BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL LIFE

The tendency to succeed lies in you delivering quality and excellence in whatever you do, taking cognizance of this fact, I see no reason why we cannot infuse these qualities in our lives, as we do when it concerns product or services. I have noticed that the moment we begin to see ourselves as a brand and strive on a daily basis to improve ourselves, infuse values that are positive and profitable into our daily life, success is inevitable. To buttress my view, I came up with some points which I feel if considered would make a change.

IDENTIFY YOUR INTEREST
The simple truth is that performance at its peak only comes from interest. When we don’t have a choice, anything becomes the option. This to me is like settling for less when you can decide and focus your mind and energy on something of essence and worth.

This point is very direct, whatever you show interest in to a large extent shapes your life. As we know, the decisions we make on a daily basis are the stepping stones to where we are headed. Basically, what I am saying here is that we should allow our interest influence our work and also allow our work influence our interest because infusing both factors goes a long way to show your efficiency and willingness to improve in whatever you do which would in turn define the kind of person you are.

IDENTIFY YOUR AUDIENCE
This point is explicit enough, it basically involves knowing the people in need of what you have to offer and working with them, doing all it takes to be continuously relevant and useful. All you need do is on a daily basis, fashion out ways to keep evolving, create a niche for yourself and have your standards.

You have to make sure you are easy to access and also package yourselves well so as to continually being the preferred option as regards your area of specialization, because when people see quality, they go after it.

When you have identified them, interact with them on how best to serve them better, knowing their preferences and working with that to get them the desired results. Simply see your cooperation with them as a symbiosis process where both parties benefit from each other.

EXPAND YOUR BRAND TO ACCOMMODATE RELATED SERVICES
All you need to do at this stage is, get involved or render other services in your line of expertise. The brand you have being able to build would serve as a leverage for you to break even, also considering the fact that you have a customer base that you already have people who believe in you and the service you render.

Being innovative helps to stamp your relevance in the mind of our audience, fashion out new and better ways of satisfying the need of your audience, still infusing the concept of quality and excellence that you are known for. With this in place, success is inevitable

DIVERSIFICATION
This is the last stage, and it is the process of multiplying success. After you have being able to carve a niche for yourself in your area of expertise, the next thing is to begin looking out for other area of interest, while still maintaining the initial operation with all process attached to it.

To do this, you start from the first step again, building it stage by stage to the point where the level of success achieved in the existing process is replicated in the new line of service. At this point, the challenges are kind of easier based on your experience in building something similar formerly.

When you look around you, the people you see, who have attained major points in life and their careers followed this step by step to the point where they are today. My simple advice is consider these points and do what is rght.

Fakeye, OlaniyI Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

TO BE SUCCESSFUL, THERE ARE PRICES TO PAY

Every living human being in/on this planet called “earth” has expectations, even those who do not do anything expect miracles, whatever we want to call it, it is all aimed towards being successful, becoming someone of repute, making a mark and being a responsible human being.

This thought came while I was in a bus at Oshodi Bus Park recently. I overheard a group of narrow minded guys talking about a friend of theirs who just got picked up by a popular Fuji musician, and would now have the opportunity to sing and get promoted by the popular musician. After a while, one of them said, “let us stop talking about him and pray that God remembers us also”. Knowing that opportunity only comes when you have the resources to pull it through, the line statement struck me and got me thinking. This brought me to the topic of this essay.

There are certain prices to pay for success, and I know for sure it takes someone with a determined heart to achieve it. Why not highlight the point, so we know what to work through if we want success in life, hence the points below.

DISCIPLINE AND DETERMINATION
This to me is the ability to do what it takes to achieve the level and kind of result intended, and constantly put your hands and heart to work out your plan so your results are inevitable.

These two qualities are very hard to exhibit because naturally they do not give instant gratification. It takes a lot for one to subject himself to imbibing these qualities which for sure are major prices to pay in ones quest to achieve success.

These qualities involves doing your best every time possible, as a friend of mine would say ” getting things right the first time and every time”, leaving no details to chance, being fully grounded in rules and mode of operation and following them to the last note no matter how stressful or routine-like they are.

SMARTWORK
I say smart work because a lot of people have to understand it again and again that hard work alone does not put one fully where he should be. The combination of thorough positive creative thinking in addition to hard work gives the success we desire.

To buttress my point, lets take a case of a man working in a laundry outfit. He can only become successful to a point of envy if he thinks and works towards having his own outfit, not working for long years for someone else. I am not saying everybody should start their own business, I am only pointing out the fact that working on a daily basis to achieve the highest level of result in our chosen career is the only way towards achieving success, and that to me is SMARTWORK.

POSITIVE MENTALITY
Whether we believe it or not, there are a lot of things to prove to us that our mentality to a large extent affects us, our response to issues and how we are treated. I would advice that we think positively , give our mind the mental shampoo needed on a daily basis so as to allow it produce results we need.

The Holy Bible says, “guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it comes the issue s of life”. Whatever you expose yourself to is what occupies your heart, mind and thought pattern, hence the results you get.

BEING GOAL ORIENTED
Knowing what your actual aim is and being direct about it is what this is all about. Breaking it into smaller pieces for you to be able to achieve them faster and easier is a major step towards this. No matter what you do, always keep your eyes on the goal, make them as realistic and time bound as possible so as to achieve your mark as fast as possible.

Whatever it is you want to succeed in, there are steps and work to engage in to rise through the rank. So the less you allow distractions, the better for you.

A LEVEL OF LUCK
It is in a way motivating to believe in luck because opportunities not planned for surfaces, and believing in this makes you at least put things in place so when it comes, you do not gnash your teeth, but able to seize it and make good use of it.

Our major work now is putting all these points to work so as to get desired result.

Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

I BELIEVE I AM, SO I AM

“Tell yourself that you are a genius, and right away, you would probably wonder why and in what way you are a genius. Also, you would have opened your mind to wonder and to asking questions. That’s a big step towards thinking like a genius which would help you unlock so many talents” – Donald Trump.

“Anyone who has never made a mistake, has never tried anything new” – Albert Einstein.

Lying on my bed one evening thinking, the topic of this essay rang continuously in my head. I had read and have being applying materials teaching how to work on one’s mind to get desired result, even though it is an ongoing process, I had began to see the significance and understand the meaning of the statements made by these greats highlighted above.

I took out time to study Donald Trump, the way he rose to fame and fortune, fell and then came back on board, whatever the reason for his fall was, which might have been wrong decisions made, he eventually learnt from them, started all over again with cautious and corrective steps which eventually restored him back to his position.

During his trying period, his mindset never changed, they never saw themselves as failures or lesser people needing sympathy or pity from people. All they did was find out the mistakes they made and started work immediately on rebuilding their broken walls, making it more aesthetic and stronger than before.

Your mindset about yourself goes a long way to say who you are and what you would turn out to be. It is a very strong leverage to acquire all we want in this world. Wealth, power, fame and even their opposite comes from the mind. I laugh every time I say this to someone because of the meaning it carries.

Every day, ignorance makes a lot of people call themselves all sort of names like “less privileged, poor, needy, beggar”, it makes me wonder how low of themselves they think. It is bad sometimes to the point where many of them have no form of physical deformity, but it’s a pity they have the major deformity which is that of the mind and thought pattern.

Out of personal experience, I discovered that REPITITION goes a long way in gaining mastery. I have come to believe and discover that saying positive things to myself repetitively has helped me with putting my thought pattern right and having a positive mentality.

On a daily basis, I advice that we confess to ourselves what we desire, need and expect, putting our mindsets in position to believe this words. One thing I know it would do is raise questions in our hearts as to how to become what we envisage and confess and meditation and careful thinking over a period would bring solutions than we ever imagined, Note, the mind is richer and broader than we can ever think of.

A part of the Bible which I paraphrase says the power to build and destroy lies in the tongue also that the mouth speaks from the abundance of the heart. Sincerely, having a positive mindset regularly goes a long way in not only changing one’s life but helps to get desired results.

I watched a video clip about Billionaires listed on Forbes and one of them (Mark Cuban) made a statement, he said and I quote “ I am the luckiest guy in the world and when I die, I want to come back as me”. That is a powerful statement that a lot would never be bold to say and he only said due to the state of his mind.

Note, the difference between the wealthy and poor is a function of their mind, thought pattern and declaration. The sooner you make the right decision, the better for you

Fakeye, Olaniyi, Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

THINK, TALK AND ACT POSITIVELY

Your mindset to a large extent affects how things or situations turn around for you. I have learnt that most of the success we see around on a daily basis both from others and ourselves basically are first generated from the mind, the possibility of achieving this success is a dominant factor which in turn helped us in building the tempo translated into work to produce it.

The art of thinking is a major skill God gave us to proffer solution to problems or challenges we face, it is a means of consulting with one’s self and getting out great ideas and solutions that are groundbreaking and remarkable, but we limit this activity through our negative thoughts.

When we were kids, we would think of a lot of things without any barrier over our thought pattern, but in the name of REALITY, we have used our minds to push ourselves to the point where most of us have lost control of that powerful tool and are even scared for NOTHING.

When a person says something but thinks and acts differently, to me, the person has a split personality. This attitude makes it hard for one to achieve goals and even gain credibility. In a situation where your attitude makes you loose credibility with others, don’t you think you would also loose it in yourself?, it would be harder for you to even set a target and meet or exceed it.

It is stated in the bible that “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. If a man’s thought, words and actions help in shaping his life, then I don’t see why he should not have a positive approach to this process so as to get the positive result he needs.

I know it is not easy, but nothing in life comes easy as they say, it requires a determined and constant effort from an individual to say, act and think positive in this world today due to happenings around, but nobody would do it for you. The earlier you take the bull by the horn, the better and the faster it is for you to get to your destination.

Regularly, books are churned out to teach people on how to be self motivating through their thoughts, acts and words, the problem is either that we are not finding time to read at all or we do not practice what we have learnt.

As a mentor of mine would say ‘First within, then without”, this means that we have to shift our mindset from the norm of impossibility, negativity, quitting, failure, being scared unnecessarily and insecurity. Switch gear so as to get the tenacity, tempo and zeal to move ahead in life which is a sure route to better result

Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

LIVE FOR TOMORROW.

The decisions we take in one way or the other affects people around us. I say this due to my observations of situation of things in our world and environment today. As we know, the world moves in a cycle, both in literary form and also with the trend of ideas and concepts we think of on a daily basis, also is the fact that before one generation goes, another is present. This alone should bring us to the understanding that the way we build our environment, country and world at large is the way the younger generation would meet it and possibly treat it.

When a child is born, he grows to become an adult observing characters and behaviors from his sample space which starts from his immediate family to his immediate society. Overtime, he picks his mentor, role model or coach, sometimes without the consent of this people and forms his life based on how they live theirs. He replicates their lifestyle to a point where it also becomes an habitual lifestyle for him/her also.

This is a major reason why some men beat women up, steal, are aggressive and show or display other ill characters. The decision to make it in life and be responsible is a major issue because it affects the kind of lifestyle you as a person would live in and also your immediate nuclear family. It affects the quality of security and provision you give to your spouse and children which will in turn determine the kind of life your children would subsequently live and the decisions they also make in life.

Whatever you do in life, be rest assured that you are in a way planting a seed that would surely germinate in the lives of others. The main issue now is to know if the kind of seed you plant is the type they would be grateful to you for.

The decisions to make good choices in life that would eventually translate in good fruits or good conditions over time is the attitude or behavior I admonish everybody to imbibe even though it might hurt to live by, the results would be cherished for life.

In whatever you do, remember that the lives of people are dependent on the decisions you take now, I admonish everyone to take right and sincere decisions which would bring joy to their faces when the time comes.

Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

CHALLENGE YOURSELF, THINK LIKE A CHAMPION

To become a champion in life, we face a lot of obstacles; the ability to overcome them brings us to the desired success results we achieve.

Obstacles come in different sizes and forms depending on what our benchmark or desired results are. The more one is willing to fight, the more success and victory you command. The environment, situation, competitors and a lot of other factors bring problems with them as long as we operate within their confines. To me, the problems that come with them are easy to overcome compared to the ones we face when we challenge ourselves.

Challenging one’s self is doing far above your expected limit. This means you are willing to go the extra mile to achieve greater reward. To become a champion in any field of life, one has to determine to do far more than what is expected, far more than the norms or the ordinary.

In English language, we have the words “ordinary and extraordinary”, we know both of them are used to express a situation, but one is more distinct than the other, which we know is the second (extraordinary). This is simply in this context putting extra effort into whatever endeavor we engage in so as to achieve exemplary results. As a mentor of mine says regularly, “Good is the enemy of best”.

Our standards or accepted results most of the time are the problems we have for not doing better. Until we set groundbreaking goals for ourselves, we would not make marks that would set a path for others to follow.

The champions we envy around us today are who they are because of the efforts they put into their work and the ability to look at obstacles as stepping stones towards expected end. Also, your mindset to a large extent affects decisions one take in life which eventually transforms to the results achieved. Our mindset needs to be challenged, corrected, taught, and changed in situation where that is needed to give results that would touch lives in general. Also, positive mentality and having the right company around you that helps in motivating you and giving you the “can do it” mentality is a major step towards making a mark. Doing a little more, being persistent and focus on a task so as to bring it to a conclusive and excellent end makes one a champion.

In Nigeria today, we have business moguls such as Aliko Dangote, MIcheal Adenuga, the reason they are people to reckon with both here in their country and outside is because they have been able to concentrate their effort, put in the extra needed into every stage of growth of their organization, as it is said, “little drops of water over a period makes a mighty ocean”. The major problem people have is the fact that people relax too early, but they fail to understand that to achieve constant success, constant input, effort and improvement is the key.

I read punch newspaper for the 3rd of July 2011 and came across a story of an NYSC member who made an impact around Ikorodu area in Lagos. She built a primary school for the community and was commended by the community, corporate bodies and the state as a whole. Her extra efforts over the years made her a celebrity as against other corp members around her

In conclusion to this, to be a champion, simply do productive work consistently and the results would show, no matter where you find yourself.

Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

Dear readers,
After reading this blog, I would love to read your comments on this topic. Thanks for the time and effort.

LEARN TO MAKE QUICK AND RIGHT DECISIONS

Every day, we make decisions that in one way or the other shapes our lives and overtime creates a type of future, either the type we envisage or not. The decision not to even take a stand is a decision already taken. Why should we then not be actively involved in a process that will with or without our consent build or shape our lives?,.

The difference between two people are the decisions they have taken at different times in their lives, the quality of the decision and how fast they took the decision, which are then implemented and eventually gives the results we see.

As human beings, we have the ability to think as against animals which acts only based on instinct and feelings. We know the difference between good and bad and also can envisage what the results of our actions could be based on the decisions we take after careful thinking.

As we know, RESPONSIBILITY is the ability to respond to issues. This is based on what decision we make, how fast we make them and the ability or will to follow them through. I hear the sentence “hit the ground running”, this to me simply means meeting a problem with a readymade and instant solution so as to get quick result. But you cannot do this without first taking a decision.

My last essay or discussion was about acquiring information and applying them as usable knowledge, the amount of material or information one is exposed to makes one decide rightly. When we see a successful man, we show him a lot of admiration and respect and in some cases, followership. What we fail to look at most of the time is that the sum total of the decisions he took in his life made him who he is and all we see around him. The drive for change or excellence comes only by determination which is born out of decision to see to a conclusive end issues we are involved.

My point mainly, is to advice that in whatever we do or wherever we find ourselves, we should learn to think and make decisions quickly because this is the only way we can achieve our goals and aspiration. Be it as an individual, group or a nation, the decision to move forward, get better and good governance first lies on the decision we take and how quick we make them, this to a large extent reflects on the end result.

Whatever success we see anywhere does not just happen, it took conscious effort from somebody or a group of people to make a change borne out of good decision making, right timing and also determination which eventually translate to continuous working process in closets on a regular basis before the results is seen.

We should always remember that the ability to make right decisions coupled with right timing goes a long way in achieving success.

Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

SEARCH FOR INFORMATION REGULARLY AND APPLY THEM AS USABLE KNOWLEDGE

I had a discussion with someone a couple of weeks ago and he said, “we are all born ignorant, stupid and foolish”. I was angry at what he said because I had not gotten the sense in the statement but before I questioned him, he raised his hand stopping me from interrupting and continued, saying, “the only way we shift away from this natural position is by searching for information either through books or related materials and also through people and transforming the materials into usable knowledge in our day to day life.

Also, an article written by a woman in united state of America was read to me about how ignorant black people are and this is due to the fact that we do not read. She highlighted in her article the reasons for this, which are, lack of interest in reading, being influenced by vane and irrelevant things, wasteful spending on liabilities which would cost us money to maintain and overtime, depreciate and become obsolete.

Hearing those words made me think, sincerely, how many people have picked up a self learning book or material after graduation from school, or have in anyway tried to improve themselves?, for the ones that do once in a while, do they eventually finish the book?, and for the ones that finish the book, how often do they buy or get new ones?.

This topic concerns everyone because I myself sometimes fail to read on a daily basis, though I make it often, hearing this words has in a way ignited a fire in me to always try to improve myself regularly no matter how busy my day is. Most especially the insult from the white woman pushed me to make a stand.

“I don’t think much of any man who is not wise today than he was yesterday.” –By Abraham Lincoln

“Anyone who stops learning is old, either at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The great thing in life is to keep your mind young.” –By Henry Ford

The only way to be wiser or to keep your mind young as highlighted in both statement made by great men is by devouring information (positive ones), for continuing and daily improvement. Whatever you learn opens your mind and helps you to see, think and address issues better. They help in attaining success with very little bumps on the way.

No matter how much this topic is flogged, it would never be enough. Reading and I mean on a daily basis is a process we must engage in so as to strengthen our mind. Just as athlete’s gym to strengthen his muscles, we should learn to strengthen our minds so we can perform excellently in the race of life.
Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

POWER OF INFLUENCE

It has been observed and proven that things we see, hear and experience in ways, influence us positively or negatively. Whatever we open our mind to over a period of time gets into our subconscious and then grows to become a factor in which we live our lives by.
I noticed this in myself due to interaction with people and observations they made about me. In a way, the major male figure I see and speak to on a daily basis is my father. Funny enough, people who know me very well say I act, talk and behave exactly like him, even when I argue with them, they remind me of my behavior or judgment at one time or the other in the past which they know or feel he (my father) would have reacted in the same way.
I picked this topic because I can say due to experience and observation that whatever we expose ourselves to affects us a great deal. This is why mentors, motivators and preachers try to get into our minds through their writings, messages and teachings.
There are people we know that carry what we want, the more we listen, walk and work with them, understand their sense of reasoning and judgment and their philosophies to life and we subject ourselves to their pattern of operation, naturally we would begin to produce our desires and results we see in them.
In as much as they are not perfect, we would be able to discern which of their ways we want to follow and make changes that would facilitate our expectations in our daily lives.

My advice is, pick positive mentors, expose yourself to their materials, learn their ways and replicate them in your life and you would achieve outstanding results.
Another major point of influence is exposure, the more you are opened to learning (being teachable), the more you go out, see new things, and widen your horizon, the more you would drift towards the change you seek.

With all this said, finding people who would propel you to your expectation should be your main concern and work because there is no quality you desire that one person does not have or portray already. Also make sure you expose yourself to the right influence because whatever you are opened to as the power to make or destroy you.

Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

CONSTANT IMPROVEMENT; AN EXCITEMENT TO LIFE

As we know, most of the people living in this world perform daily tasks so as to get continued sustenance packages they use and live on. Also, we all have unique ways of thinking and responding to activities around us, my point today is to constantly improve, no matter the kind of work or task we perform based on challenges we face in our tasks.

Everything we see in our world today is an improvement of one created in past either in service, machines, production lines and even health care. This is because new ideas excite life. It brings a certain level of joy along with it, a certain level of comfort and ease.

Today, I am writing this to bring to our understanding the fact that life is in phases, even life itself improves regularly, though due to impacts of man, but we should know that as long as we live, trying out new things, new concepts and ideas to further realize more results in what we do should be paramount in our lives.

It is a very simple concept, we yearn for new things we see daily, but the new things are product of improvement thought of by someone and implemented. The result then makes the person relevant and sought for by a lot of other people.

So also is daily improvement in on oneself, pick a book, do that research, write that article, start the new business, learn the trade, do whatever it is that would make you constantly reckoned with in this constantly changing world and you would see how much importance it brings to you, excitement you create for others and change you would have being able to support.

I wrote in the past on excellence and how it is an ongoing process, how it is what we should daily strive for, what we should know is that improvement on a regular basis in whatever we do is a strive towards excellence.

It is known that nothing of weight comes easy, but we should know that no matter how painful it is, the results are gainful and all it brings along with it when present are things that would make us happy.

There are no competition, relevance and better results without constant improvement no matter how small it is, and it is this little change that alters life in all aspects and makes it easier and better for others. So in whatever we do, striving to add our little quota to life is a major factor for living and we would be surprised how much it would add to life and things around us.

Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

IMPORTANCE OF PRINCIPLES

There are things in this world that would always give the same results simply because of the principles attached to their performance or execution. To a large extent, our lives should have a pattern it follows so as to be able to replicate a kind of improvement or success we envisage and the pattern in this case are simply brought about by principles we should follow to give us expected results.

I took time to research the meaning of the word “PRINCIPLES” and I found out that they are standards we should live by to give us results we need. Even though we have to be flexible in the implementation of principles, they are must have as human beings.

Principles govern our emotions and feelings, it governs our attitude, character and disposition towards others. It defines the kind of person we are and also shapes our thought. With all these, I do not see why we should not address this topic.

Over time, I have written a little about becoming a leader and also performing efficiently in environment or situation we find ourselves, but to be that person, there has to be underlining facts we believe in and live our life by. This is because it is out of our laid down modes of operation and thought pattern we give judgment and respond to issues surrounding us. What we do not have we do not give.

I also wrote about Vision and its importance, seeing beyond and trying to pursue what we see to actualization, but the only way we can relate this to people so that they believe in us and in our vision is by the underlining principles we live by.

Principles are unchanging truths or general accepted facts, they give desired results when followed to detail. Principles define people and whoever trivializes the importance of principles is in for many struggles in his bid to achieve success. With this, I hope I have being able to make us see the importance of principles, why we should have them and live our lives by them.

Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

LEARN TO SHARE

In the world we live in, processes, factors and activities intertwine with each other to continue occurrence. I would say it is more of symbiosis relationship all matter in this world operate by.

The land houses seeds and provides nutrients and minerals needed for plant to grow, this plants serves as food for living organisms which in turn digests the food and give out the waste product back to the earth or land in this case. The waste mixes with the soil in form of manure to give nutrients needed for the sustenance of the plants. By this process, a cycle is created, which means that one needs the other to survive. As simple as this process is, we should be able to learn from it that one exists for the continuing existence of the other.

All we know today was shared with us or taught to us by someone who had the understanding of the fact that time and chance is a major factor for continuance of life either knowingly or unknowingly. In whatever we do, all we strive for on a daily basis is becoming a LEADER, being recognized in line with what we do, and make impact.

In the daily pursuit of this fact, what we should know is that replicating what we have into others makes us better lead, influence and impact more. We need to always know that no matter the level we attain, we should never get distracted from the main issue which in this case is to map out new strategies and means to further get productivity in what we do. This in turn keeps us relevant and makes us a leader of repute. By this I mean the ability to always think out of the box to proffer new solutions to problems.

When a principle works for you in actualizing a task, all we need do is make the principle accessible to others so that they would also perform efficiently in related assignments.

We should never rejoice at the fact that a process, or progress stops due to our absence, this only gives unnecessary stress and distraction. A mentor of mine said “if you know how to drive a car and you do not teach anybody how to, the day you fall sick, nobody would be able to use the car to take you to the hospital”. When one has been able to replicate the values he possesses into others, delegation of duty is easier and assignments are done faster as two good head is better than one.

No matter what we do, the ability to create men and women with potentials is one of the greatest reasons why we exist, and the only way to do that is by sharing what makes us relevant into serious minded people. As long as we keep on performing our duties and improving ourselves, we would always be leaders to consult and we would never loose our relevance, also as a Yoruba adage says “A child might have as much cloth as an adult but would never have the same amount of rag as the adult”. This means the years of experience also makes you a leader of reference. This is am know for sure.
Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP (PART 2)

Today, I would continue from the point I stopped in the last write-up. I mentioned that there are a lot of attribute that helps one to daily strive towards excellence in whatever leadership position we find ourselves in and I dealt with two out of the points I discovered. I would advice that as we read, we pick out points that are useful to sharpen our leadership skills.

In the first part of this topic, I talked on:-
- Discipline and Leading one’s self
- Maturity and Sincerity.

These two points discussed (refer to the last write-up),were discussed extensively and no matter what I say on them again, they can never be over emphasized, but for the sake of time and other points to be discussed, I would advice that before going through this second part, you take time to go through the first.

CONTINUATION

- VISION (ABILITY TO SEE BEYOND)
A leader should be able to see beyond points everybody sees, he should be able to create pathways and think of solutions either individually or collectively with the people he leads. He should never be shortsighted or blind towards possibilities (possibility mentality) that can be achieved. He should on a daily basis set standards that would always allow his people see beyond the ordinary even though they must be realistic. As we know, what we see determines our actions.

-STRIVING TO BECOME HEROS
As a leader, your presence should always uplift the mood, spirit and tempo of people around you. A leader should daily improve himself to a point where his people sees his presence means possibilities and ideas that would bring solution to whatever issue they have to tackle. This alone makes you understand that as a leader, a lot of responsibility is placed on us to daily invest our time and effort in meaningful ventures that are educative and inspiring and also give ourselves the needed exposure to get things done.

- BEING APPRECIATIVE AND APOLOGETIC WHEN NEEDED
A proverb from my tribe (YORUBA) says “a good word brings out Kola nut from ones pocket”. Literarily, this means when good appreciative words are said to people, naturally they are receptive towards you.

This alone has explained the point. Simple words like “Thankyou, Welldone” go a long way in boosting one’s moral and increasing performance in ones duty. This tells us that the more a leader truthfully appreciates, the more his people lives no stone untouched in actualizing their collective task.

Also, he should learn to apologize in situations where he goes wrong. This makes his people understand that he is human and he also needs their support and understanding in solving issues. It also makes them see him as a reasonable person with qualities of a human being.

No matter what we do, we should seek first understanding for ourselves before we seek to be understood. Making sure that these few principles are imbibed is a step towards striving for EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP.
Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP (PART 1)

In some of my previous writings, I talked at one time on EXCELLENCE and also on LEADERSHIP. Today, the combination of both attribute to give one quality or to create a class in my concern. It is said that when we do not know what we want, we do not know who carries it. This is why we have always made mistakes in putting the wrong people in leadership position. The ability to know what quality to actually expect from a leader is the first step towards picking a credible one.

As I have said in my previous writing that excellence is working to achieve quality, I have also stated that it is a continuous process we have to improve on daily which is based on knowledge and exposure, the level of this helps to in determining our standards.

I have also said that leadership is an opportunity to serve, put people right and provide solutions to their problems. It is a position to effect change based on whatever it is that we generally perceive or see as wrong.

As human beings, the first thing we all have to understand is that as long as you have an influence on someone, you are a leader, by this I mean when your actions affect a person, you are a leader, but how do you perform this task to the best of your capability and strive towards excellence?, it only takes you working with certain principles and then making them defining factors in decision making when it concerns issues around you. It also involves you understanding some simple truths and then living your life to reflect the truth.

Note that as a leader, people look out more for your examples than your principles and they use it as guiding factors on issues concerning them. This is why it is your duty to digest these principles and bring them into real life application so that people will easily imitate and learn from them.

Today, I would only take two points that makes one an excellent leader, in my next update, I would discuss others.

DISCIPLINE AND LEAD YOURSELF FIRST
This is a major point in that you cannot give what you do not have. The ability to curb your excesses makes you justified when talking to others on the same issue, and also makes you not to appear as an hypocrite when it comes to issues of daily life.
Learn to put yourself right and naturally, others would follow. They would follow because they know that you are actually truthful to yourself and have set standards that has helped you greatly and would still continuously do.

BE MATURED AND SINCERE
Maturity is simply the art of breaking and forming oneself (Character) so as to suit a particular form. In the case of leadership, this quality should naturally set in; people should be able to rely on you, your actions and your words. This is basically what maturity is all about.

Sincerity is you being truthful and plain, nobody is saying a leader should be perfect, he should only be sincere, admit his mistakes and make daily effort towards making them right. He should discuss with his people, consult them and inform them on major happenings and guide them in making the right decision which would be implemented as fast as possible.

This qualities highlighted today are just some out of what a leader should work upon when striving towards excellence. In my next write-up, God willing, I would talk on others I have been able to discover and learn.

Remember, the strive for excellence is a must in whatever it is we find ourselves doing at any point in time. It is going the extra mile to ensure performance and quality in our daily endeavor.
Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President
Neff Business Concept

THE TRUE MEANING OF SUCCESS AND WHAT IT SHOULD BE DEFINED BY

SUCCESS to me can be defined as getting positive or desired results from whatever venture one engages in, be it business, education, daily life, generally in all aspect of man’s endeavor. Everybody on a daily basis put a lot of effort to get results in whatever they do, but I have noticed that the wrong evaluation of success and its meaning is the main cause of people’s extremism and misdeeds in the bid to achieve success.

People put themselves in compromising and degrading position when working towards attaining success. This at a time made me sit to find out what success answers to so as not to go through corny parts.

SUCCESS is a must have, if it is, what should be defined is the type of success one wants to achieve and what thirst is that level of success going to quench in us. Also, the true definition of the word “SUCCESS” should also be known. This would help us to know how to position ourselves to achieve this singular goal.

SUCCESS must never be measured by material things like properties, cars and aesthetics, they are only dividends or gifts gotten from being successful, in fact, these things can be gotten but it does not mean one is truly successful. SUCCESS is a process which when mastered; you can always duplicate or replicate the results wherever you find yourself at any point in time. This is the singular reason why people like Donald Trump can become bankrupt and rise again to wealth over and over again. It is because he has put himself in the refining process, but trust me, it takes time. It is like a fruit, it has to grow.

There are basic principles one has to imbibe, make his basic living principles and in a short time, would find out that success would come naturally.

HARDWORK AND SMARTWORK PUT TOGETHER
I put both of them together because being hardworking in a wrong field would not yield desired results. Take for example, a cleaner working in a place diligently, performing his duty would not attain success in it at least financial, doing this for a long number of years would only amount to a waste of time, strength and potentials. What such a person should have done is try to put things together to either have a cleaning outfit or get into other jobs more financially rewarding.
Smart work is looking out for a kind of venture/business that when engaged in diligently, would give one the success one anticipates and deserves. Conscious effort should be made to study a venture before one engages in it so as not to waste precious time and energy digging where there is no gold.

SINCERITY
This is another major point, in that it is based on being truthful first with one’s self, then people around you and also your disposition to whatever you put your effort in.

Somebody told me once that a sincere person doesn’t have to always remember things he said at one time or the other because whenever there is cause to repeat his stance or the story, he would always say the same thing.

Truth makes people believe in you, trust you and commit a lot to you. It puts you in a position of responsibility first to yourself and then to others. This is because you know whatever you do at any point in time is done to the best of your ability and everybody knows the same thing about you. This singular principle makes one respected and as we know with this comes great responsibility.

Other principles are good character, enviable skills which has being discussed earlier in previous writings. It is my suggestion that this should be taken to heart so as to part a good way towards attaining success.
Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

CRITICISM; A MAJOR CATALYST TO SUCCESS

When we were young, our parents would caution, criticize and oppose us when we act based on instinct or basic feelings that gives us instant pleasure or makes us happy as supposed to the right step which would in the long run be to our advantage. The reason for these is because we need to understand that our opinions on issues are not always right and quick correction given puts us on the right part.

No matter who you are, you are always opened to criticisms. The point is then to find out if you are approachable or you just want to hear what pleases you. Though some are CONSTRUCTIVE, others are DESTRUCTIVE. It is your point of duty to know and check out for which of the criticisms is right and use the ideas you get as pathways towards achieving success.

In politics, we have political parties opposing the ideas and methods of each other, trying to criticize and correct even in cases where the ruling party acts right. This singular action puts whoever is in the leadership position on his toe and makes him understand that his every move is monitored and discussed, after which conclusions are used either as key points to criticize or praise him.

I carefully studied situations in my environment, interaction between people and also different factors in life, with that, I was able to put down these points as the best way to turn criticism into pathways to success.

BEING FLEXIBLE TO ACCOMMODATE AND ACCEPT NEW IDEAS
As a human being, your ability to be able to listen, judge and reason with people should be worked upon daily. By this I mean one should daily strive for the ability to be able to pick out truths and best ideas without sentiments, not minding the people, place or person the idea originated from and then easily integrating it with yours to achieve a common goal.

HAVING A HEALTHY SELF ESTEEM
Criticism could be CONSTRUCTIVE or DESTRUCTIVE as earlier stated. This is dependent on the kind of response the critic intends to get. Ability to stay calm and reason out facts either with the person or showing that the person is wrong without raising unnecessary issue is key. This singular point is based on your trust in yourself and also how healthy your self esteem is.

HAVING A STAND IS KEY
He who has no STAND stands for anything. As a person, we should have guiding principles on issues surrounding us. We should know what we want and what we want to achieve. When this is in place, every criticism received would only serve as a stimulant towards success.

In life, as long as we live, there would always be criticism. My sincere advice is to use them as stepping stones toward success. When this is done, there would not be tension or problem between people. That I am sure of.

Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

GOOD CHARCTER AND ENVIABLE SKILLS, A SURE ROUTE TO SUCCESS

Over the years, I have asked questions from people older than I am about what one needs to put in place to be successful in life apart from beliefs from diverse religious teachings and general observations, but the only answer gotten from people asked is that good character coupled with undeniable skills is a sure ladder to success. They all made it a point of duty to highlight them in their level of importance which means good character first, then enviable skills.

They all pointed out the fact that CHARACTER should be the major quality to be sourced for in any equation before any other follows. This is because in the absence of this, we only have a “sophisticated crook” as one of my mentors would call it

GOOD CHARACTER
CHARACTER is defined by Oxford advanced learners Dictionary (7th Edition) as “all the qualities and features that make a person, groups of people and place different from others”. When we then say GOOD CHARACTER, we could define it as “the ACCEPTABLE QUALITY AND FEATURES that makes a person in the context of our discussion wanted by the general populace.

This feature includes HUMILITY, SINCERITY AND TRUST, DISCIPLINE AND MANNERS. When a man possesses these qualities, the other can be learnt or acquired through thorough study and long effective practice.

ENVIABLE SKILL
This is also defined from the same source above as “the ability to do well, a particular ability or type of ability”. Whichever definition we intend picking, it all interprets the same thing, which is equipping yourself so as to be able to perform excellently in your given task.

When skill is being developed to point where it becomes enviable, one becomes a wonder and model at what he does, naturally people would be interested in your service because the quality of service you render is spectacular and that touch can only be gotten from you.

Skill is first of all acquired then polished through constant practice which then makes it enviable and marketable.

It should be noted that all skills in the world would not mean much if character is questionable. By this I mean the qualities that make one accepted are missing. Nobody would be interested in doing business with someone who cannot be trusted, it is known that success is only gotten when true service is rendered and acknowledged accordingly.

I would strongly advice that wherever we find ourselves, or in whatever we do, we should try as much as possible to showcase these qualities we have taken time to discuss briefly because they would finally provide the stepping stone towards success.

Fakeye, Olaniyi Olatunde
President,
Neff Business Concept

EXCELLENCE, A DESTINATION

What is excellence: - Excellence is a state of goodness or when performance or appearance is at its best.

As human beings, excellence is what we drive for in our daily life through our inventions and innovations. Inventions and innovation to make performance better and easier and then improvement on invented or innovated apparatus or system so as to perfect or produce better results.

In our service to people through whatever means it is being rendered, conditions and systems are daily fine-tuned so as to continually strive for excellence. If performance is daily worked upon in general society to produce excellence, how do we as individuals strive to attain excellence on a personal note in our daily lives and our relationship with other people.

There are a lot of things, character and attitude one need to imbibe so as to actually get to the point of excellence, but today, I would only discuss on one of the points.

-BY BEING TOLERANT AND CONSIDERATE
These two qualities should be imbibed as long as we want to exude excellence from within.

As long as we are tolerant, we would accept people with their flaws and take time to find out their areas of strength, which we would then be able to channel towards the success of a common goal.

Also, being considerate makes us put ourselves in place of people in whatever situation to know how they feel and cope. This in turn makes one know how to treat people and manage them.

We all come from different upbringings, standards and exposure levels and these greatly affect our sense of judgment of issues, but as long as we are considerate and tolerating, we would be able to cope and relate efficiently with anybody no matter their standard of living.

The ability to be able to relate efficiently and act accordingly is a step towards attaining excellence.

In whatever we do, we should always note that striving for EXCELLENCE is key and a destination we should all strive to get to.

PLANNING IS KEY

I have talked on a lot of topics encouraging you to put your thoughts into action, actualizing your goals and driving yourself, today PLANNING is the major point of discussion.

Whatever you intend doing at any level needs planning so as to give the best result possible. A wise man once said, “Whoever fails to plan, plans to fail”. This alone rang a bell in me, making me understand the advantage of this singular step.
There are steps to be taken to ensure success and excellence in whatever we intend working upon. This includes asking questions, collating the answers, highlighting the points and then, putting parameters in place so as to successfully accomplish one’s aim.

In whatever it is that we intend doing, the ability to build a right structure that would bring about desired result is the major work because this in place, failure is inevitable.

The importance of planning can never be overemphasized because to me, I see it as the building block to great heights in our daily lives. As simple as it sounds, corporate people have schedules for the day, this is simply the process of putting their priorities in a scale of preference so as to make their day worthwhile. This is just simple planning, and if this can be done for daily activities, why should we not employ the same method to accomplish major tasks.

Life itself is in stages, God himself planned our life and existence for a purpose and if the being behind our existence takes planning as important as he does, I do not see why we should not.

Put things in place for successful actualization of your dream, vision or goal. In all, I say PLAN, PLAN and PLAN

ALLOW YOUR VISION GROW AND LET IT DRIVE YOU

There are pictures we see of things we want to implement or we want to see exist, the ability to continue seeing this picture and believing in your ability to create it is the main topic for today.

Vision can be defined as a picture of an expected future. To everyone there is a picture of an expected future you can see, but the ability to continually see the expected future is the main focus. I have found out that when you think of the same thing over a long period of time, you begin to imagine the possibility of its existence and this in turn motivates you to want to create the picture you see.

Motivation is the inner energy or zeal which encourages or pushes one to actualize a specific task. Motivation grows when encouragement comes and this comes when you see the mental picture of what you envisage to be in existence. To everyman there is a purpose and the purpose is being ignited by a vision which he needs zeal to implement.

In whatever field of life your vision might be in, you have to allow it grow to the point where you begin to make research, ask questions and document facts that would bring it into existence. After which you allow the vision serve as a motivating factor to push you into the actualization of your goal.

A man has to discover his purpose in life and this only comes to him through serious thoughts and imaginations. It is known that over 1 million thoughts passes through human mind daily but the concentration on a specific positive thought and actualization of it makes one happy.

Not being active or driven enough to bring your vision into existence is simply a failed life. So to everyone again, I say ALLOW YOUR VISION GROWAND LET IT DRIVE YOU

THERE IS NO CRIME IN HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

A wise man once said, “The only things that starts from the top and comes down are rain and the grave”. This means that whatever business we intend involving ourselves in, starting small should not be perceived as a disgrace or fault from our side, but opportunity to grow and effectively develop the venture efficiently.
There are advantages in starting small which when considered makes sense and really would serve as a motivation, making one to invest his time and energy into whatever endeavor it might be. They are listed and explained below.

1- Ease in tackling issues:- When you start a business humbly (small), the issues that would arise as you go on with your daily dealings would be an easy nut to crack, by this I mean we would not be overwhelmed and sucked into problems that we cannot handle.
It is known that when a business is efficiently managed, it grows, and the managerial skills and ability grows, also faith in you grows. It makes it easy for you to solve whatever problem might arise on the job. As we know every business has its complexities and as long as it is operated in minimal form, it is easy to manage whatever complexities one experiences in the day to day running of the business.

2- Ability to recruit productive staffs:- Starting out in business humbly affords u the opportunity to personally interview your members of staff, meet and explain your vision and mission to them and also tutor them to the point where they would slide around their duties at glacial pace. This would also allow you know everyone’s area of strength and weakness and in turn affect tasks assigned to them for efficient running of the business.

3- Low running cost:- Daily running’s of a business could be expensive, but as long as the size of the business is small, the amount to keep it active remains minimal and it only grows as the business grows. At the time when cost increases, the business would have matured enough to provide funds for its daily maintenances. In the case where business scale is huge, the maintenance cost is also huge and if one is not careful, the business might die before it sees the light of day.

With all these, I have been able to highlight some of the benefits of starting small. I hope it serves as a guide when starting a business so that the business can survive.

DEVELOP THE ZEAL TO BEGIN AND ACTUALLY BEGIN

Everybody has one thing or the other they plan to begin to improve themselves or situation of things around them but the zeal to begin is one major thing they have not developed. They say things like “I will start later” or “I will develop the business idea later”, but they never really put themselves to the task and start as earlier said.

This is one major problem everybody in this world has. It is called PROCASTINATION. The postponement of what should have been done now to a later date.

Before I started writing, I also faced the same problem. I knew I had these ideas flooding my head and I would sometimes pick up paper and scribble my ideas on it. The major problem now became not being able to put myself down to start developing my points.

I knew I had a lot of things stocked up in me that I had to share, I knew I was not satisfied with what I was seeing around me, the level of decadence, drought in knowledge among the youth, poverty living as human among people, but I did not do anything about it. I just allowed days slip by hoping that a miracle would happen and materials to address these issues would automatically develop. Guess what, it never did at least from me. I had to go through the process of writing, researching and thinking so as to get materials out.

To build your zeal, I recommend highlighting the benefits you stand to gain if you eventually get done with the project. This should motivate you and as you know any little work done reduces the work load, so the earlier the better.

Build the zeal and consistently work on it so as to bring it to completion and you will get to derive the joy and satisfaction expected.

THE ART OF GIVING

Giving as we know is one of the major obligation we have as human beings. No matter the religion we are involved in, the art of giving is one preached by our leaders, prophets, and spiritual fathers in these religions and also preached as an art which serves as a criteria for God to bless one.

I had the opportunity of visiting a motherless a motherless babies home recently, and i found out that feeding which is a basic need for man's existence is even not fully catered for, talkless of healthcare services, good clothes and other benefits. i got moved emotionally and this made me think of ways i could be of help to this parenless kids

In as much as many of us have not attained positions we intend getting to,many of us have 3 square meals, wear good clothes, and have access to good health care service. A simple act of reaching out to this people with our rescources no matter out little makes a lot of change.

Trust me, you would not believe what your little gesture would do to these people, how much smiles you would bring to the faces of these people and also to you.

The art of giving must be imbibed by everybody and i strongly advice that it should be imbibed by everyone.

THE POWER OF ZEAL AND ASPIRATION

Today i got an update from forbes as regards to the new list for the richest people in the world for year 2011. to my surprise, Dangote is now worth $13.8 billion which puts him as the 51st richest man on the planet.

This got me thinking, the whole companies and all he owns that brought him this monstrous wealth all came from his aspiration and zeal to be something better than anybody he knows. with the zeal put into his work, he has been able to put Nigeria on the map, to the point where his company is about to be listed on London stock market.

Whatever sentiments anyone has towards him or the way he made his money is inconsequential. the main point is that he aspired and he built the zeal to accomplish it.

This is a big one to learn from amd i hope everybody would pick from this.

THE POWER OF POSITIVE THINKING

I talked yesterday about thinking great to achieve huge, today, the topic above is what concerns me because it is a great catalyst to achieving in whatever field of life you find yourself.

the Bible says"As a man thinketh in his heart so is he". this makes me understand that the mind is a very strong component or strong part of making something out of life or achieving great.

it is known that when we set our heart to do something with focus and determination, ones desire is achieved.this is a simple process of working on the mind which in turn gives the zeal that produces results needed.

the simple process we engage in to bring our desires to actualization is the same process we need to go through when we set targets for ourselves. Constant thought on actualizing the set goals gives the needed confidence to forge ahead.

when you think positively about issues sorrounding you, after a while, after a while, you bring yourself unconciously to the believe and realization that what you are thinking about is possible. This process is a self motivation technique and there is no motivation like it.

Constantly say to yourself words that are positive towards the actualization of your dream and i tell you, though it might sound funny but you would get to realize that you start feeling the zeal on your inside and the result of the zeal is that you are motivated to try out things that would put you in the very position you are envisaging.

THINK GREAT AND YOU WILL ACHIEVE HUGE

Achievement at any level in life starts with a burning desire to become something better than one's present state.to bring this desire to reality,there are certain steps that must be taken, they are:
- Reference your God
- Work Hard
-Improve your Skills
-Make yourself believe that you are worthy of the achievement you are craving for.

A mentor of mine says regularly that "God gave us brains so we can give him rest". we also know that he made us in his likeness which means to a large extent, whatever you put your mind to and work towards, most often than not will be gotten.

The main problem is the fact that we allow the obstacles and problems we have faced to create limitations for us through our thoughts.
The bible says"As a man thinketh, so is he". it should be noted that not allowing the NOW serve as a determinant to your life is a major step towards a life of achievement.

Itemize the things you are aiming for or you would want to achieve,paste it in a place where you would always see it to constantly put you on your toe. What you cannot see you cannot take delivery of or hold. Seeing it dailymake it paramount and a must achieve for you.

Remember, Smart,Hard work makes it possible.

TO BE A GREAT LEADER, YOU HAVE TO BE A GOOD FOLLOWER

It is said that there is no new thing under the sun. this makes me conclude that whatever it is that one is experiencing or passing through at any time in this world, there is someone who has gone through that lane before you.
He who wants to fly one day must first learn how to stand and walk, one cannot fly into flying. Also to fly, instructors are needed and the ability to follow the instructions layed down by the instructors is what makes one a professional flyer.
This simple analysis explains the fact that to be an instructor yourself, you have to be instructed and disciplined enough to listen and follow every instruction given to you.
All you have to do is to make sure that whoever you are following is experienced and sound in whatever field of life you are opportuned to be his student.
Many great leaders we have both in the past and today had many mentors that helped them in carving out their niitch and achieving whatever they achieved in their life time.
To Peter there was Jesus, to Elisha there was Elijah, to Obama there were Clintons and the likes.
this is very important to know.