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Food for Living: Build Your Success
By Henry Ukazu
Greetings Friends,
You may have heard of the word “overnight success”. If I may ask, is there here anything like overnight success? Does it really exist? In reality, there’s nothing like an overnight success. Genuine success takes time. Real success can be likened to being organic. It has to take time and lots of strategies and mistakes. The question we need to ask is, how do we build true success? It should be noted that nothing is achieved without taking action, consistently and frequently. Achieving goals requires a fervent focus on taking action, regardless of the barriers or obstacles that present themselves.
Success means a lot of things to different people depending on what you define and see success to be. In one of my articles which I published a couple of years ago titled: The Relativity of Success, I stated that success means different things to different people. This is because, according to some people, if they attain a particular academic qualification, have a particular amount of money in their account, attain a particular level or even reach the peak in their professional career, or even get married and being able to train their kids, they are successful. In all these instances, they are right, but one thing is certain, they all built their success to make it what it is.
Each and every one of us wants to be successful, but are we doing the needful? Most times, we wait for other people or organizations to support us forgetting that we have to do our part first. Take, for instance, you want to gain a better shape, lose weight, gain muscle, but you go to a gyms instructor to train you, but you don’t spend time to take care for of you eat of even exercise on a daily basis. Most people fail to hit their fitness goals simply because it becomes too difficult to get to a gym. You can literally get into shape without an instructor because they are merely facilitators.
In order to attain true success, the question now becomes how do you build your success? Building success entails creating time for what you truly value and believe in. It can be your business, academics, organization, association or even yourself. However, the best way to build your success is by investing your time and resources into it. During the course of this article, we shall be discussing various ways we can build success.
Lets’ explore avenues we can build our success
1. Define your success
If you don’t define it, you will keep yourself subjected to confusion about your success and your failures. Find out what’s important for you in your personal life, career, and health and then focus your energy on it. Remember, you’ll only be excellent and extraordinarily on what you are naturally good at.
2. Invest Time:
Do you truly and really want to build your business? If yes, you must invest time in your business. You must spend precious time for whatever you need in life. If you want to learn a new language, a new trade, learn how to speak in public, communicate, or even lead, you must invest t your time in learning the secrets. Desire is not enough to acquire the skill and knowledge, you must dedicate your time to the task.
Time is the most important converter of time to whatever you desire to acquire. This is because everything you get will come back to you if you give your time to it. For example, if you invest your time in a family; relationship; or even school, you will get the commensurate result. It should be noted that you can spend money on anything you like, but you’ll only spend time on anything you love. Time is the most valuable asset we have in our passion. No success has ever be recorded in life without the application of time. Your ability to make use of your time is very critical and to your success. Time is life and life is time. This is because when you waste time, you commit suicide, but when you waste your time you commit murder. Nor matter how intelligent, skillful, and talented, you are, if you don’t use your time wisely to build/invest in your business or study well, nobody is going to pay you. Time also involves learning, networking, reading, researching and adding value to the work you do.
3. Set goals
Based on the three basics of life: work, relationships, and health. Maintaining a steady balance on these three areas will ensure that you minimize the pressure and that comes with working hard.
4. Find Inspiration and Motivation
Take your time to find strength and passion on what motivates and inspires you, it can be good friends, music, books, mentors, etc. As human beings, we are wired and composed of different genes and as such, we need the right energy to focus on the needful.
5. Create habits surrounding your goal
If you’re not habitual about doing things that are needed for achieving your goals, your motivation levels will deplete more quickly. You must be intentional about your purpose. Habits are what we do on a daily/continual basis in order to maintain consistency. Create a routine around your habits. Successful people have one noticeable thing in their lives: they live their success, whether anyone notices them or not. Make it a routine to commit yourself to that habitual activity, and demand exceptional performance from yourself.
6. Stop Procrastination
Stop looking at success as a distant. Procrastination is the killer of success. You cannot succeed in life when procrastination is your middle name. In this era of social media, a second post can be the turning point in your career or business. As a rule of thumb, never leave for tomorrow what you can do today.
In summary, build your success because, at the end of the day, no one is going to build it for you. You are the architect of your life and the best version of your business.
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
Dear Destiny Friends,
Every human being loves to get approval, either for the great work they have done or the ones they are doing. They love to be appreciated and admired. They also love to be given attention when they have something valuable to say or do. In all of these, one thing is certain, there is something special about us, and this special thing makes one unique, and ultimately attracts people to us.
Let’s face it, nobody will admire you, appreciate you, approve you and give you attention if you don’t have anything to offer. The reason most people associate with someone is because they feel or know there’s something they can gain from the person. It’s hard for someone to relate closely with someone who they don’t see potential value in.
There is no doubt each and everyone of us is unique, yes, there’s something unique about you. You can sing, you can write, you can dance, you can lead, you can serve, you can cook, etc. One can even be a good actor, athlete, comedian, or preacher. The list is literally endless. Now, what’s unique about you?
When you discover what’s unique about you, please do all within your reach to nurture and develop it. One day, the right person, who truly appreciates and knows your value will celebrate you.
I have a friend who is exceptionally skilled in writing and developing creative contents. I call him a genius because he can literally write a book within a week. How he does it is what I don’t understand. I was surprised when he once told me he wrote a book and manuscript in one week. According to him, he has been developing the contents mentally, but hasn’t found time to put his thoughts together, and when he finally gets his thoughts together, he was able to write the book and manuscript. This is a typical way of knowing a unique being.
Many, however, do not know what’s unique about them. We focus our energy chasing what is not chasing us instead of focusing on developing what we already have. It’s sad to see young and old people living their lives in an unintentional manner with a belief that somehow lines, favour or opportunities will fall in place for them.
Sometimes, we rely on other people’s affirmation and opinion, and accept it as our fate. For instance, just because one is tall, he might be told he will be a great fit for basketball without considering if the athlete loves basketball; again, just because someone is very intelligent, his parents will encourage him to major in a particular discipline, which is perceived as lucrative without considering if the person likes it pr not.
I once experienced this fate when my late dad inspired me to study taxation law in New York Law School, a major I detest with passion. It was like a suicidal mission for me because I do know, it will take miracle to graduate from the program. How I was able to get a scholarship for my grades and graduate in record time is a story for another day. I’m not wired as a finance person, I will better serve humanity in the social and developmental space where my skills, talents, gift and passion will be better utilized. And ever since I joined the space, I have seen results.
There are many cases where many people lose their identities without knowing they are unique. We are all unique in our individual ways. Just like there are several gifts and talents, we have different skills. When you know what’s unique about you, you will stand out and the world will not only appreciate you, but will celebrate you.
When one discovers the power of their uniqueness, we will gather strength to unleash it to the world. Uniqueness works in several ways. For instance, the mere fact that ten people are genius, talented, skillful or valuable in a particular work, the person with the unique gift is the person who will not only stand out, but will be called upon to do the work.
Let me share more insight. If ten people sing a particular song with a great voice, the person who is called to be a singer will receive a unique appreciation because he/she is working on purpose. That is why it is easy to see a lot of people venturing into a particular form of business, but the favour of the business will not locate them because they are not uniquely destined to do business.
Few years ago, one of my mentors shared a deep insight with me. He said that, as a trained medical doctor, he once observed that despite the fact there are hundreds and thousands of medical doctors practicing their profession. One fateful day, he noticed a particular patient was not responding to treatment despite all the medication that had been given to him by a nurse, his health was deteriorating, then another nurse came and administered the same pill a nurse gave the patient, and the patient began to feel better. What does that tell you? The second nurse was probably working in her purpose which aligns with her profession, and as such the corresponding success. This goes to show that when one is unique, it has a way of robbing off on their work.
Furthermore, he stated that Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, and Beyonce are some of the gifted singers and dancers the world has ever celebrated. He went on to say that we have hundreds and thousands of musicians, but only a few have got the spotlight.
What does that tell you? When you are unique, the world will celebrate you. I have understood that the fastest way to get recognition in life is to work in areas where one’s strength and unique gift will better serve the purpose. This is simply because the world does not celebrate one’s weakness, rather, the world celebrates one’s strength.
In recent times, I have seen myself as a counselor and human inspiration. My counseling skills have enabled me to influence people to live positive lives. Overtime, I have realized that when people share their burden with me, they feel relieved after speaking with me. What amazes me most is the fact that even my elders feel comfortable to relate with me on a cordial basis. Maybe, I have a unique gift for counseling and educating.
Today, I am going to charge you to focus your energy and time on whatever will bring you the highest satisfaction. Even if you are looking for a job, applying for school, or seeking any opportunity, your focus should be centered on what you have that the job, school or opportunity will amplify. When you do so, you will be in high demand.
In conclusion, please affirm to yourself today, I am a unique being with a unique personality, purpose and gift.
Say to yourself, ‘I am original’, and refuse to be fake.
Again confess that your originality, authenticity and uniqueness will attract favours, blessings, opportunities from leaders and queens to you, and you will be celebrated.
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 Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has emerged as the Best Road Safety Agency in Africa. This monumental achievement corroborates the Corps’ almost four decades of dedication, resilience and passion towards safeguarding lives on Nigerian roads.
The Corps, according to a statement made available to the National Association of Online Security News Publishers (NAOSNP), received the award at the 3rd edition of the Kofi Annan Road Safety Award held in Elzuwini in the Kingdom of Eswatini, South Africa between 14th and 15th of April 2025.
You may recall that Kofi Annan Road Safety Award was initiated by the Office of the United Nations Secretary General’s Special Envoy on Road Safety in collaboration with Kofi Annan Foundation to immortalize the contributions of African illustrious son Kofi Annan who served as the Secretary General of the United Nations.
The prestigious Road Safety Management Award represents a badge of honour for Nigeria, and a pure testament of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s commitment to unflinching support for the Federal Road Safety Corps and his believe in the Corps’ potential to serve as a model for other African nations. Indeed, FRSC’s tireless efforts to reduce road crashes and promote safe driving practices have paid off, earning recognition across the continent.
The recognition further speaks volume, as well as justifies the giant strides Nigeria has made in ensuring safety of road users and her leadership role in the Sub-region.
Reacting to the recognition, the Corps Marshal, Shehu Mohammed said that it is a testament to FRSC’s unrelenting passion for road safety. He thanked the entire community of the motoring public, stakeholders, partners, and the Nigerian people for their support. Emphasising that together, the Corps was able to achieve the enviable feat because of the collective energy and all round support received from the motoring public.
The Corps Marshal also revealed that FRSC’s winning formula includes, innovative strategies, implementing cutting-edge road safety initiatives that drive results, collaboration, fostering partnerships with stakeholders to promote road safety awareness, community engagement, educating the public on safe driving practices, full deployment of technology and road safety protocols.
The award was received on behalf of the Corps and the Federal Republic of Nigeria by the Principal Staff Officer to the Corps Marshal ACM Meshach Adigizi Jatau.
A Chief Magistrate in the Rivers State Judiciary, Mr. Ejike George, has resigned his appointment.
He hinged his decision on the unease over the appointment of a Sole Administrator to oversee the affairs of the State.
His resignation was contained in a letter dated April 11, 2025, and addressed to the Honourable Chief Judge of Rivers State through the Secretary of the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission.
The letter was titled “Voluntary Retirement From Service.”
George, who disclosed that he had put in 16 years in the judiciary, said the appointment of a Sole Administrator is tantamount to a “quasi-military administration.”
He expressed dismay over the direction of the governance of the State, which he said is “alien” and “antithetical” to the values of the legal profession.
The statement read: “This present is intended to convey my decision to voluntarily retire my appointment as Magistrate of the Judiciary of Rivers State.
“This difficult and regrettable decision is informed largely by my discomfort with the recent appointment of a quasi-military administration to run the affairs of a modern state like ours.
“Milord will agree with me that this type of governance system is not only alien but also runs antithetical to our hallowed profession as legal practitioners and adjudicators.
“Having put in a whopping 16 (sixteen) out of my 22 (twenty-two) years of legal practice into this Judiciary as Magistrate under successive democratic administrations, I find it difficult to work with the current setting, as doing so would amount to a tacit and naive acquiescence.
“Thanks Milord, for the opportunity to serve.”
