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Developing Your Mindset for Reasons in Seasons
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By Tolulope A. Adegoke
“If you are having a bad time right now, kindly know that it cannot last. Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary problem. The authentic solutions are tied to your levels or stages of MANifestations!” – Tolulope A. Adegoke, PhD., FIMC, CMC, CMS, CIV, MNIM
Change is indeed inevitable. Change is also the principle of life, that means everything that is alive is bound to change at certain stages of life, even things that are not alive will change. In other words, the way the river runs through the mountain is simply wearing away the mountain, and when you go back to the mountain in like fifteen (15) years later, you will discover that the river has become wider. At this point, we need to acknowledge that change is in creation, it is part of life. So, here is the question, Ecclesiastes 3:1-3, it reveals that, “to everything, there is a season…” this means, everything has seasons., and everything were created for specific or diverse reasons. And to every purpose under Heaven, there is a time for it. This is the best news I have ever got in my life, which I am also privileged to be sharing publicly at the moment. When I understood this I was a teenager; and it changed my life. I understood that everything is a season. If you are having a bad time at the moment, it cannot last! And if you cannot find a job right now, that is only a season. If your business is going in the wrong direction, it is a season of slide. If nobody wants to marry you, that’s only a season. There is going to come a season when everybody wants to marry you! If you are “broke” at the moment, the good news is that, you are seasonally broke! But that doesn’t define the reasons for your purpose and existence, because it is only for a time. That’s simply the good news, and why we are always reminded never to make a permanent decision in a temporary problem.
Success is not something that you pursue. It is a matter of becoming a person of value. We shouldn’t be pursuing money. We should pursue purpose, we should pursue vision for ourselves, our countries, for our communities. We shouldn’t be pursuing things; what we need to pursue is IDEAS. There are ultimately three (3) categories of people on this plane called earth: i. The Poor People – they talk about money all the time ii. The Rich People- they talk about things iii. The Wealthy People – they talk about ideas.
What separates the above categories are simply thought patterns and habits. They all think differently. For example, the poor people pursue money; the rich people pursue things, while the wealthy people pursue ideas powered and amplified by vision. So, constantly, there is a different way of thinking. I hope nations of the world, most especially the Third World Countries, the young people of our nations become “IDEAS-oriented people”, because it is important to note that IDEAS attracts money. So. I suffice to say that, if we minimize this desire to get money, and elevate the creativity of new IDEAS, we will find that financial results will naturally flow to it. The likes of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Strive Masiyiwa, and the likes didn’t pursue money, they pursued IDEAS, even the late Steve Jobs who invented the Apple computer, and the iphone never went after money, but he developed an idea into a massive and global realities. If you observe all of the wealthy people in the world, you would discover that it was IDEAS that made them wealthy, not money. So, I think we need to reverse it. Don’t pursue money, and then try to get an IDEA. Get an IDEA, then money will pursue the idea into fruition, and you would become a by-product as far as wealth.
Dr. Myles Monroe of blessed memory shared the above school of thoughts. He tireless preached it to young people to stop looking for employment, he stated: “why don’t you position yourself differently, and look for deployment. To be employed means that somebody else is benefiting from your energy. To deploy yourself means that you are using your own energy to be productive. So, instead of waiting for someone to give you a job, simply by all means create your own work. That’s why I tell people that, there is a difference between creating your WORK and JOB. Your “job” is what they trained you to do, while your “work” is what you are born to do. Your job is your skill, which they fire you from at any point in time. But your work is your GIFT, no one can take that away from you. Your job is where you get compensation for activity; your work is where you get fulfilment, because you love it so much. You can retire from your work, because your work is you! so, when a person discovers their work, they no longer need a job, based on the fact that their work makes them productive! So, there are countless young people in this country and the world at large who are full of talents, full of gifts, but have failed to harness them. I need to add that every problem in life is a business.
All businesses are simply someone solving a problem, which implies that, the more problems that are available in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Canada, United Kingdom, United States of America, and the world at large, the more businesses available for young people to begin.” And, this is what I think we are lacking. We are trying to get trained to get a job, we are not trained to start a business. We are trained to let other people employ us, we are not trained to deploy ourselves!
The question now is, do we just sit down and let change happen to us? Or are we just watching change happening around us? Or are we aware that change is happening within us? Or are we going to be among those proactive people who will make sure that we affect or influence what happens around us?!
We must clearly understand that change also produces four (4) classes of people, and they are simply privileged to be reading this article at the moment. The First Classes of People can be described as The Watchers – they watch things happen. We must be enlightened that not all change is IMPROVEMENT. For instance, someone used to weigh 120kg, and now weighing 162kg, that is simply a change. for some of you, that is not an improvement. Such a person has lost his or her wardrobe, the ability climb the staircases smartly and swiftly, even lost the quality of health he or she had.
Change doesn’t connote improvement all the time. The problem is, without change, there is no improvement. So, you need to be committed to the decision of what to do with change. Change will happen, and if you are not careful, it could be destructive. You have to determine what kind of change do I want or need in my life? And I want you as a young person, a mother, a father, a business person, think as a company, even as a family, or educational pursuit. What kind of classes do you want to take in college this year? What kind of grades do you want? What kind of relationship do you want to have in your life? Who do you need to drop, and who do you need to pick up in your relationship? What kind of people do you want or need to associate with? What are the books you need to read that you have never read before? Those changes come with choices! So, what kind of a person are you?
We must always understand that we should not always get everything now (in a hurry). By the grace of God, I have spent 15 years in the University, and I have acquired a Bachelor’s Degree, a Master’s Degree, a PhD., while still counting several certifications on many academic platforms. Many people got their jobs earlier and settled for their jobs, while some of us delayed our money making profile by leveraging on what were compensated with as payment to ascend, all in the name of acquiring a foundation, platform that would influence the future and hand over a better world onto coming generation. Today, many of us, either by names or deeds are being registered in the anal of history, aligning with purpose in diverse phases of life by God’s special grace. Dr. Myles Monroe (of blessed memory) corroborates the above assertions, that he delayed his money making endeavours for five years, and later got in an hour as pay-check what others get in a year. Many people today, aren’t focused on developing ourselves, rather they are trying to grab the money now.
Please, I honestly charge you to focus on self-improvement, self-expansion, rather than trying to get you pocket fixed backwards, because the more valuable you make yourself, the more value you attract. You are not paid for how hard you worked, you simply paid for what you are worth to the organization. However, the more intellectual, spiritual, and psychological development you have, the more emotional stability you have developed would determine your strength of value to the world. Put in other words, if you become valuable to the world, the world will pay you to be yourself. It is very important for you to become a person of value, and not to seek value in things. I get paid for what I know, not for what I do! And I strongly believe that this is what need to perceive as being valuable.
Do you know what they actually call intellect? That is what they call CAPITAL. You know intellectual capital is really a commodity, therefore, I am using this platform to charge young people across the world to focus on discovering purpose for their lives come what may (why God created you to this earthly plane), and then discover your gifts (abilities), also take adequate steps to refine them, though the processes may be totally no convenient. Develop your gifts, practice them, and then even begin to sow them for free into your community. Develop yourself to the adequate point of building capacity, and in a short-time, you will discover that people will pursue you because of the values you become. You will discover that people will pursue you because of your fruits, and you maximize your fruits or gifts in life just like a tree. Trees never bring their fruits to you, they simply manifest it. I charge you also to MANifest! You are attracted to the tree because of its values. So, when you develop your gifts and refines it, you don’t need to look followers, they will find you, naturally. After all, leadership isn’t about finding followers, it is about followers being attracted to what you have. And, this is, true commodity.
Conclusively, Dr. Myles Monroe further agreed on the above when he stated that, “power for me to be successful was not in the teacher, it was not in the educational system, it wasn’t in my culture, it wasn’t in my society, it was within me, and I began to think, “God, if you are a good God, why are these people better than me? If you make me in your Image, why are they special? And am I a monkey?” And that night, there was no thunder, no earthquake, no lightening, nothing. I just heard in my mind. And the voice said, “I asked you to believe in me, and you will be saved, not them.” And that night, I made a commitment to believe what God said. I was 13 years old at that time, I said “okay, I believe that I have the power to experience far beyond all I can ever ask, think or imagine, and that’s when my pursuit of God began.” Years ago, before his demise, Dr. Myles was asked by a journalist that when did he perceive he was going to be a preacher, this was his response: “I even didn’t want to become a preacher. Matter of fact, I still do not consider myself a preacher. I think it drove me to have a passion to help everybody who has been oppressed. My passion is to make sure that no one should live under what I experienced. I have never desired to be a minister. I desire to help people.” Therefore, the reward system of leadership is as follows: followers are the flowers that decourates the trees of leadership, the fruits are the rewards that naturally manifest to encourage and to appreciate the leader for effective MANagement and (Him-prove-moments) improvement of its ships (platforms/ followers), by the values such being creates.
Dr. Tolulope A. Adegoke is an accredited ISO 20700 Effective Leadership Management Trainer.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged President Bola Tinubu to take immediate steps to reduce the cost of petrol, saying Nigerians are struggling with the combined impact of high energy, transportation and food prices.
Atiku made the call on Friday in Abuja during a press briefing on fuel prices, palliatives and the rising cost of living. His comments came amid renewed concerns over the effect of higher petrol prices on households and businesses.
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) presidential candidate said the removal of petrol subsidy in May 2023 placed additional pressure on families, workers, farmers and businesses.
He said the effect of higher petrol prices was not limited to motorists, as increased transportation and logistics costs had also pushed up the prices of food and other essential goods.
“When government makes energy expensive, it makes life expensive,” Atiku said.
The former vice president recalled that he had previously called for government intervention to reduce petrol prices, but said Tinubu had dismissed the proposal as showing “serious ignorance” of governance and the economy.
Atiku questioned whether the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), petroleum marketers, manufacturers and ordinary Nigerians who had raised concerns about rising costs could all be described as ignorant.
“When workers, producers, marketers and ordinary families are all raising the alarm, government must listen,” he said.
He said the government should be prepared to review its policies when their consequences become difficult for citizens to bear, adding that rising production costs were putting further pressure on manufacturers while families were finding it harder to afford basic goods.
Atiku also argued that government revenue and GDP figures did not necessarily reflect the economic reality facing ordinary Nigerians.
“If government receives more Naira while the citizen’s naira buys less food, less fuel, less electricity and less transportation, then bigger government revenues mean little to the family struggling to survive,” he said.
The ADC candidate urged Tinubu to use the remaining eight months of his first term to reduce the burden on Nigerians and consider any measure capable of lowering petrol prices, even if the proposal came from a political opponent.
“What matters to me is that Nigerians pay less,” Atiku said. “A sensible idea does not become a bad idea because it came from your opponent.”
He also offered to make his policy framework available to the Tinubu administration, saying Nigerians should not have to wait for a new government before benefiting from policies that could provide relief.
“If you need the framework, I will provide it. Implement it under your government. Give it whatever name you choose. Take the credit,” he said.
“I ask for only one thing: Let Nigerians breathe.”
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Passion and purpose are among the most debated topics in the human development space. It’s a grey area that has attracted a lot of attention. While some schools of thought believe it’s better to focus on passion, other schools of thought believe that it’s profitable for one to focus on a job that pays the bills.
According to the latter school of thought, passion doesn’t pay the bills. Well, depending on the schools of thought one subscribes to, I personally believe it pays more for one to pursue passion than profit, and I will explain in a minute.
I strongly believe passion is stronger than power because when one loves what one is doing, there’s an inherent strength that comes with it, but if one doesn’t like what they are doing, they’ll lack the moral strength to forge on.
Let me share a practical example with you. My late dad encouraged me to study Taxation Law at New York Law School, a major I didn’t like. He had the mindset that money rules the world, which I tend to believe because when money talks, the world “generally” seems to move around. That mindset and principle is relatable; however, it’s not applicable in other cases because there are some people or situations where money doesn’t move around.
My late dad believed it makes no sense for me to read a major and remain unemployable or poor. So, when I arrived in the United States, the economy was experiencing a recession, and there were no jobs at the time. So, while I was passionate about studying International Relations, Energy Law, or Communications Law, my late dad sat me down and said, based on the information he was receiving from his friends, these are great courses, but when I graduate, it will be hard to find a job because most people in those firms are laying off employees.
According to my late dad, his friends suggested that since I have a legal background, tax law is the only major I can study and be guaranteed a job because people and corporations will always file their tax returns. I initially objected to this advice because my brain is not wired for numbers. I really struggled to accept this advice because I hated numbers with passion.
My late dad would later tell me, you know we are from a humble background, and so we need money. My late dad would always say, “You wouldn’t want to study international law or communication, and the only thing you can do very well is speak English while remaining poor. One fact about my late dad was that he liked money to a stupor. According to him, after God, the most important thing in the world is money.
After much hesitation, I decided to study the major to make my late dad happy because I saw how happy he would be when I studied tax law. If truth be told, I wasn’t happy studying the major. I really struggled with the major. I managed to get a scholarship and graduated with a decent grade, but getting a job was challenging because employers could see that I didn’t like the major each time I went for an interview.
At the end of the day, I managed to get a job as a Case Manager for a private organization and later as the Legal Coordinator for the New York City Department of Correction. An important point to note here is that, after I left the tax firm, I was intentional about applying for jobs I was passionate about. Money to me was a secondary concern because I strongly believe that when you love what you do and you are good at it, money will surely find you.
I had to share this practical experience to give an insight into the importance of focusing on passion. Don’t get me wrong, money is good, but I personally feel there are more valuable things than money, and a perfect example is marrying a kind man as opposed to marrying a man with money, or marrying a lady with good character as opposed to marrying a lady with a good physique.
It’s instructive to note that when I began to focus on what I love to do, I had to spend time on honing my skills, developing myself by attending relevant training sessions and taking courses that would distinguish me from my contemporaries. It didn’t take long for me to receive recognition for my work. I was celebrated for being a trailblazing author of three books on television; I was interviewed by The New York Times in addition to meeting resourceful global leaders. In all sincerity, I doubt if I would have received accolades assuming I focused on taxation or doing what would give me money.
The moral of this analysis is that while profit is good, passion is much better because it will give one the necessary satisfaction and fulfilment they deserve. To understand how this works, one might make good money in a job but won’t be happy, but someone else might make little money and be happy in what they are doing. If research is done on what makes one happy, most people will likely say it is their passion or what they love to do that makes them happy as opposed to the job they do. It’s only a fragment of people who will attribute their happiness to the job they do, and that’s simply because they have truly figured out who they are or are probably happy and passionate about the work they do.
Let me explain a little: your profession is what you are trained to do as a doctor, lawyer, accountant, or engineer. Your vocation is what you are trained to do as a skilled worker or one with a 9-to-5 job, but your ministry is your calling, and that’s why you find your talent or gift and passion. So, one’s passion can be found in what they love to do.
When one’s profession is aligned with one’s vocation and ministry, then success is bound to be present because passion is at play.
It’s instructive to note that most of the great people I know in the world have become famous because they were doing what they love to do. I recently attended an award ceremony where my alma mater, Baruch College, celebrated alumni who have distinguished themselves. One of the award recipients, Ms. Doris Gonzalez, stated in her speech, “Of all the jobs I have had in my life, this is my best job. I really love my job”. I strongly believe there is a form of spiritual blessing and success that comes when one is happy doing what one is passionate about.
In conclusion, if one is desirous of succeeding in life, please endeavor to focus on your passion; if you can’t find it, explore what makes you happy. When you find what makes you happy, develop and monetize it, and in no distant time, opportunities and recognition will begin to triple in.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer, and author of Design Your Destiny- Actualizing Your Birthright to Success, Unleash Your Destiny and The Six Pillars of Success. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has released his handover document to counter the Anambra State Government’s claims that his administration left behind loans and other financial liabilities.
Obi’s challenge followed the release of his handover note, which showed the financial position of the State at the end of his administration.
The Interim National Coordinator of the Obedient Movement, Dr. Yinusa Tanko, published the handover document dated March 17, 2024, on Wednesday.
The document contained a summary of Anambra State’s financial position as of the close of business that day and showed a net positive balance of over N86 billion.
Tribune Online had earlier reported that the Anambra State Government said it is still repaying loans obtained by previous administrations, including those of former governors Peter Obi and Willie Obiano.
The Commissioner for Finance, Izuchukwu Okafor, disclosed this on Sunday while speaking on the Ndi Anambra podcast released by the government’s New Media team.
Okafor said the inherited loans remained part of the financial commitments of the current administration, despite the Soludo government’s decision not to obtain fresh commercial bank loans since taking office.
Obi, however, rejected the claim and asked the Soludo administration to provide evidence to support its position. He also said he would end his campaign for the 2027 presidency if the allegation could be proven.
The Anambra State Government later disputed Obi’s claim that he left office without outstanding debts or other unpaid financial obligations.
The government maintained that its records showed that some liabilities incurred during Obi’s administration, as well as obligations inherited by it, remained unpaid.
In a statement titled; “Gov Peter Obi and Record of Public Debt in Anambra: Facts Beyond Propaganda and Lies,” the Commissioner for Information and Value Reorientation, Law Mefor, described Obi’s position on the State’s debt profile as false.
Mefor said eight external loans connected to projects implemented during Obi’s administration, or inherited by it, were still outstanding.
According to him, the loans had a combined balance of $92.35 million, which the State government said was equivalent to N127.37 billion as of June 30, 2026.
