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Do you know the greatest challenge we have as humans? I want you to seriously think about it and give yourself some moment away from your work station to really reflect on this. Every time I think of this challenge, I think of Jacob. Jacob is the regular guy from the bible who upon facing this basic human challenge was able to rebrand himself from Jacob to Israel. Jacob left his father’s house with nothing and returned with 2 wives, 2 concubines, 11 children and a massive wealth and economic portfolio. Though it took him 20 years to achieve this result, he achieved it nonetheless after overcoming this basic human hindrance.

In this contemporary time, we would say Jacob lived a Jewish dream just like most young men in Nigeria leave their father’s house or father’s country to seek for their Nigerian dream. Every dream has an economic imprint to it; the dream then becomes more substantiated if the person attained this economical progress through doing what he truly enjoys doing. Jay Jay Okocha is a living proof of a true Nigerian dream and was honored for it 2 days ago with a novel match. Not all dreams are accompanied with fame but you can imagine Okocha doing what some people consider as a hobby and making economic progress with it.

If we look deep to what we consider as a hobby, therein lies what we truly enjoy doing. What we truly enjoy doing is thus not necessary a sequential or regulated task we must accomplish in order to get emolument but a state of euphoria and joy when we tackle a project. This state of euphoria and joy is thus a state of being our true selves. The greatest challenge we have as human being is being our true selves. It is difficult for most people to discover their identity and align themselves to it. Some people are able to discover who they are but the difficulty lies in staying true to who they are.

Doing what you truly enjoy doing is your creative self expression; it is being who you are truly designed to be; it is where your unlimited power is tapped from; it is a life of freedom – a life where possibilities overrides limitations. It’s a state that can be intuitively recognized and guided by deep rooted desire. Pablo Picasso – a foremost painter/artist – gives us a hint into what it is like to align ourselves to our true nature:

“I don’t know in advance what I am going to put on canvass anymore than I decide before hand what color I am going to use. While I am working, I am not conscious of what I am putting on the canvass. Each time I undertake to paint a picture, I have a sensation of leaping into space; I never know whether I shall fall on my feet. It is only later that I begin to estimate more exactly the effect of my work”

Just like Pablo Picasso mentioned above; whenever he wants to do what he truly enjoys doing, he is not conscious of the outcome and he leaps into space. Pablo Picasso is not governed by time but the possibility of his accomplishments. The time space continuum seizes to exist when you are in the flow of your true nature. Have you ever been involved in a task that you lost track of the time; you were literarily dragged away from it. It is like a deep sleep where you are not conscious of the environment. If you have ever been “in love” with a lady/man; you will understand this state of being your true self.

Look at Jay Jay Okocha; you can see the smile in his face when he loses an important direct kick and we can attest to his ability to experiment on the field of play. No matter how serious the match is, Jay Jay would always align to his true self. Jay jay’s true self is not football like most people describe their true self by what they do. When I hear someone say “I am born to be a doctor or I am a diehard writer”; I can’t help but smile at such ignorance because those profession or career line are simply a platform of expression. Jay Jay is a creative personality who can express his creativity best in the profession of football.

This is the cross that we mostly don’t understand because Jay Jay expresses himself best in football does not mean he is born a footballer. If Jay Jay was born into a home filled with academia, Jay Jay may have been professional writer authoring many text books; his environment played a big role in his platform of expression. This is where the concept of providence comes to play; God places us in an environment because God believes that environment would align us to our true self expression. While most people have blamed their environment for their lack of success, others have used their environment as a fulcrum of success.

The Williams sisters are tennis champions because of their African American heritage; this should ordinarily be a hindrance to tennis championship but it is what drove them to be extraordinary. If Mandela was born in the United States, I am sure the world would not be celebrating his 90 years birthday. Mahatma Gandhi became legendary because he was an Indian citizen. Our true self and finding the best place to express our true self lies in the environment we find our self.

So many people extol my writing prowess and I tell those who care to listen that I am not such a great writer; I simply write as a platform of expression. I know my writing skill have improved a lot from when I started putting time and energy into writing; for my professor in school to recommend my paper to the Swedish Environmental Board, I definitely know I have improved my writing considerably. I was not always good in writing in fact writing was my Achilles heel; most courses I did not do well in my undergraduate days was because I could not construct words properly. I used to loathe anything that has to do with writing but now writing is a platform to express my growth passion and love for empowerment.

This is the foundation of Jacob’s cross; expressing who you are in a dedicated platform. Jacob was a blessed man; whichever platform he engaged in, he was going to do the unfathomable. His partnership with his uncle Laban will give us insight into how to succeed financially in an uphill world. Jacob was already skilled in the arts of taking care of sheep before getting to his uncles house. His uncle noticed his good works and offered to pay him for it. Jacob instead demanded to work 7 years for his uncle’s daughter Rachel. In working for any organization, working for time will never make you financially free especially if your aim is to have one position or the other like Manager, Senior Manager, etc.

Jacob’s aim was Rachel and just like any other entrepreneur; they never live up to their promises until you give them more of your time. They dangle another offer your way, keeping you from your dream offer in order to buy more of your time. Jacob worked 14 years to secure his dream position and after attaining this dream, he was still financially impoverished. I can imagine many people who have waited longer than expected for promotions, salary raise, official car, etc and they keep getting disappointed. As they keep praying and waiting for this position, time is going and they gain nothing from it.

After Jacob attained the position he was looking for, he realized he had been chasing the wind. 14 years of his life slaving for someone without knowing who he was. Jacob decided to leave the organization and see what Laban the entrepreneur said “I will pay you more money for your time.” I have seen so many people stick to an organization because the entrepreneur is paying them more money. They know they are no longer aligned to the organization and their spirit and soul is no longer in the work but they stay because of the promise of more money.

Laban said something to Jacob that woke him up and made him understand who he truly was: “for a fortune teller that I consulted told me that many blessings I have been enjoying are all because of your being here. How much of a raise do you need to get you stay? Whatever it is, I will pay it.” This was news to Jacob just like most people in this world do not know their worth. He realized he was pivotal to the success of Laban but he should ordinarily have known this since he received the power of success from his father.

Jacob understanding himself decided to work for percentage instead of time. Remember for 14 years of working, he was still in the rat race; paying house rent, paying school fees, paying mortgage, changing car, occasionally travelling but he had no real economic power. After the decision to work for percentage, he became richer than Laban in six years; the speckled and the spotted sheep coming from all black sheep was something he has always known but he just put it to work after discovering himself. Despite the fact that Laban changed the rules many times, he was able to beat Laban to the game.

Understanding who you are and aligning yourself to it is the greatest good you can do to humanity. You encourage others who are afraid to take this path to do it. You will be able to FIRE YOUR BOSS by getting the proper respect you deserve. You will be able to make right judgments in investments and other important matter. I know money is a big factor that hinders people from being who they were designed to be but listen to what a billionaire film producer said; “Anyone who thinks money will make him happy hasn’t got money; happy is harder than money.” I will end this particular message with what Steve Jobs (billionaire founder of Apple Computers) said:

“For the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: if today were the last day of my life, would I do what I am about to do today? And whenever the answer has been no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something”