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Food for Living: Maximise Your Potential to Succeed
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Please permit me to wish you a Happy New Year. The year 2023 has come and gone with its own challenges and opportunities, and 2024 is here to stay for the best if one is ready to make the necessary sacrifices.
According to a sage, yesterday is past, today is a gift, and tomorrow is a mystery because nothing is guaranteed. So, 2024, and life will offer you what you offer it.
There’s no doubt that everyone wishes to make a success of their lives. However, one must understand that before success can come, there must be a conscious need to explore inherent potential that unleashes success. Yes, the potential for success is very critical to success.
Potential is like a currency; it can be seen and felt, and that explains why it attracts great support to people who possess it. Nobody cherishes alliance with whomsoever does not possess potential or is unserious with life. Even employers won’t hire a prospective employee if they don’t see value and potential in the person.
What exactly is potential? Potential is your ability or capacity to accomplish certain tasks as a result of several underlining factors like training, education, skill, interest, values or world view. Everybody is endowed with one potential or another. The only difference is the capacity to activate it. While our potentials differ, our task is to figure out what they are. When you discover your potential, you’ll know how to maximize it to succeed.
If you will agree with me, most people who genuinely made great strides in the world didn’t do it by magic. They invested time and resources, made preparations, made mistakes, had mentors, and did the needful. They didn’t have two heads; they didn’t come from another planet, they were born by a woman and probably had the same education as everyone of us or less, but one thing is certain; they put in the work. Success didn’t just come to them. They attracted success. You too can do the same. You have the potential to succeed.
According to Hon. Barr. C.M.C, “given every equal opportunity, each and every and everyone is a potential achiever because we don’t have dull brains only brains undeveloped.” I concur with this saying because we all have the potential for success. Not everyone was born with a silver spoon. Some people had to endure the pain to play later in life.
It’s important to note that your potential is for you, and not for anyone. Just like wealth is not sexually transmitted, potential can not be bought, it can be acquired with the right training and information. However, the best form of potential is the natural potential that the creator has endowed each person with.
Potentials are like seeds, and when properly nurtured, yields fruits. Potentials are like gifts, talent, skill, and knowledge, which one must make continuous effort to upgrade otherwise it will be lost.
Everyone of us has the potential to succeed. Our potentials are like oil that’s yet to be refined; your potential is like unrefined gold, or yet to be cultivated seeds. Consequently, everyone has a seed of greatness in him. For these seeds to grow into a tree, forest, and plantation to produce the desired fruits, they need manure, fertilizer, water and sunlight. Similarly, one’s potential needs to be nurtured for it to grow.
It’s sad to see people who have potentials begging for opportunities to unleash their potential. Isn’t that ironic? Your hands, eyes, legs, mouth, and skin are your potential. It’s sad most times we remain docile instead of igniting the giant in us.
A story was told about a cub which lived with goats, it began to bleat like a goat, even when the baby lion knew its dentition was different from that of goats, it still bleated instead of roaring. One fateful day, the cub met its family – fellow lions, it began to feel timid and afraid because it has lived all its life like a goat.
What does that say? The cub has the potential to extricate itself from the goats, but it failed to do so because it wasn’t self-aware of who he is. That’s the storyline of some of us. We all have the potential to succeed, but we are not serious about leaving our comfort zone; learning, taking strategic risks and more importantly, believing in ourselves.
It’s very sad and unfortunate to see people who spend major time on minor things and spend minor time on major things. When we begin to see ourselves like the vision we envision, what we seek will begin to seek us. However, it’s important to note that until we see the potential in ourselves and develop it, we might not be able to transcend to another level.
We all have the capacity to change the world, our community, school, politics, family, organization, associations, business, church etc. That capacity lies in our potential. When one begins an internal cleansing of himself, people will see it and once they know how genuine they are, they’ll naturally be attracted to follow them.
Poser: if you have the capacity to change one thing in the world, what will it be, and why?
It’s instructive to note that the fastest way to succeed in life is by working on purpose. Your potential is tied to your purpose. When you work on purpose, you won’t struggle to succeed. This is how purpose works, it doesn’t matter how many people do the same work you are doing, once you are doing what you’re called to do, the universe has a way of aligning with you. What took other people years and resources to achieve, you will get with relative ease. As a matter of fact, while others are struggling, you’ll be receiving favor.
The question we need to ask ourselves is, how do we develop our potential? Your potential starts with knowing who you are, knowing the values and principles you stand for; your potential starts in believe in yourself; your potentials starts with having self confidence; your potential starts with knowing your strength and weakness; your potential starts with identifying with your inner voice; your potentials starts with knowing the right course to study in college, as well as knowing the right career path to follow, the right business, and the right partner or relationship to be involved in.
Still on developing one’s potential, one must be very intentional on the organizations, associations, relationship, core values, and vision they hold dear to heart because they all have a role to play in shaping one’s potential, their world view and the people around them.
In conclusion, it’s important to state that one can’t succeed outside their purpose. Authentic success comes with working on purpose. So, your greatest task should be in discovering your purpose. Quit worrying about how to figure out your potential. Your potential is in your purpose. So, figure out your life’s purpose. When you do that, your potential will naturally flow with you.
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 and Unleash Your Destiny. 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
