A MUST READ STORY: I stand on a pedestal

I spent my high school life living with my maternal grandma. this was necessitated by the demise of my parents. It was beautiful living in the family that cherished me. sometimes it wasn't as easy. My Grandparents depended on peasant farming and I added to the labor force of the family farm. 
During school holidays I would spend time in the field grazing the cattle whose number were diminishing with years. Sometimes i would be in the family garden weeding the maize and millet plantation. I could wonder what life would turn into years in future. 
My grandpa enrolled me in the local high school whose population was barely 50 students from form one to the fourth form. 
My eagerness was to pass exams and get the required university grade. I believed deeply that by passing and being a complete orphan, I was capable to get a sponsor to the university. So I hit the road, read books and studied hard. All I wanted was to get away from home, from hunger, from poverty and live in a place I would enjoy the opposite.
By end of exams, My heart leaped, there was cold in my stomach, my  throat swelled and I cried to the news that I couldn't attain direct university grade. At once I thought the curtains of my life fell right on my face. I had fallen with no one to lift me. The funny thing is that I was at the top of the Class2001.
Sometimes it is not being at the top of class that brings happiness but rather the achievement of the desired goals. From thence I learnt not to aim to be, or do better than someone but to do my best in my own way. We don't become happy by achieving what others haven't, but what we have in its insignificant form as it might seem to the world.
I had a choice to rewind the class but who would pay the school fees. Something in me could always tell me that I was better than that, that I was destined for huge things, that I was a master piece. But how could I get there?
The rest is history. I am giving back to the society by talking into their hearts wisdom that it taught me. Every human needs a motivator, an inspirational figure in their life. I stand on a pedestal and  pour ideas out to the world. I am doing this before I die so that I will say to the master whose piece I am that it is fine with my soul. I motivated the world.

In your position, you can do much more than you think. Don't limit yourself to the equivalence of your environment, your enemies and the naysayers. Break the rules. Pursue your passion relentlessly and unapologetically. Zig Ziglar said, " you were born to win, and to win you must plan to win, prepare to win and expect to win".

MEANINGLESS GOALS

Goal is defined as the object of a person's ambition or effort. Goals therefore must be objective in their on nature. It must be self satiating and heartwarming when realized.What if we set goals that ultimately don't bear no fruit? Would it be the same to not setting goals at all? Like a writer writing books that he hides and never publishes for the masses to read. Is that in futility?
Does it benefit  a dog owner to see it run after every passing vehicle with the knowledge that it will never bite the automotive?
Zig Zigler said that if you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time. Our aim and goals must be very well thought and set out. They must be touching in our lives and the lives of others.
What does it benefit a random lottery winner who has never prepared himself for such money in his account. That who never had goals .
Les Brown, in his speeches say ' you better be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than have one and never be prepared for it'. It is important that we all set goals in order to succeed at something.
Setting goals is not an impromptu decision, an instinct or desire without basis. You therefoe can follow the following steps in setting your goals:

• Ask yourself that which you want to achieve, when and why and start making commitment to it. You will have to do or adopt such things and behavior that are in-tandem to your goal.
• Set SMART( Specific, Measurable,Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound) goals  
• Write them down and remind yourself everyday of such goals. Writing down goals is very powerful tool to the realization of such goals.
• Stay focused. Don't confuse things up.
• Make a plan of action. 
• Carryout your goal related activities in bits and in present and always appreciate the little achievements.
•  

Goals are meaningless and setting them a waste of time if you don't commit yourself to them.
Each one's goals are specific and different and it will be meaningless to chase other people's goals if you cannot harness them in your own life.

HOW TO PREPARE AND PASS EXAMS:

They said exams come with fever, headache, stress and anxiety. Maybe they were right. I am one of those who failed to attain the required university grade. It was traumatizing but I got over it. Those feelings I had 17 years ago are going to reoccur on someone at the of exam period when their results come out.
This will not happen if you'd follow the following  EIGHT hints

Visualize yourself after the exams and as a winner. 

Try to foresee yourself happy with the ultimate marks. Let hope and determination to pass exams illuminate your heart. This kills stress and makes you welcome exams with tranquility.

Do not underestimate anything and anybody. 

First of all don't look down upon yourself. Believe in your efforts and abilities. This will give you the feeling of being able to handle anything. Remember others have also the eagerness to pass just as you are and you wouldn't want to be at the bottom of the least. Try to add more effort to surpass their level. Exams don't come from one topic so don't be skewed in reading. Take no chances and read widely through the syllubus.

Ask as many questions as you can.

 your teachers are available free resources of information. Ask them what you dont understand. Make use of your classmates too for it is only in asking that we learn.
Belong to a study group and while there organize yourselves in reading and asking  each other questions from the topics read. This is one pf the best ways to memorize what you have learned.

Start you day early. 

Early risers have the benefit of enjoying the freshness of mind. Morning periods are the most quality moments of the day.
Learn by teaching; Everything you learnt at any point will highly stick in your mind if teach others. This really works often times. You will have the benefit of learning once more than the ones you are teaching

Get enough sleep. 

As your day starts early, you are likely to learn more and retire to bed early and satisfied with your day activities. this makes you have a great rest for the next day assignments

Expect exams with Ease. 

Relax, get into the exam room and write like a winner

EXCESS YEARS OF YOUR LIFE: What did you do?

Walking into high school hall of about two thousand students was heart throbbing.A look at their faces reveals eagerness for the aftermath of the said mighty talk. I wasn't sure what they wanted to hear. and so I made a point not to struggle reading their minds. I would speak about what I  thought was good for them. That which would kindle fire of self-knowledge to them. I didn't want to be bundled into the baskets of the wise sayings they've been told over and over again. 
These young souls' faces were expectant and the very moment I could run into the lows and highs of their lives we could then connect. They would start looking at themselves and not me. Not the beautiful self, not the handsome, unkempt, masculine and gymnastic self but rather the inner-self.. That unseen self that moves the outer self.
No-matter how ugly you are or how beautiful you look or rich or poor or orphaned or tall or short. they were going to unleash and exercise their greatest strength. That is the beginning of knowledge of self.
These good-looking sons and daughters would start dreaming and if possible start the race. The race of chasing dreams. Remember if you don't chase your dream, you are going to spend your damn life running away from your fears. You will be running and running and you will never achieve any success.
Silence then conquers the room. I get emotional as their eyes change, they are perplexed, maybe they are trying to delve into the hidden depths of self. This is the moment. You MUST make good the present. Make it great. Love and seize the opportunities that comes with it. Otherwise you don't need to dream of a great future. You must stop that which hinders you from achieving the little set goals.

If anyone of them is not going to work hard enough for him or herself, they better do it for someone else. They better do it for that old woman who sacrifices to get their school fees, to that good uncle who help provide food, to those siblings whose future depend on them, to that headteacher to allowed them in class with fee arrears.

"How old are you?" I would pose this rhetoric question. They are averagely 16 years of age. I wonder what such young people have done with such years. Have they been sleeping, studying, gossiping, traveling or just being there? Have they been involved in their own growth and development?
I would go ahead and break their 16 years in my own way

16 YEAR OLD TIME EXPENCE
1	SLEEPING	6 YEARS
2	PLAYING	4 YEARS
3	STUDYING	2 YEARS
4	WITH FAMILY	1 YEAR
5	GOSSIPING	1 YEAR
6	BALANCE	2 YEARS
7	SELF GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT	???

  
 The balance of our years are marked in red. Imagine 2 years being broken into daily hours. That would be 365x2x24=17520hours.
 If these were to be converted into minutes then seconds it would be 17520x60x60=63,072,000
This would give us approximately 63million seconds. What if these seconds were made money and given to you. What if in your 16 year self you would wake up to Sh.10,800 daily? What would you do with it?

All in the room would not want to loose any part of that shillings. It would have build you an empire of wealth. 
That is the power of Time. All of you must reconsider the excess time and use it on personal growth and development. if it is inadequate, then you are on the right road. Add more by sacrificing sleep, eliminating gossip time and stopping those habits that waste your time. I assure you; you will never regret it.

HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND ME

Other than writing motivational articles, Which is my number one passion, I often find some time to design both men and women wears. I am that bearded man with side burns. I shave my head and i find it cool for me and my little family. And that's why I keep it that way.I have learnt that this life is too short to spend it pleasing many people. I live it real ensuring that I don't postpone vital things that have to be done.
As a married man my number one goal is to genuinely show love to my loved ones. My wife Lily and Son Theo are great inspiration to my life.
Last Sunday June 17 sitting with Theo, he requested me to write a poem about my love for his mum and this is what i did:

Theo I hope you understand me,
I fell in love with this girl,
In the hood where we liveth
She is slender, willowy and pretty
Please understand me, she is taller than me,
And she says nothing at all
please Theo understand me

Theo, this girl keeps me awake all night
In the deepest of the night she lays her hands on me
She makes me forget you momentarily
I have fallen in love with this girl Mr Theo
Please Theo understand me

Her beauty doesn't make me  love  her,
I do love her 'coz she fills our lives with beauty
She makes every bit of day so beautiful
She is the only ingredient that makes pizza
She is the spring of cold water after a relentless sun
If she were Katarina, I could move to Karatina
Please Theo I hope you understand me.

MY MOM AND THE HEADMASTER: Story of Boldness

I am walking home with one hope of getting my ailing mother in her sickbed. The previous day was Parents’ Day at school and as discipline dictates, all parents had to attend, and failure attracted some dire consequences on the victim students. My ‘father’ had always been ‘busy’ to attend any of the parent’s day and so yesterday wasn’t an exception.

The headmaster angrily whips my ass and sends me to bring the parent or face expulsion from school. Am in Class 8 and wishes to get done with my primary exams. So I got home, showed a smile to my mum and as I tried to walk away into the kitchen, she called, “son what brings you back home this early?”

“the headmaster wants a parent at school and you know mama, you are sick and cannot walk to school.” I said. Normally, it could take 15 minutes to school but on this day,  it was going to be several hours journey. She insisted and asked me to give her a hand so that we could walk to school to meet that headmaster who dared her. This was despite my resistance. I was her prince.

After three hours of sauntering and holding my mom with her arm on my shoulder, we finally reached the staff-room. This day something happened that really inked my heart. I could feel the grief mixed with, fear and remorse as my mama called on the headmaster…..

Tears ran my cheeks as all teachers avoided in fear to shake the frail hand of my mama. She was my mama and in everything I was proud of her. The headmaster came, and I could see straight into 0his eyes the real remorse of the mistake and injustice he had inflicted on me.

He didn’t say a word this moment. He called on the head-boy, told him to take his bicycle to take my mama home to rest. From then I never had the burden of bringing parent to school.

Three days later my mama went to be with the Lord.

Lesson: Just like my mama there is one more thing you haven’t done to your loved one. ONE MORE THING. Think about it and do it.

And like that little boy be BOLD and show me your mama, emaciated, weak, frail and looking old.

Be proud of what you got and be BOLD to show it. It might be a talent in you that you wonder how people are going to perceive it.