Fire and Gasoline; Performance and Passion

It's been such a while since I came here. I have been on an adventurous and somewhat rocky path of my career, one which I never envisaged in decades to come. Napoleon Hill once said - "Do not wait, the time will never be just right" Are you always drawn back and not bold enough to take giant steps in fear of failure? Well, I hope you are ready for this: Failure is one of the signs you are making progress! 

Failure is one of the indicators of progress. Every master thinks like a beginner, it is only those who thirst and hunger for growth that fail and rise up stronger and better - and determine never to act in the same ways which resulted in past failures. While this analogy can be paradoxical, you can be very sure that your progress is hidden in your struggles and pain. 

No amount of money or temporary gratification should be worth giving up on your dreams. How much did they pay you to give up on your dreams? Are you camping where you were meant to pass through? Let your inner soul come alive. Do what makes you tick and keeps you up late at night, and not the mundane tasks - a.k.a. on the go 'sleeping medication' which spontaneously dissolves into your system and kills your spark and umph (and I say the last word tightly pinching my thumb and index finger, toward the sky).

Let gasoline set alight the fire in your soul. Performance is fire, passion is gasoline. Performance is what you do to pay your bills, passion is what gives you joy and fulfilment for the rest of your life. Passion is what you can do without getting paid for and still continue to pursue it billion times over. Oh what a great outcome you would get if what you do to pay your bills is what you are passionate about. I hope gasoline meet your fire, or as the case may be: fire meet your gasoline?

"Don't ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive" Howard Thurman

Pause and Play

I recently got to know about a hotel called Pause and Play, located in a small and quiet city called Chiang Mai in Thailand. The positioning strategy of this hotel is clear, the name says it all! Names can convey strength and purpose. In the same manner, we can establish that a woman is derived from a man, taking a cue from the biblical connotation of the prefix "wo" in wo-man.  Since seeds regenerate, women have unique multitasking capabilities which often take a toll on them.

The number of women with multiple roles and responsibilities, such as mother, wife and career/business woman is on the rise. It can be tough to balance the demands of life; a job, children, family, friends and still carve out a “me time” to recharge and re-energise.  Putting others first places an enormous amount of pressure on women.

Join Total Woman, South Africa in celebrating women's month as we run a 2-day webinar on:

Day 1: Well-being - financial, physical and emotional

Day 2: Balancing multiple roles - being a mother, wife and career/business woman
 

Date: 18 & 19 August 2018

Time: 7pm – 8pm South Africa time (6pm – 7pm UK time)

Webinar Platform - Zoom connection link:

https://zoom.us/j/983413764

Abosede Ijabadeniyi

An Independent Content Marketer and Freelance Researcher

Reshuffling to Slay

 

The ability to reshuffle redundant goals and ambitions is critical in this era of #Post-Truth, #Alternativefacts, #Unprecedentedattacks and Sporadic #CabinetReshuffle.

The capabilities and resources needed to achieve set goals are not static. It is common to hear people talk about pursuing their passion. By the way, passion is not static. Don’t be too rigid to miss the mark. Over and above your initial passion, there will always be other areas you can thrive and create innovative ways of #slaying.

Circumstances around you, your response to them and the intensity of your willpower interfere with the lifespan of your passion. Keep an open mind, resharpen your axe, be sensitive to your potential passion and other niche gaps, effectively manage and optimise your passion/niche gap portfolio and be adept to change in order to slay in this new era.

The consistency of slaying in this new era is dependent on your ability to reinvent new ideas. Ideas are like a stream of water. Put yourself in environments which harness the generation of new ideas. Surround yourself with people of like minds and beware of who you share your ideas with. Above all, do all things legitimately.

 

Abosede Ijabadeniyi

An Independent Content Marketer

 

 

 



 

Quit Exaggerating your Past

The past is what it is, let the past stay where it belongs. No amount of whining, moaning or pity parties can change the past from what it is. 

 

You know you are exaggerating your past when you find yourself reverting to the "past mode". The past mode features phrases such as "Had I known", Only if I had gotten there on time", "Maybe I was not careful enough", "I am not that smart anyway".

 

It becomes more serious if you throw momentary pity parties to justify these moments. The pity parties then become more frequent and the guest lists become longer.

 

If you find that you have - regrets, deep sorrow of the heart, emotional eating, lack of energy, negative perspectives toward the future... etc. on your guest list, then you are really exaggerating your past and welcoming more special guests in upcoming parties.

 

These special guests totally crowd your thoughts so much so that you weep spontaneously, lose touch with your sense of being and you are told to seek professional help.

 

You do not have influence over your past, but you sure have influence over your response to it. 

 

Quit exaggerating your past! 

 

 

 

Philanthropy Gone Wrong

Dear Philanthropist,

 

We were very excited when we heard you were initiating community development projects in our community. Though we heard the technology behind your initiatives was linked to an Advertising campaign, we were still hopeful for the promises you made during your first visit. It's been a year since you and your team initiated the projects, but you have left us more pain and anguish than joy... Thanks to you, our skeptic attitude towards philanthropy has deteriorated!

 

With regrets,

 

The Community Representative

 

---

#LessonsLearnt

 

• Proposed technology behind philanthropic initiatives should be investigated thoroughly
• Advertising campaigns should never be directly attached to philanthropic initiatives
• Let your reputation speak for itself!

 

How to optimise your "go getter" tendencies

“Procrastination is the thief of time: Year after year it steals, till all are fled, And to the mercies of a moment leaves The vast concerns of an eternal scene” - Edward Young

 

This is that time of the year when all hands are on deck to finalise those projects and tasks which have been accumulating dusts on the shelves and cabinets of the "mind".

 

Go getters need not wait for the end of the year to acquire momentum, momentum is their second nature. Neither are they driven by New Year's resolutions as everyday has its own resolutions, nor tormented by other people's achievements as communal accomplishments are included in their daily resolution.

 

To the "Go getter", tomorrow is now! Tomorrow passes as the clock ticks, tomorrow fades away as the minutes and seconds go by.

 

Journals of my doctoral journey.

 

 

Thanks for checking in

 

Abosede Ijabadeniyi

 

Doctoral Candidate - Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa

 

Research area:  Corporate Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

 

 

 

Life is what you choose to call it

By default, the society implicitly reduces you to an object of self-pity (the pity-inducement syndrome) when there is an aspect of your life that does not seem to measure up with "socially constructed standards".  Well, the intensity of what I call the pity-inducement syndrome depends on what part of the landscape you call homeland.

In all of these, you remain the major actor whom alone has the explicit authority to internalise the ills of this syndrome. You also have the implicit authority to allow this "syndrome" set the tone of your life, how you live and express it.

I challenge the Champion in you to rise above this syndrome.

Live, love, learn, laugh.

Life is what you choose to call it.

Journals of my doctoral journey.

Thanks for checking in

 

Abosede Ijabadeniyi

Doctoral Candidate - Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa

Research area:  Corporate Marketing and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)