THE CHANGE WE NEED

Change is the only constant thing in life, and your very success in every endeavour of life depends heavily on your ability to adapt to change and whatever it brings with it. For example, new seasons demand new clothes – thicker clothes for cooler seasons and lighter ones, when it gets hot; wearing tank tops and shorts in the winter could lead to you becoming a real-life snowman!

In the same vein, changes in the country’s economic environment require that we make some changes in our habits. The recent fuel price hike has seen many make varying adjustments to their lifestyle, from slight shifts to the most drastic of u-turns. While some have totally crossed off the social events on their calendars, others have resorted to using technology more, to reduce the need for locomotion.

But change is simply an opportunity in disguise. Beyond the labour pains of adjustment and acclimatisation lies the promise of a better way.

‘When the winds of change blow, some build walls, while others build wind mills’
                                                                                                        -  Ancient Chinese proverb

Our reaction to recent changes shouldn’t be a knee-jerk disillusionment, but welcoming of the opportunity it brings us to examine our lives, weed out the unnecessary chaff, re-prioritise and give ourselves a better chance to live balanced lives.

For one, we get to rid our life of clutter – clutter of unproductive activities, clutter of directionless pursuits, and clutter of avoidable commitments. Now comes the opportunity to FOCUS, Yes I said it, FOCUS!

At work, focus on what’s really value adding; cut down on unnecessary meetings, reports and long bureaucracies. Embracing digital marketing also gives you a wider reach at reduced costs.

If you’ve decided to cut down on social events and trips, then take the opportunity to spend time with your family, to introspect, discover new hobbies, leisure actives and pastimes.

If you’ve decided to work more remotely, you should use the time you’ve gained to discover better ways of improving your output at work, develop new skills and update old ones.

If you’ve been forced to cut back on many business activities and become a jack of one trade, my advice is that you master it better than any of your competitors; become so good that it that your brand name becomes a pseudonym for that good or service.

To thrive in the current climate, businesses must get closer to their customers. Introduce free pick-ups and deliveries, mobile offices, studios and showrooms; video conferencing, sales and support on social media, cloud computing etc.

Doing this will surely help you mitigate the challenges and improve the quality of your service.

That one’s for free.



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Copyright. Olayinka Agbaje-Williams, 2015

All Rights Reserved

Image courtesy  firstunitedsalmonarm.ca

COME WITH ME TO CONQUER

Come with me on this Journey,

Gird up your loins,

Prepare thoroughly

No matter the weather

Be it cloudy or sunny,

We’ll make it,

We’ll win surely

Come with me,

Come on don’t worry

We’ll win and make lots of money

Come with me

 Come on, hurry

Come savour greatness,

As sweet as honey.

Come with me to conquer,

Together we’ll make history

Come with me to conquer

Let’s solve destiny’s mystery

Come with me to conquer

We’ll write our own success story

Come with me to conquer,

Lest you fall victim of my victory!

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Copyright. Olayinka Agbaje-Williams, 2015

All Rights Reserved

RETROSPECT

As I lie here,

My thoughts take me on a retrospective

On the decisions I had to take,

And the choices I had to make,

Some were easy,

 Many made me shiver and shake

I ask myself questions,

Maybe the answers will help me separate success from mistake

Like, was I greedy?

Did I eat everyone else’s share of happiness’ cake?

Was I shortsighted?

Did I compromise the original for the fake?

Did I avoid challenges?

Embrace the wide ocean or remain comfortable in my little lake?

Was I too anxious?

Did I hurry or wait patiently for destiny’s bread to fully bake?

Was I vigilant?

Did I constantly sleep or stay wide awake?

My actions…

Did I get them right the first time or always have to do another take?

My trials…

How many did I pass and how many do I have to retake?

My good deeds…

Were they selfless or for self aggrandizement sake?

These same questions to put to thee, 

I wonder what grade you'll make.

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Copyright. Olayinka Agbaje-Williams, 2015

All Rights Reserved

A SEASON AGO

Seasons come, seasons go

Now that our season’s here,

It’s to the farm we go

One hand holds the cutlass,

And the other the hoe

We proceed, with our seeds

Ready to sow

We dig, we clear, and we throw,

Knowing that in good time, our crops will grow

And our plants will rise like dough

Provided we nurture, weed and mow

As time passes,

We await the crops to grow,

The rain falls,

Yet nothing to show

The sun shines, winds blow,

And still nothing to show.

Then suddenly,

We hear the season clock crow

Our hands climb to our heads

For in our hearts we know;

We should have planted

A season ago.

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Copyright. Olayinka Agbaje-Williams, 2015

All Rights Reserved

SUCCESS STORY

Your success in today’s battles are not measured by how easy or how hard,

How swift you were in attack, 

How well did you guard?

It’s how you feel when it’s over, 

Happy, sad, or just glad?

That at the end of every battle you’ve had, 

You can look back and not feel bad,

Shouting aloud like one gone mad,

I came, I saw, I conquered!

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Copyright. Olayinka Agbaje-Williams, 2015

All Rights Reserved

RELEVANCE

Of what use are we to this world?

Why are we here?

What exactly is our purpose here?

You will need to answer these yourselves, but the next one; I can help you with.

What is the true measure of self worth? 

…..RELEVANCE

Going back to my favourite place (where I wasn't opportuned to visit), the garden of Eden, we see clearly the line man must walk.

GOD created man and created his dwelling place, and created his purpose.

A lot of materials and ingredients he required were created before him; existing days before he was created and they were good.

Yet, Adam still had a purpose; he named and took care of the garden and animals. Not forgetting his task of multiplying.

Many of us often get carried away by the whole temptation story and how sin came into the world by Adam’s disobedience that we forget to take cognizance of life’s process illustrated by the first pages of the bible.

Many of us know that GOD created us, but few of us know why. The bible says it is for HIS good pleasure; how do we bring HIM pleasure?

There are three things a man must find before he departs this world; GOD, himself and fulfillment.

How does a person find GOD? You might ask… or himself for that matter?

To find GOD means to find a revelation of GOD specific to your calling.

In the Old Testament, GOD revealed himself as “the Almighty GOD” to Abram and “I AM” to Moses. This was the same GOD, but different revelations, with each revelation specific to the purpose of the receiver.

The Children of Israel saw The LORD as mighty and terrible, a Consuming Fire! This was evident in the signs, wonders and various battles they fought.

Note that this revelation came while their purpose blueprint was being handed to them. Hence, an individual must have a revelation of GOD before he can have a revelation of life.

The next step is for man to find himself. This includes; talents, skills, gifts, traits and a paradigm specific to his purpose.

From there a dream is born, a vision is seen and purpose is enacted.

Finally, he has to find fulfillment. This is one of the most misused words in the dictionary. It is accurately defined as ‘bringing into actuality’

Thus, fulfillment in this context means; bringing your purpose to actuality.

Many often mistake satisfaction for fulfillment; to some they mean the same thing. Well, they are quite different.

While satisfaction is ‘derived contentment from purpose being met’; fulfillment as said earlier, is ‘meeting the purpose itself’

Hence, satisfaction is to be attained by meeting purpose.

Satisfaction is determined by man and can vary; fulfillment is determined by GOD and set on creation of the man. . It is actualizing GOD’s plan using the tools he has granted you.

There is nothing higher, better or greater than finding it.

Remember, the Creator created man to tend over HIS creation; so, all of creation benefits most from man’s fulfillment; with the glory going to GOD Almighty.

This is true relevance; Making an impact felt by all of creation.

Hence, there is no relevance without fulfillment of purpose.

Relevance is defined as ‘pertinence to a matter at hand, a term used to describe how pertinent something or someone is to a given matter’

Substituting the following into that definition -

-          You

-          The rest of GOD’s creation

We have,

Relevance is how pertinent you are to the rest of GOD’s creation.

So how relevant are you?

You will have to follow the steps above to find out. If you have already begun the process, take time out to assess your relevance to humanity.

The greatest relevance is one that outlives you, when you stay relevant even centuries after you leave this earth.

I seek eternal relevance….what about you?

RELEVANCE

How time flies,

The present so fast becomes the past

Then comes the future,

The great unknown, an ocean so deep, so vast

But there lies our greatness,

The compensation for our past

So let’s get on Columbus’s ship,

Set sail and discover fulfillment,

Then we’ll lean proudly on our ships mast; when life show is over

Satisfied that we were protagonists,

And not just extras in its cast.

……seek eternal relevance.

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Copyright. Olayinka Agbaje-Williams, 2015

All Rights ReservedImage courtesy bimblog.house

RELEVANCE

How time flies, 

The present so fast becomes the past

Then comes the future,

The great unknown, an ocean so deep, so vast

But there lies our greatness,

The compensation for our past

So let’s get on Columbus’s ship,

Set sail and discover fulfillment,

Then we’ll lean proudly on our ships mast; when life show is over

Satisfied that we were protagonists,

And not just extras in its cast.

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Copyright. Olayinka Agbaje-Williams, 2015

All Rights Reserved