Mojisola Oluwatosin
What do we mean by potentials? It is the inherent package or quality we have deep inside of us. What do we mean by unleash? It means bringing out. We bring out those things we have inside either good or bad; we must endeavor to bring out the good in us.
12 THINGS YOU NEED TO UNLEASH YOUR POTENTIALS
1. Believe in yourself: Believing that we can do something goes a long way to affect the outcome of that thing.
2. PASSION: Passion energies our dream.
3. INITIATIVES: We also need Initiative to activate our dream.
4. FOCUS: Focus means facing one challenge until succeed.
5. PREPARATION: Preparation positions our dreams; It is not possible for an athlete to want to race and not prepare. If he doesn't, he is heading for failure.
6. PRACTICE: They say practice makes perfect; if we continue on a continuous practice, our system becomes used to that thing and that sharpens our dreams.
7. ENDURANCE
8. COURAGE: Facing what you have to do even in the presence of fear.
9. BE TEACHABLE: We should cultivate the habit of learning new things. No man is an island and we have had people pass through that stage before; we need to seek their help in making our dreams come alive.
It takes a strong man to forgive; a weak person says he can never forgive.
10. DEVELOP A GOOD RELATIONSHIP WITH PEOPLE
11. RESPONSIBILITY: Take responsibility. Don't push blame on people.
12. REFLECT YOURSELF: At every level we get to we need to check back at our life to see if we are still on track or we have deviate.
Follow Oluwatosin on Twitter: @Mjtee20
Friday, September 27, 2013
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
This is the road to happiness
by Mac Anderson and BJ Gallagher
When I travel on business, I like to talk to the taxi drivers who take me from the airport to my hotel, or to a convention center, or to a restaurant. Taxi drivers are often immigrants with interesting personal histories and unusual cultural backgrounds. I ask them how long they've been in America, how they chose which city to live in, and what they like best about where they live. Of course, I also ask them for advice on good local restaurants and any special attractions they'd recommend to a visitor. I've had some great experiences on my travels, thanks to the advice of taxi drivers!
On one trip about ten years ago, I was making conversation with the taxi driver, asking him my usual questions about how he came to live where he lived. Then I asked him a hypothetical question: "If you could live anywhere in the world—and if money was no object—where would you live?"
Without hesitating even for a second, he replied, "I live in my heart. So it really doesn't matter where my body lives. If I am happy inside, then I live in Paradise, no matter where my residence is."
I felt humbled and a little foolish for my question. Of course he was right—happiness is an inside job. He had reminded me of something I already knew, but had forgotten. If you can't find happiness inside yourself, you'll never find it in the outside world, no matter where you move. Wherever you go, there you are. You take yourself with you.
I am grateful for the wisdom of that taxi driver. And I'm grateful for all the wisdom others have shared with me about how to be happy.
Follow: @OLATUNJISPEAKS for Inspiration and latest updates
Source: SimpleTruths
When I travel on business, I like to talk to the taxi drivers who take me from the airport to my hotel, or to a convention center, or to a restaurant. Taxi drivers are often immigrants with interesting personal histories and unusual cultural backgrounds. I ask them how long they've been in America, how they chose which city to live in, and what they like best about where they live. Of course, I also ask them for advice on good local restaurants and any special attractions they'd recommend to a visitor. I've had some great experiences on my travels, thanks to the advice of taxi drivers!
On one trip about ten years ago, I was making conversation with the taxi driver, asking him my usual questions about how he came to live where he lived. Then I asked him a hypothetical question: "If you could live anywhere in the world—and if money was no object—where would you live?"
Without hesitating even for a second, he replied, "I live in my heart. So it really doesn't matter where my body lives. If I am happy inside, then I live in Paradise, no matter where my residence is."
I felt humbled and a little foolish for my question. Of course he was right—happiness is an inside job. He had reminded me of something I already knew, but had forgotten. If you can't find happiness inside yourself, you'll never find it in the outside world, no matter where you move. Wherever you go, there you are. You take yourself with you.
I am grateful for the wisdom of that taxi driver. And I'm grateful for all the wisdom others have shared with me about how to be happy.
Follow: @OLATUNJISPEAKS for Inspiration and latest updates
Source: SimpleTruths
23 Things Every Entrepreneur Must Know
Paul B. Brown
A buddy of mine is a big-deal business professor at an even bigger deal university. And for reasons I still don’t understand, he asked me to come in and explain to his graduate students what I have learned from spending 30 years talking to, researching and writing about entrepreneurs.
Here’s what I said.
1. The best way to predict the future is to create it.
2. The most important decision you can make is…where do you want to spend your time. You only have so much time, energy and ability to focus. That means, as much as you would like to, you can’t do everything. That’s a given. So is this: The places which receive your full attention will do better than the places that won’t. What follows from that is this: You need to make hard choices about what you will do–and what you won’t. And it is really is the important decision you can make, because everything else you do will flow from it…including the next point.
3. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, there is no such thing as work-life balance. I am not advocating that you spend a disproportionate part of your life working on your company. (I am also not advocating against it.) I am simply reporting that is what the most successful entrepreneurs do. I have never found an exception.
4. The best entrepreneurs don’t come up with great ideas, they solve market needs. You and I can come up with wonderful ideas all day long but unless they satisfy a large enough need, one that can support a business, they don’t do anyone any good.
5. The one thing all successful entrepreneurs have in common is the desire to make their idea a reality. What entrepreneurs need most of all—above motivation, focus, hope, financing, marketing skills, a brilliant idea, etc.—is the will to bring their idea into existance. Unless you truly want to make something happen, the odds are nothing will. Without that desire, nothing else matters…or occurs. Your life will be filled in other ways.
6. Action trumps everything. Stop thinking and get underway.
7. Take small, smart steps towards your goals. Contrary to the popular press, the most successful entrepreneurs are not swing-for-the-fences, bet-everything-on-one-roll-of-the-dice types. They are extremely conservative. They take a small step toward their goal; pause to see what they have learned from taking that small step and build that learning into the next small step. Then they pause to see what they have learned from that second small step, build that learning in and then take another small step and so forth. They don’t take large risks.
8. If you want to build a successful company give up control. You can try to micromange but: the business will never grow bigger than one person (you, the CEO) can handle effectively; the company won’t be able to move very quickly. Since everything will have to flow through you, you will create a bottleneck; you won’t get the best ideas out of your people. Once they understand the company is set up so everything revolves around you, people are not going to take the time to develop their best ideas. “Why should I,” they’ll ask. “He is just going to do what he wants anyway.” And it’s exhausting.
9. Forget about working on your weaknesses, play to your strengths. This is what will make you successful in the long-run.
10. You need to be able to turn every obstacle into an asset. Yes, every single one.
11. All you need to know about marketing in exactly 30 words? Marketing, when you strip everything away, is extremely simple: You figure out who you want to sell to, and then you determine what it is that will get them to buy.
12. Here’s the only market research you need: Get your product out in the marketplace and see if it sells.
13. If you insist on doing market research anyway, here’s the one question you need to ask. Show potential customers a prototype, or describe the service you are thinking of offering and then say: ”Is this something you would buy,” and if they answer yes, ask for the order then and there. If, as the cliché goes, they are willing to put their money where their mouth is, you are probably on to something. If they aren’t, you still have work to do.
14. You must figure out how you are going to collect what you are owed. Nobody thinks about this before they get underway and suddenly they learn first hand what they phrase “cash flow
15. As much as you are going to fight it you need a (really smart) advisory board. You want a board to: give you new perspectives and ideas; to give you people to talk to and to provide honest feedback.
16. If you want to get more done faster and better…create checklists. Checklists are a wonderful way to make sure you don’t overlook anything, and that it is true whether we are talking about the best way to treat someone in the emergency room or if you are about to make a big presentation to a client you really want to land.
17. How to motivate yourself and stay motivated. Starting anything new is hard and the number of obstacles you are going to encounter can easily get overwhelming. Click on the link here for proven ideas that can keep you going.
18. If the dogs don’t like the dog food it’s bad dog food. You don’t determine what a good product is. Only your customer does. And if they don’t like your product, it’s a bad product. Period. In others words, the customer is always right. Darn it.
19. If the customer doesn’t like the product, there isn’t much you can do about it with pricing or promotion or positioning. Unpopular products are going to remain so. It is better to come up with a different version, than to keep trying to sell–at a discounted price–the one people don’t like.
20. If you are going to fail, and sometimes you will, fail quickly and cheaply. Always take small steps toward your goal and pause after each one to make sure you are staying on the right track.
21. (Really) Learn from your mistakes. You are going to make mistakes. That’s a) a given and b) okay, providing you truly understand what went wrong.
22. Creativity and innovation must be linked to a business objective. Creativity is wonderful. But creativity that isn’t tied to making money is just a hobby. It isn’t a viable business concept.
23. Get while you still have your marbles. You never want to stay too long at the fair, even if you own the fair.
Source: Forbes
A buddy of mine is a big-deal business professor at an even bigger deal university. And for reasons I still don’t understand, he asked me to come in and explain to his graduate students what I have learned from spending 30 years talking to, researching and writing about entrepreneurs.
Here’s what I said.
1. The best way to predict the future is to create it.
2. The most important decision you can make is…where do you want to spend your time. You only have so much time, energy and ability to focus. That means, as much as you would like to, you can’t do everything. That’s a given. So is this: The places which receive your full attention will do better than the places that won’t. What follows from that is this: You need to make hard choices about what you will do–and what you won’t. And it is really is the important decision you can make, because everything else you do will flow from it…including the next point.
3. If you want to be a successful entrepreneur, there is no such thing as work-life balance. I am not advocating that you spend a disproportionate part of your life working on your company. (I am also not advocating against it.) I am simply reporting that is what the most successful entrepreneurs do. I have never found an exception.
4. The best entrepreneurs don’t come up with great ideas, they solve market needs. You and I can come up with wonderful ideas all day long but unless they satisfy a large enough need, one that can support a business, they don’t do anyone any good.
5. The one thing all successful entrepreneurs have in common is the desire to make their idea a reality. What entrepreneurs need most of all—above motivation, focus, hope, financing, marketing skills, a brilliant idea, etc.—is the will to bring their idea into existance. Unless you truly want to make something happen, the odds are nothing will. Without that desire, nothing else matters…or occurs. Your life will be filled in other ways.
6. Action trumps everything. Stop thinking and get underway.
7. Take small, smart steps towards your goals. Contrary to the popular press, the most successful entrepreneurs are not swing-for-the-fences, bet-everything-on-one-roll-of-the-dice types. They are extremely conservative. They take a small step toward their goal; pause to see what they have learned from taking that small step and build that learning into the next small step. Then they pause to see what they have learned from that second small step, build that learning in and then take another small step and so forth. They don’t take large risks.
8. If you want to build a successful company give up control. You can try to micromange but: the business will never grow bigger than one person (you, the CEO) can handle effectively; the company won’t be able to move very quickly. Since everything will have to flow through you, you will create a bottleneck; you won’t get the best ideas out of your people. Once they understand the company is set up so everything revolves around you, people are not going to take the time to develop their best ideas. “Why should I,” they’ll ask. “He is just going to do what he wants anyway.” And it’s exhausting.
9. Forget about working on your weaknesses, play to your strengths. This is what will make you successful in the long-run.
10. You need to be able to turn every obstacle into an asset. Yes, every single one.
11. All you need to know about marketing in exactly 30 words? Marketing, when you strip everything away, is extremely simple: You figure out who you want to sell to, and then you determine what it is that will get them to buy.
12. Here’s the only market research you need: Get your product out in the marketplace and see if it sells.
13. If you insist on doing market research anyway, here’s the one question you need to ask. Show potential customers a prototype, or describe the service you are thinking of offering and then say: ”Is this something you would buy,” and if they answer yes, ask for the order then and there. If, as the cliché goes, they are willing to put their money where their mouth is, you are probably on to something. If they aren’t, you still have work to do.
14. You must figure out how you are going to collect what you are owed. Nobody thinks about this before they get underway and suddenly they learn first hand what they phrase “cash flow
15. As much as you are going to fight it you need a (really smart) advisory board. You want a board to: give you new perspectives and ideas; to give you people to talk to and to provide honest feedback.
16. If you want to get more done faster and better…create checklists. Checklists are a wonderful way to make sure you don’t overlook anything, and that it is true whether we are talking about the best way to treat someone in the emergency room or if you are about to make a big presentation to a client you really want to land.
17. How to motivate yourself and stay motivated. Starting anything new is hard and the number of obstacles you are going to encounter can easily get overwhelming. Click on the link here for proven ideas that can keep you going.
18. If the dogs don’t like the dog food it’s bad dog food. You don’t determine what a good product is. Only your customer does. And if they don’t like your product, it’s a bad product. Period. In others words, the customer is always right. Darn it.
19. If the customer doesn’t like the product, there isn’t much you can do about it with pricing or promotion or positioning. Unpopular products are going to remain so. It is better to come up with a different version, than to keep trying to sell–at a discounted price–the one people don’t like.
20. If you are going to fail, and sometimes you will, fail quickly and cheaply. Always take small steps toward your goal and pause after each one to make sure you are staying on the right track.
21. (Really) Learn from your mistakes. You are going to make mistakes. That’s a) a given and b) okay, providing you truly understand what went wrong.
22. Creativity and innovation must be linked to a business objective. Creativity is wonderful. But creativity that isn’t tied to making money is just a hobby. It isn’t a viable business concept.
23. Get while you still have your marbles. You never want to stay too long at the fair, even if you own the fair.
Source: Forbes
Monday, September 23, 2013
Why I didn’t die in the Auto Accident Yesterday? #MondayInspiration
Gabriel Olatunji Legend
It was just a little past 6am yesterday (Sunday) morning; I had been unusually patient with the two ladies (my sisters, not biological) going with me to church. They took their time to apply all the make-ups, probably clean it up and re-apply it again. On a normal day I would have hurried to their room and told them that if they were sure they were going with me to church they should be out or else I would leave them behind but yesterday was different – I was so unusually cool and they loved it.
Finally, they were done and we were in the car already, I was afraid the car wouldn’t start as the fuel gauge was giving signs it was low but there was no where I could get fuel that morning; the car came up and we were on our way. While driving, I contemplated which route to take as there are two roots from my estate that can lead me to church. I decided to take the route I didn’t take the last time and everything was fine UNTIL…
It was a curvy bend and I knew it was a bent but somehow I didn’t realize I was speeding too much and I had turned into the bend with a speed only needed on Lagos – Ibadan expressway and the unimaginable happened; it was an accident that left the two side wheels of the car I was driving in the middle of the culvert – two tires were on this side of the road and two tires were on that side of the road. I believe that the car could have turned upside down because we were at the verge of it and maybe I would not appreciate this ‘miracle’ so much if not that I had two young, beautiful ladies with a lot of dreams and hope sitting in the car with me and I was the only person who was on a seatbelt. By a miracle of some sort God spared our lives, we all came out of the car without a scratch. I had to part with a few thousands to sort this whole accident yesterday and will part with more to get the car back to optimal performance; but all of that is nothing compared to all the fears that ran through my mind after the whole episode – if either of those girls had died due to the fact that they weren’t on seatbelts, how would I have faced their parents, and family members? How would I ever be able to live with myself again? What if in the process another person from another car or someone just trying to cross the road had lost his or her life? I might not be in a position to write this #MondayInspiration today but God spared my life, the lives of those with me and on the road.
I still managed to attend church and all through the services (attended three services) my mind could not fathom the awesomeness of God. I remembered all my atrocities, all my sins and inadequacies; I remembered all the promises I made to Him that I didn’t keep. I particularly felt that the money I spent yesterday was because of a certain financial pledge I didn’t fulfill two weeks ago – it may be true, it may be false but whatever the case may be God has shown me in more than many ways that He loves me and He has constantly spared my life. In my thoughts, I remembered my life purpose and all the things I ought to have done and be doing - I am only doing a small fraction of it which is not even costing me sweat and it occurred to me that the best way to appreciate God is to LIVE FOR HIM and by this, I don’t mean do church or do mosque but do the things God has put in your heart to do. What God desires the most is that your life is a positive influence to the lives of others and that you wake up every day fulfilling purpose (Living for Him) and not just making money or getting security. I strongly believe I am still alive because God has decide to give me another chance at life and He is hoping that I make things right.
I am in my late twenties and I have too many unfulfilled dreams than fulfilled ones and this is because I have been particular about my financial security than my eternal life security – I said in the course of the week that the best way to live forever is to create a product or service that will be in use even when you are dead. I have written about three to four books between when I was eighteen years old and now, I have written one or two movie scripts, I have helped people publish books but never published my own, I have recorded inspirational speeches that nobody has heard, I have organized and halted the continuity of events and plans that God would like to see continue, I have hundreds of inspired plans from God that I have done absolutely nothing about and should I have died yesterday I would stand in God’s presence a failure because I had done nothing with the ‘5’ talent He gave me – I had dug them in the ground in a bid to find personal financial security. Money will finish and we will all die but we can decide how we die, what we die for and how to live forever even when we die but the ONLY way to do this is by waking up every day to do the things that God wants you to do, to live for him, to fulfill purpose, to make a meaning out of other lives and to influence other lives positively.
Don’t be surprised if you see OLATUNJISPEAKS.com first published book in three to four weeks time – I will not waste another day living for myself. I want to encourage you to go all out and do the things that you have feared; get out and record that song, start that training, write that book, launch that company, offer that service, pay that person’s school fees, make that software, attend that training, organize that seminar, publish that material, create that thing, make that film – NO MORE EXCUSES – they don’t entertain such (EXCUSES) in heaven where you are going.
Whether you are a Muslim or a Christian I would be more than grateful if you can thank God on my behalf and also make a choice today to live on even when you are no more by deliberately creating something that won’t die.
Gabriel Olatunji Legend is an entrepreneur, publisher and a solution strategist. I am open to further discussions on my twitter handle @OLATUNJISPEAKS | Do you also need to publish a book? I might be able to help you out; mail olatunjispeaks@gmail.com | 07066556843
It was just a little past 6am yesterday (Sunday) morning; I had been unusually patient with the two ladies (my sisters, not biological) going with me to church. They took their time to apply all the make-ups, probably clean it up and re-apply it again. On a normal day I would have hurried to their room and told them that if they were sure they were going with me to church they should be out or else I would leave them behind but yesterday was different – I was so unusually cool and they loved it.
Finally, they were done and we were in the car already, I was afraid the car wouldn’t start as the fuel gauge was giving signs it was low but there was no where I could get fuel that morning; the car came up and we were on our way. While driving, I contemplated which route to take as there are two roots from my estate that can lead me to church. I decided to take the route I didn’t take the last time and everything was fine UNTIL…
It was a curvy bend and I knew it was a bent but somehow I didn’t realize I was speeding too much and I had turned into the bend with a speed only needed on Lagos – Ibadan expressway and the unimaginable happened; it was an accident that left the two side wheels of the car I was driving in the middle of the culvert – two tires were on this side of the road and two tires were on that side of the road. I believe that the car could have turned upside down because we were at the verge of it and maybe I would not appreciate this ‘miracle’ so much if not that I had two young, beautiful ladies with a lot of dreams and hope sitting in the car with me and I was the only person who was on a seatbelt. By a miracle of some sort God spared our lives, we all came out of the car without a scratch. I had to part with a few thousands to sort this whole accident yesterday and will part with more to get the car back to optimal performance; but all of that is nothing compared to all the fears that ran through my mind after the whole episode – if either of those girls had died due to the fact that they weren’t on seatbelts, how would I have faced their parents, and family members? How would I ever be able to live with myself again? What if in the process another person from another car or someone just trying to cross the road had lost his or her life? I might not be in a position to write this #MondayInspiration today but God spared my life, the lives of those with me and on the road.
I still managed to attend church and all through the services (attended three services) my mind could not fathom the awesomeness of God. I remembered all my atrocities, all my sins and inadequacies; I remembered all the promises I made to Him that I didn’t keep. I particularly felt that the money I spent yesterday was because of a certain financial pledge I didn’t fulfill two weeks ago – it may be true, it may be false but whatever the case may be God has shown me in more than many ways that He loves me and He has constantly spared my life. In my thoughts, I remembered my life purpose and all the things I ought to have done and be doing - I am only doing a small fraction of it which is not even costing me sweat and it occurred to me that the best way to appreciate God is to LIVE FOR HIM and by this, I don’t mean do church or do mosque but do the things God has put in your heart to do. What God desires the most is that your life is a positive influence to the lives of others and that you wake up every day fulfilling purpose (Living for Him) and not just making money or getting security. I strongly believe I am still alive because God has decide to give me another chance at life and He is hoping that I make things right.
I am in my late twenties and I have too many unfulfilled dreams than fulfilled ones and this is because I have been particular about my financial security than my eternal life security – I said in the course of the week that the best way to live forever is to create a product or service that will be in use even when you are dead. I have written about three to four books between when I was eighteen years old and now, I have written one or two movie scripts, I have helped people publish books but never published my own, I have recorded inspirational speeches that nobody has heard, I have organized and halted the continuity of events and plans that God would like to see continue, I have hundreds of inspired plans from God that I have done absolutely nothing about and should I have died yesterday I would stand in God’s presence a failure because I had done nothing with the ‘5’ talent He gave me – I had dug them in the ground in a bid to find personal financial security. Money will finish and we will all die but we can decide how we die, what we die for and how to live forever even when we die but the ONLY way to do this is by waking up every day to do the things that God wants you to do, to live for him, to fulfill purpose, to make a meaning out of other lives and to influence other lives positively.
Don’t be surprised if you see OLATUNJISPEAKS.com first published book in three to four weeks time – I will not waste another day living for myself. I want to encourage you to go all out and do the things that you have feared; get out and record that song, start that training, write that book, launch that company, offer that service, pay that person’s school fees, make that software, attend that training, organize that seminar, publish that material, create that thing, make that film – NO MORE EXCUSES – they don’t entertain such (EXCUSES) in heaven where you are going.
Whether you are a Muslim or a Christian I would be more than grateful if you can thank God on my behalf and also make a choice today to live on even when you are no more by deliberately creating something that won’t die.
Gabriel Olatunji Legend is an entrepreneur, publisher and a solution strategist. I am open to further discussions on my twitter handle @OLATUNJISPEAKS | Do you also need to publish a book? I might be able to help you out; mail olatunjispeaks@gmail.com | 07066556843
You Can Get Richer Pinching Pennies Like Warren Buffett
Deborah L. Jacobs
Many people have tried to emulate Warren Buffett‘s investment style. More may attempt it as they search for the best investing ideas for 2012. But here’s a more attainable goal: Pinch pennies like the Oracle of Omaha. This might turn out to be a New Year’s resolution you can actually keep. And you’ll be richer for it.
When his first child was born, the famously frugal Buffett turned a dresser drawer into a bassinet. For the second one, he borrowed a crib. While in New York signing up clients to invest six-figure sums with him during the 1960s, he reportedly phoned a friend from New York’s Plaza Hotel to bring over a six-pack of Pepsi so he wouldn’t have to pay for room service. He drove a Volkswagen until his wife decided it was bad for his image and upgraded him to a Cadillac.
Roger Lowenstein recounts these and other examples of Buffett’s personal spending habits in his biography Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist. Buffett, he writes, once said about himself that he was “working [his] way up to cheap.”
Whether investing in companies or buying everyday necessities, the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO (currently #3 on the Forbes Billionaires list) has been driven by the notion that small sums compound. He runs the calculations to prove it. If that’s more math than you’d like to do, look at it this way: every penny that you don’t spend unnecessarily leaves more money to invest for the future or allocate to something you might enjoy more–like your next vacation.
By example, Buffett has demonstrated that being thrifty isn’t just for poor folks. So in the spirit of Warren Buffett, look for ways to cut your spending this year. Here are 40 relatively painless (or even pleasurable) ways to be fabulously frugal.
Food
1. Brown bag breakfast and lunch at work. Make your own muffins instead of buying one on the way to work. (For an easy, versatile recipe, check out “Muffin Madness” in Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home.) An easy way to prepare lunch is to simply cook extra for dinner and take the leftovers to work the next day.
2. Purchase seasonal foods and shop for supermarket specials.
3. Buy in bulk and freeze.
4. Don’t go food shopping when you’re hungry.
5. Cook meals instead of relying on takeout and ordering in. Eat at restaurants only on special occasions.
6. When ordering from a restaurant menu, choose something that you can’t prepare as well as home.
7. Scoop your own ice cream. The markup for ice cream cones and cups bought at those cute little joints is enormous. You’re much better off buying your favorite flavors on sale at the supermarket by the quart or the gallon. If you’re watching your waistline, confine yourself to half-cup servings and resist the temptation to eat directly from the container.
Liquids
8. Bring coffee to work in a Thermos.
9. Carry a refillable water bottle instead of buying bottled water.
10. Unless a restaurant offers free soda refills, drink tap water with your meal.
11. Have wine or cocktails at home before you eat out, rather than ordering them with a meal. (Wine by the glass typically costs as much as an entire bottle of the same stuff bought in a liquor store.)
12. Cut open squeeze tubes and pump bottles—for example, of shaving cream, sunscreen, cream rinse and moisturizer—once they yield nothing but air. (There’s usually at least another full ounce of liquid inside.)
Clothing
13. Wait for items you covet to go on sale—either in stores or online. (By then you may have decided you don’t want them after all.)
14. Avoid recreational shopping. Instead, make a list of what you really need.
15. Don’t buy an article of clothing unless you already have something that matches it.
16. Look for items that can be dressed up or down.
17. Unless you need something immediately (and chances are you don’t), buy seasonal clothing once the season is already underway. Examples: bathing suits in July; winter coats and cashmere sweaters at after Christmas sales.
18. Leave your credit cards at home and pay in cash.
Love And Marriage
19. Take your date to a freebie.
20. Cook together; how you cope with kitchen mishaps could speak volumes about how you would weather life’s serious ups and downs.
21. Look for a partner whose money styles are compatible with your own.
22. Shop for engagement rings at auction.
Kids
23. For newborns, borrow cribs, carriages and clothing from friends and family, rather than buying things new. But buy a car seat new, since safety features are continually being updated.
24. To reduce the price of formula, nurse your baby for the first year, if possible.
25. Until children reach age 12, buy clothing on sale at the end of the season and put it away for the following year. (Once they become teenagers this doesn’t work anymore, since their growth rate can be dramatic and unpredictable.)
26. Check thrift shops for lightly used children’s clothing, especially sweaters, fleeces and outerwear.
27. Buy toys and children’s books at yard sales and rummage sales.
Home
28. Plant most of your garden with perennials. It reduces the need to fill in with costly annuals.
29. Buy furniture at auction.
30. Hire painters and contractors during the winter. They are hungry for business then and likely to offer you a better price than if you ask for estimates during the busy summer months.
31. Get plumbing repairs done during the summer if you live in a climate with seasonal differences. (Plumbers are busiest during the heating season.) Unless there’s an emergency, hold off on getting a house call until you have a list of things that need to be done.
32. Avoid impulse purchases at the cash register in hardware stores and kitchen supply stores. If something catches your eye there, force yourself to come back the next day instead of buying it on the spot. (By then you may have decided that you don’t need it after all.)
33. Pay down your mortgage (and other debt), as described here.
Recreation And Travel
34. Don’t see a movie in the theater unless it has gotten great reviews or has so many special effects that it can only be thoroughly enjoyed on the big screen. Otherwise rent it.
35. Drop one subscription or membership and see if you really miss it.
36. Patronize your local library. Many make new releases available almost as quickly as you can get them from a bookstore (though there may be a waiting list for popular titles, like Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Steve Jobs). And don’t overlook the possibility of borrowing movies there too — for free.
37. Travel on the cusp of high season if your schedule permits; rates tend to be lower, and chances are the weather will be about the same. (See too, “How To Get The Best Hotel Deals.”)
38. Find the swankest hotel in town, and look for a cheaper place next door. (That way, you can enjoy the same desirable location, without paying top dollar for it.)
39. Bring your own food and soft drinks instead of buying food on board planes; at airports; or relying on hotel minibars and room service. Some hotels will provide you with a refrigerator at no extra charge; if they don’t, fill the ice bucket and store your food there or if the bathroom has an extra sink, fill that with ice and turn it into a makeshift fridge.
40. Buy your own wine instead of drinking it at a restaurant. When checking baggage, you can include a corkscrew. If you carry on your bags, you can always ask the store where you purchase wine to uncork it for you.
Are you fabulously frugal? Please use the comment space below to tell us how.
Many people have tried to emulate Warren Buffett‘s investment style. More may attempt it as they search for the best investing ideas for 2012. But here’s a more attainable goal: Pinch pennies like the Oracle of Omaha. This might turn out to be a New Year’s resolution you can actually keep. And you’ll be richer for it.
When his first child was born, the famously frugal Buffett turned a dresser drawer into a bassinet. For the second one, he borrowed a crib. While in New York signing up clients to invest six-figure sums with him during the 1960s, he reportedly phoned a friend from New York’s Plaza Hotel to bring over a six-pack of Pepsi so he wouldn’t have to pay for room service. He drove a Volkswagen until his wife decided it was bad for his image and upgraded him to a Cadillac.
Roger Lowenstein recounts these and other examples of Buffett’s personal spending habits in his biography Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist. Buffett, he writes, once said about himself that he was “working [his] way up to cheap.”
Whether investing in companies or buying everyday necessities, the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO (currently #3 on the Forbes Billionaires list) has been driven by the notion that small sums compound. He runs the calculations to prove it. If that’s more math than you’d like to do, look at it this way: every penny that you don’t spend unnecessarily leaves more money to invest for the future or allocate to something you might enjoy more–like your next vacation.
By example, Buffett has demonstrated that being thrifty isn’t just for poor folks. So in the spirit of Warren Buffett, look for ways to cut your spending this year. Here are 40 relatively painless (or even pleasurable) ways to be fabulously frugal.
Food
1. Brown bag breakfast and lunch at work. Make your own muffins instead of buying one on the way to work. (For an easy, versatile recipe, check out “Muffin Madness” in Moosewood Restaurant Cooks At Home.) An easy way to prepare lunch is to simply cook extra for dinner and take the leftovers to work the next day.
2. Purchase seasonal foods and shop for supermarket specials.
3. Buy in bulk and freeze.
4. Don’t go food shopping when you’re hungry.
5. Cook meals instead of relying on takeout and ordering in. Eat at restaurants only on special occasions.
6. When ordering from a restaurant menu, choose something that you can’t prepare as well as home.
7. Scoop your own ice cream. The markup for ice cream cones and cups bought at those cute little joints is enormous. You’re much better off buying your favorite flavors on sale at the supermarket by the quart or the gallon. If you’re watching your waistline, confine yourself to half-cup servings and resist the temptation to eat directly from the container.
Liquids
8. Bring coffee to work in a Thermos.
9. Carry a refillable water bottle instead of buying bottled water.
10. Unless a restaurant offers free soda refills, drink tap water with your meal.
11. Have wine or cocktails at home before you eat out, rather than ordering them with a meal. (Wine by the glass typically costs as much as an entire bottle of the same stuff bought in a liquor store.)
12. Cut open squeeze tubes and pump bottles—for example, of shaving cream, sunscreen, cream rinse and moisturizer—once they yield nothing but air. (There’s usually at least another full ounce of liquid inside.)
Clothing
13. Wait for items you covet to go on sale—either in stores or online. (By then you may have decided you don’t want them after all.)
14. Avoid recreational shopping. Instead, make a list of what you really need.
15. Don’t buy an article of clothing unless you already have something that matches it.
16. Look for items that can be dressed up or down.
17. Unless you need something immediately (and chances are you don’t), buy seasonal clothing once the season is already underway. Examples: bathing suits in July; winter coats and cashmere sweaters at after Christmas sales.
18. Leave your credit cards at home and pay in cash.
Love And Marriage
19. Take your date to a freebie.
20. Cook together; how you cope with kitchen mishaps could speak volumes about how you would weather life’s serious ups and downs.
21. Look for a partner whose money styles are compatible with your own.
22. Shop for engagement rings at auction.
Kids
23. For newborns, borrow cribs, carriages and clothing from friends and family, rather than buying things new. But buy a car seat new, since safety features are continually being updated.
24. To reduce the price of formula, nurse your baby for the first year, if possible.
25. Until children reach age 12, buy clothing on sale at the end of the season and put it away for the following year. (Once they become teenagers this doesn’t work anymore, since their growth rate can be dramatic and unpredictable.)
26. Check thrift shops for lightly used children’s clothing, especially sweaters, fleeces and outerwear.
27. Buy toys and children’s books at yard sales and rummage sales.
Home
28. Plant most of your garden with perennials. It reduces the need to fill in with costly annuals.
29. Buy furniture at auction.
30. Hire painters and contractors during the winter. They are hungry for business then and likely to offer you a better price than if you ask for estimates during the busy summer months.
31. Get plumbing repairs done during the summer if you live in a climate with seasonal differences. (Plumbers are busiest during the heating season.) Unless there’s an emergency, hold off on getting a house call until you have a list of things that need to be done.
32. Avoid impulse purchases at the cash register in hardware stores and kitchen supply stores. If something catches your eye there, force yourself to come back the next day instead of buying it on the spot. (By then you may have decided that you don’t need it after all.)
33. Pay down your mortgage (and other debt), as described here.
Recreation And Travel
34. Don’t see a movie in the theater unless it has gotten great reviews or has so many special effects that it can only be thoroughly enjoyed on the big screen. Otherwise rent it.
35. Drop one subscription or membership and see if you really miss it.
36. Patronize your local library. Many make new releases available almost as quickly as you can get them from a bookstore (though there may be a waiting list for popular titles, like Walter Isaacson’s new biography of Steve Jobs). And don’t overlook the possibility of borrowing movies there too — for free.
37. Travel on the cusp of high season if your schedule permits; rates tend to be lower, and chances are the weather will be about the same. (See too, “How To Get The Best Hotel Deals.”)
38. Find the swankest hotel in town, and look for a cheaper place next door. (That way, you can enjoy the same desirable location, without paying top dollar for it.)
39. Bring your own food and soft drinks instead of buying food on board planes; at airports; or relying on hotel minibars and room service. Some hotels will provide you with a refrigerator at no extra charge; if they don’t, fill the ice bucket and store your food there or if the bathroom has an extra sink, fill that with ice and turn it into a makeshift fridge.
40. Buy your own wine instead of drinking it at a restaurant. When checking baggage, you can include a corkscrew. If you carry on your bags, you can always ask the store where you purchase wine to uncork it for you.
Are you fabulously frugal? Please use the comment space below to tell us how.
Monday, September 16, 2013
Gabriel Olatunji: Stop being a spectator! How to become a STAR playerin life #MondayInspiration
I have discovered that two sets of people exists in life; those actively involved in doing good or bad (the actors) and those actively involved in watching or criticizing them (the spectators).
In a football match the players are the actors while the fans are the spectators – we cannot but have these two sets of people in every facet of life. Some people must be doing something while some others must be praising or criticizing them. From this perspective I would like you to look at the life of a spectator and that of an actor before making a definite decision on which side you should perpetually belong.
- Anybody can be a spectator; it is the lowest level of living. All you have to do is support an actor and you can get to watch the actor all your life. The highest level of living is being an actor in your field; actively participating to making the best things happen – a place where every action or sound you make generate either a praise or a criticism – that is living!
- The spectator makes noise and never makes a sound that technically affects the game – the football field is filled with spectators who scream and cheer for their team but screams has never decided who wins or loses a match. Spectators only make the match interesting while actors decide who wins or loses the match.
- Spectators have never been inducted into the hall of fame in a particular field of life; that is an exclusive reserve for actors on the field.
- Spectators do not live a legacy in life, they die as if they never existed but actors do not just die; their works continue to live – being an actor in your field is the way to live forever in that field.
- The spectator pays to watch the actor; the actor is paid with the spectator’s money while the actor only sign an autograph in return (and that is still optional).
Many people love to cheer but very few people love to be cheered for; you have to deliberately choose which side to belong. Cheering for people is good but to be cheered for is great. Choose which side you want to belong to today. All you have to do to become an outstanding actor is simple:
- Choose a team (profession) that you will love to be cheered for.
- Attend a compulsory training as no player ever excelled without training – training does not have to be the four walls of a school; training is simply learning all that it takes to be a star in your profession and doing them.
- PLAY! Do not be a potential star, exhibit your potential and let the world and God cheer for you. You have to play the game to receive a cheer in the game. Imagine that Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid only play those fantastic free-kicks in his compound? At most he will get a cheer from his family; what that means is that, where you choose to play determines where the cheering will come from. It is an assault on your great destiny to play local – play global!
Look around you, the men whom you cheer for have done these simple three things I have listed above and the world cannot stop cheering for them. It is your own turn, step away from being a spectator – become a principal actor in your field.
In five years time what team (profession) will you be playing for and what field (local or global) will you be playing on?
Gabriel Olatunji Legend is an entrepreneur and a solution strategist. I am open to further discussions on my twitter handle @OLATUNJISPEAKS | Do you also need to publish a book? I might be able to help you out, mail olatunjispeaks@gmail.com
Friday, September 13, 2013
How to make more money via online presence + Business Tips
Tosin Kayode
With the world becoming a global village and information technology advancing, getting information has become easier! It is therefore safe to say that whatever business organization that has refused to identify with the change is already out of the market! Even as rising entrepreneurs and small scale business owners, the importance of a spot on the internet cannot be over rated!
People need information frequently and can be willing to pay reasonable amounts to get them. Therefore every rising business owner that tries to achieve business success must endeavor to maintain a strong online presence; this has been made easier by the availability of smart phones and palm computers plus cheap internet packages! As good as internet has been, so many people are still yet to maximize its functionality!
As a business oriented person that I am, I went to Balogun market in Lagos recently and so many thought kept running through my mind, I studied the big shop and small shop owners and how they managed their businesses! I was actually in the market to find out the prices and styles of Ankara design to be used for a friend's wedding! What a stress I went through, and then I wished only that there could be popular aso-ebi stores online like we have jumia.com and other sites where we could view pictures of clothes available and order from there. Then it struck me, lots of business owners are still yet to identify with the usefulness of the internet and social media!
Probably they feel people know their way to the market and it is additional expense to run an online presence or maybe they have not even been open to the idea! If only they knew that, a marketplace is not just a physical structure or place! New markets are emerging everyday and only the fittest will thrive! The trick is about getting ahead, and I believe the internet is a veritable tool to get ahead. Business owners need to establish an online presence for their products and services and connect with people on social media to get ahead in their businesses; an online presence goes beyond setting up a website and leaving it to run itself: the website has to be publicized and updated regularly! If I had gotten a good store online where I could view designs of different Ankara fabrics with their prices and have it delivered to me like Jumia does, I would have taken that option gladly. Though it would have come at an added cost but I would not have seen that as a problem!
Time really is short and we try to manage our time well, we appreciate services that make things easy for us. A lot of times I have been disappointed at the myopic reasoning of some business operators especially on the Lagos Island axis; there was a time I entered into a big shop on Dosunmu street and wanted to snap pictures of different towels as samples for a client; I intended to buy some but needed to get the approval of my boss as to the right size to buy but to my utmost amazement, I was sent out of the shop in a bad manner! I was disgusted and walked away, if only they knew the chance they had lost! Of course I could always get the chance to snap them somewhere else (We were going to buy a large quantity after getting the right size and quality our client preferred) but at that moment the importance of the online presence struck me, if only some of the business men and women had a functioning website where I could view samples of different sizes and download pictures to send to my boss, I would have gladly taken that option and placed my order instead of walking the whole market.
Online presence is not only about having a website, it is more than that, it relates to the organizational activities and achievements that is constantly shared via social media; customers need to know more about their preferred brand, so it is important that they can obtain information about the success of their brands in a less stressful manner. This is why it is important for rising entrepreneurs and local business owners to concentrate some of their efforts in keeping their products and company alive in the minds of their prospects and current clients. A large number of people surf the net every day, they open different links from so many sites seeking for information! Most times information relating to price and values, terms and conditions, and effectiveness of the products! It is important for service providers and business owners to always make this information available on a daily basis! So many websites have stale information, changes in information about products and services should be constantly updated with pictures and other relevant articles! This is one of the things that stands most online retail firm out of the crowd! Business owners need a re-orientation, they need to stop feeling like it is wrong for people to ask about their products and services when they are not yet ready to purchase them, they need to start seeing it as an obligation they owe to their prospects and clients and be glad to provide them!
Having a strong online presence makes things easier for them; they should work on having a forum on their sites where customer’s enquiries are dealt with.
Let me highlight some of the side attractions that make an online presence achieve desired results; In my little discovery over time, I have found the following aspects to be very attracting in websites:
1. Question and Answer section
2. Picture updates
3. Product development activities
4. Stories related to ongoing projects and achievements
5. Customers feedbacks
6. New discoveries
7. Price splash
Online presence need not only be through websites, small business owners can effectively make use of their Blackberry phones to communicate with clients and prospects! I've seen so many firms do it, there are lots of tools that are available on Blackberry phones that can help relate information easily like the Broadcast messages, display pictures and personal messages. Blackberry phones are becoming cheaper by the day, so business owners that cannot afford to set up and maintain an active website can easily make use of their blackberry phones.
Effective online presence can help achieve a lot such as;
A business owner no longer has to invest lots of funds in setting up branches in all the states of the federation, the business can easily put up a strong and active website that provides information about all the products and services available and make delivery services available.
With wider reach comes an increased profit, so many businesses are still denying themselves this chance for higher profits by being internet deficient.
When clients have all the information they need about your products and services it is easier for them to be loyal to your brand and make referrals to others because of the confidence the information they have about your product has helped them to build. I cannot over emphasize the importance of online presence to business entrepreneurs.
What is your own view of the topic?
Tosin Kayode is a regular writer on @OLATUNJISPEAK's blog. She tweets from @tospet16
With the world becoming a global village and information technology advancing, getting information has become easier! It is therefore safe to say that whatever business organization that has refused to identify with the change is already out of the market! Even as rising entrepreneurs and small scale business owners, the importance of a spot on the internet cannot be over rated!
People need information frequently and can be willing to pay reasonable amounts to get them. Therefore every rising business owner that tries to achieve business success must endeavor to maintain a strong online presence; this has been made easier by the availability of smart phones and palm computers plus cheap internet packages! As good as internet has been, so many people are still yet to maximize its functionality!
As a business oriented person that I am, I went to Balogun market in Lagos recently and so many thought kept running through my mind, I studied the big shop and small shop owners and how they managed their businesses! I was actually in the market to find out the prices and styles of Ankara design to be used for a friend's wedding! What a stress I went through, and then I wished only that there could be popular aso-ebi stores online like we have jumia.com and other sites where we could view pictures of clothes available and order from there. Then it struck me, lots of business owners are still yet to identify with the usefulness of the internet and social media!
Probably they feel people know their way to the market and it is additional expense to run an online presence or maybe they have not even been open to the idea! If only they knew that, a marketplace is not just a physical structure or place! New markets are emerging everyday and only the fittest will thrive! The trick is about getting ahead, and I believe the internet is a veritable tool to get ahead. Business owners need to establish an online presence for their products and services and connect with people on social media to get ahead in their businesses; an online presence goes beyond setting up a website and leaving it to run itself: the website has to be publicized and updated regularly! If I had gotten a good store online where I could view designs of different Ankara fabrics with their prices and have it delivered to me like Jumia does, I would have taken that option gladly. Though it would have come at an added cost but I would not have seen that as a problem!
Time really is short and we try to manage our time well, we appreciate services that make things easy for us. A lot of times I have been disappointed at the myopic reasoning of some business operators especially on the Lagos Island axis; there was a time I entered into a big shop on Dosunmu street and wanted to snap pictures of different towels as samples for a client; I intended to buy some but needed to get the approval of my boss as to the right size to buy but to my utmost amazement, I was sent out of the shop in a bad manner! I was disgusted and walked away, if only they knew the chance they had lost! Of course I could always get the chance to snap them somewhere else (We were going to buy a large quantity after getting the right size and quality our client preferred) but at that moment the importance of the online presence struck me, if only some of the business men and women had a functioning website where I could view samples of different sizes and download pictures to send to my boss, I would have gladly taken that option and placed my order instead of walking the whole market.
Online presence is not only about having a website, it is more than that, it relates to the organizational activities and achievements that is constantly shared via social media; customers need to know more about their preferred brand, so it is important that they can obtain information about the success of their brands in a less stressful manner. This is why it is important for rising entrepreneurs and local business owners to concentrate some of their efforts in keeping their products and company alive in the minds of their prospects and current clients. A large number of people surf the net every day, they open different links from so many sites seeking for information! Most times information relating to price and values, terms and conditions, and effectiveness of the products! It is important for service providers and business owners to always make this information available on a daily basis! So many websites have stale information, changes in information about products and services should be constantly updated with pictures and other relevant articles! This is one of the things that stands most online retail firm out of the crowd! Business owners need a re-orientation, they need to stop feeling like it is wrong for people to ask about their products and services when they are not yet ready to purchase them, they need to start seeing it as an obligation they owe to their prospects and clients and be glad to provide them!
Having a strong online presence makes things easier for them; they should work on having a forum on their sites where customer’s enquiries are dealt with.
Let me highlight some of the side attractions that make an online presence achieve desired results; In my little discovery over time, I have found the following aspects to be very attracting in websites:
1. Question and Answer section
2. Picture updates
3. Product development activities
4. Stories related to ongoing projects and achievements
5. Customers feedbacks
6. New discoveries
7. Price splash
Online presence need not only be through websites, small business owners can effectively make use of their Blackberry phones to communicate with clients and prospects! I've seen so many firms do it, there are lots of tools that are available on Blackberry phones that can help relate information easily like the Broadcast messages, display pictures and personal messages. Blackberry phones are becoming cheaper by the day, so business owners that cannot afford to set up and maintain an active website can easily make use of their blackberry phones.
Effective online presence can help achieve a lot such as;
- Wider reach
A business owner no longer has to invest lots of funds in setting up branches in all the states of the federation, the business can easily put up a strong and active website that provides information about all the products and services available and make delivery services available.
- Increased profits
With wider reach comes an increased profit, so many businesses are still denying themselves this chance for higher profits by being internet deficient.
- Customer preference and referrals
When clients have all the information they need about your products and services it is easier for them to be loyal to your brand and make referrals to others because of the confidence the information they have about your product has helped them to build. I cannot over emphasize the importance of online presence to business entrepreneurs.
What is your own view of the topic?
Tosin Kayode is a regular writer on @OLATUNJISPEAK's blog. She tweets from @tospet16
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Have you ever contemplated suicide? You should READ this!
I have been scared to death, I have been in debt and wished the ground would swallow me; I have failed many times but am still standing. Suffice to say I do not have any more challenge or issue again in my life would be a lie but I am not letting them get to me.
So who says your ride to greatness will be easy and smooth? If it is easy you wouldn’t appreciate it.
Has your problem ever gotten you to the point of contemplating suicide? If you commit suicide you have died a cheaply. The pressure that comes with being a president, the world’s richest man, the governor, and even the head of a family is the type that should naturally make a person commit suicide but why have they not? That is because they all know that suicide is the way of cowards.
Now, don’t get me wrong! Do not think I do not understand your plight or that I have just chosen to sensationalize what you are going through all in a bid to write a ‘sweet’ article. That is not the case! I know that life can serve us with some horrific situations and experiences that can make the knee of even the strongest shake. These experiences and situations are only temporary; if you choose to end your life now as a result, you would have given up on the opportunity to share a testimony tomorrow.
You can be great tomorrow, you can be very successful, you can become a worthy role model but if you end your life today you would have missed out on tomorrow’s greatness. Whenever that urge comes look at yourself in the mirror and say, “this too shall pass”
Life can be hard but when success finally beckons you will never remember the ‘hardness’ of life.
Piece by Gabriel Olatunji-Legend, @OLATUNJISPEAKS on twitter. Mail me: olatunjispeaks@gmail.com
Friday, September 6, 2013
Gabriel Olatunji: Three Great Secrets From the Encounter that Changedmy Life!
There was a certain man who lives on the outskirt of the city of Lagos, and mostly sits quietly in his mansion to ruminate. He lives in a one-of-a-kind house where a first time visitor could easily get lost if not properly chaperoned. Great and mighty are the definitions of his wealth, affluence and power. His level of authority make one wonder why he choose to live in such a local community when he could be living in the finest cities around Lagos; locations like Lekki, Ajah, VGC, Magodo, Victoria Island or even Ikeja?
His influence is so strong that it became a norm for governors and top politician to pay him compulsory visits, especially when elections are fast approaching. Whenever it was time for elections, you can’t help but notice all the biggest rides that parade in and out of his place. Renowned politicians troop in asking for political strategies and favours because they believe, if well implemented, any advice from him is sure to make an undisputed winner out of them. I sometimes find it hard to believe all of this myself but, like they say; seeing is believing.
Now my question is how can one man provide lasting solutions to the problems of all these powerful men and women trolling his house? This was a mystery I am very much interested in unraveling. Should I ever have the privilege of meeting this man, the questions on my mind are simple and straightforward; “Sir, what makes you, you? What makes you so tick and special? Have you two heads? Why are all these powerful people not coming to my father’s house with the kind of wisdom my father shares with us shortly after flogging us…?” This was simply unfair and unjustifiable to me. “My father must be wiser than him,” I comforted myself.
There came a particular day, I was on my street playing football with my mates, not knowing a car was approaching. I suddenly played a long shot and the ball hit the side mirror of a moving car. The car stopped abruptly and, before I realized myself, my co-footballers had disappeared into thin air within a split second. I can’t explain why I stood there and didn’t disappear along with them but I did remain there. I saw a hand beckon on me, from the car, to come forward. Upon moving closer and seeing the person inside the car, I thought to myself that, “my remaining here must have been the handwork of some witches from my father’s village.” I never realized these so called village witches were literarily setting me up for a life-altering encounter of a lifetime.
It was the same man whose house all the powerful people in this country usually flock to seek counsel. He ordered his driver to pull over, opened the door of his car and asked me to come in and sit beside him. I quickly obliged; who am I not to?!
The degree of cool breeze that caressed my skin from the car was another encouragement to oblige. It might interest you to know that, at that time, I didn’t know it was called air-condition. My father wasn’t rich nor poor, so air-condition was only an English word to me before that day. Before then also, I had always thought that no matter my efforts, I would most likely end my life somewhere close to my father’s. Well, maybe I would have a few more thousands of naira than he had, maybe I would have a car that I can also covert into a Taxi or maybe I would be able to afford my own children’s school fees. These were my little dreams at the time but an encounter with this mysterious man changed everything for me.
He asked me why I was playing football on the streets when I should be in school and I explained that I was sent home for unpaid school fees and I was sure my father couldn’t do anything about it at the moment, so I decided to console myself with some sports before heading home to break the bad news. Almost immediately, I saw this strange anger on his face. At first, I was afraid he was mad at me, but soon realized it wasn’t about that as I also saw compassion in his anger. At that point, as if bestowed with the boldness of a lion, I asked the strangest question I had been longing to ask him. Even he confirmed he has never been asked such question by a boy of my age.
“What makes you so wealthy, powerful and influential?” I inquired. Right there and then, he told me three sacred but common secrets have been instrumental to his present status, and that I must also covet these three secrets if I truly desire to go far in life. These secrets are Information, Skill and Mentors! As at then, I really didn’t understand any of that and I wanted something more practical, so he further obliged me. He explained to me that, although he has never had the opportunity of attending a formal university, he has been privileged to serve a lot of political gladiators in Nigeria when democracy has not been entrenched into our system. He had the opportunity of travelling abroad where he enrolled for some courses on politics which lasted a few months. He said the information he acquired during those courses with the ones he gathered from the country’s former political heavyweights, coupled with deliberate constant updates about the happenings around the world has positioned him as the solution provider when it comes to politics.
He concluded by saying he is an informed politician, a skilled democrat and a man surrounded by highly successful men and women who had gone before him. He said these three things will make anyone an outstanding individual in whatever field of life they choose to operate in. He finally handed me a sealed envelope filled with cash and told me to give it to my father when I get home. It was on getting home that we discovered the envelope contained a whooping sum of a hundred thousand naira.
I couldn’t sleep well that night as my head was clustered with different thoughts. I kept comparing this man to my father and every other man in my area and realized the major differences between him and the rest of them. Most of them had a skill such as tailoring, plumbing, shoe making, bricklaying etc but that was where it ended. They were not informed, they operated only based on yesterday’s information and neither do they sense any need to have mentors. Instead most of them preferred that everyone call them ‘sir’ while they offer their obsolete advice and counsel to them, when they needed counsel themselves.
That was the day I made some vital decisions about my life. I also agreed within myself that if I ever ended up the way my father did, it would not be anyone’s fault but my own fault and personal failings! As the unforgettable day was coming to an end, a highly inspiring quote came to my consciousness - “If you are not skillful, you won’t be useful to the society.” “Those who you know don’t matter but mentors who know you matter”. “Information will give your destiny a formation that no team can beat”.
N.B: This write-up is an excerpt from OlatunjiSpeaks' forthcoming book for Teenagers titled, The Millionare Teenager!
Gabriel Olatunji Legend is an entrepreneur and a solution strategist. I am open to further discussions on my twitter handle @OLATUNJISPEAKS
Thursday, September 5, 2013
The Simple Rule of Life; Run – Pause – Reflect – Move on!!!
Like a balloon, I was pierced out, totally torn and lost, holding on for too long, I didn't know when the game plan had change, believing I was at a leading pace, I refused to stop, take a break and recalculate than getting to the end realizing I ran for nothing. This is actually a common feature we face then we begin to wonder, is it bad to go into a venture wholeheartedly? Is it wrong to move without looking back? It is not actually wrong but most times when rushing to pick up stones, you just might miss the diamonds. A little pause, a little stop, a little observation could be all that is needed. Being at a leading pace is good but being so used to it, you just might miss when the game changes totally against you.
It is just four simple strides. Run – Pause – Reflect – Move on. You could take the plunge into whatever you want to do; you could go in head first or leg first but while taking the dive look carefully so you don't end up flat on your back. Like a game of car race if you keep moving without thinking you might end up entering the wrong tunnel. This goes a long way in defining who we are, "Is it a manager in a firm?", "Is it a movie director in a shoot?" or "Is it a musician about to perform?" What you really want people to see matters a whole lot. Always have the four simple strides at the back of your finger tips and remember it is Run- Pause_ Reflect_ Move on.
Run: moving at a pace to get to your goal, at a breathtaking speed and covering quite a distance to your goal or game.
Pause: Stopping for a while to relax your muscles; soothe yourself and be ever ready for a change.
Reflect: Taking deep breath and thinking about the journey so far, how successful it has been and what are the gains and where do you need to improve?
Move on: After all said have been done go for it with all prowess and get that crown. As a watchword 'change is the only constant thing'
Written by Princess Adaeze! She tweets @adayaeze
It is just four simple strides. Run – Pause – Reflect – Move on. You could take the plunge into whatever you want to do; you could go in head first or leg first but while taking the dive look carefully so you don't end up flat on your back. Like a game of car race if you keep moving without thinking you might end up entering the wrong tunnel. This goes a long way in defining who we are, "Is it a manager in a firm?", "Is it a movie director in a shoot?" or "Is it a musician about to perform?" What you really want people to see matters a whole lot. Always have the four simple strides at the back of your finger tips and remember it is Run- Pause_ Reflect_ Move on.
Run: moving at a pace to get to your goal, at a breathtaking speed and covering quite a distance to your goal or game.
Pause: Stopping for a while to relax your muscles; soothe yourself and be ever ready for a change.
Reflect: Taking deep breath and thinking about the journey so far, how successful it has been and what are the gains and where do you need to improve?
Move on: After all said have been done go for it with all prowess and get that crown. As a watchword 'change is the only constant thing'
Written by Princess Adaeze! She tweets @adayaeze
Monday, September 2, 2013
Tosin Kayode: How to have the best marriage in town!
Really, how does it work? Who makes it work? A good man? A good woman? Mr Right? Hmmmmm!
How does Marriage work and who makes it work? The rate at which marriages are collapsing in our society today is alarming and frightening by the days! So many have turned into single mothers and so many have turned to single fathers. When asked what went wrong, the common line has been "irreconcilable differences". Such a catastrophe!
Marriage is one beautiful institution that was set up by God to help man and woman overcome temptations, build a strong team, win, and raise future leaders but what we see in our society today is quite the reverse! So discouraging! I feel so sad anytime I hear of marriage failures and after hearing about the cause, discover that it is more than what we can physically see and work on!
Marital success in my discovery lies not on the man or the woman more (though each of the parties have important part to play) but on the foundation! So many marriages were not meant to be in d first place. Marriage is not an institution to be based on selfish intentions or interest! It involves sacrifice. The success of marriage is so important that it affects every other aspects of one's life. My pastor would say that, " Anyone who has failed in marriage has failed in all and might find it difficult to make heaven"
Seriously, homes are breaking up every day, marriages of long years break up, short years also break away, I think about this and I realize marriage is a battle you have to keep winning everyday!
You don't marry the woman or man and relax that you already have him; you keep fighting to keep him because either he is a good person or not, is not what will keep your marriage forever! So many other agents are fighting to have him or her, so one needs to keep guards!
I still keep asking myself, do I have to marry a poor man to have a good marriage? (At least, ladies won't disturb him and I'll have peace) and then I hear about the marriage of poor men folding up (so many other factors are involved). Gush! Ok, maybe wealthy guys are not so bad after all (I might still find some that will appreciate me and will spoil me with his riches) but then I realized, the world is really a big battlefront!
Tall or short, rich or poor, handsome or ugly, I have realized that all that matters Is God's perception of the union. Any marriage that is ever laid on any foundation other than the direction of God is prone to failure! So many ladies and guys are still waiting for the right person, even when they have refused to make themselves the right ones! Though I am yet to have the marriage experience but from stories and case studies I can say that the success of any marriage takes the great efforts of the two parties involved! Prayer is key!
So many times, I used to wish I could read the future ahead and avoid making mistakes but it's impossible! Here the wisdom of God comes into play! The wisdom of God surpasses all human understanding! Even when we think we know all about a person and base our decisions on what we have seen him do, life has a way of proving us wrong about them! Change is the only constant thing in life! Confusion is near, frustration results and then the end comes!
Above all teachings and principles of marriage that I have learnt and heard I believe two things are paramount, the foundation and the pillar! The foundation and pillar has to be God!
We cannot in our own selves fathom all the deep secrets and knowledge of this world, and as such we cannot say because we are principled, our marriages will stand! Only God can make it work!
Having studied some marriages that have failed and those that have stood the test of time, I have come to the fullness of the importance of prayer and holding on to God!
I am not a preacher and don’t want to cut across as one but truth be told, there is no replacement for prayer! Be the best cook in the world, be the sexiest woman in the world, be the finest and richest man in the world, be the wisest person in the world, acquire all the degrees, infact be the most quiet and reserved person in the world, without your prayer connection to God about your marriage always, anything can happen!
This is not to say all the basic teachings we have been taught about marriage are not important, just want to emphasize that everything without prayer and a connection to God is tantamount to naught!
Sometimes, it can be hard waiting on God or going with his plans for us because we do not understand or know what he is trying to achieve with us, but we can learn to trust Him!
Two wrongs don't make a right anywhere and definitely not in marriage, I know women may have a great responsibility in making marriage work, but what happens when the man is unyielding?
The two have to really become one to make it work; no assigning of faults! Marriage is not about the age, attributes, or possessions, it is more about sacrifice!
With the help of God, I pray that we shall have peaceful homes and enjoy our marriages! And to those having challenges may God restore calmness and Joy!
Tosin Kayode tweets from @tospet16
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