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The Power of “Zero”!
By Tolulope A. Adegoke
“Don’t ever say somebody is useless. You are not even insulting the person; you are insulting the God that created the person.” – Chris Imafidon
Former British Prime Minister David Cameron made an odd bet with Chris Imafidon, a Nigerian-born professor at Oxford University, a few years ago. At the age of six, Imafidon’s kid had recently completed the UK’s General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) test. Because GCSE is mostly taken by teens in secondary school, Imafidon’s daughter’s performance was a magnificent feat that surprised the whole country and the globe at large.
The Prime Minister, on the other hand, saw the youngster’s accomplishment as not entirely surprising — after all, her father had been a highly clever scholar himself. However, Imafidon made it plain to the Prime Minister that his daughter’s success was due to excellent care and mentorship rather than genetics. Still, the Prime Minister was skeptical; in his opinion, those who excelled in academics or in life did so because they were born to be exceptional.
However, in order to demonstrate to the Prime Minister that everyone has the potential to succeed with the right attitude and motivation, Imafidon asked the British leader to allow him to work on the worst performing students in the worst performing schools in the UK for just nine months to see the difference. Cameron, of course, brushed it off as a joke, and hence the bet – 25 million dollars for whomever was correct.
To the Prime Minister’s surprise, the chosen kids had been changed from appearing slackers and never-do-wells to geniuses and go-getters nine months later!
Life-Changing Secrets
What was the seasoned professor’s secret that gave him such confidence, to the point of placing such a massive bet? And how did he become so skilled at changing “dullards” into “prodigies”? In fact, when everyone’s attention was focused on the highest performing students at the University of Ilorin (Nigeria) convocation event in 2014, Imafidon purposely requested the so-called lowest performing students so he could grant them scholarships — much to everyone’s surprise. Why, once again, did he have to do so?
The following is an answer he provided in a recent interview, and I want you to pay close attention to it because it lays the groundwork for the life-changing truths you will find throughout this write-up (leadership manual):
“Shakespeare claimed that some individuals are born great, while others earn greatness, and yet others have greatness implanted in them, implying that when God creates people, He creates some one way and others another.” God is not idle to create humans with half brains. Never, ever call someone worthless. You’re not even attacking the individual; you’re insulting the God who created the individual.”
That is the primary point conveyed in this article (leadership manual). Nobody was born with the intention of living and dying as nobody (without fulfilling purpose). According to psychologists and educationists, every kid enters the world with a blank mind (tabula rasa) that is hungry to be nourished and grown into something extraordinary. Unfortunately, very few individuals take the time to work on themselves so that they may live and die as heroes. Why is this the case? Because they are the ‘few’ who choose to be empowered and encouraged to make a mark on earth in order to leave their footprints in the sky, while the remaining majority are frequently too uneducated or careless about their latent potentials to take the required measures that will release their greatness.
A Pleasant Surprise
Contrary to popular belief, zero may be compared to a number (0) (i.e. pregnant with aspirations and ambitions, or an endeavor); it does not indicate ‘nothing.’ The reason for this is that, while the number ‘nothing’ may have no hope or represent hopelessness, the number ‘zero’ has hope because it is a feminine number (i.e. having a tendency to become greater or better, which, when empowered by applying some strategic principles, has the power to reproduce other greater numbers until infinity!
This indicates that, as a feminine number, zero has the intrinsic ability to mother and multiply other numbers when empowered! In other words, zero is a latently loaded entity that, when properly enabled, is capable of surpassing expectations.
You may be asking how this relates to you. It’s right here. It’s probable that others around you are making fun of you in certain parts of your life. They see you as a zero, believing that you are worthless and can achieve nothing major in life. The good news is that you are not nothing as long as you have God’s breath of life in you. Yes, it may look that you are a zero since you have not accomplished anything big in your life; nonetheless, I repeat – you are not nothing!
Nothing signifies “nothing at all.” But you are here! God created you in a specific manner to exist for a reason. This is the secret you must uncover and awaken to.
Here’s what I mean: A zero can only be worthless for as long as it stays unchanged. That zero, with the correct efforts and connections, may, however, transcend other numbers. Only when you stop striving to succeed, when you stop arming yourself with the appropriate information and abilities, and interacting with the right people, can you genuinely be called a failure. I tell you that no matter what others have said about you or how many times you have failed or “messed up,” you can nevertheless, like the historical Jabez, who was labeled as a zero in life, become much more “honorable” than everyone else (1 Chronicles 4:9-10).
Rejoice, my buddy. Whatever label of negativity has been assigned to you, you must simply refuse to accept it. You must not stay on the floor, no matter how many times you have failed! Only zeros that are not enabled by ‘additions and multiplications’ will stay fixed. Don’t stay stuck in obscurity, defeat, regret, and humiliation. Rise up and take charge!
Thank you all for reading. I trust that you have been activated!
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.SA., U.K., Abuja, Nigeria.) Edited by Ola Aboderin.
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.
