The Laws Of Gold - By Reuben Abati

Good morning. Today I stumbled on a 5-year old article in my archive from one of Nigeria's most intellectual writers and Chairman, Editorial Board of The Guardian Newspaper, one of the leading print media in the country, my mentor, leader and clear minded social writer, Dr. Reuben Abati.

The article published in The Sunday Guardian of September 21st 2003 is a master piece any time.

Please read on as the great intellectual gives us his opinion on wealth creation and "get rich quick syndrome" craze in the country...

The Laws Of Gold By Reuben ABATI

I have been reading a number of books about how to get rich, and become wealthy. I confess that I have been doing this out of curiousity, not necessarily because I am envious of the rich and their good fortunes. What has happened is that of late, so many friends and acquaintances have been recommending these books to me as worthy of critical attention. I have in fact seen so many persons clutching the books so close to their hearts. They are best sellers. It is difficult to get anyone to lend them out, at least two of them which are being promoted as if they are the last words on wealth creation. I have four of such books, each one purporting to focus on that which nobody teaches in formal schools. They can be divided into two categories: the ones dealing with the subject from a secular perspective, namely George S. Clason's The Richest Man in Babylon, and Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad. The second set deals with the subject from a spiritual perspective: Sam Adeyemi's Parable of Dollars, and Tunde Bakare's Operating in High Finances. Adeyemi and Bakare are both well-known Pentecostal pastors in Lagos, shepherding the Daystar Christian Centre and the Latter Rain Assembly respectively.

In a country where anti-intellectualism is worn like a garment and the reading culture is low, and embarrassing, it is instructive that certain books are making the rounds and engaging the attention of the wannabe middle class. The success of these books, in both their original and pirated forms with the Nigerian reading public is understandable. We live in a monetised society. The man or woman of means is king or Queen. There is so much poverty in the land, that any man or woman who can boast of more gold than his neighbour is accorded greater respect and attention. Money gives you voice, it confers status; it conveys the impression also of both wisdom and genius. A rich man can hire and fire. He can if he so wishes steal the king's wife.

This is perhaps an eternal truth, but the crisis in the Nigerian society is that getting rich, amassing wealth has become an end in itself, indeed the superior normative value of existence. Popular attitudes bear out the extent of the truthfulness of this assertion. Musicians praise the rich and ignore the poor. Every weekend, Nigerians live conspicuously by putting their wealth on display either through showy finery or outlandish parties. Social iconography is all about being rich. Television and other cultural images, both local and imported, support the feeling that being rich is only a short distance from heaven. In local communities, there are sayings and attitudes, which confer undue privileges on the man of means. A rich man is not ugly in the imagination of the public: his wealth makes up for his physical limitations; the rich are never too young, their wealth buys them the advantages of age; a rich man is never considered foolish, he can always buy intelligent people and turn them into his slaves.

This increasing obsession with riches in Nigeria has not been helped by the emergence and popularity of the group of churches referred to as the Pentecostal Churches. For a long while, cultural romanticisation of wealth was done at the level of extrapolations from known images and idioms. I have heard people throw the titles of James Hardly Chase's novels at me: "What's Better Than Money?", "A Whiff of Money", "You are Dead without Money". Or such local sayings as Ezego, Akueze, Egoka, Oho ego k'egoli or in Yoruba: Owonikoko, Olowolagba, Olowolayemo, Owo a pe kanu ko; Owo ko si eniyan ko sun won. I won't bother with the translations, but each of these draws attention to the value and weight of money, except that they are often applied to current circumstances in a de-contextualised and culturally misleading sense. For there is no African community in which money is traditionally considered an end in itself. What has happened in the emergent mythologisation of riches, and the Pentecostalisation of the search and desire for it is that passages of the Bible are isolated and wielded as evidence that God's purpose is for men to be rich. Hence, the gospel of prosperity is based on the slogan that "poverty is a curse", "money answereth all things", "the poor have nothing to lose but their poverty"; "the rich man's wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty.", "the rich ruleth over the poor"; "wealth maketh many friends; but the poor is separated from his neighbour;" "all brethren of the poor do hate him.."; "...the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard". Every Sunday, many of our compatriots flock to the new generation churches to hear messages of hope about the possibility of escaping the poverty trap. The traditional churches where the congregation is perpetually told that "the poor shall inherit the earth..." have lost many members who are convinced beyond any reasonable doubt that this is a misinterpretation of God's true purpose for his creation.

Those who have recommended the four books in question have had cause to preach some of these doctrines to me. They are convinced that if I master the ideas, I can become a rich man too. One of them threw a Yoruba expression at me: "Owokoniran" to suggest that nobody brought riches from heaven, it is not the peculiar right of any family. "Doctor, you know you too can be rich." This is said with so much conviction I can almost see myself swimming very soon in an ocean of riches, surrounded by gold. One of the open persuaders in fact told me that the recommendations in Rich Dad, Poor Dad have transformed his life. Is he rich? He lives in a rented apartment, works for another man, drives a second hand car, struggles to buy GSM phone cards; he is nevertheless convinced that he has found the key to riches. If reading a number of books can make a man rich, why not try it too? This is the story then of how I finally settled down to the task of absorbing the advice that may turn me into a rich man, with plenty of gold.

George S. Clason's The Richest Man in Babylon is such a tantalising book, meant to fire the imagination of anyone who comes in contact with it. We are told that over two million copies of the book are in print. It is a book about "the success secrets of the ancients: the most inspiring book on wealth creation ever written." Wonderful. I opened the book. And I am told: "lo, money is plentiful for those who understand the simple rules of its acquisition." Essentially, The Richest Man in Babylon is constructed in form of conversations, personal testimonies, seminars, between the richest man in Babylon, Arkad, his son, Nomasir, and others: poor men seeking to become rich, poor men who have already become rich, all sharing their ideas and experiences about how to make money, keep money and turn money into wealth. The setting is Babylon, a man-made city-state that was rich in treasures; the land of dreams and possibilities. George Clason links his narration with the modern times by providing evidence that the story is indeed true and that it had worked for a certain Professor Alfred Shrewbury. The basic thesis of the book is that like the rich men of Babylon, any man can become rich. Wealth is not a function of good luck; it requires determination, the management of finances and debts, and the understanding and rigorous application of the FIVE LAWS OF GOLD as taught by Arkad to Nomasir, his son and as applied by the rich men of Babylon who managed to build wealth from rather humble beginnings.

The first law: Gold cometh gladly and in increasing quantity to any man who will put by not less than one-tenth of his earnings to create an estate for his future and that of his family. The second law: Gold laboreth diligently and contentedly for the wise owner who finds it profitable employment, multiplying even as the flocks of the field. The third law: Gold clingeth to the protection of the cautious owner who invests it under the advice of men wise in its handling. The fourth law: Gold slippeth away from the man who invests it in businesses and purchases with which he is not familiar or which are not approved by those skilled in its keep. The fifth law: Gold flees the man who would force it to impossible earnings or who followeth the alluring advice of tricksters and schemers or who trusts it to his own inexperience and romantic desires in investment." Like Nomasir, I am required to take these laws to heart and live by them.

The education continues in Rich Dad, Poor Dad, in which Kiyosaki seeks to bring to the public arena for the benefit of all, the answer to that question: "what is it that the rich teach their children that the poor do not teach their own children?" What is the secret of Paddy Adenuga, who at 22 is already a Director of Globacom, helping his father to run an aspect of his empire? What did Aliko Dangote's parents teach him as a young man, which many members of his generation do not know? And how did the rest of us end up as mere workaholics, pursuing a life of work, looking forward to the next pay slip? Rich Dad, Poor Dad is a capitalist manifesto. The author denigrates a life of endless work and ridicules the funny crowd that prides itself on scholastic and technocratic skills, without learning the ways of the rich. So, he offers a number of lessons. One, many of us are poor because we have forced ourselves into one of the biggest traps of life: working for money, expecting to be promoted and given a raise because we are hardworking. Such persons are victims of their own fears and insecurity. The rich do not work for money; money works for them. They are imaginative; they see what others miss. Two, the rich get richer because they understand the difference between an asset and a liability whereas the poor do not. Kiyosaki says owning a house is not an asset but a liability. This is obviously a controversial point. In the Richest Man in Babylon, we are advised that a rich man should build a house of his own! Three: mind your own business, that is protect your investment. Four: learn how the rich play their game on the critical questions of accounting, relating with the law, understanding markets and investments. Five: the rich invent money, they have financial intelligence. Six: "work to learn, don't work for money". Additional advice is further offered about how to get out of the rat race, overcome obstacles and get started on the route of wealth. Like Clason in The Richest Man in Babylon, Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad drips with optimism.

The critical difference between these two books and the remaining two by the pastors is that Pastors Adeyemi and Bakare use the Bible as the anchor for their analysis. The message in terms of wealth creation is based on the same thesis articulated so eloquently on page 105 of Sam Adeyemi's Parable of Dollars as follows: "Rich people do not have two heads, nor four ears, nor forty legs, nor four hands. Just like you have what they have in the physical, your spirit is as important as their spirit. The blood Jesus shed on the Calvary for them is the same one He shed for you. Before you were born, the same provision God made for them was made for you. There was no special provision made for anybody. Of course, they have stumbled on some things and have learnt a few secrets to get what they gotten, but you deserve to get those things as well. You will get them.". Tunde Bakare takes the matter beyond this competition between the rich and the poor, and focuses more on the purpose of wealth and how good things: prosperity, good health and long life await only those who have learnt to tap into God's favour, and power. He and Sam Adeyemi raise moral and spiritual questions that are lacking in the get rich quick manifestoes earlier considered.

The laws of making gold sound so simple, but I guess they cannot be so easy to apply in a society where governance is a problem, inflation is unpredictable, corruption is widespread and the rich are in constant danger of losing their riches to thieves and fraudulent banks. The Babylon that is spoken of was an organised society, in which the promotion of prosperity was a state policy. In Nigeria, our rulers are interested in promoting poverty. Ritual killers are on the prowl: they kill and use human parts to do money rituals. Could money from such a source have ever been in the contemplation of Clason and Kiyosaki? Many of the rich in our society are rich not because they have financial intelligence but because they are crooks, 419ers, who have either stolen from the public treasury or from others. There are a few who are genuine entrepreneurs but they are in the minority. Again, of what use is a rich man who cheats his employees, the state and everyone else. Do I really want to be rich after reading these books? Do I think I can apply the laws of gold and escape the rat race? Candidly, I do not know.

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Laminated life

This came from my reading through Adeolu Akinyemi latest article of the laminated life about how ignorance can mar man and send him to an early grave. In the article he gave a short story of a dedicated servant who almost died out of poverty, while sitting in her living room was a cheque of 100 million dollars given to her by her grateful late master.

She did not know the content of the “paper” but she treasured it so much that she laminated and hung it on her wall with the hope of showing it off to her friends.

She fell sick and almost die of lack until luckily the laminated paper caught the attention of a young man who told her the real value of the paper.

Ever since I read that article my mind has been running riots with the conscious discovery of some laminated things in my life mostly due to one flimsy excuse or another.

Lamination here means untapped values or opportunities. Those little things inside you that people cherish but you have suddenly stopped doing or cannot properly utilize. These values cut across every facets of our life, from spiritual to business to personal relationship with people.

You might have shrouded them unconsciously for whatever reason and yet looking for it somewhere else. Why go to Sokoto to get what is in your “Sokoto” (pocket)?

In life every one has a unique chance but the difference is the time it takes for them to know and utilize it. Some know it early, others late and some will never know.

So my people think and resurrect every dry bone now. Dry bones shall rise again for those who first recognize the dry areas by looking inwards and plan to change it, does not matter how many times you sing the “dry bone shall raise again” song, without recognizing the dry areas and putting in consious effort to resurrect them, they will forever remained dried.

Adeolu, great motivational speaker has just delivered a message like the famous town crier of old; how we receive the content is up to us. Choice is always ours to make.

I have decided to raise my dry bones again and make sure they stay alive this time, what about you?

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The 48 Laws of Power

48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene is one book you would love to hate. The book, a best seller, talks about the many tricks of acquiring power and retaining it.

It is believed that world leaders and top CEOs apply some of the lessons in this book in their different activities as leaders.

You might not agree with some or all of Greene's laws but the fact is that some of the laws, properly applied achieve desired results.

The word "enemy" stated in the book means different thing to different people depending on circumstances and individual outlook. It means competitor in business and opponent in sports, the phrase vary depending on the situation.

The Laws can be applied in any situation depending on the applicator's goal.

Read through the brief summary of the laws stated in the book. You might need it someday if not today.

Have a wonderful day!



The 48 Laws of Power

by Robert Greene

Law 1
Never Outshine the Master
Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please or impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite – inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.

Law 2
Never put too Much Trust in Friends, Learn how to use Enemies
Be wary of friends-they will betray you more quickly, for they are easily aroused to envy. They also become spoiled and tyrannical. But hire a former enemy and he will be more loyal than a friend, because he has more to prove. In fact, you have more to fear from friends than from enemies. If you have no enemies, find a way to make them.

Law 3
Conceal your Intentions
Keep people off-balance and in the dark by never revealing the purpose behind your actions. If they have no clue what you are up to, they cannot prepare a defense. Guide them far enough down the wrong path, envelope them in enough smoke, and by the time they realize your intentions, it will be too late.

Law 4
Always Say Less than Necessary
When you are trying to impress people with words, the more you say, the more common you appear, and the less in control. Even if you are saying something banal, it will seem original if you make it vague, open-ended, and sphinxlike. Powerful people impress and intimidate by saying less. The more you say, the more likely you are to say something foolish.

Law 5
So Much Depends on Reputation – Guard it with your Life
Reputation is the cornerstone of power. Through reputation alone you can intimidate and win; once you slip, however, you are vulnerable, and will be attacked on all sides. Make your reputation unassailable. Always be alert to potential attacks and thwart them before they happen. Meanwhile, learn to destroy your enemies by opening holes in their own reputations. Then stand aside and let public opinion hang them.

Law 6
Court Attention at all Cost
Everything is judged by its appearance; what is unseen counts for nothing. Never let yourself get lost in the crowd, then, or buried in oblivion. Stand out. Be conspicuous, at all cost. Make yourself a magnet of attention by appearing larger, more colorful, more mysterious, than the bland and timid masses.

Law 7
Get others to do the Work for you, but Always Take the Credit
Use the wisdom, knowledge, and legwork of other people to further your own cause. Not only will such assistance save you valuable time and energy, it will give you a godlike aura of efficiency and speed. In the end your helpers will be forgotten and you will be remembered. Never do yourself what others can do for you.

Law 8
Make other People come to you – use Bait if Necessary
When you force the other person to act, you are the one in control. It is always better to make your opponent come to you, abandoning his own plans in the process. Lure him with fabulous gains – then attack. You hold the cards.

Law 9
Win through your Actions, Never through Argument
Any momentary triumph you think gained through argument is really a Pyrrhic victory: The resentment and ill will you stir up is stronger and lasts longer than any momentary change of opinion. It is much more powerful to get others to agree with you through your actions, without saying a word. Demonstrate, do not explicate.

Law 10
Infection: Avoid the Unhappy and Unlucky
You can die from someone else’s misery – emotional states are as infectious as disease. You may feel you are helping the drowning man but you are only precipitating your own disaster. The unfortunate sometimes draw misfortune on themselves; they will also draw it on you. Associate with the happy and fortunate instead.

Law 11
Learn to Keep People Dependent on You
To maintain your independence you must always be needed and wanted. The more you are relied on, the more freedom you have. Make people depend on you for their happiness and prosperity and you have nothing to fear. Never teach them enough so that they can do without you.

Law 12
Use Selective Honesty and Generosity to Disarm your Victim
One sincere and honest move will cover over dozens of dishonest ones. Open-hearted gestures of honesty and generosity bring down the guard of even the most suspicious people. Once your selective honesty opens a hole in their armor, you can deceive and manipulate them at will. A timely gift – a Trojan horse – will serve the same purpose.

Law 13
When Asking for Help, Appeal to People’s Self-Interest
Never to their Mercy or Gratitude
If you need to turn to an ally for help, do not bother to remind him of your past assistance and good deeds. He will find a way to ignore you. Instead, uncover something in your request, or in your alliance with him, that will benefit him, and emphasize it out of all proportion. He will respond enthusiastically when he sees something to be gained for himself.

Law 14
Pose as a Friend, Work as a Spy
Knowing about your rival is critical. Use spies to gather valuable information that will keep you a step ahead. Better still: Play the spy yourself. In polite social encounters, learn to probe. Ask indirect questions to get people to reveal their weaknesses and intentions. There is no occasion that is not an opportunity for artful spying.
Law 15
Crush your Enemy Totally
All great leaders since Moses have known that a feared enemy must be crushed completely. (Sometimes they have learned this the hard way.) If one ember is left alight, no matter how dimly it smolders, a fire will eventually break out. More is lost through stopping halfway than through total annihilation: The enemy will recover, and will seek revenge. Crush him, not only in body but in spirit.

Law 16
Use Absence to Increase Respect and Honor
Too much circulation makes the price go down: The more you are seen and heard from, the more common you appear. If you are already established in a group, temporary withdrawal from it will make you more talked about, even more admired. You must learn when to leave. Create value through scarcity.

Law 17
Keep Others in Suspended Terror: Cultivate an Air of Unpredictability
Humans are creatures of habit with an insatiable need to see familiarity in other people’s actions. Your predictability gives them a sense of control. Turn the tables: Be deliberately unpredictable. Behavior that seems to have no consistency or purpose will keep them off-balance, and they will wear themselves out trying to explain your moves. Taken to an extreme, this strategy can intimidate and terrorize.
Law 18
Do Not Build Fortresses to Protect Yourself – Isolation is Dangerous
The world is dangerous and enemies are everywhere – everyone has to protect themselves. A fortress seems the safest. But isolation exposes you to more dangers than it protects you from – it cuts you off from valuable information, it makes you conspicuous and an easy target. Better to circulate among people find allies, mingle. You are shielded from your enemies by the crowd.

Law 19
Know Who You’re Dealing with – Do Not Offend the Wrong Person
There are many different kinds of people in the world, and you can never assume that everyone will react to your strategies in the same way. Deceive or outmaneuver some people and they will spend the rest of their lives seeking revenge. They are wolves in lambs’ clothing. Choose your victims and opponents carefully, then – never offend or deceive the wrong person.
Law 20
Do Not Commit to Anyone
It is the fool who always rushes to take sides. Do not commit to any side or cause but yourself. By maintaining your independence, you become the master of others – playing people against one another, making them pursue you.

Law 21
Play a Sucker to Catch a Sucker – Seem Dumber than your Mark
No one likes feeling stupider than the next persons. The trick, is to make your victims feel smart – and not just smart, but smarter than you are. Once convinced of this, they will never suspect that you may have ulterior motives.

Law 22
Use the Surrender Tactic: Transform Weakness into Power
When you are weaker, never fight for honor’s sake; choose surrender instead. Surrender gives you time to recover, time to torment and irritate your conqueror, time to wait for his power to wane. Do not give him the satisfaction of fighting and defeating you – surrender first. By turning the other check you infuriate and unsettle him. Make surrender a tool of power.

Law 23
Concentrate Your Forces
Conserve your forces and energies by keeping them concentrated at their strongest point. You gain more by finding a rich mine and mining it deeper, than by flitting from one shallow mine to another – intensity defeats extensity every time. When looking for sources of power to elevate you, find the one key patron, the fat cow who will give you milk for a long time to come.

Law 24
Play the Perfect Courtier
The perfect courtier thrives in a world where everything revolves around power and political dexterity. He has mastered the art of indirection; he flatters, yields to superiors, and asserts power over others in the mot oblique and graceful manner. Learn and apply the laws of courtiership and there will be no limit to how far you can rise in the court.

Law 25
Re-Create Yourself
Do not accept the roles that society foists on you. Re-create yourself by forging a new identity, one that commands attention and never bores the audience. Be the master of your own image rather than letting others define if for you. Incorporate dramatic devices into your public gestures and actions – your power will be enhanced and your character will seem larger than life.

Law 26
Keep Your Hands Clean
You must seem a paragon of civility and efficiency: Your hands are never soiled by mistakes and nasty deeds. Maintain such a spotless appearance by using others as scapegoats and cat’s-paws to disguise your involvement.

Law 27
Play on People’s Need to Believe to Create a Cultlike Following
People have an overwhelming desire to believe in something. Become the focal point of such desire by offering them a cause, a new faith to follow. Keep your words vague but full of promise; emphasize enthusiasm over rationality and clear thinking. Give your new disciples rituals to perform, ask them to make sacrifices on your behalf. In the absence of organized religion and grand causes, your new belief system will bring you untold power.

Law 28
Enter Action with Boldness
If you are unsure of a course of action, do not attempt it. Your doubts and hesitations will infect your execution. Timidity is dangerous: Better to enter with boldness. Any mistakes you commit through audacity are easily corrected with more audacity. Everyone admires the bold; no one honors the timid.

Law 29
Plan All the Way to the End
The ending is everything. Plan all the way to it, taking into account all the possible consequences, obstacles, and twists of fortune that might reverse your hard work and give the glory to others. By planning to the end you will not be overwhelmed by circumstances and you will know when to stop. Gently guide fortune and help determine the future by thinking far ahead.

Law 30
Make your Accomplishments Seem Effortless
Your actions must seem natural and executed with ease. All the toil and practice that go into them, and also all the clever tricks, must be concealed. When you act, act effortlessly, as if you could do much more. Avoid the temptation of revealing how hard you work – it only raises questions. Teach no one your tricks or they will be used against you.

Law 31
Control the Options: Get Others to Play with the Cards you Deal
The best deceptions are the ones that seem to give the other person a choice: Your victims feel they are in control, but are actually your puppets. Give people options that come out in your favor whichever one they choose. Force them to make choices between the lesser of two evils, both of which serve your purpose. Put them on the horns of a dilemma: They are gored wherever they turn.

Law 32
Play to People’s Fantasies
The truth is often avoided because it is ugly and unpleasant. Never appeal to truth and reality unless you are prepared for the anger that comes for disenchantment. Life is so harsh and distressing that people who can manufacture romance or conjure up fantasy are like oases in the desert: Everyone flocks to them. There is great power in tapping into the fantasies of the masses.

Law 33
Discover Each Man’s Thumbscrew
Everyone has a weakness, a gap in the castle wall. That weakness is usual y an insecurity, an uncontrollable emotion or need; it can also be a small secret pleasure. Either way, once found, it is a thumbscrew you can turn to your advantage.

Law 34
Be Royal in your Own Fashion: Act like a King to be treated like one
The way you carry yourself will often determine how you are treated; In the long run, appearing vulgar or common will make people disrespect you. For a king respects himself and inspires the same sentiment in others. By acting regally and confident of your powers, you make yourself seem destined to wear a crown.

Law 35
Master the Art of Timing
Never seem to be in a hurry – hurrying betrays a lack of control over yourself, and over time. Always seem patient, as if you know that everything will come to you eventually. Become a detective of the right moment; sniff out the spirit of the times, the trends that will carry you to power. Learn to stand back when the time is not yet ripe, and to strike fiercely when it has reached fruition.
Law 36
Disdain Things you cannot have: Ignoring them is the best Revenge
By acknowledging a petty problem you give it existence and credibility. The more attention you pay an enemy, the stronger you make him; and a small mistake is often made worse and more visible when you try to fix it. It is sometimes best to leave things alone. If there is something you want but cannot have, show contempt for it. The less interest you reveal, the more superior you seem.

Law 37
Create Compelling Spectacles
Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power – everyone responds to them. Stage spectacles for those around you, then full of arresting visuals and radiant symbols that heighten your presence. Dazzled by appearances, no one will notice what you are really doing.

Law 38
Think as you like but Behave like others
If you make a show of going against the times, flaunting your unconventional ideas and unorthodox ways, people will think that you only want attention and that you look down upon them. They will find a way to punish you for making them feel inferior. It is far safer to blend in and nurture the common touch. Share your originality only with tolerant friends and those who are sure to appreciate your uniqueness.

Law 39
Stir up Waters to Catch Fish
Anger and emotion are strategically counterproductive. You must always stay calm and objective. But if you can make your enemies angry while staying calm yourself, you gain a decided advantage. Put your enemies off-balance: Find the chink in their vanity through which you can rattle them and you hold the strings.

Law 40
Despise the Free Lunch
What is offered for free is dangerous – it usually involves either a trick or a hidden obligation. What has worth is worth paying for. By paying your own way you stay clear of gratitude, guilt, and deceit. It is also often wise to pay the full price – there is no cutting corners with excellence. Be lavish with your money and keep it circulating, for generosity is a sign and a magnet for power.

Law 41
Avoid Stepping into a Great Man’s Shoes
What happens first always appears better and more original than what comes after. If you succeed a great man or have a famous parent, you will have to accomplish double their achievements to outshine them. Do not get lost in their shadow, or stuck in a past not of your own making: Establish your own name and identity by changing course. Slay the overbearing father, disparage his legacy, and gain power by shining in your own way.

Law 42
Strike the Shepherd and the Sheep will Scatter
Trouble can often be traced to a single strong individual – the stirrer, the arrogant underling, the poisoned of goodwill. If you allow such people room to operate, others will succumb to their influence. Do not wait for the troubles they cause to multiply, do not try to negotiate with them – they are irredeemable. Neutralize their influence by isolating or banishing them. Strike at the source of the trouble and the sheep will scatter.

Law 43
Work on the Hearts and Minds of Others
Coercion creates a reaction that will eventually work against you. You must seduce others into wanting to move in your direction. A person you have seduced becomes your loyal pawn. And the way to seduce others is to operate on their individual psychologies and weaknesses. Soften up the resistant by working on their emotions, playing on what they hold dear and what they fear. Ignore the hearts and minds of others and they will grow to hate you.

Law 44
Disarm and Infuriate with the Mirror Effect
The mirror reflects reality, but it is also the perfect tool for deception: When you mirror your enemies, doing exactly as they do, they cannot figure out your strategy. The Mirror Effect mocks and humiliates them, making them overreact. By holding up a mirror to their psyches, you seduce them with the illusion that you share their values; by holding up a mirror to their actions, you teach them a lesson. Few can resist the power of Mirror Effect.

Law 45
Preach the Need for Change, but Never Reform too much at Once
Everyone understands the need for change in the abstract, but on the day-to-day level people are creatures of habit. Too much innovation is traumatic, and will lead to revolt. If you are new to a position of power, or an outsider trying to build a power base, make a show of respecting the old way of doing things. If change is necessary, make it feel like a gentle improvement on the past.

Law 46
Never appear too Perfect
Appearing better than others is always dangerous, but most dangerous of all is to appear to have no faults or weaknesses. Envy creates silent enemies. It is smart to occasionally display defects, and admit to harmless vices, in order to deflect envy and appear more human and approachable. Only gods and the dead can seem perfect with impunity.

Law 47
Do not go Past the Mark you Aimed for; In Victory, Learn when to Stop
The moment of victory is often the moment of greatest peril. In the heat of victory, arrogance and overconfidence can push you past the goal you had aimed for, and by going too far, you make more enemies than you defeat. Do not allow success to go to your head. There is no substitute for strategy and careful planning. Set a goal, and when you reach it, stop.

Law 48
Assume Formlessness
By taking a shape, by having a visible plan, you open yourself to attack. Instead of taking a form for your enemy to grasp, keep yourself adaptable and on the move. Accept the fact that nothing is certain and no law is fixed. The best way to protect yourself is to be as fluid and formless as water; never bet on stability or lasting order. Everything changes.

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INVESTMENT: Key To Achievement

A preacher once drove by a farm, and was deeply impressed with its beauty – the shaded lawns, well cultivated crops, a beautiful home, the barns were clean, and it had a well-built fence. Just as the preacher was admiring the farm, the farmer came by. The preacher said to him excitedly; “God has blessed you with a beautiful farm. My man “The farmer replied; “yeah, and I am very grateful for that. But you should have seen it when he had it all to himself”. The message is this; a beautiful farm does not drop from heaven .God gives the Land, the seeds, the rain and the sunshine. But someone must cultivate the farm. Sowing must precede reaping, that is one of the most powerful laws of nature. It is also called the law of cause and effect. Even Newton discovered in physics that we can only get a reaction where there is first an action. One of the most powerful truths we will learn in life is this; “You can’t get something for nothing”. Success is never an accident. What you sow will determine what you harvest. Your input determines your output.

Your investment determines your achievement. Life will only return to you what you give to it. All attempts to side-step this universal law will ultimately result in frustration. What do we have to invest? Heaven has put some powerful seeds at our disposal. For example, our minds. Thoughts are seeds. The thoughts of today are the realities of tomorrow. They may seem intangible for today. But they have a way of multiplying into our future. The quality of your thoughts determines the quality of your life. Time spent sharpening our minds is time well invested. It is good to educate the mind. To glean thoughts from geniuses through their books and tapes. To discuss with those who have achieved what we seek to achieve. And most of all, to sharpen our minds with the distilled wisdom of the ages, the Bible.

Friend, invest in your mind the quality of ideas that reflect the kind of future you desire. Also our abilities and talents should be cultivated and invested in the service of others. Proverbs 18:16 says; “A man’s gift will make room for him and bring him before great men”. Joseph in the Bible developed his abilities in administration and the interpretation of dreams as a slave and as a prisoner. He made an investment the day he interpreted dreams for pharaoh‘s chief butler in prison. Then harvest time came when the chief butler recommended Joseph to Pharaoh. Joseph interpreted pharaoh’s dreams and became Prime minister of Egypt. Joseph‘s investment was the key to his achievement. Let me ask, how many people are you touching with your abilities and talents today?

It is important that you invest in your destiny everyday. Acquire knowledge. Take that course. Read books. Associate with those who have results. Work hard for your company, be a blessing to your employer. It’s an investment. Nurture your relationships with your family, your friends. Someone you know may become president tomorrow. More importantly, invest in your relationship with God. Pray, Study the Bible. Serve God with your talents.

Finally, invest in the success of our nation. Help build this nation. Obey the rules, pay taxes due to you, and say no to corruption. Whatever is in your hand to do for this nation, do it diligently. Your seed may leave your hand today, but it will never leave your life. It will multiply into your future for a harvest.

You will succeed!

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Magnetic Money

Magnetic Money, hmmm, I hope you benefited as I did from the lessons learnt in the 1st article. If yes please see the concluding aspect of this wonderful motivational item and if not I recommend you read through again.

Digest the concluding part and hopefully money will be magnetic to you and vice versa in 2008.

Have a wonderful day!

THE MONEY MAGNET 2

This week we are discussing the topic: THE MONEY MAGNET 2
We said last week that being rich is a mindset and being poor is a mindset. With a particular way of thinking you attract money; with another way of thinking you repel money. You must see yourself as being rich; you must refuse to accept scarcity as your reality. And we said that you must learn to get ideas, winning ideas from God because a God idea will never fail.

Now dear reader you must decide to be rich, you must decide to be prosperous, decision determines destiny. Success is not a matter of chances success is a matter of choices. You must choose, you have two options to either be poor or to be rich. You don’t need to know how its going to happen before you decide it will happen to you but first make up your mind you are going to be prosperous. Secondly, decide how much you want to earn and accumulate over time.

Nothing becomes dynamic until it becomes specific. You must decide how much is the ideal amount of money you want to earn every month and every year and ultimately how much you plan to have in assets over ten years or twenty years that will give you financial independence. I believe this week will bring you good news

Today you must determine the level of skill you need to develop to earn the amount of money you want to earn. Somebody somewhere is earning that amount of money already the question – do you have the kind of skill that they have, do you have the level of expertise that they have, are you willing to solve a problem for someone?

Money is a reward that you get for problem solved. You must be able to solve problem for people, they may be problems of clothing, problems in respect to feeding, accommodation problems, transportation problems, information problems; educational problems whatever it is you must acquire a skill and you must develop it to the point where you can earn that kind of money that you want to earn.

So, dear reader do you need to take a course, do you need to attend a seminar, do you need to buy a book, do you need to have a mentor, do you need to serve as an apprentice to somebody else so you can develop expertise. In life you don’t get something for nothing. It’s not enough for you to pray, you must learn to put action to your prayer and that requires that you have ability to solve problems for people and to meet their basic needs and for this people will be willing to pay.

Will you find something to sell? If you are selling have you acquire selling skills? There are books on selling and you may also ask someone who’s been in the business before. There is a need to determine the level of skill you need to develop to earn that amount and don’t tell yourself that you are too old to learn or to go to school or to take a course. Please, don’t get old too quickly. If you don’t take that course or acquire that knowledge you will still grow older but you will still be at that same level of skill. Take action, learn a skill today.

Finally dear reader you must overcome greed. To be prosperous you must overcome greed. When money comes into your life it is easy to become your master, it is easy to become your source of security; it is easy for you to take your attention off from God and to put your focus on that money. You must understand the purpose of wealth: the purpose of wealth is to create equality. You must remember the poor; the purpose of wealth is to help the helpless.

When God gives you more money than you need to expend on yourself you must understand you are holding this money in store for other people who do not have. Bill Gates is the richest man in the world today; he spends an average of three million US dollars every single day on charity. He says he knows he’s holding the money in store for the poor people of the world.

When God test you on a small amount of money if you fail he will not give you more money than you have and he test you when he ask you to give your tithes, to give your offerings, to help your neighbour, to give food to the hungry, to help someone who cannot pay hospital bills, to help pay school fees for someone who cannot afford it. I pray that you will not fail this test, that you will not be bound by greed.
Money is a good servant but a very bad master and I pray that you will receive the grace to master money.

You will succeed!

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HAPPY 2008!

The year 2008 have begun and like the previous year the days have started racing its way into 2009.

With the New Year comes a lot of planning, restitutions, business ideas, opportunities, investments, money spinning projects etc. for those with clear vision, focus mind and determination to excel.

The latest gist now is “shopping for business ideas” commercial mental impression, belief or purpose.

2008 has started on a positive note with NNC ushering us into the year of immerse opportunities, beautiful prospects, success stories and lifting ups.

Want to know the latest on NNC? Heard of the New Nigeria Mapped landscape estates where every state in Nigeria has a section, where the confluence city (Lokoja) has a place? Or the new opportunities for low income earners to come onboard the NNC for as low as 3,000 Naira? Check out www.deoluakinyemi.com for all the details.

NOSPETCO??? I was in their office on Friday 4th January 2008 with a view of confirming the much waited 2nd January deals, met a closed office that has obviously not been opened in a while with people’s receipts littering everywhere.

SEFTEG??? Heard something I do not really understand, I will post as soon am clear about it.

2008! Whew! Thank GOD for guidance and protection. Below is an article sent to me on Money Magnet. It’s in two parts; the 2nd part will follow soon.

Have a blissful 2008 and may your dreams overflow with fulfillments and extras in HIS Name. Amen.

THE MONEY MAGNET 1

Dear reader, I have experienced poverty before, I know what it is like to be without water, I know what its like to have the landlord come after you because the rent has not been paid, I know what it is like to buy used cloths in the market to put on, I know what it is like to go without food for sometime anyhow dear reader, the story has since changed and I can tell you exactly how it happen because I believe if you need financial breakthrough in your life God will make it happen in your life this season.

The major difference between the rich and the poor is the way they think. Thoughts are powerful the quality of our thoughts will always determine the quality of our lives. Money flows in the direction of our ideas, being rich is a mindset, being poor is also a mindset. In Hebrews 11 verse 3 in the Bible; we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God so that the things we are seeing were not made from the things that are visible.

In order words the raw material with which God created our world were invisible raw materials. I should let you know that God used thoughts to create our world. The basic ingredient for creating things is thoughts or ideas. Look around you now, every valuable thing around you that has been created by man began its journey into this world as an idea in somebody’s mind. The car, the microphone, the loudspeaker, the car stereo, the television, the aircraft, the water faucet (tap) from which you got water this morning all of them began as ideas in peoples minds. The value of those items determines the value of your wealth and I believe it’s your own turn to become creative. From today begin to think like a rich person.

Now, please understand that all things are created twice; there is first a mental creation before a physical creation. Whatever you create mentally is described as your brain child. You have the capacity to give birth to children from your brain. The value of your brain children will determine how much wealth comes to you, you see your thoughts will determine whether money will come towards you or money will run away from you, your idea will determine how wealthy you become at the end of the day

First of all you must think like a rich person, you must not see problems but opportunities, in your thinking there must be abundance mentality, you must not believe that scarcity is a reality, never accept scarcity as your reality. Whatever the situation around you may be, you must believe there is wealth around and you are going to get it. In the parable of the sower Jesus Christ told us that the seed is the word of God. It’s either ideas can be planted like seeds or they ultimately bear fruit but he said some of those seeds were stolen by devils or eaten by birds. Your idea can be stolen away and whoever steals your idea has stolen your money. It is what is in your head that ultimately determines what is in your hand, you must train your mind to recognize money and you recognize money when you put value on ideas. This season will be the most prosperous season of your life so far.

So, dear reader, get a God idea that is one idea that can never fail. Spend time in prayer when you ask in prayer you receive, spend time in meditation, and roll over the stories in the word of God in your mind because every problem known to mankind was once solved in the word of God. Associate with those who are ahead of you and who have the fear of God in their hearts and dear reader, give, give to God’s work and those who are in need, when you do God blesses you in return with breakthrough ideas.

You will succeed!

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Dream and Succeed

To dream is to see the future in your imagination before it happens. The ability to dream is the greatest power in the world and being deprived of this ability is the greatest injustice in the world. It is in your dreams that you have the opportunity to break free from your present limitations. In your dreams, in your imaginations you can break free from failure, you can break free from poverty, you can break free from bondage and you know what? As a man thinketh in his heart so is he, which mean your dreams are coming to pass.

If your tomorrow will be better than your today, you must learn to dream. You may not be able to do much about your today because your today was created yesterday but you have the opportunity to do something about your tomorrow because your tomorrow is being formed today. There are several benefits to having a dream; a dream gives you direction once you see yourself in a new you; you know exactly where to go with your life; a dream reveals your potentials or your past mistakes may have told you, you are a failure but in your dreams you see a new you doing things you could never do before. The dream motivate you, gives you hope, gives you a reason to live.

A dream also brings discipline into your life because you now know that not any road will take you to the destination you are seeing in your dream. It determines your associations and it determines how much effort you will put into your education and the things you want to do. A dream makes you a magnet; you begin to attract the people and the resources that will make that dream come to pass. Friend, get a dream, pray, meditate; get close to successful people your dreams are coming to pass.

A man by the name El Paul Ove once said a blind’s man world is bounded by the limit of his touch. An ignorant man’s world is the limit of his knowledge, a great man’s world by the limits of his vision. In order word, what you see on the inside today is what you will see on the outside tomorrow. You must not allow your past experiences to limit your dreams concerning tomorrow. If you allow your experience today to limit the size of your dream you have cheated your tomorrow. Don’t let your history become your prophesy. I know that it is not easy to break free from our past experiences, our experiences stamp pictures on our hearts, create barricades in our minds; make it look difficult for us to succeed. However, it’s a fight, it’s a war we must not allow our past failures to predict future failure for us. We must choose to believe that our tomorrow will be better than our yesterday.

I believe by now you have a dream; a dream that causes the blood to flow in you veins, dreams that inspires you, that motivates you I believe that you are seeing a great future for yourself. Now you can turn your dream to reality by doing the following things: first develop a plan, calculate from where you are to where you want to go, give it a time limit, set specific goals; step by step goals that will take you to where you want to go and fix a time frame for each of those goals.

Secondly, you must develop your skills. Promotion is only a reward for problems that you solve. Give the small opportunities that you have now your best shot; you must work hard and develop expertise. When a man is an expert on his job he will stand before kings he will not stand before ordinary men. Next, take action you have got to make a move. Things don’t move by themselves in our world. Those dreams won’t turn themselves into a reality you have to turn them to reality.

You will succeed!

Merry Xmas and a properous New Year!

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Desire for Success

A long time ago, a great warrior made an important decision that guaranteed his success on the battle field. He was up against an enemy whose soldiers out numbered his own. He loaded his soldiers into boats and they sailed to the enemy‘s territory. As soon as they landed, he ordered his men to burn the boats that brought them. Then he announced; you can see the boats that brought us going up in smoke. We cannot leave this place alive unless we win. We now have no choice, we win or we perish”. Well they won.

When you burn the boat and burn all possible sources of retreat, you are expressing a strong desire for success. Strong desire is an important requirement for success. To desire is to want something. To crave or long for something with intensity.

Most people wish for success and wealth. But it is not enough to wish. God does not grant wishes, he grants desires. What do you want God to help to achieve today? Mark 11:24 says; “whatsoever things you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive, and you shall have them.

Several years ago, a number of shops were burnt down on state street, Chicago. The morning after a group of merchants held a meeting, to decide whether to rebuild the burnt down building or move to another city and start business again. All the merchants decided to leave Chicago. All except one – MARSHALL FIELD. He pointed at his burnt shop and said , “Gentlemen , on that very spot I will build the world’s greatest store, no matter how many times it may burn down.”

Strong desire breeds persistence. Strong desire is a key to success. It does not matter how many times you have failed. A strong desire will make you to try again and again until you breakthrough. Those who just wish for success give up in the face of disappointment. But those who are hungry and thirsty for success keep moving inspite of obstacles. They have internal drive.

Get hungry and thirsty for success today. Let your desire for success result in persistent action. Go out and face challenges. BUILD YOU DESIRE FOR SUCCESS. Today.

A burning desire for the achievement of your goals is an essential requirement for your success. You must crave success more than you want anything else. Let it become your greatest obsession. Your dreams will eventually turn to reality. To build your desire, do the following:

• Have a specific goal. If you desire money, write down how much. If you want success in examination, write down the grades you desire. If you want a marriage partner, write the qualities and features you desire. Until you are specific, your dreams are just wishes.
• Dream about your goals. Engage your imagination. See yourself already in possession of the money you want. See yourself already successful in your examination. See yourself at the top in your profession. It will fire your desire.
• Pray about your goals. The more you pray, the more ideas God will give you to help achieve your goal.
• Take action. As you succeed with the initial steps towards your goal, the possibility of your ultimate success will increase. So will your desire increase. And if you experience set-back along the way just keep trying. It has been said, “if you must perspire to acquire what you desire, do not retire, only refire.

Have a wonderful week.

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Problem Solving

Problem solving is a very important skill that every entrepreneur needs. One of the factors that drive many people away from starting business is the attendant problems and challenges. Entrepreneurs confront some fairly good dose of challenges. The truth also, is that many young businesses fail or die because of challenges. The more we are able to confront, handle, manage, and triumph over challenges, the higher the probability of success as entrepreneurs.

The entrepreneur will encounter many challenges. It is good for you to prepare your mind for that. You see, everybody has problems. Nobody has a special problem. You only have people who have made their problems special.

Bear in mind that the problem is not the problem; the problem is the person confronting the problem. Let this sink into your mind. Write it clearly where you can see it constantly. Because a slight change in your perspective to issues can cause a revolution in your business. Life is about perspectives. It is about how you see things. It is not so much about the things that happen to you but how you see the things that happen to you. If you believe, like I used to, that until you get out of this country you won’t prosper, then that is what your experience will be. It is not so much about the Nigerian economy but your own perspectives. Remember, “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he”.

Understand that the size of the person is more important than the size of the problem. There is no point running frantically all over the place trying desperately to solve the problem. The moment you become desperate, your behaviour shows that you believe that the problem is bigger than you are. The first thing you have to do if you feel anxious is to expand inside. This is best driven home by the story of a young boy who went fishing with his friend. Whenever he caught a fish, he would measure it with a stick and if the fish was longer than the stick he would throw it back into the water but if the fish was shorter than the stick he would throw it into his bucket. His friend, having watched him do this for some time, asked what the deep philosophy behind his actions was. The young man answered, “You see, I have a frying pan at home and I have used this stick to measure the frying pan. Any fish longer than the stick is too big for my frying pan that is why I throw them back into the river”. The human mind functions the same way as this young man’s actions. Whatever idea or challenge is bigger than your mind can handle is rejected or thrown out by your mind. Instead of throwing away the fish, why not expand the ‘frying pan’. Our GOD is wonderful. He will not allow challenges to come your way that you cannot handle. Really, problems come to show you what you can tackle.

The first dimension to problem solving is your attitude to the problem. The moment you can develop the right attitude towards problems there’s no limit to how high you can rise because problem solving is the quickest route to gaining leadership. In building and running a business there is no point you will get to that you won’t have problems to confront. Whether you are the head of a company or not, the moment you have a good handle on your attitude towards problems, and instead of running away from problems others have abandoned you proffer solutions to them, then you are on your way to the top. The very thing, which causes some people to fail, is the thing which causes others to succeed. One person’s problem is another’s opportunity. It has to do with how you see and approach the problem. Attitude is more important than fact. Your attitude is more important than the fact of the problem. The unfortunate thing however, is that most people’s lives are ruled by facts. “Can’t you see, it’s the biggest problem in the world?” they say. When it comes to the issue of solving problems, your attitude to the problem is more important than the fact of the problem. What do problems mean to you? A wise man says, “In the presence of adversity, some develop wings others grow on crutches”.

You have got to see problems as common. Sometimes, when you look at the fact of the situation, the tendency is to think something has happened to you that had never happened to anyone before. This is not true. The moment you allow your problem to birth in you a negative attitude, a belief in impossibility, you would not be able to handle the problem objectively. Instead of looking for solutions, you would be looking for excuses for failure.

Remember, life is about perspectives. What seem like a mountain to an ant is a small stone to a human. Expand your mental capacity. Face the problem with the attitude that there is a way out and you will find it. Moreover, believe that GOD will help you to overcome it. Whatever your challenge today, don’t run away from business. This situation will pass. Be like a postage stamp that sticks to a letter till it gets to its destination. Remember, beyond the clouds, the sun is still shining. This dark cloud will pass.

You will Succeed.

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