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“Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external superficial customs], but be transformed (change) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and new attitude],” – Romans 12: 2, Amplified Bible 

 

 

I have heard and read the above quote countless times but it had never hit me like it did recently when I heard my pastor quoting it. The quote explained two scenarios I experienced recently from Guy A and Guy B. 

 

 

Guy A is a secondary school graduate, lives in my neighborhood but an acquaintance and presently not engaged in any particular vocation. He approached me looking sickly and asked if I brought anything for him. Since all the eatable things I brought were finished, I shook my head sideways then asked about his health. He ignored my question and asked if I had anything to sell. I had committed the entire goods I brought with me to one person or the other but I was not strong on one particular commitment because the person that asked me to get it was in Jos and was not willing to pay cash. I needed cash to clear my containers that were coming so I told Guy A if he could sell Sony Vaio flash drive and I wanted cash. There was change in his demeanor as he smiled and asked me for a sample which I obliged him giving him my price. Later that day, he was back with a bargain to reduce the rate by 500 Naira and I agreed based on the quantity he was demanding. He asked for my bank account (knowing the way I operate) and on reaching my laptop to check for updates on my mail box, I realized the cash for the flash drives was sitting comfortable in my account. 

 

 

Guy B is a university graduate, lives in my neighborhood and a child hood friend and presently not engaged in any particular vocation. We graduated the same time and had similar experience of searching for job; he has never bagged a job of more than 35K naira so he dwells in his father’s house. We have not seen each other for the past 6 years despite living close and seeing him at my doorstep was surprising. After exchanging greetings, he was not interested in relieving old times because he went straight to what brought him to my house on a Saturday morning. He needed three thousand naira to clear his medical debt and demanded I fulfill that obligation. He looked quite healthy and chubby and there was no sign of convalescence. I told him to come during week days because I had budget the cash I had on me. He really did not know much about my life except that I resigned my appointment and presumed I was rolling in big bucks to have resigned. We engaged in conversation about my resignation and his past jobs. After a while, I queried about the fat big size envelope I saw with him. 

 

 

 

He thanked me for reminding him and pulled out his CV from the envelope to give me; he said he was going about that morning looking for acquaintances in the work force, distributing his CV. I did a quick scan of the CV and realize that years of searching for a job in Nigeria have really not made him wise. I realized I needed to save him from himself so I told him that his CV would not cut it for the kind of job that would make a significant impact in his life [if you are looking for a job, read “YOUR DREAM JOB” at the section corner of the sidebar]. I told him that any job in Lagos not offering him more than 50K naira at his age is not worth it (he had to eat, transport and clothe for the job). I looked at his CV again and realized the only experience he has is in the shipping business. I immediately saw the opportunity to create a win-win situation by reducing my clearing cost for my upcoming consignment and empowering him financially.  

 

 

 

I gave him an insight on how he could reduce my clearing cost from his experience in the shipping company and if he could do it successful, I will give him 50% of the cost savings. After we did the numbers together, he was so happy that he threw away the bulky envelope filled with CV. He said he was never going to look for job again. Two days later, he came asking for phone credit to call his contact; I declined on giving him pointing him to the fact that he has 60% of the stake. Two days later, he told me to continue with my clearing agent that he could not get anybody to do it the price my clearing agent is doing it. I immediately started laughing uncontrollable; I know for a fact that my clearing agent is expensive and I personally know who could do it cheaper than my clearing agent but due to our long term business relationship, I had stuck to him. Now, Guy B is telling me he could not get someone to do it at my clearing agent’s price with his two years experience in the shipping company. I gave him his bulk envelope of CV which I picked and kept for him knowing this might happen one day and it would take a lot of resources to reprint the amount of CV he had. He was surprised I had kept the envelope but was relieved I did. He asked me if I could employ him in some of my operations, I told him I would think about it explaining to him that I only have two staffs that I pay monthly- my driver and personal assistant – other staffs are paid on their productivity. 

 

 

 

There is really no difference between Guy A and Guy B except the person you expect to deliver with results was not the one that delivered. It reminds me of the story of the Samaritan that Jesus told his disciples; the priest who was expected to show compassion to his fellow tribesman having been tutored on the religion of compassion did not bother to show compassion; it was a Samaritan who was not the tribesman of the victim and not even a priest, that demonstrated the art of compassion. When asked who did well amongst the three characters in story, there was a unanimous concordance that it was the Samaritan. Guy A with limited experience showed more aptitude in financial education than Guy B. If I had a job to execute, I will go all out to look for Guy A but if Guy B was begging me on his knees everyday to give him a job even with the fact that he is a friend, I will decline; I will prefer to give him the 3K he asked for than give him the job. I have learnt from bitter experience never to put sentiments in business and I have learnt well. It is noteworthy to inform you that Guy A was recovering from typhoid/malaria fever while Guy B was not even sick during these scenarios. 

 

 

On a flip side, I really feel for Guy B because he had not taken time to improve his PRS which will affect him as he goes along in life. In the part 1 of this post, I discussed the essence of investing in your mind because it was the sure investment. I told you a story how I advised a friend of mine to travel to increase his margin on his business and he declined. The whole concept of PRS which is Personal Recognition System is what separates a winner from a loser. There is nobody that is born a winner nor is there anybody that is special than you in terms of gifting; if you recognize your gifting and work it out, you will be a star like Tiger Woods of Golf, Ronaldinho of Soccer, Michael Jordan of Basketball, etc. You are the architect of your life and what you decide to make of it should be your sole responsibility.  

 

 

 

In every field of life, there is a PRS; the more you develop your PRS, the more you are able to see the opportunities that exist and utilize it. It is important to state that we do not see with our eyes but with our minds. Our eyes are the gateway to enable our minds to recognize something. I can open my eyes and look without seeing anything if my mind is not engaged in that thing I am looking at, I will not see. I use to go to work from Apapa to VI everyday without noticing BMWs but the time I bought a BMW, I started noticing BMW. It was not that there were no BMWs on the road before I bought the car but when I bought the car, my PRS improved to accommodate BMW. If you are giving a T-shirt, you appreciate it with all your heart but if you see the T-shirt everywhere, you become less appreciative. It is not that the T-shirt has not been everywhere before you were given; it is just that the T-shirt was now recognized by you when you started wearing it. 

 

 

 

We cannot recognize opportunities in front of us every day because we have not been conditioned to see it. I did not invest in NOSPETCO, WEALTHSOLUTION, TREASURELINE, etc because I thought they were bad in itself, I did not invest because I had gone through similar experience and vowed never to let it happen to me. David was able to recognize Goliath as an opportunity rather than a barrier because he had dealt with the bears and the lions that tried attacking his father’s sheep. Guy A and Guy B are different because of their individual PRS not based on age, education and experience. When I ask my friend to travel to increase his margin, I am telling him to improve his PRS; it really does not matter if he fails or not but that he has increased his PRS. Failure is a necessary prerequisite to success so if he fails on his first trip, he would recognize the failure route and never cross it again. With continuous trip, he would be able to decipher the route to success and failure and eventually stick to success. The beauty about developing your PRS is that it can be applied to other endeavor in life if you go with it scientifically.  

 

 

 

This is eventually why the mind is so important; I tell people that it is not the investment vehicle (stocks, commodities, business, MLM, etc) that makes you rich; it is the information you utilize about the investment vehicle that makes you rich. It takes an improvement in your PRS in any stocks exchange in the world to know if a stock is undervalued by checking up the intrinsic value of the company – does the business have a protected niche? Can the business be leveraged and expanded? Is it run by a team of smart, well-informed people? In life, you have to take your destiny into your hands by improving your PRS; this is why I told you the story of Guy A and Guy B because we all fall into one of the guys and life hands nothing to you, you have to grab it with both hands. To grab your destiny with both hands, you have to transform your life in your field of talent, investment vehicle, and business by renewing your mind. Your mind renewal increases your PRS which is important to see the opportunity to turn your life around. Seeing that opportunity to turn your life around is very vital to your success.  

 

 

 

 

The quote in the beginning of this write-up is a very important one that can change your life forever; please, let’s look at it again: “Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external superficial customs], but be transformed (change) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and new attitude],” Let’s analyze this very important sentence; 

 

 

 

1.      Do not be conformed to this world: Conformity is doing and thinking as others: behaving or thinking in a socially acceptable or expected way. This is the part most people find difficult to accomplish and those who do not conform to the general norm are most of the time popular because they stand out. They may not be successful but they stand out. When people conform to doing the same thing, they become a commodity; the problem with being a commodity is that your value is based on how cheap you are but when you are differentiated, you become a brand. This is why when I saw Guy B’s CV; I immediately knew it was a commodity. We all want to do what everybody is doing; we all want to invest in what everyone is investing in; we all want to get a job and get paid monthly; we are scared of being differentiated; we are scared of failing because we believe failure is not accepted by people. We fail to understand that it is our differentiation that makes us wealthy; it is our accumulation of experience from being differentiated that the world celebrate so why do we want to conform to the same world by all means. 

 

We believe that if we do not conform and we fail, we would be ridiculed but we fail to understand that it is the failure of our lives that enrich us. This is why I advice people to fail quickly on their intended dream so they live their destiny on time. We should note that everybody in this world is afraid of one thing or the other and we can choose to face our own or not, it’s simply a choice. 

 

 

 

2. Be Transformed by the Renewal of the Mind: The only way you can be transformed is by renewing your mind. It is not by conforming to the world but by being transformed by renewing your mind. Most people do what other people do and expect a change in the way their lives. The only way to transform your life is not by continuously doing things but by renewing your mind (take a moment to think about this). The bible says it this way talking about the Israelites when they left Egypt; “if their mind was filled with returning to Egypt, they would have devised a means to get there”. This is the principle of renewing the mind; get your mind filled with your desire – read on it, listen to tapes on it, do what you have to do to get your mind filled with it – when your mind is filled with it, you would definitely devise a means to get there. Another way to renew your mind is to move from your comfort zone because you can never learn anything new from your comfort zone. Your “discomfort” zone forces you renew your mind to tackle the discomfort. This is the only way you can move to a different level; you need to renew your mind…….