Let me start by first saying why I believe this topic is important and deserves to be treated as a series. We all struggles with certain habits and schedules.

Personally, I struggle with things like keeping to a gym exercise, starting and finishing a book, spending less time on phone, even completing medication dosage, etc. I also believe a lot of people out there have several struggles like these, some even stronger and of more dire consequences than the ones I have mentioned.

I believe, behind all of these struggles is the deficit of the virtue of Self Discipline. So I am hoping that this series will help a lot of us to overcome some habits, weaknesses and become better persons in every area of our life.

So let us define Self Discipline and put it in proper perspective.

Self Discipline simply means ability to exercise control over oneself. In other words you can say self discipline means self control. It is the ability to exercise restrain on one’s thoughts, actions, words and attitudes, with the aim of always doing what is right.

It is the ability to do what is right even when it is not convenient to do so, or when there is no one around us to applaud or praise us for doing the right thing.

It is a very important virtue for anyone who desires to succeed in life. The absence of self discipline is behind the preponderance of many vices and ills in our society today.

As a matter of fact, the more your self discipline index, the higher your chances of succeeding in life. Successful people have mastered the art of self discipline and they use it to hone their skills or gifts till the gifts become part of them. Yes they may be born with the gifts, but without self discipline in the area of consistent practice and sharpening of the gifts, they would not get far with the gifts.

Even the Bible recognises this fact in the book of Proverbs. “He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.” Proverbs 25:28 KJV. I am sure there are similar thoughts in the Quran and other spiritual books.

It takes Self Discipline to manage wealth and retain riches. Some people cannot control their spending, no matter how much they earn, they keep getting broke and even end up in debts. “A gracious woman retaineth honour: and strong men retain riches.” Proverbs 11:16 KJV

Self Discipline is a process and not a destination, so we must be careful not to assume we will one day become fully self disciplined. It is a daily process which helps us to form better habits, better character and ultimately better destiny.

Self Discipline requires paying a lot of sacrifices, denying oneself of so many pleasures and is actually a painful process, but it yields a lot of pleasure in the long term. For example, a student who has an exam to write would have to deny himself of the fun of watching TV, staying on the internet, or playing football before the exam. He would have to invest quality time into reading, studying and attending tutorials ahead of the exams.

In essence, Self Discipline causes short term pains but results in long term gains. It is thus a game of choosing pain over gain in the present, so as to avoid pain in the future.

Self Discipline is thus very important as a subject and this is why I have taken time to lay this foundation and also why we will be spending some time dealing with this issue while setting some challenges for ourselves during the series.

In readiness for the next discussion in this series, I want you to sit down, think and write down areas where you think deficit of self discipline has been affecting you. We will set some challenges next week as we continue in the series.

Have a self disciplined week ahead. Cheers!

Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

Instagram: onadol

Twitter: @onadol2010

http://www.adewumioni.com

Good morning dear followers. Trust you had a restful weekend.

I have quite a number of things on my mind this morning, but the ones burning most are the Power of Self-Discipline and the Danger of Single Parenting.

We will start a series on each, starting with Self-Discipline next week. Please do not miss any of these series, as there will also be room for discussion and experience sharing.

Till then, have a great week.

Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

Every building has a foundation. The higher a building is, the deeper its foundation. One of the reasons why a Bamboo can grow very tall is because of the depth of its foundation.

Whatever you are building, be it career, business or marriage, ensure you get the foundation right, otherwise it will not stand the test of time. It must be built on godly values, principles and the fundamentals.

You must understand that the things that last are those things built on godly values. Values like Truth, Love, Selflessness, Integrity, Purpose. If your business is built on godly values, it will endure the test of time. If your relationship is built on truth it will last.

The Bible talks about Patriarch Abraham in Hebrews 11:10, that in his journey to the Promised Land, he kept looking out for a city with foundations and whose builder is God. “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Before you go into any relationship, whether business or marital, check the foundation of the would-be partner. Who is his/her builder? What values does he/she hold dear? If the foundation is deceit, falsehood, abuse, troubled childhood, material things, I am afraid you might have no future with the person because his or her future is not even assured.

Don’t build anything on falsehood, it will collapse sooner or later. Don’t shed blood for power, position or wealth, you will pay for it later with your blood or that of your loved ones. Don’t lay a faulty foundation, whatever you built on a faulty foundation will crack sooner or later.

Give your children or wards the right foundation. Train them up in the right way so they will not become a burden on you and the society.

Always check the foundation. Do background check. Google for more information. Pray about it. Watch it for a while. You will save yourself a lot of heartache doing so. Always look for people or relationships whose builder and maker is God.

Have a great day and week ahead.

Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

http://www.adewumioni.com

As we round up on sharing the nuggets from the Unleash the Giants Seminar themed “Thinking Beyond the Now”, we will look at the session led by Mr Owen Arasomwan titled “Strategic Thinking for Personal & Business Growth.”

He started with a quote from James Cash Penny which says “Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.” He stressed the fact that growth requires deliberate and conscious efforts.

According to him, business growth takes time, focus and vision. Three major factors influencing growth are Strategy, Entrepreneur and Firm.

“Business can never grow beyond the entrepreneur’s vision, the firm organization and the strategies employed.” – Owen Arasomwan.

Linking this to personal growth, he said ‘your vision, goals and mission determine who you become…’

Clarify your vision by;

– Thinking Big: believe in yourself, people and God.

– Thinking Entrepreneurially: develop capacity to manage change, ability to handle risk and capacity for continuous learning.

– Thinking Globally: adopt global standards to your business.

– Thinking Investment: have an investment mentality. Don’t play for the short term.

– Thinking Execution: knowing without doing is a waste of time and mental energy. Action speaks louder than words always.

So that brings us to the end of this series.

Thanks to the Guest Speakers, Honourable Olajide Olatunbosun, Mr Kelvin Otung and Mr Owen Arasomwan. And to my followers and readers who have been following this series, thank you and hope to see you at the next seminar in September.

Good morning and have a great week.

Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

http://www.adewumioni.com

Still distilling the nuggets from the last ‘Unleash the Giants’ Seminar. In the session led by Mr Kelvin Otung with the topic “Managing Your Mind for Success”, he explored three areas;

1. Defining Success

2. Understanding the Mind

3. Managing the Mind

Success means different things to different people. For some it is material acquisition. For some it is how high you climb on the career ladder. He however warned that if you have to make huge trade offs to achieve any of these, then that is not success. In his words, “if you are making tons of money but are still unhappy, you haven’t embraced the fact that incredibly successful businesses often carry a heavy personal price.”

So find what makes you happy and impacts more people. Finding what motivates you is the first step to success.

He defined the Mind as the Seat of Consciousness. Man is made up of the Spirit (infinite personality – subconscious realm), the Soul or Mind (invisible personality – conscious realm) and the Body (physical personality – experiential realm).

Understanding every part of our being and gaining mastery by bringing to balance our physical and spiritual experiences in our realm of consciousness gives us the power to rule our world and become successful.

The Mind is made up of three components, Will, Emotions and Intellect. Of these three, Emotion is the most powerful and your success depends on the mastery of your emotion.

According to him, managing your mind requires some emotional intelligence with four basic domains; self awareness, social awareness, self management and relationship management.

He warned of mind’s greatest distraction, Pleasure. The fear of the past and the uncertainty of the future are known to be the drivers of the minds instability; however the real distraction of the mind is pleasure.

He concluded that being able to persuade the mind to do things that are right even if they do not give us feelings of pleasure, is the way forward.

So start paying attention to your definition of success, your mind, your emotions and how you manage your emotions. We will round up this distillation process next week.

Good morning and have a great week.

Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

http://www.adewumioni.com

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/adewumi.oni

Twitter: onadol2010

Great morning to you readers. Trust your weekend went well. Remember we get what we put into life.

In continuation of nuggets from the last ‘Unleash the Giants’ seminar. I will be sharing nuggets from my session.

We started by discussing Lord Luggard’s description of Nigerians in his books ‘The Dual Mandate’ published in 1926 and how it sadly still aptly fits us 92 years after. Some of the excerpts are:

“In character and temperament, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless, excitable person. Lacking in self control, discipline, and foresight…”

“His thoughts are concentrated on the events and feelings of the moment, and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future, or grief for the past…”

“He lacks the power of organization, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business. He loves the display of power, but fails to realize its responsibility …”

We then proceeded to discuss some of the thought processes or mentalities responsible for this. These are:

1. Consumption Mentality: This is a Esau Mentality. Consuming rather Conserving. Common with individuals and in government.

2. Entitlement Mentality: The Prodigal Son Mentality. Focusing on the benefits, perks and privileges that come with positions or offices without actually adding value to the position or office.

3. Immediate Gratification Mentality: Craves for immediate satisfaction of desires even if it will be harmful.

4. Win the Battle Mentality: Focusing on fighting small battles and losing focus on the war. This thinking pattern favors small gains rather than focusing on the greater picture. Jostling for jobs or contracts that take you off your core areas of strengths.

5. Winner Takes All Mentality: This is a zero sum mentality. ‘I win you lose kind’ of approach. This thinking pattern is responsible for some of the inconsistencies and discontinuity in government policies once there is a change in political party.

So we need to start examining ourselves to see which of these apply to us and how we can begin to work on ourselves.

Nigeria can be great again if we all work on ourselves individually. We will continue the distillation of nuggets from the ‘Unleash the Giants’ seminar next week.

Good morning and have a great week.

Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

http://www.adewumioni.com

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/adewumi.oni

Twitter: onadol2010

Great morning to you readers. Trust your weekend went well. Remember we get what we put into life.

In continuation of nuggets from the last ‘Unleash the Giants’ seminar. I will be sharing nuggets from my session.

We started by discussing Lord Luggard’s description of Nigerians in his books ‘The Dual Mandate’ published in 1926 and how it sadly still aptly fits us 92 years after. Some of the excerpts are:

“In character and temperament, the typical African of this race-type is a happy, thriftless, excitable person. Lacking in self control, discipline, and foresight…”

“His thoughts are concentrated on the events and feelings of the moment, and he suffers little from the apprehension for the future, or grief for the past…”

“He lacks the power of organization, and is conspicuously deficient in the management and control alike of men or business. He loves the display of power, but fails to realize its responsibility …”

We then proceeded to discuss some of the thought processes or mentalities responsible for this. These are:

1. Consumption Mentality: This is a Esau Mentality. Consuming rather Conserving. Common with individuals and in government.

2. Entitlement Mentality: The Prodigal Son Mentality. Focusing on the benefits, perks and privileges that come with positions or offices without actually adding value to the position or office.

3. Immediate Gratification Mentality: Craves for immediate satisfaction of desires even if it will be harmful.

4. Win the Battle Mentality: Focusing on fighting small battles and losing focus on the war. This thinking pattern favors small gains rather than focusing on the greater picture. Jostling for jobs or contracts that take you off your core areas of strengths.

5. Winner Takes All Mentality: This is a zero sum mentality. ‘I win you lose kind’ of approach. This thinking pattern is responsible for some of the inconsistencies and discontinuity in government policies once there is a change in political party.

So we need to start examining ourselves to see which of these apply to us and how we can begin to work on ourselves.

Nigeria can be great again if we all work on ourselves individually. We will continue the distillation of nuggets from the ‘Unleash the Giants’ seminar next week.

Good morning and have a great week.

Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

http://www.adewumioni.com

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/adewumi.oni

Twitter: onadol2010

We had a great session on Saturday at the Unleash the Giants Seminar, and we were privileged to have a member of the House of Representatives speak to us. He spoke about “Leading the Change for Next Generation”.

Key points in his presentation are:

1. Be a leader within your own sphere of influence. Being a leader means having influence on those around you, and not just any influence but positive influence. This can be achieved by being very good at what you do.

To summarise his presentation, there are three things necessary for a leader and the next generation. Vision, Capacity and Character. With references to the Bible, he pointed out that without a clear vision of where you are going, you will end up nowhere. You must have a mental image of where you are going and plans on how to get there.

Also, he emphasised having capacity, being skilled at what you do. The world is in dire need of skilled people.

And to cap it character is key, especially in the age where we seem to have thrown morals to the wind. We need to have the fear of God, hate deceit, imbibe the spirit of fairness and justice.

We cannot continue to build systems and structures on wrong values and hope to move forward as a people or nation. To save this generation and future generation, we must come together as a people with a common vision, develop our various capacities and restore those values our forefathers were known for.

The more of the likes of Honorable Olajide Olatunbosun we have in the National Assembly and government generally, the better for the nation and the world. Thank you for taking time out to speak to us Sir.

We will look at nuggets from the other facilitators in the course of the week.

Have a great week.

Adewumi Oni

08028395824

09095321147

wumioni@yahoo.com

http://www.adewumioni.com

Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/adewumi.oni

Twitter: onadol2010