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Get M.A.D (Make Apt Decisions)!
By Tolulope A. Adegoke
When you make choices and stick to them, you will get the greatest outcomes from your ideas. Winning is achieved through perseverance. To be successful, you must start doing something today and stick with it. – Tolulope A. Adegoke
People often have varied reactions to the ideas they receive or create. Some people prefer to hibernate their ideas because they are afraid they will fail or that they will have to spend their last dollars putting them into action.
Some folks put things off. They keep putting off acting on their ideas until they get stale or until someone else beats them to the punch. Fortunately, there are a select few that follow through on their ideas until the final objective is met. I hope you are one of these select few.
Never wait until you are completely “ready” to make a choice about your ideas; else, you may never be able to achieve even a fraction of what you thought you could. The distinction between high achievers and poor achievers is that high achievers nearly always make choices before they are ready to act — and they stick to those decisions.
At every level or stage of life, your dedication is critical to realizing your intended goals. Be astute enough to be committed. Do not squander the most valuable thing in the world-a brilliant idea; furthermore, do not waste time. Good times and chances must be cherished and completely used.
Begin by harnessing your empowered zero right now. Don’t wait for a certain “inspiration.” Open your eyes, think with your mind, and your heart will follow. Do not wait until you “feel” like it; otherwise, you will be behaving based on emotion rather than logic. Winning begins with the first step, and the first step is to DO.
Your life now is the sum total of the steps you took in the past and the decisions you made. Keeping this in mind, you must plan your future wisely because you must enjoy it to the maximum. Make certain that you begin; never accept a loss (do not quit). Continue to push yourself until the hero inside you is completely awakened and tamed-until you become a living legend!
Capsules for Effective Harnessing
Remember these capsules at every point of harnessing your potentials:
- Always affirm
- Be Alert
- Applaud
Anybody can amount to something if he will affirm himself and his potentials. Affirm that you can do anything. You can solve that challenge! Yes! You can seal that multi-billion deal. You can get that job! You can be great! You must strongly affirm that you deserve to succeed as much as anyone else. You are an embodiment of God-given potentials which naturally gives you the privilege of deserving to succeed. If you do not believe in your abilities, you may not be able to fully maximise them.
I once could not write the letter ‘g’ correctly. I usually wrote it in the shape of a dumbbell. My mind was not really clear, but through God’s intervention and the help of a very few people that believed in me, I was able to overcome this challenge, as well as developing my latent abilities. I rapidly gained the stamina to believe in my God-given potentials. However, as should be expected, while a few people were helping me to improve, some others were far less considerate, including those who were downright nasty. “Don’t waste your time on him,” they said. But as I continued to strive for the best, I ended up graduating as the overall best student in my department at the first degree level – and becoming even more confident that I was born to deliver solutions and possibilities to peoples, organisations and nations.
I urge you to keep believing strongly that somehow, through God’s intervention and the help of people, you can always reach the peak of your heart desires and fulfil your dreams. You can always make it, even if your approach is different from that of others.
Today, choose to transit from being a zero to a hero, by upgrading yourself intellectually and professionally with a new skill or new trade. No matter the level of your challenges, there is always someone who has the key to wisdom to set you free. This is why you must choose the right mentors and associates.
Understand that you were created in the image of God; you have latent abilities that you must harness. Dr. Robert Schuller said: “When you are inspired with a dream, God has hit the ball into your court. Now you have to hit it back with a commitment.” You cannot fully harness your empowered zero without commitment. Many people harnessed their potentials, but couldn’t stay focused and ended up being devastated.
Bear in mind therefore that, being an embodiment of God’s treasures, you must not fail your generation, and you must not fail God. Cancel negative thoughts, and then count your blessings. Be committed to your decisions. And, more importantly, be ready to take risks because without taking risks, you will never be able to solve problems.
Watch out for the Book titled: “The Power of an Empowered Zero” (Awakening the Giant Within You) by Tolulope A. Adegoke. Foreword by Dr Yomi Garnett (CEO/Chancellor, Royal Biographical Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.S.A., U.K., Abuja, Nigeria.) Edited by Ola Aboderin.
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
There’s no doubt that human beings by nature are insatiable. When we get one opportunity, we always look for another. When we attain one height, we always look for another accomplishment. Isn’t it true that the end of one mountain is the beginning of another.
However, I don’t think it’s selfish for anyone to dare to succeed.
Being ambitious doesn’t make one an opportunist or disloyal. It all depends on one’s perception or outlook to life. It’s just natural for one to dream big. It’s only ugly when the process one chooses to achieve his desires becomes dirty and nasty.
According to a former Nigerian presidential candidate and seasoned Economist, Mr. Peter Obi, “if you must be referred to as “Your Excellency”, then the process through which you arrived in office must be excellent”.
If you desire to be reckoned with on the journey of existence, you must be legitimately hungry for success. One’s hunger for success will facilitate the drive to accomplish great tasks despite daunting obstacles posing as challenges.
When one has this mindset, one will not be bothered by the noise which serves as obstacles and challenges along the way. Negative and weak minds are always concerned on why something won’t work. They tend to focus their energy and reasons on the obstacles facing them. But great and productive minds always focus their energy on the reasons why it will work. This is the spirit of an insatiable mind who is a goal- getter.
It’s instructive to note that we can’t please everyone. According to Bill Cosby, a famous actor, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everyone.” Isn’t it true that when you talk, people will still talk about you, when you don’t talk, people will talk about you, so whether you talk or not, people will still judge you, so, do what’s best for you. There’s nothing you can do to please human beings. Your best option is to live your best life.
To understand how the insatiable nature of man works, one must be oneself. You don’t have to “please” anyone. Be yourself, and don’t try to be like anyone just to curry favour. It’s important to note that when you are yourself, the people that matter will come through for you, and the people that don’t matter will gradually find the bearing in another space because those that truly care don’t bother and those that bother don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things.
Life has truly taught me to focus on the important things of life as opposed to the mundane things. It’s truly sad to see people spending more time on the little things of life, and spending little time on the important things of life. That’s just a misplaced priority.
When you are yourself, the best people can do is to copy or imitate your style. They can never imitate your creativity nor can take your originality from you.
We live in a world or society where people don’t generally care or show empathy. Most people tend to live around themselves, their family, and close associates. They generally find it hard to lift a finger to assist others for reasons best known to them. Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka once said, “we live in a wicked generation”, re-echoing the voices of a lot of people of the world. Some people in authority just have criminal expertise in amassing wealth of opportunities meant for the citizens without thinking of the citizens they are meant to serve.
It’s worthy of note that not everyone will like you nor support your work, but when you find people who truly care about you; please hold them tight. This is because despite having family members you have shown love and compassion, they might not still appreciate you even if you lay your life for them, they will still find something to say. Again, this is the insatiable nature of man.
It’s okay for everyone not to like you, normalize living your life for God, yourself, family and those that care about you. If everyone likes you, you have a problem.
Did you know that you can get a new family from friends, strangers, and acquaintances? These sets of people might appreciate you more than your own family members. They might not demand or under appreciate you like your family members and close friends or associates. Any little support you give them will be highly appreciated. Their focus is to see you do better.
In conclusion, as you desire to succeed in life, never give in to failure until you have made your last attempt, and never make your last attempt until you succeed. This literally means whatever you desire, dream it, think it, say it, and believe you can achieve it. This principle is generally applicable to relationships, businesses, family, personal and professional development.
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
A federal judge in the United States, on Thursday, put a temporary block on President Donald Trump’s attempt to restrict birthright citizenship.
The ruling imposes a 14-day halt on the enforcement of one of the most controversial executive orders Trump signed hours after being sworn into office for a second term.
It comes after lawsuits were filed by a total of 22 states, two cities and numerous civil rights groups.
“This is a blatantly unconstitutional order,” senior US District Judge John Coughenour was reported as saying during the hearing in Washington State.
“I’ve been on the bench for over four decades, I can’t remember another case where the question presented is as clear as this one is,” said Coughenour, who was appointed to the bench by a Republican president, Ronald Reagan.
Birthright citizenship is fundamental to America’s national identity, with the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution decreeing that anyone born on US soil is a citizen.
It says, in part: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.”
Trump’s order was premised on the idea that anyone in the US illegally, or on a visa, was not “subject to the jurisdiction” of the country, and therefore excluded from this category.
AFP
The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo State capital has upheld the death sentence of Ramon Adedoyin, a prominent businessman and hotelier, for his involvement in the murder of one Timothy Adegoke, a former postgraduate student of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Delivering the judgment on Thursday, the court affirmed the earlier verdict of the Osun State High Court, which had sentenced Adedoyin to death.
“The judgment of the High Court of Osun State stands. Adedoyin’s appeal is dismissed in part,” the court declared in part.
The Court of Appeal, however, set aside some aspects of the lower court’s orders, including the forfeiture of the Hilton Hotel and the order for Adedoyin to pay for the education of Adegoke’s children.
Furthermore, the court ruled that it had no jurisdiction to impose penalties outside the statutory provisions
Adegoke’s death was reported in November 2021 after his corpse was found at the Hilton Honours Hotel in Ile-Ife, Osun State, where he had lodged.
The hotelier had travelled from Abuja for an examination at a distance learning centre in Moro, Osun State on November 5 of that year.
He had checked into the hotel but was reported missing after two days. However, Adegoke’s body was found days later, leading to a probe that linked his death to Adedoyin and others.
In May 2023, Adedoyin and others were sentenced to death after they were found guilty of murder and conspiracy to murder.
But dissatisfied with the judgement, Adedoyin approached the Appeal court to dismiss the sentence and conviction.
The court of appeal, on Thursday, however, upheld the conviction and death sentence of the hotelier.
