VALUES THAT TRANSFORM NATIONS

Success Digest
with Olusegun Samson G.

WEEK 4

Values That Transform Nations

With the way things are in our nation today, there is a serious need for national transformation in our economy, governance, policy and others. And this transformation can't just be pray down; both citizens and government has roles to play to see it turns to a reality. What most people do is to sit back and blame the government for everything.And the truth is our day to day activities and actions even as individual is either destroying our nation or building it. More so, those in the affairs of government today are product of the society; the incumbent president of the country is raised in a family within a community, and the fact is the way of live of the people in such community will have an influence on his life style. The point I’m drive at is that, if we desire a better governance our society need to be better, and for our society to be better each of us as it member need to change for the better in both our way of thinking and bahaviour.

Every nation is define by the values it hold dear. As an advocate of national transformation, I have come to discover that, if our nation will be transformed, we need to redefine our values. There are values that transform nations, which must be adopted by government, citizens and inhabitants of this nation. Let’s consider some of them together:

Values We Need to Embrace for National Transformation

1. PUNCTUALITY : ‘Time is money’ they say. Any nation that does not place value on time will be loosing great resource on daily bases. We need to abolish ‘Africa time’ as it is drawing us back among other nations. Let everyone embrace punctuality and be frank with individuals who do otherwise.
In 1748, while advising a young Tradesman, Benjamen Frankline made this powerful statement, “Remember that time is money. He that can earn ten shillings a day by his labour, and goes abroad, or sits idle one half of that day, though he spends but sixpence during his diversion or idleness, it ought not to be reckoned the only expense: he hath really spent or thrown away five shillings besides.” It is very important we place more value on time; every single act of idleness has a negative effect on our economy. The government also needs to put in their every best to minimize traffic on our roads. Those minor road adjustments could be done at night when there will be fewer vehicles on the road, so as to ensure free movement during the day. It’s important for all to wake up early and do what needs to be done at the right time. Let’s be punctual to meetings, work, appointments e.t.c. Join me in my campaign against unpunctuality and together let’s say no to ‘Africa time.’

2. TRUTHFULNESS : Another core value of national transformation is truthfulness. Trust dose not exist where there is no truthfulness, there is no teamwork without trust and if we can not work together, we will not be able to progress. Where there is no truthfulness, exploitation will be the order of the day. The erosion of truthfulness in any nation will always inhibit development in such nation. Henry David Thoreau wisely stated, “Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth.” For our nation to experience the transformation we seek, each of us (government and citizen alike) need to be truthful at all time, in business transactions, relationship, e.t.c.

3. EXCELLENT : Most Africa countries are lacking behind because of the absence of this core value, ‘Excellent.’ We need to strive for the best and put in our best in all we do. If you are a doctor, be a doctor per excellent, if you are an Engineer, strive for excellent; in whatever you do, be the best. Let those in the affairs of government offer our nation the best infrastructure, and social amenities; don’t give us just anything, give us the best or forget it. When you travel to well develop countries, the beauties you see there speaks of excellent and it could be replicated in our country too. We need to kill the ‘anything goes’ spirit in us and make commitment for ‘it’s the best or nothing else.’ Let our government wakeup to the fact that things are changing fast and technology is seriously advancing and put an excellent touch to whatever they are doing for the nation. We all need to come together to do something about the slip of standard in our society. Let’s replace mediocrity with excellent in our education, health facility, infrastructure, governance, e.t.c. Say no today, to ‘Good enough’ and embrace ‘Excellent.’ Our nation shall be transformed.

4. INNOVATION : I have not see a nation that kills innovation as ours. Our societies no longer encourage innovations, what we celebrate is fun and entertainment. So many programs are out there that offer millions of naira to some idle individuals who even lack character, just because they could sing and hundreds of innovations are wasting away; we seriously need to value innovations around there. The government or some industrialists could come up with a platform for people to showcase how innovative they are and sponsor the best innovations. This will inspire a lot of people in our nation to be innovative. Let’s be innovative in our thinking and seek how things could be done better in our various fields. Let there be a continuous search for new and better ideas in all sectors of the nation.

5. RESPECT : We need to respect ourselves, the rule of law and our nation in general. Let’s learn to show mutual respect for all. Distance yourself from anything that would affect the self esteem of anyone. Let bosses show mutual respect for the subordinates, parents for children, husbands for their wives and government for the people and vice versa. In an environment of respect, there is always sense of belonging and people find it very easy to team up to achieve set goal(s). Let’s have respect for our laws with no one been above the law. Let the same law which affect the poor and powerless also affect the rich and powerful; only then can our nation experience true transformation. Together let us work to build a culture of mutual respect in our nation. I charge all to sow a seed of respect today, so we could reap its fruits and our society will be better as abuse, rape and other social vices filters away.

National transformation requires the effort of all; start playing your part today. Watch out for the concluding part next week.
I see a new you emerging as you work to make this core values a part of you.

#keeps succeeding…

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PROVEN STEPS TO ACCOMPLISHING YOUR DREAMS

Success Digest
with Olusegun Samson G.

Week 3

Proven Steps to Accomplishing Your Dreams

About two weeks ago, I had an interaction with a young lady in my office on why everyone seems to have dreams and desire to succeed in life, even the beggar on the street wishes to succeed and accomplish something in life; but few are they who achieve real success. The fact is, every single individual has the potential to become very great. But we are all product of our choice not desire. The reason why many never achieve their dreams or accomplish anything outstanding in life is because they are suffering from the ‘someday’ syndrome.

Often time, we say, ‘someday I will accomplish my dream.’ only to wake up sixty years later, not having accomplished anything. A Scottish proverb says, “What may be done someday will be done no day. We have only seven days in the week, someday is not one of them. So if you want to accomplish anything in life, you need to set out a specific time for when you are going to work on it. Many never get to work on accomplishing their dream because of a number of challenges; fear of failure, do not know how to start, lack the will power, procrastination e.t.c. So I will be sharing with you some tips that will help you overcome these challenges and bring your dream into existence.

Proven Steps to Bringing

Your Dream into Existence

1. Put it on Paper : This very important because you might never be able to take any action on accomplishing your dream until you write it down. In fact, the moment you put it on paper, you have committed yourself and you tend to be more serious about working on it. Whatever dream you want to bring into existence, it’s highly important you put it on paper. Someone said, “Until you commit your goal to paper you have intentions that are seed without soil.” In other words, you will find it difficult to accomplish what you have not put down on paper. Maybe the reason why you have not been able to take any step on that dream is because you only have it in your head, write it down today. It has been proven over and over again that committing your dream to paper inspires action. When you have your dream(s) on paper, it offers untold opportunities of getting brilliant ideas that will help turn it (them) into accomplishment each time you review them. So I want you to pick a pen and a jotter and write down your dream(s) (e.g I want to be Nigeria President in 10years time), put it where it could be easily access by you, so as to be able to read it every day. You equally need to write down every idea you caught each time you go over your dream(s). Doing so, you have successfully taken the first step towards accomplishing your dream(s).

2. Set a Specific Time Frame for Your Dream: Until you set a specific time you want to accomplish you dream, you will always feel you have all the time and may never get to work on it. ‘Remember, what may be done some day, will be done no day.’ Many usually wonder why I work round the clock, doing all I could to ensure I’m always moving closer towards accomplishing my dreams, the answer is simple; I have written down, specific time I intend to accomplish them. So each time I check the calendar the urgency of accomplishing my dreams will over whelm me, wakeup from sleep and get to work. The reason your organization is struggling to achieve her goals is because you have not schedule a specific time you want to achieve them. Once you do that your mind will be open to steps you need to take, as the urgency of achieving them is done on you.

3. Start Now : the best time you can work on your dream is now not tomorrow. We often look for a perfect time to start working on our dream(s); which will never come. If you are waiting for a perfect time you might have to wait till eternity. When I started training staff and management of organizations on Organizational Development, it was never the right time for a number of reasons; I was much younger and had little experience among others; but I had to start. Today I speak as authority on the subject. If I didn’t start then maybe I will still be looking for that perfect time to start today. Whatever your dream is, start working towards accomplishing it today. Remember, the more you delay action on your dream, the more the likelihood you might not accomplish it. Because as days pass by, discouragement might set in, you start seeing several reasons why it can not be accomplished and finally give up on it.

4. Start Small : Do ensure you dream big, but learn to start small. The way up is down and nothing great starts great. Many never get to work on their dream because they were not willing to start small. You need to learn to work with what you have where you are. If your dream is to be a major shoes manufacturer in your country, you could start by selling shoes and gradually work your way up to accomplishing your dream. But if you want to wait still when you have all the resources to run a shoes manufacturing industry before you get started, you might wakeup fifty year after not having accomplish that dream. Ask yourself, ‘what can I do at the moment that will take me a little further towards accomplishing my dream(s)?’ The journey of a thousand miles begins with a step. Take the first step, start somewhere and one day you will see your dream turns to reality.

5. Be Accountable to Someone or some individuals : Accountability always inspire commitment. The thought of someone is going to ask you, what you have done, will force you to do something. Look for trusted and respected individuals (or you could get a mentor), share your dream with them and tell them to ask you on regular bases what you are doing about it. As simple as it seems, it will help you beyond reasonable doubt to take consistence steps towards accomplishing your dream. Because it no longer about you, it will be difficult for you to quit easily, as you will not want to make a fool of yourself nor be seen as a failure, weak or unserious to those individual you shared what you intend to accomplish with. If you want to be exceedingly great in life never get to a point where you no longer listen to or have regards for anyone; it is the fastest route to self destruction. Beware! To bring your dream(s) into existence you need to find individuals you will be accountable to other than yourself, it could be good friends, spouse, mentor or anyone you trust will be on your neck if you do nothing.

6. Builds a Network: Irrespective of the nature of your dream, you can not accomplish it alone, this is why you have to constantly improve on your relationship skill. Our success in life is tie to our ability to relate well with people. Be nice to all men, the worst of them today, might be of the greatest help to you tomorrow. Please lay that to heart. Another step you have to take to bring your dream into existence is to build a network of people of like mind that will help you. Diligently make a list of individual that you need to work with towards accomplishing your dream(s) and go look for them. Accomplishing your dream is like building a house, team work is need; the electricians, carpenters, brick layers and so on, need to all come together to build it. Starts building a strong network today, by bringing together individuals that share your vision and passion, who will help you accomplish your dream(s).

7. Acknowledge the Place of God : Never despise God, acknowledge Him in all you do and He will help you accomplish your dream by bringing your way the right people, good opportunities and a enabling environment.

You can accomplish your dream, no matter how big it is. Start working on it today.

I see a great door of opportunities opening for you this season. Fabulous week!

#keeps succeeding…

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THE F-FACTOR OF SUCCESS II

Success Digest
with Olusegun Samson G.

Week 2

THE F-FACTOR II

Last week we started a series on the F-factor with emphasis on building a solid foundation today for a glorious tomorrow and I equally share with us very important and timeless lessons on foundation from the building. Talking about the F-factor, there are two ways to it;

The first is: Every of our actions and decisions today, deliberate or non-deliberate serve as a foundation for tomorrow. This is why you must be conscious at all time of what you are doing, so as not to destroy your tomorrow with your actions today.

The first corollary of this is: It is difficult to build a solid foundation for a tomorrow you don’t know. Many never stop to wander about in life because they haven’t sit down to decide what they want out of life; that is, no definite purpose. It is the picture of the future you desire that will determine the kind of foundation you need to build. No builder will go to work a foundation without knowing what manner of building it will hold. Let me ask you this, what tomorrow did you desire for your business, ministry, family or any other areas of life? Put it down on paper and start building a solid foundation for it today.

The second corollary of this principle is: Definite steps and action will yield a definite result. If you desire a solid foundation that will hold the glorious tomorrow you look forward to, then you need to take a definite and deliberate step in building one. Remember, foundation is the basis of anything. So whatever you want to achieve, find out the basis and take deliberate step to ensure it is well taken care of.

The other way to it is: The foundation you laid for anything will determine the level of success you will record in it. Never rush the foundation level of any areas of your life (marriage, business, career, ministry and so on) if you desire to be successful in life.

The first corollary to this is: Poor foundation is one of the major causes of failure in life. Remember, just as we learnt last week, “a building with poor foundation will always have cracks in it wall.” Always take a deliberate measure to lay a solid foundation for yourself. Invest lavishly on your foundation and give it all it takes.

The second corollary is: The strength of your foundation will determine how much you will be able to hold in the future. Your capacity in life is limited to your foundation. A foundation laid for two storey building can never hold a five storey build; that building will collapse sooner or later. Ask yourself over and over again, “this foundation I am laying today for my business or what have you, will it be able to hold the future I envision? I strongly recommend that you go over last week publication again before you go further. The reason why many do not have what they desire is because they lack the capacity for it and this is a more reason why you need to take your foundation seriously.

The third corollary of this other way to the F-factor is: Once the foundation of a building is faulty, such building will experience problems with no permanent solution. The best thing you can do is to bring down the building and rebuild the foundation. This is far better than the building collapsing itself; much resource will be wasted and lives might even be lost. This is an extreme case, but sometime in life it better you start allover again to avert some future calamity. Before you go far in whatever you are doing, check to ensure the foundation is solid. If not, it never a thing of shame to start all over again. It’s too dangerous for you to keep patching it. Let it gets into your subconscious mind that foundation is key for anything.

By a way of taking us a little further, let quickly consider the essential tools for building a solid foundation. There are quite a number of them, but I will only touch three out of them.

Essential Tools for Laying a Solid Foundation for Tomorrow.

• EXCAVATOR : this is a very important tool for digging. The Excavator I’m referring to here is ‘KNOWLEDGE.’ It has been written, “…People perish for lack of knowledge.” It’s impossible to succeed in anything you do not have a good knowledge of. So many business and even marriages had failed because of the lack of some basic knowledge. Almost everyone knows the importance of knowledge, but it is so sadden that very few truly embrace it. Acquiring knowledge requires lot of sacrifice (time, money, and material resources) which you must be willing to pay if you want to succeed. As the depth of the foundation determines the height of a building, the debt of your knowledge will also determine your height in life. I have come to discovered that the best way to know what to do about something is to find out what others have to do about it. What ever you are planning to achieve, someone has achieved it or something related to it. So before you get started, make some research. When I want to start organizing seminars and conferences, I make lots of researches about those that have been held by several other people and attend lot of others too, so as to load myself with knowledge about it. And I must confess it helps a great deal. Success becomes cheap when you load yourself with the right knowledge. It is ignorance that causes one to struggle in anything. Socrates wisely stated; “The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.” You cannot build a solid foundation without digging very deep. Go for knowledge, read wide, study very hard, make researches, attend relevant seminar and workshop, go back to school, listen to audio books, watch relevant educational and inspirational videos… Do all you can to acquire knowledge, because you can never be more successful than what you know.

• SHOVEL : This is needed to move materials from where they are to where you want them to be. The shovel you need here is ‘PRAYER’. To be successful in life, prayer is not an option but an obligation. This is so because there are several unseen forces that always want to work against anyone that want to succeed and they can only be moved out of your way thought the shovel of prayer. Before you go into any thing or make any decision in life, learn to spend sometime in the place of prayer. It is important to note that, those who do not know how to pray will become a prey. It pays to be prayerful; make it your daily habit. Every time you pray, you invoke divine power of God into whatever you are doing or going into, which makes you unstoppable.

• WHEELBARROW: use for carrying and transporting small loads. Another essential tool you need to build a strong foundation is the wheelbarrow which is ‘PEOPLE’. Someone said “The quality of people around you will determine the quality of your life”. To succeed in anything you need to surround yourself with the right people. You can not do it or make it all alone, you need people to help you carry some of the load or else it will break you. So learn to develop quality relationship with people that will help you fulfill your dream. Never keep friends just for socialization, rather move with people who will add value to you. Henry ford said, “My best friend is one who brings out the best in me.” Who are your close associates are they helping you move forward or drawing you back? I think its time you change some of them. More importantly learn to invest into those around you. Be useful and never use people. Never wait until you need someone before developing relationship with him/her, it might be too late. Develop a healthy relationship today for a solid tomorrow.

I see you attaining new height in life. Have a great week!

#Keeps Succeeding…

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THE F-FACTOR OF SUCCESS

Success Digest
with Olusegun Samson G.

Week 1

The F-Factor

The most powerful and influential factor in the world is the G-factor, that is, the God factor. It’s a factor you must consider in whatever you do or intended to do. It is impossible to achieve true success in life outside God. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO PLAN, SET GOAL AND FOLLOW OTHER PRINCIPLES OF SUCCESS. BUT OUT SIDE GOD THEY ARE ALL A WASTE OF TIME. So if you are going to make any commitment at all this year, let it be to move closer to God; He’s the only one that can guaranty you success that brings neither pain nor sorrow with it.

F-factor is another powerful and highly influential factor, which is going to be our focus this week. Maybe one of these days I would share with us the seven (7) indispensable success factors, but this will be based on demands. Before I unveil what the F-factor means, it’s important to note that this factor affect all areas of your life whether you do something about it or not, and it is only deliberate effort that can yield its positive effect. This is why you need to take it with all seriousness.

The F-factor I’m referring to here is the foundation factor. Foundation is the basis of any thing. And one unique thing about it is that, one can develop foundation for one life, career, business, marriage e.t.c. intentionally and unintentionally. This is why, most people ignorantly and unintentionally build a deadly foundation for themselves, a more reason why you need to work on building a good one today.

Today marks the beginning of the remaining part of your life, what foundation are you laying for yourself. Every failure in the future is a reflection of an error in the foundation. YOU NEED TO DILIGENTLY CONSIDER EVERYTHING YOU ARE DOING TODAY, BECAUSE THEY WOULD SERVE AS A FOUNDATION FOR YOUR TOMORROW. Ask yourself this sincere question, will this kind of life I’m living today produce a solid foundation that will hold a glorious tomorrow? If your answer is no, you need to retrace your steps.

For better understanding, let me share with you, Three (3) Timeless Lesson from Buildings on Foundation.

1. The Dept of the foundation Determines the Height of the Building: If you want to build a storey building, it might takes you just some few days to dig the foundation. But if you are going to build a skyscraper you will need to take your time to dig real deep. Have you ever witness the construction of a skyscraper? You will notice that for several months it always looks as if nothing is happening. Because nothing is showing at the surface. This is why you need to not to be disturbed or rush your own foundation when you see the business of your neighbour prospering within a short time, while, it seems as if nothing is happening around yours; he might have just build a mere single storey building, you know! Once the skyscraper is completely built, it becomes a monument and a center of attraction. To be a highflier in life, you need to take your time in building a deep and solid foundation for yourself. LASTING SUCCESS, TAKES TIME TO BUILD.

2. The Quality of the Foundation will Determine How Last the Building will Be: If you have not seen one before, you must have hard of buildings collapsing. Some barely few months after construction. This is a function of a poor quality foundation. Wise builders usually spend quality time and use the best of material in building of foundation. IF YOU WANT YOUR MARRIAGE, BUSINESS, AND SO ON, TO LAST, BUILDING A SOLID FOUNDATION MUST NEVER BE COMPROMISE. Whatever you are venturing into this year, do ensure you build a very quality foundation for it, if you want it to be a ‘built to last.’ Don’t live a life of anything goes, rather go for things that matters and would yield the best result.

3. Poor Foundation will Produce Cracks in the Wall of the Building: Cracks in buildings wall always result from poor foundations. Do some little research about this; those cracks in the wall have no permanent solution, the more you cover them the more they open or create new cracks. The wall is not the problem, but the foundation. To avoid cracks in the future, you need to be very mindful of the foundation you are laying for your business, ministry or marriage. This is why it was written in the Holy Book (Bible), “If the foundation is faulty, what will the righteous do!” MANY ARE PATCHING THEIR LIFE TODAY, BECAUSE THEY FAIL TO BUILD A GOOD FOUNDATION YESTERDAY. To achieve an outstanding and sustainable success, sit down, diligently consider your way and build a solid foundation for yourself. A wise man said, “If I’m given 10 hours to cut a tree, I will use 8 hours to sharpen my cutlass.” Do not be too in a hurry to accomplish your dream, do your home work well. It is not how fast you succeeded that matters, but how long you stay successful.

Every new year offers an opportunity to start afresh, take deliberate effort from today to build a solid foundation for your business, marriage, career and every other aspect of your life. Let’s stop here for this week, will continue next week and I will be sharing with you; Essential Tools for Building a Solid Foundation for Success in Anything.

I see God moving you from where you are to where you ought to be. Wishing you a happy and prosperous new year!

#keepsuceeding…

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