inspiration post

Those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones that actually do”. This is an excerpt from Steve Jobs’ epoch making speech to the staff of Apple some years back during the “Think different” campaign. Unarguably, Apple products have changed the world. Many times we think about the future as if it is far away but more often, the future comes knocking on our door before we know it. You can actually bring the future closer by the action you take today, particularly if you still have all the time to make a choice and chart a course for yourself. I remember in my secondary school days when everyone wanted to be a medical doctor, a lawyer, an accountant or an engineer. The popular mantra then was professional course and you were made to prepare for this challenge by the choice of subjects you offered.

This is the third time I am asking this question but the more I ask, the more innocent lives are lost to avoidable deaths. We talk about death casually but I cannot but keep asking - what is the worth of an average Nigerian? Another nine (9) lives were lost in cold blood at Ojuelegba, Lagos penultimate Sunday. Yes, nine innocent lives were terminated by a fallen container in a system that keeps talking about the problem but does so little to solve the problem. Even to non-Nigerians, Ojuelegba is a renown centre, not only in Lagos but in Nigeria. Thanks to the late king of Afro Beats, the Abami Eda himself, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, when he sang 🎼for Ojuelegba 2x, moto dey come from east, moto dey come from west, moto dey come from north, moto dey come from south🎼

Those who plan get better results. When you are shattering your goals and things are working according to plan, you can boast about character and good judgement. That is a good time to reflect. It is easier to flow with the wind when it flows in your direction but the best time to test your strength is when the wind is contrary. Can the wind be contrary? Yes it can, not because you don’t plan or pray but because you are human.

It is not too difficult to get a patriotic citizenry but it is difficult to ask a people to be patriotic in a country that further impoverishes the poor. Nigeria legitimately impoverishes the poor, unfortunately so. All of us are bearing the brunt of poor judgement by policy makers when they chase shadows and address the symptoms of a big problem, the cause of which they usually ignore. I attended a webinar organised by my state government last week and I challenged a decision of my state government to have concentrated the establishment of model schools in a particular location. These model schools were funded with resources that belong to all citizens of the state. The Commissioner for Education justified the decision when she said that the establishment of these model schools in particular locations, at the expense of other parts of the state, is demand driven. She was right, her reason was justifiable but I did not have the opportunity to tell the Honourable Commissioner that in advanced climes, planning is futuristic and not reactive.

There are things we take for granted, self indulgence is one of them. Sometimes you just feel like crossing your legs and indulge yourself to unwind. If you ignore such moments, it is at a great cost to your productivity and inner fulfillment. Productivity has a direct correlation with your state of mind. Your mind has a powerful influence on you that others don’t see. Jim Kerry opined that your soul is not contained in the limit of your body. Rather, your body is contained in the limitlessness of your soul. Let that sink in. If you collaborate with your mind, your time will be better spent and not wasted. Indulge yourself if you have to, just like me at this moment. Have a productive week.

It may appear like a sermon but I am not about to preach. I have an unrepentant bias for leadership development and I know that you cannot lead if you are not at peace with yourself. You cannot be at peace with yourself if you are at war with others. Peace is not very difficult to make but it is also not as easy, particularly if you allow ego in your space. Nine out of ten times, the people you think wronged you do not think so. In fact, a good fraction of the nine believe that you wronged them. Either party could be wrong and the wrong party could be you. If you approach it from this angle you will see the need to listen to the reason behind the standpoint of the other party. Sometimes you would think that you are so right that you will not know when you slip to vendetta mode. Vengeance may taste sweet but vengeance is not the same as victory even though they share the same letter v. Some form of vengeance do not only destroy your target person, you can also be a victim of your vendetta mission.

igeria started great, everything pointed in the right direction. The potentials were great and every Nigerian felt proud to be called a Nigerian. The whole world looked in the direction of the most promising black race with admiration. Today, we grapple with agitation for secession or outright emigration, amidst high level of insecurity. What went wrong? The commonest answer you get is that of leadership but I beseech you to tarry a while before you conclude. No one will argue that leadership is a big problem in Nigeria but leaders don’t drop from heaven. They are a product of the society we created for ourselves. As they say, a people deserve the leaders they get. • The elites in my country have the solution to the problem. They propound theories and draw references from across the world. They turn round to say that credible candidates cannot win election because they don’t have the money required to bankroll election. The elites abandon the electoral process and expect signs and wonders

Empower your spouse. I did not say empower your wife, lest the female gender think that this message is for men only. Read me well and please read again, empower your spouse. “E get why” (there is a reason for it). Generally speaking, money and position are the two commonest manifestations of power but there are many more essentials, rarely talked about, that are capable of rendering your money and position powerless. Whether position or money, either of the couple can have more in the contemporary world where the female gender is making waves in all spheres of human endeavour. Please, empower your spouse. Empowerment comes in various forms but one is more likely to think of financial empowerment anytime it is mentioned. We cannot deny it that money can do many things but it is a fact that money cannot do all things. It is the desire of every couple to have it all good in their chosen careers but it is normal when one does better than the other. If you are the more privileged, wisdom requires you to encourage and support your spouse to be up to speed in his/her career too, even if your earnings is more than sufficient to sustain the family. Sometimes, it is not about money but the sense of self worth from your spouse that s/he is also of great value.

I thought to remind you, in case you have forgotten, that the best way to move away from what you don’t want is to move closer to what you want, gradually. You only take credit for what you have done. You cannot build reputation on expectation. Are you interested in your goal or you are committed to your goal? The two are widely apart. To be interested in your goal is to have the intention to work towards achieving it but to be committed to your goal is to start doing something about it. So, I ask, are you interested or committed? Goals are dreams with timelines. I hope you agree. It starts when you conceive it (dream), it graduates to ‘I can’ (belief), then it transforms to ‘I will’ (will power). Commitment sets in when you start doing something about your goal. You only get rewarded when you can say ‘I have done it’ (goal). Now you know why awards are given to inventions but not intentions. Think about that.