Every life producing force must go through the painful period of gestation before finally birthing a new life. Whether it be animal or man, the process remains the same. Gestation periods vary from specie to specie of animals. The gestation period of an elephant, for instance is between two and three years, while that of a dog is about two months.

Gestation periods are periods of great discomfort for the pregnant mothers, whether of man or animal. They experience so many changes in their body structure and emotion. They suffer mood swings. Their partners often share in the discomforts of the period. They eagerly count days and weeks waiting for the day of delivery.

Our periods of wilderness, sowing, planting, building a new business or house, building a new relationship or starting a new life, can all be likened to the gestation period. During such periods, we work hard, labour, sweat and invest our time and resources to achieve certain results. We deny ourselves so many luxuries and cut down some of our personal excesses. It is usually a trying period. We get so many turn downs on our proposals and many unfulfilled promises. This is the pain we must bear in order to enjoy the gain later.

Just as every gestation period has an end, every period of planting must also end with harvest. Suddenly, results start trickling in and where we have been turned back before, we start getting calls from them. Results start to outweigh efforts. This is the period of gain. Pain necessarily must precede gain. No Pain No Gain. Whatever you dream to achieve, you must be prepared to pay the price. No Price No Prize.

You cannot experience the Joy of motherhood without the pain of pregnancy. You cannot enjoy harvest without the labour of planting. You cannot experience success in business without the stress of daily planning, selling and marketing. Until you plant, don’t expect any harvest. Unless you are ready for the pain, you shouldn’t expect any gain. You have no business envying a successful man when you are not ready to pay the price he paid. Get in the ruts and go to work. Stay on it, your gain is coming.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

If there is any surest way to fail in life, it is in following the dictates of everyone except yourself. Trying to do what everybody wants you to do is a guaranteed recipe for failure. If you want to be outstanding in life you must learn to passionately follow your heart and pursue your own dream. No one else can dream for you. Your heart will always guide you to your dream and it is rarely wrong. ‘Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.’ –  Rumi.

Many voices will attempt to crowd out your heart’s quiet voice. There will be the voice of fear, the voice of reason, the voice of pain, the voice of discouragement, the voice of disdain, and a host of voices. It is your responsibility to silence all the other voices so that the silent voice of your heart will become audible enough for you to act on. Within you is the seed of greatness, only your heart knows this, because it is the only thing present with you when you were being formed.

Seeking advice is good. Seeking counsel is right. However, when it comes to the matter of what to do with your life, your final and ultimate authority is your heart not somebody else’s brain. ‘Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.’ – Luke 17:21 KJV. Your life is within you. Your Destiny is within you.

‘We spend our lives asking the question, ‘What do people want me to do? Who do they want me to be?’ But this is a betrayal of our inner truth. We should be investing our lives in the pursuit of discovering who we are and what we were created to do.’ – Elizabeth Grace Saunders.

Follow your heart and you will find your life.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

You can be a lot better than you are now if you give it more effort. You can achieve that dream if you keep pushing at it. You can be the best if you match determination with dedication and diligence. If opportunities don’t come, create them. Try again. Push again. Demand again. Ask again. Do it all over again.

Don’t settle for less. Don’t accept defeat. Don’t take it as your lot. Your lot is not predetermined. You can determine your lot. God’s plan for you is beautiful, you only have to press into the plan. Have a diehard mentality. Have the kind of mentality that ignores obstacles or used them as stepping stones. If Thomas Edison had settled for less, he may have accepted the lie that it is not possible to make light bulb. If the Wright Brothers had settled for less, traveling by air today may have been impossible.

Behind every invention, there are many failures, disappointments and obstacles, but the inventors persisted until they achieved the desired goal. Don’t accept mediocrity as your best. It can be better.
Let me end with these two great quotes. “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer. ” – Albert Einstein. “Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.” – Calvin Coolidge

Don’t settle for less!

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

There is no one who attained self subsistence without support of others. No one attained greatness without the help of others. We all need help from time to time and our ability to find such help makes our journey in life easier. If you don’t have burden bearers around you, life can be unnecessarily difficult. Woe unto him that is alone when he falls. Ecclesiastes 4:10. It is dangerous to be without helpers.

Likewise it is wicked when you refuse to help others when you are in a position to do so. Our joy and peace is maximized when we live our lives helping others to bear their burdens. When you help others at their hour of needs, help will not be denied to you when you need help too. Be a burden bearer. Burdens can be material, financial, emotional, health, academic, or even spiritual. Don’t deny people of help when it is in your power to help.

No matter how low your status may be in life, there is still something that can be of help to others. So being a burden bearer is not a function of your economic or social status. At every level in your life, you can be a burden bearer. Don’t just be a burden bearer, be a good burden bearer. Don’t help others with expectation of them repaying you. God is your rewarder. Don’t help others and broadcast what you have done to others. Keep the secrets shared with you with you. Don’t be a tale bearer, be a burden bearer.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Our mind is a battlefield. Several battles take place in our minds every minute, hour and day. Your mind is the place of victory or defeat over many life issues. What you have defeated in your mind cannot defeat you in reality. What you have given up on in your mind is most likely to be lost in reality. The mind is like the photo lens that capture the image that is printed in a photograph. Whatever it receives it captures and reproduces. This is why there is a lot of contention for our minds.

Due to the importance of the mind, you must ensure you take charge of your mind and what it receives. Whatever you wish to accomplish as a goal or life objective, first settle it in your mind that you will see it to the end. Settle it in your mind that there will be challenges and oppositions, but that in spite of all these, you will achieve your goals. Settle it in your mind that regardless of your circumstances or situation, you will succeed in life.

Don’t give in to negative thoughts. Don’t accept defeat in your mind. Believe in yourself and what God has deposited in you. You can do it. You can make it. Settle it in your mind that you are a success. Visualize the end product, what you will become and begin to take steps towards that vision. The steps may be small, they may be baby steps, they may be shaky steps, but it will eventually become firm, steady and sure. Babies start with wobbling and shaky steps, often falling but always rising. After a little while their steps become firmer, stronger and surer. So, don’t worry about mistakes, they are part of the success story. Just ensure you are taking steps towards your vision.

Create your own memoir, if you can, because the world will read your great story someday. I want you to settle it in your mind that you cannot fail, even if that has been your family history. You cannot die from the same illness that has plagued your lineage. You are different and exempted from all that. Settle that in your mind. As a man thinks, so he is. Proverbs 23:7a. What you accept in your mind becomes your reality. So choose what to accept. Choose what you allow into your mind. “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.” said Mahatma Gandhi. Will you?

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

As we grow in life, we come across different people, situations, work environments, associations and culture, which I will term ‘influencers’. And because there is no vacuum in nature, these influencers in some cases rub off their values on us and in other cases, they try to impose their values on us. They affect us either positively or negatively. We are rarely unaffected by them. Ultimately, the target is our destiny.

It is important to determine in advance how we will manage these influencers, otherwise when they come we won’t know and we may have dropped down our guards. Even as parents/guardians, we need to constantly teach and prepare our kids/wards to be prepared for life influencers and how to manage them. We should never drop any positive value for negative ones.

Usually, negative values come in attractive shapes and forms. Instant gratification, a little indulgence in alcohol and hard drugs, a little rough play with chicks, some wild parties, gambling, small fun of raiding stores, having fun with firearms, joining secret clubs, etc. They are usually described as fun, especially for the youths. Adults are not exempted, both male and female. Just a fling, have a side chick, one night stand, strike a deal, give your boss some attention, and so on. Before you know it, you are in deep and it becomes difficult to extricate yourself.

It is better not to start at all. If you are in already, find your way out today. Ask for help if necessary. Negative influencers do nothing but destroy destinies. Delilah influenced Samson and he died untimely. The Sodomites influenced Lot’s family and he lost all. Guide your good values jealously and avoid negative influencers. Don’t let them compromise you. You have a great destiny. Be a positive influencers too.

Let these words be your guide, ‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.’ –  Philippians 4:8 KJV. Stay in charge.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Our words, thoughts and actions are seeds and they always return in multiple fold. Have you observed that when you remember someone you haven’t seen for a while, you suddenly meet the person in the most unexpected place or receive a phone call from the person. Sometimes too, there may be a particular food you crave at a particular moment and you are just wishing you could have it, and all of a sudden, someone sends you a food package and there it is.

These are not mere coincidences. It is some proofs of the facts that our thoughts, words and actions eventually find expression. So you may want to be careful what you entertain as a thought, or the word you speak, or even your actions. Whatever you sow is what you will reap and it doesn’t usually come back in the same proportion. If you want to enjoy favour, sow favour. If you want to enjoy fairness, be fair. If you want to enjoy kindness, sow kindness.

Don’t worry about who rewards you. God is the ultimate rewarder and He knows how to reward you. What you give out will eventually come back to you. Watch what you are giving out in form of words, thoughts and actions. If you gossip about others, you will soon be a victim of malicious gossips. If you are fond of character assassination, yours is coming in a bigger way. We are sometimes victims of our words, thoughts and actions. So begin to check your thoughts, words and actions consciously.

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson.  It is an irrevocable law of life. What a man sows that shall he reap. Start sowing the right seeds today.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

You only live once, so live it in such a way that your vacuum will be hard to fill when you are gone. It is usually said that no one is indispensable but the truth is some are irreplaceable. Have you found people in the likes of Martin Luther King, Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi? These lived to the fullest. They gave life their very best shots. The world literally stood still when they passed on. What marks are you making? Who will miss you if you breathe your last today? If you can’t provide satisfactory answers to these questions, then you are not giving life your best shot.

You need to understand that an ordinary life does not in any way make the world better. Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. (Newton 1st law of motion). The world doesn’t move for ordinary people. It takes extraordinary people to move the world! People who impact the world don’t live ordinary lives. They are barrier breakers, record setters, mountain movers and world shakers! They are those who defy all odds to achieve their goals. They see every obstacle as a stepping stone. Mount a wall before them and they will create a door through the wall. Lock them up in cells and they use their experience to liberate millions from prison of limitations. They are simply unstoppable.

Where are you today? Are you down and counting your losses? Has life knocked you down and you are playing the blame game? It is time to get back up and give it your very best shot again. You may be down but you are not out. Make a lemonade from the lemons life is throwing at you. Build castles with the stones life is hurting at you. Don’t settle for mediocrity. Don’t ever settle for the ordinary life. Give it your best.

When you have given your best shot, win or lose, you mind will be at peace. “You find that you have peace of mind and can enjoy yourself, get more sleep, and rest when you know that it was a one hundred percent effort that you gave – win or lose.” – Gordie Howe.

So, is what/where you are now your best shot?

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Many have been sent to early graves because they entrusted their lives in relationships they did not test. Many visions have been stolen and hijacked by unfaithful friends, associates and partners. Many have been ruined financially due to undue trust in others. There are so many Delilahs and Judases out there today, so before you start trusting, test the trust.

Don’t be in a hurry to start sharing your life’s secrets with someone you hardly know because he has an angelic look. Don’t reveal your trade secret to someone who has not earned your trust. Don’t commit your resources into the hands of an untested workers. Even God does not commit resources into the hands of untested fellows.

Subject that relationship to the test of prayer, time, small assignments, and your gut feeling. Pray about the relationship before you go deeper. Allow good time to pass before taking the relationship to another level. Don’t be ruled by your emotion. Keep your senses alert. The signs are usually there, we just ignore them. Start with small resources and test their integrity and sense of responsibility. If they are not faithful in little, they can’t be faithful in much. Follow your spirit or gut feeling or your sixth sense. It is rarely wrong.

Summarily, don’t be in a hurry to speed up any relationship, subject it to all kinds of test.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

As I sat last night listening and watching dignitaries and ordinary people alike from different races, religion and creeds, making glowing tributes, eulogies, and farewell speeches about Muhammad Ali (the greatest) at his home-going ceremony, I couldn’t help crying and wishing he could hear all that was being said. I picked a few lessons from this farewell ceremony. Here are some :

Ali was from rural Kentucky, a heavily segregated part of America. He grew up in the midst of prejudice and racism. Yet he loved both black and white. He never acted out his experience in the hands of racist on anyone. He just loved humanity. Don’t let past abuses, sufferings and persecutions color your sense of love and respect for people. Forgive, Forget and Forbear.

Ali hated injustice and he fought injustice. He was asked to join the US army to fight in Vietnam. He objected saying it should be his choice, and he cannot go to fight innocent people when his people were suffering at home. His defiance of the State caused him to lose all his prized possessions, including his titles and boxing license in 1967. He was banned from the Rings and remained so for three years. This did not kill him. It only strengthened him to fight injustice the more as he used this period to make speeches while also appealing his conviction. Nothing can kill you, unless you allow it.

Ali was bold, often referred to as being brash. His sojourn into boxing started with the loss of his bicycle. He told Joe Martin (the white policeman he reported to about his stolen bicycle), that he wanted to beat up the thief who stole his bicycle. Joe Martin advised him to learn how to fight before challenging people and thus began his boxing lesson at the age of 12. Joe turned out to be his first trainer. You need boldness in life to succeed.

Ali knew and used the power of positive words to the best of his advantage. He kept singing it to the world ‘I am the greatest’ and truly he attained such greatness that remains unmatched both in and out of the Rings, even Parkinson couldn’t deny Ali of that greatness. What do you tell yourself everyday? Ali was indeed an apostle of positive confession. He confessed himself into greatness.

Ali never allowed defeat to knock him out. He suffered defeat in the hands of Larry Holmes, Joe Fraser, Michael Spinks and others. After each defeat, Ali would immediately go back to the gym and immersed himself in Training. He held the world title three times through his tenacity. He never gave up on himself, even after he was diagnosed of Parkinson disease in 1984. Ali didn’t commit suicide unlike most celebrities, as the disease took control of his body. He was in control of his mind and took to social activism, peace making and philanthropic engagements. Even Parkinson couldn’t defeat Ali, as he lived with it for 32years! So what is your excuse?

Ali was full of endurance. He had the reputation of tiring out his opponent. He could fight on for the entire 15 rounds in a boxing bout. Friend, develop your strength and stamina. Life will knock you down if you don’t have stamina.

I could go on and on. Ali made me love boxing and it remains my number one sport. He brought a lot of charisma and energy into the boxing ring. His popular words ‘float like a butterfly and sting like a bee’, became a terror to his opponents.  Ali was great indeed. Death can’t deny him of his greatness, for even in death, his greatness still speaks.

Ali’s life is a challenge to all of us. Regardless of your background, color or race, you can be great. Especially for the black race, we can rise above every primordial sentiments and excuses and achieve the greatness God has destined for us. It is time to stop the senseless bickering and power struggles. It is time to amaze the world with our gifts and talents. Nothing can stop us except we allow it. May his soul rest in peace.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!