For eight years he wrote short stories and articles for publication, and for eight long years they came back as rejections. He didn’t give up, though, and for that we will always be grateful.
While he was in the Navy he wrote a mountain of routine reports and letters. After his hitch in the Navy was over he tried desperately to make it as a writer. For eight long years he sent stories and articles off to magazines but was never able to sell even one.
On one occasion an editor wrote an encouraging note on the rejection slip; it said simply, “Nice try.” The young writer was moved to tears and given new hope.
He was not the kind of man to give up. Finally, after many years of effort he wrote a book that deeply affected the entire world. He titled it
Roots. Yes Alex Haley, after years of diligent applications and rejections, finally saw his efforts rewarded, as he became one of the most successful and influential writers of the seventies.
Roots did not just become a best seller, but later became one of the best movies in the world.
The truth of the matter is that most of us are in a hurry. We want to make it with just one try. The era of patience and persistence has gone. Everything is instant. No thanks to the changing world economy or the competition in the market place. Many people have reached across to me, demanding to know why one publishing house or the other refused to publish their articles. My question has always been, how many have you written? How long have you been writing? And the answers are always amusing. Some, just one article. Others quite a few. And as soon as they don’t see it published, that becomes the end of the matter. No! You have to keep going until you get what you want. It’s as simple as that.
The same thing goes with public speaking. Many after my various presentations will meet me wishing to do it just like me. But the truth is that it requires practice and training. Anybody who tells you that he is a born public speaker (like those who say they were born with music or those who say they are born leaders) is merely deceiving you.
According to Jim Clemmer “Effective communication is no more a natural skill than leadership is a born trait. Very few powerful communicators just opened their mouths and let the words naturally flow out. Most leaders learned, developed, practiced, and refined their communication skills through a lot of hard work and conscientious effort. They learned how to sell and persuade. They learned how to infuse a well-formed case or logic with emotional appeal. They were able to light their logic on fire.”
With patience and persistence, you can achieve that dream of yours. Simply make up your mind to stay with it, no matter how long it may take. And am sure by the special grace of God, you will make it.
To our success!
Uju Onyechere.
We are all self-employed, whether we realize it or not. Very few people realize this until after retirement, when they scramble to get their act together and learn new tricks in old age, or after a job loss. For many, the outcome is catastrophic financially – the retiree and his gratuity soon part ways. Unless you are a partner or a major shareholder in the company, you are simply rendering services to the company whether in your name, or in the name of your own company. Your contract with the company has an end date. If you are not self-employed, you may be stranded. Your future is in your hands.
You are in charge of your life – your time, finances, career, relationships, you name it. You are the CEO of your life, whether you are an employee, employer, businessman, clergyman or whatever your vocation or calling, that is why minding our business is our primary responsibility.
Everyone is a business man or woman. Everyone is doing business, whether you own a business or working for a business or charity. Businesses can be broadly divided into two – manufacturing and services. Employees are into the service business, they provide services to their employer, using their time and skills. They get paid based on productivity and value added.
A good way to illustrate this is to imagine an Accounting/Auditing firm which sends some of their staff to work for another company, auditing their books for a certain period. The auditors are not employees of the company they are auditing, but they work for that company. They resume work in the morning and close in the evening. They have a certain task they are to complete to the satisfaction of the company paying the bills.
It may look like I am trying to play with words, but the issue is the mindset which ultimately determines the outcome. If you are self employed, you are working for your own company (though may not yet be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission), rendering services which is paid for monthly as salary. That means you are in charge of the quality of service you are rendering. To command better fees/salary etc, you want to add more value to the services you are rendering, exceeding customer expectations – the customer being your employer. You get paid more through salary increases, including promotion. Because you are in charge, you do not wait for the company to push you before you step up your game. You seek to improve your skills on your own by seeking out and attending courses relevant to your current job function to improve your performance on the job. Since you are self employed, you don’t mind spending your own money to attend some of the courses either home or abroad, to give you the competitive edge (if such training opportunities do not exist in the company). You are in effect working for yourself, not the company hence it does not matter if your new skills are recognized and rewarded by the current company. You have an idea where you are going, and if it means changing jobs to get there, you have the skills needed at that level.
Since you are self employed, you get to choose the jobs you do. If the job you are currently doing is not taking you where you want to go or is not what you really want to do, you can discuss with the company to move you to another job function, and if all fails, go work for another company. You take control of your career and professional development, not necessarily having to wait for the HR Department of the company you are working for – remember you are self employed. Your skill set is not tied to the company you work for, but what you want to do with your life now and in the future. You do not wait for the company to promote you – you promote yourself by acquiring the skill set of the position you want to be, and start performing at that level. Soon it will be obvious to all that you are a candidate for that position.
As a self-employed person, you do not wait for the company you work for to manage your finances. You don’t wait for your salary before you give your wife her housekeeping allowance. If the company delays in paying salaries, you have a Plan B, as your life is not tied to the company. You don’t wait on the company for gratuity and pension, you plan your cash flow down to your old age, by investing in portfolios that will generate fixed income, returns and growth. What the company offers, if any, becomes a bonus.
Also as a self-employed person, you do not wait for the company to tell you when to retire. You can choose to work as long as you want, doing what you love and loving what you do. If you love the company you are working for, you can stick with them till the mandatory retirement age, and then offer your skills to same company or another company as a consultant, if that is what you love doing. What that means is that you have registered your own company somewhere down the line and learnt how to run a business and not wait until you get notice of retirement.
As self-employed, it means you are in the driver’s seat of your life. You do not want someone driving you. No one knows where you really want to go more than you do. No one cares for you more than you do. In a business down turn, the company down sizes and no matter how much the company loves you, you may be let go. If you are financially illiterate, your gratuity may soon become history too. That is when it dawns on you that you are really on your own – truly self-employed.
Usiere Uko is editor of www.financialfreedominspiration.com and author of Practical Steps to Financial Freedom and Independence – www.amazon.com/Practical-Steps-Financial-Freedom-Independence/dp/147006832X .
| The Brooklyn Bridge, which links Brooklyn to Manhattan Island, is one of the most famous bridges in the world. At the time it was first conceived in 1883, however, bridge-building experts throughout the world told the designer, a creative engineer by the name of John Roebling, that his idea wouldn’t work.
Roebling convinced his son Washington, who was also an engineer, that his idea had merit. The two of them developed the concept, resolved the problems others had forecasted, and enthusiastically hired a crew to build their bridge. After only a few months of building, a tragic on-site accident took John’s life and severely injured Washington, who became unable to walk. Everyone thought the project would have to be abandoned, since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew the dynamics of building the bridge. Washington, however, could still think, and he had a burning desire to see the bridge finished. As he lay in his hospital bed, he had an idea. He would communicate with the engineers by using one finger to tap out code on his wife’s arm what he wanted her to tell them. Washington tapped out his instructions for 13 years until the bridge was built! This world is ruled by communication. You must know how to communicate your ideas and dreams to the outside world. And everybody needs to master the art of communication. If you are a very good communicator, you will be able to take or been asked to take leadership positions wherever you found yourself. You don’t necessarily need to take up training in communication skills for the sake of making money. There are times it could save your life. The story is told about a white community worker in a black village. He was coming down from a mountain and tripped. Within some seconds he found himself at the foot of the mountain unable to help himself. Fortunately for him, the villagers were coming back from the farm when the accident happened. He called for their assistance. When they inquired what happened, he said, “As I was descending from the clevity with such an excessive velocity, I suddenly lost my center of gravity and I was precipitated under mechamadized trophel.” When he finished everybody looked at each other and left him to his fate. They could not understand what he was talking about. You must have good communication skills to be qualified for that promotion in the work place. Position yourself as a problem solver and you discover that when there is an opening in your organization, your name will be first to come to mind. You must have good communication skills to be able to market your ideas to others. Learn the art of communication that fits what you are doing. If none exist, create one. Washington Roebling did. To our Success! -Uju Onyechere |
One day, Mr. Olugu hired a sleek-looking 2011 Mercedes E –Class. Without a proper check-up on some essentials, he rode the car to attend an august event – he assumed all was in order; after all, the car was sleek and new. Just as he rode, he got caught up in the dreaded Lagos Island traffic. Lo, Mr. Olugu’s hired acquisition began to overheat because water dried up in the radiator and simultaneously the car ran out on fuel. He decided to push the car to the service lane so the car temperature could normalize and subsequently try to get a nearby filling station to get some fuel in a gallon he found in the trunk.
Naturally, he was miffed and flustered by the turn of events. As he tried to get himself composed, he got drenched by his sweat in his new, white and lavishly- embroidered kaftan. Worst of all, he got swooped on by marauding street urchins who stripped him of all the cash he had. The day that started out so bright ended up so gloomy.
The above scenario is typical of what a number of Christians pass through today in their faith. They are quick to embrace philosophies, doctrines and patterns that totally contradict the principles and dictates of Christ. Although these might look so sleek and appealing at the first instance, only a proper scrutiny of the essentials by the word of Christ reveals the shortcomings. Ironically, some of these shortcomings are heralded by the church, which should be the ground and the pillar of truth (1Tim.3:15). Many Christians are left with thoughts and intents bruised and mangled with false teachings. They are worse today than when they first started.
To this end, scripture admonishes us to be schooled in Him personally, by diligently knowing our full rights in Christ so we don’t make a shipwreck of our faith (2Tim.2:15-18).
“My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well-constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.
Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything. ” (Col.2:6-10 The Message)
-Emeka Ofia