On-goings..  

Posted by Tolulope Akanni

What's good people?
It's been a while I got personal on this blog. So much has been happening in such a short period of time; but in the midst of it all, I've been observing, learning, dreaming, reading and I'm happy I'm growing.

So much happening in the corporate world. I've been redundant at work while some are over-stressed and completely over-used. I understand in-house corporate politics better now, I see how people constantly rub crap on other people just so they can look good and appear efficient to their superiors. Eye service and the likes

I feel for those that are pressured at work, the ones that have to work long hours, some work till almost mid night and by 7am the following morning they are already at work. Now I get why homes are shattered, why spouses don't even notice each other, why family bonds are weak, why kids never see their fathers, why family members don't understand each other.

People do so much and earn so little, with no hope of pay rise 
People average 4-6 hours in traffic daily

Little wonder why people are generally aggressive; be it in traffic, church or even at play.
People are making themselves go through a lot for no just cause, so they console themselves with the age long equivocation that "it is for the greater good"
And when you attempt to convince people that they shouldn't be going through this much stress, they perceive it as lack of ambition. Its painful!


But if I may ask, what is that greater good?
Life as I know it, is meant to be enjoyed and not to be endured
Many unfortunately don't know how to draw the divide between sacrifice and self-punishment

And it all boils down to a weak definition of purpose. When purpose is not defined, your pursuit will be directionless
Working long hours is acceptable, but it becomes a problem when you're not happy doing it.


Take a little time off to observe your schedule, review the life you have been living and fix your wrongs now before it causes further damage!

Ciao

32 comments »

U don't have to be the best to be the best II  

Posted by Tolulope Akanni

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"
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.

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

0 comments »

I guess I'm anti-success  

Posted by Tolulope Akanni in , , ,

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!

0 comments »

Packaging: Just be somebody  

Posted by Tolulope Akanni in



This one is an overflow of the discussion I had with Funeh yesterday, and some of these things I shared with Harry today.
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...

0 comments »

On that lonely day, I wrote..  

Posted by Tolulope Akanni

I wish I could tell you this looking into your eyes
But again I dont want to
I wish I could absolutely express myself
But again its not necessary

I smell the hurt
I smell the pain
I smell the withdrawal
That's why I know its not necessary

Its about you
Its about him
Its about your union
Its about your thing

I don't feel it
I don't fancy it
I'm not a fan

I don't mean to judge
Its just an opinion
Not much of an opinion
Its just an impression

I see him everyday
Yet I dont see him everyday
I see him through your eyes
His person, so vivid when I look into yours

The union
You dont have to
Its not needed

I dont believe in the foundational complexities
I dont believe in that traditional take-off
I believe in simplicities

I believe in flow....flow...natural flow
U call it flow...slow mo...step at a time
But I know flows....I recognise flows
This is no flow...u need to take it slow

I didnt have to say this
U dont have to listen
I didnt have to say this
I hope it doesnt spoil us

22.12.09

1 comments »

EXCERPTS FROM THE BOOK - 2A.M. by Jaye Aderounmu  

Posted by Tolulope Akanni in

What ure reading is an excerpt from the concluding chapter the about-to-be-released book of Jaye Aderounmu, titled
2 AM ( A MIND AMOMGST MANY) "real life experiences in tales"




It is a contributing chapter from urs truly...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BECAUSE I WROTE A BOOK AT 21
by Tolulope Akanni

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This chapter will change your life if you choose to read with relevance, it would remould your existence because this is success being discussed in its raw form. If only you will believe me and put to practice the combinations discussed in this chapter, you will never let go off this book for the remaining days of your life.

Because I wrote a book
I was made to learn that your first book is an introduction to the second
And to learn that the greatest challenge I'm gonna face is the challenge of practicing the principles I teach.

Because I wrote a book 
I was offered a seat amongst kings and princes and I could humbly say "yet not I"

Because I wrote a book
God's promises for my life bore flesh

Because I wrote a book..
...at 21 and published it on the eve of my graduation from the university, people started believing the principles I taught because I was a living proof.

Because I wrote a book
I came to realise that success is cheap and that is why I write this hour - to let you know that success is cheap and say it with confidence knowing that I am a success and that if only you do the same things myself and some many other successful people all over the world did, you too can be a success.

Are you faced with challenges?
Smile and appreciate the heavens because in every dark cloud is a silver lining and all you need is a little patience before you get full grasp of why you had to face that negative circumstance.
You need to live with that mentality that you can always bring something outing of nothing. 
Each one of life's moment carry the same amount of relevance and importance...there are no special moment, if one moment is special, then every other moment is special. If one moment is ordinary, then every other moment is ordinary.

After success became my friend, I screamed and yelled at success saying "Success, how come you never told me you were this cheap to get!!"
Because success came to cheap.

Of the many combinations I have put together to unlock the door of success and pave in deep into its inner chambers as though it were my birthplace, I want to be generous enough to leave you with just two combinations that have opened these doors to me; it has exposed me to a world of unlimited possibilities.
1. The combination of the Mind
2. The combination of the Hand

The combination of the Mind is one I got from the Scriptures and I got it fresh from the wisest man that ever lived on..........

<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>

..don't mess with these two combinations, don't see it as just another motivational talk!
The fact that you could read this book up to its last chapter means your combination of the hand must have been fired up, don't make a mess of it by not using the combination of your hand.

I'm only 21 and my hands have touched things because I consistently put these principles to work, don't delay the application of these combinations, use it now and start making exploits time waits for no man.

What you just read is the introduction to the first chapter of my next book.
Be inspired!

Tolu Fiz Akanee
|Thought|Written|Spoken|

***********************U'll get d rest of the gist wen u buy d book**************

3 comments »

What last?  

Posted by Tolulope Akanni in , ,





I'm still basking in the euphoria of the John C. Maxwell experience, u know the answer

he gave to my question still baffles me each time it comes to mind.

I asked him "what challenge did you go through after writing your first book?"

And in reply he said "The challenge I had after writing my first book was the same

challenge I had before I wrote my first book - the challenge of practising the principle I

teach in my book"

I look at the mistakes of yesterday and I'm happy I made them because I believe that if

I can actually look at a particular action and genuinely admit to myself that it was a

mistake, then it is a pointer to the fact that I can tell myself the truth

This is more like a contination to the piece I wrote on "what last"

before u ask what next, do ask urself that question..."what last?"
why did I experience the things I experienced, what can I bring out of it.

In asking myself that question I said to myself "I might not be a first class degree

holder, but I must live life as a first class graduate"

That's deep even though it makes sense on the surface as well
So every morning I wake up and I ask myself, how can I be the best at what I am

doing? How can I be the best?
The race has started already, my mates are already doing things and I'm not even sure

if we are still mates! It is a terrible thing to be left out, so I have to stay on top of my game!

I discoverd only some days back that I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing! No, I'm not
I had 1,000 books to sell...now I have 600 books to sell and there's no strategy on ground on how to sell it!
Did I say strategy? I'm never short of strategies! I meant to say action
I need to do something!
Imagine, my strategies are as simple as
I approach 4 churches..
1. House on the rock
2. Daystar christain centre
3. RCCG City of David
4. Fountain of life
Let me paint the RCCG City of David scenario to u
I walk in to see one of the pastors and I tell him how much God has been blessing me..graduation from Covenant University..a book.. a book launch..a John C. Maxwell feature.....all at age 21 and I'm moved to share my story with his church particularly the youth and that I need just 5mins to talk about my book or if they want to give me an entire youth seminar, I'm down. I just need to tell my story..that's all.
Books will be on the stands after the service.

It is that simple..
Now, uve heard me talk about my book before...do you think I will go to a church on the island with about 1,000 worshippers out of which 500 of the 1,000 regular wealthy worshippers are superwealthy folks and I won't sent sell 200copies of the book?
Do u honestly feel there's a possibility of failure?
If I sell at #1,500 I will be smiling home with 300k

So ask me why I am not doing any of these things..
No cloth to wear?
No perfume to wear?
No books to sell?
No car to convey me to the venue?
No english to speak?
No demeanor to charm?
I don't see any of these things as a problem..so what's up with me???
I can't tell!!!

I need to do something with my life a.s.a.p.
U know, I need people around me....I think! But I shouldn't consider that as an excuse..I'm responsible for my own life!
I have the target of selling 1,000 copies in 40days and even though Aug12 sounds far, it's here already!
I'm not gonna leave my books on the stands of book stores to seat among the crowd, no I won't do that....who knows Tolu Akanni?
It's a first book so I have to hustle on my own!


I need friends to start doing things jare
The launch of A-Z Life lessons has come and gone
John C. Maxwell has come and gone
Creativity fair has come and gone..
wonderful past week!

Now, what next?
Who are we seeing on TV this week?
I'm angry at CU mass comm peeps o...it just occurred to me recently that we keep seeing the same newscasters we've been seeing since primary school days on TV...where are all of those peeps that were dreaming to be newscasters too? Don't they have their degrees now? so where are they? They are waiting to gain experience abi? so they wait another 15yrs b4 they start living the dream...forget jor!

I still have this pending idea I have to implement soonest.
Empowerment seminar!
That thing is free money and what keeps amazing me is that it as fresh and ever-producing like the oil wells on Nigeria.
Any random dude will just wake up and design fliers, tell us Fela Durotoye will be there, Leke Alder is coming, Ibukun Awosika on board, Niyi Adesanya has also confirmed his presence....and all of thoe things they say
Then we all bring out 1k, 2k, 3k....and we all rush down only to hear some random folks teaching principles they dont live!

Now, forget the fact that there's money in it...empowerment seminars, conferences....all those things....they are things I should be doing, they are things CU students should be organising because it comes cheap for us. We have the teaching materials already, we are already used to the rationale behind seminars...we know how it is done, so why are we not doing it?

I grow greeeeeeeeeeeen with envy each time I remember the faces behind Atrium consult - the organisation that brought John C. Maxwell down to Nigeria.
Leadership conference - #25,000 per head
Dinner with John C. Maxwell - #1,000,000 per table (table of 10) i.e. #100,000 per head.

U know what? If all John C. Maxwell requested as pay for him to come down to Nigeria was #5million, all the organisers need to make the event successful is to source #5million.
After paying John C. Maxwell and are sure of his coming, they budget another #1million for publicity - they storm TV stations...fliers, banners, radio jingles and all.
Next they approach Federal Palace hotel and tell them they need one of their halls for a seminar since they are expecting International Leadership speaker and author - John C. Maxwell and that they will lodge him in their hotel for 3 nights and there will be a dinner in their restaurant as well. They secure all of these things without paying Federal Palace Hotel a dime - all Federal Palace will them is 4 d dinner...it will be say #30,000/head and that's all. No charges for the seminar nor the lodging.

Atrium goes back to the drawing board...they sum up d #6million spent so far look at how best they can make maximum profit, consider the class of attendees they are looking at and they say fine...
#25,000/person for the seminar
#100,000/person for the dinner
Tell me if they will smile to the bank or not?
But it doesnt stop there for Atrium Consult...they have made a name.
I mean, THEY BROUGHT JOHN C. MAXWELL DOWN TO NIGERIA WITHOUT ANY SUPPORT!

At this junction, let me tell it plainly now...if I'm not a self-made millionaire by the end of a year from now, please dont ever read me again!!
I'm serious...don't read anything I write again.

In conclusion.
1. Success is cheap
2. Success is only for the brave
3. I'm dying to know ur reaction to all of these...leave a comment

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