January 13, 2011

5 Things You Must Build


Excuses are monuments of fools as murmuring is the language of slaves, yet it baffles me, how people participate in any of these two activities so frequently. Comparison is the pastime of fools as fear is the passion of slaves, yet it’s amazing how the greater part of society engage in them so helplessly. If the way you are living today is totally acceptable to you, then write your will, for somewhere around the corner is Elysium. Growth must be preceded by dissatisfaction, all of life’s blessings come towards one who has a burning desire. If you have cravings, and the things you crave must come to you, then there are a few things that you must build.

First of all however, what is your dream? Close your eyes if you must, but what is that one thing you will try to do, if success was guaranteed? What will you try your hands on if you knew you could not fail? What goal will you pursue, if you are assured of getting it? Dreams are the beacons of hope that guide us to new beaches far from the shores of our current realities. Do you have a dream? Or are you living your dream already?

If you want to reach beyond where you are today, if you desire more and want better, then these are a few things you need to build.

1. Build yourself

If you want more, you need to be more! Whatever you get that is more than who you are is a gift, don’t expect it next month. Quit comparing yourself with others, or murmuring about what you don’t have. If you don’t have it, ask yourself, “do I deserve it?” What value are you adding, and what will you pay for the value you are adding? To build yourself, you need to expand your mind – Read books, travel out, go on an adventure, try something new, make new friends. Look closely at your life, “what has changed in the last 1yr?” Have you made new friends? How many books have you read? Have you given yourself an attitude makeover? Are you brighter, sharper, more informed and a better person than you were before? If you don’t want to be a fool or a slave, build yourself. Don’t build just your mind, build your body, and exercise your spirit – Meditate, Pray, Sing, give expressions to your inner self. Build yourself.

2. Build Character

In this show-biz crazed world, where the virtues of modesty and conservativeness are gradually being positioned as a vice rather than a strength, you may wonder of what use is character. Interestingly, research still shows, that even crooked people like to work with people they can trust won’t con them out. The reality is that character is key. Character is the inner consistent you, it is who you are, and the sum total of all your qualities, values and ethics. In a world loaded with pressures from peers, advertising, channel O and so many influences, having an internal developed core that provides you with basic rules to guide you conduct is key. Charisma will not take you beyond where character cannot sustain you. Make up your mind to always do the right thing no matter who is watching. Guide yourself by true North principles and don’t destroy your character.

3. Build your home

Investing in your home, is characteristic of wisdom. Invest in your wife, your children, your family – nuclear and extended. Invest time, love and resources. Your home is not the house you are living in, it’s the people you are living with. Consciously build your home.

4. Build your Business

He that does not work, should not eat! There is dignity in labour, and working to earn a living, minding a business – your own, is noble and deserves credit. Don’t build a house at the detriment of your business, grow your business to build your house. Don’t focus your attention on deals and contracts, build a business. There is a world of difference between a deal and a business. Between a one-off and a system. Learn what to do to build your business and do it. Different businesses require different things, but have some generic things in common. Look for someone around you that is successful in business and if you can get, in your line of business. Learn from them.

5. Build your Brand

The Coca-Cola drink costs less than 10cents to make, but the Coca-Cola brand is worth billions of dollars. Reputation is useless if character is missing, but with character in place, build your brand. Let your name ring a bell around a theme. Be consistent. Start a Blog, sign-up on facebook, join groups relevant to you, join linked in, be visible and be consistent.

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July 15, 2010

How to Expand Your Business


This was the topic of my presentation to an exciting group of entrepreneurs earlier today. Think about this topic and the things I shared with them, I realize this information would be useful to a lot of people. Some of those people are reading this directly, and some others need to refer people to this link so that they can come and read as well. In the next few days, I have a few “How to’s” in my mind to share. These are really easy things that if you know and practice can make a lot of difference in your business and in your life.

The first ground rule however, if you truly want to learn, is to first empty your cup. You will not learn anything new, if you assume you already know. Knowledge or the assumption of it, is the greatest hindrance to more knowledge. As teacher students – the most excellent type of student, the one that listens to become a teacher, we must constantly humble ourselves and learn. We must not let knowledge puff  us up and make us resistant to new information. The day the seal of knowledge locks our ears, is the day we become useless and irrelevant to new possibilities around us. 20yrs experience as an employee does not equate to years of experience running a business. Sometimes the way up, is down. Never let any level of knowledge rob you of what you don’t know. There is no fool, like an old fool. Once you have laid aside your prejudices, let’s delve into how you can expand your business. Continue reading

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January 16, 2010

Religious Brain Drain


There is a trend I’m picking up and it’s grieving my soul. The most religious (Christian or otherwise) societies in the world, are it’s poorest and most underdeveloped. The cities that pack millions into auditoriums are the ones that don’t have any representation in other aspects of human influence. It’s seems like an inversion of everything that I have learnt, that light should give illumination, that spiritual enlightenment should lead to economic, social, governmental and whole revival. Thorough analysis however reveals, that the opposite is true. Continue reading

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March 10, 2009

Buckets or Piplines Reloaded.


I’ve been falling in love with this story over and over again in the last few days, so much so that I’m going to dwell on it a bit more again today. Today however, I’ll be focusing more on the pipes than the buckets. I’ll also like to attach a document that one of the readers of this site sent to me as well, the reader had apparently gone online to search for the story and found it. It’s titled “Parable of the Pipeline”. I’ll like you to download it here and enjoy reading it.

I just heard a recap of BankPHB’s advert on radio focused on  Jack and Jill that went up the hill to fetch a pail of water, and how Jack decided to build a pipe and make a fortune :) . Guess buckets and pipes are an emerging theme on not a few minds. I’ll  start by picking out a few points from the detailed article on the parable of the pipeline, then I’ll talk about the different ways of building pipelines, and their cost implications. I’ll share my recommendations with you, offer myself and services and leave you with the choices. Continue reading

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March 2, 2009

Buckets or Pipes


 

Announcement: The winner of highest comments for the month of February though keenly constested is… Tosin Fayokun. Please send me a mail so I can send you the parameters for your personal hosted account. Congratulations!!!

This is a story I shared in a number of seminars during the weekend, and I think it’s only proper that I share it with you as well. I’m not certain exactly who owns the story, but I believe I have read it in one of Robert Kiyosaki’s books before. It’s an interesting story that connects with us in some little ways. It’s the story of our lives, and we can clearly see where we are in our journey.

It so happened that once upon a time, in a village somewhere in Africa. A new king ascended the throne, and felt it was the right thing to get water for his people. He decided to hire the services of two good young men to help deliver the promise of water to his people. He offered to pay them $10 per 25 litre bucket of water, and the two of them were excited about the possibilities. The first day of work they both carried 10 pairs of buckets each. It was tedious and hard labor, but by the time they got their payment, they were excited all over again. They continued like this for one week, until one of the contractors called his colleague and told him that even though they were earning $200 per day, he did not feel that what they were doing was sustainable. He suggested to his colleague that rather than go to the stream to fetch water everyday, why not put forces together and develop a pipe that can run from the stream to the town. The colleague however wanted none of that approach. Why will he leave the bird in hand and be hunting for two in the bush. Why should he reduce the number of buckets he can fetch today, and focus on a pipe that might fail, that might burst, that might even be attacked by militants. Rather than take that risk, the bucket colleague continued to fetch his water. The pipe colleague decided to still carry about 4 buckets in a day to have some small cash, and focused his energies almost totally on constructing the pipes. Continue reading

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September 20, 2008

MLM Education -001


Advertorial: Everymorning Monday to Friday 7:45-7:50am Eko FM 89.75, please join Deolu Akinyemi on behalf on New Nigeria Club for “The Patriotic Nigerian!” All NNC please check on the website for regular updates coming soon.

I have come to discover that there is a lot that people do not know about Multi Level Marketing in Nigeria, and believe it or not, there are some things beginning to happen that indicate that those who have profited or lost but understand the systems are about to be rewarded. I know that there is a lot that people do not know about many things as well, many other things like manufacturing, refining, mining, agriculture e.t.c, but if I had the opportunity to start with one industry that I know has the power to empower people, particularly Nigerians the fastest I’ll chose Multilevel Marketing, Agriculture and then the others. I also know that the first reaction of most people to multilevel marketing might be negative, but believe it or not, you are missing out of some opportunities, and Passing Over Opportunities Repeatedly is what makes people POOR.

Donald Trump is reported to have been asked, what will you do, if you suddenly became bankrupt today. He said “I’ll look for a good Multilevel Marketing company, and work my way to the top there.” Multilevel Marketing is business for people that are interested in helping others, it’s a business school in that, you work and learn. Interestingly however, all of us are doing it already, howbeit unsuccessfully. Continue reading

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May 21, 2008

One on One with Bunmi Oni – 1


Ever since the Cadbury Plc Saga with Bunmi Oni, many of us young career people and entrepreneurs who valued the integrity for which Bunmi Oni had been known, have wondered. We have wondered what exactly happened, is it true? Did he really defraud the company? Did he defraud the Shareholders? We searched frantically through the papers for a clue of his response, we longed to see him, and ask, “what is your version of the story?” For years, Bunmi Oni was the business icon of integrity and a role model to many of us who wanted to do things right. He was the beacon of hope, that in a dark dark world of guerrilla managerial gimmicks and self aggrandizing maneuvers, it was still possible to rise to the top of an establishment and play big time in Nigeria’s business terrain without compromising true north values. All that was challenged when the issues were raised. Many of us jumped into conclusions, some of us hoped for his comments and assumed that the silence of a man of integrity meant consent. In a 4hrs meeting with him yesterday his testimony shocked me, and rekindled the light of hope in my mind for value based thinking and integrity. I asked him before I left (I went with a colleague though), if I was allowed to talk about this, and … I am… Continue reading

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