I am currently doing an online MBA with University of Nicosia, Cyprus. It's very cheap and I get to spread the payment over 24 months. But now that I have started I think it's not that cheap, I got exactly what I paid for. No instructor interaction, no response to questions and no guidance. However, I have decided to make it work for me. I need the knowledge for my business and luckily the course materials are very good ones with lots of recommended reading.
image: poetsandquants.com

I have two assignments due in 7 days. 

 One requires me writing a 5,000 word essay (with referencing) on my new role as the HR Manager of a sports apparel company that has 500 employees and 20 managers and is planning to expand internationally. I would be the first HR Manager the company is hiring and I am to develop a detailed case for why they need my expertise and why they should make me a strategic partner in achieving their corporate goals, and just see me as someone to manage the recruitment of people, pay negotiation, training and other reactive administrative tasks. I am 68% into the assignment. Written 3,417 of the 5,000 words required, all in one day: yesterday.

 The other assignment requires about 4,000 words. Four questions that require a 1000 word essay each. I hope I meet the deadline of next week Friday. It won't be nice to redo (repay) for the module.

 To take my lazy man approach, I will be sharing with you the first page of my essay (I just remembered that there is a plagiarism detection software that might flag my final essay if I do that).

 So I will share with you an interesting article I came upon will researching online.

 How Google Became The Best Company To Work For (FastCompany, 2013)

 Few businesses in the world’s history have had as profound an impact on human life in such a short period of time as Google.

 Pause to consider that just 15 years ago, Google’s search engine, now used globally over 100 billion times a month, didn’t exist. Products most of us take for granted, including Google Maps, Gmail, Translator, Google Earth, and Android all were created since 1998 when Larry Page and Sergey Brin cofounded the firm with the soaring ambition of making the world’s information available to everyone.

 To punctuate the obvious, Google’s inventive achievements in a mere decade and a half are simply stunning.

 But in Google’s short lifespan, it has also grown from a two-man startup to an organization with nearly 37,000 employees in 40 different countries. This notable and relentless workforce expansion begs the very important question: How have they successfully managed and integrated all these new people while concurrently motivating them to be consistently loyal, ambitious, innovative, and productive?

 Over the past few years, the media’s coverage of Google has given considerable focus to the incomparable—and seemingly over-the-top—perks the company bestows on its workers. We’ve all seen photos of the bowling alleys, billiard tables, and people getting free haircuts during work hours. We know everyone gets free food, gym memberships, and even Wi-Fi-outfitted shuttle rides to work.

 Perhaps because so few of us can relate to an organization with this much generosity, we’ve instinctively judged them as an outlier. When we hear about Lego rooms and pets being allowed at work, we draw the conclusion that Google’s phenomenal success, not to mention its top ranking on Fortune's "Best Places To Work" list for the past two years, is entirely a result of these seemingly extravagant benefits.

 But this simply isn't the case.
What few in business know is that Google has devoted the same level of intellectual firepower it used to create self-driving cars to discovering, refining, and implementing leadership practices that optimize human performance in the workplace.
Upending traditional leadership theory, which directs organizations to squeeze as much out of people while paying them as little as possible, Google holds an authentic reverence for its employees and seeks to not just appeal to their uber-developed minds in motivating performance, but also to their very human hearts...

 You can read the entire article here: http://www.fastcompany.com/3007268/where-are-they-now/not-happy-accident-how-google-deliberately-designs-workplace-satisfaction 
Yesterday I did the webinar on how to make cool professional charts in Microsoft Excel. It was my first webinar and it went very well. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive. There were a couple of seconds when the audio was lost, but it was due to my internet connection. I was live streaming the training to the 19 who showed up out of the 92 people who registered. They could see in real time what I was doing and hear my voice. And I answered their questions. It was a great experience for me and I can't wait to conduct another webinar.

 Today, I'll be talking on how you go from where you are to where you want to be.
image: funsporting.com
About three years ago, I was struggling to get freelance jobs and a secondary source of income. I had been blogging for 3 years then but my blog wasn't generating any income. I was getting about $1 per month. Nothing I tried worked. I looked back at my life to figure out what I have done before that worked that I could do again. During my NYSC I had freelanced as a private Mathematics tutor. While in the University I had contributed poems and articles to an international family magazine for a small money in return. So I called my graphics designer friend and told him to make me beautiful business cards that show me as a Mathematics Tutor. He made me very expensive and beautiful cards. I shared the cards at Mega Plaza, VI and other places on the Island. I got some interested parents who were pleasantly surprised that I teach only Mathematics and by the high quality cards I use. But I couldn't manage it with my day job. Then I put together samples of my best writing, printed them at the rate of N200/page and used an expensive courier (FedEx) to mail them with a personalized pitch letter to Punch, The Nation, ThisDay and Vanguard. I had called and researched whom to address the letters to. I got no reply.

 Then I looked online for what people were doing online to make money with little creative efforts. It was around the time YNaija was getting very popular. So I said to myself, "Here is a website that is simply copying articles from newspapers and other sites around the web, and they are doing great. I have been killing myself to come up with creative unique articles and seeing little result. I am going to start a new blog and post news articles from Punch, ThisDay, The Nation and Vanguard." And that I did. I started http://nigeriadaily.blogspot.com/ and in less than a month I was getting more than double the traffic on my three year old blog. By the second month it was making me an impressive sum of money. I started a facebook page, www.facebook.com/nigeriadaily, and a twitter account, http://twitter.com/nigeriadaiily,  to complement the blog. The results were great and by far better than what my three year old blog was producing. But I wasn't happy. I hated the fact that I was only doing this for the money it would generate for me. Even though I had sorted out the copyright issue by posting only part of the news article and putting a ...continue reading  that linked back to the original article, I still felt like I was doing something wrong. So in the third month I stopped. I deleted all the posts and left only the original research posts I had once put up on the blog. I lost the monthly revenue it would have kept generating for me and I gave up trying to make money from blogging.

 But out of the ashes of that failed venture something remarkable arose. I had left the Facebook and Twitter pages, hooked them directly to Punch, The Nation, ThisDay and Vanguard websites. So I was freely promoting their posts and sending traffic directly to their websites. The same newspapers that ignore me and my expensive pitch. It was saddening. I stopped checking the Facebook and Twitter page. Then one day I went on the Facebook page and was surprised to see over 600 people had liked it. A page I wasn't actively managing. They were even leaving me thank you messages and asking that I share more news articles with them. So I went on the Twitter one too and saw that it had also grown all by itself. 

 Today, I now have more freelance/consulting jobs than I can handle. The Twitter account has over 12,800 followers and I use it to promote my training and blog subscription. 

 I am not close to where I want to be yet, but I have learnt that when going from where I am to where I want to be, it doesn't matter how much things I do wrong or how hopeless things seem or how many doors get slammed in my face. It doesn't even matter if the steps I take don't look big enough. All that matters is to keep doing something in the direction of my goal.
I know the post title I chose today is an unusual one. Why would you work on a strategy if you don't have a plan? Is there a difference between a strategy and a plan?
image: blog.vistage.com

 Well, there is a difference between a strategy and a plan. A plan is a detailed proposal for doing or achieving something and it is full of well thought-out ordered steps. While a strategy is like a theme, a method you have settled for to guide you through your future steps and decisions. 

 Why is having a strategy more important that having a plan? It is because a strategy is more long-term focused, more flexible and, in this world of fast change, more appropriate to hold on to. Just imagine you planned your stay in the university -- you created a step-by-step proposal of all you would do throughout your university stay. You stated how you would tackle each course of study you will enroll for and how you will relate with people you'll meet. Would that plan work? No. Would it be better than having a mindset of being as studious as possible, staying out of trouble and making your parents proud? No. Because there is no way you would have correctly anticipated the events and circumstances you would encounter in a Nigerian university. Most of what you would even learn are beyond your academics and can't be planned. I couldn't have planned the three times the university was closed due to ASUU strike and student protests throughout my stay and how those times helped shaped my life positively. I learned to run from riot police and figure out my most important belongings in the first one. It's a skill I have found useful many times after. While traveling to faraway Bayelsa for my NYSC camping, I had all I needed packed in my laptop bag and no one would have guessed I was going away for weeks to somewhere I haven't been before. During the second one I learned computer networking at a computer training institute and bought my first investment in a company shares. During the last one I got a job as a CCNA trainer and showed everyone that cared how to use Linux. These were skills that made me money during NYSC and after. I was even selected by a German consulting firm to train PHCN senior staff on Solaris with my hotel accommodation and transportation taken care of, and earning more than my monthly salary in one week. No plan could have gotten me a comparable result. Throughout my university days I only had a strategy: to make the most of whatever comes my way. 

 And it's now more pertinent to have a strategy in this fast-paced world. Things are changing at a such fast pace that no highly detailed plan spanning more than two years can work out except at NASA and a research laboratory. You are much better getting equipped for the coming future with relevant skills and learning than making too many detailed plans. What is more important is to have a strategy, a method you have settled upon to use to guide your actions in achieving your goals, giving you an open mind and a focus on the big picture 
Everyone of us know what the banks can do to be better, more globally relevant and make more profit. Everyone of us know what Mr J should do to improve his business. We all have these wonderful ideas that will work wonders for any business. The only problem is that we only think in terms of other people's business. We would rather passively offer our ideas or sell them to someone else that use them ourselves. We would rather improve another man's business than start our own.

 The problem is we are too scared to start with what we have and from where we are. 

 We would rather express our anger about how the government has made business registration unduly complex and expensive, about how office space is crazy expensive in Lagos, about how getting external fund is almost impossible and about how starting the kind of business we want is impossible under the current circumstances.


We don't want to start where we are and with what we have. We have forgotten that there is a learning curve to everything. Rome wasn't built in a day just because the bricks that had to be laid were so many that it required thousands of people and years, but also because the plans kept changing/updated. Take the roads they built as an example, they would rather choose another path for their long straight roads than have a curvy road. So a lot of that many years went into planning, learning from mistakes and going slowly. 

 When you see a very tall building. Maybe a skyscraper, No matter the construction company used to build it, the beginning would always be very slow. You would see people working hard everyday and not see any much difference on the construction site; then after a few months you will suddenly see a see a structure that is growing overnight. The construction process can be put into three distinct phases:
  1. The slow beginning when they are digging the foundation and working underground,
  2. The steep acceleration when they start putting up the building's walls, and
  3. The plateau when it's now internal furnishing and some less obvious works.
And it's like that for all reasonable human endeavour. Especially running a business. The steep acceleration ideas you have are not going to get you anywhere if you won't face the pain of a slow beginning and working with dirt. 

You have to start where you are and with what you have. It's the only way things get done and dreams get achieved.


John Bunyan, Henry Ford, the Wright brothers, Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs and Mahatma Gandhi have probably just these two things in common:

  1. they were initially certified as not qualified for what they achieved (their dream), and
  2. more than any skill or talent they had, they relied most on their passion.
image: michaelhyatt.com
John Bunyan was born to a poor family and didn't do much schooling, yet he wrote one of the most popular books in the world. A book that has never gone out of print since its publishing in the 1600s. It was not his first nor only book. He didn't let his poor education or lack of success with his first books hinder him. He kept his passion burning and it was what got him the success he achieved.

Henry Ford was raised on the farm and his father wanted him to become a farmer, to take over the family business. But Henry Ford preferred to pursue his passion for gadgets and he started from the bottom as an apprentice to a machinist rather than take up the role of the MD of his father's business. And even when he was 32 years old and already holding the position of a Chief Engineer at a leading engineering firm, he kept his passion burning. He took the money he had saved and started, part-time, a car manufacturing business. Six years later he resigned from his comfortable job and went full-time into his passion. Two years later the company failed. But he didn't give up. He started another one and failed again. Then he started a third one and called it Ford Motor Company. Today, that company is still standing. Since 1903. It is a powerful story of the passion of one man.

Orville and Wilbur Wright must have seemed crazy to all their friends and family members. Two brothers will little resources and a humble livelihood as bicycle repairers; yet they pursued their passion of building and flying an airplane. They had a lot of things going against them. It was a time when most high tech invention were by academics and with funding from organizations/government. Then, they did not have the profile of an inventor. They had no formal work experience in a technology firm and they had started with a newspaper business before becoming bicycle repairers. Probably why they never got any funding was because they didn't meet the entry requirements for fund applications. All they had was their passion and they kept it burning. Today, we see the results of their passion.

And I could go on about Albert Einstein, Steve Jobs and Mahatma Gandhi. They achieved their dreams by holding on to their passion. It was not their skills nor talent that got them the success they had. It was just one thing -- passion. And that is all you need to achieve your dream.


If you take a deep reflective look at your life, you'll see that all you are today is built on the education you got while growing up. The most difference between you and the typical poor danfo driver is that you got a high quality education that opened up better opportunities for you while he got no worthwhile education.

Now try imagining a school without books or education without reading. That should be an impossible task because schools are built on books and the bulk of the knowledge transfer at school is via reading. So I can safely say we are who we were today because of the books we have read (from Nursery one till date).

Unfortunately, a lot of us now find reading an optional activity. Something to do when you have enough idle time. I cringe whenever I hear someone say he is too busy to read. I know that I am not the typical person when it comes to reading. I read a lot and daily. Just this month I have read over four books. But saying one is too busy to read a book from cover to cover for a whole year is like saying one is too busy to take his bath. The benefits of reading are so much that we all should form a habit of doing it. Even if it's just one book per year you can consistently read. But I believe anyone how has gone through a secondary school that required reading a book per each subject should be able to read more than one book per year.

image: educationalcentre.co.uk

So what are the benefits of reading?
  1. Reading makes you better at learning anything than relying on experience or trial and error. Most of the people I trained on Microsoft Excel were using it long before I knew what Microsoft Excel is. Yet I achieved a high competence that is far above theirs and in a very short time because I didn't rely on just my own experience or trial and error. I read books on Microsoft Excel. I stood on the shoulders of giants in the Microsoft Excel world. And that is what reading does to you. It makes you better at anything extremely fast.
  2. Reading makes you very knowledgeable. I have never been able to answer the questions in Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? beyond the first three questions whenever I watch the show. But when I read my posts from as far back as 2009, I am impressed by how many trivial stuffs I know. I think I can even intelligently chat with an alien from Mars.
  3. Reading expands your world. A friend was very surprised to hear I haven't traveled outside West Africa, not even to the cheap-to-go Dubai. For me, reading about the world from as far back as 600BC and about every country a popular book has been written about has a way of muting every intense desire to travel. Partly because you know you always can after making all the money you want and when you finally do, most of what you'll see are things you've already read about.
  4. Reading makes you a better decision maker. I owe my silent strong will to reading. My decision to start my own business or take every rewarding decision I have made so far were greatly influenced by the knowledge I acquired by reading. Even my relationship with God is shaped by my reading the bible.
  5. Reading makes you creative. At least, it did for me.
In all, if you desire to become a better person, reading is one of the fastest and most effective way of achieving that goal.


I'm now more of a realist. It is one of the side effects of being an entrepreneur. No matter how much I love a brand or a product, I don't put myself at its mercy. I don't put all my hens in the same cage. So I have stopped using just one bank for my personal transactions. I have my money spread across three different savings account from three different banks. And I have their ATM cards and phone app. If one bank is experiencing network issues I don't have to inherit that issue. And if I want to recharge my phone line, I don't want any possible delay.

Today I will be showing you how I recharge my phone lines using GTBank's SMS and Phone app, FCMB Phone app and Diamond Bank Phone app. And I have included a lot of easy to follow screenshots.

 GTBank
The SMS one is the easiest. You simply ensure that you are using the phone you get your SMS alerts on. To recharge that phone, all you have to do is dial *737*amount#
Examples will be --
  • *737*500# to recharge that phone line you have registered with GTBank with N500
  • *737*2000# to recharge the phone line with N2000
I use it. The only drawback is that you can't recharge another phone line, just that one you have registered with GTBank. 

 So there is another one you need when recharging for another phone line. It is *737*amount*phonenumber#
E.g. *737*1000*08061235475# to recharge the phone 08061235475 that is not linked to your GTBank account with N1,000

 You will be asked to confirm the network and enter the last four digits of your ATM card.


For the phone app, you login to the GTBank phone app. And select Airtime & Payments.











FCMB
Login to your FCMB phone app. And select TopUp.







Diamond Bank
Login to the Diamond Bank phone app. And select Airtime & Bill Payments. It's a lot like the GTBank phone app.














And that's how you recharge your phone line using GTBank's SMS or phone app, FCMB phone app and Diamond Bank phone app. 
The first time I heard using a four letter acronym to describe a person was while reading the book The Intelligent Entrepreneur. According to the book, Harvard Business School does a profiling of student using the popular Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. One of the three graduates the book was about was profiled as ENTP (or so, can't remember exactly). And that was the first time I heard of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.
image: spiritualnetworks.com

 I am ISTP. And you can find out about which personality type you are on the Myers & Briggs Foundation website

 And About.com defines the letters of my personality as:

  • I: When you hear the word "introversion," like most people, you probably think "shy" or "unable to be around others." There's actually more to it. As someone who prefers Introversion, you are energized by things within yourself as opposed to other people. Therefore, you don't need to be around others to get motivated.
  • S: Your five senses help you decode information that comes your way. You see individual details rather than patterns that might emerge from them. You tend not to forecast what the future may hold, but live fully in the present.
  • T: You give decisions a lot of thought and come to conclusions using logic, not emotion. You don't mind critiquing people.
  • P: If you are perceiving, you are flexible and spontaneous. This means you adapt easily to change, which is a good thing. On the downside, however, you don't do so well with deadlines.

Wikipedia has a more interesting description of ISTP:


ISTPs excel at analyzing situations to reach the heart of a problem so that they can swiftly implement a functional repair, making them ideally suited to the field of engineering. Naturally quiet people, they are interested in understanding how systems operate, focusing on efficient operation and structure. But contrary to their seemingly detached nature, ISTPs are often capable of humorously insightful observations about the world around them. ISTPs abhor waste (be it in time, effort, or resources) but are highly adaptable, making them open to new information and approaches. They enjoy exploring new things, and can become bored with repetitiveness and routine. They can also be closet daredevils who gravitate toward risky hobbies, risky recreational sports and risky careers.

ISTPs may sometimes seem to act without regard for procedures, directions, protocol, or even their own safety. But while their approach may seem haphazard, it is in fact based on a broad store of knowledge developed over time through action and keen observation. ISTPs enjoy self-sufficiency and take pride in developing their own solutions to problems.

ISTPs can often be a frustration to their friends or partners due to a propensity to ignore everyone while deeply absorbed in a task. The ISTP should be careful that they do not cause offence by this seeming aloofness, as it could have a negative impact on otherwise great relationships.

ISTPs are content to let others live according to their own rules and preferences, as long as the favor is reciprocated. ISTPs endure reasonable impositions without complaint — but if their "territory" is encroached upon, eroded, or violated, their quiet, easy-going nature is quickly abandoned in favor of stubborn and staunch defense of what they view as rightfully theirs. It has been observed that a slogan that best describes this ISTP attitude is "Don't Tread On Me."


So now I know my personality type. Do you know yours? And are you generous enough to share your own acronym?


The world has been silently changing around us. Dangote Cement is the biggest listed company in Nigeria. It is bigger than Nigerian Breweries, bigger than Nestle, bigger than Guinness and bigger than GTBank + Zenith Bank + Access Bank + Diamond Bank. When Dangote Cement share prices fluctuates, the NSE index (entire Nigerian stock market) moves. 

 But guess what? Dangote Cement's revenue is no where close to what MTN makes in Nigeria. In fact, Dangote Cement's two years revenue are still far less than MTN Nigeria's one year revenue. 30 years ago, it would be unthinkable that a company like MTN which sells services and not physical goods will make way more money that the country's biggest listed company that sells a highly needed good like cement across Africa.

 Currently, the biggest company in the world is Apple. With over 140 trillion naira ($700 billion) market capitalization, it can buy 70 Dangote Cement and still have enough money left to buy most of our banks. In fact, it can buy all the companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and not feel like it has made a very big purchase. It is bigger than the oil companies (Chevron, ExxonMobil) even before the oil price crash. It is bigger than the companies that manufacture the private jets we all dream of owning and even the ones that manufacture the commercial and fight jets. And what does Apple sell? Mostly iPhones. 

 And to top it all is Instagram. A company that had no revenue (means it was losing money), had just about a dozen employees and it was just about 2 years old. Yet it sold to Facebook for over $1 billion (in today's Naira that would be over N200 billion). Looking at it with a Nigerian eye, those guys at Instagram did money ritual. And the neatest and greatest one. Unfortunately, it is the new trend. The world has been silently changing around us. A company that makes no money, has less than 20 employees and is just 2 years old suddenly becomes worth more than The New York Times that has been in existence since 1851 and has over 10,000 employees spread across the world.

 Increasingly, the world is shifting from tangible goods to intangible goods. The things we can't touch and hold are being of more value than the things we can ship.

 And that is just one of the ways the world has been silently changing around us. 
image: theinfusiongroupllc.com

 Another is that the borders are getting erased. I haven't traveled out of Africa or even West Africa my entire life but just this year I have had business dealings with people in the US, Canada, UK, France, Tunisia and Argentina. And my being in Nigeria was not a disadvantage nor the fact that I have no intention of coming to see them physically. 

 Then the corporate work life has changed. More and more people are working at unconventional times and places. I work most at late evenings and early mornings, and in my room. I work more at weekends too. I don't intend to have a regular work hour soon. All that matters is getting the job done. 

 On a final note, illiteracy is no longer being unable to speak English. Illiteracy is now being unable to communicate with computers, being unable to use technology. And this current set of pink collar and white collar workers are going to be the next set of blue collar workers, as technology wipes off the current set of blue collar workers.

I have three projects due next week. I have a full day training to take on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So I have just today to work intensely on the two projects. The generator suddenly stopped working yesternight and there is no electricity. I also have to pay January VAT today or I will get slammed a late payment fine. On top of it all, the week after next week is equally a busy one with many projects coming due in that week. I don't know if I will be able to meet the deadlines. Two are already past their deadline by over two weeks now. But I do know that I need a miracle.


And this is just a bigger version of how my weeks have been this year. Every week I have to juggle attending meetings, sending proposals, on-site consulting for a few clients, programming, delivering clients' jobs, online marketing, writing daily and doing administrative tasks. Some weeks, like this one and next week, are like walking through hell. I try to not look at all the tasks I have to do because they feel so overwhelming that I lose all motivation and feel like giving up.

 The way I boldly face these challenges are by staying positive and not giving up. I have once missed my VAT payment last year when I had similarly tough weeks one after the other for over a month. It was almost a crisis period for me. This year already I have been missing many deadlines and unable to pursue a lot of big jobs. I have two pending foreign client jobs that I have stopped trying to close as I'm not sure I'll have the time to do the jobs. I have many current jobs I simply want to be done with and maybe take a good rest.

 For weeks now, my motto has been the war-time quote by Winston Churchhill -- "If you are going through hell, keep going."
My favourite speech of all time is Steve Job's 2005 Stanford speech about finding what you love, going after them and seeing the dots connect.
image: nickianderson.com

 When people ask me what I imagine my life will be like in 15 years time, I find it very hard to answer. And it is not because I have a lot to say or I'm trying to simplify the answer in my head. It's simply that my mind goes blank. As I already explained in a poem 6 years ago - I Can Only Imagine - looking back 15 years ago and what I felt my life would be in 15 years time; taking that and comparing it with what my life now is when those 15 years have passed, I can say it's useless to predict what you will be in 15 years time.

 You can't connect the dots in your life forward. You can't predict the circumstances you will face in life or even how your career, the part of your life you most carefully plan, with turn out. There are too many things that will shape who you will be in 15 years time and a lot of them don't even exist now. But the one thing you can and should do is to give your life a sense of direction. Do more of the things that give you fulfillment. Fill your life with the right kind of dots.

 Rather than trying to predict what your life will be in 15 years time, plotting the future, make the most of the present. Do the things you have passion for. Think beyond immediate reward and stop all peer comparison. Don't live just for gain because the biggest gains are results of the things you never thought would bring you any money, things you did for fun. As long as you fill your life with the right dots and live a very passionate life, when the dots all connect in the future it would look like an unbelievable story.
We overestimate the effect our formal schooling and occasional reading have on us. We have more graduates and professors than many other countries in the world and still they are doing way better than us. And it is because we underestimate the effect of our informal environment, the way the culture and beliefs that dominate our subconscious mind shapes our lives. 

 And as Oscar Wilde said, it is influences we are under without our conscious effort than determines who we will end up as. It is our informal environment that makes us, not our formal learning. We all spent more effort and years of schooling learning English and yet we speak our native language, the language we were forced to not speak at school, better that the English we put in the most conscious effort to learn.

So when you want to change your life, and not just your academic qualification, you focus more on the informal environment you live in and not the formal schooling you can afford. 

 To change your life you need to have your mind immersed in the right environment. You need to join the right informal community. You need to care about the education your subconscious mind picks from the environment you live in. And most importantly, you need to feed your mind with the right influence. Not just books but with an unpolluted air and clean water. You need to get rid of the wrong influences, especially the ones from outside.

 Our environment is like a mould. Our education can improve our quality but it is the environment that determines what shape we come out as. You're the product of the thoughts your environment plants into you. Over half of your thoughts come from the culture you grew up in and having to choose between the options the society presents you with. Your preferences and thinking model is the result of the your exposure. Your environment. So whenever you want to change your life, you should focus on changing your environment.

 And nowadays, it is very easy to do. When I began my French learning journey I looked for the environment that would help me. When I wanted to start blogging daily, I signed up to all the bloggers that write daily and immersed myself in their world. And now that I am a neophyte entrepreneur, I hang out more with entrepreneurs and the people I see walking the path I am heading. The easiest way I have been able to change my life year after year is by changing my environment, even if virtually.

 To change your life, change the environment that feeds your mind.
One of the quotes I have taken quite literally is this popular one by André Gide -- It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.

image: deviantart.com
Some not too many months ago, I decided to stop trying to let everyone like me. I decided to be true to myself, to let my real self shine through. I thought I was going to lose friends, especially the ones I cared about.

I wouldn't pick phone calls. I wouldn't chat on Facebook. I kept letting unanswered Whatsapp messages pile up. I wouldn't look at my BBM chat messages for an entire week or two. I did the things I enjoyed -- reading like my life depended on it and writing as often as I could. I stopped smiling when what my face wanted to portray was a frown. I stopped saying a lot of the things I didn't mean. I stopped worrying about the things I didn't care about. And I stopped being the person I thought people wanted me to be.

Then a strange thing happened. I didn't lose friends, even the ones I cared about. Though my actions made me withdraw from almost everyone, yet all my friends tried to hold me closer. No one left me because I stopped picking calls. No one shunned me for not responding to their messages on BBM and Whatsapp. They did ask why my sudden disappearance but none felt permanently offended. And it proved to me than you can never completely fool your friends. They will always see through your pretense. They will always know that side of you that you try to hide from them, and the day you expect them to be surprised to find it out you will be the one surprised.

It made it look like I had wasted my time and happiness trying to be who I am not so as to please people who would have been equally pleased if I had been my real self. People who always sensed that part of me I was hiding from them and were not disappointed when it came all out.

I strongly believe that it is better to be the real you not because it is okay to have people hate you for it, but because the people who matter to you won't be surprised or hate you for it. You can never really hide from those who care about you. You only make life harder for yourself by trying to.


The one thing all artists have in common is a weakness for their arts. In most cases, it controls them. They are helplessly hooked on creating them. From Homer to Pablo Picasso. The artist's weakness is his art.

image: sodahead.com

All we know about Homer are his poems, notably Iliad and Odyssey. We know nothing of his personal life and even his actual period of existence. He was obviously consumed by his art. And it is same with William Shakespeare, all we know with certainty about him are his plays. 

And even the ones we know a lot about, like Michelango and Leonardo da Vinci, we know that they had no life besides their art. They lived entirely for it. Michelango spent 4 years painting a ceiling and 40 years to build a tomb for the pope. He worked at each art work like he had forever to live and would only deliver a perfect job. Leonardo was an art idea's paradise. He gave life to every idea he had, even if just on the pages of his journals. There is also Lorenzo Ghiberti who spent 50 years designing and building a set of bronze doors for a religious building, Florence Baptistery. He dreamt of nothing besides his art.

image: ldmnews.it

Genuine art consumes the artist. It drives him like a slave master and takes all his time and passion. And that is the destructive side of genuine art.



Today presents a unique opportunity for me to thank you all for your love and consistency in following my blog. Love, they say, is to know someone and all his imperfections and still care.
image: wallpaperfeed.com

 Unfortunately, I'm able to give only what I have. So besides staying true to myself and sharing with you the real me via my daily posts, I also have the following gifts for you.

 1. A Live & Interactive Webinar To Show You How To Make Cool Excel Charts.

The chart above was made in Excel. And I will show you how to make professional and cool charts that will show the insights in your data. I will focus more on the charts you will most need: Column chart, Bar Chart, Pie Chart and Combo Chart.

 The best part is that it will be a live webinar; you can ask questions and have it answered during the webinar.

 You can register via this link: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/398008180592310273 

 2. My N25,000 Excel Online Training Course (offer expires after today)
I will be signing you up for my online Excel class if you send me an email requesting to be signed up for this offer. You have to do this today. It's a valentine gift and tomorrow is not valentine's day. So if your email comes in tomorrow, I am afraid, you won't be eligible for the offer.

 3. A Free Copy Of One Of My Training PowerPoint Slides
It is the main PPT slide I use for my one day training. I have used if for companies like EMP West Africa, Passion Incubator, CcHub, NLI and Kentucky YMCA (USA). It's complete with practice files embedded in the PowerPoint Pages.

 All you need to do is to request for it via an email and I will send it to you. When the requests get to a certain large number I will discontinue this offer.

 4. Sign You Up For A Preview Of My Stock Analysis Application
I am already working hard again on my Stock Analysis App. I have gotten in touch with a developer and I already have a potential investor. I have been working on it alone since 2012. Now I believe something cool will happen soon. 

 If you want to be among the first people to have an exclusive preview of the app, then send me an email.
And those are my Valentine gifts for you. 
Happy Valentine's Day!
Social Media Week (SMW) is a global yearly conference that brings together the brightest minds in the social media, technology and business world; sharing great ideas, innovations and insights into how social media and technology are changing business, society and culture around the world.

SMW hosts conferences on six continents: Europe, North America, South America, Africa, Australia and Asia. And has over 70,000 physical attendees every year, 5,000 speakers and more than 1 million people connecting through social and mobile. And as expected Nigeria is not left out. In Africa, there are yearly SMW conferences in Cairo, Lagos and Johannesburg.

And this month, the Lagos conference will hold between Feb 23 to Feb 27, 2015. It's a week long event and brings you in close contact with the great minds in our social media, startup and technology space.



You can register to attend for free here: SMWLagos 2015

And below is a sneak peek at the events for the first days of the event, just to show you the high value events lined up for the SMWLagos 2015 conference.

FEB 22, Sunday
PoPBeachClub Presents: Early Bird Party
 11:00 AM - 5:30 PM
 Hosted by PoP Beach Club
 PoP Beach Club
 Independent Event
 Networking Mixer
 Networking & Parties
 
FEB 22, Sunday
#SMWLagosNites: Welcome Cocktails at @Ginger_Tapas
 6:00 PM - 11:30 PM
 Hosted by Ginger Tapas & Grill
 Ginger Tapas n' Grill
 Official Event
 Networking Mixer
 Networking & Parties
 SMW Lagos Executive Badge pass required

FEB 23, Monday
#smwLagosInnovators Welcome Breakfast!
 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
 Hosted by Social Media Week Lagos
 Pencom Innovators Stage @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Multi-format
 Business

FEB 23, Monday
From Handouts To Standout - How To Rock Social Media For Cash, Connections & Your Own Extraordinary Career
 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
 Hosted by #MentorMonday
 Landmark Centre - SMW Masterclass Suite
 Independent Event
 Masterclass
 Media

FEB 23, Monday
Red Media & The Future Project Presents: SME-Support Clinics
 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
 Hosted by Red Media Africa
 Red Media Africa
 Official Event
 Class
 Business

FEB 23, Monday
[Google Hangout] My Journey Interview Series with @EntCreativeNG
 10:00 AM - 4:30 PM
 Hosted by Enterprise Creative
 Google Hangout
 Independent Event
 Google Hangout
 Humanity

FEB 23, Monday
#SMWExecutive VIP Suite Powered by UBA - Monday
 10:30 AM - 6:00 PM
 Hosted by Social Media Week Lagos
 UBA Executive Suite @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Networking Mixer
 Networking & Parties
 SMW Lagos Executive Badge pass required
 Buy Pass

FEB 23, Monday
Connecting Strategy with Your Business: A Case Study Approach
 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM
 Hosted by RainyLemon Limited
 Landmark Centre - SMW Masterclass Suite
 Independent Event
 Masterclass
 Business

FEB 23, Monday
2015 Elections: Where are the Ethics on Social Media?
 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
 Hosted by alli.org
 Pencom Innovators Stage @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Panel
 Politics

FEB 23, Monday
A Connected Africa: The Need for Radical Innovation in Education
 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
 Hosted by edugist.org
 Landmark Centre - SMW Experience Stage
 Official Event
 Panel
 Education

FEB 23, Monday
#SMWPowerLunch - Monday
 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
 Hosted by Social Media Week Lagos
 UBA Executive Suite @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Multi-format
 Networking & Parties
 SMW Lagos Executive Badge pass required
 Buy Pass

FEB 23, Monday
Integrating Africa with Social Media & User Applications
 2:15 PM - 3:30 PM
 Hosted by Mara Online
 Landmark Centre - SMW Masterclass Suite
 Independent Event
 Talk
 Tech

FEB 23, Monday
#SMWDigitalJobs - Tackling Youth Unemployment in Nigeria
 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
 Hosted by PARADIGM INITIATIVE NIGERIA
 Landmark Centre - SMW Experience Stage
 Independent Event
 Multi-format
 Tech

FEB 23, Monday
Social Innovator: Social as a Strategy, Social Media as a Tool for the Social SME
 4:00 PM - 5:15 PM
 Hosted by Afripreneur
 Landmark Centre - SMW Masterclass Suite
 Independent Event
 Talk
 Marketing

FEB 23, Monday
WordPress BootCamp: Create Professional Looking Websites & Blogs With Ease
 5:45 PM - 7:00 PM
 Hosted by BrowseDotCom
 Landmark Centre - SMW Masterclass Suite
 Independent Event
 Workshop
 Business

FEB 23, Monday
#SMWCocktails-N-Convo Monday Mixer
 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
 Hosted by Ciroc
 #CIROClife Lounge @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Networking Mixer
 Networking & Parties
 SMW Lagos Executive Badge pass required
 Buy Pass

FEB 23, Monday
[Google Hangout] Beauty Entrepreneur Lounge with @BeautypreneurNG
 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
 Hosted by Beauty By Nature Inc.
 Google Hangout
 Independent Event
 Google Hangout
 Business

FEB 24, Tuesday
#smwLagosInnovators Breakfast - Tuesday
 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
 Hosted by Social Media Week Lagos
 Pencom Innovators Stage @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Networking Mixer
 Business

FEB 24, Tuesday
#MentorMonday Mastermind Intensive
 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM
 Hosted by #MentorMonday
 Landmark Centre - SMW Masterclass Suite
 Independent Event
 Workshop
 Business
 
FEB 24, Tuesday
Tech, Citizens and Elections: How Technology Supports Free, Fair and Credible Elections
 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
 Hosted by Enough is Enough Nigeria
 Landmark Centre - SMW Experience Stage
 Official Event
 Panel
 Tech

FEB 24, Tuesday
Travel Bay's #KeepOnMoving Photo Exhibition
 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
 Hosted by Travel Bay
 Landmark Centre - SMW Experience Stage
 Independent Event
 Showcase
 Culture

FEB 24, Tuesday
The Digital Church
 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM
 Hosted by The Elevation Church
 The Elevation Church
 Official Event
 Multi-format
 Humanity

FEB 24, Tuesday
#SMWTravelAfrica: Capturing the Beauty- Documenting Your Story on The Gram
 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM
 Hosted by Social Media Week Lagos
 Landmark Centre - SMW Experience Stage
 Official Event
 Class
 Culture

FEB 24, Tuesday
#SMWExecutive VIP Suite Powered by UBA - Tuesday
 10:30 AM - 6:00 PM
 Hosted by Social Media Week Lagos
 UBA Executive Suite @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Multi-format
 Networking & Parties
 SMW Lagos Executive Badge pass required
 Buy Pass

FEB 24, Tuesday
BEYOND BEAUTY BLOGGING
 10:45 AM - 12:00 PM
 Hosted by Beauty By Nature Inc.
 Landmark Centre - SMW Masterclass Suite
 Independent Event
 Panel
 Business

FEB 24, Tuesday
Naming Names with Technology
 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
 Hosted by Orature Lab/Goethe Institut
 Goethe Institut
 Independent Event
 Multi-format
 Culture

FEB 24, Tuesday
SOCIAL MEDIA AS A TOOL FOR BUSINESS EXPANSION: TWITTER AS A CASE STUDY
 12:00 PM - 2:00 PM
 Hosted by The Real Gen
 CBC Towers
 Independent Event
 Masterclass
 Business
 
FEB 24, Tuesday
Learning on the Digital Frontier
 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
 Hosted by Image & Time
 Pencom Innovators Stage @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Independent Event
 Multi-format
 Education

FEB 24, Tuesday
#SMWTravelAfrica Defying Space & Time: Social Media Taking You (and your Business) Places
 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM
 Hosted by Jovago.com
 Landmark Centre - SMW Experience Stage
 Official Event
 Panel
 Culture
 
FEB 24, Tuesday
Using Facebook to Inspire, Advocate, Lead & Drive Social Change
 12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
 Hosted by Facebook
 Landmark Centre - SMW Masterclass Suite
 Official Event
 Masterclass
 Politics

FEB 24, Tuesday
#55Forward: Seyram Ahiabor on Forging Change Through Social Media
 12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
 Hosted by Ghanathink Foundation
 Google Hangout
 Official Event
 Class
 Marketing

FEB 24, Tuesday
Face Up To The Facts: Lessons From Leading Women In Tech
 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
 Hosted by Edel Technologies
 Pencom Innovators Stage @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Panel
 Business

FEB 24, Tuesday
#SMWTravelAfrica Millenials, Social Media, & Tourism: Travel Africa, Skip Mediocre
 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM
 Hosted by Rare Customs (TSTMKRS)
 Landmark Centre - SMW Experience Stage
 Official Event
 Panel
 Tech

FEB 24, Tuesday
#55Forward: Brenda Wambui on Media Activism in Africa
 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
 Hosted by Social Media Week Lagos
 Google Hangout
 Official Event
 Talk
 Media

FEB 24, Tuesday
#SMWPowerLunch - Tuesday
 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
 Hosted by Social Media Week Lagos
 UBA Executive Suite @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Multi-format
 Networking & Parties
 SMW Lagos Executive Badge pass required
 Buy Pass

FEB 24, Tuesday
Mind Map: Write the Vision and Make it Happen
 2:15 PM - 3:30 PM
 Hosted by Signature RED
 Landmark Centre - SMW Masterclass Suite
 Independent Event
 Masterclass
 Business
 
FEB 24, Tuesday
#SMWInnovators: A Fireside Chat With the Creators Of COSIGN
 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
 Hosted by COSIGN
 Pencom Innovators Stage @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Talk
 Tech
 
FEB 24, Tuesday
Arts. Tech. Here: Technology & Social Media Changing the Arts Industry in West Africa
 4:00 PM - 5:15 PM
 Hosted by SAVANT | SAVANT and The Art Allies
 Landmark Centre - SMW Masterclass Suite
 Independent Event
 Panel
 Business

FEB 24, Tuesday
Discover, Desire, Buy: The Future of Luxury in the Digital Age (Tech Meets Style 2.0)
 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
 Hosted by GoodLifeStylist
 Pencom Innovators Stage @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Independent Event
 Multi-format
 Culture

FEB 24, Tuesday
Breaking the News Model: Sharing in a Mobile-First World
 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
 Hosted by Quartz
 Landmark Centre - SMW Experience Stage
 Official Event
 Panel
 Media

FEB 24, Tuesday
Masterclass: Growing the Largest Digital Agency in Africa
 5:45 PM - 7:00 PM
 Hosted by Quirk
 Landmark Centre - SMW Masterclass Suite
 Independent Event
 Masterclass
 Marketing

FEB 24, Tuesday
#SMWCocktails-N-Convo Tasty Tuesday Mixer
 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
 Hosted by Ciroc
 #CIROClife Lounge @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Networking Mixer
 Networking & Parties
 SMW Lagos Executive Badge pass required
 Buy Pass
 
FEB 24, Tuesday
#SMWLagosNites: TARUWA
 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM
 Hosted by Gbagyichild Entertainment
 Bogobiri House
 Independent Event
 Multi-format
 Networking & Parties

FEB 25, Wednesday
#SMWInnovators Breakfast: #SMWMusicDay Edition Powered by The Beat 99.9FM
 8:30 AM - 10:00 AM
 Hosted by SMW Lagos & The BEAT 99.9 FM
 Pencom Innovators Stage @ SMW Lagos Campus
 Official Event
 Talk
 Business

FEB 25, Wednesday
The Upwardly Mobile African Professional (Yuppie)
 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM
 Hosted by Career Solutions Africa
 Landmark Centre - SMW Experience Stage
 Independent Event
 Multi-format
 Education

View all the events here: SMWLagos 2015 Schedule