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The Ten Thousand-Hour Rule: Becoming a Champion

Darasimi Oshodi
Darasimi Oshodi

By Darasimi Oshodi

“Champions do not become champions when they win an event, but in the hours, weeks, and months, and years they spend preparing for it. The victorious performance itself is merely a demonstration of their championship character.”

The statement above is credited to Michael Jordan who is arguably the best basket ball player ever.

Jordan’s long time coach, Phil Jackson reveals that it was hard work that made him a legend. When Jordan first entered the league, his jump shot wasn’t good enough. He spent his off season taking hundreds of jumpers a day until it was perfect. He says Jordan’s defining characteristic wasn’t his talent but the humility to know he had to work constantly to be the best.

From childhood, Serena and Venus Williams would go to the tennis court at 6 o’clock in the morning before going to school and when they returned from school, go back for tennis practice. Any wonder then the two of them have dominated women’s tennis.

Kobe Bryant spends his free time endlessly practicing jump shots. Workers at his club, the Los Angeles Lakers say he is always doing the same thing at their practice facility at all hours of the day and night.

It is reported that Demosthenes, a great orator of Ancient Greece, stammered and was inarticulate as a youth yet became a great orator through dedicated practice which included placing pebbles in his mouth.

I read that Tiger Woods’ father started teaching him golf at eighteen months. So it should not be too surprising that he took the world of golf by storm at age eighteen.

The Beatles performed live in Germany over 1,200 times between 1960 and 1964 and by the time they went back to England they had become inimitable. Those hours spent performing paid off.

Bill Gates gained access to a computer in 1968 at the age of 13 and spent thousands of hours programming on it. His efforts have been hugely rewarded. Continue reading “The Ten Thousand-Hour Rule: Becoming a Champion”

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There will always be Garbage In

By Dr. Kwabena Amponsah-Manager

There is a popular saying that ‘garbage in, garbage out’.  What this means is that if you receive poorly refined instructions, codes, methodology, you act on it as you receive it. When this is true, it reduces one to the level of a robotic machine or a lower level being.

What makes you a superior being, that is if you think you are, is that you are not at the mercy of the external instructions you receive. You have the capacity to refine and filter out the ‘garbage in’ so that the output is not garbage. This is the reason I do not run chemical reactions that explode and burn my laboratory buildings or develop ‘weapons of mass destruction’ despite the myriad of information available to me on the web and the library.

You are the middleman between the instruction, information and codes you receive and the output they are meant to produce. Whether you receive the bulk mixture from your accountant, PTA, spiritual leader, politician, counselor, etc., your role is to filter out the garbage, retrieve and concentrate the fine code to get required output.

There will always be garbage in, but that does not mean there has to be garbage out if you and I pay our part.

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Youth Focus Initiative Honors Falana Afolayan, Others, Report by Ajibola Olarinoye

Dr. Tunde Oseni delivers a speech at the Youth Focus Role Model Awards 2013 ceremony.
Dr. Tunde Oseni delivers a speech at the Youth Focus Role Model Awards 2013 ceremony.

Legal icon and Human Rights activist, Mr. Femi Falana and top Nigerian film maker, Mr. Kunle Afolayan were among eminent Nigerians honoured by Youth Focus Initiative (Y.F.I) on the recognition of distinguished roles they have played individually in motivating several young people in the society.

The historic event tagged “Youth Focus Role Model Awards 2013 and Public Presentation of SOURCES OF SUCCESS” was held on Saturday 19th October 2013 at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry  Conference Building, Ikeja Lagos.

In his welcome speech, the Founder of Youth Focus Initiative and President of Upward BAO Consulting, Dr. Tunde Oseni said Y.F.I is a pet project which he started in 2001 at the age of 24. He asserted that since then, the idea has remained to motivate and engage the youths wherever they are. “I am happy to report to you that our strategy is working. We have transformed  Y.F.I  into  the Corporate Social Responsibility and Advocacy of Upward BAO Consulting, a growing Human Capital Development Company’.

Attendees listen as Dr. Tunde Oseni talks at the Youth Focus Role Model Awards 2013 program
Attendees listen as Dr. Tunde Oseni talks at the Youth Focus Role Model Awards 2013 program

The awardees and their categories of awards are: Petroleum Geologist and retired Senior Manager of Chevron, Prince Adekunle Oduborisha (Leadership), Mr. Femi Falana S.A.N (Career Development), Mr. Kunle Afolayan (Entertainment), Founder and C.E.O, Flying Doctors, Dr. Ola Orekunrin (Social Entrepreneurship) while Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan (Chairman, Ejigbo LCDA) and Comrade Ayodele Adewale (Chairman, Amuwo Odofin Local Government) bagged awards on their roles in Grassroots Development. Continue reading “Youth Focus Initiative Honors Falana Afolayan, Others, Report by Ajibola Olarinoye”

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You Have No Option… Run!

By Darasimi Oshodi

In the jungle of Africa, the lion wakes up and thinks to itself that if it must find food, it must run faster than the gazelle while the gazelle thinks to itself that to survive the day, it must outrun the lion. There is a moral to this analogy and the moral is that to succeed in life, you cannot afford to stay in the same position. The lion will starve to death if it refuses to run after its prey.  The gazelle will also not survive the day, if it does not outrun its predator.

So what does this tell me? That if I must get anything out of life, I must make demands on life. Life will just hand to me whatever it likes. You don’t get what you deserve in life, you get what you demand. So make your demand. Go out there and run. The millions you desire to have, the fame you crave for, the impact you hope to make will not be possible if you stay in a spot wishing it will fall on your laps like ripe cherries.

If you must not be run over in life, just like the gazelle, you must run and even outrun your predators who are lurking around looking for the opportunity to pounce on you and devour you. Let me mention some of these predators: failure, disappointment, despondency, rejection, poverty, etc. If you don’t move from that spot you are in, then expect these predators to catch up with you and consume you. I sincerely believe that someone who is active can never be bogged down by feelings of disappointment or any other negative feeling for that matter.

Considering this analogy critically, it seems to me that everyone in life will at one time or the other find themselves in the position of either the lion or the gazelle. Whether you are a lion or gazelle, you are fighting for survival and there is only one option: to run. And you cannot just run languidly or leisurely, you must run with all seriousness and with all your might because your life depends on it. Running may mean different things to different people. It may mean looking for ways to make money; it may mean studying to pass an examination; it may mean securing a job; it may mean keeping your job; it may mean fighting to keep your marriage; it may mean just anything.

To succeed in life, you cannot be complacent. You cannot be lethargic in your approach to life. You cannot wish your desires into existence. You must work towards achieving your dream(s). You must give your all to realising your desire. So can you assess your current position/situation and honestly give an accurate evaluation of your state? And whatever position you are in at the moment, know that you have no option but to RUN!

Just run!

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Celebrated or Tolerated?

By Darasimi Oshodi

Have you ever been with people who never saw anything good in you? Have you associated with people who would always tear you down with their words and actions? These people do not think you are worth anything and they try to lecture you on what you must do before they approve of you.

On the other hand, have you been with people who see in you the good that you never thought was there? People who encourage you to be the best. People who love you for you. People you do not have to impress before they accept and approve of you. People who see you as the best thing to happen to them or as the next superstar and will not stop at anything to inspire your confidence.

I want to assume that you have at one time or the other been with these two sets of people. But the sad thing I have noticed is that there is a tendency for us to stick to the crowd that tolerates us instead of staying with the crowd that celebrates us. I think the reason for this is simple. We want to feel accepted and if there are people who show us that we have not earned their acceptance, we want to do everything to earn their acceptance. But if I may ask, why do you need the acceptance of someone or those who do not accept you unconditionally before correcting you? Must you earn anyone’s acceptance before you feel good about yourself? Why don’t you bask in the fact that there is a crowd cheering you on in your journey through life. Why do you neglect and trivialise the company of those who accept you first before making suggestions on how to improve some aspects of your life?

I believe I have a great smile. In fact I believe my smile can disarm anyone. I believe my smile can melt any heart. But you will be shocked if I tell you where this belief came from – from a commercial motorcyclist! That was many years ago. I was trying to persuade him to accept a particular amount of money as the fare I had to pay him for transporting me to where I was going, when he commented on my smile. Since that day, I have always believed that I have a great smile. Recently, my inspirational boss commented on my voice and I cannot tell you how much that comment has boosted my self-confidence. A personal rule that I follow is to identify the people who celebrate me and stick with them.

Your self-portrait determines your self-confidence and those you stick with have a big part in shaping your self-portrait. Your self-portrait is the way you see yourself and what people say about you contributes to how you see yourself. Do you then see why you need to associate with those who water the seed of greatness in you? It is because your self-portrait controls your self-confidence and conduct. You will always act out what you think you are. So who is that person who speaks to the greatness in you? Identify your cheerleaders and stick with them. Who is that person who celebrates you? Don’t you think it is better to stick to such a person than to seek the favour of the one who only tolerates you?

I leave you with this question: are you being celebrated by those people you are with or are you just being tolerated?

 

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The Thirteen Year-Old African Boy Who Found a Way to Combat Lions

By Darasimi Oshodi

This is a story one should hear directly from the horse’s mouth. It will make you appreciate the story better. Richard Turere is a 13-year old Kenyan whose family’s compound is behind the unfenced southern part of the Nairobi National Park. Richard is the one who tends his father’s herd of cattle. But for a long time, just like his neighbours’, his cows were at the mercy of marauding lions who migrate from the Nairobi National Park. After various unsuccessful attempts to curtail the invasion of these predators, Richard stumbled upon an ingenious idea, which so far, has proved successful in warding off wild animals.

He discovered that lions were afraid of coming near their cowshed if they thought someone was around. So he fitted a series of flashing LED bulbs onto poles around the livestock enclosure, facing outward. The lights were wired to a box with switches and to an old car battery powered by a solar panel. They were designed to flicker on and off intermittently. This would appear to the lions as if someone was moving around with a flashlight. Richard’s idea has been so successful that neighbours have been asking him to help install his invention on their farms. In fact, his idea is now being used all over Kenya to scare off predators. Continue reading “The Thirteen Year-Old African Boy Who Found a Way to Combat Lions”

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