How Covid19 resets the world economy

By Bayo Ogunmupe Many things will change forever after the Covid19 pandemic. As I see it, the worst of the pandemic is yet to come and the world has reached a defining moment. Which is why, in its aftermath, we must get the reset of the world economy right. The challenges are greater than previously imagined. And we must double our capacity to reset than we previously dared to hope. This is a report of the launch of Covid19: The Great Reset, the new book by the Founder and Executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab and Thierry Malleret. It is on the Corona virus crisis and its impact on the world economy. To date only a few countries are effectively containing the virus, while in a majority of nations, Covid19 is either raging or resurfacing with local outbreaks. Already, in barely six months, the pandemic has plunged our world into chaos, in its entirety, bringing each of us individually into the most challenging times the First World War. The world will be dealing with its fallout for years, changing many things forever. It has wrought economic disruption and will continue to do so. It has created risk and volatility on many fronts, political, social, geopolitical-while exacerbating deep concerns about the environment, extending the pernicious reach of technology into our lives. No industry or business will be spared from the impact of these changes. Many companies risk disappearance and millions of industries face an uncertain future; only a few will thrive. For many individuals, life as they have always known it is unravelling at alarming speed. These acute crises favour introspection and foster transformation. The fault lines of today's world, notably- social divides, injustice,absence of cooperation, failure of national and global governance, leadership failure and the degradation of national assets-lie exposed, as never before with many feeling the time for reinvention may have dawned. A new world would emerge, the contours of which it is incumbent on us to re-imagine and re-draw. The sudden and violent nature of what coronavirus pandemic is inflicting makes the scale of this challenge overwhelming. This impression is due in no small measure to the fact that in today's interdependent and hyper-connected world, risks amplify each other. Individual risks or issues could create ricochet effects by provoking others like unemployment, fuelling social unrest, penury and triggering involuntary mass migration like Africans migrated via the Sahara and by boat over the mediterranean sea. These challenges play out as complex adaptive systems which share a fundamental attribute: being susceptible to matters cascading out of control and in so doing producing extreme consequences that often come as a surprise, for which we are ill prepared. Covid19 has already given us a foretaste of this. To a considerable extent, the sharp and dramatic rise in unemployment, the global wave of social unrest unleashed by the Black Lives Matter protests and the growing fracture between China and the united States wouldn't have taken place without the pandemic. At the very least, they were exacerbated by it. The occurrence and severity of these fault lines mean that we are now at the crossroads. The potential for change is unlimited, bound only by our imagination. Nations could be poised to become either more equitable or the opposite, geared towards more solidarity or greater individualism; favouring the interests of the few or looking for the needs of the many. Then, when the economies recover, they could be characterized by greater inclusivity but better attuned to global commonwealth or they could simply return to business as usual, which the pandemic revealed as untenable status quo. However, with enough collective will, we should take advantage of this unprecedented opportunity to reset the world economy by making it more equitable, resilient as we emerge onto the other side of this crisis. The immediate post crisis period offers the window to rebuild by not wasting the $10 trillion governments around the world are investing to alleviate the effects of the pandemic. A recent policy paper to which the World Economic Forum contributed estimates that building a positive economy could be more than $10 trillion by 2030. In the short term, deploying about $250 billion of stimulus funding could generate about 37 million positive jobs in a cost effective manner. Indeed, resetting the environment should be seen as an investment that will generate employment opportunities. We must get the reset of the world economy right by starting now. The challenges before the world hold dire consequences, perhaps more than imagined. But our capacity to reset, is also greater than we can dare to hope. Let the Federal Government cooperate with the World Economic Forum for the reform of the Nigerian economy.

This book will change your life

By Bayo Ogunmupe This book will also allow you to live by different and personal rules. If you are open, the universe will conspire to bring you the right book at the right time you need it. A friend will suggest a book to you, or it might be sitting on a table at a book fair. Perhaps its cover catches your eye as you walk through your favourite bookshop. Indeed, a book will come across your path when you are ready to meet it; particularly when the wisdom within its pages speaks to a particular problem you are struggling to solve. I am fortunate when a book finds me at just the right time to spell out ways to underscore my values. Good luck happens when you are open to learning new ideas and ready to internalize and implement its wisdom into your life. The Four Agreements: A Practical guide to Personal Freedom, written by don Miquel Ruiz, is the book that found me just when I needed it. I have internalized its wisdom over the years. It is one of the books in my library I revisit at least once a year to remind me the essentials of living my best life- these four agreements. I think of them often when I need a reminder. Then I wake up early someday to go through it before going to the office. The results from this mindful practice are a more manageable life with self control. The agreements bring me my personal power and get me out of the reaction mode. living in reaction isn't healthy. Nor does it come from a position of strength. Awareness and mindfulness are the keys to re-conditioning our brains to a place of power. A new mindset changes your perspective. The Four Agreements help you achieve brings a state of bliss which brings you into your power, giving you balance. The First Agreement is: be impeccable with your word. Words have power to lift and destroy. Words are part of your furniture that hang in the air, permeating every part of the room, so utter them with mindfulness. When you speak impeccable language, you speak with integrity; say only what you mean; you don't speak ill of others and you don't speak negatively of yourself. You silence your inner critic and you rid your mind of irrational chatter. By imbibing this agreement, you will experience less negativity in your life. experience less conflict with the people around you. The second agreement, don't take anything personally; by its practice your life will change. When someone insults you, belittles your talent, this isn't about you. It is about them. You do not have to accept their judgment. By practising this agreement, you accept that other people have their own unique identity and their own reality that you don't have anything to do with. By this acceptance, you recognize that the other person's opinions of you do not necessarily describe you. But the caveat is that this applies to the praises and good stuff they say about you also. Taking things personally means that you agree with what others are accusing you of; and you don't have to. You should choose not to allow it to affect you. Being the only one in control of your thoughts, you should not give it any space in your brain. Nothing others think or say about you is really about you. Other people see the world with different eyes. Everyone has a different truth. Your truth is different from that of others. The third agreement is that you don't make assumptions. It is a mistake for you to assume you can read everyone's mind accurately. Nine times out of ten you will be wrong; so don't attempt it. Knowing you cannot read minds frees you from unwarranted assumptions. Assumptions cause misunderstanding among people. Instead of assuming, ask. Be ready for the truth when you ask it. Practice healthy communications; it is the key to healthy relationships. The fourth and final agreement is, always do your best. Stop worrying about failure; just do your best. Let go of your past mistakes. Learn to say no to unwarranted requests from others.

Success Secrets of Self Made Millionaires (2)

By Bayo Ogunmupe Developing a clear sense of direction through the crystallization of your dreams into clear, specific written goals is the second secret of success. The greatest discovery in human history is that: You become what you think about most of the time. The factors that, more than anything else, determine what happens to you in life are: what you think about and how you think about it most of the time. Great people think about their goals most of the time, resulting in their continually moving toward them. What you think about most grows and increases in your life. Here is a seven step formula for setting and achieving goals. You can use this formula to become a millionaire. First, decide exactly what you want in each area of your life, especially your financial life as a millionaire to be. Second, write down your goals clearly and specifically. An amazing miracle happens between your head and your hand which makes the goal indelible in your subconscious when you put your goals in writing. Third, set deadlines for each goal. Give yourself a target to aim at. Fourth, make a list of whatever you can think of doing to achieve each goal. Always apply creative problem solving in sourcing for ideas to achieve your goals. Fifth, organize your list into a plan of action. Determine the order of priority in the execution of your plan. Start executing from the most important. Sixth, take immediate action on your plan; never procrastinate. Seventh, do something everyday that moves you a step closer to your goal. This commitment to daily action will make you a big success in anything you wish to accomplish. For your action exercise: Always think on paper, that is to say, always write down your dreams on paper in order to impress them into your subconscious. Sit down and create your goals and your plans to achieve them. This exercise alone will make you a self made millionaire. Seeing yourself as self employed is the third secret of success. You are the captain of your soul and the master of your fate. Take hundred percent responsibility for what you are now and everything you will ever be. Never make excuses or blame anyone for your shortcomings and refuse to criticize others for anything. If there is anything in your life you don't like, change it. You are in charge of your life. The biggest mistake you can ever make is to think is that you working for anyone other than yourself. See yourself as self employed if even you are working for a company or government. When you see yourself as self employed, you develop an entrepreneur mentality, the mentality of a responsible self starting individuals. This is the mindset of the self made millionaire. He takes high levels of initiative and he is result oriented. The fourth secret of success is: Do what you love. Doing what you love is one of the secrets of success, because you no longer see your work as a burden, you see it as a labour of love. Doing what you love means you are engaged in a job that fascinates you, that holds your attention, that is a natural expression of your talents and abilities. Self made millionaires, if they won a million dollar cash, would continue doing what they are doing. They would only do it differently or at a higher level. They love their work so much that they wouldn't even think of leaving it or retiring. The great leader does what he loves as work and dedicates himself to it. Take Wole Soyinka as an example. He devoted his life to Literature, writing novels, poetry, drama, acting plays, translating folklore to English; he never applied to be vice chancellor of a university. When road safety became a distraction he resigned as chairman. Which was why he won the Nobel Prize in his field in 1986. James Peebles, Professor Emeritus at Princeton University, USA, won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics after 55 years of teaching and research, whither such excellence and perseverance in Africa? That is my opening remark on the fifth secret of success: a commitment to excellence. The quality of your life will be determined by the depth of your commitment to excellence, no matter your chosen field or career. It is our lack of commitment to excellence that is responsible for our failure to discover a World Health Organization accepted cure for a human ailment since the beginning of time. Nor are we able to manufacture our own cars like Japan and India. Which is why you should resolve today to be the very best at what you do. Set a goal to join the top 10 percent of your field. Virtually, all great people are recognized as being extremely competent in their chosen professions. Here is a good code for success: Your life only gets better when you get better. And there is no limit to how much better you can become. There is no limit to how much better you can make your life. You cannot become good at everything. You must identify the one skill that can help you the most and then throw your whole heart into developing that skill. Working long and hard is my sixth secret of success. Self made millionaires practice the '40 Plus' formula. This formula says you work 40 hours per week for survival; over 40 hours for success. If you only work 40 hours a week, all you will ever do is survive. You will never get ahead. You will ever remain a mediocre. The average working week today is 35 hours. Self made millionaires work an average of 59 hours per week; many work up to 80 hours a week at the start of their careers.

Success Secrets of Self Made Millionaires (3)

By Bayo Ogunmupe Life long learning as the prescription for greatness is the caption of the rules encapsulated by the seventh secret of success. It means continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in your career. You must be both an authority and encyclopedia in your chosen field. Since an average person utilizes less than 10 percent of his natural ingenuity, you have an unlimited capacity in brains and intelligence to learn to attain excellence. There is no goal that you cannot achieve by applying the power of your mind to your situation. Your mind is like a muscle; it develops only with use. Just as you have to strain your physical muscle to build them, you have to work your brain muscles to build your mind as well. The good news is that the more you dedicate yourself to lifelong learning, the easier it is for you to learn even more. There are three keys to lifelong learning: First, to read in your field for 60 minutes each day. Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Reading for an hour each day translates to one book per week. One book per week will translate into 50 books per year. Fifty books per year will translate into 500 books over the next 10 years. Since 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 each day. The second key to lifelong learning is to listen to audio programmes in your car as you drive from to place. The average person sits behind the wheel in his car 500 t0 1,000 hours per year. this is the equivalent of 12 to 24 forty hour weeks or as much as three to six months of working time that you spend in your car. This is the equivalent of two full time semesters at a university. Turning your car into a university on wheels turns you to leader in your field of endeavor. This is why audio learning has been dubbed the greatest breakthrough in education since the invention of the printing press. The third key to lifelong learning is to attend every course and seminar you can possibly find, making you great in your field. This combination of books, audio learning and seminars will save you hundreds of hours and thousands of naira and many years of hard work in achieving the financial success you desire. In deciding to become a lifelong learner, you will be amazed the effect this will bring to your career. Thus, lifelong learning is a major factor in your becoming a Nobel prize winner in your field or self made millionaire in business. An American millionaire, Clement Stone once said: Apart from earning to pay your upkeep, if you cannot save money, the seeds of greatness are not in you. That explains paying yourself first to mean saving money for the morrow; which is the eighth secret of success. In fact, if you save just N100 per month throughout your working life and you invest that money in a cooperative fund that grows at 10 percent per annum; you will be worth more than one million naira by the time you retire. This means an average worker if he starts early enough, can become a millionaire over the course of his working lifetime.

Success Secrets of Self Made Millionaires

By Bayo Ogunmupe Here is the road to achieving financial independence faster and easier than you ever dreamt. I gleaned it from a 77 page booklet by the American millionaire motivational consultant and trainer, Brian Tracy. The pamphlet is a testimonial of his life experience as a self made millionaire. It is the culmination of 15 years of research, teaching and personal experience on the subject of self made millionaires. The ideas and strategies presented are tested and proven. They are written in an easy to use format so that you can learn and apply them immediately. What I learned from the book was that in order to achieve success in life, you must become a special kind of person. In order to rise above the majority, you must develop qualities, skills and disciplines that the average person lacks. The most important factor in achieving greatness isn't the focus on money. it is the kind of person you have to become to earn that money and then hold on to it. These principles are so powerful that you can apply them to accomplish any goal you really want. Many of these methods and techniques are very familiar because they have been discovered hundreds of years ago but the snag is in the application. Many of you might have read about the techniques, it is only that you lacked the discipline and perseverance to apply them. But as you are reading this column, I know you are on your way to achieving your great goals in life, in order to realize your full human potential. These success principles, if painstakingly applied, will move you ahead more rapidly towards the wonderful life of abundance that awaits you in the future. Secret number one is that there is an iron law of human destiny: the Law of Cause and Effect. This powerful law says that there is a specific effect for every cause. For every action, there is a reaction. This law says success is not an accident. Financial or political success is the result of doing certain, specific things over and over again until you achieve the success you desire. The universe is neutral, the marketplace or our society does not care who you are or what you stand for. The Law of Cause and Effect says if you imitate how and what other successful people do, you will get the same results as them. One of the reasons for selling yourself short, for underachievement and your lack of success, is the conviction that successful people are genetically better than you. This is simply not the case. The fact is that millionaires have found out what other successful people do and they have followed them until they get the same results. When you think the same thoughts and do the same things millionaires do, you get the same results and benefits like them. Also, you should practice "back from the future thinking." This is a powerful technique practised continually by millionaires. Here is how it works. Project yourself forward five years. Imagine the five years have passed and that your life is now perfect as imagined in every respect. Create a long term vision for yourself. The clear your vision of health, happiness and prosperity, the faster you move towards achieving it and the faster it moves towards you. When you create a clear mental picture of where you are going in life, you become more positive, more motivated and more determined to make it a reality. This triggers your innate creativity which comes up with idea after idea to help make your vision come true. Human beings tend to move toward the direction of their dominant dreams, images and visions. Your dreams raise your self respect, and happiness. There is something exciting about dreams and visions that raises your self esteem, stimulating you to do great things. Think of one great goal you would dare to dream if you knew you could not fail. Write that goal down and begin imagining that you have achieved this goal already. Dreaming big dreams is the starting point of great achievement.

The Work Habits of Great People

By Bayo Ogunmupe Psychology researchers have long discovered that only habits actually get results in the march for successful achievement. So it is worthwhile knowing the daily habits of successful people. We know that people with stable routines are more efficient, happier, healthier and less prone to stress. I have always wondered what great people do daily that enable them attain greatness. I want to know the tiny details that help them achieve their goals and life purpose. Do they read or work a certain number of hours daily? How much impact does their leisure have on their work? What do they think about in solitude and why do some devote a lot of time to their work, while others spend very little but still achieve greatness? Mason Curry's book, Daily Rituals: How Great Minds Make Time, Find Inspiration And Get To Work has answered much of my questions. It shows the path to greatness is paved with habits, routines and rituals. The one true lesson of the book is that there's no one way to get things done. However, the following patterns emerge. Great minds stick to a predictable and stable routine. Extraordinary people start their day on purpose. Accordingly, the great Greek philosopher, Aristotle said, "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Routine provides a sense of structure and stability. You wake up with a sense of ownership, order, and an organized life. Routines are the secret weapon great minds have been using to attain greatness for centuries. Many thinkers do what they do with iron regularity. It is how they function in their best without thinking about daily structures for high performance. habits and routines free our brains from taking small decisions, so we can easily do our best work. Poet William Auden recommended a routine approach to get more work done: "Decide what you want or ought to do with the day, then always do it at exactly the same moment everyday, and passion will give you no trouble." Many highly productive philosophers and creative minds depend on predictable daily routines safe havens for work. The great German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, one of the greatest and most influential thinkers of the modern age, was an early riser who spent much of his time alone at the peak of his career; he was mostly alone by choice. In his book, Friedrich Nietzsche: A Biography, Curtis Cate wrote: "With a Spartan rigour which never ceased to amaze his landlord-grocer, Nietzsche would get up every morning when the faintly dawning sky was still grey, and....work uninterruptedly until eleven in the morning." "He then went for a brisk, two-hour walk through the nearby forest or along the edge of Lake Silvaplana to the north-east or of Lake Sils to the south-west, stopping every now and then to jot down his latest thoughts in the notebook he always carried with him." And Nietzsche wrote a lot. He used the same routine to focus on writing, reading and understanding ideas. His schedule was disciplined, consistent but with a lot of wandering and thinking. He once said: "All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking." And one other German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, a most influential philosopher in the history of Western philosophy was also a man of stable routine. His schedule was tight, according to Manfred Kuehn, the author of Kant: A Biography. He got up at 5:A.M; would drink two cups of tea, smoke a pipe of tobacco and devote an hour to meditation. Kant's lectures began at 7:00; they would last until 11:00. Thereafter, he would go out to lunch and spending the rest of the afternoon discussing with his friend Green. Life without a daily routine is much more draining mentally, physically and emotionally than you can ever imagine. Charles Dickens famously took three hour walks every afternoon, and what he observed informed his writing. Ludwig van Beethoven also took long walks after lunch, carrying a pencil and paper with him in case inspiration struck. The American Nobel prize winning novelist, Ernest Hemingway tracked his daily word output on a chart "so as not to kid myself" he said. The renowned scientist, Marie Curie was literally described as a mad scientist or a maniacal worker because of how insanely interested she was by what she was doing. Not only do routines and rituals allow you to do more, but, as with all daily structures, they simply give your life more rhythm, order and even pleasure. Nikola Tesla, the master of breakthroughs in the transmission and application of electric power maintained a rigid schedule. he used to walk about ten miles a day, thinking through ideas for new inventions. As an apprentice in Thomas Edison's office, Tesla regularly worked from 10:30 in the morning until 5:00 the following morning. History is aware that great minds knew the relevance of stepping away from work every now and then to think, make better connections and ponder over existing problems. The Spanish painter and sculptor in France, Pablo Picasso once said:"Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success."

Covid19: Chance To Reset World Economy

By Bayo Ogunmupe We can emerge from the Covid19 crisis a better world, if we act quickly and jointly, writes the Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Professor Klaus Schwab. It's time for capitalism's great reset. The changes we have already seen in response to the Coronavirus pandemic prove that a reset of our economic and social foundations is possible. This is our best chance to instigate stakeholder capitalism and here is how it can be achieved. Covid19 lockdowns may be gradually easing, but anxiety about the world's social and economic prospects is only intensifying. There is good reason to worry: a sharp economic downturn has already begun and we could be facing the worst depression since 1930. But while this outcome is likely, it is not unavoidable. To achieve a better outcome, the world must act jointly and swiftly to revamp all aspects of our societies and economies; from education to social contracts and working conditions. Every country from the United States to China, must participate and every industry, from oil and gas to the technologies, must be transformed. In short, there must be a great reset of capitalism. There are many reasons to pursue a Great Reset, but the most urgent is Covid19. Having already led to thousands of deaths, the pandemic represents one of the worst public health crises in recent history. And with casualties still mounting all over the world, it is far from over. This will have serious long term consequences for economic growth, public debt, debt repayment,employment and human wellbeing. According to the London Financial Times, global government debt has already reached its highest level in peacetime. Moreover, unemployment is skyrocketing in many countries, particularly in Nigeria. In the United states for example, one in four workers have filed for unemployment since March, with new weekly claims far above historic highs. The International Monetary Fund expects the World Economy to shrink by 3 percent this year- a downgrade of 6.3 percentage points in just four months. All this will exacerbate the climate and social crises that were already underway. Some countries have already used Covid19 crisis as an excuse to weaken environmental protections and enforcement. And frustrations over social ills like rising inequality- U.S billionaires' combined wealth has increased during the crisis- are intensifying. Left unaddressed, these crises, together with Coronavirus disease, will deepen and leave the world even less sustainable, less equal, and more fragile. Incremental measures and ad hoc fixes will not suffice to prevent stagnation. In entirety, we must build new foundations for our economic and social systems. The level of cooperation and ambition this implies is unprecedented. But this isn't some impossible dream. In fact, one silver lining of the pandemic is that it has shown how quickly we can make radical changes to our lifestyles. However, upon the decay and widespread suffering in Nigeria came the report that 39.4 million people may lose jobs. According to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo while delivering the report of his Committee on Economic Sustainability Plan, millions of Nigerians might fall into extreme poverty before Covid19 ends, as our Gross Domestic Product slides from minus 4.40 percent to minus 8.91 percent. Accordingly, the panel said the severity of the situation will depend on the strength of Nigeria's response to the economic downturn. The committee recommended a strategy hinged on President Mohammed Buhari's mantra, produce what we eat and consume what we produce. Further, the panel recommended the creation of new jobs, focusing on local production of our goods and services and the use of local materials. Sadly, Covid19 pandemic forced businesses and individuals to abandon practices long claimed to be essential, from frequent air travel to working in an office. Likewise, people have shown a willingness to make sacrifices for the sake of health care. In Europe, companies have stepped up to help their workers, customers and local communities, in a shift towards a kind of stakeholder capitalism to which they had previously paid lip service. Clearly, the will to build a better society does exist. We must use it to secure the Great Reset: a reset of capitalism for a more sustainable and resilient world. Each country must recognize there are essential services that must be provided in terms of healthcare, education, good governance and social safety that cannot be compromised through immunity for marauding herdsmen. The great reset agenda would have three main components. The first will steer the market towards fairer outcomes. To this end government should improve the coordination of tax, regulatory and fiscal policy. It would upgrade trade arrangements and create the conditions for a stakeholder economy. The second component of the reset agenda would ensure that investments advance shared goals, such as equality and sustainability. Thus, large scale spending programmes governments are implementing represent major opportunities for progress. The final priority of a great reset agenda is to harness the innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution to support the public good especially by addressing social challenges. Rather than using funds, loans and investments from various entities and pension funds, to fill cracks in the old system, we should use them to create new ones that are more resilient, equitable and sustainable in the long run.

Alphabets of leadership for the youth

By Bayo Ogunmupe The target audience of the author of Alphabets of Leadership For Young Minds is the youth of modern day Nigeria. The author, Odunayo Sanya is a mother of three, very passionate about youth empowerment, leadership, mentorship and nation building. She belongs to the American John Maxwell school of leadership that believes leadership is a skill that can be acquired by training. Alphabets of Leadership is in paperback and has 278 pages, 26 chapters and with 18 illustrations. Published in Dallas, Texas, USA in 2019 by Pyxidia House Publishers but printed in Nigeria, the book is a manual on leadership. Why are some people and organizations more innovative, more influential and more profitable than others? Why do some command greater loyalty than others? And why is it that only few people truly excel and realize their dreams? All these questions are answered in the book by the author. The future of nations and the world depend on the youth who are the next generation of leaders. In this work of immense erudition, Odunayo Sanya sets the stage to nurture, and equip young men and women with timeless leadership principles, for in the uncertain world of today, leadership requires skill building around traits that are uniquely human. With sagacious insight into the dynamics of leadership, Odunayo positions leadership as a skill to be learned and nurtured in young minds to enable them reach their full potential. In her learnable and profound style, she presents these leadership traits under relatable letters of the alphabet, punctuating them with inspired stories and quotations that provide templates that inspire, and motivate the development of future leaders. Alphabets of Leadership is an invaluable book for young men and women committed to building leadership skills for themselves and those they care about. In the lifetime of every man, there comes a time when he is presented with an opportunity to do something great. Often, it never shows up as an opportunity. It comes clothed as challenges. It will be a tragedy if that moment finds you unprepared for the work which would be a turning point in your life. You must understand that the process for promoting anyone into a new opportunity does not begin the day the opportunity presents itself. Indeed, the world of opportunity begins to evaluate you long before the opportunity is conceived. Thus, believe it or not, decisions about your opportunities in the future are based on how prepared you are today. It is for you to be prepared for your opportunity that Odunayo wrote this book. We need the book to fill two gaping holes in our national psyche. Nigeria has never had a visionary leader since independence. Secondly, we're lacking in creativity, for compared with Israel with nine million people and more than 10 Nobel laureates, Nigeria with 200 million people has only one Nobel prize winner. On the accomplishment of leadership in an uncertain world, the author quotes the former United States Defence Secretary Colin Powell thus: "Leadership is the art of accomplishing more than the science of management says is possible." Here, Colin Powell is simply saying you cannot accomplish great feats by being logical, and thus, afraid of the facts that scientific data present to you about your idea, so you have to tackle it head-on. Logic will convince you with facts that you cannot get it done. "Getting it done" is an important trait of great people. Those who get things done shape the world while others watch. And along with your capacity to dream great dreams is your capability for great accomplishments. You carry in you multiple strengths, unrivalled creativity, and willpower. On courage, Alphabets of Leadership has much to say. According to Wikipedia, courage is "the choice and willingness to confront uncertainty, fear and pain." moral courage is the ability to act rightly regardless of the situation. Thus, every aspiring leader must befriend courage, in order for him to make phenomenal progress as a leader. You must have the strength to be the lone voice in the desert. According to the great American novelist, Mark Twin, "Courage is the mastery of fear, not the absence of fear." Former South African president, Nelson Mandela was one of greatest men of courage for spending 27 years in prison without a broken spirit, without the spirit of revenge. he described courage perfectly when he said, "I learnt that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear." The author's ideas about Integrity is what I wish to close this review upon. She avers that is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles which you cannot compromise. It also means standards of doing business of practising your profession. You are determined not to lower those standards. Integrity evolved from the Latin word: Integer, which means whole or complete. Linked to honesty, wholeness means consistency of character. This means you must walk your talk. It is essential that what you say and do is aligned. My other synonym for integrity is sincerity. I see Nigerians pray to impress in public like pharisees. They don't follow what they are saying with what they are doing. The spate of crimes of violence compared our religiosity will convince a prospective leader that Nigerian Christians and Muslims are't abiding by the tenets of their faith. Odunayo Sanya is a motivational speaker, certified coach and trainer at John Maxwell Leadership Training School. After 23 years spent in a career spanning education, financial services and telecommunications, Mrs Sanya became passionate about youth empowerment, leadership and nation building. She was groomed for leadership at the Lagos Business School, the Institute of Management Development, Switzerland, the Harvard Business School and Cornell University, USA. She lives in Lagos, Nigeria with her husband Oladele and her three daughters.

Habits of Self Made Millionaires (3)

by Bayo Ogunmupe You will be the same person in five years except for the people you meet and the books you read. This is why you must make meeting and becoming friends with great people your priority. Researchers avow that fully 85 percent of your success and happiness in life is determined by the quality of friends and acquaintances you make in your day to day activities. The more people you know and who know you in a positive way, the more successful you will become and the faster too. At every turning point in your life, someone is standing there to help or hinder you. Which is why successful people make a habit of building and maintaining a network of high quality relationships throughout their lives. As a result, they accomplish vastly more than the person who goes home to watch television every night. Thus, it is not in Nigeria alone that success depends on who you know. It is a universal law of life that only those who know you that will promote you or nominate you to high public office. And such a reference group is defined by people with whom you habitually identify and pass the time. Humans are like chameleons in that they take on the attitudes, behaviors, values and beliefs of people with whom they associate with most of the time. So, make yourself a millionaire by networking with great people. And take care of yourself, you can only become great if you have good health. A former President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt said: "The key to happiness is a sound mind in a sound body." In order to enjoy their money, self made millionaires aim to be centenarians. You too should make living a long life your habit. There are three keys to living a long, healthy and happy life. The first is proper weight, Set a goal to get your weight under control and remain lean and fit for the rest of your life. The mantra for this is: Eat less and exercise more. The second key is proper diet, and the key to diet is to eat fewer but better foods. Eat proteins, fruits and vegetables. Eliminate desserts, soft drinks, candy and sugary foods. Stop consuming excess salt, flour products and eat in smaller portions five times a day instead of three large meals. If you can control your eating, you will be able to control other habits in other parts of your life. The third key to a long and healthy life is proper exercise. This requires vigorous activity, long walks, joining a wellness or sporting club and keeping some fitness equipment in your house. One of the qualities of self made millionaires is that they think carefully before making quick and decisive decisions. They discipline themselves to take action, following up their decisions. Successful people are more decisive and try far more things than their less successful peers. According to the law of probabilities, if you try far more different ways to be successful the odds are you will eventually find the right way at the right time. Unsuccessful people are indecisive, procrastinate, they do not have the character to make firm decisions. As a result they drift through life and never achieve financial independence. Moreover, great people never accept failure to be an option. A journalist once asked the founder of International Business Machine (IBM), Thomas J. Watson, how he could be more successful and faster. Watson replied: "If you want to be successful faster, you must double your rate of failure. Success lies on the far side of failure." Though self made millionaires are no gamblers, they dare to go forward; they take calculated risks for their goals to achieve greater rewards. When you act boldly unseen forces come to your aid. Every act of courage increases your courage. Perhaps the best mantra from the movie Apollo 13 came from Eugene Krantz, head of mission control at NASA. When the people around him were agonising over losing the spacecraft and astronauts, he pulled them together with decisive action saying loudly: "Failure is not an option." And the quick actions taken saved the day. Finally, to become a self made millionaire, you must pass the persistence test. According to the 30th President of the United States, Calvin Coolidge, "Nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent." Persistence is the lodestar of human character. Persistence is to the leader as carbon is to steel. It is absolutely indispensable to the attainment of greatness in any field. Always programme your subconscious for persistence by resolving in advance that you will never give up, whatever what happens. The courage to persist in the face of all terror is the one quality that, more than anything will guarantee your success. Remember, all life is a test. For you to achieve great success you must pass the persistence test. Recurring crisis is inevitable in life, so you must brace yourself up for war. Imagine every difficulty sent to you was to teach you a valuable lesson that you must learn to be even more successful in the future. And from this moment onward, always seek the valuable lesson in every setback or difficulty. This will help you in your quest not only to become a millionaire, but in your march to becoming a visionary leader. In conclusion, success is predictable. Success is not a matter of luck or accident. You must plan to successful before you can become great. If you are persistent in your pursuit of greatness, nothing in the world can stop you.

Habits of Self Made Millionaires (2)

By Bayo Ogunmupe Thought is the source of greatness, wealth and all material gain. All great discoveries, inventions, creativity and all achievement starts from human thought and imagination. And it is when you honestly act and follow your thoughts that you achieve whatever goal you set yourself. Which is why self honesty, or integrity is the eleventh habit of self made millionaires. And the most valued and respected quality you can develop is a reputation for absolute integrity. Winners are always honest in everything they do and in every transaction they perform. Thus, you must never compromise your integrity, your word must be your bond and your is everything when it comes to business or politics. Integrity is essential to greatness because business or political promotion is based on trust. Your success in life will be determined solely by the number of people who trust you and who are willing to support and work for you, give you credit, lend you money, buy your services and help you during difficult times. Your character is your most worthwhile asset and it is based on the amount of integrity that you practice. The first key to integrity is to be true to yourself in all things. Being true to yourself means doing whatever you're doing excellently. You must pursue excellence in whatever you are doing. Integrity is demonstrated internally by latent honesty; externally by quality work. The second key to integrity is being true to other people in your life. Live in truth with everyone. Don't say or do anything you do not believe to be true, right and honest. Refuse to compromise your integrity for anything. Always live up to the highest standard that you know. Single mindedness in the pursuit of priorities is the twelfth secret of self made millionaires. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways, therefore being single minded is the hallmark of successful people. When you create the habit of setting priorities and concentrating on them single-mindedly, you will be able to accomplish whatever you want in life. This strategy has been the reason for high income, great wealth and financial independence for many people. Your ability to determine your priority and working on that priority until it is achieved is the test and measure of your willpower, self-discipline and personal character. This is an important habit you should develop if you want to be a great success. This one habit alone will make you a self made millionaire. Developing a reputation for speed and dependability is the thirteenth habit of self made millionaires. Since time is the currency of the 21st century, everyone today is in tremendous hurry. Customers want their services or products delivered immediately. Impatience and instant gratification now rule the world. And for you to be competitive you have to deliver your products and services with the speed of light. Loyal customers will change to the fastest supplier in a twinkle an eye. So you have to develop a sense of urgency and a bias for action to excel. That is how to attract more customers. When you exhibit the ability to get things done quickly and accurately you move to the front in your profession. And a reputation for speed and action combined with climbing from one peak of achievement to another marks the fourteenth secret of success of self made millionaires. Winning isn't an one-off event. It must be continuous. Identify the trends and cycles in your business and adapt to these changes. And practice self discipline in all things. Self discipline is the ability to make yourself do whatever you should do, when you should do it, whether you like it or not. It is the ability to set a long term goal of becoming financially independent and then disciplining yourself to achieve your long term goal. Self discipline requires self mastery, self control, being responsible, and self direction. Everything in life is a test, the test is whether you can do the important things; keep your mind on what you want and where you are going rather than thinking and talking about what you don't want or problems you have had in the past. When you pass the test, you move to the next onward to becoming a millionaire. The greatest genius of all time, Albert Einstein said, "Imagination is more important than facts." Which is why you should explore your creativity all the time. Since you utilize less than 20 percent of your brainpower and creativity daily; you should tap your imagination, creativity and intuition more often. Develop new ideas on your career, your creativity is stimulated by your desired goals, pressing problems and focused questions. The more you focus your mind on achieving your goals, the smarter you become and the stronger the muscles of your mind become. The more you use your brain creatively, the stronger and more resilient it becomes. You develop the muscles of your brain by straining them.

Habits of Self Made Millionaires

By Bayo Ogunmupe Continuing from success secret eight of self made millionaires, developing the lifelong habit of saving and investing your savings isn't easy. It requires determination and willpower. You have to set it down as a goal to be followed meticulously. You must practice frugality in all things until it becomes your lifestyle. Defer every buying decision for at least a week if not a month. A major reason for retiring poor is impulse buying. When you buy things with little thought, you become victims of Parkinson's Law, which says "expenses rise to meet income." This means no matter how much you earn, you tend to spend so much more that you never get ahead and never get out of debt. If you cannot save 10 percent of your monthly income, start today by saving one percent in Jaiz Bank of Nigeria where they lend without interest and collateral. Live on the other 99 percent of your income. As you become comfortable living on 99 percent, raise your savings to 2 percent then 3 percent and so on. Within two years, you will be on your way to becoming a self made millionaire. Then, seize every opportunity to add more savings. Begin to study money and how to make it grow. Read books and journals by experts on the subject. never stop saving, learning and growing until you become financially independent. Becoming an expert on your subject by learning every detail of your business is the ninth habit of self made millionaires. When you become an expert in what you do,nothing can stop you from getting you paid more and promoted faster. The market pays excellent rewards for excellent performance. It pays average rewards for average performance. The Law of Integrative Complexity says the individual who can integrate and use the greatest amount of information in any field soon rises to the top of that field. Set a goal of becoming the very best in your career or profession. One small insight or idea can be the turning point in your career. Never stop looking for new insights in your profession. Identify new trends, acquire core competencies or key skills that you need to lead in your field in the future. You can get everything you want in life if you just help enough other people get what they want. Which is why dedicating yourself to serve others is the tenth habit of self made millionaires. Your reward in life is always in direct proportion to your service to other people. All self made millionaires have an obsession with customer service. They think about their customers all the time. Your success in life is always in direct proportion to the length of your extra mile; what you do after doing what you are expected to do. Always look for opportunities to do more than you are paid for. The company owners, your boss and coworkers as well as people who buy your products and services are your customers. One small improvement in the way you serve your customers can be a major reason for your financial success . Never stop looking for any little ways to serve your customers better. Today, customers value speed and accuracy than ever before. Whenever a customer asks for anything, answer him immediately. That's what he wants to hear.