PictureSpeak

This is so true!

DON’T STOP YOUR EDUCATION!

I’m passionate about education, education of the right kind. Education – the one that does not just swell your head but changes your mind and expands your world.

I’m a personal development junkie – buying and reading books, attending seminars, listening to CDs and watching videos and documentary TV shows is my drug. In short, learning is my addiction!

And it has improved me, expanded my world and literally changed my life. It will do the same for you too, if it hasn’t yet. When you know truth, it sets you free from the limitations of mediocrity (see John 8:32). Education, of the personal development type changes lives. Here I present supportive evidence from no less a person than Nelson Mandela in his biography, Long Walk to Freedom:

“Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine; that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.”

Don’t stop your education, now that you are out of school or once you are out of school, whatever your own case may be. Take that course, read that book. Attend that seminar. No one may notice now, but soon they will! Keep learning, it will impact your earning. Keep learning, it will enable you to keep leading. Real education is found in what changes your life, not just what goes into your head. Have a great learning week, this week. You will succeed!

If this has blessed you, you may also enjoy these posts: ; ; and

CHANGE DOES NOT TAKE TIME!

Have you always wondered why it is that you want to do something and it does not happen right away? How is it that we wish or pray for something and it just does not manifest right away? If you do, you are not alone, we all do. I think I have an answer, follow me:

Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. AND YOU SHALL KNOW THE TRUTH, AND THE TRUTH SHALL MAKE YOU FREE.” (John 8:31-32, emphasis mine)

This often quoted statement of Jesus led me to conclude that CHANGE DOES NOT TAKE TIME, IT TAKES THE TRUTH. That is, the change from poor to rich, from sick to healthy, from mediocre to excellent is not really a function of time but of truth. When you know the truth; (that is, once truth is sown into your mind in seed form – as a thought) your change has begun.

Nobody really changes with time (except for physical growth), we change only when we change the information streaming into our lives! This submission places the responsibility on you for regulating, qualifying and controlling the information that comes into your mind.

For this people’s HEART is waxed gross, and their EARS are dull of HEARING, and their EYES they have closed; lest at any time they should SEE with their eyes, and HEAR with their EARS, and should UNDERSTAND with their HEART and should be CONVERTED, and I should HEAL them. (Matthew 13:15, emphasis mine)

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:9; “But as it is written, EYE hath not SEEN, nor EAR HEARD, neither have ENTERED INTO THE HEART of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

The conclusion from these two scriptures is this:

1. Whatever you hear or see consistently over a long period of time will enter your heart. You’ll start to BELIEVE it and then begin to BEHAVE it until you BECOME it!

2. Whatever has entered your heart has entered your life. Conversely too, whatever has not entered your heart cannot enter your life.

3. What you cannot see happen, what you do not believe can happen to you will never become a reality in your life. But if you can dream it, you can do it. If it happens in your mind, it will happen in time, in your life! Whatever the mind of man can believe and conceive, his hands can achieve!

You shall know the truth and the truth, not time shall CHANGE your life! You will succeed!

When Books Commit Suicide!

I had always believed that we should raise our kids on books and not on the TV. And here I found supportive evidence.

But by the way, how will you raise your kids on books when you yourself, don’t read. I am an avid reader. I love books. And I read like there is no other thing else to do. And my wife and I are raising our two kids to do the same too. We try as much as possible to reduce TV time and substitute it with reading. Think about it. If you watch too much TV, we might never see you on TV. (I mean, you just might not make that much impact in life to ever warrant an appearance on TV). Today a reader, tomorrow a leader!

Let me conclude with this quote: “I strongly believe that we should turn the TV way down in our lives and get back to reading – reading broadly, deeply, outside our comfort zones and outside our professional fields.” (Stephen R. Covey, The 8th Habit) You will succeed!

20 DEFINITIONS YOU HAVE TO CHECK OUT (part 1)

Words convey meaning. If you are like me, when I come across a word and do not understand its meaning, I reach for the dictionary. But here I am attempting to share with you thoughts from different people, myself included, on the meaning of some words. Please think about them because the definitions you’re about to read are not in your everyday dictionary. May you be blessed!

1. MEDIOCRITY is a region bounded on the north by compromise, on the south by indecision, on the east by past thinking, and on the west by a lack of vision. – John C. Mason

2. COMPROMISE is accepting what we don’t believe because we refuse to fight for what we do believe. – Casey Treat

3. WORRY is an old man with a bended head carrying a load feathers he thinks is lead. – Corrie Ten Boom

4. FEAR is the dark room where negatives are developed. – Unknown

5. A LEADER is a man who knows the road, who can keep ahead, and who pulls others after him. – John R. Mott

6. OBSTACLES are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal. – Hannah More

7. HARDSHIP is only a HARD ship. Stay on board, it is taking you somewhere! – Yomi Olufiade

YOU WILL SUCCEED!

THE TOP 7 BLOG POSTS OF 2012

As I celebrate the 150th post on this blog I want to appreciate you my dear friend for hanging out with me. For those who have taken the time to do that, I have enjoyed and been blessed by your comments. It’s such a joy. The greatest fulfillment of a writer is having readers. And for that privilege I’m most grateful.

(I want you to know that I enjoy reading your comments and really appreciate it when you take time to let me know what and how you feel about this blog. So, please feel free to give me a feed back and God bless you as you do so.)

If you have been blessed by this blog and you know friends and family members who will appreciate it, kindly ask them to visit and subscribe by clicking on the Follow blog via email tab on the upper right hand corner of the home page so they can receive updates directly in their email inbox. Otherwise, you can please forward their email addresses to yomiolufiade@gmail.com. Thank you.

The first quarter of 2012 is almost at a close, and at this blog I am taking stock of blog posts from the beginning of the year to find out what topics and issues ministered most to you.

So, here we go, these are the Top Seven Blog Posts of the year 2012 thus far:

1. 5 Things I Wish Every Christian Leader Be Reminded Of (1-5)
2. 25 Things I Refuse
3. 7 Keys to Maximizing 2012
4. What Will Be Your Legacy?
5. 7 Good Habits (of A Champion) You Should Cultivate
6. The Greatest General of All Time
7. If You Are Willing To Do These 5 Things Success Would Be Easy

Thank you for staying with me. You will succeed!

LET’S TALK ABOUT MEEKNESS-2

Meekness is further displayed by a thirst for knowledge.

A proud and disdainful young man once came to Socrates, the Greek philosopher, and with a smirk, said, “O great Socrates, I come to you for knowledge.”

Seeing the shallowness and the vanity of the young man, Socrates led him to the sea into waist-deep water. Then he said, “Tell me again what you want.”

“Knowledge,” he responded with a smile.

Socrates grabbed the young man by his shoulders and pushed him down under the water, holding him there for thirty seconds. “Now what do you want?”

“Wisdom, O great Socrates,” the young man sputtered.

The philosopher pushed him under once again. When he let him up, he asked again, “What do you want?”

“Knowledge, O wise and…” he managed to spit out before Socrates held him under again, this time even longer.

“What do you want?” the old man asked as he let him up again. The young man coughed and gasped.

“Air!” he screamed. “I need air!”

“When you want knowledge as much as you just wanted air, then you will get knowledge,” the old man stated as he returned to shore.

Meekness will almost always reveal itself in a thirst for knowledge. Cecil A. Mace (1894-1971), emeritus professor of psychology at the University of London said in his book, The Psychology of Study: “The ultimate source of efficiency in observation, in memory, and in constructive thought is insatiable curiosity and the itch to know.”

Let me ask you, “Do you seek to be known or do you seek to know?”

Many are busy seeking to be known, embarking on futile ego trips. Stop seeking to be known. Start seeking to know. I can tell you from experience that when you get busy seeking to know, men will get busy seeking to know you!

Paul, the apostle after years of preaching the gospel and founding the churches of Asia yet cried out, “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection…” (Philippians 3:10). I always wonder, what yet is there for this giant of the faith to know. This was the man who wrote that some fourteen years prior, he was caught up to the third heaven and heard things which a mouth cannot utter (see 2 Corinthians 12:1-6). Yet he was meek. He still was thirsty to know God!

Solomon was widely famed for his wisdom but beneath that was a thirst for knowledge. He attained greatness, prominence and wealth yet he still had a thirst to know more.

“I, the Preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven…I have seen all the works that are done under the sun…I communed with my heart, saying, “Look, I have attained greatness, and have gained more wisdom than all who were before me in Jerusalem. My heart has understood great wisdom and knowledge…And I set my heart to know wisdom…” (Ecclesiastes 1:12-14, 16-17)

It’s time to get on a fresh quest for knowledge. Like Plutarch said, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be ignited.” No matter what you know, there is still much to know. In fact, you will discover that the more you know, the more there is still to know. The more you know, the more you can make known. The more you know, the more you will be known. With all your getting, get this attitude of meekness! YOU WILL SUCCEED! (Excerpts from a yet to be released book by Yomi Olufiade)

LET’S TALK ABOUT MEEKNESS-pt 1

“The meek will he guide in justice: and the meek will he teach his way.” (Psalm 25:9 KJV)

The greatest teachers are the greatest learners. An uneducated man with a teachable spirit is worth a roomful of professors who think they know everything. Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matt 5:5) The meek will always have the world at their feet.

Meekness as I see it, simply is teachability – having a teachable heart. An old Arab proverb divides the world into four categories of people: the Simple, the Sleeping, the Foolish and the Wise.

“He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Shun him. (I submit to you that the simple credential required to be fully matriculated in the college of fools is to be ignorant of your ignorance!)

He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is simple. Teach him.

He who knows, and knows not that he knows, is asleep. Wake him up.

He who knows, and knows that he knows, is wise. Follow him.”

Job was a meek man, and a wise man. He prayed, “That which I see not teach thou me…” (Job 34:32)

Solomon was the wisest man before Christ. But he was meek. He said, “And I set my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all that is done under heaven;” (Ecclesiastes 1:13) That’s meekness – a teachable spirit “which is in the sight of God of great price.” (1 Peter 3:4)

A Chinese sage, widely famed for his wisdom was asked by some young men how he came to be so wise. “I’m not as wise as you think,” the old sage replied. “I only take of men more knowledgeable than myself and add their knowledge to mine! I learn from everybody. From some I learn what to do, from others what not to do.” YOU WILL SUCCEED! (To Be Continued)

NB: If you’re blessed by this blog and you know friends and family members who will appreciate it, please forward their email addresses to – yomiolufiade@gmail.com and they can begin to receive it daily. Thanks.

PRAY FOR AND SUPPORT THIS MINISTRY TODAY.
If you will like to donate please pay cheques and cash into GTBank – 0025392642, (Account Name: Yomi Olufiade) if you’re in Nigeria or you can use Western Union from anywhere in the world. God bless you as you support this ministry.

Rev. Yomi Olufiade is a life & leadership coach, inspirational/motivational speaker, pastor, Bible teacher, and author with more than 15 years of ministry experience. He hosts the Purpose ‘n’ Life Seminars across cities and churches. He has preached the gospel and travels sharing the wisdom of God in churches, campuses, and cities in conventions and conferences. He is the lead pastor of LightHouse International Assembly, Abuja and CEO of Purpose ‘n’ Life, Inc. Rev. Olufiade is available for consulting on personal and leadership development in corporate organizations too.

For further spiritual help, prayers and counseling or invitation to minister in your church or city, you can reach Rev. Yomi by phone/text on +2348052313679 or email him at yomiolufiade@gmail.com. God bless you!

THOUGHTS TO CHEW ON

Vision without action is only a dream. Action without vision is just passing the time. Vision with action can change the world! -UNKNOWN

LET’S DEFINE MEDIOCRITY

What is mediocrity? Have you bothered to ask yourself before? These are my thoughts:

1. Mediocrity is having wishes but no concrete plans.
2. Mediocrity is having plans but no priorities.
3. Mediocrity is being past-possessed and not forward-focused.
4. Mediocrity is reckoning to the past when you should be reaching to your potential.
5. Mediocrity is seeing the opportunity as an obstacle rather than seeing the opportunity in the obstacle.
6. Mediocrity is having acquaintances but no friends.
7. Mediocrity is giving condemnation where you should be giving commendations.
8. Mediocrity is when you emphasize your title against your responsibility.
9. Mediocrity is looking so much like someone else that nobody looks like you!
10. Mediocrity is thinking of nothing to give yet you’re thinking of something to get!
11. Mediocrity is giving excuses when you should be making advances.
12. Mediocrity is planning so much for the wedding day that you overlook planning for the marriage!
13. A mediocre philosophy is “A verse of the Bible a day keeps the devil away!”
14. Mediocrity is seeing the devil at work so much that you’re oblivious of the angels on guard waiting to be deployed.
15. Mediocrity is working when you should be praying and praying when you should be working.
16. Mediocrity is playing when you should pray and praying when you should be playing.
17. A mediocre will look back in regret where he should have looked forward and prepared.

You have more? Let me hear it. Mediocrity, no more, not me! YOU WILL SUCCEED!