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I enjoyed independent time from activities, schedules and businesses on Nigerian Independence day with my 2-year plus old beautiful and very inquisitive daughter. My favorite moment with her was when we watched Kung Fu Panda together; she was totally engrossed with the movie; her eyes were wide open; not one single noise or question from her through-out the about 90 minutes run time.

 

 

Great movie; actually inspired me to continue this second part of “The Power of Small Money”. I won’t go deep into the plot to avoid spoiling the fun for prospective cinemagoers. It is about a panda bear called Po who did not have the perceived requisite capacity for his dream; too weighty and clumsy to become a great master in the discipline of Kung Fu.

 

 

Chosen by what most people call mistake to be the dragon warrior instead of a quintet of supreme skilled kung fu warrior; the dragon warrior is expected to defeat the evil snow leopard – Tai Lung – who threatens the Valley of Peace in the leopard’s quest for the Dragon scroll. This dragon scroll promises great power to its possessor. However, when Po opens it, he finds nothing but a blank reflective surface.

 

 

Stricken with despair at the scroll’s apparent worthlessness, they all retreated from their goal to possess the ultimate power until the wisdom behind the nothingness of the scroll hit Po when his own father revealed to him that there is no secret ingredient to his delicious noodles. This is the shortest and the best justice I can do to the plot but I have revealed enough to discuss the subject above.  

 

 

Do you know how difficult it is to reconcile what we have now with our dream goal or project? Well, let me reframe it better; do you know how difficult it is for an entrepreneur to appreciate the capital he has at the moment and his dream business? Very difficult! I am yet to see an entrepreneur that has enough capital to kick start his business; there is always one excuse or the other especially when there is a comparison streak to it.

 

 

Remember, the story about the man that shared talents to his guys according to their ability. The guy with one talent buried his own and did nothing about it. When he compared the talent he had with his supposed peer, he felt intimidated and he hid his talent; he felt the one talent was worthless compared to his friends. Do you know how many people are burying their talent because they feel it is worthless?

 

 

Do you know how many people disregard what they have because they feel they could not measure up with their supposed peers? Look at yourself and tell yourself the truth; are you not disregarding your gift, money, talent, capital, degree, etc because you feel it is worthless compared to your friends or compared to your dream project? Let me bring this concept to another level:

 

Do you know you have no mates, peers, cohorts, age group, classmates, contemporaries or equals? All the resources you have are allocated to you based on your ability to manage them. Because you and Olu finished from the same department form the same school at the same time with the same class of degree does not mean you will both end up with the same job.

 

When I hear people discuss fair-mindedness or equality, I know they definitely do not know what they are talking about. This is why I advise start-ups never to feel intimidated by seasoned businesses; they are definitely not in the same level of resource acquisition. In Kung Fu Panda, when the Furious Five was introduced, you could feel the intimidation in the air; their level of expertise was second to none but it was Po that was chosen.

 

Jesus Christ demonstrated that there is really no secret formula to anything by feeding 5 thousand individuals with five loaves and two fishes; he repeated the same thing by feeding 4 thousand individuals with 7 loaves and some fishes. This is the pattern that I deciphered in this wholesome feat and I believe all entrepreneurs should take heed to it seriously.

 

 

Gratitude: When the disciples asked what are five loaves and two fishes amongst so many people, they were definitely stating a fact. What is 100 thousand naira to a man who dreams of owning his own cable network like DSTV? Jesus ignored their complaint and appreciated the only resources they could lay their hands on for the pending project. He took this resource to God and thanked him; Jesus Christ truly appreciated it. This is how George Washington Carver – a foremost black American botanist and inventor – puts it this way; “anything will give up its secrets if you love it enough”.

 

You got to love who you are; what you do and the talents you can leverage on before anything meaningful can be accomplished. Sit down and ask yourself why you are so frustrated? Simple; you really do not love what you have; you want more but you don’t appreciate what you have at the moment; you can’t get more my dear until you truly appreciate what you have now; your friends, your talent, etc.

 

People definitely miss this in accomplishing any project in life; I was invited to speak in a youth forum recently concerning the JOBFinder Manual. I called one my employees and asked her to represent me since I had a prior appointment; she immediately raised an objection that surprised me – she had not accomplished anything of value to speak to University final year students. She just finished school and had not gone for NYSC.

 

 

She joined my company a month ago and she had seen me speak on various occasion. She pointed out to me that people responded to me based on my accomplishments. This last statement was not entirely true; people respond to me based on my enthusiasm for what I speak about. I told her this and pointed out her accomplishment which she failed to see;

 

 

She was more enthusiastic about the JOBFinder Manual than any of my staffs that I am aware of. I remember her first day at work when I introduced her to all the products we deal in; she was particularly fond of the JOBFinder Manual and bought it on the spot. I mentioned this to her and told her to leverage on this when speaking. Gave her my speaking guidelines and placed her on a target of the amount of books I wanted sold in this meeting.

 

Though the organizers of the meeting were initially disappointed by my absence which was inevitable; after they heard her speak, they were more than grateful. She surpassed her sales target which totally shocked me; I don’t think I could have done better. She even had a list of people who paid her for the book without receiving it. This is the power of enthusiasm and gratitude for whatever you have; it produces positive energy and attracts likeminded individual to you.   

 

 

Power Flow: Jesus Christ told people to sit down on the grass before blessing the five loaves and two fishes. By sitting down, Jesus was able to project how to divide the five loaves and fishes amongst them. The sitting down position also represents peace and calmness as oppose the usual rowdiness of the 5 thousand individuals. You need to generate power at the position of peace because inspiration occurs when you relax.

 

Lucius Annaeus Seneca (commonly called Seneca) – tutor and advisor to Emperor Nero of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of the Roman Empire – said; “most powerful is him who has himself in his own power.”  It is important that power flows from the top to the bottom; you have to recognize your inherent power and develop it before it can bow to the accomplishment you seek for.

 

If I have a dream to own a shopping mall; I must first connect it with my mind. My mind must be able to accept the feasibility of owning one despite the fact that I do not have the resources. This is why Panda Po’s father told him there was no secret ingredient for making noodles; you simply need to believe that the noodles you are preparing is very special and it becomes special to those that eat it.

 

 

Networking: Jesus Christ gave his disciples to distribute the bread and the fish to the five thousand people; no matter how powerful you think you are, you can never accomplish your lofty dreams by yourself. You need a network of likeminded people to get it done. This is where I believe you must learn the art of win-win strategy because you cannot get it done by yourself.

 

John Paul Getty – Oil Billionaire that first invested in the Saudi and Kuwait region – said “I would rather have 1% of a hundred men’s efforts than 100% of my own”. You definitely need people to achieve your dream; this is why no matter how small your resources is, if you partner with the right people, you will definitely feed 5 thousand individuals with five loaves and two fishes.

 

Every worthwhile accomplishment is a result of a team effort; the master key to wealth creation and enterprise development is knowing how to harness the collective effort of a truly great team. When you look at your dream and you can’t imagine the path of getting there without involving sacrifice, struggle and pain, then think again because all you need to do is to get really good at choosing and motivating really good people.

 

On this note, I conclude “The Power of Small Money”, there is really nothing you can’t achieve if you follow the principle of Jesus Christ’s feeding of five thousand individuals with five loaves and two fishes; it is a principle that he repeated again with four thousand individuals with 7 loaves and some fishes. This tells us that this principle is universal, workable and adoptable.

 

 

For those who missed the “The Platform”, you can get the CD or DVD from Covenant Christian Center Tapes Division; 400 Herbert Macaulay Road, Yaba, Lagos or call 234-01-735 9402, 01-722 2806 and you can also email: enquiries [at] insightsforliving.org. Have a fun-filled live!