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Food for Living: Imagine and Create Your Future
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
We are all familiar with these sayings; talk is cheap, and action speaks louder than voice. Yes, that is 100% true. It is very easy to make a wish, desire something and aspire for greatness. As kids/children, we always desire what makes us happy; as teenagers, we always desire the goodies of life, as young adults we dream of having big jobs; as mature men/ladies, we aspire to have the luxury of life, raise our children, invest and explore the world while planning for a comfortable retirement.
As we proceed on the journey of life, we always imagine what the future holds for us. As business men and women, we often take risks; as parents we have fears about our children and how they will end up. Our fears are numerous to mention. In the midst of all these vicissitudes of life, one thing is certain, we are what we imagine and create. It is important to note that you cannot live in a future you haven’t created in your mind. It is only the future you can picture that you can feature in.
Sometimes, we live through life without learning the writings on the wall. For example, sometimes we just see without paying attention by way of observing our environment; sometimes we just hear as opposed to listening and understanding the message; sometimes instead of persuading with love, we speak in a commanding tone; instead of using emotional intelligence to feel the pains of someone, we espouse insensitivity to humanity; sometimes we just use our sense to analyse situations instead of using our discretion to discern the issue at hand.
Amongst all these, what we fail to understand and know is that we are a replica of our actions. I may ask you, what do you envisage your life, business, personal relationship, family or professional life to be in the next five to ten years based on the stage you are at the moment. Are you happy with your current state of life? If your answer is no, it’s high-time you had to create the future you desire. According to Henry Ford,” Whether you think you can or can’t, you are right.
It is very easy to doubt ourselves when the odds are against us, and we find it hard to break even, but the good thing about life is that it gives you whatever you invest into it. Life always gives us options and a second chance called tomorrow. It’s just totally up to you to maximise the opportunities, lessons and experience that comes with it.
Therefore, in creating the future and life you desire, you must not only imagine, but you must conceptualise it with a strategy and powerful execution in order for it to manifest. The end product of any accomplishment/achievement is always heart-warming because it does not only gives us the opportunity to touch the lives of people, it also gives us the opportunity to make an impact globally, which is capable of leaving a footprint for the next generation to thread on to elevate their game.
In order to make an impact, you must be skillful in connecting with people. Connecting with people is not about contacting people on the surface level on the street, social or professional gathering, it even transcends networking or meeting people at religious or community events, it goes as far as meeting people where they are and making them feel comfortable with your presence and heart desires. You can only connect with people if you haven’t understudied them very well, especially as it relates to their background, food, academic, religious or even personal lifestyle.
Sometimes average minds just read about people online, especially on social media and assume they have an insightful understanding of who they are and what they represent. They fail to understand that appearance is not reality.
Creating the life you desire transcends beyond just mere dreaming, you must put the work into action by planning and praying for the lines to fall in place. Dr. Ben Carson, a Neurosurgeon, wrote books titled “The Big Picture” and “Gifted Hands”. It is instructive to note that Ben Carson didn’t just imagine, he envisaged all the trials/challenges and benefits/opportunities that will come as a result of the choice he has made. He was quite aware if his decision made sense, he will be gladly celebrated globally, and if he failed, he has a failed story attached to his name.
At the end of the day, he was globally celebrated for being able to separate the siamese twins. Ask yourself; what am I dreaming, imagining and hoping to create for the next generation to be proud of me.
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
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
The importance of timing cannot be overemphasized. Timing is everything in life. It is critical to one’s success. You can lose your money and get it back in many folds. You can even lose your health and get it back all things being equal, but when you lose time, you can hardly get it back again.
The importance of timing can be seen in crops. Every crop has a season, a good farmer won’t plant maize when it’s time for oranges, nor will he plant pears when it’s the season for mangoes.
Time is very instrumental to the success and failure of anyone. Imagine having a meeting or interview at 9:00am and you arrive at 10:10am, it will take the grace of God to be interviewed. As an employee, apart from one not being able to diligently do his job, one of the fastest ways for an employee to lose his job is by being late to work.
When I was in New York Law School studying Taxation law, I did a course titled, the Problem of Timing. During the semester, I learnt about cash and accrued income. Let me do some academic exercise here. In cash income, just like the name entails, one is paid in cash as soon as the work is completed. It’s just like going to the market to make a purchase. One can either pay directly with cash or with debit or credit card. But Accrued income refers to revenue a company has earned by providing goods or services, but for which payment has not yet been received, one will have to do the work first before getting paid. This is applicable when one works in either a public or private organization where one is paid either weekly, bi-weekly or at the end of the month depending on the stipulated mode of payment.
It’s important to note that before the money is paid either in cash or accrued, one would have earned it. It’s just like one learning g before earning, and one will have to update to upgrade. These are just the practical principles that will work with life.
In the same way, in life there’s a seed time and harvest time. It’s a universal principle of life. Whether as a parent, entrepreneur, student or employee. As a parent, if you don’t train your kids very well, they will grow up to reflect the opposite of what you desire. As an entrepreneur when you invest in your business, you will get the reward in due time. As a student, if you take your studies seriously, your grades will improve, and as an employee, you stand to get promotions and opportunities when you add value to your work. In summary, one will have to put in the work before recognition comes on.
To understand how seedtime and harvest work, imagine where parents tend to like one child more than others just because they see potential in him, or he’s smart, hardworking or even creative. They fail to understand that every child is different and as such their timing can be different. Some kinds take time to develop.
I personally believe there’s something so unique about each individual which God has deposited in everyone of us. It’s just a matter of time for it to manifest. Your timing of manifestation is different from your siblings and colleagues.
Personally, I didn’t mature fast with my contemporaries. Overtime, I have seen much improvement in my personal and professional life. Maybe because I have added value to my work with the assistance of mentors and good friends, or God had to humble my colleagues and mentors . Why do I say this? During my formative years, I had little or nothing to show for it. I was looking at my contemporaries as mentor and seeing my mentors as small gods whose feat is unattainable, but now, the reverse seems to be case as I have developed capacity some of my colleagues are yet to attain, while I have even surpassed the achievement of my some of my mentors in some quarters.
In all these, they are all surprised how it happened. Some are yet to comprehend or articulate the feat. It’s just like watching a film where everyone slept and woke up to see the game and tides have changed. The secret behind it is the seed time and harvest time. I was probably learning the trade while in the wilderness, and when the training season matured and ripe enough to be harvested, I became attractive to almost everyone who loved the seed I was producing.
There are litany of examples of people, who have been in the wilderness during the seed planting season. Let’s take a case study of Joseph in the Bible, his journey to stardom took a little twist. Despite the travails he experienced in the hands of his siblings who sold him, his experience while in the jail, and with Portiphar’s wife, who tried to seduce him; they were all set ups for success. The moral here is Joseph seed time and harvest time was quite different, it wasn’t a smooth journey. Ordinarily, one would have cursed his siblings or his friends who were with him in prison and forgot him after they were released. But at the end of time, everything worked out for his favor. Joseph’s seed days were his dark days while in the wilderness.
Another inspiring story of note was that of Pastor Ibukun Awosika, the former board Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria. She once shared a pathetic story during her formative years of being in business. According to her, she sojourned for about 15 years. She cried because lines were not adding up for her and she wouldn’t do what her contemporaries were doing to get opportunities. At a point in her business, it appeared like she was in a race of own life because everything seemed to be against her, but at the appropriate time, lines began to fall in place for her. Appointments, business opportunities, favours and goodwill began to fall in place for her. Again, she had a fair share of seed time.
An interesting question I would like to ask you is, what’s your seed time? Have you ever been in the wilderness when you appeared to be fixed? It’s unfortunate many people are not willing to pass through the storms or experience seeds and harvest time. Amidst all these, one must do some work before they get opportunities. However, before such opportunities will come up, one will have to plant the seed.
In conclusion, seed time and harvest time is critical in the journey of life. Take a seat and determine what seed you would like to sow and what you’ll like to harvest.
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
By Eric Elezuo
The Senate has suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghen for six months over her sexual harassment accusation and other disputes against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The Senate also withdrew her salaries for the period of the suspension, as well as her security details.
The chamber however, soft-pedaled on the salaries and allowances of her aides, who it was argued would not have any source of livelihood within the period.
Globacom is welcoming new customers on its network with the introduction of the e-SIM. The e-SIM activated in any Gloworld shop or Dealer outlet comes with an introductory free 5GB data when the customer buys a data plan of N1,500 or more.
Customers already on other networks can now join the Glo network with e-SIM as an additional SIM. Existing Glo customers can also enjoy this “SIM-less” freedom.
With the e-SIM, customers no longer have to worry about space for a physical SIM on their phones. The e-SIM is a software-based digital chip built directly into smartphones or wearable devices, thus eliminating the need for a physical SIM card for customers.
The use of e-SIM enables customers to have seamless switching between phone numbers without a physical SIM. It is ideal for upwardly mobile people who travel frequently. The e-SIM also guarantees security, as unlike physical SIM, it is harder to remove from devices. It is also eco-friendly and reduces plastic waste.
Globacom’s launch of the e-SIM enables enables it to cater to high-net-worth individuals and enterprise customers, and it also reinforces the company’s commitment to providing seamless and future-ready services to its customers.
A customer seeking to activate the Glo e-SIM needs to check the compatibility of the mobile handset by dialling *#06# on his or her phone. If an EID number reflects on the mobile screen, the device is e-SIM compatible.
“The customer can then proceed to the nearest Gloworld shop or Glo Dealer outlet to migrate to e-SIM. The process takes only a few minutes and the customer can thereafter begin to enjoy the use of an e-SIM”, the Marketing Department disclosed.
