In my last piece, I established that while on your life's journey, regardless of the phase or stage you are in, there are certain things to watch out for.  I intend to make this piece, simple, straight and relatable. These three variables are related to each stage of life. Over the years, they have been the reasons why kings fall, princes stumble, nobles fumble and kingdoms wane. Again, they have been the reasons why most men failed to rise to prominence, affluence and influence. Watching out for these will ease the pain of walking down the same path.  Bitterness and Jealousy   At the bottom, while pushing your way up, watch out for bitterness and jealousy. These two are cankerworms that can eat deep into your fabric and leave you with scars. Lexicon defined bitterness as anger and disappointment at being treated unfairly . Jealousy on the other hand as defined by Cambridge University Dictionary is a feeling of unhappiness and anger because someone has something or someone that y

  The first time I heard these two words used together was at the end of a home video ( I know you can relate to the words in this context). Well, this is not a movie thriller asking you to watch out for the end or sequel of a previous movie. At best, this can be a "watch out" sequel to the next episode of your real-life story. To watch out according to Cambridge Dictionary is "to warn someone of danger or an accident that seems likely to happen". It is to be well-armed because you have been forewarned. Truth is, for anyone who is always watching out, such a person can never be taken unaware, he is prepared in season and out of season to combat any kind of variables targeting his sanity, effectiveness and progress in life.  It is no doubt that life is in stages. Some are at the lower rung of the ladder of life, pressing on to climb up. Others are at the middle rung of the ladder aiming for the top still, while quite a few people arrived at the peak of the ladder w

  In my last piece, I established that commitment is the spine upon which every worthy achievement in life stems. It counts the cost and pays the proportionate price. Commitment singles you out of the crowd. Don't travel this life without adding tones of commitment to your backpack. I also added that where you are and who you are right now is not in any way unrelated to the number of commitments you have made in the past. To drive the nail further down into the coffin, I will share four major variables that serve as the heartbeats of commitment. Through them, commitment comes alive, and with them, we see, touch, and feel the reality of commitment. Commitment is Sacrificial  If you are committed to someone or something, the first proof is that you sacrifice or give your all for it. Here, you bet your life, stake it out and lay it down on the line. The pages of history are scattered with men and women who were committed to worthy causes and people they loved and valued; the proof was

  "I left him because he was not responsible, he was not ready to be committed to me". This statement often captures the obvious scenario of what defines or describes a commitment to young people - relationships. It is rather unfortunate, that the word commitment is usually associated and straitjacketed to relationships, whereas its practical meaning and applications cut across everything we do in life. Commitment is the backbone that every worthy achievement stands on. Commitment is the state or quality of being dedicated, loyal, devoted to a cause or a marked out endeavour. Cambridge Dictionary defined commitment as " a promise or firm decision to do something. The willingness to give your time and energy to a job, activity or something that you believe in".   Inferring from the above definition, it is obvious that for everything we do and/or do not do, commitment plays a vital role. The fact that you are reading this piece right now, you must have committed you

  A few weeks back I wrote about thoughts being the wheels upon which we ride the journey of life; as I was wrapping up the month of April, I came across a notebook I used back then in my service year and then it opened me up to an issue relating to this that is worth sharing.   You see, life doesn’t just happen to us, it is the product of largely three forces that we are highly responsible for – thoughts, habits and choices. Our ability to navigate these productively, and respond to them truly will not only make our lives easy but will enable us to live life purposefully. So what are habits? In his book, James Clear defined habits as "the smallest decisions you make and actions you performed every day". Duke University carried out research and concluded that habits account for about 40 per cent of our behaviours on any given day. I see habits as those daily insignificant actions that are automatically ingrained upon our hearts that become our unconsciously displayed routine

So I failed to send out the publicity for what I am to write on and share with you yesterday; partly because I have been dragging with my health lately and the fact that writer's block came visiting. Just like trust, consistency is one thing that once established, you don't just lose it. Building consistency is like earning trust, it takes time but can or may be lost in a blink of an eye. So I thought about this yesterday, knowing that someone out there may be waiting on me to send something out today, and here I am, about to make the waiting go down the drain. Well, I had to write something. In life, we exert our efforts, direct our attention and channel our determination to achieve or get some things through persistence, only to let them slip past our fingers because we lack the keeping power of consistency. What I mean is, persistence gets it, consistency keeps it; so by all means, in your persistence, be consistent.  In describing what consistency is not, Hundred Life Desig

"Chalk and Duster" is one of the movies dear to my heart, it is among my premium movie collections. Every time I settle to watch it, most of the lessons therein always appear fresh to me. (You should add it to your to-watch list if you haven't seen it yet. I can not demean any of the lessons I gleaned from the film to the background, but for the sake of this piece, I will bring that of SEEDS to the spotlight. This is because its reality resonates with the timeless lessons my aged Dad use to tell me while growing, and now more than ever, I see the validity of the same in my everyday life. I strongly believe these few words will give you a push and bless your heart as well. So back to the film "Chalk and Duster", let us anchor our discussion from there. (I am not narrating the film here, the aim is to give us a backdrop for this piece).  Joyti stood by her colleague Vidya, a great and selfless teacher who was dismissed unfairly by a sadistic manipulative principa