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Food for Living: Creating Opportunities for Wealth
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Each of us wants to be successful, but many of us are not working in the direction of success. Talk is usually cheap. If you really want to succeed in life, you must walk the talk. Success means different things to different people, to some success, means financial success, academic success, marital success, personal success, or even spiritual success depending on which side you decide to take.
Just like you can’t have a baby out of the blues, you must be deliberate and intentional in the activity that leads to the formation of a baby. In the same vein, success doesn’t come to you just like that, you simply must create the opportunities for the success to flow. In law, before a document is accepted in the court of law, a foundation must be laid before the judge will accept it.
One of the challenges facing human beings is the inability to see opportunity where others don’t see it. Sometimes, opportunities don’t come to us, we create opportunities. Do you know a problem can create an opportunity for you? In creating opportunities, there are ways one can explore – book, people and traveling.
People
The greatest way of creating opportunities is through human beings. Human beings are the greatest assets one can have in life. Human beings can make or mar you. You cannot live in isolation. Great friends, partners, and relationships are priceless like treasures. If you have one, please take good care of it and nurture it like a plant or a newborn baby. According to Robin Sharma, “the business of business is human relation, but the business of life is human connection. You literally need people to succeed in life, you cannot do it alone.
According to an African adage “if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go with a team. What most people don’t know is that you’ll get to a stage in life and realize that money is not everything. This is because, at a stage in life, your greatest concern will be loyalty. It’s quite unfortunate many people don’t know how to cultivate friendship, some poor minds only wait for the right opportunity for them to cash out and relate closely with you, but great minds with an eye of an eagle can invest in you even when you can’t see the opportunity.
As a way of advice, when you meet with people for the first time, you need to first build a rapport, then do more of listening than talking. By truly listening and understanding, you can get the measure of a person before introducing any form of idea to them.
Books
There’s hardly any successful great person who doesn’t read. Reading helps a rational mind to explore opportunities. According to a philosopher, you are the same today and in five years except for two things, the books you read and the people you associate with. Sometimes, opportunities abound in reading. The sad reality of life is that most people don’t take time to invest in reading. Be deliberate in reading about investing, biography of great leaders, self-help books, or information/knowledge relevant to your careers. Constant reading helps to broaden your knowledge of life.
Place
It is often stated that traveling is a part of education. In fact, an illiterate is considered more exposed than a literate man who hasn’t traveled. According to Pierre Bernardo “to travel is to evolve”. The world is now a global village. Different opportunities abound in different continents. Travelling offers you the opportunity of exploring new opportunities when you think out of the box to know the kind of services that is needed around your new environment. Traveling helps you to create memories. Traveling helps to expose you to different cultures and opportunities. Traveling makes you rational in your thought process, it also helps you to meditate in addition to giving you empathy.
Traveling helps to broaden your knowledge and understanding of life. Above all, traveling makes you street smart.
Step Out of Your Comfort zone
Opportunities rarely happen in your comfort zone. You can’t achieve what you want by playing normal. You must leave your comfort zone by taking risks or making unpopular decisions which do not resonate with people. Stepping out of your comfort zone entails going the extra mile for what you truly believe in.
When you create the right opportunities, you’ll attract the right success you deserve. For instance, wealthy men expand their opportunities and wealth by investing in real estate, education, and building sustainable relationships across continents. When you invest in real estate you have a sustainable hope of a better tomorrow. Wealthy minds think out of the box by crossing party lines and boundaries by engaging with people they wouldn’t ordinarily relate to due to personal interest and incompatibility. However, they are concerned about doing business with them they see any opportunity.
As mentioned earlier, success is not only limited to wealth, you can have peace of mind and that’s a priceless wealth that money can’t afford. At most, money can hire a person to make you laugh for an hour or two, but that’s it. It can’t give you peace of mind. It takes a peaceful heart to be joyful even when you don’t have anyone to make you laugh.
You can also create wealth by avoiding conflicts or situations that might lead to negative energy. By so doing, you will be focusing your energy on the right causes.
In conclusion, to create the right opportunity which might lead to wealth, the first point is to determine where you are and where you are to be, then you determine what you don’t need and what you need to get to where you want to be.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a mindset coach and public speaker. 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 and President of gloemi.com. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as the winner of the just concluded Ondo State governorship election, held on Saturday, November 16, 2024.
The Returning Officer for the election Olayemi Akinwumi, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State declared Aiyedatiwa winner of the election on Sunday, extending the governor’s stay at the Government House in Alagbaka, Akure.
Governor Aiyedatiwa polled 366,781 votes to defeat his closest rival and a former deputy governor of the state Ajayi Agboola who flew the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) flag. He scored 117,845 votes, more than twice lower than the APC candidate.
“That Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa of the APC having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected,” the returning officer said at exactly 2:30 pm at the INEC collation centre in Akure.
The declaration came hours after the collation of results for the election began in the early hours of Sunday. Although the collation centre went on breaks, the APC took a commanding lead with over 200,000 votes ahead of the PDP.
The final results showed that the APC won the election in a landslide, clearing all 18 local government areas.
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
There is no gainsaying the fact that everyone desirous of making impact in life must live a life of purpose. This is where knowledge and information come to play. It is these knowledge and information that will set an individual apart from his contemporaries.
I strongly believe, if one is not informed, they are ill-informed, and when they are ill-informed, they can’t perform well in any given endeavour. This is because information leads to reformation and transformation. We can therefore, confidently say that information leads to formation because everyone is a product of what they know.
Knowledge acquisition is one of the best things that can happen to anyone. People with knowledge are revered, and highly respected. Having knowledge is like having money. People from all walks of life will seek you.
There are different kinds of knowledge, and they include Revealed Knowledge, which comes from those who wrote the Bible and Intuitive Knowledge, which comes from the mind. It is the ability to gain knowledge without conscious reason or explanation.
Others are Empirical Knowledge, which is information gained through observation, experimentation, and direct experience, rather than through theoretical reason or intuition; Authoritative Knowledge, which is the knowledge a man has because of his expertise in a particular field; and finally but not the least, Rational Knowledge, which is a form of knowledge that uses reasoning and philosophy to understand the world.
From this illustration, a decisive mind can see that knowledge is priceless. Knowledge is like education. It can provide security and access. Even the Book of life says in Proverbs 4:13, “your education is your life, guard it very well”; and in Hosea 4:6 that “my people perish for lack of knowledge”.
From my personal experience in life, apart from death, one of the greatest levelers of all time is education. This is because the child of a certified pauper can become a man of means tomorrow if properly educated. That explains why children from humble backgrounds ought to take their education very seriously, especially if they don’t have affluence.
On a personal note, I come from a very humble background, my late parents didn’t have the opportunity of acquiring a decent education, but they knew the value of education and endeavored to give me and my siblings a decent education. In retrospect, when I look back and see some of my contemporaries whose parents couldn’t give them a decent education, I bless my late parents because education has exposed me to lots of opportunities in the United States, and the global world in addition to granting me an audience with the high and mighty in society.
Sometimes, when I look at my modest achievement, I’m deeply humbled because I know it is the grace of God. Who am I to author two amazing trailblazers’ books, get featured and profiled by the New York Times, engage in high level conversation with leaders of thought and captains of industries. Apart from the grace of God, intentional seeking of knowledge, and wise counsel from mentors and strategically positioning myself have been some of the cornerstone to my success.
Imagine if my late parents didn’t give me a decent education and opportunity of travelling to the United States, most of these opportunities and exposure wouldn’t have been readily available.
When one is decently enlightened, educated and informed about life, their level of reasoning and understanding differ from an ordinary man. If one desires to go far in life, one must seek knowledge.
It is your knowledge that sets you apart from others.
According to Dr. Yomi Garnett, an accomplished Ghostwriter, “If you are a man of great knowledge, people will have great respect for you. If you are a man of great wisdom, people will have great reverence for you. And if you are a man of both, great knowledge and great wisdom, you will be the most eminent of men. But in real terms, people don’t care how much you know, or how much wisdom you have, unless they know how much you care.”
The moral of this quote is that despite the knowledge and information at one’s disposal, if one lacks empathy, their knowledge, experience and whatever they have mean nothing.
The importance of knowledge cannot be overemphasized. In our contemporary society, a fast way of attracting opportunities is by showcasing the knowledge at one’s disposal. It is so sad that many people don’t take time to read, research and learn new trends applicable in their industry, and in the world generally and as such, they find it difficult to fit in and grow.
It is instructive to note that when you seek knowledge, opportunities will seek for you. A major reason people are poor is simply because they are not solving problems and to solve problems, one ought to have understanding. Do you know that if you don’t have money, the reason is often because you are not solving a problem, or you are not solving enough problems, or you are not solving the right problem or you are not solving problems for the right people. Generally, we make money because we have something unique to offer to the world. Therefore, to solve problems, one must have knowledge and information.
We currently live in an age of technological, where skills, talent and creativity are in high demand. Any progressive being that desires to go far must be intentional in seeking knowledge. Successful acquisition of knowledge, information and understanding can lead to discernment and wisdom.
In conclusion, as you journey towards life, if you want to make an impact, seek opportunities, and earn more money, do yourself a favour by endeavoring to seek knowledge, wisdom, and information. You can’t get these by sitting on your sofa or staying in your comfort zone.
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
President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of Daniel Bwala as Special Adviser, Media and Public Communications (State House).
Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, announced this in a statement, on Thursday.
A former aide of former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Bwala worked actively for his former principal who lost to Tinubu.
However, after the elections, he worked his way into the camp of Tinubu, sparking controversy.
Onanuga also announced the appointments of three directors-general of various agencies.
They are:
(1) Mr. Olawale Olopade — Director-General, National Sports Commission
(2) Dr. Abisoye Fagade — Director-General, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism
(3) Dr. Adebowale Adedokun — Director-General, Bureau of Public Procurement
Olopade, the new Director-General of the National Sports Commission, is a sports administrator with many years of experience in the sector.
He served as commissioner of youth and sports in Ogun state and was chairman of the local organising committee of the 2024 National Sports Festival.
The new Director-General of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, Dr. Abisoye Fagade is a marketing communication professional. He is the founder and managing director of Sodium Brand Solutions.
Adedokun, the new helmsman of the Bureau of Public Procurement, was the director of Research/Training and Strategic Planning at the bureau before his appointment.
Daily Trust
