op·por·tu·ni·ty (¼p”…r-t›“n¹-t¶, -ty›“-) n., pl. op·por·tu·ni·ties. 1.a. A favorable or advantageous circumstance or combination of circumstances. b. A favorable or suitable occasion or time.
U might want to read the first part here
This topic had been on my mind for long and expressing it in a poem was a big one for me because it has been running through my mind for long.
Do u know how many times u come across young talents all around?
U see a child in a local street soccer tournament and u say to urself "this guy is better than C. Ronaldo"
but then that guy will never ever ever in his life be recognised globally as being better than C. Ronaldo
I don't want u to end up as that guy who was potrayed so much potentials that is why I want to share this with you.
There are those two, three or maybe four guys somewhere out there in those villages who have what it takes to beat Usain Bolt to it, but they will never ever ever make it to their National Athletics team...so how will they get the opportunity to prove themselves to the world?
See what Solomon said
"I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all."
---Ecc 9:11 [KJV]
He made it clear that hardwork is no guarantee "...not to the swift"
Strength cant kill it
Intellectual robustness is no security
Wealth is no guarantee
So what is the way out?
A wise man said
"The future belong to those who recognise opportunities long before they become obvious"
We are all bloody opportunists strolling on the surface of the earth. I'm sorry to hurt ur school of thought...but if u look deeply. We are simply opportunists!
I looked at these things at the beginning of the year and I said "fine, I will plan for January - June and I will leave July - December to chance" and I think this is why I'm living in the best season of my life.
We are all opportunists, don't let that paper in ur study where uve outlined ur life's agenda deceive u! We are all opportunists seeking for the next opportunity that looks like will take us to where we deserve the most
As I'm typing now, I don't know what point I want to prove to u but I'm just typing what I feel like typing and u just have to keep reading bcos u have started and u have to get to the end of this mind-bugging expositions.
Be opportunity driven, don't gawk
If strength cant kill it
Intellectual robustness is no security
Wealth is no guarantee
Solomon says "time and chance happeneth to them all"
time and chance = opportunity
So when next ure praying to God u might to ask God to give u a 'thing' for opportunities
I think I lost control of this piece at some point....lemme hear ur views
The fact that I'm enjoying life is kinda cliché but get used to it, its a life long reality!
I had a most interesting conversation wit Nomso today, and it was based on my last post on Legacy, I hope most people didnt get distracted with the Justin Bieber talk, because the morale of the talk is rooted in the 'legacy' mentality and I would just like to re-emphasise my thoughts on leaving legacies.
Nomso seemed to love these two different statements that I made at two different times in the course of our conversation
1. Copy and paste works in real life
2. It is too much fun when u start early
I think I understand why he loved these statements
1. Copy and paste works in real life...though it is branded 'model'
On a daily basis I've been growing myself and it was only until recently that I understood the importance of setting out to grow yourself with purpose, the act of self development has been abused by many because they really don't know what it is all about before they venture into it but that's not the focus of my talk.
On the long run I desire to be recognised for two major things: a business consultant and a life coach; two intellectually demanding aspirations but the most interesting thing about my life thus far is the speed of accomplishment that God has blessed me with. And just like I shared with them at the speaking function in Apapa recently. There are two important combinations I always use: the combination of the mind and the combination of the hand.
I want to be a living intellectual giant, I want to be an embodiement of inspiration, I want to emerge as that guy that will drop just one statement that will transform the lives of millions, I want to be that guy u will spend 5mins chatting with at the coffee shop and ur life will not remain the same again.
With the combination of the mind I allow God to inspire me to think of things to come and with the combination of the hand I play my own part by paying my dues, I work hard to push my dreams into reality. Understanding that information opens the pathway to transformation, I seek to become an information bank and my motive is simple: if I always have the right information at the right time to give to people I'm in communication with, their lives will be transformed and they will shine in line with their destinies.
So for my tomorrow, I read all sorts of things these days and I have discovered that truly readers are leaders...information puts u one step ahead.
I've been studying my mentors too much and in recent times, by virtue of the information I've been favoured to have access to I have realised that 'success is too cheap' and I'm all out to make everyone realise it, the things u do attain success are simple and straightforward and only require a little bit on consistency and commitment.
But I don't want to be successful, I want to be great....in John C. Maxwell terms, I want to be a Level 5 leader!
Success is defined by efforts while greatness is defined by impact. To inspire men and women, boys and girls is my dream, my purpose and my joy; to watch mankind live in line with the demand of destiny is all I crave for.
Anyone can be successful, after all getting admission into an educational institution and completing you course is an act of success on its own, but greatness is not that cheap.
I bought a car - success
I just signed a multimillion dollar deal - success
Racism ended in Africa because of my speech - greatness
20% of the people I coach every year emerge as billionaires - greatness.
Greatness just sounds great and so are the demands, but the demands of greatness are as simple and plain as the demands of success; hence, there's a thing line of difference between them. Success is driven towards one's own self whilst greatness is driven towards making life better for others...that's all! U definitely don't need me to remind that success definitely comes before greatness i.e. u ought to have worked on ur own self to a given standard before u can now start influencing others.
My romance with self development is fresh because I have a defined model in mind and I will stop at nothing to see that this model is birth forth within a couple of years from now, I want to emerge as an intellectual model and I see it happening already.
Just like my mentor, Dr David Oyedepo, when u're hot enough major national decisions will be taken in ur parlour..heads of governments will be running after u and same goes for presidents of nations worldwide....this is d dream, this is my dream.
I love to follow the Oyedepo growth model since it has been proven and tested over and over again by ME ;-)
The model is simple: before u start out into any new business, spend quality time studying the stories of leaders in that sector.
"The secret of men lies in their stories"
Before he ventured into ministry, he studied the biography of world great ministers and ministries. before Covenant university was founded he spent quality time studying and analysing how Ivy league universities emerged from scratch to the top.
This model never fails, try it!
2. It is too much fun when u start early
Day in, day out I'm all out updating myself with what young folks all around the world are up to because I can't afford to rest on my oars...my dream is not to become an author...it is far from that, the books will only be an overflow...the bestsellers will just be one of those things, it will never be the main deal.
I cant sleep at nite again now because there's no time. If I must cram up what my mentors took 10years to achieve into 1year then there's no time to waste. I only praying this piece will inspire just 1 person out there to realise that there's no time again.
Early retirement is now the ish oh
Young folks are joining the billionaires club in their 20s now so where's the time to waste!
I've always dreamt of retiring by 40 so you might understand why I don't have time, it is however striking to know that in this generation that is passing away (the one before ours), we see lots of people shying away from purpose with the belief that they have time, they hold on to their bank jobs like they were created to do that and now retire by 40 to start chasing destiny.
We are too fresh to make this mistake!
According to Forbes, of the 937billionaires in the word right now,
5 of them are in their 20s
Mark Zuckerberg United States Age 25 $4.0bil
Albert von Thurn Germany Age26 $2.2bil
Yang Huiyan China Age28 $3.4bil
Fahd Hariri (Lebanese) France Age29 $1.4bil
Li Zhaohui China Age29 $1.0bil
24 of them are in their 30s
This shows us that we stand a chance
I wish I could keep on and on on this topic, but the essence is not in multitude of words. I hope this was indeed an interesting read
Be inspired
Remain inspired!
I was in Abuja for 5days for a book tour and even though that was my first time in the FCT, Abuja felt like home, beyond the warm reception at the media outing and beyond the 'author' status, everyone I came across were very well receptive.
I try to compare what I experienced in Abuja with what obtains in my everyday Lagos life and well, no doubts there's a very big difference; let me just skip the details of this juxtapose.
One striking thing about the Abuja enviroment in the warmth and the only thing close to that is the village life; it is only in the village that you see people showing so much love and interest and I used to leave it as lack of exposure: the 'city people' mentality.
But how come Abuja being a city still enjoys this?
I've realised the one thing responsible for that
IN ABUJA, EVERYBODY IS SOMEBODY
The best way to get people to respect you is by being a somebody. People don't respect nobodies. Being a somebody gives u access to a great deal of respect.
How does it work in Abuja?
Everyone thinks
"Oh, I think that boy is a senator's son"
"That girl's father is an ambassador"
"Is that not the Senator"
"Is that not the CBN guy"
So u discover that in a way, everyone is beclouded with that 'u never can tell' mentality and this in return affects how u relate with people, u treat them with respect just because u don't want to step on toes.
How does it kill Lagos?
Lagos is a no-man's life
"Who born u?"
"Who u be? Who be ur father?"
Except they see u coming down from those tinted SUVs, u don't earn the respect; and atimes even ur affluence is no security, they look at u straight in the eyes and call u a thief.
They ask "is it your money?"
And so because we go about feeling there are no special heads, that all men are equal and that everybody is a nobody, there's no room for respect to find expression!
How does it work in the village?
Same old, same old
"The city people are here"
"They have come from obodo with plenty money"
"He owns a fleet of cars in the city"
"He works in one of those sky scrapers in the city"
So the respect and warm reception is automatic even if he borrowed his friend's car plus fuel money to pay them a visit in the village, he still gets that respect.
So why am I telling you?
I'm telling u this so u can wake up to the realisation of the fact that the 'somebody' mentality is a winner any day, any time!
It is ever a killer move. If I should go into the details of the things I've done in the name of packaging, the post will be unnecessarily long and u'll laff to much to get the point.
But taking advantage of this principle will help ur life big time, it will grant u access to unimaginable realms, and it will push u to want achievement
In conclusion, let me leave u with a practical example
In Abuja,
I go "This is my first time in this city, I have no business coming to Abuja...my book was doing soooo well in Lagos, flooding the internet, TV, the media world talking about it and the Abuja Literary Society couldn't help inviting me down to Abuja"
And what do I get in return
"Are u serious? Do u have the book here with u? How much does it cost?"
I just sold myself and I sold my book....Why? Because they know I am somebody
In Lagos,
I go "Sorry I couldn't come over the weekend..I was out of town, I was in Abuja and I had a fantastic time out there, I mean God was faithful opening doors here and there...I was hosted by Silverbird, I was on radio, I even met....bla bla bla"
And I return
"Wow, that's big! Do u have the book here with u? How much does it cost?"
If I want to go futher in proving a point, I could tell the person I dont have the book with me
"But check it up in Terra Kulture, Silverbird galleria or at the Palms...."
These are killer moves anyday, anytime....the things I just revealed are exclusive background stuffs oh....I dunno why I got this generous today, U just keep reading, God is pushing me to share more background gist in the coming days.
I just shared a life lesson on Packaging!
Tell me what u think...
Contributors
- Tolulope Akanni
- Tolulope Akanni is a writer and entrepreneur. After bagging a degree in Engineering, he had his big break shortly by self-publishing his first book, A-Z Life Lessons at the age of 21. The book uses poems, pictures and stories to express the thoughts of the Nigerian youth burning with a passion to create value. He is presently in Paris, France for a professional training and is also working with a team led by Onyeka Nwelue organising the Literacy Africa International Charity Concert and the editorial team of In-correct Magazine. Tolu Akanni is a visionary and dynamic youth with a rare and unique passion sent on a mission to bring out the best in people to the end of seeing men live up to their full capacity.