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Food for Living: Live to Make an Impact
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
“Recognize that every interaction you have is an opportunity to make a positive impact on others” – Shep Hyken
Impact means several things to several people. To a leader, impact means leaving a legacy in the lives of people. To a parent, impact means training your child/children with good morals, to a coach, it can mean making an individual better than you met them. Stories abound about the best form of impact. Making an impact is like an investment. When you invest or impact someone’s life with genuine intentions, you are bound to reap from your investments in the nearest future. The mistakes most people make in life is that they tend to reap where they have not sowed. The reward of impact is gratitude and appreciation.
As a human capacity coach, I strongly believe the greatest impact one can have is to invest in himself. You must make your life resourceful and valuable. When you make an impact, you will be rewarded with income, and your income will attract influence from the world. It’s akin to having a business; people will tend to buy into you as a person first before buying into your business.
Everyday, we have the opportunity to help others or perform one random act of kindness that positively impacts others’ lives. We can make an impact in school, workplace, church, home, community etc. by interacting with people and leaving a lasting positive influence in their life. Making a positive impact in others’ lives is meaningful, however, it requires dedication, energy and time. Making an impact is not only about giving someone money; you can make an impact by spending quality time with somebody.
It is quite sad to note that most times people want other people to make an impact in their life, but they fail to understand that people will only assist you to the extent you have been able to help yourself. This is because you can’t build something on nothing.
According to a philosopher, it’s only when you realize your purpose and the goal you are living for, you are merely existing and not living. Each of us have a purpose and our purpose and assignment is to be a blessing to others. It’s pertinent to note that most people with poverty mindset have always failed to make an impact. They feel the world owes them opportunities and blessings. Rich minds on the other hand, know that they have to make the world a better place with their talents, time and investments.
There are many ways to make an impact in other people’s lives. You can make an impact by making people happy; giving their life a meaning by leaving them better than when you met them.
Here are some ways to make an impact in the lives of people. Look for ways you can make a difference either in their life or in the community. One of the best ways you can do this is by your own character. Did you know you can make an impact in someone’s life by how you make them feel?
You can also make an impact by praying for people. I believe this is the best of impacts you can make in somebody’s life, especially as a mentor. When you genuinely pray for someone, you are calling upon the grace factor and pouring blessings on the individual. I can vividly remember when one of my mentors, Mr. Kola Adesina, the Group Managing Director of Sahara Energy Group, passionately prayed for me; The 10 minutes prayer was worth more a billion dollars to me because he called on the creator to do what no one can do for me.
Empathize And Listen
You can’t make an impact without listening to people to understand their feelings. This is where emotional intelligence comes in, just like trust is the foundation of meaningful relationships and fruitful partnerships. When you make yourself comfortable, people will feel inspired to openly share with you.
The benefit of making an impact is priceless. According to Jackie Robinson, a life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.
In conclusion, examine yourself, and discover the impact you would want to create for yourself and for the world?
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker, youth advocate and creative writer. 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
Armed policemen have taken over the Wadata Plaza headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abuja, as tension continues to mount over the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting, which is expected to hold today.
Channels Television quoted an unnamed party official, who alleged that the police were deployed to stop the proposed NEC Expanded Caucus meeting.
Though some staff members of the party were initially allowed to go into the premises of the secretariat without any resistance from the police, they were later sent out.
Journalists were also been asked to leave the premises of the secretariat.
Some policemen were seen cordoning off Dalaba Street, which is the road leading to Wadata Plaza.
The Presidency has said there has been no change in the position of Senator George Akume as Secretary to the Government of the Federation.
“There has been no change in the status of His Excellency, Senator George Akume, as Secretary to the Government of the Federation,” Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement made available to journalists.
The statement is titled ‘Akume Remains SGF.’
This followed multiple reports which quoted Presidency sources saying Tinubu had named his Special Adviser on Policy Coordination, Hadiza Bala Usman, to serve as the new SGF.
Onanuga said, “President Bola Tinubu, currently in Saint Lucia, has not made any new appointments.
“The information circulating about Akume’s replacement is untrue. Agents of mischief fabricated it.
“The Presidency advises Nigerians to disregard the fake news.”
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
It is everybody’s desire to be successful in whatever field of endeavour he finds himself. It can be in career, family life, business endeavors or personal development. But there’s absolutely nothing good that comes easy. Everything in life involves a lot of hard work, smart work, dedication, discipline, network, sacrifice, prayers, and determination among a whole lot if one is intentional to succeed.
Of a truth, success is not for the faint-hearted. In all honesty, everyone wants to be ahead of everyone, especially contemporaries and funnily enough, the average human being sometimes have a bit of ill- feeling when competitors arise or seem to outsmart them either with better quality or price. The good thing about this however, is that it makes one sit up.
Now, this brings us to the essence of today’s article. For anyone to be ahead of their competitors, they must fly like the eagle. Eagles are known for their powerful build, sharp vision, and fearless nature. They are highflyers, capable of soaring to great heights, and gliding for extended periods. Eagles are also known for their tenacity, using storms to their advantage to gain altitude. Other notable characteristics include their strong talons and beaks, used for hunting, and their protective nature towards their young. These are some of the qualities that make it unique.
The eagle is not regarded as the king of the sky for fun, no. The eagle flies so high because that’s where it gets a chunk of its strength. This ability enables the eagle to take its prey and predators alike to it’s abode where it will have enough emotional and physical strength to dismantle them.
I will be sharing characteristics of an eagle to enable us know why we ought to be like the eagle if we want to soar.
VISION
The eagle has a sharp vision. Their vision is so precise. They can see farther than any animal. They possess exceptional eyesight, allowing them to spot prey from great distances. As human beings, we must have eagle eyes to know what we really want, and what we don’t want. Vision allows us to go for what we desire and deserve. When we have vision, we won’t wait for anyone to tell us when to strike. We flow through the wind despite the waves and heavy current and associated challenges. When our vision is precise, it will give people clarity to understand how they can assist us.
Let’s take a closer look at great leaders of this world who have come and gone. There are many great leaders that came and went but one characteristic that is common in all is “Vision”.
Vision is a successful leadership characteristic
You must have a vision that guides and leads your team towards the organizations or societal goals. The vision must be big and focused. A big, focused vision will produce big results
FLIGHT
Eagles are known for their ability to soar and glide, using their large wings to their advantage. Eagles can fly up to an altitude of 10,000 feet, but they are able to swiftly land on the ground. At 10, 000 feet, you will never find another bird. If you find another bird, it must be an eagle.
An eagle doesn’t mingle around with the pigeons. It was Dr. Myles Munroe who said that. Pigeons scavenge on the ground and grumble and complain all day long. Eagles are not. They fly and make less noise waiting for opportunities to strike their next prey or glide with the current of the storm.
Great leaders are problem solvers. They don’t complain like the pigeons do. They love to take challenges as the eagle does when the storm comes. As human beings, we all have our strengths and weaknesses.
It’s always good for one to take any fight to their home ground where it will give them advantage over their predators. For instance, a fish is stronger in water, but weak on land, a lion is stronger on land, but weak in water, a monkey is strong on trees but weak on air. Just like an eagle is strong on air and weak on water and land. That’s why it always takes its prey to the sky where they have greater advantage to shine.
As human beings, we also must know what we are naturally good at, the ability to know this will enable us to maximize our strength and work on our weakness. We can only do this when we know ourselves and what we are naturally good at. Our ability to focus on our expertise and what we are naturally good at will make us unique and ahead of our contemporaries.
TENACITY
The eagles are known for their ability to withstand storms and use them to their advantage, rising above the challenges. Watch an eagle when a storm comes. When other birds fly away from the storm with fear, an eagle spreads its mighty wings and uses the current to soar to greater heights. The eagle takes advantage of the very storm that lesser birds fear and head for cover.
Challenges in the life of a leader are many. These are the storms we must face as leaders to rise to greater heights. Like an eagle, a leader can only rise to greater heights if he takes up the challenges head on without running away from it. This is yet another leadership characteristic.
As humans, we all will experience challenges and setbacks, however, the ability to apply strength will go a long way to show how determined we are to overcome the hurdles that pose as challenges.
FEARLESS
An eagle will never surrender to the size or strength of its prey. It will always give a fight to win its prey or regain its territory.
Successful leaders are fearless, so we are expected to fear no man, but respect all men. They face problems head on. We are supposed to have the eagle fearless mindset regardless of how big the problem may appear. Confront your fear and rise or face your fear and run. The choice is yours.
VITALITY NATURE
One of the strongest characteristics of an eagle is their vitality. Eagles are full of life and are visionary, but they find time to look back at their life and re-energize themselves. This happens at about the age of 30. What happens is that when the eagles reach the age of 30, their physical body condition deteriorates fast making it difficult for them to survive.
What is interesting is that the eagle never gives up living, instead it retreats to a mountaintop and over a five-month period goes through a metamorphosis. As humans, we are expected to reexamine ourselves, retreat to a safe zone. We can do this by fasting as Christians, we can also do this by learning new skills, volunteering our time and seeking for mentors who can hold us by the hand to show us how the appearance of life is not the reality of life.
In conclusion, as human beings, we are encouraged to be like an eagle if we want to scale through life.
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
