Those Days Are Gone! from Hopelessness to Happiness: The Guiding Principles Toward a Successful Life

By Ekenenyie Ukpong

If you are interested in making lasting, positive changes in life, you wont want to miss out on this book. It will provide you with a complete new look on life, personal network, and status. Certainly, Those Days are Gone! contains formidable ideas that help you to increase your personal power, develop passion, and purpose in life. It ensures that your plans are properly implemented both in good and bad times. You will develop new thought patterns, belief systems, and actions that will help you complete projects quickly, easily, and accurately putting an end to any form of procrastination. As a result, you will avoid the mistake of undervaluing yourself, products, or your services.

Above all, you will learn to embrace your strengths and, ultimately, designate your weaknesses. It will always be the tool that you can use to construct your own success, and the capacity to overcome virtually every obstacle on your path. In addition, you will also learn how to turn a powerful and deadly enemy-time-into loyal and trust worthy friend.

Those Days Are Gone! is a powerhouse book designed for the general audience including students, unemployed graduates, school drop-outs, sit-in-moms, job seekers, disabled, academicians, and other professionals. No matter where you are in your business career just starting out or already at the $50 million level you will understand better the challenges you face.

As the title suggests, it means victory! victory for your health, marriage, wealth, hopes, and dreams. It is the little voice inside your head that responds to the constraints of life, and therefore shouts, Leave me alone, Im free.

This is an extraordinary book full of practiced, proven strategies and techniques. I cant imagine trying to make it in business or life in general without having the benefit of the wisdom contained in Those Days Are Gone! It is a must-read book for everyone whos serious about controlling his own destiny.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: May 16, 2012
• ISBN: 9781456792909

Ekenenyie Ukpong

Ekenenyie Ukpong is a graduate of Humanities from the University of Calabar, Nigeria. Member of the American Writers’ and Artists’ Institute, USA. and the co-founder of Keninext Partners Inc. – an online business and consulting services. Former Bureau Chief and Regional Coordinator for the Voice News magazine, The Netherlands, he has published a collection of articles on self-development resources and wealth-building strategies. Happily married with three children, he lives in Modena, Italy.

Book preview

© 2012 by Ekenenyie Ukpong. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/03/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4567-9288-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-9289-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4567-9290-9 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

PREFACE

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

CHAPTER ONE

THE POWER OF IMAGINATION AND VISUALIZATION

CHAPTER TWO

THE MINDSET FORMULA

CHAPTER THREE

THE PROFILE OF COURAGE AND SELF-CONFIDENCE

CHAPTER FOUR

THE POWER OF PASSION IN YOU

CHAPTER FIVE

THE CORE VALUES: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

CHAPTER SIX

FROM HOPELESSNESS TO HAPPINESS

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE INTRICACY OF PROCRASTINATION AND THE ELASTICITY OF TIME

CHAPTER EIGHT

KICK THE HABITS

CHAPTER NINE

NEVER LOSE HOPE!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

DEDICATION

To my parents, Honorable Chief (Apostle) Bassey Urua Ukpong and Madam Ima Bassey Ukpong, who made me what I am today. I am still indebted to their memories.

PREFACE

It is sad but true that the lives of so many people today are difficult, even desperate. Is it possible for such people to find happiness? The answer to that question is yes. Lives can be transformed. People can change. This is not a book meant for professional practices, business services, or franchises, although the motivated owner of such an enterprise will find ideas here helpful. What sparked the flame in me was an inspiration of self-challenge that came to me as a string of revolutionary ideas that will be new to you.

Clearly, the concept of this book was based not only on what I most often speak about in public appearances but also on the way I live my life on a daily basis. Thus, with Those Days are Gone!, my thinking, living, writing, and speaking are almost perfectly aligned. And some of the things are commonsense concepts that can be explained by threadbare axioms. Despite the fact that the world around you may seem decadent, you always have the option to rise above such decadence, as we continue our quest in these exciting and challenging times. Therefore, my solemn advice is this: do not give up the race for life.

Essentially, my goal in writing this book—Those Days Are Gone! From Hopelessness to Happiness—is to help you make a profound change in your life. Not just as another temporary object, or another bubbly Pollyanna that sees life only as rainbows and sunshine. But as an uninterrupted affair, as long as happiness is the by-product of such a meaningful and productive life. Having been born human does not mean that you must face guilt, stress, anxiety, irritation, or anger.

If you are ready to feel good about who you are, enjoy the work you do, enjoy the people around you, be filled with a deep sense of purpose, and love your life more than you ever thought possible, I urge you to adopt the principles outlined in this book.

With this life-improvement guide, you will discover how to regain your personal, business, and professional wealth, replace stress and anxiety with freedom and satisfaction, create miracles in your life, get rid of toxic people for good, unlock the surprising truth about happiness, find and, finally, live your ideal lifestyle.

Whatever your dreams are, whether big or small, you have the power to fulfill them today. By reading this book, you have already demonstrated your desire to succeed. Probably, I do not have to tell you that the journey toward success can be exciting and unpredictable. If you are going to hang in for the duration, you will have to prepare yourself.

The book offers, in part, a forum to address the kinds of issues that truly matter—and the solutions. However, if you are satisfied with the life you lead, if you feel there is nothing missing in your personal or professional life, please do not read further.

But, if you wonder: What is success? What is wealth? What is poverty? Who am I? What is my purpose on Earth? Is this all there is to life? Then I want you to study this book, which contains centuries-old techniques that can help you find peace, fulfillment, and even true, lasting happiness.

As the title suggests, your days of hardship are over! The days of holding your head in your hands are over! And the days of gnashing your teeth, sighing, and lamenting every minute of the day are equally over. In fact, Those Days Are Gone! is about total victory over your life’s difficulties and setbacks. It is a victory for your health, wealth, hopes, and dreams. It is the call of the little voice inside your head that responds to the constraints of life, and therefore shouts, Leave me alone. I am free! It is about having the ability to let go of the past, and henceforth, exercising control over events that impact your day-to-day life.

Somewhere in the book you will find ideas that will quicken your receptive powers, and cause you to go back into your past experiences of failure or defeat, and bring to the surface some lesson by which you can regain all that you lost—for your own benefit. Moreover, you will avoid the mistake of undervaluing yourself, your products, or your services. As an internal resource, it ensures that your plans are properly implemented—both in good and bad times.

This book contains details and instructions sufficient to enable anyone develop the art of changing his/her mind from failure consciousness to success consciousness. You will develop new thought patterns, belief systems, and actions capable of eliminating the never-ending stream of trivial matters that diminish your capacity to achieve pecuniary results. You will learn how to eradicate any form of procrastination and how to turn a powerful and deadly enemy—time—into a loyal and trustworthy friend. The principles described in this book, contain the best, and the most practical of all that is known about achieving success, sustaining wealth, and acquiring immense power. Observe very closely, as soon as you apply the knowledge acquired, your financial status will start to improve, and everything you touch will begin to transmute itself into an asset—for your own benefit. Best of all you can overcome your attachment to the things that imprison you. In other words, it will help you deal only with people who are enthusiastic about dealing with you.

In this remarkable book, nothing is theoretical, but every observation and recommendation comes from personal experience. It is the first time I’ve tried to create a blueprint in a systematic way about what I’ve discovered. Yes, there came a point I had to admit that I was generally unhappy and troubled with life. Decades ago, I felt imprisoned by my life. But now, my life is exactly the way I want it to be. I do exactly what I want to. And today, I am confident that I can help you find these things for yourself. I can promise also that when you put down this book after you’re done reading it, you will be far different—completely transformed—than you were at the beginning. Good luck!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My wife, Blessing Fiyai, contributed more to this book than I can adequately credit. She put her own promising business career alongside to help me complete this project. Without her intuition, discipline, and encouragement, I should never have become successful in the preparation of this book.

My special thanks go to Dennis Wrench, Sylvester Kelly, Maurice Christopher, Esther James, and Marcus Montegrande for their solemn advice and help at every stage. Without them, this book would have taken longer to write—and even longer to read. I would also like to thank Eric Collins, John Harris, Michael Gibson, and Abraham Ward for their enthusiastic work tracking down facts and conducting interviews. They unraveled the tangled threads of related experiences, pushed forward the narratives, and tuned up the conclusive arguments.

I am appreciative of Dr. Kingsley Wiesse, who was meticulous, assiduous, and totally committed to the project. Celestine Charles for his thoughtful comments, and Monica Brown for her efforts to make my sentences clean and comprehensible. Another vital member of the team was Mrs. Amoah Wilson, who typed and retyped the constantly evolving manuscript with impressive efficiency and unfailing cheerfulness. She also secured me this book contract with AuthorHouseUK. Old friends, colleagues, business mentors, and associates weighed in with indispensable support and assisted me with their best secrets. I owe them all my heartfelt gratitude.

Finally, I would like to express my special thanks to AuthorHouseUK, the publisher—for their sure-footed guidance that this book would reach its destination by the most direct route, in good order, and even attired in some elegance. I am immensely grateful to them all.

Chapter One

The Power of Imagination and Visualization

Entrepreneurial Axiom: It always seems impossible until it is done.

—Nelson Mandela

YOU look out your window, past the gardener who is busy pruning the lemon tree, hibiscus, and hollyhocks. The sky is clear blue. The sea is deeper blue, sparkling with sunlight. A gentle breeze comes drifting in from the ocean, clear and refreshing, as your maid brings your breakfast in bed.

For a moment, you may think, Is this real or am I dreaming? Absolutely not!

Margaret and Brian were in their mid-50s when a golden opportunity arose: early retirement with a good pension. It was then that they decided to head south for the sun and beaches of the Mediterranean. No more cares, no more worries—a life of ease awaited them in their seaside chalet.

Gisela, a mother in her early 20s, has a beautiful little girl. In the afternoon, mother and daughter go down to the park as usual, where the daughter plays in the sandbox, fully absorbed, happily making sand piles and sand castles. Meanwhile, Mom sits on a nearby park bench and watches over her toddler, ears glued to her portable radio.

Most of us, to one extent or another, have adopted a philosophy to live such a perfect life. People want to feel better, look better, smell better, be more sensual, play more, and work less. But, between house payments, car payments, and credit card payments, it gets pretty difficult to make ends meet. How many times have you said, If only I was making more money… and then pictured yourself as the proud owner of a huge mansion or a fancy car? Well, don’t be surprised; there are also millionaires and billionaires who all too often tell themselves the same thing.

Does this mean, then, that success is something you are born with, or you gain only by being lucky? Definitely not! In the words of a legendary American writer and philosopher, Napoleon Hill, (1883-1970), Truly, ‘thoughts are things’, (and powerful things at that), when they are mixed with definiteness of purpose, persistence, and a burning desire for their translation into riches, or other material things.

Get a Picture of What You Want!

Taking a stroll one afternoon in Palm Beach, Florida, USA, trying to sort out my thoughts, and occasionally, checking the progress of the slowly sinking sun, I found myself engaged in conversation with a complete stranger, which was quite out of character for me. For whatever reason, we seemed to have a common communication channel that was instantly recognizable to both of us. I had noticed Alexander pacing the sand a couple of days before, obviously deep in thought, just as he was today.

img003.jpg

As the conversation unfolded, he said to me, You know, for a long time, I’ve been searching to experience a life of… joy and contentment, looking everywhere for it, believing it’s out there somewhere. But no matter how hard I try, it always seems beyond my reach. I was an accountant for thirty-five years. Then one day, I suddenly realized that I wasn’t happy. To the disbelief of my colleagues, I just up and quit.

Did you know what you wanted to do when you quit? Did you have another business in mind? I asked.

I really had no idea what I wanted to do. All I was sure of was that I was sick of the world as I knew it at the time. I just wanted to get as far away as possible and have the opportunity to reflect on life.

Is that what you miss now? I inquired with a growing fascination about Alexander’s background.

His voice trailed off to a barely audible whisper, No; but I can’t adequately describe how I felt when I started my own barbecue restaurant… selling food to people in my neighborhood. At first it was hard to believe—me, the accountant, wearing overalls, working with my hands, and serving the customers.

The soft smile on his face beamed wildly as he looked out toward the sand and continued, After work, I would sit on the front steps of my house and feel the sensation of total joy taking over my entire body—the only time in my life I could remember that happening to me. I had never enjoyed anything so much in my life.

Alexander described his journey through adulthood so well, distilled the essence of his life in such sensory detail, that I felt as though I had experienced it firsthand with him.

He said, Sometimes, I found myself chuckling about the drastic change in my lifestyle. At the time, I didn’t see it coming, but it’s so obvious now. Little by little, working away by myself (under my roof), I finally had to hire an assistant. Success led to more success, until I found myself with a number of employees on the payroll and had to move my business to a commercial building. It’s as though I had awakened from a dream.

While I was listening to Mr. Alexander, I started thinking. Perhaps, people of my generation used to think that work was all about money. But we are all beginning to realize that work defines us and gives us self-respect. Plus, even a series of small achievements that can make you feel like a useful human being. You go to work; you do whatever boring thing you need to do, you come back home, and then your proper life kicks in. If you do very well, it can buy you jewelry, giant houses, and flashy cars. But to accomplish great things, you have to set specific objectives.

What Alexander had found after leaving the financial business was meaning in his life. It is a side-effect of having a purpose. For the first time, he was doing what he wanted to do, what he enjoyed doing, and what he, obviously, was good at. In the past, without realizing it was happening, he allowed events to take control