Happy New year

Today I wish to congratulate everyone that makes it to the end of the year. It’s a rare privilege. In the course of the year many had died. If it is not God, you may not be alive. Its time to send all the thanks to God and give in Thanks in advance for what He plans to do for you next year.2009 promises to be a great year irrespective of what the naysayer may say. Believe God for the best and plan your life. Set a goal that is specific, measurable, action oriented with a time or deadline. Do not forget your personal brand is the future of your career and entrepreneurial success. Go to http://www.yinkaolaito.com/ and sign in. The resources there are life changing. See you next year. I love you all.

www.yinkaolaito.com launched

We have oficially launched http://www.yinkaolaito.com/. The implication of this is that I may not be able to regularly update this blog again. I therefore encourage our community to check the site and sign in their emails to get update. This new site will help every professional, entrepreur to achieve their aims faster when he/she applies the truth in it. See you there. and welcome to a new world.

Touch a life

In life, everything is not money. That has guided my belief in whatsoever thing I do. Saturday 18th October,2008 was another great day. My friend-lolu mogaji had a full day event with Nigerian Student society of Investors and Entreprenuer,Olabisi Onabanjo university, Ago-Iwoye,Ogun state. A great student body with mission to inculcate business and entreprenuership spirit into their memberships while still in the University. Beacuse it was a full day event, I was also given an hour to talk on how to effectively manage an organization with emphasis on leadership and other key points. We really had a nice time. while I congratulated them I also did say that while we were in the university all that we had as extra curricula activity was centred on how to build our faith and used faith for everything without the knowledge of how to use our skills. At the end of the session, a student walked up to me, thanked me for my session and said he was really challenged by my session.One of the things that challenged him was the fact that I did tell them that I did not get to study the course of my choice for my basic degree. But through sheer determination to do well with whatever you have left, I was able to get three awards reading the same course I did not like and how from there, I have been able to retrain myself for what I am doing today. Be an influence, use what you had passed through as an encouragement to the younger generation.

Poem to my "danshiki"

My friend and my companion of one hundred and twenty days I am so grateful for your companionship So glad that you were handy and become ready help As a covering. What a wonderful, supportive ally you were You became an evidence of my presence Danshiki, a great name you have among the southwest In Nigeria. Even though as a child growing up, I never Liked you and the only one my Daddy made for me was rejected because of my hatred for you, Today as an adult I had to fraternize with you for over hundred days See how circumstances do change. I will never forget you; you will always remind me of my life assignment That must always be with me whether I like it or not. Thanks for providing such a covering After over hundred days, I had to part way with you again But with a great lesson, that I should not have any permanent enemy Nor friends, but should live life loving everyone. Always remembering that he who is not in my book today can be written With a golden name tomorrow as a ready helper. Bye- bye my “danshiki”.

Memoir Of A survivor 2

How my hand was restored to normal was another story for another day. The Doctor at the said hospital did say that after my hand had healed, I should not expect more than 55% restoration of what I usually had before. Today my right hand is back to normal. The lesson I learnt in the process as well as my takes on the issue of Life are: Obedience to inner Voice : Be ready to obey your inner instinct especially those of us who serve God. Sometimes God wants us to stay somewhere but we want to reason it out. If I had stayed in door all day, possibilities were there that I might have escaped the accident. Government/ Medicine : I want to appeal to government to please make a new law which empowers people who wish to help accident victims to do so. Many don’t want to touch accident victims here in our culture because if anything happens, the individual will be roped in and made to answer cases whereas the individual is just trying to help. Government should also increase facilities in teaching hospitals.Particularly those that are in Metropolitan cities like Lagos. For human being-accident victims- to be sleeping on bear floors is degrading in the 21st century. Government should also hire more hands to supplement what we have now. Our medical personnel should please increase their customer service ethics. Patients are customers not goat,they are human who deserve respect. We knew our medical personnels are under staffed, work under terrible and inhumane conditions. I also plead that the sanctity of life should still be preserved because many had died in the process of Doctors, Nurses manifesting their frustration on innocent citizen. Many had to go to fake local doctors who deceive them by lying that they could do it. But that does not nullify the fact that there are genuine local/herbal doctors who are doing greater jobs than the so called medical ones. Personal safety: my experience here showed that men/women; particularly those that are married should take their personal safety seriously. We should not take unnecessary risks with our lives. When the ships are down, it is your immediate family that will suffer the most. After one week of your demise, people have to mandatorily return to their busy lives particularly in Lagos. Pray for safety but watch what you do.

Memoir of a survivor 1

Today, I am back to tell a story, a story so real but look untrue. When I thought about it, I am amazed at how life is so short and can pass-on within split seconds. I woke up on 20th June, 2008 normally like any other day. Excited feelings of waking up alive but with strong feelings of not wanting to go out- I meant to stay in door. Or at most do all that I had to do within the confinement of the house. As a common practice, I love to read my Bible every day before going out. But somehow I found myself using more time than usual. I sat down meditating for long and in the meantime slept off. I do not know whether it has happened to anybody, I sensed an out of body experience to just stay at home. But in the process of finding a justifiable reason while a man should stay at home all day and not go to work, my phone rang and a request to do something urgently around Allen Avenue in Ikeja Lagos was made. I quickly dressed up and hit the road. I had a strong inclination to take certain route but the traffic was heavy on that route so I took another route which seemed longer. Just about to place my right leg on the culvert of the office I was going in Allen, I heard "bang" with a shout of 'heeee ' and I passed-out. A reckless taxi driver hit me from back. Threw me up in the air and while coming down, I hit my head on the guy's windshield. But my right hand prevented me from going through to the front seat of the cab and I eventually landed on the roadside. All this while, my consciousnesswas gone. Passers- bys- as usual in Lagos became pity party and none to help. Everyone thought I was gone but subconsciously I was hearing everyone speaking. After a while the Taxi Driver pulled me inside his car and drove on without anyone with me inside. That was a concern, because we have heard stories of how drivers would carry their victims and dump them somewhere so they would neither be queried by police nor anyone. Fortunately, I became conscious and I started praying for my life's preservation. I also questioned the driver where he was taken me to. By this time I knew I heard bruises all over my body and a broken arm. He said he was taken me to the Hospital. I neither had much cash on me and I was not so sure the driver had. I had had lost my phone in the process so I could not call anyone. When we got to the Hospital, a government owned teaching hospital in Ikeja, not much help was given; the driver had no money on him, neither did I. At the emergency clinic, there were crowds of victims, some dead, some alive. A victim got attention to the degree at which he knew anyone at the top hierarchy and if you knew the right contact to call. Otherwise you had to wait until the Doctors who had worked four days without rest could attend to you. Most of the real consultants are always out to do something. I was told to send someone home so he could bring me a wrapper to sleep on the floor for the night as I would not be attended to until midnight, meanwhile it was still 10.00am in the morning. I was given anti –tetanus injection though. My plea that the doctors should do an x-ray which would confirm whether I had any internal injury fell on deaf ears. The nurses said, there was no Doctor who would give them that instruction. After a long while Emmanuel Utomi, a great friend and brother showed up having been briefed about the incidence. He was so happy to see me alive because he had been told that if he met me conscious, I was lucky. His coming brought a lot of difference as he made contacts with some individuals among whom was pastor Samuel Adeyemi, whom he works with and who also doubled as my church pastor. There and then, we got a phone number of whom to call within the system that could facilitate immediate medical attention. At the end, x-rays that could not be taken were taken and we had to beg the officer in charge of the plaster of Paris (POP) to attend to me. To be honest, he was already fagged out. The young lady in charge of the x-ray too had been on her legs for the better part of the day and fatigue was visibly written on her face. She was the only one setting the x-ray table, taken the x-ray etc. But alas, after the POP, I went to do a check x-ray, and it was shown that my humeral bone was not aligned and I had to go home like that to come back on Monday, because the accident happened on a Friday. By this time, it was already ten minutes to five in the evening. I came back on Monday as instructed but that day was another full day for the Doctors, so I was shouted at for requesting to be attended to. I was told to go back home for the next six weeks when all of us knew the bones were not aligned. This was confirmed by the x-ray I went ahead to take that Monday morning. For almost seven weeks I was at home with a POP which we all knew would not do anything to the bone. I could not bath by myself; I could not use my right hand, I could not wear clothes except the “danshiki” we hurriedly went to make. While at home, I enjoyed strong supportive words of a loving, highly dedicated wife and my daughter. Many friends rushed in that weekend to see me, my church members, unit members made it home to see me. I thought that was great but after that everyone had to go back to their busy schedules in Lagos. Thank God for people like Emma Utomi who kept calling to find out my well-being, Femi Aturu, Mrs. Fakoya kept coming, offering other form of assistance within their reach. At the end of the six and a half weeks, I returned to the Hospital, took another X-ray with the hope that a miracle would had happened, but alas no miracle happened, the bones were already pulling apart the more and I was told to come back next week so they could think of the next course of action. I never did.

Be a model

I shall pass this road but once. If there is any good I can do. Let me do it today, because I may not have the same environment to do what I should have done yesterday.Let me be a shining example today so I can be an addition to someone when I have have left this planet.

Leading an examplary life requires that we take conscious effort to build a structure that we will individually be proud of in the days to come.This will also allow posterity to judge us well. Life is a journey so they say. one day the journey will end but the footstep we all leave behind will speak volume of who we were when we were here. While we consider what we daily go through and the challenges that want us to join 'them' we must also question our own rationale, values whether they agree with what we planned to be or who we planned to be.

Be a model in your journey, let your route shine brighter for someone in your world.

The secret of Relevance

He had been many things to many people, but yesterday, he became a dead man to everyone- This Day Newspaper.

Popularly known as ” Alaafin Molete”, a reference to his over- lordship in Molete neighbourhood in Ibadan city or the Garrison commander” on account of his brand of politics - a blend of cheap populism, and raw thuggery - that often compelled either violent loyalty or violent opposition, he was not just a law unto himself in politics, he was a law unto others, especially in the current Fourth Republic. His favour was curried by presidents, governors and all who sought power. And to them, he became a revered father, “Baba Adedibu!” Ilaji Ibadan ti won npe l’enikan (One mistaken for a person when he is indeed half of Ibadan). That was Odolaiye Aremu, the late local musician, the dadakuada exponent, singing the praise of Adedibu. He actually forcefully graduated from being “half of Ibadan” to being practically the whole of Oyo State, determining who became governor or held any political office at all. Those who crossed his path, even a governor, got removedarly - The Guardian Newspaper.

Today, I woke up with mixed feelings.Yesterday I did thank God that at last the pacesetter state-Oyo state, southwestern Nigeria will now know peace for the time being. A friend called me and he heard my excitement on the phone and was worried why I should be excited over the death of a fellow human being.

After a six hour's sleep, I woke up to think about the other side of this man. While I do not support the man's unruly behaviours or some of his excesses. Like how he single-handedly managed the state and led it to a halt in all sense of it.

On the other side of the divide, I thought of how a single individual could held sway over a lot of people, controlling their thought patterns and given direction to how their daily affairs should run?

No matter what, Alhaji Adedibu held a strong positive influence on those guys he daily fed, catered for, provided for, whose childrens'school fees and hospital bills he paid etc. He was the man of his own people 'cults'. He was accessible to them all.He took personal responsiblity for their lives as well as tutored them-whatever kind of tutoring he did supply based on his own knowledge.History will determine that among those people. We could sit down at the confinement of our own walls to draw conclusions about him.

The moral in this is that if our government, individuals and corporate organizations will be up and doing in their responsibility of caring, guiding and proviing an enabling ennvironment that will spur development of personal capacity as well as being accessible, reachable, show enough sense of responsibility in making relevent basic necesities of life available to the people, i do not think people like Alhaji Adedibu could command such kind of attention.

If our corporate organizations will be responsive enough to the needs of the society by being there always for their clients, staying in touch and have the utmost good of everyone in mind, people like Alhaji Adedibu's influence will become nill.

I must confess that I am not a politician and none of my family member dead or alive is- in terms of partisan politics.I have never met Alhaji Adedibu one-on-one, neither have I benefitted from his 'amala-kind'-eat and I eat kind of politics.

But we must be able to draw the line and not make the mistake of throwing the baby away with the bath water. It is a clarion call and a need for action on the part of irresponsible ways of life of government, individual and corporate behaviours. To be relevant, we must make impacts on our surroundings.

Mr. Jailor

How has our weekend being?Given also that today is the last day of the month of May. By tomorrow-which is few hours from now, we will be in the month of June. the reality of this is that we are in the middle of the so- called new year we celebrated about one hundred and fifty five days ago. My admonition today is to ask whether mr. Jailor has not been able to sentence us to the status qou. The position where we complain and give in. A position that allows us to give good reasons for our inactivities and lack of progress. Mr. Jailor is known in every city, town, village. Infact he is always a neighbour who shows up to say hi. But as soon as you answer his subtle call for good neighbourliness, you are already in a great chain. He neither wishes to leave you alone but to ensure you, your ideas are caged and sentenced to a new routine you have vowed never to follow. Mr. Jailor appears to all of us in different gabs, dress and name. But coming to the bottomline of it, mr. jailor is the same person everywhere. He may be a good reason for not doing things the way it should be, he may be the boss, your parent, your friend-boy or girl, your environment, money. Believe me my friend, push your way out today and break free from Mr. jailor's prison beacuse you can not afford to use the next two hundren and ten days in the prison of Mr. jailor. if you do,

by then, we will be saying happy new year. That will be too bad. Break free today.

There is always a pay day

Today, our short encouragement is THERE IS ALWAYS A PAY DAY. As we know, many make effort, an attempt at their dreams for two reasons. One is pleasure and the other is pain. We are all aware that there is no two ways to it. One either pays now and enjoy the pleasure of achievement tomorrow or refuse to pay now and suffer the pain of not making an attempt tomorrow.Today in our busy lives, many, particularly who live in metropolitan cities know what it means to strive, struggle, work late, stay late to read and prepare for another exams while still raising a family by the side. The price often overwhelm many and they give up in the midst of the heat.Forgeting that what they have passed through is greater than what is left behind.The unfortunate part of the whole show is that crown is not given to those who tried and abandoned the project in between but those who stick to it to the end. Today we have a choice to stick to it or let go of our dreams.Do not let go. The valley is not that deep as it looks from afar. Pay now and enjoy the pleasure tomorrow.

Chasing Money

Recently, I read this post from a popular medium and having been a victim once, I decided to let my community read this so they could avoid the temptation. Happy Reading: One of people’s greatest weaknesses is the temptation of making fast, easy, chunks of money. It’s a reliable button that’s constantly being pushed on and taken advantage of in every which way in today’s society. The motivation varies but the underlying premise is you want to make as much money in as little time as possible with minimal effort. The most obvious way to do this is through criminal means. You rob a store, deal drugs, steal nice cars, rob a bank, etc. Then, for the less brazen comes a more legal way (in some states) of satisfying the chase for money. Gambling. Casinos know all too well how powerful greed can be and they profit immensely from it. Then come the get rich quick schemes that seem “legitimate” at first, at least to some naïve people. Pyramid schemes, make money on autopilot schemes, Nigerian princes contacting you via email, promising you hundreds of thousands of dollars if you send them a couple thousand their way first so they can get out of the country, etc., and of course, all that does is waste even more money. Then, some will start to pursue real, legitimate ways of making big bucks by pursuing avenues such as real estate, sales, or starting their own business, because they know such and such person who did that and now they’re rich, but since those avenues require a lot of time and effort, most probably won’t stick it out to the end. But for the ones who do stick it out to the end and find themselves at last with the money they’ve always wanted, it will prove to be a hollow victory simply because they did not take themselves into account. That’s the problem that comes with chasing money. By chasing money, you tend to become so focused on the external means of doing so that you activate an unnatural process because you constantly focus outside yourself, which prevents you from focusing internally on how best you can serve. All the avenues that people pursue to chase the almighty dollar have the hidden flaw of taking you out of the equation. By constantly focusing on finding a “vehicle” outside yourself to make money, it stops you from asking the right questions to put the focus back on you because that’s the correct solid foundation you want to work off of. Questions such as: What am I good at?Where do my strengths, interests, and talents lie?How can I best use these to serve others? You have to factor YOU into the equation. Don’t look for external factors first because if you don’t know what “shape” you are, you won’t know which “piece” out there will fit correctly with you. But since many people don’t realize that, they engage in money making ventures that don’t suit their personalities, their preferences, values, interests, etc., simply because they do it for the money. As a result, they become miserable and conflicted with themselves because the outside venture does not “fit” with them at all and all those negative, bitter emotions carry over and infect other areas in their lives. A classic example is a person wanting to become a lawyer simply because he hears they make good money. He invests a large amount of money in law school, graduates, but finds he absolutely hates practicing law. The long hours, the long commute, all the research he has to do, the stress level - sure he’s making money, but the job and everything about it doesn’t “fit” with him at all. I’m not saying it’s bad to make money. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with making money. Making money is something we all have to do but when it becomes the #1 thing, it’s not conducive to helping us find the right “fit” for ourselves and it also helps us forget one of the most important parts about making money – the desire to truly serve. People make the mistake of chasing money first, not realizing it’s a byproduct of serving as many people possible in the best possible way. Money comes as a natural byproduct of that. When you focus on money first, you skip the part of desiring to truly serve others first and your self interest becomes #1 at the expense of others. When that happens, it becomes really easy to blur the moral line. It becomes really easy for you to tell a customer that their car engine needs to be replaced, when all it needs is a little tune up, just so you can make a couple extra thousand dollars. It becomes really easy for you to cut back on the quality of your products and services so that your profit margin will be larger at the end of the fiscal year. It becomes really easy for you to do a lot of things that in the short term, will seemingly benefit you, but in the long term, will come back and bite you in the rear. Chasing money will seem very appealing and tempting at first, but you will always find upon closer inspection that the end result just isn’t worth it. Focusing on taking into account everything about yourself and how best YOU can serve will prove to be the journey that’s ultimately worth it.

How Are You?

How time flies. We gravitate towards what we think about most time. I have been obsessed with turning my passion, my dream and my career to a hubby. Despite the fact that I really want to be here and write, the pressure of work has taken my eyes away from what i want to do by the side.Anyway I am working on a better option-www.yinkaolaito.com. I will be keeping you posted on latest development. Please do bear with me.I love you all.

Happy New Year

It is an opened secret that I have not be updating this site like I use to do.I have had pressure of work but that is not a good reason. So I must apologize to my community for this. Given this also I must come here to wish my numerous fans a happy new year.

During the year I have been encouraged by many of you out there. I have met new friends here in the bloggers community and some of the relationships are worth keeping.I may not be able to mention names here but all of my community members are wonderful. Remember that no matter what this year seems to be to you, there is a better space outside there and as we enter, cross-over to the new year, I wish you all a beautiful and properous seasons ahead.

I sing for you all:

I wanna wish you a merry Christmas

I wanna wish you a merry christmas

and a HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Cheers, I love you all.Thanks for being there always.

his

The Final whistle

To some, the year is gone already and nothing can be done about it. To some, many water have passed under the bridge and yet many can still cross the bridge in the next few days.

There is still room to do a lot and there is no reason to give up on yourself that the year is gone, keep trying and keep pushing. You do not have to determine the game until the final whistle is blown. A slight mistake from the opponent can be to your own advantage. I can see clearly that your strategy will still work out as planned even though we have less than forty days to the end of the year.

It takes grace and extra effort but it is still possible. Individually we must all become strong in strategy to win the game and win it with everything in us.Your courage is waiting on you to put on a fighting spirit and get the goals. The year will not end until you have achieved your goals. Do not let the remaining days go without putting in all your efforts so that you will not be caught panting when the final whistle is blown.

Pursue Your Dream

Life is about choices. The dreams of today are reality of tomorrow if they are pursued and given right environmen.I read these lines below somewhere and i think i will help someone out there. Happy reading: When you pursue your dreams, you'll often be met with a lot of negativity and discouragement from the people around you. Some will be out of genuine concern, but the majority will be based on not so good intentions - jealousy, the desire to see you fail, insecurity, etc. It's imperative to distance yourself from negativity and discouragement because it's the most poisonous dream killer out there. If someone handed you a cup of water and put a little drop of poison in it, would you still drink it? You wouldn't drink it in a million years, yet that's exactly what people do. They "drink in" the poison inadvertently by surrounding themselves with negative people and it slowly enters their system and kills their dream from the inside out by sowing the viruses of fear and doubt.t to germinnate. Never undervalues what you can do. Stay focused.

Rebranding Nigeria On EKO FM

Monday october 1, 2007 was one of the best days this year for me.I am a passionate Nigerian and given that that day was 47th independence of this great country gave me a lot of joy. We might not have been there but it is a fact that we will soon get there. We may have a long way to go but a step ahead makes a thousand miles reduce by an inch. So, I was so glad when I had invitation to be part of a live show tagged "Rebranding Nigeria". I was on the two hour show with a good friend of mine-Lolu Mogaji- an image consultant and life coach.In our bid to do what we knew to do most as brand and public relations experts, we discussed at length the need for individuals to make up their minds, become a good, compelling vision 'caster', and to develop strong leadership ability that can turn our beloved country to what it is expected to be despite the fact that some of our leaders are yet to see the need to provide the right leadership that will take us to the expected height. Many of the listeners who called during the programme quite appreciated the trend we followed but were overtly concerned about the environment and politcal situation that may not encourage such individual decision. some were concerned about how long it will take Nigeria's leadership to rise to the level where they will lead the people to the right place or promise land. We know that there is no rebranding without a promise of value-Nigerian Dream- but we do believe the youth has to take the bull by the horn and profer solution, come up with the vision of a Nigeria they want to live in. The problem is that we always assume that big nations have no known challenges, the difference is that they know how to manage perception and on this, we appealed to our media to be careful how they use their pen.Which can be a weapon of mass destruction when it comes to rebranding Nigeria. At the end of the programme, we sent the message of hope and that everyone should hold on to theirbelieve of a newNigeria by becoming a good ambassador.

Keep Moving

A sage once wrote

'if you can not fly, run, if you can not run, walk, if you can not walk, crawl, by all means, keep moving, I have kept moving

Life is all about strategic movement, You do not stay in our place and expect everyone to come and meet you. You do not get ahead staying in one place for a long time. No matter how sweet your present location is, if you remain too long, it will turn sour.Many believe that since things have stopped moving they should stop taking actions as well. Nobody has made substancial progress staying in the same stop for life. I read a book recently titled HOW MOVED MY CHEESE, and the whole story is about four young guys that were celebrating their new successses/discoveries but two of them were smart to know when to move instead of staying put with the present achievement. I encourage you today not to rest on your achievements but to keep moving even if you are having it rough. There is a ligh after the tunnel. Stay on top.

Hit The Road Again

Today is a new day. Every day is a new opportunity; every opportunity is a door to several others.We can not because of yesterday-no matter how many days make up that yesterday- abuse today's opportunity. Every day presents a new slate by which we can all right a new chapter and go ahead with new chapters to get a complete story. I know that some yesterdays may not be funny or be an experience to remember for many. Few are lucky to have their yesterdays as the standard spring board to move ahead. No matter what our yesterdays contain, we can still blaze a new trail, we can still achieve more, we can still cover, break new ground. Some have just suffered layoffs, while many are just bereaved as I saw a lady looking downcast, dejected this morning. A friend asked her why she was looking that way and she said 'she just lost her Dad'. that may be irreplaceable but I belive that she can still gather herself together and with God's help she can still go places. No matter what our yesterdays contain, I admonish my community members today to refire, hit the street again, make the move, hope for the best and I assure you that the future is not a s bleak as you must have thought. For those who believed that their yesterdays were enviable, we need to remember that the enemy of a better tomorrow is the 'goods' of yesterday. Do not rest on your achievements, several laurels are still out there. Do not settle for better when there is opportunity for the best and beyond the best there are several many opportunities. If I must captioned this blog, I will say it is a new dawn, therefore HIT THE ROAD AGAIN. I love you all, see you tomorrow.

This thing is real. I have been quiet for a long while over 6k4you/clubfreedom.com multi level internet marketing for a while just because I felt that the taste of the pudding is in the eating. I have joined for a long time but my activities have been slowed down by one of my downlines. So I thought I should not talk about an experience I do not have. John The Beloved for those who read the Bible once wrote " I write unto you what I have experienced, held, behold... and my testimony is right about the master" so I decided to share my experienced if I could fulfilled that scripture. This afternoon, I checked my mail to find the following letters in my mail congratulating me on being awarded money as a rewad for my activities in Clubfreedom: Dear .... Congratulations!You have just cycled off a main board and been awarded xxxx.Your cash will be available in your eCash virtual wallet account within 7 days, where you can transfer it to your Clubfreedom Travel Card.To view your new position on the boards, please login to your Clubfreedom Website. Dear rt.... We have just created for you a virtual wallet, in which your Clubfreedom funds will be paid.In order to access your funds, please Login To Your Wallet Account through the Clubfreedom members area Here are your login details:Username: xxx, pasword:xxx Go to your nearest ATM and withdraw your cash! Or go to your favorite travel agent and use your card from there to make purchases. Available at thousands of ATMs worldwide (Cirrus/Maestro), and most travel agents. So I can boldly say it is real and you can participate. Peradventure you want to join, use the link below www.6k4you.com/olaitoyinka , You can then send me an Email at inspirationaldialogue@yahoo.com There is no known anti christ slogan in 6k4you.com/www.clubfreedom.com, as far as I know till to date, so I say it worth the try. Your financial situation can be changed also.See you on monday. Happy weekend

Charisma: Key To Success

When the ships are down, integrity places our feet on a solid rock and positions us for a higher placement, but without a level of charisma, it may take a while to get to the top. Charisma is the possession of a presence, attraction, and attention. To be charismatic, command attention all you need is to identify a cause, an ideal, a vision and ability to demonstrate that you will not sway from your goal. From then, you will begin to command attention because you are believed to have a plan and that you are going somewhere. That place is not as important (that is an added advantage) but to demonstrate you are going somewhere. There are several ways that one can show charisma. Any or combination of the followings is (are) great starting point: 1.Sainthood: be seen as someone who is true to his words. Before this, you must have had a cherished value that you will not compromise. You must live what you believe and not a chameleon with different colurs of beliefs. 2. Eloquence: cultivate the habit of using words craftily, in other words be a choice word user. Enhance the power in your words. Words create emotional disturbance. It can lift, stir anger. Eloquence can be learnt. Improve on your public speaking skills. 3.Humour: Develop the power to be humorous. 4. Boldness: demonstrate that you are not afraid of anything, even death. 5.Consistence/Fervency: hold on tightly to your beliefs/values. Be the crusader of your own belief. 6. Vulnerability: Be open, reveal your love and passion for the people who follow you. 7.Unconventional: You do not go far as a charismatic person if you are conventional. Be dynamic. 8.Emotional/magnetism: Reveal excitement, tension through your eyes and gestures without a word spoken. The yes of the charisma is a weapon; it never shows fear or concern.

The Law Of Charms

To be attractive, you must be charming. To be charming means to “cast spell through thoughtful interaction, consideration and positive attitude’. The “charmer” holds the attention of others and held them spell-bound. Many do this naturally while those who want to be charming can learn. Benjamin Disreali said, “talk to a man about himself and he will listen for hours”. To command peoples’ attention and respect, observe the followings: 1, Make people the target of attention: others must become subject of your interest, star of the show. 2. Be a source of pleasure: there are too much troubles around. No one wants to hear about your troubles and problems. Listen to others’ complaint and distract them from the problem by supplying pleasure. 3.Never criticize people overtly; it will make them resistant to change but plant ideas and insinuate suggestions. 4.Share people’s value and understand their moods. Get to honour agreements and promises made. For everyone, there are written and unwritten laws by which they operate their lives. It will be to your own advantage to understand what they are just bearing with even though they do not like it. Stop crossing the their threshold lines. 5. Display calmness in the time of adversity. Do not over react to setbacks, anger etc. 6. Be useful: increase your social network skills, link people together and keep promises. These all guarantee that you will ever be evergreen in the minds of the crowd, well-wishers, acquaintances, coworkers and many others. N.B I am so sorry for that one month break in transmission/blog holiday. Hope to make up.Welcome back

Purposeful Living

This morning event taught me a very good lesson on Purposeful living.There is this young man that is paid to take our daughter to school and bring her back to after School before we come back home.The said young man has being consitent in coming late to pick her despite several verbal instructions that he must come latest by 7.30am daily. This morning as usual, he came around 8.10am and I was a bit upset with him because of the delay he had caused me.Instead of venting my anger on him, An African adage which can simply be translated to "times/situations never remain static or straigth neither is life so straight, erect like the rod of a typical local gun" came to mind. What this meant in this peculiar situation which I told him was that things don't alway remain the same and if he thought he could continue to hold us in random for life , it will be a joke.Being a proper "Yoruba- a tribe in Nigeria" , he understood the meaning of the adage without any further ado. He eventually apologised and left. When he had left, I began to think about the adage too. I understand also that times may bring whatever it wills, but how prepared am I in the face of eventualities? How am I maximising the moment giving the fact that I don't have a control over tomorrow? What are the good I should be doing now that I am not doing or what is the level of commitment that Ii should put to what I am doing and Ii am not? Can I wholly say that I fulfilled every day assignment before I go to sleep daily? These are thought provoking questions if we must live a purposeful life that our maker will be proud of. Are you aware that you may not be living your life purposefully and that you may be sincerely wrong in some decisions. think a bout this and change as I am thinking about mine too. Have a lovely day and week ahead.

Building self-Reliance

Life is all about responsibility.Every gift you receive has has a responsibility attached to it. For instance if someone gives you a car, you have the responsibility of fueling it.Learning to take responsibility for your life is the beginning of building self-reliance. The first step in building self-reliance is to recognize the number of choices we have in a free world.To choose the part of giving the driver's seat of youer life to someone else is a jouirney to calamity.To build self reliance, individual must strive to attain emotional security where one must learn to learn to develop two critical abilities: ability to live with uncertainty and abilitry to delay gratification in favour of a future desired goal.Individual must become a winner that make things happen instead of waiting for things to happen. Research has shown that for one to be happy,prosperous,one must believe that he/she has a strong measure of control over his life, sign up for inevitable changes and daily setbacks as well as apprehensions. A self-relaint person must take action from the present instead of fearing what can happen in the future.the individual must learn from past mistakes and move ahead. Denis Waitley says "the greatest risk in life is to wait for and depend on others for your own security. the greatest security is to plan, act and take risk that will guarantee your personal freedom and independnt". Go for this kind of security and be totally free. You are The best. I assure you. See you.

Every One Is A genius

In my search for the major difference between talent and genius, I have come up with a discovery that baffles me. It has caused me to begin an internal search of my potentials, talents in relations to what I have done with them. Malcom Cowley defines talents as “what you possess while genius is what possesses you”. I am almost certain, though I am still trying to propound the theory that an individual can use his/her talents to enhance his creativity and not vice versa. Anne Germaine De Stael also wrote that genius is essentially creative; it bears the stamps of the individual who possesses it or who is possessed by it. This can be validated by actions/results that Thomas Edison, Alexander Bell, Bill Gates of this world have gotten. Interestingly, I also discovered that every one is a potential genius and that there is no problem that can not be solved; there is no question one can not find an answer to. This is made possible by the fact that there is no one without a single talent no matter how small. The truth though is that we may not be equally endowed, but the little we all have can be work-out to produce the genius in us. Every one of us has a gifted brain, talent in one thing. It may not look like it initially until pressure is put on that little potential. For instance, I knew I have a passion for writing; but when I started out my grammar, style was so bad. Today, even though I am not there yet, I am still working hard to become a better writer and I had received a lot of encouragement from better writers than I. The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child to old age. The beauty of this is that the spirit of enthusiasm, adventure will posses you like a man under the influence of a drug. Every one is a genius, until you say you are not one; you are on the right path

Interview With Charmell Slaughter

Recently I had the opportunity of meeting Charmell Slaughter, a Personal Development and success empowerment expert here on the web. Her disposition and write-ups about life issues endeared me to her. More Importantly she is a professional that manages her home well and she talks about her being happy as a wife, mother and a professional. Such qualities to me enhance her personality. This is one of the reasons this interview was conducted as my community will read her thoughts below, she has depth of knowledge. I therefore encourage Nigerian Professionals as well as training institutions to engage her services. You can reach Charmell Slaughter on her website: http://www.coachchar.com/. Charmell and her family lives in Seattle, USA Happy reading. Olaito How did you come to be doing what you are doing today? Charmell: I have always a supportive and open-minded person capable of seeing the potential in others and seeing the many angles of a single situation. Thus, I have always been well-suited to the professional arenas of coaching and personal development. When I learned that there was a fairly new profession called life coaching or performance coaching I was immediately intrigued. Right away I located a certification program where I enrolled to become a certified professional coach (CPC). Olaito:.In one of your write ups you said it took a long time before you finished you degree, what accounted for that and what gave you the morale to finish?.. Charmell: When I was a third year student at Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania, I left school because I felt overwhelmed by the emotional demands of being a student at the time. Basically, I was struggling to meet a set of impossible, self-imposed standards and the pressure began to affect my academic performance and my state of physical well-being. So, two months shy of my 21st birthday, I withdrew from Bryn Mawr and went home to my parents in New Jersey. After a short while at home I chose to enlist in the U.S. Air Force. At first I was not interested in returning to college, but after 3 years in the military my desire to finish my degree returned. Unfortunately, my work schedule often conflicted with my class schedule and I would repeatedly drop classes when that would happen. After I left the Air Force in 1998 I took a very hectic position testing software at Microsoft Corporation. I gave my entire focus to my work at Microsoft until 2002 when I finally felt well enough to really complete my degree. Looking back, I see that it was important for me to heal my emotional wounds and learn from my mistakes before I could really invest myself mentally and emotionally in completing my bachelor’s degree. Olaito:How did you develop the skill to become a problem solver and why did you chose this professional part? What will you have being doing if you are not doing what you are doing today ? Charmell: My personal and professional experiences have honed my problem solving skills. When I was in the Air Force, I was a medical laboratory technician. It was important for me to be a nimble and sharp thinker in high pressure (life or death) situations in the hospital. If I did not perform my job with skill and finesse, I could have delivered faulty information to the physicians that could have resulted in deadly outcomes for the patients. When I worked at Microsoft, I had to work with technology that we had never seen before and find ways to evaluate and test new features they were ready for the public. .Olaito: You talk of helping people grow pass their challenges, how do you do that and are there specific instances where that had happened to a client of yours: Charmell: Often the way this particular growth occurs is that I assist people in pausing and exploring what has held them back from success or blocked their path to freedom. When they look with courage they quickly realize that any limitation they have experienced in the past has been a mere figment of their imagination.Olaito : we have found that bad habits destroy many in our society today, do you have suggestions on how to form good habits, change old ones etc Charmell:Currently, my own method for forming supportive and empowering habits is to focus intently on the new/desired behavior until my subconscious mind is programmed to view it as the norm. I find structures such as lists to be helpful. I also recommend that people set up a system of rewards that will motivate them to act in the preferred way and reinforce positive change. Olaito:.We seem to be having many in the school system today who don’t know where they are going, reading any course without a thought on where that will lead them, can you let us have your opinion on possible causes of that, what does this trend portend for national building as well as maximum individual capacity utilization.? Charmell:I think it depends on the context in which the students act. I feel that it can be perfectly acceptable for students to approach education and training with a sense of adventure and exploration. Is it really necessary for a young person to decide what she will do for the rest of her earthly life when she has had so little time (less than 18 years!) to gather information about her gifts and preferences? Perhaps in some places it is necessary for the individual to sacrifice personal preference in favor of what is best for the collective. Olaito:. You said you love to see adults complete their degrees, this has become a passion that you love so much, what influence such passion, how easy is it working with adults who already have their opinions formed? Charmell: My personal experience as a working adult who returned to finish a degree after the age of 30 is what incites my passion for helping those who endeavor to complete their degree after having been out of school for 7 or more years. I find that while some adults are very much locked into old patterns, many others like myself are willing to consider and experiment with new ways of being and acting. Olaito:. You are a personal development consultant, what are the basic requirement to practice your profession in the US? Charmell: Personal Development Facilitator is a title I have bestowed upon myself as a way of describing my three primary roles of success coach, professional speaker and workshop facilitator. Olaito:. You are also working with students in schools to reshape their values, have you made tremendous progress as you desired?...are there anything you think government can do to reduce the spate of violence we have among the youths? Charmell: I have not yet had the level of impact that I desire to have in influencing the values of young people. My chief desire with regard to shaping the values of today’s youth is to help them understand their greatness and their responsibility to make a contribution to the world that is proportional to their potential. As for what government can do to reduce the violence among youths, for one thing the leaders can shift their focus toward the behavior they desire to increase and give no thought to that which they do not prefer. Too much is made of the problems while the good news goes unreported and uncelebrated. Olaito:. What can the older generation do to leave a legacy to the younger generation in terms of empowerment activities?.. Charmell:We can use our own way of being and doing as an example for the young people to follow. Far too many adults have stopped actively dreaming and growing. Why should the younger people emulate older people who squander their power in an attempt to resist change and fight against what they don’t want? Olaito: In decision making process, can you suggest those factors you counted as necessities before one should arrive at a quality decision, can one accommodate changes as events unfold even when you have made a quality decision.? Charmell:When making any decision, it’s important to perform an inventory of relevant values that are at play within the situational context of the decision. Once one knows which values are most important to him in the situation he is pondering, he can choose to honor those values so that he will be at peace with the outcome of his decision no matter what changes arise in the future. Olaito:. How are you as a professional, career woman combining managing your work and still having a happy home front as we can see in you. What is your advice to other women who are having problems managing the two?... Charmell: Two factors contribute to my success in balancing a career with my family life. The first factor is the willingness of both wife and husband to openly communicate their vision and expectations so that any potential conflicts between what each of them wants can be identified and negotiated. Second, it’s important to create and observe boundaries to prevent one part of life from encroaching upon another part. By observing boundaries, a woman (or man for that matter) can ensure that she honors the commitments she has made to her family and to the people who rely upon her in her professional life. Olaito:Can you facilitate in international Training if invited? Charmell:Yes, I am in possession of a valid passport and I would be thrilled to deliver my services to clients outside the United States! Olaito: What are we expecting from Charmell Slaughter in the next ten years? Where do you see yourself career wise? What are your advices for start up entrepreneurs? Charmell:You may expect me to continue actively learning and growing in the next 10 years and hopefully beyond! I intend to grow my personal development business into an international success that serves and reaches millions of people in that time. I will become a best-selling nonfiction author and a world-famous professional speaker. My advice to start up entrepreneurs is to have a simple plan for how to grow your business. Treat your start up business as you would treat a child: first you feed and nurture it. Then when it is strong, you may look to it for sustenance as an aging parent can look to an adult child who has grown strong and capable over time

Amateur Or Professional?

In sport there are several categories of athletics and several athletes. There is a class of athletes called Amateur and the big league is called Professionals. The difference in the two is not that big. Only that through exercise, strong passion and will, some decided to move ahead through conscientious effort to work on themselves than on the game. Most successful junkies spend their time trying to find a way to “automatically” make money, fame, and name. This has brought many to inglorious fall. Ask those who had used performance-enhanced drugs to win a game or give impression that they were professionals if you are in doubt. There are some also, who rather than spending the time to make themselves automatically do the thing that bring success had continuously spend better time on themselves than on themselves than their jobs. This is done by working on cementing right habits into their psyche. Doing the kind of things that make them become more successfully. They ask the right question such as what am I afraid of?. How is money, finances and self holding me back? How can I tap into my creativity? How do I go about pursuing my dream and where can I find necessary support to achieve my dream? How is my inability to focus, upbringing messages I received inhibiting my progress? Most times, Amateur will rather blame the circumstance, parents, coach (if they have any), and lack of finance or connection. Forgetting that if they become focused, work harder and smarter, they will attract right people. Remember today that every professional today was once an amateur like you. But every amateur will not become a professional. Work on yourself more than you work on your job and you will become a Profession. Toast your success and stay on top.

Rules For Professional Success

In my search for tips for career, professional and happy life, I stumbled on Collin Powel’s rules. Give Collin Powel’s professional career excellence, I think He should be given the benefit of doubts for his recommendations. These includes: 1.It is not bad as you think, it will always look better in the morning: In whatever situation you find yourself, don’t see the worst in it all, there is something that is a blessing that you are not noticing. Sleep over the matter and reconsider the whole process again; you will see a light at the end of the tunnel. 2.Get mad and get over, don’t keep malice: Malice is a cankerworm that destroys the whole system. It is a dangerous virus that will corrupt your system fast. 3.Avoid placing your ego near your position. If you are a position crazy individual and if it is position power alone that spurs you on in life, you will crash very fast. If you lose your position, your ego also goes down with it. You should retain the You even without the position. 4.It can be done. Develop that attitude, don’t say you can not. That shut down the whole energy that is suppose to help you through. 5.Becareful what you chose, you may get it. Don’t just choose anything just because of your present circumstance. Make decision for where you are going and not where you are. 6. Don’t let adverse facts stand in the way of good decision. Never allow anyone to make decision for you. Be at the driver seat of your Life 7.Always check the details, share the credits, remain calm and be kind always. Do any good within your power. 8.Have a vision and be demanding. Realize that perpetual optimism is a force multiplier.

Discipline Your Disappointments

Disappointments in life are real. One may not always escape it. But one’s ability to place disappointments in proper perspective is a major key to success in life. Even though there are ample opportunity to own what you desire, the truth is one does not always posses all his all his desires per time. The experience of the sower in the good Book is a great lesson to all. The Sower was ambitious and had good seeds. Expectedly he desired a bountiful harvest. In his first attempt, the birds of the air came to eat all his seed sown. Because of his believe in the Law Of Average, he disciplined his disappointments and kept sowing. His second attempt of at planting his seed fell on the rocky ground. The seed grew this time around but the rocky ground with hot weather choked life out of the precious seeds. The sower continued, the third attempt fell on the thorny ground. “Gosh” someone may say. The little, little distraction snuffed life out of the precious seeds. The hope of harvest was gone with all its expectations. But finally as it will always be, if one can discipline his disappointments, remain focus on the goal with end in view and a strong believe in the law of average, some of the fourth attempt fell on a good soil and bring forth 30%, 60% and 100% returns. If you can discipline your disappointments in your professional, career, business and personal life; stay headlong, it is so sure that your harvest will come. It will always come. No one that is truly successfully today cannot deny that the result they got were not a product of self-discipline in this regard.

Accept The Gift Of You

Many find it difficult to accept whom they are. I read in one of the daily Newspapers headlines something like "No one is perfectly beautiful in his/her own opinion".That there is something every individual wishes he/she has more of it.I.e. Hair, nose, long leg, big or small boobs. Thomas troward once said" You can not give what you do not have. This may account for why people do not accept the personality of others in their life or around them. They had problem accepting whom they are". When you look in the mirror and hate what you see, you need addiction to survive.If you do not like the main character in your story, then everything and everyone becomes a nightmare. But if you accept yourself 100%, then you trust yourself and whatever you want to manifest in the world will happen so say a sage. The truth is that you are good for your assignment. A client once asked me 'wheteher I wish for a new look', my response was instant ' my look is good for my assignment for know, because wishes are not horses'. Looks do change if you work on them and when you have the means; but when you waste time and you failed on your assignment per time, you may have lost something great. Realise that prosperity is not in the possession of things(great looks, money, fame,cars, property). But if you recognise that the supply of knowledge, open access to an inexhaustive store house of all that is good for all and that you are a storehouse of good quality irrespective of your shape; you can go places. I must add here that if it is posible and you have the means to enhance your look, by all means do. Great look enhances your self confidence.But before then accept the gift of you. The more you celebrate and praise yourself the more there is life to celebrate. Self acceptance is all about how much one values, loves and accept himselfs rather than how much he/she feels about his/her shortcoming or what others feel about you.

Change Is Necessary

Given an average human disposition, we are at home with the known more than the unknown. Every attempt to bring disorder to the known inform of change often generates arguments. While we can not blame people for this, the fear of unknown are real so is the beauty of conquering new grounds. I f I must add that. Change is necessary. We must welcome change by all means. Otherwise life will be meaningless and boring. Change is Life. Change gives the much needed catalyst to get a grip for our own lives. Most times individuals don’t initiate it until it is unveiled by others, circumstances around them. The good thing at such times is that we realize our immense opportunities, benefits, possibilities that we never knew existed. Change forces us to reevaluate ourselves, forces to pay closer attention to the stuffs we are made of. The magnitudes of opportunities, experiences, profound knowledge we are exposed to are often unimaginable. Change is the energy we need to wake us up. Fortune always favours those who initiate the change instead of waiting for a change. Change helps us to stop sleeping and to awake to the precious opportunity of life.

So when you are given sack letter, embrace the change. It may be the beginning of new things. When your girlfriend/boyfriend no again, embrace it with good heart; when a friend says goodbye, when you lost out in a business deal, suffer disappointment. Change the course of your life for better, stop crying. Untold opportunities await you outside there.

Keep The Fire Aglow

Self-esteem is the way we individually carry ourselves. The way we are perceived in our own eyes. There are two major ways of manifesting Self esteem. One is high self-esteem while the other is low self-esteem. Low self esteem affects us so much in our daily lives that we should delete the virus out of our systems as fast as possible. Not only that, we must install the anti-low self esteem software in our system. It is that bad. To be honest with my community, it was just recently that I understood that Anger is a manifestation of low self-esteem. (I stand to be corrected though).Anger is a situation that is often provoked when we feel that our self esteem has been tampered with. A man with the right attitude will never surrender leadership to mediocrity and debase himself by shouting at the top his voice, beat his wife, abuse people under whatever premise. The good news is that low self esteem can be dealt with. Here are some of my own views, responses are welcome: 1.Work on your insecurities: Enhance what you can. This should include the way you look. If you do not know how to pronounce some words, ask your friends or look up the words in the Dictionary. Even if someone provokes you, you don’t have to shout at him/her. Work on your temper. “Talk to your leg” is another alternative.

2.Remember no one cares unless you do: People are not out looking for your weaknesses, they do have loads themselves. People don’t care much about your weakness as much as you think. Just ensure you are adding value to their lives and you are making conscious efforts to minimize the weaknesses, and that such weaknesses are not immoral and inimical to human existence. Don’t turn the search engines on your own weakness.

3.Everyone has their own fears: So be concerned about what others’ fear and that will shift attention from you, raise your ego and confirm that you are a better lot than you think.

4.Create your own 30 second pep talk: look at what is working in your own life and create a 30 seconds pep talk around it. Don’t say you don’t have. That is great misconception.

5.Be engrossed in a worthy goal that energizes you: There must be something that is giving you a reason to wake up. You don’t have to attempt suicide now. There is something you know you have delivered before, start the chain again; your self esteem will rise like a sleeping giant.

Everyone who considers himself as having no admirable qualities usually develop low self esteem. I am so sure you are not

Build Relationship For Tomorrow

Relationship is essential to human existence. The creator knows the implication of isolation and that was why he created Male and female. Relationship must be consciously established not because of what to gain but also what to contribute. As an individual, you must not get to a stage where you think you don’t need anybody again. Even if you are number one citizen in the world (United Nations’ Secretary General). To get there and retain your seat, you need powerful connection with power that is. You did not get there just because you are the smartest guy in this world or you are the best when it comes to International relations, diplomacy, strategy or what have you. You need someone or a nation to recommend you, The country that nominated you has to do a lot of powerful lobbying etc. If I must give you some tips, I will give the followings as starting point 1. Take genuine interest in others: if you focus all the attention on yourself, you may not have anyone to relate will every single individual love it when you give them a little respect and when you care about their well-being. 2. Be of service to people. Help people as much as you can. Everything is not about money. Little assistance here and there will go a long way to establish a rapport with a total stranger.

3. Consistency: This is a major factor in relationship building. Don’t wear the clothes of the devil that will create confusion for people who are looking at you from other sides. I hope you remember the story about a man who wore a shirt which two sides are of different colour. A friend of mine said that there are several shades to Integrity. He said that Osma bin laden is a good example of integrity in Terrorism. Be the same you to whoever you are relating with. Don’t be a gossip; it ruins relationship faster than we think.

Give It The Best Shot

Many times, we do not have what we want; we don’t always win every battle no matter how hard we try. But the secret of successful people is in maximizing the opportunity in the now. I know that many find themselves in jobs they do not like for now. There are also high probabilities of many students who find themselves reading courses they do not like. For all this, excuses abound for not giving it their best shots. There is no strong excuse for not performing at the best. There are choices, you can pull out or stay and give it your best shot pending the time you will have what you are looking for. I have been a victim before, so I could help. Through wrong counsel, I went in for a basic degree I hated with passion. I told my parent I wanted to pull out even though they were not the architect of my undoing. It was a friend. My parent said I should continue and that it was possible to become anything after my first degree. I discussed with my Head of department to please sign my change of course form at the end of year one. But he refused on the ground that he could not sign-out his best student. Inside this dilemma, I made up my mind to give my best shot despite the fact that this was not what I desired to do. I must confess it was a four year under torture. At the end, I came out as the best student with three awards and the aftermath of this had given me several chances of meeting some individuals that moved my life up to higher places. My encouragement today is that you give it your best shot or move out of that job, school, course, trade. What is worth doing is worth giving the best of you. You don’t have to keep complaining about that job, marriage, relationship. No one forces you into it and you can work it out or move out. Don’t die with regret, while you are still there; give it the best shot you can. You will never regret you do.

Raise The Bar

My guiding Principle is that I am constantly raising the limits of my abilities- Christopher kolade (Nigeria High commissioner To U.K). Christopher Kolade is one man I respected so much. He is a perfect Image of an ideal Nigerian I hold in my mindset. While I ma not disputing that we still have people like Prof. Dora Akinyuli who are determined to keep us sane. The challenge most of us have is that we rest on our own laurels. Forgetting, that the enemy of best is better. We look at others and give ourselves a nod like the proverbial lizard that fell from the wall that nod and said’ if nobody praises me, I deserve a personal kudos. There is a great difference between satisfaction and contentment and this is where most of us miss the line. Satisfaction is the feeling of thanksgiving and a will to move ahead and forget the present achievement so that you may discover another shore. Contentment is a complete imprisonment of inner power to continue. All of us must realize that we must be contented with what we have per time and the achievement we have made but we must not allow that to make us become completely satisfied that we don’t want to move ahead again. That you are somewhere by the virtue of your position, title today where everyone is at your beck and call is not a reason to stop growing. When you stop growing, you start stinking. I must say I am contented with where I am today but I am not completely satisfied to the level that I will not continue to raise the bar of my achievement. You need to get to the level where you are contented. This will help you to appreciate who you are and then help you to look inward the more for those abilities that you are hoarding, wasting. From contentment, you must be satisfied to a level you will give yourself a kudos but the line of “unholy” satisfaction must not be crossed. At the cross of the line, you would have surrender leadership to mediocrity as well as permanently lock the door of further achievements that are available. My encouragement is that you constantly raise the bar of your achievement by gauging your performance against your inner potential instead of looking elsewhere for your affirmation.

Abunndance And scarcity

I have been away for sometimes. So welcome back after the long holiday. Here the holiday started from Friday till yesterday. It was an opportunity to relax the nerves. In the bid to do this, something happened that opened my mind more to the maxim “what you see is what you get”. It is a real life experience that has strengthened my belief. A close family member who lives in the same city I reside came to spend the weekend with us. The gist is that tap runs all the day round in the part of the city where I live. whereas tap water is a luxury in her own end. Even though, we live in the same Metropolitan city. Because of the fact that tap runs every hour of the day, I am not always concerned about whether the tap will stop running or I will not have water to use when required. So I normally do not buy heavy tanks as reservoirs. When she came in, the tap stopped running for few hours, she was amazed that we did not have water tanks filled with water before the water stopped running. I told her that there was no need for that as the tap will soon be running. For your information I have been living in this part of the city for four years, so I should know better. All the day through, the water refused to run, so my Aunty became bordered and she began to take me in a class that was not necessary. Because I am absolutely sure that before I would finish the one in the container, water would have started running again. As expected, water started running in the midnight. She woke up when she heard that the water had started running and filled the few containers in the house quickly. To me, there was no need for this because I was so certain that water would not stop running till day break. The import of the story is that we were both right in our thinking. I was thinking in terms of abundance/surplus because of my understanding of the system, while she was thinking of shortage based on her experience and mindset. So it is possible for two people living in the same environment to think differently based on their beliefs and experiences. But whatever it is, look at the cup from “half-full” instead of half-empty perspective. The resources on the Earth can go round. Ocean will not be moved because dry season is fast approaching, the brooks and little rivers can.

Integrity

Integrity is an issue in today's world.Many professed Integrity before opportunities are opened to them but as soon as they are offered the cake, they mess up their own characters.If you are in doubt, listen to politicians before elections and compare performance with the actual after they have won.The irony of life is that whatever you gain by reputation, your character has the ability to detroy. Because integrity, character stands at the foundation of any building.

I often say that no one should say he is not a thief until he is given opportunity to trade with millions without any rules for a year.If at the end of the year every Penny,Kobo is accounted for, then you may lay claim to being a man of integrity. I mean, where you can account for every miscellaneous spendings, logistics without any accounting technical language.

Someone in a blog I read today defines Integrity to mean 'treating people right. Integrity means giving your word and keeping it. It has been written that integrity will protect you, and that integrity will be rewarded'.Acting with integrity is something we should take seriously.

Integrity to me is dependability, reliability and surety of man's character , words and actions.

How far can you go to defend your words and actions? Just because of a meal, people destroy their hard earned names. Some can not stand the opposite sex, promises are broken at will just because of beauty or position they think will advance their causes.

When you are not known to be a person of Integrity, there are certain opportunities you will miss in Life and if peradventure you get some, you will lose it in a matter of time.My encouragement today as we celebrate Easter all over the world this weekend, let us remember that someone gave his word to die for the sake of others and he kept it . His word cost him his life.

Absolute Security

There was a time in African community when trade by barter was the order of the day। Even though I did not have the opportunity to witness the era, I was told you could leave your wares in an open place and put the amount of money you wanted to sell it by the side. Every one going by without that amount would not pick the item even if they wished they could have it. Trust, security and good names were paramount in those days. Time has changed and this is not the purpose of my blog today.

I was having a conversation with a friend few days ago, she was of the opinion that without absolute security and guarantee she would not want to leave her job for another offer। The reason behind this is that a bird in the hand is better than thousand in the bush.As far as I am concern,I have come to the conclusion that there is nothing like absolute guarantee/security in this world again except a connection with your creator. My conclusion came from a believe I have about sun glasess/shades.I have discovered that even with sunhades, sun still always find a little entry into your eyes. Ii believe as human , we must do our calculations, we must try our best so that we can say I did everything humanly possible about this. Peradventure the scheme fails.

To excel you must be ready to double the rate at which you fail. There is no longer security in any position, someone may change the rule tomorrow. This is the reason you must do everything possible today while you are on that seat. You may build your wall and feel that you are secured, it is just a blink of an eye before you see that wallcrashing.Wall Trade Centre is a good example in this regard.

Don't hold on to what you should give out just because of the fear of tomorrow. You may eventually lose it to a cause that you hated much. Take a calculated risk today and step up your own life instead of waiting for the right weather. Such weather never arrives. Use whatever you have now because this is the best time to move. The perfect security and guarantee may never come your way. Behind every inaction is a false security. Don't be caught dead with inaction

Accessing Your Greatness

African Mentality of greatness is weird.But we must appreciate where we are now. Things are changing for the better.Only that we need to do more. The myth about a man born with greatness and that greatness is associated with a particular lineage is becoming a thing of the past fast. Many from humble backgrounds are holding high and mighty posts in the land.There is no excuse foranyone to remain in the gutter. Aparticular advert for a popular beer in Nigeria ends with the following words m"...In every man is a drop of greatness". Quite a great encouragent to all. For anyone to access his greatness therefore, there a need to identify what are his/her unique giftings and talents.There is a package in everyone put there by the creator to cause an individual to access any level of greatness he/she so desire. The challenge with an individual is not that the gift box is not there, but a negative believe that that gift is too common to move him or her to a desired haven.Around 2003, I nearly gave up on my dream because of a "fatal" business mistake I made. I was downcasted so much that I almost became a victim of depression and associated challanges .It was becoming practicaly impossible for anyone to console me. In the midst of this, someone with a heart of gold sent me a text message that I have refused to delete from my phone. It reads "A dream is a seed with enough life life to cause it to germinate,no matter what the circumstances may be, let your dream grow". It was a powerful sentence then. There and then I decided that even though I have lost a great sum of money, I still have some inherent gifts within me.My mental faculty is functioning at the optimal level. Your greatness lies within your gifts and talents.The good Book says " A man's gifts make room for him and place him with great men". Only you and your creator determine the level of your greatness by the amount of pressure you put on your gift box to deliver. Put the lid off your gift box, chart your course and plan your moves. what will it takes to sharpen,translate that raw potentials of your to internationally accepted finished products? You alone can answer. A positive answer and action in this regard will give you a room at the top. Stop wishing like that young lady wished for someone to help her fulfil her dreams. I am sure you have watched that bank's advert before, if you live in Nigeria. She is yet to see somebody to fulfil her yawnings.

Rat Race

Many times we are involved in "rat race" without knowing.We look at our friends and we want to catch up with the Jones without regard to our personal potentials and assignments. We abuse our potentials just because we thought the best way to live life is to be like other persons around us. These persons may be our former classmates, childhood friends, long distance relations.

It is human to assume that we are not catching up fast, that our progress in life is not moving like some of our old colleagues. At the end of day, what we have is nothing but a demeaning fight,race that will not utilise our potentials.

It is high time that we changed our perception about what others are doing or not doing in order to build our own empire.I must confess that when you view yourself as an empire that needs time to be built. You will be patient with yourself.The kind of the empire you are trying to build is different from any other and when you subject your empire building to the whim and caprices of others, you will often make unnecessary changes to the structure that may be fatal at the end.

Dont look at the Jones, look in- ward to determine where you are going and then analyse the best way to get there instead of surrendering leadership to mediocrity by looking arounds for parametres to judge your own empire.

The best measurement should come from within and not from without. when there is overconcentration on the without, you are no longer whom you are supposed to be.Be The Best. Have a terrific weekend

Go After Your Goal

Fear is the bedrock of every inaction. Many will not make an attempt in life just because they feel they are not qualified as if there is a standard somewhere that shows that only selected few are born with a star to succeed.

I don't know who misinformed some people. I understand that sometime it may be one authority figure i.e parents, mentors, teacher, coach among others. When you refuse to go after your goal, you are missing a big part of your life.Your life become an empty space that is occupied by space. Every excuse we give for not following up on our dreams, desires raises an accusation against us.

As an individual, you can not afford to sabotage your life in the name of fear. Confront your fear headlong and you will realise that your fear is even afraid of you. "There is lion outside so say a lazy man". Whoever told you that there is a lion out there that is aimed at tearing you alone apart is a false prophet. Please help me tell such individual that they have no such right.

People with less skills, qualities compare to yours are out thre doing great work and smiling home with greater accomplishment. Meanwhile you are still waiting for the right condition which may never arrive.

Go after your dreams today no matter your challenges and you will be surprise the kind of accomplishment you can make if you D. A. R .E it. Join the race now. Don't end your life with regrets of what you could have achieved but you do not attempt.

KILL FEAR.

Coronation Day? Don't Wait Too Long

Many wait for their coronation days when all they need is to take steps in that direction. History is replete of many lowly individuals who had pursued their desires and achieved them. What I have learnt overtime about those who would not wait for the coronation day to come but take a decision to be crowned whether the world gives them a chance or not is that they followed specific, known and open strategy that can be used by anyone to get crowned. Here are some of the things they did. 1.They set high standard: Don’t be afraid to ask largely. Set a higher standard for yourself and make a great demand from your energy and everyone you meet. Even if you cannot reach the level, it will affect you positively in the way you see yourself and the way others see you. 2.They are bold: There is no room at the top for the timid stuff. No one gives a chance to be crowned for a timid fellow. You must be courageous. 3. Be careful of Anger: They understand that anger is a manifestation of insecurity. A secured man/woman conceals his anger. 4.They choose great opponent to fight: This is “ David and Goliath strategy’. Go after the greatest person in the building, by choosing a great opponent, you are creating a larger than life appearance of greatness. 5. Give gifts to people above you: I cannot throw my cup of water into the ocean does not apply here. Giving gifts to people above you, patrons have several meaning. One of them is that you are sending a signal that you are equal even though he has more than you. 6.Authority: Be a reservoir of certain knowledge. Be unique in displaying this knowledge. In all your doings show that you deserve to be a king. Even though you are not one in reality. But one must observe the law of balance in all this regard. Remember you are not radiating arrogance but confidence. 7.Calculate your moves: Don’t be in a hurry. Hurrying betray a lack of self-control over yourselves and over Time. Become a detective of right timing; stand back when the time is not ripe. Don’t wait for your coronation day particularly when you are from a lowly background. No one will remember you. You need to wear the crown first. Show that you deserve the crown and then people will give you a date for your coronation.

I am A Graduate, So what?

The title of my today’s blog is an inscription I saw on the doors of my university after graduation. I was to go and collect my basic degree certificate then. I thought about it. How could anyone ‘demean’ a thing I worked hard to get. I felt disgusted about such an inscription then. I took solace in the fact that many of them that were working in that office too had graduated and they must meant what they were trying to say. Today I understood better. So many interpretations that can be given to that inscription. Coupled with this, I read something yesterday and I think it is worth sharing to my about to graduate or graduate audience. One, a degree does not guarantee a better job even though it will be considered necessary. I remember those days, as recounted to me by my former boss while I was doing the one-year compulsory service somewhere here in Nigeria, my boss told me that if you were about to graduate in the early 60s till late 70s, employers would be on queue to seek your appointment for a posh job. But we all know the realities on ground today. Gone were those days. To escape this, you as a graduate must learn to develop marketable skills that will push you ahead of others. Be available for internship, volunteering jobs while on campus. This will help you to master your own destiny while others are still looking for theirs. Two, the earlier you find what you love to do and pursue it the better for you. I wasted a couple of years doing what I did not like in the name of ‘just above broke’ ( JOB). I hope you learn a lesson. Never give an excuse of lack of money. Money will come if you pursue your passion. As we know majority of what you learnt in school will not be relevant to the real world. So use the time immediately after graduation to identify and follow after your dream. If you were able to do this before graduation, it will be an excellent thing. Three develop and learn how to interact with people. Relationship is core to success. Meet new people and be concerned about others. Show genuine interest in the development of others. You must maintain social network, get to know people in different industries and keep the old contacts viable. You may one day need old buddies as well as new one for one thing or the other.