Lisa Nichols, contributing author of The Secret and one of the great inspirational speakers of our time, believes the best way to stay motivated when continuing your education is to “begin with the end in mind.” Pushing forward through challenges is what makes accomplishment so gratifying. Every accomplishment leads to personal growth. Nichols believes that making the completion of your degree “non-negotiable” means that you will not settle for anything less.
Kaplan University’s online degree programs cater to the busy lifestyle of today’s working professional. The distance learning programs available at Kaplan University could help you further your career, potentially lead to advancement opportunities, and assist in creating a different lifestyle for you and your family.* Nichols relates her own life experiences as a single mother working full time in this inspirational video that address the challenges Kaplan University students may be facing. She encourages students to recognize how important pursuing a degree can be to their professional success. Perhaps one of the most powerful messages Nichols relays is to focus on the positive outcome continuing education can bring. She urges students to “stay motivated by not checking into how difficult it might be” but to “check in with how sweet it gets to be.”
*Kaplan University's programs are designed to prepare graduates to pursue employment in their field of study, or in related fields. However, the University does not guarantee that graduates will be placed in any particular job, eligible for job advancement opportunities, or employed at all. Additional training or certification may be required.
“I would say to a Kaplan [University] student, ‘You’ve really made a decision to take your life by the reigns, to give yourself a second, third, fourth, fifth chance. That this season is your season and that you’ve served everyone else and this gift is a gift for you.’ When you serve yourself you allow yourself to then begin to serve everyone else from your overflow. But one of the things I would mainly say is that when you’ve been good to you, this is a gift, when you’ve been good to you then you’ll serve with more gratitude to everyone else so hold on to this. Hold on to this moment; carve out time. There’s never enough time. There are a hundred people that are going to pull at you- carve out this space for you. Say, ‘You know what? I’ve nurtured everyone, I’ve served everyone, this is my moment. This is my time to shine. This journey with Kaplan [University] is super important to me and it’s non-negotiable.’
When you say ‘no matter what,’ graduating should be ‘no matter what.’ ‘No matter what’ means I’ve removed every other option off the table. Graduating and taking advantage of this opportunity is something that nothing else can happen but this; this is non-negotiable. When you move everything else off the table other than making it, the only thing left is making it and so I would say to the Kaplan [University] student, ‘you’ve already jumped in, now say ‘no matter what’.’
I think one of the ways to stay motivated is to begin with the end in mind. See yourself on graduation day, see yourself with a certificate saying, ‘I completed. I did it. It’s done.’ See yourself in the lifestyle that this accomplishment will award you to have. When you being with the end in mind and you get so viscerally and emotionally connected to the outcome. Steven Covey, the author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, says, ‘Begin with the end in mind.’ See it, believe it, taste it, walk it, talk it, feel it and then go every day just getting to that feeling in reality. Have such a barometer to show you where you’re going and know what it looks like to be there and then become non-negotiable on it.
Stay motivated by not checking into how difficult it might be, check in with how sweet it gets to be. I believe that my life today is a result of hunkering down and seeing myself in a place where I wasn’t; seeing myself in a lifestyle th
New York Times bestselling author Mary B. Morrison’s emotionally charged new African American novel The Eternal Engagement chronicles the sacrifices, betrayals, and choices of three individuals who’ll do anything for true love. Each will learn how every heart has a secret. Learn more about this book here, http://bit.ly/lS8obR and its author here, http://www.marymorrison.com/ African American
“A TENSE AND RIVETING PIECE OF ACTION CINEMA… IMPRESSIVE FIGHT SEQUENCES… BONE-CRUSHING VIOLENCE.” – TWITCH.
Winner of eight honours at the prestigious Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony, including Best Film, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Action Choreography, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume and Make-up Design and Best Original Film Score, and the winner of the Best Actor (Wang Xueqi) and Best Supporting Actor (Nicholas Tse) prizes at this year’s Asian Film Awards, the epic, period action movie Bodyguards And Assassins is a dramatic fictionalized retelling of the suspenseful events of 1906 that eventually led to the 1911 Xinhai Revolution and the founding of the Republic of China.
Directed by Teddy Chan (The Accidental Spy) and featuring an impressive cast of Hong Kong and China’s biggest stars, including Donnie Yen (Ip Man; Kill Zone), Leon Lai (An Empress And The Warriors; Seven Swords), Xueqi Wang (Forever Enthralled; Warriors Of Heaven And Earth; The Red Suit), Tony Leung Ka Fai (Missing; The Myth), Nicholas Tse (Dragon Tiger Gate; New Police Story; The Medallion) and Simon Yam (Ip Man; Triangle), Bodyguards And Assassins is a sumptuously staged, action-packed blockbuster, full of political intrigue, tragedy and drama that will appeal as much to lovers of quality cinema as it will to martial arts aficionados.
On October 15th 1906, the man destined to become the Father of Modern China, Dr. Sun Yat-sen, is due to arrive in the British Colony of Hong Kong to discuss plans to overthrow the corrupt Qing Dynasty with a group of leading anti-Qing revolutionaries. Aware of Sun’s intentions, the Qing Court dispatches an elite army of assassins to the port where Sun is due to arrive, with orders to see to it that he never makes it to his appointment and does not leave the colony alive.
Receiving news of the proposed assassination, a newspaper editor and a local tycoon, both sympathetic supporters of the revolution, take it upon themselves to protect Dr. Sun at any cost. To help ensure his safety they recruit a motley band of fellow sympathisers, friends and acquaintances, all skilled in martial arts combat to act as Sun’s bodyguards. Additionally, they devise a risky plan to secretly replace the assassins’ target with a human decoy in an attempt to lead the killers away from their quarry.
As Sun arrives on the fateful day, the stage is set for a bloody confrontation in which a small group of selflessly courageous men and women will risk their lives fighting against hundreds of adversaries in a conflict that will determine the fate of millions.
Cleverly taking his time to establish his characters, their back-stories, motives and sub-plots in the deliberately paced first half of the film, director Chan expertly unleashes a barrage of non-stop, action set-pieces in a final hour that will leave viewers breathless.
Among the many standout sequences in a film that manages to be as emotionally involving and moving as it is exciting are a brilliantly directed sequence that echoes Brian De Palma’s homage (from “The Untouchables”) to Eisenstein’s famous Odessa Steps sequence from “Battleship Potemkin”, an extended free-running duel involving Donnie Yen and Cung Le, and a ‘man versus horse’ confrontation that is nothing short of jaw-dropping.
Bodyguards And Assassins will be released on DVD (£12.99) and Blu-ray (£19.99) by E1 Entertainment on 31st May 2010.
