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

What you are about to read is a piece from a new friend and sister of mine. She has been reading from this site for a while, and one day gathered herself and contacted me. Like many of you, she felt that what I was writing was for her, and that rather than let her life pass one second at a time, she needed to get herself involved in the things she truly enjoys.  She lives over 10hours away from where I live, so meeting was difficult, but somehow we met – thanks to Holidays and Cash.

After our brief meeting that had so many other people around, we communicated again on phone once and talked about what she was doing and what she would really love to do.  I encouraged her to start her blog, and to give herself an opportunity to do what she really wants to do. I counselled her to document her progress, take pictures and really take in the feeling evoked from following her passion and heart. She decided to spend her time at an orphanage, and the piece she wrote when she came back blew my mind. Amazing things can happen when people grow in their soil. Have an exciting read. Continue Reading »

I want to use this opportunity to say a big “thank you” to you – my family and friends for the deluge of calls, mails, messages and facebook wall greetings for my birthday. I had earlier planned that I will respond to everybody one by one, I actually started, but, with over 1000 people to reach, it became overwhelming. I have decided to dedicate a full post to all of you.

I have also wanted to do this earlier, but my packing and preparing for this trip to Mauritius has made it difficult for me to get on with it. I’m currently in Mauritius, it’s been described as a paradise, as a beautiful french island on the east coast of Africa behind Magadascar. It’s all true and more! More about Mauritius later

Being here on this island has not made it easy for me to communicate and update my blog, but even if i don’t finish this, I will ensure that today I post this article. The more I reflect on the advancement of my years, the more I try to answer the question of priority. What is really worth ones time, and what is a share waste of life and time. As I journey along, and meet with different types of people from around the world. It’s clearer to me day after day, that the essence of life is to make the most of it in serving a unique purpose. So today, while I thank you profusely, I’ll also like to challenge you deeply. 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 »

I and a team of my friends and colleagues rushed down from Lagos to Ilorin yesterday night. We got to Ilorin around 7.30pm haven kept about 500 students waiting for over 2hrs. Manchester United was battling it out with Arsenal within a few minutes from our getting there, but the students waited for us to come, and waited again for 3 more hours while I shared some thoughts and strategies with them on how to position themselves in the next few months.

Being in Ilorin and speaking to these crowd of eager youths was fulfilling and exciting for me. By the time we finished, it was 11pm, and we didn’t have so much time to answer questions. I am dedicating this post to them, to fill in their comments, and ask their questions. 

A few thoughts have run in my head since last night, I’ve been doing some thinking about what I said and what even I have learnt. I don’t know who is out there that needs to be blessed by these words, I can assure you however that if you practice what you are about to read, you will make history! These are not the things I spoke about, if you want that, buy the tapes , let the student body make some money Continue Reading »

As much as I try to make my writing simple enough to be digested, it seems I’ll still need to try some more. I’ll start tomorrow though, today’s topic is hot, and I won’t want to dilute it with simple words. I discovered that writing the way I write generates a lot of questions in people’s minds, and that’s fine, the pathway to knowledge and wealth is to ask.  Everything you need in this life, is a question away. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. So if you need clarity on anything I write, please ask questions. I am online most of the time, and really willing to answer.

Someone once told me that my blog made him to start reconsidering his philosophy about the existence of God. He was a very cerebral guy, and had thought his way into believing that God didn’t exist and the spiritual was just an extension of the mind, e.t.c. Somehow without my saying anything directly, he had gotten some questions thrown at him that his philosophy could not explain and moved him into the path of working out a relationship with God. In my little journey on the Internet, I have found out, that he is not alone – many young people have had no experience of God, and are on a journey of questioning, testing and experimenting, and trying to find out for themselves if the world banged into existence or if there is a God somewhere. Is there proof that God exists? Do they need their research? Can it bring results? Is there any research that has been done that they can read and leverage on? Continue Reading »

1. Access to Kings

I woke up very early yesterday morning, earlier than I usually would, to leave my house for 5am and head for the Airport. I was going to meet Fela Durotoye and Bunmi Ajagbe a member of his team, on our way to see the Minister of Education in Abuja.  

It ended up being a fulfilling meeting. Our objectives met with favour, and it was a good learning experience for all of us and me in particular.  I didn’t clamour to go see the minister, I was invited to come, that felt good and like the fulfillment of desires. The day went well. 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 »

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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 »