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

Lunch Date

There is so much personal development material on the street of daily activity, that it takes not wanting to consciously learn not to grow. In the last few days, I’ve come to see two interesting sides of a coin. That associations can bring good, and they can bring bad. That common meetings with other mortals, or access to the mind of great men via their books, are some of the most life changing events on this planet.

I learnt, that once upon a time, there was a young lawyer who sought help from an older lawyer. The young lawyer was finding it hard to practice litigation, he had no clients, and it wasn’t looking like there was light at the end of his tunnel. The old lawyer had gone through this time as well, but now was a big time popular lawyer who made lots of money from big cases. He begged the big lawyer to give him his small briefs, so at least he also could have some crumbs that fall off the big table. The old lawyer informed him, that there was no small brief – lawyers only know the beginning of a brief, no one knows how big the brief would be. The young lawyer was disappointed that the old lawyer was not helpful, and turned to leave. The old lawyer however stopped him and told him that even though he could give him nothing, he was willing to have lunch date with him at a future date, but would like them to stroll together from his office down about 2km to where they would eat lunch. The young lawyer felt a bit insulted that all he was going to get was lunch, but reluctantly agreed. The set day came and they had the long walk to lunch. 2-3months after this lunch he started getting calls, briefs, and business. His fortune changed and he was so excited, he had a party, and invited the big lawyer to come and see how well he’s doing, even without his help. Continue Reading »

“If you must play, decide on three things at the start: the rules of the game, the stakes, and the quitting time” – Chinese Proverb

In my last trip outside the country, I got the opportunity to watch American Gangster. It’s an interesting film for many reasons, it’s also a film that I find a lot of lessons in. I would cronicle a few, in my attempt to share with you what is frontal in my mind this morning.

The story line was that, an American Area Father (Ellsworth “Bumpy” Johnson)and crime boss died, and his driver  turned right hand man Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) took over. Denzel Washington had driven this man for years, been with him for negotiation meetings, been  his PA for most of the journey, and had watched and learned. There were quite a number of people in the hierachry ahead of him, but he had been closest to the old man, and had learnt a lot from him. How to handle pressure, how to be patient, how to be decisive, how to negotiate e.t.c. He had learnt the art of business. When the Area Father died, a vacuum was created, the market was going to go unregulated. Leadership became available and there were a number of options. Continue Reading »

“Advertorial: Join us at the Investors Forum. Book ahead. Send a text to 08033469632 indicating your name and email.”

I hope you are not postponing your life till tomorrow, because if you are, I intend to shake you a bit today! Yesterday is gone, tomorrow does not exist, when we get to tomorrow, if we ever do, we’ll call it today! This truth leaves one with a shocking reality that what you really have power over is today. In fact if we want to make it more extreme, now! Does it then not seem strange, that many are living lives they are unhappy about today, in the hope that it will change tomorrow? Don’t procrastinate your happiness, don’t postpone your joy, don’t leave off to an unknown future the best parts of your life. Haven’t you heard – “Tomorrow, tomorrow… is always a day away!”?

This reminds me of a story I once heard. Of a rich Consultant that traveled to his village to let his air down, have fun and enjoy the peace and tranquility of the country side. While in the village, he decided to go fishing with on of his old time buddies who was a fisherman by profession. He set up an appointment with his friend and they set out to fish together. While they were on the waters, the rich consultant saw possibilities and told his friend. “Do you know that your business can be much bigger than this? You are living way below your potentials”. The fisherman looked at him, puzzled, “really? But why would I want to make my business bigger?” The rich consultant was puzzled at why a human being would not be aspirational and went on to explain further. Continue Reading »

Two young men decided to go visit a “Baba” in their quest to make money. They were both in their middle ages and they were dead sick of being poor. Both of them had struggled on various vocations, they have faced shame in family meetings, and pressures from their wives. The last straw that broke the camel’s back in their frustrated desire to get wealthy was the sudden realization that they were old enough to die. Their third person in their triad unannouncedly passed away, and it struck them, that life is short.

They decided to brave the option of making money by consulting a traditionalist, and decided to seek the counsel and craft of “Baba”. When they got to Baba, baba gave them a string of cowries to utter their desires to. The environment was filled with all sorts of artifacts that are typical of Ifa priests. They uttered their desires silently and returned the cowries to Baba. Baba then went ahead to consult the oracles on their plight. He takes his “Opele” (Opele is a string of split big seeds with a face and a back, this represent a binary code with about 65536 verses) in his hands, chants the prayer to Ifa that helps him to see meaning and interpretation from his craft. He chants while moving the Opele back and forth and throws it in front of him. As soon as he throws, he moves touches the seed, looking for the leader seed, trying to see where the binary code starts. He does a quick binary conversion and identifies the verse, he sighs – “Ifa mo roye, ela loro” – Ifa, I understand, it is clear!

Baba recites what he sees, and tells them why they have come. “You have come because of shame, you have come because of pressures, you have come, because you are tired of being poor.” – Baba tells them, as they both nod involuntarily. If Baba can decipher their quest, then he should have a solution. Baba tells them that he is interested in helping them, but first, asks if they are really ready to get wealth. They say they are ready, but he asks again. He asks them if they are willing to do anything to get wealth, at this point, one still retains his motivation, while the other becomes a part of the background to the discussions, nodding sluggishly. Baba then goes ahead to tell them what they would need to do. They would need to capture and have sex with two notorious mad women in their town! One decided to go with it, and the other backed down. Continue Reading »

Has it ever happened to you before, that the things you used to do, the things you felt proud of, the things that were consistent in your life are now left unattended to? Do you worry that you are not as good as you used to be? Are you struggling to keep up with good habits you used to have? Is it as though your life is slowly heading downhill? Or are you one who has enjoyed a lot of bad habits but now want to do things right and it’s been an insurmountable struggle? Are you paddling hard without motion? Are you kicking your feet and splashing water yet no movement? Are you crying for help, yet no one can see your tears? Or  your case might be much milder, no one knows that anything has changed about you yet, you are still relying on the old glory and shining brightly. Are you aware of something that most of the people that see you daily know nothing of? Are you losing connection with your root and afraid that in a while you leaves will soon lose colour? Has your iron be unplugged with the world unaware? Do you know that the heat is being lost, and all else think all is well?

Today, one of my sisters (not blood, but close) came to pour her heart to me, in a bid to be helped. The things she used to do, that made her stand out, that made her desirable, that made her a blessing, she was doing them no more. She confided in me, that if she didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t know, but this is not the way she wants it to go. She felt so bad, she wanted to cry – “The good things I used to do, I don’t do them anymore”. She wants to, she knows she ought to, she can’t say it’s because she has no time, she knows that’s an excuse. All she does is work work work, and she was afraid that the source of her warmth was long gone. Continue Reading »