The Odyssey

Your personal core values define who you are, and a company’s core values ultimately define the company’s character and brand. For individuals, character is destiny. For organizations, culture is destiny” — Tony Hsieh I am truly honored to be part of a company (albeit as a student, in the professional development program) that promotes and upholds its values to inspire not only their employees but also anyone who visit the Agricultural Research Council. The Agricultural Research Council (ARC) of South Africa has a clear vision of excelling in Agricultural research and development. Based on ARC vision and mission statement, powerful values are formulated in a simple acronym that is easy to remember — and to achieve the set out mission with ease and grace. The acronym is TARGET, which stands for the following; T = Truth A = Accountability R = Respect G = Growth E = Excellence T = Trust These values, including the company’s mission and vision statement, are illuminate...

What is your purpose in life? “Our prime purpose in life is to serve others, and if you can’t, at least don’t hurt them” — Dalai Lama So what is your purpose in life? Imagine everyone on earth has realized his or her purpose in life and it revolves around helping at least one person in one way or the other. Oh what a wonderful world this would be! We all need help and sometimes we get it from people we expect it the least. The great news is, the world is generous to the givers. The marvelous news is, the universe is benevolent to those who help others selflessly without expecting anything in return. “You can have everything you want in life, if you will just help enough other people to get what they want.” — Zig Ziglar Each individual has been allotted some specific purposes to fulfill in the universe and in most cases; at least one of those purposes is linked to a passion. A passion is any meaningful activity that gives you a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment ...

Your chief aim should be to use self-discipline primarily in all  five basic components of your life . Namely; 1.   Your health Your health is the most important aspect of your life and you should therefore give it first priority. Pray for your health, pray for your safety, pray for your appetite, and pray for good quality sleep. Health is like a keystone habit that enables you to make sound decision about other aspects of your life. Many research studies single out health as the primary interest for adults. To be generally healthy, you need to strike the right balance between your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness.  Avoid excess, do everything in moderation. (a)  Physically , your diet and exercises determine the fitness and your general well-being. Opt for exercises, which involve a lot of aerobic activities and your diet should be mostly Mediterranean (Sea food, fruit and veggies, nuts, protein, wholegrain food, etc). For as much as you n...

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with unexpected success: — Henry David Thoreau. Unfortunately, the mainstream notion of success is to have that car or that house or that money or be famous, but life is more profound than pursuing status and wealth. Therefore, the key thing is, disregard success and instead, revert to what burns bright inside of you and reminisce the feelings you experienced when you thought about your dreams and how it felt, if you could accomplish them. Because when you bring alive your dreams, the world becomes your oyster. Reviving those dreams and following them confidently as Henry David Thoreau suggests, will lead to unexpected success (as a by-product). Above all, following your dreams enable you to live meaningful, fulfilling and happy lives and what a better result than focusing on success? So, I say, forget about success, chase something more profound. Your dr...