There are certain debts we all owe, apart from money or materials borrowed from others or financial institutions. If you strive to pay these particular debts, you will live and end well. 
We will examine these debts in this series and the first one is:
Debt of being true to yourself

There are times people tell us what they want us to hear. Especially for leaders in political offices who are surrounded with praise singers, bootleggers, yes-men and sycophants, you owe yourself the debt of telling yourself the truth when you are not doing well. Examine yourself daily. Don’t judge yourself by the accolades of the people, they may be playing you music of death. 
Sometimes you even win a race or contest, but you know you didn’t put in your best, rather than just celebrating that success, push yourself harder to surpass your previous feat. 
If you are always looking for the approval of men, you will continuously lie to yourself, your conscience and God. Seek the approval of your conscience and you will get God’s approval. 
Finally, as a debt of being true to yourself, don’t copy or try to be like others. You are uniquely made and you have your own place and space. Stay in your space. Maintain your Lane. Be yourself.  
God bless us all. 
Good morning! 

Are you at the verge of giving up, please consider the following before you throw in the towel :
1. Have you truly given that matter your best? Prayed your best? Written your best? Worked your best? Given your best? 
2. Are you certain your situation is the worst in the whole world? If you are certain, then you can truly give up. Your current situation is someone’s prayer point.
3. Are there lessons you must learn through that situation before you are promoted to the next phase? Have you learnt them all? Remember that promotion comes only after passing the exams. 
4. Do you know that it is darkest most just before dawn? You might just be at the edge of your dawn. If you hold on a bit longer, the trouble will pass because it always does. 
5. If you are wishing to have another life, how sure are you that there won’t be challenges in the new life, possibly greater than the ones you are facing now? The only people who are free from troubles are the dead. 
6. Have you sought for help? From God first and then from men. Sometimes we carry burdens that don’t belong to us. 
7. Do you know that the size of your problem is an indication of the weight of your glory? You might be carrying a great destiny, just so you know. 
Reflect on these questions before you throw in the towel. 
God bless us all. 
Good morning! 

As I said in one of my previous posts, a new You is required for every new level you desire. As you move higher in life, life will demand from you in terms of skills, time, resources, experience, substance and strength of mind. You therefore need to constantly expand your frontiers to keep moving ahead. 

We all seek and sometimes pray for breakthrough without the willingness to break out of our present mold. You need a breakout to experience a breakthrough. Any breakthrough without a breakout will eventually lead to a breakdown. 

What is a breakout? A breakout is a deliberate positive shift from previously held belief, opinion, mindset, skills set, knowledge, circle of contacts, habits, and comfort zones. It is an advancement to a higher level of reasoning. 

Until you are ready for a break out, you do not truly deserve a breakthrough. Your  first step towards breakthrough is to begin to examine yourself with a view to improving yourself. 

Many of the disasters we see in leadership at corporate and national level are because most of the leaders never experienced breakouts before they got their breakthroughs. 

Don’t be a victim of breakdown after breakthrough. Break out now. 

God bless us all. 

Good morning! 

It is what happens in you and not what happens to you that determines how far you will go in life. Your attitude to both positive and negative situations must be SPONGY. You must be able to soak in a lot as sponge soaks water, especially so during this period of economic recession.  
What does SPONGY represent? 
S – Serenity of mind and purpose. Maintain your peace and calmness. You can’t think straight when anxious or angry. Absorb the information, separate the facts and decide on the facts. 
P – Perseverance of spirit, mind and body. Train your mind to be resilient. Build your body for marathons and not short dashes. Lasting successes usually come in marathons. Toughness of mind comes from a diehard spirit. 

O – Organization of plans and actions. You must sharpen your prioritisation skills so that you know which actions to take first when several things are calling for your attention. 
N – Naturalness of personality. The worst harm you can do to yourself is to try to change who you are because of people’s criticisms or successes of others. Pick the truths in criticisms, but adapt them to your natural self. 
G –  Goal getting attitude. You can’t get a goal you have not set. So set goals. Apply SMART tools to your goals. Even if you fail at achieving the goals, keep trying until you succeed. Your mind must be resolute at achieving your goals. 
Y –  Youthful zest. You often need the zest of a youth to handle increasingly complex situations. You need to maintain a high energy level always. Avoid energy drainers. They could places, jobs, or people. Never let anyone toy with your energy level. Have a bright spirit and always smile. 
God bless us all. 
Good morning!

I understand Mark Zuckerberg is in Lagos Nigeria and he arrived yesterday without any fuss or paparazzi. He visited Yaba Silicon Valley and Andela. Except for few posts on Facebook, there is no major press announcement of the arrival of the founder and owner of Facebook. He was in T-shirt, jeans and trainers. Simple! No chains, no tattoos, no weird hairdo, no funny pose, just simple. Well some could argue it was for security reasons, I will punch that argument because he could have sought for state security. 

Can we all pick some lessons from this guy. Especially for our people in the entertainment and showbiz industries, you don’t need all those paparazzi to announce your presence. Let your work speak for you. You don’t need to show us your latest car or house on Facebook or Instagram. We know you are trying to prove that you are rich, we know that, so don’t bother announcing it. 

We don’t want you displaying your nakedness and tattoos, you are spoiling the minds of our youths. They think that is the way life should be lived, not knowing it is all fake and borne out of some sort of complex. Mark is always simply and decently dressed. Same with Bíll Gates. Same with our Dangote. Even in your industry King Sunny Ade and Chief Ebenezer Obey are examples. So? 

We are also tired of reading about your latest ‘lovescapades’. We are tired of reading how you break up engagements and marriages as if you’re changing clothes. Please you are turning marriage to a trial and error affair. Don’t marry if you can’t stay married. If you think your wealth is measured by the number of marriages you have contracted, then go back to school. 

Finally, embrace simplicity. Simplicity is just beautiful. Nothing beats it. Watch Michelle Obama. Look at Oprah Winfrey. They are simple yet adorable. 

This applies to all of us. Stop trying to impress people. Stop being wasteful in a bid to beat the Joneses. Be yourself and be simple. 

God bless us all. 

Good morning! 

Comfort Zones are killers of progress. They make destinies plateau when there are still more mountains to conquer. They close the eyes of people to new vista of opportunities and limit innovations. 

What are comfort zones? Comfort Zones are the places where you are at your elements. They could be jobs that you have grown to become so good at. They could be skills, vocations, trades, or locations that you have become so used do, to the extent that you don’t want to try new frontiers. They are things that hold us back from taking risks. 

I appeal to you to step out of your comfort zone. You can’t experience life’s best in your place of comfort. “Life always begins with one step outside of your comfort zone. – Shannon L. Alder. 

Stepping out of comfort zones will initially rock your world, but will eventually create a new world for you.” Coming out of your comfort zone is tough in the beginning, chaotic in the middle, and awesome in the end…because in the end, it shows you a whole new world !! Make an attempt..”- Manoj Arora

God bless us all. 

Good morning! 

​”Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, remember, you can achieve.” – Mary Kay Ash

Live your life as though there are no limits to what you can achieve. Truly there are no limits, except the ones you construct in your mind. There is always a  way round every challenge, and there are always higher heights to be attained. Don’t place any limit on yourself. Break the limits. You are unstoppable. You alone can stop You. 

I leave you with the words of Bruce Lee, “If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” 

No matter where you are today, leave your plateaus and go forward again. 

God bless us all. 

Good morning. 

There were times I came across some lists of goals or prayer requests I had written much earlier, and as I read through those lists or requests I smiled. I smiled not necessarily because the goals were achieved or the prayers answered, but because reading them much later reveals the inconsequentiality or insignificance of the requests or goals. Some will appear outrightly childish,  some selfish, and some just irrelevant. 

This personal experience has taught me to always weigh my actions, goals and objectives on the scale of materiality in posterity. Materiality in Posterity means ‘will it be material years after?’. I always ask myself questions like, if I don’t achieve this now, will it really matter? Is it that necessary? Will it still be material years later? These questions help me to readjust my priorities and maintain focus on life impacting goals. 

My advice to you today is to begin to weigh your decisions and intentions on the scale of materiality in posterity. If I steal to build, will posterity treat me well? If I lie about my age to get that job, will my body also lie after some years? Is acquiring more cars more material than sponsoring some orphans or less privileged? 

If we do a lot of introspective thinking before acting we will have less regrets in retrospect. Ask yourself before you take that action, ‘will it count later?’ 

Remember this always, ‘Wise men invest in people, ordinary men invest in things.’ 

God bless us all. 

Good morning!

Life starts with knowing yourself and what you are cut out to do (self and purpose), and ends with giving yourself fully to that purpose. 

It is not so much about the money, wealth, fame, or swagger. It is about the purpose and fulfilling it. It is about knowing who you are and what you are made for. 

Stop trying to be someone else. Know yourself and be yourself. You are at your best when you deploy your full strengths, skills and passions toward your purpose. The best an imitation can be is a copy. Be original. 

Appraise yourself. Carry out a personal SWOT. What are your strengths and weaknesses? What opportunities are available for you and what are the threats around you? 

When your strengths fuse with opportunities, greatness is birthed. When those opportunities are along the line of your purpose, and you pursue them with your strengths, you are on your way to achieving greatness that will outlive you. 

God bless us all. 

Good morning! 

For every new level you will attain in life, a new You is required. For every promotion you desire, you will be required to undergo higher examinations. The skill set required for the position of an officer is definitely lower than that required for the position of a manager. An Officer desiring to become a Manager will have to develop higher skills to succeed as a Manager. 

You cannot put a new wine in an old bottle, you will lose both the wine and the bottle. You will need to equip yourself with the right discipline, attitude, disposition, temperance and skills, required for that next level before you can get there. 

Are you desiring to become a husband or wife? Have you considered if you are good enough at managing yourself, let alone managing another person? Are you prepared for the arduous task of keeping the home clean, cooking, washing and maintaining your career all at once? 

What is your current elastic limit? If your elastic limit is not up to the required limit for the next level, then you need to first deal with yourself by stretching your limit further. One of the reasons why many of us are not getting the desired promotion is because we are not yet set for that promotion. If we get it now, it will be chaos and colossal failure. 

Check yourself today vis-a-vis  where you desire to be. Are you packaged for that desired package? 

God bless us all. 

Good morning!