Le Dynamique Professeur

I was privileged to play in a soccer tournament some 12months ago. My team certainly is not one of the favourites to win the tournament but we were determined to get something out of it. To our amazement and that of others, we found ourselves in the finals. Alas, we blew it when it mattered most. Since we didn't believe we could make it to the finals, we were not confident enough to play against the best team of the tournament. The result? We were battered mercilessly. About some four weeks later, we had another tournament. We again found ourselves in the finals against the same team. This time, we had learned our lessons very well. Not only was the memory of the last game with them fresh in our hearts, we were able to use it against them. We planned very well and countered all their guises and by a hair's breath, we won 1-0 to clinch the title.

I am of the opinion that, there is no failure in life but a man who fails to learn from his own falls. No wonder, the saying, "once beaten, twice shy". At the end of every cause or course, I believe what matters the most is the lesson learned. Should one fail to learn from the events of one's life, then one is missing what matters the most.

It's the year end and everyone is expectant, looking forward to the coming year. On that note, I believe everyone of us should be wise enough to start concentrating on what matters in the end. I have highlighted three things I believe matters most at the end of every passing year.

The first thing that matters is to ask yourself, "what have I learned this year?" I have done it myself and I tell you, when you do, your mind likely to go blank for a while but stay conscious and try to recall. I assure you, you'd begin to see the lessons inside the year.

Like in the football tournament I shared at the beginning, it is important to hold on to lessons learned because then you can channel your course favourably as well as aid in avoiding past mistakes. If you fail to hold on to what you've learned, you'd find yourself making the same mistakes over and over again. And like a failing student, you'd keep repeating the class.

Just like an uncompleted building would look undesirable, so would the life of a man that refuses to continue learning. In fact, someone said, "the day you stop learning, you start dying." In 2011, make it a priority and a keen desire to keep learning and building on what you've in 2010. Open your heart to learn more. That's the pathway to growth.

That's it... You are welcome to tell me what you think matters most too...

NB: I would like to use this moment to thank you all for being a fan of my writing on this blog. Without you, this blog wouldn't have come this far. Thanks for the support and votes towards the first ever award this blog won - Most Inspiring Blog Awards in the Nigerian Blog Awards 2010. Thanks to all regular followers of this blog - You guys ROCK! I've learned alot from you guys. Thanks for being a part of this journey. You are awesome!

I was opportune to speak somewhere recently in my country, Nigeria and I remember a young chap in the crowd just could not believe some of the things I had recounted happened in my life. He stood up with a confused look that suggested he had thoughts like, "this guy must be lying because logically and mathematically what he is saying is so not possible". Honestly, that is the problem of many of us. We find it difficult to believe in the possibility of what we can become simply because its defiles the laws of logic, mathematics, finance or economics. Even as I went on to explain that day, the young man still felt something was wrong somewhere (laughs).

This week, my thoughts had been around the properties and characteristics of a star. I decided to research into it. While I found several properties of a star, one of them caught my attention; thus inspiring this post. It is a property that requires no mathematics to explain, that is why I love it. I will quote directly from one of the pages I visited, so you can access to the page too. "All stars are so far away that they appear thousands of times smaller than a pinpoint" - John Pratt. This means that the sight of a star from afar is not the real deal; the real deal is in moving close.

I would want to believe every human on the surface of the earth is a star. The difference is that some are shinning and some are just enjoying the cool of the dark clouds. What am I saying... YOU are a star! I am a star; a born star! You are destined to shine. The reason you are perhaps not shinning yet is because there is still a distinction between the way you see yourself and what you are actually made of. Its just like a little boy looking up the sky, he is likely to believe the star he is seeing up there is just as tiny as that until he does his science in school and then told, its way bigger than what it actually looks like. 

In essence, forget logic; put mathematics behind you, let us leave calculation one side... begin to see yourself as a star because that is what you actually are. If you don't see yourself that way, your life would be like one of those stars not shinning enjoying the cool of the dark clouds. The fact that things are not working for you today does not mean you are not a born star. The fact that your friends are earning more than you today does not mean they are ready made stars and you are just born to watch them. You are only some distance away to that shinning star you were born to be. Look on with faith, hope and patience. Keep on pursuing your dreams. You are not a star in the making. You are a born star but you must continue seeing yourself as one.

Thanks for reading once again and I would like to wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas :)

I start this post with five questions. Take a deep look at them. Which of them applies to you? Think deeply before going on to read the rest of the post.

I saw a quote this week, and while I was struggling with it, a deep reflection within nudged me about how true it is. "Everything that happens to us is a reflection of who we are." - Deepak Chopra. Yes, that's the quote. I am sure you are perhaps struggling with it too just like I did when I first saw it. How do the things that happen in my life reflect who I am? You mean, even the not-so-good things that happen to me are a reflection of who I truly am? My answer is Yes.

You see, for every seed of greatness, there are thorns to fight its growth. The reason why the things in your life happen is because of the future that lies ahead of you. I recently was reading the profile of the richest man in both Australia and New Zealand combined, Graeme Hart. He started his career as a panel beater, and then moved on to be a tow-truck driver. The measure of difficulty a man faces, is often the measure of his future worth. In other words, your pains today is directly proportional to your gains tomorrow.

Mathematically,

If P = Pains and

G = Gains

Then P (today) α G (tomorrow)

That is, P=KG (where K is constant)

On this note, the higher your P today, the higher your G tomorrow. Also, the value of G (tomorrow) for me might not be the same for you since we do not have the same kind of P (today). Many people do not realize this, so they spend the most of their trouble/pain times complaining, asking why the challenges in their lives are more than their friends or colleagues; thus, some of them lose their reason for living. Some even go to the extent of committing suicide, not knowing what lies ahead of them is extraordinary.

Do you see yourself as a pilot tomorrow, perhaps that's why the challenges in your life are flying in every direction today. Do you see yourself as a doctor tomorrow, maybe that's why issues in your life are surgically operating on you as though its your dead end. If you don't have a tomorrow, I assure you, nothing, no one will trouble you. What for?

In essence, are you going through pains right now? Smile, it is because your tomorrow is bright. Does it seem like you can't make it through right now? Rejoice, it is because what your future has in store for you is great. Always remember, "what you are going through is as a result of where you are going to". Don't give up! Don't give in! Keep Moving... Keep Walking.. Your future is colourful and shining bright. You will get there!

In my last post, one of the things I was able to successfully establish was that, "Success is not a destination but a journey", as said by Zig Ziglar. Which means, with success, there is never a bus stop, there are only junctions. At this junctions, we are given the chance to check ourselves - some of those important checks we must do are the Purpose, Love and Hope checks. These checks are important because they keep us in check and on track. I have also found out however that, even though these checks are present, for our journey to be faster, convenient, easier, we must learn to travel light because only those who travel light can travel with the speed of light. Those are the kind of people, their colleagues, peers and equals see and would often say, "can you imagine, we were in the same class together 5 years ago...?" This post is organized to reveal 2 main nuggets on how you can travel light...

When I was growing up, there was this group of people we call NFA - No Future Ambition, because nothing they do elicits their purpose, passion, vision or dream. They just follow the crowd. However, there are some people that are too ambitious. For instance, a young man who wants to be a medical doctor is the same person who wants to be a human right activist, a politician, astrologer, renown mountain climber, etc. To travel light, we must be focused. We must carve our vision to reflect our purpose - One step at a time. A fisherman cannot at the same time be the fish, he'd end up killing himself. Be known for one thing that makes you stand out! You cannot be everything you wish you could be... If you want to be seen way ahead of your colleagues/equals in the next five years, I dare you, FOCUS!

A young chap once asked me, "how come you are always cheerful?" My reply was simple, "I don't know". It's just become a part of me to live light, I guess. When you learn not to be weighed down by life's challenges, you'd travel light. There are three things that can help a man rejoice always:  

First, learn to forgive fast! Let go of people's wrong deed towards you quicker than usual. Free them from the chains with which you've bound them, even before they apologise. It is for your own good! The more you harbour what they've done in your heart, the more burdensome your journey. In the past, I've wasted time, energy and resources hating on people for the hurts and pains they've caused me, I've learned my lesson. A man that wants to travel light must learn to forgive fast.  

Second, worry less, plan more: What you worry about weighs you down but what you plan for stirs you up. Anxiety is for no reason when you can think of ways to take action. Life is too short to be burdened by worry and anxiety. When you find out you are setting into a worry mood, take our your pen and paper; write out a plan. I do that sometimes, and it works.

Third, leave your failures behind. When you carry them on the journey, you'd be weighed down. Your peers and equals would have gone way ahead of you before you notice. To travel light is to look ahead rather than keep looking back. There is nothing in your past that is better than what you have ahead of you; trust me!

Dear reader, it is my hope that as we are about to enter into the new year, you'd not carry all your burdens, worry, anxiety, pains and hurts with you. I would enjoin you to travel light - try out these principles. I promise, by the end of 2011, you'd have traveled faster than you think you ever would. ENJOY!

- Le Dynamique Professeur