Promise

From Forgetting Purses To Walking In Deep Freezers: Unveiling One Secret Sauce That Powers The Habit Engine

Early in the year, I made up my mind to eat healthier and lose the layers of fat that had been building on my tummy like highly motivated bricklayers racing to get a house completed before the rainy season.

So, when I decided to put together the You Too Can Be Free 30-Day Freedom Challenge at the beginning of the year, I was also an avid participant.

Was it fun?

It sure was. As much fun as walking down to the market, only to discover that you forgot your purse. That’s definitely a situation you want to avoid. Particularly if you had to walk for 5 kilometers down in the first place and have no food at home!

And in my case, the easy option would be to quit going to the gym and snuggle in my warm cozy bed instead. This thought always crossed my mind because there were times I needed to walk 15 minutes to the gym in subzero temperatures. By the way, I’m talking about subzero temperatures in Fahrenheit. In case you cannot visualize that, I would say it’s like having an ant walk through a deep freezer. There were times when I totally lost all forms of feelings in my hands as I walked down to the gym in the cold weather. Believe me, it was that serious!

Yet, I kept on going to the gym. Again and again. Day after day. Week after week.

So, what was my staying power?

What kept me going even when I did not feel like doing going for it and would rather lie in bed in my heated room like roasted corn, or grilled beef?

The answer is GRIT

Grit can be defined as the passion and perseverance you have to achieve long-term goals. The researchers (Angela Duckworth and her colleagues) that popularized the concept went to the United States Military Academy, popularly known as West Point, to find out what would happen to a group of 1200 cadets who were just admitted. The Academy subjected the new students to a grueling seven-week program where they had to work in the classroom and on the field for 17 hours, every single day. Naturally, many of the students dropped out of West Point within those first few weeks and researchers observed that the differentiating factor between the students that endured the grueling seven weeks, and those that dropped out could be attributed to grit.

Without grit, trying to kick-start another habit might just end up being an exercise in futility.

I get it, Grit is important. How can I get it?

Discover Your Identity

I remember when I started on my journey to a healthier body, I had a picture of my ideal body weight and stature in my mind. As far as I was concerned, the “future me” was the “real me”, and all I was trying to do in the present was to attain that “future me”. Once this aspect was settled, it became very easy to settle into the exercise routines that I knew that the “future me” would have engaged in.

The truth remains that you really do not have a grit problem, or perseverance and passion problem. You have an identity problem. Once you get your identity sorted out, your actions would naturally follow.

For instance, Daphna Oyserman and her colleagues discovered that students who saw themselves as having successful “future selves” working in large organizations and corporations were more likely to do well in their school work. The researchers also discovered that the converse was the case too. Students who did not see themselves working in large corporations (those who saw themselves as successful artists and musicians in the future) felt that they did not need school to succeed, and naturally, it reflected in their academic performance. We see the same play out in our day-to-day interactions. For instance, the Igbo people of Nigeria have embraced the identity of enterprise and commerce and, as a result, it is hard to find an Igbo man that does not have an affinity for buying and selling.

I share more about identity in “The Secret To Overcoming Temptations” and “The Power of The Subconscious Mind”

Cultivate A Liking For The Mundane

I have alluded to this earlier.

Working out is like listening to a badly told joke. It is so boring.

I do not get goose pimples when I am lifting the weights or jogging on the elliptical.

So, how do I keep going?

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, once remarked, ‘Whatever it is that you want to do, you’ll find out that if you’re not passionate about what it is you’re working on, you won’t be able to stick with it’.

True words. Except for the fact that there are mundane sides to the things we are passionate about.

The truth is that every individual who has manifested grit in their lives can point to some aspects of their routine that they do not like at all. Yet, because their interest is fixed on the bigger picture, they are able to stick with the mundane and attain their goals.

In numerous areas of my life, I have found that I need to develop an interest in the boring, but the essential stuff in order to get the best out of it. Do you think I was smiling all the way, as I spent time gathering my thoughts and researching for my first book “You Too Can Be Free”? The same goes for working out. It is boring, but each day that I work out brings me closer to the ideal “future me” that I continue to see in my mind’s eye. Everybody wants to be a Joshua, but they forget the boring 40 days that he spent on Mount Sinai, while God was talking to Moses (Exodus 24:13). Everybody wants to be a Joseph, but they forget that he spent 13 boring years in prison.

If you want to grow your grit, you need to embrace the mundane.

Start Depositing Into Your Power-Up Account

Many times, I believe there are numerous life lessons that can be gleaned from a video game.

In a game like Temple Run, once you accumulate enough coins, you are able to power-up and increase the range of moves that you can execute in the game. However, it would be virtually impossible to upgrade if you spent the better part of the game avoiding the coins.

One of the things that keep me going is the realization that I would not attain the buff “future me” body in the next 24 hours. However, there are intermediate milestones (see, another game term!) that I would have to attain before I get to my desired destination. And because I want to attain these intermediate goals too, I keep on persevering through the cold mornings and boring workouts.

When you possess a love for the process, you are bound to progress. When you resist the urge to be complacent, you continue to accumulate “Power-Up” coins that would ultimately be converted to the desired goal you wish to see.

Expect To See Change

The quality of your life in the present is associated with the quality of the decisions you made in the past. The good news is that the quality of your life in the future can be affected by the quality of your actions in the present. I do not know about you, but I think it is refreshing to know that I am not condemned to be fat and shapeless like Bill Gates’ bank account. I can actually make decisions in the present that would bring me closer to the “future me” that I see in my mind’s eye.

The moment you realize that you have the ability to make decisions that can contribute to a higher quality of life in the future, you will find it easy to stick to your guns and do what it takes to get your desired goal.

Nobody was born walking or talking. Your initial attempts at walking and talking failed miserably. Yet, somehow, somewhere, you knew that you could do something about it and thankfully, you did. You are still reaping the benefits of the grit you had as a child.

Do the same now, with the expectations that you are going to see change

Quit Watching Porn

As I mentioned in “What Happens In An Addict’s Brain” when you masturbate and watch pornography, you are causing a lot of changes in the biology, physiology, and anatomy of your brain. These changes are associated with motivation and productivity. As a result, it is impossible to develop grit when you are engaged in porn consumption. This is one of the primary reasons I have put together this free 30-Day Freedom Challenge that would get you started on the path of freedom from destructive habits.

Finally…

It is very possible for you to increase the amount of “grittiness” you manifest when you are pursuing your desired goals.

You have to be wise with this, though, because you do not have to approach everything in your life with perseverance and passion that would make Tom Cruise red with embarrassment. There are sometimes you need to relax your stance on certain goals, which are not your ultimate destination, but merely a means to a greater end.

Use the techniques I share here and using them to increase your level of grit to attain your high-level goals that are in line with your identity.

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The Commonly Overlooked Secret To Success That No One Is Talking About

Back in 2016, I was just another post-NYSC university graduate in Bayelsa State, who was overworked and underpaid. In fact, my salary was so embarrassingly low, that I chose to inflate the tithe I was paying to my pastor. And to make matters even more interesting, my former boss is still owing me a month’s salary till this very day.

By the way, if you are worrying what the salary was…

It was ₦30,000!!! (That’s less than $100 a month, if you live outside Nigeria).

Right now, I am in the US, currently running my Masters program.

Now, I am not saying living outside the US is a sign of being successful…but it helps showcase my point much easily.

So, what happened? What changed? How did I go from earning ₦30,000 per month, to traveling out of the country to further my education in just a year?

It is simple.

I got a revelation of the principles of success!

There Are Principles Guiding The Secret Of Success

You see, there are certain laws that govern the way things happen on earth. I’m not talking about the laws of physics or chemistry.

No, I’m talking about the laws of life.

These laws have been established by God Himself such that their principles hold in the lives of any individual regardless of religious affiliation, age, sex or race.

An example of such law is the law of giving. Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you do, once you give, you would always receive.

God is not the author of confusion. No! He is the God of Order. He loves Order and He sets up Principles to maintain that Order. That’s how God works!

Let me share one of the success principles that God opened my eyes to see on Facebook.

For those who know me, Emeka Nobis is one of the top Nigerian thought leaders that I respect so much. Ever since one of my friends introduced him to me (through Facebook), I have joined every Facebook group he created because I always want to pick up his brains and suck all the nutrients that are in his words! I have read, and reread all his books that I have, and I keep thinking in my heart, “God, what must I do to consistently churn sense out, like Emeka Nobis?”

Nevertheless, early this year (or, maybe it was late last year), Mr. Nobis did something that threw most of his online followers (me, included) off balance. He closed down a Facebook group that he had spent time, sweat, blood, (and, maybe money too) to cultivate to over 5,000 members!

I remember when I first saw his announcement about closing down the group. Like others, I was a doubting Thomas who thought it was a publicity stunt, or something. When people pressed him and he opened up concerning the reason for his actions, it was remarkably simple. He wanted to FOCUS ALL HIS EFFORTS ON ONE COURSE!

As it turned out, Emeka Nobis did not need the 5,000+ group to reach his specific goals. And as far as I know, his decision to drop that group has seen his ministry move closer to the permanent site!

My dear, that is the principle of success, that God revealed to me through Emeka Nobis – Focus!

Meet FOCUS – A Key Secret to Success

Someone once said that FOCUS is an acronym for “Follow One Course Until Successful”.

Unfortunately, a lot of people are focused on too many right things at the same time!

They want to be Mozart, Dangote, Schwarzenegger, Bill Gates and Oyedepo at the same time!

Back in the days, I used to think it was cool to be focused on so many things at the same time. Now, I know that is not true!

If you go through the path of trying your hands on everything you come across, you would find yourself living under the illusion of being an expert when in the real sense, you are not. You will be spread out too thin and you will not be spectacular in anything.

When I say Messi, you think of soccer.

When I say Zuckerberg, you think of Facebook.

Messi will never be able to manage a multi-billion dollar company, and Zuckerberg will never be able to dribble past opponents with a drop of the shoulder.

Each man is an expert in his field.

My dear friend, the moment I realized that “Man was not made to be spread out thin. Rather, he was created to have depth!”, that was when I saw the errors of my ways.

That was when I realized that I did not need another website or another “brand” in order to be who, or, where God wants me to be.

That was when I realized that I needed to make the same decision as my boss, Emeka Nobis.

That was when I realized that I did not need to start “theplatinumstudentmillionaire.com” and scatter my efforts and focus all over the place.

That was when I realized that I will be operating wholly from the platform that God had given me

Finding Your One Thing Is A Secret To Success

I am choosing to FOCUS ON MY ONE THING which is my main website called “You Too Can Be Free”. Originally, I created the website to cater for people who were battling with sexual addictions, however, right now, as you can tell, it is much more than that! And I feel happy and blessed to be operating from the “You Too Can Be Free” platform. This is totally unlike what I felt when I was running “The Platinum Student Millionaire”, and putting myself in a position of constantly stressing unnecessarily.

It is kind of embarrassing for me to put myself out there and admit that I was wrong, but I feel that I owe you this explanation because I want you to learn from my mistakes and lead a full life of fulfillment.

I repeat, Man was not made to be spread out thin. Rather, he was created to have depth!

Ask yourself, “Are you in an uncomfortable situation in your life right now where you are constantly stressing?”

It could be because you are suffering from a broken focus.

Today, you are in multi-level marketing, tomorrow, you are in Real Estate, the day after that, you are back to Bitcoin!

If that is you, the problem is not the platform you are using.

The problem is your broken focus – as you keep on planting one day, and uprooting your seeds the very next day, without even waiting to see whether your seed germinated or not!

If you want to succeed, you need to make a decision to Focus One Course Until Successful!

That is the most powerful success principle that can be given to you by someone who loves you!

Understanding How Habits Work

Every habit/behavior (whether of man or of animal) is made up of a simple 3-step pattern. I call this the “ABC Cycle of Habits” and it goes this way…

Antecedent (the trigger that initiates the behavior. Some people refer to this as the “Reminder” or “Cue”)
Behavior (the action you are carrying out at a given time. Some people refer to this as the “Routine” or “Action”)
Consequence (the benefit you are going to get from the doing the behavior. This is also referred to as the “Reward”).

Even in your day-to-day activities, we see the same thing playing out.

For example, when you hear your phone ringing, here’s what happens:

Antecedent: Phone rings

Behavior: You answer the phone

Consequence: You found out the reason why the person called you.

Ultimate result: You develop the habit of always picking up your phone every time it rings

Here’s still another one

Antecedent: Children making noise beside you in a movie theater

Behavior: You change your seat

Consequence: Children’s noise no longer distracts you from the movie

Ultimate result: You develop the habit of changing your seat anytime you see noisy children in the cinema.

And the list goes on and on and on….

How The “ABC Cycle of Habit” Can Help You Quit Destructive Habits

When many people try to change their habits, they make the erroneous choice of trying to exercise more self-control or trying to build up their willpower. However, going through this route is often an exercise in futility and such individual would only end up being frustrated with beckoning on self-control and willpower every time. Right now, I am going to share with you 3 steps to using the “ABC Cycle of Habit” to shatter destructive habits once and for all…

Identify The Behavior You Want To Change

This is obvious enough. As you must have understood by now, to understand a habit, you need to identify the components of the habit cycle. Once you have identified the ABC Cycle of Habit powering your undesirable behavior, you can gradually start replacing older undesirable routines and behaviors with more desirable ones. For instance, assuming you are addicted to watching pornography (behavior), what kind of factors trigger you to search the internet to watch porn? Is it the feeling of boredom? Or that of loneliness? Then, you’d also need to ask yourself what is the reward you are seeking from such routine? Is it excitement? Relieve from stress? Freedom from boredom? Once you have been able to identify these components, it becomes easier to break down destructive habits and build up better ones.

Manipulate The Antecedents And Identify The Consequences

Granted, although we are familiar with what makes up the ABC Cycle of Habit, in the real world, everything is not so clear at first. This explains why so many people are still held captive by their destructive addictions. The only way you are truly going to identify the breakdown of your habit cycle is to experiment a lot. Assess different antecedents to find out what exactly triggers you into performing a habit. Again, using the porn addict’s example, different things may trigger his habit of surfing the net for porn. It could be boredom, stress, loneliness and many other kinds of antecedents. Use the following classification of antecedents to aid you: location, time of the day, emotional state, as well as the kind of people around you. You also want to pay attention to what you feel after you engage in the problem behavior to identify the real consequences you were really seeking for. Repeat this process of identifying your cues day to day until you can diagnose the ultimate cue that drives you towards your habit. Yes, while you are experimenting, you may fall back into the habit for a while, but it is essential not to beat yourself up for this because while prior, you had been held captive to the habit without any form of self-awareness, now, you are much more aware and more sensitive to the constituents of your habit loop. This would undoubtedly set you up for victory!

Follow Through With A Definite Strategy

Once you have identified the consequences and reward driving your behavior, the cues and antecedents that trigger it, as well as the behavior, by planning and manipulating the antecedents, you can change your behavior to a better one that delivers the same reward you are craving! For instance, in the example of the porn addict that has realized that he is more susceptible to watching porn when he is lonely (antecedent), he understands that he craves freedom from the loneliness (consequence), so he can replace the behavior of watching pornography with the new one of going out to see some friends. Similarly, the individual who wants to improve on his diet (new behavior) can get rid of all junk food in his apartment (antecedent), remove change from his pocket at work so as not to be tempted with buying junk food (antecedent), cook his healthy meal and bring them to lunch so as not to be tempted with buying junk food (antecedent). As a result, he would have a healthier body and mind (consequence)

Finally…

Sheer muscle and mere willpower do not have the ability to cause any long lasting changes in your habits. The way to leading a life of fullness and fulfillment is to tap from the wealth of power trapped up within your inner man and set yourself up by establishing systems and strategies that would help you succeed.

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Inward Observation, La Pausa, and How Questions Create Answers

The goal of inward observation is to identify your purpose in life.

Millions, if not billions of people have been haunted for ages by this question: What am I here for?

To answer that question, an individual has to take the time to observe himself.

The Message Bible translation of Galatians 6:4 says,

“Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that…”

Right now, I find it amusing that something so easy to do could be very difficult for people to handle. Ironically, it was once difficult for me to observe within.

I had more than my own fair share of contention with the question about my life’s purpose.

Back then, in my undergraduate days, whenever a guest speaker asked all those who did not know their purpose to come out for prayers, I always ended up in the front. Why? I didn’t know my life’s purpose because I had been totally ignorant of how people could observe inwards. The most amazing thing was that as soon as I was able to take hold of mastery in the art of inward observation, I was able to define my life’s purpose in a matter of moments.

To be able to observe inwards effectively, it is paramount for you to be able to still yourself.

We live in a day and age where it is becoming increasingly difficult to stay calm in the mind.

When our minds are not bugged with background noise in our immediate environments, we constantly pile up all the junk on TV down our streams of consciousness. And when we are not doing any of these, we are busy fiddling with our phones, going to Facebook and endlessly chatting away the units of our lives – time!

As it were, all the technological advancements that were intended to make life much easier for us have all seemed to make life more complicated. Look, I am not condemning watching TV, or interacting with other people on social media. I do all these too – but I try to be conscious of what an overexposure to these things would do to me. For many people, checking their Facebook News Feed is almost an automatic response when they wake up in the morning!

Pay attention to this: You are never going to discover your life’s purpose on Facebook, on the TV, or while responding to IMs on your favorite chat room. You’re only going to be able to discern and observe what you’ve got within you if you are able to still your mind from all kinds of noise that you would encounter in your life.

At this point, I must emphasize that the term ‘noise’ would not be limited to merely external disturbances to the sound waves in our immediate environment. Noise would also have to include all forms of mental clutter that fill our minds throughout the day.

When you find yourself constantly and continuously anxious about what you would eat or what you’d wear or what people say or think about you, you are unwittingly filling your mind with mental clutter.

When you are filled with doubt, uncertainty, negative self-talk, personal prejudices influenced by your cultural background, upbringing, and so on, you are unwittingly giving in to these mental noises.

Read this carefully: If you are in a quiet, noiseless environment, far away from the rumbles of the city, but your mind is in a state of clutter, you’d still be unable to harness the power of observing within!

‘La pausa’ and The Art of Inward Observation

I love football because it is a game of passion. It is a game of life too, as many life lessons can be learned from merely watching a game.

For instance, some teams are better than others in keeping possession of the ball. On the other hand, some teams prefer to sit deep and defend before launching a devastating display of lethal counterattacking football. It is frustrating to play against a team that is so good at keeping the ball, because of the negative psychology of playing almost an entire game of football – without the ball. Likewise, it is depressing to play against a team that decides to line up its entire team right in front of the goal post, because the team with the highest number of goals – not highest ball possession wins.

In instances like this, a stalemate is almost inevitable without the ‘la pausa’.

The ‘la pausa’ is an almost undetectable pause in play that is used by either an attacking team or a defending team to discomfit the opponents. The defense-oriented team can use it to wait for the fastest player on their team to be well positioned before launching a devastating counter. On the other hand, an attacking team can use the ‘la pausa’ to shatter organized defenses into creating passing lanes that were hitherto non-existent.

Both ways, the ‘la pausa’ works whether you are a defending team or an attacking one – and it would work for you if you’d just engage it.

How?

To tap into the power of observing within, you need to find a way of detaching your attention from the external noise of your surrounding environment, while also silencing all forms of mental clutter that may be fluttering about your mind at a given point in time.

In short, you have to pull off a ‘la pausa’.

Proverbs 20:5 says, ‘Counsel in the heart of a man is like deep water; but a man of understanding will draw it out’

As you are seated there, quietly poring over the letters of this book, you have counsel bubbling up within you already. It is this counsel that would inform you of the exact nature of your life’s purpose.

But there is no way you would be able to draw out counsel out of your heart if you do not take that pause from the noise of everyday living and negative self-talk. Once you are able to get those precious moments of silence, you’d find out that you’d start adopting the right frame of mind necessary for productive inward observation.

Questions About Inward Observation Point Out Answers

To start observing within you, you need to ask yourself a series of questions. There are endless amounts of questions that you may ask yourself – and the good thing about this exercise is that more questions would readily arise from the initial questions that you ask yourself.

There is a caveat, however. For this exercise to work out well, you need to be extremely sincere with yourself, while also trusting God to assist you with the quality of your answers. The easiest and most disastrous form of deceit that any man can fall a victim of is self-deceit. Jeremiah 10:23 says, ‘O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man that walketh to direct his paths’. You may ask yourself the right questions, but you would not get the right answers until you are sincere with yourself. God can help you out with that, if you’d ask Him.

To make it easier for those who are foraging into the world of inward observation for the first time, I would be leveraging on the SHAPE strategy developed by Pastor Rick Warren in his book, The Purpose-Driven Life. The acronym goes thus:

S = What are my Spiritual gifts and talents?

H = What is my Heart truly drawn to?

A = What areas can I easily make use of my Abilities?

P = What is peculiar about my Personality?

E = Which Experiences have I passed through that can help others that are passing through the same?

As you take the time to honestly ask yourself these questions, there would be a crystallization of possibilities you have within you. The truth is that God has already wired and shaped us uniquely – there are no two persons on the face of the earth that possess the exact same SHAPE.

All it takes is for you to take some time off to turn your eyes inwards and observe what you’ve already got within you. You can join the 30-Day Challenge which provides you an opportunity to develop inward observation habits that would place you on the path of the fulfillment of your life’s purpose and destiny.

Who Died And Made You God? [Hint: Your Opinions Do Not Matter]

Within the space of two weeks, two different people within my circle of influence were visibly shaken by other people’s opinions about them. One moment, we were talking and jesting, the very next moment, they were wrapped with so much doubt and uncertainty in themselves. What I found most appalling is the fact that nobody had been physically present to make them feel bad.

I can empathize since I was once a victim too.

I had always attached a large importance to what people thought about me. In fact, in a bid to maintain my “Nice Guy” persona, I went to great lengths to conform to other people’s expectations of me. Not only did this leave me in the quagmire of mediocrity, I was also constantly overwhelmed and frustrated, because I was spread out too thin, trying to “meet up with the standard”.

Right now, God has cultivated me to the point where I really could not give a rip about your opinions of me.

Remember this?

By the way, you can still get your copy!

Anyways, I may still have tendencies to be shy in a new environment, but I am secure in the love of the Father to know that He’s got me – any day, any time. Of course, by now, you should know that one of my favorite Scriptures I like to quote about this matter is John 12:3-5:

“Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.”

Are you like the way I used to be? Frustrated and overwhelmed with meeting up with the opinions of others? Pay attention to the following practical tips that may be helpful in helping you to a life of freedom and abundance – just as God wants it!

The Father, The Son And The…Donkey!

I’m sure I’ve heard Ebenezer Obey sing a song about the story I am about to share. Ah! The good ol’ days…

But I digress.

So, there was this old man who had a son and a donkey. They were apparently going on a long journey and the father put the boy on the donkey, while he walked by the side. As they moved along, they passed some old women sitting in the shade. One of the women called out (I’m pretty sure she was a Yoruba woman), ”Ahhhhhh…..Shame on you, a fully fit boy, riding while your old father is walking. What is this world turning to? Ahhhh….the children of nowadays!”

The man and boy decided that maybe the critics were right, so they swapped positions.

Later as they passed by a group of mothers watching their young children play by the river. One (Yoruba woman, of course!) cried out in protest, ” Ahhhhh….eh!!! Oooooooo!!! Ahnahn! Ahnhan! Ahnhan! Wat hapin na? How can you make your little boy walk under this terribly hot sun while you ride! Ahnhan…don’t you have any conscience?”

So, what did the duo do? They simply decided that maybe it would be in their best interest to walk.

Next, they met some young Warri men hanging out.

“Oboi! See craze o! You guys have a healthy donkey to ride on, and yet you’re both walking!” one of them shouted.

So, both the old man and his son climbed the donkey.

Then they met a group of Animal lovers….

Of course, one of them shouted, “You people are so mean! Imagine you were the donkey, how would you feel carrying two people on your back?”

The old man and the boy saw that there was clearly no way out of their ‘predicament’, so they struggled to carry the donkey.

As they crossed a bridge, they lost their grip on the really confused animal and it fell to its death in the river below!

This is pretty much the first lesson to be learnt: Irrespective of what you do, people would always talk about you!

If you do something, they would talk. If you refuse to do anything, they would still talk. It makes absolutely no difference if you do anything or not, because people would always find a way to still talk about whatever you do.

Funny enough, in my experience, I was able to find freedom to live above people’s opinions of me the moment I realized that opinions would still be formed – regardless of what I do. If that’s that’s the case, I might as well go ahead with what I feel God is leading me to do per time!

Nothing Has Meaning, Except The Meaning You Give To It

Some days ago, I wrote the following on my Facebook wall:

“All human phenomena are absurd outside context. E.g, money: ‘Give me this Ferrari and I’ll give you a piece of paper with digits. Deal?’”

I was with a person who posted Christian content on his personal Facebook wall.

Now, that would not have really mattered, except when you consider the fact that this person is a highly-placed individual in a very secular community. So, naturally, some people started criticizing him for posting such content.

That really got to him.

I mean, it’s not like he shared some nudity or pornographic images on his Facebook timeline. He only shared a few encouraging lines from the Bible and he was being criticized for it?

If you look at the issue the way I have started seeing things, you’d realize that some things do not even make sense at all, except you decide to read meanings. Everyone accesses social media via their phones and laptops and if you are working yourself up because someone criticizes you on social media, in the ‘realest‘ sense, you are actually getting worked up with your phone! Whoever is criticizing you online is not in the same room with you, and there is no need for you to waste mental energy rehearsing your rebuttal in your mind. There is simply no time for that!

I remember a story I heard while growing up. Now, don’t quote me anywhere because I’m not sure whether it’s fact or fiction.

So, this witch went to a party and she was served jollof rice and fried rice – topped with chicken wings. She took offense and some days later, she started afflicting the family who organized the party. One way or the other, the witch was soon found out and she was asked why she decided to afflict the family.

Her response? Her rice was topped with chicken wings, instead of chicken thighs!

While some of you might laugh at the story I just shared, a lot of you reading this post are just the same way. In fact, so many would be offended if they went to a party and were served water, instead of juice or wine. They would forget that water is probably the healthiest liquid you can drink. Rather, they would think that they have just received the worst insult that any human could possibly endure!

And don’t even get me started with those who feel offended because someone handed something over to them with their left hand – instead of the right hand….

Receive Understanding To Tie It All Together

You would not believe it (just kidding!), but God has an opinion.

He has an opinion about everything – and He has His opinion about you!

If there was ever an opinion you need to highly consider in your life – that opinion is God’s.

This is where Understanding comes in play.

You see, Understanding is a supernatural discernment and perception of reality from God’s point of view. In essence, it is perceiving and accepting God’s opinion about things, people and places per time.

The truth is that with Understanding, it is impossible for you to be confounded, depressed, confused or at a loss. Why? You have the benefit of a supernaturally elevated perception – one that is backed by the very breath of God. By understanding, you are tuned into the dynamics of the spirit and your comprehension of actions, events and intentions becomes razor-sharp.

To me, the most outstanding feature of understanding is that it is applicable to EVERY aspect of your life. That includes your physical well-being, career, social life, relationships, spiritual walk with God, emotional intelligence, financial health and so on.

Proverbs 8:9 says, ‘They are ALL plain to him that understandeth’

Understanding makes all things plain to an individual.

Understanding is all-encompassing.

When it’s in full manifestation in your life, you understand the ways and timings of God, you understand people, you understand things, and most importantly, you’d understand how God sees you.

He sees you as righteous.

He sees you as anointed.

He sees you as wise.

He sees you as forgiven.

God sees you as beloved!

The more you focus on God’s perspective of you, the more you can walk in the full awareness of God’s love – without anybody’s opinions holding you to ransom!

And if they try, you can look them squarely in the eyes and ask them, “Who Died And Made You God?!”

The Diet of Champions: How A Low-Information Diet Can Set You Up For Remarkable Success

I read a lot of books because I write a lot…

Or maybe I write a lot because I read a lot.

Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions”. Since books are compendiums of experiences, it is safe to assume that reading books can stretch the mind into new frontiers.

Last year was a great year of reading for me…I think I read about 50 – 60 books.

Pretty impressive, right?

However, I am starting to find out that I had been going about reading books the wrong way. I realized that I was focusing on ‘just-in-case’ information, rather than ‘just-in-time’ information. ‘Just-in-case’ information leads to action paralysis which is often due to mental clutter fluttering through the mind. You’re merely accumulating information just for its sake. You really don’t need that!

What you need is ‘Just-in-time’ information which would give you a competitive advantage over anything that life may throw at you.

David and Saul

When reading the story of David and Goliath, many people fail to realize that the war between the Israelites and the Philistines was that prolonged because of ‘Just-in-case’ information.

Take a look at the following verses from 1 Samuel 17:1-7, 16.

“Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him…

…And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.“

How were the Israelites able to measure Goliath’s height with stunning accuracy? Six cubits…and a span. It doesn’t get more accurate than that!

How were they able to know that his helmet was made of brass, and his coat made of mail…without even touching him?

How were they able to know that Goliath’s spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron, or that his coat weighed five thousand shekels of brass…all the way from the mountain where they were standing?

All these unnecessary information kept the Israelites captive to one man. For 40 days!!!

If they had put down their compasses, set squares, French curves and protractors, and simply got down to attacking the Philistine army, they might have had a shot at winning the battle.

If you can take this, you would be on the right path of simplifying your life greatly: Not every information is important!

I know this post started with mere accumulation of information from books, but it’s much more than that!

There are several of you reading this right now, who have been held captive to information overload from gossip blogs and news sites. For others, it is their Facebook feeds and emails. Still, others more (including yours’ sincerely), it is your favorite football team. You know your team’s latest scores, their transfer targets and the jersey numbers of everyone on the team – including the B team!

Regardless of the type of information, our minds are just being bombarded time and time again with ‘just-in-case’ information that we do not need.

I mean, who gives a rip about whether Kim Kardashian was really tanned or not?

How is knowing ‘the number of times Jon was stabbed when he was murdered at Castle Black’ going to benefit you?

Who cares whether EFCC has the best Twitter handler ever?

Not every information is important!

Goliath was trending and David didn’t even know!

This simple fact of David choosing to be ignorant about Goliath’s attributes and well-informed about the attributes of God positioned him for victory. What Saul and the Israelites saw as too big to defeat, David saw as too big to miss!

The Tetris Effect

If you’re old enough, I am sure you should be familiar with Tetris. You know, that game where you had to arrange falling blocks into empty pockets of space at the lower part of your game screen. If you were not able to do this fast enough and the blocks got to the high enough to stop more blocks from falling, it was game over.

Well, some scientists decided to have some more fun with this game.

So, they got a bunch of Tetris lovers and made them play the game for extended periods of time – up to hours a day for weeks!

Here’s the interesting thing that happened next.

The gamers started seeing everything around them like, wait for it…falling blocks!!!

It was terrible. I can almost imagine one of the participants just sitting there chilling and busy figuring out the kind of block that would fit into the space between two cars following each other!

However, you shouldn’t be surprised with the findings. The Bible had been right all this while and it’s always nice to see science finally catching up with the Word.

Whatever you focus on continually would manifest in your life!

This is why Proverbs 4:23 says, ‘Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.’

A lot of people are not are not diligent with what they allow to go into their hearts. This can happen in two major ways:

A lot of people are focused on all the wrong things. We are all aware that if you focus on the negatives, you would lead a stifled life. I’m not going to dwell too much on this.
A lot of people are focused on too many right things at the same time! I’m more concerned about this second way because it is much more prevalent in our day and time.

Back in the days, I used to think it was cool to be focused on so many things at the same time. In fact, I used to pride myself on my ability to multitask because I had multiple talents. However, if you go through the path of trying your hands on everything you come across, you would find yourself living under the illusion of being an expert when in the real sense, you are not. It would also force you to be spread out too thin – since you are simply trying your hands on everything and not spectacular in anything. Man was not made to be spread out thin. Rather, he was created to have depth!

This is why I say multitasking is the highway to mediocrity because the only thing you become good at doing is doing multiple things poorly!

There Is A Better Way

I have said it before – God is The God of Principles.

Sadly, we live in a generation that gets the order of God wrong every single time:

We first try to accumulate the information we think we need and then we try to ask God to approve our agenda. When we find out that the agenda does not work out, we dump it somewhere in the recesses of our brain – alongside the information we gathered with it.

Wasting precious time and mental resources.

And then, we look for the next shiny information source to consume.

The cycle always repeats itself again!

Listen up: God is deliberate.

I do not think He created us to be Jacks of all trades, and masters of none.

Just the same way each cell in our bodies has a specific purpose which contributes to the general well-being of the body, I believe every individual has something specific to contribute to God’s wonderful ongoing story of creation.

The only way to find that specific purpose that God wants you to do with your life is to ask Him to reveal this to you. Only then would it make sense to start accumulating as much information as possible on your highly specific assignment.

We were not created to be spread out thin like shrubs. Rather, God designed us to be trees with depth in Him.

Find your purpose in Him first!

Then you can start building depth in God through the Word and cultivating expertise through accumulating “just-in-time” information within that narrow niche.

God bless.

P.S: Join the 30-Day Challenge which provides you an opportunity to wean yourself off unhealthy habits that are limiting the fulfillment of your life’s purpose and destiny.