MARCH 22

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HERITAGE THURSDAY, MARCH 22, 2018
Tool of success:
Believe in yourself
BY ABUNDANT ROBERT K.
AWOLUGUTU
“Believe in yourself, you are worthy
and you are capable of success.”
-Gin Ng Khin Wee
THERE IS power in
believing in oneself.
When you believe in
yourself it will empower
you to take
action towards success
and live your dream life.
Every successful person was
once an amateur like me and you.
The difference between a successful
person and a non-successful
person lies in their belief.
A successful person has an upbeat
attitude and work tirelessly to
achieve their goals. They believe
success is governed by timeless
principles and that success leaves
clues. They believe by applying
success principles in any area of
their life, they can attain success.
They believe in having a positive
mental attitude. With a wellcrafted
strategy and hard work and
discipline, they can turn their
dreams into reality.
They believe when they take
the right steps and give their all to
whatever they are doing, they will
eventually land in their success
zone.
They trust their instincts and
allow their intuition to guide them
every step of the way. They understand
the power of belief, that it
can produce miraculous results in
their life.
When you have a strong belief
that you can succeed, it will help
you to overcome every obstacle
life throws at you. Theirs is to
press on and not give up because
of challenges and disappointments.
They understand that mistakes
are part of the process for getting
to the top. When they make mistakes,
they learn the lessons and
get on with life.
Mistakes are a signal that something
went wrong and that you
need to fine-tune your plan or restrategise.
Instead of giving up,
they look for a solution to the
problem.
When you believe in yourself
and what you are capable of
achieving, you will not allow anything
to distract you. You will insulate
yourself from the naysayers
and dream stealers.
Those who believe in themselves
also believe they can make a
meaningful contribution that can
make the world a better place.
They look at the problems of people
and find a solution to them.
This is what brings them a fortune.
The question is: if you don’t
believe in yourself , who else will?
The non-successful persons do
not believe they can succeed. They
do not think they are worth much.
They think and believe they do
not deserve success. They believe
people will not value what they
have to offer. They allow people
to dictate how they should live.
Even if they could do something
that would make them successful,
they do not believe they
can do it.
Non-successful persons have
limiting beliefs that hold them
back from making progress and
achieving their goals. Their disempowering
beliefs keep them in
their comfort zone.
None of the rules of success
will work if you do not believe in
yourself. Your beliefs will determine
the success you have in your
life.
Believing in oneself is necessary
for the victorious life. It is a
winning tool.
It is your highway to a life of
endless accomplishments and
abundance. It is the number one
secret of successful people.
Yours in inspiration,
ARK AWOLUGUTU
Cell: 0208 455 296/0559 466
048
Email: awolugutu@yahoo.com
Developing courage and presentation skills in the youth
BY ANIS HAFFAR
COURAGE WAS famously defined
by the American writer and
Nobel laureate, Ernest Hemingway
(1899 – 1961), as “Grace under
pressure”. That definition resonated
with Dr Joyce Aryee’s remarks
to pupils from Crimson
Dawn Junior High School (of
Akosombo) when she said, “We
learn because we want to get to the
knowledge about something; we
need to analyse the knowledge; we
need to think through the knowledge;
we need to apply the knowledge,
so if we want to have a
changed mind that focuses on
what is right we need courage”.
Her assertion was most articulate,
echoing tones from William
Shakespeare: “screw your courage
to the sticking-place, And we’ll not
fail.”
Never fear to
stand alone
Clearly one of the most gifted
speakers in Ghana – and speaking
right off the cuff – she stressed,
“Learning is not just the way we
have been doing it, and I am sure
that after listening to Uncle Anis
you recognize now that learning
needs to take a different turn,
right? Yes, we learn not because
we just want to go and regurgitate
information, to give back to the
teacher everything they gave us;
no, that is not learning.”
Relating to pressures from the
status quo, family – or peer pressure
from friends – to stray off
one’s defined course, she alluded
to the biblical characters
Esther and David,
and said, “Never fear
to stand alone if you
believe you’re in the
right path of success.”
She continued,
“We have to be determined
and focused
to be in the
right path of success.
We sense that there is
something in us that we
need to develop to be
able to make a meaningful
impact in our generation. In
fact, all of us need to recognize
that we need to add value to ourselves
through the way we get educated.
We learn to learn. You have
to learn to learn; you know that?”
And when is better to prepare
young people for a brighter future
than right from their childhood.
And that is why it was so appropriate
for the proprietor of Corricrech
/ Crimson Dawn JHS, Mrs
Corrine Sackey, to respond to the
need through an Educamp retreat
at the Pentecost Convention Centre,
Gomoa Fetteh, Central Region
(March 2-5, 2018) for her JHS students.
The Educamp topics included
“Emotional Intelligence for
an enhanced self-confidence” and
“Adolescent reproductive health”.
My two presentations included
•Joyce Aryee
Presentation
Skills as Learning Strategies
and Career Planning.
Presentation secrets
Presentations have become the
de facto tool of communication
across disciplines and boundaries:
It helps when you not only tell
your story but show it as well.
In any presentation the key is to
adhere to the four criteria defined
as follows: 1. The evidence of
preparation through knowledge /
mastery of subject to be delivered;
2. Body language exuding confidence
through poise and proper
comportment; 3. Making eye contact
with audience so that both
speaker and listeners feel each
other; and 4. The nature of the delivery
must engage the audience’s
interests at all times
through speaker’s enthusiasm
and subtle waves of
fun.
Once the criteria
were established, the
expectations were
modelled through
demonstrations or
guided practices.
Then, peer evaluation
becomes appropriate
through the
scoring of group presentations
along the following
rubric: 4 points
for very good; 3 points for
good; 2 points for merely satisfactory;
and 1 point for poor.
It’s important that the pupils
themselves own the contents,
process, and give judgment without
undue interference by adults.
Career planning
Some young people come to
school with career interests, values,
or convictions already in place.
And for those who don’t, they
need to be apprised of such possibilities.
As Richard Branson of the
Virgin Atlantic fame puts it,
“Everyone has something valuable
to bring to the table”. And one
may add: if you are not at the
table, you’re on the menu; that is
to say, the world does not wait for
people to be ready; and those that
choose to stay passive do so at
their own peril, to be unduly taken
advantage of by others.
Two tweets by Fred Swaniker
of African Leadership University
come to mind to help raise awareness.
He said, “Start young and get
lots of practice if you want to be
an entrepreneur. Don’t dismiss the
‘small’ projects you do today.” He
added: “A moon-shot thinking
refers to a big, bold audacious goal
that is beyond most people’s imagination
when it is conceived; it’s
what Africa needs.”
Steve Jobs
Know that the job you do for a
living is one thing; the work you
were born to do is another thing.
And that raises the question: What
do you want to live for? The question
prepares every potential entrepreneur
to discern a greater and
wider horizon as they begin to
think of careers.
As Steve Jobs put it, “You’ve
got to find what you love. Your
work is going to fill a large part of
your life, and the only way to be
truly satisfied is to do what you believe
is great work. And the only
way to do great work is to love
what you do. If you haven’t found
it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”
My concluding advice to the
youth: Be a brand; be the go-to
person; be a lifelong learner; select
mentors who fit your interests and
develop your own unadulterated
values.