Between the year 2013 and 2014, I worked as a sales representative in a supermarket that was owned by a woman. My job was primarily to manage the drink section of the store. I sold soft drinks and water in wholesale and retail quantity. As time went on, I eventually got promoted to the major provisions section and it was there I learnt something really important. I learned how to take stock of goods.

If I were to startup a supermarket business today, I think, in fact, I know I will really do well. My boss taught me a lot of things about taking stock. She would take a book and a pen and move around the store, shelf to shelf, taking stock of the quantity, type, amount of the goods till the very last item, even down to pins. When she buys new goods, she puts them down in a book. Thereafter, she calculates, adds and subtracts, and makes sure it's updated. It was so precise and effective that even if you took a cube of sugar out of the store, she would know. Sounds magical right? But that's the power of taking stock.

Through this process, she was able to monitor her progress, ascertain for sure which products had better sales so it would help streamline her focus, she was able to discover products that didn't move market at all as well.

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Any business man or woman that doesn't know how to take stock of his/her business will most likely not be able to monitor their progress.
Recently, I went to Shoprite Mall, Festac, Lagos (for those of you who don't know, it's in Nigeria) to shop for some supplies for the office, but on reaching there, they were not opened for business. On their entrance hung a large sign that read, "Sorry, we are taking stock, therefore,we will not be open for business between 9am to 3pm." That made me learn of the importance of taking stock.

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Now, taking stock is not exclusive to business owners alone, but , is also applicable in our lives as well, which leads to my subject matter : TAKING STOCK OF YOUR LIFE.

To take stock means to make an evaluation of something. Contextually, to take stock means to take an evaluation or examination of our lives. The relevance of this can never be over-emphasized. No business can survive without it neither can your life amount to anything meaningful without a critical evaluation and examination of your life.

Taking stock destroys confusion, assumptions and helps you have a better understanding of yourself. It helps you understand what's going on in every area of your life and helps you monitor your progress. Through this, you are able to ascertain your strengths and build on them, know your weaknesses and work them out. Even the Scripture recognizes the importance of this when it admonishes us to judge and examine our lives.

How to Take Stock of your life

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In your privacy (one without disturbances and distractions), take out a pen and a notepad
Take a long, hard assessment of every aspect of your life. Make sure to think about it critically. You will now begin to evaluate the following aspects of your life and rate them on a scale of 1 to 10.

1
How is your spiritual life (if you have any)? What's your relationship with God like? Are you making steady, visible progress or are you stagnant, or worse, retrogressing?

2
How is your relationship with people? Your family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, and mates. Do you maintain a healthy relationship with people or does this area need work?

3
How is your financial life? Is there even anything to write concerning it? What's really happening here? Do you have a steady flow of income or not? Do you lavish unwisely. Do you have savings?

4
How is your health? A healthy life is priceless. Are you healthy or sickly most of the time? How's your weight loss/weight gain plan working out so far? Do I eat healthy? Exercise?

5
How is your intellectual life? What have you been doing to improve on your intellect? What materials do you feed your brain with? Do you struggle with learning. How have your grades been doing? What effort have you made to acquire knowledge on your field of specialization?

6
How is your career? Has your hardwork been commesurate with your paycheck? How well do you relate with your employer and colleagues? Have you earned that promotion yet? Do you have clients at all? Why did you fail/succeed at this business?

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Feel free to include any aspect of your life not listed here and provide a very honest evaluation.
The essence of doing this is to know which areas of your life you are making progress in and which areas need serious work.

Think about your life
Take stock of your life
Have a happy life!
Thank's for reading.

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