Taiwo Adesoba's Blog

Sometimes, you see someone from afar and you can see they are doing well, getting some recognitions and making impact; then you assume, this guy’s situation is better than mine. Or this guy seems to have lesser challenges. You may even become jealous, and you may be soliloquizing, “who did I offed?” Little did you know that the challenges of life do not care who you are, where you are or how good your intentions are. Everyone, including those you admire has one or more challenges to overcome on a daily basis. It could range from anything to anything. There is no beginning or ending to the diversity of life’s challenges. Even plants are not exempted from struggling with the soil before becoming big trees. Please who did they offend? That’s just what it is.

You need to realize that one of the things that keep people going is their motivation to overcome their challenges; this could also mean their motivation for doing what they do. When your motivation is weaker than your challenges, you may be stranded. Have you ever wondered why almost all organizations have preference for potential employees who are self-motivated? They know that challenges abound everywhere; their own organizational ecosystem, not exempted.

The crux of the matter is this, you must overcome to become! Those challenges are meant to be overcome. If you don’t stop them, they can stop you. So, you have to be smart. Your victory is very much linked to your motivation gauge. With God, ALL things are possible.

Now, do all to stand firm, be strong, be bold, and be HIGHLY motivated.

Everything’s gonna be okay!!!

Taiwo.

To be a man of conviction is to be a man of your own beliefs. This applies to men and women alike. It means you know what you are doing and why you are doing it, even when others do not see a sense in it. It also means you are ready to walk alone when you are deserted by others who do not believe in your dreams.

Men of conviction sometimes suffer “shame” and “neglect” particularly when their opinions and convictions are unpopular, but they are also usually rewarded greatly with success and good reputation, because they remain undeterred.

The world will always test your resolve! And that is why many people give in to all sorts of things and become irrelevant because they are moving with the crowd.

Men of conviction are leaders and starters. Their somewhat unpopular convictions sharpens their creativity. They see what other do not see. Anyway, they care less what others see or say.

To become a man of conviction is not difficult. Identify your identity and move on with it. That’s all!

Taiwo Adesoba

Johnson City, TN, USA

When the challenges of life come, what do you do? How do you manage them? No matter where you are, who you are and what you have, challenges will always come! Sad, but true. A Nigerian musician Chief Ebenezer Obey said in one of his songs, no matter how sunny or bright the day may be, there will be some dark patches in the sky. It is true!

The truth is this, there is a direct relationship between challenges and self-motivation. The bigger the former, the bigger the latter should be.

Self-motivation is a life-changing factor that makes people wonder how you keep going, against all odds. It is the factor that draws helpers to you when they see how willing and single-minded you are to succeed. It is the factor that makes your enemies to get scared of you, and wonder what spirit moves you. It is a factor that makes God love you because self-motivation is linked to faith and when you have faith, you please God.

Let me add that, it hastens emotional healing which transforms to improvement in physical wellbeing.

The possessor of self-motivation thinks faster out of the box to solve their personal challenges. So, if you think you have challenges, it’s okay; but you have a responsibility to solve it. The world cares less about how big your challenges are, they only want to see results! Sorry, if this sounds too harsh. It is a bitter truth.

Please note that self-motivation is no magic! It is acquired, nurtured and integrated into one’s existence. It is an indispensable tool that helps you deal with life’s hard times.

Self-motivation does not necessarily stop you from crying when you are heart-broken; remember, you have emotions too. It helps you to promptly wipe your tears and PRESS on! When some people tell you where they used to be, and where they are now, you wonder how they overcame some seemingly impossible challenges. This is why carriers of self-motivation cannot always explain their success process as much as the success stories. They can tell you where they left and where they are but some aspects of their stories are just amazing and miraculous.

When self-motivated persons are shaken by challenges, they tell you boldly “No Shaking”, and you know what, they mean it! They have string faith!!!

I encourage you to be self-motivated. Let motivation come from within you. Be strong! And you know what? Everything will be alright. Don’t ask me how. Just believe!

Taiwo

Johnson City, TN USA.

When God created you and me, He gave each if us a particular task to perform on earth (i.e. purpose). While some are privileged to know their purpose early in life, others are not. Knowing your purpose helps you to conceive the right goals for your life and career. In line with this, I will categorize all human beings into three: (1) those who have not discovered their purpose (2) those who know their purpose but are not courageous enough to pursue it (3) those who already know their purpose and are living it. This write up targets the second group i.e. those who know their purpose but who feel they do not have what it takes to fulfill it.

Let me start by informing you that it takes faith, courage and strong will to fulfill purpose. Let us take Moses in the bible as an example. God called Moses in Exodus 4 v 1-11 and revealed His purpose for his life by giving him an assignment. Moses quickly did SWOT analysis and immediately rejected the task. Why? God gave him a task that involved public speaking but he thought his speech defect was a major limitation. Moses wondered why his calling was tied to his incapacity to speak. Although God persuaded him by giving series of signs (re-assurance) that he will succeed, he (Moses) remained obstinate that he wouldn’t take up the assignment, but he eventually did. This is the situation of many people. They think a major disgrace is awaiting them on their way to fulfilling their destiny because of their perceived or obvious limitations as the case may be. They forget that God who formed them in their mothers’ womb is able to sort out their worries and help them to succeed.

Let us see another case study. Peter and John saw a lame man at the beautiful gate in Acts 3 v 1-9. This man was obviously lame. But Peter instructed him to rise up and walk. Imagine that! How will you instruct a lame to rise up? it looked like a mockery command. This lame man, by faith, obeyed. He tried to lift himself up, and as he did that, his legs became longer, straightened and fully whole. This marked an end of his limitation. Some times, all you need to do is to take a step of faith in the direction of your God-given purpose, without giving attention to your limitations, and you will succeed.

If you already know your purpose but you are limited by funds, fear or a disability, encourage yourself and take the very first step towards realizing that purpose, you will be amazed that in a short while you will be living your dreams.

Peace!

For all your weaknesses, limitations, and disabilities, God has made provisions. All you need to do is to calmly look around for those pre-arranged solutions. An African adage says it is God who chases flies away from a cow that does not have a tail. In your helplessness, God is always there for you.

A woman named Hagar had a son for a her boss called Abraham. This woman was chased out of the house because she was not legally married to Abraham. In the middle of her journey she became exhausted, weary and thirsty. She was helpless. What made her so traumatized was that her little baby too was extremely thirsty and was dying, but she could not help because she couldn’t find water around. But guess what? God already provided a well very close to her but she did not see it.

Another example was that of this same man Abraham who was instructed by God to sacrifice his only son. This man, in obedience led his son to the place of sacrifice and was about to slaughter him when an angel of God told him that a ram was already provided in place of his only son. You can imagine how excited and relieved Abraham was following this divine rescue.

A final example, I will give is the story of a woman I just saw on a TV show today who was born arm-less. When I considered her situation, I saw that it is really a sad one But God already made a provision for her. She could draw with her toes. Not that alone, God in His aAlmightiness gave her a husband that accepts and loves her and she is living a fulfilled life.

Now, what actually made a difference in the lives of these people? I believe there was something more than physical that rescued these  people. I always believe that God has made provision for everything we need to succeed in life, if we walk according to His purpose for our lives.

God bless you!

In our everyday life, we meet people of different ages, statuses, religion, and so on. Usually, when we meet a new person, we ‘size them up’ and conclude right there that this one deserves a warm handshake or just a “hi”. At this stage, people use stature to guess someone’s status. This has not proven to be correct most of the time, as many have big stature but with low status and vice versa.

For someone like me with a young face and stature, I have been treated unfairly by some persons who did not know that my age and status were not as low as they thought. At times, I receive this kind of treatment with smile but honestly, it hurts sometimes.

What brought about this topic was my experience with the Late Dr Oluyombo Awojobi, a rural surgeon in South West, Nigeria but with global relevance. I visited his clinic in August 2013 after a trip to Malaysia and was very impressed by all he had achieved. He personally took me and other colleagues around his hospital facilities. I kept wondering why this highly talented man would choose to live permanently in a rural place like Eruwa, Ibarapa local government area of Oyo State. He dressed very simple and not a flambouyant man. If anyone saw him, they might think he’s just a “common” person but he was not. But guess what, he was well respected and recognized by people who matter but he didn’t look it.

The unfortunate thing is that many have lost good opportunities by treating other people of perceived low social status with disdain. I was at a meeting recently and a friend introduced me to his friend whom I had not met before. He said “….meet Taiwo”. The guy looked at me and greeted me casually. The one introducing me went ahead to say “Taiwo is …..” Immediately, the guy offered me his hand. I warmly shook hands with him and started a conversation. In my heart, I was unsure why the new “friend” did that, although without much surprise as I have experienced that severally.

The story is this, many great people of today were once of low estate. No one believed they could rise to their present status, including they themselves. They didn’t know they could reach their present level of achievement but somehow they are there. Those who treated them badly when they were poor would not have the confidence to walk up to them now that they are successful.

Finally, there is a set of people that you cannot afford to treat badly. These are the young people. This is because these guys can become anything in life. They may become Governors, CEO of big companies, the President of your country or whatever thing they choose. Although it is difficult to predict the future of anyone, it is almost impossible to predict what a young person can become. Therefore, we must be conscious of the way we treat everyone we meet today not because of whom they now are but because of what they may become.

Taiwo Adesoba

Nigeria