success Archives - TalkAfrique

December 27, 2013

Trailblazing Nigerians, Bishop David Oyedepo and Alhaji Aliko Dangote: Two Sides of the Same Coin?

One is primarily a preacher; the other is a business mogul. One is an incorrigible unrepentant Christian; the other a faithful Muslim. One is a blunt, no-nonsense personality; the other is a discreet and reserved individual. But they are both entrepreneurs. They are visionaries. They have made their impact on the Nigerian society. They cannot be ignored in the scheme of things. They both wield enormous influence on practically every sphere of our national life in Nigeria.

Bishop David Olaniyi Oyedepo is the founder and presiding bishop of Living Faith Church World Wide, also known as Winners Chapel, which has its headquarters, a 5,000-acre (20 km²) land called Canaanland, in Ota Ogun State, Nigeria. The church dedicated a 50, 000 capacity auditorium, Faith Tabernacle, in 1999 and has established about 100 educational institutions based on Christian principles across Nigeria and the African Continent from primary to tertiary levels. Bishop Oyedepo, born in 1954, was in 2011 named by Forbes magazine as the richest pastor in Nigeria.

Alhaji Aliko Dangote is the Founder/Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, a conglomerate which started in 1977 as a small trading firm with a loan from his uncle. Today, his business interests cut across food processing, cement manufacturing, freight, telecommunications, etc. Dangote, who was born in 1957 and whose conglomerate is the largest industrial group in Nigeria, is ranked by Forbes Magazine as the richest man in Africa and the 43rd richest person in the world.

What do these two individuals have in common? Maybe the questions to ask is can these two very dissimilar individuals possess anything in common? My answer is in the affirmative. Yes they can and indeed they do have some things in common. Let’s check out some of the similarities between a bishop and an alhaji. Continue reading “Trailblazing Nigerians, Bishop David Oyedepo and Alhaji Aliko Dangote: Two Sides of the Same Coin?”

November 27, 2013

The Ten Thousand-Hour Rule: Becoming a Champion

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”

October 22, 2013October 22, 2013

You are Not a Prisoner of Your Past

Darasimi Oshodi

The ability to recall facts, events and names of people is a trait that is admired by many. I believe this is also a trait that is needed for one to succeed in academics and other areas of life. People are usually pleased when people remember their names and they tend to think such persons regard them as special. So the ability to remember things is one that everybody should possess (and I think everybody possesses this ability to a degree).

Every one of us also possesses the ability to forget things. It is just natural with us to forget things because of the enormous amount of information that we take in all the time. My inspirational teacher explained human beings’ ability to forget things in a write-up he titled How Old is Your Knowledge? He explains that human knowledge can easily become stale or obsolete if not used all the time. He explained this with a graphic analogy: Knowledge is like documents that come into a pigeon-hole. The first document to come in soon takes the back seat as more documents are placed in the pigeon-hole. This means, he said, that the knowledge acquired today soon becomes obsolete or forgotten when not applied. So it is just natural for us to forget things. Continue reading “You are Not a Prisoner of Your Past”

April 14, 2013April 14, 2013

Mandela, the Madiba, by Dr. Tunde Oseni

If you want success out of struggle

Mandela, the Madiba represents a model

If you think it’s over when the chips are down

Study Mandela, the Madiba for a change of mind

If you think a people can forever be in chains

Mandela, the Madiba will let you think and change

If the world has no Mandelas in our midst

What for all will that be a great miss

Revenge is not for the strong in mind

Reconciliation is an article of faith for the large in heart

Mandela, the Madiba

Man with a thousand lives

It is to your memory and love

That South Africa and the world know more about peace

March 24, 2013

Showing Up is the First Step to Success

I heard someone say that 80 percent of life is merely showing up. I thought about it for a while and I couldn’t agree less with him.

You have an awesome idea that can change the outcome; you have a question to ask that no one has thought of, but the first step is being there.

There is no substitute for being on the ground; there is no alternative to being physically present; there’s nothing of the same scale as responding YES to the invitation and showing up.

And if you show up and change the outcome, you pay for the remaining 20%.

January 6, 2013January 6, 2013

It’s Not Bad to Be an Outsider, After All.

I was reading the transcript of an interview done with Chrystia Freeland, the Editor of Thompson Reuters Digital on her book Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else. In that interview, Ms. Freeland said something that I found very interesting. She said:

“I think it’s quite helpful in having both an outsider’s perception of the world, which helps to see change, and maybe an outsider’s desire to succeed”

That’s a very powerful statement: an outsider’s perception to see change, and an outsider’s desire to succeed.

This is my brief commentary on her statement. If you’re part of a system, if you’re an insider, you see change as a threat; you’re comfortable with the status quo. But if you’re an outsider, you see change as an opportunity to profit, a chance to succeed, an opening to take a new position. Continue reading “It’s Not Bad to Be an Outsider, After All.”

December 23, 2012January 5, 2013

How Old Is Your Knowledge?

A couple of weeks ago I was with my mentor in his office. I went to him not to be lectured, but for a different purpose. As I was about to tell him my mission, a woman came in. This woman, apart from being a veterinary doctor, also holds a Ph.D. in Innovation and Technology Management. She wanted my mentor to drill her for the interview she was to have the next day. Without blinking an eye, my mentor, in his characteristic manner, immediately began to ask some questions on current affairs. At a point I was wondering why my mentor would be asking a Ph.D. holder such ridiculous questions. To my dismay, she could only answer 1 or 2 out of almost 15 questions she was asked. Continue reading “How Old Is Your Knowledge?”

November 20, 2012November 20, 2012

How to be Lucky in Life

I fell in love with this anonymous quote that says “you are not a write-off yet until opportunities cease to exist” the very day I stumbled on it. Ever since, I have made it my guiding philosophy in life. Opportunities beckon daily, but whether we are able to recognise them or not is a different ball game altogether. Opportunities are dressed in different robes and they come in different sizes and shapes. The question then is: How prepared are we when they appear?

I have heard many people say that some people are lucky in life. What is luck? Luck simply means opportunities that meet with adequate preparation. Many wander through life without preparing adequately for their opportunities when they come. Nothing happens by accident. Every occurrence in life has its significance. It leaves us with one lesson or the other. Perhaps this why John Maxwell said in his book Failing Forward that there are no mistakes made, only lessons learnt. Do you learn from your daily occurrences? Or do you just see them as just happenstances? Whatever happens to man (positively or negatively) has one lesson or the other for the future. Continue reading “How to be Lucky in Life”