Life after school

What does life hold for the crop of graduate graduating during this unpleasant economic cycle? That seems to be the question on the lips of many students and graduates today. I think the answer to this question can be found in a little bit of historical examination and a further investigation of what life really is. History tells us adversity brings the very best out of people. It forces men and women alike to reach deep within their being to bring substance they never they had. It propels humanity to action, to create, to survive. As Alan Axelrod in his book titled, Elizabeth 1 CEO, wrote (my paraphrase), Survival is an essential characteristics for those who desire to fulfill their dreams and vision.

During tough times, a phenomenon all too common about life, building deep survival instincts and attitude is a plus for those who are bent on achieving their dreams. It may require a lot adaptability, trying out new things and doing those things you have never thought possible. But the willingness to reach into that reservoir of untapped energy the faster you move on to the next threshold of individual accomplishment and fulfillment.

On the investigation of life. Life throws at us a series of unexpected and unannounced tests and examinations. It is much like those quizzes we are given in school by our tutors. You can never be over-prepared in life because there are limitless ways and areas in which you can (and will) be tested. The funny thing about the test is not only that more often than not, one is ill-prepared, also it seems as if, if you do not pass a test, you cannot move on to higher levels of challenges and potential success. For instance as Stephen Covey rightly observed in his seminal work on effectiveness: The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, One must attain independence in thought and actions before one can be interdependent on others. Therefore by extension, if you are still dependent in an area of life, it means you may never obtain mastery in other areas because of the repeated weakness demonstrated in an area where you have been tested.

My advice for all students and graduates is:
- Never give up on yourself. Keep a positive mental attitude and seek personal and corporate improvement.
- Increase your level of personal discipline. Those things you have always wished you could do like managing your time, finances and work better etc., start doing them and applying all your concentration in order to increase your mastery in life.
- Stay focused and never lose sight on that goal you want to achieve. Life is full of distractions but one who operates like an eagle, has an eagle to spot a target and stay focused on achieving that target.
- Hard times are transient likewise good times. A little bit of planning and lifestyle adjustments help to reduce ones vulnerability to "macro-life" events - external events beyond ones control.

I penned these words down as a personal reflection in light of the 2009 commencement season. A lot of people feel this is worst time to be a graduate or a student. I say this is the best time to be alive.

I wish all graduates most especially friend and brother, Emmanuel, a wonderful life after school.

Cheers everyone!

Bloomberg.com: Africa

Bloomberg.com: Africa

Dr Dennis Waitley: 10 Seeds of Greatness

• Seed of self esteem
• Seed of creativity
• Seed of responsibility
• Accept situations as they exist
• Or accept the responsibilities to change them
• The greatest security is to plan and act in order to be self reliant
• The greatest risk is to cooperate in ones own downfall
• Understanding cause and effect

• Seed of wisdom
• Sincerity
• Combination of honesty and knowledge applied in experience
• Honest knowledge in action
• Knowledge is the frontier of tomorrow

• Seed of purpose
• If you don't know where you want to go any road is just as good.
• The reason so many people fail to achieve their goals in life is that they never had goals in the first place.
• Most people don't reach their goals because they don't define them.

• Seed of communication - Empathy & Love
• Empathy: relative viewpoints rather than absolutes
• Be more open and sensitive to the needs of others.
• By looking for the good in others you are communicating Love.
• L: Listen - unconditionally without prejudice
• O: Overlook
• V:Voice your approval
• E: effort - make a constant effort to spend the time, to go the extramile for them
• A touch is worth a thousand words.
• Manifestation of non verbal communication
• Warmth, friendliness and a general touch are always strong than force and fury.

• Seed of faith
• Faith is the key to unlock the door of success for every human being or vice versa.
• As a positive power , faith is the promise of the realization of things hope for or unseen or the premonition of our deepest fears
• There is no such thing about the presence or absence of faith just the replacement of faith with its direct opposite - despair.
• The seventh best kept secret is that, life is a self fulfilling prophecy, you will not always get what you want but you will get what you expect.
• Action steps
• Fly with the eagles; don't run around with the turkeys - optimism and realism go hand in hand; pessimism and cynicism are two enemies. As you help others in life, develop an inner circle of close associates in which the mutual attraction is not sharing problems and needs but the mutual attractions is values and goals.
• Change your scenery
• Listen to upbeat music; have breakfast with an optimist.
• Get high on your thoughts and your goals.
• Engage in positive recreation and education.
• Remember what the minds harbors the body reflects

• Seed of adaptability
• The good old days are here and now. Most people don't learn from history that problems are normal. Most people make excuses for their present condition on the economy, their jobs etc… something external to them because we all find it convenient to blame others instead of confronting the ourselves.
• The Chinese definition of crisis is an opportunity riding the dangerous wind.

• Seed of perseverance
• Test of faith based on a belief in God.
• A miracle is faith in action
• Winners work at doing things the majority of the population are not willing to do.

• Ray Croc1 favorite quotes
• As long as you are green you are growing, as long as you start to ripe to start to rot.
• “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” Calvin Coolidge (30th President of the United States)Pasted from <http://thinkexist.com/quotations/Persistence/>

• Seed of perspective (perspective is seeing from within)
• Be a producer, a contributor not just a collector or consumer.
• Life cannot be collected; happiness cannot be traveled to, or worn, or owned, or earned, or consumed. Happiness is the experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.
• The responses and attitude developed from seeing the world clearly.

1 Ray Croc: Built McDonald corporation into a multi-million dollar franchise.

America's Financial Situation: My thoughts

Hello blogger nation.

About the US$700bn, the congress is set to agree to the terms of the bail out. The executive sponsors of the bill and their counterparts in the congress have been meeting for the better part of the last four days. Dramatic events I tell you because of the scale and magnitude of the imminent financial crisis, an eventuality this present government wants to prevent at all cost.

The turn of events in the past five days have been shocking to say the least. It is like a domino effect now because we do not the next financial institution that will fall victim. The government had to take over Washington Mutual yesterday evening. This whole mortgage debacle has really exposed the economic model of the United States and it has forced so many of the investment banks to reorganize their base. All investment banks are going to be bank holding corporations, which at the expense of tighter regulatory oversight will guarantee them a better liquidity position against cyclical upswings.

Execution compensation has drew a lot of attention. The opinion shared by most in the country – especially the congress – is that if not monitored closely the bailout will just act as cushion to guarantee the already bloated compensation of those bank executives. The congress wants to draw up a mechanism that will put a cap on the amount of money in severance packages, options etc.. that will accrue to bank executives. The treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, is in a bit of conundrum because as an ex-CEO himself, who has benefited from huge executive compensation, now faces a possible quid pro quo with the congress in terms of the aforementioned – he has trade in acceptance for the cap in order for the bailout plan to progress in congress.

There is no doubt that the economy is in dire straits because of what economists call, “de-leveraging”. I call it “credit makes the economy go round, without which the economy contracts.” The political leadership of this nation is really up against it right now. Their policies in the past 8-years at the helms of affairs hasn’t done much for this country in terms of economic sustainability and stability. It seems to me therefore that America will go to the polls in November with their faculties wired-up concerning the present economic realities and their expectation for the future. As the Obama campaign slogan goes, “McCain is not a change-agent but much of the same (meaning Mr. Bush’s ill-conceived political & economic policies).

A group of economists wrote a open letter to the congress concerning the bail-out plan. You can read the letter at http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/economists-on-the-bailout/

I must add these are pretty radical economists – my kind of folks – and their position is strictly based on challenging conventional positions. The freakonomics blog – a blog that started as a product of the book with the same title – has contributors that represent some of the finest economists in America. I’m sure you will really like their viewpoints.

Finally, Mr. McCain tried an “ogbon-agba” on us when he said he was suspending his campaign in order to return to Washington to help get a consensus on the bailout plan. Quite frankly, Mr. McCain and his campaign team bought that anyway. I saw the press conference and I thought he was strategically adjusting the truth. Obama quickly refused to accept his proposition for the postponement of the presidential debate. I hope he shows up for the presidential debate tonight in Mississippi.

Interesting times daddy! Signs of the last days!

ISACA e-Symposium™ - Securing Access Management

ISACA e-Symposium™ - Securing Access Management