Self-Motivation, Personal Growth and Entrepreneurship Development on DeoluAkinyemi.com

It’s very depressing observing people in my environment everyday. Right now as I write, I am on the road, and I’m writing and staring out the side glass, I see different people, different shapes and sizes, different classes and at different stages. Sometimes I look beyond what I can see, and try to ask myself what some people could be thinking? Many people are so bothered about the basics, that they are clearly stuck in the present. The immediate gratification of our basic human desires, kind of mortgage our future possibilities. It’s either that our quests to satisfy the immediate that blinds us from the ultimate, or the fact that we haven’t set our ultimates is what makes us slaves to the immediate. Even I am inclined once in a while to stray and think in the line of our regular excuse, the fault of our leaders, the lack of accountable leadership, the lack of systems that can bring to office people that have visions and the capabilities to drive us to achieve. My mind strays, but not for long. Leaders are men like you and I. They were not born with crowns, nor with leadership tattooed on their butts. They were born like you and I, crying and wailing, wondering why they had to come to this world at this time. If we must get a better life, we must stop looking outside ourselves but inside. We must know that to fix the king, we must train the child. Yes we need great leadership, much more we need a system that will make it impossible for mediocre leadership to reach the throne, but most importantly we need to be a people that deserve a better life. We need to be an enlightened people, people that are easy to govern, difficult to rule and impossible to enslave.

I’m in the office now, I made it through the car park, lift and corridor of the office without closing my laptop. Yeah, every morning that’s my routine, I always keep the laptop opened. I wonder what my neighbors at home and at work think J. So back to the quest for a better life. My assumption is that I want it, and some other people do too. We need to get a few things right. We know some of these things already, but few of us put them to practice. In the cause of last weekend, I spent a considerable amount of time with an Australian friend, and it occurred to me that there are many things I know that I don’t practice, yet this guy knows a few things, but practices them like a religion. I got challenged to take some things more seriously, and I consider it a privilege to remind you about a few of them. Continue Reading »

Development is one of the segments of my yearly goals. I usually try to have something that covers every part of my being- spirit, soul and body. In case you don’t I suggest you plan to have that this year. Make sure that your goals touch every area of your life and focus on specific areas, I’ll recommend that ordinarily spiritual goals ought to be priority. When we seek first God’s kingdom, all other things are added. Today for example I am just completing my 365 days fast, that’s a spiritual goal that I set and the purpose was to keep me in tune with God’s direction for my life and keep me involved and active. I might not be able to justify the reasons to you, but the fruits of a consecrated life are evident – now and in time.

Today however my primary focus will not be on your spiritual goals. By all means set them. Have a commitment to fellowship with God, to have daily devotion, to be kinder, more impactful to others, to add more value, to be a blessing. These are by far the most important things in my life. The ultimate test of faith is not “what does my faith do for me?”, but what does it make me do for others?” Your spirual goals set the pace, but it’s your developmental goals, which are partly spiritual but largely soulish are the things that get you equipped to deliver your spiritual goals more effectively and efficiently. As you advance into the year ahead, here are a few things you must strive to achieve, and do not forget!

Continue Reading »

Many people who have heard me speak, know that I am a story teller. I love stories, I enjoy hearing them as much as I enjoy sharing them. I have often discovered also that people love stories as well, so somehow we connect, and 5yrs after I speak somewhere, I still meet people that remind me of the stories that I told them. This shows me that story telling does work. While writing a story and telling them are two different things, I very well prefer to tell than to write, because in telling I get to feel the crowds pulse, read their excitement, follow the twists and turns, and tell the story in a unique way for every crowd. On Sunday I was opportuned to present this story before a crowd of about 1000 people, and truthfully, even I enjoyed the story in a different way.

Once upon a time, there was a young man. This young man had a dream, a goal an aspiration that one day he would become the number 1 clown in his country. He had gone for a seminar where he had been thought to analyze his skills and write down his goal and vision, and for him, it all pointed to being a clown of repute. As soon as he discovered this, he started searching for materials on clowning, and started reading and developing himself in earnest. He went to watch other clowns perform, interacted with a few people about his dreams and invested heavily in developing himself. Continue Reading »

Today, July1, 2008 is the beginning of the second half of the year… so Welcome to Second half!

In the last one week, one particular thing has consistently been coming to my attention. While I have been busy, I have also had the time and opportunity to have some fun. In the midst of it all, I have come to realize that the greatest benefit you can do for yourself in this second half is to up your game!

The greatest enemy of great is good. The greatest enemy of exceptional is average. Rarely are people get motivated to do beyond where they get comfortable. Do you have a benchmark? Do you have standards you aspire to? Did you set goals for yourself at the beginning of the year, are you taking stock? If you are far from your goals, it’s alright, you now only need to up your game.

Here are a few tips on why and how you need to up your game this year. Continue Reading »

Effective January 1, all paid members of the club before the 20th of December will proudly have one of these ID cards. You can then begin to get your payout instantaneously into these cards, you can then begin to use these cards to take advantage of the many deals that we will be securing. You will also be able to flash this card, and razzle and dazzle them…lol

All those who become paid registered members before the 20th of December will have their card and membership valid till the 31st of December, 2008. Apart from this, all who become members before the 20th of December, and choose to partake in the health deal, will have a health access code on their ID cards. This health access code will give them access to first class medical care at over 80% discount! Yes you read that right, we are shaving 80% off the price you would have paid for your medical health annual cover. What of members that join after this date? Read on. Continue Reading »

Let us travel together on a trip of imagination. Let’s imagine way back when the world was created, let’s imagine the first human being ever created. For the sake of this imagination, let’s assume that man was made in the morning. What realities do you think will hit him/her as the day progresses?

I know we might all have different answers, but I’m certain we will agree on this one point, around noon, man will get hungry, and would crave for something to fill his stomach. He might start by experimenting with lovely looking fruits – Apples, berries, oranges e.t.c. Have you ever seen a craving that goes unsatisfied? Do you know anything that human beings craved that they have not created? Authoritative books about the story of creation and even archaeological evidence show that the eaten came before the eater and the dwelling before the dweller. Grass came before the goat, water before the fish and the skies before the birds. Do you have a craving for anything? Be happy, because that is proof that it certainly exists. Continue Reading »

I read a story today that gave me a picture of my true aspirations. I had given one of my protege’s an assignment, I asked him to read a book, summarize it and present it to me as a PowerPoint presentation. It had taken him over 3 weeks, not haven used MS PowerPoint before. Eventually he came to make the presentation. First of all, he will need to redo the exercise, but in the spirit of everything is useful, I decided to pay close attention to a story in the e-book he read. Here is the story (tweaked to express my views).

There was once an old fellow, woman or man, I cannot tell. He had been at a particularly strategic spot for about 30yrs begging for alms. On this particular day, a stranger approached him, an in his regular style he called on to the stranger and held out his hand for the stranger to give something. Instead of giving him something, the stranger responded -”I don’t have anything to give you!” Then he asked, “what is that you are sitting on?” “Nothing,” replied the beggar. “Just an old box. I have been sitting on it for as long as I can remember.” “Ever looked inside?” asked the stranger. “No,” said the beggar. “What’s the point? There’s nothing in there.” “Have a look inside,” insisted the stranger. The beggar managed to pry open the lid. With astonishment, disbelief, and elation, he saw that the box was filled with gold. Continue Reading »

“One day, one day, one day e go better, e go better, e go better, e go better for you, one day, one day, one day e go better. You go get money, you go buy motto…” – Lagos Lotto

Have you ever wondered about the disparity of your value and your present circumstances? Have you ever wondered that you wake up so early, close so late and are not in control of much of it? Have you ever thought that you are a lot bigger than the confinement you find yourself in, or that you are more capable than what you are doing? Have you ever asked if this is all there is about you? Are you struggling with any limitation? Bothered by any occurrence? Are you looking forward to something, or waiting for something to end? Are you mixed up in a wrong crowd, relationship or office? One day, one day, the ground that holds the seed, will give way to it’s growth. One day, one day!

Are you familiar with that statement? One day, one day! It’s as if people are waiting for a particular day for the shackles on their feet to give way. People are waiting for the offer of freedom, tired and frustrated, people relinquish all hope into the hands of one day! But does one day come without warning? Or is patience the art of quietly sitting and waiting for what we expect without doubt? If you are hoping for one day, then this article is for you. Continue Reading »

“Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything.”- Napoleon Hill

I have heard many people play lip service to the concept of having a desire. They tell you they desire an education, a better life, a better relationship, a better job, a better salary… and the list goes on. They say they desire, but is it really desire? How do you know that someone truly desires a thing? What differentiates desires from wishes, wants and needs? Is there anything you desire? What are you doing about it? Continue Reading »

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 »