Archive for March, 2008

“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” 

I discovered the importance of “thinking” my way to success during my career as a bull rider. I started bull riding with the amateur bull-riding circuit. Not long after I moved to the top of the amateur bull-riding circuit. I YEARNED to join the professional bull riding association, so I LOOKED to the top for a TEACHER. I met and STARTED A RELATIONSHIP WITH A WORLD CHAMPION BULL RIDER who lived in my area. His name was Gary Leffew.

Gary invited me to his professional bull-riding arena at his ranch. After it became clear to Gary that I had committed myself to a career as a bull rider, he agreed to help me. He told me that the first thing I would have to do is quit the amateur rodeo circuit. Gary said, “As long as you are hanging around amateurs, you will think like an amateur, and you will not improve your skills.” That day I went from the TOP OF THE AMATEUR bull riders to the BOTTOM OF THE PROFESSIONALS. (more…)

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Behold, the fool saith, ‘Put not all thine eggs in the one basket’—which is but a manner of saying, ‘Scatter your money and your attention’; but the wise man saith, ‘Put all your eggs in the one basket and—watch that basket.’
[1894 ‘M. Twain’ Pudd'nhead Wilson in Century Mag. XLVII. vi. 817]

What part of ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’ isn’t clear? Putting all or most of your money into one stock is gambling, not investing.
[2002 Washington Post 23 May E3]

Asset allocation is a time-proven strategy that can help take the guesswork out of choosing investments for your portfolio.

Instead of putting all your eggs in one basket, you spread your eggs (dollars) among a variety of baskets (stocks, bonds and cash). The baskets can be further divided within each type of investment.

Although many investors understand that they should invest in a variety of securities, they often stumble when it’s time to choose an asset allocation that’s right for them. The allocation that you choose should be based on how much risk you are willing to assume, why you are investing and when you will need to tap your investments.

However, in some cases, once investors choose their allocation, many are afraid to change it. As you experience changes in your life, it can be appropriate to redistribute your assets. (more…)

  eggs-in-basket.JPG

Behold, the fool saith, ‘Put not all thine eggs in the one basket’—which is but a manner of saying, ‘Scatter your money and your attention’; but the wise man saith, ‘Put all your eggs in the one basket and—watch that basket.’.…….Mark Twain.

What part of ‘don’t put all your eggs in one basket’ isn’t clear? Putting all or most of your money into one stock is gambling, not investing…..[2002 Washington Post 23 May E3]

Asset allocation is a time-proven strategy that can help take the guesswork out of choosing investments for your portfolio.

Instead of putting all your eggs in one basket, you spread your eggs (dollars) among a variety of baskets (stocks, bonds and cash). The baskets can be further divided within each type of investment.

Although many investors understand that they should invest in a variety of securities, they often stumble when it’s time to choose an asset allocation that’s right for them. The allocation that you choose should be based on how much risk you are willing to assume, why you are investing and when you will need to tap your investments.

However, in some cases, once investors choose their allocation, many are afraid to change it. As you experience changes in your life, it can be appropriate to redistribute your assets.

So, when should you change your asset allocation? It is important to maintain balance in your portfolio. Accordingly, you should reevaluate your allocation strategy at least once a year or when you experience a major life change such as marriage or the birth of a child. It is not always necessary to make a fundamental change to the allocation, but you need to make that evaluation on a regular basis. (more…)

In a bid to expand it’s business, and add value over a wider scope of the global terrain, Generis Universal Tactical Solutions (GUTS) is currently recruiting for 150 Affiliate Business Consultants. While majority of the qualified candidates will be Nigerians, the management of Generis is also looking forward to hiring applicants from nationals of other countries. These new hires will be the first batch of a recruitment drive targeted and gainfully employing over 500,000 young and vibrant Nigerians and other nationals.

This Advertisement is valid until the 15th of April, 2008. The Application form is on the top right of www.deoluakinyemi.com. It’s tagged, “ABC Registration Form”. It is recommended that you inform your friends that are looking for Jobs about this opportunity as well, this is because the more the people that are referred by you, the better your chances of being shortlisted. Rather than the conventional system of keeping a job opportunity secret so that you have little or no competition, we are looking for people who think otherwise, and we are willing to offer them the opportunities first.

Job Title

ABC – Affiliate Business Consultant (more…)

Hi guys, I know it’s been a while you’ve read from me with the Easter break and all. Hope your break was fun. I had an exciting time as I crossed a major milestone in my career…i.e. Speaking career. The week before Easter, I was “kinda” delegated by my mentor to facilitate a speaking occasion somewhere within the Lagos metropolis. I said kinda, because it was an option that was thrown to 3 of us who he felt could handle it. I immediately accepted to go and represent him once I saw the mail and replied in that vein.

He acknowledged receipt of my acceptance promptly and wished me the best. The reason he actually turned down the occasion was because he had to travel out of town to attend some other important function, otherwise, he would have taken the opportunity himself.

So, here am I saddled with the responsibility of going to deliver on a talk titled “Character in Leadership” (more…)

“I believe that Nigeria will be the most desirable country to live in by the year 2025″ 

I had just returned from an interesting meeting that comprised the staff of the organisation I worked with when all of a sudden, one of the senior partners in the firm rushed into my cubicle and spoke sharply to me “Busayo, oya! oya! let’s go now!” I rushed out of my cubicle “What’s that?” I asked with a worried look on my face.

“My sister just had an accident at CMD. She just called asking for help.” she said.

“Sugar!” I screamed. “how did it happen?” I asked as if there was somebody present who was at the scene of the accident when it happened.

We rushed down the stairs of our office building and raced for the car. Quickly, we got in and screeched away in the direction of the accident scene. As is characteristic of Allen Avenue roundabout, we soon got stuck in traffic. It took us about 35 mins to move 100 yards. I was frustrated and angry.

“Why today of all days would the traffic be so bad?” I grumbled under my breath several times.

Meanwhile, matters were made worse by the fact that the accident victim kept moaning and weeping unbearably over the phone any time her sister called her. I thought to myself “IF ONLY I WAS SUPERMAN….” (more…)

I went for a program on Saturday – (2 days ago) where my I was privileged to listen to my mentor speak on a topic titled $1 million dollars. It was a seminar aimed at pointing those who had been making money conning people through the internet in the direction of using those same skill sets they employed in duping people to make money legitimately.

He started by showing the audience a quote of one of his mentors on a power point presentation slide. Two things immediately struck me hard:

  1. The name of his mentor.
  2. The veracity of his words.

Immediately, I decided to adopt the same man as my mentor. Please note; this man is a situational mentor. This means that he’s a mentor in a particular area or dimension. He is not a full or rounded mentor. He’s not exactly someone my mentor or I would like to model in terms of lifestyle or values. He is just a mentor by virtue of what he said in his aging years and the application of those words to our lives and other. His name is (more…)

I attended today an interesting interactive breakfast seminar on “Using Street Skills to Make Money Legitimately” facilitated by Felix Ekpa and friends. The highlights of the seminar were focused on how to employ and exploit the same skill sets used on the streets to con and dupe people out of their money to make money legitimately.

One of the things that struck me immediately I entered into the conference room used for the seminar was the array of young upwardly mobile-looking guys who you could almost bet your life on were some of the most law abiding and straight citizens of this great country. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them and at the same time feel utmost joy.

The former feeling was in relation to those who they who would have caused pain and tears; families they might have wrecked; (more…)

Legendary US investor Warren Buffett has overtaken his friend and sometime bridge partner Bill Gates as the world’s richest individual, with a fortune of $62bn, despite giving away a large chunk of his fortune to charity. The Nebraska-based investor has topped Forbes magazine’s annual ranking of the world’s billionaires, ending a 13-year reign for Gates, who drops to third place with $58bn. Narrowly pipping the Microsoft founder into second place is the Mexican telecoms magnate Carlos Slim, who has seen his fortune double in the past two years to $60bn.

Britain’s richest resident, Lakshmi Mittal, comes in fourth, while the youngest billionaire is 23-year-old Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who is worth $1.5bn.

Buffett’s rise to number one is particularly interesting, Forbes notes, because it comes at a time of global financial turmoil and as he starts to give away part of his fortune to charity. In 2006 Buffett, the head of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, announced plans to donate 85 per cent of his money to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities. (more…)

Today, it seems some organizations get the best hires while some never almost get a good one. Maybe like everything else, the process of hiring has slightly changed to suit this age and maybe not.

I remember attending an assessment at a multinational a few months ago. I passed the written tests and was told to wait for an interview. I was kept waiting for about 5 hours without lunch or newsletters, magazines or a video of the organization. I felt so terrible and immediately concluded in my mind that human and employee relations in this organization aren’t what I’d like to experience. As if that wasn’t enough, when I finally was interviewed, there were no apologies made with reference to the delay. I was vexed to say the least. I’m sure a lot of other people have suffered even worse a fate at the hand of hiring managers. There are some things recruiting and seclection/hiring managers out to know with regards to treating applicants improperly.

You can find out as you read an excerpt from HR advisor reviewed and edited by me. (more…)