Giant StridesA Guide to Spectacular Achievement

Bolaji Ola-Adams

Published in the U.S. by:Ola-Adams International, LLC

Tel: 234-80-33456429, 234-80-26224014E-mail: bolajiconsult@yahoo.com,

info@bolajiolaadams.comWebsite: www.bolajiolaadams.com

© Bolaji Ola-Adams 2017

First printing 2009Second printing 2017

ISBN: 978-978-900-324-2

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be used without the written permission of the publisher, with the exception of brief ex-

cerpts in magazine, articles, reviews, etc.

To my darling wife, Naomi, and our children, Toluwani, Mobolaji and

Akinola

Contents

ContentsIntroductionChapter 1: The Seasons of LifeChapter 2: Positioning YourselfChapter 3: Make the Right FriendsChapter 4: The Vital ForceChapter 5: Skill Is ImportantChapter 6: You Need Information Chapter 7: Have a PlanChapter 8: Readjust Your ParadigmChapter 9: Standard Is EssentialChapter 10: Deal with ItChapter 11: How Badly Do You Want It?Chapter 12: Putting It All Together

Introduction

hrough research, it has been discovered that one of the strongest desires of man is to find meaning in life. When things are meaningless,

it creates all sorts of vices because there is no di-rection and where there is no direction, there is chaos. The lives of many people today are full of chaos because their life has no meaning. Many are wondering and desperately looking for answers to questions that will make their existence meaning-ful. If you are one of such people, you need to look no further. This book will help you find that mean-ing and what you can do to turn it into significant attainment.

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We all should strive towards new ideas and innova-tions. We cannot always live for ourselves. At a cer-tain stage, our life must serve as an inspiration and encouragement for those coming behind. This book is geared towards helping you capture the essence of your being and helping you live your life to the fullest. No matter what anyone has achieved, it is a sign that if you are found in the same circumstance and you apply equivalent principles, you can also achieve the same.

Isaac Newton, a great scientist, once said, “If I have been able to see farther, it was because I stood on

the shoulders of those who were ahead of me.” No matter how small you are, if you stand on the shoulders of a giant, you will see farther than that giant. You need not bother about where you have been but where you can be. What you do not have should not be a barrier to what you can have. Do not allow the present to become a barrier to your future. There is nothing you cannot get in this world if you will diligently make use of the unlimited re-sources that are within you. No one is born without inherent abilities. The tragedy is that we often worry about what we do not have while we waste away what we have. When we focus on our area of strength rather than our weakness, we are bound to create limitless possibilities.

The secret to greatness is already resident in you. All you need to do is look inward and discover who you are, where you are, what you have and what you ought to be. Tap into the wealth of possibilities in you and become a full expression of yourself. Also, you need to understand that there is no better time than the time in which we live. A time when wondrous things happen overnight through the acts of men. This is your time. It is not a time for you to wait for things to happen. You should determine to be an event maker and not stand by and watch.

We are never far away from our miracles. Every-thing we want in life is already a seed that has been sown inside of us. In writing this book, I have been prompted by the need to answer an age-old question. In most of my counselling sessions, peo-ple have asked me if it was possible for a man to change his destiny. I believe that we can change our destiny by changing the person we are. Every man makes his own history. No matter who you are or where you come from, you can re-position your-self and put yourself on the cutting edge of suc-

cess. We all came into this world in different shapes and sizes. There are things that one person possess that the other does not. However, the fact that you do not have what others have does not make you inferior. In fact, no one can make you inferior with-out your consent.

The principles outlined in this book are timeless treasures gathered from the lives of men and women who have made giant strides. For any man who desires to make a significant impact in life, this book is your sure anchor. It will help you to accom-plish more than you ever thought possible. It is packaged for you so that through the principles used by men and women who have made a differ-ence in the world, you too can make a remarkable mark upon the sands of time. Each principle out-lined in this book is a step-by-step guide into how men have been able to turn around unfavourable situations in their own favour.

Finally, I encourage you to make use of the power-ful principles discussed in this book to move your life forward. You were born to make a difference. Happy reading.

Chapter 1

The Seasons of Life

veryone lives life in three time zones. Just like we have the morning, the afternoon and the evening of each day, so also we have the

morning time, the afternoon time and the evening time of life. What we eventually are when we die is a result of how well or how badly we have com-bined these three times of life. As long as we are here on Earth, there are seasons for everything. There are certain things that you have to do in the morning season and others in the afternoon or evening season. It becomes an abnormality when you leave what should be done in the afternoon for the evening season. When this is done, it is simply a misplacement of priority.

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The morning season is usually our formative years when we have to develop core guiding principles. This is when our educational development should really be concentrated upon. We learn to do so

many things at this stage of life. At this point also, the foundation of our lives is formed.

The afternoon stage is the prime period of our lives. It is usually the most productive period whereby the energy and zeal to do almost anything is up and running. We branch into new paths, freedom is being experienced and the real man or woman emerges.

The evening period is usually a season of consolida-tion. This is when we put all the experiences of the morning and afternoon into play. We, at this point, become a pool of information and experience that others may tap into. This is the period when we look back and recount all that we have done and get set to meet our maker.

Each of these stages is important and I cannot say that one is more important than the other. The es-sential thing, however, is for us to know what we ought to be doing at each stage of life. Do not live your life in such a way that your later years be-come meaningless. Often I have seen men and women who, in their later years, became beggars. The question is, what did they do with their morn-ing or afternoon seasons? When you find yourself doing what you ought to have done in your after-noon season in your evening season, then you need to know that you have mismanaged your life.

DO NOT MISMANAGE YOUR LIFE

To make giant strides, you have to manage your life seasons effectively. If you do not, you will find yourself becoming a liability rather than an asset. To manage your life effectively means to make ef-fective and efficient use of all resources that life has given you in that season and be able to give a

good account for these resources. Take a look at yourself as you are right now. Do you know what you ought to be doing, having or experiencing at the moment? To become someone who makes gi-ant strides, you will need to put your life seasons in proper perspective. You will need to put your activi-ties on priority and do what you ought to do first to become what you need to become later.

Each life season is dependent on the other. Often, one leg has to be in front of the other for there to be movement. You stand still when you are not putting one leg in front of the other and you cannot move very far if you are jumping with both legs at the same time, and by so doing you wear yourself out. To be a force to be reckoned with in your after-noon season, it is expected that you lay the neces-sary foundation in your morning season. It is like the computer term, “garbage in, garbage out.” You only get out of life what you put into it. Do not leave till tomorrow what you really should be doing today because you might not get a tomorrow. You need to make that move, say those words, ask for that help when you need to. Always ensure that you do what you have to do, when you have to do it and where you have to do it.

Every human being is destined for progress and whether we make progress or not will be deter-mined by the things we are willing or unwilling to do in the seasons of life. Do not sit by and let the seasons pass you by. Do not let your loved ones ask what you did with yourself at the end of your life. Let your mouth say less and your life more. In-spire others. Make a meaningful use of the season in which you are in. Even if you are currently out of a particular season in your life and you have noth-ing to show for it, you can still re-strategise. As long

as you have life, you can still make something use-ful of yourself.

Whatever time of the day you wake up is your morning. The most important thing is that you need to begin to run. Do not let the loss of the season gone by prevent you. You can still recoup whatever it is you have lost. History presents us with cases of people who turned their last seasons into their finest hour and recouped all they had missed in previous seasons. It’s never too late. You only need to start utilising yourself. Great men are men who have discovered that one of the most important gifts of life is time and they make the most of it. In-side time is the opportunity of becoming anything you may ever attempt to become in life. The only thing common to us is time. Irrespective of your age, colour, race, religion or academic qualification, we all have the same time span.

Furthermore, he who controls your time controls your life. Whatever controls your time will control what you will become. You must be able to account for how you spend your twenty-four hours. If not, you are under slavery and you must set yourself free because time is money; time is accomplish-ment; time is health; time is success; and time is education. Anything you want to be requires time. If you want to make giant strides, then you will have to learn how to invest your time in meaningful pursuits rather than spending it on frivolous pas-times.

The difference between a man who makes forty thousand dollars an hour and the one who makes two thousand dollars an hour is in the quality of what their time is worth. You should not start a day without having planned it out on paper. If not, the next day is wasted already.

Also, a man who does not have control over how long he sleeps is not in firm control of his life. He will be a victim and not a victor in life. You can ei-ther spend your time or invest it. I used to wonder why some people while away their time in chit-chatting, idle talks and all sorts of loose talking, while others are making things happen for them-selves. The rich have twenty-four hours, so also the poor, but one is more comfortable than the other. This is not just by stroke of luck. It is in what the worth of their time has come to represent. A rich man, within his twenty-four hours, becomes richer by making more money whereas, a poor man, within his twenty-four hours, gets poorer by losing what he initially had. All you will accomplish in life is meant to be accomplished within the confines of the twenty-four hours of each day.

Someone once said, “You have no right to ask God for twenty-four years if you do not know how to make use of twenty-four hours.” At each passage of time, a minute percentage of our life is ticking away. He that does nothing accomplishes nothing. If twenty-four hours were not enough to accomplish all you would have wanted to accomplish in a day, then life would have added extra time. Whatever you have become today is a result of all the time you have invested into it. Time is an asset. Most people practically watch their time tick away, while some are so busy about their work and wonder how fast time has flown. A man whose time is unimpor-tant to him sees the time go slowly, wonders why the time is not running fast, and idly watch his time waste away counting in days, weeks, months and in years. And before he knows it, he is at his death-bed wondering what he had been doing all along with his time.

A man whose time is important to him, sets out to accomplish meaningful things and while he is so engrossed with what he is doing, he does not know that his time has been fast spent while busy with his work. When he looks at his watch, he realises that the day is far spent and as the days, weeks, months, and years roll by, he soon finds himself on his death-bed recounting all the things he was able to accomplish within his brief stay on Earth. The difference between these two men is in how they made use of their time. Everything is within our power to create when we devote the time to it. The thief that robs most people from enjoying the good things of life is procrastination. Many wondrous things that ought to have been done are yet to see the light of day because men have not invested the time required. Couples who ought to have built their own house five years ago did not because they were waiting for the perfect time which never came. The time to move is now. If you are waiting for a perfect time, you might have to wait all your life. Time, like tide, waits for no man. Who will you be in five years’ time? What will you have? What will you be doing? And who will be your friends?

Some time ago, I counselled a young man who was having problems with his academics. He had fin-ished secondary school nine years earlier but had not furthered his education. I told him he would have to choose what he would love to be in the next five years. This was a personal choice he had to make. Whatever your present situation is, you need to weigh the consequences of acting now or not. Someone once said, “If I have been able to go any farther than my contemporaries, it was be-cause while they were busy going from one occa-sion to another, spending time on unprofitable pur-suits, I was busy solving the questions of mankind and investing myself on profitable pursuits.” The

people who move the world are men who under-stand that time is the determining factor of what a man can be. A boy who does not want to run er-rands for his mates when he grows old, will have to use his time judiciously while he is young. We are all in the private corners of our various rooms and no one knows what the other is doing. Only time will tell.

As I was writing this paragraph, a cool breeze was blowing on that early Saturday morning. I felt like dropping my pen at that point and going back to sleep but that would further lengthen the days I had to write. It was either I did it then or later, but I had to realise that deferring it would cost me a lot. There were many speaking engagements that I had of which this book would serve as a great blessing to my audience if it had been published earlier than now. This is how we often miss opportunities be-cause we fail to do what is expected within the re-quired time.

A diplomat was once asked how he still had time to write despite his busy schedule. The diplomat's re-ply was, “No man who wants to ever amount to anything in life spends his whole time sleeping. While others are sleeping long hours, I am up writ-ing bestsellers.” This shows that time is a treasure to be invested, it cannot be hoarded. Do not spend your time in transient pursuit but invest it in some-thing that will outlive you.

Over the years, in every nation, culture and race, the puzzling question in the minds of people is, “Can a man change his destiny?” The absence of an adequate answer to this question is what has turned kings to servants and servants to kings. It has also made the rich to become poor and the poor to become rich.

There is a story of two friends who went to visit an oracle to find out what the future had in store for them. The oracle prophesied that one was going to be the king and the other was going to be the ser-vant. The oracle told them that their destinies were already set and that they could do nothing about it. They left and went their separate ways, each de-parting with the declaration of what the future held. The one who was told his destiny was to be the ser-vant took his life in his hands and decided to live one day at a time. He decided to go into farming and he purchased a large portion of land and planted different crops and continued this process for years. Meanwhile, the one who was told that he would be the king went on a ceremony spree and organised parties for his friends. He lived for each day and did nothing about his future and this he continued for years.

After several years, there was famine in that village and people did not have food to eat. The villagers got themselves together and decided to go and visit the farmer and beg him to give them food.

All the while, the one who was told that he would be the servant and who had become a farmer, had stored away all the surplus of his farm harvest from the previous years. When the villagers came to him, he told them he would give them food to eat on the condition that they make him king. The vil-lagers deliberated on it among themselves and de-cided that if the farmer became their king, it would be of more advantage to the village. They con-sented and agreed to make him their king. The one destined to become the servant, became the king. The irony of this story is that by doing something about your situation, you can turn the tables. The farmer changed his destiny of servanthood to that

of the king. He designed a new future for himself. The question is, “Can a man change his destiny or design his own future?” Yes! How? By the way he lives his life today.

Lastly, it is always good for you to understand that there is tomorrow inside today and when you do not do something about today, you are wasting away your tomorrow. The greatest tragedy in life is to enter into the future and discover that you are not prepared for it. The only way to have a glorious future and to have all your dreams come true is for you to set the stage for its fulfilment. Today is the three years’ time you talked about three years ago. Today is the future you talked about yesterday. When you keep on shifting what you ought to do to-day, you are indirectly delaying your future progress.

DO NOT LEAVE GOD OUT

Your destiny is your own making, but you need to know that your life is in the hands of God. It will be much better to make it with Him. This book is not meant to be a religious book, yet it is a book that explores the ways to make giant strides in the world. To do so, you need to discover who your God is and what you are able to achieve with His help.

Different things represent a god to different people. To some, it is money, to others, fame, clothes, jew-elry, houses, cars, etc. Anything you exalt greater than anything else is your god. Who is your own God? You can never be greater than the god you serve. You will always be limited to the limit of what your god can accomplish. If you serve mammon, then you must be ready to be limited by the limit of money. I hope you do know that money is limited in some ways. There are some things money cannot

buy. If it is fame, you are also limited because fame is fickle. Time may water down yours while it blos-soms another’s. Anything you can think of has its limit. The only sure anchor is the Almighty God, maker of the heavens and the earth.

There are things that only God in heaven can do. Call him whatever you can: Infinite Intelligence, Ever Abiding Presence, Alpha and Omega, etc. You have to understand that if you make partnership with Him, it is one hundred percent certain that you will beat the odds. The men who have moved the world have learnt the importance of partnering with God.

If you have no relationship with God today, I en-courage you to have one. He made you and He alone knows the capabilities he has put in you and what He created you to accomplish in life. In Him alone you can find your true identity, for those who know their God shall be strong and shall do great exploits.

Chapter 2

Positioning Yourself

ften, for most people, the things they usually long for seems to elude them simply be-cause they are not properly positioned. To

get what you want depends on where you are standing and whom you are standing with at that time.

OOpportunities are not always in a place but in a per-son. We all carry opportunities inside of us. Any-where we go, we can manifest there and profit from such opportunities. This, however, is dependent on how strategically positioned you are. Being posi-tioned might be external or internal. You are either positioned externally so that what is outside your environment can reflect within you or you are posi-tioned internally so that what is inside of you can be reflected on your environment. Unfortunately, many people concentrate on external positioning while they do nothing about the internal position-ing. If you are not well positioned internally, you

will think that opportunities lie in a place and thereby, you will keep moving from one environ-ment to the other. But if you are well positioned in-ternally, you will know that if you can develop whatever you have inside of you, then your envi-ronment will definitely seek you out.

YOUR MOMENT

Most of us hope for a better and brighter tomorrow, believing that one day, somehow, that break will come that will cause us to have the things we dream about. The breaks sure do appear, but they appear for those who would make use of them. It is often said that some people wait for opportunities while others create their own opportunities. Every day comes with its own opportunities and as the day goes, so pass the opportunities.

Those who make giant strides strive to seize every moment of their lives and maximise them to the fullest. Moments of greatness will always come; moments when your greatest aspirations, dreams and visions ought to be turned into achievements. Some great people emerge during the moment of opportunity, while others go into oblivion. I have of-ten wondered why this happens and through re-search, I found out that quick response to the mo-ment of greatness always singles one out for qual-ity impact in the world.

Procrastination is leaving till later what you know you ought to do now. It is one of the most danger-ous habits that has robbed many people of their greatness. Those who fail to act when they ought to, lose their glorious moments but those who seize the opportunities attain wondrous heights. Many people lose their glory because they have sacrificed actions on the altar of dreams. It is not that dream-

ing is wrong in itself, but dreaming without action is a sheer waste of time. You should stop dreaming if you will not take the action that would bring your dreams to reality. “For the ultimate end of life is not knowledge but action.” When dreams come in contact with corresponding actions, it gives birth to fulfilment.

As a nation, we should seize the moment which we are in, using this period to build our economy. Let us not fold our hands and expect sudden develop-ment. Miracles do not just happen, someone makes them happen. We can no longer continue to mis-manage our resources. Continuing in our usual practice of waste, corruption and lack of national al-legiance will only make us remain poor. If we all seize this moment, and determine to be faithful, loyal and honest, our nation will yet emerge again in greatness and we can carve out for ourselves a high recognition in the global community.

This moment is the moment of change. A change that must come from within to attract the glory without. You can turn your darkest moment into your finest hour. Do not wish away your future. Ev-ery time you fail to do what you ought to do, you postpone your glorious moment.

Today is the future and the tomorrow you have al-ways talked about. Avoid procrastination. If you seize your moment, your greatness will emerge. A great man once said, “I will study, I will prepare and my time will come.” You might wonder why some people are very lucky. You have to understand that luck is the result when opportunity comes in con-tact with preparation.

Great moments come speedily to those who seize them. Many people would have had the opportunity

of gaining promotion in their places of work, but for failure to get the extra qualification in the earlier years which could have qualified them for such po-sitions. When the opportunity for promotion came, they were not ready. However, another person in that similar work environment took extra courses and attended relevant seminars and training. When the opportunity came, he already had what was re-quired and he got the promotion.

For years, a lot of people who would have been best-selling authors have not even started writing the book in spite of the relevant materials they have for such a task. I will never forget when I sum-moned courage and wrote my first book. Even though it was not published in the best forms, it was published and after several months of attempt-ing to sell it with little result, a time came that one of the state governments in the western part of the country wanted an inspirational book to be put in all the secondary school libraries. This book came in handy at that time and I sold them to the govern-ment. Such a time would definitely have come when the state government would need the book but I would not have been a part of such a business transaction if I had not written and published the book. I would have missed the opportunity if I had kept on procrastinating the writing and publishing of the book.

As a businessman, seize the moment and organise your company, write that proposal and make that phone call now. History presents stories of men who became famous and rich because they max-imised the moment in which they found them-selves. The inventors of the airplane would have become nobodies if they had put their heads on the pillow of procrastination. Martin Luther King Jr. would have died unsung if he did not seize the mo-

ment to fight against the oppression of the blacks in America. Mahatma Ghandi would have missed the glory of being the independence hero of India if he had not seized his moment. How about J. F. Kennedy, who said, “The task of my administration is to fly man to the moon and back.” And he would have despised the opportunity for greatness while he was the president of America if he had not done anything about his dream. Examples are numerous of men who climbed the ladder of greatness seizing the most crucial moments of their lives. They did not hesitate to act and do what they are convinced they ought to do.

If you are not making giant strides, then know that the problem is not anybody's but that you have not seized enough of the moment of your life. Seizing the moment is not what you do once, it is what you do continuously. An old person can still seize his moment. Age is not the number on the calendar, but a state of mind. No one is old until he stops dreaming and fails to act on his dream. A man is old either at twenty or at eighty if he stops learning and he is young either at eighty or at twenty if he keeps learning.

At any point in time, you can transform your life and really make it what you want it to be. You only have to seize every moment of the day and make it yield for you while contributing in some positive way to others. Do not wait for everything to be ready before you make a move. Regardless of what is happening or what you have, seize the moment. Contemplating for too long does not change the rules of the game.

Finally, do not allow your golden opportunity to slip away. The world waits for no man. Those who do not make a move will not move forward in life. Man

is created for movement. Come out of the cocoon of indecision and go for greatness through action.

RELEASE YOURSELF

Every man has an “eagle” inside of him but not all of us has given our eagle wings upon which it can fly. There is a mechanism within every man of which if harnessed can generate unbelievable level of income and fame. What makes the difference is the operation of our minds. Weak men become strong because of the use of the mind. Poor men become rich because they dared to explore the powers of their mind. Man's greatest asset is the gift of his mind. The direction in which your mind goes determines the direction in which your life will go. You are either great or small depending on the extent to which you exercise your mind.

All the things you see on the surface of the Earth today came into existence because some people, some time ago, thought about them and took steps towards their actualisation. It is possible to have a million dollars and yet not be a millionaire, if one’s mind has not been developed to the millionaire mentality. This is a major problem facing many people today. They want what is good but their minds have not been developed for good things. The good book says; “I wish above all things that you might prosper and be in good health even as your soul prospers.” This shows us that the pros-perity of the soul determines physical prosperity and our state of health.

Medically, it has been discovered that majority of the sicknesses of the body takes its origin from the mind. Many sicknesses of the body first begin with a disorder of the mind. For instance, a mad man on the street knows when he is hungry and thirsty.

This shows that he can still desire the basic needs of life. What then is his problem? The answer is that a certain aspect of his brain is out of order which causes him to be unashamed of walking naked on the street.

I always say that true captivity is not physical de-formity but when the mind no longer produces new ideas. First of all, your mind must be developed for your productivity to be enhanced. This is what the state and federal governments need to come to terms with. It is not solely the development of natu-ral resources that will develop the nation but also the development of human resources.

The development of the human capital is the train-ing of the human mind to reach its maximum capa-bility. One of the core beliefs of our organisation is that, “The greatest need of Africa is the revolution of the mind of her people.” Many of the things we think of as problems in Africa are not really true. Many things we indicate as obstacles are obstacles because our minds have made them so. Someone said, “There is no mountain anywhere but every man's mountain is his ignorance and ignorance is a thing of the mind.” Lack of the development of the human mind makes a country that is rich in natural resources (for example, oil) still import oil from an-other country not endowed with such natural re-sources.

Many nations are no longer physically colonised but are mentally colonised. Someone calls it “moving from physical slavery to economic slavery.” It is an unfortunate situation when we do not feel comfort-able with what we produce in our own country ex-cept what is imported. I share the belief that any nation that cannot produce its own food is not fit to be a nation. It is time to arise. This is a wake-up call

to African leaders and other leaders of the third world countries. African countries should no longer depend on developed countries in order to survive, but free themselves economically and break free from foreign aid. They should ignore that we were once colonised, oppressed or subjugated. What is happening to African countries has happened to other nations before, but they came out of such limitations.

Further, we should stop sitting down in self-pity for it is a step in retrogression. Some of the present su-perpowers were once developing countries but to-day are among the world's most industrialised na-tions. The problem with Africa is the lack of fore-sight and initiative on the part of our leaders. We must go beyond the limits that colonial powers had set for us and the ones we set for ourselves. If we can expand the scope of our thinking and think ac-curately, we can expand the territories of our lives. If the jobless has the right mindset, he can create employment not only for himself but for others, in-stead of going about with applications all the time looking for elusive jobs. Why should you be a bur-den when you have what others have - your mind?

We need to understand that he that does not know how to use his mind cannot use his life. For he that cannot think enough, what he has can never be enough. Your problem is not the person next door, but you. The moment you conclude in your mind that someone else is the cause for your problems, you automatically cut of the creative instinct in you which can help you find solutions to these prob-lems. My personal philosophy is that I am responsi-ble for what my life becomes.

No one else is responsible for my success or failure, I am. It is important to note that the thoughts that

God thinks towards us are thoughts of good and not of evil to give us a hope and a future. The rest is up to us. The reason why many people have lost so many battles is because they first lose them in their minds.

For many people, the eagle inside of them has been trapped and prevented from flying. They have ripped off its wings and great heights are no longer possible. Your mind is an eagle and it can soar to any height. Take a look at an airplane. What can you say about man's ability to suspend the law of gravity by flying in the air? How about the com-puter which has continued to make things easier for man, breaking down the initial barriers to com-munication even though Charles Duell, a commen-tator in the year 1900, said, “Everything that can ever be invented by man has already been in-vented.” Today, the eagle in man, which is his mind, continues to bring forth outstanding things which have made many people conclude that the best is yet to come. Whatsoever we have seen now is nothing compared to what we shall see later. I tell my audience that in every generation, there are those set aside to be a shining light in that genera-tion and even if they were not initially selected, they can still join the league of great men by what they do with their minds and time.

This is the season to uncage the eagle inside of you. You are much more than what you think you are. If you use your mind, you will break every bar-rier and break through into greatness. Like one of my friends once wrote to me; “A man is what he thinks and not what he hears, sees or reads.” By persistent thinking, you can undo any condition that exists. Be it poverty, unhappiness, ill health, defeat, failure or fear, it’s all in what you think.

EVERYTHING IS A RISK

Some time ago, I was to go and speak in a forum and just as I was about to enter the venue of the meeting, I came across a man who sat outside beg-ging. I looked at him and passed by, but then a question came to my mind, “Could it have been that God created some people more special than others? Why is this man sitting here begging while others are enjoying life?” Why is it that some get more of the good things of life than others? I re-member what a poor mother told her son: “We are poor not because God wants it so, we are poor be-cause your father has never developed a passion to be otherwise.”

This is exactly where I am going. You must have a passion for what you need in life. You cannot pos-sess what you do not have a passion for. Whatever you want, be passionate about it. Many people want freedom but they do not have the passion to be set free, and so, they remain slaves. We all be-come what we are through the power of our own will. Almost anything is possible if you have a strong passion to have it. “When there is a will, there will always be a way.”

Looking up to others for your sustenance is not the best thing in life. You need to take sole responsibil-ity for what happens in your life. You must be will-ing to go after what you want. There is a sleeping giant in you and it is time to wake him. If you really know who you are, you will not allow anybody to sympathise with you. There is greatness in you yet to be revealed. You are what we have been waiting for. There is an eagle within you and it is time you make it fly. It would not fly on its own, it will only fly when you release it.

Those who make giant strides know that everything they have always dreamed of is already around them and the pathway to getting it is through the power that is within them. If only I understood the language of that beggar; I longed to go back to him and tell him that it is time for him to opt out of beg-ging as a source of living. There are better things he can do. You are not the scorns of the world, but the salt of the earth, and a city set on a hill which cannot be hidden.

Our world is what it is today because some people gave expression to what they had within them. They were people who positioned themselves to fly. Even though many of them had to go through al-most impossible situations, they determined to step a little above the ordinary onto the extraordinary level. This is where the “promised land” is. You stoop low, not because of your geographical loca-tion, but because you do not want to leave your comfort zone, the human traditions. It is time to arise and wake up to the call to become great. Life is a risk and the worst thing is to be afraid of taking risks.

The beats have changed, and the dancing steps must also take a new turn. If you are ever going to matter in this world, fold the mat, sweep the floor and say welcome to the rising sun. It is time to leave the familiar for the unfamiliar because that is where the true revelation of greatness is.

Responsibility is still the price for greatness. Many people dream and hope for better days, but fail to pay the necessary price for what they want. Have you not heard that “when you look around, you will discover that what endures was wrestled into exis-tence?” It is time to arise to the song of the time. The seasons have changed and the people must

sing a new song. The time for dependency has passed. It is no longer the season to sit on mama or papa's lap. You are no longer a pet. You are the hope of the world. Let the eagle in you fly to the destination of your choice. It is your season to fly.

Everybody must look beyond the length and breadth of their immediate environment because there is a higher ground for them. In this part of the world, we are generally not encouraged to do something significant at a younger age. It is not that they sit you down and tell you not to test your wings, but we never use them until life is almost over. This I call the act of irresponsibility. If you are being told that you are still too young to earn a liv-ing, there are people who are younger than you and already have become employers of labour. If you are being told that you are too young to get married, there are many people younger than you who are already married, have children and are taking good care of them. Do not be deceived by every excuse you make for yourself or the ones people manufacture for you. Do you know that there are many people who are of lesser qualifica-tion and age than you who have destroyed their limitations, and found freedom to achieve great things? Be responsible and stop making flimsy ex-cuses. Give wings to your eagle and fly higher than you are doing now.

There are so many things you can do which you have not yet done. There are places you can go, that you have not yet gone. There are things you can write, paint, draw, sow, teach, lead, manage, invest, and even invent which you have not yet done. Wake up, it is time to get running.

You should not wait till others outrun you. Learn to run at your own speed and watch others join you

when they catch your fire. This is not the time to be idle, or follow frivolous things. It is the time to bring the eagle in you out and make it fly. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “If you cannot fly, then run, if you cannot run, then walk, if you cannot walk, then crawl, by any means make sure you are moving.” You can. You need to just spread your wings for the sky is free.

If every good thing in life were to be given to you on a platter of gold, you will not be able to grow and if you do not grow, you do not stand the chance of surviving. Some time ago, I met a young man who at that time was twenty-seven years old. He said, “When I grow up…!” I was shocked that a twenty-seven-year-old man can still be saying, “When I grow up.” That is a shame. It means he does not see himself as a grown-up yet and no wonder he behaved like a child.

If you refuse to take up responsibilities now, you will become a liability later to the world, family and friends. Be determined to be an asset. It is time to change. Do not wait for people to send you money, go out there and make money for yourself by using your initiatives.

A lot of people in our society today are suffering be-cause of the dependency syndrome. Oftentimes, what robs us are the comfort of our familiar ter-rains. It is better to live on the edge so that you can grow than for you to live in a comfort zone and re-main a nobody.

Today, some parents are not doing their wards any favour by not teaching them how to respond to their abilities. We, as parents, need to allow these children to do those things which they can do and when they are through, help them reach for a

higher level. Do not try to cover up their abilities by telling them they are too young but help them to respond to the need of the hour.

My greatest desire is to see my generation freed from the bondage and limitations that have been set by past generations. I call on the men and women who are still in boys and girls clothes to arise and challenge the status quo. The season is changing, and you need to steer your own perspec-tives or someone else will do it for you. If you do not decide who, what or where you want to be, you will respond to someone else's decision. You do not have to settle for less, but only need to take re-sponsibility for the things that are within you. I would rather have been doing things other than writing this book, but to me, that would mean being irresponsible. I am responsible for giving you, as my reader, something to inspire and motivate you towards positive change. We are all responsible to one another and it is by fulfilling that obligation that we achieve our true greatness.

One statement that has continued to revolution-alise my life is, “Success is not to be pursued, it is to be attracted by the person you have become.” The way to become successful is to take risk. I am not talking of blind action but calculated risks. Al-low yourself to do those things you alone can do, things that will change the world for the better. Things that can help you to sustain yourself and many other people.

God has never yet made failures, neither has He made one person more privileged than the other. Whatever the situation you find yourself in, if you search carefully, you will find out that you are privi-leged in some way, no matter how small it is. It is in this little privilege that you need to set yourself

aglow and you will see nations come to see you shine. Stop looking for who will give to you. It is time for you to provide help for others. If you are going to the promised land, you must leave home. You have to leave the familiar paths to explore the limitless possibilities that are in the unfamiliar ter-rains.

Finally, I believe you can fly, even if you have not tested your wings. If you will stir up yourself and dare to arise, you will soar to the heights you want to be at. If you will ever reach the island, you have to leave the shore. Risk takers are world changers. You cannot multiply your resources without taking risks.

Chapter 3

Make the Right Friends

e are all pulled in various directions by many forces seeking for our attention and desperately willing to influence our lives.

Among these strong contending forces, the most prominent is the force of companionship. No human being is an island unto himself or herself. We are all relationship-based beings and we all seek to relate with other fellow humans to certain degrees.

WThe kind of relationship we get ourselves involved in will ultimately determine the direction in which our lives will go. You will either move up or down depending on the company you keep. When you keep the company of people who do not want to go in the direction (positive and progressive) in which you wish to go, and you are not smart enough to change that company, then you will find yourself going in the direction in which they want to go which might be totally different from what you bar-gained for. The company you keep can either make

you or break you. People that you do not share the same understanding and principles with should be kept at a distance. Evil communication will always corrupt good manners. If you desire to make giant strides, you will have to watch the kind of friends you keep. They have to be people who share your passion and are also equally willing to make giant strides in life.

It is important that we know that for us to keep our balance, we need to relate on three levels:

Level 1 - people who are higher than you.Level 2 - people who are on the same level as you.Level 3 - people who you are higher than.

We all need this balance in our life. Maintaining these three levels of companionship will enable us to tap from them and at the end we will be better than them. The most important thing is that they have to be people of like minds.

You are the architect of your future. What you sow will determine what you will reap. You cannot keep walking on a destructive path and not be de-stroyed. Walking on a success-oriented path will lead to success. To make giant strides, you will tread consistently on a positive path and by so do-ing, you will end up in a good place. Whenever you want to change your destination, you must take the responsibility of changing the path you follow. It is unwise to keep doing something in the same way and expect a different result.

Your success in life, to a large extent, is determined by the company you keep. If you want to succeed and be relevant in life, pay careful attention to the type of friends you keep. No one can rise above the

company he keeps. If you can show me who your companions are, I can predict where you will end up in life. A traditional proverb says, “The sheep that makes a dog its friend will eat feces.” The as-sociation you keep goes a long way in determining what you will ultimately become in life. “He that walks with the wise shall be wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” You will end up being a “local champion” if the bulk of your friends are peo-ple who are as smart as you are or who you are smarter than you. You will not be able to survive where the expectation to perform excellently is high. Instead, you should keep company with peo-ple who you can look up to. People who will help you harness your potential and task your mental prowess. Some of the questions you must ask your-self when choosing your friends are: (i) What do they have me thinking? (ii) What do they have me saying? (iii) What do they have me doing? (iv) What do they have me becoming? If you are satisfied with the answers, then continue with them but if not, leave.

Also, never allow your friends to choose you but let it be the other way around. Choose people who will add value to your life. Your friends will either make you or mar you. Mediocre friends create mediocre personalities. The kind of people you surround yourself with will determine how far you will go or how well you will do in life.

I had a conversation with one of my clients some time ago. He needed money to start a new busi-ness and while I was counselling him on how to raise the money, I asked him if he had any friends who could loan him some money. He said no. Then I told him it was time for him to reshuffle his friends. The bottom line is that you should relate with people who are at a lower status than you but

much more with those who are higher than you. It is not that you make friends because of money or for what you can get from them but that your men-tality can be sharpened through their own higher experience. In the process, you will become a bet-ter person.

In my client's case, I told him that if at this stage in his life he does not have a single friend who could loan him some thousands of naira without blinking an eye, it therefore means that he has surrounded himself with people who are lower than him.

As you move up in life, the company you keep must change. You must find your own kind of people. I once heard someone say, “The kind of friends you have will determine how fast God will answer your prayers.” He went on by explaining that if you needed twenty million dollars and you have twenty friends who could give you one million dollars each, it would not take time for you to raise twenty mil-lion. All you have to do is to pray and visit each of your twenty friends and ask them for a loan of one million dollars each. He said it would be faster for you to raise twenty million from twenty friends than waiting for one singular individual to give you the twenty million dollars.

Our ability to rise to the top is determined by the people we relate with. Friendship should not be a matter of numbers but quality. Make qualitative friends. It makes the journey to success faster and safer for you. Relate with the right people to help you get to where you want to be. It is important to realise that friendship is not by force, but by choice. The moment you discover that your direc-tion in life is being distracted by your friend, this should send you a warning bell to quit that friend-ship.

Going everywhere will lead you nowhere. Deter-mine where you are going and what you want to be and choose the kind of friends that will help you get there safely. This needs wisdom. Do not dwell on your past or present experience. You need people who will fire you up to your next level in life. Dwelling on the past and the present for too long causes you to miss what can happen in the future. Anytime you are content with what you have done, you can never be famous for what you will do. You should be content with what you have but not with where you are. Let your friends take you to that zenith that you wish to attain.

Still waters run deep. When you have friends who keep pushing themselves beyond the limit, you will be inspired to do the same. But if among your friends, you are the only person others look up to, you should be very careful because complacency might set in. At that moment, you might not see the reason why you should go higher in life. What-ever your present accomplishment, the best is yet to come. Where you are is not the ultimate, there is still a better place ahead.

A Nigerian proverb says, “A man who has not yet seen someone else's farm will say that his father's farm is the biggest.” Look for friends who can in-spire you to reach for greater goals. Stop settling for the crumbs and reach out to the bread itself. Remember the law of life that states, “You will look exactly like the person with whom you spend the greater part of your time.” If you want to make a difference, you must consider who your associates should be. The kind of people you keep company with and look up to as mentors are very important. These are some of the most important decisions you will ever make in life.

Surround yourself with the kind of person you want to become. If you want to be a lawyer, banker, politician, lecturer, or pilot, whatever you dream of becoming, you should associate with people who are already successful in such areas. If you want to go into business, you should first find businessmen who are in the kind of business you want to do. It is not that you should not associate with people in other fields of human endeavour, but your associa-tion with people who are in your chosen career will help you much more.

Sharing from the experience of your mentor will help you in your undertakings. Your journey will be easier, faster and better. You can know within hours what had taken someone twenty-five years to learn just by mere talking with him/her or read-ing his/her book. Isaac Newton once said, “If I have ever been able to see any farther, it was because I stood on the shoulders of those who have gone ahead of me and I have seen farther than them.” This is what strategic association can do for you. When you associate with successful people, you are greatly inspired to reach for your own success but when you associate with failures, you will not really see a reason why you should push yourself beyond the limit. In whatever you want to do, there is someone who has been doing that thing for years and has succeeded. Locate him and find out the se-cret behind his success. In the book Unlimited Power, the author, Anthony Robbins, said, “Success and mastery can take as long as you want it to be.” He talked about how to model other people's strategies for the accomplishment of our own goals within the shortest possible time. Always associate with people who have already arrived at where you want to go; it makes your journey faster.

A lot of dreams, goals and ambitions have been aborted because of wrong association. Unknown to those affected that evil communication corrupts good manners, they started very well but ended up with the wrong set of people. I am very careful about the kind of people I associate with. I have many acquaintances but very few friends. I spend much more time in the presence of people who make me a better person. Every relationship is a plus or a minus, an asset or a liability. Whichever one you keep will determine what you will eventu-ally become. Associations are designed for specific purposes. Make sure you define the benefit of the friendship you keep.

Every man is a collection of the voices he has lis-tened to or read either through books, magazines, tapes, music or personal contact. This is why the association you keep is very important to your suc-cess in life. I think it is quite easy to judge the kind of people you relate intimately with. Just be sincere enough to ask if they are a plus or a minus to you and whatever your answer is, act accordingly. There are some kinds of people that I can never as-sociate with because of the different directions we tend to be heading in. They are like square pegs in my round hole. When I am thinking independence, they are thinking dependence. When I am thinking big, they are thinking small, and our thoughts and actions are not the same. I once advised a friend of mine not to look at people who have done things wrong and make an excuse for them, rather look for those people who have done it right and chal-lenge yourself to do it right.

Many years ago, I gave my friend a pair of sandals as a gift. After some days, I discovered she was not wearing them and I confronted her. To my surprise, she told me that where she comes from, if a man

gives his female friend sandals as a gift, it means the friendship will soon end. And in order for ours not to end, she refused to wear the gift. She did not wear them because she had a right motive but with a wrong attitude, an attitude which was formed due to an affinity with a traditional belief. She could not enjoy the benefit of the gift because her tradition had debarred her. Through this, I have come to un-derstand that true colonisation is not physical but mental. Every relationship or association will affect our mental state positively or negatively. Wrong beliefs prevent us from enjoying what life really has to offer us.

A good number of people have been limited by their superstitious beliefs. The question is “How can you prove a superstition to be false unless you have gone through it and risen above its myth? You must not associate with people who will poison your mind with wrong beliefs. Just as a leader has influence over the people he is leading, so also the people you choose as friends can influence the way you think. The popular saying, “Show me your friends and I will tell you the kind of person you are,” is true, but much more true is the saying, “Show me who your friends are and I will tell you where you will end up.” Walking on the edge of the kind of life you want for yourself is your duty. You have to find those relationships that will give wheels to your dream and make the most of the opportunity embedded therein. However, relation-ships should not hinge on exploitative motives, but on growth. Remember, man on his own is created for movement. Good company will enable you to move towards your set objectives.

Chapter 4

The Vital Force

nderstanding who we are and what we are capable of doing is one of the most vital forces of achieving success. It helps you to

overcome challenging situations and prevents you from falling into the perils of short-changing your-self. Aristotle said, “Know thyself and nothing in ex-cess.” A man who knows himself will understand that it is possible to make something good out of the worst situation; that success is not in a place but in a person; and that meaning does not lie in a dream, but in the man who had the dream.

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When a man knows himself, he will understand that situations cannot disempower him and that what disempowers him is actually his perception of the situation. It is very important that we all know our-selves and what we are capable of. Someone once said, “If you cannot define yourself in one word, you do not really know who you are.” If you are go-ing to make giant strides, then you will need to do

a self-diagnosis. You should know what makes you tick. We all have a prominent place in life; a place we occupy so prominently that a vacuum will be created if we are no longer there, but it is unfortu-nate that not many of us have discovered this sa-cred place.

YOU ARE UNIQUE

You are the most important person on the planet Earth. You need to know and understand that you are a great personality. You are not a creature of pity, but of celebration. You ought to be celebrated for what your life is capable of producing and pro-viding. Looking at the over 5.6 billion people in the world today, no one has the same fingerprint as you. You are uniquely unique. You carry what the world needs and without you, the world cannot get what it wants.

For a long time in my life, I wanted to be like some-one else, until I came across a saying, “When you try to be like someone else, who would then be like you?” Never aspire to be someone other than your-self. This is not to say that those who advocate as role models are wrong. We all need role models and people we can look up to as examples or men-tors. Nevertheless, role models should never take the place of personal identity. Your original identity matters much as your life matters. If you lose your originality, you have lost everything that you are made up of. You are no longer an original but a counterfeit. As it is rightly said, the definition of a living thing is judged by its ability to make up its mind on what it wants.

One of the battles every man is constantly fighting is the battle to protect his originality. In this com-puter age, where the electronic media is used as a

showroom for what others are doing, you need to be very careful and make sure that you do not re-place yourself with someone else.

In every human being is a gift, a talent, a potential, a hidden ability, etc. that makes him outstandingly unique. You need to look for the unique qualities in you and use them for the benefit of mankind. With them you can make giant strides. God has never created anyone who has nothing to offer. No matter your background or what has happened in the past, you have something amazingly beneficial to offer mankind.

Discover your uniqueness. That is what your life flow should evolve around. Not having what others have is not a reason to envy and feel bad. Though you might not have what they have, there is some-thing in you which they do not have. You are not created inferior to anybody. You are special and a blessing in your own way.

Why do you need to struggle with something that does not flow naturally from you? When you worry about who you are not, you waste away the person that you are and when you worry about what you do not have, you waste away what you have. Though it might presently seem little, it holds the potential for expansion. Consider a seed which later grows into a big tree. If the seed had complained and refused to celebrate its seed nature, its poten-tial of becoming a mighty tree would not have been achieved. You need to know that everything you can ever desire in life is already in you. Your great-ness is in the potential you have which makes you different from everyone else.

Many parents have brought frustration on their chil-dren by forcing them to study courses incompatible

with their natural endowments. Oftentimes, this compulsion is not born out of the interest of the child, but rather for selfish reasons. If they had helped the child to discover himself/herself and place him/her in the right course of study, such a child would have achieved the best out of life.

I personally feel that many of our educational insti-tutions have to be reorganised to combat the chal-lenges of the new millennium. The essence of schooling is to help a child discover himself or her-self and the universe in which he lives. If he/she leaves school without understanding this, he/she is still an “illiterate” no matter the number of years he/she has spent there. Education without personal discovery still leaves a man an illiterate but educa-tion with personal discovery brings out the best in any man. Counselors in our various education insti-tutions need to know this.

Failure to celebrate our profound cultural heritage as a nation is what has distorted our orientation and made us lose national focus. We want to be like other nations, using their formula and theories, but we fail to understand that every nation has its own socio-political variance. What works in one place might not work in another. We must learn to look within, focusing on our own rallying point and using it as a stepping stone for our collective great-ness. The solution to our socio-economic problems is not abroad but within us. Every nation has its own rallying point and that is what our leaders have to put their focus on to create change in the entire polity.

You need to stop trying to be like others. Be your-self. You are the window through which you must see the world. Whatever people call you is not what you are but whatever you call yourself is what you

are. You are an original specimen carefully com-pacted together by God, your Creator. There is a place in your life that once you place your hand on it, all other things must give way. This is your unique place. You do not have to be like someone else. Walk on your own path and leave a trail be-hind.

Many of the great inventions that have made the world a better place were invented by men whom the world had written off. However, they focused on their own unique places in life and today the world still celebrates them. The same can happen for you. The fact that you have no educational background should not be an excuse for you to waste your uniqueness. Instead, it should form a greater re-solve within you to emerge in greatness. The great-ness of your awesome capacity depends on you.

It is the manifestation of individual uniqueness that makes a nation great. Do not die filled. You must die empty by pouring out yourself for the better-ment of the world. There is something you were born with that can bless the world.

If you want to marry a particular person, it does not mean you have to change who you are. If the per-son cannot fall in love with who you are, then that relationship is not real. You are a unique being with special gifts. Do not waste your treasure. I once told my wife that I can possibly give up every other thing for her except the person that I am born to be. That is the crux of the matter. Your true identity is actually what makes you unique and valuable. Do not be afraid to show people who you really are. Be true to yourself.

Also, every beggar should know that he needs not be a beggar before he can survive. Even if he is

physically deformed, there are other areas in his life that are not handicapped. Physical deformity is not mental deformity. You can still be relevant where you are if only you will dare to use your uniqueness.

I am convinced that there is a whole new dimension that we can attain if we will be comfortable with who we are and see to it that we bring it to the open. Everything that has ever been created or in-vented is a vivid manifestation of someone's per-sonality. Everything we see today was once an idea in somebody's mind.

It’s time you birth your own ideas. Do not be afraid of showing your true capacity. You are where you are because of what you are. You are not a product of biological accident. You were carefully designed by God before you were created. Do not allow oth-ers to put you down, because you have a brighter day ahead of you. All you need to do is to focus on your strongest point and use all you have to get around it. Do not underestimate what you are capa-ble of becoming. You are the solution to the prob-lem of someone, somewhere. You are the answer to someone's longstanding question.

BE FOCUSED

One important aspect of living is for us to continu-ously keep in view what Ben Carson calls “the big picture.” Sometimes, the road might get rough, but we can only be sustained if we have focus. You can-not rule out the future because when there is no fu-ture, the present cannot be improved upon. You can go beyond the limit by keeping to your focus. Always look at where you are going and not what is presently happening around you.

The present, without doubt, is the birthplace of the future and the future is the sustaining power for the challenges of the present. If there is no tomorrow, we all lose hope and all the struggle we are en-countering presently will amount to nothing. When you are on a journey, focus on your destination and not on the journey. If you do not have somewhere you are going, you will get nowhere else in life.

A good number of people have lost out in the game of life because they have lost sight of their dream. The significance of life depends on what you are liv-ing for. You are not yet living until there is some-thing for which you are willing to stake your life for. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Until a man discovers what he is willing to die for, he is unfit to live.” It is a properly set goal that takes a man from an ordi-nary place to the palace and sets him as a king amidst princes. It is the loss of focus that makes a king to walk on foot and sit amidst ordinary men. It is focus that makes an old man have the strength of youth and it is the loss of focus that makes a young man to lose strength. A man is not old until he has lost his focus and a man is not young until he has captured his focus. When you have a clear description of where you want to be, it is impossible for people to mislead you.

People grope in the dark because of lack of focus. Nations are not left out of this dilemma. Most na-tions do not have a collective focus, and this is why they keep going around the circle of backwardness. Hatred, suspicion and fighting are common phe-nomena in such nations. They are devastated by civil wars and other internal crises.

Some nations that have many ethnic groups are committed to national growth and empowerment, while other nations that have few ethnic groups,

cannot sit down at the table of brotherhood to dis-cuss the way forward. Why? There is no national fo-cus. For instance, in Nigeria, we only sit together as brothers when our national football team is playing in an international competition. At such times, we can allow people from different ethnic groups to come and watch the match in our living room, and peradventure we score or win the match, we cele-brate together, embracing one another. But after the tournament, we can still pick up arms and start killing one another. This always occurs because of lack of national focus.

As a country, we need to ask ourselves what our big picture is and what we are collectively aiming for. We need to discover what we are living to-gether for as a country. It is time for us to reinvent things and create a new dispensation. We need a platform from where our children can relate with one another freely, without fear. It is not only foot-ball that should bring us together; we must have a collective focus that exists every day of the year.

In the home, there should be a focused view. The home is a place in which the family should collec-tively strive to reach a common goal. We have so many broken homes because such homes do not have a collective platform upon which they stand. Everybody stands as an individual and not as a body. Like the saying, “United we stand, divided we fall.”

As a home, society or nation, we are not speaking with one voice but voices that no one can listen to. It is time for a reawakening. We need to go back and find where our axe head fell. The greatness of every home, society or nation depends on their fo-cus. As an individual, you can never withstand the intensity of the challenges of life if you do not have

a dream. You need to keep focusing on your big picture. Being committed to a dream and an aspira-tion brought a man back to life after he had been stoned by irate mobs. A nation's focus brings her out from the circle of the poorest nations of the world to become one of the richest on Earth.

Transformation is not possible without having what you intend to be transformed into. You cannot move from where you are, until you know where you would rather be. A swimmer who does not have a focus will die in the water and a ship that loses sight of the harbour, will be lost at sea. Focus on where you are going to avoid any form of distrac-tion. Do not concentrate on what is happening to other people. Focus on where you are going and work tirelessly towards getting there.

It is very easy to make decisions when you have a focus. Decisions on what to buy, wear, or eat, where to go, how much to spend, who to associate with, who to date or marry. All these would be very easy to decide if you are focused. For instance, while in the university as an undergraduate, I had the opportunity of becoming the president of my departmental union for two terms. During my ten-ure, many visible projects were embarked upon and we recorded great successes. People wondered how my executives and I were able to achieve such great feats when past administrations had left the accounts empty. I would say that the focus my ex-ecutives and I had really made decision-making easy for us. We had settled it from the onset that our duty as elected officers was to seek after the welfare of the people that elected us and anything outside that was not our mandate. Everything we did was focused on the angle of the welfare of the students. Before starting any project, the question we always asked ourselves was, “Will this be for

the welfare of the students that elected us?” If yes, we embarked upon it but if no, we dropped it.

Corruption among our leaders is traceable to their short-sightedness on the essence of leadership. A leader is appointed to serve the people, not him-self. What we lack in our country is visionary lead-ership. There are corrupt people in the garb of lead-ers. How do you justify a situation in which there is no electricity in a state, then, just because a very important personality is coming to visit, there is electricity and when he leaves, there is once more a blackout everywhere? These are some of the is-sues that need to be corrected and this can be cor-rected if we have competent leaders.

Leadership is one of the most crucial aspects in the life of a nation. It is the leaders that initiate the di-rection in which her citizens ought to follow. It is the direction in which the leader goes that deter-mines the direction in which the people will go. An individual who leads himself effectively and effi-ciently can also lead members of his family or a na-tion.

Some people make mistakes in marriage because they do not have a clear direction for their lives. They eventually marry uncomplementary partners. When you know who you are and where you are go-ing, you will know the kind of person to marry or the kind of people to associate with. There is a say-ing that goes thus: “Birds of the same feather flock together.” Your focus will determine the kind of people you will attract. Clarify your focus and ev-erything in your life will align. It is powerful in pulling together every resource needed to take you to your desired end.

Finally, do not allow yourself to be blown by every wind. Set the course and the wind that blows will blow you in the right direction.

Chapter 5

Skill is Important

he ability to take giant strides will be impossi-ble without acquiring the needed skills. You must have skills that bring about excellence

and beauty. The major thing which differentiates many developed countries from the underdevel-oped ones is skill. Excellence is impossible without the right skills. Those who want to achieve great things should know that nothing happens by chance. Things do not just turn up unless someone turns them up. You can wish or hope all you want but until you become skillful at what you do, you can never be exceptional. It is possible for you to dictate the pace at which things will manifest as long as you have skills.

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Many a time, the actual course of financial poverty is rooted in the absence of skills. A person who does not know how to do something exceptionally well cannot make giant strides. The level of your skillfulness determines your eventual worth. You

have to be very skillful at what you do to attract people who will be willing to look for you anywhere you are.

In anything you do, ensure that you leave an im-print. Learn to do a job better than the last time you did it. Leave whatever you touch in a better state. Develop the ability to leave people better than you met them. The key to becoming a person of great influence is to always do an excellent job. Always do your work so well that a replacement cannot be found for you. People who make giant strides are very proficient at what they do. They are authorities in their chosen fields of endeavour. When you are skillful, you command respect. It makes people seek you. Dr. Tai Solarin said, “If a man is skillful at whatever he does, let him build his house in the wilderness, the world will create a path to his door step.” It is equally important that you develop new skills. Do not limit yourself to one single competency. Reinvent yourself so that you can accomplish more. Be multi-tasking. Enlarge your capacity to do multiple things. Become multi-skilled.

Different things are required for different situations. It will benefit you if you are able to maneuver your way in all situations. You have a greater chance of excelling if you have varied skills which you are competent in.

Becoming skillful at whatever you do involves you doing that thing over and over again. You must have to have the intention of doing it better than you did the last time. This way, you improve and get better at doing it. We can all get better at doing anything. The most important thing is, are you will-ing to try and keep trying until you become the best?

The human mind is so efficient that it can gain mas-tery of whatsoever it is willing to commit itself to learn. Anything that anybody knows was learnt and you should also understand that a great deal of hard work has gone into whatever you see anyone do effortlessly in an excellent way. They would have experienced repeated failure before they be-came perfect.

Breaking and conquering new frontiers involves be-ing skillful. You need to know how to do one thing or a combination of several things exceptionally. Al-most all aspects of human endeavour have been dominated. Man has made possible what was ini-tially thought to be impossible. Man has had to de-velop great skills and these skills have aided man in making great accomplishments. Being skillful brings giant strides and it creates attraction for your life. It will make people give you audience.

I remember the first time I went to speak at the Na-tional Youth Service Corps Orientation Programme. I was to be the last guest speaker for that day and when it was my turn to speak, the master of cere-mony introduced me and the audience started boo-ing. They complained that they were tired because they had been receiving lectures since morning and the master of ceremony had to beg them to give me just ten minutes and I would be through. A lec-ture that was supposed to take forty-five minutes was reduced to ten minutes.

During my earlier public speaking days, I had learnt a fundamental skill that the first two minutes of your speech will determine how receptive your au-dience will be. I had developed the skill of giving my best within two minutes of starting my presen-tations. I began speaking and within the first two

minutes, I had the whole crowd on their feet. I so much fired them up that after I stopped, the audi-ence started calling for more and I was permitted to continue for another forty minutes. What made me hold sway over that audience was not my name, colour of skin or the clothes I was wearing, though these things play significant roles, but my skillfulness at giving the lecture excellently. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Whatever you do in this world, do it very well. Even if you are a street sweeper, sweep the street so well that all the hosts of heaven will stand up and say, “Here is the best street sweeper.”

Several years ago, I longed so much for growth and massive turnaround. I longed for more contracts in our core areas of specialisation and my target was that we have multinational companies, banks, and government agencies as our clients. One day, as I was meditating and trying to devise strategies that could get me what I wanted for the organisation, a question came to my mind. The question was, “Have you gained the competence and skill that at-tracts such organisations and the financial reward you expect?” At that very moment, it occurred to me that what I needed was not to work on my clien-tele but rather work on myself and our firm's prod-ucts. I believe we will always attract our own kind. Someone said, “To attract attractive people, you must be attractive and to attract intelligent and wealthy people, you have to be intelligent and wealth oriented.” My focus shifted from others to myself. I came to realise that if our firm could so much develop itself in the skills relevant to these organisations, we would get their attention. This re-ordering has yielded desirable results.

In whatever you do, maintain the standard of excel-lence. Be the person that most people will want to

employ to perform certain tasks or render certain services to them. Constantly ask yourself, “How skillful am I at what I am doing?” This is a funda-mental criterion for propelling your own develop-ment and deftness. When you constantly ask your-self this question, your inner self begins to find bet-ter ways to improve on what you are doing.

In this part of the world, a lot of people are waiting for something good to fall on their laps, but they do not realise that nothing good comes easy. We need to go back to the days of doing skillful work and stop doing shabby jobs. It is often said that any-thing that is worth doing at all is worth doing well. Who knows if by giving your very best to your work, another opportunity might present itself.

Skillful men are hardly idle. They will always get something to do. The public will not give them rest as their skill will always be in demand. “See thou a man who is skillful at his work, he will perform his task before kings and not just ordinary people” (Proverbs 22:29, paraphrase mine). The way you perform your tasks speaks volumes about you. It gives people an insight into the kind of person you are. The best is yet to come for any man who is striving to be ingenious at whatever he does. The sky is not even the limit but the starting point. To make giant strides you have to be relevant at what you do by being dexterous. Leave your footprints on the sands of time. Be skillful enough to beat the odds. Do not allow the world to toss you around but turn the world around.

Our beloved country has to change and the changes will come when people like you and I initi-ate changes. This change must first be geared to-wards being a better person, then we will have a better country. You must change your attitude to-

wards the way you do your work, not settling for mediocrity but aiming for excellence. Embrace the necessary training and discipline that will make you better equipped to do skillful assignments and at-tain greatness. You are where you are because you do not currently possess the relevant skills that will take you to the next level of your life. Brace up, the world is waiting for the revelation of the glory of your skills.

Leadership crisis is a result of a lack of leadership skills. Many so-called leaders do not possess the skills needed to lead their people to a greater height and since no nation can be greater than its leaders, the nation is wallowing in the alley of back-wardness. It takes skills to secure a glorious tomor-row for any country. When we want to elect lead-ers, let us make sure that they are men of impecca-ble integrity, who possess effective leadership skills. They must be people who know what it will take to govern a nation successfully and not people who want to be there because of what they can get. When men of skills come into leadership posi-tions, the people live better.

Today, the world is looking for people who will make it better than they found it. The task of any present generation is to improve on the accom-plishments of past generations. You are not in the world to keep the status quo, but to make the world better. Life will never give you more than what you are capable of doing. Some people dream of big things while they are not capable of handling small things. Better things always flow in proportion to your capability. You need to develop and increase your capability. It is not something you wish for, it is something you consciously work at. Life will not place a man in a position it has not tested him for. You should work more, not on getting that thing or

position, but on your ability to retain it when you get it. What are you good at? How exceptional can you be? What differentiates you from others? These are very vital questions and when you do some-thing about them, you are set to make giant strides.

Chapter 6

You Need Information

nowledge, it is said, gives you power. Knowl-edge gives you an edge over others. When you know, then you will be known. You will

have access to what might have initially been inac-cessible. A lot of people have asked this question: “Can I really do this?” I believe that anyone of us can do anything, but the most important thing is to know how to do it. If you know how to do it, then doing it is really easy. Trying to do anything with lit-tle or no information will slow you down. The world in which we live is so fast that things change within a twinkle of an eye. This has been made possible because of the availability of information.

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Information, which used to render man powerless, has now been conquered by the introduction of in-formation technology. Knowledge is now readily available because information now travels at the speed of light.

Due to the availability of information, man cannot be said to be a failure. With what is available, your stride does not have to be one step at a time but can be five or ten steps at a time. People all over the world are making astronomical progress be-cause they are discovering better ways and more spectacular insights. Different things have been happening in the last five years and I am sure you have also noticed, but peradventure you have not, that what has not changed is you. You may have been standing still all this time while everything else has been evolving.

The power to systemically change our life is already available. We live in such a time where anybody can achieve almost anything at any time. What dif-ferentiates people and nations is not biological dif-ferences, but the differences in the level of aware-ness. It is not what we have that matters but what we are aware of and can do with what we have. Awareness means being enlightened or informed about a particular process. Information is the key to transformation. When an individual is not enlight-ened, he will be disempowered.

Information empowers a person to strategically change his world. It is tragic when the number of days of one's life increases and the level of under-standing does not increase. The reason why many people are not empowered and have not been able to achieve anything tangible in life is because they have not taken the time to gather information on what makes life work out beautifully. I believe that there is no situation that we are going through in life that at one time or the other has not been ex-perienced by another person. These experiences have been documented in books and these books lie on the shelves of bookstores and libraries. The problem is that people do not take the time to read

them. If you are not informed, you will be misin-formed, but when you are informed, you will be transformed.

Everything you have can be taken away, but one thing that can never be taken away is what you know. You have to invest more in knowledge acqui-sition. It is possible for a man to lose all his posses-sions and still get them back if he knows how he got them in the first place. Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, said, “Take all that I have: my company, my family, my friends, my bank account, and my estate, take all and in just some few years, I will get them all back.”

A man's wealth is never in the amount in his pocket or the deposits in his bank account but in his brain. When a man who has cash with no information meets a man who has information but no cash, the man who has information but has no cash will col-lect the cash from the one who has cash but no in-formation.

When we talk about information, it is multidimen-sional. For instance, a person could be informed in the art of money-making but not be informed in the art of raising a family. Another person could be in-formed in sports but not be informed in academics. This is why we have specialised knowledge. People have mastered different fields of human endeavour and have advanced in them. You cannot be versa-tile on every subject. You might be versed in one area and limited in another. The bottom line is that you should strive to be knowledgeable in the area you have chosen. You should apprise yourself of the latest discovery in your society, community or nation. The difference between the income of a chief executive officer and that of an office clerk in the same establishment is in the information re-

quired to run each position. The chief executive officer requires more information about the day-to-day running of the company than the messenger. If an office clerk knows what the chief executive offi-cer knows, he certainly will not be a clerk. Informa-tion brings promotion, it gives confidence and puts you in the leading role, and preserves life. A lot of people have become casualties on the road of life because they do not have the required information to make it through life.

We live in a fast age. The inventions of yesterday are becoming obsolete today. What you knew yes-terday might not be relevant in the contemporary time. The only way to keep on and be relevant in the present scheme of things is for you to upgrade your knowledge. Be much more enlightened than you were before. To make giant strides you must be informed. What you do not know will harm you. The best things in life will always elude you be-cause you do not know what ought to be done in order to attract them. When you know what nobody knows, you will be sought out. You will become the light in the midst of darkness.

From creation to this present time, it was informa-tion that brought us out of obscurity into civilisa-tion, and ever since, civilisation has been moving upward because men and women are becoming more and more aware about the world in which they live. Man would forever have been limited to the earth if he did not know that he had the ability to conquer space and through that, he devised the technology to reach out to other planets. A lot of diseases would have killed many people if the med-ical scientists had not been informed on how to curb and cure them.

The most dangerous disease is ignorance. An igno-rant man is a doomed man. When a nation is igno-rant about its natural resources, advanced nations will come to exploit them. This is the major problem confronting Africa and most of the third-world coun-tries. Our problem is ignorance. We lack informa-tion on how to use what God has naturally endowed us with. A country grows sugarcane, but does not know how to extract sugar from it. Another country who knows how to extract sugar from sugarcane comes to buy the sugarcane, do the processing of extracting sugar and after she has made the sugar, sells the sugar back to the country from where she bought the sugarcane at ten times the amount she had initially bought the sugarcane for. The country that is able to take the raw materials and make them into finished products is going to be wealthy.

Our lack and poverty in this part of the world is not that we lack resources, but that we lack the infor-mation on how to use the resources we have. This is why the greatest need of Africans is the revolu-tion of the mind. Our mind has to undergo thinking surgery. It needs to be refined and refocused in or-der to enjoy what nature has freely bestowed upon us. It is time for us as individuals and as a nation to engage in research.

The only reason why many things have become possible on Earth today – things that long before would have been considered not only impossible but insane – is that men thought about them, found ways they could be done, damned the conse-quences, and worked towards achieving them. It is time for you to wake up and bring out the best in you. You are still the least of what you can be. As you increase the level of your information, your world will change, your life will take a new shape and greater things will start happening for you. I

am convinced that your best is yet to come. You are only limited by the limit of what you know.

Conclusively, the only obstacle you have is the lack of knowledge in your chosen career. As it has been said, “No one has a money problem.” We lack money because we do not know how to get money. Any door can be opened if you only know the right key to use and any lock can be unlocked if you know the right combination. The problem is not re-ally what you are facing but what you are thinking. Man has been given dominion by God over all things that exist in the sea, air and on the land. Your ability to dominate is limited to the knowledge you have. Strive to know everything about one thing and one thing about everything.

Chapter 7

Have a Plan

veryone is capable of almost anything. The most important thing is the plans we have to-wards actualising what we want. We all bear a

tiny trace of God's brain. This is reflected in what we have planned to become. Your ability to plan is what makes you God-like. God himself is a planner. Being able to set the Earth in proper positioning means a great deal of planning was involved in ac-tualising it.

EIt is also important to note that circumstances do not determine what we are, our planning does. You cannot make giant strides if you are not a planner. When you do not have plans, it means you are sim-ply following somebody else’s plan. Life never ex-ists in a vacuum. The only reason people fail to achieve anything meaningful in life is because they do not have plans. You do not just wish that some-thing would happen, you plan it into existence. What are your plans? Are you planning for failure or

for success? You might ask how anyone can ever plan for failure? Not having a plan for success is au-tomatically planning for failure. You either plan to be a commoner or an extraordinary person, either an asset or a liability.

Making giant strides involves careful planning. You cannot arrive at a destination you have not set out to reach. Lack of planning or inadequate planning is what sets the limitation you are most likely experi-encing. I once came across a great book that gave a definition of planning. The author said, “Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it in the now.” What a powerful statement. I want you to know that there is no weak life but only a weak plan. When there is a plan, there will always be a way to actualise it.

Planning is a vital prerequisite for achieving giant strides. The difference between your yesterday and today is the plans you had and pursued. I will never forget what happened during my university gradua-tion party. During the party, a course mate of mine came to me and said, “I guess this is goodbye and we might never see each other again.” I told her it was most likely I would not see her again but she would definitely see me again. If not physically then certainly in the news. My plan was in place before graduation and l knew that I was not going to be an obscure person and I was ready to pursue that plan. I believe that your plans dictate what you al-low, what you say and what you do.

The world always moves aside for that person who knows where he/she is going. What you will eventu-ally be is not determined by anybody but by you. You do this through the plans you have outlined for yourself. You make your plans and then your plans make you. None of us plans where we are born or

the family we are born into, but we definitely plan what we become.

What are you planning to become? A rich person or a poor person? A strong person or a weak person? A happy person or a sad person? A great person or a lowly person? We all have the power to create how our world will look. Life will be as beautiful as we plan it to be. We are all on a journey and we never arrive until we die. Why not make your life worthwhile by planning to do something meaningful with it?

In every society, there are people who create prob-lems and those who solve them. One is an asset to the society while the other is a liability. One drains on the resources of the society while the other is a multiplier of the society's resources. You have to plan the kind of person you will want to be. Either an asset or a liability, a troubleshooter or a trouble maker. We all have limitless potential but until we plan to do something qualitative with what we have, out potential will be wasted and we will go to our graves with it.

The graveyard is the wealthiest place on Earth. The graveyard is filled with dreams, goals, visions, op-portunities, abilities, strengths and privileges that were never used by the owners. In there are songs that were never composed, books that were never written, poetry that was never recited, places that were never visited, marriages that never took place, kind words that were never said, great enter-prises that were never started and houses whose foundations were never laid because the plans needed to bring all these things into actualisation were never put in place. “Any plan that does not comprise the steps needed to be taken for it to be accomplished is not a plan, but only documenta-

tion. Do not waste the opportunities and privileges you have. Plan to do something with what you have and where you are while you still can. When you live without a plan, you are missing the best mo-ments of your life.

Many people have kept on postponing what they ought to have done a long time ago. They keep making excuses why a plan could not be accom-plished. Eventually, they look back and time has been wasted doing what is not important.

When you plan, it helps you to know the things that are most important for you to do and how it should be approached. When you make plans and pursue them, the forces of nature will come to your aid. The only thing that is impossible to achieve is what you have not planned to achieve. Things are usu-ally first impossible until someone plans to achieve them and indeed makes them possible. Just imag-ine a man going to space, landing on the moon, and you will see the force of planning that made it happen. You need to understand that your life is in your hands. You alone can determine if it will count or not. Plan to make your life a light that burns brightly for others to get ignited by. When this is done, then giant strides will be achieved.

Our nobility and greatness are not determined by the circumstances of our birth. We are all a door leading to other doors. You are either open or closed. Any nation going to war must plan before she embarks on that war and weigh the cost of go-ing to war. She must determine what is at stake and her prospects or else she is doomed. Life can also be likened to a war. If you do not have a plan for your life, you will end up living out what some-one else had planned for you.

Always ensure that you have a plan for what you want. Make sure you have a plan for your destina-tion or else others will lead you to where they want to go. Do not be like many that are in professions which they did not choose or are reading courses which are not their desire. When you have reached the age of accountability, refuse to allow somebody else to drive the wheels of your life. It is either you put something into your life or something is being poured out of your life. Always ensure that your plans, whatever they are, will make you strong and not weak, disciplined and not lawless, rich and not poor, great and not lowly, responsible and not irre-sponsible and influential and not subjugated. As soon as you ensure that your plans encompass these attributes and you make up your mind to vig-orously pursue them, all the help you need will come your way. Make your plans, pursue them and you will achieve giant strides.

Also, you should plan as if you will live forever and act as if you will die tomorrow. This is the only way you will live your life to the fullest and ensure that you accomplish all that is meant to be accom-plished. Planning ahead is for those who stay ahead. While others are thinking of what to do, the planners already have the solution. Those who plan are hardly ever caught unawares. Things are not just thrust upon them suddenly; they are always well prepared for whatever is coming.

Many things are carefully thought out through plan-ning. When you plan, things are simplified. You will be able to make the best use of what you have and get maximum value from it.

Plan and pursue great things. You will hardly ever attain what you do not plan for. Do not leave things to chance. Be systematic. Always leave a carefully

thought-out life. To do otherwise is settling for a life of mediocrity. Always remember that none of us came into this world with anything. Whatever it is we are able to acquire or become is as a result of what we wanted, and most importantly what we were willing to pursue.

Finally, your plans must contain how and what you intend to achieve. This makes them all-encompass-ing. Like it is usually said at the end of a prominent soap opera, “We are all nothing but pencils in the hands of our maker.” However, some pencils will write better and sharper than some others. When you set your plans, they will make you better and a sharper person.

Chapter 8

Readjust Your Paradigm

n life, there are no right or wrong answers. It de-pends on the context of the questions at that time. What might be a wrong answer in one con-

text might be right in another. It is therefore impor-tant that you learn to live your life with the under-standing that the greatest force that can impede your growth and progress is your paradigm.

IIt is possible for two people to sleep on the same bed and have the same dream on the same night, yet, when they wake up, they can feel differently about the dream. The way they each feel is not so much determined by the dream, rather it is deter-mined by the interpretation they each give as to the meaning of their respective dreams.

One may interpret his dream in a way that empow-ers him while the other may interpret his in such a way that disempowers him. You cannot make giant strides if you are consistently keeping the wrong

paradigm. Any paradigm that prevents you from acting when you need to is wrong and needs to be readjusted. The way you think can hinder your progress. You need to take the lid off your life. The thing that might have been preventing you from making giant strides all this while might be your faulty paradigm. The wisdom for purposeful living lies in taking control of your time, thoughts, charac-ter and financial resources. The greatest gift you can give to yourself is the gift of your own personal development and this starts by readjusting your paradigm.

Some time ago, I went to look for a friend and was told that he was no longer living in his old apart-ment. He had moved to another place that was more beautiful and better. I do not want to be with a friend who prefers the status quo to change. You must always let the will to succeed and be more than what you are today arise within you. This is the greatest gift you can give yourself. As a sage rightly said, “We are the architect of our own des-tiny. We are the designers of our lives. Nothing in this world has a meaning except the meaning we give to it.”

The difference between individuals or nations is their paradigm. Two people can see the same thing but not view it the same way. It is in how each per-son represents things to himself. What someone sees as a problem might be seen by another as an opportunity. The true meaning of any dream is in the interpretation of the dreamer. Some people in-terpret things in a way that empowers them while others interpret things in a way that disempowers them. Due to this, we often miss our golden oppor-tunities because they are not packaged in the way we expect.

Many of the inventions of today are as a result of shifts in paradigm. The revolution needed by most nations is the revolution of the mind of its people. Today, many nations are no longer physically colonised but are mentally colonised. They do not see anything good in their homemade products but only in imported goods. Men who shaped the world learnt that to be relevant and fulfilled, you must al-ways have the right paradigm about things. A wrong paradigm sees things wrongly even when things are right, while the right paradigm sees what is right even when it seems wrong.

Any situation can either be good or bad. What is important is how you present it to yourself. What might be considered edible in one place might be considered an abomination in another. The para-digm of one man can lead him to health while the paradigm of another can lead him to sickness. The most constant battle you have to keep fighting is the battle of your own paradigm.

It is not circumstances that shape our world but our thoughts. Whatever a man believes to be true, he moves into the state of it being true. It is an individ-ual paradigm that makes him become rich or poor, great or small. While one person may be full of ex-cuses, another may be full of possibilities. The dif-ference between the former and the latter is simply the paradigm by which they operate.

You do not have to be in a cell to be in prison. You can be in the prison of your own thoughts. The rea-son why many have not yet become more than they are is because they have not enlarged the horizon of their perception. The only limit you have is the limitation you set for yourself in your mind. If your paradigm is right, then your world will be right.

There is a story about a father who desperately wanted to keep his young boy from disturbing him. He was preparing a speech which was to be deliv-ered at a forum the following day. In trying to keep his idle son busy, he tore out from a magazine the map of the world, cut it in pieces and told his son that if he could reassemble the map in its right place, he would give him a specific amount of money. On hearing about the financial reward, the son hurriedly went away with the torn map to ac-complish the task. The father went back to his study, hoping that he had many hours void of inter-ruption from his son since the task he gave to him would take him hours to accomplish. Some minutes later, his son walked into his study with the map rightly assembled. The father was amazed; he won-dered how his son was able to reassemble the map within such a short period. On asking him how he did it, the boy told him that on the other side of the map was the face of a man and he figured out that if he could get the face of the man right, then the map of the world would be right. The boy gave his father a new paradigm that day.

It is only when a man is right that his world can be right. You cannot change the circumstances of a man unless you have first changed his mentality. Until he changed the way he sees things, he cannot change the way he feels towards such things. This is why mental slavery is still the hardest form of slavery. If, for instance, you look into the mirror and you do not like the image you see in the mirror, breaking the mirror will not change the image be-cause the problem is not with the mirror, the prob-lem is with the man looking in the mirror. A mirror is only a reflection of the object.

True captivity is not physical deformity but mental imprisonment. I want to challenge you to move be-yond the confine of the wall you have created around yourself. There are a thousand-and-one ways of doing things in a worthwhile way. Do not confine yourself to the status quo, break out of tra-dition. Tradition is the greatest enemy of change. Man could not fly in the air for some decades be-cause many people believed it was impossible. However, two boys, Orville and Wilbur Wright, who would not settle for less than the best, ignored the tide of convention and came out with the invention of the airplane. Your thoughts will either lift or limit you. Have positive thoughts.

In our country, we have to change our orientation about secondhand goods. Why should our land be the dumping ground for used products? The things considered outdated in foreign lands are consid-ered to be the latest in our own land. In fact, what some new couples hope for is to get secondhand things for their home. It is not that one cannot start in a humble beginning, but what is our paradigm concerning starting in a humble way? One's defini-tion of a humble start could be new things, though small, while another's definition of a humble start could be hand-me-downs, yet big. You are a person of great destiny. That is why you must not mistake stupidity for humility. What makes others to enjoy the best things in life must not make you an excep-tion.Every nation is blessed with enough resources to effectively take care of its responsibilities to her cit-izens. Civilisations collapse because there is a col-lapse in the human point of view. “Every economic recession is first rooted in human degradation.” When we accept mediocrity as excellence, excel-lence in its true sense will not be attained. You can-not get ahead of your thinking, neither can you go

beyond your paradigm about life. Whatever you be-lieve to be true is what is true to you and for you.

THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE

Have you noticed that everyone else seems to feel they know what is best for you? Many of us have had our lives ruled by other people's opinions, even till now. If you are going to make giant strides, then you will have to learn to have the right paradigm and exert yourself. When the world knows you do not know who you are or what you want, then they will have a varied idea of what they feel you should be.

To make giant strides, never make the mistake of thinking that people would allow you to do the things you want to do by depending on them. Those people you depend upon would mostly want you to do things in their own way and not your own way. When you are living in another man's world, you have got to play by their rules. If you want to change the rules, you have to go and create your world. Life is meant to be lived to the fullest, but it cannot be until you live on your own terms. I am not saying that you should get out of this planet and into space in search of a new planet. I am just sharing a relevant principle that could help you cre-ate what you are longing for.

You always have to live life on your own terms and have the right paradigm. Do not let your life be ruled by other people's opinions. Do not let people decide for you where you ought to be. Decide for yourself. You hold the wheel of your destiny. Be the one setting the rules of the game of your life. Man is to be responsible for whatever comes out of his life. The inability to personally set your life princi-ples is what is contributing to your present predica-

ment. You cannot continue living by the rules set by others and expect to win in the game of life. If you are living on other people terms, you will not be able to fulfill your goals in life.

As a nation, we are consumption oriented. We for-get to think of what we can also produce. Although we have all that it takes to actually become an eco-nomically developed country, we do not take per-sonal responsibility for what becomes of our nation. The reality is that there is suffering in the midst of plenty. Most people, who could have taken initia-tive by creating viable enterprises, are going about with their credentials looking for employment even though they have the ability to create jobs for themselves and others. A lot of people are thinking about what their country can do for them but have never thought of what they can do for their coun-try.

You need to understand that the best you can ever have can only be made available to you by you. An-drew Carnegie said, “Anything in life worth having is worth working for.” Dependency is the killing agent for most third-world countries. Their citizens are dying of starvation because the governments are not taking steps to solve this problem on a long-term basis. If what you truly desire is to make giant strides, then you have to grow your own tree of success. The respect a person can have is tied to how useful he is to those who come in contact with him.

Dreams and visions have been aborted because someone you are depending on thought you to be stupid. Many youths cannot marry the person of their choice because the parents who they de-pended upon to foot the bills on their wedding day say they do not like the choices they have made.

Many students in our institutions of higher learning are studying courses incongruous with their inter-ests because their sponsors did not like the courses they had chosen and they were made to choose an-other one.

Further, the lives of many youths are wasting away because they are not economically empowered and like the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo said, “No na-tion or individual can ever be politically self-deter-mined until they are economically self-determined.” Many people are in situations similar to that of Pharaoh and the children of Israel who did not let the people go until he was divinely forced by the mighty hand of God. You have to compel every force preventing you from reaching your maximum in life to release you. You have to personally set the rules of your game. You have got to dance to the tune of your own song. If not, you will fall short of the vast riches of potential in you that are longing for expression.

The giant within you will forever remain asleep until you set your own rules in the play of life. Do not let people's opinion imprison you. Set yourself free by channeling your own course. Life is too much fun to be lived in pain and misery. As it is said,” You can never get to the promised land without leaving home.” Anytime you find yourself in environments created by others, you either play by their rules or you create your own environment where you can set up your own game and make your own rules.

The pattern between the world and you is set on a foundation of rules and the one that makes the rules compels the other to play along. If you are de-termined to get something and you are willing to give anything up to get it, the world will play along with you till you get it. The world moves aside for

him to pass who knows where he is going. Life sometimes sets up unfavourable situations to frus-trate one's efforts and this has led many people to commit suicide. Life must be lived through your vi-sion, thoughts and actions.

You can change the direction to which your life game is being played. In the annals of history, men who made giant strides in life were men who defied the harsh circumstances of their life. They never lived by chance but by choice. They put their world in proper perspective. They that want to make a mark of difference in life must live by their own terms.

Chapter 9

Standard is Essential

n whatever we set out to do, we can all become standard-bearers. Just like we can all develop qualitative skills that can be applied to make our

life and society better, so too can we set the mea-suring line which we must not fall below. It is highly essential that our life is ruled and governed by cer-tain criteria which we hold dear, and in certain cases we are willing to die for. It is not enough to live, we all have to live for something and most im-portantly be willing to defend what we live for.

I

If you find a man or woman who is not guided by any set of principles, then you are seeing a man or woman who is a disaster about to happen. We all need to live life by a particular standard. One of the vital aspects of life is to be willing to ask questions. You should have an inquisitive mind; a mind willing to know what works and often how it works. Asking questions is a very powerful tool towards taking gi-ant strides. It is often the questions that we are

willing to ask that lead us to the miracles we expe-rience. Self-initiated questions are great propellants to remarkable discoveries and creativity. Self-initi-ated questions birth actions and invariably lead to giant strides.

We are all in the race of life. It has a beginning and it certainly does have an end. What we are able to do between the beginning and the end is what will determine how we arrive at the end. Nevertheless, the quality of our arrival is determined by the stan-dard by which we run the race. It is not necessarily who runs fastest but who runs the best that counts. The quality with which you run your race is essen-tial. Your standard will be determined by the quality of your race because no one can perform beyond their set standards.

According to the Chambers Dictionary, standard is defined as, “Something used as a basis for mea-surement.” Whoever wants to achieve meaningful success in life has to set a standard by which his life must be governed. You need to ask yourself about the standard you have set for yourself. If a student sets for himself an average standard con-cerning his academics, he will not get distinction because his ability to do the things that are re-quired for him to have distinction is limited to the standard he has set for himself. To achieve greater success, you need to raise your standard to that level where the success you want can be achieved.

Also, do not conform to other people's standards. Determine to become the rallying point, the mea-suring metre, and the yardstick by which others measure their progress or performance.

Further, you need to understand that no matter the level of success you have attained, greater things

still lie ahead of you. Where you are or whatever you have accomplished in the past should not be the final stop, rather it should be used as a step-ping stone towards greater accomplishments. You can expand the tape of greater achievement if you raise your standard.

Many a time, the reason why some people walk aimlessly in life is because they have not set any standard for themselves and have no constraining force that keeps them under check. The fields of human endeavour are filled with individuals who have set the pace and the standards. They have made themselves icons, symbols of authority and the code of conduct which others are following. Do not confine yourself to the dictates of others. In-stead, set the standard for others.

What is your standard in life? This is a vital ques-tion you must answer to make giant strides. As an individual, organisation or institution, what is the standard you have set for yourself? There is a big difference between what you are and what you can be. When I was an undergraduate, I decided to be the standard for my colleagues. As an undergradu-ate, I was being invited to speak to corps members. The first year after I graduated, I was delivering lec-tures to lecturers who attended my seminars on personal development. I believe that it was the standard I set for myself that gave me this rare op-portunity.

It is the set standard that creates the difference be-tween the great and the lowly, the poor and the rich and between the strong and the weak. The dif-ference between a polytechnic and a university is not in the name but in the worth placed on each of their products. Sometimes, where we are is not

necessarily where God wants us to be, but that is where our standard qualifies us to be.

Many a time, you see some people wishing that breakthroughs will come their way, but they wait a long time in futile hope. What most of them fail to realise is that success in life is not something to pursue, but rather something to attract through the kind of person one has become. You have to first become the kind of person you expect others to be. For any change to come, you must first be the kind of change you desire to see in others.

When your life operates on a higher ethical stan-dard, you will automatically attract the provisions of such standards. Things do not just change by themselves but when the standard of operation changes, they begin to change. If you desire to see change without first working on the standards you have for your life, then you are building a castle in the air.

Indecision, most times, is as a result of lack of stan-dard. In life, you must first set the standard by which you will operate and not live below it. At a young age, I had friends who were older than me and we related well with one another. This was pos-sible because I had earlier set the standard for the kind of friends I wanted to have. I have seen others who, before they got married, were often mistaken as married. Their looks, speech, comportment, dressing and actions could be likened to those of a married person. This is not just coincidental but by choice of standard. Long before they got married, they had moved their standard to that of a married person. While their contemporaries were busy go-ing from one party to another, they were busy hav-ing lunches and dinners with couples and exposing themselves to the world of the married. By virtue of

such associations, it became a natural code of con-duct for them to talk, walk, act and reason like a married person. This is not to say that marriage is the ultimate in life, but to buttress our discourse on the effect of good standards to human situations.

When you set a standard for yourself, your very be-ing goes into the state of its realisation. It is possi-ble for a man to be born in slavery but if the stan-dard he has set for himself is that of the palace, he will find his way into the palace. But if a man has set the standard similar to that of servanthood, even if he was born in the palace, his standard will inevitably make him become a slave. This is why it is possible for princes to walk on foot while ser-vants ride on horses.

The standard by which a man's life is governed is vital to his success, progress and well-being. No man can get ahead of his standard. The key to change is change itself. At the beginning of this year, I told myself that I needed to strategically po-sition myself for economic recovery. We as a nation also need to curb waste and fight corruption, not just by word of mouth, but practically. There are many programmes the government needs to stop executing for now. Things do not just happen, but it is people that make things happen.

As a businessman, know that if new things must come in your line of business, you have to set new standards by which you are going to run your busi-ness. With a high standard, the higher you will be able to go. All through the ages, the men and women who make giant strides have discovered that a man's standard is what sets the parameters for his achievements. If you want to go far and make any remarkable difference in your genera-tion, you must constantly operate on a higher stan-

dard. It cannot just be business as usual. It has been said that the true definition of insanity is for you to do things the way you have always done them and to expect a different result. The way up is to have an upper vault-related standard. You can stand out. An entirely new invention can start with you.

Oftentimes, the reason why people avoid going against the crowd is because they fear the ridicule of the crowd. Many people cannot see themselves going against the tide for fear of being swallowed by the crowd.

One thing I know is that anyone who is not willing to go in the opposite direction to what is the norm can never make much impact. Why must you flow with popular opinion when in actual fact you know that popular opinion is not the best? Why can you not show the whole world a better way in which things can be done? There will always be a lot of mediocrity going on in our society until people are willing to stand up and begin to set new and higher standards for themselves. We are not the way we are because we are destined to be backwards. We are simply the way we are because of the low stan-dard we have for ourselves. We can actually make new things happen. We can make a whole new rule. We can actually upgrade our level of exis-tence. It all starts precisely from our set standards.

Lastly, our society can change and become better than what it is presently if only we would change our old worn-out standards of operations and con-duct and begin to replace them with new energetic and dynamic ones. Let the standard for excellence rule and govern your life and you will begin to see everything you touch come out in an excellent way.

It all begins with a new approach to our previous conduct and way of life.

Chapter 10

Deal with It

ftentimes, we are faced with a lot of chal-lenges in life. These, according to the nature of man, are seen as stumbling blocks. Chal-

lenges are meant to be overcome. That is why they are there in the first instance. Do not run away from that challenge. Stay with it and overcome it. If you keep running from what you need to confront now, no matter how fast or far you run, you will still have to overcome it sometime later in life. This re-minds me of a story about a man I once read about who felt he was being confronted and chased by a monster. He ran all the way from his country to the ends of the Earth. One day, he met a wise man who asked him what was wrong with him and why he was running. He told the wise man that he was be-ing chased by a monster and so he has been run-ning for years. The wise man told him to come home with him and rest a while. While at his home, the wise man counselled and advised him that he needed to stop running and confront what was

O

chasing him. He also told him that as long as he will not confront his pursuer, he will run all his life till he dies.

Early the next morning, the man got up and wrote a note to the wise man. The note read, “I have gone in search of my pursuer.” The man left and started pursing his pursuer. He pursued the mon-ster from every town and village. From every city and country. He pursued the monster back to the beginning of where he had started running from. Fi-nally, when he had cornered his pursuer, he re-moved the veil from his face; lo and behold, his pursuer was a direct replica of him. What had been pursuing him all this while was his own shadow. What exactly is it you are running from? Until you turn back and stand your ground, you will continue to run. You have to, at some point, look back and deal with that issue. Do not keep wishing it away, but deal with it. To deal with issues, you have to do the following:

CONTROL YOUR EMOTIONS

This is one of the vital keys to advancement in life. The ability to control one's emotions is an attribute for leadership and a qualification for success. Our emotions are feelings we must put in check and make to serve as motivation for the realisation of our goals in life. Many people have lost the oppor-tunity to take positive actions because they could not control their emotions. They allowed their emo-tions to overrule their decisions.

Emotions have prevented many people with promising futures from paying the price for great-ness. To achieve success in life, be willing to put your emotions in check. Your emotions, at times,

can debar you from the arena of success if you give in to them.

In running your life, you must subdue your emo-tions and see life the way it is. In a court of law for instance, if you become emotional and cry while giving your testimony in front of a judge the judge will adjourn the case for ten or more minutes till you are able to compose yourself. The reason for this is because in a court of law, they deal with facts and not emotions. The facts before the judge or the jury determine what will be decided. This is the same way life operates. You cannot take giant strides in life without putting your emotions in check. I have met people who get very emotional about their situation to a point where they cannot do anything about it. They get emotional for being born an orphan or with some physical defects. These people miss the entire point. Life pities no one regardless of the situations in which we find ourselves. You have to maximise your situation and get the most out of it. This can only be done if you can control your emotions.

People keep having what they have and still remain where they are because they remain who they are. Some are emotionally tied to their past so much that they do nothing about their present, and lose the glory of the future. Some nations are emotion-ally tied to the trauma of war and slavery, and have not stood up to the challenges that confront them. You need to change. Start dealing with your emo-tions. You might not be able to rewrite your past, but you can reinvent your future by the way you conduct yourself in the present. You were unable to determine where and when you were born, but you have the right to determine where you are going. You have to decide to move on no matter what you are facing. It is not your circumstances that create

your world, but your decision. Playing with your emotions will get you nowhere. If you work based on how you feel, you will soon stop working. Rather, work even if you do not feel like it and as you keep working, the feeling to want to work will come.

Some people who should have started something great never did because at the time they could have started, they did not feel like doing it. Do not mind your emotions, but act as if they do not really matter. As I was writing this chapter, I was faced with the choice to either continue writing or stop to go and watch television. If I had worked based on how I felt, I would never have completed this book on schedule. In fact, this book might never have been written if I had decided to dance to the dic-tates of my feelings.

The ability to control your emotions determines your maturity. Many people end up in the psychi-atric hospital because they become emotional wrecks. They have allowed the disappointments of life to devastate them and so have lost self-control to a point where they need psychiatric help. Dreams have been destroyed due to emotional in-stability and lives have been shattered because some have totally lost control of their emotions and ultimately their lives.

Sometimes, people worry themselves to a point of defeat. Worrying is a sign that you do not know who you are. You hear about people who commit terrible crimes due to their inability to control their anger, sexual appetite, etc. and you wonder why anybody could have done such. It is as a result of emotional indiscipline. If you are going to get ahead of others and make a difference in life, you will al-ways need to have control of your emotions, out-

bursts and passions. If you must feel it before you act it, you will never act when you need to. You should strive to enhance the emotions that can gear you up for positive actions, and bury those that propel you towards negative actions.

The ability to reach beyond your limit requires that you handle your emotions properly so that they will not prevent you from acting when you need to act.

Finally, anything that incapacitates you and makes you unable to act positively should be destroyed. If our forefathers, who fought against colonisation, did not subdue the emotions of fear, they would never have succeeded in achieving independence for our country. If to be alone is what will get you the desired result, then never mind. Do not tolerate sentiments and avoid being sentimental for it is a stumbling block to your desired end. There are much greater heights for you to reach. Determine to make the world a better place for yourself and others by putting your emotions in check.

REACH BEYOND YOUR SETBACKS

“It is not what happens to you that counts, because what happened to you, happened to us all. But what matters is what you do with what happens to you.” Life is generally full of ups and downs. At one moment, it may seem as if we are on top of the world and at another, we may find ourselves at the valley of life. Talking about the world, I am talking in respect of the happenings which characterise our disposition.

As you live your life, you should not only expect good times, but also bad moments because these are the forces which give human life a push. Life without challenges is life without triumph. You have

to learn how to work with unpleasant moments. A man is not known in the days of smooth running, but during the stormy weather. As it is said, “A good sailor is not known when the sea is calm, but when the sea is rough.”

When adversities knock, some sink and some swim. Great leaders emerge during adversity. I call them opportunities, the heights you might never ever have dreamed existed. Adversities reveal who you are. Many people pray for opportunities but do not realise that opportunities are hidden inside adversi-ties. Every adversity carries the seed of an equiva-lent benefit and can be overcome. Through persis-tent willingness and action, you can turn your dark moment into your finest hour. We all have various dark moments in life, but whatever your dark mo-ment may signify, you must assure yourself that you will overcome it. Situations are not supposed to have dominance over you, rather you should have supremacy over every circumstance in life. Man is not a product of circumstances but rather circum-stances should be the product of man.

Looking at the situation in Africa and other third-world countries, the situations that exist are mostly constructed by man. Like someone said, “How can these countries that are rich in natural resources have their people having nothing in their bellies?” These situations did not just exist. They are caused by many years of deprivation, subjugation and self-destruction. African countries are among the poor-est nations in the world. This has caused many of us to prefer travelling to developed countries and choosing to work as slaves rather than stay at home in our fatherland as free men and women.

Another problem for the African people is the lead-ership. We have people who lack leadership compe-

tence in power. Their long years of stay in power are often characterised by otiose ideas, immaturity in decision-making and lack of understanding of the purpose of leadership.

Some argue that maturity has to do with age. This is not necessarily true because you can have a twenty-year old man who has a fifty years-worth of experience and a fifty-year-old man who has a twenty years-worth of experience. Maturity is not a function of age, but our willingness to assume re-sponsibility. The undoing of most African nations is attributing ability with age without realising that age is not the number of years on the calendar, but a state of mind. Also, we have capped the potential of our youths because we do not give them the op-portunity to bring out the best in themselves. This is one of the reasons why many of them travel abroad in search of greener pastures.

There is always the ability within us to confront ev-ery limitation. “Every limitation is the one we have set up for ourselves in our mind.” The world has been set up in such a way that we can all co-exist and not be dominated by anyone. The world oper-ates on the principle of buying and selling. When the rate of buying outruns the rate of selling, we are doomed. We should never condition ourselves only to feed from others, but should also have oth-ers feed from us. This is what co-existence means. We must strive to be a plus to the rest of the world and not a problem. We might not all be facing the same situation, but whatever we are facing should be made to work for us and not against us. We must access it for the benefit of the entire human race.

Whatever the situation you are going through, make up your mind to come out a better person.

Do not let it sink you, rather let it lift you. Have you been disappointed? That might be just the opportu-nity you need to be appointed. Have you been fired in your place of work? That might be all you need to be fired up to a greater height. You might have gone bankrupt so that you could become strong fi-nancially. The financial hardship in your nation is an opportunity for you to improve your financial sta-tus. In developing nations, there are more opportu-nities which can be utilised. Do not be a pessimist but an optimist. Whatever you look for is what you will find. Allow the seasons to work for you and not against you.

DO NOT BELITTLE YOURSELF

Oftentimes, because we do not want people to la-bel us as being proud and arrogant, we belittle our-selves. You should have confidence in your own ability. Do not be dragged down into the hypocrisy of thinking that you always have to swallow up ev-ery degrading and humiliating situation. There is a big difference between humility and stupidity. Hu-mility is when you willingly offer yourself for a course and stupidity is when you are compelled or coerced to offer yourself for a course you have no intention of following. When you do not set your standards, you will always find yourself acting out other people's scripts. You do not have to let others push you around; you are somebody who should exercise the ability to say no to every whim and wish of other people. I often tell my friends that when people do not know what to do they should not talk to me anyhow, I also will not know what they should do. And if I did think I knew, I ought not to answer them anyhow. This is just a principle of life. An elder statesman once advised his student that he should not allow anyone to despise his youth. You might be young in age, but do not be

young in thinking. Every human being has a contri-bution to make in his own right. You are somebody, so do not belittle yourself.

One of the despicable acts of the slave era is not the taking of people into slavery but the taking of people by force into slavery. Any act of compulsion on a person to serve another person against his will is slavery. Resistance to this gave rise to many of the calls for freedom and the abolition of the Slave Trade.

If there is anything we should continue to resist, it is domination. Every country should esteem highly her sovereignty and every person should protect his dignity and self-respect. That you are employed by someone does not give him the right to abuse and maltreat you. This is the problem I had with some lecturers when I was in the university. They came into the classroom and insulted everybody, calling us derogatory names and we, the students, sat back and listened to their rubbish. We could have challenged them and made them eat their words. We could have taken the case up if we had not been timid. Students should stop being afraid and allowing their worth to be despised. The lec-turer is paid to lecture and not to insult. By insult-ing students, he is stepping outside the confines of his jurisdiction. Many years ago, I undertook a post-graduate programme and during the examination period, the invigilator, wanting to show off to my lady classmate who he was interested in, ordered me to go sit somewhere else when he saw me talk-ing to her before the start of the next paper. I stood my ground and he threatened that he was going to write on my examination script that I committed examination malpractice. I would not budge. I re-fused to be intimidated. At that time, my thought was, why should I allow someone else to transfer

his aggression to me? I took some steps afterwards which are not really important here but the issue is, do not let someone else put you down.

In whatever profession you are in, learn to hold your head high. Know that you are someone who deserves respect and you should conduct yourself in a respectful manner. We live in a world and at a time when people take advantage of one another. We ridicule others at whatever cost. These things ought not to be. We should not tolerate it but change it. I have been in places where age is used as a yardstick for the respect accorded to people. Many people lie about their age because of fear of being looked down on. In such circumstances, I have had to challenge actions and attitudes be-cause the measure of life should never be valued on the basis of duration, but donation. There are el-derly people that have never done anything tangi-ble for the society in which they live, whereas there are many young men and women who, due to their remarkable contribution, have helped the society to prosper.

There is a need for us to change the way we view things. There are certain status quo we have to challenge in our nation. Situations in which political and public posts are given on the basis of age are regretful. For instance, it is embedded in our consti-tution that for anyone to aspire for any position in either the executive or the legislative arm of the federal and state government, one has to be thirty years and above. Yet before capital punishment can be carried out on a criminal, he must be eigh-teen years and above. The question is what quali-fies an eighteen-year-old person for capital punish-ment but exempts him from being voted to occupy a post in the affairs of the nation? This shows the partiality and imbalance in our country's constitu-

tion. This is why many falsify their age in order to qualify for election.

Our country suffers today because we overempha-sise what is not really important. If we look back through history, we will discover that some of the people who shaped the destiny of the nation did it when they were in their twenties. Age discrimina-tion in the constitution of the land is a type of coup against youths. It is an attempt to abort the civilisa-tion of this great nation. The ability to lead is not in age but in the willingness and acceptance of re-sponsibility. It requires knowing why you are a leader. I believe that it is time for the youths in this country to arise. They must no longer be bench-warmers or spectators in the socio-political activi-ties of the nation. They must live up to the vigour of their strength, for the greatness of this nation de-pends on them. Youths are the strength of the na-tion. If, for instance, the nation is at war with an-other nation, all the youths from eighteen and above will be drafted into the war. This shows that they are capable of defending their fatherland and this also qualifies them for leadership positions. The reason why our legislative assemblies are not mak-ing laws that completely protect the interests of youths is that there are a minority of youth repre-sentatives here. The youths have to wake up and hold their heads high, for this nation belongs to us all.

I am not calling for a violent revolution, but a men-tal revolution which is based on the reassessment of self-image and self-value. I am looking for the expression of the dignity of the human person at maximum level. That someone is your boss is not an excuse for him or her to treat you as he/she deems fit. You deserve honour and respect. Do not let anyone intimidate you for you are somebody in

your own right. Do not be a puppet to anybody nor allow people to trample upon your rights.

Lastly, know that until you challenge what is wrong, what is wrong will keep on having its way in your life. You have to confront what is wrong. One of the most inspiring statements I have ever heard is, “When you tolerate mediocrity in others, it in-creases the mediocrity in you.” Those who are be-ing pushed around by others are mediocre and when you tolerate them, you begin to practice the same. You can make giant leaps if you do not belit-tle yourself.

Chapter 11

How Badly Do You Want It?

e have been looking at systematic ap-proaches to how an individual, organisa-tion or nation can make giant strides. It is

important for us to note that whatever we want to achieve is really possible. The most important thing, however, is for us to know what we want and how badly we want what we want.

WThe question I often ask people when leading a seminar or workshop is. “What are you willing to do to get to where you want to be, legitimately?” There is always a price to pay and a responsibility to shoulder if we want to achieve success in life. A prominent billionaire was once asked about what he believes to be the secret to success. He said, “First of all, an individual must decide what he or she wants and secondly, the price they are willing to pay to achieve their success.” There are certain things that you must have to forgo if you are to make giant strides. A whole new reorganisation has

to happen. Things have to be reprioritized, for it will take a great deal for you to make giant strides. The question is, are you willing to pay the price to have what you want?

If you have read up to this point in the book, then I believe you badly want to make meaningful and significant progress in your life. It is very important that you note the following:

NOW IS WHAT YOU HAVE

What lies before you and behind you are nothing compared to what lies within you. Many people wish and believe that if things were not the way they are, they would get something better, but fail to realise that life must always be lived from the now. Truly, if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. Life has to be lived in the now and not in the future or in the past. Whatever the mistakes you have made in the past have gone with the past and nothing can be done about them; the future you are anticipating for has not yet come, wait for it. In your moment of waiting, know what to do. Utilise the present, which is what you have.

Many people fail to live in the now and suffer the loss of riches that could have been theirs. He who neglects the present by reminiscing on the past is waiting endlessly for the future that may not come. Know that inside today is tomorrow. Today holds the possibility for tomorrow. Without taking care of today, you abort the tomorrow that should have emerged.

At every point in time, always look at the situations you are in as they are and not as you would have wished them to be. Do not dwell on self-pity. Stop thinking about how yester-years used to be but an-

alyse the situation you are in at the moment. Learn to see things from the right point of view and re-ceive creative ideas on how to make the most of the present moment.

In your business, career, studies or family, employ wisdom in dealing with issues. Start from where you are and walk towards where you desire to be. A friend of mine, during my second year in the uni-versity, was advised to withdraw. Before then, he had been processing his papers to travel abroad. This was part of what resulted in his inability to concentrate on his studies and that led to him be-ing asked to withdraw. After withdrawal, he contin-ued processing his travelling papers without suc-cess. This he did till I got to final year and, at the time I graduated from the university, he was still processing his travelling documents. What I want you to know from this story is that when he was asked to withdraw from school, if he had written the university exam again, he would probably have graduated eight years earlier. His concentration on travelling, which was futuristic, blinded his eyes to doing significant things in the present. Through this story, we must realise that a man needs to move even while waiting. Even if we have good hopes and ambitions for the future, we need to realise that the fulfilment of dreams has its roots in the now. That is why any nation that fails to do mean-ingful orientations for her youths in the present, will have them waste away in the future.

To be economically independent tomorrow, invest your income today. If you should spend all that you have without bothering to invest, then you will reap nothing in the future. Every farmer knows that he has to plant in the present to harvest in the future. Learning to accept your present with a hope of

making it better in the future is what really gives birth to the miracles you so desperately desire.

If you wish you were born in a developed country or you hope to travel out of the country, do something meaningful with your life while you are still here. I believe that the greatest gift in a man's life is his present moment.

Anything that needs to be done can only be done in the present and the rest that cannot be done, will have to wait till the future. To gain any future re-ward, sow your seeds in the present. Anything that needs to be done should be done now. The time in which you really live is the present. If you consis-tently do meaningful things in the present, you will get joyous rewards in the future. Those who waste away their now, waste their future because life is measured by what we do and not by what we in-tend to do. The “now” is the only dose that can be used to heal and erase the ills of the past and also to channel a course for the future. Those who mis-manage their present mar their future. Do not focus on the big event and lose sight of the day in which you are living. Today holds the possibilities for all you have ever dreamed. Those who wait for every-thing to be perfect before they make a move al-ways arrive late at the scene. You have to focus on where you are to get to where you want to be. Where you are is good enough to get you to where you want to be.

Many people do not invest because they feel the money they have is not enough. They do not realise that if only they can think enough, what they have is enough. Many of the leading corporations in the world started their investment with a relatively small amount of money but today, they have assets worth billions. The secret is living in the now and

starting with what you have. Do not wait till the conditions are perfect, make a move irrespective of the situation for that is the winning attitude. I say it several times while presenting my seminars that anybody can generate an income. Even being a student is not an excuse for dependency. You can be in school and still send money home. All you have to do is harness your talents.

You need to understand that we all have different present moments. For some people, their present moment could be that they are working under somebody, are uneducated or are students. The fact remains that what you are in the now should be your starting point towards transforming your life. Do not ever wait for perfect conditions because they will never come. You only have to be willing to take a giant leap regardless of the situation you might find yourself in. Do not wish things were bet-ter before you take steps. Make the most of what you have while waiting for what you hope for. Re-member, your tomorrow is in your today.

WHY NOT ASK?

Anyone who asks receives and anyone who knocks, will have the door opened for him. Oftentimes, the reason why we do not hold a lead in life is because we do not always ask for what we want. There are people somewhere who can help you to achieve your goals and dreams but you fail to ask them per-haps because of fear of rejection. Always ask for what you want.

Nature often gives to us exactly what we require of it. He that asks for small things, gets small things and he that asks for big things, gets big things. Life answers precisely what we request from it.

If there is something you need, and you know someone who can help you, go and ask him. It does not matter what people will say. Even if they say no, at least you tried and how would you have known what answer they would give unless you asked them.

During my early days of conducting seminars, after finishing a business seminar in a particular city, I needed a car to help me transport the instruments we had used for the seminar. As one of my asso-ciates was going to charter a van, I suddenly saw an old acquaintance coming with a van. One of my co-workers told me to ask him to help us carry the equipment but I was reluctant because I feared re-jection. Seeing that I did not want to make the re-quest, my co-worker decided to approach him and he gladly accepted. If he had not approached the man, we would have gone through a lot of stress. Besides the money we would have spent in charter-ing a van, we would have lost a great opportunity that day.

People lose opportunities of getting what they want because they do not ask. We often believe that oth-ers should know what our needs are but we fail to realise that they, too, have many other things on their minds. There is no crime in asking for help, if it is to enhance the quality of your life. A lot of busi-nesses have gone under because the owners failed to ask for advice from people who are already suc-cessful in their own businesses. What you are look-ing for is always around you. Most people doing business today, whose investments have risen from a few thousands to billions of dollars, started with other people's money (OPM). They did not have the money to start with. You do not have to lose sight of your dreams because you do not have what is re-quired to achieve it. You only need to know that

anything you do not have is in the hands of some-one around you. All you have to do is ask for it.

I remember when I was to publish my first book, Mind Power, I did not have any money to finance the project. After trying without result to get the money, I quit trying. One morning, while meditat-ing, it occurred to me that the miracle I was looking for was right in my house. An idea came to me to ask my best friend, my sister and my mother to in-vest their money in the publishing of the book and after its sales, I would give them ten percent of their investments. They agreed and the book was published. Asking them created the means of pub-lishing the book. Someone might say, supposing they did not have the money to invest? It would not have stopped me because I would have used the same idea on someone else and if that also had not yielded anything, I would have kept on trying till I got what I wanted. You see, it was not who I asked, but the idea I had to present to them that mat-tered.

You can turn the idea in your mind into great ac-complishment by looking for people who can help you. People appreciate wonderful, inspiring and ad-venturous ideas. It might take you a very long time to do it alone. The world has become a global vil-lage and that is why so many things get done faster and with greater efficiency. You have to always ask for what you want. Life is a just giver as it will only give you the exact thing that you want. I remember a story told by Anthony Robbins in his book, Unlim-ited Power. According to him, after finishing a semi-nar one day, he decided to take a walk. Some dis-tance away, a man approached him and asked for a quarter of a dollar. He brought out the quarter and asked him pointing the quarter to him, “Is this all you want?” Of all that life has to offer, is this all you

want? (Emphasis added). This is the question you need to ask yourself. It is the questions you ask that lead to the answers you get and the miracles that follow.

Whatever the height you have attained, there is room for improvement. Request more from your-self. Demand much more than you have presently. Life has much more to offer than you are presently experiencing. Success has been defined as the on-going process of becoming much more than you are, either spiritually, psychologically, financially, morally, academically, socially, etc. We do not re-ceive because we do not ask.

Have it in mind to always start your process of ac-complishing giant strides by going out to ask for the help you need. None of us is an island and of-tentimes, those projects you so desperately want to accomplish will require input from others. Why not take the first step today by asking for what you want?

Chapter 12

Putting It All Together

am most glad that we have come this far to-gether. Reading up to this point attests to the fact that you will make giant strides when you

finish reading this book.IBefore I conclude this book, I would like to talk about three important principles that every one of us needs to adhere to. If we ever want to make meaningful improvement and affect the environ-ment we live in positively then it is important that we practice these principles daily. Life is a never-ending story until the day we die. As long as we are still living, it is important that we make the best use of the resources and opportunities that we have. If things have not been working out for you, do not fold your hands, throw in the trowel, or give up. Success belongs to that man or woman who is will-ing and able to move from one failure to another, from one disappointment to another, until they fi-nally succeed. Life does not belong to quitters. It

belongs to people who will not give up until they reach their goal. Remember that, with much perse-verance, the world will always move aside for the man who knows where he is going. It is important that you take inventory of all that you still have left and when you have taken stock, you will need to continuously keep doing the following:

BE DEFINITE IN PURPOSE

William Shakespeare said, “The problem is not in our stars, the problem is in us.” Several people go through life without really knowing precisely what they want out of it and in the end, they end up achieving nothing tangible. Someone once said, “How can you make a dream come true if in the first place you do not have a dream?”

Definiteness of purpose means being precise with your intention or knowing what you really want. The absence of definiteness of purpose is what has caused many people to roam the street of life aim-lessly. They do not really know what they want out of life. Without a destination, there can never be a sense of direction. We must constantly ask our-selves what we really want out of life? What is my aim? What am I aspiring to become? The starting point for anyone who hopes to turn his life around is for him to be definite in his purpose.

As a student, you must be able to know what you are aiming for. This is the only way you can give your studies the attention they need. As a couple, you must know what you want for your marriage. There is never a worthy achievement without first being definite in purpose. Any inventor must first know what he really wants and then focus on it. In your endeavour, there has to be first a decision about what you want before there can be any ac-

complishment. Shakespeare was right when he said the problem is not in our stars but in us. Things are difficult for most of us not because the environment is not favorable but because we do not have a defi-nite purpose. There can never be a recovery to any nation's economy without first acknowledging that we want to be economically prosperous. Life does not give in to chance but only gives way to choice. Things do not just happen. We are the ones that make them happen because we know what we want.

If you ask most undergraduates what will be next for them after school, you will be surprised by the answer you get. Most certainly, many of them will reply “anything.” I wonder how a young man or lady can be in the university for four or five years and still not have a precise direction for his or her life after school. Some of them think that they are in school solely because of their academics. They do not realise that they are not there for academic purposes only, but rather for them to come to really discover who they are.

Academics without self-discovery are a wasteful pursuit. The world is changing constantly and it is becoming better for those who really know what they want out of life. It must always be on your mind that you can hardly become anything in life if you do not aspire to something. You live carelessly when you do not have a definite purpose and there is less reason to wake up in the morning. There are numerous benefits of being definite in purpose. It awakens a consciousness in you and it makes you yield easily to the factors that will facilitate the re-alisation of whatever you hope for.

The principle of being definite in purpose is really revolutionalising my life. I keep changing by the

day and the product of it is that I am becoming a better person. Success or failure is a very easy thing to have, all it takes is to either have a definite purpose or not.

Change is the only constant thing in life. You either plant seeds on your own soil or weeds will grow there. It is either you know what you want or you respond to someone else's intention for you. When you are definite in purpose, you shape your own perception of difference between the two groups lies in the clarity of their purpose. One group does not expect anything in particular, but wish for any-thing and get nothing. The other group is very pre-cise about what they want and will not take any other thing as a substitute except that which they want.

Purpose creates direction. Purpose is a compass through which one navigates his way through the ocean of life. Oftentimes, when I find myself com-placent and seemingly weak on any issue, I reeval-uate my purpose and before long, I find myself boosting with strength and vigour, ready to sub-merge any mountain. This is what definite purpose will create within any individual who has formed the habit of being definite in purpose.

HAVE A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

There are no problems or limitations in life, except that which our thinking creates. Therefore, it is nec-essary for us to understand the various groups which exist in the world. Several groups which exist are classified under various names and some of these classifications are based on the various levels of life. For example, the rich and the poor, the suc-cessful and the failures, etc. One question I often ask in the seminars I conduct is, “Are some people

created special while others are just given a pas-sage to exist?” I believe that whatever our state is either in the past, the world. Indecision is the en-emy of progress and definiteness of purpose makes a man decisive. We all have times in our lives when things seem to be unstable but those with a defi-nite purpose will always get back on the track of life.

Definiteness of purpose creates within a man the power to forge ahead. Someone said, “Every great institution is a lengthening shadow of a single man.” This statement is true because most of the things we see today were invented by man and there is no invention without, first, a definite pur-pose.

Also, definiteness of purpose is the vision of the end to which an individual or organisation is long-ing for. Most of us have our own vision. The definite purpose for some of us might be to become the most outstanding businessman or woman in soci-ety. To others, it might be to be a distinguished in-tellectual or to raise a model family. Your definite purpose, notwithstanding, is the most important thing that you have. There is nothing as powerful as being clear about what you want.

The power of definite purpose brings life to dead situations. Over the years, I have been able to ex-amine various people who have not amounted to anything in life and also those who have done something meaningful with their lives. I have dis-covered that the present or future will largely be determined by our attitude towards life. What then is attitude? Attitude can simply be defined as our outlook on life, manner of thinking or behaviour.

It will be needful for you to understand that attitude determines the difference between a great man and an obscure man and between developed na-tions and a developing one. No man is created infe-rior to another but individual attitudes create the state in which we find ourselves. As it is popularly said, “Every event in life is created, either con-sciously or unconsciously.”

Life has a way of producing the exact things we of-ten think about. No man came to the earth with riches or success, we all come into the world naked, but some, through their thinking pattern, have carved out for themselves the best that life has to offer. I often wonder why the same thing can happen to two different people yet one rises to the top while the other sinks to the bottom. This has to do with each individual's attitude to the situation. In considering the subject of attitude, there are two types of attitude which are vividly expressed by people.

POSITIVE ATTITUDE

This is the attitude which looks for the good in ev-erything. It sees advantage in every disadvantage. The world would never have known the level of achievement known today without men and women with positive attitude. With positive attitude, man has been able to manipulate the air, the sea and the land, and make things work in his favour. We, through the efforts of men with positive attitudes, now have easy access to communication which fos-ters information needed for growth. Does positive attitude mean one is more intelligent, educated, in-fluential or wealthy? Far from it. Most great men were rated low by society, written off as uneduca-ble, but they never allowed the opinions of people to form the structure of their lives. Though no one

believed in them, they believed in themselves and by that, they made the world a better place to live in.

NEGATIVE ATTITUDE

This is the attitude which looks for the bad in every-thing. It sees a disadvantage in every opportunity. People with this kind of attitude can be called “the-always-looking-but-the-never-seeing.” Our world would never have moved forward if this kind of people were all we had. Negative attitude destroys the best in every advantage. You have to get rid of any negative attitude, for it will never allow you to maximise your potential.

The state of every society shows precisely the ac-tual attitude that is prevalent in such a place. I of-ten tell my audience that the problem is not the places in which we are, the problem lies in the peo-ple occupying such places. Every environment is conducive for a possibility thinker. Most underde-veloped countries need to come to terms with this truth and stop going up and down in search of solu-tions from the developed world. The answer to any country's problem is within her and not somewhere abroad.

Our life is ever before us, but what makes the dif-ference is in the way we think. You can alter your life at any time you want to by just changing your attitude. Some people have been made to believe that the reason things are not moving well in their favour is because there is an external force manip-ulating them. This I do not believe because no ex-ternal manipulation can succeed on any individual without a compromise from within. Like a wise man said, “The way we feel is not as a result of what is happening to us. The way we feel is as a result of

the way we interpret what is happening to us.” The greatest problem against the fulfilment of your goals and dreams is your attitude.

I wish I could say it over and over again in this book that there is no problem in life, except that which our attitude has formulated for us. You might want to ask, “Is it every problem that is caused by my own attitude?” The answer is yes and no! Even though you might not be responsible for the events in your life, you are responsible for the way you re-spond to these events or situations. No situation has any meaning in itself except the meaning we give to it. You and I could be going through similar situations and one of us could view it as a problem while the other views it as a challenge. These var-ied views are our attitude. When you think some-thing is a problem, you rob yourself of the ability to proffer a solution. You will be making yourself vul-nerable to panic, distrust, unhappiness and anger if you have a wrong attitude.

Nevertheless, when you see your situation as a challenge, you equip yourself with the desire to have a solution. Many broken marriages could have been saved if the couples understood the impor-tance of positive attitude. Couples who see one an-other as the problem in the marriage do not realise that the problem is not with their partner. We often try to change the other to suit our own expecta-tions and fail to realise that the very attitude we have cultivated can easily be developed in our part-ner. Whatever the attitude you want your partner to have, you must first cultivate it. Instead of going to work on your partner, work on yourself. Do you want your spouse to show you more love? First show more love to him or her. Is it trust, faithful-ness or openness you want from your partner? Give it to him or her. The same will come back to you.

When you try to get without first giving, you will never get that which you want. When you step out and reach out to others, you will reap a harvest of that which you desire to have from them.

Wealth or poverty is an attitude. The man that is considered to be rich has a rich man's mentality and the one considered to be poor has a poor man's mentality. A developed country has a devel-opment-oriented mentality and an undeveloped country has an underdevelopment-oriented mental-ity. The bottom line is our different attitudes. You are not where you were created to be because you do not have the attitude that will take you there. Take responsibility for what becomes of your life. Whenever you refuse to take up responsibility, you become a liability. Whatever you have is insignifi-cant unless you back it up with the right attitude.

TAKE ACTION

Action is the unifying factor between definiteness of purpose and attitude. Without action, nothing is possible. You must be willing and ready to take the necessary actions that will lead you to your desired destination in life. Many people have vision and also the right attitude, yet they have not realised their dreams because they have not combined both with the actions required. Having a definite purpose and the right attitude without action is like prepar-ing a pot of soup without salt. The absence of salt makes the soup tasteless. For every vision, you must be willing to pay the price for its accomplish-ment.

The actions to take might come in various forms. To one person, the action to take might be to go back to school, learn a new trade, or take up a new job. No matter what it is, the most important thing is

that there must be a corresponding action which will back your definite purpose or vision. In your ac-tion, you might need to do things differently in or-der to achieve a new result.

You cannot reach your goal in life without taking re-sponsibility for what becomes of your life. When you take steps in anticipation for what you long for, you are taking responsibility. Responsibility is the price for greatness. The discoveries in science came as a result of people who took steps in the di-rection of what they believed was possible or achievable. Most impossibilities have been turned to possibilities because men and women stood up to be counted when it mattered most.

For every greatness there is a price to pay. And if you want to reach your goals, you have to be will-ing to pay the price. For instance, while writing this book, I had to stay awake and burn the midnight oil. Now the book is in your hand. If I did not pay the price and abandon every other thing that was trying to distract my attention, I would have robbed you of the blessing you are receiving through this book. Many people are in the grave without realis-ing their dreams because they did not take the nec-essary actions that could have brought their dreams to reality.

A philosophy of life goes thus, “What you put into life is what you get out of it.” You must be willing to work and realise your vision. Andrew Carnegie said, “Whatsoever in life that is worth having is also worth working for.” Societies have been robbed of the joy of seeing their big dreams come true be-cause the people failed to do something about their dreams and visions. You have to understand that you must go and do something about your vision. Do not just sit down and wish that someday, some-

how, it will come to pass. You must go and bring it to pass. Everything that is conceivable is achiev-able. Do not be afraid. The good things of life have eluded so many people simply because they are not doing the necessary things which would have led them to the accomplishment of their objectives.

Winning in life involves stepping out and making use of everything we have. Our world is indebted to the great people who dared to act on their vision. Behind every great event, there is a man. Someone is behind every occurrence. Nothing in itself hap-pens except someone makes it happen. To turn your life around involves you standing up and doing something about what you want. If you must arrive at your destination, you need to stand up and start taking steps in that direction.

Down through the years, action has been the major ingredient in the accomplishment of anything. Without it, life would have been static. Changes oc-cur when something is done. Action is what pre-cedes every new thing; without it, nothing moves or changes. We cannot just dream and not work on our dreams. Every possibility is simply impossibility until someone makes it possible. Action is what makes impossibility possible. There is no invention in the world today, that is without the input of hu-man strength. This should tell you that it is the pro-portion to which your strength is being infused into any endeavour that determines the result to be ob-tained.

Most people made a wreck of themselves because they believed in the theory of something for noth-ing. Input will forever determine output. We can only achieve in proportion to what we attempt. Great nations have suddenly collapsed due to the human strength that was withdrawn. The wealth of

any nation is measured by its gross national prod-uct. This is to say that a nation's workforce deter-mines its wealth. The result you get in life is depen-dent upon the things you do.

Finally, you will always have what you have until you change the way you think and what you do. It is not the things you have that matters. Rather it is what you do with what you have that makes all the difference.

The future belongs to you.

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OUR MISSION

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Our critical focus is to help our clients attain their full capacity, directing all essential technology to-wards achieving desired results.

Our cutting-edge information, products and ser-vices are unique and of a high standard, and are capable of helping any user make a quantum leap. It is our desire to create the enabling environment that makes the pace of change within an individual or establishment greater than the pace of change without.

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leged individuals with the finest resources. We offer these resources to people who cannot afford them but who have the desire and driving will to change their present circumstances and create a totally new future for themselves.

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OUR CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Do you know that you can have the author of this book and many other notable speakers live, for free, in your institution? As part of our efforts to en-sure that we give back to the society that has helped us meet our objectives and become all we can possibly be, we have developed a project tagged “mobile finishing school for undergradu-ates.” This is a training programme that is held on various campuses free of charge. The aim of the programme is to teach, mentor, inspire and moti-vate undergraduates so as to help them become responsible people in society and also be able to meet the demands of the work/business environ-ment.

We believe that it is one thing to finish school but another to adapt meaningfully to the work/business

environment. The mobile finishing school for under-graduates offers tutelage in the following areas:

Entrepreneurship Self-discovery/Personal growth Financial management Leadership/People management Work ethics Communication Mental/Physical Health Appearance/Etiquette Skill Acquisition Success Habits

All these hold free in any higher institution. If you would like to partner, sponsor or bring this pro-gramme to any higher-education institution, simply log on to: www.bolajiolaadams.com to check out the criteria and to fill out the programme request form.

Together we can raise a better generation.

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