No Use bashing Christians over Corruption in PNG

It's coming up again. People bashing Christians for promoting reforms in Parliament and bringing an old bible into the country, and yet here we are facing these current events. 

Get one thing straight: Those events (Parliament reforms and the receipt of the bible) did nothing to change the presence or absence of God in the country, nor the measure of His mercy and grace on PNG. Besides, any proclamation of faith about coming change did not have specific details and timelines. 

Of course current events are disheartening. But that doesn't mean God is not working. Do you know His mind and the way He works?  What makes you so sure that He is absent or uninterested or powerless...just because things seem out of our human control? 

Would you rather corruption not be exposed? And if it was did you think it would go down without a fight? Did you think darkness doesn't look for the slightest opportunity to return to where light has come? Did you think evil schemers would stop scheming, and desperately try to cover their tracks once justice came knocking on their door? Did you expect change to be immediate? If so you have more faith than the faithful! 

Christ Himself brought salvation through the harshest of ways. And His mockers did exactly what you're doing. "He saved others, why can't he save himself?" They said. "If He's so powerful why can't he take himself off the cross!". They mocked because they didn't know what how salvation was supposed to come. What it was supposed to look like. 

Change isn't always packaged the way you'd like it to be. God doesn't always give you what you want, and wrap it in the wrapping you'd like. But he usually gives us what we need at the time we need it the most. Maybe we need a good fight? To test our resolve for change. 

Can't we pursue justice and change in different ways? The Intercessors can pray. The Anjos can march. The Namorongs can write. The Juffas can speak in the House. The Waides can report. And good cops can do their best to deliver justice. 

The side of justice is not served by mocking the efforts of others on the same side. In fact, the mocking only serves corruption and injustice. 

What nation has undergone great change without great pains? PNG is no exception. 

The Faithful believe that God is working. They're praying and hoping. They've seen Him working before so they know He can work again. It's their way of fighting. You may not believe in that higher power they call on. But you need them on your side. Even if you think what they're doing is pointless. I can assure you that they will not return the discourtesy of mocking  your efforts as vain. So afford them the courtesy of allowing them to pray and to advocate for reforms that are aimed at bringing good, not harm, to our nation. 

The enemy is corruption. 

Stay focused. Fight as One. 

How to Thrive after Graduating, even when You’re Unemployed

Congratulations to all who graduated from university recently. 

For some of you, welcome to the employed world. For most of you, welcome to the Unemployment Sector. Sorry to burst your bubbles, but there aren’t enough paying jobs out there for all of you. That’s the reality. But what are you going to do about it? Just pout about it, and plonk yourself in your parents’ or relative’s couch, or get out there and make it happen for you?

Here's a few tips to making it happen:

Keep searching

I want to encourage you all who are still looking for work to not give up. If you’ve applied to 10 places that’s not enough. Apply for 20, 50, 100! If you’ve attended interviews and been rejected 9 times, attend the 10th, the 11th, the 20th, the 100th. Don’t stop going to interviews. You never know if the next one is the one unless you TURN UP.

Work/Serve for Free

Also, go work. Just because companies can’t pay you doesn’t mean they don’t need you. Offer your services for free if you have to. Reading Rich Dad Poor Dad recently, I’ve learnt that the best way to get ahead is to learn to not work for money but to have money work for you. The best way to learn this is to work for nothing! As Robert Kiyosaki himself had to do when he was young and being taught by Rich Dad. You don’t have to be employed to work. But maybe you have to work to be employable.

If you have acquired a special expertise or trade from your studies, offer it for free while you’re looking for employment opportunities. There’s a saying in business: “Give others what they want, and they will give you what you want”. Biblically it’s said simply “Give, and it will come back to you.” 

Are you afraid of surviving? But you’re surviving anyway without a job. You might as well do something and have no income, than do nothing and have no income. If you’re working without being paid you’ll be learning and growing, and you’ll be exposed. You’ll start building a network, which any successful businessman or professional will tell you is invaluable to being successful.

Invest Your Time and Money in Yourself

If you want people to eventually invest in you, you have to be willing to invest in yourself. Whatever money you have, use it to improve yourself. Buy and read books. Attend workshops and seminars on personal growth, leadership, or whatever field you’re interested in. Get a coach. Get a mentor. Hook up with good friends and acquaintances from who you can learn how to grow as a person, as a professional, as an entrepreneur. While you’re unemployed you have all the time in the world to learn. To study and grow. To meet people who may change your life. 

Generate Income Yourself

Being employed isn’t the only way to generate income. The age-old thinking of working for money is out-dated. Maybe it was never true, but we took it as the only reality regarding generating income. Most times we don’t want to try to make money ourselves by doing little things because we’re too proud. Too proud to sell hot-dogs. Too proud to take menial jobs. Other times it’s just lack of creativity. But if you spend time thinking about possible ways to make money, I’m sure you’ll find a dozen ways to make some money. Here's a hint: spend an hour every day brainstorming ideas to generate income. The more ideas you come up with, the more plausible it is that you'll land on a life-changing idea. 

Having just graduated, you might be thinking that getting a job is the mandatory next step you have to take in life. Who said so? This ancient mentality is obviously flawed. Many successful people didn’t even complete college and went straight into serving an idea to the world.

So don’t wait for life to happen to you, get out there and make life happen. 

We the People--A snippet from Dreams of a Nation

We The People

Our Constitution opens up with the words "We, the People..." This tells us five important things:

1. EXPRESSION of the People—the Constitution is the voice of the people. It speaks the People's will. When we amend the Constitution and any other law under it, we are changing the will of the people. The will of the people must therefore be understood before it (the law) is changed.

2. UNITY of the People—the People speak as ONE. Unity is assumed. Together We the People spoke into the world, declaring ourselves to be one nation.

3. ESSENCE of State—the existence of the nation rests primarily on the People. Not the law, the boundaries, the physical landscape, the geography etc.

4. SOVEREIGNTY—the People are the ultimate source of Power. They are superior to the Government, Parliament and the laws. They are even superior to the Constitution, but only collectively.

5. RESPONSIBILITY for the Nation—the People, if sovereign, are responsible for both the progress and the problems of the nation. No one else. We cannot claim to be masters of our own destiny whilst blaming external factors for our problems.

See Video 2 here. 

Dreams of a Nation Part 3: National Values

Optimal State for Optimum Performance

In my pursuit of a qualification in life coaching, I picked up a useful book called "Mastering Coaching", on Amazon, by a "guru" in the life coaching space, Max Landsberg. Glancing at the cover of the book I felt a little intimidated. The sub-topics included mindfulness, neuroscience, positive psychology and experiential learning. You see, I've been wondering whether some learning in neuroscience and psychology would boost my coaching career. After all, wasn't coaching to do with fixing the mindset of the coachee.

My fear was quickly dispelled in the book when Landsberg made it clear that firstly, the findings in neuroscience are not completely foolproof, and secondly, coaches did not have to use the findings in their work. Indeed, coaches sometimes apply the principles anyway without understanding them.

Landsberg demonstrates the findings of neuroscience in simple-speak and helps the reader see their uses and applications in coaching. Being new to these space I found myself drinking up the new knowledge being provided to me through this book. And my insecurities about the use of neuroscience and psychology (I'm not even sure if those words are supposed to be interchangeable!) began to fade away.

I particularly enjoyed Landsberg's synopsis of the Csikszentmihlyi's Flow state,  proposed by Mihaly Csikszentmihlyi (pronounced chick-sent-me-high). He was initially curious with the differing happiness in people who had much material wealth (generally not being very happy), and those who were absorbed with activities that brought little material wealth--such as artists, writers and composers. Mihaly (notice I'm using the easier name to spell) published his book called "Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Work and Play".

Flow refers to the high emotional state that one is in when completely absorbed in an activity, so much so that time either stands still or rushes by to quickly. There is an internal ecstasy experienced during this moment. I've heard this phrase used by coaching guru Tony Robbins but never really understood what he was talking about. This book gives me a clue.

Mihaly provides three suggested conditions that increase the likelihood of achieving flow, note the subtle caveat--increases the likelihood.

1. A clear goal--knowing what exactly you will be achieving through the activity gives you focus and a proper measure of your progress;

2. Feedback--get clear and immidiate feedback regarding your performance. Each industry has its way of telling you your doing well and where you need to improve;

3. Skill v Challenge Balance--the challenge should not be too easy nor too hard, respecting your skill and competence.

Understanding these prerequistes for achieving flow are very helpful both as a coach and coachee. Learning simple methods of getting yourself into the state required to execute a performance wee is invaluable. As a coach it provides a tool to helping your coaching achieve that state in their current situations, or changing their situations to discover their flow.

If you're an aspiring coach, I recommend picking up Landsberg's book Mastering Coaching. I first thought that I wouldn't qualify for the book since I am not even a rookie coach.

But after just half-way through the book I am  convinced it is applicable for any level of coaching you may be in.