Olympians Teach Us to Forget the Goal and Focus On the Process

There’s something to learn from an Olympic athlete’s work ethic, even when the games are over. Sure, they spend most waking hours training, but the part where they set epic goals and grind it out, day in and day out, even when it sucks, even if you never get there? That’s what’s important.
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While most of us aren’t remotely in the same boat as an athlete training for the Olympic Games, the message applies to us too: Setting a goal is easy and feels good, but the real work begins with figuring out the steps to achieve it. Then we have to just do it without fixating on the goal itself. Otherwise, if something is going to take a while, we could lose motivation and our goal backfires:For example, a goal of finishing an Ironman triathlon is motivating until you realize how hard it is to do and that you have no idea where to start. And even if you do figure out where to start, you quickly grasp how far you have to go — both figuratively and literally. Any acute progress seems trivial. Ironically, focusing on such a goal can demoralize, demotivate, and, ultimately, detach you from the steps you need to take today to accomplish it. But perhaps the biggest potential pitfall of concentrating too much on goals is this: It often ties your self-worth to things that you cannot control. As Science of Us indicates, we need to focus on the things we do have control over and on nailing those every day. That way you keep your head tethered to the now and your motivation high. When you focus on the daily process instead, you’re able to keep moving toward your goal without obsessing over it and being tempted to walk away because it’s overwhelming.

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How Nigeria lost top position in GDP to South Africa

South Africa’s economy has regained the position of Africa’s largest in dollar terms more than two years after losing it to Nigeria as the value of the nations’ currencies moved in opposite directions. Based on gross domestic product at the end of 2015 published by the International Monetary Fund, the size of South Africa’s economy is $301 billion at the rand’s current exchange rate, while Nigeria’s GDP is $296 billion. 

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That’s after the rand gained more than 16 percent against the dollar since the start of 2016, and Nigeria’s naira lost more than a third of its value after the central bank removed a currency peg in June. Both nations face the risk of a recession after contracting in the first quarter of the year. The Nigerian economy shrank by 0.4 percent in the three months through March from a year earlier amid low oil prices and output and shortage of foreign currency. That curbed imports, including fuel. In South Africa, GDP contracted by 0.2 percent from a year earlier as farming and mining output declined. “More than the growth outlook, in the short term the ranking of these economies is likely to be determined by exchange rate movements,” Alan Cameron, an economist at Exotix Partners LLP, said. Although Nigeria is unlikely to be unseated as Africa’s largest economy in the long run, “the momentum that took it there in the first place is now long gone.” The South African rand rallied as investors turned to emerging markets with liquid capital markets to seek returns after Britain voted to leave the European Union on June 23, even as the central bank forecast the economy won’t expand this year and the nation risks losing its investment- grade credit rating. The ruling African National Congress’s lowest support since 1994 in the August 3 local government vote led to further gains on speculation that it will pressure the party to introduce economic reforms that will boost growth and cut unemployment. In Nigeria, investors did not flock to buy naira-based assets after authorities removed the peg of 197-199 naira per dollar. The Central Bank of Nigeria raised its benchmark interest rate to a record in July to lure foreign money, even as the IMF forecast the economy will contract 1.8 percent this year. Nigeria was assessed as the continent’s largest economy in April 2014 when authorities overhauled its GDP data for the first time in two decades. The recalculation saw the Nigerian economy in 2013 expand by three-quarters to an estimated N80 trillion. The rand gained 1 percent to 13.2805 per dollar at 4:03 p.m. in Johannesburg on Wednesday. The naira weakened 2.7 percent to N320 per dollar.

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Jonathan celebrates Nigerians on International Youths Day

Goodluck Jonathan has sent a powerful message to youths in Nigeria and described them as his personal inspiration.  

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The former president gave this message in celebration of the International Youth Day which is a UN designated day for the recognition and celebration of youths around the world.Jonathan in a statement via his Facebook page cited instances and occurrences when Nigerian youths have made the country proud and urged them to continue to develop themselves.He wrote: “I salute the resilience and creativity of our youths on a day dedicated to them. From Adichie to Jelani Aliyu, our youths continue to be our pride.“When Nigeria’s economy became the largest economy on the African continent, it was and is because of our youths. “When we perform exploits at the Olympics and other sporting events, it is because of the great Nigerian youths.“Nigeria and indeed the world has no greater asset than our youth and you will continue to be my personal inspiration. “My message to youths is to urge you to continue to develop yourself through positive endeavors. The future is yours. God bless our youths. GEJ” Since the former president left office in 2015, he has embarked on peace duties including the establishment of his Goodluck Jonathan foundation. A few days ago, the former president was spotted in Zambia where he is leading the African Union observer team to observe the country’s 2016 general elections. Jonathan is the leader of the African Union Election Monitoring Mission to Zambia’s August 11 polls.

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Facing the reality

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Reality, this is the state of being actual or real. This word reality has been the biggest shock of most humans today. Reality have put most humans in a perplexed state. There is always a time when one realizes that life is not a bed of roses. A time when one realizes that we need to do what we have to do in order to get what we need to get, a time when it looks like the world has revealed it self to you. A time when you have to face the real world. A time to be real. As a young school graduate, I always remember when I was a kid, perherps in Primary or secondary school. Then we had high expectations and ambitions. We expected everything to go the way we wished. Although then, it seems that things always go the way we wished, Not because they were real, but because we had some wonderful people in our life then "parents". At this point in time, I have come to realize that back then, I thinked like a kid, but now am an adult, so I think like an adult. What we believed to be real then were not actually real, but now, the world has left itself unclad to us. This is the time to be real. Most persons are shocked with reality today because of some mistakes that they made in the past. Remember, he who fails to plan has already planned to fail. Invariably, when you plan, then, you have eventually taken a bold step towards facing reality. Remember, the future starts now!!!

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The way I see life.

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Life is a mystery that one cannot understand. Born today and tomorrow you die. Some sow yet they eat crumbs,some live in shanties and have no place to lay there heads. There are people without a future, people without life for them, the light at the end of the tunnel has failed. Some are living a life they worry not about food and shelter and these are people destined to live in this life. Life is actually a mystery. A man is born, he is dumb, deaf, lame, and blind from the begining of his days, he lives not a life and so he dies. Then a man is born ,his eyes could see, his ears could hear, and so he dies too. Then i begin to wonder what is the meaning of life? Life is mixed with joy and sorrows. I was struck by sudden fears, is this how people die without hints or cleus as to when the hour would come? Then i asked my self how sure am I that when next I sleep, I will wake up to see the sun? To this i know not the answer except the good lord alone. Life is a mystery that no man can unravel. God does his things in a manner one cannot understand. While many were weeping and gnashing thier teeth in anguish and sorrow, some were laughing in joy. With every birth,there is a death. God alone knows everything. In his hands we are "like shaft" before the wind, he made us and when he lifts his hands our "breath ceases" and so life ends. Let the living recognize that tomorrow may be our turn. Hurry now and take a positive decision that will lead to eternal enjoyment with God in heaven. Tomorrow may be too late. REMEMBER. The love of God is more than any earthly pleasures.

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Calling Yourself "Lazy" Isn't a Good Excuse For a Productivity Problem

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You know what your to-do list is, but you haven’t gotten to it yet. You’re sitting on the couch wishing you were more productive, but instead you resign yourself to saying, “I’m just so lazy.” If you find yourself in that spot, laziness isn’t the core of your problem. As productivity site Goals Infinite explains, laziness is a symptom, not a disease. Even among those who would call themselves lazy, there’s still at least a desire to do something. The site sums this up as “I want to do everything but end up doing nothing.” If you begin your cycle wanting to accomplish something, then you at least don’t want to be lazy. So, what’s the problem? The site offers a few possible explanations:You need to step outside your comfort zone for the next step. You lack commitment or motivation. You need a plan to get moving. You’re overthinking itEvery one of these scenarios can lead to inaction if you’re not sure how to tackle them. Coincidentally, they also have different solutions than “Don’t be lazy.” If you don’t have a plan, you need to come up with one. If you’re afraid to make the first step outside your comfort zone, practice breaking out of it in smaller ways. Your laziness only indicates that you have a problem getting started.

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The new political divide

AS POLITICAL theatre, America’s party conventions have no parallel. Activists from right and left converge to choose their nominees and celebrate conservatism (Republicans) and progressivism (Democrats). But this year was different, and not just because Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major party. The conventions highlighted a new political faultline: not between left and right, but between open and closed (see article). Donald Trump, the Republican nominee, summed up one side of this divide with his usual pithiness. “Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo,” he declared. His anti-trade tirades were echoed by the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party. America is not alone. Across Europe, the politicians with momentum are those who argue that the world is a nasty, threatening place, and that wise nations should build walls to keep it out. Such arguments have helped elect an ultranationalist government in Hungary and a Polish one that offers a Trumpian mix of xenophobia and disregard for constitutional norms. Populist, authoritarian European parties of the right or left now enjoy nearly twice as much support as they did in 2000, and are in government or in a ruling coalition in nine countries. So far, Britain’s decision to leave the European Union has been the anti-globalists’ biggest prize: the vote in June to abandon the world’s most successful free-trade club was won by cynically pandering to voters’ insular instincts, splitting mainstream parties down the middleNews that strengthens the anti-globalisers’ appeal comes almost daily. On July 26th two men claiming allegiance to Islamic State slit the throat of an 85-year-old Catholic priest in a church near Rouen. It was the latest in a string of terrorist atrocities in France and Germany. The danger is that a rising sense of insecurity will lead to more electoral victories for closed- world types. This is the gravest risk to the free world since communism. Nothing matters more than countering it.

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Republicans Stuck With Trump Despite Fears That He'll Destroy Them

With just under 100 days until Election Day, tensions between Donald Trump and the Republican Party have reached a boiling point in the wake of his feud with the parents of slain Muslim American soldier Humayun Khan. Republican strategists and former elected officials are deeply perplexed by their nominee's self-destructive impulses, his penchant for courting controversy and his move to further inflame intra-party chaos this week by refusing to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan or Arizona Senator John McCain for reelection. Some Republicans have given up on their dreams of a post-primary "pivot," and are ready to concede the White House and instead focus resources on saving their Senate majority as well as candidates down the ballot. Trump is "facing an electoral wipeout at this point. I think getting him to change his behavior is a fool's errand," said Matt Mackowiak, a Texas-based Republican strategist. "He's now doing intentional damage to the party. He's hurting our candidates. It's clear he doesn't care about the Republican Party, so what responsibility does the Republican Party have to him at this point?" It has been a rough week for Trump. Polls show that the Democratic convention erased Trump's lead after the Republican convention and gave Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton back her advantage. He's alienated prominent Republicans, such as former congressman Vin Weber, who told CNBC's John Harwood he'll probably leave the party if Trump wins. The Trump-Khan spat was the final straw for several GOP figures who came out for Clinton—including former California gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman, former Jeb Bush adviser Sally Bradshaw, former Chris Christie adviser Maria Comella and retiring U.S. Representative Richard Hanna. "It's a stupid fight to pick," said Tom Davis, a Republican former congressman from Virginia, who said he isn't ready to get behind Trump's campaign. "The rhetoric he used was bad," he said, adding that Trump was hurting himself by "not running a disciplined campaign." "I wince some nights when I watch Trump just blowing opportunities to score points and going on defense when he ought to be on offense," Davis said. "It's just not the kind of campaign you'd be enthused about." In a further sign of discord, Trump running mate Mike Pence on Wednesday endorsed Ryan, even as the presidential nominee refused. Reports swirled that Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus, a fellow Wisconsinite who is close to Ryan, was livid about Trump's snub. Meanwhile, Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort went on Fox News on Wednesday and dismissed reports about internal chaos among Trump aides, which has overshadowed what the Trump campaign says was a remarkable $80 million fundraising haul in July. "The turmoil—this is another Clinton narrative that is put out there and the media is picking up on," he said, arguing that "the campaign is in very good shape—we are organized, we are moving forward." Trump senior adviser Kellyanne Conway rejected notions of Trump dropping out of the race as "wishful thinking." But the reports of a campaign in disarray have pro-Trump Republicans worried. "I'm mostly concerned with the rumors coming out that Manafort has no operational control and that Trump is winging it. If they're not a campaign at the top this could be really bad for Republicans all the way down the ticket," said John Feehery, a Republican strategist and lobbyist. "All this other stuff is kind of typical—his blather and his inability to restrain his emotions. I don't see mass defections from his voters on this." Still, Trump's rough stretch doesn't mean GOP politicians will reject him, at least for the foreseeable future. His command of an energized plurality of the party base during the primaries means Republicans up and down the ballot this fall will rely on his voters to win their races. "If you're an elected official you have to appeal to them somehow. Just walking away from Trump is political suicide," Feehery said. "In most Republican districts, Trump is very popular. And all this politically incorrect stuff is very popular with the Republican base... You can't diss the Donald Trump voter." Trump rallied his base Wednesday at a campaign stop in Daytona Beach, Florida by labeling the U.S. a "third world nation" and taking aim at President Barack Obama and Clinton. "We've got to stop being the stupid country run by very stupid people," he said. "She'll be worse than Obama. Believe me." In a sign that Trump's refusal to endorse Ryan or McCain is about settling personal scores, the nominee encouraged his Florida crowd to vote for former 2016 rival Marco Rubio's reelection bid to the Senate. "I endorsed Marco Rubio, he endorsed me. He's doing well. Go for Marco," Trump said. Unlike Ryan or McCain, who released statements rebuking Trump's remarks on Sunday insulting the parents of Capt. Khan, Rubio largely steered clear of the controversy. Trump's actions in recent days have earned an admonishment from Newt Gingrich, the former House speaker and one of his most loyal supporters. Wednesday on Fox News, Gingrich said Trump must "slow down, take a deep breath, and reorganize how he's operating so he gets to the standard of the potential president of the United States." "He has not done that up till now. It's been significantly to his disadvantage," Gingrich said. "So I think some of what Trump has done is very self-destructive... I don’t know if it's a fixable problem but I think it’s a very big moment for Trump. He has got to find a way to slow down, really learn some new lessons. This is like The Apprentice except he’s the apprentice and not the boss, he doesn’t get to say 'you're fired.' The American people get to say 'you’re fired.'"

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What if schools taught kindness

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. --Ralph Waldo Emerson What If Schools Taught Kindness? "The school environment can be very stressful; in addition to any issues they bring from home, many students struggle to make friends and perform well in class. Being excluded, ignored, or teased is very painful for a young child, and we thought it could be impactful to teach empathy and compassion. When other kids are suffering-- like that boy who split his chin-- can we understand how they might be feeling? Kindness bridges those gaps and helps build a sense of connection among the students, the teachers, and even the parents. Learning to strengthen their attention and regulate their emotions are foundational skills that could benefit kids in school and throughout their whole lives."

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Aspiring to be the best

We all want the best in life. Every body wants to belong to the noble class, the elites. But only few persons can do that which is required to be the best. A successful academic today spent many years reading books and making research, a successful Entrepreneur spent many years writing and implementing business plan, and so on. Every one wants to be successful but no one wants to go through the process that beings about success. There is no short - cut for success. If you want to be the best, you must work hard, believe in what you can do, try to be the best in what you do. A Philosopher once said that if someone is called to be a street sweeper, He should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or as Beethoven composed music or as Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause and say that there lived a great street sweeper who did his job well. See you at the top.

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