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Food for Living: Success and the All-Important First Step
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step” – Martin Luther King Jnr.
The journey of a thousand miles, it has variously been said, begins with a step; the all important first step. Therefore, when the first step is taken, and the journey through life begins, we will encounter many roads and paths, some we wished we never passed, some we wished we passed, and some we experience with mixed feelings with special emphasis to matters like marriage. The moral here is that the challenges and experiences of life offer us many options. But one thing is certain, we took a step from the beginning, whether it turned out negative or positive is another issue.
For every step taken, there are no basis for regrets knowing that one was not blind or “fooled” into taking them. We are technically and subconsciously aware of the first step, which invariably affects the outcome of our life.
The importance of the first step cannot be overemphasized, however. The first step affects every area of life. This is because there’s nothing one does on earth that does not involve a first step.
The first step, for all intent and purpose, creates awareness. According to Nathaniel Branden, “the first step toward change is awareness”. When you discover there’s a lacuna which needs to be filled, the onus will be on you to fix it. The second step is acceptance. It is however, very unfortunate, that many people don’t accept the realities of life.
The late famous American author, Zig Ziglar, made us understand that the “first step in solving a problem is to recognize that it does exist”. When you have a problem, for example, a medical or emotional problem, Dean Ornish made us understand that “awareness is the first step in healing”.
If you have the desire of becoming a professor, you must first begin by taking the entrance examination as a pupil/student and then walk through the ranks. As a man, if you see a lady you would like to marry, the first step will be to get her attention and that entails speaking to and with her. If you have a desire to be a President, Governor, Chief Executive Officer, Captain of industry among others, you must begin by doing the needful. A once popular Nigerian television sitcom, Basi and Company, always reminds viewers through its main character, Basi, that ‘to be a millionaire, think like a millionaire’.
Most people, unfortunately, put the cart before the horse, and fail to stock in deciding if they have the expertise, knowledge, and technical know-how to successfully execute a particular project.
There’s no major success which did not begin with the first step. Notwithstanding, the first step comes with its own risks and opportunities. It can either go well or otherwise, depending on how it’s executed.
It’s instructive to note that no reasonable man will begin a journey he has not weighed the options. The first step in life can be said to be the most important step in every adventure. It takes courage to take the first step. According to Martin Luther King Jnr, “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”
On a personal note, I have taken many first steps which changed my perspective and understanding of life, both in business, academic, marriage, social, personal, professional, and spiritual life. I can remember that one of my first major first steps in life was when I applied to be the Public Relations Officer of the Nigerian Lawyers Association while I was a student in New York Law school.
In all sincerity and honesty, I wasn’t prepared for the job’s responsibilities because the culture was quite different from what I was exposed to in Nigeria. I also had difficulty in writing well, and that strained my relationship with my President and Vice President.
Despite taking the risk of contesting for the position, that was one of the best things that happened to me, because it exposed and connected me to lots of opportunities and resourceful people, who have continually served as strong allies.
If you have a vision or dream, the best thing that can happen to you is to take the first step. You may not have everything or see everything, but if you feel it’s right, and believe in it, trust me, it will work out good. All you need is the belief factor. The universe, without an iota of doubt, always conspire to help every progressive mind working on purpose. It’s one thing to have a dream and it’s another to implement it with the right actions.
Sometimes however, even when we have a belief system, and faith in ourselves and our project, we can still experience setbacks, betrayal, and challenges. Sometimes, we are tempted to, and even question our creator, mentor, parent, teacher and friend for leaving us on the road when the odds don’t add up.
Whenever you experience such a feeling, please be strong and don’t give up. It’s part of the process leading you to the right place.
Actions are the engine that drives your productivity. Without actions nothing happens, or worse, things that you have no control over will happen taking you to no place. According to Maurer, Director of Behavioral Sciences at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center in Santa Monica, the challenge of taking the first step has to do with fear.
Before you take the first step, trust your intuition, trust your creator, believe in yourself, believe in your project and most importantly, be courageous.
In conclusion, What’s that project you have in mind, take the first step, and watch your intended positive change come to life. Remember, according to Chauncey Depew. The first step towards getting somewhere is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.
Whatever be the case, one can never be successful in an chosen endeavor if the all-important first step is not taken.
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
News
International Day of the Girl-Child: Sulaiman-Ibrahim Hosts Students, Vacates Seat for Momentary ‘Minister’
The Honourable Minister of State for Police Affairs, Hajia Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, has hosted the students of Police Day Secondary School, Area 11, at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja, in celebration of the 2024 International Day of the Girl-Child, during which time she momemtarily vacated her seat for a JSS 1 student, Ehis Linus.
Her actions were geared towards proving young girls’ limitless potential to lead and shape the future, according to a statement by the Deputy Director, Press and Information, Mr Bolaji Kazeem, and made available to the National Association of Online Security News Publishers (NAOSNP).
The students were led on the visit by their Commandant, DSP Mariam Damilola Yusuf.
The Minister of State highlighted the importance of empowering young women by ensuring their good education counselling, and safety as well as active participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics. She reaffirmed her dedication to fostering an inclusive environment where every girl child can realize her fullpotential and contribute meaningfully to national development. Imaan encouraged the students to be serious about their education, increase their imagination, and creativity, and improve on their can-do attitude as well as think big toward the future.
In her words, “The ongoing RenewedHope Police Reforms within the primary and secondary schools in the policeecosystem is a strong commitment of the government to drive excellence in thepolice institutions and make them a choice school in the country.
The Minister added that through dialogue and encouragement, the event served as a powerful reminder of the need to invest in the growth and empowerment of the next generation of female leaders. As a special part of the celebration, one of the students Ehi Linus was allowed to temporarily assume the Honourable Minister role, symbolizing young girls’ limitless potential to lead and shape the future.
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
One of the fastest ways of making a headway in life is having the right attitude. A right attitude is priceless, and grants easy access to and from people. This is in clear contrast with a nasty attitude, which attracts distaste and repulsion.
Attitude permeates relationships with fellow human beings at work, school or public spaces. People can literally see our personalities, mindsets, behaviors through our attitudes.
As a Human Capacity coach, one of the qualities I look for in any person is attitude. When you show an attitude that portrays allegiance to money as opposed to learning, your potential of going far in life will be limited. You luterally show you don’t have the capacity to be loyal when the chips are down.
While exhibiting the right attitude, theee is the possibility of everyone not agreeing with you, however, it is advisable not to burn bridges because you never know when you will need them. You can only do this when you have the right attitude to life.
The right attitude is a currency just like relationships, network, social media and value though a lot of people fail ro realiae the fact. In my relationship with the high and mighty in society and men of influence and affluence, I have seen how they perceive and interpret certain acts. What ordinarily might not amount to anything from an uninformed mind might be the icing on the cake for the great man. For instance, if a resourceful person asks you to do a job, it will be wise to do it for free. Resist the temptation to ask for money.
That’s a great way of marketing yourself to the person involved. If they appreciate your work, you might be surprised to get a good opportunity that catapults you to unimaginable heights.
Also, if the great man asks you to do some work, instead of saying, this is an opportunity to make some cool cash, consider doing the work with the least cost just to make him a potential client. I recently met a young man online who is good with YouTube videos, I asked him if he could cut a video for me, the amount he called was on the high side.
Be advised, I know value has to be appreciated. What this young man didn’t know was that I was testing his attitude with the hope of working with him, but quite unfortunately he failed the test. I had to devise an alternative means to get it done for free.
This is why mentorship is very important. When you have good mentors, they will advise you to think and serve in the right manner. Most young people always operate from a lack mindset. They want to eat their cakes and have it. They fail to understand that there’s seed time and harvest time.
In my relationship with some of my mentors, I have bought nice perfumes, shoes, and luxury gifts to them in appreciation of their kind counsel. What’s important here is not necessarily the amount per se, but the mindset and attitude. Be advised, I didn’t ask for money. I had to show them via my mindset, I’m not a burden so they can feel comfortable relating with me.
As a matter of fact, one of my mentors once said to me, I give him more money than he gives him. When you juxtapose this with contemporary youths, most of them are merely concerned about what they can get as opposed to what they can learn.
It’s instructive to note that it is your attitude and not your aptitude that will determine your altitude. With the right attitude, people will see through your thought process and mindset. My late mother will always say, when someone is talking, look beyond their words and focus on what’s inside their heart/mind. It’s just like communication, your focus is not on what’s being said, but on what is not being said.
One a personal note, I have learnt to study the attitude and mindset of many of my mentors, elders, friends, mentees, and strangers and this helped me a lot to relate with them differently. When you know how people behave, it will be easy to work with them. Sometimes, some people wonder how I relate smoothly with people and get things done, it’s simply a matter of attitude. One of my mentors once said, a general doesn’t fight many wars at the same time, a wise general selects his battles. That’s having the right attitude and perspective to life.
To understand how attitude works. There was a young boy who behaved badly, and his grandfather, an elderly, wise pastor, attempted to counsel him. The Pastor said, it’s as if we have two lions inside of us. One is good and the other is bad, and they both demand our obedience to them. The boy responded, which one wins? The Pastor said, the one fed. What’s the moral here? In the journey of life, it is what we feed that grows. If you feed a lion, a lion will grow into a deadly beast. If you take care of a woman, she’s likely to act soft towards you all things being equal. In the same vein, when an evil desire demands to be fed, we must say no. This is true because what we feed ultimately controls us.
The interesting facts about this Pastor and young man are centered on perspectives. It is how you see life that life will unfold to you. When some people fail in life, while positive minds will see it as an experience in which they hope to learn something from it, negative people see it as failure which has limited them from moving to the next stage in life. Again, while some people experience pain differently, some others react negatively to pain and this in turn hurts them more.
In conclusion, I don’t know what your experience is, nor do I know what you are going through, but one thing I can guarantee you is that, when you have a great attitude, your disposition will surely change. You’ll go far in life when you have a nice attitude.
Today, I charge you to learn how to relate with people with the right mindset and see how your life will unfold for good. I will conclude with the words of Maya Angelou; “People may forget what you say, people may forget what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel” The only way to make people feel good is by having the right attitude.
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 National Working Committee (NWC) of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has suspended its Acting National Chairman, Amb Illiya Umar Damagum and the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Anyanwu, for anti-party activities.
The party revealed its decision to suspend the duo in a press statement signed by the National Publicity Secretary, Hon. Debo Ologunagba, and made available to The Boss Newspaper.
The statement noted that the Acting National Chairman, who has been facing legitimacy crisis, and his Secretary, were found culpable with regard to the “letter addressed by them to the Court of Appeal in Appeal No: CA/PH/307/2024 against the Party’s position in the case involving the 27 former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who vacated their seats upon decamping from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).”
While condemning the act, the party invoked Sections 57, 58 and 59 of the PDP Constitution, and suspended the officers, referring them to the National Disciplinary Committee.
The two officers are therefore, barred from attending the NWC’s meetings, activities and programmes, according to the statement.
Read the statement in full:
The National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP has extensively considered the series of complaints raised against the Acting National Chairman, Amb. Illiya Damagum and National Secretary, Sen. Samuel Anyanwu particularly with regard to the letter addressed by them to the Court of Appeal in Appeal No:CA/PH/307/2024 against the Party’s position in the case involving the 27 former members of the Rivers State House of Assembly who vacated their seats upon decamping from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The NWC condemned this anti-party activity of the Acting National Chairman and the National Secretary which is in gross violation of the provisions of the PDP Constitution (as amended in 2017) and their Oath of Office.
Consequently, the NWC, pursuant to Sections 57, 58 and 59 of the PDP Constitution, has suspended Amb. Illiya Damagum and Sen. Samuel Anyanwu as Acting National Chairman and National Secretary of the Party respectively and referred them to the National Disciplinary Committee for further action.
In the meantime, the two officials are suspended from all meetings, activities and programs of the NWC pending the conclusion of investigation by the National Disciplinary Committee.
