Heavy Weights
Imagine for a moment that you are watching a game of ‘throw and catch’ between a grown man and a four year old and the object they are throwing happens to be a bag of cement. For the grown man, catching the bag of cement will be possible because he can handle the weight of the bag. However, for the four year old, it will be a different story because he cannot handle the weight of the bag of cement. If the four year old in his naivety tries to catch the bag of cement, he is most likely to get injured in the process.

Relating this to thoughts, ideas and the mind, the adult player is the person with a strong developed mind while the four year old is the person with a weak undeveloped mind and the bag of cement represents ideas. Grand ideas are everywhere. The only reason why they appear to be in short supply is because weak minds cannot retain grand ideas/thoughts. When great ideas breeze into the thoughts of people with weak undeveloped minds, it flows right through because they don’t have the capacity to retain such thoughts for their lives. This is a reason why people settle for less than they should.

The Creator of the universe is liberal with great ideas and He longs to drop them in our minds. However, as long as we remain weak in our minds big ideas will always appear weak and great thoughts will be alien to us. So how can you make a weak mind become a strong one – able to retain great thoughts and ideas? The answer is in lifting heavy weights.

Weight Lifting is designed to increases the body mass, the muscle size, and ultimately, the physical strength of a person. Likewise, weight lifting done to the mind will increase the strength of the mind. When I say weight lifting, I am referring to the quality of materials you lift into your mind.

If It Must Be, It Must Be Read!

It has been said that two things determine the difference between a person today and five years from now – the people he meets and the books he reads. Don’t let anyone deceive you: edifying books have power! One person I have come to respect and admire in my life is John C. Maxwell. I have read a number of his books and one thing I have come to observe is how often he quotes other authors. He can hardly write two pages in his books without quoting something from a book he read sometime or something he heard someone say. If you are looking for someone with a blessed mind, John C. Maxwell certainly fits the bill on every count!

In his book, The 21 Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires, Brian Tracy made a comment about the power of learning continually as it relates to having an edge over your peers. This made me realize a fundamental truth about being preferred in any field of endeavor: having a mind that has been developed makes you retain big thoughts; big thoughts birth big ideas; big ideas make you a big shot, and being a big shot makes you a person to be sought after. This is evident when organizations want to hire new hands. I have observed that the hiring process is categorized into two. One category is when there is a notice put out by the hiring company for interested and qualified applicant to submit CV’s and application letter. The other category is when the organization does what is called ‘strategic employment.’ This kind of employment is done when the company has targeted a particular individual from another company to fill the position they have an opening in. Most of the time this kind of hiring is done when the organization intends to move to another level hence they seek and individual who has what it takes to take them to that level. This individual is the preferred person and he will never have to pick up his pen to write an application letter. Why? You are right! He is a big shot! I am sure you can relate with this analogy and even mention some of these big shots yourself. One common trait they all have is that they are all passionate about books.

It is my prayer that you get sick and tired of being counted as one of the many that make up the numbers, wallowing in the class of the majority. If your mind is weak and undeveloped, this is where you stand but changing that is just a decision away – change your attitude to books and you will see how easily your worth can increase simply by reading a few books.

Now on to Brian Tracy’s comment:

“There are three keys to lifelong learning. The first key is to read in your field for at least 30 to 60 minutes each day. Reading is to the mind as exercise is to the body. Reading for an hour each day will translate into about a book per week. One book per week will translate into 50 books per year. 50 books per year will translate into 500 books over the next ten years…” this part alone made me see just how powerful our minds can get having been exposed to over 500 books in a short time of 10 years! A man having this kind of exposed mind will definitely become preferred above his peers because, continuing with Brain Tracy’s comment, “…the average adult reads less than one book per year. When you begin reading one hour per day, one book per week, this alone will give you an INCREDIBLE edge in your field. You WILL become one of the smartest, most competent, and HIGHEST PAID people in your profession by simply reading one hour a days.”

The Pain of a Nation

I was at the National Youth Service Corps camp in Umudi, Imo state last year to fellowship with Corpers under the Winners’ Corpers Fellowship where I had served as President of the fellowship during my service year. When giving my address, I asked that those who had finished reading a motivational or self-development book since they graduated to put up their hands. Less than 2% of a class of about 60 graduates put up their hands. These were the people who would take our nation to the next level. It pained my heart and I say this not to spite them but to share with you how mediocrity is thriving among the youths of the nation.

It is common place in Nigeria to believe that who you know will get you to the top. Connections and networking with people does have its advantages, if it is for the right reasons and not corrupt reasons, but even if who you know gets you to the top, at the end of the day, it is what you know that will keep you at the top!

The attitude of the average Nigerian to reading is nothing short of upsetting. The number of books authored by Nigerian that have made the Best-seller list is very few. It is not that these books are not good or well written rather it’s that the numbers of people needed to make it a best seller are not interested in the book! Hence the majority non-reading population misses out on the goldmines hidden in such books.

Highest paid people are not paid as such because they execute small, mediocre ideas. On the contrary, they are paid as such because they execute excellent ideas; excellent ideas stemming from great thoughts; great thoughts stemming from developed minds; developed minds stemming from exposure to mind-building books.

In concluding this chapter, I bring to your notice these truths that will remain as long as the earth remains:

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He lost his job eight months into the crisis and has since been looking for a new job. Although he has found a couple of opportunities, the best offer he has had so far is for 55% of his former salary with no bonuses. Initially he turned down some of the offers, being sure that he was a high demand on the market. But as the situation worsened, he decided to settle for less only to hardly find anything. He was repeatedly told he was too qualified for employment. His apartment in Manhattan faces foreclosure, while he is frantically trying to refinance his Connecticut home. His time share in Mexico is up for sale on Craigslist, while he has taken back his convertible to the dealers. In 6 short months, everything came apart. Now Damien still hasn’t paid off his student loads for both undergraduate and graduate studies, and his is indebted by almost $18000 on his credit card. What a lie he had been living.

Lagos, Nigeria. Sir Joe (why he is called that I have no idea) recently lost his job as a banker in Lagos. He read accounting in a Nigerian university and had been working for just 2 years for a bank. He has already bought himself a car, rented a nice apartment in Ajah area, and wears the sweetest gears in town. At the point of losing his job he had 6000 naira in his savings while the other investments had lost value due to the crash in the stock market. Realizing now that he has to his rents to pay in 2 months time (and of course the landlord is demanding 3 years upfront), he is in a state of panic and had to get an overdraft to fix his car of recent. Now he sells cell phone recharge cards as a way of keeping things going and all he does with the proceeds is drink and smoke his time away, while hoping for a miracle to put his life back together. Sir Joe was pretty popular in his circle. He had parties at clubs, hung out every weekend, and always had one reason or the other for endless spending. He and his former girlfriend Sola are in the same predicament. She lost her job from a stockbrokerage firm and is now trying to learn fashion design at Obalende. They both had it going for a while, but it was all a lie.

Like the short stories above so many people have been stripped bare and we now see that it was all a false appearance. The cost of a wannabe life is extremely beyond what most incomes can contain. Yet the life was sustained by the propensities to earn and not what was actually available. It is like running a car on an empty tank and expecting that before it stops there will be a gas station to refuel. If you didn’t map the road and apportion gas stations at intervals, you may never know how near or how far off one maybe. Therefore assuming that one has a continuous capacity to earn is foolhardy and only increases the depth of pain when the unexpected knocks (as it always does). The credit crunch has really exposed a lot of those who were living false lives such as Bernie Madoff, Damien, Sir Joe, and Sola. From the big to the small, we see the unfolding theatrics of global and personal melt downs without obvious warning signs.

Unlike the ones whose lies have been uncovered, a few were prudent and knowingly saving and containing their carnal appetites. I know of one who lost her job but because she saved and invested rightly, she had enough stored up to start a business that is viable. Another one simply moved to a lower paying job and could still live comfortably because he was not extravagant but was shrewd with the much he earned at the time. Many are picking wisdom from the events of this past year and are buckling up for even tighter times. No one knows how long the recession is going to end, the economist only forecast based on prevailing data. But time and time again such prediction has always fallen heavily short of their mark. So it is more sensible to lead a simple and truthful life. Even when you earn enough to buy the whole city a cup of Starbucks coffee, you must understand that times and seasons change. So when you are in one season, you plan for the other because circumstances change as the seasons do. So if you are living a life, don’t worry, these times will help you ‘unlive’ it.

This principle has also been applied to many morel areas of life outside business. In recent times I’ve been wondering why in most cases 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.

It really amazes me when decisions are taken based on this rule. In business it will be great and fine to do that but in dealing with individuals and people in general, the application of this rule, in my opinion would be detrimental to the peace of any society. This is because the decisions that will be made by the leadership of the society will be based on the 20% cause, which in most cases are not pleasant causes. So the majority of the society is subject to the effect of the actions of the seemingly vital few (as portrayed by the principle).

I have been in situations where the pleasant deeds of 80% of the populace is acknowledged but still, vital decisions are made based on the misdeeds of the 20%, and in every way I’ve been trying to understand this concept, to me it sometimes comes across as wicked. At other times, I just wonder why the unpleasant 20% should determine the turn of events in a society with a pleasant 80% doing all things as expected.

I’m yet to understand the concept as it relates to human coexistence, I hope someone reading this will help me understand it. I want to know why the unpleasant deeds of a 20% should keep me out in the cold, looking for where to sleep, in a place where I have paid fully for proper accommodation. I wonder why I have to obey rules that were made as a result of the unpleasant deeds of the so-called vital few.

If the indiscretion of a number of people affects the majority, how do you think the majority will react to this; the situations discussed here are just a few out of many. I have always thought that individuals are to be judged based on their actions and not on the actions of some other individuals. I guess I’m wrong, going by the 20-80 rule. It is really annoying to accept this fact, difficult to comprehend and unimaginable, but nevertheless very true.

I write this out in the cold, in a society with a lot of accommodation, for which I paid. In my final year, I have to go home because it’s an holiday and when I don’t go home I get thrown out of a legitimate accommodation (if it is considered that way), because of instructions that have stemmed from decisions made as a result of the indiscretion of a few. As I try to understand why. I found out that in man is a great selfish tendency to protect his head and keep himself or herself at arms-length from any trouble. As long as I have covered my tracks and my bases, closing all lose ends then it’ll be fine, not considering the other people involved…

And to know that some people actually see sense in all this and can really cope with it is pathetic.

I thank God that regardless, I still maintain my joy and still grow in grace and wisdom, learning to know what to do, how to do what I have to do, and when to do it. These are the greatest lessons I have learnt from adverse situations. Please, I want to hear form y’all on this, I want to know your opinions, the lessons you’ve learnt in such situations – if you have ever been in such – and then projecting into the future to determine the steps to be taken to ensure a better tomorrow. It is our responsibility to change what we don’t like or appreciate.

I sincerely hope and pray that the fear of the Lord is increased in the lives of as many as remain in our society, and that His divine grace for patience and forbearance is increased in us, such that the peace this society needs to function is not threatened. If you would like to contribute to the discussion on this topic, please click here to visit our Political and Leadership Forum with the Topic: The Pareto Principle.

I am not writing a paper. I felt the urgent need to state this because I am already preset by default in that mode as a student and I sense that what I have written above is almost passing for an assignment paper on the diversity topic. What I am trying to communicate here is some of my meditation on how beautiful diversity becomes when we understand it for its true meaning. In fact, the understanding and ability to manage diversity becomes the most powerful tool anyone can posses in the century we are living in. There is not one thing that is the same, yea not even a Xerox copy. I thought to myself how I would feel if I couldn’t uniquely identify anything, if everyone were the same, if situations were all similar, and life went through a wicked cycle of repetitions? ‘Boring’ falls heavily short of describing how the world would be. But thankfully, we have diversity injected into every facet of life not to separate us, but make us interdependent and to  harmonize our living.

In my meditations about the matter, I wondered what music would be formed if there existed only one note. What artistic works would be done if there were but one color? What great speeches would be made if there were but one sound pitch? What great dramatic performances could be made if there was only one character? What great love can be shown if there existed one person? Therefore the world becomes melodious, artistic, colorful, dramatic, and loving when diversity is appreciated and understood. Diversity is rooted in the beauty of difference and the managing of the same. Those who live a fulfilled life are those who can recognize the beauty in the difference all around them and harness each part to make a whole new life.

This is what I am coming to learn. People are different and will never all be the same. Skin colors are different, speeches are different, languages are different, philosophies and values are different, clothing is different, writing is different, there are differences in food, abilities are different, and capacities are different. Are all these to regroup us and create iron boundaries between us? No!!! Rather, they are the several strokes of a master’s hand, as he hits the canvass creatively to reveal a beautiful big picture. No great picture is mono-colored, it is the sweet apportionment of a little here and a little there, that unravels something that all eyes love to behold. Everyone and everything around us plays an active role in forming a greater union that benefits all; this I now see to be diversity. It seeks not to make everything or everyone the same, but it seeks to confirm our difference and help us love it and live with it.

Therefore how can I sheath my evil sword of separation and take on the plowshares of cultivating acceptance. It is by a virtue called Understanding. Understanding is standing under to…(fill in the blanks). Standing under seems to say something about support. Understanding seeks always to support what is not like you so it can be good for you. Understanding also sounds like ‘another’s standing’. Which again means that understanding will always bring you to where you stand in the place of another to feel what they feel, see what they see, hear what they hear, and understand what they understand. Understanding also sounds to me like the opposite of ‘over-standing’, because while the latter tries to overrate and overstate one’s self, the former tries to downplay ones position to bring out the best in the other. Believe me, understanding is the most effective tool in managing diversity.

So if you ever find yourself in a position of fainting because of the differences you see all around, remember these exist to enhance your life and not to cut it short. Then take on the virtue of understanding, as it is the prism through which the varieties of life will shine through to you, and you will see the awesome beauty and embellishments your living will be decorated with. Trust me, I tried it and guess what? IT WORKS!!!!!!!!!