THE PURSUIT OF SUCCESS - ITUNU PARA-MALLAM (13/07/2015)

‘In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can’ – Nikos Kazantzakis

Believing in yourself is one of the most important steps in the pursuit of success! I

myself have struggled with believing in myself for years, and it is only recently that

I have understood just how important self-belief really is. If you don’t

believe in yourself who will? Without self-belief there is an automatic lack of

confidence, and without confidence, you become unsure of yourself, your goals

and self-doubt begins to overpower your desire for success.

Once confidence is gone, the journey to success takes a back seat while

regaining your confidence takes the front. The key word in this process is

CHANGE! Before you can get back to your pursuit of success, you must first

change the mind-set of self-doubt, and ‘the secret of change is to focus all of your

energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new’ (Socrates). But in order to

build the new, you need to identify your purpose in life, and it is important to know

that YOU HAVE A PURPOSE!

They say the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and

the day you find out why! Without realising that you have a purpose, your road to

success is almost meaningless. Without purpose, where is this ‘road to success’

leading you to? Where are you going? Identify your purpose, take time to

understand yourself, notify where you want to go in life, and you will be one step

closer to knowing your purpose. Keep in mind, it is important to understand that

purpose is not just something that happens, it is knowledge that you acquire on

your journey to success; ultimately, your journey through life.

‘Nobody gets everything in this life. You decide your priorities and you make your

choices. – Donald E. Westlake’

To change your life you must change your priorities. Before you can become

successful in your journey TO success you need to identify what needs to come

first in your life and organise your priorities effectively! Ask yourself, ‘where am I

headed?’ If where you are headed is not in line with where you want to go, then

you need to get your priorities straight and get yourself back on the right track. Of

course, you may have several important things to do within your day, but ‘the key

is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities’

(Stephen Covey).

In addition, try to remember that perspectives of success vary. Success to one

person may differ to another, but no matter what kind of ‘success’ you are

pursuing, it is important to understand what it really is. Success is Seeing your

goal, Understanding the obstacles that may come on the road to

success, Creating a positive mental picture of what you’re trying to

achieve, Clearing your mind of self-doubt, Embracing the challenges that the

journey to success will bring, Staying on track and Showing the world that you

can do it; prove those who never believed in you wrong! And remember… no

pressure! Success has no time limit.

‘There are no secrets to success. It is a result of preparation, hard work and

learning from failure.’ – Colin Powell

Here are 10 helpful tips on how to reach success:

1. Set yourself weekly, monthly and yearly goals & targets

2. Make a daily to-do list and tick each one off your list once completed! Be

PROACTIVE and PRODUCTIVE! I always say, every day should be a

productive day when you’re chasing success!

3. Set yourself reminders ahead to keep your day organized in your diary,

planner, phone, Ipad… whichever is more convenient for you

4. BE CONSISTENT! Follow the Kaizen approach. This is a long-term

approach that systematically seeks to achieve small changes in order to

improve efficiency and quality. Strive for continuous improvement!

5. Remain focused! It’s easy to get distracted during the day and hard to

remain focused, but remember, you have to work hard for what you want

to get what you want

6. Believe in yourself and your goals! You can never dream too big

7. Humble yourself! Always be willing to take corrections and constructive

criticism

8. Surround yourself with positive people, those who are also striving for

success and those who are where you want to be

9. Learn how to balance everything! The road to success will be a busy one.

Try not to juggle everything at once; learn the art of time efficiency

10. RELAX

So, now that you’re ready to embark on your journey to success, you need to not

only prepare yourself for the success ahead, but also prepare yourself for all the

obstacles and trials that you are about to face! Nothing in life comes easy! If you

want something you need to GO OUT AND GET IT! Opportunities are not given,

they are TAKEN!


-Stay Tuned-

Twitter - @Miss_Tunes|| Email - itunupm@hotmail.co.uk

www.roseandredbottoms.blogspot.co.uk

MCLAREN HONDA: FALL BEFORE THE RISE - OLA ADEOTOYE (3/07/2015)

As hard as it may be to believe at the present time, there was actually once a time that

McLaren were at the forefront of championship battles. Boasting past mercurial drivers

such as the late and often heralded 'great' Ayrton Senna, Fins Mikka Hakkinen and Kimi

Raikkonen, Alain Prost and the billy whizz of the F1 world Lewis Hamilton. The present

driver pair of Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button isn't too shabby either, all are world

champions in their own right. However the current McLaren car is a pale shadow of it's former glorious self. Forget that

their livery has changed multiple times since it was last a championship winning car as far

back as 2008, the performances have changed even more so. Having made the move

back to manufacturers Honda, a team they enjoyed so much past success with, after 19

years with Mercedes as their engine provider. Those within McLaren have staunchly supported switch to the Japanese manufacturers

since the rather bleak results suffered this racing season (barring an 8th place finish from

Jenson Button at the Monaco GP). In particular the 'Godfather' of McLaren Ron Dennis

has been particularly vocal in his backing. As far back as the first grand prix in Australia he

reiterated that "if your objective is to win a World Championship, you have to have a strong

OEM (original equipment manufacturer) behind you which has the technology and

capability to produce a winning engine." Can you say he's wrong, the sport is dominated by Lewis Hamilton's and Nico Rosberg's

Mercedes cars. Like the previous team to rule the roost at F1, Red Bull Racing, they are

both OEM's with Sebastian Vettel's former team backed by French manufacturers Renault.

Despite the performance slump Renault and Red Bull have suffered this season since the

Germans switch to Ferrari, they just as Mercedes currently do, had the competition in a

choke-hold from 2009-2013. The only team that has threatened Mercedes and actually

pipped both of their cars to the chequered flag is the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel.

It should come as no surprise to those of you reading this, that Ferrari is also an OEM and

with Mercedes and Renault they supply the engines for the rest of eight teams on the grid

(seen below). So even for a team like Williams that have emerged as front runners after

years in the middle-row wilderness, being realistic they will never receive the quality

engine that Mercedes do. Same can be said for Sauber, Ferrari will always be the first in

the line from their Italian engine supplier. Teams like Williams, Force India, Lotus, etc, can

do is try to build on the older versions of Mercedes engines given to them. But will they

ever really have enough to dislodge Mercedes at the summit, highly unlikely.

As you can see from the table below McLaren are the only other team outside of Ferrari,

Redbull and Mercedes to be backed by an OEM.

Constructor   Engine supplier

Ferrari             Ferrari

Force India     Mercedes

Manor             Ferrari

Sauber            Ferrari

Lotus              Mercedes

Torro Rosso    Renault

Red Bull         Renault

Mercedes        Mercedes

McLaren         Honda

Williams         Mercedes

It is going to take a while for the Woking based team to catch up, but I firmly believe that

this is the best route for them to take if they are to once again reach the pinnacle of

Motorsport. Having been a McLaren fan since the Mikka Hakkinen/David Coulthard driver

lineup of 1996, the last few season have tested my patience and that of every other

supporter. The recent testing in Austria done by Fernando Alonso and 3rd driver and

current runaway GP2 leader Stoffel Vandoorne was encouraging. Both driver managed

181 laps between them with no problems and hopefully the penalties incurred at the

Austrian GP will allow for them to have a more positive race at the British GP this

weekend.

However for now the thought of podium finishes should be put firmly to the back of the

mind, at the moment those affiliated with the team, from the driver to the engineers are

working towards creating a more reliable and consistent point scoring McLaren.

Only time will tell whether the patience needed for now will be rewarded with future race

wins and dare I say perhaps a return to a Championship winning team for the 21st century

McLaren-Honda team.