among all the markers of wealth, money is the least and that is why the most common and easiest to achieve to achieve.

I believe at this point most of you would be wondering what the other markers are right.  Napoleon Hill was a great writer and one of the greatest men who found the keys to riches and did not just use them, but also taught its principle to others to use. His principles have being a guide to wealthy individuals for generations, his book can be found on the shelf of most successful individuals. In his most famous book “Think and Grow Rich”, he gave a detailed yet simple explanation of what constitutes riches

Let’s see what Napoleon Hill says constitutes real riches;

1. A positive mental attitude
You can’t be having a negative mental attitude and be rich, so I understand why this is topping the list.

2. Physical health
I understand why it is said that Health is wealth because if you don’t have good physical health, you’ll spend a fortune trying to get healthy and then go poor in the process.

3. Harmony in human relations
No man is an island of himself so you have to be in harmony with other people around you.

4. Freedom from fear

5. Hope of future achievements

6. The capacity for applied faith

7. Willingness to share ones blessings with others
8. To be engaged in the labour of love

9. An open mind towards all subjects to all people.

10. Complete self-discipline

 11.Wisdom with which to understand         people

12. Financial security aka financial freedom

These are the 12 key constitute of real riches as you can see, financial freedom is the last on the list. On this note I advise us not to be caught in the euphoria of just acquiring money and then end up not enriching ourselves in the 11 other areas mentioned. This is where I will leave you for today but until the next time we meet, keep working towards success and I will definitely see you at the top.

Riches

Riches which can being seen as having great possessions, abundantly supplied with resources, means or funds; wealthy; well to do; affluent  is a topic of great importance and usually controversial thus, it is no coincidence that it’s coming first on the #Mikemissilesseries. The topic has spanned arguments in all parts of the world as well as in different generations
I am looking at the topic from many standpoints in order to give a concise yet broad view of the topic. Now, I’ve heard people say that they would prefer to be rich and happy; others have said I rather die than be poor. Others believe that rich folks are greedy, wicked, and since we live in a religious society, they believe that all rich people will perish. This has made people to believe that it is spiritual to be poor and if you want to get an eternal reward you must be poor. These are just a few controversies surrounding the topic but as we forge ahead I will try as much as possible to clear the air and provide a paradigm shift to the topic
Now, looking at the topic riches from a religious angle, taking one of the most commonly practiced religion christianity you will discover written in the book of 1 timothy 5:8, clearly points out the fact that a man who does not provide for his relatives and especially members of his household has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. That means God acknowledges Providence for family, and if you’re unable to provide, it makes you worse than an unbeliever. This takes us back to the notion earlier mentioned of poor people getting an eternal reward and the rich people will face eternal damnation.  Personally, I believed that while growing up and it cost me a lot of things and caused me so many set backs.
I strongly feel that most Christians have this ideology due to the story about Lazarus and the Rich man, who were poor and rich respectively in the gospel of Luke chapter 16. Now, while Lazarus made heaven, the rich man made hades and was in torment. I’ll love to point out here that the bible never recorded that it was their bank account statements that determined their lot as regards to where they went. I believed, it was the fact that the rich man never knew God and Lazarus was born again that took them to hades and heaven respectively.
I Ameh Michael, say today by virtue of this article to the Christian folks that God is an advocate of riches and of wealth. The God of Christians is not a poor God and as such does not celebrate lack. I also say that both Lazarus and the Rich man could have made heaven if he (the rich man) had known God. Christians today need embrace and strive for a life of abundance as a life of abundance is what God has in store for them.
Now for the muslim folks out there, I am not really vast in the teachings of the Qur’an but it is recorded in one of the surahs that the upper hand is better than the lower hand, meaning it is better to give than to receive. That means, Islam also promotes giving and I believe you cannot give what you do not have.

We need to come to understand that religion is not supposed to make us poor. Let us make progress in living the life of plenty and of abundance that our religion has called us to live. The next article will be centered on telling us what real riches constitute but until then, keep working towards success and see you at the top.

 I don't know if is just me or do we all have that special friend of ours that is always full of new exciting ideas? Today he tells you about something he is so thrilled about, tomorrow is something new and even more exciting than the former. I really love those friends of mine(I said friends because I have more than one of such friend in my life) because they inspire you to want think more, act more and learn more. Though this can be a good quality to have, it also has a bad side to it if not put in check. What is the bad side to it? Most persons with this type of trait tend to lack focus which is very key.

F= Face
O= One
C= Course
U= Until
S= Success

Alot of people have the problem of being focused on whatever they really need to be committed to and because of that, they tend not to complete any task at the end of the day. We are easily distracted by little things that don't matter or won't help us to achieve our proposed objective. It is cool to always come up with a fantastic idea, but that does not mean we should be hell bent on executing immediately it comes to us trust me when i say you are just excited by the spur of the moment. Most friends I have with such attitude never get to see any project to its completion. It also causes lack of trust among people you working with because they wont perceive you as someone who is level headed. In the long run you will find people not believing in you and not buying into your ideas and you wont blame them, if you were in their shoes you wont even agree to follow you.

A friend of mine once said that unrealized dreams and vision is a result of broken focus. I find this to be very true let me use a simple analogy to explain this: focus can be likened to a photographer and his camera, once he picks up the camera and focuses the lens to take a shot, he is blind to every other thing around him and then he takes the perfect shot. If his focus is broken, the picture comes out blurry and I know none of us would love such a picture. Now that is how focus works, if you remain focused to your dreams and goals, the picture of what you want, what you working towards and what you want to become will be clear to you and you will not get distracted or discouraged by things that don't matter but if you are not focused, the picture of what you want,what you working towards and what you want to become will be blurry and thus, you will get distracted by little cares and worries that pop up along the way on your journey to success.

So, let us all try and make a deliberate effort to maintain focus and believe me you will achieve success beyond your own imagination. This is where I leave you for now, but until the next time, keep doing what you doing to your full potential and i will definitely see you at the top.  

Have you ever heard this saying in business that your unhappy customers are your best customers. I never knew what that meant until some days back when I published my last piece. I always look forward to getting reviews from my audience(nice reviews of course I mean everyone wants to hear something nice) but it did not totally go the way I expected. Most of the review was centered on what I said about weekend(I never knew Friday had a lot of fans) even my editor was not happy. It was definitely not the kind of review I wanted but on the bright side I got to know my best customers. Now, most persons already have their philosophy about the weekend and is because of that particular philosophy that they have adopted or bought into that I got such feedback. What I would love such persons to do is to keep an open mind and let me lend them mine in this article. At the end of the day, is a free world you can decide to adopt it or discard it.

Now, most people love weekends because is the time they get to rest, hang out, have fun, and most importantly stay away from their job so for most persons, weekends are the best but, that is were the problem lies. Most persons are involved in daily activities that they don't love and are toxic to them physically, psychologically and emotional. Statistics shows that the rate of heart attack increases on Monday mornings to about 20 percent and this is due to stress of thinking about returning to a job they detest. This have being proven medically.

But is not Monday that is the cause is beacause most people are engaged in things that they don't love. Let me ask this question; does something you love trigger a heart attack? I don't think so. This does not only apply to the working class it applys also to students. Most student are studying courses they don't have love for either because they settled for less, or it was imposed on them by parents or guardians. This makes them to feel low or stressed out on Monday mornings(trust me i have being there).

So what do you expect if you gave such a person that hates what they do an opportunity for a perfect getaway or an escape. They will surely seize it, love it with all they have in them and that is what people see Fridays as; an escape from what they hate that is making them sick. Imagine if Fridays is the day work started in a week don't you think it would have the same effect as Mondays? I can bet my life that a DJ who hates his job and works in a nightclub only from Fridays to Sundays hates Fridays and love Mondays because Monday is his own day of escape.

The cool thing is you can chose to drop what is making you sick and start doing what you love that gives you purpose. Is not going to be easy but is going to be worth it. If you chose to do what you love it won't feel like job or hardwork and you will always be eager to go back to it with the slightest chance you have and trust me when I say you will not look for a vacation away from something you love. Like I always say before I leave keep doing what you do to your full potential and I will definitely see you at the top.

"I hate Mondays!!!!" Now, I won't ask if someone has ever made that statement because that was an anthem I sang every single Monday morning. I said sang because am done with that and presently I love Mondays. I guess someone would be like "Did he just say love Mondays, I think he made a mistake or something". Well, to make things clear let me repeat myself I LOVE Mondays and I am going to tell you my secret on how I made that possible and also teach you to be a lover of Mondays. Deal?

Now, how did I make that transition from hate to love? Simple. I traced it down to the root cause. I asked myself why do I hate Mondays? The answer I got maybe the same as that of most people and it was this; It is the beginning of a new week and that puts an end to my most beloved weekend. Nice reason right but was this the real reason?

A mentor of mine once said in questioning, you should go beyond just asking one question to find the real answer thus I applied this principle. I asked myself if it is because is the beginning, I should hate Sundays the actual day the week starts so why Mondays? I realized it’s because that is when the week work starts. Next question why do I hate work? Because am lazy. Lazy! That can't be right am not lazy (this was what I was saying to myself) truth they say is a bitter pill and this was one I had to swallow. It took a while though but, I came to terms with it.

 I found my answer. So, what next? I had to work on it because what I was lazy at was not work but lazy at myself. I was lazy at doing the things to make me better, I was lazy at doing the things that will develop me. Until I realized this I was stuck with my hatred for Mondays and I remained at performing average and thus was an average person. I believe this is the same for most of us still hating Mondays what we don't know is that most people we admire today really love working hard.

Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa and according to Forbes the 56th richest person during an interview was asked if is true that he works 12 hours a day and this was what he said "I don't work 12 hours daily, but 18 hours daily". I was shocked when I saw this interview this man is the richest African for God sakes and he is not taking a break talk more of me I must be crazy to be lazy because come to think of it am not even number last on Forbes list(Forbes don't even know I exist). Bill gates once worked overnight and slept under his desk he was discovered by his secretary the next morning who went in to clean the office and that was when he discovered that he has being working for close to two days. He said that in his twenties never took a day off. Well, I am not saying we should stay awake all night and sleep under our desks but if you have being an admirer of Bill Gates and what he has achieved, I believe that is not a wrong step.

I studied most of the successful people in different fields and I discovered this holds true for all of them. They develop a strong work ethic different from the average individual and stick to them. It is said at some point hard work beats talent and this is true as it has being observed over and over again. These are the things I saw that made me become a lover of Mondays because let’s face it nobody ever made it by saying TGIF every weekend. I have thrown that phrase out of my register and now this is what I say TGIM (Thank God Is Monday) and guess what I now hate Fridays! It may sound funny to you but that is the way it is now because Friday's plan is to take away my beloved working week and bring in a lazy weekend.

So this was how I started a love affair with Monday it may not be what you expected but I hope you learn from it and apply it. That will be all for now so just keep working hard on your journey to success in whatever field you're in and I will definitely see you at the top.

For any resolve made to be a habit you need to have discipline and be committed to that new discipline otherwise, you will never ever get the desired results. This fact as established in our previous article poses the big question: How can someone develop discipline?  Now, I took a little time out, did a little asking around and observed that most of the people I approached associated lack of discipline with lack of will. I guess most people reading this article right now will think that is true. Well, it is not. People that are not disciplined in the real sense don’t lack the will. The only problem is that they are just willing You need something more than a will power. In the Christian community there is this popular saying that ‘The spirit is willing but the body is weak’  will-power can only be enough to get you started but you need something stronger than a will power called a ‘WHY power’.
 What is a why-power? This is simply the reason why you are embarking on a particular course. If you do not find a suitable reason why, you will always start up something new and quit eventually. Finding the reason why gives purpose to your quest. Rarely does a person with a purpose quit. There was a story of a lady whose son was trapped under a car, the weight of the car was crushing on her little boy, while folks around were trying to call 911 and calm her down, she pulled away from their grip, rushed and lifted up the car and pulled her son out, by herself.

Now in a different setting the woman is to lift the car. Would she be able to do it? I believe the answer is no.  So, what has changed? It is the same woman, the same car, the only difference is that no son to rescue.

Here is to WHY she was able to do it before. She saw her son who gave her a reason for being a mother, her embodiment of joy and happiness and probably her reason for living in a death trap, she had a reason and that was all it took. Finding a reason WHY gives an adrenaline rush to whatever you want to do the ‘why’ is much stronger than the ‘will’. That is why I say ‘when there is a will there is a way but when there is a why you will create a way even when there is no way’.

 If you have not found a reason why search deep within you to find one and this will be a great catalyst on your journey to success. So keep living at your full potential and see you all at the top!
 Kpahimee (that is goodbye in Igede language)