Archive for the 'Self Development' Category

Feb 20 2010

Windows of Opportunity

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Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing at all – Helen Keller
In the classification of Robin Sharma (Bestselling author of the Monk who Sold his Ferrari) – Opportunities are “cubic centimeters of chance”. They are tiny windows that provide themselves, so small they are often missed, but so important they are the windows of hope that light up our world with hope and endless possibilities.

Opportunities are life’s gifts, framed in lenght by time, and in breadth by chance. Sometimes you get the chance but miss the time, sometimes you get the time, and miss the chance. It’s opportunity when your time and chance are smack dab! Those who Pass Over Opportunities Repeatedly are termed POOR. Those who maximize their little windows are labelled favoured, fortunate or even blessed. We all have these windows open for us per time. Most often they are in the direction of our fears, most often they come dressed up in overalls called work, sometimes they are in that relationship you never cultivated, that business you never got involved with, that place you never went. Opportunities are regularly knocking on your door, sometimes so slowly you attribute it to something else, sometimes so silently the noise of your fears and worries clutters it.

Here are a few thoughts to help you identify and maximize the opportunities around you. Please don’t bother reading if you won’t take action, it will be a waste of your time! Continue Reading »

9 responses so far

Feb 14 2010

Possibility Seeking Expression

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“Desire is possibility seeking expression” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is perhaps one of the most apt definitions of desire I have come across in my personal development journey. I stumbled on this quote in the book, Science of Getting Rich, and it’s a quote and a theme that has appeared quite frequently after that in my journey. Desire is possibility seeking expression or function seeking performance. This means that the desire that you have, is an indication of possibilities. You do not  have the desire, if the thing that is desired is impossible. It might have been impossible to the world before you came, but once the desire is birthed in you, it triggers a vision or is triggered by one, and it only takes commitment and time.

Just recently I listened to an audio where the speaker was narrating the story of Bill Gates from an interesting mind lens. According to him, Bill Gates had a vision while he was in Harvard.  He had a vision that one day, computers will be a household phenomena and that there will be operating systems running on them. Whether this was a vision he saw in the day or night is not clear, but there was something that he saw, heard or felt that came to him that made him believe such a future unseen possibility. Recollect, that the world vision ahead of that time, sponsored by the leader in the computer industry was captured in the quote below.

“I think there’s a world market for about 5 computers.”-(Thomas J. Watson, Chairman of the Board, IBM, circa 1948)

Bill Gates caught a glimpse of a possibility seeking expression, and that thought propelled him and his partner Paul Allen to drop out of arguably the worlds most prestigious university and to ultimately found Microsoft. I have read Bill Gates biography a number of times, I’m a fan of his in quite some regards. The concept of Bill Gates having insights into an unseen, and organizing his life to allow the unseen to have expression ala walking in faith got me to read some excerpts of his biography again. I decided to be Berean, and search out his story to see a trace of what guided him into being the richest man in the world for 15yrs+ Continue Reading »

10 responses so far

Dec 17 2009

Random Thoughts

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Today, I simply feel like freestyling, too many topics fighting in my mind for attention, I don’t want to be bound by one topic. As I reminisce over the last 11 months of this amazing year, my heart swells with gratitude to God, and is slightly punctuated by unexpressed tears gathering momentum in my tear sac. My mind is well trained, not to ask the questions for which the answers are clear. Today is (I can’t seem to use past tense) my mum’s birthday, and oh, how I miss calling her and and hearing her reassuring voice.  So today, I just want to well it out from my heart, demonstrate gratitude by counting the blessings that can be counted in public, sharing the bitter sweet lessons, and giving everybody a reason to have hope, to trust and to obey.
Mummy’s Day
It’s my mum’s day today, and though I know the righteous do not die, they sleep, I miss her.  If you read the two articles I wrote at the time of her departure in the second half of this year, you’ll see what an enigma she was. Sweet mother and Lessons from the life of my mum. Interestingly however, even though fast asleep from this current existence, she’s more alive than many who still have breath, or how do you reconcile these things. On my Fathers birthday for example, my mum’s phone suddenly comes back to live and starts beeping and alarm, on the face of the phone was a cake and lights and a message – Jo’s (meaning sweetheart) birthday! My father was happily shocked and told me about it, in my mind the phrase that rang – “Still relevant!”. A few weeks ago, my dad asked me to tell any of my friends coming to Lagos to him, that my mum’s farm of Yams have just been harvested and he wants to send the yam to all the children (we) and siblings.  We are still eating the yam from my mum’s farm, it’s a lot of yam as it was a huge farm, in my mind? Still relevant! You are alive and well, are you relevant? Who are you relevant to? Is your life relevant to now, and are you living to be relevant in eternity?Relationships
Whenever I think about this year, one of the things I’m most grateful for are the people God has brought into my life. Please understand that whatever God will deliver into your hands must come via the vehicle of people, value will change hands till that which you desire comes to you. He who is seperated from all relationships is on the pathway to ruin. This year has been a great year for me in the context of relationships. I’m in a friendly relationship with so many great people, my personal accessible network has doubled. I have also added value to more people than I have ever, travelled more widely and simply enjoyed the company of family and friends who last year were total strangers. The door to my abundance is wide, there are many channels through which the divine can cause my desires to reach me. It’s worth every clap and shout of praise.
Are you conciously adding value to people? Are you building quality relationships? Or is this your year of  ”My Job first”? Poeple are our connectors with our possibilities, they are the access points through which our desires are delivered, they are our options. Don’t let work clubber you into a position where all that is left with you, are the people you are forced to work with, who don’t like you very much and who you don’t send either.
Opportunities
I had a few great opportunities this year, I also had many not so good opportunities. What I have learnt however is that if one is great it sometimes covers for 20 others.  One success wipes away the memory of many failures. The challenge is not in failing, it is stopping short of success.  This year has been a year of tremendous learning for me,  infact it has made me look back in time with absolutely no regrets, as even the rough and rugged times of my life have prepared me for the opportunity of now.  No experience in life is a waste, every experience shifts your benchmark, sharpens your mind and prepares you for the next. I am sincerely sad for those whose past failures have numbed from positive movement. I’m sad for those who have taken their current realities as the TRUTH and have refused to listen to the inner guidance of their maker. I weep for those who will not amount to much in life, because fear has eaten deep into the fabrics of their soul. Does your philosophy allow you to seek for opportunities, or do you operate with a closed mind and limited options?

Today, I simply feel like freestyling, too many topics fighting in my mind for attention, I don’t want to be bound by one topic. As I reminisce over the last 11 months of this amazing year, my heart swells with gratitude to God, and is slightly punctuated by unexpressed tears gathering momentum in my tear sac. My mind is well trained, not to ask the questions for which the answers are clear. Today is (I can’t seem to use past tense) my mum’s birthday, and oh, how I miss calling her and and hearing her reassuring voice.  So today, I just want to well it out from my heart, demonstrate gratitude by counting the blessings that can be counted in public, sharing the bitter sweet lessons, and giving everybody a reason to have hope, to trust and to obey.

Mummy’s Day

It’s my mum’s day today, and though I know the righteous do not die, they sleep, I miss her.  If you read the two articles I wrote at the time of her departure in the second half of this year, you’ll see what an enigma she was. Sweet mother and Lessons from the life of my mum. Interestingly however, even though fast asleep from this current existence, she’s more alive than many who still have breath, or how do you reconcile these things. On my Fathers birthday for example, my mum’s phone suddenly comes back to live and starts beeping and alarm, on the face of the phone was a cake and lights and a message – Jo’s (meaning sweetheart) birthday! My father was happily shocked and told me about it, in my mind the phrase that rang – “Still relevant!”. A few weeks ago, my dad asked me to tell any of my friends coming to Lagos to him, that my mum’s farm of Yams have just been harvested and he wants to send the yam to all the children (we) and siblings.  We are still eating the yam from my mum’s farm, it’s a lot of yam as it was a huge farm, in my mind? Still relevant! You are alive and well, are you relevant? Who are you relevant to? Is your life relevant to now, and are you living to be relevant in eternity? Continue Reading »

30 responses so far

Nov 12 2009

Bankers, Ticketing Agents and Sewing Machines

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Advert : Be a Part of This Fantastic Opportunity

It’s been a while I have been brooding on this topic, and I do not mean to personally attack anybody or any profession. What you are about to read may upset you, it may also set you free and motivate you. I have learnt however that life is made up of what we choose. Many students often attend the same class and get different grades, it’s not because the teacher  taught them different things, it’s because of the choices they made. Usually, when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.

These three, Bankers, Ticketing Agents and Sewing Machines have one stricking similarity. I know because I have been around many bankers and have a good number as friends,  I have also worked with an airline and even drawn up job descriptions for ticketing agents. I also grew up watching my mum use a sewing machine. Their point of similarity is a sobering reality. A reality that every one of you reading this mail must make it a point of duty to break away from. It must be your prayer point, a strong desire, infact a burning passion never to share this trait with any of these icons. Continue Reading »

40 responses so far

Oct 14 2009

Staying Relevant in the 21st Century

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The last few weeks have been hectic for me. So hectic, I have not been able to do that which I love – write! In these weeks however I have met with hundreds of people, in an audience and in close range, and the more I engage with people, the more I realize that the world has changed. (I promised a young lady that I’ll mention her… her surname is Bello – remind me pls :) )Just less than a century ago, the world ran without light bulbs, without TV and without the computer. Imagine a world without these things, yet men and women faired well. Interestingly however a lot of work had gone on in the close of the 19th century that birthed these things in the wake of 20th century. The tools changed and the old way of doing things became obsolete. In the same way, a lot of new things started to pop up in the close of the 20th century, some of these things are already taking roots in the 21st Century and except you and I are well equipped, we are about to become obsolete.
Different times call for different skills. I won’t mince words with you, if you don’t upgrade, you will gradually degrade. In this new day and age, stagnancy is redundancy, stationary is backward! If you are not moving forward, you are moving backward, the middle ground is losing it’s relevance, you are either action prone or you might not even be worthy of being called a spectator. I hope for your own sake that you do not wait for 10yrs from now to make meaning out of what I’m writing to you. It is crucial that you embrace new skills or you’ll be the gateman or nightwatch man of the next generation. Trust me, it doens’t matter how much money you have in your account today, like Warren Buffet said -”It’s all on paper”.
You want to be relevant and make impact in this generation? The following are assets you must have.
1. Communication Skills
Learn how to talk, how to write and very importantly how to listen! These have always been important skills, but their value in this emerging world economy is going to be unbelievable. It doesn’t matter if it’s to one or to a crowd, your speech must envoke respect, your letters motivate action and your attention captivating! Learn to communicate exceptionally well. Go for courses, study others, read books, develop your ability to say the same thing in the best way, and to hear what others miss. Evaluate yourself as fair, that way you can gun for better and best.
Can you talk to another person? Can you speak to a crowd? Can you sustain your thoughts in front of an audience? Do you fidget or get scattered when talking to others? Do you have a good attention span?
2. A Rich Network
Learn to cultivate and build a network. Today, life is not about what you know, or who you know. It’s about what you know, who you know, who knows you and for what? Who you know is meaningless if you can’t leverage on the relationship. Successful people in this age will be people who have a rich network. Rich is big, rich is great relationships, rich is useful networks. Friends are like clothes, when you are down to nothing they keep you looking great, ane when you are up to something, they give you presence. This is the generation that kills the lone ranger and murders it’s stars. Your relevance is not in how better than everybody else you are, it’s a function of how much you have invested in bringing others up to where you are. It’s easy to break a broom stick but difficult to bend a bunch. Exist in strong clusters, and stay alive and relevant.
Do you belong to any society? Do you have a network of people that are different from you? If you suddenly need a bailout do you have people who can come to your rescue? Do you need loans from friends or strangers?
3. Internet Leverage
The point and click technology was invented in 1993. Prior to this time, only geeks could browse the internet. It was strictly a command prompt concept and you needed to be almost a programmer to access the world wide web. With point and click, the internet was partially democratized. Today, the usage is growing exponentially. If you don’t have a footprint on the internet, you will be irrelevant and forgotten in a few years. I’m not talking about merely having an email address or a facebook account. I’m saying have presence, learn the many tools that afford you the opportunity to leverage on the internet. The age of small kiosk in the middle of nowhere is fast phasing out, get online and get relevant! People that have a few more years to live are leveraging on the internet, I pity young people without a clue.
Do you have a website? How many friends do you have on facebook? When I search your name on google how many results do I get? Is there anything else I can search for to find you? What is your address on earth? What is your address on the internet?
4. Investments in People
When something becomes a mere cliche it robs us of the true value of the meanings. Phrases like “people are our greatest assets” are so often said that people seldom pause to take in the realities, at least for this century. Mark my words, everything people are investing in will crumble and ultimately fall. Real Estate prices will crash, stock prices will further plummet, businesses will run down, and intellectual property will face lawsuits. The only thing that will appreciate is the value of the investments you have made in people! There are strong spiritual undertones running beneath the current of my words, you can go into the scriptures to search them out, but believe it, the only investment that always pays is that made in people. When you give to the poor, you lend to God! When you empower another, your reward is not bound by the earth, it transcends this realm. Are you making investments in people?
Are you anybody’s mentor? Is someone blessing God they met you? Or are you too busy taking care of yourself? Does your plan include anyone else? Is one day in a school in 4 months enough? Are you making anybody? Or are you simply focused on your own career path? Don’t be a rich fool!
5. Influence
I’ve said this before, I’m writing it again, everybody sells something. Either an opinion, themselves, products or services. If you can’t generate leads and convert them, you are going to be at the bottom of the food chain in this century. Develop your ability to sell, to convince or influence another. Influence is a powerful concept, like fire and many powerful things, it can be used morally or ammorally. Influence is a necessary asset for this day and age.
Are you influencial? Does your opinion count to any others? Do you have an opinion? Are you pushing your opinion? Or are you dead silent?
6. Self Development
It has been said that they key to the 21st century would be the ability to learn, unlearn and relearn. You want to succeed in this century, you must develop yourself. The centre for learning and development has moved however, it has moved away from the physical schools as we once knew it. Learning takes place not when the teacher stands, but when the student is ready. The drive of learning in this century is you and I, the students. We must learn by reading, we must learn from wise people, we must learn from the experiences of others, and by all means we must learn by our own experiences. I tell people, when you try, you fail, when you fail, you learn, when you learn, you ultimately succeed! Failure is the grandparent of success, learning it’s mother, and trying the great grand parent. It has been said that readers are leaders, I beg to slightly disagree, readers could be historians, but leaders and definitely readers!
What is your philosophy and what informs it? What is your paradigm on society, or religion, on finance, on politics or have you allowed your schooling to tamper with your education? This is an age where slowness is determined by how long it takes you to understand. Do you analyze and theorize or do you get your hands dirtied and your nose bloodied in the gathering of knowledge and experience. In the partway of knowledge there are no regrets, only lessons, are you learning for real, or are you still holding on to what your teacher told you? When you were 18, you wanted to be a Dr. Now you are are a Doctor and are 30, shoudl you continue to let the 18yr old dictate the life of the 30yr old, or should you look at your life in fresh light?

The last few weeks have been hectic for me. So hectic, I have not been able to do that which I love – write! In these weeks however I have met with hundreds of people, in an audience and in close range, and the more I engage with people, the more I realize that the world has changed. (I promised a young lady that I’ll mention her… her surname is Bello – remind me pls :) )Just less than a century ago, the world ran without light bulbs, without TV and without the computer. Imagine a world without these things, yet men and women faired well. Interestingly however a lot of work had gone on in the close of the 19th century that birthed these things in the wake of 20th century. The tools changed and the old way of doing things became obsolete. In the same way, a lot of new things started to pop up in the close of the 20th century, some of these things are already taking roots in the 21st Century and except you and I are well equipped, we are about to become obsolete.

Different times call for different skills. I won’t mince words with you, if you don’t upgrade, you will gradually degrade. In this new day and age, stagnancy is redundancy, stationary is backward! If you are not moving forward, you are moving backward, the middle ground is losing it’s relevance, you are either action prone or you might not even be worthy of being called a spectator. I hope for your own sake that you do not wait for 10yrs from now to make meaning out of what I’m writing to you. It is crucial that you embrace new skills or you’ll be the gateman or nightwatch man of the next generation. Trust me, it doens’t matter how much money you have in your account today, like Warren Buffet said -”It’s all on paper”. Continue Reading »

48 responses so far

Sep 12 2009

How to Make Decisions

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We are where we are today, because of decisions that we made. Life is a journey, it’s a long road with many junctions, it’s a giant maze. The junction you and I chose to follow determine our destination, and determine our experience. Take it from me, decision making the most important activity we’ll ever engage in. Everything else stems from our decisions. He who leads, excels or succeeds does so based on decisions. The only measurable output of your thinking is your decision. Once again  however, our curriculum does not arm us at any level with how to make decisions.

“Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision.” – Peter Drucker (Management Guru)

This reminds me of the story of an economic adviser to a great king. This king always relied on his adviser to help him with his economically oriented decisions, but typical of all economists, the adviser will offer him a detailed analysis of why to do things in a certain way on one hand, and reasons why he can do it the other way on the other hand. The king would need to make a decision, and at the end of the day will hear two possibilities, one version on one hand, and the other on the other hand. This got the king really frustrated, and anxious to end his persistent confusion. The king thought long and hard, and finally came up with a decision that is indeed the mother of all decisions. The decision that will help him simplify his decision making process. After he did that, his life became simple, and he became successful. Continue Reading »

19 responses so far

Sep 04 2009

Mind Your Language

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Wheeeh, wheeeh…. weeeeh. These were probably the first words your lips ever uttered. It’s incomprehensible in most languages, it’s the first communication that typically leaves the lips of a baby. We were not born with the skill of any language, we learnt to talk! Where you and I are today in our use of language, is a function of what we have learnt, or allowed ourselves to learn. Like with most things however, less than 20% of humanity occupy a proficiency level higher than 80%. For most of us, the powerful tool of words is grossly underutilized. My objective in this peice is to arm you with a comprehensive talkkit to enable you achieve more with your mouth.

Before you delve into this specially prepared delicacy, let me further whet your appetite. If you get things right with your words, it can literally help to turn your life around. You can experience more joy, more wealth, greater relationships, better self awareness and esteem, you’ll ooze  more confidence,  be more charming, achieve more and your game will clearly step up. If you make use of what you are about to read, and form habits out of some of these instructions, you will become successful, you will radically improve and your progress and the comments it will elicit from your friends and family will be UNBELIEVABLE! Continue Reading »

13 responses so far

Jun 14 2009

Lessons from the Road

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“Last month’s winner was, Ikotun Adebisi, he wins a hosting account with nairahost and a pack of 200 minibooks to do with as he pleases – pls Join me in Congratulating him”

travel

I’m currently writing from somewhere under OAU Ife health sciences building, and it’s 1.01am. It’s been unduely long since I had internet access, and it’s alse been a long tiring day. I moved straight from the Aiport from Abuja to Ife, yesterday, and it was a very long  journey. I went in the company of a team of great people, My Wife (Temitope Akinyemi), Christian Love and Joshua Adeyemi. We set out from Lagos at 4pm only to arrive at OAU ife at after 2.00am in the morning. I’m greatly troubled for this nation, that what we have refused to solve collectively is beginning to hunt us individually. May we rise up and connect!

The journey was filled with loads of intruiges that culminated in a totally trapping situation when in the pitch dark night in the middle of nowhere, we suddently entered a ditch and lost two tires! We had only one spare tire and were trapped for sure, it was dark all around, and there was this sensing in the air, that if we waited too long where our tires went flat, we might  discover the people that are responsible for setting the trap if any. With two tires down and only one spare, we decided to keep moving on against all odds, and in that journey of 10hrs  (sufficient time to fly to the US direct). In that journey however, there are key lessons to learn and apply to life. Continue Reading »

41 responses so far

Feb 20 2009

The Greatest Game

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I’m sure this will create different answers in different minds. Is there a game that can be classified as the greatest? Is it football, hockey, golf, cricket or basket ball? Or is it one of those not too popular games that has been discovered to have the capacity to excite and fascinate us the most? Which is the greatest game on earth, and what are the parameters that make it so? Do we measure by the thrills? The population of the world actively engaged in the game or it’s process? The degree by which our lives are affected by them or do we use statistics from opinion polls?

Whatever it is that we chose to use however, certain facts are undeniable. Football is a game that has the capacity to literally arrest a great percentage of the world in front of their television sets. More people in the world play golf and football more than any game. The thrill and the followership of basketball in America and increasingly globally is on the increase. The fanatic support of teams, of stars and of championships is tending towards idolatory. The games have become a rallying point of our social lives, we spend days watching, spend hours talking, minutes updating the scores and seconds rejoicing. These games are great, but none of them qualifies as the greatest game in the world. Continue Reading »

43 responses so far

Feb 03 2009

How to Shine in Darkness

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Announcements

The winner for top commentator last month was Jesus Freak {applause}. He wins his own hosting and domain account. Please contact me to redeem it. I will announce the other winnings with other posts.


I am not sure if I ever mentioned what this year was for me, in case I didn’t, it’s my year of shining. At the time I accepted that as my word for the year, I didn’t have clarity on how much darkness would exist. I was more interested however in knowing what I needed to do so that my light could shine.  It’s one thing to be a light, it’s another thing to shine the light. 

There is no gainsaying that if you have any light in you, this year is one of the best times in the history of the world to shine it. People will move from absolute obscurity to prominence this year. People will rally round carriers of light. This is the year that if you have knowledge, information, the capacity to enlighten or educate, you will be sought after. Darkness is covering the earth, and gross darkness it’s people, but as always, that darkness provides an opportunity for some to shine. So the question today is since we know that there is darkness, how do we shine in these times. Continue Reading »

37 responses so far

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