Blog

One of those Sundays when I decided to relax my head on my sofa, I was pressured once more to watch Africa Magic by my dear queen; I think I need to get that PVR decoder that DSTV has been promoting. This Sunday was however different because I was glad to watch “Moments with Mo’s” beauty queen feature where the immediate past most beautiful girl in Nigeria – Abiola Bashorun – was engaged in a chat with Mo Abdul: Check my paraphrased version:

 

 

Mo: How is life after your reign as beauty queen?

Abiola: Economically deficient; no regular supply of funds.

Mo: Has any of the Nollywood producers approached you?

Abiola: Yes: what they are offering me is pittance; imagine offering me 100K to about 150K Naira for a role in their movie. I am bigger than that!

 

 

My mind began to wonder at the last statement made by this young lady; either she is naïve, ignorant, pompous or simply working from a different reference frame, I could not tell from her position but I choose to believe she is ignorant. Ignorance definitely does not excuse anybody who is ambitious enough to succeed. A man that has never heard of electricity and places his naked hand on a live wire will definitely feel its impact.

 

 

Life is in protocols and if one is interested in enjoying it, one must understand the protocols of life. Some youths have been coming to me with various projects they want to venture in; they have simply turned me into a venture capitalist. This is not bad for my resume but I am yet to fund any of the youths that have brought in their business plan. Reason for this: Lack of experiential knowledge.

 

Although most of them try to prove they have the business experience; the way they answer the questions I ask show otherwise: What have you done before? What were your motivations? What did you learn from the business? The way these three questions are answered gives me a clue into their profile. You cannot ask me to support you with 2 Million naira and you have not tried your hand on a smaller business project.

 

 

It just doesn’t make sense no matter how juicy the deal sounds. This is the way the bible puts it this way; he who is faithful in little, will be faithful in much. The little has to be accomplished before you can move to a bigger fry. The concept of protocol has alliance with time dispensation. Understanding time dispensation plays an important role in adapting to success.

 

 

Abiola was catapulted to a different dispensation when she became the most beautiful girl in Nigeria; the dispensation was over when she relinquished her crown. She assumes she was still in the same time dispensation she was when reporters and paparazzi gathered around her; when money was flowing endlessly. The bible talked about a certain tribe in Israel called Issachar who was credited for understanding time dispensation.

 

 

Not understanding your time dispensation is a struggle on its own; you can acknowledge it but you do not consciously use it to your advantage. You may admit to yourself that you are no longer in the university, but your habits and lifestyle depicts an undergraduate. You may move from one business project to another but you behave as if you are in the former business. The people of Issachar were in the leadership position compared to the other tribes of Israel because they knew what Israel ought to do at certain times.

 

 

Most people just muddle up their seasons and worry unnecessary at certain things they cannot change. Abiola’s time is up as the reigning queen; if she wants to move to a higher level, she must come down before she goes up. The concept of seeding follows the same protocol; the seed must first die before it becomes a plant. This is the order of life; you must change for things to remain the same or you become extinct and die.

 

 

Abiola’s last statement gets me worried especially for those who believe that life is a linear graph. It is not even about understanding the time that is most important; it is maximizing the time dispensation you are in. Every time dispensation has a purpose and the violation of grasping the purpose leads to unnecessary worry and pain. Most perceived difficult times are used as instruments to equip you for a greater time ahead.

 

 

If you fail to grasp the lesson and maximize it, it will affect you in another dispensation; the protocols must be duly followed or it will haunt you. No matter how small Abiola thought the money offered was, she was in a different dispensation and she could not command as much money as she is used to. She should be grateful they were offering her that much to feature her in a career she did not possess any prior professional experience.

 

 

I am a studious student of biography especially of guys that have been in the global limelight. I learnt from Halle Berry – the first African American female to win an Oscar – the essence of humility to understanding her times. Her first big budget movie was Jungle Fever and she was asked to play a very insignificant role that did not suit her persona. She was rejected for the role because it did not suit her but she knew she had to get the role in order to break into the big time movie scene.

 

 

 

She went outside the box to fit the role of a junkie by not bathing and brushing her teeth for three days to audition for the role. She definitely got the part and that led her to become one of Hollywood “A” list actors. Before this particular incidence, she had achieved more than Abiola could have achieved; Miss USA runner-up, high-end model and popular sit-com actress. IMHO, she is physically better looking than Abiola though she is about 40-years old now.

 

 

She proved her understanding of the times when she was asked to collect the Razzie Award after about a year of collecting the Oscars. FYI, the Razzie Award is an award given to the worst actor in a particular year in Hollywood; she humbly collected it and made a joke of it. Most actors don’t bother coming for the award show not to talk of coming on stage to collect an award as damaging as the Razzie’s.

 

 

It is important to adhere to the protocol of life in whatever you choose to do; after qualifying your life’s goal and identifying the one that will make you prosper both spiritually and physically. You can then sow knowing full well that life is in protocol; you can follow Jesus Christ teaching of a man that went to sow without knowing how it grew but Jesus showed the step-by-step protocol that the a plant will follow in bearing fruits:

 

 

The Soil: The soil represents the medium of expression; what line of business will nourish you both financially and spiritually; what line of career will give align with your assignment in life and the list goes on? The major thing here is to understand your purpose and the medium of passing it across. It is also important to know that if you choose the wrong soil, you will struggle and God’s purpose for you does not include struggling. Jesus showed the important of soil type in his parable of the “sower”:

1.      The Way Side: So many people have way side sowing like workers that place their money in the stock exchange hoping that miraculously they will become rich by doing so and entrepreneurs diversifying without putting much focus on the business; from Jesus prophesy, external bodies will steal your investments away.

2.      The Underlying Rock: This particular medium of expression is common amongst entrepreneurs who are opportunistic; anywhere it is happening, they jump there. Today, it’s FOREX; tomorrow, it’s MLM, next tomorrow, its buying and selling. Their roots don’t go very deep although they get along fine, as soon as challenges and persecution begin, they wilt.

3.      Thorny Ground: This particular medium is great; it fulfils both the spiritual and physical yearnings of its actors but the problem lies when attractions and delights of wealth take the profit away. Attractions like the latest car, the jimmy shoos, female pleasure, friends and relatives comes to take what you have achieved away.

4.      Good Soil: This is the medium of expression that produces a safe haven for others to develop in; it produces thirty, sixty and even a hundred of what was produced. It represents the stand that projects your light and the stand that the world will gravitate towards.

 

 

The Blade: When you start sowing, you have to be patient especially when you are in the good soil. The first sign that shows is the blade; the blade is the thin leaf of grasses or maize plants. If you are into trading, the blade may be the first 3 customers you will ever have. You have to treat them very nicely even if you do not get others to come at the moment. If you are a worker, it may be a promotion without pay; increasing your responsibility with no pay. If you are a graduate, it may be working as an intern for your dream company for free. Most people give up at this stage of the protocol because it does not align with the dream they envision. Whatever, it is, the blade is an important protocol you should not miss. Most people refer to this time as the trying time because you sow without seeing the fruits.

 

 

The Ear: This is when it looks as if things are going well for you; you have to be very careful at this stage. Finally, your customers are growing in an astronomical state, your company recognizes your effort and increases your pay, if you are a graduate, and you finally get that dream job you have been hoping for. This is actually the time you need to be very careful because you may develop blind spot and get unnecessarily pompous. This is definitely not the stage you want but you may be corned to belief so. The trappings of the results may fool you but if you don’t wait for the full grain in the ear, you may abort the process prematurely.

 

 

The Full Grain: This is when the grain starts growing in the ear; this is not time to leave the business for an entrepreneur or time to expand; this is not time for workers to start changing jobs. This is the time to consolidate your effort and make sure your brand is ripe enough to withstand any pressures.

 

The Ripe Grain: This is the time to move on to another project or you may end up playing politics in what you have built and ruin it. This is the time to seek another place because you may eventually become a nuisance for those who have been praying for promotions. The bible says the reapers immediately put in the sickle for the harvest. It has to be immediate or you may regret ever venturing into the project or ever working for the company.