THE GREATEST OBSTACLE TO YOUR SUCCESS THIS YEAR

It's a new year! A new beginning! A fresh start! I welcome you, my esteemed readers, to this New Year that is filled with new opportunities and possibilities, and my sincere desire is that it will be a prosperous year for you, your family, and your loved ones.

Indeed, I believe strongly that this year is filled with a lot of opportunities which if properly utilized can take each and everyone to a level of success that is far beyond our imagination.

Dear reader, this year presents an opportunity for you to change the status quo: to discover yourself, to experience growth in every area of life, to take your career and business to the next level, to excel in all your undertakings, and to experience that sense of fulfillment that only comes with true success.

WAIT: DID YOU ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS FOR 2018?

Yes! It’s the last day of the year! The 365th day of the year 2018! Just like yesterday, the year started and in a few hours from now, the whole world will be celebrating the coming in of another year. It’s really amazing how time flies, and as they say, it waits for no man. 2018 is winding down and I think we all should be grateful for being alive to witness the end of it.

However, in case you haven’t done so, I believe this last day of the year is a good time to take stock of the year 2018. How well did you fare in the year? Were you able to accomplish all of your goals? If you did, then I congratulate you—you have really done well. If you did not, what kept you from achieving your goals? Was it procrastination, doubt, fear, excuses, lack of focus, laziness, wrong strategy, environment, poor time management, doing many things at the same time, lack of mentorship, or unforeseen circumstances?

50 DAYS IS MORE THAN ENOUGH

The end of the year is almost here. If you take a minute to check out your calendar, you would see that it's exactly 50 days to the end of 2018. "How time flies" you may say. 315 days gone already out of the 365 and you can bet that that is how the remaining days of the year will pass away in no time.

This observation then brings to mind an important question: how far have you gone in achieving your goals for 2018?

BETTER DAYS LIE AHEAD

You may be experiencing very bad times

Your life may seem to be turning upside down

It probably feels as if you are losing your mind

You've tried your best to keep the situation under control

Yet, it's getting out of hand

Trust me, better days lie ahead

Life may seem really hard

Things might not be working out well

Those you trusted to help may have failed you

You may have done everything you possibly could

Yet, nothing to show for your effort

Believe me, better days lie ahead

You may find my words very hard to believe

Definitely not the first time you are hearing such

You've believed similar words in the past

You acted on the advice given

Yet, nothing positive came out of it

But I say it again, better days lie ahead

7 THINGS BEING DILIGENT WILL DO FOR YOU

"You really have to work hard and apply yourself, and by applying yourself and working hard and being diligent, you can achieve success." - Julie Benz.

There are lots of factors responsible for success in life: dreaming big, setting goals, following your dreams, determination, self-confidence, discipline, and so on. All these factors must come into place before anyone can achieve success. However, there is one factor which is central to attaining success and upon which the effectiveness of the other factors depends; and that is diligence.

Diligence, according to dictionary.com, is a constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken. In other words, it is a consistent and continuous effort which a person must deliberately put into whatever he or she does in order to have a great result. It, therefore, suffices to say that no meaningful accomplishment can be made without diligence; and that is particularly true, as the huge role diligence play can be clearly seen in the world of science, business, academics, sports, and any other human endeavor that one can think of. Antiphanes sums this up when he stated that "everything yields to diligence."

5 BASIC TIPS TO HELP YOU DEVELOP A SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS

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So you've finally made up your mind to start a business, and you are believing it will be a successful one; but then, there are certain things you need to know which would not only make your business successful, but which can also help you remain a force to reckon with over time. Applying these proven and time-tested tips I am about to discuss will develop your business more than you could ever imagine. So here are five basic tips you must remember if you want to develop a successful business:

V INTERNATIONAL FLASH FICTION COMPETITION

The César Egido Serrano Foundation launches the Fifth (V) International Flash Fiction Competition. The contest is one of the activities carried out by the Foundation to achieve its objectives, which is none other than that to use words as a tool against all violence and to promote concord between different cultures, religions and ideologies.

The V Edition of the competition is open, under the motto:

"The word, bridging the gap between different cultures and religions"

• In the fourth edition, 35,638 works from 149 countries participated in the contest.

The prize of $20,000 to the winning story will make it the biggest prize of micro fiction in the world; with three prizes of $1,000 each for the best stories in each of the languages in the contest.