Category: NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES

Big Idea #1 From Me

If you want to change your life, changing your identity is often a good place to start.

But before you can understand how to change your identity, you need to understand 3 fundamental basics concerning identity.

First, you have multiple identities. A man can be a father, a son, a husband, an employer, a pastor, a spirit man and many more. The man possesses all these identities at the same time.

Second, your identity is not stable. Even though it appears to be stable, your perception of who you are, changes from time to time, based on the immediate context that you find yourself in. The same man that is an aggressive taskmaster as an employee at work becomes harmless, soft and emotional when playing with his newborn baby at home. It’s all in the context.

Thirdly, while identity is never stable because you have multiple identities at the same time, your desire to use your identity to make meaning of your life is always constant. This is why you would never act in a manner that is not consistent with your identity. If an action does not make sense to the identity that is on your mind at the moment, you would not follow through with it.

With that said, how can you change your identity to set yourself up for victory over sin and destructive habits?

The first step is to develop clarity about the new identity you desire to express constantly. For instance, as a believer, my identity is that I am born of the Spirit. As a result, I am a spirit too. What are my characteristics as one born of the Spirit? According to the Bible, it means that I am righteous, holy, and wise. Alternatively, you may decide that you want to be a serial, best-selling author. What are the characteristics of best-selling authors? Well, for one, they make time to write in the mornings and/or evenings every day!

Once you have clarity about the identity you wish you express in your life, you need to find a way to make that identity stay stable in your mind. The way this is done is through constant consciousness. And here is the part where a lot of us fall short. You cannot merely wish, woo, or command your consciousness of a particular identity to jump on you. The truth is that people are sensitive to what their immediate context implies for their identities. That is why stability in identity only comes from repeatedly experiencing contexts that overall feel the same over time. As a believer, this is referred to as ‘renewing of your mind’ where you consistently expose your mind to as many different contexts for the new identity you seek to manifest. For instance, being wise in my spiritual identity might mean resisting the devil in one context, while also meaning fleeing fornication in another context. The same thing is applicable in the example of the person who wants to be a best-selling author. By choosing to write every morning, you’re showing that you’re consistent and disciplined, which might also mean that you work out every evening in one context, while also meaning that you would not check your mails until 12 noon.

Finally, you need to have an interpretation and plan for the difficulties that you would inevitably encounter. Learn to reframe difficulties as important milestones you need to pass to reinforce your identity. For instance, as a believer, trials and temptations are bound to arise. However, when I rename these temptations or trials as pathways to growth, I am more likely going to keep my mind on the identity of being born of the spirit. Similarly, for the person that wants to write a best-selling book, a time would come when it would become a bit difficult to stay consistent and disciplined. The individual that interprets these difficulties as a necessary path to greatness would ride over the waves of challenges and would arrive at his expected destination in the long run.

When you operate from an identity paradigm, the difficulties you experience become the path you need to take to arrive at the better you that desire. The truth is that while your identity influences your actions, your actions also have an effect on your identity. When you act in a way that aligns with your desired identity, you reinforce that identity; and when you act in a way that does not align with your identity, you’re dismissing the importance of that identity you desire.

Big Idea #2 From Research

In their classic 1984 paper, Current Issues in Attribution Theory and Research, John Harvey and Gifford Weary reviewed the reasons why, as humans, we are often guilty of grossly overestimating the power that our personalities have on many aspects of our lives.

Yet, when you think about it, you’d realize that in your day-to-day activities, your environment is arguably at least as important as your personality.

Your environment influences the kind of options you have for food. For instance, yams do not grow in the United States, and as a consequence, they do not eat pounded yam. Similarly, apples do not grow in Nigeria, making it impossible to eat apple pies over there.

The environment also plays a key role in the type of clothes you will wear, which will, in turn, affect your appearance. Take a moment and ponder on this: No matter how fanatic an individual is as a Christian, she will still put on a shawl if she happens to be in the deserts of the Middle East. Failure to do so will make her vulnerable to the dusty winds of that region.

When you reduce the idea of what one eats or wears to the barest concept, you’d find them for what they really are.

They are decisions that you make without actively thinking.

Why? Because the environment you are situated in determines the range of your choices.

My point is simple: If the environment can influence our decisions in the form of the food we eat, or the clothes we wear, why do we fail to see its impact on other aspects of our decision making?

It’s because we are all guilty of committing the Fundamental Attribution Error.

According to researchers, the fundamental attribution error is the tendency to underestimate environmental factors and overestimate the role of personality in determining all forms of behavior – including quality decision making.

And you see the result in our societies today:

People identify as depressed individuals, while totally ignoring the fact that they might be in a depressing physical or social environment.

There are discontented individuals and families all over the world who are neck-deep in debt but fail to see how the prevalent culture of materialism and immediate gratification has made them vulnerable to buying unnecessary things.

Your personality may affect the quality of your decisions, but your environment is the real game-changer. It will make or break you.

Big Idea #3 From Bible

Romans 4:20-22 says, “He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed unto him for righteousness”

The first thing we note is that Abraham did not waver at all concerning God’s promises for him. In his epistles to the early church, James explains that anyone who wavers is not walking in faith and as a result, such person cannot (that is, “is totally unable to”) receive anything from God.

Abraham refused to waver. Instead, he grew stronger as a result of his being empowered by faith. And how did Abraham get empowered by faith? He gave praise to God!!! Abraham arrived at a point where he was established and firmly rooted in his faith in God. He abounded and multiplied in that faith as a result of thanksgiving to God. Never underestimate the power of thanksgiving and praise, they go a long way in helping you release your faith in God.

Abraham was fully confident and assured that the same God who had promised him was also able and mighty enough to keep the Word that had been promised. In response, God declared Abraham to be a righteous man!!!

This is a very, very profound truth. If you can grasp it, this truth has the potential to change how you view God’s righteousness.

You see, it’s amazing how people can easily believe that God spoke the entire world into existence. In fact, we find it relatively easy to believe that God’s Word “became flesh and dwelt among us”.

Yet, when it comes to righteousness by faith, we find ourselves at our wit’s end.

All Abraham did was to believe God’s Word and God looked at Abraham and said, “YOU ARE A RIGHTEOUS MAN!!!”

Do you know what I consider to be the most amazing thing about this truth?

It is the promise itself!

According to the account of this story in Genesis, we realize that God’s promise to Abraham was a son. Not that Abraham would be saved or won’t go to hell!

And because Abraham believed with every fiber of his being, he was put in right standing with God as a man who had had righteousness ‘credited’ into his account.

If God could do this mightily for a man who believed God’s promise for a son, why do you still find it difficult to relate with the truth that God’s grace has saved you and you have received God’s righteousness by faith?

May the Lord grant you understanding in these things.

Big Idea #1 From Me

In the days of old, paper was a scarce commodity because of the amount of sheer effort that went into producing it.

Back then, if you had access to paper, it was because you had something worth writing about. And because you didn’t want to waste paper, you had to give sufficient thought to whatever you were going to write.

This is one big reason a lot of classic books are very dense in meaning – paper was hard to come by and only the highest quality ideas and thoughts were ever transcribed. (If you are a Christian, this will make you appreciate the Bible more)

To be educated meant two things: (1) You could give considerable thought to your ideas before condensing them to words written on scarce paper. (2) You could also unpack the meanings in the dense words and expound upon these meanings in a way that the common man could grasp.

In fact, the root word for educate is the Latin word “educere” which describes the process of drawing one thing out of another. In other words, if you were not skilled at extracting actionable meaning from condensed words, you were not educated.

Today, the story is very different.

The abundance of paper, and later word processors, and now the internet, means that though more people can read and write, fewer and fewer people are educated in the original sense of the word. That explains why there is an abundance of low-quality information, ideas and books out there – particularly in the past 20 – 30 years.

The world is filled with mindless readers and writers who live like programmed robots executing the same poorly-written line of code. Very few people are giving considerable time to their thoughts before they dispense them into cyberspace. In any case, even fewer people are willing to use their heads for more than a hat rack. The vast majority of people are only interested in viral tweets and the latest scandal in town. 

Understand this: There is a whole realm of possibilities available to the ones who choose to break away from conformity to mediocrity and become educated. These are the people who understand that we’re in a battle of words, and only the ones who have a mastery of words will win.

Big Idea #2 From Research

In their classic 1993 article, The role of deliberate practice in the acquisition of expert performance, Anders Ericsson and his colleagues were interested in uncovering the factors that distinguished elite performers from the “just okay” performers.

In one of their studies which focused on violin players, Ericsson and his colleagues discovered two major differences between the elite violinists and the “just okay” violinists. 

First, the elite violinists saw practice very differently from the “just okay” violinists. For the “just okay” violinists, every opportunity they had to play the violin was considered practice. That means that if they were playing to relax, or playing for an audience, or playing songs they already knew by heart – all these were considered as practice. 

On the other hand, the elite violinists’ perception of practice was very different. They did not see playing for an audience, or playing in the “zone” as enough to improve their performance. Their approach was to spend a relatively short burst of time, say 60 – 90 minutes, on specific activities that improved their level of performance. The elites were not practicing merely for the fun of it. Neither were they repeating things they already knew. Rather, they were painfully concentrating on the weaker aspects of their performance, getting feedback, and using that feedback to improve their performance. They usually did not enjoy this form of practice, but went on with it because they knew it would make them better.

Second, the elite violin players slept more than the “just okay” group. This is something that athletes understand perfectly. Because of the constraints of the human body, one should not practice hard things indefinitely. Doing so will only increase the probabilities of injury and failure. After a burst of intensity, you need time to rest. In addition to helping you recover from your efforts, resting has been empirically shown to consolidate what you have learned into your memory. This makes it much easier to recall the new skill when the need arises.

My key takeaway is how this paper throws a wrench into the 10,000-hour rule popularized by Malcolm Gladwell in his book – Outliers. Incidentally, Gladwell got the idea of 10,000 hours of practice by reading Ericsson’s paper. What he left out from the book, however, was the type of practice you should be doing in those 10,000 hours. If you are staying in your comfort zone, simply repeating something you are already familiar with, you will never reach elite levels in your domain of expertise. On the other hand, if you spend just 30 minutes a day deliberately improving upon a specific weakness in your skillset, you could reach the top of your niche in no time.

Big Idea #3 From Bible

1 Peter 2:21 – 22 says, “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth”

In the personal development space, one of the traits touted for success in life is consistency. As a writer, you are encouraged to keep writing, day-in-day-out. If you are an athlete, you are told to show up for training everyday. If you are into sales, you must continue to market your products and services in order to make the breakthrough. 

While viewing consistency in this way is useful, there’s another side of consistency that is overlooked.

Jesus Christ is described as having no guile. This does not just imply that He always told the truth. It also means there was a union, or if you want – a consistency, between His thoughts, His beliefs and His words.

There is a reason we are drawn to authentic people. It’s not because they are paragons of virtue (although they may be). Neither is it because they are charismatic (although they may be). Rather, it is because we can listen to them and conclude, “I’m getting all of this person – nothing more, nothing less”. We weigh their words and find them void of guile and pretense.

I’ve come to realize something simple about life: When there is a consistency between your beliefs, your thoughts and your words, every sentence you speak is backed with conviction and power. It also follows that the greater the divide between your words and your beliefs, the weaker your position in life. Christians understand this principle when it comes to the place of prayer, but fail to apply it to other aspects of their lives.

This week, I encourage you to try this simple exercise: Before you say anything, ask yourself, “Do I really believe this?” Like most people, you may be shocked with how inconsistent the various parts of your essence really are.

Big Idea #1 From Me

Paul Volcker, former Chairman of the US Federal Reserves, once said, ‘In a crisis the only asset you have is your credibility.’

By extension, this means as an influencer, you shouldn’t pull instructions out of thin air and advise the populace to act on that.

However, this is not the case in the area of public policy making.

Many policies are based upon the work of theorizers who really have nothing to lose in the event that things go wrong. If things go fine, they get the accolades and if things go wrong, they are still able to publish their theories in journal articles and opinion pieces of popular newspapers.

You see the same patterns play out in the online marketing and personal development space. As with the policy theorists, many people in this niche do not have anything to lose. If things go as planned, they get a testimonial out of you. And if things do not go as planned, you’d still have spent your $2599 on their courses.

Here’s a useful heuristic: Before you commit yourself to any individual’s advice, ask yourself, what does he have to lose if he is wrong?

Big Idea #2 From Research

In his now classic 1940 journal article, Science and linguistics, Benjamin Lee Whorf proposed the controversial position that the way we think about the world is influenced by our language.

As humans, we like to hold ourselves up as rational beings that have used the power of intellect to bring nature to its knees. We cite the examples of Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein – the great men of science whose elegant mathematical formulas form the foundations upon which our present understanding of the physical world is built.

Yet, we take for granted the role that the language they spoke played on the way they thought.

For instance, in English, sentences take the form of actor-action. So, we say, ‘The boy is running’ or ‘Lightning is striking’. In contrast, in Hopi, a language spoken by a Native Indian tribe in North America, sentences take the form of action duration. Therefore, instead of saying ‘The boy is running’, the Hopi people will say ‘Running’, and instead of saying ‘Lightning is striking’, they will simply say ‘Lightning’.

This slight distinction in language implies that to those who speak English, an action can never occur in isolation – there must always be an actor responsible for causing the action. In contrast, the Hopi are satisfied with actions without a cause.

The same event occurring in the world evokes a reaction in the observer that is dependent on the language he/she thinks in!

My key takeaway is perfectly articulated by following parable told by David Foster Wallace:

There are these two young fish swimming along, and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys, how’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the hell is water?”

Just like the two young fish who were unconscious of the role that water played in their existence, we all take for granted the roles that our language plays in how we think.

Big Idea #3 From the Bible

Genesis 18:8 says, ‘And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.’

For context, Abraham had discerned that certain sojourneying men were not ordinary. So, he stopped them from their travels, had their feet clean and prepared a sumptuous meal for them.

Then, he waited.

Christians are often encouraged to wait upon the Lord. Unfortunately, many go about it the wrong way. For many, waiting is a passive process where you simply fold your arms and wait for events to unfold.

The image that Abraham presents us is a totally different depiction of the waiting process. For Abraham, waiting was similar to what a waiter in a high-end restaurant does to patrons.

The waiter does not passively fold his arms hoping to be of service when the occasion arises. Rather, the waiter is always on standby – waiting with an expectation to meet the patron’s needs.

That was the attitude Abraham had on that sunny day at the plains of Mamre. He didn’t just hurriedly serve the travellers a meal.

He also waited with the waiter’s expectation for the Word to drop.

Needless to say, that’s what happened moments later:

Genesis 18:10: ‘And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son…’

I don’t know what you are trusting God for in your life, but I want you to always remember this: Waiting, done right, is never passive.

May the LORD give you understanding in these things.

Big Idea #1 From Me

I recently read the interesting story of a 20th-century lion tamer named Clyde Beatty.

He lived in an age where many lion tamers of the time died in the line of duty.

Yet, Clyde Beatty lived till he was 62 years and when he died, it was from cancer, rather than from being mauled by a lion.

So, what did Beatty do differently? Well, it turns out that he was one of the first people to adopt the use of a chair and a whip in his lion taming act.

You see, when a lion tamer is performing his act, he always ensures that the chair is held in the lion’s face. This doesn’t only maintain a physical distance between the lion and the performer, it also confuses the lion. Why? Because it is focusing on all four legs of the chair at the same time, rather than on the tamer.

Many people today are just like the lion in the tamer’s act!

Just like the lion is immobilized by focusing on all legs of the chair at the same time, many people are immobilized into mediocrity because their attention is pulled in all different directions.

Understand this: The world out there is always waving a chair in your face every time. And as long as your eyes are on the legs of the chair, rather than the meal, you will continue to be locked in the cage of unfulfilled potential. 

Big Idea #2 From Research

“Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk” by Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky is one of my favorite journal articles of all time. 

One of the ideas that stood out to me was the manner in which people think about probabilities, or the likelihood that something will happen.

People have a tendency of not thinking about the probability of an event, but rather the impact of that event. And this is reflected in their decision making process.

For instance, assume I’m about to toss a coin.

If I asked you to choose between head and tails, you will probably pick one side at random. Why? Because you know that every coin has a 50% chance of giving you a Head and a 50% chance of giving you a Tail.

What if, before flipping the coin, I told you that I will give you $1000 if the outcome is Heads?

Most people will subconsciously weigh “Heads” more valuable than “Tails” – even though the likelihood of either option is still 50% each!

This human tendency to subconsciously overweigh the likelihood of an outcome is the reason why people continue to gamble. The probability of winning the big payout is very, very small. But since the impact of winning is BIG, gamblers overweigh their chances and continue to gamble.

My key takeaway is simple. You might be thinking you don’t gamble, or engage in other socially unacceptable behaviors. But I want you to think about how you are handling your health or finances. Who knows, your preferences might just be revealing how you are underweighing your chances of experiencing the outcomes of unhealthy physical and fiscal behaviors.

Big Idea #3 From the Bible

Proverbs 3:1-2 says, ‘My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.’

‘Length of days’ and ‘long life’ are two concepts that took a while for me to differentiate.

People are more familiar with the concept of long life, which literally means growing to a full, old age before expiring.

Length of days, on the other hand, expresses a situation whereby the individual who understands its operation is able to milk from 1 day what others attain in a month, or a year!

I know this is not intuitive to the logical individual, but when you realize that (1) time is a property bound to the physical realm, and, (2) God is spirit – He transcends the physical, you will have no choice but to agree that partnership with the Father is the Ultimate productivity hack!

May the Lord give you understanding in these things. 

Big Idea #1 From Me

Carl Jacobi was a 19th-century German mathematician that made a lot of profound contributions to the field of differential equations.

One thing that made this possible was Jacobi’s problem-solving approach.

He believed that when you invert already known facts in a particular discipline, you can reveal additional knowledge that was hitherto unknown.

That’s why, as a professor, Jacobi always encouraged the graduate students under him to always invert the known confines of the field and examine what they found there.

When this method is applied to everyday living, you’re equipped with an unrivaled clarity of thought.

For instance, instead of asking yourself, What do I need to do to make money?, you can ask, What do I need to do to lose money? Chances are doing this will open your eyes to areas of your life where you’re not being a good steward of money.

Instead of asking, What do I need to do to stay productive?, ask, What do I need to do to waste my day? Again, this exercise will help you identify the simple tweaks you can make to your day to boost your productivity.

Many times, humans are unidirectional in their thinking.

We like to think in a particular way because contrarian thinking takes effort.

As a result, we imagine that the elusive secret to success can be attained only by accumulating more knowledge and wealth.

Through inversion, you’d realize that most times, less is more.

Big Idea #2 From research

In a journal article titled, Overconfidence in Case-Study Judgements, Stuart Oskamp asked a group of doctors and students to provide correct answers to a series of questions about a real person nicknamed ‘Joseph Kidd’.

The information about Joseph Kidd was presented in 4 stages, with questions asked after each stage. In addition to providing correct answers, participants were also required to answer how confident they were about their answers.

Stage 1 contained brief demographic information about Kidd like age, gender and so on.

Stage 2 had information about Kidd’s childhood.

Stage 3 contained information about Kidd’s education.

Stage 4 had information on other activities that Kidd was involved in till he clocked 29 years.

In all, the participants were asked 25 questions about Kidd.

On average, no one (even the doctors) got up to 30% of the questions right.

Yet, in spite of the poor accuracy of their answers, the more information a participant had about Joseph Kidd, the more confident they were in their answers. And there was no difference between the doctors and the students!

My key takeaway is something I’ve nearly flogged to death.

More information doesn’t necessarily translate into better decision-making.

That’s why I’ve stressed countless times that you don’t need to know everything. You only need a revealed knowledge of what works and the wisdom to work it out.

Big Idea #3 From the Bible

1 Chronicles 28:12a, 19 says: “And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit…All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by His hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern”

One thing I established in my book “Mastering the Art of Observation” is the fact that the unseen realm is the causal realm.

The blueprint for life in the physical realm is found in the unseen.

Even Genesis 1:1 attests to that.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

The action word “created” is in the past tense form, implying that everything was already finished in the beginning.

When you have an understanding of this, like David, you can simply align with patterns in the unseen realm and crystallize their physical analogs in the seen realm – irrespective of the uncertainties in the world system.

If there’s any prayer you should heartily pray this season, it’s this:

Father, open the eyes of my understanding to see the patterns for my life, destiny, and situation.

May the Lord give you understanding in these things.

Big Idea #1 from me

In 1995, the administration of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA released grey wolves into the park.

In less than 6 years after the introduction of the wolves, regions of the park that had been barren was now crowded with trees.

Even more remarkable, due to the presence of trees, there was less soil erosion and new pools began to form in the park, where there had been none before.

All because of the addition of wolves into the park!

Ecologists call this type of animals keystone predators.

In the absence of wolves, the balance in the ecosystem was distorted. 

Because grazing animals were left unchecked by their predators, the grey wolf, their population in the park exploded.

In no time, unhindered overgrazing left vast portions of the land barren.

In a similar example, there’s evidence that thousands of years ago, North Africa and the Middle East used to be lush with green vegetation – yes, even the Sahara and Arabian deserts!

But, do you know what else was present at the time?

Lions! A keystone predator that brought balance into that ecosystem

The extinction of lions in that region correlated with dramatic climatic changes that led to the hot, arid Arabia and North Africa we know today.

My point?

You are a creative partner with God in the institution of order in the midst of chaos.

You were placed on earth for a reason and when you don’t play your role, you cause an imbalance in the ‘ecosystem’.

There are destinies attached to you.

There are other people’s stories that will not happen until you step up and fill your gap.

You are the answer to somebody’s prayer.

Awake from your slumber. Put on your strength. Put on your beautiful garments.

Arise and shine!

Big Idea #2 from Research

In a paper titled, “Implications of the Copernican principle for our future prospects“, astrophysicist J. Richard Gott III describes how in 1969, he visited the Stonehenge (which was estimated to be over 3000 years old) and the Berlin Wall (8 years at the time).

Gott then wondered which of the two structures will outlast the other.

As you probably know, the Berlin Wall was destroyed in 1991, while Stonehenge continues to exist to this day.

Gott then mathematically proposed an argument that the longer a thing exists, the more likely it will continue to exist.

This has been popularly called the Lindy Effect.

My takeaway is simple: More often than not, older is better. 

Books that were written hundreds of years ago but are still in print today contain more wisdom and practical knowledge than books written in the past 10 – 20 years. And because of their current longevity, these classics will also continue to remain relevant for the next 1000 years.

The same pattern repeats itself in medicine.

Herbs were used by our forefathers to cure ailments and they still remain relevant today. On the other hand, numerous ‘modern’ drugs have been replaced. For instance, as a young child, I remember using chloroquine pills to treat malaria. Artemisinin and other drugs have long since taken the place of chloroquine as the go-to cure for malaria.

This point is instructive: While everybody is shouting about futurism and cutting edge technology, you will be better served to at least keep one hand on systems and structures that the Lindy Effect has vetted.

Big Idea #3 from the Bible

Proverbs 2:6 says, “For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”

Many people mistakenly interpret knowledge as information.

As a result, they strive to consume as much information as they can. Usually, this leads to information constipation, where the individual is whipped into a state of action paralysis.

One of the Hebrew words translated “knowledge” is “madda”, which literally means “intelligence”.

Staff members of the CIA and FBI are usually called intelligence officers.

This isn’t because they are encyclopedias of knowledge, but rather because they have a specific, privileged awareness of the variables of a specific situation.

In the same vein, the men of Issachar were called men of understanding because they had privileged, revealed knowledge of what Israel had to do per season.

Understand this: Life is complicated as it is. There’s information everywhere – plenty of noise, little signal.

You really don’t need to know everything there is to know!

You only need to have the revealed knowledge of what works and the wisdom to work it out.

May the Lord give you Understanding in these things.

Big Idea #1 From me

If you’ve noticed, I’ve not written anything explicitly about the COVID-19 pandemic.

This doesn’t mean I’m trivializing the whole situation.

As a man of science, I’ve been taking necessary precautions to reduce the probability of being infected.

But as a man of science with a Christian worldview, here’s my two cents about the currently unfolding events:

1. God is a good God and He always has an agenda.

This means two things: (a) God did not cause the Coronavirus to happen. He’s not using the virus to punish the sins of humanity. Coronavirus is happening because we live in a fallen world. It’s the same thing that plays out when droughts, famine, fires, etc. happen. (b) Coronavirus did not catch God unawares. It’s not like God was planning something and then the virus came from nowhere to ruin his plans. No, God always has His Ultimate agenda and His agenda will always come to fruition.

2. God’s agenda and systems for executing His plans are robust.

This also means two things: (a) In times of certainty, there are absolutely zero downsides to being sensitive to His agenda, and, (b) In times of uncertainty (like this season), aligning with God’s system is the surest foundation upon which you can build your life. That’s the way the economics of God’s Kingdom works, as opposed to the world system which crashes as the slightest hint of unpredictability.

Big Idea #2 From Research

In the journal paper titled, “Violence Risk Assessment and Risk Communication”, Paul Slovic and his colleagues asked some mental health experts to determine whether it was safe to discharge a psychiatric patient, Mr. Jones, who had a history of violence.

The mental health experts were divided into two groups.

To experts in group 1, they were told that people similar to Mr. Jones had a 10% chance of being violent again after being discharged.

On the other hand, those in group 2 were told that out of every 100 patients similar to Mr. Jones, 10 were likely to be violent after being discharged.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

At the end of the experiment, experts who received information in the form of numbers (Group 2) were two times more likely than experts who received the same information in the form of percentages (Group 1) to deny the discharge.

Simply put, because of the way the information was presented to them, experts in Group 2 were twice as likely as experts in Group 1 to see Mr. Jones as a threat to society.

My key takeaway is that the motives of the information-bearer largely determines the manner in which information will be presented to you.

There’s an indication that if people want to play up the significance of a particular statistic, they are more likely to present it to you as raw numbers.

For instance, telling people “1 out of 1000 people who eat XYZ will get cancer” tends to be taken more seriously than saying “0.1% of people who eat XYZ will get cancer”. 

Be wise in your information consumption during this period.

Big Idea #3 From the Bible

2 Chronicles 26:5 says, “And he sought God in the days of Zechariah, who had understanding in the visions of God: as long as he sought the LORD, God made him prosper”

The distinguishing factor in Zechariah’s life was his understanding in the visions of God.

This doesn’t merely mean that Zechariah could see visions and dream up dreams.

It’s deeper than that.

It means Zechariah was in tune with God’s agenda per time and was able to interpret this agenda to king Uzziah, who is turn took appropriate actions and ended up prosperous.

In times of uncertainty, the world is always searching for interpreters who can make sense of the times and seasons.

Understand: Trends will pass, fads will wither, but those who can interpret God’s agenda will remain irreplaceable.

May the LORD give you understanding in these things

Big Idea #1 From Me

At any given moment in time, there’s a range of behaviors you can perform.

I call this your behavioral repertoire.

Here’s an example that will help you visualize what I mean:

As you are seated/lying down in your bedroom, reading these words, you can decide to stand up and touch the wall closest to you. The probability of this happening is high, right?

Do you also know that you are capable of touching the ceiling with your feet?

But the probability of that behavior happening is very low. As a result, that behavior is collapsed within your repertoire. That’s why you probably can’t recall a time when you placed your feet on the ceiling in your room, even though it is something that is possible.

Now, let’s assume someone brings a double-bunk bed to your room and asked you to sleep on the top bunk. What would happen to the probability of you putting your feet on the ceiling (if you choose to)?

It will increase dramatically!

In life, some behaviors in your repertoire will bring you closer to your destiny, while others will collapse opportunities, thus taking you away from the destination God had prepared for you from the foundations of the world.

And still, some behaviors in your repertoire will never be expressed unless there are enabling factors in your immediate environment.

Here’s the wisdom in the paradigm:

• Amplify those behaviors that will bring you closer to the fulfillment of your potential.
• Extinguish those that will take you away from destiny.
• Stay sensitive to discern whether a change is necessary in your environment for the right behaviors to be expressed.

Big Idea #2 From Research

In a study titled “Hedonic Consequences of Social Comparison: A Contrast of Happy and Unhappy Individuals”, researchers Sonja Lyubomirsky and Lee Ross asked people to teach children simple maths.

The people were divided into 2 groups.

For some, after they had taught the children, they were told ‘good job’. For others, in addition to being told they had done a good job, they were also told that other participants had done a better job.

After receiving feedback, the two groups of participants were asked to rate how happy they felt about their job performance.

Unsurprisingly, those who received the extra information in the form of comparison to an alternative group were less happy than those who were just told they did a good job.

My key takeaway is this: Don’t build your happiness on things that change. If you’re hell-bent on comparing yourself with others, you’d find that there’s always going to be someone wealthier, prettier, or more knowledgeable. If you must compare, compare yourself with where you’re coming from and where you’re headed to. Remind yourself: The story isn’t over yet!

Big Idea #3 From the Bible

Ecclesiastes 1:9, 11 says, “The thing that had been is that which shall be, and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there’s no new thing under the sun…There’s no remembrance of the former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that come after”

Every question you’d ever ask on this side of eternity has been answered in some shape or form by people in the past.

This reminds me of a quote by German poet, Friedrich von Schlegel, who said, ‘The historian is a prophet in reverse’

By being a student of history, you can identify patterns in the past that will position you for opportunities in the present and future, when they arise.

This principle applies to both your personal history and historical events in general.

History is valuable when it compounds. However, if your memory of it decays over time, it will be useless to you.

Unless you take deliberate effort to harness the power of revisiting history, you will always be caught up in the present moment without an understanding of your roles in it. 

There’s a reason the men of Issachar (1 Chron 12:32) were called men of understanding…

May the Lord give you understanding in these things.

Big Idea #1 From Me

One price of success is the higher scrutiny you will be subject to.

Perhaps the reason you’re still at your current level is because of the private battles you’ve not won yet.

Perhaps God is protecting you and you’re experiencing a dimension of grace to change your ways before it’s too late.

Everyone knows the role that Martin Luther King Jr (MLK) played in the civil rights movement.

Naturally, because of his prominent role in the struggle against inequality, MLK was subject to greater scrutiny by the powers that be.

What they found wasn’t pretty.

Behind the cool, calm and charismatic Reverend that gave the “I have a dream” speech, the FBI found a man who drank, smoked, spoke vulgar and had multiple sexual partners.

While some of the FBI findings were released sometime in 2019, this image of MLK had been painted by his associates in books they wrote as far back as the 1980s.

If you look through the annals of history, you’d find it littered with the blood and bones of great men who may have gotten public victories but were limited by their private battles.

I’m reminded of the story of the two wolves:

‘A fight is going on inside every person. It’s a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil and the other is good. The wolf that will win is the one that is fed”

This story is instructive.

Take care of your private battles. Do everything in your power to avoid joining the list of casualties on the road to destiny.

Big Idea #2 From Research

In his journal paper titled, “The Effect of Language on Economic Behavior: Evidence from Savings Rate, Health Behavior and Retirement Savings“, researcher Keith Chen showed that people who spoke languages which made no separation between the present and the future were more likely to make good decisions in the present that led to better future outcomes.

Consider two languages: English and Chinese.

Suppose you want to tell someone that you’re going to save money when you get paid your salary at the end of the month.

If you’re speaking English, you’d say:

“I WILL save money at the end of the month”

As you can see, there’s a separation between the present and the action you want to take in the future.

On the other hand, in Chinese, that separation doesn’t exist. A Chinese speaker wanting to express the same idea will say something which when translated to English will mean,

“I save money at the end of the month”

By running analysis with tons of data from different countries, the study demonstrated that people from cultures where the language did not separate the present from the future were more likely to save more, retire with wealth, smoke less and maintain a healthy weight. This seems to support the hypothesis that the way ‘future time’ is talked about influences the way ‘future time’ is thought about. If your language prevents you from seeing your future as disconnected from your present, you are less likely to take your actions in the present with levity.

My key takeaway from the study is that your words have an impact on your thoughts which will, in turn, influence your actions. To change your life, start with the manner you speak.

Big Idea #3 From the Bible

Proverbs 21:5 says, “The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, but everyone that is hasty only to want”

The word translated “diligent” implies the continual act of mining for gold or digging a trench.

No one digs for gold by striking the topsoil once with a shovel before giving up.

Yet, when we think, we don’t hold our thoughts and spiritual impressions long enough for them to take root.

The Bible promises that if you’re diligent with the thoughts that God impresses upon your heart in the same manner a man mining for gold continues to digs, you will lead a fulfilling life.

Perhaps the reason you’re facing chaos in your life is because you’re too hasty in thought – refusing to consider a thought long enough before jumping into your next bout of busyness and distraction.

May the Lord grant you understanding in these things.