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

Everyday, I get letters from people, recieve calls and generally interact with people accross different class divides and age ranges.  These letters are usually in 2 categories, there are letters that involve a request and letters that are simply saying thank you and showing appreciation. I also get questions, comments, enquiries, e.tc. Yesterday, I got a letter from someone that I have his permission to share and respond for him and all who occupy a similar circumstance to read.

Here is the letter, read carefully and find my response below.

“Chairman,

How you dey? How’s business and family?

Sorry, i’ve been out of touch. Its not just because of time constraints, but as a result of the fact that i didn’t know how to ask the questions i’ve been wanting to ask. Its been an issue of the right questions create the right answers. That kind of thing.

By the way, what we talked about resumed yesterday, thanks for your suggestion. I used what you recommended and it worked. God bless you so much for ur wealth of knowledge and depth of experience. God bless.

In this mail, i’ll be asking the right questions. Kindly take time to answer me- don’t rush. Thanks.

I’m in a fix- financially. Continue Reading »

I want to reveal a secret to you, please relax. You have already gotten to open this post, so you are ahead of a long line of people who wait a little longer to read. I’m going to share my heart with you, I’ll hope you’ll read me with your heart as well. Once our hearts believe, our heads can easily follow. I’ll also ask for your permission on a few things. If you can oblige me those things, this post and the mail you are about to read, will make a real difference in your life this year! Here are my few requests.

1. Before you continue reading question 2, make up you mind to empty yourself of all prejudices and preconcieved notions about referral based businesses. It might be tough I know, but your preconcieved positions will limit you. Trust me. Read objectively, and look with fresh eyes.

“The uneducated in the 21st century is not one who can’t read and write, it’s one who can’t learn, unlearn and relearn” – Dr. Tunde Bakare.

2. Don’t jump to the bottom, try and read this line by line and with an open mind.

3. Make your decision within 24hrs and take action. What you are reading will not be useful to you otherwise. Believe me though that it will make a difference if you conciously and delibrately make a positive move.

This are all that I require you to have in mind as you read further. Continue Reading »

“Sorry for the password on yesterday’s article, I will remove the password as soon as I get clearance”

Last week monday a collaboration effort started between Visible Impacts – Project RAISE , the New Nigeria Club, The Future Movmement and Generis Solutions. The objective of this project is to inspire 1,000,000 secondary school leavers to excel in the forthcoming S.S.C.E exams and J.A.M.B and to sustain this number and more for the coming years. The current facts on ground are alarming – Out of the 1,188,142 that took S.S.C.E only 188,136 passed S.S.C.E with Credit in English and Maths and 3 other subjects. Out of the 1,145,961 present for J.A.M.B exam 548,543 candidates scored above 200. This means that over 1 million people certainly have sat at home and would do both exams again in the next 1yr, and guess what they’ll have a good number of fresh takers joining them.

Like all great initiatives, it rises and falls, not on the excellence of the idea but on the commitment of the people and the ability of the system to reward it’s key drivers. I have led a number of informal organizations in my life, and what I have learnt and vowed to do my best not to repeat is that great ideas collapse if the real needs of those that are driving it are not met. I remember feeling remorse after my tenure as the president of my university department, I chronicled my thoughts into my hand over notes – “directing people that you have no power to reward or punish requires truly inspirational leadership, or it will be frustrating”. It is however more frustrating if you as a leader are powerless to meet their urgent needs. This thinking has formed in my mind into a philosophy, a philosophy that if you observe me closely you will realize, I will never engage in any activity that will not create a way for the people that I consider principal to the achievement of the goals, to be duly rewarded!

It is with this philosophy in mind that I am glad to announce to you that we have just set up a system where we can create inspirational role models, teachers and trainers for over 1,000,000 nigerian students in the next 1yr, helping them to succeed. Continue Reading »

In the wake of this year, I described the things that we’ll find happening in the economic terrain in 2009. I described a story where the first sign in war led famine, was things becoming expensive. Well, we are not so far gone in the year and it’s happening already. I’m not merely writing a report of the state the nation, I’m writing to give you an idea of my analysis of what is happening, and to give you some guidance into what you can do to make the most of this time. I will offer guidance, no absolutes. Let’s say I’m learning not to put myself in the position where people hand me responsibility for their choices. 

First, when you hear anything is happening, the first thing you ought to do is understand why. If it get’s resolved without your understanding why, if it happens again, you are in a fix. Let’s say for example you are trying to run a particular software, the software stops on a particular page and refuses to go forward. The average person begins to pound on different keys and “Wala!” the computer begins to work again. If it happens again, he’ll possibly waste a lot of time again, banging the keys without knowing which of the key combinations unlocked the page. He might even end up destroying the computer. We will never be able to accurately and efficiently solve our problems if we don’t take time to understand the root causes. So, why is the Naira sliding, where will the slide stop, how does it affect you and I? What can we do? Continue Reading »

The wake of 2009 leaves the avid investor with some not so shocking realities. Not so shocking because the highs of shocks of 2008 have left some dead, and the ones that are alive have either given up or are still looking for what to do. Some Nigerian investors have committed suicide while some oil barons are currently in mental hospital. In case you are however new to all these and why, then let me do a little education for you.

I know some people that as at this time last year, could value their portfolio in the NSE for example at N200 million. The same stocks valued now are averagely at N50 million. Technically, peoples money currently occupy about 25% of their initial investments. I have also heard of veteran oil magnates and also novices, who the downtrend in the stock market led into oil and gas sales. Due to the sudden bottoming out of oil prices, I have heard of people with debts they may not be able to pay. I gathered as well that the exposure of the banking sector in all these is approaching digits that 10yr olds might call uncountable.

The Stock market has left people with the aftertaste of the proverbial issue that farts in one’s mouth and puts salt in it. You can’t lick the fart and you can spit out the salt. {Oro naa so si ni lenu, o tun buyo si, iso niyi, ko se pon la, iyo niyi ko se tu danu}. Or how do you explain the fact that you put 1 million somewhere and now you have N250,000 there? You’ll be reluctant to sell, hoping it will go up, at the same time you’ll see many opportunities you should use money for, it’s a really confusing state for many. The oil market experienced the bull for a while, then began to bottom out as well. With the headlines making the dailies about real estate, it seems that the crash of that sector from a mortgage point of view is threatened. The exchange rate between the Naira and the dollar is also currently hinging on market forces, electronics and imported product stores have started pricing up, accomodation costs are on the increase. In this midst of this yam pepper scatter scatter {isu ata yana yana}, how can people make money in 2009? If you want to know, then you might be interested. Continue Reading »

There are days (a lot of days these days) when I lie down and ask myself what is really the most important thing in life. What really is worth one’s energies? Is it pleasure? Money? Impact? Wisdom? “ki la n le gan gan?” I have analysed it from a philosophical point of view, I have read the views of Aristotle – who rationalized from the need for pleasure, the desire for glory and the search for knowledge. Aristotle came to a point where according to him, the most important thing in life is the contemplative life. In the Nichomachean Ethics, Aristotle analyzes the quest of all life falls on the planes of a search for pleasurable, political or contemplative. He analyzes that all life is lived for some higher purpose, he analyzes that we all pursue happiness, and the talk goes on asking about what truly brings happiness. I would never do justice to his book in one paragraph, if you are interested, you can get more thoughts on this here, trust me though, it’s not going to be an easy read for the average mind.

I have also studied the bible extensively about the answer to the same question-”What truely is the purpose of life?” What are we here to do, and what will bring the highest fulfillment. I read the thoughts of the experiential and experimental biblical philosopher in Bible – The King in Ecclestiastes. After living a life where he pursues all that man can pursue to gain happiness – women, wisdom, fame, projects, e.t.c. He came to a final conclusion that the whole purpose of man is to fear God and obey his commandments. In my own thoughts, I have come to find out as well, that the highest priority a man can pursue meaningfully on this earth is to serve God’s purpose and desire. This purpose differs from individual to individual, but in the final analysis, life is measured against a standard, and that standard is the original intention in the mind of God for that individual. Continue Reading »

It’s almost 2am now, I’m here reminiscing on the events of the last 5 days. It all started on Monday morning at the Mini International Conference of Rhema Chapel International in Ilorin. I had been given an opportunity to speak in 4 sessions by one of the Men of God I love and respect the most – Rev George Adegboye. In case you don’t know Rev. George Adegboye, let me give you a short, yet apt description – He is the only man alive referred to as the Living Bible and Mobile Concordance. I certainly believe that his grace is a special one, or how do you explain that a man can speak for 1hr and continue cross-referencing verses of the scripture with absolute accuracy without mixing it or mincing words. How do you explain when a man reels out from memory what a particular word and references all the other places where the same word can be found all over the bible. Apart from all these, he is also the pastor of my pastor. He’s a man I’ve watched and loved from a distance, so you can imagine how delighted I was, when I heard his invitation to come and speak in his church’s international conference. I was excited.

The past 5 days have been fulfilling, exciting and rewarding for me. I have been a blessing, I have learnt, I have been blessed and I have come to meet a lot more people. Rather than 4 sessions, I was eventually given 5 sessions, and I enjoyed every one of those opportunities. The theme of the conference was, activating the power of God in your life. My focus was activating that power for financial empowerment. God is the one that gives us the power to get wealth,  God wills that we prosper,  He desires that we can achieve all that we want to achieve, He’s the author of our godly desires. All that power to create lies within us and what we need to know is how to activate it. Continue Reading »

I’m currently away from Lagos, I have been for the past 3 days. I’m in Ilorin, speaking at the international convention of Rhemma Chapel International for 5 days. It’s a great opportunity for me to be a blessing to about 5000 people in the town where I grew up, it’s also an opportunity to minister side by side a man that I love and respect – Rev George Adegboye (the living and walking Bible and concordance). It’s also been an opportunity to see Fela Durotoye Preach in a church environment, and most importantly a time to spend some time with my parents. It’s however been difficult for me to access the internet as regularly as I want to. I have been itching to connect, and to express, but even now, what I have is little time. What I like you to know, is that you are on my mind, and I’m missing you, all of you.

My mandate here in Ilorin is to bring financial empowerement and enlightenment to Ilorin. I have a God given assignment to raise kingdom financiers, people who will be so rich and so blessed, that the work of God will always be supported anywhere they are. In case you are wondering what the work of God is, it’s simple – the work of God is salvation for the lost, comfort for the broken hearted, good news to the poor, release for prisoners, e.t.c. Continue Reading »