Tag: Doyin Olorunfemi

  • Platform

    Platform

    Thanks for all your congratulatory messages and good wishes following last month’s detailing of my productivity journey. I really do hope you’ve had the opportunity to try out the LIST method and are enjoying the benefits. Please share your stories – I love to hear them!

    This month, I want to continue with another train of thought I had, post MAP 2018. At MAP, we announced registration for MAP 2019, with the theme ‘Significant Me’ because I believe the theme is particularly apt for this season. Many of the women I interact with, whether at MAPMe sessions or in my day-to-day grind, have a desire to leave a legacy and footprints in this world. It lends to my #LiveWell #LiveFull #LiveOut platform where we do not stop at making a sustainable living, but go beyond it to extending our purpose and giftings to the world around us. The questions then arise –
    How do we go about living out?
    How do we make an impact in a world that is so alive with ideas?
    How do we become a VOICE in a world full of noise?

    Recently I have been thinking about this a lot and the word PLATFORM comes to mind. Why you might ask? A platform is defined as a raised surface on which people or things can stand. It gives leverage and a better opportunity to be seen in the midst of a crowd. Just imagine trying to get heard with a big crowd around you, a platform could give you the much-needed visibility. Of course, if you shout loud enough, you will still be heard, but there is definitely a correlation between visibility and getting an audience, so, where necessary, make yourself visible to be heard.

    I believe that as we make the effort to be seen, heard, and make an impact, we are that much more effective when we stand on our platform. The next question then is – ‘How do you discover and make use of your platform?’

    To get started, lets work through together, the four Ds to maximising your platform.

    1. What do you currently DO? What are your daily DUTIES? These are often a clue to your platform as continuously doing the tasks have made you an expert of some sort and people associate the duty with you. Are you a student, fulltime mum, career woman? What are you known for and what is the first thing people think about when they hear you name?
    2. What is your DREAM? What needs do you DESIRE to fulfil? Even if it you are far from it right now, writing it down might help you understand the steps needed to someday make the dream a reality
    3. Connect the DOTS! How can your current position enable where you hope to be? What can you do with what you already have, to make you edge closer to your dream?
    4. DESIGN – After doing the three tasks above, you would need to make a next steps plan, knowing that taking those steps will lead you to where you eventually want to go.

    Essentially, I believe that when you seek out what you do effortlessly, and what increases your credibility, you need to perfect it and use it as leverage to other new pursuits – this is the platform way! Remember your platform could be a job, an association, a business you are involved in or a skill you have. To get your message across to your world, consider using this platform as a leverage to your dreams.

    On a personal note, I have always been passionate about developing Africa through innovative entrepreneurship. However, 2 years ago, that seemed impossible – I was simply known as a Mary Kay sales director. I didn’t give up, but kept my dream alive and started to connect the dots… I saw how being successful in an entrepreneurship venture gave me credibility to become an entrepreneurship expert, and therefore have a voice in Africa. Well I designed my path and today, I am back in school to add academia to my experience and begin the journey of influencing Africa.

    I hope sharing my personal experience has given you a clue to finding and building your platform. If you need help doing the essential step of CONNECTING THE DOTS, you could book a MAPMe session with me and I would be delighted to help.

    Remember, your voice needs to be heard so start speaking today!

  • Beyond the LIST

    Beyond the LIST

    The theme of MAP 2018 was #Maximise Me. The speakers were amazing in helping us decipher who we are as a springboard to being maximised. The book club has also been brilliant in following up this thought process. However, as I pondered this subject more, I couldn’t help but wonder if there is any correlation between being maximised and being productive.

    As is typical of me, I went straight to my go-to book, AKA The Oxford dictionary, for definitions and found that to Maximise means to make the best use of or make as large as possible while it defines being productive achieving a significant amount or result. I’m sure you agree with me that the two are almost synonyms and a productive person is definitely one who is maximising his/her gifts, talents and resources.

    Being Doyin, this of course made me ask myself the question – ‘are you a productive person?’ and if yes ‘how do you ensure productivity in your life?’ I smile as I write because I know I am very productive and it was good to force myself to detail my process of productivity.

    April marked the beginning of my 3rd semester in my MSc program and I decided to take ‘Entrepreneurial Finance’ as one of my modules. You see, I’ve always wanted to understand how venture capitalists work and how ventures are valued for external financing, so the module was a natural choice. After the 1st lesson, I realised I had under-estimated the pre-requisite accounting knowledge needed to do well in this module and knew the only way I could pass was to invest at least 10hours weekly to get up to speed with pre-requisites as well as the course content. Normally, I wouldn’t have minded this but April – July was already going to be a busy period for me with MAP 2018 around the corner, Daughter 1 preparing for her GCSE, Daughter 2 having her 13th birthday, a May 31st deadline for my new book in addition to running my business, taking other modules in school, and my family responsibilities. Just thinking of all I had to do in such a short time made me feel soooooooo overwhelmed.

    After days of wallowing in self pity and even considering quitting on some of my goals and the finance course, I remember choosing to take charge and achieving significant result aka be productive by using my tried and tested method – LIST! My LIST method goes beyond just writing a LIST and incorporates 4 steps, where the word, LIST is an acronym and not just an individual process. Let me share this with you…

    1. List everything you need to accomplish. For me it was
      1. Organise Daughter 2 birthday
      2. Coach and assist Daughter 2 in GCSE subject
      3. Complete ‘Grow with Goals’
      4. Organise and host MAP 2018
      5. Cope with EF etc.

    2. Itemise what needs to be done for each of the tasks you’ve written on your list. For instance, the first item on that list above – ‘organise Daughter 2’s birthday’ was further broken into
      1. Order snacks
      2. Create & send out invites
      3. Book venue

    3. Schedule EVERYTHING you wrote down in Step 2. Start with the non-negotiables and time dependent tasks. For example, in my organising MAP, I had to have the handouts ready by a certain date, so they could be printed on time. You don’t have to spend money on a fancy organiser. For me I just wrote all the dates down on a spreadsheet and divided each day into morning-afternoon-evening before plugging in tasks.

    4. Tick Off: Can I just say that this is the most important part of this process. Ticking off the tasks daily not only fills you with a sense of accomplishment, it fuels you by giving you the energy to take on the next day. I can’t explain it but I felt my stress level diminish daily and my optimism increase with every item I ticked off

    Hey friends, I know you’ve heard the blurb about LIST many times but simply writing a list without following it with the other 3 steps will not get the work of productivity done. To actually be productive in the midst of overwhelm, you must employ LIST as a method, not a singular task.

    By the way, lets end the story on some good news – I passed EVERY module and coursework with distinction, Daughter 2’s party was awesome, MAP 2018, judging by the reviews was all I hoped for and more, Grow with Goals was completed and is now my best selling book and of course Daughter 1 excelled in her GCSEs. Looking back now, I am pleased that I didn’t quit on myself, but employed the LIST method to maximise myself in a season that could well have been difficult and overwhelming! I hope you can have the same experience…

  • 4 Quadrants

    4 Quadrants

    I have just completed The Element by Sir Ken Robinson. I love books, which is the reason I started a book club. We have read a number of books and while each one is exciting, some of the books force you to address unfounded notions and make you undergo a paradigm shift. This was one such books, challenging the way we and our children are educated and introducing the idea of ‘the element’. (more…)

  • Conception to Completion!

    Conception to Completion!

    On Monday 23rd of April 2018, a new royal was born. Congratulations to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge on the birth of their new bundle of joy. Celebrating this new arrival made me remember the birth process of my own adorable daughters; I remember the process of conception till birth and that’s what I want us to talk about today.
    (more…)

  • Empower

    Empower

    How many times do you start out intending to help someone and realise you benefit the most?
    How many times has helping to meet a need given you the faith to believe someone else can meet yours too?

    Have you ever wondered if the primary reason for having is giving?

    These are questions that randomly come to mind every now and then and of a truth, I can say they result in the same kind of answer… !
    (more…)

  • Grow through Community

    Grow through Community

    Last month I shared with you my recommendation for developing a SUCCESS Mind-set, using the acronym GRACE. Just to reiterate, GRACE means Gratitude, Resourcing yourself through Reading, Affirmations, Community engagement and Empowering others. Next month, I will share my experience on E, but this month, I have chosen to focus on ‘C’ – Community.

    Legendary motivational speaker Jim Rohn said “you are the average of the 5 people you spend time with”. This is both true of personal relationships as it is true of communities we find ourselves in. Think about it, if you grow up in a generous community, you will assume generosity to be a way of life and you will most likely also be a generous person. Sadly the reverse is also true, if you grow up in a poverty-stricken community, you will assume this to be the norm and also adapt it as a way of life. Yes there are exceptions to the rule where the community serves as a catalyst for completely bucking the trend but most times, this is largely due to that individual translating getting exposure from an external source.

    If we agree that you generally rise to the expectations of your society, it is plausible that we should engage in communities that could elevate our status and help us to become better versions of ourselves. Again I have seen this in action when children are moved from destructive homes to nurturing ones. They buck the trend and grow up to be successful and responsible adults.

    I remember considering this in more detail at the beginning of the year. I made the decision to plant myself in communities that served my goals and edge me closer to my dreams. I close my eyes and I see a Doyin who impacts her world and communicates her ideas using public speaking as a vehicle. Guess what community I chose to become a part of? TED of course. As quickly as the thought came to mind, I registered myself for, and attended the June 2017 London TEDx event. I had so much fun just watching others live the dream that I have in my mind. I did it all – had a laugh singing in the ‘make-belief shower’ with fellow attendees, networked a lot and even wore the iconic red & black…. If I’m truthful, apart from being greatly inspired, I haven’t moved any closer to benefiting from that community.

    This brings me to another point – while joining a growing community is essential, it’s your participation in it that allows you benefit. Just imagine if I had taken a different route of being involved in planning the TEDx event, I would have benefited from knowing the inner workings of the organisation and maybe even met someone that could coach me towards my dream. It’s the same with church; I have been fortunate to be a part of a fantastic church for the past 15 years. In this time I have seen people miss out on all the benefits this community offers because they simply attended and never totally plugged in through serving.

    In conclusion I will say, you can change the direction you are headed by plugging into the right community. However, to maximise the benefits of being impacted by this community, you need to engage in it. Didn’t just attend it, SERVE it.

    My challenge to you this month therefore, is to take time out to dream again. Then, write out what communities will power you on your way to your dream. Write them out, and sign up to become a part of them TODAY. Have a blessed month!

  • Live WELL, Live FULL, Live OUT

    Live WELL, Live FULL, Live OUT

    Good education, exemplary work ethics, likeability: just some of the characteristics we embrace as they help us to get good jobs, do well in business or whatever it is that we are engaged in. Most of us stay in this lane, finding how to get the next best job and live a very comfortable life. I guess there’s an inate desire in us all the #LiveWell. I am no exception and love the good things in life – holidays, clothes, lovely surrounding etc.

    However, as I got older though, the desire to live a good life was no longer sufficient. I found myself asking questions like – ‘why am I alive?’, ‘do I have a specific assignment earmarked for me?’, ‘what’s my purpose?’. I know these questions are not unique to me. A lot of my friends attest to asking themselves similar questions. This desire to live for more and fulfil our life assignment is what I refer to as #LiveFull.

    Two desires ticked off – enjoying the good things of life and feeling in touch with my life assignment – #LiveWell #LiveFull but still there’s a restlessness. I find myself asking how what I do today will translate to the next generation. I strongly believe our assignment MUST outlive us. In fact as discussed in previous videos, we need to pass on the baton. The next generation has a unique strength of building upon the good of today. Again, many of us refer to this mindset as one that lives a legacy. I call this #LiveOut. Living out means equipping the next generation so that the best of me today can be bettered tomorrow.

    My way of living the #LiveWell #LiveFull #LiveOut philosophy was to write a book, which was published in February 2017. The title of the book- ‘A letter to my Daughters’ captures the desire in my heart. The next generation of young girls taking hold of all that I know and building on it to be all they dream of becoming in the future.

    This September, I will be taking on another project, giving 1000 copies of the book to young girls in my home country Nigeria. I invite you to attend on Sunday 3rd September at 4pm. Please register at https://ALTMD.eventbrite.co.uk. I pray it will provide the opportunity for you to #LiveWell #LiveFull #LiveOut

  • Growth

    Growth

    I love the definition of growth that refers to it as a positive change in size. In other words, when an item or a person grows, it is seen as a sign that the person is moving in a positive direction. Growth is always expected, growth is always celebrated and growth is a tangible representation of achievement or success. Today I would love to share with you how I grow…

  • G is for Goals. This is the first step in growing. You must set clear, specific, realistic and action-focused goals. Many goals never see the light of day because they are very general in nature and lack the specific focus to channel our energy to it. A goal that will be realised must be detailed and very specific.

  • R is for Resource. The next step to growing is to ensure you have all you need and all it takes to achieve your hearts desires. A GAP analysis is always a great place to start – ask yourself where you are now, where you want to go (based on your goals) and what you need to get there. Then RESOURCE yourself with all that is necessary to get there. Sometimes it might entail big commitments like returning to school or be as simple as reading a book. Whatever it takes, resource yourself to be the person that can do your goals.

  • O is for Organise. Not much can happen until you become organised for success. I have often referred to being organised as my biggest strength and I can guarantee you it has really helped me in juggling a lot of balls successfully. Becoming better organised starts with simple practices like sorting out your physical space, or, for the women, organising your bag etc. One thing is for sure – when you get organised, you achieve more.

  • Wis for Work. Work will win where wishing won’t. You must put in the work in to get the desired result. Set goals, resource yourself, become the most organised person and yet you still won’t make progress until you actually make time to do the work that is required by your goal. Being in business for a long time, I have seen people come in with the best ideas but very little discipline At the same time, I have seen others lacking ideas, but with exceptional work ethic. Guess who grows and makes the most progress? Of course it’s the person who does the work. Work is the treadmill to success and it is essential to make us GROW.
  • Power of FRIENDs

    Power of FRIENDs

    I feel blessed to have the most amazing friends.

    When I have felt unable to pursue my goals, they cheered me on; when I have strayed and become distracted, they aligned me and put me back on the right path. I love that the relationship I have built with my friends have allowed them to be firm, yet loving and this has given me the right environment to thrive. Sadly, this is not the experience of many I know. In fact it seems a lot of us have had our fingers burnt by so-called friends and have become sceptical of building friendship – please don’t.

    There is strength in great friendships and when I was asked to be part of a panel to discuss friendship a few months back, I realised just how important the subject is and the importance of having great friends.

    One key thing stood out as I pondered this topic a lot more is that by being a great friend, you can begin to inspire people to be great friends to you too. Imagine seeing a reflection of yourself in a mirror and judge yourself as a friend. What do you see in yourself? What are you reflecting? Have you been a great friend to those in your world? Can you inspire your friends to be better by the choices you make? It is true that people mirror back to us what they see and the way to help your friends become better is to choose to become better yourself.

    I wrote this acronym to suggest ideas on how to be a great friend and I hope as you read, you hear my heart, act differently with those you know and become a better friend. Enjoy!

    • Fun – be guaranteed to make him/her laugh. 
    • Respect – be respectful of his/her beliefs and values
    • Intercede – pray for him/her and hear God give you specific instructions to help him/her
    • Encourage – be the one that champions him/her to be the best version of themselves
    • Nurture – be there to support when down and protect
    • Dependable – be the one he/she can count on

    Have you been a good friend? Could you be a better friend? Why not make today the day you begin to strengthen the friendships you’ve got and benefit from lifelong impact

    Click here to register now for June’s workshop. Our guest speakers are all set and so am I to ensure you have a truly awesome and life changing experience.

  • Mindset Matters

    Mindset Matters

    I must be a sprinter in my mind because the analogies and life lessons I draw from races must mean I LOVE them!

    Meditating on a bible verse, Hebrews 12:1, to be exact and straightaway I began to imagine a sprinter trying to get off the blocks. What I saw in my mind’s eye was the ankle strapped with a thick elastic band that gave the false impression of launching out without actually launching out. The resistance from the elastic band meant progress was not made, in spite of ability…

    Do you sometimes feel this is the story of your life?
    Do you feel that despite putting in your best effort, you just don’t seem to be making a headway?
    Well going back to my analogy, as long as you remain in the same place, you will have the illusion of moving without actually making progress. The solution is to turn around and severe the obstruction, not continue with it.

    This June, our MAP workshop is focused on MINDSETS! The dictionary defines Mind-set as an attitude, disposition, inclination or intention. Mind-sets colour how you perceive life and will either catapult you to success or withhold success from you.

    I will give you an example from my life, in February, I had completed the interior for my new book ‘A letter to my daughters’ and all that was left was the cover design. Sadly, due to prior commitments, this cover could not be designed for another 3 weeks. I was downbeat and felt ‘here we go again, another goal that won’t happen because…’ Luckily I was able to STOP myself and search within. I asked what other projects were lurking and which ones could I produce solely by my efforts. In that week, my 2nd book ‘Let’s Read’ was born. The difference was I didn’t allow a seeming setback stop me, rather, I used the lessons I had learnt through the process to propel me to success in a new project. I designed and published book 2 in 8 days, because of the skills I had learnt while working on book 1. My mind-set change is why I now have 2 books on Amazon instead of 1.

    For some others, it could be a negative mind-set on health, finances, relationships… It really doesn’t matter. What matters is how you process these thoughts and the actions you take from your thoughts processing.

    Click here to register now for June’s workshop. Our guest speakers are all set and so am I to ensure you have a truly awesome and life changing experience.