Friday 30 May 2008

INTENSIFY YOUR EFFORTS.

I watched with curiosity how a thick wall eventually fell to the repeated blows of a sledgehammer sometimes ago and I reasoned that we can achieve whatever we set our minds to do if we’re willing to intensify our efforts.

It’s amazing what a laser beam can do if focused on an object; it can even cut through hard metals. It’s only a matter of time for a leaking tank (even if it’s trickle by trickle) to become empty. Water evaporates under intense heat. Even hard metals melt under intense heat. The significance of “intensity” to the actualization of any goal cannot be overemphasized.

Is your goal to distinguish yourself in your chosen field? You can. Those we remember today were those that distinguished themselves in their chosen fields, not drifters. So, if you must make waves, you must devote yourself to your field and conquer the field. That’s a simple recipe for recognition and success.

Is it a nagging challenge? That challenge can and will bow to you if you keep at it.

Whatever the case maybe, however small your strength maybe, victory is certain if you intensify your efforts. Don’t scatter your resources, concentrate on a worthy purpose. Don’t give up on that stumbling block yet, it’ll give way if you hit it harder. Don’t give up on that research yet, discovery awaits you. Don’t give up on that goal yet, it’ll be achieved if you intensify your efforts. You can save, little by little, to buy that dream car or house. You can fund that project. There’s no limit to what you can do if you intensify your efforts.

Rise to the calling. Achieve the seemingly impossible feats. Break forth.

Friday 23 May 2008

PATIENCE IS ALL IT TAKES.

Imagine what will happen if you plant a grain of maize and you keep bringing it out of the soil everyday to check the status of its growth. Chances are that the maize might never germinate.

Imagine that a fertilized egg is forcefully hatched just after 6 days it was put in an incubator. The output can’t certainly be a live chick because the transformation of an egg into a chick takes 21 days.

Also imagine what happens when a pregnant mother is induced to have a baby when the pregnancy is just five months old. She’ll certainly deliver a premature; that’s if the baby is even alive.

Everything must be allowed to take its course if the results will be what it ought to be. Patience is the watchword. Unfortunately, many are too much in haste in our world today. Majority have missed the good they often might have received because they did not exercise patience. Majority of would-be millionaires are cooling off in prisons just because they were too much in a haste to make money thereby resulting to crime. Many have bid the world farewell because they were too much in haste while driving. The list is endless. Indeed, the ability to exercise patience in our ever fast moving world is a virtue.

What is the rush for? Where else will you go after you get to your destination?

If you’re embarking on a journey, getting to the destination safe and sound should be your ultimate goal. If you have to get their early, leave early. By all means, avoid having to over speed. Live to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

If your goal is to attain financial independence and to retain it, then being a con should not be an option for you as it can only make you temporarily rich; that’s if you’re even lucky before you’re caught. Lasting success can only be gotten legitimately.

A careful study of the lives of successful men and women has shown that the lofty heights they attained were not overnight; it took decades of hard work, self denial, persistence and patience. Even those that inherited wealth will confess that their patriarchs once had it rough. In doubt? Interview an achiever near you.

Whatever your goal may be, learn to exercise patience. Understand that there’s an appointed time for everything. Even when you sow a seed, harvest is not usually instantaneous – there’s usually a gap between sowing time and harvest time. Tampering with the timing will not yield the desired result(s). Patience is all it takes to clinch victory.

If you’ll ever feature in the future you’ve pictured, you must learn to exercise patience. I admit that it could be depressing when all your mates are making progress and it seems that you’re stagnant. Don’t be dismayed. Once you’re convinced you’re on the right track, keep at it (If you’re however not on the right track, ensure you get yourself on the right track - the path that works, the path of honour). Don’t quit. Success will come; just don’t give up before it does. That seed will germinate, just give it time. That business will break forth; just allow it time to expand. That much coveted job will be yours, just gain more experience where you are because that will be the prerequisite for the higher ground. What is not enough today will be enough tomorrow. Things will eventually get better. All the good things you desire will come with time. You will eventually build that house. You will eventually buy that dream car. Wait for your time – patiently, strategically and intelligently.

However, you should not be idle while waiting. If you’ve sown a seed, while waiting for the harvest, endeavor to nurture the seed to maturity so that the harvest can be bountiful. If you’re waiting for the result of an application, find something worthwhile to do while you’re waiting. Whatever the case may be, apply wisdom. Ensure you don’t waste that irrecoverable piece called time.

Your future is bright. Be patient. Colorful, shinning, bright, you will get there!

Friday 16 May 2008

TO GET THE DESIRED RESULT, DO IT THE WAY IT OUGHT TO BE DONE.

Got thinking about the peculiar method in which white yam (Dioscorea Rotundata) is successfully propagated in Nigeria and I reasoned that peculiar situations demand peculiar solutions. Let’s look into the propagation of the tropical plant together…

Unlike grain crops, white yam is propagated by dividing rhizomes, tubers, corms or bulbs (however the best planting material are small tubers, resulting in improved germination percentages and in less tuber rotting). White yam is usually planted preferably at the start of the rainy season in deep, rich, permeable soil as loosed textured soil is necessary for tuber development and expansion (the plant even thrives better if ridges or mounds are made for it). After the planting of the yam sett, mulching is required as it protects the plant from excessive heat and desiccation. The plant should also be supplied with a means of support on which to twine beginning 1 month after emergence. Weed control is also important during the first 2 to 3 months after planting. If you follow the method, ceteris paribus, you can be sure of a bountiful harvest. It is worthy to note that maize (Zea Mays) cannot be propagated through this method because it has its own peculiarities and as such demands a peculiar planting method.

Similarly, malaria pills cannot cure typhoid fever. In poultry farming, you can’t feed layers birds with growers feed (instead of layers feed) and expect that productivity will increase. The student praying for retentive memory without reading is praying amiss. You can’t reverse a car with gear ‘3’. Even with the right recipe, you can’t make cake by frying (instead of baking) the dough as you would fry a pancake. Even in Chemistry, the combination of two chemical elements but in varying degrees will produce different chemical compounds [for instance, when two Oxygen atoms covalently bonds to a single Carbon atom, the product will be Carbon dioxide (CO2) but if one Carbon atom covalently bonds to one Oxygen atom, the product will be Carbon monoxide (CO) – two entirely different gases . Similarly, you can’t possibly combine Hydrogen with Oxygen and expect to have the same product you’ll have if you were to have combined it with Chlorine – the former will produce water while the later will produce acid]. That 1 + 1 = 2 is mathematically exact. The list is endless.

Thus, it is evident that one of the reasons why many fail to succeed in their undertakings in life is because they are pursuing amiss. To obtain the desired outcome, you must do it the way it ought to be done. Else, you might never get the desired result.

What have you been pursuing for sometime without success? If it’s not working the way it should, then probably it’s not being done the way it should. A change of approach is all you need. It can work. It will work, just that it has to be done the right way. Every task/challenge bows to the right solution. Every idea is achievable; else it won’t have been conceived. Do it the way it ought to be done so that it will be like it ought to be – that’s the simple recipe that makes miracles possible. If you desire success worthy of the name in any undertaking, then be prepared to think deep, seek facts and follow instructions. The impossible then becomes possible.

Victor, I charge you to embark on a conquest spree. Keep dreaming. Keep setting goals. Keep proffering solutions. Keep achieving.

Friday 9 May 2008

DON’T BE LOST IN THE CROWD.

I had the privilege to attend a private university in Nigeria and I must confess that private schools generally are not good for those that do not have a mind of their own. I had a humble beginning and suddenly I was paired with rich kids (kids of ambassadors, bank owners, CEOs of multinationals to name a few) and so it was all about competition. Every summer, my classmates traveled abroad and they came back with fascinating stories but I never even neared the airport throughout my schooling not to even mention entering an airplane. At the end of every semester, my friends traveled back home in their luxurious cars while I had to go home on public transport. Worse still, as soon as we graduated, some went straight to the best universities in Europe for their Masters Programme because their parents could afford it. Some went to the best universities in North America. Some went to other notable universities in other parts of the world. Even with bad grades, many of my friends still got fixed in telecommunication firms, banks, oil companies, to name a few because their folks could pull some strings. But as for me, it has been me, my skills and my God. From my first job to the one I’m presently occupying, my parents did not have a hand in it (although I have a father that could pull some strings, but he won’t just do it; he’ll rather have you strike gold on your own). Though I’ve not arrived yet, but my ship will certainly berth – just give me time. Unfortunately, some of my classmates are still in the “Joneses” club even as I write this; some are still unemployed/not gainfully employed when some of their classmates are already managers. Curious about what happened to the “Joneses”? Life “happened” to them! (Laugh) Time has segregated each and every one of us into the stratum into which we truly belong. Imagine I was living a lie those days in school, you bet I would have been part of the “Joneses” now.

To have a place to stand in this world of reality, you must be qualified, sponsored or recommended, QED. If you know you don’t have anyone to recommend or sponsor you, you had better be qualified. Else, you might forever remain in the category of those that watch things happen.

Are you a student? If you know you don’t have anyone to back you, you better face your academics squarely so that you can finish in record time and get good grades. Without that, you might find it difficult securing that dream job of yours.
And besides, this is your last chance to be equal with your classmates. Don’t waste the golden hours of your youth.

Are you a worker? You don’t have to invest all you earn on colognes, suits, wrist watches, jewelry, cars, to name a few like your colleagues do all in the name of competition. Know thyself. Their family situation is different from yours. And besides, they are not going to lend you a hand during your retirement, so you had better start investing in your future.

Are you a family man that is fond of hanging out with friends every evening? That portion of your income that you spend on drinks and other irrelevant pursuits can be invested in your future or the future of your children. Be wise.

The worst thing you can do to yourself is to live a lie. Peer pressure ruins and lifts; your associations with others can either make you or mar your destiny. Many student union activists have been rusticated from school because they were causing trouble without having a backbone (while some would have been reinstated because their folks could pull some strings). Many men have lost their jobs because they were fighting for a cause. Many marriages have been broken because either or both of the partners imported some foreign ideas from their peers into their home. Many have lost their health to bad habits just because of peer pressure. Abortion might not hurt your friend, but it might dim your own hope of having children. The list is endless.

Verily, anyone that can’t stand out in the crowd might find it difficult succeeding in this world of ours. Your assignment in this world is different from that of others in your peer and so are your gifts. Your health - the strength of your organs (lungs, heart, kidney, liver to name a few) differs from that of your peers. Your dreams and aspirations differ from that of your peers. Your background differs from that of your peers. Your finances differ from that of your peers. Even your life span on this earth differs from that of your peers. So, why follow the crowd?

As the Yorubas will say, “20 friends cannot be friends for 20 years”. That friend you’re imitating might fade into oblivion someday and when he does, you will be left alone to tackle the mess you must have created. Be real. Don’t behave like others. Don’t be lost in the crowd because in the final analysis, it’s usually “all man for himself”. Don’t forget the son or daughter of whom you are. Don’t do more than your capability. Don’t spend more than your income. Don’t move in the same direction with drifters.

Be original. Be decisive. Be focused. Be successful.