The Wisdom of the Serpent

8/3/2019 The Wisdom of the Serpent

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The Wisdom

of the Serpent

A Collection of Ten Notes

by Mute Efe

Originally Published on Facebook

[www.facebook.com/mutehimself]



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Chapter 1

Digging Ditches

2 Kings 3:16-18

"…Make this valley full of ditches. For this is what the LORD says: You will

see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you,

your cattle and your other animals will drink. This is an easy thing in the

eyes of the LORD…” (NIV)

Let me begin by wishing everyone a Happy New Year. This year is a year

to TRUST GOD. “In quietness and in confidence shall your strength be.”

(Isaiah 30:15)

I have been thinking about what should be the appropriate message or in

this case, note, to publish seeing it is a new year, knowing the sentiments a

lot of us have for a new year. I had several topics to choose from but finally

settled for this because I really believe it will be of great help to anyone who

would commit to doing what I will be sharing in this note.

We all have a lot of goals, plans, aspirations, dreams, desires, etc. for

every New Year with different nomenclatures and it is good to have them.No man starts a journey without a destination in mind. So it is good to have

something we want to achieve. I have three major goals for the year,

publish a book, grow my online School for Personal Leadership, and grow

my personal business. Of course with specific targets attached. And it is

really going to cost me lot to achieve the set targets I have given myself.

Inasmuch as we all have our various goals for the year, that alone is not

enough. Goal setting is one thing, achieving these goals is a different ball

game. You’ve got to know the cost. What will it cost you to get that new job? What will it cost you to write that book? What will it cost you to start

that business you’ve always wanted to start? In the corporate world these

are called Critical Success Factors; the critical conditions that must be

fulfilled for you to achieve the ultimate goal.



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You need to spend time to think it through. If you’ve not already done that

then take out a couple of weeks this first month to think it through. It is in

this “thinking it through” phase that many of us fail. You will be amazed at

the negative impact just writing a book will have on your family if you are

married. You will need time just to be quiet and think. Then you will needmore time to do the writing itself. This is the same time your husband or

wife needs from you. This is the same time your children needs from you.

Setting a goal is not where the problem is. With the amount of knowledge

available now, almost anyone can come up with a goal she wants to

accomplish. But how many of us really spend time to think about the

process we will have to go through for us to accomplish that goal. This is

where the problem lies. After all the prophetic declaration from the Man of

God, nothing will move until you move.

This year you believe God for a better job, probably in one of the oil firms,

have you enlisted for any safety training? Do you even know it is one of the

critical requirements now? Do you know how much the training will cost?

What will you cut down in your budget so you can attend the training even

though you don’t have the job yet? Precisely what month of the year will

you be attending the training? Have you applied for some days off work so

you can participate in the training? These are just a few of the questionsyou may need to answer.

Maybe you won’t be writing a book. That is not your goal. You may not

even be hunting for a new job. Maybe your goal is to get a certification.

Have you talked it through with your husband? Does he know you may not

be in bed when he wants you because you may need time to read? Has he

come to terms with the fact that he may need to help out with the kids on

the days you will be attending classes, probably on weekends? Do your

kids know that they will need to do the house chores with lesser supervision from you?

A whole lot goes into achieving just one goal. So don’t get into the hype of

“I have 10 goals to achieve this year.” To achieve one goal you may need

to dig ten ditches. Bringing your goals to pass is an easy thing before God,



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and he will bring your goals to pass, but are you willing to dig the ditch? It is

in your digging ditches that you show you have faith. It is your ability to go

out and plant a seed when there is no sign that it will rain that shows you

have faith. That is why the bible says that faith without commensurate

action is dead.

I know this is an age where we’ve overstretched the issue of favour. So

many Christians now say they believe in favour, not hard work,. I also

believe in favour, not hard work. But this is where there is a twist. I work

hard because I have been favoured. I am not working hard so that I can be

favoured. I know that whatever I lay my hands to do shall prosper. This is

why I keep digging ditches. Because I know that they shall be filled with

water.

This year, don’t get caught in the thick of thin things. Don’t think like the

crowd, don’t follow the crowd. Don’t just act differently, don’t just talk

differently, be different and the rest will follow. There are so many things

that you don’t need. Just because the guy next door has it does not mean

that you must have it, too. He might need it. Do you need it? You will be

amazed at how much your life will change if you can ask the question, “Do I

need this?”

When the three kings came before Elisha in the passage of the biblequoted at the beginning of this note, he said, “Make the valley full of

ditches…” The water will come but do you have a ditch to fill? Or are you

going to allow your water to spill? Some people’s water will spill this year,

don’t be one of them. Success happens when opportunity meets

preparation. Confessing “I am blessed and highly favoured,” or “I know who

I am,” all through the year will not get you anywhere if you don’t dig any

ditch.

I believe in positive confession. I confess positively everyday, but positive

confession is not faith. Faith is the little boy who took an umbrella with him

when the community gathered to pray for rain. Faith is the farmer who goes

out to plant his seeds even though there has been no rain. Faith is enrolling



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for that course, participating in that training, buying that book, because you

know that your moment will come. Faith is digging ditches.

Mute Efe [www.facebook.com/mutehimself ]]+234-803-874-9796



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Chapter 2

How Hard Can It Be? Just Try

Sometime ago in the early months of the year 2011, I walked into a bank tomake a withdrawal. And as usual with the bank that I bank with, which is a

first generation bank, there was a long queue of people waiting to be

attended to and I naturally joined the queue. It was going to take about

45mins to 60mins before I would be at the head of the queue and be

attended to by the teller. Patiently I waited. Slowly I was moving towards

the teller. Just when there were about six people ahead of me, an elderly

man who would be in his seventies walked into the bank. He, too, seeing

the queue had to join in but something in me became uncomfortable.

Fifteen years ago a man like that would have been asked to go straight to

the teller to make his withdrawal. But a lot has changed in Nigeria in the

last fifteen years. And this senior citizen knew it too because he did not

even make any attempt to walk to the head of the queue, he just remained

at the tail meaning he would have to wait for at least another 60mins before

it would be his turn.

Somehow I could sense uneasiness in the queue among the rest of us.You know that feeling you get when you suddenly feel something is not

right but you just can’t place your finger on it? It was something like that.

Only this time I knew what was wrong. Now, there were only three people

in front of me and some people were now behind the senior citizen, others

who had come in after him.

I knew what I had to do but should I do it? The Nigeria of today is no longer

the Nigeria I grew up in. Will these people who had been waiting become

irate and shout me down if I did the right thing? Will there be a few otherswho would support me for doing the right thing? These and a lot of other

questions whizzed through my head while the clock was ticking. Well, I

thought to myself, I’ll never know until I try.

Isn’t that just the way it is with life? We get scared of the unknown and let

the fear of the unknown keep us from trying. And then we recline to living a



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mediocre lifestyle. Just blend in with the crowd. ‘Well,’ we’d say to

ourselves, ‘I have a wife, a car, and a home of my own and this is enough.

If I reach out for more maybe I will fail and end up losing even the little I

have.’ And that fear of the unknown keeps us from trying, from reaching out

for more, from making a significant impact. All we have to do is just to try,how hard can that be? Just try.

Back to my tale, I decided I’ll rather try and fail than live a life of regret. So I

called on the elderly man and asked him to come and stand ahead of me.

And walking slowly, as age has had its toll on him, he came and I created

room for him to stand before me. The banking hall became still for what

seemed like eternity as they watched the old man make his way to my

front. Okay, the deed was done. The moment had arrived, that moment I so

dreaded. What next? I could hear my heart beat as I waited for whatever

was to follow. All eyes were on me and the senior citizen. And what was

the reaction? Nothing. Nothing? Yes, nothing. Just dead silence. Not a

word was spoken by anybody. It was like they were struck with ataxia.

You see, I believe that while I was pondering on what to do all that time,

everyone else was thinking the same thing. But everyone was afraid of

what everyone else would say if they did the right thing. So, nobody ended

up doing anything. This reminds me af a popular saying during my teenageyears. A job was left for everyone to do. Everyone thought someone would

do it. In the end nobody did it.

I have great respect for the man who tried and failed and zero respect for

the man who for the fear of failing refuses to try. Because what he does not

know is that he has failed already. I'll rather try and fail than live a life of

regrets. I don't want to be sixty-five tomorrow and start saying to myself,

'Maybe if I had started that business 30yrs ago I'd have been successful.' I

want to start that business now and if I succeed, good, if I don't, good also.At least I tried.

Many of us are waiting for the weather to be perfect. Well, I've got news for

you. It never will, duh. Twenty years ago only daddy was working for the

family. And by 6:00pm daddy was back home to assist the kids in their



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home works. Today, both daddy and mommy are working to fend for the

same family, or so they say. When do they get back home? 10:00pm,

sometimes, later. What does that tell us? As the world advances we have

to push harder to maintain the same status.

Great men are the ones who determine a course for themselves. And if

they can't find a way, they create one. You don't have to be great to start.

You have to start to become great. There is a seed of greatness in

everyone. And that seed cries out for expression. Maybe it's a book you

have to write. Maybe it's a song you have to sing. Maybe it's a movie have

to direct. Or maybe it's building the tallest building this side of the world. It

does not matter how weird it seems to you. With so many things happening

around you how can you make a difference? You ask yourself. Well you

never know until you try. I wish I can promise you that you will succeed if

you try but I can't. One thing I can promise you, however, is that you will

never succeed until you try. Please try. Now, really, how hard can that be?

Just try. Please promise me that you will try.

Mute Efe [www.facebook.com/mutehimself ]+234-803-874-9796



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Chapter 3

Anybody Can Cook

There is a theory known as The Conspiracy Theory. The claim of thistheory is that there is a select few individuals who decides the direction of

the world. Or put in another way, a set of very few and rich individuals that

rules over the majority that are poor. The theory further claims that these

few individuals even goes further to ensure that the wealth remains in the

hands of these few people so that they can continue to rule over the mass

majority that are poor. So, we say here in Nigeria that there are a few

individuals who just keep rotating power and wealth amongst themselves

so the ordinary man on the street remains impoverished.

Now, the truth is, this theory is true, but only to a certain extent. More than

90% of the wealth of this world is controlled by less than 4% of the world’s

population. The few elite will definitely rule over the mass majority. The rich

have always, are, and will always rule over the poor. And the poor we will

always have with us. The Law makes sure of that. If you are of the same

temperament as I am then you feel hurt when you see certain images on

the TV screen. In truth, I weep. I weep when I see stuff citizens go through

every day.

A case in mind right now was the day, a couple of weeks ago, when a

pensioner was on a TV programme and he was calling on the government

to pay his pension so he can afford two meals a day. I wept. But the issue

of pensioners I will leave for another day. There is more than meets the

eyes. For the scope of this write-up it really hurts when you come to terms

with the level of material poverty in the land. The truth, however, is that ‘the

poor you will have with you always.’ Jesus said that, not me.

Back to the Conspiracy Theory. The elite few determines the direction, the

mass majority follows. But that is where The Conspiracy Theory ends. The

first question I want to pose to you today is “Who or what determines who

becomes a member of this elite group?” The answer is no one and

nothing. Nobody is standing anywhere and saying ‘Tunde, because your



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name is Tunde you cannot be a member of the elite.’ Nobody has been

given that responsibility. In truth, nobody will saddle herself with that task.

What does it mean to be the elite? Ralph Segun Dada (RSD) says ‘Where

there is a lack of accurate definition of terms, there will be deviations fromexpectation.’ So let’s go back to the dictionary and find out for ourselves

the definition of the word Elite. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary,

7th Edition, defines Elite as ‘a group of people in a society, etc. who are

powerful and have a lot of influence because they are rich, intelligent, etc.’ I

say the etc. is ‘hard work.’ And hard work stands for educated, disciplined,

responsible, studious, goal-oriented, people focused, etc. The sum total of

all of these is hard work. So, for the sake of this write-up we will define elite

as ‘a group of people in a society, etc. who are powerful and have a lot of

influence because they are rich, intelligent, and hardworking.’ My second

question is “What effort are you engaging in consistently and

continuously to have these three qualities in you?”

• Are you making any effort to be financially independent?

• Are you making any effort to be intelligent?

• Are you hard-working?

See, when you have these three qualities, the so-called elite group have no

choice but to let you in because you have become an elite yourself. Many

of us just fizzle through life and end up complaining about life when what

we should actually be doing is working on ourselves to becoming a better

people. We are cursing the wind when we should be adjusting our sails.

Mediocrity is common. I believe that after sex, mediocrity should be the

next cheapest commodity on the face of the earth right now. All you have to

do to be a mediocre is nothing. And mediocre complain.

These three qualities of wealth, intelligence, and hard-work are notdeveloped in the classroom. There is no educational system in the world

that is equipped to equip you with these qualities. By intelligence we are

not referring to classroom intelligence. We are talking about intelligence in

the playing field, street sense.



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I am already at the fifth page of my writing pad and I am still at the surface

of this subject matter, so please permit me to skip the qualities of wealth

and intelligence and go straight to hard-work. That is my focus area.

Anybody can rise to the top of her field of interest if they are willing to paythe price. If you will pay the price you will earn the prize. If you don’t dare

the impossible you will never experience the invisible (the unseen). And

those who dare the impossible becomes invincible (strong and tough).

Marshawn Evans, author of Skirts In The Boardroom says it’s not what you

do some of the time that matters, it’s what you do all of the time that

counts. Hard-work is hard work. Nobody strolls to the top. You must

engage in consistent and continuous effort to get you to where you are

going to. Like I earlier iterated, hard-work is every other quality besideswealth and intelligence. Personal development, Leadership, Leadership

development, Branding, Success habits, Vision, Project management,

Entrepreneurial mindset, Thinking big, etc. All of these and more is hard

work. So believe me when I say no one strolls to the top of her field of

interest.

One mindset that I have discovered that militates against our attaining and

achieving our dreams is the ‘Not enough’ mindset. We keep waiting till we

have enough before we start. Economics say expenses will always rise toequate income. Some even manage to spend more than they earn. Believe

me, what you have is enough. In truth it is more than enough because all

you need to start is you. I know what it is like to suffer lack. I know what it

means to wake up in the middle of the night and cry just because this is not

the life I set out to accomplish. I have been there. But when you know

where you are going to, you draw strength from there. The bible says of

Jesus, ‘… who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross.’ If you

don’t have a destination you will dissipate energy. You tap energy fromwhere you are going to not from where you are. My third and final question

is “Where are you going to?”

Talent is overrated. Many times we see people who do well in their field

and we attribute it to talent or gift rather than skill. Leaders are not born. I



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don’t care what books you’ve read, leaders are made. And you make

yourself what you want to become. Yes, we are all born with certain

inclinations. I may be musically inclined while you are science inclined but

we can both become leaders in our fields. But if we don’t work at it, it will

die with us. Michael Jackson did not rise to the height he attained becausehe was gifted; rather it was because while his mates were riding choppers

he was in the studio singing. If you will pay the price you will earn the prize.

You can achieve whatever you want to achieve. Just have a destination,

chart a course, and find the right people to guide you on your journey.

In conclusion, conspiracy theory or no conspiracy theory, the African

proverb still holds true: when a child washes his hands clean enough he

will eat with the elders. The next time someone tells you that you cannot

make it in life, tell that person that Mute Efe says Anybody Can Cook.




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Chapter 4

Believe Me, We All Have Issues

I’ve been staring at my writing pad for over five minutes just wonderingwhere to start from. One of the keys to success is Exposure. When you are

exposed you begin to realize that you are not alone in what you are going

through. In his book, The Road Less Traveled, the author, M. Scott Peck,

begins with three words, “Life is hard.” Though I believe the contrary, I

identify with what the writer was trying to pass across. Life is about issues.

Either you are in one, just coming out of one, or about to go into one.

If you are not exposed you tend to think you are alone. That you are the

only one going through whatever it is that you are going through right now.

But, my brother, my sister, believe me, we all have issues. From Barrack

Obama, to Pope Benedict, to Dalai Lama, to Bill Gates, to Goodluck

Jonathan, to Aliko Dangote, to myself, the writer, and you the reader. We

all have issues, believe me.

There are two things we never get used to in this life; death and problems.

It does not matter how many people you’ve seen die before, when

someone really close to you dies, believe me, it hurts. I remember the year 2003, my final year in school, during the first semester exams a friend and

course mate of mine, Ewere, had told me that he was aiming for a 4point

G.P.A that semester, the maximum achievable. That meant he was going

to have A’s in all the courses.

The exams kicked off and I still remember like it was yesterday, when we

had only two papers left to write, we had come back from the exams hall

that evening and I followed him to the hostel where he resides, I was living

off campus. We had a chat, visited some other friends in the hosteltogether, do what boys do, and went to check on a babe he was having his

eyes on. She was not in her room so we had to go back to his room and a

few of minutes later I left and went off campus to where I reside.



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7:30am the following morning, another course mate of ours, Ebony, who

resides in the hostel too, came to my place, and I still remember the exact

words he said to me that morning.

“Mute, good morning, please you need to come to the hostel, we just lostEwere.”

Ewere slept and never woke up. I had seen people die before. I had even

told myself that no death could make me cry again, and I did not cry, not

then. But when a couple of days later we handed over Ewere’s body to

mother earth in a cemetery in Benin, I wept. I wept like a child weeps.

Nobody can say he is used to death. When the results came out, Ewere

had A’s in all the courses he wrote before his death. He was a 4pointer.

In the same way, irrespective of how many issues you’ve had in your life

before, when another issue comes up it is new. You can never say you are

already used to problems. The worst part is that when you are in one it

blindfolds you to think you are the only one with that kind of problem. But I

am here to tell you that you are not alone. There are countless million

others going through that same problem.

Unlike death, problems can be solved. This is the good part. Problems can

be solved. It’s not an end, it’s just a bend. So cheer up, tell yourself ‘thisproblem can be solved and I will solve it.’ And even if you can’t solve it

yourself, you can get help. Dr. Henry Cloud said ‘Where your maturity is not

strong enough to do something add external structure.’ And Edison said

‘The pressing problems we have today cannot be solved with the same

mindset that created them in the first place.’ For personal problems you

usually need external help, you need an external structure, using the words

of Henry Cloud. So don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask for help.

We live in a world governed by laws and principles. If you understand thelaws and apply the principles life becomes easy because you know what to

do at each step. Knowing what to do is the key. You can’t go through life

without issues. I don’t even pray for that kind of life where everything just

goes smoothly from start to end. You have no story to tell. A life without

issues cannot be painted. It will be a one color art piece. And nobody will



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buy that kind of painting. Issues make life beautiful. And one of the

promises of Jesus is trouble. Can you beat that? Jesus promised us

troubles.

So, in rounding up, if you don’t remember anything you’ve read so far letme recap in bullet points:

• We all have issues, every one of us.

• There are millions of others with that same issue that you have.

• When your maturity is not strong enough, add external structure. Get

help.

• Problems make life beautiful. A life without problems cannot be

painted.

• Others came out of it. You will come out of it too.

‘I have told you these things that you might have peace. In this world you

will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’ -John 16:33

(NIV)




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Chapter 5

The Law

During the 2nd World War, Doctors had to come up with a formula or whatwe might call a system of knowing which of the injured soldiers should be

saved and which to let die. And what sort of care should be given to them.

Life is in phases, and there is a time for everything. Some of us don’t know

that everything means EVERYTHING. The rules of the game changes

based on the phase you are in. Understanding the times and seasons is

critical in the journey of life. If I was writing for my students in the School for

Personal Leadership, I’d have said understanding the times and seasons

are critical in the journey to significance. The preacher says “There is a

time for everything.”

My heart is heavy, very heavy. Sometimes I wish the burden in my heart

can be transferred to someone else so I can live the kind of life most

people are living. Where you just have the same set of friends for decades,

or maybe just add a few, where everything just seems to be okay. There is

hardly any fight. And even if there are it’s about what color of shoes to put

on or what shirt should go with what pants, etc. How I enjoy such fights.The Law says, “Nothing rocks forever.” The Law says, “For everything

there is a time and a purpose.” The Law says, “There is no straight line.”

The Law says, “It cannot remain like this indefinitely.” The Law says, “There

must be an exception.” The Law says, “No single rule can apply to

everybody.” The Laws says, “Some people will be above the law.”

In the last few days, I have removed two very beautiful people from my

friends list. I felt very sad about it because both of them are purposeful.

They are actually going somewhere to happen. And if they continue in their

paths they will get there. Nothing will stop them. But we just could not get

along because, according to them, I have an attitude problem. Sorry, I have

a very, very, very, big attitude problem. I am full of myself, I write like a god,

I don’t care how people feel, and I think my opinions on issues must be

final.



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If three close friends leave the same place at the same time. All headed for

the market place. For most part of the trip they will be together. But at a

certain point they have to separate because the three of them are in the

market to buy different things. If they insist on remaining together because

attitude is everything or old friends are best friends, then only one mightend up purchasing the wares he came to purchase. Now, it is possible that

three of them might still be able to get what they came for, but they would

have spent three times the time and the chance of buying what they came

to buy would have dropped to thirty percent. God help them if the seller

tells them someone else just bought the last item because they came late.

During the 2nd World War, Doctors had to come up with a formula or what

we might call a system of knowing which of the injured soldiers should be

saved and which to let die. And what sort of care should be given to them.

They did this because they needed to maximize resources. This was what

they did.

• If the wounded soldier was going to die no matter the treatment they

administered, they let him die. He was going to die anyway.

• If the wounded soldier was in deep pain, but was going to live even if

they did not administer treatment, they administered no treatment. He

was going to live anyway.• If the wounded soldier cannot go back to the frontline even if they

gave him the best treatment they could, they just stabilized him. He

was not going to be useful in the war anymore anyway.

• If the wounded soldier’s life was dependent on the treatment and will

still be useful in the war, they treated him.

Now, do you think the Doctors and Nurses were happy with the system?Do you think they felt good applying the system? A soldier is just brought

back to the medizone, two of his legs have been blasted off by a grenade,

his intestines are outside of his stomach, held in the hands of another

soldier supporting him as he is rushed to the medizone. The intestines are

already infected by that act. The wounded soldier is crying, “Help me, don’t



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let me die, I have a wife and kid back home, please don’t let me die.” How

do you think the doctors felt when they saw these sights day after day?

In this life you are not called to carry everybody along. You cannot carry

everybody along. God has not given any one man that mandate. When youread those books where they say “Attitude Is Everything,” “Friendships Are

Forever,” etc. they are talking to the people at the center. If you really want

to attain significance, if you must operate at your maximum potential, you

must go to the edge. At the edge, the first thing you learn is how to manage

your emotions. Believe me, you don’t have the resources to cater for

everybody.

You cannot know everybody, like everybody, please everybody. And you

will never be loved by everybody. The Law makes sure of that. It does notmake the others bad people. It just means you are going to the market to

buy different things. The surest way to fail is to try and please everybody.




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Chapter 6

From The Known to the Unknown

I wish I knew five years ago what I’ve come to know today. I’ve wasted a lotof years in plain stupidity. Meditating has opened my eyes to a lot of things.

How come I never saw them before?

I was just thinking and it dawned on me that the basic ingredient we need

to lead successful lives was taught us while we were still in the primary

schools or basic schools as they call it today.

You will recall that we were told back then that the only universal language

is mathematics. It just dawned on me that it is true. Do you remember those equations you will be asked to solve and the teacher will tell the class

that to solve them you have to start from the known to the unknown? That

is exactly the formula to leading a successful life. Start from the known to

the unknown.

What amazed me even more was the realization that we practice this

principle everyday in our little ways but most of us fail to apply it on the

most important issues of life.

Let me give an illustration. Let’s say you are home at night enjoying that

soap opera or watching football, whatever your predilection. Suddenly, the

power company cuts off power supply. Everything is pitch dark. You can’t

even see your hands if you placed them right before your face. What do

you do?

Certainly, you are not going to start jumping around, will you? Even though

this is your apartment, the moment your lost power, hence losing sight,

disorientation sets in. So you remain where you are and think. The firstquestion you ask yourself is “Where is my phone?” Then you remember

you placed it some inches away from where you are seated at the sofa.

The next thing is that you start to feel the sofa with your hands until your

hands touch the phone.



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Once you’ve found the phone, you press any of the keys on the phone and

it lights up. There is no torch on the phone so you make do with the light

from the screen which will go off in 5secs, but that is not a problem. All you

have to do is to press any key again and it lights up. Only this time you’ve

stood up from the chair and heading towards the candle stand or towardsthe gen house to switch on the gen. The rest becomes history.

What you just did was to start from the known, the phone, to the unknown,

where the candle stand is, or where the gen is. It turns out that is exactly

the same approach we are supposed to take as we go through life. Begin

with the known and the unknown will open up to you.

Many of us want to see the whole journey before we even start. It does not

work that way. Start with the known, trusting that as you go along, what youdon’t know will open up. I remember an illustration used in The Secret by

Rhonda Byrne. If you are driving at night your headlamps can only brighten

up the next, say 150m. But you still get into your car and drive off because

you are sure that as long as you can always see the next 150m ahead of

you, you will make it to your destination. Can you imagine just refusing to

get into the car because you cannot see the whole length of the journey

from the beginning? That would be absurd, wouldn’t it?

Yet, that is the reason why many of us are afraid to take the necessary stepwe need to take. We want to be very sure we will make it to the very end.

Sweetheart, it isn’t going to happen. Things unfold as you journey along.

As I write this note there is a group of people somewhere in cyberspace

currently participating in my School for Personal Leadership.

A lawyer and writer in Edo State.A manager in an IT consulting firm in Lagos.

A software developer in GhanaAn Admin/HR manager of a law firm in Abuja.A pediatrician at Federal Medical Center, UmuahiaA project assistant in Port-HarcourtA PhD student in GermanyA logistics personnel in LagosA banker in Ibadan



21

And several other professionals, all of whom, but three, I have never met

before in my life. All of these professionals, without having seen me, or

knowing where I live, or what I do, trusted me enough to pay a

considerable sum of money to participate in my School for Personal

Leadership.

Now, rewind, two years ago. Nothing in my wildest imagination told me I’d

be doing this. All I knew back then was that I had a final destination, where

I wanted to be at, and I would have to resign from my job back then to start

the journey. The only skill I had then was designing of bookshelves.

Nevertheless, I took the risk, resigned and started designing bookshelves

on my laptop, take the designs to carpenters, sit with them in the workshop

while they build the bookshelf, then deliver to my customers. Was it easy?

Believe me, it was hard, but it was worth it.

Then, little by little, one step at a time, things began to unfold. Today, I still

design bookshelves, but I also develop websites, write, and I am currently

facilitating in the School for Personal Leadership. What if out of the fear of

the unknown I decided not to start?

I am not asking you to resign your job. What I am saying is that for every

challenge you face, start from the known part of the equation. The same

way you did it back then in your primary school. And gradually, theunknown part will become known.




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Chapter 7

Becoming a Global Person

Acts 1:8

…and you will be witnesses for me in Jerusalem, in all of Judea and

Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (TEV)

I’ve been torn between titling this note ‘Becoming a Global Person,’ or ‘I

Speak in Tongues.’ I personally prefer the latter but was not sure if such a

title would sell as it might narrow my reading audience, so I decided to go

with the former. In this note I will be focusing in on becoming relevant from

a global perspective.

The progression from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth gives an

indication that it is not a random sequence. It indicates relevance from a

local point to a global point and seeing that this is a mandate then it should

be every Christian’s desire to become globally relevant. But are we really

fulfilling this mandate? Because the man who has a vision of becoming

globally relevant thinks, speaks, and acts differently from the man who is

just content with being relevant in his local domain.

When Jesus met Peter He spoke the language of fishermen, “I will make

you fishers of men.” But when he met the women by the well he spoke in a

language she would understand, “Whoever drinks this water will get thirsty

again, but whoever drinks the water that I will give him will never be thirsty

again.” Jesus was a global person. In the same way if we must transcend

our local radius to a global radius we must begin to speak the language

others understand. You cannot continue to speak in a language only your

five block radius neighborhood understands and expect to become globally

relevant. If you continue to think in a manner that only people in your

community, state, or country think then that is how far your effectiveness

will go, too.

Okay, let me take this a notch higher. How is this applicable to me as a

writer? If I have a dream of becoming a Nobel Laureate for instance, then I



23

must keep improving my writing skills and language to one that will make

sense to someone in London, New York, Beijing, Sydney, etc. The words I

use must be words that will be understandable to anyone anywhere in the

world. The style must be intriguing enough to make a Harvard professor

say “there’s something here.” And the only way I can achieve that is bythinking differently.

Tradition stifles people. And nowhere else in the world have I seen a

people so strongly enshrined in tradition than in Africa. A couple of weeks

ago I was a spokesman for a friend who was officially going to introduce

himself to the family of the lady he wants to marry. As the spokesperson I

was handed the list of items we were to present as tradition demands. On

the same list were items like snuff, palm wine, cartons of beer, and bottles

of wine to name a few. When you ask how come a list bearing cartons of

beer also had snuff in it, the answer would be one word, “Tradition.” That is

how it has always been done.

But for how long are we going to keep deceiving ourselves with the ‘that-is-

how-it-has-always-been-done’ excuse? There is no way you can tell me

that the same person who placed snuff on that list was the same person

who added cartons of beer. Somebody amended that list. But I guess his

definition of “amend” was only to add new items that will benefit him withoutstriking off old items that was no longer relevant.

People who want to be globally relevant must have the courage to defy

tradition. I know traditions exist everywhere in the world but as life evolved

so did tradition. Men instituted tradition; men will amend it, also. So, if you

ever want to be globally relevant you must defy traditional thinking.

As you move from Jerusalem to Judea to Samaria you will encounter

barriers but you must not stop moving. You must have the strength of will to

break these barriers. Let’s zero in on Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria and

see what they look like.

Jerusalem

Jerusalem is your family, your local community, your field of specialization,

your country. In Jerusalem you think, look, and talk like everyone else. You



24

speak the same language. In Jerusalem, even when they don’t like you

they still accept you because you are one of them. You are conversant with

the laws of the land because you’ve been living there. Effecting changes is

not necessarily easy in Jerusalem but it’s a little easy to summons up the

courage to effect a change because you are one of them.

Judea

Judea is your next door neighbor, the neighboring community, similar area

of specialization, other countries in the same continent. There are

similarities, but not entirely the same. You frequent Judea. In Judea the

people look and talk like you but their laws are a little different. So you need

to do some learning to fully understand their culture and gain acceptance.

People in Judea visit you but you are in different political parties, so you are

careful of the words you say when around a Judean. You have to be a bit

daring to effect a change in Judea.

Samaria

Samaria is ‘those neighborhoods you drive by and all of a sudden you

remember to lock your doors,’ to use the words of Brenda Salter McNeil.

We avoid Samaria like a plague. In Samaria the rules are different. Their

world views are different from ours. People in Samaria will never come to

you. You have to go to them if you want to effect a change. In Samaria youmust make sacrifices just to gain acceptance. And you must be extra-

daring to effect a change. You cannot talk the way you talked in Jerusalem

when you are in Samaria and expect to get any result. Only the very bold

can make a difference in Samaria.

Do you see the difference as you progress? Paul was one man who made

that transition. And it was because he was willing to be all things to all men.

He accepted change and continuously developed himself. An anointed

intellectual is the greatest weapon in the hands of God.




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Chapter 8

Living In Crazy-land

Let’s do a little exercise, and please, take this seriously. I need you to get asheet of paper, probably an A4 sheet and draw a long vertical line on the

left side of the sheet. Please do this, it is very important to what we are

about to discuss.

I want to believe you have the paper and have drawn the vertical line. Now,

strike two horizontal lines across the vertical line to split the line into three

equal parts. On the lower section write “Under-challenged.” On the middle

section write “Appropriately challenged.” And on the upper section write

“Dangerously over-challenged.”

Each of these three sections represent where we are in life, whether as

individuals or as a nation, whether as a family or in our careers. This

concept applies to all areas of life. But for the purpose of focus I will zoom

in to our official lives, our lives at the office.

Under-challenged

If you are on the Under-challenged section, it means you get to work in themorning not knowing what you are to do. You completed all your action

plans for yesterday, yesterday, There is nothing left on your to-do list. In

fact, cumulatively, you actually work less than 5hrs out of the 8hrs you are

at the office. So, Facebook is always ON on your system. It is actually your

home page now, it used to be Google, but you now think Facebook is

better. You play Spider Solitaire when you have no message on Facebook,

meaning all your friends are busy except you.

You call your husband, wife, boyfriend, or girlfriend, with the office phoneten times per day before you leave the office. You only really work when

you are not playing. You are the first at the canteen for lunch and the last to

leave the canteen. If you belong to this class, your life is wasting away. In

5yrs time all your mates will be light years ahead of you.



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Appropriately Challenged

If you are in the Appropriately challenged section, your to-do list for today

was prepared yesterday or first thing when you got to the office this

morning. When you got to the office, you went through your mail to seewhat actions your bosses want you to close out today. Once your to-do list

is ready, you prioritize.

You want to do the more urgent things first. That is what prioritizing means

to you. Then you set to work. You go for meetings between 10:00am and

12noon. You access Facebook mostly during break time. During working

hours you only pop in once in a while and log out. Your focus is in closing

out all your actions. And by close of business that day, you actually close-

out all your actions. You are fulfilled. You go online to see if any crazy stuff has been written by anyone today. Then you log out and go home.

Tomorrow is another day. If you are in this class, you are just okay, but not

at your best.

Dangerously Over-challenged

If you are in the Dangerously Over-challenged section, your to-do list never

ends. Each time you see your to-do list your heart skips. From the moment

you hit the desk till the moment you leave you are on over-drive. You hatemeetings with a passion. To you it is just a waste of the time you don’t even

have in the first place.

The only reason you go to the canteen for lunch is because you need food

to stay alive. If your company would have let you have lunch at your desk,

you would have preferred that. You quickly finish lunch and rush back to

you desk to continue working. There is no need prioritizing, you just start at

the top of the list and work downwards. It’s not like you’re going to finish the

entire task anyway.

When you are at home, your mind is still at the office. You’ve not gone half-

way in today’s tasks and more will be added tomorrow. Your heart is

always beating at a fast pace. If you are in this section you are living in



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crazy-land. Medically, you will soon die. You are over stretching your heart

and your brain. And there is only so much that they can handle.

Now, the one million dollar question is, “In which of these areas should you

be?” This is the answer. You see that line you drew to separate theAppropriately Challenged section from the Dangerously Over-challenged

section? Change that line to a small rectangle with the upper half just

encroaching a little bit into the Dangerously Over-challenged area and the

lower half of the rectangle just encroaching into the Appropriately

Challenged area. That is where you should be. That is where you are

performing optimally.

If you gym, you will agree with me that to develop your muscles, you give it

a task that is just a little above its capacity. Not too much, just a little. Inother words, if you can conveniently lift a 10kg mass, to develop your

muscles you go for a 12kg or 15kg mass. If you under challenge the

muscles, they become flaccid. If you just give it a load that is equal to its

capacity, you just maintain shape. But to develop it, you give it a little more

load than its capacity. But you don’t over stretch it continuously, otherwise

it will break.

Even doctors tell us that a little stress is okay for us. But if you live your

whole life stressed then there is a problem. So, you don’t want to be in theDangerously Over-challenged section all your life, just as you should not

just be in the Appropriately Challenged and the Under Challenged section

perpetually. But what if you are already there? What do you do? Well,

something tells me you already know what to do.




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Chapter 9

Life Is Like That!

Life, most times, is funny. It does not usually go the way you planned it. Butyou must make your decision and move on. The decisions in life are not

always between good and bad, or black and white. Most times you have to

make a decision between two things that you don’t like.

This note is about those times in life when you have to make a decision

between two things that you don’t like. And believe me, those times will be

many. There are only a few times when you have to choose between two

good things or between a good and a bad thing. And you really don’t need

any counsel to make a choice during those few times.

The reason many people are stuck in life is because most times we are

confronted with the choice of choosing between two things that have flaws.

What do you do then? It may sound cliché but the answer lies in that same

old saying, “When confronted with the choice of choosing between two

evils, choose the lesser evil.” Choose the lesser one and move on. Life is

like that!

The choice of whom to marry is not a choice between a good and a badperson. It is a choice between two flawed people. The tall, dark, and

handsome man could be a man who shouts at his wife. The rich guy could

be a wife beater. The not too good looking guy could be the one who

values spirituality and respects his wife.

I am not here to make the choice for you. I am telling you to access the

three based on your values and pick the one that suits you most and move

on with your life. Life is like that! There is no need putting your life on hold

when you know the next thing on your list is marriage. Believe me, I have

seen some strange things in this life. Some women enjoy being beaten by

their husbands, believe it or not.

The choice between remaining as an employee and becoming a self

employed person is a choice between two flawed careers. They both have



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their up and down sides. The employee is certain of his salary at the end of

the month. The self employed may go for months without any income. The

self employed person, however, may at a certain point in time have in one

deal what the employed person may never see in his whole career. Make

your choice and live with it. Life is like that!

In the scriptures is a counsel from Jesus which many of us never really

take time to meditate upon. He said it is better to enter into heaven with

one hand than to go to hell complete. This counsel has opened up to me in

more ways than I can share in this very short note. It’s amazing how the

word of God would open up if one spends time to meditate on it. I have

discovered that the longer you meditate, the shorter the amount of time you

spend praying on specific issues. Because each time you pray, you pray

the mind of God. Of course there are times one will have an express

instruction from God to pray on a particular issue for months, sometimes

years.

Before I deviate completely, let me return to the issue at hand. We all know

that there will be no handicap in heaven. God has promised to wipe away

every tear. The man who is crying because he lost an arm will have his arm

replaced so his tear will be wiped away. But let’s imagine for a brief

moment that there will be handicaps. So, while the saints are clapping anddancing the man with one arm will be hitting his chest as his own way of

clapping. But do you think the man who is in hell with two hands is better

off? Can the man in hell with two hands really clap?

This lesson is about the futility of perfection as we define it today. The

woman who divorces her husband because he continuously abuses her

physically and emotionally may have an arm but she is better off than the

one who remains in such a marriage because the society looks down on

divorcees. The man who has a low paying job but ekes out an honest livingfor himself and his family may have an arm but he is better off than the man

who travels round the world with his family in first class by looting the

nation.



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When a part of your body has gangrene doctors are required to amputate

that part. It is the amputated part that dies, not the body. Insisting that an

infected part stays with you will lead to the death of the whole body. Evil

communication corrupts good manner. I am yet to see a rotten apple

placed in a basket of good apples that became a good apple. Instead, thegood ones become rotten.

Life is like that! Cut off a part of you and preserve the remaining part or

insist on keeping the whole and end up dying. Both decisions are hard

decisions. But I’ll rather live with the consequences of the former than with

the consequences of the latter. When you are confronted with the choice of

choosing between two evils, choose the lesser evil and move on. Life is like

that!




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Chapter 10

The Wisdom of the Serpent

Most humans hate snakes. I would do anything to kill any snake I seebefore asking whether it was a venomous snake or not. Better safe than

sorry. I know a lot of you share my stance too. But why then does the bible

say we should be wise as serpents? A creature so hated by man.

Despite the hatred man has for snakes, snakes still thrive. Snakes flourish.

They’ve learnt the art of moving without being noticed. They’ve learnt the

art of not attracting attention to themselves. They reside in places that are

difficult for man to access.

We are admonished to learn this wisdom from the snake. There is a time

for everything under the sun. Something done before its time may yield an

undesired result. People rejoice when a married woman gets pregnant but

are not happy when a teenage girl in secondary school gets pregnant.

In the journey to success, in the journey to achieving our dreams, many of

us are not patient with ourselves. We don’t want to go through the whole

process, especially the very talented ones. The love for money, fame,

power, etc. has made a lot of people to go shipwreck. And many there arethat will yet experience shipwrecks in their journey.

Attracting something to yourself before time is not wise. Fully ripe and

almost ripe are not the same. Wisdom is in knowing what to do per time.

Knowing what battles to fight per time, and it is not all battles that you are

mature enough to fight. That is why one should not attract undue attention

to themselves. Attracting undue attention could mean attracting conflicts

that you are not yet fully developed to handle.

If you kick a dog when it is a few days old, it may die, but try kicking a fully

grown Doberman or Alsatian dog, you may die. The difference is in

development. There are many half-baked people around. Be patient with

yourself. Give yourself time to grow. When you go through the process you



32

become well rounded. The appropriate challenges are what come to you to

help you grow.

In my note Living in Crazy-land I said that to develop a muscle you need a

little more load than its normal capacity but placing too much load on themuscle will break it.

As I journey through life I come across too many young people that are in a

hurry to make it (and please don’t ask me what my definition of “young” is

as you might be offended). They won’t sit down to learn from those above

them, around them, and below them. Such people are on a self-destruct

mode.

Saying “No” to a good thing can sometimes be the best decision of your

life. Some people will innocently bring offers to you that will lead to your

downfall. Not because that was their intention, but because you accepted

an offer that you were not mature enough to handle.

I know of a young writer who got an offer from a lady who works with one of

the TV stations in Nigeria. She read his notes, fell in love with them and

wrote him. She was offering herself to be his publicity personnel. More and

more people need to be informed of what he writes about, she said. But he

tactfully turned down the offer by giving a condition that will not go downwell with most people so he can have more time to do what he really loves,

which is writing.

I have realized that in this life to be truly successful, to have an enduring

success, you must love the job more than the position. Your desire to heal

people must be stronger than your desire to be called a Doctor. Your desire

to teach must be stronger than your desire to be called a Teacher. Your

desire to sing must be greater than your desire to be called a Singer. Your

desire to give must be greater than your desire to be called aPhilanthropist. Having this paradigm will help you in responding to the

noise around you. You are not competing with anybody.



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When you are truly in love with the process instead of the destination, it

gives you the strength to endure the process. The growth process is not

rosy all through. Pain is also a part of the growth process.

Sometime in 2011, at about the same period, I discovered two young ladieswith potentials in writing. But I had great love for the one I felt had the

greater potential. The few weeks when I gave up writing on Facebook, I

even gave her one of my notes to publish in her name. Because even

though I had said I will no longer write on Facebook, my love for writing

kept me writing. She published the note in her name and got great credits

and I was happy for her.

When I started my School for Personal Leadership classes, I sent her an

invite but it was her exams period so she could not participate. Whenregistration for the second set started I wrote her again to participate. I,

likewise, wrote the second lady who I was not really in close

communication with. To my utter amazement the second one who I

considered as having the lower potential responded immediately and

registered. The one I loved more turned down the invitation without any

stated reason.

Almost four weeks later, just as the school commenced, I wrote her to find

out why she turned down my invitation without any reason. It was then shetold me that she did not have the money. I did not need a prophet to tell me

I was not of any value to her anymore. If I was, she would have responded

the moment I wrote her. And like I do to people who I no longer add value

to or who no longer adds value to me, I removed her from my friends list.

Sometimes you need to let people go and be successful elsewhere. If you

must be around me we must go through the process together. In your

growth process stay in touch with those who matter most to you. Those you

know add value to you. Sometimes, you will be spanked by your mentors

and coaches. When you are, do everything you can to restore

communication. Go on your knees if you have to. Roll on the floor if you

must. But make sure you restore communication with them. Pruning is part

of the process, endure it.



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When you turn your back on your mentor or your coach because he or she

spanked you, you stunt your growth. I don’t want to go into details of how I

was spanked several times and sharply in meetings where my

subordinates were. But, today, such spankings and rebukes have made me

better. Sometimes you must endure shame.

The wisdom of the serpent is to remain hidden and grow until the right time

to be seen comes. “Age does not always come with wisdom, sometimes

age comes alone.” –John Maxwell.


Documents

The Wisdom of the Serpent