Monthly Archives: December 2006

Adeolu Akinyemi
December 31, 2006

Gratitude Attracts


Just this morning, I was opportuned to teach some teenagers about cultivating an attitude of gratitude. I think the best way to end the year is to be grateful, both for the things that were great, and the things that didn’t appear so great.

Why do you or I need to be grateful you might ask?  Well, why shouldn’t you, when there are so many reasons to be? Being alive, for one, is a good reason to be grateful.

It’s easy to be grateful for the things that go well and were expected to, but we also need to be able to show gratitude for things that didn’t go as planned. Why? Because the universe works in an interesting way. The attitude of gratitude, draws abundance and supply towards you, while the attitude of complain and ingratitude pushes away abundance and supply away from you. Continue reading →

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Adeolu Akinyemi
December 29, 2006

You were born for that role!


Neo

I got struck some days back about an interesting little event in the life of Will Smith. Will Smith, also known as Fresh Prince, is a wonder to this generation. Few human beings have been privileged to make indelible marks in television, music and film industries. He not only featured, but starred in all three industries. Will Smith is also a top notch nominee for any movie that bothered on needing a lead masculine role for a sci-fi movie. Will Smith has featured in Men in Black, I, robot, Wild wild west, e.t.c. Will smith turned down his admission in MIT (he says he would have studied computer engineering) for his rap career.

What struck me particularly was the fact that he was first approached for the role of Neo in Matrix. He turned it down! Continue reading →

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Adeolu Akinyemi
December 29, 2006

10 things I learnt this year


This year has been a great year for me, I have learnt more this year, than I have in the past years put together. I have grown and matured more this year, than all my years. It’s been wonderful for me. Don’t get me wrong this year surely had it’s rough and tough times, but each experience this year, has left me a better, more capable and wiser person. It’s really difficult for me to rank the things I have learnt this year, but I’m documenting the first ten that come to mind. Some of them may sound hard, don’t discard them because the student in you is not ready, or because you do not presently agree with them. File them away, time may tell. Continue reading →

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Adeolu Akinyemi
December 28, 2006

Ownership Paradigm


Today, I found myself asking one of the questions that undermines my personal paradigm of ownership. I asked the question, “whose fault is this, or who is to blame?” While this is a question that helps to understand the root cause of a problem, it’s also the first step in the blame game. Thinking that the problem originated from someone else, or by thinking we can make someone else responsible for the mishaps in our lives, we become irresponsible. We can trace the root of every problem back to ourselves. This might seem like being to hard on ourselves, but check it, you can’t change the world, but you can surely change yourself, and if you find an equation where changing yourself changes the world, then you have found a way to change the world. It’s like the lever principle; if the fulcrum is in the center and the weigh at the end, then the same amount of force needs to be exerted to raise the weight. The farther away the force applied is from the fulcrum, the lesser the force required to lift the weight. No wonder a scientist once said, “give me a place to stand, and I will move the world.” Focusing on ourselves and the things we can change within ourselves we can change the world.

In case you are wondering the circumstance that warranted this question, it was the explosion arising from the vandalized pipeline at Abule-egba. As of today the death toll is said to be over 700! Continue reading →

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Adeolu Akinyemi
December 25, 2006

Planning for the Year Ahead


Today is the 25th of December! It’s chrismas day! I remember what today stood for growing up as a child. It was a high point in the year worth looking forward to. Not only would we get new clothes and eat anything at home, the whole neighbourhood became our restaurant, and the best part was that the food was free. I can clearly remember discussing back then with my playmates about how many bottles of fanta or coke we had taken that day alone. We were welcome in as many as the 300 homes in our neighbourhood, and it was a taboo to answer “thank you”, when you were offered food. If you don’t want to eat there, don’t go there. As you can bet however, things are a lot different with me now :) . December 25 is still a day of celebration of the birth and purpose of Jesus Christ, that hasn’t changed. What has changed is, rather than moving from pillar to post, I now spend my Chrismas days introspectively, trying to draw out clear paths and plans for the coming year. If you haven’t, it’s a good time as well, to ask yourself, what is my plan for the coming year. Remember, what doesn’t get measured, rarely gets done! Continue reading →

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Adeolu Akinyemi
December 21, 2006

In Kano… and Missing you All


Can’t say much, the cybercafe closes in a few mins. I’m facilitating training for a company up/down (depending on where you are) here. It’s going fantastic, even I am tripped. Considering the fact that the airline trapped my luggage in Lagos (don’t ask me which one…I might be handsomely settled for keeping my mouth shut), I’m not doing or looking badly. Continue reading →

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Adeolu Akinyemi
December 20, 2006

Start from where you are!


Over last weekend we had another mentorship session. We have successfully run it twice now, and generally made up our mind that this will be a monthly event (If you are interested, you can send a mail to topsiesuzie@gmail.com indicating your interest). It’s one of those meetings that you finish and reassure yourself again that there is nothing better to do, than to invest in the futures of others. I have always been a strong proponent of, whatever you make happen for others happens for you.

Another interesting thing about these mentorship sessions is that it has been a great learning experience for me as well. We go into them ready to pour ourselves out, but in the middle of the session where we ask questions and share experiences, we all learn. The key hightlight for me in this last session was, starting from where you are. Someone gave an example of what he was doing (I’ll change the someone to a name, if the person comments that I can divulge his name), and for me that was a great example of starting from where you are. You won’t move forward complaining about your circumstances and wishing for a better company, relationship, boss or environment. Within you lies the capacity to access what you want, but the door is not far away, it’s right there where you are. Continue reading →

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Adeolu Akinyemi
December 20, 2006

Are you ready for your Next Level?


The end of the year is a very valueable time. It’s the time when many purpose driven people sit back to take stock and plan for the coming year. Like all times, time passes when we refuse to assign it to a purpose. The time we have is the one that we assign, aging does not require activity, growing does.

There are some concepts in change management theory that applies to everybody, individuals and corporations alike, by asking yourself a few critical questions, you would be able to identify where you are, and how to plan for the immediate future you desire. You have a next level, in your relationship, career, financial status, social status, e.t.c. When you are ready for your next level, a process begins to evolve, if you are concious of this process, you are better at managing yourself into your next level. Are you ready for your next level? Continue reading →

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