Personal development

Growing in tough times | Nelson Mandela

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For this entire week, we’ll be looking at the lives of men and women who went through tough times but grew with it.

As employees, I believe that there are life lessons we can learn from them to thrive and not just survive in this covid-19 era.

Today’s personality is Nelson Mandela.

If you want to read about him you check here:

However, if you want a visual experience, then let’s do it here.

Source: Evan Carmichael YouTube channel

Source: Biography YouTube channel

Source: Famous People Biography YouTube channel

And for those who want a more comprehensive version…

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0_eYnCrh6gU

Source: Palm YouTube channel

As an employee, what lessons can you get from this? How can you grow in this covid-19 era?

Now, I know that lots of persons are dying. I’m aware. But my focus is on you that’s alive.

How do you intend to grow?

This is 04:21am, WAT and we’re experiencing our first night of covid-19 curfew. And I’m feeling real bad but then I know I can be better.

Do you?

Personal development

Two success hindrances.

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The stories shared yesterday shows that in life, there are two basic hindrances to achieving success.

  • From others
  • From ourselves.

From ourselves includes fear of making mistakes, the belief that we’re not enough… And I believe that this is deadlier than that from others.

Why?

If you’re in tact internally, though you may face some rejections due to external pressure, you can stand after the external stone-throwing is over.

But imagine throwing yourself those stones… Think about creating the stones by yourself and then… 😰

Career Development, Personal development

Failure to success stories.

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ABRAHAM LINCOLN

… lost his job at 23; lost his bid for state legislature; at 26, his wife died; he lost again trying to become the Speaker in the Illinois House of Assembly; at 39, he failed in the bid to become commissioner in DC; 10 years later, he was defeated in his quest to become US Senator… Yet, in 1946, he became a member of the House of Reps and in 1861, the occupant of White House.

ALBERT EINSTEIN

… at age 16, he failed an exam that prevented his entrance into the Swiss Federal Polytechnic, Zurich; his dad, at his death, almost pronounced him a failure; after graduation, which he struggled to get, he wandered for a while not knowing what to do with his life, yet he gave us the theory of relativity, did a lot in Physics and Mathematics and finally was a Nobel Prize recipient.

COLONEL SANDERS

… the motel and restaurant he owned, in 1939, got burnt within four months of being established; started another business but had to sell it in 1942, during the war and also gave up his marriage five years later; in 1955, due to a change in an Interstate route. he lost his restaurant again.

Down the line, his restaurant idea was rejected by over a thousand restaurants and accepted by one. And that was enough to start the global KFC we know.

OPRAH WINFREY

… Her organization fired her for not severing her emotions and that way led to a global brand.

What more can I say?

Dare to live. Dare to act. Dare to make mistakes.

No one lives life thinking.

Africa and the Future of Work, Career Development

Africa and the Future of Work | Employment is not guaranteed anymore.

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What a feeling and negative chill I had a few days ago. I was at home when I heard my neighbor, working at one of the malls in Nigeria saying that a friend of hers had a job offer to work with a bank. She accepted it. But prior to this pandemic, she rejected all the places they posted her to.

Finally, when it was time to resume work where she agreed on, the pandemic struck. We don’t know yet if she has the job.

Another scenario happened when I went to eat after work on Thursday.

At the restaurant, I heard a customer talking with the food vendor that her sister working in a mall is kind of happy that her job is secure.

While others are crying that they are losing their jobs, she is so relaxed and enjoying herself.

Now, this is retail work that’s not exciting for a normal person and here is someone happy she has hers.

Related:

Thirdly, I saw this online:

… on thecable.ng. I was shocked, but then, it’s a huge and deep teacher.

What’s the lesson?

No industry is safe and employment is not guaranteed anymore.

I know there are industries like food industry and health industry that look recession proof. Yet, it’s not a guarantee as sure as 100% any more.

Anyone can lose his or her job at any time. The economy is not suffering. The effects of our behavior are what the economy is revealing.

So, some will suffer while some enjoy.

Life’s not fair someone will say. But that’s the world you’re in.

Your saving grace as an employee?

You should be your number one investment. Invest in yourself. Find the solution you can offer and be a master at it.

Then, be aware of the trends in that field. Serve with your eyes open. Don’t be blind. I’ll say it this way:

Master your craft and master the trends.

With this, you can scale through some of the most difficult times coming our way.

We still hope and pray that things get easier, as employees, after this covid-19 experience. Until then, I’ll leave you with Jim Rohn’s words:

Don’t wish it were easier. Wish you were better.

Personal development

Three reasons we make mistakes.

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Have you ever found yourself cooking a meal for the first time?

Or, a certain kind of meal for the first time?

I did something funny few days ago. I cooked a nice sauce. Thirsty. Lovely. Few days after, it was gone. My tummy off course 😀.

Then, I did it again.

Guess what?

Not thirsty. Little salt and I was almost furious at myself. Yet, I had to gulp the sauce with my rice 😀.

Does it stop me from cooking?

When we make mistakes in life, I can explain it with any of these.

  • We make mistakes because of something we’ve not learnt.

How did you perform when you started writing in primary school? Imagine if you have access to those books. You can title it book of errors.

  • We make mistakes because of something we ignore.

This occurs when we even know it but then somehow, we ignore something. Like a pilot ignoring a vital sign his aircraft gave after his last trip.

That can be fatal, right?

  • We make mistakes because of cosmic energy or something we can’t define.

Yeah!

Things happen and sometimes we can’t explain. It’s tough and hard.

For a believer (I’m a person of faith), we know that all things will work out for our good – both the errors, but that does not give us freedom to be stupid..

However, do we stop because of an error?

Again, I’m daring you to try. Keep trying.

Lastly, yesterday’s blog post was a mess… 😀😀😀

Do you know I had to correct it this morning? Yeah, I had to.

But I’ll keep blogging.

Take that step.

Nike it. Just do it.

#staysafe

Personal development

Quotes on making mistakes.

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“You have to make mistakes to find out who you aren’t. You take the action, and the insight follows: You don’t think your way into becoming yourself.” – Anne Lamott

“Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow.” – Mary Tyler Moore

“If you have the guts to keep making mistakes, your wisdom and intelligence leap forward with huge momentum.” – Holly Near

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

“Well, we all make mistakes, dear, so just put it behind you. We should regret our mistakes and learn from them, but never carry them forward into the future with us.” – L.M. Montgomery

“There is nothing wrong with making mistakes, but one should always make new ones. Repeating mistakes is a hallmark of dim consciousness.” – Dave Sim

“A person who makes few mistakes makes little progress.” – Bryant McGill

“Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. But if you do, make new ones. Life is too short to make wrong choice twice.” – Joyce Rachelle

“Sometimes a ‘mistake’ can end up being the best decision you ever make.” – Mandy Hale

“Wisdom comes from making mistakes, having the courage to face them, and make adjustments moving forward based upon the knowledge acquired through those experiences.” – Ken Poirot

“It’s easy to never make a mistake, when you are hiding yourself away from the possibility of making mistakes. It’s those who jump out of the nest who fall and fly…” – C. JoyBell C.

“Never fear to make mistakes; be courageous enough not to repeat it.” – Debasish Mridha

“Remember, making mistakes is part of the process. The key to success is to make mistakes quickly, and recover quickly, and keep forging forward.” – Kevin J. Donaldson

“Walt Disney wasn’t afraid of risk and failure. ‘You do big things, you make big mistakes.’ he says in Van France’s Window on Main Street.” – Chris Strodder

Which of them struck you the most as an employee?

Will you keep waiting to be perfect before you move?

I saw this on the status of a friend tonight:

Personal development

Embrace the fear of making mistakes.

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Some of us don’t move because we’re scared of making mistakes.

Can I ask you this?

Do you know that if you hadn’t made mistakes up to this point, you wouldn’t have known certain things you know?

Now, take a look at a list of typos on CNN’s page.

That’s appalling, right?

Yet, they are still amongst the top 5 destinations for global news.

Why?

If you’re afraid to make mistakes then you’re not ready to make successes. You’re not.

See my examples.

I planned a SmartPhone Graphic Designing training and these were my first designs.

That’s April for a May training. OMG!

I shouted after throwing stunts on Facebook, Instagram and twitter.

So, I changed it to this.

And this:

And then I spoke with a friend who told me to postpone it till next week so we can cover more grounds.

I did and came up with these… 😀

Funny right?

But I’ll have the training.

That’s life.

And I want you to take a step now. Don’t wait until everything is ready. Try that project. Take the risk. You don’t have forever.

Try it and make the mistake.

That also reminds me, if you’re interested in this training, register with this WhatsApp link:

https://chat.whatsapp.com/GPsKNTm3CIK8DrA5N6AIpv

But more importantly, embrace mistakes.

#staysafe

Career Development, Personal development

How to use deadlines to achieve personal targets.

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… deadlines get jobs done.

Cahit Kargi

If you’ve been following me for a while, you’ll notice that I’m not the SEO trapped guy trying to get everyone to read his blog. No. I won’t do that.

Using SEO is good, but at the detriment of servicing my audience, I’d drop it.

For today, we’ll look at how to use deadline to help us achieve our goals and targets.

In the office, we have a recurrent training that occurs every Thursday for our students.

This means that, whether I am well or not, that training must occur. And because of that, we are forced to create our content sometimes before the term starts.

However, for a while, we were not able to do that. We create a week or two weeks before the training. That wasn’t fair, but there’s a lesson to it.

My blog posting has also taught me the same lesson as it relates to our goals.

Prior to now, I blogged on Mondays and Fridays. Those days are tensed for me. I have a scheduler. It’s made me more productive. So whenever an idea comes, I flesh it out and then schedule it.

Now, because I know I must upload on Mondays and Fridays, I am always open to ideas and writing frequently.

For a while, I’ve not missed a day. Just a few days I blew it. And recently, I started everyday blogging. That alone has changed my mindset.

Completely.

And I see my writing goals coming to fruition, especially with the release of my first eBook. I was wowed when I did it.

All thanks to, amongst other things, the deadline restriction that has helped me grow.

Maybe, you can try it too.

Set deadlines for the things you want to do. You might have a goal, but setting a deadline for the little steps, will make the goal to be fulfilled faster than you planned.

I know people who are against deadlines. However, I think when you start out in something you don’t have a habit for, you need deadlines, otherwise you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot.

More coming in.

Don’t forget to sign up for the SmartPhone Graphic Designing 101 Course is coming up this weekend.

And keep making progress in this lockdown.

Remember to share and let me get your comment on what you feel about today’s post.

Stay safe.

Career Development, Personal development

Should I leave my job because I don’t have a WHY?

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Our book review, Start With Why by Simon Sinek, showed us the importance of having a WHY in our work or career life.

Yet, we know that not many persons have have discovered their WHY.

Now, the question is this: Should I leave my job because I don’t have a why?

Well, my answer is no.

You don’t have to. Not yet, at least.

Someone might tell you to leave but please don’t.

Related:

I’m in a Job that does not Really use my Skills. What Should I Do?

As an employee, instead of leaving, start the process of discovering your WHY.

This pandemic lockdown can be a time gift that you can use for that journey. Begin the process.

You might want to see Simon’s two books: Start With WHY and Find Your WHY. Or better still, listen to these videos:

and

Let the process start. Remember this quote from yesterday:

Finding WHY is a process of discovery not invention.

While you go through the process, keep giving your best to that job.

Helping African Employees Build a Niche in their Career.

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