News
Food for Living: Stretch Yourself
- Share
- Tweet /home/rhoncare/pointblank.ng/wp-content/plugins/mvp-social-buttons/mvp-social-buttons.php on line 69
https://pointblank.ng/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/download.jpeg&description=Food for Living: Stretch Yourself', 'pinterestShare', 'width=750,height=350'); return false;" title="Pin This Post">
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Anyone who intends to go far in life must be intentional in stretching himself, and that explains why the importance of stretching oneself cannot be overemphasized. Nobody will assist anyone when they are not intentional in helping themselves. Someone’s ability to convince others of how passionate and dedicated they are concerning a given cause, position or project, is one of the weapons of inspiration that draws assistance. There aren’t many out there that stumbles into investing help where there’s no passion or dedication to a cause.
I will be sharing a personal, but practical experience that inspired this article with a background in my spiritual leader, Evangelist Ebuka Anozie Obi’s statement that, “I’m not preaching about Jesus Christ I heard, but I am talking about Jesus Christ I have personally experienced”. This statement captured my thoughts and mindset about this article.
In recent times, I have discovered the importance of being practical when writing or living generally. For instance, I got the inspiration to write this article a week ago when I visited the gym at my workplace. I was literally amazed to see the transformation that has taken place in my life.
The sad reality of life is most people want to go to heaven, but they are not willing to die. This means that a lot of people want to be celebrated, they are not willing to do the needful. How can people support you when you are not making an effort to succeed? Sometimes, ignorant minds want their benefactors, mentors or even destiny helpers to fasttrack their opportunities, but they are not willing to learn or do the associate work.
It’s instructive to note that your benefactors are not the lamb of God, who takes aways the sins of the world. They won’t do the work for you, rather, they will put the icing on the cake after the progressive minds must have done 90% of the work. This is just the reality of life.
Let me share a practical experience with you, I have a resourceful mentor with global influence. When my first book was ready for publication, I reached out to him to write the foreword, and he was glad. According to him, I have done something he has been willing to do for about 20 years. He was literally impressed to see my thoughts and efforts birthed into reality. The interesting thing about the success of my first book is that the book took me to New York Times, News12 in New York, United Nations in addition to introducing me to resourceful minds globally.
Imagine if I had not taken time to stretch myself, I wouldn’t have attained this height. That’s why I said, when you stretch yourself a little bit, there are bound to be opportunities and experiences that will come your way.
There was a recurrence of thesame experience when I incorporated my business, Global Empowerment and Mentoring Initiative, which helps uninformed youths and career professionals in self-discovery. Since forming the company, I have received invitations from resourceful minds, corporate organizations and contracts from the governments for training opportunities. I have also developed programs from my book and business. All this was made possible because I stretched myself.
Stretching oneself is not only limited to expanding one’s capacity, it also extends to expanding one’s mind. You can do this by reading and researching. It’s sad to know that many people find it hard to read and in fact, it is stated, if one wants to hide information from people, put it in a book because many people find it hard to read.
As human beings, we have an instructional need to stretch oneself. When we stretch ourselves, we’ll be surprised to see the level of opportunities we can attract to our careers, lives, and personal development. Stretching oneself is like taking risk, one will never know what to expect when one stretches oneself, but one thing is certain, we shall gain a new perspective and experience of life.
No great person has ever achieved success without stretching a bit further. They do this by taking unconventional paths which involve taking risks, taking certification courses, attending relevant events of interest, networking and learning from resource minds like mentors. All these are great ways of learning.
As a cultured Nigerian man, we have an adage that says, there’s no perfect time for one to learn, rather when an elderly person is speaking, a child who is there will pay attention. What does that mean? It simply means, when one stretches oneself, no one knows where the next opportunity will pop out.
For instance, when a recent graduate with a good grade, starts an entry level job, it might not necessarily be the grade that will secure the job, though it may contribute. It may surprise you to know that it may be your skills, extra work you have done or potentials that will give you the work. This simply means that one must add value to himself to attract opportunities, and attaining that opportunity entails comingout of your comfort zone.
Overtime, I have developed an intentional habit of updating my resume by adding value to my life by learning a skill every six months. Each time I add value to my work, I always see prospects each time I see someone of interest. I also evaluate my life and my work and see how I can edit my previous work and improve myself based on what I’m trying to achieve.
I don’t know what your storyline might be, but I’m here to encourage and inspire you to stretch yourself because nobody will save you other than yourself. The world is not a fair place, you just must do your best and leave the rest to God.
Do you know that stretching oneself also entails networking with resourceful and influential people. When you meet resourceful people with influence, endeavor to give them gifts as a token of appreciation for what they have either done for you, humanity or simply as a kind of gesture. That single kind gesture is capable of opening doors for you because it will separate you from other uninformed minds, who might be in the habit of begging without adding value to the person’s mind.
In conclusion, today I charge you to stretch yourself mentally, financially, socially, academically, spiritually, medically, professionally, personal development or in any other relevant area of your life and you will see your life blossoming.
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
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of removing some of its nominated candidates from the commission’s list and replacing them with names allegedly unknown to the party.
The National Chairman of the party, Senator Moses Cleopas Zuwoghe, made the allegation in a statement on Sunday, following INEC’s publication of candidates for the 2027 State Houses of Assembly elections.
Cleopas said the names published by INEC, particularly in Anambra State, suggested an attempt to undermine the party ahead of the elections and create disaffection among its supporters.
The NDC chairman specifically alleged that nine persons whose names were not authorised or submitted by the party had been listed as its candidates in various constituencies in Anambra State, the home state of the party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
He called on the INEC Chairman to immediately investigate the development and determine how the names got onto the commission’s list.
Cleopas also urged INEC to extend the investigation to other states, including Benue and Imo, where he said the party had observed a similar pattern.
According to him, the development had embarrassed the party, its leadership and its genuine candidates, while creating disaffection among its supporters in Nigeria and the Diaspora.
“We, as a party, are also carrying out our own independent investigation, the preliminary findings of which are already pointing to the complicity of INEC officials in foisting names purporting to be our candidates, but who are not from us,” he alleged.
He said the party’s investigation indicated that the uploading process was being used to intimidate and embarrass the NDC.
The party listed the following persons as names allegedly published by INEC as its candidates in Anambra:
Onitsha South 1 — Umennaajiego Jude Ezenwa
Onitsha South 2 — Akpotue Obinna Chibuike
Orumba North — Nwankwo Chiemerie
Anaocha 1 — Maduagwu Eric K
Idemili North — Ngoebisi Obinna
Njikoka 1 — Isintume Charles
Nnewi South — Nwachukwu Nonso
Nnewi South 2 — Okeke Ifeanyi Akunne
Ayamelum — Nnonyelu Samson E
Dunukofia — Azotani Chuks Francis
Cleopas, however, said the party is particularly concerned about the process through which the names were uploaded and published.
He said after the conclusion of the party’s primaries and appeal process, stakeholders from Anambra, the party leadership, representatives of Obi and the appeals panel agreed on a final list of candidates.
According to him, the list was signed off by the relevant stakeholders before being uploaded to the INEC portal using the code provided to the party by the electoral commission.
He alleged that INEC officials subsequently kept nine of the names on “Pending” status, claiming that the names were already in the commission’s system based on submissions by officials who monitored the party’s primaries.
Cleopas said the NDC formally challenged the names and submitted the identities of candidates it said were legitimately nominated by the party, but INEC allegedly declined to replace the disputed names.
He further alleged that INEC subsequently collected Form EC-9 directly from the persons whose names were in dispute and uploaded the forms without going through the party.
“To further confirm that there was a predetermined effort on the part of INEC to impose the said nine candidates on the party, and embarrass both NDC and Mr. Peter Obi, INEC went behind the NDC to collect the Form EC-9 directly from the candidates, bypassing the party, and uploading same,” he alleged.
Cleopas argued that where there was a discrepancy between names submitted by a political party and information received by INEC from its monitoring teams, the commission should have left the affected positions vacant pending clarification, rather than publish names the party said it did not nominate.
“At the very worst, INEC could have left us with no candidates for those positions, if they knew they were unwilling to engage us in addressing any perceived anomaly,” he said.
The NDC chairman accused INEC of creating a pattern in which opposition parties were allegedly prevented from uploading their preferred candidates while other names were introduced into their candidate lists.
He vowed that the party would pursue the matter through all available legal channels and seek to have what it described as its authentic candidates restored.
“We are moving to approach the court of competent jurisdiction to seek redress and restore our authentic candidates. The general public and our millions of supporters should note that these are not our candidates,” he said.
Nepal said Sunday it had begun burying some of the hundreds of bodies recovered after devastating floods, after taking DNA samples and marking them so families can later retrieve them.
The dead are traditionally cremated on funeral pyres in Hindu-majority Nepal, so the burials are viewed as long-term storage until families can retrieve them.
Foreign Secretary Amrit Bahadur Rai told reporters that all those buried were carefully recorded, but also appealed for international support, saying Nepal needed “more than a thousand” freezer units to store bodies.
The announcement of the burials came as Nepal’s disaster ministry increased its toll again on Sunday to 752 bodies recovered and 2,502 people missing.
That list includes 589 foreigners unaccounted for.
Chinese state media earlier confirmed 16 dead in Tibet and 546 people missing following Wednesday’s disaster, taking the overall toll to 768 dead and 3,048 unaccounted for.
“Following standard and accepted protocols, such as those of ICRC (Red Cross), the mortal remains of the dead, especially those not recognisable… have been temporarily buried,” Rai told reporters.
“Medical teams took DNA samples from every victim prior to the burial so that families can match-reference later, and would be allowed to exhume for necessary rituals.”
Nepal has called for freezer storage units and DNA testing kits, as it is overwhelmed with the number of bodies to store safely.
“We have requested different countries for freezers; we will need more than a thousand,” Rai added.
“Many dead bodies have been collected, and they have started decomposing. To preserve public health, we had to bury the decomposing bodies,” he added.
AFP
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
Everyone loves influence. Everyone wants to be a person of influence. Everyone wants to be relevant. Everyone wants to be celebrated. Everyone likes attention, appreciation, approval, and admiration. All these are products of influence.
The question I need you to ask yourself is, are you a person of influence? Are you influencing anyone? Do you have a positive or negative influence on your children, spouse, friends, mentors/mentee, or even strangers? Take a minute to listen to yourself.
When we talk about influence, uninformed minds just think influence is only about money, power, authority, or even being a mentor. Influence is far from it. We are all influencers in one way or another. Many people have influenced us in different ways, some positive, some negative. Similarly, we have also influenced many people in good and bad ways.
But today, I’m here to share with you what influence is about and the positive ways one can be a person of influence. Influence comes in different ways: as a politician, you are influencing people; as a leader, you are influencing policy; as a youth advocate, mentor, teacher, pastor, and employee, you are influencing somebody in one way or the other.
Do you know you can influence someone with your lifestyle? Yes, the way you talk, write, lead, dress, eat, exercise, preach the word of God, do your job, serve people, train your children, etc., are all part of influence. Influence is powerful. It has a way of permeating someone without them knowing. I believe that’s why my late mother would always say, if you are hanging out with a friend, only take the good part and leave the bad part.
We currently live in the 21st century, where the internet leads. The internet is regarded as the fifth estate for a reason, because it empowers networked individuals and alternative media to hold traditional institutions, governments, and mainstream media accountable. Everyone and almost everything is on the internet; however, sometimes, the information we get on the internet is regarded as fake because it’s unverified.
In some quarters, the internet has been regarded as a bad influence on the younger generation because of the limited restrictions and the negative information it has exposed their minds to think in a particular way. Some other schools of thought have opined that the internet has done more good than harm due to the knowledge it has exposed their minds to, as opposed to the information being peddled by some other schools of thought. Regardless of the aisle one belongs to, the internet truly has its pros and cons, especially as it relates to influence.
The big question one needs to answer is what influence is. According to Nosakhare Tune Oni – A Pan-African Strategist, leadership and business coach, “influence is when people trust your judgment enough to act on it. It is when someone calls you before making an important decision. When your recommendation opens a door. When your name carries weight in a room, you’re not even in. When people are willing to put their reputation behind yours. That’s influence.
Let’s take a minute to dwell on those lines again. Has anyone played any of such roles in your life? If yes, that’s the best definition of influence in a nutshell. Influence is not about quantity, but quality. The quality of people in your life is more valuable than the quantity of people one’s life. Do you know we don’t really need battalions of friends, whether online or in person, but just one person of influence can be a game-changer. According to Les Brown, a leadership coach, we need only quality people.
Do you know we are everywhere and nowhere at the same time? Do you also know that we can be everywhere and still have very little influence? Influence is about knowing your value and the right people who appreciate the value you bring. Do you know one can be a person of value to the wrong person or audience?
Influence is about having followers who believe and follow your teaching. We can have visibility with little or no influence. One may have 100,000 followers. We may trend on Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, or even WhatsApp. Your name is a household name. That is visibility.
Let me give you a practical example. If you have a large crowd of people following you online or in person. The critical question one must ask oneself is: why are they following me? Are they following me because of my ideology, my talent/gift, academic process, position, profession, vocation, skill, or jokes? If they follow you because of the ideology you represent, you are a person of influence. If they are following you because of your jokes, you may be a content creator or comedian with little or no value in influencing them to do or not do certain things. Real influence provokes action.
According to Nosakhare Tune Oni, influence is built differently from attention. Attention can be bought. Influence must be earned. You can manufacture visibility with advertising, controversy, or constant posting. But you cannot manufacture trust that easily. It comes from consistently being useful. Keeping your word. Knowing what you’re talking about. Showing up when it matters. Building relationships before you need them.
And creating value for people without constantly asking, “What’s in it for me?”
Do you know a person with 1,000 followers and deep trust within a particular industry may have more real influence than someone with 100,000 followers who nobody listens to. So, I don’t think the goal should simply be: “How many people know me?” A better question is: “How much does my presence actually change things?” Because visibility gets you noticed. Value gets you remembered. Trust gets you listened to, but influence is what happens when people trust your value enough to move.
As I prepare to conclude, please take a minute to ask yourself: are you a person of influence? Do you have influence? What positive influence have you had on people or anyone? Today, I want you to be a man/lady of influence like Martin Luther King Jnr, Mother Theresea, Evangelist Ebuka Obi, President Nelson Mandela, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Dr. Kola Adesina, Dr. Joe Abah, Dr. Dele Momodu, Barr. Henry Ukazu and Miss Ginika Dike.
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- Actualizing Your Birthright to Success, Unleash Your Destiny, and The Six Pillars of Success. He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
