Michael Botu's Blog

COUNT DOWN TO 2019: TAKE RESPONSIBILITY One sure step to getting ahead in any field of endeavor in Life is by taking responsibility for all your actions. Not blaming anyone or any institution. The inexcusable attitude of the present administration in Nigeria in casting aspersions on the previous administration whenever things are not working is wrong and must be condemned by all. An official of this administration had the guts to say more people were killed under the previous administration than they are being slaughtered in the present. To the APC governance is a game, Hunger Game. Sad! “A self absorbed person only can see the faults of others but they are often color blind to their own” While the APC may get away with that attitude, it won’t be so in your individual life. Take Responsibility for your actions. 

THE ENTREPRENEUR AS A COACH: Building an organization is building a team, a fact lost on many entrepreneurs.  “Teamwork – cooperative or combined effort of a group of persons working together as a team for a common cause.” Until you succeed in building a team, you are merely going through the motions of running a business that will ultimately crash and sooner or later, it will show.  How do you build a Team?

YOU WON’T TAKE EXCUSE TO THE BANK Unlike a certain political party that’s taking excuses for campaign, as an entrepreneur, you can’t take excuse to the bank The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China to protect the Chinese states and empires against raids and invasions of the various nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe with an eye to expansion. (Wikipedia) The Wall had been breached several times. How? The enemy did not try to scale wall, each time they bribed the guards. You see the Chinese like many an entrepreneur failed in building the people while they built the City.

DON’T BE SO NEGATIVE ABOUT TRAINING! “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young” ~ Henry Ford Was privileged to watch a Football March involving Nigeria with an Entrepreneur and his remark at the end of the march struck me as instructive to all Business People. He said “observing them play, you can tell, they have not trained together for long” Now I ask you “Is Training necessary for peak performance in Sports? If yes? Why not apply same to your Business?

FINISHING STRONG: May our Preparation meet with the Right Opportunity at the Right Time, and Make all the difference in our endeavors!

WHAT IS THE TRAJECTORY OF YOUR STAFF CAREER? One motivating factor in the work place is the prospect of growth. Life is all about the need for physical, emotional, intellectual and Spiritual Growth. One thing that is true of all Humans is that in order to survive, we must grow because anyone that is not growing Stagnates and ultimately dies.

DO YOU HAVE A BUDGET FOR TRAINING? The year is coming to an end, smart entrepreneurs are already planning for the year ahead or fine tuning their projections. Talking to an entrepreneur recently, it dawned on me that many entrepreneurs do not have a Projection for the coming year and don’t even consider training as crucial to budget for. Someone defined madness as doing the same thing over and over again but expecting to get a different result. Break the circle. Do your projection for the coming year and above all have a sizeable budget for training.

" When you know you are ignorant in a subject, start educating yourself by finding an expert in the field or a book on the subject."  ~ Robert Toru Kiyosaki  in today's World there is no room for assumption, you must have the relevant knowledge to succeed in any endeavor, copy and paste won't get you far either. We have entrepreneurs who have never read a book on entrepreneurship, Ministers of the Gospel that won't invest on increasing their Knowledge base and because height is a function of depth, how high your Business or Ministry fliers is a function of the depth of knowledge you have.

LOOK FOR THE GOOD IN EVERY SITUATION: Spoke with a very influential Woman today and what she said brought one of Napoleon Hill’s quotes to life. She said, years back, she was transferred to a Secondary School that was a little bigger than the one she was presiding over then and she was all excited, looking forward to the transfer, when another Principal with Government connection took the position. She recounted her bitterness and anger, little did she know God was up to something. She was later transferred to a much bigger and Boarding School. She concluded that, the contacts she made in that school took her to where she is today!

PRACTICE POSITIVE SELF TALK “80% of people keep their feelings to themselves because they believe it’s hard for others to understand their pain.” Staggering statistics; I read the story of a young man who literally gave a breakdown of his last day on earth in social media from his last meal to the moment he took a plunge into the river to end it all.  In recent times, incidences of suicide has increased dramatically. Nigerians that are generally easy going and happy are now taking their own lives. we  have heard of even people who appeared successful outside making suicide dives at the third mainland bridge. People with pains, probably no one around cared to listen.

OVERCOMING EMOTIONAL PAIN There is this theory that; “ Emotional pain only last 12minutes, anything else is self inflected” Now we can debate the validity of that theory till eternity. However, The fact remains that many of us are suffering from self inflicted wounds. We are ruminants of pain as we continue to play the scenes over and over again until it becomes a festering wound that won’t heal.

“Because it’s totally un – Islamic” “Because you abuse hearts and minds” “Because you have no compassion” #NotInMyName  At the height of the ISIS pogrom, many Muslims around the world denounced their atrocities and a movement of some sort was born "Not In My Name." Today ISIS is almost History and all those who added their names to that protest can look back with satisfaction and say "I played a small part in ending the menace that was ISIS."

THE AGE OF THE MACHINES ARE UPON US! “Up to 800 million global workers will lose their jobs by 2030 and be replaced by robotic automation” ~ Consultancy Report Nov. 29, 2017 STANBIC IBTC MAKES HISTORY, DEPLOYS ROBOTS IN BANKING OPERATIONS: I have in the past few Months been speaking in different forums and every available opportunity on the need for us think entrepreneurship.

DEAR POLITICIAN: BE THE LEADER YOU SWORE TO BE! WHO IS A LEADER?  “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” ~ John Quincy Adams A good leader is a trailblazer, leading the way for others to follow. When you Inspire your followers to reach higher, Dream Bigger and achieve great things, You qualify to be called a Great Leader.  Has President Mohammadu Buhari and the APC been Inspirational in Leading this Nation? Analyst are of the opinion that PMB and APC failed in providing the needed leadership but are also doing a lot of damage to the psyche of future leaders. Any politician that fail to deliver on their electoral promises can blame the previous administration and it will suffice as performance. A State Governor who fails to pay salaries like Ogbeni  Rauf Aregbesola is an achiever. How? Blame GEJ for his inability to provide quality leadership in Osun State, earn the applause of the Party and even be allowed t

DON'T BE THE SMARTEST ONE IN THE ROOM “Wisdom is knowing that every single person that you meet knows more about something than you do. 

Petroleum Trust Fraud By Ray Ekpu 05 June 2018   |   THE GUARDIAN It is not known to this column how close Brigadier Sani Abacha was to Major General Muhammadu Buhari by December 1983. It was Abacha who announced at the end of a few minutes of martial music on new year’s eve that the government of President Shehu Shagari had been thrown into the dust bin of history. Buhari became the fulcrum of that history as Nigeria’s head of state. On August 27, 1985, there was another game, the Revolving Doors’ game. Buhari was out, thrown out, while Ibrahim Babangida, was in, thrown into the pinnacle of political power in Nigeria. Babangida clamped Buhari into the dungeon for some months where he cooled his feet, while his colleagues were bestriding the Nigerian political and military firmament like they owned the world. Babangida left or was forced to leave the throne after eight years of dangerous foot work. He called Chief Ernest Shonekan, a successful private sector entrepreneur, to com

A PRESIDENCY OF LIES? “ Tricks and treachery are the practice of fools, that don’t have brains to be honest” ~ Benjamin Franklin The All Progressive Congress APC came into office promising to do so much that any one who supports the Peoples Democratic Party PDP back in 2015 were considered enemies of the State. From strengthening the Naira against the dollar, to the provision of Steady power in as little as Six Months to winning the war against insurgents in the North to reducing the pump price of petrol and the list is endless.

OSUN RERUN: A RECURRING DECIMAL 1 "Power is okay, and stupidity is usually harmless. Power and stupidity together are dangerous" ~ Patrick Rothfuss Osun State was created out of the old Oyo State August 27, 1991. The State Known as the “Land of Virtue” has had a number of Military Administrators and Governors. The current being Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola  We concluded the last treatise with the assertion by my friend that Former President Jonathan prevented Rauf Aregbesola from collecting loans from the World Bank hence his resolve to source for loans locally to finance infrastructural development resulting in his inability to pay salaries. This logic while its OK for market women discussion, does not hold water. Governors are essentially managers of resources -  Man, Money and Materials. That a father took loans to pay school fees, and is therefore subjecting his children to starvation does not make sense. The Governor himself said; his inabili

OSUN RERUN: A RECURRING DECIMAL “I remain just one thing, and one thing only, a Clown. It places me on a far higher plane than  any politician.” ~ Charlie Chaplin When I dropped the piece “OSUN: IN SEARCH OF A GOOD MAN” it prompted a robust political dialogue with some bright minds who are supporters of the ruling APC. They are of the opinion that the People of Osun State made the right decision in the rerun not minding, the process was marred by massive voter intimidation and violence as long as the result is favorable. Our people have a saying that “Whenever two people eat together, the person that had bone will remember the meal long after the person that had flesh had forgotten” PDP will not forget Osun in a hurry.

OSUN: IN SEARCH OF A GOOD MAN??? If anything, the Osun gubernatorial rerun election have shown that we far from Democracy as the world understands Democracy. Even the declared winner was not convinced he won clean and square and to add insult to injury, supposed neutral election observers became partisan singing the praises of the Electoral body, and going ahead to  threaten  hell if anyone dare ask for it’s Chairman and Commissioners to be replaced. This is Nigeria! If your hopes are tied to the expected outcome of the 2019 General Elections, then think again. The times we are in are dangerous times. Under this administration, we’ve had someone claim killings in certain parts of the Country were reprisal attacks for Cows killed – equating human life with that of a Cow, not only is that man walking the streets a free, the seat of power encourages him to do more saying “More people were killed in the previous administration than the present” they however did not specify how

WHY??? “There are two great days in a person’s life – the day we are born and the day we discover why.” ~ William Barclay Why are you in Politics? Why not put that to a Politician around you? Follow that up with, what political ideology does he or she represents; Leftist, Right wing, or centrist? That’s a very tall order in today’s political landscape where as Gore Vidal puts it; “Today’s Public figures can no longer write their own speechless or books, and there is some evidence that they can’t read them either”

THAT CAMPAIGNS WILL NOT CONTINUE TO BE A SEASON OF SWEET NOTHINGS: “It’s so unfortunate that in 58 years of Nationhood, our campaign slogans are relatively the same” ~ Michael Botu Good Roads, Functional Health Delivery System, Steady Power Supply, Affordable Houses and Food, Quality Education, Portable, Safe and Clean Drinking Water and Security of lives and Property are the basic expectations of majority of Nigerians from the Political Class. Now in all sincerity, does it take rocket science to fix roads that major roads across the Country are in a state of disrepair? Why is it difficult for successive Governments to break the jinx and achieve steady power supply? Why are our Hospitals still mere consulting centers?

ACCUMULATION DOES NOT TRANSLATE TO RELEVANCE: “Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”” ~ Jesus Christ (Luke 12:15 MSG) We have heard the saying that “Life is as simple as ABC” to many a Politician the ABC of Life is; A – Acquire, B – Acquire, C – Acquire No Sir, The ABC of life is; A – Service, B – Service, C – Service A- Service to God B- Service to your Family C- Service to Humanity. 

MAINTAIN A HEALTHY TRIANGLE! WHO ARE YOU GROOMING? “In learning you will teach, in teaching you will learn” ~ Phil Collins We earlier stated that everyone around you is a potential Leader, others have to succeed to make you a complete success. Now that’s a tall order for a class of people whose only symbol of importance is the number of persons who eats crumbs from their table. Groom you must, if you will not end your political career as a failure. Success is measured by how many people are in Positions of Leadership because of your direct influence. This Healthy Triangle concept is drawn from the life of Apostle Paul whose atrocities against the Church was so grave many doubted his Conversion. It took the Mentoring of Barnabas to get him accepted by the Disciples. Later Paul developed Friendship with Silas and went on several Missionary Journeys with him. And the Apostle Paul was mentoring the Young Timothy, completing the Triangle.

MAINTAIN A HEALTHY TRIANGLE! DO YOU HAVE GOOD FRIENDS? Success they say has many fathers, but failure is an orphan. Your success attracts many to you as a politician, the good, the bad and the ugly. How do you weed off the fake from the real is your first task as You seek to build a legacy. A true friend should be the one who can disagree with you and not be afraid to express it. It was George Bernard Shaw who said “He knows nothing; and he thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.” Politicians over the years have proved George Bernard Shaw wrong. You too can. The key is to remain grounded, don’t be the smartest one in the room, admit when you are wrong and make adjustments. Remember not everyone around you are real friends, avoid the yes men who are only attracted by the opulence of office and the opportunity to ride on your back to their meal ticket and won’t be there when that is no longer available.

MAINTAIN A HEALTHY TRIANGLE! This is not the Health Triangle, where we are encouraged to maintain a triangular health balance Physical, Mental and Social. Yes that is important but this is my own coinage from the concept of having a triangular relationship that keeps you in check always. A wise man once said; everyone of us need three people in our lives; someone we learn from and look up to, someone we share with and someone we mentor. It’s a Healthy triangle we all need but much more the politician.  We are in the age of sycophancy – where men having itchy ears are told what they like to hear and not the truth. In the workplace and even places of worship. The trend is rampant and looks unstoppable because many of us miss the balance. One of King Solomon’s greatest undoing was that everyone came to learn from him, but Solomon had no one to learn from - his divine connection gave him access to unusual wisdom from Nature and his surrounding, but when that access was

EVERYONE AROUND YOU IS A POTENTIAL LEADER! “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." ~ John Quincy Adams 6th US President Somebody humorously said “If you are political thug, tell your Boss, you want to marry his daughter, his response will let you know where you stand” so true. Where in the world did we get this idea that being a Politician’s Thug is an occupation? So you have served this man for 8years or more and all you have to show for your miserable life is the clothes on your back, a roof over your head and if you are lucky a car. Your life typifies an NFA – No Future Ambition. But the blame rest squarely on the shoulders of the Politician who do not see the need to develop the leaders around him- his immediate followers. Their neglect mirrors the neglect of the masses that they swore on oat to serve. It must not be send them to school, your boys should not remain boys forev

WHAT WILL YOU BE REMEMBERED FOR? “Live the way you want to be remembered” ~ purehappylife.com Perhaps it has not crossed your mind, perhaps you have not given it serious thought, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps. Life is transient is obvious, position much more, but many politicians carry on like they have a remote control for life and death and are too busy acquiring wealth and possessions to be concerned about legacy. But you have to, you must begin to think about what you will be remembered for? Nehemiah said “Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.” ~ Nehemiah 5:19 MEV Unfortunately, most of the things we labor for – The Houses, Exotic Cars, Trips abroad etc do not count as legacy. You see you’ve been laboring for the wrong things and for the wrong reasons perhaps. Chief Obafemi Jeremiah Oyeniyi Awolowo GCFR (6 March 1909 – 9 May 1987) as a politician is not remembered for his personal possession but for what he did for his peo

CAMPAIGNS SHOULD NOT END WITH ELECTORAL VICTORY!  “Communication  – is the key to personal and career success." ~ Paul J. Meyer Every successful politician in History mastered the art of Communication.  Our people have a saying; “When you are feeding the blind, you don’t stop talking." Of all disappointments silence is the worst a Wise Man said. Electoral victory should not send the politician to information slumber, only for him or her to try to make the corpse walk another election year. Our age is not called the information age for nothing. We have over 93 Million Nigerians with access to the internet, what are you as a politician doing  to leverage on that?

FINDING A BALANCE: STATESMAN AND POLITICIAN! “The Internet is changing all forms of communication and this definitely includes political communication” ~ Theresa May Communication ; the imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. This very vital aspect of human existence is largely neglected by many a politician. 2011 former President Goodluck Jonathan utilized social media for his campaigns reaching many young minds with his breath of “Fresh Air” message and won that election. Fast forward to 2015, an amalgamation of politicians lead by the quintessential politician Ahmed Bola Tinubu at least in the eyes of the public (The History of Nigeria is replete with conspiracy theories) convinced a tired and retired Mohammadu Buhari to come out of double retirement to complete the corruption war from where he left off in 1985.

NEGLECT THE PEOPLE, EMBRACE THE BACKERS. “When I took office, Liberia began to recover from years of neglect” ~ Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 24th President of Liberia 2006 to 2018 First elected female Head of State in Africa. Talk about “Anything a man can do, a woman can do better” Can our politicians say this in all sincerity? Almost twenty years of unbroken democratic rule, major roads in the Country are largely in a state of disrepair and are deathtraps as every household continue to be an LGA unto itself, providing its own Power, Water and Security. To add insult to injury, the Party that came with the Change Mantra expended their energy, time and resources on blaming the previous administration, so much so that they forgot to equip the Clinic in the Villa, forcing the Number one citizen to against his long held integrity seek medical vacation outside the Country. And no thanks to GEJ all the funds meant for Fumigation of the Villa were diverted allowing rats to infest

"More business is lost every year through neglect than through any other cause." ~ Rose Kennedy In other words, More and more Politicians loss Elections, every election year through neglect than through any other cause.

World remembers Leah Sharibu as Nigerian government feigns ignorance: It’s been 200 days since Leah Sharibu was kidnapped by Boko Haram fighters, alongside one hundred and nine other girls from their school in Dapchi, Yobe State, North East, Nigeria, on February 19, 2018. One month later, 104 of the girls were released, five had died, but only Leah remains in captivity because she refused to convert to Islam. On Thursday, in faraway London, United Kingdom, there were protests at the Nigerian Embassy, organised largely by non-Nigerians  – an advocacy group called Church World Service (CWS) – to put pressure on the Nigerian government to intensify actions to get the kidnapped girl out. However, while the protest was all over the social media (Leah Sharibu trended on Twitter all Thursday), no mention of the development was made by officials of the Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government. The Buhari administration maintains a robust presence on the social media. Asides having

HELPING THE NEEDY IS DOING THE RIGHT THING! 'You will never go without if you give to the poor. But if you’re heartless, stingy, and selfish, you invite curses upon yourself." ~ Proverbs 28:27 TPT A Few years back, I was in the company of some friends along Airport Road in Warri drinking and having what we termed good time,  when a gentleman approached our table and whispered in the ears of one us that he has not had any food to eat for about two days if we can help. We were touched and everyone in the table reached to their pockets and gave him as much as each could spare But that singular encounter got us thinking; How many people go to Bed each night on empty stomachs? How many are in Orphanage homes hungry for food and essentially love? How many drop out of school because their parents can't afford school fees? Questions & more questions That encounter gave birth to an Organization called Frendzwitoutborders, a non profit organization committed

"The two most powerful warriors are Patience and Time." ~ Leo Tolstoy That the Oga at the Top saga came to an end without him losing his life or job is prove that time heals all wounds and that no matter how bad the situation may be now, it has come to pass.

To Take The Lead, You Must Read! “Until I feared I would loose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” ~ Harper Lee What you don't know is robbing you. To make it worse you can never know what you are missing by what you don’t know. A wise man once said “There are no Mountains anywhere, every man’s ignorance is his Mountain”  the Holy Scriptures say “My People are destroyed for lack of knowledge” The tactics of The Mafia Manager are only relevant for the industrial age? In the age of the industrial revolution, all you need is for the worker to show up in the industry and operate machine in automated manner and produce predicted results. We are now in the information age where the worker does not only need to show up, he also needs to show up happy to be absolutely productive. Please do away with the 48 Laws of power, the market place has changed long ago and only those reinventing themselves remain a class act in the market. To earn your lion&

Dear Entrepreneur, do you love your Employees? Great Customer Service begins with great Employee Service. “In real life, the most Practical advice for Leaders is not to treat  Pawns like Pawns, Nor Princes like Princes, But all Persons like Persons.” ~  James MacGregor Burns You can’t possibly treat your staff as Pawns and expect them to threat the Customers as King. Value responds to Value. Your Service Personnel are your ambassadors and as Kate Zabriskie puts it “The Customers perception is your reality.”  Customers will love a company that loves its employees first. Love is contagious, you can’t fake it. “If you’re not serving the customer, your job is to be serving someone who is. ~ Jan Carlzon

“ Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.” ~ Mark Twain What is kindness? “Kindness is having or showing a gentle nature and a desire to help others: wanting and liking to do good things and to bring happiness to others.” ~ Merriam-Webster Dictionary When to be Kind: When you win, be kind. When you are ignored, be kind. When you are stuck, be kind. When you are upset, be kind. When disappointed, be kind. When you are in doubt, be kind. When you are scared, be kind.

“All men had been given time, But only few men know its Value.” ~ Sunday Adelaja “Time is the indefinite continued progress of existence and events that occur in apparently irreversible succession from the past through the present to the future” ~ Wikipedia The point to note is that time is irreversible and no one is disadvantaged when it comes to time, we all have 24 hours daily. The question is; are you investing or wasting your time and that of others? No one displays disregard for time like a Nigerian big man. A ministry in Delta State recently called a meeting, inviting stakeholders from different parts of the State and stated the time the meeting was to commence. The Hall was filled to capacity at the appointed time but the people who called for the meeting where no where near the hall even though the meeting was held in their office. The Chairman of the ministry a man with a reputation to have studied in the UK, came into the venue of the meeting like an emperor an

The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines Value as “To think that (someone or something) is important or useful.” This is our working definition for these series. A wise man once said “Value attracts Value” How you value something or someone determines how you relate with that person or how you put that thing to use. Our working definition also suggest value is based on mindset, which is a function of the amount of information at your disposal about the person or thing Sean Buranahiran told a moving story of a boy who went to his father to know the Value of his life. The father handed him a stone and asked him to take it to the market, he instructed him, if anyone asked the price, don’t say anything, just raise 2 fingers. The boy went to the market and a woman was interested in buying the stone for her garden and asked the boy for the price, the boy did not say anything, but raised 2 fingers. The woman said $2? I will take it. The boy went to his father and said a woman wants t

A pathetic story is recorded in St. John’s Gospel Chapter 5 from verse one to eighteen about a man who had been in the same spot for THIRTY – EIGHT long years; he was so accustomed to his way of thinking, so much so that when solution stared him in the face he did not recognize it. Our Lord Jesus Christ asked him; “Do you want to become well?” ~ John 5;6b {LEB}  “The sick man answered, “Sir, there is no one to help me get into the water………” ~ John 5:7a {ERV} King James Translation says “I have no man …” that seems to be the excuse of many, I have no man. My uncle refuses to help me, My parents did not send me to school, My Brother is rich but he won't help me, Ask yourself, who helped them? Over 95% of success stories are that of men and women who weathered the odds persevered and emerged champions in their chosen careers.  The stories abound in almost all industries and fields, if they made it, you too can. YOU HAVE NO EXCUSE and as Revd. Blessing Noah Oghelie pu

“What is a college? An Institute of learning. What is Business? An Institute of learning. Life, itself, is an Institute of learning.” ~ Thomas Edison The beauty of life is in our ability to learn and unlearn. From the Stone Age to the Jet Age, man’s quest to improve himself, better his environment and contribute meaningfully to society had led to the massive changes we have seen. But it takes doing the right work which is hard work. The list; 1) INSPIRING: To Inspire means to “Make (Someone) want to do something or to cause (something) to happen.” When you inspire someone, you touch them inside and connects them to a state of being more excited, productive, and purposeful. Can you say you have inspired others? Its hard work. 2) LEARNING: To learn is “to gain knowledge or skill by studying, practicing, being taught, or experiencing something” and if we agree with Marian Wright Edelman that “Education is for improving the lives of others and for leaving your communit

Here is a list of some Easy Work that many of us are so accustomed to doing that breaking the circle may be tough. But break it, we must. 1) COMPLAINING: Benjamin Franklin said “Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain and most fools do.” The time spent complaining, can be channeled to doing something about the situation. “You don’t like where you are, move you are not a tree” 2) BLAMING: Dwight D. Eisenhower Said “The search for a scapegoat is the easiest of all human expeditions” when you blame you end up loosing the courage and determination to do anything about the situation. Except you are a member of the ruling APC don’t ever be tempted to blame others, rather take responsibility. 3) DOUBTING: In the words of Bertrand Russell “The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt” A wise man once said “Feed your faith, starve your doubt’s”

What are affirmations? The Merriam Webster Dictionary defines affirmation as “The action or process of affirming something.” “Emotional Support or encouragement”

“You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time” ~ M. Scott Peck When you are fiddling with that phone when someone is talking to you, you are not listening and  nothing is as frustrating as trying to communicate with someone that is preoccupied. Listening is an art that everyone of us must learn. As Bernard Baruch points out “Most of the Successful people I’ve known are the ones who do more listening than talking” We should not only pretend to listen but genuinely listen. “Most People do not listen with the intent to understand, they listen with the intentions to reply” ~ Stephen R. Covey and that’s where communication breakdown starts especially in marriages. Here is a list of 7 ways to improve your listening skills I got from Vala Afshar’s twitter handle that will set you off on the Path to becoming a better and effective listener.

This is the account of one of the Servants given Talents; “The servant given one thousand said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’ Matthew 25:24‭-‬25 MSG‬ Fear, that unpleasant emotion that holds many back from attempting anything meaningful in their lives. Napoleon Hill listed seven basic types of fear, we must master if we hope to achieve major success in any endeavor. They are; 1) Fear of Poverty 2) Fear of Criticism 3) Fear of ill Health 4) Fear of the loss of Love 5) Fear of the loss of Liberty 6) Fear of Old Age 7) Fear of Death God’s Word declares; “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 KJV

“Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life; everyone must carry out a concrete assignment that demands fulfilment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus everyone task is unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it.” ~ Viktor E. Frankl It’s worth repeating that no human being is born a mistake, the circumstance of your birth not withstanding and that you have an assignment to fulfill on the earth.

It's hard to believe eight years have rolled by since we lost the most accepted President in our Nations History. I was going through some unpublished works and came across this one and can't help but share it as we march towards 2019. THE ARTICLE: Whenever my income permits, I buy and read Newspapers. In time I have come to see many media personalities as role models, the list is endless; Dr. Reuben Abati, whom I have followed from his days in the then weekend classique, published by MEE (may her gentle soul continue to rest  in peace), Prof. G. G. Darrah the pen militant from the Niger Delta, who is now in the Academics, Edwin Madunagu, Femi Fani Kayode, Segun Adeniyi, Sonala Olumhense, oweilakemefa of Vanguard, levi Obiojiofor to mention but a few, the list indeed is endless. I love to write but I do not posses the writing skills of my media icons. After reading Msgr. Matthew Hassan Kukah's piece  on Late President Yar’adua and that of Segun Adeniyi am forced

Perseverance : “The Quality that allows someone to continue trying to do something even though it is difficult” That’s what I call the staying power. It was the driving force that propelled Colonel Sanders to keep knocking  on door after door with 1009 rejections before he got a Yes. 1009 No! He did not dispair, he did not give up! If he did there will be no KFC today.

It’s very unlikely that anyone ventures into the murky world of entrepreneurship with the intention to fail. But failure is the lot of many Businesses. The Statistics are frightening to say the least; 20 % of small businesses fail in the first year, 30% of small businesses fail in their second year, and 50% of small businesses fail after five years in business. Finally 30% of small business owners will survive their 10th year in business.