Six Ways to Take Charge of 2012

New year, new outlook. Stephen Covey, one of the most prolific leadership authors of our time, says there are six things you can do right now to make 2012 your best year ever:

Be proactive.
It's more than just taking initiative. It means being responsible for your own life. Empower yourself to lead and spread your influence no matter what position you hold.

Sharpen the saw.
Decide what's truly important. Sharpen your saw early in the day by learning to say no to the unimportant and yes to the highly important

Seek to understand before seeking to be understood.
It's human nature to want to be understood, but when both parties are trying to be understood, neither party is listening. By making the investment to understand the other party, you can magically transform the course of your conversations.

Begin with the end in mind.
Start today with an image of the end of your life as the frame of reference by which everything else is examined. With a clear idea of where you are going, examine everything in the context of what matters to you most.

Develop a vision mission statement.
Get a deep sense of your life's mission, purpose and value system, then establish your goals and a system of accountability that keeps you on track.

Think win-win.
There is enough success for everyone, so don't view another person's success as success achieved at your expense or exclusion.

2012 And The Mayan Prophecy?

It's 2012 and I just cannot believe it! In my spirit, I am still hovering above the year 2000. During that time, I was residing in Pittsburgh, PA. The Y2K saga was raging and every news media in USA was blasting predictions upon predictions. Many interviews and reactions were on air and fear of a complete breakdown of the world's economy system was very real. Then the clock struck midnight and we crossed into 2000. 

Nothing bad happened. After a couple of weeks into the New Year, a pastor was giving all the food rations that he had stored in the basement of his church to the poor. Everybody climbed out of their private shelters of fear and began to air their frustrations at the media and those doomsday's advocates. 

Books on Y2K written my many so-called "Christian prophets" were at rock bottom prices. Before Y2K, these self-styled God's spokesmen had already made tons of money feeding the fear of believers. Then like a fog being hit by hot afternoon sun, they faded away with their cash safely stored in their bank accounts. The Christian community seemed to be so forgiving and some of these soothsayers came back into business almost before the year was over. If they were to live in Old Testament time, they would have been stoned to death for false prophecies.

This year, we are once again faced with an apparent crisis - the Mayan prophecy of the End of the World on 21 December 2012. Prophetic voices are already giving their opinions. The media is also broadcasting stories about this ancient prophecy and relevant books are marching in and out of bookstores all over the world. 

So, here we go again but I am unperturbed. Apart from still hovering over 2000, I have absolute faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as I had then. Like Paul the Apostle, I can say, "I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day." (2 Timothy 1:12).