Stephanie Linus Daily

Category: Make me fabulous

  • 5 Ways To Read More Books

    One of the goals I’ve set for myself this year is to read more books. I say this to myself very often and sadly do not go through with it all the time. But since this is a goal worth striving for, I went searching for solutions to get myself motivated to read more and reach my goals.

    It’s a new month and I intend to take this more seriously. If reading more books is what you desire, then I’m sure these 5 points will help you achieve your goal:

    1. Keep Track of What You Want to Read

    It’s one thing to have a goal to read more, its another to actually know what you want to read. Do you want to read motivational books, recipe books, how-to books or fiction books? Write it down and grow your collection of books. This way, you’d be prepared to increase your library and also in a proper frame of mind for reading.

    2. Set Up A Space To Read

    Pick a room free from loud distractions and set up your reading sanctuary. Find a comfortable chair in a well lit room or one outside in your quiet compound. Most important, don’t hide that book away in between reading sessions. Leave it out in the open to keep it at the top of your mind.

    3. Make It Easy: Have it handy on your device.

    Thanks to technology, you don’t always need to hold a ‘book’ in your hand to read a book. There are so many apps on your phone that occupy your time. Why not make reading just as handy. Apps like Pocket and Readability are only a couple that let you keep some e-books ready on your phone.

    4. One Book At A Time

    Don’t waste your time trying to multi-task between books. You may end up not completing any. My rule is that I should continue reading one book until I finish it, or decide to quit it entirely. Putting one book on hold to start another just crowds your to-do list.

    5. Set A Specific Goal

    Write down or have a mental note of how many books you want to read, how fast you want to read them and what format you want them in. This helps you keep track of your progress and brings you back on track when you derail.

    So, do you have a reading goal this month/year? How do you plan to achieve it?

    Please share.

  • Sunday Thots: Be Peaceful

    Many people feel so pressured by the expectations of others that it causes them to be frustrated, miserable and confused about what they should do. But there is a way to live a simple, joy-filled, peaceful life, and the key is learning how to be led by the Holy Spirit, not the traditions or expectations of man. – Joyce Meyer

    SL Fabz, as we step into another new month, I feel the need to remind us to live peacefully with one another. In the midst of chaos, we can stand out by making our homes, our communities and eventually our nation a peaceful one. It is especially important we remain peaceful as we draw closer to the General Elections.

    Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul. Peace is not merely the absence of war. It is also a state of mind. Lasting peace can come only to peaceful people.

    Watch your manner of speech if you wish to develop a peaceful state of mind. Start each day by affirming peaceful, contented and happy attitudes and your days will tend to be pleasant and successful.

    Let us remember we are all part of one big family. We are united in common values, and that includes belief in equality under the law and basic respect for public order.

    If we are peaceful, if we are happy, we can smile, and everyone in our family, our entire society, will benefit from our peace.

    Have a peaceful month!

  • What Mentally Strong People Know

    We often hear advice like, “Think positive and good things will happen,” or “Try your hardest and eventually things will work out.” This works because most times, your success is directly linked to how you think.

    One major fact about successful people is that they manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in ways that set them up for success in life.

    We can all learn from these mentally strong people and accordingly, we can become mentally strong(er) ourselves. And when we do that we enjoy more success, happiness and less distress.

    Mentally strong people do not:

      • Quit when things get tough
      • Waste time feeling sorry for themselves
      • Blame others for their problems
      • Envy others
      • Shy away from change
      • Worry about pleasing others
      • Waste energy on things they can’t control
      • Dwell on the past
      • Go along with the crowd
      • Procastinate

    Mentally strong people do:

    • They know failure is part of success
    • They believe in themselves
    • They celebrate the success and happiness of others
    • They train their minds to see the good in everything
    • They use their fear to motivate action
    • They learn from their mistakes
    • They take calculated risks
    • They are tenacious with their goals
    • They are not too proud to learn from others
    • They spend quality time alone

    So SL Fabz, which side are you on? Have you been doing the things mentally strong people do or don’t?

    I encourage us all to join the train and build ourselves up mentally.

    I’d like to hear from you. Look through the list. What is the most difficult thing you feel you shouldn’t be doing but can’t help yourself. Or the most difficult thing you feel you should be doing but aren’t. Let’s learn from each other.

     

    This article is inspired by Amy Morin‘s bestselling book, 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t Do

  • You Are Good Enough, You Just Have To Believe It!

    Fear is an ugly word. It keeps us from true happiness because it prevents us from taking risks. We avoid anything slightly painful, even though staying in the current situation hurts more.

    Sometimes the pressure coming from peers, family, work, and society in general is enough to make us feel completely broken inside. If we don’t have the “right” job, relationship, lifestyle, and so forth, by a certain age or timeframe, we assume we’re just “not good enough.”

    We’ve all been there. We all have bad days and moments of self-doubt.

    Sometimes the reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our circumstances with everyone else’s. Forget what everyone else is doing and achieving. Your life is about breaking your own limits and outgrowing yourself to live YOUR best life.

    SL Fabz, as we step into another new week, I’d just like to remind us that we are all good enough, and we all deserve the best. We just have to believe it.

    Keep on having hope and let the beauty of the brighter days ahead of you carry you on until you reach your dreams.

    xoxo

    SL

  • Congratulations to the Nigerian Who Won a Grammy!

    Ever since I heard some songs from this group ‘Pentatonix‘, I fell in love with them. So imagine my excitement when I heard that the cute African American guy in the group is actually a Nigerian!

    His name is Kevin Olusola and not only does he have an amazing voice, he can make some interesting sounds with his mouth and throat that blends so well with other members of the group.

    At the recent Grammy Awards, Kevin picked up an award alongside his acapella band, Pentatonix taking home the award in the ‘Arrangement, Instrumental or Acappella’ category for their medley ‘Daft Punk’, a remake of Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”.

    Even though he won it not as a Solo Artist but in a group, this is still a great feat. Congratulations! I am so proud of you.

    Here are few interesting facts about Kevin:

    kevin olusolaBorn in the United States to Nigerian father and Grenadian mother, Kelvin is a 26 year old beatboxer. He is a graduate of prestigious IVY League college, Yale University from where he graduated in 2011 with a degree in East Asian Studies. Kelvin is not just a musician, he’s super smart too. He also plays the cello, piano and saxophone. He also speaks fluent Chinese & Spanish.

     

     

    I recall sharing a video of one of their Christmas songs last year. Check it out HERE. However, below is the song that won them the Grammy:

  • Time Is Precious, Waste It Wisely

    Time is a gift from God. Have you ever thought about it like that before? It is precious, once a moment is lost, wasted it can never be recovered. It will forever remain a part of our history, indelibly written in our past, unchangeable.

    So, SL Fabz. How do you manage your time?

    A lot of us have goals we desire to achieve, but don’t create time for achieving these goals.

    I feel guilty when I spend time doing nothing, unable to value the rhythm between rest and productivity, allowing the two to merge together all too often.

    If we have wasted that moment, missed out on an opportunity to move closer to the achievement of our dreams, we have lost something precious.’

    There are so many distractions in today’s world that it becomes extremely easy to waste your precious time in unproductive activities. We waste precious hours each day on mindless tasks and distractions.

    Today, I’d just like to encourage us on managing time wisely. Know your purpose and keep reminding yourself of what you want to accomplish in your life.

    Time is precious, waste it wisely. Tomorrow is not promised. Make today count.

    Have a great week!

  • 5 Positive Words To Live By This Week

    Hey SL Fabz, this week is going to be awesome, I’m sure of it. Let’s strike out the negativity and stay positive while living by these 5 words:

    Love: Love is truly the greatest gift of all. Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses. When love is your guiding light, you can break through barriers to be of loving service to the world.

    Positivity: The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts. Think positive in every situation and surround yourself with optimistic people who would not draw you back. Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy.

    Truth: Of all the traits the happiest people share in common, one outshines them all. In fact, without it, genuine happiness can’t exist. That trait is truthfulness.Tell yourself the truth always and be truthful to others. Don’t be dishonest or put up with dishonest people.

    Persistence:  Any great accomplishment that has ever been achieved has been brought about and made possible by an all important trait called persistence. The ability to hold on or to get back up after we have been knocked down is essential for us to achieve any real success, because there will be failures along the way and it’s how we deal with these failures that will determine the outcome of any endeavour that we undertake.

    Appreciation: Instead of thinking about what you’re missing, think about what you have that everyone else is missing. When you express your approval or gratitude for something someone has done to you, you will not only enhance their lives, but you will enrich yours as well.  You will feel more fulfilled because you have done something to make someone else’s life better.

    Stay positive and enjoy your week!

  • Dream, But Don’t Stop There

    Everything starts with a dream, but shouldn’t end with a dream. If dreaming is all you do, then you’re in serious trouble.

    Today, I came across this quote: “If you don’t build your dream, someone will hire you to help build theirs” by Tony Gaskin and found it to be so true. Many times we leave our dreams as dreams and take no step to achieving them.

    Life is a journey full of challenges, if you don’t chase your dreams, you will never get what you want. If you don’t make a move you will always remain in the same place.

    The problem is that when you don’t push yourself to achieve more than the standards of living, you never really know how far you could have gone in this life. Also, having a positive attitude is an explicit requirement, because a negative attitude makes us more likely to quit — or to never even begin in the first place.

    But when that positive attitude becomes a constant habit of fantasizing, things go south really quick. Yes, that’s right, tirelessly dreaming about success is not constructive.

    Too much dreaming turns positive thinking into mere wishful thinking. Dreaming by itself leads to nowhere worthwhile. Its time to make a resolve to turn your dreams into actions and those actions into fulfilled goals.

    I wish you the very best as you live your dreams this week!

    xoxo

    SL

  • This Simple Message About Love And Life Will Change You Forever

    Sometimes, we forget how truly precious this gift of life is and how quickly it can be taken away. The hectic demands of our busy lives overwhelm us, and we forget to show love and kindness to people who truly matter. They could be family, they could be friends, they could even be complete strangers. The fact remains that everyone needs love, always, and we should be willing to give more than to receive.

    Today, I watched this inspiring video by Marc Mero, a former WCW, and WWE Champion professional wrestler. He has had an awesomely successful career in the sports and entertainment field. However it is amazing how the  attitudes, and values of a person can change when we lose a loved one. After the sudden death of his mother Marc realized what life is really all about.

    He gave this talk to a group of school students and by the time he was through, almost everyone was in tears.

    I was deeply touched by these words he said:

    Life is not all about winning the race, Life is about finishing the race and about how many people we can help finish this race
    How we can start being kinder to each other, how we can stop with the name calling and hurting other people
    Because in the end, it may be you that needs help

    So, before you say that hurtful word to the next person or ignore that person who truly cares about you, let’s not forget that life could be really short and that it just might be you who needs that person some other time.

    Let’s keep that thought in mind as we step into this awesome week.

    Watch the video:

  • I Was Truly Inspired By This Awesome Speech From The Lady Who Was Called “The World’s Ugliest Woman”

    It’s been a long time since I listened to such an inspiring speech, a speech that gave me goosebumps, a speech that made me realize more than ever that God does EVERYTHING for a reason and He makes NO MISTAKES.

    was born premature only 2 pounds and 10 ounces and has a condition that does not have a known diagnosis.  Years ago a video of her was posted labeling her the worlds ugliest women.

    Lizzie Velasquez was born premature with a rare condition that keeps her from gaining any weight. She’s also blind in her right eye. She is unable no matter what she eats to gain weight. When Lizzie was just a teen, she was the subject of an online video that described her as “the world’s ugliest woman,” and she was attacked by bullies telling her she should commit suicide. The cruel comments that accompanied the video traumatized her, and shattered her self confidence. Devastated, she wanted just like any one of us would, to retaliate. Then a realization hit her, what good is retaliating going to do, and that was not who she was brought up to be.

    Then that still small voice of God that so many of us hear, and know, came to her and he said, “wait, just let it go.” She very wisely surrendered the situation to God, and let his will be done.

    She overcame the hurt to become an author and motivational speaker.

    I learnt a lot from her speech but these words struck me the most:

    You made me the girl that I am for a reason

    You gave me all those struggles growing up to make me stronger

    You made me look different so that I could see the beauty that isn’t defined by the media

    She used to see her condition as a curse, but now she sees it as a blessing. You might be going through some things in your life right now which you feel you don’t deserve. Stop asking yourself why, because God does everything for a reason.

    Watch, and be inspired: