IN TIMES OF CHANGE, LEARNERS INHERIT THE EARTH, WHILE THE LEARNED FIND THEMSELVES BEAUTIFULLY EQUIPPED TO DEAL WITH A WORLD THAT NO LONGER EXISTS! – Eric Hoffer, a social thinker/writer of the twentieth century.
Category Archives: Talent
WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU LOOK AT PEOPLE?
Years ago as an undergraduate, I took a summer teaching job. Whenever I entered the classroom I always took a bow and greet the students as “ladies and gentlemen”. One of the students asked me why I did that one day. I answered her, “Because I see you not as what you are right now but as who you will be years down the line!”
“When I see people, everyone, every human, I understand that I am in the presence of greatness. Maybe potential greatness, or greatness unpolished, or greatness unfound, but every person has the ability.” (Kat Cole) I concur! Every human being carries the imprint of the Almighty.
This quote inspires what I’m sharing with you today, dear friend. Don’t just see people as they are; see them as they can be. So much more important for those of us who have a responsibility for others, whether as parents, bosses, pastors, teachers, heads of department, etc., in any leadership capacity. That is why I wrote the book That I Look Like A Beggar Does Not Say I Do Not Have A Throne! And it is why I volunteer to train and mentor under-privileged kids at Paradigm Initiative Nigeria’s Ajegunle.org project. It’s also why I’ve made it part of my life’s work to build a leadership center for youths where they can be trained and given an opportunity to discover and develop their innate potential for greatness.
Everyone you see is pregnant with destiny. Beneath every face is a precious person loved and valued by God. Respect that always. Never look down on anyone except you want to help them up. Look within your sphere of influence and do something to help someone today. You will succeed!
10 TIPS FOR SPEAKING TO IMPACT LIVES – 4 of 4
Here is the concluding part of this series. Hope you find it useful. Let me have your views and things to add that I might have left out. Let’s go!
#9. BE BRIEF! MAKE IT SHORT AND MEMORABLE.
BREVITY is a key to impactful speeches and sermons. Check it out; the most memorable speeches in history have been known to be very short. I heard it said somewhere several years ago and I have found it to be true from experience: The mind cannot absorb more than the seat can endure! That is so much the truer for this generation that seem to be perpetually plagued by attention deficit disorder (ADD).
I have always believed that it does not take an everlasting sermon to make an everlasting impact. And I read it somewhere that speeches do not have to be long to be great. Short speeches do not have to be long to be important. Long sermons have been known to be short on impact! Great speakers keep it short and simple. It takes a masterful speaker to make complex issues simple. The fool makes simple things complex, all for the sake of being considered profound. Learn to be brief. You can be simple without being simplistic!
#10. NEVER EVER YOU SPEAK WITHOUT THE ANOINTING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. (Acts 1:5, 8; 1 Cor. 2:1-5) Whatever you do, get the ANOINTING. That’s my greatest trade secret! All what I have mentioned earlier (brevity, humor, knowledge, inspiration, passion, integrity etc.) in this particular series will hold no water except you are anointed by the Holy Ghost. This means that above all, you have to get the anointing. An un-anointed preacher is like an unwashed soap salesman – he does not use his own product. He lacks believability. It is the anointing, not human eloquence or oratorical skills that changes people’s lives. It is the anointing that infuses your words with power causing it to impact people positively. So, with all your getting, get the unction! I wish you a blessed and impactful speaking experience. You will succeed!
You may see the previous three posts on this same subject here:
10 Tips for Speaking To Impact Lives (1 of 4)
10 Tips for Speaking To Impact Lives (2 of 4)
10 Tips for Speaking To Impact Lives (3 of 4)
6 QUESTIONS THAT CAN HELP YOU UNRAVEL YOUR PURPOSE
I have a passion in my life; it is to help as many people as God brings across my path in life to find, follow and fulfill God’s ultimate purpose for their existence. this is what I want to help you do today.
Listen to me dear friend; the purpose of living is living for a purpose. Your answers to the questions below point in the direction of your destiny; and the purpose to which you should apply your life.
Do not spend your life doing what you were not assigned by God to do. You won’t be fulfilled that way. You don’t pursue just any career or vocation. Dig deep into your spirit. Analyse your aptitudes and abilities. Then go ahead and be what you are made to be.
A Prophetic Destiny
You do have a prophetic destiny. Yes. If you’ve been redeemed and bought by the blood of Jesus, you do have a prophetic destiny! What that means is that your purpose has been foreordained by God and it’s being revealed in your life experiences, abilities, gifts and personality make-up. God is your Creator and He did have a reason for doing so. God sure has a plan for you – a purpose you were born to run.
All of us believers have been called according to God’s purpose. And we can discover it by prayerfully searching our hearts in the Holy Ghost.
So, here are the six questions:
1. What do you – deep down in your heart – really want to do? What is the deepest desire of your heart?
2. Is there any one thing to which you can wholeheartedly offer your life and abilities? Something to which you can devote your lifetime without reservation – giving 100% of yourself for your whole life?
3. Is there something you will be willing to do for free if you won’t be paid?
4. What do your friends and folks want to gather around and help you accomplish?
5. What would you like to be remembered for?
6. Is there one thing you can die for? (That is a pointer to what you should live for!) (Exerpts from an unpublished manuscript by Yomi Olufiade)
YOU WILL SUCCEED!
THOUGHTS TO CHEW ON
OUR BIGGEST BARRIER TO SUCCESS IS NOT LACK OF RESOURCES BUT LACK OF BELIEF. – UNKNOWN
Yomi Olufiade 