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The Irrefutable Power of Commitment
By Tolulope A. Adegoke
“Everyone who is called great due to his or her attainments and heights of greatness, having achieved strange order of blessings didn’t just emerge there on a platter of gold but at a Cost! In truth, the cost of every greatness is SACRIFICE, but the sacrifice is incomplete without unwavering (levels of) COMMITMENT. Therefore, it is not easy to be EASY…when life’s challenges scream at you, you must consistently engage your shield of FAITH”! – Tolulope A. Adegoke, PhD., MNIM, FIMC, CMC, CMS
The most dangerous and underrated man is not just the skillful or talented man, but the COMMITTED man! The soul of a committed man does not die! Even his deeds live after him (posterity)…his deeds are open doors unto many lives and destinies…Jinx must have been broken by his tenacious lifestyles…
Men of SKILLS may become overly confident and wavering, but a committed man sticks to one thing at a time, then, gets things all done with patience, focus and tenacity (ensures he breaks through); but the combination of the two (Commitment and Skills) settles it all in grand styles of honours. Though, he may experience hunger, financial issues; he may encounter very strange types of human beings, but that will not still move or break him. Of course may feel frustrated at some point, but grace will find his soul from melting like the sheer butter in the rays of the sun and his faith gauge from dropping. It may get to a point that he would find himself in between two worlds, but surrounded by nothing… In all, he must have learnt greatly to be firm and strong in trials, to be patient enough to wait on God in his struggles, to be wise enough to discern, to bridle his/her tongue the more, to worship God the most in all, even in the thickest rejections of men, and to gaze on Him (God) even when his/her health is failing, but to keep loving innocently when hatred, envy and jealousy merges up to intimidate the Royalty and loyal strengths that he carries and represents. Then, all of a sudden, when such being gets to the point of sinking, God intervenes and delivers him/her from them all…
Committed beings may bend for a while, but will never break because they have a “bounce-back power” called Grace… which is a divine dew of ease on them as lubricants and healing- an indication of God’s resuscitating agenda from His throne of mercy that depicts Him saying: “I am with thee, I will help thee, I will guide and guard thee…”
Truly, it is the grace of God that completes a “course” and a “cause” to getting the CROWN!
A committed man must never claim to be “Self-Made” but “God-Made,” because “it is not by power nor by might, but by the Spirit, thus saith the Lord of hosts!”
A committed man is a recipient of immeasurable mercy, grace and favour from God and Man, including the creations of God and Man.
The final speeches of champions that are usually captured on the global set which marvels the world of such impeccable excellence and rare greatness are most of the time given through pools of background tears waits on God for interventions, several spites, dejections and rejections from the ordinary people who in the end applauds them for the rare level of excellence and the greatness that manifests through them (champions).
Be like the rose flower, it commits to its own growth even in the midst of thorns…yet, the thorns shield the rose flower from being plucked ordinarily by small minds…
The ‘thorns’ represent your challenges, while the ‘rose flowers’ connotes your greatness… You are rare species of God’s creation, therefore, I charge you to MANifest!
Be like the Eagle that weathers the storms to soar even beyond the clouds, while other birds are in their hideouts [comfort zones]. Remember, the “comfort zones syndrome” keeps you out from setting records!
Be like the ants, they are futuristic and goal-oriented…
Be like the pride of lions, they know who they are and are always committed to protecting this great value!
Challenges may scream at you, but WORK, FAITH, GRACE and PATIENCE would see you through if you would be committed to the right things at the right times, at the right place. It is important to note that: “Commitment is LEVERAGE!” Commitment gives you Bounce Back Power[BBP]! Don’t just envy success, but envy SACRIFICE! Never settle for convenience over DESTINY! You are way too blessed to ever dare to settle for an empty life.
Jean Chatzky has this to say:
‘Resilience isn’t a single skill. It’s a variety of skills and coping mechanisms. To bounce back from bumps in the road as well as failures, you should focus and be committed to your vision or desires [on emphasizing the positive]’.
The Law of Reciprocity
Any relationship or dealings that has no real reciprocity will die…Reciprocity is the order of life! Strong people will keep giving to you for a long time and eventually, if they do not see it coming back in a similar capacity, they will eventually become convinced that the investment does not worth a return…
If you do not learn to ‘give’ like you learned to ‘get’ (receive) in every area where there is no reciprocity, it will die!
Anything that takes more than it gives will eventually destroy the giver…it is not only biblical but scientific and ecological! Even God commanded the farmer to let the ground rest for a while for it to be revitalized with nutrients! Plants emits oxygen for man to live, while man exhales carbon dioxide for plants to live…it is a ‘give and take’ world system! It is a real-world of COMMITMENT!
I will not take anything from you unless I add something to you! I will be an asset and not a liability! If I stay at your house, you will miss me when I leave! I am going to add something to you before taking anything from you! If I join your church or organization, you will feel My impacts that something has been added to you! When you get me, you get help! In fact, I am an answer to your prayers!
The only number that doesn’t add to the sum total of the equation is a zero that lacks help to upgrade or maximize proper/reasonable effects!
What do people get when they get you?!
If you can describe it, define it and deliver on it, you will never be without them! Everybody wants assets, while liabilities get left behind!
You must be Committed to God, Family, “Church” [gathering of the saints] and to your DREAMS!
You cannot get people to believe in your Dream until you believe in it yourself!
Stop asking people to invest in things when you have no investment! Stop asking people to deliver to you when you are unwilling to go into the wild for yourself! Nobody is going to put into your dream before you put (invest) into it…you have to invest in what you dream for! A golf club is just a golf club until you put it in the hands of the likes of Tiger Woods, then the value shoots up! It’s the same set of club, but all you had was commitment… The same thing goes to our individual dreams…when a dream gets into the hands of a committed person [to the dream], who has been working when they were five and swinging it when they were six, nine and when they turned twelve…O yes! You will get a great return on it because somebody had invested on it!
Do you have anything that you are dreaming, that you are willing to be committed to enough to see it happen?! Or you go on [the] wishing well of life, wanting to receive on credits something that you are not willing to pay for?!
You must be committed to your dreams! I have never met anybody who became incredibly successful in any area of their life until they have suffered, sweated and sacrificed, kept their focus and fought through tears, trials and tests…so if you have a dream and commit to it, it will surely come to pass…though, the vision tarries, wait for it! It will happen! It may take a while, you may even have to take classes, you may even have to start the business in your house, but it will happen! My God is not just ALPHA, but He is also the OMEGA! He is not only the BEGINNING, but He is also the END! God started it, He will finish it! YES, He will! But your own part of the deal must have been completed by being committed to your Dreams before He [God]commits Himself into your course, to creating a CAUSE!
Anybody can dream it, but you can never see it until you are willing to be committed to it! Bishop T. Dexter Jakes gave an example of himself that, as at the start of his ministry (The Potter’s House), he started from his house. Sometimes, he worshipped alone, then gradually things began to change as he stayed committed to his dreams… God only concentrates on COMMITTED people! He is not a joker!
I further dissected the word ‘commitment’ as follows:
To Be Committed means:
BeCom(e)-(It)!
Be come it! That is, be the best description or example of your Dream, then fulfil it by taking the required steps without wavering!
Thank you all for reading.
Dr. Tolulope A. Adegoke is an accredited ISO 20700 Effective Leadership Trainer
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
The importance of timing cannot be overemphasized. Timing is everything in life. It is critical to one’s success. You can lose your money and get it back in many folds. You can even lose your health and get it back all things being equal, but when you lose time, you can hardly get it back again.
The importance of timing can be seen in crops. Every crop has a season, a good farmer won’t plant maize when it’s time for oranges, nor will he plant pears when it’s the season for mangoes.
Time is very instrumental to the success and failure of anyone. Imagine having a meeting or interview at 9:00am and you arrive at 10:10am, it will take the grace of God to be interviewed. As an employee, apart from one not being able to diligently do his job, one of the fastest ways for an employee to lose his job is by being late to work.
When I was in New York Law School studying Taxation law, I did a course titled, the Problem of Timing. During the semester, I learnt about cash and accrued income. Let me do some academic exercise here. In cash income, just like the name entails, one is paid in cash as soon as the work is completed. It’s just like going to the market to make a purchase. One can either pay directly with cash or with debit or credit card. But Accrued income refers to revenue a company has earned by providing goods or services, but for which payment has not yet been received, one will have to do the work first before getting paid. This is applicable when one works in either a public or private organization where one is paid either weekly, bi-weekly or at the end of the month depending on the stipulated mode of payment.
It’s important to note that before the money is paid either in cash or accrued, one would have earned it. It’s just like one learning g before earning, and one will have to update to upgrade. These are just the practical principles that will work with life.
In the same way, in life there’s a seed time and harvest time. It’s a universal principle of life. Whether as a parent, entrepreneur, student or employee. As a parent, if you don’t train your kids very well, they will grow up to reflect the opposite of what you desire. As an entrepreneur when you invest in your business, you will get the reward in due time. As a student, if you take your studies seriously, your grades will improve, and as an employee, you stand to get promotions and opportunities when you add value to your work. In summary, one will have to put in the work before recognition comes on.
To understand how seedtime and harvest work, imagine where parents tend to like one child more than others just because they see potential in him, or he’s smart, hardworking or even creative. They fail to understand that every child is different and as such their timing can be different. Some kinds take time to develop.
I personally believe there’s something so unique about each individual which God has deposited in everyone of us. It’s just a matter of time for it to manifest. Your timing of manifestation is different from your siblings and colleagues.
Personally, I didn’t mature fast with my contemporaries. Overtime, I have seen much improvement in my personal and professional life. Maybe because I have added value to my work with the assistance of mentors and good friends, or God had to humble my colleagues and mentors . Why do I say this? During my formative years, I had little or nothing to show for it. I was looking at my contemporaries as mentor and seeing my mentors as small gods whose feat is unattainable, but now, the reverse seems to be case as I have developed capacity some of my colleagues are yet to attain, while I have even surpassed the achievement of my some of my mentors in some quarters.
In all these, they are all surprised how it happened. Some are yet to comprehend or articulate the feat. It’s just like watching a film where everyone slept and woke up to see the game and tides have changed. The secret behind it is the seed time and harvest time. I was probably learning the trade while in the wilderness, and when the training season matured and ripe enough to be harvested, I became attractive to almost everyone who loved the seed I was producing.
There are litany of examples of people, who have been in the wilderness during the seed planting season. Let’s take a case study of Joseph in the Bible, his journey to stardom took a little twist. Despite the travails he experienced in the hands of his siblings who sold him, his experience while in the jail, and with Portiphar’s wife, who tried to seduce him; they were all set ups for success. The moral here is Joseph seed time and harvest time was quite different, it wasn’t a smooth journey. Ordinarily, one would have cursed his siblings or his friends who were with him in prison and forgot him after they were released. But at the end of time, everything worked out for his favor. Joseph’s seed days were his dark days while in the wilderness.
Another inspiring story of note was that of Pastor Ibukun Awosika, the former board Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria. She once shared a pathetic story during her formative years of being in business. According to her, she sojourned for about 15 years. She cried because lines were not adding up for her and she wouldn’t do what her contemporaries were doing to get opportunities. At a point in her business, it appeared like she was in a race of own life because everything seemed to be against her, but at the appropriate time, lines began to fall in place for her. Appointments, business opportunities, favours and goodwill began to fall in place for her. Again, she had a fair share of seed time.
An interesting question I would like to ask you is, what’s your seed time? Have you ever been in the wilderness when you appeared to be fixed? It’s unfortunate many people are not willing to pass through the storms or experience seeds and harvest time. Amidst all these, one must do some work before they get opportunities. However, before such opportunities will come up, one will have to plant the seed.
In conclusion, seed time and harvest time is critical in the journey of life. Take a seat and determine what seed you would like to sow and what you’ll like to harvest.
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 Senate has suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghen for six months over her sexual harassment accusation and other disputes against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The Senate also withdrew her salaries for the period of the suspension, as well as her security details.
The chamber however, soft-pedaled on the salaries and allowances of her aides, who it was argued would not have any source of livelihood within the period.
Globacom is welcoming new customers on its network with the introduction of the e-SIM. The e-SIM activated in any Gloworld shop or Dealer outlet comes with an introductory free 5GB data when the customer buys a data plan of N1,500 or more.
Customers already on other networks can now join the Glo network with e-SIM as an additional SIM. Existing Glo customers can also enjoy this “SIM-less” freedom.
With the e-SIM, customers no longer have to worry about space for a physical SIM on their phones. The e-SIM is a software-based digital chip built directly into smartphones or wearable devices, thus eliminating the need for a physical SIM card for customers.
The use of e-SIM enables customers to have seamless switching between phone numbers without a physical SIM. It is ideal for upwardly mobile people who travel frequently. The e-SIM also guarantees security, as unlike physical SIM, it is harder to remove from devices. It is also eco-friendly and reduces plastic waste.
Globacom’s launch of the e-SIM enables enables it to cater to high-net-worth individuals and enterprise customers, and it also reinforces the company’s commitment to providing seamless and future-ready services to its customers.
A customer seeking to activate the Glo e-SIM needs to check the compatibility of the mobile handset by dialling *#06# on his or her phone. If an EID number reflects on the mobile screen, the device is e-SIM compatible.
“The customer can then proceed to the nearest Gloworld shop or Glo Dealer outlet to migrate to e-SIM. The process takes only a few minutes and the customer can thereafter begin to enjoy the use of an e-SIM”, the Marketing Department disclosed.
