Step into your dreams

I chose to drop out of a MSc. programme sometime ago because I figured that the exercise was not adding any value to my life. My lecturers were so disorganised that they hardly attended classes and if they did, it was to sell their handouts, which of course added to students’ bottom line at the end of the course!

They quoted the same books they studied as undergraduates and imparted no current knowledge or skill! Out of discontent, I opted out to follow my passion for photography. I bought my 1^st D-SLR equipment, got trained, and today I’m happy, having added a veritable money-making skill to my life. I’m assured that I won’t have to live from job to job, seeking to make a living with an unjustifiable certificate.

Life is a decision. It is the way you dream and work towards it. Live a fulfilling life.

Money follows people wherever they go and in an overly populated nation like Nigeria, money flows along people’s path. Money-making opportunities abound and one must plug-in to discover how to trap this flow of currency. Your skills and ideas are necessary to create avenues of generating wealth.

The workplace is changing in such a rapid manner that graduates are now garnering skills and taking up vocations hitherto reputed to be practiced by illiterates and artisans. Professions like hairdressing, tailoring, photography, event catering and decoration are examples. In a few years, in fact, graduates who do not add an extra skill to their lives will be outdone by their skilled counterparts. It would make no sense not to get a degree but its only relevance would be just that and basic knowledge. Vocational skills would generate the currency you require to provide your needs. Spending decades on a white-collar job is definitely fading out as upwardly mobile executives are now looking inwards and creating the businesses of their dreams.

Usually, people find it Herculean taking the step of faith out of their comfort zones and zones in sync with public opinion. Below are tips to staying ahead:

Document your dreams: A dream is a stream of water; it flows away, never returning to its initial spot. A dream is a bird; it escapes on its wings so soon. The shortest pen is longer than the longest memory. Never underestimate the power of a dream, it has the capacity to bestow on you renown. Trap your hunches & visions down in written form as it helps you to crystallize your ideas.

Chart your course: Fill in the gaps between your current reality and your dream. What goals/steps would take you into the future you crave? Design an action plan and be disciplined enough to follow the path.

Get a mentor: Find an accessible & experienced person from whose wealth of knowledge and experience you can glean. You must be teachable, willing to serve and ready to pay the price.

Get informed: Go to school. Read books/journals. Attend seminars/conferences/workshops. Google it! We’re in an information age, you know? Information increases exponentially by the second. What you need is as close to you as the next click. Appropriately interpret what you read, hear, see and perceive.

Pay the price: Every prize has a price tag. The national anthem says: “The labour of our heroes past…” People become heroes as a result of their work. Work hard and smart at your dream. Subject yourself to physical, spiritual, financial, mental and social discipline in congruence with your dream. Be consistent, strategic and deliberate in your approach.

Keep the end in focus: Discouragement is bound to try your belief in yourself. Courage is the antidote to fear and doubt. Fix your eyes on the distant image in your telescope. Superimpose your future in your mind’s eye, never giving it up to momentary challenges. Your difficulties have a shelf life, if you’ll hang on; you’ll have what you desire. Hope is the medicine of despair so, be patient, consistent and you’ll climb to the top of your dream.

Never seek significance, rather seek destiny. In seeking your purpose in destiny, you’ll find significance. Those who seek significance find it only to lose it so soon.

Pix: Microsoft images

Changing with the changing times 2

The world is drifting from the tangible to the intangible, from heavy-weight equipment to light-weight palm tops.

The transition from the Industrial and Jet Ages to the Information Age was a journey from over-dependence on objects to dependence on ideas and intellectual capital. Ideas rule the world, remember.

The world has moved from large stacks of cash to slim credit/debit cards, from heavy telephone boxes to portable, multi-functional mobile phones, from time-wasting postal services to instant messaging, from large heavy-duty industrial machines to softwares, from far-flung paper offices to paperless offices interlinked across space & time.

The world is getting lighter. You can practically ctrl+c and ctrl+v your world into an iPad or blackberry and life moves on unhindered. This, and the automation of virtually every job function has occasioned corporate downsizing, which has in turn rendered many hitherto gainfully employed executives jobless.

Find your place in the emerging jigsaw puzzle. Business execs who don’t re-invent their minds to think in ways that match the pace of development will become casualties of change. Get an idea. Keep increasing and updating your knowledge bank and don’t quit improving your globally-competitive skills.

Pix: office2010.microsoft.com

Reversing a wrong decision

Let’s face it: we all make bad decisions once in a while. It takes a dose of courage, meekness and maturity to own up to having committed an error of judgment and undoing it. Every life, great or small, is a product of decisions.

My cousin who was studying architecture in the university suddenly discovered that his passion really was for law practice. His response? He took another exam, went back to the university and got a law degree. Today he runs his own chambers and he is fulfilled.

On a more serious level, a friend, Bola, called off her wedding one month to the event because of her fiancé’s overly selfish and over-possessiveness. She figured that signing the dotted lines with him might just translate to signing up for a lifetime of misery.

How do I fix myself when I find myself in a fix?

• Accept your error: Find out where, when and how you bungled it. Own up to your errors, never pass the buck. Blaming parents, the past, the economy or supernatural forces for your setback is irresponsible.

• Retrace your steps: If you find yourself in a pit, stop digging. That’s maturity. Get back on track if you discover you’ve missed the road. It does not matter how long you’ve stayed in the wrong, turn back and do what’s right. Shut your ears to side talks by critics. Right or wrong, they’d talk anyway.

• Shun sentiments: Last September a policeman deployed to the bank opposite my office was involved in an accident and has since been in coma. He was on vacation when his boss recalled him, saying no other officer could fill in for him. This dutiful policeman was knocked down by an okada the same day he was forced to resume work. But hasn’t anyone replaced him for the last 6 months that he has been in coma?

Quit living to please others. Be bold enough to assert yourself and yield to your intuition and the voice of wisdom within.

Pix source: investmentreality.blogspot.com

Dealing with a loss

You may have lost anything to the recession- a job, an opportunity, an investment, a loved one or all hope.

Dealing with a loss is difficult, but it is important to bounce back stronger. Be like the elastic band that keeps stretching beyond its limits; resilient in the storm. You have in you what it takes to overcome every difficulty. Discover new ways to solve your problems by pushing the walls of your mind. Insanity is trying to solve a problem the same way, expecting different results. See through the fog of confusion in you.

You may have been fired but get fired up! Don’t lose your dignity to a past event. Take the front seat and stage a comeback. Rise from your ashes. Pray to GOD. Fight depression.

“What looks like a loss may be the very event which is subsequently responsible
for helping to produce the major achievement of your life." – Srully D. Blotnick.

Unearth the diamonds within you. You may never have realized them as such because you’ve been so familiar with them, little wonder you trample over them. A tragedy of life is being ignorant of one’s most precious treasures.

There’s hope for a tree that’s cut down, it’ll sprout again at the scent of water. Make hay while the sun shines. Strike while the iron is hot.


Photo: Google images

MIND YOUR BUSINESS 5

Your inner strength is a key to the discovery of your purpose. A strength is an activity that generates consistent near-perfect performance. Many parents have in the past shut up the potentials of their kids because they trivialised their talents. Several potential Leonardo da Vincis had their instincts silenced by their parents’ whips.

Toyin Ibitoye is today an award-winning sports presenter on Channels TV. When he was young, he fantasised a lot about his passion and ran football commentaries while in the bathroom. Your future is hidden in your daily activities.

What gives you the kick? What would you have done rather than what you are doing now?
In Mind Your Business 3, I asked for what your strength statements were. These are statements that describe the activities that unlock your passion and potential. Here are a few responses from my readers:

 I feel strong when I’m planning/packaging an event or developing a TV script.
My comment: This person will succeed as an events planner, TV scriptwriter or TV producer.

 I feel strong when I add value to the lives of people around me.
 I feel strong when I’m doing something that will stand the test of time
 I feel strong when I pursue self empowering initiatives.
My comment: teaching, consultancy, social entrepreneuring, broadcasting, publishing, infopreneuring, writing, public speaking and so on would do for this fella.

 I feel strong when I help young people solve life issues.
 I feel strong when I listen to young people speak.
 I feel strong when older people listen to me advise them.
My comment: This respondent could build a career as a youth counsellor, youth consultant/researcher, educationist, youth performance coach, newspaper columnist or TV/radio presenter (on youth/adult issues), care giver e.t.c.

Creating your strength statement will assist you in discovering and maximising your potentials. What thought, event, action, people, situation or environment energises you? Sit down and think, what makes you tick?

ENDURE THE HEAT!

You are sometimes locked up in life’s oven. Your life is immersed in challenges, conflicts, demands and disappointments that seem overwhelming. Streams of problems flow ceaselessly and solutions to them elude you. You see no light but gross darkness, bleak hopes and pipe dreams. You desire to see the dark clouds pass away. But it persists for as long as it wills- for as long as it requires to fulfil its purpose. Problems are for a reason and a season.

In a world of dashed hopes and dreams, fraud, sabotage and economic meltdown; renewed courage, determination and hope must be your companion. You need staying power to survive the heat. Dough endures the oven heat before it becomes bread. Clay endures the kiln before it transforms into an adorable ceramic. Gold endures the smith’s fire to become a champion’s medal. On your way to “becoming”, you must endure the heat. Great treasures are fashioned in hot, dark and secluded places. Time is a factor that must not be compromised. Impurities need to be burned out, pure particles need to be melted and moulded into a masterpiece.

Everyone wants to “become” great. Renown comes with its challenges. Patience is the master of all values. Nothing done haphazardly lasts long. An unripe mango will do much harm to your body. Stop trying to jump the gun, endure the process- it will be part of your story. Behind every great man is a story. What is going to be your story?

You must also be in control of your mind, will and emotions. Opportunities to take rash decisions will always present themselves in the heat. Tomorrow is always a victim of today’s decisions. Try not to make decisions that will jeopardize future chances and opportunities. During decision-making, keep sustainable change in view. It is no point cutting corners today to regret tomorrow.

Your life’s course can be cheaply navigated by smartly controlling your emotions. Most human actions are emotionally induced. Censor your thoughts; any thought that becomes dominating has the capacity to induce a corresponding action from you. In other words, your body acts on thoughts that pervade your mind. Think positively. Replace negative thoughts with opposites.

Empower your will to do what is right, despite debilitating situations. Approach issues from an offensive, not from a reactive standpoint. Do not fret in response to bad news.

While you are getting cooked in the heat, realise that the process will bring out a new improved you. Your will, emotions, personality, values and character are becoming transformed. Walk the walk, talk the talk, and endure adversity while it lasts. Before the sun comes darkness, before healing comes pain. Receive a resurgence of hope.

GREAT QUOTES
You don’t live on what you eat, but only what you digest. This is true for your mind as well as for your body. -Anonymous
Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or walk around it, but never give up. –Michael Jordan
Don’t be pushed by your problems; be led by your dream. -Anonymous



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WAITING FOR DAYBREAK

Lukan sits up on the bed, obviously exhausted, his eyes sore from sleepless nights pregnant with expectations of a better tomorrow. He rises and paces back and forth the small lonely room. The small window above his head lets in an ambience of light from the full moon peeping from miles away. His mind is a conflux of imaginations of the court ruling which will ultimately set him free by 10.00 am, just a few hours away. Already he can see Justice Kuti’s gavel smashing open his prison doors. All he is waiting for is daybreak.

Daybreak is a moment in history. It is the triumph of light over obscurity, the revelation of hope and the herald of newness. It is the point when silence gives way to the cock crow and the chirping of the early birds.

I am glad to inform you that your silent efforts in darkness are giving way to fame and cheerful announcements around you. Things are going to take a new turn for you, you will sing a new song and it will seem like things have always been rosy for you. The beauty of your roses will outshine the pain of your thorns.

Patience is a proof of your strength of character, a proof that you merit the trophy. Every enduring value passes the endurance test. Wait, trust God. Our world has sold out patience for lives on the fast lane- 2 minute noodles, fast foods and microwave ovens. We want it sharp sharp. This breeds shallow visions, shallow lives and shallow productivity. We need a new orientation to time. Many embrace get-rich-quick gimmicks and end up beaten. Others move from job to job only to regret their actions so soon. Wait a minute, think again. The grass always seems greener on the other side but you may need to climb the fence to see how dry and brown it is.

Stop feeling hopeless, jobless, wifeless/husbandless, carless and homeless. It is all about the state of your mind. Psyche yourself; feel hopeful, feel alive, feel successful and step out to achieve your feelings. Today’s actions were yesterday’s thoughts. Tomorrow’s actions are today’s thoughts. Change your mind, choose to think differently.

Many times, the position we occupy at a point in time gets us puffed up and we feel like there is no greater future than where we are.

Remember how as a youth corper, you always felt high whenever those village schools girls and boys addressed you as “Corper XYZ”. You probably dressed in your khaki back to your school to ‘oppress’ those undergrads, like I did when I was serving. Lol.

Now that you are a corporate executive, you feel like a ‘big boy/girl’. You look down on corpers and you tell them stories about “in my days when I was serving…” Life is a staircase; it is a step at a time. The experience enjoyed at each step always seems like tomorrow does not exist. You may proceed up, fall down or remain stagnant on a step- it depends on your attitude to life and success.

When at the threshold of breakthrough, the pressure to give up usually becomes more compelling. Find reasons to stand your ground and you will find greatness in the process of time.
You are a person of influence. You are greatness in the making. You are a power-broker. You are wealthy. You are intelligent. The distance between here and there is t. T is time. Do not stifle your potential by a reckless act of impatience. Wait for daybreak.


GREAT QUOTES

· Anxiety can be described as unresolved fear. -Lewis Wolpert
· Quitting is not running from our problems, it is running from the opportunity to solve
our problems. -Dr Ubah Maxwell
· Quitting means we believe that our problems are greater than our faith, abilities, and our
God. -Dr Ubah Maxwell


· You may email your reactions, questions via this email link: motivation.today@yahoo.com
· Current and past editions of this e-newsletter are available on my blog-
www.tundehundeyin.blogspot.com . You may also post your reactions on the website.
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WHAT’S IN YOUR HAND?

Recently, there was a young man who wanted to test a wise man’s wisdom. So he caught a butterfly and held it tightly in his fist. He questions the old man:

“Wise one, please tell me, is the butterfly buried in my hand dead or alive?”

The young man paused, waiting for an answer. The wise man smiled, revealing only one or two front teeth. Yet he remained silent, perhaps consulting the universe for the correct answer. Then he looked intently at the young man’s clenched fist. He again smiled.

In his reverie, he said to himself, “If I tell him that the butterfly is alive, he’ll crush it dead. And if I tell him that it’s dead, he’ll open his palm and allow the poor insect to fly away!”

In a moment, the wise man’s face brightened up, “Boy, it’s in your hand”, he answered. “Whether it’s dead or alive, it’s in your hand.” He continued.

Such is life. Your destiny is in your hands. Your future, your hope, your happiness, your career, your home…everything is in your hands.

Life is what you make of it. If life gives you lemons, make lemonade and enjoy. Life owes you nothing; it was here before you, so stop blaming it for your inadequacies. Learn to convert the negatives that life has given you to positives. Successful people are those who have learnt to surmount their challenges and are not overcome by them. See the opportunities in your adversity and use them as a springboard to success.

Thomas Edison (1847-1931), the man who invented the light bulb was undeterred by his 999 trials at developing his invention. He kept failing until he got it right the 1000th time. Helen Keller (1880-1968) was deaf and blind but with her good attitude and determination, she motivated people via her books and newspaper articles. Some evergreen Christian hymns are also attributed to her. Donald Trump, one of America’s greatest real estate investors once fell from grace to grass, dipping from billions to bankruptcy. With a dint of motivation, courage, resilience and ingenuity, he later paid-off his $9b debt and bounced back to wealth.

Pause for a moment. What are you making of your negatives? You have no excuse not to succeed. Do not throw in the towel, push further for the best. History will tomorrow capture your great deeds if you make the best of today. It’s in your hand.

GREAT QUOTES

• Human beings, by changing the good attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives. - William James
  
• The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire and how you handle disappointments along the way. -Robert Kiyosaki
  
• When it rains, all birds fly for shelter, but the eagle alone avoids the rain by flying above the clouds. Problems are common to all but attitude makes the difference. -Unknown
  
• There’s one quality that one must possess to win, and that’s definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it. -Napoleon Hill
  

· You may email your reactions, questions via this email link: motivation.today@yahoo.com
· Current and past editions of this e-newsletter are available on my blog- www.tundehundeyin.blogspot.com . You may also post your reactions on the website.
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WHAT DO YOU DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME?

Raw rice is of no use to the stomach if it’s not boiled. Bricks are useless until they’re cemented together and arranged to form a definite structure. Much is the same for a man who doesn’t transform himself from the state into which formal education might have moulded him. You are like gold extracted from the earth, conditioned by the soil composition and other elements. Formal education is like the soil composition. If you fail to improve upon your formal education, you will be of little use to yourself, your family and the society.

Self-development matters
Personal development is achieved through a deliberate effort, commitment and determination to improve one’s intellect, personality and drive for success. It’s an exercise geared towards improving human capital, self worth and employability. As gold in its raw state is refined to bring out its worth, so does everyone need to constantly engage in self development. Formal education cannot wholly transform a man; it only provides a platform for equipping him with basic knowledge in language, arts, science or whatever field of endeavour he might choose. Beyond these basics, however, personal development brings self refinement for success, excellence and personal worth. Personal development can be summarised as capacity building measures taken to improve one’s knowledge, skills and attitude.

Information as intellectual capital
Knowledge is a resource. It is an asset used to create money. Gone are the days agriculture and industry were the mainstay of the global economy. The contemporary world thrives on information – intellectual capital. Teams, groups, small and medium-scale organisations and corporations succeed through the collective working of the minds of their people. That’s the substance which employers search for during job interviews. They want to know what you know – which every other person on the street doesn’t know. Knowledge is, however, progressive. You therefore need to constantly empty your purse into your head in an effort to update your information bank. Keep gathering current information suitable for your need, put some value on them and get pecuniary values in return. Buy and read books, journals, newspapers and magazines. Enrol for courses, browse the internet for relevant information, ask questions, for questions are keys to knowledge. Besides, engage like minds in your area(s) of interest. Find information wherever it may be.


The skilful edge
Develop your skills too. Knowledge is not enough. Skill is the difference between an expert and a novice. Distinguish yourself from the crowd through deploying excellent skills. But you must first develop those talents into skills. Talent is in-born, skill is developed talent. Talent is the raw material for skill; skill is the raw material for wealth. Some skills are polished by education, others are developed by practice. Usually, practice, practice, practice is the key to skill development. The world number one golfer, Tiger Woods, is said to have begun practising with his dad at age 4! Practice is the secret of the best entertainers, sportsmen/women, writers and so on.

From self-discovery to self-development
The truth is that jobs are available (though limited) in Nigeria, but skilled people are scarce. The majority of the skilled people escape to developed nations for better opportunities, thereby contributing to the brain drain in the country. No one is ready to contribute in the arduous task of personal and national development. Without personal development, however, national development will continue to be a mirage. This therefore puts the responsibility of development on all of us. Charles Schwab captures this truth when he said, ‘Everyone thinks of changing the world but no one thinks about changing himself.’ National development is the culmination of personal development. Skill development is impossible without self discovery – the discovery of one’s core competencies. What do you enjoy doing most of the time? What would you like to do without being paid? What captures your interest? What do people usually commend you for doing? These questions will show you the way to your in-born talent/passion/skill.

Attitude is it!
Improve your attitude. An attitude is like a car tyre. Having a tyre burst in motion can change a car’s direction, cause damage and even terminate the driver’s life. Attitudes are personality enhancers. They’re the substance of your behaviour and determine how you respond to the issues which confront you. Lou Holtz said, ‘Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond to it.’ Attitude determines whether people call you good or bad. Develop an attitude of integrity, excellence, resilience, morality, godliness, gratitude, positivism and so on. You can better yourself and be the person people would like to do business with when you improve your attitude.

More than spare time
So what do you do in your spare time? Do you gist, watch TV, visit friends, browse the net, read, build relationships, hone your skills, think or study? What you do in your spare time determines whether you’re engaging in personal development or not. The point here is not that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Rather, the point is that opportunities for personal development will come regularly during your spare time. Your passion will never leave you (except you let it) even in your spare time and you’ll usually find yourself gravitating towards developing it better at such times, especially if you are a student or you have a job which takes a chunk of your time. Self development is an hourly, daily and a lifetime adventure. It should never stop because the paradigms of the world keep advancing. Keep in step. Find time to develop yourself; find your voice and be the best!