Feb
20
2010
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!
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Feb
14
2010
“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 »
Dec
30
2009
The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]
The Antioch Experience was an experience! About 40 professionals gathered together for an 8hrs prayer meeting. God was present, his presence and revelations were real. Indeed he crowns our year with goodness, and his paths drop fatness. Many annointed children led different aspects of the prayer and there was no low energy moment. We are confident that this meeting will be a reference point for us for years to come. It was indeed an Antioch experience.
Please find below some of the prophetic words we recieved for the coming year. While we expect that things will continue to grow darker and more confusing in the nation and world at large, God’s people have an opportunity to enjoy in Goshen while the world gets visited with calamities. What is below does not exhaust what God ministered to us, but at least even though you were not there you can share in what God can also make real in your life. Continue Reading »
Sep
12
2009
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 »
Jan
20
2009
As I sit here, right here and now, I’m watching the inauguration of the president of the United States of America – Barack Obama. As I watch, my ears are getting hot, and my stomach turning. My heart yearns for a fresh breath of political leadership for Nigeria. My soul and my heart prays for Nigeria – “God, please, give us leaders!”. In the breath that I utter the prayer, I recieve a call from another comrade, he called to tell me that right now he is just calling me to tell me that he is praying that God should give us leaders!
Praying this prayer, I also hear God loud and clear – what are you waiting for? God will not come down to give us a leader, God will not cast his votes with paper, God will not write his name in the clouds. God will do it through you and I, through hands and hearts that are willing to engage themselves in the process of change. If we don’t have good leaders, is because you and I don’t think we deserve it enough. If we live in darkness, it’s because you and I didn’t switch on the light. If we live in the past, it’s because we have mortgaged our futures. Continue Reading »
Jan
01
2009
I want to use the medium and opportunity to say a big thank you and congratulations to all those how have been a part of making the New Nigeria Club a Success in the last one year. It all started as a dream in the mind of one, then a few, then a crowd. January 1, 2008, over 1000 Nigerians gathered together to witness the birth of history, we had dignitories, the media was present, and the Ballmoral hall was filled to capacity. It was the beginning of a long walk, a long walk that will ultimately lead to freedom! A long walk that will lead us to a nation that is the most desireable country to live in on earth. A walk that will deliver the future!
It’s been one full year, in that one year, we have dared mighty things, we have braved odds, and Nigeria has felt our presence. It however is only just the beginning. We have done things that have made many wonder how all that was possible in just one year. Our name went far ahead of us into places where we were not even known, even into places where we may never be known. The New Nigeria Club, formerly registered as the New Naija Club, has been an inspiration to many Nigerians, a thing of pride to many others and a God given idea to most. As I reminisce over the past one year, I am full of gratitude to God, and I am grateful to you as well, that you did not stand by the sidelines but participated in delivering the future. Continue Reading »
Oct
28
2008
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 »
Oct
09
2008
Day before yesterday night, all I wanted to do on getting home was spend some time playing a game of soccer on PS3, and go to sleep. I wanted to free my mind, and let my hair down. While I was warming up to do this however, a program on Discovery channel caught my fancy.
It was the building of the biggest bridge in the world in Japan. It was already after midnight, but my eyes could not shut, neither could my brain, as I saw beyond the bridges, and got inspired.
The Japanese were trying to build a bridge to span over about 4km in deep waters and in one of the most earthquake prone regions of the world. characteristically, they didn’t just set out to build, they analyzed the situation, developed a plan of action, and went on to execute with excellence. The entire project took about 7yrs – they started in July 1989 and finished around 1996, but as they moved from stage to stage and celebrated their successes, I was able to observe the DNA of any successful enterprise or life. Read on. Continue Reading »
Jul
25
2008
Many times, we dilly dally between these two positions. We wonder if it was better to follow our head’s or to follow our hearts. We believe that to follow the head is logical, and to follow the heart emotional. Atimes we simply rationalize, that men follow their heads and ladies follow their hearts.
We all get to take decisions in our lives, researchers say that daily we make as many as 350 decisions. We decided on a variety of things, ranging from when to wake up to what to where, what to eat, how to eat, what to wear, when to wear e.t.c. We all make loads of decision everyday. It has even been said, that not making a decision requires a decision in itself.
Another interesting reality is that decisions are crucial. One little decision can make a huge difference in a persons life. Can you try and imagine for example that you did not go to the university you went to? If you had taken that decision differently, you will not be right where you are now, you will have different friends, might be in a different profession, your life would be different, clearly different. If we make the decision a smaller decision, let’s say on the day that accident happened you had not worn your seat belt, or lets say that you decided to meet with someone 5 mins longer than you planned to, and missed on that appointment that has contributed so much into who you are… reality is little changes in the initial conditions lead to extreme changes in end results, it’s called the butterfly effect.
If decisions happen so often, and the implications of them are so severe, should we not have clear principles on how to make the best decisions? Would it not be good if we master the art of taking decisions? Would it not be a worthwhile investment to get it right at getting it right? Here are a few things you can do to always make the best decisions. I also hope that from looking at these thoughts, you will right some wrong decisions you made already. Continue Reading »
Nov
25
2007
Writing this article, I’m asking myself, “aint I over communicating”? I’m consoled however that I can’t overcommunicate. One extra posting is one extra reference point for the days when people claim not to understand things.
One of the most frequently asked questions I have been asked about the New Nigeria Club Initiative is this.
” I believe in a New Nigeria, I love the concept and the ideals, I think this is the product of a master mind, this project has a lot of merit on it’s own outside the boards, you don’t need those boards as they will go slow with time, why did you include the boards?”
Find below, 3 reasons why the boards are there, and 4 other facts about the board. Please note that these reasons do not have to agree with your ideology. We cannot please all, we can only stay true to our objectives and be accountable to all the buy the vision. Continue Reading »
