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MAXIMIZE: Discover Your Innate Gift And Make The Most Of It (Part One -1)

It’s not, Jane.

This issue of innate giftings and it’s connectedness to the matters of good success on the earth cannot be overemphasized. In fact, it is an important necessity to note, and one to be intentional about.

As I read through the mail you sent last week, I could see the many questions on your heart about this supposed cliché often thrown around, ‘discover your gift and work with it.’

Well, I think it’s true that what comes naturally to us, we often take for granted. And usually, in that passive state, many often think or assume that what comes easy for them is the same with others, but really, it’s not. On this matter, it’s important that you are intentional about living in an active mode, not a passive state.

First of all, I think it’s a recognition problem. And it’s good that we start from there.

Without recognizing what you’ve been given by God, nor its importance, you will not harness it, neither maximize it, talk less of being the blessing you are meant to be, through your unique life contributions.

I felt the need for us to do a review on this subject, so that your recognition system can see the light, embrace it, make solid conclusions that births conviction and set the sail in the right direction, through consistent actions that are premised on understanding of yourself, and how life has been designed by The Creator of this system we currently live in, called earth..

I truly hope that, by the provisions of grace, coupled with your committed resolve to being the best version of yourself, you can bring utmost Glory to our Maker through the associated fruits your life bears, as you work your privileged gifting in the room of diligence, responsibility and productivity.

GOOD TO GREAT (Hedgehog Concept)

Let me begin with this story, I read it some years ago from the fruit borne out of a massive research work, Jim Collins and his team did in the 90’s. It lasted about five years, and during this period, they studied 1435 companies in the U.S; examining their performance for 40years.

To do this, they reviewed case studies, annual reports, articles and books. They also examined financial analysis of each company, totaling about 980 combined years of data, conducted 84 interviews with senior managers and board members of the companies, while also scrutinizing professional and personal records of 56 CEOs.

You’d see this was a large scale study, they equally analyzed compensation plans, reviewed organization’s working systems plus the role technology played in getting the results these companies achieved.

Finally, they shortlisted 11 companies that they termed Good to Great companies, and their findings are contained in a book titled Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … And Others Don’t (HarperBusiness, 2001)

They made quite a number of discoveries, but I want to focus on a common theme they observed in the operating mode of these 11 Great companies, they called it the ‘Hedgehog Concept’

This concept is based on an understanding each organization had, a value system that helped the organization create a unique identity by which they made company decisions

The term Hedgehog concept was coined from the simple adaptive behavior of the animal called hedgehog, using its strength and abilities to thrive, survive and outwit the fox whenever the fox attacks it in the woods.

The hedgehog is a small mammal characterized by its spiky covering, and has the habit of rolling itself into a ball when attacked, thus using its spiky covering as a protective shield.

The fox is said to know many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing about itself, which it uses to its advantage.

The fox spends the day planning complex strategies on how to attack the hedgehog, while the hedgehog simply goes around his own activities, when the fox finally attacks, the hedgehog simply rolls itself into a spiky ball and despite the craftiness of the fox, the hedgehog always wins with the fox retreating with a bloodied nose.


What do you see Jane? Here is a case of one simple action based on the strength the hedgehog knows it has.
Jim and team called the 11 great companies ‘Hedgehogs’ and according to him and his team, these 11 great companies had a defined identity that influenced company decisions.

But how did they get the identity, you may want to ask?
They created it by answering these three questions about their company operations, and with that answer, they created profound success..

We shall look at the questions in the next part.

Read part two Here

Festus A.

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Who Are You Becoming?

“What did you just say?” My brother exclaimed.

“What?” I asked, not looking up from the books I was arranging.

I was home from school for the mid semester break. My mom and my kid brother were in my room, helping me arrange some books.
We had been talking about random things when I subconsciously blurted out a phrase in Nigerian pidgin English (Pidgin is an adulterated form of English mostly spoken by locals in Nigeria).


“You just spoke pidgin perfectly” My brother replied.


“Did I?”


“Yes, you did” my mum answered.


“Wow” I was speechless.


Speaking pidgin is not a norm in my house. My father is particularly against any form of vernacular. We only got to start learning our own local dialect when we had passed our formative years. So hearing me speak pidgin was a big deal.


That night, I reminisced on what happened during the day and realized that I had been influenced.
Let me explain.


When my school is in session, I stay on the campus, in the hostel where I have about 5 roommates.


Now, speaking pidgin is a norm in my room and my roommates are flawless at it.
Most times when a conversation is going on in the room, I am usually the only one who sticks to normal English because I don’t speak pidgin well. But as time passed, I became accustomed to hearing them speak it, that I started getting good at it. It was so bad that I even began to think to myself in pidgin sometimes.


Recently, I’ve been learning powerfully on the power of the company one keeps. Your company greatly influences your life and destiny.


My closest friend in class made me realize this. I have subconsciously imbibed countless traits from her that I didn’t notice early. Thankfully, they were virtues and not vices.

Similarly I hear her say and do some things that I do frequently which she didn’t do before.


“You’re the average of the five people spend the most time with,” – Jim Rohn.

You must have found yourself at one time or the other speaking like your best friend, your roommate or your classmate. Maybe you even caught yourself using the words or slangs they use.
This is why; Your life mercilessly reflects the people you spend the most time with.

No matter how much you hate a person’s habit, if you consistently stay within the jurisdiction of that person’s influence, you will pick up a trait or two from them.

1 Corinthians 15:33 Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.


When you spend time with people, you begin to speak, act and talk like them. This is the simple explanation for we being able to identify people from specific geographical locations; their togetherness for years created a pattern and a lifestyle (what we call culture) that everybody within the confines of that place adapts to.

Why did I stress all of this?


According to research by social psychologist Dr. David McClelland of Harvard, [the people you habitually associate with] determine as much as 95 percent of your success or failure in life.”


There are certain factors that are nonnegotiable for success.
Success has a protocol and certain habits that we imbibe from people around, are repellants to it.


In places like offices, classrooms, business places and so on you may not have complete control over the people you spend time with, so you may find yourself spending a huge chunk of your time with the wrong people. In cases like this, you must be conscious about what part of them gets into you and spend any spare time you have with better people.

In many cases however, we’re at liberty to choose who we spend a bulk of our time with but because we’re yet to understand the gravity of their impact and influence in our lives, we’re careless about it.


Make a decision today, to be intentional about who you spend your time with.
Do not hang around people who you do not want to be and act like.

Instead, spend quality time with people of character and virtue and in no time, you’ll find yourself evolving. That’s why we spend time with God; so we can look and be like Him.

You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.
Charlie Tremendous Jones

Greatness is contagious. Failure is too.
Choose ye this day who you will become.

Read

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10 simples steps for a healthy and organized life

They’re doing well and I’m not!

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10 Habits of Highly Successful People

Contrary to what many of us have been made to believe, success is very predictable, just as failure is.
You can tell if you’ll be successful or not because success does not happen in a day, it is a build up and product of habits.

There is a formula for success.

No one becomes successful by accident. Everyone who is successful today practiced something over time. Some intentionally practiced it, while others unknowingly practiced it. But they both became successful because a formula gives result regardless of your acknowledgement of the formula.

It is important however to know the formula for success because, it makes you able to repeat and replicate your result multiple times even in the lives of others, but someone who “accidentally” became successful is at risk because they can not replicate it.

When you do things mistakenly and succeed, it is more dangerous than failing because it creates fear in you and complacency. – Apostle Joshua Selman

It’s been quite a long year and we have recorded a lot of successes and failures. Most of the failures stemmed from things we either didn’t know or things we knew and didn’t do.
You a need superior quality of knowledge to do better and greater in 2019.

The things you do daily form your habits and your habits directly translate into your lifestyle.
Bad habits are toxic and lead to a bad lifestyle.

Here are 10 habits successful people practice, supported by quotes from them that are sure to guarantee your success.

Successful people;

1. Are disciplined

Every other point after this is tied to discipline.
In his book “No excuses – The power of self-discipline“, Brian Tracy defined Discipline as self control, self mastery, self denial and delayed gratification.

With self-discipline, I have built successful businesses in training, consulting, speaking, writing, recording, and distribution. My audio and video programs, books, seminars, and training programs have sold more than $500 million in thirty-six languages and fifty-four countries. Over the years I have consulted for more than 1,000 companies and trained more than 5 million people in live seminars and talks. In every case, the practice of self-discipline has been essential to my success” – Brian Tracy

2. Are ever learning

Successful people are great readers and learners. Two powerful ways to constantly learn is through reading books and relating with intelligent minds.

Books allow you to fully explore a topic and immerse yourself in a deeper way than most media today.” Mark Zuckerberg

“There is divine beauty in learning…. To learn means to accept the postulate that life did not begin at my birth. Others have been here before me, and I walk in their footsteps.” ―Elie Wiesel

3. Have mentors and role models

One profound lesson I got from a successful pastor and mentor is to search for the top three most successful people in my field or assignment and study their lives closely.

“Show me a successful individual and I’ll show you someone who had real positive influences in his or her life. I don’t care what you do for a living—if you do it well I’m sure there was someone cheering you on or showing the way. A mentor.” — Denzel Washington

Anthony Robbins says, “Success leaves clues”.

4. Develop themselves

Personal development is your duty. There are no limits for a man who invests and develops himself.

“Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead.” ―Morihei Ueshiba

Related post: Powerful and Practical Ways to Improve Yourself

5. Have a healthy mindset

“What we think, we become.” – Buddha

“What ever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.” — Napoleon Hill

6. Solve problems

Successful people are problem solvers. When you become the solution to a particular problem in your society, a need is placed on you and it brings reward to the degree to which you solve them.

“Inside of every problem lies an opportunity.” – Robert Kiyosaki

7. Dress well

Dress like it until you become it. This is not to encourage extravagance and unnecessary luxury but to encourage decent and clean dressing that makes you presentable.

You cannot climb the ladder of success dressed in the costume of failure. – Zig Ziglar

8. Are risk takers

If you are not willing to risk the usual, you will have to settle for the ordinary.”
– Jim Rohn

9. Network and keep Valuable Relationships

The fastest way to rise to greatness is to master the art of relationships. – Apostle Joshua Selman

Related Post: Networking

10. Don’t Quit

“The difference between winning and losing is most often not quitting.”
– Walt Disney

“If you really look closely, most overnight successes took a long time.”
— Steve Jobs

Intentionally plan for 2019 by studying your daily habits and replacing the bad ones.