I have two diaries this year. I purchased one towards the end of last year after a speaking engagement in Limpompo District in South Africa. It was my personal thank you gift for doing such a great job. TIP: Always remember to say thank you to yourself. No one will ever praise you more than you can praise yourself. My second diary was a gift from my good friend Carol White, the MD at DHL. The question now is what am I going to do with two diaries? I have decided to use one for my appointments and the other one for capturing my thoughts. TIP: If you do not record your ideas, you are wasting money. Your ideas are waves of energy sent from God to communicate what might be possible in your life. Always carry a pen and a paper to record them.

There is a man I knew several years ago. Like me, he was also a Pastor and really loved people. He had many pluses as a human being. He only had one major problem; he was a disorganized man. He was the kind of man that you did not want to lend your tools-box to because it would come back with some tools missing. He was the kind of man who would dress so well but forget where he put his car keys. So he would take off his jacket and shoes just to look for his car keys. Then one day he went and bought himself a diary. He wrote all his appointments in it and wrote a to-do-list in it. He wrote his birthday, his wife's birthday and all his children's birthdays. He even wrote the pin numbers to his bank ATM cards just in case he ever forgot them.

When he was done writing, he came to me to pride himself in his new accomplishments. I asked with excitement; "Where is the diary? I would love to see it." He answered rather sheepishly, "Mubita, I don't remember where I put it."

If there is ever a year where you must be supper organized, it is 2009. It may be hard for us to quantify the economic losses we incur from being disorganized. But I am sure we can estimate it to be in the millions. Jeff Davidson has written a fantastic book called "The 60 Second Organizer". It is a wonderful book on how to get better organized at work. I picked it up recently at a bookstore in Johannesburg. I recommend it greatly. In it, Jeff argues that effectiveness has a lot to do with organization. To the degree that a leader organizes himself it is the degree to which they will be effective. In other words, your effectiveness this year will depend on how organized you are.

I want you to want to find what you need when you look for it. Your children will appreciate you more when you remember their PTA meetings. Your spouse will appreciate you even more. A few more tips we can share today are: Always handle things once. If it is paper, file it the moment you touch it. If it is calling someone, call them when you remember, if you can't call them, send them a short message (SMS). Always write down what you want to do no matter how small it is. There is nothing as de-motivating as trying to remember something. It does not even look endearing to repeatedly hit your head as if hitting it makes the head think. Get into a habit of making a to-do-list. Some like to do it every morning while others do it at night. Be an action oriented person. Stop pushing things to the tomorrow. As they say, tomorrow never comes. Set aside specific times to do specific duties. Leave room for spontaneity and creativity so that you can still enjoy life. Maintain a robust routine that empowers you to achieve more with each passing day. You can say I will clean my closet every Saturday, walk my dog every morning and pay my bills every fifteenth. One of the reasons nature is so organized is because nature is a routine. From sunrise to sunset all of nature is a routine. When it is no longer routine, we usually call it Earth Quake, Flood, Drought, or Tsunami among others.

I wish you a better organized 2009 and I hope you save both time and money while you are at it. Success starts at the level where you are and you take it to the next.

Article written by Leadership Author and Coach Mubita Nawa. www.standchampions.com Tel. 0978117920, 0955100604, 0968716560

NEWS/ UPCOMING EVENTS- BUSINESS SENSE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

This Saturday January 17th, 2009 Mubita Nawa will be motivating students on Business Sense. A lot of young people have graduated from Secondary School and others from College as well but do not know what to do. Mubita will be motivating them at Inspire Center on Plot # 4775 Buluwe Road Woodlands Extension. Time is 09:00hrs sharp. Send you sons, daughters, nephews and nieces to a life changing seminar on Business for Students. Charges are only K25,000.00 per student. Space is very limited. Call 0978117920 for reservations.

Thank you and God bless you.

"I wonder where I would have been today if I had the business mentoring I needed when I was a young person." Mubita Nawa

Mubita C. Nawa, DipM ACIM
CEO & President
Why Not? Motivational Speakers
P.O.Box 540012, Grand Prairie TX U.S.A 75054
http://www.mubitanawa.com