Don’t live your life like a lot of people who live not to offend anyone. In other words, they live to please others. They want to blend in. They don’t want to stand out. That is what I mean by tiptoeing into life. Don’t tiptoe into life, make a splash, and a big one for that matter! Like Mohammad Ali: “I’m the greatest.” Like Martin Luther King Jr., “I have a dream.” Like JFK, “ask not.” Like Nelson Mandela, the Madiba, “The struggle is my life.” If all these men had blended in, where would the world be today?
We cannot all be like Ali, King, JFK, and Mandela, but you can still be the greatest in your little corner. An African proverb says, no matter how short a person is, he can still see the sky. Find a cause to champion. Find an area where your voice can be heard. Find where can be the greatest. You’re the greatest, but who knows if you don’t tell the world? How do you make a splash? Write a book.
Come, learn, and tell your story to the world at Book Writing Clinic. You have no story to tell? You don’t know what to say? And you don’t know how to say it? Come, BWC will help you bring out your untold story. Have you written books already but want to learn how to market them? Book Writing Clinic is the platform you need to multiply your book sales by 10X.
Are you already a BWC alumni member and want to read a chapter of your new manuscript to a live audience? And learn new strategies? Like converting your written book into a bookcast in a few simple steps? Come to BWC, it’s free for Alumni members!
If I may add a word here. You don’t need to go alone. Find company. Network as if your life depended on it. Yes, I repeat, don’t attempt to go it alone at this point in your life. An African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” We live in a networked world. The more people and networks you’re connected to, the better. It follows the law of increasing returns. Download a free eBook: New Rules for the New Economy, by Kevin Kelly, here, to learn more.
Please, don’t underestimate the power of networks. You can reach any other person on the planet by touching base with just five other people – it’s called the theory of six degrees of separation. Find platforms and join; if not for anything else, at least to catch trends. Not only that but also to live long because loneliness is the fastest killer. Network with the high and the mighty, and with the downtrodden too. I do.
As a top executive, you may say I’m too busy, I’m already successful, I need no one, I need no distractions, I just need to focus on my job. Or you may say, I just need to focus on growing my business and making profits, that’s why I’m here. You make add for emphasis, I have KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). Well, what I can tell you is that the world of work today is a game of musical chairs, here today, gone tomorrow. Indeed, a top executive the other day told me, Paul I don’t want to remain a top executive forever, I need something “I can call my own.”
Are you a Toastmaster? Are you a Rotarian? Are you a Lion? Do you say those are elite clubs? What of your village or town association? Nope, it’s below my dignity you say! Alright, let me use this opportunity to invite you to join the BWC community. We are 100 members strong and growing. You become a member when you attend the Book Writing Clinic. The next BWC is on March 23. There is a token fee involved. If you want to join, email me at paul@pauluduk.com or send WhatsApp message or ordinary text (only) to +234-8033075133 or go to www.pauluduk.com, click the Book Writing Clinic link, and fill the form to join.
Prepare for the tomorrow that is already here. Take the long term view. Three to five years is okay. The longer the better though, say 20 years. PGD, founder of Diamond Bank, Chairman MTN, Chairman Landmark, and several other companies tells his disciples and whoever cares to listen, “life is a marathon.” He should know because he is a marathoner. From a bare-knuckled economist, he rose to become a business titan within a few short years. Only one opportunity presented itself and he seized it.
Strengthen your passive income earning power. Develop new skills. Get a coach to reduce your learning curve. No matter how bad things are, always look at the brighter side of things. Learn entrepreneurship, you never can tell, you or your son could be the next Jeff Bezos and your wife or daughter could be the next Meg Whitman. Bye. Paul