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Food for Living: Break Barriers, Create New Vistas
By Henry Ukazu
Greetings Destiny Friends,
Setting a record is the joy of every progressive mind, organisation, government and business. It cannot be overemphasized that everyone wants to set a new record. Records are being set daily in different sectors all over the world. For instance, Coronavirus has set new record of global health pandemic in USA and the world general because of the “new normal” it introduced. The new record has affected all businesses including but not limited to corporate organizations, hospitals, entertainment industry, and even the family circle is not left out. You can decide to set a record for yourself. To set a new record, one must be ready to break barriers and create new vistas, and as easy as it appears, it takes guts and extra-ordinary energy to achieve. During the course of this article, we shall be discussing practical examples on how we can set a new record for ourselves.
Setting a new record can be likened to having a new friend. Your circle of friends can either make or mar you. This is because they can either challenge you to do better than yourself or lead you to downfall. Despite having great friends/network around you, the greatest record one can ever set is overcoming himself. You may be wondering how can one overcome himself? Overcoming oneself simply means to do better than you did yesterday. It’s quite unfortunate many people compete with their friends within their network, family, and colleagues forgetting the fact that the best way of competing is engaging in healthy competition. Competing with oneself entails doing better than what you did the previous day, week, month or year.
It is interesting to note that those who you spend your time with will in some way determine how your life will be. Let us take a case study of married couples, once they are married, there’s a great possibility that either the husband or the wife will influence their spouse either negatively or positively. Furthermore, you cannot hang out with chicken and expect to soar. It is always good to look at your friends and see what they are doing and where they are heading to. Ask yourself, where will I be in five, ten years or more? What will make me feel fulfilled? In order to set a new record, you must exceed expectations by going over and beyond. By so doing you’ll be on the path of setting a new world record depending on your expectations. Moral: Choose your friends wisely.
Having said that the greatest form of competition is healthy competition, it is worthy of note that healthy competition is applicable where family members and friends inspire each one to succeed as opposed to trying to dim the light or trying to outsmart another person in a greedy manner. In setting a new record, it is important to know the kind of record you’ll like to set. Some people like to trend for negative reasons while some like to trend for positive reasons. The choice is yours.
Furthermore, there are certain qualities a rational mind must have if he desires to set a new record. One of the qualities is determination. You cannot take away determination from record setting. Some of us have some bad habits which needs to be thrown into the garbage bin. These negative habits can be the limitation factor why we fail to reach our peak. If you have colleagues who are only interested in having fun without balancing it with work, it will surely rob off on you.Avoid them. Spirits are transferable by way of association and influence. Hangout with successful people and you will be successful because the possibility of learning how they live their life is guaranteed.
Set boundaries.
If you are going to reach your highest potential in life, you need to set boundaries and limitations for friends and family members. People need to know what you stand for. If you don’t stand for anything, you’ll die for nothing Question: What will you like the world to remember you for? In the journey of life, you need to identify with the right people. It’s sad to note that sometimes, due to vested interest, progressive minds seem to associate with people who don’t value or identify with their vision. They are merely after what will they gain from them. They are therefore, concerned about their income, relationship as opposed to their mission and vision. These unholy associations are most times geared towards getting sponsors and potential partners to relate closely with. If you ask them why identify with such people, they would snap, ‘what if I lose my business?’ And I ask, what if you lose the vision, perception, image, brand and mission of your company?
Environmental Factors
According to John Quincy Adams, “if your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more and do more, you’re a leader”. If you truly desire to make in a difference, you must make sure you look past your environment. You don’t have to be limited by your environment. You have to be willing to separate yourself from whatever limits your thought process. You need to know what limits you from succeeding. Your greatest desire is to grow and you can do this by conquering new grounds. You don’t have to be stuck in what your environment offers you, neither should you be concerned of what community is saying. The law of the group says, ‘we associate with people with the way we see ourselves’.
As mentioned earlier, your vision and goal are what should rule your mind and life. If your community and friends won’t affect you positively between now and the next wenty years, there’s no reason why you should be around them. Your greatest concern should be the quality and not the quantity of people you have in your life. One loyal and impactful friend is better than ten general friends.
In conclusion, the higher you go, the more selective you have to be. Not everyone needs to be in your circle of lifestyle. You grow up to meet and associate with people, organizations, countries and leaders of thought and industry who identify with your values and vision. That is the notion you should have. You don’t have to relate or associate with people because they are related to you by family or blood. The best way to go around it is to treat them with respect while relating with them from a distance. They may feel bad, but guess what, you’re not responsible for others happiness; you’re responsible for your own happiness.
Food for thought: If you don’t get the wrong people out, the right people won’t come.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success. He can be reached via henrous@gmail.com
Fresh facts have emerged over the abduction of school pupils and the killing of two teachers alongside an okada rider in Ahoro-Esiele, Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State, as investigators uncovered how suspected informants allegedly maintained communication with the abductors through telephone conversations.
The Oyo State Police Command disclosed that investigators tracked the suspects through calls believed to have been exchanged with the bandits during and after the operation.
According to the police, the conversations allegedly contained details on how the criminals could successfully navigate routes within the National Park to hidden locations used as safe havens.
The breakthrough led to the arrest of no fewer than six suspects, who are currently in police custody and assisting security agencies with ongoing investigations into the gruesome incident.
Confirming the development on Tuesday morning, the State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Olayinka Ayanlade, said the suspects were apprehended during coordinated security operations across different locations in the State.
“We have six suspects in custody and they are assisting the investigation,” Ayanlade said.
He added that preliminary investigations revealed that the suspects allegedly served as informants to the bandits responsible for the abduction and killings.
“Our findings showed that some of the suspects were in contact with the abductors through telephone conversations and investigators are analysing those communications as part of efforts to uncover the full network behind the crime,” he stated.
Ayanlade further disclosed that security agencies uncovered discussions allegedly centred on routes through the National Park and locations believed to have been used by the criminals as hideouts.
“The conversations contained information on how the abductors could move through the National Park undetected and reach safe locations,” he added.
The police spokesman explained that the suspects were arrested during joint operations involving the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police Force, the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Amotekun, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and Agro-Rangers.
“The arrests were made possible through intelligence-driven operations carried out by joint security operatives working collaboratively to dismantle the criminal network,” Ayanlade said.
He assured residents that security agencies were intensifying efforts to apprehend other fleeing members of the syndicate linked to the attack.
“We are committed to ensuring that every individual connected to this criminal act is identified, arrested and brought to justice. Investigations are still ongoing,” he said.
The incident, which claimed the lives of two teachers and an Okada rider while school pupils were abducted last Friday, has continued to generate concern among residents of the affected communities and neighbouring areas in Oyo State.
Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has confirmed that one of the teachers abducted during the recent terrorist attack on schools in Oriire LGA of the state, has been killed in captivity.
Speaking on Sunday during a press briefing on the incident, Makinde described the situation as “difficult and challenging”, saying the state government is intensifying efforts to rescue the remaining victims.
On Friday, gunmen riding motorcycles invaded communities within the Ahoro-Esiele/Yawota axis of Oriire, Ogbomoso, and abducted students and staff members of Community High School, Ahoro-Esiele, L.A. Primary School, Esiele, and Yawota Baptist Nursery and Primary School.
The attack left an assistant headmaster, identified as Joel Adesiyan, and a commercial motorcyclist dead.
According to Makinde, a video received by the state government confirmed the killing of one of the abductees identified as a mathematics teacher.
“What we know is that seven teachers in all were abducted and unfortunately, we got a video this morning that one of the teachers, the maths teacher, was killed by the terrorists this morning,” Makinde said.
Authorities have yet to confirm the exact number of schoolchildren abducted.
In the aftermath of the incident, videos recorded from captivity began circulating on social media, showing abducted teachers pleading with the government and Nigerians for urgent intervention.
One of the viral videos featured Rachael Alamu, principal of Community High School, Esiele, appealing to the government to help secure the release of the victims before they are killed.
Makinde detailed that six persons had been arrested within the affected locality over alleged links to the attackers, and that another three “persons of interest” were also arrested in connection with the attack.
“The information available from the Commissioner of Police is that six individuals have been arrested within the locality. Some of them were believed to perhaps be informants to people running logistics for the terrorists,” he said.
Following the attack, the Oyo Police Command announced the commencement of an intensive manhunt and rescue operation involving multiple security agencies.
Makinde said personnel of the police, military, the Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Amotekun, and local hunters were mobilised immediately to pursue the attackers.
The governor said, however, some Amotekun operatives sustained injuries after encountering improvised explosive devices planted by the terrorists during the operation.
“After the incident, Amotekun, the police, military and hunters were mobilised to go after the terrorists and it was along that line that they ran into IEDs and some of the Amotekun operatives were wounded,” he said.
Sources told TheCable that the terrorists had initially opened fire on the security operatives who were approaching the Old Oyo national park on motorcycles, causing them to flee.
“When the shooting subsided, the operatives decided to go for their motorbikes. Unfortunately, a dynamite exploded against one Amotekun corps member and he was wounded. He has been taken to the hospital for medical attention,” a source said.
“Apart from air raid, the Old Oyo National Park Area can’t be easily accessed through infantry. It’s a long distance from the Oowe River which forms a natural landmark boundary for the park. Motorcycles would have to be used for the journey, but the noise of the approaching motorcycles alerted the terrorists.”
Makinde linked the attack to increasing pressure being mounted on terrorist groups in the north-east, warning that fleeing armed groups are moving into other parts of the country, including the south-west.
“With the pressure on the terrorists in the north-east theatre, they will keep moving southwards. Today, the governor of Kwara state has spoken to me. But the problem we have is that when you have pressure in one place, we must be prepared on this side to either repel or neutralise any terrorists fleeing the pressure,” he said.
The governor harped on the need for sustained government and security presence in vulnerable communities, warning that temporary military operations without long-term security measures could leave residents exposed to future attacks.
“If all we can do is clearance operations for a week or two and leave that place, the terrorists will come back and the people will become vulnerable,” he said.
He assured residents that the state government would be deploying military and non-military strategies to secure the release of the abducted victims and tackle the growing security threat.
“We have decided that we will adopt not just the kinetic approach. We have not taken this lightly,” he added.
Makinde also appealed for calm and patience from residents, acknowledging the complexity of the operation.
“I want to appeal to everyone that we are doing everything within our power to ensure that this would be resolved quickly and we bring our children back safely, but it is a very difficult and challenging situation so there may not be quick fixes,” he added.
Source: TheCable
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Complaining is part of human nature. We complain about our health, school, family, friends, work, finances, government, and life in general. Human beings literally complain about everything and anything.
Over time, I have come to discover something about life: complaining doesn’t solve a problem; it adds to it. According to the Book of Life, why worry when you can pray? The moral of this statement is that instead of worrying, why not look for solutions? When you worry, it only accumulates the problems, but when you explore avenues to solve a problem, you’re literally praying.
Complaining is like having a problem and apportioning blame to another person instead of fixing it. One of the hallmarks of great minds is the ability to solve problems, while little minds complain.
In the world of visionary leaders, they don’t complain; rather, they see complaints as challenges of life, while lesser minds see complaints as problems of life. Again, while great leaders see problems as a gateway to make money and succeed by proffering solutions, little minds see problems as obstacles limiting their growth to succeed. Same action but different results and consequences.
As human beings, we tend to focus on what we don’t have instead of focusing on what we have. It’s only when we appreciate what we have that we give room for opportunities and favors to come to us. It’s unfortunate some of fucus on what we are going through instead of what we are becoming.
It’s instructive to note that complaints don’t lead us anywhere, rather it hinders our progress. Nobody likes complainers; complainers are usually seen as energy suckers because all they do is take without giving. Instead of complaining, why not practice gratitude? Gratitude helps to draw and attract opportunities.
In the world of human relations, the ability to manage people is an uncommon skill. One must learn to nurture relationships. Human beings can be difficult to manage. While some exhibit meekness, gratitude, cheerfulness, and loyalty, some exhibit bitterness, frustration, depression, sadness, and sorrow. What most people don’t know is that we have the ability to change how we manage our lives and how we react to what life throws at us through our attitude.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not insinuating that complaining is wrong; rather, I’m insinuating it’s not healthy for our mental health. The only time we can complain about something is when we are proffering a solution; by so doing, we have highlighted the problems and proffered the solution.
Complaints make us blind to see the good in others. As a word of advice, if you focus exclusively on the shortcomings of the people with whom you have to relate and forget that they have a good point, it will be difficult to see the good in them.
According to Yomi Garnett, focus on the good side of people and be intentional in learning about their mindset and inquire what made them who they are. Also, focusing on the good side of people despite their bad or weak side makes them feel valuable as human beings, and by so doing, we show our empathic personality.
In conclusion, resolve today to stop complaining and start appreciating the challenges of life with gratitude.
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 Design and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
