The List

Ok, so this is a piece I wrote a while ago in remembrance of my Aunt. She was my guardian throughout secondary school and was fondly called Aunty Bundle! I credit my love of books, research, and curiosity to learn and improve to her. I still can't help laughing at how boarding school in Nigeria was back then. It's still such a poignant piece and I keep learning from it each time I read it. I hope you will too! 

It was the end of mid-term break and I was ready to take back lots of wonderful goodies to boarding school as was the norm, at least before now.

I stood slightly behind the chair in which she sat, her huge and imposing structure well contained in her favourite chair. It was the one just by the front door with a view of the balcony full of beautiful greens and the road just beyond that. I stood to her left wondering what I was doing there and why my box of provisions wasn’t already packed and ready for me to leave in a few days. She held in her hand what appeared to be my provisions list and I was still perplexed as to the reason for my presence. Then it began:

Failure is Necessary

I remember when I was interviewing for an Analyst position in a Consulting firm many moons ago. One question I remember being asked was what I thought about failure.

At first I thought okay, is this a trick question? I am supposed to say failure is bad right? I couldn't decide what answer wouldn't sound phony so I just gave an honest one. 'Failure is necessary', I said.

He stopped taking notes and looked at me for a few seconds, then with more conviction and looking him straight in the eye, I said again, 'Failure is necessary because it's what makes you who you are. You can't say you have grown if you have never failed at anything'.

5 Business Lessons from 'His Way'.

I saw the documentary, 'His Way', highlighting the life of one of Hollywood’s top producers Jerry Weintraub. I honestly just stumbled on the program and was about to flip to something else when I saw an excerpt of Frank Sinatra singing 'My Way'. to a packed house and receiving a standing ovation. Then I heard about how Mr Weintraub had gone on to manage the music careers and booking management of top stars of the time like Elvis, The Carpenters, John Denver, Led Zeppelin and a host of others. 

I went. ‘Ok, that’s great. The guy is good at promoting artists, he did a good job’.

Tell me you didn't smile at the end of this!

Ok so I found this incredible video on YouTube that I have watched over and over and over again. There's just something so pure, unpretentious and rich about this flash mob performance which has become hugely popular recently. It's no wonder it has recorded over 37 million hits since it was first recorded in November of 2010. It's a classic! Just goes to show that in all the hustle and bustle of life, we all still know deep down what is important, even if we refuse to acknowledge it.

'It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow'. (1Cor 3:7 MSG) Enjoy!

Get Up!!!

Just a l'il something to get you revved up and stay fighting. It's hard but it's worth it!!

About to give up.....Sigh...

I'm tired....
Nothing seems to be working....
It's like trying to squeeze water out of a rock....
I can't, I just cant.....
There's no point.....
I'll never get it done....
I just don't have what it takes....
Who would hire me anyway?...
Why won't anyone help me?....
Am I cursed?....
It's no good....
I'll probably be horrible at it....

Please feel free to add as many downers as you can to grow the chain of pity party favourites. The worst thing you can do to yourself is to walk around thinking the world owes you something at every turn. 

What?

So some of you are asking, why are you so interested in helping me and sharing all this time and information? Well, to be honest, it’s just the way I am wired. Life has brought me to a point where I decided not to do anything just for the sake of business and looking proactive. It has to mean something. Building people is what I live for and to be able to reach you right here, right now, is fantastic!

You might not be sure what this is about. You might not even be interested in this, but I assure you that the only way the wealthy and productive portion of the world’s population have stayed that way is because they grabbed opportunities at first glance. You know how it is when you don’t have a car, and then you finally buy a Toyota, and suddenly you notice there are many more Toyota’s plying your route. It’s the same thing with opportunities; you only get to really see them when you hold them in your hand.

If it’s one thing I have learnt from years of stumbling, starting and stopping and almost pulling my hair out in business is that there is no such thing as a sure thing.

Somebody Lied....

It's a new year! Welcome to 2012!!! 

Ok so I spent the best part of last year on research, fact finding and searching out solutions. This year is going to be great! Trust me....Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!!!!

I was listening to Ice Prince's track 'Somebody Lied' and I was struck with the bug to put this down. Enjoy!

Somebody lied.

They said all we needed to do was study hard, get a good job, get married, have a family, make tons of money, retire and die.

Somebody lied. They said all you needed to succeed was hard work and a tenacious spirit. No one said anything about sitting down to think of what you are good at and doing it, even if it didn’t fall under Engineering, Medicine or Law.

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Somebody lied. They said that making a 1^st class would open all doors and solve all problems. No one said anything about actually having to be good at the job and remaining relevant, 1^st class or not.

Somebody lied. They said you were more likely to have a successful marriage if you loved to cook, clean and wear an apron all day. No one said anything about making the most of your own gifts; even if they weren’t all and about onions and egusi.

Somebody lied. They said all you needed to become a millionaire was to start up a small business. No one said anything about the Mallam at the gate who has been a CEO for 30 years and still lives in the wooden hut.

Somebody lied. They said graduates from Nigeria were among the best in the world. No one said anything about the fact that what we pat our backs for at 25, our counterparts elsewhere already knew at 16.

Somebody lied. They said advertising was the key to making a killing in business. No one said anything about thinking up an exceptional product that people would want in the first place.

Somebody lied. They said if you pretended to be rich long enough, you eventually would. No one said anything about making sure you were actually doing something to make the money in between. Wearing Brazilian hair and Jimmy Choo heels doesn’t make you rich. It makes you a broke chic in Brazilian hair and designer shoes. That’s even worse.

Somebody lied. They said the only way to show you had made it was to build a humongous mansion and drive the biggest cars. No one said anything about keeping up appearances. That costs twice as much and many never survive it.

Somebody lied. They said the hardest working, most intelligent people made the most out of life. No one said anything about actually having a plan.

Somebody lied. They said all you needed to do was be nice and pretty and scout around for Mr Right. No one said anything about getting about the reason you were put on earth in the first place

Image source <p><a href="http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2280">Image: digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>

Somebody lied. They said all you needed to do was find a rich husband, cross your legs and enjoy the ride. No one said anything about no one wanting a liability, not even the oil rich sheikhs.

Somebody lied. They said a bird in hand was worth two in the bush. No one said anything about making sure the bird was free of the flu and was worth holding in the first place. If it wasn’t, then you would have lost both the bird in hand and the ones in the bush.

Somebody lied. They said if you fail, try, try, and try again. No one said anything about that being a sign that you are trying hard in the wrong thing. If results aren’t coming by working one way, try another.

Somebody lied. They said half a loaf of bread is better than none. No one said anything about actually working hard to get the other half of the loaf rather than settling for the half you managed to get and be bitter the rest of your life. Its either you get the full loaf, or go hungry; some handouts are better left alone.

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Somebody lied.

They said all you had to do was do what your predecessors did, like what they liked and believe what they believed. No one said anything about finding out the truth for yourself. What do YOU value? What do YOU consider important? That’s a clue to what you are really about. Don’t wake up 20 years from now shaking your head saying....somebody lied.