Tag: Doyin Olorunfemi

  • Pass the BATON

    Pass the BATON

    In the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the American female relay team, which included Marion Jones was tipped to win the 4 x 100m relay. The team was packed full of individual talent who understood together, would make a formidable quartet and seal the deal – they were disqualified!

    In the 2016 Olympic games in Athens, the American male relay team were also tipped to win a medal – probably not gold, considering they had the Jamaican team to contend with, but at least win a medal, especially with seasoned sprinters like Justin Gatlin a part of the team – they were disqualified! It was the 9th time they had been disqualified in 21 years

    So what actually happened? History has it that the disqualification was based on technicalities. In 2004, when Marion Jones, who ran a brilliant 2nd leg passed the baton on to Lauryn Williams, the handoff was not completed in the 20-yard exchange zone. For the men in 2016, it was a similar failing. Mike Rodgers in passing to Justin Gatlin flouted Rule 170.7 because the baton was passed outside the takeover zone.
    I don’t run (I wish I did) but I am fascinated by races because they draw several parallels to our everyday life and teach us how to complete our course well.

    Sometime in August last year, I began to question myself. Many talk about me being a strong individual and about my daughters also being individually strong but I wondered if I was passing the baton on to them, at the right time and in the right way. This birth my new book ‘A letter to my daughters’ – it contains all I want to say to my daughters and all I want them to know from my life so that they can supersede the successes I have enjoyed and build on what I have started. Atimes it was scary to be so open and to bare it all on paper, but then I remembered that it’s not about individual brilliance but about working together to WIN.

    5 thoughts flood my mind as I think of the baton to pass on:

    • B – Belief. It is essential for the next generation to run with BELIEF in their ability. So many of our youth lack self-confidence and seek ways to mask their insecurities. The wave of social media opens their eyes to people to compare themselves to and they never seem to measure up. It is our responsibility to extol their virtues and pass on belief in themselves that they are able and can excel.
    • A – Attitude. ‘You can do everything wrong with the right attitude and succeed. Do everything right, but with a bad attitude and you will live in isolation…?’ In my book, I made an A-Z list of right attitudes to develop. From commitment to respect to zeal, learning the attitude alphabets will make a difference.
    • T – Trust. Do you trust the next generation to do right? My younger daughter is fond of saying ‘mummy you don’t trust me’ in response to my frown when she attempts to do something new. I remember one of my favourite childhood films ‘Finding Nemo’ and in particular when Marlin, Nemo’s father met Crush, the turtle in the EAC. In this scene, Crush seem to be losing his son and Marlin panicked and wanted to run after the baby turtle. Crush stopped him saying ‘Let us see what squid does flying solo….’ He tried to assure Marlin there was a time to let go, to which Marlin asked “Dude, how do you know they are ready?” and Crush replied “You never know you know, but when they know, you’ll know”. Wow! There comes a time when we have to trust our children to make their own decisions. This of course will be easier if we have done the first 2 of imparting belief and teaching them the right attitudes
    • O – Optimism: the belief that tomorrow holds a better promise. Nothing trumps hope and passing on this baton by sharing our life’s experiences and how we overcame them is sure to make a difference to their future success.
    • N – Nurturing: we need to teach them to pass it on too, to value those behind them and to work to ensure that all they have learnt is passed on to create an even greater success.

    As we countdown to Mother’s Day in a few days, 26th March to be exact, I encourage you to purchase my book ‘A Letter to my daughters’ on Amazon and when your daughter hands you that mother’s day card or gift, in return give her a copy of my book, schedule time to read it together and you will be passing on the baton at the right time. When I wrote it I had teens and twenties in mind, but from the reviews, I hear it is for every woman of every age so please do check it out

  • Love Is

    Love Is

    There are many definitions of love, but all pointing to one thing – sacrificial giving, without expecting anything in return.

    It’s February and many will use the word ‘Love’ to refer to the relationship between man and woman. On the 14th, florists shop will be out of business because we want to express that love in giving. Today I will take a leaf from that concept – many who love will demonstrate it by giving sacrificially, regardless of their current economic situation. I have emphasised ‘sacrificially’ because the best gifts are not the ones given out of the residue of abundance.

    More than showing love to our significant others, perhaps worth considering is how sacrificial giving can benefit us and transform us from our current state. Permit me to highlight 2 stories that touched me in 2016 – the story of James Boden and Morrie Boogart. Morrie is 91 years old and lives in a hospice in Grandville, Michigan. Even though he is terminally ill, Morrie finds strength and purpose in knitting hats for the homeless. To say Morries work is inspirational is putting it lightly. He has chosen not to focus on his shortcomings but to lend a hand to someone around him who needs help too.
    And this takes me to my 2nd highlight of 2016 – James Bowen. James was living rough, a recovering drug addict and homeless man who was given temporary accommodation. It was here he met Bob a cat, who needed care. Again, rather than focus on his own ‘helplessness’, he cared for the cat. The cat brought him good fortune, which has today resulted to a book and a film being written about the pair.

    You see, love is not just an emotion expressed to those we know, it is a choice made to enrich and improve others, albeit sacrificial on our part.

    As we celebrate this month of love, I encourage you to look afar, ignore the pain in your life, find a need and meet it. I guarantee that as you do, your own needs will be met too and your situation will change for the better.

    Till next time, I charge you to #MakeADifference

  • Leaders are Readers

    June is my birthday month and I juggled my brain on what I could give back to you amazing people who have supported my vision and helped me live my dreams with Minute Motivation.  In response to the most asked question – ‘How do I develop the habit of reading?’, I thought I could perhaps share my experience and what I do.

    Apart from school books, I never had the habit of reading and I remember being asked to fill out a ‘Fun facts’ form at an event I was speaking at. One of the questions was ‘What book are you currently reading?‘ I thought ‘Am I supposed to be reading a book?’ Well I went back home that day with a determination to have something to write the next time anyone asked me such a question 😊. Still I found myself still reading sporadically until I heard someone say “Readers are Leaders and Leaders are Readers”. Well my life ambition is to lead in every sphere of my life and if reading would make that happen, so be it.

    Many who know me would agree that consistency in the systems I set up is one of my biggest strengths so I proceeded to write what conditions help me read and which ones slow me down.
    Following my analysation, I concluded that
    1. I was more likely to read from an electronic device than paper
    2. I didn’t like the feeling of forgetting everything I had read in the book
    3. I liked authors who were conversational in their writing, rather than factual
    4. I was more likely to read a book that taught me life lessons or moved me forward in my thinking

    With this, I developed my reading strategy –
    – I read 1st thing in the morning from my mobile phone. This way, I didn’t have to worry about waking everyone in the house up because I switched the lights on etc.
    – I read only one chapter a day. This enabled me to have time to think about what I learnt and fully absorb the contents. Also because majority of books were less than 30 chapters, I was guaranteed to read a book every month
    – I write down what I understand from the chapter on 1 or 2 sentences. Again this help me comprehend what I’ve learnt better and therefore apply it better
    – I talk about the book with as many as I can. This way I form a community of people who share my enthusiasm and commits me to finishing the book.

    Have these tips sparked hope in you?  Why not pick a book today and let me know how you get along?

    Book of the month – “Make today count” by John Maxwell

  • Use it or Lose it

    February // USE IT OR LOSE IT

    At the end of last year, I decided to join my church choir for the annual carols presentation. I’m not the best singer the world has to offer but I can hold a tune. I had assumed it was going to be plain sailing as I had been in the choir for most of my primary school life and in my twenties. Now, I found the singing part okay, but was surprised I couldn’t seem to memorise a verse, let alone whole songs! (more…)

  • Take Stock

    January // TAKE STOCK

    Happy New Year and welcome to the ‘new format’ Minute Motivation.

    Many who know me, know that I love sports – tennis, football and more recently, I have particularly enjoy Formula 1. I love the rush of energy, the sound of the engines and the nail-biting moments. Ok Doyin, don’t get carried away here, most of your readers/listeners are women ! Apart from the thrill of the sports, I actually do learn a lot from the sport. This month’s chat is as a result of one of those lessons – the role of tyre changes in a skilled driver winning the race. (more…)

  • PASS IT ON : Part of the ‘GAP’ Series

    P – is for PASS IT ON.

    We need this series with the letter P for ‘Pass it on’. 2 months ago I formed a new habit of asking myself ‘who needs this?’ whenever I got the privilege of being blessed with money, information or anything. (more…)

  • YET : Part of the ‘WAY’ Series

    Y – YET

    It’s the last letter in this series of attitudes I have adopted in the past couple of weeks

    • W for Write
    • A for Act and
    • Y for Yet!

    Yes you got that right… I love the word YET because it puts an emphasis on HOPE. Think of these 2 statements – ‘I haven’t made any sales today’ and ‘I haven’t made any sales today, yet’. (more…)

  • WRITE : Part of the ‘WAY’ Series

    Your WAY to Success: W – WRITE

    I’ve had a great day today and as I sit scribbling, I ask myself what words defined me in the last quarter. You see I like taking stock of my past, so I have the necessary ‘fuel’ to build a better future. More than taking stock, I love patterns (probably the mathematician in me) and I get doubly excited when I write things down that spell a word 🙂 . (more…)

  • ORDERLINESS : Part of the ‘TOP’ Series

    Orderliness

    A while back I saw a bumper sticker that read ‘I’m too lazy to be disorganised, being organised makes my life easy’. How profoundly true is that? Many of us struggle with setting up and subsequently maintaining some order in our day to day life but wouldn’t you agree with me that when you finally get round to doing it, our lives run so much smoother. (more…)

  • TENACITY : Part of the ‘TOP’ Series

    Tenacity

    In my Mary Kay world, things are going quite well, thank God. I have now become used to people saying to me ‘you don’t have to worry about that, after all you are a ‘TOP’ director…’. I believe hearing this so often is the reason I have the word TOP so strong on my mind. I found myself asking, ‘What keeps you at the TOP of your game?’ in this series, which I promise to try to keep at 1minute each, I will be talking about how to get to and stay on TOP.

    Today’s letter is T, T for Tenacity! What comes to mind when you hear that word? I guess its dictionary time. The dictionary says tenacity is the quality of holding on, holding together, cohesive and not being easily pulled apart. Even as I write, I am encouraged by the strength depicted by this word.

    I see Tenacity as the glue that holds you to your dreams. The reality is you can’t really reach the top of your industry/field if you don’t have the give-it-all-I‘ve-got-at-all-cost attitude. When you start out with any goal, giving yourself a ‘no way out’ card, you find creative ways to make your dream become a reality. Stick to your goal and give it EVERYTHING and you have a chance at staying on TOP!

     

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    QUOTE OF THE WEEK:

    “When you reach the end of your rope,
    tie a knot and hang on.”

    – Abraham Lincoln