Don’t Build Your Life On Public Opinion

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SINCE the last US presidential election, the media have been awash with talks and stories on the elections. Some people are yet to overcome the shock of a Donald Trump victory. I have seen and read a lot about lessons from his victory. One lesson stands out, and this piece is titled after it: ‘Don’t Build Your Life On Public Opinion’. I don’t know the original author.

Trump lost the presidential debates, twice.

Yet he won the election.

He lost the public opinion polls to Hillary by double digit margins.

Yet he won the election.

All living former American presidents opposed him.

Take Action Now

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TODAY I share a thought by a great motivational speaker and my friend Bismark Tay from Ghana titled ‘Take Action Now!’

Action is the most important word on the journey of success. Many have heard of it, many more have said they'll embrace it but few actually do. For almost everyone, there's always something that needs to be done. Something new or something old and it’s either difficult or easy. At every point in our lives, there's always the need for us to take some action. Sometimes it's a decision, other times it's something we need to do. Our lives are just like a brick wall. The actions we take each day are the bricks that we lay to get the kind of walls we want.

What Goes Around Comes Around

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THIS inspiring story truly shows that what goes around, comes around. The question has always been, ’if it comes around to you, would you be glad it did?’ One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His jalopy as we call it here was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn’t look safe; he looked poor and hungry. 

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Have Things Blown Up...Try Again

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RECENTLY, the news media was awash with reports that Facebook founder lost about $200 million in the recent failed SpaceX Rocket launch that was meant to beam internet services to remote parts of Africa and the world. This was one of the reasons he came to Africa in the first place. It is instructive that Mr Zuckerberg himself was away in Kenya and Nigeria when this huge project was been executed in Cape Canaveral’s Launch Complex, Florida.  Also, when and after the launch failure, he was still busy in Nigeria attending to pre-arranged schedules. Strangely, he remained calm in the face of great adversity. There are lessons here.

Make That Move Right Now

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GROWING up in the 1980s, there was this popular song by Shalamar, ‘Make That Move Right Now Baby’. Remember it? Its old school now. That was any DJ’s favourite. It was guaranteed to bring legs to the dance floor. I remember my uncles and aunties always rocking this song. Growing up was fun. Well this is not the focus of this edition.

Make that move right now was actually inspired by my meeting a business associate recently. I belong to a couple of groups on WhatsApp. 

Life Indeed Is A Seed - Important Lessons

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HAVE you heard this saying, ‘the evil you do remains with you: the good you do, comes back to you!’. This story captures it, and highlights some business lessons. A woman baked bread for members of her family and an extra one for a hungry passerby. She kept the extra bread on the window sill, for whosoever would take it away. Every day, a hunch-back came and took away the bread. Instead of expressing gratitude, he muttered the following words as he went his way: "The evil you do remains with you: The good you do, comes back to you!" This went on, day after day. (She added poison to the bread she prepared for him!)

Practical Ways To Stop Financial Wastages

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THE story is told of John, not his real name obviously, who had a good paying job and a growing side business. He lived alone in his 3 bed flat in the heart of Abuja and drove a latest model car, something people call a ‘machine’, took vacations at the slightest excuse, the funniest being, ‘Jesus is coming soon…so, live your life now!’ John had an infatuation for having the hottest…

Is There A Better Inheritance?

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A lot of parents and business owners are literally obsessed by the worth of inheritance they will leave their descendants and protégés. For others, it is about how much money they will spend in making their children a man or woman, depending. And to them, the more money they spend, the more they feel like a great parent. Is it about the worth of the inheritance or about inculcating enduring life lessons? Are both mutually exclusive? Are you guilty?

What World Are You Creating?

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THERE’S a saying that goes…“Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words can never hurt you”, sometimes said by parents to their child to help them deal with bully name calling. Parents were trying to tell their children to walk away and don’t let what bullies say bother them, because they’re only words. The truth is that words spoken out loud can indeed hurt, not only emotionally, but physically as well. They can also change your life for the better, or for worse depending.

Let’s do this quick exercise

Its June: Whats' Your Time Check?

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JUST 'yesterday', we were all excited about the New Year. Today, the year is almost half gone. How time really flies indeed. How have you fared so far this year? Are you hitting your intended targets and plans? Here are some helpful points to help you finish 2016 successful.

Don't Be Sorry For Being Rich

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IN a number of social media groups I belong to, there is this post shared frequently. A post that, for lack of the appropriate word, tends to criminalize affluence and glorify poverty. Paraphrased, the post reads and I quote,

Important Business and Life Lessons from a Workers’ Strike

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COMPARED to previous Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) strikes, the recently called-off strike leaves much to be desired. One would assume that since the NLC was striking for a good cause – the reduction of petrol pump price – everyone would rally around them and offer support. I was wrong, at least from the feedback I got from the people I spoke with and the outcome of the strike. This is instructive. So what are important business and life lessons from this?

How to Create Your Own Zone for Better Productivity

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SPEAKING with several CEOs on the secret behind their outstanding successes, all of them agreed that they created their own world to drive their success. Creating your own zone is surely one of the surest ways to achieving enduring success. Are you creating your own world, and how do you create it?

How To Deal With Rejection: Succeed

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THE human nature is so wired to celebrate more than mourn, and what can be more celebrated than success? People don’t reject success, they celebrate and respect it. Nothing aptly captures this point like the fairytale rise of Leicester City Football Club, a rise that has taken the club to the top, winning the English Premiership. 

Don't Go Broke Looking Rich

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RECENTLY, I read an interesting quote on the Facebook wall of someone I call ‘Nwanne’, meaning brother, and he is indeed, Obinnaya Uruakpa. The saying reads, ‘Don’t buy that $300 bag to have nothing in it. Buy that $10 bag to have $290 in it. Don’t go broke trying to look rich’. Waoh!!! This is both simple and profound. Are you broke but trying to look rich? I’m almost certain you know someone who is literally speaking, in the business of ‘impressing’. Once my friend flew to London….

Enough of the Analysis, Try Common Sense

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I’M sure you know some people who are bugged down by all manner of explanations, analysis, theories, postulations, plans and counter plans.  Maybe you are also struggling with this. Is anything wrong with detailed analysis and plans, absolutely not, but something is inherently wrong with analysis that is not worked or executed, something that has come to be known as the ‘paralysis of analysis’. Something is wrong with over-complicating the situation. How do you get out of this or help someone get out of it? Let me share this funny but profound story. An uneducated father with his educated son went on a camping trip. They set-up their tent and fell asleep. Some hours later, the father woke up his son....

Secret to Getting Ahead - I Am Because You Are

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AN Anthropologist proposed a game to children of an African tribe. He put a basket of fruit near a tree and told the kids that the first one to reach the fruits would win them all. When he told them to run, the children took one another’s hand and ran together, then sat together and enjoyed the fruits. When asked why they ran like that, as one could have taken all the fruits for oneself, they said…

You Are Ahead, So? Tips for Developing Patience

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‘PATIENCE is not just about waiting for something… it’s about how you wait, or your attitude while waiting’ – Joyce Meyer. In a fast moving world, where friends, colleagues and loved ones compare and differentiate you from others, how do you develop patience and stick it out? How do you develop patience when time seems to be running out? Let me first share this story

Important Lessons on Excellence You Cannot Ignore

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ACCORDING to a popular saying, ‘every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your work with excellence’. This is the story of Wasiu a cab driver as told by a passenger who engaged Wasiu. The passenger writes and I quote:  

Secrets To Being Focused For Greater Productivity

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LISTENING to Bishop TD Jakes talk about focus and intentionality highlights the point that many people and businesses struggle for one major reason; they strive to be all things to all men rather than being something to some men, in other words, they lack focus.