Building a great life

Opinion & Analysis

By Jonah Nyoni | May. 31, 2025 | 6 Min read

I HAVE received numerous responses to this column and most people would want to know how to reach their destiny.

Most people want a happy life.

Some people might not admit it but they want to live a debt-free life.

They want to be in control and be free to do what they want, at a time they want and with whom they want.

Most people want to be impactful, fulfilled and have a particular income.

Who would not want to spend their lives the way they want?

Some people might not agree to a better life, but they cry for a pay rise, complain about their boss who is domineering, they whine about the economy which is not doing well.

Those are signs that people want a better life. How bad enough do you want the life you want?

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Life has to be upbeat! But that does not happen because we wish so or want it so, but because we have become relentless and not satisfied in our current life’s results or realities.

You must want it so badly. The majority wish it and they end on wishing.

Some walk towards it, but when things become tough they give up.

Some say: not everyone is successful, so why worry?

And they follow the band wagon of the masses that are ever complaining and blaming everyone but themselves.

Start where you are

You don’t become successful in “some” future date.

You become successful now. Some people say I will start on a project when things become right. What if such a day does not come?

Success is not what we will bump into or wait for, but something we build every day.

Some people have written to me and they complain that they have no money and that is the reason why they have not done anything about the life they want.

Because of this column, three people have written to me asking for organisations that will give them seed capital.

Two have asked for money from me to start a project because I would have written something that relates to them.

That’s the mistake that more people make in their life.

They wait until they have no energy to do anything at all.

Success has less to do with what other people will do for you, but it has everything to do with what you do to yourself.

Don’t wait for someone to do it for you but start where you are. Start small and start now!

Quit bad habits

Success is based on habits and so is failure.

Change your desires by choosing what you focus on.

Quit bad habits and adopt new ones.

Let’s say you are addicted to watching television, replace that by reading a book that improves your mind.

Define your WHY in life? Why do you do what you are doing?

That will help you get the reason why you always get the same results you have had.

Develop a set of habits that will catapult you new results.

Systematically improve one habit at a time to dramatically shift your life.

Change your belief systems and change your life.

Take a notebook and write bad habits that are inhibiting you in your life on the left side and in the middle, draw a straight line down and write your new habits that you are going to adopt.

After you have done that, strike your bad habits with a red pen. Work on your new habits daily.

First accept that you have bad habits.

Secondly, I have a desire to quit.

Thirdly, look for tools and skills that will help you change.

Finally, work on your new habits daily.

Social capital

Some relationships are cancerous to your success.

Those bad relationships might not show at first, but they will slowly eat into your energy, suck you passion, steal your peace, poison your attitude and ultimately bog you down.

It’s so hard to convince some people that their friends are their greatest enemies.

Time management

Time has been given equally to everyone and the question is how you use this special resource called time.

You don’t have time for everything and that is the reason why you should manage it.

Get control of your time. Invest most of your time on what you want to accomplish.

There are time wasters and you should be mindful of them. Balance your time. Plan for your time.

Spend the best and the bulk of your time investing and thinking about the future.

I have had a big challenge trying to help people trapped in this problem called “past mentality”.

Most people have wasted their time in the past and that has robbed them of treasures that the future holds.

They are stuck and tormented in the quagmire of what they did not do and what they did not do right.

That is lost time. They replay the wrong tape in their mind.

They have sleepless nights thinking of their divorce, an abortion, bad decisions, bad business, mistakes, and all they missed in the past.

Autosuggestion

See who you want to become in the pictures of your mind. See the best.

If you are a speaker like me, see yourself speaking to thousands and helping people becoming better.

Make visuals that will constantly remind you who you will become.

Paint images or print pictures and stick them in your office, bedroom and anywhere where they will remind you of where you want to be.

I still remember it was in 2008, I printed the cover of one of my books I must publish.

People would come into my office and ask me when the book would come out.

It was not there yet and some would laugh at me.

But the image constantly reminded me of what I wanted and today I am an author of four published books and more are still to come.

That has come with more benefits.

I have featured in newspapers, TV and radio.

Different organisations call me to speak and I enjoy the money side of things too.

Those are things that I did not plan for, but I worked on my dream daily until I became who I am today. It just started as a picture.

Self-discipline

Success consists of simple steps.

The body might not want to work, but you have to exercise restraint enough to do that which you must do at the right time.

As I always say, success is not by chance, but by those changes you make in your life.

Set a clear goal and start to work on it.

Write down the goal or any activity and the date when it should be achieved.

Let’s say you want to read a book every month, allocate yourself hours you are going to do it.

If you are a book writer like me, set dates as to when your book will be published.

The reason why I emphasise discipline is that there are obstacles along the way, but don’t stop on your obstacles.

Daily growth programme

Success takes small steps we take daily.

Our daily rituals become our reality.

Start your morning by using the following simple steps: Plan out, map out your day. Exercise. Read your bible or something that builds your inner drive. Review your dreams. Eat well in the morning and mediate- think, dream and pray.

How bad do you want it?

Your desire should be so strong.

How bad do you want your dream to come to fulfilment?

Game changers are people that want it bad enough. Learn from the best.

Strive to become a game changer.

Want it as though it was already there.

Want is as though it was the last thing and only thing needed to stay alive. Fight for it! Have strong faith! Don’t give up on your dream.