Tag: Minute Motivation

  • Remember

    Remember

    Before you make a goal poster #Remember

    It’s that time of the year when we give thanks, countdown to Christmas, significantly reduce the world turkey count and begin to make plans for the new year. Plans such as: how much weight we’ll lose, how much money we’ll save, what new heights we’ll achieve etc. 

    I love setting goals and more importantly achieving them; that’s why I wrote GROW with Goals!

    As I began making my preparations for 2019 however, I asked myself if there was a right way to kickstart the process of goal setting and if there is a pre-process?

    My research led me to the studies of Prof Donna Rose Addis of University of Auckland and her study on the importance of episodic memory. Episodic memory simply means a recount of previous life experiences. 

    Her studies found that:

    • When imagining future events, the brain network that is active is strikingly similar to the network that is activated by remembering our past
    • Studies on individuals with some degree of memory loss have revealed that when access to episodic memory details is compromised, there is a corresponding loss of details in the future events they imagine.

    And she concluded that “episodic memory not only allows us to remember the past but imagine our future”

    What does this mean? I remember having a conversation with my daughters about this time last year prior to them writing their 2018 goals and creating their vision board. I encouraged them to recollect times they came out of situations knowing it could only have been God and use this as a yardstick for the stretch they put on their vision board.
    The result of this was two very audacious boards from the girls.

    Referring to my past experiences and Donna Addis studies, I realise that the strengths you draw from your past can provide inspiration for your future … and vision is simply an imagined future!
    So what next?

    I have a November assignment for you – create a remember board. 
    This is a sample of one I created before recording this vlog 

    • Show board
    • Explain 3 items- what happened and what it propels you to imagine/believe
    • GCSE result – no matter how close I am to disaster, something will snatch me
    • Are – integrity prevails
    • Miscarriage – don’t reminisce over what I lost but expect better
    • Tewa – a moment of obedience can change the course of my life forever

    Did you like my Remember board? Now it’s time to create yours!
    You can make it a collage on your computer or phone, it doesn’t matter…. just create one. 

    Also, don’t forget to get your copy of GROW With Goals, it is definitely the best tool out there for not just setting goals but actually achieving the goals you set.

  • GROW with Goals

    GROW with Goals

    You may remember that 2 months ago, I casually mentioned that I wanted to finish off my new book “GROW with Goals”. I’m pleased to say GROW with Goals is now on the book shelves and on Amazon (https://amzn.to/2Rtfqw0) and doing well too!

    As we end this month, I would like to share a few things about the book with you. I wrote the book because I was starting to question the whole concept of goal-setting and the processes that lead to us achieving these set goals, that is, if we achieve them. I concluded that ‘Yes, goals are worth setting if they GROW us‘. While growing in the natural sense implies getting better, in the book, I also used GROW as an acronym to demonstrate the steps that make the achievement of goals happen.

    The first step is ‘G for Goals‘ – and I teach on how to set goals that have a strong why. It also elaborates on how goals are more likely to be realised when they utilize most or all of our senses. After fine-tuning our goals, we then need to ask the ‘what’ question and detail all that is needed to achieve these set goals. That’s why the next letter is ‘‘R for Resource‘. Resourcing yourself is the process of knowing what is needed to achieve your goals and equipping yourself with it/them. Once these two processes are complete, we need to get our lives organised around the accomplishment of the goals we set. ‘O therefore represents Organisation‘. Your life, your activities must be in synergy with your goals. It has been said that ‘Those who changed the world started by mastering the art of making their bed’. An organised person will also find that they are blessed with the unique gift of realised goals. The acronym concludes with the letter ‘W for Work‘. Yes, to realise the dreams you set goals to achieve, you need to DO THE WORK! Every day, go to bed, knowing you gave it your best shot, knowing you moved closer to your goals because you did something about it.

    I believe once we follow through with GROW instead of merely setting goals, we will ease the frustration from goal-setting and begin to thrive on the benefits.

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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