New year

On this day, exactly one year ago, I spent a lot of time dreaming. I took several long and hard looks at the new year and thought a lot about what I would do with it: 365 long days, with 24 constant hours in each. These days, I am looking in the opposite direction. So far I have taken several long and hard look back on the year that is now spent. Some of the most important things I have realised is that the year was very fruitful for me. I made several mistakes but was not buried by them. I took several radical decisions but have not regretted any of them. And I have learnt, most important of all, that one year is a really long time during which a lot can get done.

Particularly today, I am looking ahead at the new year. The keys question I'm trying to answer are: 'What things do I want to stop doing, what things do I want to keep doing and what things do I want to start doing?' While thinking about my answers, I have noticed that the 'why' motivates the 'what'. 

As you also might be considering making some resolutions for the new year, I think you should consider the following:

1. Whatever you do not have a strong enough reason for, you will end up not doing at all, not doing well or not doing for long.  
2. Whenever it seems like you're falling short in performance, then think again about where you started from. It might well be that you're forgetting the 'why'.
3. Never resolve to do anything in the new year that you cannot convince yourself is right by EVERY standard. Being socially acceptable is not good enough. 

See you next year!

My work, so far...

Today, my stock taking went in the direction of my day job. For about a half decade now I've been a researcher - teaching, writing and publishing - in innovation, entrepreneurship and policy. I have just analysed the top 100 words that appear in the titles of my written output mostly since 2006 (excluding my BSc thesis which was completed in 2002). The resulting word cloud is here (reproduced below). 

Obviously, it's about Nigeria; it's about development; it's about innovation; it's about sustainability; it's about technology; and it's about learning. The people with whose support I've been able to do this much are arranged here (reproduced below). 

Chances are you don't know any of them, and that doesn't matter. The message I'm passing is that productivity needs support. It is extremely difficult for anyone to do anything meaningful with their lives without laps to sit on, shoulders to stand on, arms to lean on and backs to ride on.

MEN THAT WILL SUCEED 24: They just know...

This is a post long overdue. It's supposed to be the last in my 24-part series of the traits of people on their way to success. By success I mean the fulfillment of some transcendent purpose and not just the attainment of some trumped-up human standards.

A lot has been written about knowledge and how it is strongly connected to performance. I have even heard it said that you are what you know. That's true, of course, but I see a special dimension of knowledge that every serious mind should seek.

Today in some disciplines we speak of many types of knowledge: know-how, know-who, know-what, know-when, know-why...but one that is rarely ever mentioned anywhere is what I'd simply call 'just-know'. Call it intuition, unction, perception, instinct, inspiration or anything else you like. The name is not important, all I know is that you'll know when you've got it. How many times have you felt so convinced about something for no obvious reason, even when everyone else seems opposed, and you turned out to be right? That's exactly what I'm talking about.

People who can consistently demonstrate this level of consciousness are often the most successful, and history bears this out. They are the ones who just know that what they're doing is what they should be doing. You see, no matter how much information we could get about everything, there always comes a time when we have to proceed with limited info; that's when we need to 'just know' what is right. This has even become much more necessary because the world we live in today is becoming increasingly complex and uncertain.

How does 'just-know' come. Honestly I can't tell. I just know that it's important. I also know that it thrives in quietness and a consistent habit of useful thinking. Above all, I know that it thrives in the practice of seeking God.

According to Newton's first law of motion, an object just keeps standing still or consistently moving along on a straight path unless compelled to do otherwise by an external force. By extension, every object needs an exogenous force to make it useful, otherwise it will just keep doing what is most convenient for it even when it's totally nonsensical. Two major lessons I see here. First, nothing comes to its full potential unless moderated by an exogenous power. The force that causes a change of state or speed or direction is never internal to a body, it is always from an exogenous source. Second, what is being moderated cannot fully comprehend its moderator, just as car cannot by itself master its engine. Even the most intelligent robots today only know to connect themselves to power when they're running out but they don't necessarily understand how this power gets there.

What should you take away from the preceding paragraphs? One, nothing is truly exogenous to your world - however you define it - except God. Two, the fact that you don't seem to understand why there could be a God does not mean there can't be one. Arriving at such a conclusion would be as vague as claiming that your mum is not your mum just because you were not there when you were born!

Some reflections...

Hi there,

As this year runs to an end, I'm planning to wrap up my series on MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED. Twenty-three posts so far, and just one more to post. Thereafter, I'd try to share with you some of the most important lessons I learnt during the year. However, I'm around the point where I normally take stock and I've decided that this blog is one of my starting points. 

Beside the usual stats (which I check regularly anyway) I've made an analysis of the most frequently occurring (main) words in all of the posts that appear on this blog. The picture here is the result (reproduced above). Two things I make out of it myself. 

One, no matter how much we say or write in our lives, only a little will matter - really. Think of the 80/20 rule here. And it's been said that one of the ways to facilitate personal success is to identify the few activities or factors that drive outcomes the greatest, and then concentrate on them. 

Two, people are at the centre of our lives, and that's why relationships matter. This blog is of a more inspirational and motivational nature. Maybe that is why the two words, PEOPLE and FIRST seem to stand out the way they have. However, I can confirm to you that this was in no way deliberate, I just found that out after my analysis. Bottomline, in our quest towards personal development, achievements and success, whether we control for them or not, it is the people around us and our attitudes towards them that will make or mar us.

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 23: They care about first impressions

'Actions may speak louder than words, but until they get to judge your behavior, which can take a while, people will inevitably trust their initial impressions.' (Steve Tobak)

First impressions last really long. And you will never get a second go at it. That is why the first things you do will tell a story and leave a mark that’s going to stick around for long, if not permanently: the things you say when you first meet someone, the way you come across in that first presentation, the way you treat your friend’s siblings the first time you visited, the way you approached your first job, the way you spent your first earnings…

Surprisingly many of us don’t seem to care – or we care too much about the less important things. I am sure one of the first things that will come to your mind as you read this will relate to appearance - what people see you wearing. Of course, that's right - one of my brothers actually told me many years ago that when you're meeting people for the first time, you will be addressed the way you're dressed. Now that's true; but up to a limit. Judging by my own experience (and you're free to compare yours) the idea of first impression deals with the way people appear when I first meet them, TOGETHER WITH the things they say, their level of alertness and above all, their attitude - which unfortunately can’t be concealed! Your dressing only creates a good impression if you don’t speak at all (which leaves people thinking ‘Wow, isn’t that dress nice!’) or you say something really smart (otherwise people will only think ‘This is an idiot in a good dress!’).

Recent research has actually shown the power of first impressions. Naturally, most of us will treat people subsequently on the basis of how they have come across to us the first time we met. Even if we find later that our initial impressions are wrong, it takes time before we shift gears. I quote from the work of Bertram Gawronski and co at the University of Western Ontario: ‘When something that violates the first impression occurs, it is treated as an exception from the rule, rather than as an objective reality.’ And how does this relate to success? Because you need to be in the right company for you to go in the right direction and go fast (see the post on keeping good company). Leaving people with the wrong initial impressions of you only deflates your circle of influence.

Of course you can correct a wrong first impression but it’s expensive. “What is necessary is for the first impression to be challenged in multiple different contexts,” says Gawronski. That’s a natural experiment that even scientists know is hard to set up. Who wants to stick around to observe you all over the place when they already have decided that you’re not worth walking with?

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 22: They have a sense of purpose

I have found that all ugly things are made by those who strive to make something beautiful, and that all beautiful things are made by those who strive to make something useful. (Oscar Wilde)

There are two dimensions to purpose: the first concerns the basis for our existence, the kind of thing that Darwin wanted to explain away; the second has to do with defining a reason for everything we do.

In the first sense, purpose is the ‘why’, the rationale for everything that is exogenously defined: the reason why you’re here, the reason why you’re not dead yet, the reason why you’re a male or female, the reason why you’re black or white, the reason why you have those parents, and so on. What this implies is that one will always underperform when out of purpose. You will never rise to the fullness of your potential unless you’re doing what you were designed for in the first place. For instance, if you had a nice Ferrari parked in your garage and a tree just fell across the road in front of your house, would you use your Ferrari or an ugly chain saw? To the Intelligent Designer who made you, there’s something you should be doing, and until you’re doing it, you’re under-utilized, wrongly utilized or utterly useless.

In the second sense, purpose is your ‘why’ for whatever you do – your choice. Daniel Pink, in his bestseller, Drive – The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, brings out strongly the power of purpose as a determinant of better performance and self satisfaction. The main idea is that when people do things for a specific reason – a purpose that is higher than themselves or any mundane considerations, their performance hits the skies! And that is being proven true everyday: Google, Skype, Apache, Facebook…all started with a clear mission, something of a need they wanted to fulfill. So, in general, purposeful people tend to perform consistently better; purposeful businesses grow faster; purposeful athletes last longer…Why? Because they do whatever they do for a reason – and even more, they know what their reasons are for doing those things. 

If only you will take the time to find out the ‘why’, you will spend much less time worrying about the ‘what’.

MEN THAT WILL SUCCEED 21: They Keep Good Company

‘Success is as much a product of being in the right company as it is of working hard. If you look for success secrets in the Bible, never read Proverbs 22:29 without reading Psalm 1:1!’

The moral is very simple: hard work, diligence, commitment, passion and everything like these virtues will take you really far but the truth is how fast you go most often depends on what company you’re in. Think about when you wrote the references part of your CV. Except you’re from some planet where nothing makes sense, you must have had two primary concerns when you selected those whose names you put in that section: one, they must know you, at least; and two, you must have some certainty that they know you ‘well’ – ‘well’ in this sense meaning that they know well enough to say some good things about you. In fact, if there’s anyone that knows you ‘unwell’ and you’re aware of that, such person would probably never get listed on your CV as a referee. Why don’t your grades or records of achievement matter here?

In my short life experience, I have seen people’s connections make the difference for them. This teaches me all the more that it’s not only about how much you know, but also about whom you know! People get admitted into top-rated colleges just on the recommendation of the right person; people get jobs by bearing a note from someone that matters; businesses sometimes break through by referrals; and the examples can continue of how the right connections can make. There are also many ready examples of how the wrong connections can mar. In fact, a time comes in the life of everyone when all that matters is just whom we know and/or hang around. That is why the most successful people that you will find around hang around with similar people – and the same goes for the most wretched people.

Give a lot of time to keeping in touch with good people; stay in touch with people who share your values; network with your peers who have a sense of purpose; keep a good address book, an up-to-date email list and a business card holder. Go for that conference to meet people, subscribe to that mailing list, join that professional association – do all you can to put yourself in the right company and stay there, it will definitely pay off!

 

‘A single conversation across the table with a wise man is better than ten years' study of books.’ (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Hyperion, Chapter VII. Quoted from the Chinese)