ESSENTIAL

LIFE
REVISITED
WHAT YOU SHOULD BE READING
(SECOND EDITION)

MATTHEW KOFI OPPONG ACKAH

ESSENTIAL LIFE

COPYRIGHT

All rights reserved.

Copyright 2015 by Matthew Ackah. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be copied without quoting the author

and no hardcopy of this book should be made available
without the authorization of the author.
For further concerns, contact the author on
essentialife.el@gmail.com
This book is in no way intended to replace professional
counsel and the author is not liable to any harm that it may
bring to the reader.

9 789988 208677

ISBN

978 9988 2 0867 7

ESSENTIAL LIFE

CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

SECTION I TOP 10 ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES LIFE

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

TRIUMPH OVER DEATH

MEET CHALLENGES
LIVE IN THE MOMENT
DEFINE YOUR LIMITATIONS
GO AFTER YOUR DREAMS
BE YOURSELF
PRACTICE MODERATION
MAN IS EVIL BY NATURE
BE HUMBLE
10.
TRUST SLOWLY

SECTION II SIX ESSENTIAL PRINCIPLES OF MONEY

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

DESIRE TO BE RICH
KNOW YOUR NET WORTH
DRAW A BUDGET
CULTIVATING THE HABIT OF SAVING
INCREASE YOUR INCOME
INVEST YOUR MONEY

SECTION III 7 ESSENTIAL GIFT OF POETRY

1. VACATION
2. THE NIGHT
3. A SOUL IN THE CROWD
4. SLEEPLESS
5. AUTOBIOGRAPHY
6. THE CALL OF NECESSITY
7. UNAPPLAUDED
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
All glory to the LORD Almighty with whose strength I can do all
things. I also extend my appreciation to Preacher Ken Dadzie for his
immense support in reviewing the morality aspect of this book.
Second, I want to thank Mr. Guy Fuah for his review on the book two
which talks about the financial aspect of the book. Finally, I like to
thank my friends (especially on Facebook) and family for their
encouragements during the difficult periods of writing.
Lastly, I want to thank all those whose valuable inputs had made this
second edition possible.

ESSENTIAL LIFE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Pharm Matthew Kofi Oppong Ackah is a registered pharmacist with
the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana (PSGH) who holds B.Pharm
from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology
(KNUST). He had his secondary high school education at Prempeh
College in Kumasi, the Ashanti Region and attended Prestea
Goldfields international School in the Western Region of Ghana
where he had his primary and junior high school education.
He is a community pharmacist by profession and has held many
leadership positions. These positions have contributed immensely to
his success in teaching on a variety of subjects. He was also an
editorial board member of the KNUST branch of the Ghana Pharmacy
Students Association of 2013.
He writes poetry and reads as a hobby.

ESSENTIAL LIFE

SECTION 1- TOP 10 PRINCIPLES OF LIFE

ESSENTIAL LIFE

1. TRIUMPH OVER DEATH

Text: Hebrews 9:27- Just as man is destined to die once, and after
that to face judgment
Death is a morbid subject that is often not discussed because of the
painful memories that it brings to some of us. Perhaps, that is the
reason why the subject of death is barely touched. There are lots of
questions about this subject and people believe in different answers
depending on their culture and religion. You probably have your own
reservations on the subject.
There however are more mysteries surrounding death than any other
subject that man has ever known. You may know some facts about it
too. If we will all go beyond the grave one day then it is very
important for all of us if we should know what lies beyond this life.
Death is the termination of all biological functions in the physical
sense yet there is a spiritual dimension that is popular but often
overlooked. End of life is the beginning of an eternal journey into
Heaven or Hell depending on how you used the breath that you have
now. As hard and unfair as it may seem, every one of us who is alive
today will die someday. When we remind ourselves of this, death
really does not seem quite so scary. Find time to muse over the end of
life and the likely place that you may spend eternity because it is very
necessary. It is quite sad that we hardly think about the end when the
weather surrounding life seems to be all good. We get too comfy at
this point in time.
The physical end of all men is death and everything that has a
beginning has an end. This is a natural law that cannot be tempered
with. Death is not temporally, it is permanent; deal with the painful
truth instead of fabricating lies to numb the pain like most people do.
Quite interesting but unverifiable issue is the claim by some people
that they have tasted death. They claim of being to Heaven or Hell
and are back. Where would you go if you had this experience?
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Jesus said that no one has been to the father except He that came from
there according to John 3:13. Until the day that all men will be
judged by the Lord, no one can be to Heaven, lest return to this
physical earth to talk of his or her experience. The Bible made
mention of examples like that of Enoch and Elijah. However, none of
them returned back to earth after that celestial trip. Moreover, Lazarus
told the rich man that there was a gulf between Paradise and Hades
which is impossible to cross. All these Biblical examples refute the
claim by people who claim that they have crossed from Heaven to
Hell and back to earth. Only Jesus could do that. He warned Mary not
to touch Him until he had shown himself to his father. He later asked
the apostles to feel his hands because He was not a ghost. This shows
that He had already been to Heaven to see the father. On the subject
of crossing from Hades, Jesus testified that He had been to hell to
preach to those who died in the days before Christ died in the cross.
Indeed, only Christ has been to both Heaven and Hell and returned
safely to earth.
There is a single popular channel through which a person naturally
comes to this world but there are several channels by which a person
dies. The ideal way a person dies is that a person dies in his sleep
having worn out from old age, decorated by gray hairs and has
accumulated enough inertia. This is called senescence but there are
several other unnatural ones as well.
Death comes by various means and some of them as you may already
know are caused by accidents, homicide, starvation, malnutrition,
predation and suicide while others are murdered by others (animalistic
character of man). There are people who die as a result of natural
disasters while many more die as a result of accidents which arise
from the mistakes of other people.
Last but not the least is the fact that many die from disease conditions.
The most common cause of human death in the world is heart disease,
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

followed by stroke and the third being lower respiratory infections

according to the 2011 report by the World Health Organization 1.
Many more die because they deserve to die according to the legal
requirements of capital punishment by a region. With all these
uncertain but true channels to Deathsville in mind, it is a good idea
when you prepare for any day at all and any time at all which may be
the last.
The simple man however thinks that death is as far away as the
heavens are from the earth. He lives in the future while wasting away
the time that he is privileged to have now.
God was clear in describing the life of man as it is- brief and
uncertain. He said in James 4:14 that for what is your life, it is a mist
and flower of the field which is here today and tomorrow is no more.
The third thing you need to know about death is the fact that it
respects no one and once an individuals time is up, it does not matter
the health status of that fellow as well as how much that person has in
his or her bank account. It matters less the achievements of the person
and most importantly, the age of that individual, death just swoops in
and snatches away.
Death is an enemy who comes around to steal, kill and to destroy. Are
you one of those few who assume that death only shows up during old
age or in sickness? You may be in for a very big surprise. This is
usually assumed based on published life expectancy data that is found
in most countries. As at the end of the year 2014, the country with the
highest life expectancy is Monaco at 89.57 years, the country with the
lowest life expectancy is Chad at just 49.44years. That of Ghana is
around 65.75 years. (You will find the life expectancies of all the
countries in the world at the end of this book). These may hold true in
some cases but as aforementioned, death is no respecter of age and so
the earlier you prepares for judgment, the better.
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

Taking this truth into consideration, David, the king of Israel asked
the Lord to teach him to number his days that he may incline his heart
to wisdom as we see in Ps 90:12.
If you are not prepared for death every passing day of your life, then
you are living in self-deception probably because it gives you some
hope or comfort.
You may be part of a larger crew who accepts the inevitability of
death but assign a later time to it. To this peculiar crew, death is
always a shock to when it strikes because they least expected it. Do
not be taken by the shock of death. Pray against untimely death but
always prepare for it. We can only prepare for death when we are
prepared for Heaven. If the mention of Judgment day put fear in you,
then you probably are not prepared to die. To prepare die is to prepare
to live forever.
It was in this light that the apostle Paul admonished us in 1
Thessalonians 4:13 that we should not remain uninformed about
those who sleep in death, grieving like men who do not have hope. If
you will not be scared upon being threatened with death, it depends
on your preparedness to meet God when you finally close your eyes
to this physical world and exhale your last breath.
Now that you have looked at death square in the eyes, let us take
some time to think about how this can be of benefit to you. With all
the monies that you are acquire in your work and all the cars that you
see around as well as the houses that you may putting up and tell me
about what will become of them when you are long gone. This is
quite a depressing question, I know. But it is also worth the
consideration.
In this brief life, people make it a point to accrue so much material
things as if it is permanent. This is not worthy of a religious and godly
individual. Those who tend to do this may simply want to have
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

enough to show off, in preparedness of a rainy day or for a latter

project. This is enough good but should not in any way blind us from
the duty so seek a permanent seat in the afterlife.
A story of a rich man is accounted in the bible. He made plans, lots
of plans because he had enough from the toil of his labour but did not
think about the possibility of death. Most people in the world make
this same mistake of not thinking about the end of life. If you are like
these people chances are that, you are not much prepared to meet your
maker. Enjoy life to the maximum when you have the means, but do
not forget that God who gave you the strength to acquire all that you
have.
When you take the time to muse over death, it becomes beautiful
though it still remains an enemy to the longevity your very existence.
All the goals that we fight for and all the wealth that we accrue are not
only to enjoy a better life than we are currently doing but probably an
effort to be remembered when we are long gone.
There are many faiths that believe in the afterlife of death and many
others that do not. There are many that fabricate many stories to make
death less painful and seem very trivial but that is not the case at all
because hardly has a person returned from the grave to tell us about
what lies beyond the grave so we seek comfort in literature and
proudly gulf down the lies that history has forced down our narrow
throats. The good news is that Death is only a transition.
This however is the cure for death: that each of us will be prepared for
it at any point at all in time. If we are able to better do this, we will
agree with the Apostle Paul who wished to die that he may meet the
LORD as he wrote in Philippians 1:23
How prepared are you to meet the LORD? We cannot live our lives in
fear of death and never can we live our lives in denial of it either by
intentionally and intellectually relinquishing it to the dustbins of our
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

memories. This does not make the existence of the end of our physical
life untrue. The earlier we accept the possibility of death at any time
of our lives-young or old, healthy or not, the better. Furthermore,
preparing for it daily is the best way that can ever be lived in the life
of an individual who is ready to stand the sting of a bitter truth in
order to experience a better life. So dine alright as long as you breathe
but have death in mind.
Sorry if you are reminded of some painful event or death of a loved
one. Do not worry. Think of this poem by Rose M. de Leon who did a
marvelous work of a poem about death:
IN OUR HEARTS
(By Rose M. de Leon)
We thought of you with love today,
But that is nothing anew
We thought about you yesterday
And days before that too
We think of you in silence
We often speak your name
Now all we have is memories
And your picture in a frame
Your memory is our keepsake
With which we will never part
God has you in his keeping
We have you in our hearts

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ESSENTIAL LIFE

2. MEET CHALLENGES
Text: 1 Peter 5:7- Cast all your care upon him because he cares for
you. (NIV)
George Bernard Shaw, the Irish playwright, socialist and co-founder
of the London School of Economics once said "People are always
blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in
circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people
who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can't
find them, make them."
You are the master of your life and your life is the product of your
choices. You will agree with me that choices usually present
themselves when we meet challenges. These challenges also come
with opportunities to learn. Most of the time, the crossroad at which
we have to make some of these hard choices are unforeseen but the
choices need to be made anyway. No one gets an exemption from
making choices in life. As long as you are not excused from facing
challenges, you will always have choices to make. They are all around
you and you cannot go through this life without ever tasting some
challenges. Challenges differ in difficulty and instances but the good
news is that, there are ways to overcome challenges.
There are only two choices to make when you face a challenge-face it
squarely or postpone it to another time if possible. Mind you, not all
challenges can be procrastinated, some just cant wait. The more they
wait the worse their consequences.
You have in you the best tool for troubleshooting challenges-your
beautiful brain. Your mind is the best tool for troubleshooting the
challenges of life. Do not complain all the time and stop fretting
whenever you face challenges. This will reduce the mental energy that
will be required to overcome the challenge. Rather, focus on finding
solution to the challenge. The popular belief is that no one has used
close to 10% the capability of the mind. This might be true. Some
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

reasons why most people usually do not use much of their brain
power is sheer laziness and lack of efforts at finding solutions to the
challenges that they face in life.
A reason why most people often find it hard to surmount challenges is
because they are not willing to seek for help from others when the
need arises. The old adage says that a problem that is shared is a
problem halved. Develop the habit of sharing your challenges with
people who can be able to help you. Exercise restraint in undertaking
this exercise because there are people who will worsen your situation
and further discourage you. Look for people who have gone through
the challenge that you are facing now and come out successfully.
They will likely be willing to help you. You will find their counsel
useful in solving the challenge you might be facing.
There is this other effective but less used way of overcoming
challenges. That is through prayer. Many a time, man does not consult
God for directions whenever he faces challenges. He would rather
depend on his strength alone which usually fails. Before you decide to
troubleshoot a problem, it would be ideal that you ask God for
directions. More often than not, the gravity of the situation may throw
you agog and blind you from the existence of God. We can however
take an example from the Bible which testifies of David the King of
Israel. He never did a thing unless he had consulted God as illustrated
in 2 Sam 2:1. This brought success untold of in his life as a king. In
the same way, there is no challenge we cannot surmount if we would
ask God for directions. We are told that if we ask anything in the
name of God, He will do it. We can do a lot in life if we cultivate the
habit of asking for directions from God before embarking on a
journey such as tackling a challenge.
A key to surmounting challenges is self-belief. You need to have
confidence in your ability to tackle the challenge. In the face of a
challenge or danger, the human mind is capable of simplifying
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intricate challenges with ground breaking and history making

solutions that benefit people for ages. Isnt it surprising therefore that
there are challenges that we claim are beyond our ability? Sometimes
we draw such conclusions because we do not think about the possible
solution to the challenge. You can do this by first of all focusing first
on the cause of the problem. The second reason why some challenges
overwhelm us as aforementioned is because we do not consult God
for directions. Struggling with a challenge this way can lead to serious
mental problems.
Take some time to consider some challenges you might have faced in
the past. It will be clear that if you had given careful consideration to
the issue or better still prayed about it, you could overcome it. What
can best help you is having the view that all the answers to the
questions that you ask in life are found somewhere in our minds when
we look up to God. The book of James says that if we need wisdom,
we should ask God and He will grant it freely to us. The Bible was
right when it said in Matt 17:20 that if we have faith as small as the
mustard seed, we can move mountains. Have faith that God will grant
you the wisdom to solve your challenges and you can.
We simply do not try hard enough and often doubting our capabilities
to solve our own challenges. This may usually stem from past failures
but the past and present are two different entities. Dig deep enough
when troubleshooting challenges instead of scratching the surface and
getting satisfied with mediocre solutions that do not last as long as it
is hoped to last.
One quality that can stand in the way of overcoming your challenges
is low self-esteem. If you doubt your capability to solve your own
problem, you cannot. The fact of life is that if you cannot solve your
problems, there is no way you can help others to solve theirs.
However, Bible says according to Ps 139:14 that we are fearfully and
WONDERFULLY made hence we can do anything at all if we would
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believe. I believe this strongly because it has worked for me over the
years. It can work for you too.
Thinking effectively is a very systematic process and it generates the
best of answers when it is focused on the solution for which we are
facing a challenge. It is a skill that can be learnt. Anyone at all can
think but not anyone at all can think effectively. Practically, it is often
said that to find the best solution to a worry, an individual should
clearly write down what he considers the cause of the challenge in
short simple sentences such as
1. I lost my job
2. My money got stolen or
3. I lost an election and so on.
This helps to clarify the problem and makes finding the answers not
so much of a difficult task to undertake. It is not the time for cursing
and spilling threats. Neither is it a time to weep and wallow in selfpity. First of all; acknowledge the existence of the challenge. Like the
adage goes, you cannot hit a target you cannot see. If you do not
acknowledge the challenge, there is no way you can deal effectively
with it. This form of denial is different but closely linked to positive
thinking. Always know where to draw the line. Knowing this will
prevent you from swirling around in futility to search for answers to
undefined difficulties.
The next step is to find the root cause of the challenge. This is
because if you just focus on the cause instead of finding the root cause
of the challenge, you can deal with the problem only temporarily or
symptomatically and there will be a resurgence of the challenge
usually with a more difficult way of dealing with it. Finding the root
cause of the challenge could be simplified into words such as greed,
theft, arrogance, anger and pride among others. This makes it easier to
focus on eliminating the root cause which ultimately eliminates the
challenge faster.
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The next in the process of effectively surmounting a challenge is

finding possible solutions to the problem and it is best to find at least
three possible solutions to the problem that you are facing. Most
people stop here. They find the cause of the challenge they are facing
but fail to do something about it. Sometimes, it is just fear that holds
such people back. Do not join this toward movement. Challenges, if
left unsolved can affect you negatively in many ways. Do not hesitate
when the root cause is identified. Do something permanent about it. It
is not the time to shift blames but to deal with it. Shifting blames is a
game played by the coward and it often destroys vital relationships.
The best solution is then chosen among the possible solutions that you
come up with. For clarity sake, put this ultimate solution in writing
and back it with goals that can help you to achieve that solution. At
times, it will be necessary that you combine one or two of the
solutions to formulate your master plan of action. You need to focus
on the solution to the challenge right from the start. Foresight in
dealing with challenges is indispensable.
Let me highlight once again that it is not enough for an individual to
spend all his time thinking about a solution and not doing something
about it. The worst of actions that lead to failure is better than the best
of idea that lay dormant without it being carried out. It is therefore not
the best of choice that one comes out with the best strategy to solve a
problem and yet does nothing about it, or worst, take shelter in
procrastination. I am sure that no matter the challenge that you are
facing now, you can go through successfully.

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3. LIVE IN THE MOMENT

Text: Acts 13:36"For David, after he had served his own
generation by the will of God, fell on asleep, and was laid unto his
fathers, and saw corruption (KJV)
Buddha puts it this way, "Do not dwell in the past, and do not dream
of the future, concentrate on the present moment". Life always comes
to an end. In the first principle, we discussed this. The good news
about life is that, the quality of your life is not in the number of years
your life but how you live your number of years. You can live a full
life no matter how many years that you spend living.
Full years can be enjoyed by living each moment in the present.
Living in the moment is just like living like there is no tomorrow.
This is not to say that you should not plan ahead of time. It is
important for you to acknowledge the beauty in each moment of life
and in everyday simple activities. It is a conscious act that requires
participation, not just observation. Life is best enjoyed in the activity
and not the passivity. The reward for this is a richer and fuller life.
Life is uncertain and there can be times time a single or couple of
events might change the course of the river of your plans for life but
when it does, how do you handle it?
The Past
There is a belief system that our lives are just consequences of our
past. I will not quickly dismiss the fact that your actions or inactions
in the past may have spillovers in your future, it is obvious. In
situations like this, you can be stuck in the past. Do not allow yourself
to be held back by time. Wallowing in regrets and making no progress
in life can be very regretful. The past can stifle the present and that in
effect, affect the future very much.
As the renowned Ralph Emerson puts it, "With the past, I have
nothing to do; nor with the future. I live now" He noticed the
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importance of letting his past lose. The past can be very despicable. It
can be full of regrets and pain. However, your past should not have a
negative effect on your life. To do this, you must learn to live in the
moment.
To live moment by moment is to live one day at a time, concentrating
so much on what lie right before you. It is the matters on your plates
that matter all the time. You can choose to live in day-tight
compartments. This is a way of life where you discard yesterday as
soon as the day closes and focus on today. What is past is gone and
nothing can be done about it. Did you lose a loved one? Did you miss
an opportunity? Did you take actions that you rather would not take if
you knew better? You cannot do anything about it. Just let it go.
Focus on what is on your plate today and deal with that. Like Jesus
said, todays worries are enough for a day. No need to drag the past
into the present.
Comfort those who continually beat themselves up for the mistakes
that they might have made in the past which more than often affect
the way that they approach their present. This often have a
devastating effect on their future lives. Do not be a past tense but
present at all times. If you keep staring at the moon, you will miss the
shooting star. Be always focused on making the present better by
living life one day at a time and moment by moment. This promotes
efficiency and heightens focus -a recipe for success.
The future
Now that we have look careful at the past, let us take the time to
consider the future. Do you have dreams and goals that are scheduled
for some time later on in life (Maybe after you are pensioned)?
Having plans for the future is very good and it gives hope. The
problem however is that pushing all your plans to someday can suck
the fun out of your life. Plans can also be pushed in the future due to
fear or procrastination. The problem with this is that, the future is
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uncertain and you may miss an opportunity to enjoy life while you
can. The law of the universe is that Anything at all can happen at any
time. This means that the goals that you have planned for the future
may or may not come to pass. If you can do something now to make
life comfortable for you, do so now because none of us own
tomorrow. That is the way to life full years-living actively in the
moment instead of the future.
Fear
One thing that can keep you from living in the moment is fear. A lot
more people also have apprehension of an ominous future when they
consider their present situation. The reality of the issue is that life can
take a dramatic turn when we least expect it and that alone should
make you cast all fear aside, consider all plans as fluid and enjoy
life moments by moments. The worst has the same chance as the best
in happening. That is why living in the moment is such an important
strategy that some consider it as the best way. If you are willing to
enjoy life, live in the moment. Those who succeed in life or make a
mark on the pages of human history and a lasting memory on the
minds of people do not live in the past or the future but in today and
in now. You can become such a person.
Power of thought
In Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, an illustration is made that
showed that we eventually get what we desire. A man wanted to go
into partnership with Thomas Edison which was pretty a daring high
goal at the time. The summary of the story is that he eventually
succeeded in doing that because he would not stop thinking himself as
a business partner of Edison. When life is lived in expectation of the
best or the worst, you get it eventually because these are attracted to
you in certain ways as we think about them. This concept forms the
basis of the power of positive thinking. A whole book has been
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written on this concept by the renowned Vincent Norman Peale who

found this concept to be true after decades of it being tested and tried.
The Bible confirms this in the book of Job where Job said that what
he fears is what comes upon him. If a man can think things into being,
if he can dream circumstances into reality and if he eventually
becomes the end product of his constant thoughts, then why do you
not think the positive, the pure, the worthwhile and the good that
these may befall you?
You can change your circumstances by changing the way that you
think. In his life as a lawyer, Jeff Keller who wrote the book,
Attitude is EVERYTHING discovered that how he thought was the
reason for his unhappiness that he experienced in his life. He put his
discoveries in that book and left his job to be a motivational speaker
and author. He chose to live in the moment and that was the
beginning of a new and better life for him. He describes his discovery
on attitude towards life as one that he will never regret. I encourage
you to be bold in changing your life for the better by changing your
train of thoughts.
Decide from today to make it your habit to think of only the best or
the good things in life. This should not be confused with making
readiness for the worst someday by making wise analysis of the
present situation. Jesus said in Luke 14:31 that even when a king
intends to go into battle; he takes time to think and to plan before he
proceeds. On the other hand, this must not be confused with worrying
about that which we cannot change concerning the future instead of
leaving it in the hands of GOD. We are admonished in not to worry so
much about life according to Matt 6:34.
Depressing Moments
When your clock finally ceases to tick, when you finally stop
breathing, will you wish to start life afresh or you would be convinced
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that you actively enjoyed your years? In answering this question, the
then president of America, Abraham Lincoln said that the best thing
about the future is that it comes one day at a time. This is true and it
is only those who have chosen to live one day at a time that makes the
most out of life.
The other side of the coin is that, you look at life on the long term
basis when one day at a time is not working out well. What this mean
is that, as you decide to live life one day at a time, there will be days
that almost everything seems to go wrong. It is a time for positive
mental attitude. Do not allow negativity prevent you from enjoying
life. This is the day or time that you need to take a break, step back
and look at the bigger picture that you are painting on a daily basis. It
is the time that you need to step back and know that a bad day does
not mean a bad life and a bad moment is not enough to determine the
outcome of your life. It is written in Ecclesiastics that the end of a
matter is better than the beginning. With this in mind, gird up your
loins and focus on the expected end of your goals, dream or life and
know that God is working at the background.
Accept yourself
Living in the moment and enjoying life includes accepting yourself
for whom you are. It is a wonderful gift of life to love you. It
doesnt not matter how others see you. You are your best judge. The
least that you can do for yourself is to love yourself, be kind to
yourself, and be proud of who you are. Know that you do not have to
explain yourself to anybody or to apologize to anyone for being you.
If you go through life feeling sorry for yourself, people are going to
make you feel sorrier than you can imagine. Life is too short to worry.
It is said that we all hold a signpost that describe how the world
should treat us and this sign post is how we see our own selves. To
enjoy living in the moment, learn to accept yourself for who you
really are on the inside.
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You may be stuck in the past or anxious about the future so much that
you fail to live actively in the moment. The bad news is that, you are
wasting your life by continuing in doing this. The good news on the
other hand is that you have a chance to remake your life. It does not
matter how long you have allowed yourself to be in this position. You
can lift yourself up from the mud by following this principle and the
rest of your life would be far richer and fuller than your past ever was.

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4. DEFINE YOUR LIMITATIONS

Text: Isa 40:31-but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run,
and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint. (KJV)
"It is paradoxical, yet true, to say that the more we know, the more
ignorant we become in the absolute sense, for it is only through
enlightenment that we become conscious of our limitations. Precisely
one of the most gratifying results of intellectual evolution is the
continuous opening up of new and greater prospects"-Nikola Tesla.3
You are created in the image of God and one of the attributes of the
God-like creature is that you can create anything conceivable in the
mind, having the right raw materials and requisite knowledge. A
proof of our likeness to God can be found in Gen 1:26 when God
mad man in his own image.
You can think or plan all that you want to think, you can do anything
that you want to do but you cannot have anything that you want to
have. This may sound a bit hard and dry but it is the truth though a lot
of people fail to grasp. As human as you are, you are full of mistakes,
limitations, imperfections and faults. Do not beat yourself about it so
much. It is your nature. It is your nature to be selfish and it is your
nature to be all that despicable things that only you know yet ashamed
to be associated with. That is being human. One in particular that I
want us to look at is accepting our limitations and dealing with it.
You can only accept your limitations by learning to recognize them
first. Sometimes, it may be hard for you to do so because it is painful
doing so. It creates a dent in your pride as a person but it also takes
off the veil from your eyes enabling you to see clearly the way to do
when your back is against the wall. Recognition of your limitation is a
rare moment that few grasp to better them and make their lives worth
the while. Grasp these precious opportunities as they present
themselves. One way to effectively make use of these chances to
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work of your limitations is by being ready as they come. Opportunity

always favours the prepared.
You will not accept your limitation when chained with pride. In the
same manner, you cannot accept your limitation when lazy. It requires
some effort to see an effect. Defining your limitation is not necessary
if you are not willing or ready to do something positive about it to
make it better. For instance, weak-willed and lazy people would want
to sit and wait for the next job advertisement or bet their life savings
on a lottery ticket but the prepared ones capitalize on the needs of his
environment, dig into the faculties of his brains and utilize the raw
materials available in his environment to create opportunities for
themselves and others. God has warned man to desist from laziness
but many people go against this recommended hard work pattern and
hence plunge themselves into the pool of destitution. The proof of this
is found in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 where God said that if a person will
not work, he will not eat.
The green light' that you may expect to change your circumstance
after you define your limitations in life. It is all a matter of willpower.
This is the single quality that differentiates thinkers from actors. In
this world, it is those who get up and do something about their plans
that see the results that they desire manifest in their lives. The will to
make a change in your situation as human lies in your willpower to
liberate yourself. It does not matter whether you are entangled with
self-pity, poverty or any other challenge at all; it all has the key in
your willpower to act in an effort to change your current unpleasant
situation. Like the popular quote puts it, where there is a will, there
is a way".
To know these limitations is also a chance to rely on God who is
limitless. Some things worth doing are way above the pay grade of
man. These acts are way beyond us. It will be in your best interest to
leave these ones in the hands of God. If you wish to live a limitless
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

life, you need to seek the cooperation of a limitless God who can give
you the strength to do what you naturally are not wired to do.
Remember that if you want to make your life better and worth living,
you have to acknowledge the fact that you are full of limitations.
Failure to do so is a display of pride and arrogance, all of which God
hates. In James 4:6, it is made known that God resists the proud, but
gives grace to the humble. Be humble for the grace of God which can
help you overcome your limitations.
Have you thought about steering the tsunami or turning down the
volume knob of a thunder because it took away a loved one? How
about dimming the lightening and fanning air into whirlwinds because
it destroyed properties? These are mere cases of hyperbole in the case
of humans but not that of God. In the book of Job God is revealed as
the true owner of the world (Job 38:11). If you are able to identify and
utilize all your capabilities ideally, it will benefit you and probably
the world at large. This is both desirable and commendable but it is
not your duty to play God. Playing God includes failure to recognize
those things that only God can do.
The surest change you can effect as a person is in his own life. This is
for sure and there is no two ways about it. It therefore makes you,
your own prison warden. The cause of the challenges you are going
through might not be self-originated but how you choose to respond
to that can make a lasting difference in your life as an individual. Be
therefore your own master to your own slave.
If you are able to successfully apply this to your life and the changes
become evident, do not hesitate to celebrate your success. Give
yourself a pat on the back or a tap on your shoulder (if no one is
willing to) for it was by your decision to embark on this journey to
define your limitations that has elevated you from that low state of
overdependence into this high state of self-dependence. You will
know when to tackle challenges in life and when to give up. You will
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

become the main character in your game instead of a puppet in the

world of other people. Do not therefore delegate, that which lies in
your boundary.
This is not a credit to mediocrity or laxity. It is commendable that we
do all that our hands find doing with our all just as God wants us to as
it is said in Col 3:23-24 and whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the
lord and not to men. We should however learn to carry our burdens to
God because there is nothing that He cannot do. Define your
limitations in life from today and know when to send tasks to God.
This is the best way to make your life essential. It is all about balance.
Always relying on God and doing nothing on your own is not only an
insult to God but a sign of laziness (You will not eat if you do this).
On the other hand, not relying on God but on your own limited
capabilities as human is both a recipe for failure and a display of
arrogance which God hates. It is all about knowing your limitations

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5. GO AFTER YOUR DREAMS

Text: Matt 19:26- with God all things are possible. (KJV)
New York Times bestseller H. Jackson Brown remarked, "Twenty
years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you
didn't do than by the ones that you did do. So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Dream. Discover"4.
Almost all of us have dreams that we wish to achieve some day. You
have one and I do too. Human beings are always goal-oriented as
made known by Dr. Maxwell Maltz, author of Psychocybernetics. In
fact it can be said that there is no one on earth without dreams. The
quote above is a very true saying. If you are not bold enough to go
after the things that you desire today, you will regret that some time to
come when you do not have the energy, opportunity but the desire. If
you have a dream, no matter how impossible that it may seem, you
have to do your best to try it out. Great men are always men of action
on their dreams. Whatever that they achieved was once only a dream.
I have 4 simple questions for you concerning your dreams
1.
2.
3.
4.

What was your dream yesterday?

Have you turned it into reality today?
Will you be proud of it tomorrow?
Was it worth the effort?

For a dream to be worth the effort, there are some things that it needs
to be. The first is that dreams must be broken down into goals that can
be attained. These goals must be time bound so that you can measure
the progress that you are making. It will inform you if you are taking
baby steps or giant strides towards what you hope to achieve. Not
only that, dreams must be realistic as well. The opportunity to dream
is not enough freedom for you to assume the outrageous ones. Dreams
become outrageous based on the circumstances around it. A dream
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

may only be possible in some countries and others may be possible in

the future of technology. Whatever it is, dreams are worth pursuing.
Remember that whatever you see today was once only a dream.
Provided that the dreams we have are realistic enough, we can attain
them. Challenges will always stand in the way of your dreams.
Without challenges, dreams are only activities that anyone at all can
undertake. But there is a price to pay for dreams. Self-deception can
be so painful. One area of self-deception is to ignore the fact that as
you go after your dreams, you will meet challenges. If you also
believe that life is full of challenges, then we better prepare in
advance to face it.
You may already be a dreamer. You probably are confident of
achieving your dreams. This is honourable and I will encourage that
you do something daily that takes you closer to your dreams in life.
However, with your confidence hitting the roof to a point where you
may feel immutable to the unexpected blows of life, do not forget the
God factor. Most of the time, dreams are put in our hearts by our
creator and he is the only one with the right direction to achieving
them. He has an upper hand over us because He can spot challenges
way ahead of us before we ever have the chance to see it fast
approaching.
The bible confirms our ignorance of the future hence the futility in
making plans without the God factor. This means we hope to achieve
our goals with our own strength or intelligence. It is written that man
makes his plans but God has the final say in what happens. James
4:14 reads that we do not know the content of tomorrow. This is
pretty scary but do not let that stop you from going after your dreams
and goals because when you have a positive dream and seek for
guidance from God, he will make your tomorrow sure and that dream
a reality in the appropriate time. That is what Proverbs 16:9 says that
a mans heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

Do not fear the possibility of failure. It is sure. We all fail in life but
it is those who learn not to fail twice that make it in life. There are
countless unforeseen circumstances that may try to stop you from
going after your dreams. There are times that you may even stand in
your own way but that is alright. It is perfectly normal to doubt your
abilities at times. There is a possibility that you may fail and there is
also the possibility that you may succeed but you will never know
which one it turns out to be until you take a chance at your dreams.
Failure is not the absence of success but a gradual realization of a
worthy idea that pushes an individual towards his set goals. It is no
news that a person who is successful in an area of interest has gone
through some challenges before and best of all is that they have taken
the time to learn from their mistakes so as not to fall into the same pit
once again. One of such profound wisdom is leaning on God to make
our dreams come true instead of our own mortal efforts. The world all
over is littered with rag to riches stories that seemed impossible at the
start. The Bible is another place where the providence of God in
helping others achieve greater dreams is found. God can help you
achieve your positive goals too.
Success comes with experience. It may only be attained by a person
after years and scars of failure. You will gladly show this off as the
evidence that whatever dream or goal that you achieved or how you
became successful was not attained on a silver platter. In that case,
worry less about the pains you are may go through or are probably
going through now as you pursue your dreams and goals.
Help yourself through the power of God that works in you as you
come to realize that you are responsible for your success. Never allow
the failures of your life to stop you from your goals and dreams
because that is your key to finding a place in this world. Sometimes
achieving a goal may mean your source of livelihood. It can also
mean a chance to help others. There is no greater motivation for you
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

in this process than what is written that when a man is strengthened

by God, he can do all things.
Decide from today that no matter how difficult your dreams may
appear in achieving them, you will never give up. There are a whole
lot of people who gave up on their dreams or goals when they faced
challenges in life. You may not have heard of any because they gave
up the fight to make their dream a reality. It is these same challenges
of life that adds the best flavor or taste to a success story. In fact, there
is no success without obstacles and there is no victory without
opposition.
Many tend to easily give up on God when the challenges or the test of
life becomes quiet overbearing for them. The truth is that tenacity
pays big time. God has given you enough resources to help you
achieve your goals and dreams. It is said that whatever thing that you
are seeking is within your grasp. You already have all that you need
to achieve your goals. What is stopping you from going after them?
Employ all that God has gifted you with-time, money, friends,
gadgets and any other relevant accessory to get back on track and
pursue the very dream that you may have given up on.
Dreams come at no cost but to make them a reality, you will have to
pay the price. Every dream comes with its own price to pay in
achieving them and only those who are willing to pay the full price
for it will ever make it happen in real life. Be determined to make
your dreams come true. It is a rare moment that only a few will ever
taste. Never give up on them when it gets tough. Remember that when
the going gets tough, it is the tough that gets going. Are you tough
enough to pursue the dreams that you have in your heart. Picture how
it will feel like to achieve that dream and allow that to motivate to
through your struggles.
If you are facing challenges as you work towards your dreams, do not
give up. Just look up. Do not forget that some of these challenges are
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

only thrown to us so that we can turn to God for help. You will fail to
do achieve a LEGITIMATE dream in your own endeavors. It is
written about Balaam that when the donkey on which he sat would
not go, God was speaking to him. Maybe God is speaking to you
through the challenges that you are facing now.
Lots of references can be made about people who failed a lot of times
in their quest to achieve their goals. People made fun of them and
society was not hesitant to call them shameful names. Some of them
that we hardly know of gave up while a number of them also used the
humiliation as an opportunity to prove their worth and today we make
mention of them for their immense contribution to the lives of the
human race in general. A quick example is Thomas Edison who tried
several times and failed to make a light bulb lighten up but at last he
did and it has been a source of encouragement to the many others who
seek to pursue their dreams at all cost even after they have failed.
Lighten up your dreams.
Maybe you had to drop out of schools, you are a business person who
has filed for bankruptcy or you refuse to love all over again because
of a failed previous relationship. You are not being fair to yourself. In
life, one chooses to see failure either as a stumbling block or a
stepping stone. The shrewd sees failure as an opportunity to learn not
to fail again (stepping stone), the common man sees it as a red light
(stumbling block) to his dream, bringing all his plans to a halt. If you
are determined to find your place in life, then never give up on the
dreams that you set for yourself. Do not give up in the face of failure
but press on till all your dreams and goals are accomplished.
We are all on earth for a purpose -to contribute our part in making the
world a better place for our generation and those that come after us
before we exit to the other side. Life devoid of goals and dreams is
likened to a football match without goal posts. Now that you know

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what it takes to make dreams a reality, nothing or no one can stop

you, all the best.

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6. BE YOURSELF
Text: Ps 139:14-I will praise you; for I am fearfully and
wonderfully made (KJV)
The Single Woman, Mandy Hale quoted something wonderful "You
will learn as you get older, that rules are made to be broken. Be bold
enough to live life on your terms, and never, ever apologize for it. Go
against the grain, refuse to conform, take the road less travelled
instead of the well-beaten path. Laugh in the face of adversity, and
leap before you look. Dance as though EVERYBODY is watching.
March to the beat of your own drummer. And stubbornly refuse to fit
in."4
It takes no effort to be who you are. In fact, you true self is revealed
when you are least conscious of yourself and your environment. A
true paradox to consider is that, your find yourself when you forget
yourself. The one who does all he can to pitch their tents under or
even near the uncomfortable roof of pretense suffers harm by tearing
apart his uniqueness or originality.
Do you accept the fact that not all people like you nor will ever like
you no matter how many times you change to suit them? You
probably answered affirmative but do you acknowledge it? Most
people will set themselves against you for the sheer success that you
are chalking especially as you decide to live by your own rules and be
honest to yourself. There are a whole lot of people pleasers out there
and you should not bother to be one of them. Be yourself. Oscar
Wilde in his usual funny mood made this profound statement that Be
yourself, everyone else is taken. Yes, you cannot be someone else,
walk in their shoes and feel comfy. It will never fit.
There are a number of ways that you can learn to be yourself if you
have lost in touch with your originality for a while. The first and
always the best place to start is to identify who you truly are. These
include your identification of weakness and strengths. There is
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nothing to be ashamed of when it comes to weaknesses. Humans are

not created as perfect beings. If you were perfect, the world would not
be in a state as we always find it in. I am not perfect, I have my
shortcomings and it is same with you. But I have learnt to identify my
faults and work on them constantly. Being yourself does not mean
that you do not yearn to be better; it means that you acknowledge the
flaws that make you human. Striving for perfection can be frustrating
and you will be better off with being better today than yesterday. It is
a good place to start.
Finding out who you are and your core values are just a place to start.
It can be very unpleasant and disturbing as you unveil the shroud and
reveal the rot within. This however should not deter you in anyway
because what you do after you stare that part of yourself that you are
not proud of is more important.
Self-introspection is not always about the bad but the good at times.
This has to do with your strengths as an individual. All men are
gifted. The only challenge why some do not shine as much as others
is how well they polish their talents. In his book, Talent is not
enough John C. Maxwell outlines ways by which people of equal
talents differ in how far their talents take them in life. Do not be
blindfolded by doubting your abilities. You have abilities, you have
strengths. It is you duty in an effort to find yourself and to be yourself
to find those strengths and polish them for your own benefits.
One you have laid the foundation of the boundaries between your
strength and weaknesses, you are bound to find your true self. This
makes it easier because it will pinpoint you to your core values which
in turn will enable you to be yourself. Being you is a daring task in a
world plagued by conformity. There is so much copying of behaviors
and need for acceptance that only those who are ready to go against
the crowd will ever be true and honest to themselves. The pressures to

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conform may be a lot but the benefit you will reap from being true to
yourself, especially freedom, can be so much satisfying.
Life is not a race. Life is not a competition. Life has nothing to do
with comparing. You have no business whatsoever trying to be like
another person. There can be temporal satisfaction such as social
acceptance and conformity but there can also be long term
consequences like suppression of talent and depression in the long
run. Do not trap yourself by trying to be like other people, rather learn
to be yourself and others copy you if you so wish. You can never ever
be the best copycat in the world but you can be the best you that you
were made to shine.
The decision to sing your own tune and move at your own pace in life
can be very offensive to others. It can be very threatening to those
who are not bold enough to come out of their own self and be who
they truly are on the inside. It is a time that they will do all they can in
ensuring that you conform to their expectations. Do not be surprised
at why they should be so worried about you being you. They are
discouraged to conform, probably have succeeded in discouraging
others from being the best they can be and you are just another victim
to them. They use dissociation, humiliation and tagging to pressure
you to be just another ordinary person. You are no ordinary person
but a very unique being and it is your duty to protect that from being
taken away from you. Whether they succeed in making you deny
yourself and live the life of another depends solely on you.
It is not enough, a strong point to avoid opposition by throwing
overboard your resolution to be free from the popular accepted norms
of life. As much as it is easier to move with the tide, it is far better to
swim against the tide at times. You are unique just like everyone else
and so there is no reward in trying to make people like you by trying
to completely please someone else. It is like pushing an immovable
wall, it is like busily rocking back and forth in a rocking chair -it gets
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you nowhere. This is absolute futility. Keep in mind that the easiest
way to lose old friends is trying to win some more friends. You
cannot succeed in life being a people pleaser. Lots and lots of people
are more than willing to have you as a slave so that they determine
how you live your life. I would rather be the master of my life than a
slave of another. How about you?
The only person that you can please is yourself, while the only person
you should please is God. This is the reason why we were created and
that should be a guiding principle to anyone who seeks to walk in
wisdom, as someone who has been bold to shatter the status quo by
facing hard truths about themselves and valuing their worth. Even
angels get into fights at times and the Son of God is accused to be
possessed by Beelzebub once in a while. That is life! Your intentions
may be misjudged, your willingness to help may be misunderstood
and your efforts to abstain from the chaos of life may be unsuccessful
in a chaotic world like ours so love the life you live and live the life
you love by simply being you and no one else. It is high time you
stopped caring so much about how others perceive you. You cannot
change that and you should not waste a second of your life making
someone else like you if they cannot accept you for who you truly are
on the inside.
Being you can be very rewarding and peaceful. When you know that
your outer self is a true reflection of what you are on the inside, it
feels awesome. You live life effortlessly because you have accepted
yourself as you are and are not trying so hard to hide it from people
who claim perfection. Integrity, that sense of wholesome and
completeness of mind and behavior is an enviable quality. You true
self will eventually come out and it is better of you work on it now so
that when it comes out, it will be a beauty to behold. Those who life
under pretense are often caught off guard as their true and unattendedto-inner-self eventually break loose at times when they lose their
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guards. It is just like the Great Gatsby, who despite his enviable old
sport calmness broke into fierce ready-to-kill military burst while
under pressure. That is what will happen if you do not accept yourself
and work in your own backyard.
There is no one that is freer than the one who seeks to please no one
for the fact that he knows that humans cannot be pleased completely,
the plain knowledge that man, is nothing more than an insatiable
creature (should we decide to hit the nail straight on the head and not
mince words). Knowing this and the fact you no one is an island,
there is a need for you to shield yourself against the personality
thieves who seek to rob you of your uniqueness. You can do this by
surrounding yourself with people who will appreciate you for whom
you are and not be judgmental with regards to your shortcomings.
These supportive people are rare and valuable. To find them, you
need to be supportive yourself to draw them in. Surround yourself
with people who will encourage you to peruse your goals and dreams,
capitalize on your strengths as well as working on your shortcomings.
There will be times that you may need to take your own advice based
on your guts. You need to trust yourself and capabilities to make
sound decisions concerning your life. To be yourself is to be able to
shuffle through the pile of advice from your support group who may
be well meaning and devise your own plans.
There are boundaries in being yourself and following your own way
of life. This is respect for others. As much as you are encouraged to
shun pretending to be someone that you are not, do not overstep your
boundaries and disrespect the integrity of others. Being offensive can
be a way that will draw so much opposition to you. Being yourself is
not to be equated to being disrespectful. As much as taking your own
decision is a sign of growth, giving room for that of others or being
tolerant is a sign of maturity. It is no ones nature to look down on
those who are scared to come out and be themselves. Now that you
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

know this knowledge, I hope you use it to help others to shine the
unique talents that God has placed in them without fear of failure or
ridicule.
If you want to find yourself and be the real you, then you do not need
to please people. It is written that the eye is not satisfied with seeing
nor the ear with hearing. I have a few thought provoking questions for
you who get so much time to know others without spending time by
yourself, without getting time to know yourself or to even value your
worth as a unique individual: How has it been going for you since you
decided to live life for the applause of others? Is that not unbearable
and tedious? Why not be your original self even if it brings you
troubles from an awed on-looking people? Think about these and
know that you cannot be someone else because everybody else is
already taken.

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7. PRACTISE MODERATION
Eccl 7:17 -Be not over much wicked, neither be foolish
Moderation is similar to balance. It is all about creating a balance in
your life. It is likened to all play and no work makes Jack a lazy boy
just as all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Creating balance
in your life can be very difficult depending on who you are and what
you do. This however is not enough excuse for you not to practice
moderation. It is moderation that keeps you from too little or too
much. For instance, the one that talks too much is tagged as disruptive
and the one who does not talk at all is usually left out and ignored.
The importance of practicing moderation is a lot. Some include dire
consequences that can affect your health. Eating too much junk food
can affect your health. Spending too much money can cripple your
finances. Sleeping too little can affect your state of mind. Too much
self-time can keep your out of touch with the real world and so on and
so forth. It is moderation that keeps us in check so that we do not go
beyond our tolerable range as people. You have taken the trouble to
get to know yourself well in the previous chapter. This is the time to
act in conformity with your own self.
There is a need for moderation in the way that you act. An instance is
the extent to which you will go for another person. People usually
misuse quotes in making others fall prey to hurt. An example is the
Biblical law to Love your neighbor as yourself. Many people make
the mistake of going ahead to love others without knowing how to
love their own self. We shall talk about the principle concerning trust
shortly but for the meantime, trusting too much has its own
consequences. But we often ignore them. For instance, why should
you for instance give your money to someone who you know is not
going to pay back or that someone is going to misuse the money, all
in the name of trust or doing some good? You are sure responsible for
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your neighbor but that only comes in after a person has first of all
taking good care of yourself. It is when you have a firm step that you
can help others out of their misery. It is written that if you find
yourself not practicing moderation in trust, deliver yourself from this
trap as a fowl flees from the hands of the fowler. Trust however, is
just one aspect of life where you can practice moderation if you want
to live an essential life.
There is only one person that is responsible for yourself and that is
you. The adage goes that 'If you try to please everyone, you end up
pleasing no one'. You bear the consequence of what happens to you in
the days ahead of you. Give out when you can but hold on to that
which you have when you cannot especially when it is not from your
heart. For all you know, the people that you are giving out to already
have more than you do despite their outward demeanor as well as
verbal deception and you help them get richer by getting poorer.
Being too good is not the best and neither is being too little.
Moderation has always been the key.
Do not do what you do not wish to do or feel comfortable doing.
Often, after tossing aside your guts and conscience on this matter, you
may latter find out that all along the voice within you that told you not
to bet your entire life savings on that investment, or that you should
not whole heartedly enter that relationship or do something
immoderately was right after all. It is pathetic for an individual to be
forced to do something against his will just to please another person
and worse is to be cajoled to carry out a task to the extreme before
given the chance to think about the after effect and the spillovers on
himself and those that he love.
Perhaps the aspect of life where the practice of moderation is debated
most is the act of generosity. How often should you give to the
needy? I recommend just enough. For instance, if you work and get
paid, it is an indication of an appreciation for the work that you are
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

doing or that which you have done. That money is for you and only
you. You can decide to give portions or all of that money to another
but it is never imperative to give out to an individual or a group even
for charity against your will. This is because it is your money and you
decide how to use it and when to use it as well as what to use it for. It
is often sad to see people give out their items to people that are either
not trustworthy or reliable to be entrusted with such items just
because they want to help those in need. People who are in need are
first of all to admit that they are in need and deserve to be helped
before they can be considered. This is not to say that one must not
help others willingly but we must also take note that there are people
who are content as they are, with what they have and hence need no
help whatsoever that one is willing to offer. Being moderate will save
you the hustle and embarrassment.
There are many, many reasons for which people are immoderate.
Some include the want for society to shower praises on them
especially while they are alive as well as when long gone. Many more
tend to be immoderate in charity because 'wisdom' tells them that the
beneficiaries will come to their aid when they are also in similar
condition. Know that nothing in life, including this is certain. Not
being modest in this aspect of life has ended millions of people in
facing disappointments that makes them full of heartaches, distrust
and bitterness. Practice modesty and save yourself this gruesome
experience.
This experience is not surprising to most people or even the aged
because knowledge about the dark side of human nature abounds.
You can refer to Genesis 6:6 in the Holy Bible and the Creator
confirmed that the heart of man is full of darkness and evil
propensities. This however gives an idea that once a person does
something good for the other, he should not expect much from the
benefactor. To avoid this pain that often results in self-pity, consider
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

to either not expect anything at all from those to whom you do good
or in the best way, not do any good at all to anyone with the mindset
of receiving that help you offered back when in trouble.
A motivation for you to be moderate in your human relation is that,
you cannot please everyone no matter how far you go for an
individual. Even the simple fact that you are making an effort to be a
source of comfort for another can leave you as an enemy of the many.
They may not understand you and guess your intentions. Are you are
simply trying to help or trying to prove to everyone that you have a
better idea? They will say within themselves but as discussed above,
finding your niche in life is not about pleasing others but yourself in a
positive way. Cut the chase and stop trying to please everyone that
you meet on the street or wherever especially when they are strangers
because for all that you know, they barely deserve it. Remember the
lesson taught us by the story of Ananias and Sapphira that God is
more concerned with our intentions rather than our acts of good. Do
not be too good, do not be too evil either, moderation is the key.

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8. KNOW THE NATURE OF MAN

Text: Eccl 3:18God tests them, that they may see that they
themselves are like beasts. (NIV)
Human nature is often associated with evil or the bad. It appears
rightly so. The concept of human nature is subtle and controversial.
Like all mammals, humans have characteristics and individual
idiosyncrasies that differentiate us. Most people live in denial of this
fact but that does not make it the least false. Your nature includes
your natural way of thinking, acting and feeling. I have read enough
and seen enough to know that a vast majority of men and women are
evil and that you need to consider this a fact rather than being
politically correct and believing that all men are inherently good.
There can be some argument for the good nature of man. Some
inventions here and there for the common good of the human race in
all aspects of life and talk can be made of Mozart, Einstein and Da
Vince among others. Do not take my word for it, see for yourself.
A look at the history of man and life in general reveals the evil nature
of man. Right from the hunting and gathering stage through the world
wars where people killed each other as barbarians do. Towns were
encircled and starved into submission; innocent lives were taken and
are still taken, all thanks to human nature. Furthermore, man through
trade, commerce and any form of business transaction for that matter
has exploited his fellow man for profit gains.
Many philosophers and great thinkers have delved deep into the
subject of human nature. Mostly, their aim was to establish the
balance between good and evil to know the one which dominated a
mans life. Sigmund Feud is one of these great philosophers. In his
book, Civilizations and Discontents, he wrote men are not gentle
creatures, who want to be loved, who at most can defend themselves
if they are attacked; they are on contrary, creatures among whose
instinctual endowments is to be reckoned a powerful share of
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ESSENTIAL LIFE

aggressiveness. If he could get away with it, man would have done
worse than we are experiencing now.
Many years before Feud, the philosopher Thomas Hobbes had a
similarly pessimistic view of humanity and famously wrote that the
life of man in his natural state is solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and
short. He essentially believed all men were capable of killing, and
when two people want the same thing the inevitable outcome is war.
These are some great minds who probed to find that the nature of man
was evil basically.
To you, this may be hard to believe upon first reading because man is
made to believe that being called an animal in nature is an insult to
his dignity but until you decide to be open minded to new knowledge
or information, you may never know how degrading or destructive the
old things you know and hold on so tight to, may be to you. Consider
this, so that you may know how best to deal with another species
after your own kind.
Man has an animal inside despite the good points raised by
moralists, scientific taxonomy may nevertheless be right. Animal in
this case is used to represent evil nature or the dark side of man.
Before these thinkers considered exploring the nature of man, the
bible had already concluded about this and had been littered with so
much examples and illustrations that talks about the animalisms of
man. Think for a moment about this, why King Solomon, the wisest
man ever known to live under this sun wrote in Proverbs 6:6 that man
who is on top of the food chain should consult the ways of an ant, a
lower rank for advice on how to prepare in advance for the worst
(Proverbs 30:25). It is simple: To predict man, study the animal first.
It is no news that man has the desire to wreck good things and cause
commotion in a serene environment because, that is his nature. Just as
a dog barks at night with no cares about who is trying to sleep or a
bird sings in the morning regardless of who has woken up and who
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has not, most men also do things mostly without taking note of its
effect on others. Most of these attributes are toned down because
religious bodies and laws have been made to regulate the activities of
man so as to preserve our species. Right from infancy therefore, the
animalistic character is carefully tamed out of man through correction
procedures, school, churches and other similar measures but that is
not enough to drive it out completely.
This 'animal' in man can be raised in times of crises and panic. The
best place to find how true this can be is the battlefield where man can
be turned into deadly weapon to destroy others who pose a threat to
what they believe in or what is in their interest that they are trying to
protect. We are born to survive and that begins from birth, we are on
earth to struggle for many things including survival for limited
resources, to be remembered for a longer time and for glory. Due to
the consequences of daring to face the truth however, man has learnt
diverse ways to tell an intractable lie-one that gets better and better
with each passing generation.
The fact that God has been so merciful to us to give us a higher brain
power does not give us the right to elevate our intentions or deeds
above that of other mammals. We murder like a fierce lion in Africa,
we are so subtle like a starving serpent in Ireland and we are as
cunning as a swinging monkey in India but we have also learnt better
ways of covering it up to the extent that you do not see it coming
when you are about to be the victim.
I do not know the day or time that you are reading this but I am sure
that the news item for today confirmed this fact that humans are evil
by nature. You will find evil acts committed by unsuspicious people
just like you and I. It is no wonder because that is the human nature at
work.
You can classify the whole of humanity into predators and preys. The
predators are those that have kept power for themselves, ruling the
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masses with an iron fist covered in the gloves of ivory lies. Morality
is the one that categorizes an individual into any one of the two but
this is not absolute. A predator can also be a prey depending on the
circumstance that you are looking at. Your ability to conquer your
prey using flattery, money, fear or promises makes you a predator,
enabling you to get what you want without getting hurt. This is not
absolute and also unless one is guided by the word of God he can do
worse than an animal. In effect, only God can tame the heart of His
creatures.
Laws are another area where the evil nature of man is made evident.
Man has used the law in order to subjugate man in every conceivable
manner. The law is created in order to protect the elite from the poor
so that the latter will absolutely have no legal path whereby they can
reclaim their stolen rights. The law ensures that! Do you know that
the laws are made so that powerful nations can legally subjugate
weaker nations? This allows them to murder at casual will and to do
basically whatever they wish.
How will it benefit you to know the true nature of man, your true
nature? This is necessary so that you can control that dark side that
always yearns to come out. You have to acknowledge its existence
and be willing to deal with it. It is your duty to protect your heart
from being adulterated by the dark nature of man. Sometimes, it is not
only self or ingrained but at times, the behavior of others can reveal
our tamed darkened side. If a person gets away with a crime, you are
tempted to do same because that is a natural instinct to do what you
feel like. It is true that we have the right to all things but not all things
are necessary. You have the right to all things but do not allow
yourself to be mastered by anything. Your evil nature will always
wish to dominate your sense of goodness and humanity but do not be
mastered in anyway by it.

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9. BE HUMBLE
Text: James 4:6 God resists the proud but gives grace to the
humble (NIV)
In a society like ours that promotes individuality and competition, it is
very hard to be humble. It is even more difficult to stay humble. In all
cultures worldwide, humility is a desirable value because it can earn
you respect and foster good relationship between yourself and others.
Being humble is not easy, that is why people who claim to be humble
usually live otherwise and many practices called humility are actually
not so.
Take a critical look at the world around you and answer this question:
How much do you think that you are worth in this whole world? It is
easier to misbelieve if you are at a niche where everyone knows and
adore you. You can easily misjudge your worth in the world by a
projection of your popularity or achievement in your locality. You
may sometimes have the feeling that wherever that you go in this
world, you are going to matter. Even when it comes to heads of
nations, how many people care about them? Let us do a little exercise.
Try to recall all the names of all presidents or head of states in the
world. It is alright if you cannot because no one cares whether you
know about that or not. That is a reality check for you. There are still
people in this universe that do not know you and couldnt care less.
They would even love to forget where you came from or what you
have achieved if they did. This is not to talk you down into self-denial
and low self-esteem.
That was meant to humble you before you learn about humility. Does
it feel good? No! It is not pleasant to give in to others when necessary
and to admit that you cannot do something but it will serve you best if
you do so. A way to be humble is to accept that you are not best at
everything. You may be the best at one thing but no one is best at
everything. This is the reason why it is necessary to be humble so that
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you can learn from others, the things that they can do better than
yourself. There is an old country song that says that, it is difficult to
be humble when you are perfect in every way. Of course, no one is
perfect in every way! We talked about this when we were discussing
principle 4 which is defining your limitations. It takes humility to
admit your short falls and it takes the same value to learn from others
who are better at something than you are. There will always be people
who are older and wiser than you. Such people are worth listening to
when opportunity presents itself.
Growth and improvement is a lifelong process that does not stop even
when you are best at something. Take time before pride enters your
heart and address your own faults. It is easier to judge other people
than it is to judge ourselves. Being humble includes the willingness to
address your own faults instead of that of others. Bible says that
remove the log in your eyes so that you can better see the speck in
the eyes of another. It is easier to point accusing fingers at others
when you are not humble. Without humility, you think you are perfect
and needs no correction. Pride, they say, precedes a fall.
Part of being humble is to be not afraid to make mistakes. When you
accept this, you will be freed of much frustration. This is not to say
that you should be careless and plunge into obvious and avoidable
mistakes. Know that an event or two could have changed whatever
that you pride yourself in or whatever that you are proud of. When
you know that someone else could have done better than you did, or
are doing, if they had the same chances and circumstances that you
find yourself in, it will be easier for you to be humble. You will not
quickly look down on others for what they have become as a result of
their own bad choices or the choices of others.
Man loves to be associated with something that is popular, something
that they are going to benefit from at the moment and when that is
done, they are gone for good. I have observed from life that throngs of
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people would flood a square or any venue at all when they have a
message to hear from another just to see that which will benefit them
or not. After this, no one cares if the fellow they benefitted from, a
star or not is hit by a car or shot by a sniper. Do not therefore be
moved by the cheers of the crowd nor the praises of men-it is bound
to inflate your self-importance than you truly are. Be humble and
avoid the success that you chalk from going into your head.
It is more than a disease for an individual to seek attention or to win
the cheers of the crowd by doing the unnecessary. After this has
happened, no one may care about you the next day and bother not
about how you are doing. Get used to that as well, many already have.
Maybe some names are coming to mind as you read this but do not be
resentful towards such people or blame them for their carelessness
because you likewise are like such people. It is human nature, a
universal tag that gives no recognition to colours or geographical
borders. A lot more people are also going to be resentful towards you
because they might also see you as a person who comes around when
you need something. That is how it has to be because man has limited
time and hence cannot build our lives around single individuals as if
we have eternity in our pockets unless we need them.
Brace yourself for more. What comes to mind is the night that Jesus
was betrayed by Judas Iscariot. Apostles that had faithfulness and
allegiance all over their lips could do nothing more than to leave Jesus
alone by fleeing one by one. One should not rely so much on
allegiance pledged by mortal lips or be swayed by the cheers of the
crowd around and so act with obnoxious self-importance. It is written
that no one should think so highly of themselves but to consider
others more important than their own selves. This can be done by
putting the feeling of ones neighbor ahead of theirs.
Take a funeral ceremony for instance, there are a lot of people who
attend to shed tears in order to mock the dead under the pretense of
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mourning him and despite their flooding the house of the chief
mourner for a while, they get back to business after a few days
because we all, like each other have issues to attend to. The truth is
that no one actually cares about the life of another more than they care
about their own lives-it is not self-purported but an ingrained nature
of man to protect yourself.
The best decision that a person can make is to identify and accept that
he is the only one who cares about their own self and even at that, it is
because they are to be held responsible by suffering the resultant
consequences when they fail to do so well at that. The antidote of
self-importance is from the foregoing discussion is obviously,
humility. One has the responsibility to be humble in all ways so as to
avoid shame. It is written that pride precedes shame and Jesus is the
best leader when it comes to issues of this nature. He washed the feet
of the apostles to show a great example of not only leadership but
humility as well.
Many of us come from humble beginnings. We are able to make
something of ourselves through the pursuit of knowledge, hard work
and sometimes a stroke of luck or chance. Yes, you have the right to
be proud of the success that you have chalked. This however does not
give you the license to be disrespectful to others or be too proud.
Keep in mind that humility has nothing to do with self-depreciation.
Moses was known as the most humble man on earth during his time
yet he stood up to Pharaoh on his mission to deliver his people from
Egyptian slavery. There was a time that he stood up to God Himself
to plead on behalf of the Israelites. What does that teach you?
Mention can also be made of David who said I am a worm and not a
man. Yes, he humbled himself to comparing himself to a common
worm but he was not only a King but a warrior as well. Again, what
can you learn from his example of humility. It shows that being
humble does not mean that you cast yourself on the floor to be
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trampled upon in every situation. If you do this to gain favour before

men, you are not being humble but a hypocrite. Humility is the ability
to know that you are not enough in yourself and that you require the
help of others at critical points in life.

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10.
TRUST SLOWLY
Text: Ps 118:8- It is better to trust in the Lord than to put
confidence in man (NIV)
Trust is as vital to your relationships, every relationship as a matter of
fact. It is like oxygen to a scuba diver. However, majority of people
find it very hard to trust others. There are some key reasons why you
may choose not to trust others. There include low desire to give trust.
This is not natural or genetic but a character that is built as you go
through life, depending on the environment that you grow up in. It is
possible for you to see trust as something to be earned by another
rather than something that you can give. Know that until you learn to
give trust, you may not be satisfied in your relationships with others.
Another reason why you may find it hard to trust others may be due to
the fact that you have unrealistic expectations. Come to think of it that
you want an answer to a question that you have not asked? That is
how it feels to want something in a relationship with others that they
do not know of. To earn trust, you must define exactly what you
expect from the other person so that they can be upfront with trust
issues. Many people avoid the uncomfortable conversation that they
may have concerning trust which usually results in disappointments.
Getting disappointed in relationships with other people a number of
times in itself can also be a barrier to trust. That brings me on to the
third reason why people do not trust others.
The final reason why you may choose not to trust anybody is
probably because of your past hurt and experiences. We all gravitate
towards pleasure and withdraw from pain. If from your past
experiences, you have been hurt by another, it may be difficult for
you to ever trust again. Doing this is a means of self-protection and
sounds justifiable in some way. This however can prevent you from
enjoying high quality relationships.

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As long as you can see something and worse, as long as you can touch
something or someone in nature, anything at all, has the possibility to
betray your trust so do not completely put all your eggs in someone
elses basket. And you are right if you asked yourself inclusive.
Majority of people would want to believe in something or someone
for justice or fulfillment of a promise but man is not a machine
programmed to work in a way that an individual wants him to.
Perhaps you would want to look up to a higher authority, a law court,
a government or a renowned being for elevating you from an
unpleasant state to a better one instead of your own self or Godapproved effort. My advice would be that you be your own redeemer!
The raw truth is that such people do not actually care because they
have their own problems to worry about, how to fill their pockets with
your money maybe, so that they can live comfortable lives. Sadly,
that is the whole point of it, wherever that you turn, most of the
people you meet-doctors, judges, bankers, petty traders, pastors, drug
dealers, presidents, pharmacists, entrepreneurs and many more like
these are all seeking for their own interests simply because they are
'humus'. What is in for them when it comes to giving you what you
request for. Brian Tracy abbreviates this as WII FM-what is in it for
me? Few people care if you tend out to be the loser at the end of the
day? The worst revelation is that, you are the victim most of the time,
whoever you may be, knowing very well that at some point in time,
someone else has been and another person too will be your victim.
A classic example of not putting all your trust in man is knowing a
patient may not able to make it out of a surgery due to negligence of
the surgeon who rightly should have been investigated and when
found guilty, sanctioned, will be made to go free. You might have a
genuine case in court but the judge may decide to put you behind
bars, probably forever. Maybe lack of substantial evidence may be
cited to justify this injustice to you. This is exactly what happened to
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Joseph in the Bible who was sold to slavery in Egypt while he served
Potiphar and refused sexual relation with his masters wife. You may
also be not given access to your own money by a bank based on the
power of documents. This is so because man has fabricated many
reasons to exonerate and insulate himself and others that he loves
from the physical and legal consequences when it comes to liferunning far away from pain and moving closer to pleasure. I am citing
all these examples for you so that you will not be too quick to give all
your trust to another though you should not withhold it completely
either.
I learned a lot about most business ventures. All the parties involved
are in for a common goal and that is to make a profit. For how a
person makes the profit, it usually matters not. So with smooth talk
and flattery, one is convinced to lodge all that he has into the hands of
a broker or an insurance sales person and in the same way, he is made
to invest his money when he even does not feel like it. This is because
if you trust another person, you will be taken for granted and often
left to play the prey. Initially doubt anyone or every idea until proven
to be trustworthy over a reasonable period of time and this will
protect you from many hurt and preventable disappointments.
The only one that you can trust however is God. Blessed is the man
whose trust is the LORD. The reasons for which you are to trust in
God abound and the most obvious one is that you CAN trust in God
to help you through life because He in turn CAN see you through.
Your secrets are safe with God
God never tells a lie
God is all knowing and can best protect you from upcoming evil
God has an ever listening ear
God is your creator and understands you better that anyone else
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God was here before we came and he will be here long after we are
gone
God never fails.
These and many more are the reasons why it is prudent for an
individual to trust in God instead of his fellow man. If ever there are
deceits lurking in the corners of the mind of people, then God is the
only safe being that we can all turn to.

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SECTION 2- TOP SIX ESSENTIAL

PRINCIPLES OF FINANCE

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INTRODUCTION
Money is a universal entity that is recognized despite geographic
location or currency because it wields the same magnitude of power
over people and things. Though money is neither the focus of life nor
an absolute provider of all human needs, it is however a necessary
component that determines how much an individual enjoys life.
It is so sad that in most of our educational systems, issues related to
money are not usually touched on as an individual climbs the
academic ladder. In the end, one gets all the degrees that he aspires
for and probably lands in a dream job of his own but lives a miserable
life which mostly stems from no other but little of or lack of financial
literacy.
This part of the book seeks to address the problem of financial
ignorance among many people living everywhere. This does not cover
only people of a certain country or continent since the same thread of
financial problems run through all the lives of people in all financial
classes.
It is my hope that after a thorough reading of this material, an
individual will be well equipped with the necessary tools that will
make him able to have enough money to stay rich and enjoy a happy
life.

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1. DESIRE TO GET MONEY

The desire to get money is often seen as a sin. This is as a result of
misinterpretation of the Biblical quote 1st Timothy 6 which says that
the love of money is the root of all evil. Yes, much evil has been
perpetuated as a result of the greed for money. A lot of innocent lives
and the wellbeing of a majority of society have been sacrificed by
greedy men in an attempt to get rich. The question however is that,
must we not desire to be rich just because others use evil means to be
rich? Is there no other good alternative to getting rich than the evil
way?
You probably already have the answer to this question. It is very
important to desire to be rich if you can experience a fuller life.
Without money, your dream, goals and hope in life may be just that
and nothing more. In his audiobook, The Total Money Makeover,
Dave Ramsey says Money gives power to good intent You may
have plans for the world-set up a foundation to make the world a
better place, give to orphans and widows, provide clean drinking
water to deprived areas and many other plausible ideas, yet without
money, it will never materialize.
The story of the Good Samaritan as told by the scriptures is analyzed
by some to mean the importance of money. If the Samaritan had taken
the robbed and bruised stranger to the hospital and left him there
without offering to pay his bills, he would have been worse than the
first two who say the dying man and passed him by. Come to think of
it that the possible reason why the clergy left him there was not
because he was late for a sermon but because he had no money to take
care of him. A larger section of beliefs are against the acquisition of
money but I am sure you know by now, probably through your own
life experiences, the importance of money. You cannot afford not to
have enough money.

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It is mostly considered a secret how most people make their money

for various reasons. There are people who believe that unveiling these
'secrets' put them at risk of being competed against. This is not true.
Left for the unequal distribution of wealth, there is enough money for
everyone that lives on this planet earth. It follows the famous 20/80
rule that 80% of the worlds wealth is in the hands of the rest 20%.
There are several factors that results in this but that is not the focus of
this book.
Money is a medium of exchange. That is to say that the concept of
money does not lie in the pieces of paper or coins that we keep per se
but an idea. You should do well to understand how this idea work if
you desire to be wealthy. Money often comes to mind when wealth is
mentioned but anything that has value or worth valuing constitutes
wealth. In this case, one will not consider only money as wealth but
houses, clothing, cars and other properties of any kind including food
can be classified as wealth as long as it can be bought with money at a
price.
The concept of money is so valued by many people that it often
becomes the focus of such individuals and that is a very dangerous
idea. If money becomes the focus of a worker for instance, such
individual makes money without moral boundaries. Murder, theft,
conning and pilfering among many others are just a few of the
immoralities that such individuals indulge in so as to get money in his
pocket. Though some of them might succeed, it does not provide the
satisfaction that one may expect to have. Having mouths to feed and
dreams to achieve does not warrant one the power to flout legal and
moral boundaries to attain monetary status. Wealth therefore does not
bring satisfaction in itself but the satisfaction of a legitimately made
wealth has the power to make an individual content with what he has.
This is not an attempt to make you embrace the idea of mediocrity but

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it is in your best interest not to seek satisfaction in an ill-gotten gain

since it has never been known to provide any.
The evidence of ill-gotten gain or the evil way of massing wealth
includes the proliferation of get rich quick schemes. There is a whole
market out there deceiving people on ways that they can make a
million today or a billion the next day. I pray you do not hop on to
this wagon because it is heading to the ditch. I still wonder the
massive patronage of these schemes despite the perpetual rate of
failure year after year. Sure, there is a way to make quick money but
just as the name is, it leaves quickly and may leave you with so much
trouble on its way out your life. Fraud has landed many in prisons and
others have lost their lives in the process. I do not want you to lose
your life. The desire to get wealthy is necessary but the right way to
do so is even more important.
Just like knowledge is, wealth is power. The rich person is a powerful
person because of what he has become. Wealth buys its owner, power
and control. Billionaires and multi-billionaires are rare in the world
and some of whom can be looked up on the internet. In many places,
the rich is almost worshipped, has a wider circle of rich and
influential friends, and has access to almost everything that he needs
in time with wide network of subjects who are willing to do anything
for the rich in order to have financial security or some pay off.
In the same way, wealth corrupts most people more often than not.
Your conscience may be lost in an effort to make more money by
taking advantage of others especially the poor. When you are rich,
you may use the connections that you have with people and your fame
to your advantage to make more money. Due to this reason and many
others beyond the scope of this book, the rich continues to remain rich
or gets richer while the poor continues to be poor. This gap widens a
lot to a point where revolution sets in and history gladly repeats itself.

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Note that when you desire to be wealthy, your poor background or a

zero account balance does not necessarily mean that you cannot attain
a wealthy status. If you consider yourself poor and are not able to
fulfill a majority part of your needs, you can lift yourself up from that
mess. It does not mean that you are going to stay that way for the rest
of your life. There are many instances where people by either hard
work, optimism or a stroke of luck have risen from bankruptcy or
plain poverty to be wealthy. It is therefore possible for anyone at all to
live a financially stable life if one is willing to learn the principles of
attaining a stable financial life and that includes you and me.
Money is not the absolute measurement of wealth. Wealth is power
but this power can be used for either good or bad purposes. It is up to
the morality of the rich as to how to use his money but the best way is
to use the power that wealth wields for good deeds. Some of these
include, job creation, helping the orphanage and other philanthropic
or donations to charities. Interestingly, losing money this way-the
good way makes one richer.
When you desire to be wealthy, doors open that you previously did
not know that they existed. As the legendary author of The Science of
Getting Rich, Wallace D Wattles put it, the universe conspires to
make your wishes come true. If you desire to be rich, you will be
rich eventually. It is said that where there is a will, there is also a way.

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2. CULTIVATE THE HABIT OF SAVING

The probable picture that often floods your memory when saving
comes to mind is a piggy bank. This simple artifact housed your left
over coins in those times of your early life when you were being
taught how to save. It is sad however that when we are all grow up
and income likely increases, we forget all the saving principles that
we painstakingly learnt from piggy bank as we were ageing. Just
like writing a budget, savings are also easier said than done and the
hardest part is resisting the temptation to spend the money intended to
be saved. There is however more than just putting money aside as
well. It comes with other critical questions such as:
How much should I save?
Where should I save? (savings account, small scale business or
investment portfolio)
Is there a better or more secure way to save?
Do not consider saving all your money while you owe. This will
reduce your net-wealth and push you further away from attaining
financial freedom. If you want to be focused in saving very well
towards a goal or as an insurance against rainy day, then you may
want to clear yourself of all the debts hanging on your head. After you
gradually pay off all the debts, you can now proceed to effectively
save enough of your income. Most debts come with their own
penalties and the common principle is that, the penalty, whatever it is
worsened as you delay in paying it. The penalties include seizure of
properties, closure of businesses, breakdown of relationships or in
some cases, pure shame. Use some of the amount you intend to save
to pay off the debt so that you will most likely avert these
consequences.
If you want to save very well, endeavor to set goals that to be
achieved by ways of saving. For example, how much you expects to
put aside by the end of the day, week, month or even year should be
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first of all realistic, secondly documented and well adhered to so as to

ensure that a meaningful goal is targeted and achieved within the set
time frame. Keep in mind that you cannot hit a target you cannot see.
Writing down your saving goals is therefore very important in
ensuring the success of your goals. Most of the time, how much an
individual puts down is determined by what he wants to use the
money for and when that person wants to get that target. For instance
if a person wants to buy a car that costs 240,000 GhC within a period
of one year, that person is expected to put aside 20,000 GhC at the
end of every month, taking into consideration the possibility of
inflation as time goes on. The same person, if he wants to buy the
same car in a pace of four months, will have to put aside 60,000GhC
at the end of the month.
This shows that, the time frame that you set affects how much you
must put aside to attain that specific goal. As one considers the time
frame for achieving the goal, that individual must also be willing to
take into consideration, his income. If you are paid 20,000GhC,
putting aside 12,000GhC may not be a realistic goal depending on
your lifestyle. It might be difficult no matter how much you take, to
put aside about 80% of your cash inflow every month unless few who
have cultivated this habit over a very long period of time or are most
intense on achieving their goals within a shorter time frame that they
set for themselves.
The amount that you save is the difference between how much you
spend out of your income within a period of time. It is therefore
recommended that if you are determined to save towards a particular
goal, you may want to cut down your expenses using well prepared
budgets. It is a sound advice that you put aside the money that you
want to save before any expenses. Otherwise, you will be tempted to
put back the leftovers from your spending into the savings account
which might be far less than you wishes to save by the end of the day
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or the month or any reasonable time frame that you have set for
yourself.
Should you get money off your pay grid or your regular source of
income as a gift or token put almost everything or all in your savings
account. When these unexpected incomes are available, do not spend
them anyhow in you want to attain financial freedom.
Majority of people spend a lot on preventable replacements. When I
say preventable replacements, I am referring to not taking good care
of your possessions in a way that require no replacement for a long
time. Keeping your target saving goal in our mind will encourage you
to keep your things well so that they do not need much replacement
since they will ideally be always as good as new. This will add on and
increase the amount that you save so that you can faster reach your
saving target before or even right on time.
Not only when one needs something concrete like a house or a car or
any other thing is the rationale behind saving but you must also save
as a shelter against rainy day. We shall discuss insurances when
talking about insurances but let me chip in this: to be able to solve
unforeseen circumstances that would require taking money out of
your pocket, you must learn to put money aside. Insurances are there
for these purposes. This will help you by reducing your tendency to
borrow with high interest rates. Moreover, over the period of time and
with so much borrowing, you can lose your self-respect and dignity
before your lenders. It is written that the borrower is a slave to the
lender. This is true and unless you cultivate the habit of saving, you
may not be a slave to lenders but also a slave in your financial life. It
has always never being how much you get but how much you keep
that will determine how much your net wealth will be.

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3. DRAW A BUDGET
Budgets are projected financial analysis drawn as guidance for
expenditure for a particular purpose within a period of time. This can
guide you in how you spend and how much you save. It is the
cornerstone of any strong financial plan and consists of a range of
items. These include costs, expenses, assets, liabilities and others but
the focus of this section will be on income and expenditure. Also, a
budget can be surplus in cases where the income exceeds the
expenditure (financial freedom), balanced, where income equals
expenses or deficit, which is a case where the expenditure is more
than the income.
Whenever the word budget is mentioned, people tend to think about
bigger companies and huge cooperation but anyone at all who uses
any two of the components of personal finances-income and
expenditure- discussed above can draw a budget. Budgets are very
important and they can serve as a guide in helping you achieve
financial freedom. Let us look at ways to draw a simple budget.
Most people have the wrong notion that when one talks about
budgeting he is referring to cutting out the fun part of spending out of
your life but this is not true. If you really want to be financially free,
you should be willing to have a financially stable life should also be
able to know where your money goes. This habit will improve your
finances.
For the majority who do not draw a budget, some of the stated
reasons include seeing the exercise as time demanding and a feeling
that drawing a budget is a herculean task. This is not so. If you sit
down to draw a budget, you will know that it takes less time and
effort to do so. Moreover, the reason why you may not draw your own
personal budget is the belief that your finances are already in order
which is most of the time, not the case. It will amaze you how much
you can save when you have a realistic and honest budget to guide
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you in your financial life. The hardest part of drawing a budget

however, believe it or not, is sitting down to draw it but once that
inertia is overcome, it becomes easier to put down a budget and even
the easier as time passes by.
The simplest way you can draw an effective budget is to monitor
one's expenditure throughout the month. Once this is done, you can
group the things that you usually spend on. Let me be quick to
mention that some components of budget drawing such as food,
utilities and rent are constant and you must put theses ones down first
and allocate reasonable amounts to them before others come in. The
other important thing to note is that a budget must make room for any
unforeseen expenditure often termed miscellaneous
After you draw a budget, it can only be of use to you if you stick to it.
You may modify it at time goes on and as the need arises. It should
bring you freedom rather than starve you. This can be compared to
going on a diet which requires a great amount of discipline. After you
have clearly seen those items that did not matter much but drained
much of your finances, you come to the realization of how much you
have been 'wasting'. People buy items that they might never use but
buy them just because almost everyone else is buying. Worse than
that is people who buy just because they feel like they have enough on
them. Anyone who buys items that they do not plan for or items that
they do not need at a particular moment is only doing himself more
harm than good.
One last thing to note is that, a budget must not be drawn just as a
norm and ignored but must be placed at a point where it can be seen
daily or regularly such as the edge of a bed or used as the wallpaper of
a personal computer. Most people draw budgets of all kind but at the
end, they put it at places that will be hard to notice. Do not be one of
them by assuming that you have your budgets in mind and at hand.
This can land you in a zero or negative net wealth. This situation can
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be a real mess of debts for you if you downplay the importance of a

budget. Money is hard to make so seek guidance in a budget before
spending your hard earned income.

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4. INCREASES YOUR INCOME

Is there someone out there who does not want more money? We have
already discussed the importance of money and why you should
desire to be wealthy. We are going to talk about how to increase how
much we get. This deals with how one can increase his income from a
business by applying practical ways of working which has been tested
and found over time to be effective.
For a starter, it is best for you to be employed or self-employed in the
work of your dreams in order to work with enthusiasm. The sad news
is that majority of people work as a means to survive but not really
love what they do. If you fall into this category of people, increasing
your cash inflow can be pretty difficult. But wait a minute, there is
some good news and that is the fact that, enthusiasm on the job can be
developed. This is a very important factor because until you love or
take interest in what you do for a living, you may not be able find
ways of making a financially strides from your profession.
Robert Kiyosaki, in his book The Cash flow Quadrant said that there
are four groups of workers:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Employed-works for someone

Self-employed-does ones own work
Business owners-other people works for you
Investors-funds business and shares the profit 5

We each fall in one or two of the categories above. The higher one
goes, the richer one becomes and the richer one becomes the more
freedom that he can have for himself. Aspire to be an investor though
not all of us can, we should aim to be that until we can. If we want it,
we must will it and if we will it, it shall be ours.
The reason why enthusiasm on your profession and in life in general
is essential to your financial success is that a customer can tell from
the way you acts toward him or her if you likes the work you do
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otherwise. If you hate the work you do, you are often irritated, cold,
unfriendly and inpatient while if you happen to enjoy what is that you
do, you are happy, friendly, warm and welcoming towards your
client. If a customer is met with a warm smile and a caring attitude, it
draws him closer to the service provider and that means that the
customer would like to use your services most of the time instead of
your competitors and this will result in increasing cash inflow.
Moreover, there is the possibility that, the satisfied customer will
inform other people to use your preferred service instead of your
competitors. This will increase your customer base and your income
will increase as a business owner. So much benefit for loving what it
is that you do.
This is particularly for those who own their own businesses such as
entrepreneurs and managers who are willing to increase their income
to enable them carry out business expansion and profit maximization.
A positive attitude towards one's work cannot be hidden for a long
time and will result in increment of income.
I stress on liking the work that you do because all the good working
habits such as punctuality, hard work, enthusiasm and what have you
can all be easily developed when a worker does not drag his feet in
the morning when he thinks of going to work. If you are an employee;
growth in sales may result in the increment of your salary or
commission in the long run.
For workers who work for the government or an institution, good
working habits can earn one a promotion that causes increment in
salary and that is genuine increment in cash inflow. Some of the good
working habits that increase cash inflow include the ability to work in
harmony with other workers at the workplace. This is a fast way of
developing enthusiasm for your work because you will hardly sees
going to work as a burden but an opportunity to meet your colleagues
who share the same sentiments, workspace, lifestyle and the rest as
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you do. Making reliable friends at the workplace also has the other
side of being a barrier whereby co-workers of a particular circle of
common interest tend to chat without focusing on the work at hand.
The latter attitude can prolong your promotion at the workplace and
delay increment in your cash inflow.
There are many people who suggests that the surest way to get a
promotion on the job is to 'sound the trumpet' into the ear of your boss
anytime that you are able to do something that is worth a praise or a
raise. This is hypocritical because good work done has its own way of
publicizing itself.
This is not to say that when you do a good work such as
accomplishing a goal ahead of deadline, you should not let it be
known. It should, but letting it be known should not be your main aim
just to get promotion. Good work done has a way of publishing itself.
To have a stable financial life, you may want to see your status of
being employed as an intra-preneur process. Endeavour to establish
yourself someday to come. This will move you up the ladder until you
are an investor and with so much financial freedom. In short, one
should not be content with being employed until he is also employing.

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5. INVEST YOUR MONEY

Investment is very important if you desire to be financially sound. It is
the designation of your wealth or an asset that you intend to use later
on to work so as to earn some interest. The assent you are investing
such as money will be used to work and you will be given a
percentage of the profit it earns. Those who work with the money you
will invest include a bank or any suitable financial institution.
It can also be defined as the pumping in of ones wealth into a project
with the aim of getting a higher return than the capital after a fixed
period of time. An example of this definition includes real estate
development and small scale business financing or micro-financing. It
is important to know that investment does not always result in
appreciation of wealth or increment in returns.
Some may question the essence of investment in personal financial
management. Personal finances however will not be complete without
talking about investment. This is because investment depicts maturity
and demands a lot of self-control. A person will not be able to invest
without self-discipline and without focusing on the end returns of the
investment.
There are many with the ready excuse that their income is not enough
and so cannot invest. This is however not enough reason in itself to
dissuade one from investing. Such people can invest by saving little
by little of their meager income until they build enough capital that
can be invested. In essence, savings usually precedes investment most
of the time. The threshold for investing in many of the available
ventures usually is strategically set. It is set low enough to make it
possible for enough people to jump onto the investment wagon and
high enough to make sure that the contributions or principal of
investment is huge enough to work with.
Let us take time to consider the thin line between savings and
investment once again. One that readily comes to mind is that, a
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capital when invested grows by earning profit at the end of the

stipulated time but savings may not necessarily earn any profit but
rather decrease in value after a period of inflation. This means that
when a person saves for a very long time, he is actually losing money
due to inflation. Inflation is the rate at which the prices of good
increase in a country. If the money that you save could for instance
buy you 10 bananas, after a period of time, it can only buy you
probably 7 bananas. This is the illustration of the role inflation plays
in our lives.
If you however invest your money, it will earn some profits that can
counter the inflation. This will ensure that you can still buy your 10
bananas after the period of investment. In some cases, you can even
buy more bananas with your interests. This makes investment the best
option for any amount of money that is only to be used at a later time.
One can invest in stocks, bonds, treasury bills, real estate among
many others that can generate some amount of money no matter how
small it may seem in the eyes of the investor.
Let us take the time to consider these forms of investments. The first
is Stock exchange. This is not much of a difficult subject. Some
investments such as stock markets or exchange may result in a
depreciation based on the time that you decide to withdraw your
investments. The key to stock exchange marketing is to buy the shares
(which refer to joint-ownership of a listed company) when they are
low or cheap while selling them when they are selling high.
Most people commit the mistake of panicking when the market shares
are selling low and so go ahead to sell their shares at that low price.
This usually results in a loss since the price at which you sell your
shares will be lower than the price at which you bought it. This is
basically all that happens on the various stock exchange markets such
as the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE). You need to take a keen interest

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in the activities of the company that you desire to invest in before you
can successfully fund their projects with your money.
Stock exchange is a long term investment plan which may take years
before there is significant profit generated. Due to the fluctuating
nature of this form of investment, it is not a playing field for the faint
hearted.
The next type in investment in Ghana that is important for you to
know about is Treasury Bills or Bonds. This type of investment is
available at various banks in the country but under the care of the
Bank of Ghana. It ranges in percentage based on the duration that you
intend to deposit your money. The minimum is 91 days followed by
182 day treasury bills and the last is a whole year of 365 day Treasury
bill. The percentage of returns as at May 2015 was 25%, 24% and
23% per annum respectively.
It is not difficult to calculate the expected returns on your principal
for Treasury bill investments. You can do this by multiplying the
amount you are depositing by the percentage per annum and further
multiplying it by the deration of investment out of the 365 days. For
example, if you deposit 1000 GhC into treasury bills for a period of
91 days, you profit at the end of the period can be calculated as
follows:
1000*(25/100)*(91/365) = 62.3 GhC
Though the average monthly return of 20 GhC on 1000 GhC may
seem small at first, it can get bigger with increasing principal and
number of days the money is deposited. It sure is far better than
saving with gives you no return on your money.
Warren Buffet, the third richest man in the world according to ranking
by forbes.com as at March 2014 is an enthusiast in investment. He is
popular for his frugal lifestyle and risk taking dare. He is known for
saying that he likes to buy more shares when the value is depreciating
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and a lot of people are chickening out. This is a clear example that
investment, if well planned can result in creating personal wealth and
growth as well. What is meant by well planned? It is important to
survey the local or sometimes international investment markets to find
the one that is most flexible to suit an individual before deciding to
lodge ones wealth into anothers hand. Survey before investment
gives one a lot of options to choose from and it becomes clear that
there are investments with softer terms but enough returns than others.
Never lose sight of the fact that the higher the risk, the greater the
reward of an investment. Investment therefore is not the battle field
for the weak-hearted.
After finding the investment that best suits you, you are now left with
the ability to discipline yourself to stay away from terminating the
investment portfolio. Learn to invest today (if you are not alreadymaybe just saving) so as to create enough wealth in the near future
and as a security against unforeseen circumstances.
The third form of investment to look at is Real estate. This form of
investment is capital intensive. This is because large amount of
money is needed to invest in this. There is however a simple way
around it that can make you some real money over a period of time. In
real estate investment, you deal with properties being it a piece of
land or building. The most common one in Ghana is that of buildings
and so let us focus on how to go about it.
There are many ways by you can become a real estate investor. If you
have spare rooms that can be rented out, you are a potential real estate
investor. All forms of investments are risk prone and real estate is not
exempted from this. Tenants can cause much headache but that is a
risk work taking in this investment. You can spend some money to
renovate the place and make it habitable and attractive to potential
tenants. In fact that is how some people go about their real estate
investment. These investors that I am talking about acquire buildings
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in a deplorable state at a low price and renovate it. They then rent it
out at higher prices that provide income to acquire the next building.
This method has made some real estate investors very rich and you
can be too.
In renovating an acquired property, you will need artisans-carpenters,
painters, plumbers and electricians who over the time can become
your loyal clients or should I say employees. The hardest part of real
estate investment is dealing with the tenants after they move into the
buildings. The other cash drainer is renovation after the original
innovation had been made. It will be a wise idea to insure your
property against fire and other mayhems that may likely raise their
ugly heads. Before you know it, you will have the capital to acquire
so much property that can be rented. Like Robert Kiyosaki said in the
Cash flow Quadrant, getting rich is about buying income generating
assets like real estates
The last but one form of investment that is worth knowing about is
Mutual funds. As the name depicts, Mutual funds are the pooling of
resources by mutual contributions that can be invested. The advantage
of this over the rest is that it provides a larger principal that generates
proportionate income or profit. The principal is managed by experts
who invest the money in the appropriate venture while you sit back
and wait for your profit.
An example of this form of investment is the Gold Coast Security by
the Ghana National Bank who can give as high as 28% per annum on
your principal. It is a safe form of investment just like the treasury
bills which means that it will generate lesser returns than riskier ones
such as real estate and stock exchange. The rule of investment applies
here as the higher the risk, the greater the return. Talk to your banker
about available investment portfolios and chose the one that you are
most comfortable with.

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A bonus rule is that, you can minimize the risk of investment by

diversifying. Diversification is the process of investing in more than
one type of investment. It is like not putting all your eggs in one
basket. This means that if one investment fails, the others will be
there to cushion you.
Finally, let us look at insurance. This is a form of investment against
unforeseen circumstances which can befall you. These include fire,
theft, death and other possible mayhems that would suddenly plunge
you to square one on your financial journey. It was mentioned while
discussing real estate that you can insure your property against these.
These however are not the only ones that can be insured. There are
many insurance policies out there which will suit the lifestyle that you
want. If you cultivate the habit of investing your savings, you stand a
high chance of achieving your financial goals sooner than others ever
will.

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6. KNOW YOUR NET-WEALTH

In his book Rich Dad Poor Dad, Robert Kiyosaki gives an interesting
definition of wealth. Your wealth is how many days you could
survive way forward. In other words, if your stopped working today,
how long can your survive comfortably before you run out of cash.
This depends on how much your money is earning for your or how
hard your invested money is working for you. Let us use an example
to get the definition of net wealth clearly. If your monthly expenses is
approximately 1000GhC including miscellaneous in your budgets,
then your investment returns should exceed 1000 GhC per month
before you are financially free. Financial freedom is therefore defined
as the number of days that you can survive without working or
earning any extra income.
The basic components of your finances are your income and
expenditure. The amount that you get may come from many places
such as one's salary, gifts, sales, commission and upkeep money from
a guardian. This is broadly called your income. The expenditure on
the other hand is the amount that you spend. Most of the time, the
channels through which you money get spent may not be intentional
such as losing your money to theft. All the same, your cash reserve is

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reduced in the end somehow. You may correctly categorize this into
expenditure.
There are most people who go about their daily lives with various
desires that need to be met financially which often tempts them to
indulge in rapid or binge spending of the income on things that are of
little or no importance at all. This is a way of reducing your net
wealth and saving yourself up for trouble in the near future. To avoid
this, always think twice about spending before you make an attempt
to spend. This is highly recommended by expects in many fields. On
negotiation in his New York Times bestselling book Life Code, Dr.
Phillip C McGraw states that there is a real price for every item that
your purchase and then there is a stupid price that is set as a trap for
the one who do not know how to haggle or negotiate his way out of
deals. The idea of market survey cannot be overemphasized. After a
thorough consideration of what you wants to do with your money, it
will often lead you to make wise decisions on expenditure that limits
wastage due to shoddy planning.
No income is to be considered inadequate but you must consider your
income before your expenditure so as to live within your means. If
you do not consider this as a first and foremost necessity, you may be
tempted to live ostentatious lifestyles which demands higher
expenditure than your source of income can compensate for, resulting
in the crippling of your financial wellbeing even before you are aware
of it. Many more people usually complain of inadequate income but
force themselves to live in debt which drains their money and reduces
their net wealth. Sadly, this often occurs even before they count their
stipend for the month. Do not fall into this misery trap. It is an
unending cycle of debt that results in making your net wealth zero or
worse, negative. Remember that until you pay off all your debts, your
net wealth can be negative. This occurs in an instance when the
amount of money that you owe and are required to pay exceeds the
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reserve that you have financially. Until the debt is paid off, you may
never enjoy true financial freedom.
The necessity of a planned financial life is to guide you in avoiding
debts as well as a guard against unwise spending of your money. All
people who earn and are willing to have a stable financial life should
be able to save some of their monies in a readily accessible way when
it comes to days of urgent financial need. The saved money can be
made to work to gain profits if an individual is not willing to use the
money anytime soon. This is a way to increase your net wealth.
Remember that the goal is to increase your financial wellbeing to the
point where you can be financial free. Gaining interest on your
investments is just one of the ways to do this.
For your net wealth to increase, you must endeavor to earn interest on
your savings at a secure and reliable facility through investments,
treasury bills, real estate, stock market and many other ventures each
of which comes with its merits and demerits. If you learn how to keep
your income high above your expenditure by working additional jobs,
minimizing your scope of expenditure buy focusing on your needs
instead of wants or opening other channels of cash inflow, you will
continue to be financially stable.
In the same vein, when you are able to keep your expenditure
constantly below your income by buying things that you needs instead
of those that he wants as I have stated already, you is likely to
increase your net wealth and to live a financially stable life. Note that
it is better for you to pay yourself first when paid. Before you decide
to pay the rent, gas, fees, dues and many others, set aside an
affordable amount that you can claim as your own. This principle is
highly recommended in The Richest Man in Babylon by George S.
Clason. This is necessary because in an effort to achieve positive net
wealth and to become financially free, you may be tempted to deny
yourself the positive necessities that you need in life. Here again, the
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secret is moderation. It boils down to your ability to use what you

need while working hard to attain financial freedom.

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SECTION 3-SIX GIFTS OF POETRY

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INTRODUCTION
Poetry is more than just a string of words; it is an expression of a
deeper thought than what it represents at a quick read. A poem is
treasure chest that contains the hidden golden intentions of the poet. It
is up to you to understand poetry before you can understand what it is
about. History has it that, long ago, poetry was used to send coded
messages to others without the knowledge of another.
Poets may use different methods and scenarios to put their ideas
across. What is usually intended for you to know may or may not be
related to the presentation of the poem at all. You are therefore
encouraged to read in between the lines of poems to unearth its true
meaning. This is done by reading carefully and thoughtfully the first
time, pausing many times to analyze what the meaning may likely be.
There are other types of poems that at self-explanatory and you may
not need much mental exercise to understand them. Poem is mistaken
most of the time to be all about rhythmic sentences. This is not always
true though rhymes in poems add to the beauty it conveys and the
flow that keeps the interest of the reader. Take the time to know the
true meaning of poems. They are therapeutic and can evoke any
emotion that may be helpful to you. They are equally as powerful as
any other art that can positively affect the soul of any being.
The poems that follow are written by the author of this book and are
truly original. It is followed by explanations that help you to
understand what they mean. You are encouraged to figure out the
poem is about before reading the explanation that follows. Once you
master this skill, you can better benefit from any poem you come
across. Enjoy your read!

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ESSENTIAL LIFE

1. VACATION
Eagerly we shut our books
Hurriedly we left the lecture halls
Sadly we said our final goodbyes
Finally our academic days were over
Time swung by with glee
And not for a moment did we disagree
For all that we yearned for was finally here
And in our minds we were finally free
Down the aisle of this vacation
We run wild on fun chasing spree
And gladly sell our days to social media slavery
Caring not much about the ticking clock
For these are our youthful days
Until the decay of the time is here
Soon our vacation flees again
And we sluggishly return to climb some academic ladder
One that seems to never end
One that bores our fun days to tears
Except those faces that we missed
And the surprising days of an academic prison
Vacation soon dies

NOTES: Each of the lines in the first stanza flows one to the other to
provide an invisible chord that links the lines together. This provides
a rhyme to add beauty to the poem and it is strategically put at the
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first stanza to whet your appetite, stimulating your interest to move on

to the next stanza to find out whether that will also follow the trend.
Unfortunately, the trend has changed and the rhyme has swapped
positions between the first and second stanzas. This gives a spiral
mental picture to the poem and in your mind like descending a
staircase. It is often said that one CLIMBS an academic ladder so it is
only natural that if you should retire from academics, you first
descend the ladder you climbed and hence the staircase image created.
Our minds were finally free is a sign of relief that shows that the
poet was yearning all along to be liberated from the tedious academic
work that required so much study and barely no time to think of other
thing. This part can also be interpreted as reflection of a ghost who
dies from his struggles in life and hence considers death a refuge. He
is therefore finally free.
In the third stanza, the word aisle brings into your mind an image of
a wedding day which is one of the happiest days of the couple.
Finally free in the second stanza calls for a reason to celebrate and
the setting of wedding grounds is chosen. This sudden change of
scene in the third stanza prevents the poem from being predictive and
also to keeps you from boredom.
The poet finds it so thrilling that he finds it normal to even sell his
most valuable asset-time. He talks about social media to bring in a
blend of youthfulness and reuniting with friends. Left to the narrator,
his youthfulness buys him a lot of time to shed some stress, enough
time to even make him shut his senses to time but before he realizes,
it is time to go back to school.
So is life. We often are so sure of having so much time that we care
less about the things of God until death strikes and we are ready to
face judgment. This links with the ghost in the first stanza who saw

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death as a channel of escape from the troubles of life until he finds out
that death is not an end but a transition.
In the final stanza, vacation is personified and given the attribute of an
athlete. This shows how swift the vacation days pass by. It is also a
metaphor that describes the brevity of life and how fast it ends
especially when nothing points to the end of an individual. The word
sluggish is used in the second line to talk about how reluctant the
narrator is to return to school, making him describe his academic
duties as eternal. On this basis, he accuses the academic setting for
taking the fun out of his days or his life in general.
Parallel to the second meaning of the poem about life in general, the
narrator in the stead of all humanity is blaming death for taking the
fun out of the days of man. This contradicts the early on praise shed
by the narrator on death for delivering him from the troubles that
abounds in this life. Just when it seemed all the poem was about doing
was all the way down the anticlimax freeway, the narrator introduces
an optimistic idea that in part goad him into loving the academic
ladder-the faces that he misses.
In a deeper and plain language, the writer is not afraid of death
because there are people that he misses, the dead and gone family and
friends that he hopes to reunite with. The other part is the surprising
days that come with the academic load. This sharp twist from the
anticlimax to the climax is a U-turn that makes you wonder why the
narrator is full of surprises and unpredictable. The lesson in this part
of the poem is that no matter how bad a situation may be, there is a
silver lining at the end of the rainbow at the end of the storm.
The last line however is brief and sudden, crushing the expectation of
the reader once again. This connotes how soon life, likened to this
poem can end at any time and the reason for which we are to prepare
for that at any time. In summary, despite the academia outlook, that
this poem presents, it is really about life and death.
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2. THE NIGHT
Like the dust settling after the tires are screeched on a feeder road
All have settled into the comfort of their beds
Dark and proud as a sunny day
The night appears more peaceful in every way
Night comes after each day to make awareness proud
Telling man that good and evil coexist in our world
Light in every home
Man desperately express desire that day continues
But death hovers around no matter how much is left undone
Man has to rest
For the night is here
Death, its commander
Starry skies decorated the universe
Giving man a reason to believe in love
But the ugly truth is that the stars are not enough to turn the night day
Evil outnumber good
Though good religions outnumber violence holes
Night is night and day is day
Yet there is dawn and dusk
That sits on the fence
Excelling in wherever circumstances would put it
The night appears more peaceful in every way
Night comes after each day to make awareness proud
Telling man that good and evil coexist in our world

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NOTES: The setting of this poem is at night and hence the title.
However, the night here is a metonym of evil or sin. It is assumed
from the writers viewpoint that evil outnumber good and hence night
is dominant over day and that explains why the title of the poem
considers only the night as the focus instead of the day.
The first line of the first stanza uses imagery that most people can
easily identify with-roads. It talks about dust SETTLING back onto
the road when a car passes by. This is the same with man who rises
from bed to go about his daily chores but in the end returns to where
he rose from at the end of the day.
The world is mostly noisier in the day than at night so the poet
describes the night as peaceful contrary to what chaos evil can do in
this world. This is not in support of evil as the actual meaning of the
poem is, but to drive home the point that when people do a little good,
they would want to be noisy and blow the trumpet to make the whole
world know but when they do evil, they push it in the cupboard or
sweep it under the carpet to prevent others from knowing about it.
This is compared to why the night is quiet. It is still twelve hours of
light and 12 hours of darkness since the beginning of the world
showing that good and evil wields equal power to overpower the
other. Awareness is personified as proud and truly, knowledge puffs
but the most important point at the end of the first stanza is that good
and evil, just as light and darkness co-exist in this world hence one
definitely belongs to one side or the other. You can never belong to
both
In the second stanza, light or good is equated with life and darkness or
evil is equated to death. The poet intends to say that man wishes the
world was all good and so would want the day to be forever and since
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he cannot, he has in his own small way invented something wonderful

that gives him the satisfaction that there is some day found in nightthe electric light.
Funny but this section also talks about mans wiliness to live forever,
should darkness be equated to death. God has placed eternity in the
heart of men. This makes the behavior of man comprehensible but it
does not cancel the appointment of man to die once to face judgment
afterwards. So man finally closes his eyes when the night comes.
The little invention of man at night is destroyed in the third stanza.
Even his self-deception that the moon or stars giving off light to
mimic the behavoiur of day is not deemed credible in the writers
opinion. The poem goes on to draw the distinction between night and
day, evil and good alike and encourages you to be truthful in calling a
spade what it is.
Immediately after that, the writer goes back to draw the attention of
the reader on to a very dicey issue of morality on what is right or what
is wrong depending of the circumstances surrounding it. He alludes
this to dusk and dawn which is the transition between night and day.
This can be compared to King David eating the bread intended for
Levites because he had a visitor or the apostles of Jesus plucking corn
on a Sabbath day to satisfy their hunger. The circumstances
surrounding an action can either make it wrong or right and the writer
intends that you take note of this.
He however chose not to take sides as he sits on the fence and leave
the tagging to your conscience and the moral beliefs. The final lines
of the poem are a repetition of the main point in the poem which
confers a cyclical nature to the poem as a whole.

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19-A SOUL IN THE CROWD

Amongst the throng a soul moves
Uniqueness and distinction engulfs him
Pulling attention from the many same
Who marvels at him and wonder if he is sane

The soul in the crowd reigns in his small life

With his burden in mind
Striding down the corridors of a busy street
Amidst thunderous noises in silence and quietness
Save his footprints in the memory of time

Who is this soul in the crowd?

In whose shoe no one has walked a mile
In whose world no man has evidence of a crime
In whose life no troubles appear to be found?

Soon the soul in the crowd is no more

Soon he stops and drops out from the race of life
Sooner the soul in the crowd becomes a memory
Without hesitation, he screams in vain at the pain of death-unheeded,
unpardonedterminated
The soul in the crowd is none but you and me
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NOTES:
The poem above centers on the uniqueness and
individuality of each and every one that lives on this planet earth. It
hammers the beauty in humanity and the creativity with which the
creator has formed him. In the same vein, this is praise to the one that
distinguishes himself from the many when it comes to lifestyle and
thoughts. You are such a person the poet is talking of.
In the first stanza, it is said that this person attracts attention from the
others who marvel at how he distinguishes himself from them all. It is
not intentional that the person is referred to in this poem as soul and
he stands out from the crowd, not for recognition or hypocrisy sake
but natural and obvious. This can be likened to the one that does good
in a world of evil. One that is deemed a Christian or a religious person
based of his way of life.
In the second stanza, the last line is what makes the soul in the crowd
stand out from the lot. The good deeds that he had done, remain in the
memories of the benefactors throughout their life even after he is long
dead and gone. The poet uses footprints in the memory of time to
depict this. It tells us that the only thing that can keep us in the mind
of posterity after we are long dead and gone is the way we positively
affect the lives of people.
In the third stanza, the poet emphasizes the questions lurking in the
mind of the reader who wonders who the soul in the crowd may be.
He goes on to use the non-specific auxiliary verb may in the last line
to show that we look on the superficial aspect of life but in actual
sense, the soul in the crowd may have his own problems that is known
only to GOD. This description goes for all that live on earth and this
is confirmed in the final stanza.
In the final stanza, the end of all men is described. The word soon
used shows the brevity of life and the surprise death leaves us when it
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snatches away good ones without warning of any sort. Death is

described as wicked in this stanza to express the frustration with
which it leaves the living when their loved ones are no more.
Finally, the climax of the poem is reached as the poet unveils the soul
in the crowd as none other but himself and the reader. In this way, the
poet recognizes his friability as human just like the reader.

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3. SLEEPLESS
I toss and turn in bed
I try to run into my dreamland
But my feet will not move
Do I pop pills?
Or should I lie still?
I clutch hard to my pillow like a lifeboat
Hoping to get some sleep but to no avail
Hope the night hastens away
Cannot wait for the day to draw nigh
Maybe I could justify this insomnia
Maybe sleep would plead to have me again
Like the fond memories of old
How about embracing nudity
Seeking the commiseration of circulation of air
Maybe that will do the trick
Maybe that will make me sleep
I have a better idea
Let me make sleep jealous
Let me wake up and make that dream happen
Let me wake up to the beauty of my dreams and start from
somewhere
Let me rob myself of sleep to make the world a better place
Let me awake from bed and begin to live
To the envy of sleep I work on a good cause
I permanently lock the door to my dreamland

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For I can make those dreams worth something with sleep shutting the
door
Sleep, slept-a thing of the past
Forgotten, replaced with hard work
Giving birth to enviable success
NOTES: In this motivational poem the poet throws light on his
location in the first stanza as being in bed and finding it hard to sleep.
He personifies dreamland as a place one can go on foot but he says
his foot would not move. In this way, he shifts blame to one part of
his body to give the picture that the rest of the body would love to go
to the dreamland but the one thing that would carry them all there (in
this case, the foot) is unwilling to do so. The same way, the only thing
required to dream-sleep-is hard to come by so he lay wide awake
thinking of what to do to go to sleep.
In the second stanza, the narrator is still looking for ways to sleep. He
clutches his pillow hard and seeks in vain, some help to sleep. The
lifeboat used here gives an idea of salvation from frustration which in
this case is sleeplessness. This represents how humans resort to
anything no matter how senseless it may seem in order to make what
they want to achieve a reality.
Still trying to find the cause and cure to his sleeplessness, the poet
resort to undressing while thinking that it is the climate which is
making him unable to sleep. This however does not put him to bed
either. Still with no answer to his insomnia, he turns his attention to
something else.
In the fourth stanza, the poet resorts to something different altogether.
Here, he no longer loves to sleep but to stay awake to fulfill a worthy
cause. He desires to make his dreams come through; he desires to
make the world a better place. Such is the stroke of hope or the light
of illumination that fills the mind of the troubled. Out of our problems
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and troubles, you can be led to a brighter realm that you would have
missed if you had not gone through the troubles that you went
through. This tells the reader that there is a reason why we go through
all the challenges that life presents and only if we would take time to
observe, think deeply about them or simply pay attention and observe,
we would know what life wants us to notice.
In the final stanza, the poet who is also the narrator in this case finds
joy in his newly found hobby and hates sleep. In other words, he does
away with laziness and befriends hard work so as to achieve his goals.
The poem teaches you that hard work is still the easiest way to
success and hence incites you to eschew oversleep and work hard to
make your dreams a reality.

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4. AUTOBIOGRAPHY
What would the world say when I am gone
Would she say I was worth having?
Would she miss me?
Would the world call me a hero?
Would she know that I loved all?
Would the world remember me as I wish?
As it should!

There is no living hero! common sense shouted

A man must die to live forever
Christ, Caesar and Alexander alike
Life is too short for a hero to be forged
Death has the final say
Of who is worth a hero unforgotten
Would the world remember me when Im no more?

NOTES: This is a reflective poem. The narrator is musing on what

would happen when he dies. He wonders if the world would call him
a hero, whether he deserves to be called a hero at all. The world is
personalized as a woman using the third person singular personal
pronoun she to refer to it. This gives a parallel meaning to the poem
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as it may also mean a husband or a groom wondering if the bride or

wife would call him good behind his back.
In the same way, you are advised to take an objective look at life and
find out if you would be described as worth having if you happen to
be no more. This backs the advice that one must be selfless and live
for others or for the benefit of others if he would be considered a
blessing when he kicks the bucket. This self-introspection and life
assessment is interrupted in the second stanza when common sense, as
personalized speaks to provide answers to the questions on the mind
of the narrator.

In the second stanza, common sense shouts that man must die to know
the answers that the narrator seeks. He is given examples of great men
who had to die first before their names were forever forged on the
memory of the living. It goes that life is too short to make a hero. As
much as many alive may be considered as heroes even before they
die, there is an element of truth in what common sense says because
unless a person dies, that which he does is deemed common and
rarely a monument erected in his name.

Death is therefore elevated and personalized as the one with the final
say on who is worth a hero. In that case, a man must die first to find in
order to continue to live if he must find out if he is really a hero. This
is a question that no one can know the answer to while alive or be
sure of what he considers himself to be unless he is no more. This
puzzles the narrator and still goes back to his misery question of
wondering whether he would be considered a hero when he is no
more. The lesson in this poem is that as you live, what others thinks
of you may not matter as much as what you consider yourself to be

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but when you happen to be no more, what you think of yourself is not
as important as what others think of you.

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5. THE CALL OF NECESSITY

Who has the option of defiance when necessity calls?
Can anyone tame the dictatorship of necessity?
Who has the audacity to question the call of necessity?
Can that even be considered a possibility?

Necessity does not know the law-ask the robber

Necessity knows no shame-ask the politician
Necessity knows no creed-ask the pious
Necessity knows no moderation-ask the needy

Tis the cry of necessity that injures the world

Tis the scream of necessity that makes man, animal
Tis the shouts of necessity that robs life of its peace
Should the world mute the whispers of necessity
Humanity would succeed in bringing Heaven on earth

NOTES: Using series of rhetorical questions in the first stanza, the

poet points an accusing finger at necessity as the culprit behind the
evil that abounds in the world today. He has the view that if all men
had what they wanted, none would resort to evil as a means of
satisfaction or a way out of his struggles.

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This sounds like a conspiracy with sin to justify sin and lawlessness
but in actual sense this is unrealistic and the poet only pleads with
society to find the root cause of the act of an offender before passing
judgment because what goad such culprits into doing these gruesome
acts may be justifiable based on the circumstances under which the
crime is committed. This lauds the popular dictum that one is not
guilty until proven.

In the second stanza, the poet goes on to talk about the fact that no
one own up concerning acts that are considered evil a majority of the
world. He names politicians, the pious and the needy among the
robber in his effort to describe why they act the way that they do. He
emphasizes that in such circumstances, the boundaries that ensure
morality and sanity of society via regulation is thrown overboard as
depicted as the pious who throws away the creed and embraces evil
that makes headlines all in the name of necessity.

In the final stanza, the poet points an accusing finger still on

necessity. He finds more scenarios to incriminate it. Anyone at all
may use necessity to justify his wrongs but that is subject to scrutiny.
He ends by providing a remedy that is near impossibility that man
should find a way to oust necessity out of the universe and all wrong
would cease, making life comparable to that in Heaven.

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6. UNAPPLAUDED
It is the custom of life to cheer the known
The one on a predictable path is applauded
But it is beautiful to be oneself
It is alright to be different
To be hated
To be ignored
To be feared
To be dreaded
To be resisted
In the end, a story with a beginning unheard of is rolled out
An uncounted becomes the hope of the world
A Nazarene saves all mankind?
Prophecies are indeed fulfilled by unlikely beings
Weaklings are straightened by discouragements
Predictions of the future based on the past and present are futile
Talk is cheap, any lips can part willpower
But not all men have tenacity
Not all unknowns can persist until there is no more reason for a sad
countenance
Country means nothing
Continent is not enough excuse
Money cannot buy what dried up tears can pay for
It is a privilege to be a first generation
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Nothing to show
No one to emulate
Proudly to be a nobody
No monuments to be erected when death calls
But everything worth fighting for
Lots of hope that never run dry

NOTES: This is a poem of inspiration. Narrated from the perspective

of a self-motivated individual who is currently neither known or may
be ignored by those who know him because he is a nobody yet.
Instead of this serving as a demotivating factor for him, he turns it
into a stepping stone and a bank of motivation where he draws his
strength from. This gives an uplifting to the one can identify with this
narrator.
In the early parts of the poem, he goes on to motivate his soul when
everyone else gives a reason to give up on him. This is an advice that
you should never give up on yourself even if everyone else will be
quick to dismiss you or your ideas are. He focuses on the end result
instead of the current situation that he finds himself in. This is enough
strength to keep him going through the discouragements and finger
pointing from the bystanders or the audience.

He goes on to make it clear that who a person is or where a person

came from has nothing to do with how great you can be. He uses
Jesus the Nazarene that saves all mankind as an example since there
was a time before he died that no one believed that anything good
could come out of Nazareth.

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The next part of the poem talks about the poet discrediting success to
geographical location or to race. There are many who look down on
themselves for the sheer reason that they cannot contribute any good
to the world based on their geographical location. This is not really
true and if you will have the tenacity to persist through your dreams,
all that you dream of being may be achieved.

The narrator also emphasizes on action instead of talk or speech. He

encourages you to act on your plans to achieve your goals no matter
how small it may appear to be. This is because there are many more
people who claim to have plans and goals and dreams that could
change the world but never act on them. Still, more people like that
with desire to worth something in life but do nothing towards that.
Your ability to cultivate the habit of acting to achieve your goals is a
way to be different from them all. While they remain wishers, you
will be an achiever!

Money cannot buy what dried up tears can pay for is quite a strong
expression that talks about people being strengthened by their pain of
failure instead of recoiling into their shells of creativity and resigning
their fate to becoming nobodies. In short, one must not give up
when challenges move him to tears but should be resolved never to do
so again by working harder than he did at first.

In the last portion of the poem, the narrator recounts all that he lacks
and proudly showcase them as privilege because in them, he draws
strength to be a better person than he is. And he plainly states it that
being nobody makes him proud because that gives him a reason to
fight for all that he desires to have. It is great when one can relate
with the state in which a poet finds himself.
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THE END

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APPENDIX
Rank

Country

Life expectancy

Monaco

89.57

26

New Zealand

Macau

84.48

27

Ireland

80.56

Japan

84.46

28

Germany

80.44

Singapore

84.38

29

United Kingdom

80.42

San Marino

83.18

30

Greece

80.30

Hong Kong

82.78

31

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

80.26

Andorra

82.65

32

Austria

80.17

Switzerland

82.39

33

Malta

80.11

Guernsey

82.39

34

Faroe Islands

80.11

10

Australia

82.07

35

Luxembourg

80.01

11

Italy

82.03

36

Belgium

79.92

12

Sweden

81.89

37

European Union

79.86

13

Liechtenstein

81.68

38

Taiwan

79.84

14

Canada

81.67

39

Korea, South

79.80

15

France

81.66

40

Virgin Islands

79.75

16

Jersey

81.66

41

Finland

79.69

17

Norway

81.60

42

United States

79.56

18

Spain

81.47

43

Turks and Caicos Islands

79.55

19

Israel

81.28

44

Wallis and Futuna

79.42

20

Iceland

81.22

45

Saint Helena, Ascension, and Tristan

da Cunha
79.21

21

Anguilla

81.20

22

Netherlands

81.12

46

Gibraltar

79.13

47

Puerto Rico

79.09

23

Bermuda

81.04
48

Denmark

79.09

24

Cayman Islands

81.02
49

Portugal

79.01

25

Isle of Man

80.98
50

Guam

78.82

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ESSENTIAL LIFE

51

Bahrain

78.58

79

Croatia

76.41

52

Chile

78.44

80

Algeria

76.39

53

Qatar

78.38

81

Ecuador

76.36

54

Cyprus

78.34

82

Aruba

76.35

55

Czech Republic

78.31

83

Sri Lanka

76.35

56

Panama

78.30

84

Bosnia and Herzegovina

76.33

57

British Virgin Islands

78.29

85

Antigua and Barbuda

76.12

58

Costa Rica

78.23

86

Libya

76.04

59

Cuba

78.22

87

Lithuania

75.98

60

Albania

77.96

88

Tonga

75.82

61

Slovenia

77.83

89

Macedonia

75.80

62

Dominican Republic

77.80

90

Georgia

75.72

63

Northern Mariana Islands

77.64

91

West Bank

75.69

64

Kuwait

77.64

92

Tunisia

75.68

65

Sint Maarten

77.61

93

Hungary

75.46

66

Argentina

77.51

94

Mexico

75.43

67

Saint Lucia

77.41

95

Cook Islands

75.38

68

New Caledonia

77.31

96

Saint Kitts and Nevis

75.29

69

Lebanon

77.22

97

Colombia

75.25

70

United Arab Emirates

77.09

98

Mauritius

75.17

71

Uruguay

76.81

99

Maldives

75.15

72

Paraguay

76.80

100

China

75.15

73

French Polynesia

76.79

101

Serbia

75.02

74

Brunei

76.77

102

Barbados

74.99

75

Slovakia

76.69

103

Oman

74.97

76

Poland

76.65

104

American Samoa

74.91

77

Dominica

76.59

105

Solomon Islands

74.89

78

Morocco

76.51
1

ESSENTIAL LIFE

106

107

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

74.86
Saudi Arabia
Romania

74.69

109

Gaza Strip

74.64

110

Malaysia

74.52

Venezuela
Bulgaria

74.33

113

Seychelles

74.25

El Salvador
Thailand

74.18

116

Armenia

74.12

117

Jordan

74.10

118

Estonia

74.07

119

Montserrat

73.90

120

Grenada

73.80

Jamaica
Egypt

73.45

123

Latvia

73.44

124

Turkey

73.29

125

Uzbekistan

73.29

126

Brazil

73.28

127

Peru

73.23

Samoa

Philippines

72.48

135

Micronesia, Federated States of 72.35

136

Trinidad and Tobago

72.29

137

Indonesia

72.17

138

Belarus

72.15

139

Fiji

72.15

140

Bahamas, The

71.93

141

Azerbaijan

71.91

142

Greenland

71.82

143

Guatemala

71.74

144

Suriname

71.69

145

Cabo Verde

71.57

146

Iraq

71.42

147

Honduras

70.91

148

Iran

70.89

149

Bangladesh

70.65

150

Kazakhstan

70.24

151

Russia

70.16

152

Moldova

70.12

153

Kyrgyzstan

70.06

154

Korea, North

69.81

155

Turkmenistan

69.47

156

Ukraine

69.14

157

Bhutan

68.98

158

Mongolia

68.98

159

Bolivia

68.55

160

Belize

68.49

73.48

122

128

134

74.18

115

121

72.58

74.39

112

114

Marshall Islands

74.82

108

111

133

73.21

129

Vietnam

72.91

130

Nicaragua

72.72

131

Vanuatu

72.72

132

Palau

72.60

ESSENTIAL LIFE

161

Syria

68.41

189

Western Sahara

62.27

162

Guyana

67.81

190

Tanzania

61.24

163

India

67.80

191

Benin

61.07

164

Timor-Leste

67.39

192

Senegal

60.95

165

Nepal

67.19

193

Ethiopia

60.75

166

Tajikistan

67.06

194

Malawi

59.99

167

Pakistan

67.05

195

Guinea

59.60

168

Papua New Guinea

66.85

196

Burundi

59.55

169

Nauru

66.40

197

Rwanda

59.26

170

Burma

65.94

198

Congo, Republic of the 58.52

171

Tuvalu

65.81

199

Liberia

58.21

172

Ghana

65.75

200

Cote d'Ivoire

58.01

173

Kiribati

65.47

201

Sierra Leone

57.39

174

Madagascar

65.20

202

Cameroon

57.35

175

Yemen

64.83

203

Congo, Democratic Republic of the

56.54

176

Gambia, The

64.36
204

Zimbabwe

55.68

177

Sao Tome and Principe 64.22

205

Angola

55.29

178

Togo

64.06

179

Cambodia

63.78

206

Mali

54.95

207

Burkina Faso

54.78

180

Kenya

63.52
208

Niger

54.74

181

Eritrea

63.51

182

Laos

63.51

209

Uganda

54.46

210

Botswana

54.06

183

Equatorial Guinea

63.49
211

Lesotho

52.65

184

Comoros

63.48
212

Nigeria

52.62

185

Sudan

63.32

186

Haiti

63.18

213

Mozambique

52.60

214

Gabon

52.06

187

Djibouti

62.40
215

Namibia

51.85

188

Mauritania

62.28
3

ESSENTIAL LIFE

216

Zambia

51.83

220

Afghanistan

50.49

217

Somalia

51.58

221

Guinea-Bissau

49.87

218

Central African Republic

51.35

222

South Africa

49.56

219

Swaziland

50.54

223

Chad

49.44

ESSENTIAL LIFE

REFERENCES
All bible quotations with KJV by it were taken from the King James
Version

All bible quotations with NIV were taken from the New International
Version

1. The top 10 causes of death. WHO June 2011. Retrieved 11 th March,

2015
2. http://thinkexist.com/quotation/people_are_always_blaming_their_circu
mstances_for/155215.html (accessed December 19, 2014)
3. http://mobile.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/n/nikolatesl596891.html
(accessed December 19, 2014)
4. http://quoteinvestigator.com/tag/h-jackson-brown/ (accessed December
19, 2014)
5. https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/5623882.Mandy_Hale
(accessed December 19, 2014)

6. Rich dad's cashflow quadrant (Warner Books, Cashflow Technologies,

Inc. 1999), 14

ESSENTIAL LIFE

BIBLOGRAPHY
1. THE CASHFLOW QUADRANT (Robert Kiyosaki)
2. PSYCHOCYBERNETICS (Dr. Maxwell Maltz)
3. ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING (Jeff Keller)
4. THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING (Vincent Norman Peale)
5. CIVILIZATIONS AND DISCONTENTS (Sigmund Feud)
6. CREAT YOUR OWN FUTURE (Brian Tracy)
7. THE TOTAL MONEY MAKEOVER (Dave Ramsey)
8. THE SCIENCE OF GETTING RICH (Dr Wallace D. Wattles)
9. RICH DAD POOR DAD (Robert Kiyosaki)
10. LIFE CODE (Dr Phillip McGraw)
11. THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON (George S. Clason)

ESSENTIAL LIFE

NOTES