Cerebral Thrust Podcast: Recent Episodes
Cerebral Thrust
A podcast that addresses issues ranging from life lessons, personal development and effectiveness, motivation, spirituality and secularism, mental musings, critical thinking and problem solving, education and learning, entrepreneurship and business, leadership and so on.
Any idea can be a great idea if you think differently, dream big and commit to seeing it realised – Richard Branson
How you view your goals will determine the attitude you will adopt towards attaining them. If you see them as ends, you want to make sure that the end justifies the means, right? Do you perceive them as the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and, after the plan is achieved, then the behaviour is terminated, leading you to revert to normalcy mode?
Or do you put yourself in an all-time high gear mode, whereby you are ready to activate at any point in time? If you agree with the Holton Buggs mindset of “The way you do anything is the way you do everything,” then you want to truly and practically make sure that success is an everyday thing.
Do you have goals that are so massive that they scare you till you even doubt if they could materialise? If you do, the behaviour to adopt is not to be so overwhelmed as to be whipped into the corner of subjection or discouragement. Rather, you should switch to the “activate mode,” where you always launch “attacks,” other than being in the defence mode. That’s the strategy.
In the domain of goals, there are different schools of thought, with each advancing its model – so much so that you could get confused as to which model to adopt when you have to go that route. First of all, I categorised them as traditional, where I place the SMART. Next is the contemporary, where the DUMB and BHAGs are obtainable. Lastly, there is ATAP, a scripturally inspired adoption I personally labelled.
Your view of, or about the goal you set shows how passionate you will be about it. If you think it belongs to the traditional school, or the contemporary, or you perceive same from a personal viewpoint, that’s what it is or will turn out to be to you. The crux of the matter, however, is that you truly need to be accountable for your goals; nobody will do that for you.
Moving forward, let’s x-ray the different goal models...
Every man is the architect of his own life. He builds it just the way he wants it. However, after he has built what he wants, he sometimes decides that he doesn’t like what he has built, and looks for someone or something to blame, instead of changing himself – Sydney Madwed
Quite a number of goal setters are only annual or timely ritualists; not go-getters. They merely set goals but are hardly ever able to get near the margin of attainment. Funnily enough, they blame this inability on others. Amazingly, many of them are either gainfully employed, run their own businesses, or both. And they vacillate between “average” and “just okay,” in terms of performance. Some inch towards good, but get to a point that instead of plainly soaring higher, they stagnate.
While looking at them from the outside, with their well-maintained relics of success, many view and label them “high achievers” and “industry leaders” in their field. Shockingly, however, an opportunity to get close to them, especially on official turf, reveals a stark contrast to previously held opinions of excellent or great achievers.
Why is this so? Some form of assessment should do justice to this:
▪ Poor time management
Many a time, I have worked with different persons on different projects, and these persons happened to be simultaneously engaged in other projects. The condition of being engaged in more than one project at a time must have been an earnest desire that they had; many or quite a number of us are like that. But when these desires come to fruition, the problem of proper planning and application of oneself based on the personality types, relationships and priorities rears its head, such that many things become unattended, and they just assume that things would fall in place.
The word delegation is strength in leadership and the earlier leaders exploit this concept, the better for them. Also, it is most instructive to note that you cannot delegate your core assignment and, whatever tasks you delegate to your subordinates, you must also oversee. This suggests that there’s no excuse for your inability to read a report you are supposed to read, when you are supposed to read it. There’s no reason you shouldn’t respond to mails of high priority. In a similar vein, there’s no reason to justify your lateness to meetings by heaping the blame on traffic, because you are no stranger to the space or terrain. The solution is simple: apply effective activity management concepts in order to use your time judiciously: know and own your activities, reflect on them, evaluate their impact on others when deployed, be sold to continuous improvement.
▪ Poor personal organisation
An unorganised person is an ineffective person. You may be rich or think yourself a success, but wait till you discover that crisis of any magnitude can almost run your business aground. True success includes the ability to weather storms and emerge stronger. It is the power of resilience. I often admonish people: “That your business is making money doesn’t mean it’s well run.” You may need to look at your clime and locality. Meritocracy, a system where people acquire wealth, power and influence based on their abilities, may not be a culture, and that will be counterproductive. A lot of factors come into play. The same applies to individuals. How well organised you are will determine how long you will last in the premium position in your industry. This includes the management of time, money, people and other resources...
The path to success and winning is not the same for everyone. Opeyemi’s model may be quite different from Emeka’s. You may have to unlearn, relearn and learn your own way to succeed in your chosen path or industry, and that is exactly what it means to redefine your thoughts and mindset about winning.
Consequent upon this preamble, I would like to share six ways by which you can actually chart a winning course for yourself, without necessarily feeling guilty that you are not playing the script of another person.
▪Does it matter when you sleep or awake?
Much has been said about effective time management, getting enough sleep, work-life balance and the like. But in all of these, what matters most is what you are able to achieve while you are active, be it in the day or at night when others are asleep. You do not need anyone to dictate to you when to awake or when to sleep. That’s your sole business to determine. Again, your system will tell you. Besides, what role does sacrifice have to play if you get too conscious or careful about when you sleep or awake? Although this is not a call to compromise your health, you must learn to make sacrifices because there is time for everything.
▪In what state are you when your ideas creep in?
You need to understand your body and person. You must be able to discern your mood or state of your mind at given points in time. Additionally, you must ascertain the condition type you are in when your ideas spark, creep in or play around your brain or mind. If you do, you can then work on getting yourself in that state. Your ideas don’t creep in or spark always. When they do, though, can you discern such moments? You should know that they may not surface during rigorous moments. In point of fact, they may develop in your sleep or between sleep and waking up. They may even manifest while you have a bath. In spite of these, it is important that you put yourself in the position of calmness, introspection and, more importantly, prayer, so that you can make connection with inspiration.
▪What are your strengths as a business or a person?
It is absolutely vital that you know for sure what your strengths are, whether as a personal brand or otherwise. What is it that you do with relative ease? What do you do better than others? What talent/skills do you have that are unique to you? This is a key requirement. Take your time out to ensure that you have definiteness about these, and you are very well on your way to winning. With this, you do know that everything is not for you; every food is not meant for consumption; you don’t play in every arena; you do only that which resonates with you, and for which you are both endowed and built.
▪What value do you add to those within your space?
First, you need to seek clarification on what value you add to others: potential or actual. Next, you must define how your strength transforms to value for your clients/customers. This is the only way you can measure the impact of your solution in the market where you are an active stakeholder. There can be no definite solution proffered to a problem you have not identified. Solutions are values based on problems that trend in your space. You must be deliberate on value and have your mind or thoughts wired accordingly. It will liberate you and elevate you to uncommon levels...
Be yourself, because an original is worth more than a copy – Anonymous
To thine own self be true... Thou canst not be false to any man – William Shakespeare
From times past, one statement I have heard people make is “Self-confidence makes a man.” Another one is that, “A man needs self-confidence to excel in life.” While it is almost difficult to cast aside these two statements, it is important to x-ray the make-up of self-confidence, or to discover what it is that people refer to when they claim to possess self-confidence. Are we sure that what people have is not false confidence?
What is self-confidence?
Self-confidence is a feeling of trust in one’s abilities, qualities and judgement. It is synonymous with self-assurance, belief in oneself, assertiveness and self-reliance.
Given this premise, it might be needful to ask: Is it possible for you to overrate your belief in yourself, while underrating the challenges before you? In other words, is it possible to be overly confident in yourself, while being oblivious of the issues that confront you? Of course, it is, provided that nothing is impossible; and that one can truly be arrogant. Another question is: Where do you draw the line between self-confidence [being self-aware of your strength], as opposed to over assessing or overestimating yourself?
It is absolutely critical to see self-confidence through the lens of what it is not, so as not to cast off our true confidence in our abilities which we have developed over time; or underestimate our skills which we have deployed as solutions; or fail to properly assess our competencies which, over time, have become inestimable value to a thumping majority of men and entities.
Let me share a few thoughts for now:
▪Is your self-confidence like the emptiness characterised by the nonsense some politicians talk?
When some politicians speak, they are oftentimes more insincere than sincere, and they take the people they represent for a ride. In fact, they actually are full of deceit. Yes, they talk nonsense but with so much seriousness, and you can almost swear or give your life for them. Chief among the reasons the gullible people are taken in by their empty politicking is that they actually present some physical inducements to the common people that they canvass. This is prevalent in Africa and other parts of the world.
There is no denying that it takes only a discerning mind that has the knowledge of the antecedents of the speaker/politician in question, to differentiate the few genuine ones from the unscrupulous lot. Unfortunately, such informed minds are often in the minority. Though few, these minority possess strong and underlying foundation of sincerity in their make-up. Their words are weighty and dependable. You can hold on to them because it’s their bond. They will say “yes” only when that is what they mean. They are, therefore, inseparable from integrity...
Courage is doing what you are afraid to do. There can be no courage unless you are scared – Eddie Rickenbacker
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something is more important than fear – Ambrose Redmoon
Let me start by relaying the source of the inspiration to write this. Actually, I was brooding on what courses to either add or remove from the list of my first quarter 2016 Impact/Leadership Development Training, when it occurred to me to consider courage.
I was fascinated at the thought, but the first contention was whether courage was a skill like other skills [critical thinking, problem-solving, entrepreneurship, agility, adaptation, communication, et cetera]. I jumped out of bed and began to research.
Naturally, the lexicon was my first port of call. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s English Dictionary had this to say about courage: The ability to do something dangerous, or to face pain or opposition, without showing fear.
That startled me a bit and put two thoughts in me instantly: For one, courage is an ability; not a skill. Two, Nelson Mandela’s idea of courage not necessarily being the absence of fear. Of course, your skills enable you to get stuff done and make impact.
I probed further to confirm what skill is, and the same lexicon says that skill is the ability to do something well. They both are, therefore, categorised as abilities. So, if courage is an ability and skill is ability, it, thus, means that we can develop courage in the selfsame way that we can develop whatever skills.
Yes, we can muster and pluck courage from wherever we have it stored up: in our psyche; from within; as a developmental, experimental and experiential bank; or from wherever. But essentially, we can reach for it and use it to confront our fears.
It’s not unusual to hear someone say, “I lacked the courage to face my fears,” or as the same lexicon says, “Lack the courage of my convictions,”which is interpreted as not being brave enough to do what you feel or what you are persuaded or convinced is right. That’s really serious, you know.
The fact is, you know something is right and, so right that it keeps you awake at night, surfaces in your dreams when you sleep, and almost gives you nightmares. When you read anything, albeit something seemingly unrelated, it pops up and, even when someone says something that is not necessarily related to it, it comes back to you, always pushing you to act.
If you fail to act on that tugging and pulling force, you might lose an opportunity you would regret in a lifetime. Think about it. Though an opportunity may come back to you, it may not be in the same package and similitude.
Now, that’s not exactly my drift here.
Spend time and learn to develop your personal resources – Alexander Reid Martins
In the game of impact and trying to position oneself for value, different persons have different yardsticks for measuring success, and how they wish to exhibit same. Such varying parameters include the number of acquired properties, including cars, wives and even children; stocks owned; certificates acquired; positions occupied and more. And these, incidentally, determine where and how they invest their resources and channel their energies.
Today, with changing values come new demands – specific skills are required for impact to be made in the value chain. In effect, the course of study and area of specialisation that people pursue is becoming increasingly a cause for concern. In an unfortunate twist, however, not many are really paying attention to the question of “What value do I hope to add?” in the ever-changing needs of the environment, because not every course of study has specific, relevant and readily sought-after values to add to the market space.
Pointedly, my encounter with many young and able-bodied persons seeking employment made me realise that although they had earned degrees, quite regrettably, some of them are unemployable. Worse still, only few are aware of this. The solution, for some, is to quickly acquire another degree and some certification, and the pursuit continues for years on end.
To be frank, these cannot solve their problems because quite a number of those acquisitions do not teach real and practical problem-solving and work-ready skills that are required in today’s largely competitive market. This is where the real problem lies. No employer of labour wants to hire what they term a liability: young people they will train, teach, mentor and pay salaries to; and in less than six to twelve months of engagement, they want to move on to pastures new.
The brand called “YOU”
Have you ever heard anything as such? If you are trying to market a product or service, people are most likely interested in your person, first, before they listen to what you have to say. In the interstices [seeing you, your product presentation and decision] is a rigorous whole, mental and otherwise.
▪ How is your personal grooming like?
How you look, what you say, or more importantly, how you say it, your mannerisms and the like, have everything to do with the acceptance of your pitch. The foregoing, therefore, begs the question: What work have you done on yourself, in regard to what you are seeking or prospecting for? Your overall preparation, emotional and physical, constitutes your grooming. I advise that you don’t handle this area with levity. It can make or break your chances. It’s a key aspect of your package.
▪ What are your personal resources?
This is another variation of your grooming. My understanding of this is simple: one’s personal resources should consist of self-development, intellectual and overall mind building; and that means quite a lot. Value is not for anyone who is not ready to sacrifice everything for the purpose of continuous improvement and development. Any man who cannot invest limitlessly in the building and development of his mind is ignorant of the immeasurable capacity of the mind, and the impact the mind can make...
I have been at zero a few times; came back a few times and done it over and over. I’ve had to change careers several times. Sometimes because my interests changed; sometimes because all bridges have been burned beyond recognition; sometimes because I desperately needed money. And sometimes just because I hated everyone in my old career, or they hated me – James Altucher
This title is quite paradoxical, right? Well, the good news is that paradoxes are neither lies nor half-truths. They are, in fact, just words that appear contradictory; but the reality is that they are true in every way.
That being said, the mind that is set on success, winning and making impact, is already potentially at that juncture, before it becomes a reality. This is because it sees the “big picture,” envisions a possible end, has a fair idea of what the result might be; and so it’s ready to forge ahead, regardless of the multiple challenges it encounters. For such minds, rejection is the tonic that propels them to the impossible heights they reach.
Rejections actually energise, rather than dampen morale.
Wow! Did I say something you probably never really thought about until now? Well, there is always a first time and that is why we are infested by the learning bug.
Let us consider a few premises and see if the dots will connect:
Living for a purpose: If you are living for a purpose, you do not bother about the present distress. You know the purpose for which you are here.
Having a definite chief aim
A purposeful life basically entails living with a “definite chief aim” in focus. I read that some years ago from Napoleon Hill’s Classic, The Law of Success. Now, irrespective of whatever, or however financially rewarding a present engagement is, a visionary who is attuned to where he/she is going is neither dissuaded from the future nor distracted by the present ease.
There can be really down moments and discouraging times, but like people often say, “Tough times don’t last; tough people do.” They know that the present is only the guiding experience and light for the future, which they are curiously living in currently.
It is the same when it is the opposite. Going through hard times at the moment is merely preparing and equipping you for the future. Further to this, you live in the assurance that these challenges will not consume you, but would rather push you towards the attainment of your goals: short, medium and long term.
It is about learning the ropes. Rejections actually teach the requisite lessons required to manage the success of tomorrow. Or didn’t you know that it is much more difficult to manage success than to find or achieve it?
How do I discover my purpose for living?...
Change your life today. Don't gamble on the future; act now, without delay – Simone de Beauvoir In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned usually find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists – Eric Hoffer The transition between post-high school and post-college graduation is one critical period of grave concern for young people. Graduating from high school and college today should actually be applauded as a historic achievement for youngsters. But while this fact is hardly controvertible, there is a downside to it. Experience has shown that many young people who are caught up in this age bracket, while basking in the euphoria of being decorated with the sash during high school valedictory service and the donning of convocation gowns, are at a corresponding high point of confusion as to how to handle the next stage of their lives and all the challenges that accompany it. Only a very few, perhaps less than 10% of the entire lot, receive any form of mentoring about the way to go in this transition. And less than this 10% get whatever mentoring from parents, other relatives at home, teachers and lecturers, via informal and unstructured processes, making progress uneasy to be tracked and impact, difficult to measure. The purpose here is to venture into a journey to provide insights on how young people can be engaged either during the transition between the end of high school and college pursuits, and how to prepare them for life as they grow. What should they equip their minds with, in preparation for that very rigorous academic period of their lives? What exactly should a post-high school and university graduate possess in terms of knowledge acquisition, skills, capabilities and the application of same to attain relevance? More so, what could go wrong if they fail to earn for themselves this well deserving preparation? The following are 12 insights:...
For almost two decades, I mentored high school students formally and informally [in and outside the school system]. Many of these mentor-protégé relationships have blossomed beyond school and otherwise, as the beneficiaries (mentees/protégés) still seek guidance in different areas of life, regardless of their accomplishments. With recourse to experience, I have realised that formal education does not teach life skills.
Protégés and mentees still yearn for counsel on the issues of life. This isn’t because they have not attained independence, but because they have learned to use interdependence and stay connected to a proven source, to foster and emphasise the value of lifelong learning – one of the strongest values of the programme [mentorship] that aims to infuse leadership ideals into humans from adolescence through adulthood.
Over 13 years after imparting and impacting on youngsters [now men], many of them always gave feedback. Against that backdrop, these two had the following to say:
Every line I read here resonates with me in a unique way; it is almost like I am being spoken to directly. I am sure anybody else out there who is aiming for more than the ordinary in life can relate to this the same way. Truly, they have a way to thrust through the cerebral with their teachings – Nasir O. Mohammed
I have always been taught by this man since I was in SS2. I’m a legal practitioner now and I am still being taught. He is mind-blowing– Koko Umana
These were adolescents and teenagers when they were mentored and coached. But today, they are professionals, stalwarts and bigwigs in their chosen fields. Nasir, on the one hand, is a financial expert who majors on investments and funds management. He runs his outfit in an exclusive area in Lagos and still attends my trainings. Koko Umana, on the other hand, is a legal practitioner.
For the conscious mind, the role of mentoring is a no-brainer at appreciating long-lasting impact. In addition, it is no small opportunity at providing resourceful information that can change the leadership game in every sphere and endeavour. Things do change, courtesy of dynamism, technologies, systems and policies, among others. Nonetheless, if the question of leadership is solved, we can go to sleep with the assurance that even if things go wrong or change, we will always find operable solutions.
As a teacher in the school system years back, the mentoring tool came in handy, as we tried to arrest wastage, achieve total and meticulous teacher-student engagement through monitoring, inspire learning in students, instill independence while encouraging interdependence, imbibe the culture of commitment to school, promote societal values and attain a holistic child development. These objectives could only be achieved through the only cost-effective, seamless and unquantifiable tool available to us: student mentoring. The ensuing results were tremendous, to say the least.
Basically, mentoring plays these five roles:...
For clarity’s sake, argumentation is not about the winning of arguments. We do not engage in arguments because we just want to open our mouths. Well put, an argument is a cerebral or mind engagement that involves reasonable interactions between or among the parties involved. Thus, it is an intellectual exercise; a property of critical thinking, which is the process of reasoning systematically in support of an idea, action, belief or theory for the greater good of society.
True Purpose of Argument
Why do we engage in an argument? We should not engage in a debate because we want to win the day or impose our stance on others. For the disciplined and critical mind, the primary purpose is to learn or to confirm hunches (As in, is this debate a confirmation of the feeling that “so and so” is true?). What you know is already in you, but to know or learn anything new, you may need to hear from another person.
The real reason we engage in an argument or discourse is often lost on the majority today. We have confused an argument with a contest that engenders strife, unhealthy rivalry or ill will, instead of a thought-provoking, intellectual exercise aimed at illuminating the mind, and creating awareness which empowers one with knowledge that can be used by anyone who has acquired it via listening intently.
That is the basis of any form of communication, anyway. For example, if at the end of reading this, you do not take anything away that you could apply to solve a problem, you would have wasted very precious time. But an even bigger problem is that many hardly ever read, let alone apply workable principles inked in books.
Argumentation is a selfless exercise. You are not in it for personal aggrandisement, but for the general good. It has to do with living outside yourself, and beyond the confines of your belief system. Supposedly, you have heard or read about true greatness being the ability to live outside oneself, haven’t you?
The purpose of engaging in an argument can be likened to this. It is essentially for the benefit of others. You adduce reasons, draw and infer conclusions and, apply them to a case, so that your listeners can apply what they learn to real-life situations. That is the idea behind critical thinking...
Those people who develop the ability to continuously acquire new and better forms of knowledge that they can apply to their work and to their lives will be the movers and shakers in our society for the indefinite future – Brian Tracy
We live in a time where skills are the key requirements for attaining value and, unless we develop and hone the right skills, we will continuously struggle with achieving set goals, however clearly mapped out the goals are before us. Excellence will, therefore, always elude us.
According to Tony Wagner in The Global Achievement Gap, the skills in question are must-haves for everyone that hopes to be taken seriously where impact is concerned.
What are these skills?
Critical-Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills
Sincerely, this is a very expansive topic, especially as it’s combined by Tony Wagner. Both terms complement each other and form the basis of every enduring accomplishment, whether in the past, today or in the future. Before the 21st century, men had thought distinctly well and solved common problems, too, in uncommon or hitherto unexplored ways.
Critical thinking goes beyond the ability to ask the right questions. Pertinent issues would make pertinent impact if they are looked at with the pertinence they require through the lenses of interpretation, analysis, evaluation, inference, explanation and self-regulation.
Beyond these, we have the opportunity to x-ray design thinking and problem-solving tools like Edward de Bono’s Six Thinking Hats, Tony Buzan’s Mind Mapping, Reverse Brainstorming and other such techniques. These can both earn us the capabilities of making better decisions to improve lives and, effectively help us arrive at solutions during innovative processes for productivity, through anticipating problems that may occur with any initiative we engage in.
Collaboration Across Networks and Influence Leadership
How much of the social media can we use to achieve this collaboration? We can, via Skype, hold meetings and host or address quite a large number of participants. We can have webinars and train a very high number of participants through same or other similar media platforms.
Influence leadership is not the function of position; rather, it is what you are able to do, wherever you are, to make sure that the day-to-day goals of the team and organisation you belong to are achieved. Effort is required on your part to embark on continuous self-development for you to reach a point of reckoning. Your curiosity must be applied as your passion will be tested in enervating waters.
Importantly, too, networking has to extend beyond social media platforms. In that line, we must be courageous enough to go beyond electronic platforms to physically meet and engage with others, in order to ensure practical manifestation where opportunity can be created and exploited for growth.
Essentially, whether within or beyond your immediate environment, you are expected to lead, and there is no better time to take advantage of this than right now.
Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world – Nelson Mandela
Nelson Mandela’s quote is a statement of fact. But like the oft-mentioned saying, “knowledge is power,” it is potential. This is because while education is truly the most powerful weapon by which change can be made to happen among a people and the larger world, its achievement is an issue of serious considerations, and a subject of concerted efforts, effective performance and total commitment.
In the tropics, a lot of children who should be in school are out of school, and they are not even engaged in any skill-acquisition training whatsoever. According to the Executive Secretary of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Hammid Bobboyi, based on a demographic health survey conducted in 2015 by the UNICEF, about 13.2 million children are out of school in Nigeria. And I think this figure is extremely conservative because more than, if not triple this figure, starkly represents Nigeria’s out-of-school children.
To even imagine that this number (13.2 million) is higher than the entire population of some countries is mind-boggling: Guinea, 12.72 million; Qatar, 2.639 million; Brunei, 428,697; Somalia, 12.3 million; and Rwanda, Greece, Bolivia, Tunisia, Belgium and Portugal all come between 10.3 and 11.5 million inhabitants apiece. Figures may vary from study to study, though.
Even more worrisome is the fact that sixty percent of the Nigerian out-of-school population is in northern Nigeria, with about sixty per cent being girls (according to UNICEF, Nigeria). Besides, it is noteworthy to state that an overwhelming majority of young children of northern extraction are scattered all over the country (Nigeria), engaged in sundry menial jobs. By contrast, this is despite the legislation that favours them on the question of disparity in terms of low scores to qualify them for admission into federal secondary and tertiary schools. Now, this is not even the drift of this article.
That education is the most powerful weapon and, that knowledge is power, is the same thing as saying that creativity can birth innovation. While this is true, there is a hiatus between ideation [the act of forming ideas] and invention. This is the case with creativity [ideas] and innovation [invention].
Nelson Mandela’s quote, to my understanding, presupposes that education must be geared towards providing practical solutions to the array of everyday problems that humans grapple with. But does our present educational arrangement, by virtue of its composition, ideals, operations and management possess the capabilities to fulfil its promise of changing the situation from what is currently obtainable, especially in terms of improving the living standards? This is the crux of the matter here.
The important thing is not to stop questioning; curiosity has its own reason for existing – Albert Einstein.
The mind that is both preoccupied with questions and often asks same, is in constant search for answers. Answers are solutions to problems. With every solution, there is value added. We can keep asking questions pertaining to a specific issue until all questions are exhausted. Thereafter, we cease to explore that terrain because we have the answers at least for the time under review.
However, we may not lock the door permanently because disruption, the result of a craving for improvement, which is powered by the strength of creativity for innovation, can happen anytime. It is an ongoing thing, as a matter of fact.
The curious mind is a compatible ally with questions, and there are always questions on the inside that crave answers. In the light of this, the search for meanings is locked, and within same shall the value of such meanings be unlocked.
What is more, the curious mind seeks; the curious mind is fastidious; the curious mind restlessly seeks the “why” behind things, and is always searching for better ways of doing the same things. This is critical thinking for problem-solving.
Imagination is at the core of the mode of operation of curiosity, as imagination is like the shadow cast by curiosity, or vice versa. Both are like two sides of the same coin.
Questioning is compatible with [flows alongside] some specifics:
Listening Hard
Listening hard has to do with listening for learning [i.e. to use learning to influence or spark a change in the space]; not to react. Thus, one is expected to have one’s mouth shut, and to deactivate some other senses for the meantime, so as to allow for information processing. The purpose is not to merely keep some sensory functionalities lying waste, but to help one to understand what one is listening to. The time to listen is neither the time to write nor speak, although taking notes pertaining to salient points could help for later reference.
It is, however, very important that if we ask questions [seek information from others], we must exercise the discipline of keeping our mouths shut, while they give response. In other words, allow the receiver of the question to respond duly. In a private conversation, listening can come with irregular pauses, with questions to help clarify learning, simultaneously.
For example, in the listener’s bid to convince the interlocutor [a person taking part in a conversation with you] that (s)he is paying rapt attention, the listener might seek clarification of something by inquiring: “Can you give an example?” “Do you mean this or that?” “What other point do we need to take note of?”Such questions are healthy to ensure thorough understanding.
The Exercise of Patience
Patience is a major trait that must be exercised during the process of listening, for responses to questions posed, with the intention of engendering creativity or provoking the art of learning from others. It is a discipline that must be exhibited, otherwise, learning would not take place. This demand is almost a secret known only to a very few persons who have discovered it.
The truth behind patience is that it is inseparable from wisdom. Oftentimes, with discourses, even when one party does not know what to contribute, the ability to patiently listen to the other person can provide access to valid points with which to fruitfully engage the speaker. This, practised over a period, becomes a great avenue that can lead to the opening of tremendous doors of immense resources and discoveries. This could lead to innovation if exploited. It is creativity...
To live a creative life, we must first lose the fear of being wrong – Joseph Chilton Pearce
How Do I Encourage Creativity in Learners?
How do I make my child, pupil, student, mentee, protégé, understudy, follower and tribe/community members creative? Giving an answer to the foregoing appears quite easy, like a friend who, sometime ago, hurriedly reacted by saying ‘‘science and technology,’’ without giving it a critical thought. In truth, however, it is rather a billion-dollar question that could prove the game changer for the entire human race.
The destination of the journey which commences with creativity is innovation. Stating it differently, innovation begins with creativity because without a creative mind that births practicable ideas, there cannot be innovation. A truly purposeful and visionary mind that is inclined to innovation advances creativity to a logical end – invention.
What is Creativity and Innovation?
Before venturing into a definitive meaning of innovation [the attaining end of creativity], let us achieve clarification on the distinction between one of the two commonly used and rather confused terms or words.
The words creativity and innovation are used interchangeably by different persons. This implies that such users are unaware of their distinct meanings. While this may cause confusion to a vast majority of persons, perhaps only a few can distinctly differentiate between the two words.
First things first, we must understand that creativity is not innovation. While creativity borders on ideas, innovation is the process of actualising or bringing the ideas to life. A writer once stated, “It’s not about ideas; it’s about making ideas happen.” That is absolutely spot on.
Every equipment or device invented, every book written, every album waxed, or whatever tangible thing that has been used or is being used by man to lead a comfortable life is actually an idea perfected; an intangible thought expressed through the funnel of innovation to become tangible.
Every vehicle manufactured; the computer and other cutting-edge gadgets, tools or devices produced [electric iron, telephone, microphone and aircraft]; poem written; dance step originated; story or book written; social media platforms developed like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter; and applications or solutions were all figments of the imagination of some persons. They were ideas [intangible] that were brought to life [tangible] through a process of execution.
Innovation involves striving towards making human life worth living in terms of improvement of processes, updating of new trends and equipment, and the production of new things.
Innovation is invention, and it often requires that the dynamics of the present is disrupted to achieve a better future. Innovation rests upon the insatiable desire to give; a restless spirit built on the ethos of munificence [extreme generosity].
The mind of the innovator [inventor] is saddled with unquenchable yearning to add value, whether such a being is in confinement, in discomfort, suffering rejection, exhibiting freedom of space/thought, or leading the life of a recluse, although connected or attuned to world realities. The theme is often the same – disruptive thinking [creativity] to bless mankind with an array of physical benefits [innovation/invention]...
“Successful companies tend to fall into three traps that make the glory days fleeting. First is the physical trap in which big investments in the old systems or equipment prevent the pursuit of fresher, more relevant investments. There’s the psychological trap, in which company leaders fixate on what made them successful and fail to notice when something new is displacing it. Then, there’s the strategic trap, when a company focuses purely on the marketplace of today and fails to anticipate the future...” Vijay Govindarajan (Dartmouth Tuck School of Business. Courtesy of the US News and World Report.)
As I read this online article many months back, posted in the US News and World Report in August 19, 2010, by Rick Newman, profiling 10 great companies that lost their edge: Blockbuster (a video-rental chain), Dell, Eastman Kodak, Microsoft, Motorola, Sears, Sony, Sun Microsystems, Toys “R” Us, and Yahoo, I began to ponder deeply what factors could have been responsible for such a reversal in fortunes.
Now, whether the reasons advanced or the content of the article is correct is not the purpose here. Instead, it is the fact that organisations lose their edge for diverse reasons, and the goal here is to ensure we realise that the foundation of every endeavour matters.
The idea is for start-ups to look at three key areas as they venture into any undertaking: Vision, Mission and Culture. I shall feature a fourth (Team) in a subsequent writing. These are the foundations for building enduring and top-notch companies. The inspiration matters and every business idea must be seen through the lens of conception to completion, as it sets out, or is in the process of development.
As we ventured into the year 2022, I shared 10 ideas that I think young people out there should pay attention to as the year begins. Now, as the year unfolds, I wish to expound on the thoughts to help us navigate through the 2022 terrain. Though it is not an exhaustive list as no one can exhaust a value list, it can point you in the right direction if you diligently pay attention to it and apply it consistently as you go through the year.
It isn't only that leaders are made, self-made mostly and not born; it is that continuing leadership is a matter of behaviour and practices; and not a gift or charisma. It is a responsibility – Peter Drucker. The entrepreneur’s journey into fulfilment is by no means a walkover. Many hurdles dog his way as he wobbles through the labyrinth and maze of the business pathway. Unless (s)he is well equipped on this often self-imposed exile, (s)he may find himself or herself forever operating in the domain of regrets and confusion. The market terrain is brutal and the aggression crushing; the required courage and staying power to forge ahead lies nowhere but within self. And because this strength is abstract, perceived only through profound perception and understanding, the entrepreneur has a few or no friends at all to cheer him or her on.
Good business leaders create vision, articulate the vision, passionately hone the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion. Those were the words of Jack welch.
Robert Kiyosaki said "Inside of every problem lies an opportunity. Solutions to problems make us rich. The lack of problems make us poor". How deeply ironical both a title and quote are?
Getting someone else to link with your deep recess and feed from it is a rare feat that requires perceiving with the mind as oppose to looking with the eyes. True disciples and followers must catch the vision of their leader and run with it before they can be adjudged loyal and sincere.
If you take a drop of water from the ocean, the same properties in that drop is in the larger body of water. The only difference is in the quantity. We are one with the Creator. We are made in His image and likeness. The Fall, however, left us continuously seeking the mundane and vain things through unbridled desires.
But, in our regenerated state, we manifest the divine. Regeneration sees us returning to the original state of redemption. Now, it is instructive to state that once this drop is taken out of the ocean, it is no longer a part of the ocean because it abides in itself. Separation renders it unable to live and manifest purpose. The drop is not relevant when it is separated to itself.
This is the same thing that happens to us when we separate from God, when we separate from His precepts, from His word, ordinances and statutes. We become nothing. It is imperative that we stay with Him from the point in which we receive information-- His words, His instructions, that we take in, which in turn inform our thoughts, fuel the imaginations of our hearts, and empower us in the habits that we engage in.
Because we are informed afresh by His statutes and stay informed by same, these habits give us the divine character and nature. By meditating on His words and praying in same, we maintain a constant relationship with Him. We stay in the communication link through having ceaseless conversations with Him.
This is about consistency as opposed to intensity. We must constantly be in touch with Him through our orisons, the application and activation of His word, and as we carry out His instructions. We cannot say this too much. It is the very life that anchors. In Him we live and move and have our being. No matter who you are and what you achieve, this is your Source of life.
Talking about the divine nature and character, our ability to activate the word of life sees us living by faith in all our ways. Living by faith means trusting what God says completely. Betimes, we are consumed by situations in the secular so much that we do not pay attention to what the Spirit is saying. We even think when we hear the voice of the Spirit that it is us. How wrong we are!
Imagine you driving and you are stopped by law enforcement officials for a routine check and you begin to shout and have bitter exchanges. You know how angry many of us are with our law enforcement agents. In those moments, you may hear: "A soft answer turneth away wrath", or "Settle with your adversary while you are in the way with him"; and oftentimes, we are so irked that we ignore the voice. The consequences are usually costly.
Our streets are full of all categories of beggars. And you indeed know that there is hunger in our land. You cannot walk a stretch of 2 kilometers or more and not find at least 5 persons: Male, female, old, young, haggard or even good looking, asking for alms. If you are not the type that is given to a lifestyle of giving alms, or programmed to such, your first reaction would be to ignore.
At those moments too, while you are consumed by the thoughts and activities of your own issues, you may hear: "He that asketh of thee, give", and such still voice in muffled tones speaking to you.
Almost as immediately as you hear the voice urging you to share from the little that you have, you simultaneously hear: "This one, nothing is wrong with him; can't he go and work?" You hear: "These people who take their collections and go to do evil with it", and such under-whispers; and then you walk away not giving heed to the first voice that speaks. You know how the majority of us are wired through our upbringing. Both voices are always present to talk to you. Which one do you listen to? ...
When you see pictures, motion or otherwise, you both hear words and take a trip or many trips with images. The medium could be the television, it could be face-to-face, or any other. It does have the power to transform if it resonates with you or if you adopt and own it.
This transformation could happen in different ways. You may get to the point where you begin to speak like the characters, dress and act like same. You could modify portions of it, and mix it up with something you had seen or known before and use it in special or different ways that you create something that is completely different from what you had encountered.
Genius is born this way. It depends on how it is received. Minds of men [humans] are influenced this way. Models and patterns are created this way and people across the board live their lives based on influences that were both alien and quaint to them. It is an amazement because of the complexity of the human nature.
When you read content, you engage differently especially when the content slows you down. You play with the words in your head and the more you play with these words, the deeper they go into you till they reach the depth of your inner recesses. There you can no longer reject them.
You soon begin to speak those words aloud to yourself as you take notes and meditate on them. You take the step of endeavouring to manifest them by applying them. Those written words begin to form a part of you. You begin to own them. They gradually become you through use.
This is the true process of learning taking place. The manifestation of these words creates something new and intrinsic to you. You understand the words in your own way based on the use you put the content to. They shape you.
There is a shift; a transition from one place to another; from one point to another. Growth begins to happen. Change happens this way. While you are not the creator of the content, you have owned the content in a different and special way. This is not commonplace because only a handful walk this quaint path of learning.
Oftentimes we seek strength and power from all the wrong places. We look to people to do for us things that we have been equipped to do for ourselves. We seek interdependence before independence, putting the cart before the horse; and by so doing, we depend rather than be independent.
While many seek power knocking at the door of the acquisition of material possessions and riches, money, positions and authority, what they should actually seek are the intangibles which are able to make them the wealthy masters of their being through the deliberate practice of self-awareness, self-development and self-regulation.
The focus of this post is to seek to help us see the wealth that dwells within us but which many of us are completely ignorant of. And this ignorance prevents potential from becoming actual. The lack of this knowledge keeps us in the dark and negatively affects everything that we do. Many are kept in subjugation due to their ignorance of this fundamental concept.
I often use observation and pay attention to things that many are oblivious of. For example, I notice my nails after they are cut. They grow in less than 24 or 48 hours. I shave daily in my bathroom when I take a bath. If I take a bath in the morning, by evening, I am already itching the stubble of hairs on my chin. The same thing happens when I cut myself. In few minutes, the blood clots and the healing process is instantly activated. These things get me fascinated always.
Oftentimes we hear of the need to have a sound and healthy mind and I think that this fact cannot be overflogged because the mind is the seat of sanity and an absence of a sound mind means the absence of a healthy mind. This spells doom, regardless of the angle we look at it from.
A clarification of what the mind truly is needs to be made before we venture further. What the mind is, is indeed a controversial discourse. The mind is not the brain though the mind works in the brain. The mind is man's consciousness. The mind works in the totality of our living and lively systems. Suffice to say that your mind is in every living cell in you; your essential intelligence.
The mind is intangible. It is not a physical thing. It is not hidden in the cranium of the skull though it operates in the grey matter, which the skull protects. The mind is the software that operates our entire hardware. Let me say that the mind is the software of the heart. When you think of the mind, do think in and of the abstract, never the concrete.
Your first wealth is a sound mind. Without a sound mind you are far from healthy and you are not able to put yourself together. You do not and cannot amount to much. One who lacks a sound and healthy mind has no gumption and is far from the ability to self-manage.
A sound mind is a healthy mind and a healthy mind, a sound mind. The ability to build the mind and sustain its soundness through continuous development guarantees it against rust. Such a mind would save and deliver the owner in critical and otherwise moments.
What you feed the mind determines its quality and output. The development and maintenance of a healthy mind is a must and resourceful information is the tool and commodity that the mind requires in order to thrive.
Knowing this is just one step. Deliberately engaging in the art is stepping into greatness. It is a choice that we have to make to equip the mind with valid resources. This is one key that we must never lose if we do not want to be locked out of our own mind because of the wrong information that we take in.
If people know that the mind is more complex than a software, they should be deliberate about regularly updating their minds. Decluttering then becomes a constant in order to keep the mind healthy and rich in service delivery.
How do we develop a sound and healthy mind? The following ideas and thoughts should suffice:
An engaging conversation between Emmanuel Olusola and Joseph Ayeni on the concept on FINDING FULFILMENT in what you do (Part 2). The discourse centres on:
- Envisioning the benefits of the present
- The possibility of envisioning the wrong benefit.
- Is Competition healthy?
- Difference between competition and comparison; comparison is the thief of Joy.
- Matching Fulfilment with the proceeds of Fulfilment.
It is a compelling, insightful and enlightening conversation that should add tremendous value to your thought-process; something you don't want to miss for anything.
Cerebral-Thrust Services.
An engaging conversation between Emmanuel Olusola and Joseph Ayeni on the concept on FINDING FULFILMENT in what you do. The discourse centres on:
- How important finding fulfilment is
- How to identify the inner/unusual voice that speaks in times of desperation.
- Finding your path
- The concept of Growth
It is a compelling, insightful and enlightening conversation that should add tremendous value to your thought-process; something you don't want to miss for anything.
Often, I talk to people online and offline about a wide range of issues: family, relationships, job satisfaction, business, just name it. Quite a number of issues are thrown up in the process, and while some of the characters hold on well, some others, indeed the majority, are not able to hold it together. And this is so real that it almost threatens to asphyxiate them.
Some young persons have jobs that they prayed to get and soon or long after they secure such jobs, they are disconnected one way or the other. Some love their jobs but do not find it financially rewarding. Some others love the pay but do not find any fulfillment whatsoever and they are in despair each day from the moment they awake and while at work, they are stressed by bosses who breathe down their necks and throw invectives at them. It can be that crazy.
Proverbs 22:2 KJV
The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all.
A friend shared a post on Facebook. It was about the marriage of the son of Abubakar Atiku to the daughter of Nuhu Ribadu. One statement from the post is: How many times have you heard their kids marry the average Nigerians? Someone made a comment in response to the statement thus: Where will they meet the average Nigerian now? It was a question and many funny responses kept pouring in. Then I threw the above scripture in: "The rich and poor meet together: the Lord is the maker of them all." Moments later, I got a response thus: Joseph Ayeni not by worldly standards, the unseen demarcation is just too large.
As a human being, you are born with specific senses. As you arrive on the scene, you can see, hear, smell, talk or feel touch automatically because you are a living being. There is a surety to this except there is an impairment or handicap of some sort. These are mere human attributes.
Now, just as your physical senses operate, your spiritual or mental senses of feeling, memory, conscience, imagination and reasoning work. When a child is born, these physical and spiritual senses automatically serve the basic living purpose of the child in the physical space as the child grows...
According to dictionary.com, dysfunctional means not performing normally as an organ or structure of the body, having a malfunctioning part or element, behaving or acting outside social norms.
This last thought, 'behaving or acting outside social norms', is the focus of our discourse because it is a social discourse that dwells on the things we do daily, the activities we engage in and how we create and use the society we both create and are a part of.
Prayer is a communion between earth and heaven. It is a request made by man on earth to the Divine who dwells in the unseen. But this man on earth follows the will and promises of heaven on earth: 'Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' On the question of heaven, you have to have Divine presence within you just as the Master said that the kingdom of God is within you, and that's because you have received the Holy Spirit and become the temple of God. This is what makes it possible for you to live on earth as it is in heaven.
Your investment is the seed you sow today to ensure that you reap fruit tomorrow. What you sow today is what may guarantee what you can get in return tomorrow. The good seed that you have today but refuse to sow because you did not want to lose it will never die and so will not return anything to you.
What you know you should do today but refuse to do by reason of the lack of resources, by reason of fear, by the lack of knowledge and perhaps the degree of self-awareness or esteem you have, will determine what does or does not accrue to you tomorrow. It will determine what you are not able to attract tomorrow. You can only attract as much as you sow. Attraction is just a little more than vain thoughts which are not backed up with consistent action.
Lao Tzu said: Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.
As I learn each day and each time through observation and paying close attention to things, ideas, events and activities of creatures, I find that slaves enslave others, the hungry peddle hunger, the one who plagues others with one form of bondage is actually plagued by a kind of disease which drives them to act the way they act. Those who are bound usually do relish in having other persons in same if not worse conditions. What you are and have is actually what you share. You cannot share or give what you do not have or possess. It is a law of life and existence.
When you desire power, when you desire growth, when you thirst for accomplishments in life, when you express strong hunger and zest for something, you are activating the law and power of attraction. Oftentimes you do not know that you are activating those laws because you are truly oblivious of the creative powers in your essence. Those powers are available to you as they are in you. You only have to call them up through your desires. You have to reach deep down within yourself and call them up. This is true education. Man does not know but man needs to know. In order for man to truly be, he or she has to know first and then apply.
It takes the discipline of conviction to stay focused on goals even when you are not seeing the key results you envisaged when you set the goals.
While persistence is a great value, it is usually tough when you begin to imagine that you are actually doing the wrong thing or you are doing the right things wrongly as you labour.
However convinced you are about what you are doing, it is almost impossible not to have doubt creep in at intervals. One thing overrides doubt: The drive to keep going regardless of mixed feelings of conviction.
According to Seth Godin, "There's no shortage of remarkable ideas. What's missing is the will to execute them." In the world of productivity, nothing can be truer than these words. What is the benefit of supposedly good or great ideas without execution? No idea is really either good or great until it is executed, and when that happens, value is created and lives are impacted positively.
Oftentimes, I hear thought leaders, business leaders and others make statements like, 'The more we learn, the more we earn', and it gets me thinking because I do know that there is a difference between the art of learning and the acquisition of knowledge, which is about the first call of the learning process.
The acquisition of knowledge is the first step or foundation of the learning process. We cannot activate learning unless we first get exposed to some knowledge or information.
"Self-discipline begins with the mastery of your thoughts. If you don't control what you think, you can't control what you do. Simply, self-discipline enables you to think first and act afterwards." Napoleon Hill
A disciplined mind is a sound mind and vice versa. The mind is disciplined because it has been subjected to sound principles and judgement over a period of time and so thinks differently from many others. Regarding issues of common concern and interest, many people, between 85 and over 95% tilt towards one point of view and the remainder 15% and less are often hounded.
"Without initiative, leaders are simply workers in leadership positions." Bo Bennet
Leadership from the traditional point of view is often perceived from the angle of the position one occupies. This means that everyone looks up to the man at the top for direction and control. This Top-to-Bottom (Vertical) system means that except you are leading based on appointment, you may not be taken seriously.
This is more than multi-million dollar question that many of us deliberately avoid and would rather not have anything to do with. Unfortunately, for the majority who avoid it, this is the one question they should focus their attention on. It is the only question that unlocks the fundamental but monumental concept of purpose and definite chief aim.
Everyone needs help and support at different times. There is nobody, however advantaged, that would not use some form of help or support one time or the other. No great leaders, businessman or entrepreneur can achieve their vision alone. They need collaboration and support. Any idea that must reach innovation has to go through interdependence; and interdependence is all about sharing and using support.
Most of the time what we have and work hard at manifesting are desires, not exactly goals. And these desires are almost as endless as wants because they are not specific. We desire almost every good thing that we see, so much that, at some point, we can become confused.
No two fingerprints are the same. No one individual has identical palm marks. No two tigers have the same stripes. Why would you want to be anything but original? Why would anyone desire to be anything but authentic? Why would you pay attention to being regular when you were made unique? Why would you subscribe to the subtle but pervasive emotional blackmail to conform to other humans as you? Why would you give in and desire to be what others want you to be, instead of you being or becoming the masterpiece that you truly are?
The concept of vision is highly misunderstood by many. Vision is just more than dream. It is not just trance. Vision is a knowing. Vision can be a compelling desire that impresses something to you strongly and may not leave you for a long time. A vision can be a thought that persists in your subconscious such that it begins to inspire and push you towards a certain goal. Someone may lay claims to any or all of these, and they may either be right or wrong about their vision.
In the world of warfare, one essential key that great and tactical warriors ignite is the acquisition of adequate and accurate knowledge of their enemies till they can guess the next moves of the enemy. Having accurate intelligence about the enemy is a highly priced achievement. It is premium.
The world of premium value is the world of cutting-edge productivity where industry accomplishments for service delivery is the measurement because it wins market share. Men who play and win are made of steel though always condemned by weak hands whose preserve is dealing in averages and playing small.
I saw the words, "Some people are not good for you and they are not bad people," on a friend's status on WhatsApp and they were quite fascinating I decided to share it. Still not content with sharing on my social media handles, I am pushed to write an article about the words.
The man who is conscious and constantly applies his consciousness to the things that he is aware of has earned the premium development of the will faculty to live above the whims and caprices of his environment. Such a man has developed habits that bring down achieving but weak men who succumb to easy virtues as they daily navigate this space.
A few years back, two former colleagues we worked together in the same organization were affected by the right sizing of employees which the organization did as a measure of staying in business and continuously sustaining value in line with organizational culture...
Ray Dalio stated in his best-selling book, “Principles”, that he isn't one who liked to take instructions: “I’ve always had a bad rote memory and didn’t like following other people’s instructions, but I loved figuring out how things work for myself.” This is quite admirable, if you ask me.
While this may sound odd to the average or less mind, it is the beauty of a truly innovative and self-inclined mind that is inspired from within to mine the mine that is their mind. Anyone who is driven to succeed on their own terms does one thing: find their way themselves even at the cost of many mistakes and through rising and falling. They walk the path of the authentic.
If we realise always that our words and even actions all proceed from our thoughts, we would learn to put a rein on our thoughts before they become something that we cannot manage. To filter my thoughts means to manage my thoughts.
To grow physically or naturally can be said to happen by default, given that all other things are being equal. That is normal growth. This, in other words, is bearing in mind that there are no mutations or defects or illnesses that may impair growth in anyway. Even those can be prevented if there is the right information and application of same information at the right time.
You may have been too busy to entertain this question if it crossed your mind or to address your mind to it. Obviously you may not have imagined that while you are seeking purpose and doing everything to be that purpose, that you are actually writing yourself a legacy prior to your exit from this space.
Self-awareness is a fundamental key to success and the attainment of human accomplishments in every area of life. This understanding should be as easy as breeze if we apply our abilities to thinking as right as we should. The reason is simple: If you do not know what you have been given by the Maker who made you, then how do you apply what you do not know? It is absolutely essential for you to know. Without it, you cannot be the purpose for which you are made. This is non-negotiable.
Parenting is a great art that many supposed parents lack. That you have a child does not automatically qualify you to be a parent. How can we ever be justified when we fail deliberately in this God-given and ordained role? It is a hard fact that once we begin to have children, we must so focus on building them that we may not have much time for ourselves. Does this mean that we must put a halt to our own continuous learning and development? The answer is no.
I have shared this thought consistently for the past five or more years. The creativity in our students is stifled in many schools and in many homes. Society does not truly appreciate the creative quotient, whether in young children or otherwise because it seems often against the norm or status quo.
One thing is quite worrisome about us, humans: how we react to issues of spirituality. We are more often driven to the physical, especially the carnal, forgetting that everything that our eyes can see, and hands can touch came from the unseen. Man was first made a spirit before he was given flesh. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Perhaps you want to tinker with that thought a while?
What is anger? Anger is that strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence aroused by a wrong done against you. Anger is that emotion that produces wrath and ire. Anger is the spiritual or mental energy that is synonymous with animosity and acrimony. Anger is a destructive energy that ends up destroying the person who is possessed by it if the person does not get rid of it or mortify it.
You feed your stomach through your mouth. You can either maintain a healthy body based on the kind of food you enjoy eating or disfigure your body and impair your health through same.
The way you feed your body is the same way that you feed your mind. The only difference is the medium. With the mind, the medium is either through the senses of sight, hearing, feeling or even smell. Yes, even by the sense of smell, we can enrich the mind.
Growth mindset is a productive mindset that is self-aware, self-renewed, self-evaluatory, and self-validating.
What is a mindset? Mindset is not just about what you think. Mindset is what you are within you and what you are made up of. Mindset is how you are wired. Mindset is the information at your disposal. It is the power of your mind. This power influences your thinking. This power affects and directs everything you do.
The concept of gifts and talents is a major success indicator for mankind. It is extremely important for everyone to know what gifts or talents they received from God and to make deliberate efforts to develop and deliver same to the market. The reason is simple. Our gifts and talents are our strengths and we should play to our strengths. They were given to us to make way for us here and if we use them well, they will make our dreams a reality.
The path to ease is unease. And sustaining ease does require that we contend with and win the battle against discomfort and misery consistently because it is more difficult to manage success than to achieve it.
A thick skin is not a skin devoid of feeling or one that is dead to pain. It is one that has become so used to pain that it can accept the bitter words and toxins shot at it. The skin receives poisonous words and permits the words to flow through, gets used to it, till it become its strength.
Writing from the depth of your being is grueling. To find the right words and the discipline that match your inspiration is a tough call. Discipline is the ability to balance both the speed and the patience of inspiration simultaneously. Inspiration does visit in its own time, not in your own time. It can come rushing at you when you are ill-prepared. It can come slowly. It chooses when it comes, but whenever it does visit, you must make yourself ready.
When something good happens to someone else what is your first reaction? What is the first feeling you get? What happens inside of you first: joy or repulsion?
This is a very important thought that if we fail to manage well, can be one huge reason why we are not growing as we anticipate and as much as we assiduously work.
Napoleon Hill provides us with six fears that he believes plague mankind: failure, sickness, old age, loss of love, poverty and criticism.
As I converse with a friend, the fear of venturing suddenly strikes me as a major, though negative force that underlies failure and poverty. This is what I think. This is what is being impressed on my discovery quotient.
Oftentimes you hear people say, "I am not what happened to me", "I am not what I was", and such clichés. While they may not be wrong due to the perceptions they hold in the present, the truth is that the past is yet, because the past lives in them. Your past lives in you.
I remember different experiences of dung beetles rolling excreta which they made into balls and ran with them as they tumbled through rocks, valleys, across paths, crevices and other pathways until they arrive their destination with the poop.
A popular quote by Lao Tzu, "When the student is ready, the teacher will appears. When the student is truly ready, the teacher will disappear," always reminds me about how really instructive it is in order for learning to truly take place.
Leadership has a mentality. Leadership has a thinking. Leadership thinking is influenced by the purpose and thirst to make life better for others. Leadership mentality is empowered by the attitude of results-oriented offerings. As long as leaders do not lose this vision, they stay in the domain of positive impact.
Perhaps, some of us have specific values that we deliberately live by. It is obvious that a vast majority of us do not really have specific values that we operate our lives by. What exactly would a life without specific values or principles be like? That seems quite crucial, indeed.
What happens when creativity meets passion? A combination of creativity and passion is like hot knife through butter, but that's not all. You would still need the bread, the effort and skill to achieve an even spread and some fluid or juice to go with the buttered bread.
What is creativity? Creativity is ideation; the churning out of ideas. Ideas are good but they are not just enough. Why so? You can have a fantastic idea that you cannot get off the ground. What then is the benefit of a good idea without execution?
I read an article written by Michael Simmons, published in medium.com, October 12, 2017, with the title, "5-Hour Rule: If you’re not spending 5 hours per week learning, you’re being irresponsible."
The opening quote was by Charlie Munger, Self-made billionaire and Warren Buffet's long-time business partner. It says, "In my whole life, I have known no wise people (over a broad subject matter area) who didn’t read all the time — none. Zero."
My thought on this very crucial concept is one borne out of sheer experience. I think that much of everything that I have been trying very hard to do in much of my adult life, especially in the last ten to fifteen years has a lot to do with engaging with my faculties with an unassailable drive to unearth what is hidden therein.
For you to do anything or engage in anything whatsoever, you should have a reason for doing so. The reason has to be a compelling one. No matter how insignificant that thing is, whether it involves you and others or not, you should hold your own end well and see that you nurture it to bloom for the purpose for which it has to be done.
I think the problem with us is that we are looking for happiness and peace in all the wrong places. We seek satisfaction where we may never find it because we do not even understand what it is that we truly desire. We misplace one thing for another. When we say we want something we actually mean that we need it and even that thing is mistaken for another thing entirely. It is a problem when we communicate things wrongly, whether to ourselves or to others.
In much dearth and scarcity caused by men through greed and wilful denial working intense squeeze, there is yet abundance way beyond the imagination of the weak mind. When one takes what belongs to more, when we apportion to a few what belongs to many, we do not deal wisely because it shows the vast extent of our poverty. Such a mindset is a most miserable one.
This is inspiration from our experience with a client of Cerebral-Thrust. As a human mind development and business consulting outfit, we provide advisory support services for our clients. Some of these are insights gleaned from research and perceptiveness. The idea is to help them gain clarity as they trudge through the tough minefields of business.
It goes without saying that times are indeed desperate because there is deprivation and lack almost everywhere. Now, some of us are used to the words "Desperate times require desperate measures" or something in that regard. What we experience right now requires nothing short of desperate measures to match the tough times.
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city: Proverbs 16:32
As I stumbled on this scripture this morning, it hit me so deep I could not resist the nudge to share these thoughts on it. The words of this scripture evoke the thoughts of self-mastery through first overcoming oneself. In other words, in order to become a master of yourself, you must first overcome yourself.
Your vision is your idea. It is intrinsic to you. It sets out to fix you, to fix something in your life, in your space, affects others and thus, has a ripple effect. With the attainment of that specific vision, change happens. Because of these, we must stay focused on the vision, regardless of the pains of the present moment.
Conquering your negative emotions and re-directing them towards the positive is your greatest accomplishment yet. This is far greater than gaining the world, its allures, enticements and endless vanities.
Renewed and effective thinking has made it possible for us to re-evaluate the way we see things. It has led us to seeing the value in challenges, opportunities in difficulties, and the discretion to look inwards in our search for value.
Over the years as I observe trends and events in the business, productivity and development landscape, I see that many seek and speak of exponential growth. While this is good, I often wonder how many know how important it is to understand the nature and character of phenomenal growth and how prodigious growth happens. We talk about scaling but we do not seem to know that such growth does not happen without sacrificing time and other currencies going extinct.
The law of attraction is a great resource available to mankind and we use it often whether we know it or not. We exercise the law through our desires and passionate longings based on the things that we see in our environment.
Often, I read and hear of finding oneself on and offline by self-help and success teachers but it struck home for me to ask this question and spare a thought on it. I am sure that someone is asking the questions: How do I find myself? What does it really mean to find myself? Let us see if we can answer these questions and unearth more curious thoughts on the subject.
Recently I saw a video clip where John Maxwell hosted Steve Harvey and Steve said: "Your career is what you are paid for; your calling is what you are made for." John was so hit by the statement that he asked Steve to repeat himself as he took it down. As I finished seeing the clip, I also gave it a thought and the following thoughts came up:
My thought on the subject of competence is that no one can be competent in isolation. You have to be competent in association or alignment with others. It does not seem complete or healthy if one wears the toga of "master" of one's game by playing independently. The reason for this is that we cannot win alone. No one is truly competent in isolation because one's competence must be measured relative to others. When one is said to be competent, what exactly does it mean? The following suggestions come to the fore:
How can average companies become good and how can we move good companies to become great companies? How can we stimulate real growth that will endure the dynamics of change? How do we preserve the great core as well as attain progress both as an organisation and in the lives of those we serve? What values do we subscribe to and what culture have these earned us over the years? These are critical questions that we must provide answers to as a business entity all the time.
The first step in self-management is the ability to manage our emotions and effectively use our mental faculties. But, can we manage what we do not know? Identifying our emotions, our rationalities and irrationalities, being conscious of them, and knowing how they work, help us to understand them well enough to regulate them. What makes you angry, sad, afraid or fear? Are you able to identify these emotional triggers?
The principle of sowing and reaping is built on the foundation of death from life and life from death. Life does proceed from death. When a seed is sown in the earth, that seed is buried and hid in the dark earth. The seed is scorched in the earth and it dies. The seed loses its outward and every other covering so that the gem of life embedded within is allowed to spring forth. This process is referred to as germination. It is the process of birthing and engendering life through death.
The subject of learning is critical to humanity and indeed everything that has life. Much has been said about this subject and it is impossible to exhaust it because it is at the core of growth and development for all creatures. Every living thing, learns one way or the other.
A curious aspect of emotional management is how much we mismanage our emotions due to our lack of self-awareness and misunderstanding of what they are. With our irrationalities taking the better if not the best of us, it has become more than important to pay attention to how those intangible parts of us threaten the tangible parts and things that really matter to us, but which we are incidentally and increasingly unconscious of.
There is a direct connection between how you are wired in your essence and what you turn out to become if you are able to find yourself, develop yourself and forge a meaning out of it all. Everything that nature has bestowed on mankind is good and not one is without its purpose but not everything is useful to you. Your ability to find and know what is important to you will lead you to become one with your purpose for being here, if you stay hungry and persist in the search for value. A proper mix and alignment with all components that pertain to you in the physical space earns you fulfillment and accomplishment in the physical space. These components are you, your education and its prize, your skills and then your productivity.
Oftentimes I hear people talk about the science of something or the art of something and I wonder which is which or what is what really? Are they different or can they be used interchangeably? Wallace Wattles wrote a book, 'The Science of Getting Rich'. Vusi Thembekwayo talks about maintaining art in business and the possibility of losing art in order to build to scale.
Grit is firmness of character. Grit is indomitable spirit. It is the pluck that keeps you focused on a cause regardless of the negative hits and failures that you encounter. Grit is a sign of how much you seek the attainment or manifestation of a desire. And because you have a burning desire, you make the desire a goal driven or goal-bound one. This is a great way to look at grit.
To what are you addicted? On what are you hooked that you struggle to extricate yourself from? You do know what it is. It does not have to be a textbook description of its character.
If you are His, the seed in you leads you to Him regardless of the external discomfort and pain you encounter. Money is the least problem for a person who knows and shores up their worth. But, you may need to find it first to prove thyself right. Belief precedes understanding. It is the fruit of acceptance. In acceptance, thy faith becomes fruitful through works. Seek to be fulfilled, losing no sleep about anything whatsoever. Whatever thy need, seek, and the solution, you will find. Be led in most unusual ways by the only unusual One there is. Lay the foundation of truth as you seek to find thy path.
You are human. There is always something that makes you weary and something you may be wary of. We must live in acceptance because it is the access to accomplishments. Our weaknesses we must accept. Our fears we must explore. Our emotions we must put to the service of our discovered mission as we seek to attain our vision.
When we were young and growing up, we often did something we learned from the environment. When we have a squabble and score to settle with another person, we drew a line in the sand and dared the aggressor to cross that line if they had the balls. Another thing we did then was that someone takes sand in both palms and asks a quarrelling pair spoiling for a fight to hit o
Life is only to be lived. You do not live until you actually start living when you walk in the Way with the Life.
Delight in studying and ruminating on the things that delight thy soul.
Delight to ponder and to execute the things that allure thy deepest desires.
Delight to seek out the will of the Author of thy being and to execute the judgment of Him that formed thee.
Though life beats us hard and knocks us down, we get up each time and keep forging ahead because resilience is programmed into us. Nothing has beaten us to submission yet. After a fall, there is a rise and we trudge on laboriously. We just never stop. We move!
In life, every person has something to give. There is no one with nothing. Each one has at least one thing. We do not know because we are made to see only by looking away from ourselves. We cannot even see ourselves, our face unless we see through a reflection. If we can look away from self and look to others, for thus are we made, we would find purpose in service because nothing was made for itself.
What is that thing that I know how to do? What is the one thing I have interest in? How much of interest do I have in it? Can it sustain me? Can I make it valuable to someone? Can it be paid for? Can I use it to grow someone? If it can grow someone, then it can grow me. These should help.
There is something curious about how we handle the different kinds of relationships that we engage in. An average person does have a number of relationships and each relationship comes with different responsibilities. Different responsibilities mean navigating between/among different levels of emotion. Many of us do not pay attention to this. When we transit from wearing different hats with different or same persons as we navigate between/among different roles, we actually need to acknowledge and consider the mental shifts that take place and what each level of relationship demands or will demand from us. Let us explore a little bit and see where it leads.
The gift is His but it domiciles in you. He knows where He put it. He finds it when the time is right. It is the rightful place, though men think it is in the wrong vessel. No man can contest why He put it where He did or why He gave it to whom He gave it. No one is qualified to pose that query. The gift does live in you. It was given from your conception. A complete package it is that accompanied you at birth.
The understanding is that we have just transitioned from one day to another day with a change in calendar. We truly just continue with the projects that we have been on, in case we didn't deliver on old projects. Now, nothing is going to change in the new year until we change our mindset. The consolation of truth is that everything is possible.