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

DO THINGS DIFFERENTLY

Have you been consistently facing disappointments on a task? Decide whether to keep at it, change strategic approach or choose a new idea entirely. Plans fail sometimes due to wrong motives, wrong approaches, low drive/passion, inability to source for resources, poor management of resources, uncertainty, poor planning and fear. These may bother on educational, career/business, marriage or money plans.

This is the time to take an inventory of your life as lived in recent times. Have you consistently misused the resources and opportunities around you? Time, people, ideas, places and events are raw materials for the bright future you desire.

Outline your strengths and weaknesses. Magnify your strengths to make up for your weaknesses. Find out the opportunities and threats around you. Pursue those opportunities and silence the threats. Do not complain about your elusive desirable future if you are not ready to ditch your comfort zone. Quit singing the old song when new melody is available. The old wine was good for the past, not for today or tomorrow. Find your voice.

Your fear has kept you from taking territories. Someone else acted against his fear and smiled to the banks. The difference between you two is in the use of the mind. What would you have done if you were not afraid? Deolu Akinyemi says, “Never let your actions be determined by the feelings of fear. Rise above them, confront them, and live the lives of your dreams.”

The greater your risk appetite, the greater your propensity to achieve big success. Risks are walls of separation from big opportunities, scale over them and you are on your way to the future you desire. All achievers have stories of failure and success to tell. They however became success stories because they stuck to their guns, continued to take risks and repeated their success rate. Do not sacrifice your bright future on the altar of fear and insecurity.

To survive this global economic crunch, you must be ready to do things differently from others. Change your approach and outshine your competitors. Change is the key to unlocking doors in a recession. Anticipate change, control change and be the change you wish to see.


GREAT QUOTES
-To double your success rate, double your failure rate. - Deolu Akinyemi

-Failing is not the same thing as becoming a failure. Failing becomes failure if failing is a destination rather than a bus stop. - Deolu Akinyemi

-Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. -Winston Churchill


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THE ANATOMY OF CHANGE

Metamorphosis. I know you have seen this word before. It is a change in form, structure or function due to development. Often times, this process is unpleasant but it is inevitable because it brings growth and fun to life. No one goes through the continuum of life without change.

Picture a beautiful butterfly. It goes through seasons of mutation from egg to larva, larva to pupa, pupa to imago, and then to a colourful insect. Change is life; life does not exist without change. You do not progress by fighting change but by partnering with it. Spencer Johnson suggests, “Don’t over analyse and over complicate things. When the situation changes, change and move on.”

While commenting on why Microsoft upgrades the Windows software every two to three years, Bill Gates said, “The secret to winning in our business is change. I believe a company can stay on top by making the changes at the right time.” No wonder he was the richest man in the world for over a decade!

The Great Recession is an outcome of change. Change in stocks prices, crude oil price and other economic indices. This change has led to other changes like job loss, pay cut, fear, confusion etc. The key to managing a situation such as this is to effectively manage the change- as change may create a positive or negative impact. Change leads to growth. A promotion from Deputy Manager to Manager for example, is an indication of growth. Nothing makes you grow faster than change.

Change is the most constant life factor; nothing is as permanent as change. The Great Recession would not last forever. Times and seasons do not last, tough people do. Not getting used to change causes distress and frustration.

The greatest restriction to change is you. Change your thoughts and the old traditions that no longer hold water. Understand the times. It is not morning when the day breaks. It is morning when you wake up to change, to a reality or to a discovery. Until then, your success has not begun.

How To Relate To Change.
§ Expect change always. Do not wait until it happens.
§ Do not waste time complaining about the change. Why cry over spilled milk?
§ Do not panic, plan. Think; see the silver lining in the change.
§ Move with the change, positively.
§ Be dynamic. Innovate.
§ Enjoy your new level of growth.
§ Watch out for the next change. Do not get used to anything, everything changes.
This recession season requires constant personal adjustments. Change the thoughts, habits and actions that do not align with the times. This however, does not call for warped thinking and actions. Around every problem lies a sound solution.

We see them all around us- organisations, hospitals, trade associations and people who have refused to change and innovate. They become relics of an old generation. You have a great future ahead of you. Your seasons of growth and promotion are hidden in seasons when you will be required to make slight or major adjustments in your opinions, relationships, environment, thought process, vision, values or strategy. You may need to make a detour or become persistent. You may need to network new people or have a new inspiration for living. Each time you see a butterfly, remember change. Make that change now!


GREAT QUOTES

· Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. -Carl Bard
· Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. -John Wooden
· Human beings, by changing the good attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives. - William James



· 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- http://www.tundehundeyin.blogspot.com/ . You may also post your reactions on the website.
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THIS RECESSION IS FOR YOU!

Motivation Today E-zine, Issue 02, May 2009

“When written in Chinese, the word, ‘crisis’ is composed of
two
characters. One represents danger and the other represents
opportunity.”
- John F. Kennedy

There are two sides to every coin. What you see becomes your reality: head or tail. Your mind is going to play a major role during this economic crisis. Like the rudder that controls a ship, it is going to determine the course of your life. How do you perceive the concept of ‘crisis’? Do you see it as a danger or as an opportunity?

Crisis means unexpected change. Meaning that, if you organise a party for 20 people, then 50 people turn up; it will result in a food crisis. But the reverse would be the case if less than 20 people show up. A crisis introduces new problems. Problems are not walls of limitation but pedestals to new opportunities. What do you see? It is wise to keep your mind on things you want and off the things you do not want.

Why Is This Recession For You?
1. Redistribution of Wealth
Many wealthy people have held on to wealth for too long that they are so greedy not to establish businesses that will create jobs and opportunities for the poor. They stash it away on Wall Street and in Swiss accounts. Some of it is already changing hands. People with vision who harness their potentials by selling products or providing services are inevitably provided with the opportunities to trap some of this wealth. This recession is providing opportunities for those who can see the movement of money. Salaried jobs would not provide this opportunity though. Have you realised that Mike Adenuga, Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola- the wealthiest men in this nation fall within the same age group? This is because they seized the opportunities that showed up at a certain season of their lives; sometime in the 90s. They chose to stand out of the crowd. The new millionaires and billionaires of the next decade are emerging during this recession. Same goes for the new have-nots. The world is in a very delicate season.

2. The Law of Recognition
Many times, you do not realise an opportunity until you lose one. Sharpen your inner sight; your insight. This is the time to process correctly, the information you glean from the mass media, seminars, fora and via word-of-mouth. Success is said to be 10% information and 90% perception. Interpret what you hear, see and read, and convert same to income.

3. Risks
Increase your risk appetite, with every opportunity comes risks. Do not be afraid to take calculated risks in trying new things/ideas. Do not sit on the fence or get stuck to your rut. The fear of death should discourage people from air travel but the aviation industry is still thriving. The fear of stillbirth should have stopped your mother from having you, but she still tried anyway. Close your eyes, confront your fears and act. It is better to die trying than not even making an effort to try.

4. Creativity and Innovation
New products and services are usually products of problems. Every problem-solver requires creative and innovative solutions in combating challenges. Leke Alder opines that, “when you mix your dreams with your skills and your problems and the problems of others you’re concerned about, you have a business idea cooking.” Develop your problem-solving skills. Do not chicken-out at the sight of walls, face them head-long. If they do not fall, try another solution. You cannot solve new problems with old methods.

5. The Law of Attraction
You attract to yourself whatever you think about. You will always attract to yourself your most dominating thoughts and obsessions. If you think wealth in recession, you will attract opportunities that will create it. If you think scarcity, then you will attract it. So, what do you think?

6. World Advancement
Because of new problems that are being created during this economic downturn, new products and services will emerge that will move the world further. This is the time for young professionals to embrace responsibility. Many rigid-thinking companies will fold up and there will emerge companies of the future. Are you thinking glocally?

7. Giving
“Don’t get all you can, can all you get and sit on the can”, goes an old saying. One of the causes of the meltdown is greed, so avoid the path. Give to those less privileged than you are. Give opportunities, give hope, give information, give money, give jobs, give service and give what you have free. There would never be a better yesterday for givers.

This recession is for you. If you believe and break free from your comfort zone, from fear, distrust, greed, rigidity, despair, ignorance, trauma and retrogressive mindsets, you will indeed reap the benefits hidden in it. Register your dream company, market a product or service, find opportunities, be ready to change, network and collaborate with stronger people. Finding nothing to do is not an option. Take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime moment in history.

Tunde Alabi-Hundeyin II

GREAT QUOTES
Ø “The optimist sees the rose and not the thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious of the rose” - Kahlil Gibran
Ø “You can never solve a problem at the level it was created.” - Myles Monroe

• You may email your reactions, questions via this email link: motivation.today@yahoo.com
  Current and past editions of this e-zine are available on my blog- http://www.tundehundeyin.blogspot.com/ . You may also post your reactions on the website.
  To register a friend, send “Subscribe” with the e-mail address to motivation.today@yahoo.com
  To be removed from this e-mail list, send “Unsubscribe” to motivation.today@yahoo.com