10 skills that Pays

The best things in life may be free, but that doesn't mean they won't take time, sweat, and perseverance to acquire.
That's especially the case when it comes to learning important life skills.
In an effort to ascertain which talents are worth the investment, one Quora reader posed the question: What are the hardest and most useful skills to learn?
We've highlighted our favorite takeaways.

1. Time management

Effective time management is one of the most highly valued skills by employers. While there is no one right way, it's important to find a system that works for you and stick to it, Alina Grzegorzewska explains.
"The hardest thing to learn for me was how to plan," she writes. "Not to execute what I have planned, but to make so epic a to-do list and to schedule it so thoroughly that I'm really capable of completing all the tasks on the scheduled date."

2. Empathy

"You can be the most disciplined, brilliant, and even wealthy individual in the world, but if you don't care for or empathize with other people, then you are basically nothing but a sociopath," writes Kamia Taylor.
Empathy, as business owner Jane Wurdwand explains, is a fundamental human ability that has too readily been forsworn by modern business.
"Empathy — the ability to feel what others feel — is what makes good sales and service people truly great. Empathy as in team spirit — esprit d'corps — motivates people to try harder. Empathy drives employees to push beyond their own apathy, to go bigger, because they feel something bigger than just a paycheck," she writes.

3. Mastering your sleep

There are so many prescribed sleep hacks out there it's often hard to keep track. But regardless of what you choose, establishing a ritual can help ensure you have restful nights.
Numerous studies show that being consistent with your sleep schedule makes it easier to fall asleep and wake up, and it helps promote better sleep in general.

4. Positive self-talk

"Ultimately it doesn't matter what others think of you," writes Shobhit Singhal, "but what you think of yourself certainly does, and it takes time to build that level of confidence and ability to believe in yourself when nobody else does."
On the other side of positive self-talk is negative self-talk, which Betsy Myers, founding director of The Center for Women and Business at Bentley University, believes can slowly chip away at your confidence.

5. Consistency

Whether you're trying a new exercise routine, studying for the LSATs, or working on an important project, Khaleel Syed writes that consistency is vital to maintaining any kind of success.
People often stop working hard when they reach the top, he explains, but to maintain that top position, they have to work harder and be more consistent in their work.

6. Asking for help

"I once was told in a job interview, 'You can't have this job if you can't ask for help when you need it,'" Louise Christy writes. "Naturally, I said I could. Later, I found out that the previous person with that job had screwed up big-time because he was in over his head but couldn't admit it and didn't ask for help."
She explains that knowing when you need help and then asking for it is surprisingly difficult to learn and do because no one wants to be perceived as weak or incompetent.
But a recent study from the Harvard Business School suggests doing so makes you look more, not less, capable. According to the study authors, when you ask people for advice, you validate their intelligence or expertise, which makes you more likely to win them over.

7. Knowing when to shut up — and actually doing it

"You can't go around whining about every other thing that seems not-so-right to you in this world," writes Roshna Nazir. "Sometimes you just need to shut up."
There are many instances when keeping to yourself is the best course. "When we are angry, upset, agitated, or vexed," writes Anwesha Jana, "we blurt out anything and everything that comes to our mind." And later, you tend to regret it.
Keeping your mouth shut when you're agitated is one of the most valuable skills to learn, and of course, one of the most difficult.

8. Listening

Along with shutting up comes listening, says Richard Careaga.
"Most of us in the workplace are so overwhelmed with things to do — instant messaging, phones ringing. I mean, our brain can only tolerate so much information before it snaps," Nicole Lipkin, author of "What Keeps Leaders Up At Night," previously told Business Insider.
One tip for active listening is repeating back what you heard to the other person. "It makes things so much easier when everyone is on the same page," she said.

9. Minding your business

"It takes ages to learn and master this," writes Aarushi Ruddra.
Sticking your nose into other people's work isn't helpful and wastes time and resources, she says. "You have no right to put forth your two or four cents, even if you are the last righteous person standing."

10. Mastering your thoughts

To do what you want to do and accomplish what you want to accomplish, you need to consciously direct your thinking, writes Mark Givert.
"The challenge is that we are the product of our past experience and all of our thinking is the result of this," he says. "However, the past does not equal the future."

Source.Entrepreneur.com/articles.

Charlotte Osei must restore EC's credibility - CPP Jun 26, 2015 at 1:52pm

The Convention People’s Party has challenged the new boss of the Electoral Commission Mrs. Charlotte Osei to immediately engage the various political parties to reassure them of restoring the credibility of the EC.

In a statement, the CPP congratulated the new boss of EC and urged her to ensure transparency in the operations of the electoral body.

Mrs. Osei takes over from retired Kwadwo Afari Gyan who has held the position for over 20 years.

Below is the full statement

The CPP is happy to note that the long speculation on the appointment of a successor to Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan as EC chairman has ended.

We wish to firstly applaud Dr. Kwadwo Afari Gyan for his contribution to Ghana’s democracy.

He had successfully managed a change in government from NDC to NPP and from NPP to NDC and we hope that his successor will successfully manage a change from NDC to CPP.

We congratulate Mrs. Osei on her new role and welcome the fact that a woman will for the first in our history take on the role.

President Mahama had not consulted other parties widely as we would have liked which would have been the best way forward at this stage in our democratic history but we hope now that Mrs. Osei would move speedily to call an IPAC meeting to discuss and re-assure all political parties on the essentials for a successful EC, transparency in its operations, more and better consultation, strengthening EC, respect and credibility.

It’s an opportunity for Mrs. Osei to chart a new course for the EC in partnership with all stakeholders.


Source: Ghana/Starrfmonline.com/103.5FM

WATCHING AS A POLITICAL RELEGATE AND NOT A DELEGATE.

INTRODUCTION…                                                            June 15, 2015.

To begin with, I want to congratulate the largest opposition party, the New Patriotic Party, in the spirit of democracy, for conducting an election (Parliamentary primaries) in manner that can be said to be largely successful.

Their elections cannot be anything below almost perfection, viewed within the context of their recent internal challenges.

 Except for the pockets of violence that nearly marred the serenity of this democratic ritual, not even their invertebrate political rivals can deny that their parliamentary primaries has been successful, largely.

Personally, the unending power crisis had taken its toll on my phone. It didn’t take long for my battery to pass away. I had to part ways with my phone, minutes into monitoring proceedings, using the radio feature.

Left with this fate, I couldn’t help but wait until the luxury of light arrived. Once, it did, I did not spared nothing in my quest to monitoring the reports and the intelligent commentary that were being run on the various media networks.

While I will not put out any media house for mention, I will commend them for owning up to their agenda setting responsibility by keeping their avid viewers and listeners on the speed with reports on the elections

Observation

With the few monitoring that I did, the following are what I gather. Some may be lessons. Others may speak to how far we have gotten in our democratic pursuit. Whatever way, my intelligent readers view my observation, I want to aver that we still have a lot of work to do as people if our quest for a free, democratic and equitable society should be attained.

WHAT I GLEAN FROM THE ELECTIONS

1.    Hope for Our Democracy

Except that the outward show of magnanimity in defeat was mere for the cameras, almost all the incumbents, indeed, contestants who had lost their bid, expressed their readiness to support the winning candidate. These signs sends glimmers of hope into our fledgling democracy and I will not mince words to commend all the players for their roles in ensuring that peace and some considerable measure of decorum prevailed in the elections of June 13, 2015.

Politicians owe it to us. Indeed, it is part of our social contract with them. Thus, while are bear the somewhat discomfort in obeying the laws and redeeming some financial obligations as citizens, political actors are also enjoined not to act in the way that destabilizes the peace and security that is equally and fairly shared by both the rich and poor alike.

 The open show of statesmanship by some losers and the restraint with which the winners celebrated their victory leaves me with the hope that Ghana’s accolade as a bastion of democracy in sub-Saharan Africa is not a façade.

2.    The myth of institutional memory

In the run up to this primaries, many attempts albeit unsuccessful, were made to get some old brains retained. Proponents of these advocacy held that institutional memory was not only critical but key for the work of parliament, therefore, keeping these big shots will go to deepen our democracy credentials as they were more abreast with the workings of the august chamber.

In a stark show of solidarity, some of the ‘Mugabes’ in the other political divide were reported to have also made the same call, openly declaring their support for their colleagues in a manner that is unusual and atypical of our kind of politics.

Like some others who were opposed to this proposition, I had a cause to question the constitutionality or otherwise of those attempts. My position was simple. Much as I accept in principle that institutional memory is critical, I did not see through the proposition that the only way of ensuring same was to keep non performing parliamentarians under the guise of keeping institutional memory.

Beyond the point that any attempts in that direction would have been counter-productive to the spirit of fair play and level playing field that the leveler of democracy provides, I thought memories are better kept in books or any other digitized repository than in human memory.

What if some of those who would have been protected by this clause had died, been indisposed or have conducted themselves in a manner that required that they resign? Will that means we cannot keep an august house like parliament running? In any event, can’t the human memory always suffer some setbacks?

I thought that attempts to cover some bigwigs in parliament was not only unconstitutional but doing same would have exposed our myopic view of democracy and opened us to a butts of memory in the international world. Beyond these, my respect for documentation and reading never bailed my opposition to this proposal. 

Not only have the delegates vindicated some of us who dissented to ‘let my elders stay’ principle, but more so, they have served the strongest indication that competence will not be sacrificed on the altar of many years of being in the chamber. Thus, no one who hide under the pretext of protecting institutional memory will never be condoned or protected by delegates.

3.    Monetization of the Ghanaian Politics

In my maiden book, ‘Dates with my Eyes,’ I devoted a whole chapter to assess what has left our politics so monetized.

Coincidentally, the piece was informed by a debate the Honorable Speaker of Parliament, Doe Adjaho, had sparked regarding the issue of monetization. In the said piece, I questioned why the Speaker chose to lament the consequence of the menace without paying attention to the causes of the problem. My position was simple.

 Much as  I agreed with the Speaker’s assertion that the retention or otherwise of a Parliamentarian depended much on how much one could dole out to his/her constituents rather than how competent they were, I still thought his failure to pay attention to how parliamentarians contributed to the menace was erroneous.

In this elections, reports were rife on how many hands had been exchanged for votes. Some aspirants were said to have doled out cars, building equipment’s, cash packages, many but for space.

It appears to me that the losing of some lost because they couldn’t stand in the batter trade of a monetized elections.

While I sympathize with those who could not win owing to the above reason, I want to caution those who have raised the expectations of delegates by doling out wads of notes or some valuables not to complain when demands come mounting on them if they win the parliamentary seats, eventually.

A popular Ga song by a Kwahu man, Adani Best comes to mind here. I will not dare try to write Ga, I know next to nothing in that language. I will only refrain the translation that I gather from a friend.

‘‘Once you train a lionet(young lion) to grow, be ready to be mauled  once it develops strong tooth with age.’’

What some of these aspirants have done by doling out fortunes to delegates with the view to influence them, can be juxtaposed with the story of the lionet who is reared only to maul his master.

In most cases, the financial mauling that some of our politicians are inflicted with are on account of the training they give to their followers. The earlier they came to this realization the better is it for them and our democracy.

If there is any lesson, I think the need for the politicians to realize their role in the menace of monetization of politics is key and until our politics become principle based, attempts to, nib to the bud, monetization can only be a mirage.

4.    We are ready to fight if you can’t mentor us.

Any time I pick on the subject of mentorship in Ghana, I become very emotional. Personally, I think many who are looked upon to provide mentorship to the teeming youth of our country have and continue to fail or  live up to expectations.

We seem to have many bosses than mentors. This I find very disturbing.

 Personally, it is sad that I cannot make mention of one person who takes particular interest in what I do. The more I want to get closer so I can learn from some of the people that I perceive or deem as mentors, the wider the chasm between myself and them widens.

I do not think I am alone in this view. The individualistic nature of the world today has come with an attendant loss of great mentors.

Regrettably, the menace is in every walk of life. Even in our churches today, it becomes difficult for one to look up to an elderly for a mentor.

Politics, in my estimation, has received its own dose. To me the fact that many young people wading into front line politics is indicative of a vote of no confidence in the leadership or mentorship of people who have seen many years in the political game.

What I gather is a strong indication that the youth of this country is on the move to wrestling power from the older generation, most of whom have blatantly refused to provide mentorship to many of these young ones. The lesson is very profound and simple. If the elderly will not assist us, we will have no other option than to assist ourselves.

In the elections of June 13, 2015, that is the signals I picked.

Forgive and correct me if I am wrong but the fact is that most of the people who had won majority of the seats were young people, many of whom had joined the fray to unseat some long serving parliamentarians. 

I cannot at this point arrogate unto myself an all-knowing posture .The fact is that I barely know 10 of the newly young winners who have now assumed a parliamentary candidate status. Except for the few whose media presence had been so conspicuous to ignore, I do not think I would have had any firm knowledge of them or even be able to commit to memory their names.

But their dominating media presence and the fun-fair that characterized their campaigns in the cases of George Andah, Anthony Abayifaa Karbo, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah and Francesca Oteng-Mensah, were enough to mitigate my deficiency of not being able to keep names.

The lesson here is simple. If the current crop of leaders are to be sustained, they must learn to not only lead well but most importantly provide mentorship to the up and coming. Otherwise, they should always be mindful that their position will be challenged by the young generation without any modicum of courtesy.

5.    POSITION IS NEVER A POSSESSION

Sometimes, when some people get drenched in the luxury and privileges that comes with holding a position, they barely accept the view that positions are everything except possession. In some cases, the power becomes an opium that blinds them from truly seeing the realities. For this victims, they tend to believe that the above assertion is only a rhyme, couched only for its artistic purpose. 

This tends to make them almost insensitive to the plights and the needs of those whose vote shot them into the realms of leadership. They usually lose any sense urgency. In fact, their lack of respect for time and its role in the affairs of things leave them with shivers anything their tenure is under siege.

Until our leaders accept that leadership position is a time-bound opportunity of service they will always feel unsatisfied and the thought of losing grips or hold of their leadership positions will become an incurable nightmare.  

If there is any lesson I have learnt from the polls of the New Patriotic Party, the lesson that positions are time-bound or not possessions cannot be lost out on me. Any leader seeking to remain relevant and impactful must be conscious of this reality. I strongly hold that with this consciousness, Africa can see more impactful leadership than we are currently beset with.

Samuel Osarfo Boateng,

(Author, ‘‘DATES WITH MY EYES’’)

Blogger, Freelance Writer and Researcher.

www.surfos7press.wordpress.com

                                                     www.samuelcreasta.blogspot.com