 When I talk to people ,and they say they are waiting for things to happen. I feel like saying ,"you need to take action and be intentional for great things to happen". I am a firm believer that we can live the lives we want and achieve our goals by changing some behaviors and being more deliberate.
I like this quote from Michael Hyatt a lot "You don't drift to a place you choose. Desirable outcomes are caused." To get the results you want in life, you need to do something. In this blog post, we will explore what it means to be intentional ,and ten areas of your life where being intentional pays off. What does it mean to be intentional?
10 Things to be intentional about #1: Be intentional about your words and actions There is a lot of power in our words and actions. Taking time to think of the impact of our actions on other people makes us better people and in turn, makes the world a better place. #2: Being intentional with your money To gain financial freedom and thrive, you need to be more deliberate with what you do with your money. From making money to spending it to saving or investing it. Check out the Mo' Money Podcast Episode 175. #3: Be intentional with your goals When you are deliberate about the goals you set, you increase your success rate. Working towards those goals takes being intentional about the priorities you set and the actions you take towards achieving your goals. #4: Be intentional about taking opportunities When you approach opportunities intentionally great things happen. Make it a priority to go out and seek out opportunities in your personal and professional life. In my blog post "the importance of seizing opportunities" I share the reasons why you should be more intentional about opportunities. #5: Be intentional about setting your personal boundaries Being clear on what you will accept and what you need to live a balanced life is very crucial. As I progress in life, I am learning the importance of setting boundaries in my personal and professional life. The most significant boundaries I set are around my time commitment to work versus my personal projects. #6: Be intentional with your relationships The people you surround yourself with have a huge impact on your life. Being very deliberate about the people you let into your close circle will help you succeed. Surround yourself with people who contribute positively to your life. #7: Be intentional with your learning Knowing the benefits of continuous learning in your personal and professional life will help you set the right priorities. Having a growth mindset and prioritizing learning will set you apart from your peers and open new doors to you. #8: Be intentional with your time Sometimes we act like time is an infinite resource. However, the truth is that time is a limited resource. When you take this fact seriously, you start being more aware of how you spend your time. Be more deliberate and measure the results of your time investment. #9: Be intentional about the work you do We spend a considerable amount of our lives at work. When you are deliberate about choosing your job or the company you work for, you increase the probability or you enjoying the work you do and feeling fulfilled. #10: Be intentional about giving back Often, I remind myself that there is much more reward in giving back to people than taking from people. My way of ensuring that giving back is a part of my life is actually setting goals in this area as well. Call To Action What does being intentional mean to you? In what areas of your life do you want to be more intentional? Final Thoughts Let's wrap up with some amazing quotes about living intentionally
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 Recently, I have been reflecting on the opportunities I have seized and the amazing outcomes that have resulted. In my personal life, I have seized the opportunities that provided me many growth opportunities like moving to new cities or countries. And in my professional life, I have been able to work on amazing projects that have helped me grow.
In this blog post, we will explore what it means to seize opportunities and also discuss five reasons why you should pursue and seize those amazing opportunities. What does it mean to seize opportunities?
5 reasons why you should seize opportunities #1: Opportunities come and go When an opportunity presents itself, knowing that it may not come back helps you stay vigilant and aware. You need to continually be on the lookout for great opportunities that you want to take advantage of. Questions to consider
#2: You will look back and appreciate them Think back on those times when you went out of your comfort zone and pursued an opportunity. I am so proud of the opportunities I have seized on my journey. Especially the ones that I had to find for myself. Questions to consider
#3: You are stretching yourself and growing Part of having a growth mindset is to believe that learning is crucial. Those times when you don't feel 100% confident that you can do something, but you still go out and seize the opportunity are very rewarding. Questions to consider
#4: You develop the skills of identifying excellent opportunities for yourself When you get into the habit of pursuing the opportunities you want, you develop an eye for it. You spend a lot of time thinking about what you want and how you can get what you want. Questions to consider
#5: You are setting a good example Every day, I remind myself that my actions are bigger than me and serve as my legacy. There are many lessons that I would like to pass to the next generation, and this is one of them. Don't wait for things to happen to you; pursue what you want. Questions to consider
Call to action What opportunities have you seized in the past that have been amazing? Write them down What opportunities have presented themselves for you that you didn't take? Reflect on what held you back Final Thoughts Let's wrap up this post with some great quotes about seizing opportunities
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 Today marks Nigeria’s 59th Independence Day. Happy Independence Day to all my fellow Nigerians. I am excited to celebrate one of my home countries and all that it has given me. In today's blog post, I will be sharing about growing up in Nigeria with the help of some inflection points. We moved to Nigeria when I was 18 months old, and I lived there until I was 15 year's old. My earliest memories with Family I grew up in a town called Kaduna in northern Nigeria. My childhood was spent with my twin sister and my mum. We also lived in the same city as my mother's family. A significant part of life in Kaduna was spent with my cousins, uncle, aunts, grandma, and extended family members. I particularly remember time with family around holidays or family events. The Seasons In Kaduna, we had very distinct seasons. The rainy season and dry season also called harmattan, were very different and enjoyable in their own ways. I remember thinking the cold during harmattan was really cold. After living in Germany, I now know that 18 degrees Celsius is not that cold. When it rained in Kaduna, everything felt very calm, and the smell of the wet sand remains in my memory till this day. The seasonal Foods With the different seasons came different seasonal fruits and foods. I was always on the lookout for some of my favorite fruit and vegetables. My grandma was an expert on what was in season and the best time to buy certain foods. I wished we had my favorites all year round. And now living in the US, I am very spoiled by the fact that we have the same fruit all year round. The rich Culture In all the countries I have lived in, no one can match Nigeria in terms of diverse cultures. Nigeria has many ethnicities and languages that are culturally rich and very different. I count myself fortunate to have grown up in a city that had people from the different parts of Nigeria. The Celebrations Christmas and other family celebrations in Nigeria were very special. It was a time for close family and friends to enjoy each other's company and great food. I still remember how different my first Christmas in Germany was. Today, I invest a lot of time in recreating some of the Christmas traditions from my childhood. The People I think very fondly of the people I grew up with. We had amazing family friends, schoolmates, and people in our community. The warmth and quality of the relationships I had growing up provided me with a firm foundation. I prioritize relationships with the great people around me till this day. Final Thoughts The 14 years, I spent in Nigeria gave me a lot. I am reminded daily that I would not be who I am today if not for the solid foundation I got from living in Nigeria. Learn More about my Nigeria  Lately, I have been reflecting on my financial journey, some of the tough decisions I had to make and the lessons I learned on the way. There have been so many times where my finances were a significant factor in my personal growth and development. When I think about my relationship with money, it used to be one of worry and now it has developed into one of respect.
In this blog post, I will share the five hardest financial decisions I have made and how they have positively influenced my financial status. My 5 difficult Financial Decisions Becoming Financially Independent There is a significant level of comfort that we all had when we are growing up and living under our parents’ roofs. For me, it came to an end at the age of 16. At that time, I started living on my own and taking care of myself financially. My journey started quite rough as I didn't have a solid financial foundation and had to build it all up from scratch. Looking back, I now see that this was the start of many more financial decisions to come. Lessons I learned
Reducing the number of hours I worked to focus on school While I studied for my Bachelor's degree, I was working on many small jobs simultaneously. I worked in a café, on campus, and babysat to raise funds I needed for my basic needs. As my expenses increased, I found myself having to work more, which in turn took away time that I needed to study. I decided to cut my living expenses and focus on school. The financial discipline I learned in this phase of my life is a continuous companion. Lessons I learned
Paying for my graduate degree I had just started working full time and really wanted to earn my Master's degree. Although education in Germany was mostly free or low-cost, I chose a school and course that will let me study part-time and gain a degree in English, which meant I had to pay tuition. I must say I feel very fortunate that the cost was nothing close to studying in other countries. However, since I had to fund my tuition fully, I had to save a lot of the money I made in my first full-time job. I remember struggling to pay the first 2000 euros for my first classes. This was one of my most significant investment in myself and my career, and it has paid off. Lessons I learned
Investing in my first long-term stocks In the past years, I focused on growing my savings. The discipline I learned in my early days helped me build a significant emergency fund and savings. However, I started learning a new lesson about other ways to grow my money. When I started my investment journey, I took baby steps. I started with a very small investment and grew it as I got more confident. Lessons I learned
Taking money out of my long-term savings to invest in a big project This is the most recent, most significant, and hardest decision I have ever made with regards to my finances. For many years, I have been very disciplined about growing my savings. I have not missed a monthly payment to my saving account for at least the last ten years. So, when the time came for me to literally move a lot of my savings into an investment, I started to panic because I did not feel as financially secure as I like to be. Now that I'm thinking about it, I was in no financial danger. This investment has been a dream for a long time, and now it's a reality. Lessons learned
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Great Resources  Throughout my career, I have been through transitions that have taught me many valuable lessons. After going through so many changes, I now accept that it is part of my professional journey that I cannot avoid if I want to grow.
In this blog post, I will share some of the lessons I have learned about career transitions and ways I have worked through them. What are Career transitions? There are numerous types of career transitions that involve unanticipated or even undesired shifts in an individual’s career path. In addition, the term career transition may refer to the process by which an individual changes from one job to another within the same job family; and it may also refer to a more dramatic career change from one occupational category to an entirely different one. Finally, a career transition takes place when an employee merely shifts to a new position within the same company or organizational structure. MC's Journey Most of the career transitions I have been through happened without me planning them. Although transitions were not my primary goal, they came through actions I took to grow my career. My career development is something I am very intentional about, and I have learned to appreciate the positive side effects. The top career transitions I have been through include:
5 Lessons I learned about reinventing yourself in your Career Lesson #1: You don't have to do the same thing for life Especially when I lived in Germany, it was quite common to see people who have had the same job or worked for the same company for close to 20 years. Somehow, I could not imagine being in the same company for that long. I like the stability that being in the same company offers you. However, I also wanted to enjoy the comfort of knowing your company and environment. Moving to the US, especially here in Silicon Valley, people typically spend less than two years in one role. I have learned the benefits of working in different roles and companies throughout of your career. Question to consider
Lesson #2: Change in your career is good - embrace it Embracing change is definitely something I am learning every day. Before the transitions, I typically feared the unknown and the upcoming changes to my life. Reflecting on my career, I have seen that the changes and transitions that I have been through have turned out good even when they were accidental and not planned. Question to consider
Lesson #3: You need to keep learning Throughout our careers, it is crucial to learn new skills and gather knowledge. When I prepare for transitions, I make sure I equip myself with a strong foundation for what is about to come. Over time as I learn more about my new role, I take trainings and read more about the areas where I have knowledge gaps. Continuous learning has helped make my transitions more successful. Question to consider
Lesson #4: Be open to explore different jobs and roles Sometimes new roles or jobs don't look perfect initially, or you may feel like you're not ready. In my experience, the most significant growth I have seen in my career has come from the roles I did not feel totally prepared for. I turned down one particular position multiple times, and when I accepted it, I was pleasantly shocked by the great results. Question to consider
Lesson #5: Have a career plan Being intentional about your career growth is crucial. There are some career changes that you can plan and prepare for. Especially if you are planning to change jobs, you have the opportunity to start planning the steps you want to take to achieve your career goals. I have learned to always plan and prepare for the next step in my career. Question to consider
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 Welcome to September, summer is over, everyone is back to school and work. At this point, there are about 110 days left in 2019. We have enough time to do great things. This is the perfect time to plan for the rest of the year.
In this blog post, I will share the ten questions I worked through while I reviewed my progress so far and planned for the rest of this year. #1: How will this review help you? Let's start by acknowledging that you still have time to work towards your goals and make 2019 count. See this as an opportunity to take stock of what you have done so far and prepare for the next months. To get the best out of your planning session, schedule about two hours on your calendar. Now that you have the time reserved let's move to the next steps. #2: What do you want to focus on in this review? Three things to do in this review include:
#3: What have you achieved in the past months? The best place to start is to reflect on your achievements so far. Seeing what you have achieved will serve as motivation for what you want to work towards over the next weeks. #4: What did not go as planned? It is essential to know the goals that you have not been able to achieve so far. You also want to be clear on what hinders you from making progress towards those goals. #5: What do you want to achieve in the next months? Now it's time to think about what you want to achieve this year and make it count. Be as clear as you can be. Keep in mind the things you want to do differently to succeed. #6: How will you track your progress? You are now working against a schedule; you want to ensure you are on track. Make time to check your progress every week. This will allow you to see what is working well and what is not working so you can change course. #7: What tools and resources do you need? There are available tools that can help you be more successful. Think about what you can start using to simplify your life and become more efficient while you work towards your goals. #8: Who is part of your support community? Especially as you work towards achieving big goals, surrounding yourself with people who can help you is very crucial. Identify your accountability partners, advisors, mentors, or coaches who can support you on this journey and work with them. #9: How will you celebrate your success? Think about ways you will reward yourself when you achieve the goals you are setting. There is power in having something exciting to look forward to. #10: What commitment are you making today? Write down what you are planning to start doing today to help you achieve your goals. Start taking action towards your goals one day at a time. Call to Action
Final Thoughts Let's wrap up with some fantastic quotes about goals
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