Present Location: Hyatt Regency, Deira, Dubai. I am waiting for a cab driver in the lobby when I saw something that sparked off this write-up. A beautiful long white car with about 16 doors halted at the doorway of the hotel and about three guys headed towards the car walking in slow motion. Their walking style really caught everybody’s attention as there was an air of confidence about him that exuberated wealth. Just as he was about to get in to their car, my cab driver came by, pacing very fast, unnoticed by everyone. He was apologizing for coming late and was pointing to the direction of the car he brought. I entered the car, asked for his name in order to begin conversation with him. After exchanging the normal introductory data and fixing the price for the service he was about to render, I asked him how long he had been in Dubai because he was obviously not a citizen (that’s another gist altogether). He said he has been around since 25 years “ then I knew what was wrong? I knew the difference between the rich and the poor; I knew at that moment the difference between this taxi guy and the guy that own the 16-door car. They were both men of about the same age and obviously the same country but different style of walk (or should I say attitude?).
This was not my first observation about this different in attitude between people; another scene came up but it was with a different front. A guy told me he wanted to leave his job and I asked him why. He told me he was tired of working for someone and wanted to venture on his own. I told him I would not advice him to leave his job then he said what started confirming my revelation; he said that I preached about people being on their own was a better way of life and it is written all over my site. I asked him where he saw such statement as I knew I had never written such. He said if I did not write it verbatim, I implied that entrepreneurship was a better way of living. I immediately agreed with him that entrepreneurship was a better way of living not being on your own. He was obviously taken back by my last remark and the confusion was written all over his face.
Please, kindly permit moi to explaining things; entrepreneurship means being opportunity minded not being on your own. There is a Hausa petit trader that has been on my street for thirty years because he is not seeking opportunity in his field of business. He has been doing the same business for the past thirty years without any physical expansion; he is not an entrepreneur despite the fact that he is on his own “being self employed is not the same as entrepreneurship”. There is also another guy I know; he started working in paid employment (GT Bank to be exact) since he was 19 and now he is the part owner and Managing Director of Access Bank. He is definitely an entrepreneur and when you hear him speak like I have done, you will feel that kick in your stomach just like the meeting of the mother of Jesus and that of John when they were both pregnant.
Now, not everybody can be an entrepreneur; people are wired to be either entrepreneurs or administrators. You can be more successful as an administrator than an entrepreneur; all you need to do is discover which particular one aligns with you and be very successful at it. Steve Balmer, M.D. of Microsoft Inc. is definitely not an entrepreneur but a very good administrators but Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric is definitely an entrepreneur. No one is better than the other; they are both important in achieving the objective that was set up. I am an entrepreneur through and through because I always seek out opportunities to conquer but in choosing a personal assistant, I prefer to take an excellent administrator so as to prevent unnecessary fiction but in partnering to achieve my objective, I prefer an entrepreneur to garner ideas to sustain my vision. If you an administrator; stay loyal, do your work well. You would be recognized as a faithful employee and you would grow.
This particular site is not for everybody but for entrepreneurs; those that are seeking opportunity to increase their state of economic position. There are so many entrepreneurs in Nigeria that are loyal employees which is very cool but most of them fail to utilize their gifting instead dedicate about 80 to 90% of their capital (money, skill and resources) on their job. This is the issue I am trying to correct. According to the Standard Money Management Technique, only a maximum of 20% of your capital should be in any particular investment be it job, Forex trading , Commodity Trading, Property Development, Business, Stocks, etc. Putting all your egg in one investment may seem to be working but supposing it fails; supposing you lose your job through no fault of yours or lose all your money in stocks due to general recession. Nothing is ever sure except the Holy Spirit inspires you to do it just like he told Isaac to stick to the land despite the economic recession. Ask investment bankers in Bear Sterns and they would be in the best position to advice you.
It is this ability to seek opportunity that differentiated the taxi guy from the 16-door car man. While some seek and take opportunities, others remain in their comfort zone and expect to be like those that take opportunities. Did I hear you say the 16-door car man may have come from a wealthy home? Do you think it is easy to maintain the money you inherit? Well, that may be true but what makes this man move in slow motion and the taxi guy move hastily. Could it be the amount of money they possess that differentiates them? Do you think physical money changes your walking step? Well, let me ask the question in another way; do you think it is the thought of having money that changes your walking step? I am sure most of you would agree with the reframed question. So it is the thought not the physical money that affects you. If for example you entered a lottery competition and the numbers were drawn in your absence and you won 5 million naira. If you were in a bad mood, your mood would not change even if you have 5 million naira physically. As long as it has not reached your mind level, there would be no change in your attitude but immediately it reaches your mind level, your attitude change; you start walking in slow motion.
This revelation has made me understand that being wealthy is of the mind not of the physical possession. When you think you are wealthy, everything you do gears towards that particular direction. I gave myself a target this year of an income of 250 million naira; giving myself this target makes me think very big. I know there is no job in Nigeria that can give me that money so I venture into things that can give me that particular money. I drop projects that I feel cannot get me the amount I craved for. This is the thing that has been making me work hard to achieve this target. This year I have not done much business but read, learn and intern despite this I have been making more money than I earned as a paid employee. Most of the travelling I am doing is basically a research and learning process for me. Why am I doing all this? I am doing all this so that I can develop the eye to recognize the opportunity that can make me the 250 million naira. Even if I don’t get this amount, I would have developed my mental access for recognizing opportunity. Check this out: Two men live in Lagos; one sees NEPA problem, Traffic problems and Population Issues, another man sees how to make money from supplying electric device to substitute NEPA, supply fuel economy device to reduce fuel consumption during traffic and the population is just an icing in the cake for him to turn over his money continuously.
Wait! It is not all about the money. David in the bible was bringing food for his brother in the army when he saw the opportunity to change his life and that of his family. He saw Goliath tormenting his nation and asked the soldiers what would be given to the person that kills goliath. The soldiers told him; money, king’s daughter and tax holiday for his family. He then uttered a sentence that meant a lot “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine disturbing God’s people?” This means he wasn’t only for the reward though that was his first question but a deeper worry about the challenge of his nation. All the soldiers knew the reward but none of them were willing to face goliath; this can be interpreted that money motivation is not enough to be wealthy. You must develop a passion for something bigger than yourself. Writing on this site is a passion for me because I know someone out there would benefit from it. If one person gets the message, he/she can turn the nation around. I devote a lot of resources to maintain this blog; I remember one night around 3.00 a.m. when the inverter went off and my generator refused to start and the temperature was quite high, I went out of the house, sat on a hard bench with my laptop amidst mosquitoes and started typing; “THE CULTURE OF A SUCCESSFUL INVESTOR” in the moonless dark, because I had not updated my site for one and the half week. My wife thought I was insane; well, the truth was I totally agreed with her but I was driven by a force beyond me to help someone out there and keep someone informed.
If I was the taxi man that has spent 25 of his life in Dubai as a taxi driver, I would have known the city inside out. I would have known where to get things at the best quality; best price and I would have known the needs of each nationality that comes to Dubai. Driving the taxi would be a leverage for him increase his earning and by now he would have left taxi driving and own a big time tourist company but I cannot blame him because he may just be an administrator and nothing in this world you do can change his situation. This is why I am reviewing those that have registered and paid for the “Invest in Gold” Training because it is not for everybody but for those seeking opportunity to be financially free. Because of the other jobs that are lined up for me, I may have to postpone the training but until I confirm this, I cannot give an official word on this. Well it’s time to zap; I have to run on the treadmill for 60 minutes and enter the Sauna to free my nerves. I would be back!
