I remember one time when an awesome pastor of mine – Pastor Dr. Emmanuel Okullo mentioned something about friends. At that time, he must have been talking to mechanics (people who serve at our church) after a burial of a church friend’s brother. He said (paraphrased), “There are people whose particular personality side we will probably never experience because this person has passed on.”
He later went on to explain that, in life, there are people who bring out different sides of our personalities that no one else will ever be able to bring out – not even your spouse – and that’s how life is designed.
As I was taken into deep thoughts in mere micro seconds that didn’t last a minute, that scenario or saying came back to memory in regards to my friends and all other relationships for what it’s worth. I have and still am observing which people and how the different relationships in my life affect my life on a deeper level. With the knowledge that each person has and I in turn have an impact on each other’s lives in ways unimaginable is knowledge worth passing down to people who ought to know themselves better.
I definitely had to sneak this one in on this topic! 🤩
In friendship, there are different levels, as some may already know; we have mutuals, acquaintances/buddies, close and then intimate friends. I would call it wise to know the different people that belong where at each level of your friendship and what aspect of your personality or character they bring out in you? Once you have this knowledge, we can begin to treasure our friends more and make more time to invest and nature the right friendships in our lives.
To all my friends, I love you deeply and pray for you every week (honestly). I hope to be more intentional on asking how I may pray for you. You add spice to my life and it’s for a purpose that we are in each other’s lives….. I cherish you all.
Welcome back to the second financial and the final segment of the 5 capitals. Please take a stroll down memory lane on my blog and read what this is all about through the other capitals.
Let’s keep learning!!!
So, is it your money or our money or whatever, it’s all money? Your approach to handling money will determine a lot whether you are capable of retaining and growing it or you are just a pipeline for other beneficiaries from your hard earned money.
By now you probably have a glimpse of earning and saving money… Yes money needs saving from the troubles of this world that quickly ensnare it into vanishing. That’s one of the ways it will love you back. Another way is to value it, even the smallest of denominations wants to be valued.
After you have saved, now what? We have to invest the money. Put the money to work. You know that slaves work, right? So you have saved it and made it your slave…. Put it to work through investments. If you let it idle around, it will soon become less and less valuable over time. The only way to keep its value is by putting it to work.
There are various ways of investing your money depending on your character make up. From low risk takers to high risk takers. Every investment has a cost/risk attached to it, choose wisely and do your math homework on the investment. The main aim of investing is to earn passive income.
Some of the investment avenues I can tell you about are joining investment cooperatives where you can save monthly as part of a bigger group as your money is invested by the cooperative and interest is given to your account monthly or annually. Another is buying stocks while earning dividends, then there is real estate, then businesses, etc. You know what, I will do a shabby job trying to educate you about investments. Here is my go to person whom I discovered from Twitter early this year. Before her, I was relying on random searches all over the internet to educate myself. My former best was investopedia, check it out too. https://themillennialmoneywoman.com/blog/
I really hope you are reading and learning more about investments, but after you have learned how to invest and some kamoney starts trickling into your bank account, what next? Don’t go a trip around the world, to enjoy that money, first let it continue growing and producing more money children for you. This is compound interest, the king of cash flow.
This blog is getting lengthy for me already, so let’s wrap this up with Generosity. This is a spiritual principal…. I dare not say Biblical because we all know world renown philanthropists are mostly pegan or atheists but they too use this principle to continue being wealthy. (Aka, the Bible commands it too 😉) Don’t let a chance pass you by without giving to God and others, many blessings come from giving.
I hope the 5 Capitals series has blessed you and enlightened you in one way or another. I haven’t exhausted everything on each capital but you can build on that.
Today’s blog can sound like so many things. For example; Garbage in garbage out. As a man thinketh, so is he. Iron sharpens iron, and so on and so forth.
As you can see, all those things deal with a person’s mind and so does intellectual capital. This capital is the 4th out of 5 capitals, so yeeeeehhh don’t give up just yet, we are almost through.
I would like to pause a question; what are you doing to keep learning for life? Our intellect is very dependent on the fact that we have to keep learning to stay significant or valuable to society in general, even just to our children and family. In that matter, let’s become lifetime learners in all areas that we are engaged in and in life generally.
We live in the “Too much Information generation.” We have by far surpassed the mere information age and it’s time we sieve all the information that we receive. Most of it only causes more confusion on top of the already confusing complex information.
Through all the ages, we have seen people use their intellect to build onto the next age of time. From industrial to now the creation age. (Yes we are actually passed just information, it’s creation age time everybody!) We are at a time were complex things are being created with Artificial Intelligence and hence the dire need to have Intellectual capital at your quickest disposal.
Educate yourself as much as possible. Personally, I chose Thursdays as my research/educate self days. I simply go to Google and read endless articles about anything of my interest in any free time for about 5 to 10 minutes. Google has a predictable pattern of your internet behavior so it will always suggest certain things you are interested in for you to read about. (This is possible while using your mobile phone, before typing in anything, those articles below the search tab always have suggestions. That’s what I use.) Other times, I will search for specific things, also sometimes I will sign up for an online course, and most definitely, I will get a book to read in hard and soft copies.
All that is a way of investing in your intellectual capital at a low or no cost at all. Your most valuable asset is your mind.
Lately I have noticed something, I’m yet to figure out if it’s solid or not. I’m the kind that enjoys asking endless questions to fellow young adults, the kind that trigger the brain to think. Whenever, I ask these questions, I am trying to actually learn something different from my own perception and see how others view the same topic or issue.
Now, one of the things that disturb me alot is seeing someone within my circles who doesn’t have a dream, or something that will drive them to continuously become a better version of themselves. I’m not ‘miss know it all’, but I hope you can tell the difference from my desire for personal development in others.
I understand that not everyone is cut out for top notch world changer kind of dream but at the very least, they ought to have something beyond the mere ordinary however ordinary it may seem, as long as they make the most out of it is the whole point.
Out of my asking these questions, I have realized that some people who claim to have dreams are very discreet about sharing them. Hey, I get it, we shouldn’t be sharing our dreams with every Tom, Dick and Harry but the very essence of realizing our dreams is through sharing them with the right kind of people, at least with people who will believe us and cheer us on, these are the kind of circles we need to surround ourselves with instead of thinking that your dream is too good to be shared.
On the other hand, those that are too discreet with their dreams as I have noticed, end up not living up to their dreams at all, not even a 20% realization, except if you count living in mundanity as part of your dream. I think we ought to use the mundane seasons of our lives to launch us into the God given dream, call, purpose, assignment or vision but not to dwell there for a lifetime!
Sharing your dreams with the right people vocalizes and puts your dream to the test, it makes you accountable to those you have shared it with both literally and practically, you will find yourself chasing after that dream with no one chasing after you. Share and believe in yourself to accomplish that God given dream.
Yeeeeeehhhhhh….. I’m happy you are reading this, now allow me share with you something I have learned or observed yet it’s so obvious. Hehehehe
What are relationshipswithout Love.
Anywho, we are here for the second capital from the 5 Capitals of life. Relational capital!!!!!!! Just like the title says it all, God didn’t create man to be an island, I guess that’s why he made islands. 😂
So as human beings, we were created after his own image. And that image is relational, God is a relational person hence we take after his nature by default. I bet no human really enjoys being alone…. Yes even “introverts” like company. (Just a reminder that temperament is not permanent! There is a book with that title which I am going to read 😜)
Under relational capital, we see various kinds of relationships like dah.. family is obviously the first one by the mere fact that you were born, but not everyone has one, that’s a sad ironic fact. Then we have friends, colleagues & neighbors and guess who….strangers!!! 💃🏽💃🏽
Those four categories make up the relational capital in my understanding and if well utilized you will find that it adds to your wealth. Relationships come second in importance of what really matters in life. Invest in relationships!
To be honest, while I keep writing these blogs, I realize how much I’m speaking to myself too and where I need to improve in any given capital. This isn’t the end……
Honestly, now that I am back with part two, I wonder what was in my head while coming up with that dull uncreative title. I must have been tired to the bone to think at that time, oh well, on with it we go.
Systems make life so easy to navigate and the 5 capitals are now part of my system which by now I strongly believe, I will teach and pass on to my off-springs……… hahahaha okay, children sounds more relatable I guess. From the previous post in part one here https://wordpress.com/post/angiejournals.wordpress.com/346 I wrote about four areas to cover under the Spiritual Capital. I will break down those four sections to show you how I go about this capital evaluation.
Our relationship with God begins at Calvary
1. Am I doing Bible study and meditating on the word of God daily? 📌 First things first, we have to get the word of God into our system, so read your Bible atleast daily. I use the YouVersion bible app, it’s everything you will want in an soft copy bible. But nothing beats a hard copy Bible any day any time!
2. Am I praying daily and fasting often? 📌Pray at all times. The word of God instructs us to pray always. Schedule atleast to pray actively twice a day. Morning and Evening. 📌Fast as often a you can. Engage in the fasts done at start of the year. Do it weekly and whenever you can……fast.
3. Am I listening to sermons for feeding and doing personal worship? 📌I have been taught to listen to a sermon daily. First I rolled eyes in my heart with disbelief that it was impossible or hard. Then I obeyed and started to listen with a lot of struggle fixing time for listening to a sermon. Then eventually as months turned into a year and some more months, I almost find it hard to go a day without listening to a sermon. I would rather play it while dozing in my bed than do without it. 📌A personal worship time is also a trick, it can feel awkward at first but with time, I found myself dancing alone and worshiping God all by myself.
4. Am I serving others and acting out in faith on the word? 📌I enjoy serving others, it fills my heart with a certain satisfaction I just can’t explain. Sign up on a team at your church to serve, serve people everywhere you are or work. It will change your life for the better. 📌One thing I am continuously learning is that Faith actually acts. If we claim to have faith, then actions have to follow based on the truth in God’s word always.
5. This one is a bonus or else the points may go on and on to no end. Alright, fellowship. Don’t give up the habit of fellowshipping together as brethren. Fellowship keeps us accountable to one another and also, we are stronger together. I attend my church fellowships as much as I can to edify one another spiritually. Iron sharpens iron. 珞
I really can be this boring serious 😂 so let me stop at point 5, what I’m saying in all this is that you have to take your spiritual life very seriously. The points shared are some of the ways on how you can evaluate your spiritual growth. Till next time…..
You are here because it’s a social media platform, right?!
It’s here to stay, work aroundand with it ☺️
A disclaimer that I am no social media guru whatsoever, I just happened to pick interest in being on social media as a necessity for this day and age. For that matter, the only thing I ever try to master while on earth is personal growth/development and some leadership after being rooted in Christ. All other masteries may fade but as long as I live, I will always live with the person I am.
Now, about social media sabbaticals. From the onset of social media usage increase in Uganda, I have never taken a social media sabbatical that is…. Taking days, weeks or months off, has not been my thing at all…. Instead I have learned these things over years but it only occured to me recently that I became intentional on following my self-discovered formula… I think social media gurus probably know this but I say self discovered because no one taught me these hacks. (most likely the Holy spirit lead me 😉) I hope they work for you too.
First things first, Social media is here to stay and more channels and socializing apps will be created so go slow. You really don’t need to be everywhere like MTN. It will drain you completely both emotionally & intellectually.
Get onto sites/apps that you are sure they will add value to you…. Yes even for mere entertainment if you need it. TikTok is my go to for laughter to unplug.
Make a list of all your apps and social media platforms with their logins…. Preferably in a place you can easily access like Google docs with some kind of code you understand so that it’s not plain clear to any eye if hacked 😉
Categorize and choose days when you will engage only on a particular platform each day… Let it be priority. Other platforms like WhatsApp may be checked daily but if it’s not it’s day…. The checking will automatically go down.
Be committed and truthful to your digital well being…. The truth is, you are not missing out on anything by not checking all your social media apps in one day. It will only drain you.
You can find me here on WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the rest are personal and for mere entertainment, information and communication like WhatsApp, Telegram, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Pinterest.
It’s all about managing your time and priorities well. Digital well being contributes to mental well being.
One of the things I have realized in the past 1 year is that, this kind of routine has slowly gotten embedded into my mental program, I will subconsciously find myself only opening a social media app on the day I’m supposed to and not touch any other until it’s day reaches. Ofcourse there are exceptions where I sometimes defy the self imposed rules in cases where there is something important or trending on another platform and I have to check it out or do some work there but that may last less than 15mins and that’s it for the rest of the day if it’s not that apps day.
One major exception is WhatsApp which is a somewhat major player in daily communication since the wave of COVID-19 hit the world. Now organizations recognize it as a somewhat formal platform to pass on important communication. Other than that, this self imposed method has kept me in a healthy relationship with social media that I see no need for any social media sabbaticals.
Yes….January too comes to an end every single year 😄. My spirited readers….glad to have you here. 🤗 If you haven’t yet, please check out my https://angiejournals.wordpress.com/2023/01/24/jan-booster/ so I don’t lose you in the coming blogs.
Being passionate about personal development also calls for intentional measures to be taken to evaluate whether you are actually growing. So over the years (most like since 2018) I have been using the 5 Capitals from the book “Oikonomics” by Mike Breen to be my measuring tool on a monthly basis. The 5 Capitals are Spiritual, Relational, Physical, Intellectual and Financial. Please note that google and his other cousins have a variety of breakdowns and categories as areas that contribute to one’s wholeness but I find the 5 Capital the best to work with.
I believe Christ Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life!!!
Today, let’s dive into Spiritual capital!! This kind is obviously centered around one’s spirituality which takes many forms but I choose to focus on my relationship with God Almighty. Creator of the universe. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You get the gist…. Right?
So under this capital, I usually ask myself these questions in order to evaluate whether I am actually growing spiritually. 1. Am I doing Bible study and meditating on the word of God daily? 2. Am I praying daily and fasting often? 3. Am I listening to sermons for feeding and having personal worship? 4. Am I serving others and acting out in faith on the word?
Now under each of those four sections there are detailed action points that I endeavor to do daily or weekly depending on what it is.
I won’t burden your mind any longer for now…. Nonetheless, you are free to make personal interpretations and use different action points that can get you the results you desire. Let’s not forget… The focus here is having consistent fellowship with God.
Be sure I’ll be back with the details for the four areas mentioned in this blog. Till next time……
I have been gone from this highway for a while but I return with good tidings for the season, it wouldn’t be a year without me passing by here to greet you all with a stock take! Come journey with me through 2022 in two parts…..here we go!
January; It was a joyful rest! For the first time in years I started the year without a plan! Now, just to let you know that I threw out resolutions at the dawn of 2020 but I mentioned making a plan for the year… I believe those two approaches are different. Plans have goals, while resolutions (in my view) are somewhat wishful thoughts that just end up frustrating me whenever I don’t achieve them and have to carry them forward… (A tale you will find in my book when I publish it….watch the space) So basically Jan was that time where I wasn’t trying to figure out what 2022 will be about, I just lived each day as it came and by the end of it, I was ready for 2023 😂
I was still hang up on Christmas from 2021, but was also celebrating a dear friend’s birthday.
February; I am a growth addict! In 2017, I embarked on a journey of personal growth and since then, I don’t want to ever stop learning, relearning and unlearning in life. So Feb presented me with a good opportunity for growth from the NGMP alumni by Noeline Kirabo for me to mentor a few ladies. Things like – Teaching, guiding, leading, serving and the like keep me growing in life.
Working out is part of the growth journey
March; Started the month on a high note of adventure to Seranac on Nile. It’s located in Kayunga and trust me you, Uganda is beautiful! Don’t wait for foreigners to tell you about your own country, tour Uganda and fall in love with nature. While that was on a high of adrenaline, the rest of the month followed with some pressure from work to put in a lot of work and endless busy weekends which all left me drained and literally tired the entire month. With all that was going on around the world, calling for endless attention, I was preoccupied with work, work, work, oh well, my play time will come around again soon.
Checking out nature at Seranac on the Nile
April; It was a breath of fresh air with ample rest around Easter holidays followed by a break off work for a week as is the norm at my place of work every year. (PS, it’s a school) I took off time to treat myself to a massage, steam and sauna and got my hair done and went shopping – any girl’s holiday would look like this, right?! The month seemed very short and that reduced the work overload making it a restful month. I also made some big decisions which I am implementing along the way. Watch the space!
What is Easter without food!?He is Risen Indeed, so celebrate!
May; ‘Eid El fitir’ followed right after labor day and that’s how my month started, hahahahaha!. Least did I know that it would turn out some “kinda” perfect month. Alright, so nothing spectacular really happened to me in May but when I look back and evaluate it, it was a whooping 5/5 (basing on the 5 capitals which I use to evaluate my growth, significance and productivity every month). This hasn’t happened in years since I started evaluating my months basing on the 5 capitals. So yah, May was that simple and perfect in a way. Living a day at a time towards a higher calling, purpose, vision, dreams and assignment for each season.
A good evaluation all starts with being organized.
June; Entering the month that closes off the 1st half of the year was exciting and reflective. For a moment my mind was blank on how my June was but I have recovered. 😂 The first half was crazy busy because of the environment I work in currently. It’s an international school and the nature of my work as a finance personnel was a catalyst to the busyness. However, the second half of the month came with all the calmness of working during the summer holidays, this was topped up with a beautiful celebration with NGMP ladies. The crowning of my month was seeing mighty breakthroughs towards my destiny, literally on 30th June. (It’s that big decision I mentioned in April) I only praise God who is at work in my life! I await what wonders God is doing in my life in the second half of 2022 onwards and upwards.
Celebrating life and a mentor. NGMP alumni
Keep tuned in for the second part of 2022….coming soon. Thank you for journeying with me through part one. A merry Christmas to you all.
As this year dawns on us the blessing of another decade, many have scripted resolutions and content creators have written about them. Unfortunatly for me, I am a simple ordinary girl who just enjoys the art and therapy that writing gives me to jot down extraordinary inspiration.
As 2020 went by and in came January which did not seem so much like a new year but hey…it is a new year either way, I was in a reflective mode and here goes some of the obvious once unrealized self realizations – thanks to 2020 that woke me up.
I really do enjoy solitude in doors and adventure in the wild. I realised that my mind opens up more when I’m in solitude indoors and my creativity is unlocked immensely mostly expressed through writing. Adventure feeds my soul with happiness and freedom to let my wild side out without a care of doubt.
I like dancing alot, dance hall & RnB are my favourite genres for dancing. It’s also a form of workout that I enjoy in the evenings after work. Turn up the music….. I’m always playing loud music. NB: I’m not a pro at dancing 😆
I like audio sermons more compared to video online sermons. For some reason I concentrate better with audio sermons if I’m not attending physically. Thanks to radio, I’m now hooked on audio sermons.
Entertainment of any form especially listening to radio is necessary for sanity when your most company is self. It keeps one going and gives a sense of company, nowonder the elderly love listening to radio all the time. I have a normal radio that I listen to, day in and day out while working chores around the house and it makes chores bareable.
I really do appreciate art especially nature and landscape drawings with color. I realized that though I may not be skilled at practicing it, I express it through coloring. I enjoy to color as the drawing speaks to me, calms my mind and the environment around me.
If I loved sun bathing before 2020, then I love it so much more. I have spent hours under the sun, simply sitting and letting it glaze upon this melanin filled body. Doctors say the sun rays are good for you, don’t ignore that advice between 9-11am.
I am a visionary person by nature I guess, but I have realized I live alot of my life in my head, is that even real. I can literally live in the future with just my mind at work, with every single detail and scenario played out. Imaginative powers are awesome. For this, I need to get out of my head and walk in more manifestation of these imaginations/visions.
This is really a bonus, I have spent 10 months with only 1 visit to the salon and my hair has remained unplaited since. Yikes! I really didn’t know that was possible even with my natural afro hair but well, that’s a pocket friendly achievement.
I believe we all have learnt or realized a few things about ourselves in the past eye opening year. Let’s share our stories with the community.
angiejournals 