Back to School!

School is starting up, for some last week, for me today!

I pray all the time, but when school approaches, I usually start praying specifically on my classes a month before school start. It is essential and necessary. Without prayer, I am literally stressing and crashing down. I pray on my mental, spiritual, and physical being. It's needed. I have to in order to stay focused. 

I spend at least 6 hours on school work. Trying to balance school, blog, work, personal life, and other things can be soooo hard, but it's manageable. For those who are starting the semester, start off strong. Don't get caught up. Stay focused and keep your priorities in order. School first, party later. If you put in the time now I promise you will thank yourself later, with everything. 

This is how I schedule my studying among doing other things for me:

Monday -Thursday: 6 hours/per day

Friday: 3 hours

Saturday: review each class

Sunday: 6 hours

There are 15 weeks in the semester. Seems long, but so short. Value and appreciate the time you get each day. Know what works best for you. I currently have 1 year left for Master’s and I plan to take a break and then continue to Ph.D. program.

Undergraduate advice

• Talk to your teachers 
• Put the time in
• Don't forget to have fun

Graduate advice

• Online or not make sure you communicate with teachers. 
• I don’t care how annoying you are! 
• Read! READ!
• Don't slack 
• Grades do not matter

Keep some motivation tabs on you. You will need the encouragement. If you need any advice on school and balancing life you can email me at mashekaamina@gmail.com.

Take the limits off God

You got to believe and know that you know that God is so powerful. There is nothing impossible for God to solve. He can do anything if you ask. Ask and you shall receive. There is no problem too big or too small for God. Any situation that is given to you, you have the capabilities of coming out winning because of God.

All things are possible WITH GOD.

I know there are people who have problems and say they believe in God, but don’t believe in his power to get them through their situation. You have to have faith and believe in the power of God. He can move mountains for you. You just have to know it in your heart. You cannot half-believe it. It just doesn’t work like that. Know that there is someone more powerful than you, and can solve all your problems. How hard is it to believe that?

Every situation has a lesson tied with it. Ask God to reveal what you need to heal in order to grow and attract the things you want.

Seriously, take the limits off of God. Have faith, trust, believe, and always PRAY.

MOVE out your OWN way!

Move out your own way!

The only thing that's in the way between you and your dreams is YOU. Let go of fear and stop Edging God Out (EGO). Move out the way, for your own sake!! Seriously, what is stopping you?

The fear of failure will have you stagnant and not taking advantage of opportunities. Don't blame anyone, no external forces, or anything, but you. You hold the power remember that. The power is within you. Take the leap of faith and know that God is always with you.

Why are you not taking the next step into making the best decision of your life?

There have been moments when I was scared to step out of my way. Fortunately, I had people to tell me to step out my own way. When you know you are in the right direction, the most simple, but hardest thing you have to do is just do it. So funny while writing and thinking about it, I realize the things we desire is achievable, we just make the journey seem more difficult.

I know it’s easier said than done. But what I'm saying is done is better than incomplete. So yeah move out your way. Stay positive and know that you hold all the power that you need and receive from God.

You'll be happier when you step out your own way. Have a great week!

Life is a journey.

Life is nothing, but a journey. A fun journey depending on your perception. I always tell people you can choose to see the good or bad. It’s your vision. You can see bad and bad will continue to be invited into your life or you can see good and have nothing, but blissful moments.

There will always be times you will be tested. Its only to see if you are growing or how you will respond to a situation. If you truly know in your heart that God has your back, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON, you may not know today, but you will find understanding.

In most situations I’m in, I try to look at my life as a movie. So when something does happen out of the ordinary I am usually calm or laughing. What’s supposed to happen will, so why not find some laughter within your situation.

Enjoy each moment of your life. It’s so beautiful. The good, bad, and ugly is all beautiful. It makes us stronger, wiser, and changes our perception.

Learn through each moment of your life. Enjoy the ride. Life is literally like a rollercoaster scary, but so fun. Every time the ride drops you may hold your stomach or hold onto a friend, but when it goes back up again your smiling. Approach life in a different light. I know it can be hard, but really visualize life as beautiful and watch what God will do for you and your situation.

You vs. You

You should be in competition with yourself. It’s always You vs. You. Never anyone else. Don’t look at others to mark your success. Everyone’s success is different. The success you should be measuring is yours and yours alone. You are growing whether you choose to see it or not.

Even with an argument, it’s you vs. you. Most times when we see bad in others, it's something we see within ourselves that needs to be dealt with. I always say it’s always about you, but never about you.

Check yourself, because everything that happens externally is something that needs to be fixed internally. People on the outside happens to be the reflection of yourself. That is why you must be careful who you hang out with because they are a representation of you.

You are always in competition with yourself. Remember its always you vs. you. Don’t forget that.

Success is relative.

Success-the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. What does success mean to you?

Success is relative. What success may be to you will probably not be the same for me. Just because we think differently about success, does not mean yours holds less value than mine and vice versa. We tend to look at other people success without looking at our own. It’ll take time, but soon we’ll appreciate what we have. We all have the potential to be our greatest potential. So stop looking at others and look at yourself. You have done well and will continue to do so.

We all have different ways of thinking and different goals.  And that is OKAY. Don’t control what others do. We all are achieving goals and doing better for the world and most importantly ourselves.

When success is being discussed I like to remind people that success is all relative. Everyone defines success differently. So don’t force nothing upon on no one or make them feel bad for what they have done thus far. 

Just make sure you are celebrating everyone success. No success is big or small. Every success is a blessing and a step closer to where you want to go. 

Question for you to think about, what do success means to you?

Being a Pessimist vs. Being Optimistic

Pessimist- a person who habitually sees or anticipates the worst or is disposed to be gloomy.

Optimistic- disposed to take a favorable view of events or conditions and to expect the most favorable outcome.

In a world of both pessimist and optimist there sure is a balance.

You have one person saying things will NOT work out, while someone else is saying things WILL work out. We all have a friend who is a pessimist and others who are very optimistic. The reasoning for such thinking of a pessimist is because if they think positive they feel it will not happen the way they expect. They figure it is easy to be negative, so if things really do go wrong they can be like “I knew it”. Being optimistic has more hard work than a pessimist. My reasoning is because it requires a lot of faith and no control. To have strong faith requires a lot of patience and a strong belief. Not many have faith. To not be in control of what happens and how it happens is extremely hard. I think we all have a daily struggle of trying to control things. It is easy to be a pessimist because you want things to happen negatively so you can feel like in some way you controlled that moment. It’s weird because they know they have the power to control the negative and not the positive. So why not change the thinking into something positive.

Your thoughts and the words you speak have so much power over what happens to you in your life. Make sure you are thinking positive and the words you speak are manifesting great things into your life.