Saturday 26 December 2009

Stepping On The Scale Of Relevance Part 2

“True success is all about the subjects”. OVK Odulele.

True success is beyond you. It is the pipeline that affects other people. Success without relevance is prosperity of a fool that brings destruction. You have to understand that many lives are connected to your lives and your rising is for the rising of many people.

Relevance is the ability to connect and being an answer to situations. You can be an answer for your organisation and connect people in a way they have never been connected in order to help birth their greatness.

“The future belongs to those who prepare for it”. Ralph Waldo Emerson.

It is true that all of us have potentials, seeds of greatness that could be turned to engines of success. Until we begin to prepare and develop to release them, they might never see the light of realities.

“Responsibility is the price of greatness”. Sir Winston Churchill.

Responsibility means response to ability. You are bigger than you are ever imagined. All your organs are designed for greatness. I mean your eyes, mouth, ears, body, nose etc. Everything about you is an instrument to release the greatness within. There is no disability in you and no excuse for an average life. You must be ready to put yourself on the scale of relevance because you are the answer to the problems that this world is facing.

Let me share some of the things that helped and is helping me to be my best. When I talk of success, I am not referring to money alone, am talking about having fulfilment in all areas of your life and being a blessing to the world at large. This is by no means everything but certainly will help you to birth your greatness.

1.You have to detach yourself from and crowd and any rat race. Everybody needs a moment of quietness. My moment of quietness is a moment when am alone with God and engaging myself with some thought provoking sessions and asking relevant questions like:

• What are my interests?
• What am I passionate about?
• What subjects or topic do I have a lot of knowledge of?
• What are people always coming for advice from me?
• Where do I receive commendations?
• What area of my job do I like most?
• What are my happiest moments?

I engage myself in all these thoughts and listen to myself back. This will make me know my strengths and weaknesses.

2. Develop a vision of where you want to be and break it down to achievable goals for a specified amount of time. While it is easy to confuse vision with illusion or fantasy. Vision is not a wishful thinking or trying to be like some else. Vision gives direction for your life. It is the ability to see far and beyond your limitations. Vision is all about seeing the big picture. Vision imposes high standard on you and helps you to manage your time.

3. You have to be strategic about your vision. Strategy is courses of actions needed for achieving your goals. It is not enough to have the vision, you have to map out ways on how to achieve your goals. You have to identify areas you have to improve on and some things you have to drop. You must develop plan of actions and they must be time based.

4. You need a mentor and coach to help birth your greatness. Coaching is different from mentoring. A mentor gives pieces of advice relevant for your development but a coach will engage you in a thoughtful session in order to awaken your mind power. This will bring the best out of you and help you manage your weaknesses and increase your strengths. The work of a coach is to remove your limiting point and raise the bar of excellence for you.

5 .Develop interpersonal skills. Learn how to manage people because they are your greatest assets in releasing your greatness. Nobody is an island. I learned this early in life. No vision is self fulfilled. You need people around you to help fan your gifting into flame. You must learn to appreciate and reward your workforce. Start from little thing like giving them complimentary cards and learn to say thank you for any work done for you even if you are paying them.

6. Personal development. Buy a lot of books and go for relevant seminars and workshop in the area of your passion and try to also broaden your knowledge on other subjects. Always stay greener. You must never get to a point where your brain is hurting for more knowledge. A reader is a leader. I got this secret early in life.

7 Fly with the eagles. Since I made up my mind to be the best. Naturally, I found out that not just everybody can be close to me. There is a need for strategic alliance. We all need influence in our lives. You need people around you that will always push you higher with their inputs. Friendship is a choice and you have to be very selective with the people you flock with. You must make it your ambition to follow peace with all men but your passion should be geared towards those who are making positive impact on your life and purpose.

While I would have loved to continue sharing everything with you, I will love to hear from you back.

Always remember that you are the centre of your universe and you can make anything happen.
Tunji Ishola
Empowering generations to live life to the fullest and die empty.
Author- Live Your Life To The Fullest .

Stepping On The Scale Of Relevance Part 1

While thinking on what to write, the words of one of the greatest gifts for this generation kept rolling in my heart.

“People are designed for accomplishments, engineered for success, and endowed with seeds of greatness”. Zig Ziglar.

This is very inspiring! Nobody was created to be a liability. Inside all of us is a reservoir of seeds for greatness. All of us without any exception have the propensity and the genetic make up to blaze new trails and become models for the world to follow.

True success in all facets of life is not an exclusive right for certain elite or clan. It is not a question of your race, colour, sex, creed, age or background. Disability in any form is not an exit from this greatness. Everybody was created as an extension of divinity and to colour their generation.

“There is a genius in every person”. Bob Richards.

True and lasting greatness starts from within. Impacts start from within. We must all take responsibility to move away from noise the world is presenting and take a journey to the very cradle of our being- heart. Responsibility must be taken to know what gives us the greatest joy. We all have special strengths in our lives and this is where greatness resides.

I remember when I left Nigeria about 7 years ago to study in England. Everything in the plane looked very strange to me including the meals and the drink. I couldn’t sleep; my mind was focused on my destination. What a joy when we landed at Heathrow in London- a land of milk and honey where there would be no challenges apart from making all the money and sending them home for projects. Am sure you could see the reasons why I couldn’t sleep.

I asked all kind of questions from my guardian till we reached home. When I woke up the next day, I was faced with many challenges and responsibilities ahead of me. After doing all the registrations and getting all the documents for work and bank account. I began the search for work. I had to leave the university I came for because I had no money on me to pay for the instalments the school requested.

After some time at home, I finally got this wonderful job in a restaurant to work as a cook, after working for 7 days, I got my hand burnt and left. After some time, I got another job as a market cleaner in day broad light, I did this for some weeks and later went for another cleaning job from evening till day break. This was carrying refuse from the street to the back of the truck. Am sure you must be wondering if I had no choice, well I had to pay my rent and save money for university. After this I got another job in the bakery to arrange bread and pushed some heavy load in the night.

The path of destiny is a lonely path. Finally after this I got the most respected job as a security officer and I was very good at this such that all my colleagues and managers just liked me. This was 12 hours shift and sometimes I worked the whole 7 days but mostly 5 days a week.

I forgot to tell you that all the people I met when I got to England gave me pieces of advice that I was around to do all these kind of jobs to survive and should forget about anything called decent jobs because of my colour. Unconsciously, my mind recorded their voices and each time I saw an advert that looked like what I had ever thought to be, the music played in my mind and that became a limitation for me.
While working as a guard, one of my white friends who was a customer at the premise I was looking after came to me and said “do you realise that you are more than what you are doing and that there is something about you that always inspires people”. If there was ever a moment in my life that called for provocative thought, that was certainly the right moment.

This became my thought for months and finally the contract finished. I made up my mind to find out my greatest strengths and deploy them despite all the apparent limitations around me. This was not easy, as I thought but very rewarding. I began to connect with certain people that purpose brought my ways and received coaching in many areas of my life. After months, I got the kind of job I wanted as a finance officer and after much practice and relevant trainings and exams I got to the post of Finance manager.

The pinnacle of the whole experience is that am now using my experiences and training to coach individuals and organisation on crafting image of value. Nothing makes me more fulfilled than bringing the best out of people.

Always remember that you are at the centre of your universe and you can make anything to happen.

To be continued.
Tunji Ishola.
Empowering generations to live life to the fullest and die empty.
Author- Live Your Life To The Fullest.

Friday 25 December 2009

Understanding Your Unique Promise Of Value

“For if the trumpet does not give a certain sound, who will prepare for battle.
1 Cor 14:8.

There is nothing that is as powerful as clarity of purpose. Clarity gives direction and is the pathway for distinction. It attracts people to a purpose and makes expectations to be defined.

Unique promise of value (UPV) is an effective branding. It is the way of clarifying and communicating what makes you different and special from other people. It all about understanding your unique attributes – skills, values, passions and strengths and using them to distinguish yourself from your peers and competitors.

This also means clearly communicating the uniqueness that you have to offer your employer and clients.
A strong unique promise of value could be:
• Personal branding
• Corporate branding

Personal Branding
“We all have brands worthy of remarks”
Tom Peters.

Personal branding is about what makes you unique and stands you out from your peers and the crowd. It relates to what you project to others and their perception of you. This is not just a logo or tagline.
Successful personal branding is authentic. This means using what is native to you as the basis of your uniqueness. It is not created, it is uncovered, strengthened and nurtured.

“The truth is that all of us attain the greatest success and happiness possible in life when we use our native capacities to their greatest extent”
Dr Smiley Blanton.

Understanding your strengths, passions, goals and values will help you to focus on your brand and translate them into professional success and personal satisfaction.
Personal branding is the measure of attract- ability that the owner commands from the prospective audience. It makes you the one to call in your field of endeavour. It is the gateway to your true work. You are here to do something-to create something or help others in some way. The answer to this lies in your branding.

Why Do You Need Personal Branding
The most exhausting thing you can be is inauthentic”
Anne Morrow Lindbergh

You have to understand that in whatever you are doing, there are myriad of others doing exactly the same. Business is becoming more and more competitive. You need to stand out and tall to be in control.

Gone are the days when the schools you went to are enough to stand you out or the years of experience you have got. It is usually something more intrinsic and native that stands people out of the crowd.

1. Enhancing Your Visibility

“A good name is better than riches and silver”

Being unique makes you to be visible and different form others in similar field. Richard Brandson is known as an intrepid entrepreneur who loves taking risk and fun. Bill Gate is known for Microsoft Company and his charitable deeds. Wilfrey Oprah is known for her commitment to affect children and people with bad life experience. This makes your name to be known for something. What do you want to be known and remembered for?

There are many names that are known for something- Martin Luther King Jr. was known for his unflinching dream and passion for egalitarianism without violence. Nelson Mandela is known for his commitment for his people.


2. Boosting Of Revenue
When you develop you personal branding, your personality commands great income and people are ready to pay any amount to have your service.
According to 2005 earning record, below is a record of the biggest earner per minute.


THE BIGGEST EARNERS PER MINUTE IN 2005
According London Metro paper in 2005,these are the world earners per minute:
Steve Spielberg £342
Howard Stern £311
George Lucas £242
Oprah Wilfrey £240
Jerry Seinfeld £103
Tiger Wood £92
Dan Brown £90
Jerry Bruckheimer £87
JK Rowling £77
Dick Wolf £72

Am sure the list is not finished until your name is added. The world is waiting for your unique promise of value.

3 Diversification
Just as corporate companies use branding to diversify to other products. A good example is all the big stores like Marks and Spencer who diversified into financial products because of their winning brands.
This is not limited to companies alone, individuals can use their personal branding to extend their income streams in other business opportunities. This will make you a person of open -wide door opportunist and make you to be more resourceful.

4 Reaching Your Goals

There is nothing as frustrating as not reaching a set goal. Effective personal branding makes you live a maximised life. Reaching a set goal will make you have a sense of fulfilment and happiness. It will also make you live a life that affects other people and make you a celebrity in your own world.


5 Opportunities And People
Releasing your unique promise of value makes you a sought for. People want to come around you because of evident impacts and progresses. It opens door of opportunity for you in the nations of the earth.
People are usually attracted to achievers and they are ready to have you as their mentor. This makes you an authority and expert in your field of career.

Always remember that you are at the centre of your universe and you can make anything happen.

Tunji Ishola
"Empowering generations to live life to the fullest and die empty"
Author- Live Your Life To The Fullest.

The Gift Of Life - Part 2

“One day your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure its worth watching.”
The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.
Tom Bodett.

Just A Minute by Benjamin E. Mays

I have only just a minute, only 60 seconds in it,
Forced upon me, can’t refuse it.
Didn’t seek it, didn’t choose it,
But it’s up to me to use it.
I must suffer if I lose it,
Give account if I abuse it,
Just a tiny little minute,
But eternity is in it.

What are you going to do with this your greatest gift - LIFE?
If there is ever going to be history written about you, you are
already writing it now with the way you are using this wonderful
gift of life.

This message is written to inspire those who are yet to discover the
meaning of life, to help those who are in transition of becoming
the best in all they do and to ignite a sense of legacy in those
who are at the pinnacle of their race of life. This message embraces
simplicity for easy understanding and to empower readers to
turn their wishbone to backbone with the intent of growing and
thriving in life’s challenges instead of going through them.

It is possible to be more and do more! There is no limit to what you can be
and have. The only determinant factor is you. This life is a gift from God to you
and what you do with it becomes a gift back to God.

What an abundant life He places for you to be the best, have the best and give the
best for your world.

Always remember " that you are at the centre of your universe and you can make anything happen"

To be continued.


Tunji Ishola
"Empowering generations to live life to the fullest and die empty"
Author- Live Your Life To The Fullest.

Saturday 28 November 2009

The Gift Of Life - Part 1

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”
Ashley Smith.


We have all been blessed in a most unique and spectacular
way with the best and most valuable gift at birth. This
gracious gift has nothing to do with our ethnicity, gender, race,
nationality or any other limiting factors, self-imposed or those we
allowed others to impose on us.

Some do realise this gift early, while the vast majority of people
are still chasing after the wind in search of this indescribable jewel
of value. The discovery, development and the deployment of this
gracious gift is the secret to true happiness and fulfilment.
When a person discovers and walks in the consciousness of
this gift, such a person lightens his or her world with light as if
by magic. Anything that comes along this path of light expresses
fullness of relevance.

This gracious gift is called “LIFE”. This life is the summation
of years, months, days, minutes and seconds expressed in day
to day struggles and triumphs that are experienced by all of the
world’s creatures. It contains the possibility that exceeds human
imagination and limitation. It is the wellspring of unlimited joy.
It carries the seeds of greatness and unlocks treasures of eternal
pleasures. The release of this life leads to extreme success in all
endeavours. In it resides abundant living that unlocks doors to
prominence and relevance.

Always remember " that you are at the centre of your universe and you can make anything happen"

Tunji Ishola
"Empowering generations to live life to the fullest and die empty"
Author- Live Your Life To The Fullest.