I use the word STAND as a verb, “an action of staying upright or standing on one’s feet” as defined by the Oxford Learners dictionary. I ask you to STAND tall, STAND strong, STAND grateful, STAND thankful and STAND blessing others. 

S– Strength
T– Tenacity 
A – Adaptation
N– Never Quit 
D – Develop a thankful attitude 

STRENGTH

Strength is defined as “the quality or state of being physically strong” or “the capacity of an object or substance to withstand great force or pressure” by Oxford dictionary.com.  

Key ways to create and sustain strength 

1. Healthy Living: Eat healthy, exercise regularly and meditate daily (quiet time). I am an advocate for healthy living which involves eating right and getting a required level of regular exercise that your body needs to function effectively and meditating daily. As you eat right and exercise appropriately, strength is built to help you withstand stress arising from work or typical day to day activities. Meditation helps you with building mental strength to overcome challenges that could shake your very core. Over two decades and more that I have been in the marketplace, I know without a shadow of doubt my staying power is attributed to my physical state of mind, body and soul. 

1. Keep nurturing relationships: This is the time to keep healthy relationships around you. God, Family, Friends, – you must nurture and be nurtured. Relationships are designed to bring out the best in you at all times. All negative and energy relationships should be let go of no matter how much of a loss you feel it would be, it all works out for your good eventually. As you move into 2020, sustain your healthy relationships and let go of unhealthy ones

1. Faith and Hope: You must believe in something or you will fall for anything thereby diminishing your strength. My Faith is in God almighty and my Hope is in Christ His Son, this strengthens my resolve to walk through the fire and wade through the waters, I know that I am living out my purpose. Don’t lose hope. Just believe. 

1. Self-love: Pamper and treat yourself well. Be kind to yourself. Allow mistakes and learn from them. Love yourself. 

TENACITY 

Being tenacious come out of a place of strength; one flows from another.  This is a determination to survive and thrive in spite of whatever circumstances. This is you knowing that the odds may be against you but you are determined to come out tops. The ability to persevere despite tough economic conditions and many unlikely factors that affect the labour market resulting in loss of income etc. Tenacity is the currency of now for the entrepreneur and professional. 

Tenacity is a can do attitude which most employers are looking for – being tenacious also means that you would certainly be a solution seeker, looking for the best possible way to surmount challenges 

ADAPTABILITY

With the current trends in the workplace globally, adaptability is a key to being a successful individual. Adaptability as a skill refers to the ability of a person to change actions, course or approach to doing things in order to suit a new situation.

Change is constant in life and this is not different from the work place too,  with the onset of the fourth industrial revolution ; (Technology, Artificial Intelligence) the constant threat to jobs with new technologies being developed faces the professional daily, also with the recent boom in the development of applications, coding and other technological innovations being spearheaded by the millennials, one needs to adapt to these new innovations and adopt the necessary needed technologies in order to be relevant in the workforce and marketplace. As you take a stand, you ought to also keep up with the trends by learning new skills that would grow your knowledge base and ability to compete. By doing this, you are adding value to your organization while also developing yourself. 

NEVER QUIT

It has become common practice in this new age to give up at the very first sign of resistance. We are being taught to not fix it if it’s broken, however what if it is fixable? This is not to say if something is not working, you keep at it, there is a time to try another way. That’s where tenacity comes in.  If you have been working on a project, idea, product, service, book, etc; whatever it may be, do not quit if it is yet to materialize. Stay in there and look for the many alternatives that exist. An igbo proverb says ‘there are many routes to the market place”. Learn to build strength through persistence and an attitude of a champion. Champions may fall now and then but they never quit. They keep at it till they win. 

Failing at something is okay as long as you don’t let this fail make you quit. A winner uses the failure as a learning opportunity to do better. Failure is good. It all adds up to experiences you can share. This is good as long as you are not a heart surgeon!  

Stand as a champion! 

DEVELOP A THANKFUL ATTITUDE 

Being thankful is an antidote to worry. It is important that we count our blessings daily and are grateful for each passing moment. Have an attitude of gratitude. This is essential for strength building. Do things that make you happy and thankful for life.  Follow these 10 simple steps to having a “thankful” meditation daily; (10mins) . I recommend twice daily- as you wake up and just before you go to bed

1. Find a quiet place – no distractions 
2. Play low soft instrumental music in the background (I prefer either christian or classical)- guitar or piano 
3. Take deep breaths – breath in deeply count to 4, breathe out slowly count to 8
4. Focus on the where you are and your present 
5. Acknowledge life and its gifts
6. What are you thankful for? Say it out ( say as many as 10)
7. What are you most thankful for? 
8. Why are you thankful for this?
9. In what ways can you (have you expressed) your gratitude today?
10.  End by being thankful for you.