In a moment of decision,
the best thing you can do is the right thing to do.
The worst thing you can do is nothing.
Theodore Roosevelt

Funny isn’t it? My last post was on hating school. Now I’m hating again and the object of hating is my feeling. Everytime i think of writing a post this year, I end up not feeling like it. Almost everytime I think of doing something that is important and not urgent which is the quadrant highly effective people operate in, I eventually don’t feel I’m in the right frame of mind to do it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not naturally a hater but I’ve tried to motivate myself as much as possible but the motivation ends when the adrenaline is used up.

I haven’t written more than 2 posts in almost 200 days. If that isn’t bad, I’d like to know what’s worse. This feeling that I’m feeling or that I feel regularly is really pissing me off. I’ve come to discover that no one ever makes it in life because of their feelings. I’m sure people everywhere also have the same experience I’ve described above with regards different things. I know you are saying, why don’t you then do it when the adrenaline is pumping? why don’t you eat that frog? As if you don’t know there are 1001 reasons why. The frog is bitter….The frog isn’t well cooked yet…I don’t have a fork…The frog is too small….The frog this, the frog that. Simply put, it wont ofcourse be out of place to say that I’m suffering from a chronic case of procastination.

I hear there’s good procastination and there’s bad. That is it may not be bad if I have acute “procastinitis”. Please forgive my word but I just couldn’t help it. Good procrastination some say is avoiding errands to do real work. I’m sure my own brand is in no way good. I’m tired of responding to my feelings especially when those feelings make me put off important decisions or make me do wrong things. I hate the feelings that I’m feeling.

No wonder success is boring and unemotional. Those who achieved it did it regardless of how they felt. If there was something to be done, it must be done. I don’t want to stop feeling, I want “feeling like”, I just want to do. Nike, I need your inspiration right about now. I hate the feeling, I’m sure of the doing. Can’t wait to start doing in earnest what I’m sure of rather than what or how I feel.

“Procrastination is the fear of success. People procrastinate because they are afraid of the success that they know will result if they move ahead now. Because success is heavy, carries a responsibility with it, it is much easier to procrastinate and live on the “someday I’ll” philosophy.”

Hi folks, I know you want to say “where have you been for all these months?” or ” How come you haven’t written a single article in 4 months?” I really don’t know the answer. I must admit quite honestly that even right now I don’t feel like or want to write anything.

It’s not because there aren’t things to write, it’s just because I feel quite unmotivated and unworthy to write them. Anyway, I’m writing now ain’t I? So please just bear with me and read on…this will bless you.

I once heard about the parable of the monkeys. Once upon a time a monkey was placed in a particular cage with a bunch of bananas hanging from the top of the cage. Naturally, the monkey swung up the cage excitedly and reached up for the bananas, he was immediately doused with a jet of cold water from a hose that was aimed at the cage. Immediately, he dived back down to the bottom of the cage. Of course, monkeys don’t give in that easily so he tried again – no one was going to deter him from feasting on the bananas. He swung up again to retrieve the bunch of bananas but as soon as he almost touched it, he got doused with water again. He immediately dived back down looking for the source of his affliction (apes hate water). He couldn’t really see anybody and tried after a few minutes. He got doused again. He tried again and again and each time he got doused again and again. After a few days and many attempts, he stopped trying.

One month after, another monkey was brought into the cage. The monkey saw the bunch of bananas and immediately went for it (Note: The bunch of bananas were changed to fresh ones from time to time). He got the shock of his life as a jet of cold water hit him in the face. He quickly scurried to the bottom of the cage and waited a few minutes for the shock to wear off before trying again. He got the same result and after trying a while and getting drenched, he understood why the first monkey wasn’t as eager as he was to eat “free” bananas hanging at the top of the cage. He also succumbed to fate and stopped trying to get the bananas.

Another month after, a new monkey was introduced into the cage. As custom will have it, he went straight for the bunch of fresh bananas he saw hanging at the top of the cage but the other two monkeys went for it as pulled it down with his legs. They immediately pounced on it and beat it silly and into submission. They did that because they knew he would get sprayed with water  and all of them will get wet. They didn’t want to get wet and they knew that he wont get the bananas anyway so they took steps to ensure it didn’t happen. After a while of trying and getting beaten, the monkey gave up trying. One month went by and another monkey was introduced into the cage. He suffered the same fate as the 3rd monkey only that the 3rd monkey was involved in beating him up and keeping him from getting the bunch of bananas.

After a few weeks, the first two monkeys were taken out of the cage. Now of the two monkeys remaining in the cage, none of them actually had water sprayed on them for reaching for the bananas. They were only restrained with pain by the first two monkeys.

Yet another month went by and another monkey was introduced into the cage. He immediately was giving the customary beating treatment when he tried to get the bunch of bananas. After trying a while and getting beat a few times, he suddenly blurted

“Why are you monkeys beating me and holding me back?”

The other monkeys looked at themselves blankly and said

“We don’t know, we don’t know why we are beating you? We were beating as well when we came and tried to reach for the bunch so we just took on the custom of beating every other monkey who tried to reach for the bananas”.

How many of us are like that? We don’t why we are where we are or why we are doing what we are doing. We just know that that is how it should be done. Who told you that? Who told you that you must have only one stream of income? Who told you that you can not live above sin? Who told you that you can’t own your business? Who told you that you can not be financially free?

We were mostly brought up hearing our parents and environment say,

“Get a good education, get a good job thereafter, work all your life, retire broke and busted with a good pension and die!”

What a big lie!

You are like the monkeys!

Why can’t you dare the jet of water and pull out all stops to get the bananas!

What is your own excuse? Are you pulling others down who are trying to get the bananas?

Have you been enslaved by the system?

Do you merely wish freedom or do you DESIRE it?

Listen!!! those who have tried and failed have been taken out of the cage!

Ask yourselves what they did and how you can do it better?

Perhaps, if the three remaining monkeys planned to go for the bananas together the focus of the water spray would be divided and one of them would have been able to get the bunch.

Instead of proliferating negativity and pessimism, think of another way to achieve your dream and go for it.

LIFE DOES NOT GIVE YOU WHAT YOU DESERVE, IT GIVES YOU WHAT YOU DEMAND.

I got reminded yesterday of a particular time in the Bible days when the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, had a couple of dreams that troubled him but lacke the interpretation of it. In fact, he went to all lengths to get an interpretation. His astrologers and magicians stood a risk of death if they couldn’t produce an interpretation for him. He was so troubled by the dream because he had a premonition that it had to do with the state of his empire. In those days, Egypt was the headquarters of the world.

Anyway, ultimately, a young man who was in prison had the skill and spirit to give an exact and acceptable interpretation to the kings dream. In giving the interpretation, he was also promoted from being a prisoner to becoming a prime minister. Well, the King perceived that only one which such a clear direction on what to do to recover from the looming crises as predicted by the dream could stir the empire on the right path. So he made him ruler of Egypt.

This singular move helped save more than half the world from famine and starvation.

Yesterday, all the world watched in anticipation as two very important and pivotal people in the U.S economic framework spoke on the direction of the economy going forward.

Investor’s showed their lack of trust in the plan rolled out by Secretary of the Treasury, Geithner, as they took drastic risk aversion moves, selling rapidly stocks that they owned and moving into more secure investments like Gold and the U.S dollar. This happened despite the passage of the stimulus plan of $834billion dollars at the senate.

People are not as optimistic as Obama might want them to be especially because the Secretary of the Treasury didn’t delve into details in his provision of the intervention of the Treasury with regards to rescuing the economy. He didn’t say what the public hadn’t known before. Infact, the bailout news seemed only like theory since no clear practical plan on how to effect it followed.

As a result oil prices took a dive and I got my fingers burnt as I had taken a long position on the commodities market and stubbornly refused to shift ground, certain that the market would rebound. Well, rebound it did not. Prices sank to as low as $38 per barrel. Stock prices also took a plunge as investors sought more safe vehicles like gold which rose as a result of the demand it witnessed.

If confidence is low in America with regards to the bailout strategy of the American government, then I’d say there’s a big emergency looming because the only way the whole country can get out of this recession is when collectively, everyone believes in and works towards achieving a financial upturn by following steadfastly an acceptable plan of recovery laid out by the government.

So, responsibility lies with the government or individuals that have influence and the ears of the government to map out clear strategies with actionable steps so that the people can confidently follow those steps on their way to a sound recovery.

But if the government doesn’t know and can’t find the way, who will show it to us?

A few days ago, I attended a business meeting with my boss at Sheraton hotel. There was not much to the meeting except for welcoming the CEO of an Austrailian company who was coming for a week to hold seminars across the country on the product his company was marketing. Soon after we had held the welcome ceremony, we set out for the office. I got in my boss’s car to drive while he sat on the passenger’s side. We also had a few of our friends and colleagues who had come for the welcome ceremony sitted behind in the car. As soon as I started the engine,  an annoying sound started from the controls inside the car.

The indication light read “Parking brakes disengaged” or something like that. I tried to touch all the buttons I could to no avail. The inside of the car was like an airplane’s cockpit so there were many controls to fiddle with. My boss who owns the car tried as well to set things right but he couldn’t. We decided to keep on going anyway, since we weren’t far from the office. We hoped that one way or another, it would stop or when we got to the office, some techie would come and fix it.

As we travelled towards the office, my boss called the driver who had driven us to the hotel. He had dropped the keys and left because he was feeling ill. My boss asked him what he had done to the car and why it was screaming at us continually. The driver then told him on the phone that he didn’t touch anything. Apparently, the brake lining of the car had issues prior to then and it had been taken out pending when a replacement for it would be purchased. In taking out the brake lining, the sensor for the parking brakes had been removed; the brain box of the vehicle not seeing the sensor where it should be was now giving alarming signals indicating that the parking brakes were faulty.

So my boss was actually trying to find out if he had fiddled with something in that arena. Anyway, when it didn’t seem as if he had touched anything relating to the brakes, my boss asked him what we should do now. “Switch off the engine and switch it on again, and when you switch it on, don’t touch the park brake release lever”. he advised. My boss passed on the message to me. I trafficated and stopped the car and switched it off and on again. I avoided the brakes despite the fact that the noise came up again and after a few seconds it stopped and the indicator light went dead as well.

I laughed at myself and said out loud. When ever you have a problem that you don’t have an understanding of, just stop, go back to the beginning and try and trace the source. That is why I titled this post “Press Enter”. While typing on the keyboard, to return to the beginning of the line, you can press the “Enter” key otherwise called the “Return” key. Many times in life, if only we returned to the beginning when we get hooked on the journey to fulfillment or destiny, we would be able to instantly solve the problems we are facing.

Questions like “why am I alive?”, “why was I created?”, “why did I marry her?” “why did I pick up this job?”, “how did I get here?” and others relating to the afore mentioned questions point you in the direction of the beginning or the source. There’s a yoruba proverb that translates literally as “If you don’t know where you are going, ensure you know where you are coming from”. Wherever you are stuck right now regardless of the situation, please “Press Enter” and go back to the beginning. You may just discover where things went wrong.

Once upon a time, 10 virgins were chosen to meet the bridegroom at a certain marriage ceremony in Israel. For some unstated reason, the bridegroom didn’t seem to be arriving and the virgins started getting apprehensive. Actually, in the custom that existed in Israel, the bridegroom usually arrived late at night with his friends to take his bride. The bride usually has maids of honour or bride’s maids as the case may be who at the arrival of the bridegroom go out to meet him with their lamps in their hands to light his way into the house where his bride is. The key element of the bride’s maids is the lamp that provides light for the bridegroom and his envoy.

In this particular story, the bride’s maids were ten in number and 5 were said to be wise while 5 were said to be foolish. When the bridegroom eventually showed up, he met only the wise bride’s maids who he accepted and certified and disallowed the participation of the foolish bride’s maids. The foolish bride’s maids have gone to buy oil for their lamps when the bridegroom arrived and so were not there to welcome him with their light and consequently were locked out of the ceremony. This seems to be quite instructional for me in a season like this. A season where in Nigeria, the president has no clue as to what the year 2009 holds for Nigerians. He can give no direction, no assurances, no commitments to alleviate the fear of Nigerians. A season where the Stock Exchange has crashed and the financial sector is tethering dangerously on the edge. A season where firing might become more lucrative than hiring. A few lessons I have outlined below.

1. Integrity

The bride’s maids were virgins. They had not corrupted themselves sexually. In fact their virginity was what qualified them for selection as bride’s maids. In these times, where economic recession has set in world wide, where people have lost so much confidence and trust in the systems (especially financial) that should have delivered positive returns for them, they will begin to look to those who through time have exhibited their Integrity and Honesty. Those who have never sought gain wrongly from the public. Whose words have not been spoken lightly in the past. These ones will the world look up to for the purpose of shedding light or bringing illumination that will guide them (bridegroom) to their desired financial goals (bride). The major characteristic that will qualify anyone to be a major leader of thought who will become a leader in these times by reason of those who willingly will decide to follow him/her is Integrity.

2. Lamp and Light

Even though what qualified the bride’s maids to act in that respect was Integrity (Virginity), what they carry is what will convince the bridegroom (the world) to accept and follow them or to lock them out. It is not sufficient to have integrity. Alongside the integrity, one must have illumination and insight for the purpose of directing and leading the bridegroom (world). In the story all the virgins had lamps but not allof them had lights in their lamps when the bridegroom arrived. Everyone in world who has integrity has a lamp (potential for wisdom, insight and direction for the world) in him/her but not everyone has light burning in his lamp. Some people’s lamps are devoid of oil and so can not show light. To be relevant in these times, it’s inadequate to have a lamp; there must be light burning in that lamp.