Page 6 - Florida Sentinel 9-15-17

Editorials/Columns
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN
(USPS 202-140)
2207 21st Avenue, Tampa Florida 33605 • (813) 248-1921 Published Every Tuesday and Friday By
FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHING Co., Member of National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA)
Get Prepared 5 S.T.E.P.S. To Success
Part 5
“By failing to pre- pare, you are preparing to fail.”
Ben Franklin mpowered Greet-
ings. This quote by one of our founding fathers, leads us to our empower- ment topic this week. Get prepared for step 4 of the 5 Steps to Success.
Prepare for where you’re going in life through personal development. I have a credo which states: Prior, proper planning: promotes, per- fected peak perform- ance!
Most of us have heard the adage: “knowledge is power”. I would like to add, that if you have knowledge, you have the power and the ad- vantage needed to be suc- cessful... if you use it. Personal development pre- pares you with knowledge
and power to face what lies ahead. In other words, when preparation meets time and opportunity the outcome is success.
Here a few strategies for personal development:
Take time to explore and discover who you are through self-awareness. Learn what makes you tick, your values, gifts, talents, abilities, strengths, weak- nesses, motives, passions, purpose, fears and inhibi- tions. If you know your- self you can grow yourself.
Read, research and study about the focused area of your development. There are self-help books on a myriad of topics to help you develop spiritually, mentally, physi- cally and financially etc. Read & Learn about cur- rent and historical figures that have blazed trails to suc- cess, even through dire situ- ations. Their lives will be a
source of encouragement for you. Study and research trends in the market of your endeavor. This will give you insight when making deci- sions.
Identify and connect with people locally, regionally and nationally that are success- fully doing what you are doing or what you want to do. Get advice and guidance from them. Learn the ingre- dients for their recipe for success. Use what you need for now and save the rest for later.
Be a lifelong learner; at- tend continuing education courses, workshops and trainings to enhance your skills and knowledge.
Prepare by practicing what you’ve learned so that when you, your business or your ministry takes center stage you are ready to pres- ent a peaked performance.
Stay connected to Selphe- nia for more tips, tools and strategies for your success. Follow her on Social Media. Facebook: Selphenia Nichols Success Coach To Women; Instagram: @selphenia; Twitter: @queenofsuccess1; or Call: 813-603-0088 to re- quest Selphenia to speak, MC or train at your next event.
POSTMASTER: Send Address Change To: Florida Sentinel Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3363 Tampa, FL 33601 Periodical Postage Paid At Tampa, FL
C. Blythe Andrews 1901-1977 (1945)
C. Blythe Andrews, Jr. 1930-2010 (1977)
S. KAY ANDREWS, PUBLISHER
C. BLYTHE ANDREWS III, PRESIDENT/CONTROLLER ALLISON WELLS-CLEBERT, CFO
GWEN HAYES, EDITOR
IRIS HOLTON, CITY EDITOR
BETTY DAWKINS, ADVERTISING DIRECTOR HAROLD ADAMS, CIRCULATION MANAGER TOYNETTA COBB, PRODUCTION MANAGER LAVORA EDWARDS, CLASSIFIED MANAGER
Subscriptions-$44.00-6 Months Both Editions: $87.00-Per Year Both Editions.
Opinions expressed on editorial pages of this newspaper by Columnists or Guest Writers, do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of The Florida Sentinel Bulletin or the Publisher.
Where Were You When The World Went Out?
Maybe, it’s because many of us who are reading this Editorial are older now and process life slower than what we used to do. Consequently, things
seem to get jumbled up or misplaced. And when we re- member the past, it isn’t with a sense of precision and orderliness, but with an urgency that causes us to fic- tionalize or forget things . . . important things . . . that when we were young(er), we might never forget . . . things like the answer to the question, “Where were you when the planes struck the Twin Towers early in the morning on September 11th in 2001?”
Were you brushing your teeth, getting out of the shower, or were you across the street from the Penta- gon?
But life gets in the way. Other things equally as un- thinkable, historically significant or personally cata- strophic refuse to stay orderly inline regarding what is most important. So, the significance of 9-11 must bow to love-affairs, break-ups, car crashes and the like.
Indeed, one Tampa sportsman was famous for say- ing, “The world ends for somebody, every day.” There- fore, as traumatic as it certainly, had been, “Where was I on 9-11?” must now take its place behind “Where was I when Hurricane Irma hit Tampa-Hillsborough County?”
Did I rush out to Home Depot to buy plywood? Did I deplete Walmart’s canyons of cookies? And then when Irma struck, did I pray not to lose my electricity or my roof?
And when the morning came, if God was merciful, did we still have house and health or was my life up- ended by the completely unthinkable?
For the time being, nothing exists except what hap- pened to us, yesterday prefaced on the question, “Where was I during Category 5?”
And we shall contemplate that question . . . until something more significant comes along.
Such is the reality of being human.
E
PAGE 6-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2017