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

It’s 3am in the city of Dubai, my flight leaves here today, and I need to be awake early as 6am to be able to wish the South Africans and the English a hearty good bye. I gave them the hugs already, but who says one hug is enough when you may not see until last week in March in SA or April in the UK . There is no use reserving the best time of your life for the time when you can’t do most things. Now is life, the older you grow the fewer your options.  Enjoy your youth and prepare for your future.

I have a lot on my mind tonight, and a short time to say it. So I’m going to say it all in pictures, since pictures are a thousand words. I’ll capture a few of the events of the past few weeks, and basically summarize my lessons. Being in Dubai has been fun and exciting. It’s been a lot of great news, great progress and meeting of wonderful people. Remember, people matter a lot, time with them are your greatest investments. Continue Reading »

Today, I simply feel like freestyling, too many topics fighting in my mind for attention, I don’t want to be bound by one topic. As I reminisce over the last 11 months of this amazing year, my heart swells with gratitude to God, and is slightly punctuated by unexpressed tears gathering momentum in my tear sac. My mind is well trained, not to ask the questions for which the answers are clear. Today is (I can’t seem to use past tense) my mum’s birthday, and oh, how I miss calling her and and hearing her reassuring voice.  So today, I just want to well it out from my heart, demonstrate gratitude by counting the blessings that can be counted in public, sharing the bitter sweet lessons, and giving everybody a reason to have hope, to trust and to obey.

Mummy’s Day

It’s my mum’s day today, and though I know the righteous do not die, they sleep, I miss her.  If you read the two articles I wrote at the time of her departure in the second half of this year, you’ll see what an enigma she was. Sweet mother and Lessons from the life of my mum. Interestingly however, even though fast asleep from this current existence, she’s more alive than many who still have breath, or how do you reconcile these things. On my Fathers birthday for example, my mum’s phone suddenly comes back to live and starts beeping and alarm, on the face of the phone was a cake and lights and a message – Jo’s (meaning sweetheart) birthday! My father was happily shocked and told me about it, in my mind the phrase that rang – “Still relevant!”. A few weeks ago, my dad asked me to tell any of my friends coming to Lagos to him, that my mum’s farm of Yams have just been harvested and he wants to send the yam to all the children (we) and siblings.  We are still eating the yam from my mum’s farm, it’s a lot of yam as it was a huge farm, in my mind? Still relevant! You are alive and well, are you relevant? Who are you relevant to? Is your life relevant to now, and are you living to be relevant in eternity? Continue Reading »

“The essence of life is to live it, not watch it” – Adeolu Akinyemi

The inspiration for this quote, is merely watching my mum, and listening out to the people whose lives she had touched. My mum was important to so many people, she was their “somebody” that made their lives better, their crosses easier to bear and rekindled their hope. My mum was a template for the virtous woman described in Prov 31, the more I read it, the more I remember her. I have not ceased to ask myself a fundamental question, “when would have been a good time for her to die?” The more I ask and think, the more I realize, that for us her children, for her brother, friend, business partner and lover – my dad, for her relations near and far and for the many lives she touched, there would never be a good time! There is never a good time to lose a loved one, even at 90, she’ll still have left us puzzled. I can remember my dad shedding tears at the burial of his 78yrs old mother, there is never a good time. One thing is sure though, life should be measured by donation, not duration. What matters is not how long, it’s how well! Thinking like this, I have every course to celebrate my mum’s temporary separation from me. I am confident that we’ll meet again at Jesus’ feet, I am confident that she has voluntarily joined the company that constitute the cloud of witnesses. I am happy that my mum lived a life that if I can set as benchmark for mine, I’ll be driven till I’m done! I know that God is all wise,  all his word is perfect and all his ways are just.

My mum had a glorious exit, and there are many things to learn from her life. I’ll attempt a few here, and if I’m so inspired, I’ll do a book in her honour. On the 21st of June, 2009, my mum dressed for her last church service. Very early in the morning of that day, she bade farewell to all of us her children. We had all come home from Lagos, for my younger sister’s wedding introduction the previous day. Even though the meeting was meant to have less than 60 people, my mum had killed one of her cows (yeah.. she has cows she’s rearing) and shared it for all her children and sibblings. We all saw mummy on Sunday, unaware of course that that was the last time we’ll see her alive and well. We hugged, waved and went. In a series of events, that led to her driving to church, and sitting, as ever and always beside her husband she decided to share her testimony. She raised a song as she stood up, and stood at the pulpit (Gbese ope me po, mi o le san tan, sugbon o sibe sibe, hun o se iwon ti mo le se, baba a laanu mi, e ma se o baba – My debt of thanksgiven is more than I can pay, but never the less, I will do the best I can, my father the merciful, thank you). Everyone sang along, and she started to share her testimony. She shared on, until she got to a point and announced to the church, I am feeling dizzy, at which point she slumped in the ready hands of my dad and her pastor. That was when the chariot that took her to heaven came, that was the last time she stood on her feet for the next 11 days that ended with her being taken. The doctors called it a hemorrhagic stroke, and showed that it was really up to God or nature. Between those days, she spoke for some and was unconscious for others. Her life flashed before our eyes and I’m sure hers as well. Her 56yrs have been more life than 200 regular years. Many hope to die in the lord, my mum was a child of God at her death, and even took her departure from his house -the assembly of his people. Continue Reading »

Hate him, like him, adore him or rubbish him, we all grew up to know, like and celebrate Michael Jackson. Every school had someone who could mimic him the most, almost all of us tried. In some countries where they couldn’t speak English, they claimed they knew two words of English – Michael Jackson! Michael Jackson was a phenomenum, a rare example of a mortal who hugged limelight for 45 almost uninterrupted years. Rarely do stars shine for as long as 15yrs, he trippled the rare, he was sui generis – in a class of his own. In kiddies parties in the backside of many of the countries of the world,till tomorrow, Michael Jackson uniforms are still regular features.

I couldn’t follow the CNN regular updates on his death, I was in the hospital waiting on my mum, when it happened, thankfully she is making it! It’s been difficult for me to really get my thoughts together on all the topics that are burning so hot on my mind, but for your sake I have decided to still write. I’m currently in the sun, on a bench outside the intensive care unit  of the University of Ilorin teaching hospital. Being in a hospital is an experience that balances you, close proximity with the after life brings clarity. Today, I’ll like to share a few lessons I believe we can all glean from the life of a once living legend – MJ! Continue Reading »

“Last month’s winner was, Ikotun Adebisi, he wins a hosting account with nairahost and a pack of 200 minibooks to do with as he pleases – pls Join me in Congratulating him”

I’m currently writing from somewhere under OAU Ife health sciences building, and it’s 1.01am. It’s been unduely long since I had internet access, and it’s alse been a long tiring day. I moved straight from the Aiport from Abuja to Ife, yesterday, and it was a very long  journey. I went in the company of a team of great people, My Wife (Temitope Akinyemi), Christian Love and Joshua Adeyemi. We set out from Lagos at 4pm only to arrive at OAU ife at after 2.00am in the morning. I’m greatly troubled for this nation, that what we have refused to solve collectively is beginning to hunt us individually. May we rise up and connect!

The journey was filled with loads of intruiges that culminated in a totally trapping situation when in the pitch dark night in the middle of nowhere, we suddently entered a ditch and lost two tires! We had only one spare tire and were trapped for sure, it was dark all around, and there was this sensing in the air, that if we waited too long where our tires went flat, we might  discover the people that are responsible for setting the trap if any. With two tires down and only one spare, we decided to keep moving on against all odds, and in that journey of 10hrs  (sufficient time to fly to the US direct). In that journey however, there are key lessons to learn and apply to life. Continue Reading »

1. Hope triumps over Fear. Obama came with a message of hope Mccain with a message of fear. Hope won, and still wins. Whatever you are facing, your hope will win your fear, when fear is high, tune hope up.

2. Our defining moments are preceeded by two waves of preparation. Obama became a celibrity in 21 months, but if he had any scandal in his life in his 46yrs, those 21 months would have revealed it. He prepared lifelong, and prepared just in time. Many atimes we focus on the just in time preparation, assuming that life will set us up for what we have never prepared for. From the time you became responsible for yourself till now, what have you been preparing for? The world doesn’t meet anyone half way, you want it, you’ve gotta go for it.

3. There is spot for all of us to stand and move the world. Obama’s clear spot was public speaking skills. He knew how to connect with his audience and move them with him. Where is that spot for you, where you can stand and move the world. In the exhiliration resulting from the discovery of the lever system, Archimedes is quoted to have said, give me a place to stand, and a lever long enough, and I will move the world. We call can, if we find our spots and perfect it. Continue Reading »