The Anointing in the Marketplace

   And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (Mark 16:15)

   The more I hear the news of what is going on around the world, the more relevant this instruction of Jesus becomes to me.

   I usually tell my friends, “If everyone in the whole world was saved, everyone will be safe”. Many things happen in our world today that could have been avoided if one or two more people had Jesus in them.

   The reason we do not just disappear into the clouds after we get saved is simply that our salvation is a contract to partner with God for the reconciliation of the entire human race with Him. The Bible says that those who are saved are co-laborers with God (1 Corinthians 3:9); that is exactly the contract we signed with God that releases to us all His benefits. The benefits which include the anointing of the Spirit of God.

   We are beneficiaries of the gifts of God as co-laborers with Him, and beneficiaries of the nature and inheritance of God as His offspring or children; and we should not confuse the two. The gifts of the Spirit are not given to us because we are Children of God, they are given to us because we are His business partners. On the other hand, we have the fruit of the Spirit because we are His children.

   When I speak of the marketplace, I am referring to every sector or sphere outside of the corporate or local church; that is in your field of endeavor if you are not called to serve the body of Christ under the five-fold ministry gifts.

   The anointing of God upon the believer is also for ministry; to fulfill the great commission of making disciples of all everywhere.

   The Bible tells us that we should go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone. Jesus did not tell us to wait for the whole world to come to our organized-church and then will they hear the gospel preached from the pulpit. The instruction was for us to go out there and make Jesus known to everyone.

   With the culture of the world, our business and workplace, it looks like a very difficult task, especially when we get to see the next part of what Jesus said; And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 16:17-18). These things do not look anything like what should be happening outside of the church setting, however, we are anointed to make it happen in all the world.

THE 21ST CENTURY IS LEGAL

The 21st century of the Common era, (the first century of the 3rd millenium) has a long way. Still very young, with much to unfold in later years, the 21st century has been an amazement in the past eighteen (18) years of existence. Without any doubt, there has been no century like this one. Under the law of many countries, the century has joined past centuries in the age of majority. No longer a minor, the century will no longer be treated as such.

In so little a time, the 21st century has produced so much, from genetic engineering to free energy, artificial intelligence, hypersonic transportation, nanotechnology, human cloning, antigravity… name it! This is an awesome time to live in. 

Let’s look at some of the products and inventions of the 21st century:

 

Creation of Human Organs  The Stem Cell research has paved the way to greater access to organs, instead of waiting for donors or taking harsh medications. Scientists from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School have discovered how to regenerate the function of human heart tissue through adult skin cells. Through stem cells, humans can grow another organ. This is associated with the regenerative nature of living organisms. Recently, various research all around the world enables growing fallopian tubes, heart, brain, lung, and kidney, among others through stem cells.

Indoor Clouds Berndnaut Smilde, an Amsterdam artist, has been making indoor clouds since 2010. They only last for a moment and they will definitely help anyone who’s trying to impress others with his or her surrealistic photos, but we can’t really see what other use or contribution to society this bizarre invention could have. Hmmm, now that we think about it, the people who work in the film industry will probably get really excited about this one.

 

Face Transplants A face transplant is a medical procedure that replaces a person’s face using the tissues of a dead person. In 2005, Isabelle Dinoire of France was the first person to have partial face transplant while the first full face transplant happened in Spain in 2010. Face transplants have been popularly carried out in the United States, Spain, France, and Turkey. This is applicable for people with birth defects or disfigures caused by burns, disease, and trauma.

 

Apple iPod In 2001, before Apple and Samsung started bombing the world with their superb smartphone devices of the last five or six years there was the iPod, a small gadget that changed how we viewed and played music. To make a long story short, the MP3 was introduced to the world and CDs, which had previously replaced cassettes, which replaced vinyl records before them, joined them in the dusty archives of our music tech history.

Advancement in HIV Cure According to HIV.gov, there are over 36.7 million people worldwide living with HIV/AIDS, in which 1.8 million of it is children. HIV/AIDS remain to be one of the deadliest diseases in the world. On the other hand, HIV treatment has been available in Germany for more than two decades already. Antiretroviral therapy allows HIV/AIDS patients to live longer. However, no definite cure is still discovered. In 2007, Dr. GeroHütter was the first one to successfully cure an HIV/AIDS patient named Timothy Ray Brown by transplanting bone marrow from an HIV-immune patient.

Facebook If you’re the nostalgic type who misses the real-life parties that took place in the ‘80s and ‘90s then you are going to hate Facebook for keeping people in their rooms in front of their computers. On the other hand, if you love to live in a virtual world where you can be whatever and whoever you want with the click of a button you probably worship Facebook more than anything else in life.

Robotic Body Parts Through the help of biomechanics and engineering, scientists have devised robotic body parts. The University of Twente has developed robotic arms that can aid those individuals affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This will allow patients to amplify residual function in the arm. They also applied Darpa’s Revolutionizing Prosthetics project of creating prosthetics to wounded US military personnel, in developing robotic limbs. Today, scientists are studying on the viability of making these robotic body parts or exoskeletons controlled by the mind to help disabled individuals, survivors of stroke and elderly people.

YouTube YouTube first launched in 2005 and since then it has changed the lives of most young people (and many others) around the world. Let’s be honest here: watching every large social and cultural change or even stupid trend from across the globe in an instant is one of the most exciting things about living in the twenty-first century. 

Water as Fuel German Cleantech Company has developed a futuristic machine that converts water into fuel.  Through Power-to-Liquid Technology, they can convert water and carbon dioxide into liquid hydrocarbons which take the form of synthetic diesel, petrol, and kerosene. This technology was based on Fischer-Tropsch process and solid oxide electrolyzer cells (SOECs) which converts electricity to steam. In 2017, Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis (JCAP) and Berkeley Lab’s Materials Project also devised a technology that turns sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into fuel which can be a viable source of power, replacing coal, oil and other fossil fuels.

 

 

 

Teleportation In a process that involves light and matter, researchers at Caltech where able to teleport a proton while researchers at the Australian National University successfully teleported a laser beam. These breakthroughs have given scientists hope that eventually, we will be able to teleport much larger objects.

T. Rex Tissue Paleontologists have discovered a partially fossilized and decomposing femur of a Tyrannosaurus rex which was believed to be 70 million years old already, or a date closer to the biblical date of creation. Mary Higby Schweitzer of North Carolina State University and Montana State University found out flexible and transparent vessels. This soft tissue discovered is preserved because of the iron between the leg bones. The T.Rex tissue is very essential in determining the physiology of dinosaurs and to study its cellular and molecular structures. They have found out that dinosaurs are closely related to big birds, like the ostrich.

Retinal Implants Retinal implants are meant to partially restore vision to people who have lost their sight from degenerative eye conditions, giving hope to millions around the world. The Argus II retinal implant received U.S. market approval in February 2013 and in Europe two years earlier, becoming the first approved implant.

Sequencing Genome of Cancer Patient In 2003, scientists completed the sequencing of the human genome or genetic blueprint that points out the mutations leading to cancer. It took three years for them to finish drafting the three billion letters that compose the human DNA. The Human Genome Project helped scientists in treating a deadly type of skin cancer and understanding the genes involved in leukemia, eczema, and diabetes. Now, cancer genome sequencing is integrated into medical care facilities. It characterizes and identifies DNA or RNA sequences of cancer cells.

Apple iPhone Two to three decades ago the idea of having a mobile phone that would allow you to surf the Internet, watch movies on its 5.1-inch high-definition screen, take photos, listen to music, and do a wide range of other things would have made you sound like a delusional geek. Well, that’s certainly no longer the case in the twenty-first century.

Detection of Gravitational Waves Scientists considered this as the greatest discovery of the 21st century. Let us go back to the time when Albert Einstein first predicted in his theory of relativity that time travel will be possible. Now, it has been proven by the recent findings. The LIGO project based in the United States has detected gravitational waves that could allow scientists to develop a time machine and travel to the earliest and darkest parts of the universe. This was the first time that the witnessed the “ripples in the fabric of space-time.”

The Oculus Rift One of the most credible videogame websites in the world, GameSpy, describes the Oculus Rift as the “closest we’ve come to Star Trek’s holodeck,” and from a gamer’s point of view that’s not an exaggeration at all. But Oculus’s only contribution and purpose is to entertain and nothing more. So don’t get overexcited if you don’t dig video games because you may be disappointed.

 

 

 

 

Is the World in need of REHABILITATION (#02)

First, answering the question of the title, Is the world in need of Rehabilitation? There should be an arguably obvious answer by now. The steps towards that rehabilitation is what we are still in doubt of. Apart from knowing what the problem is, it is important to aptly understand what the problem really entails. Mind you, it is not a social media problem; it is far more than just the social media. The problem is engraved in the minds of humans; it is a result of several issues and systems altogether. This is clearly visible in the research conducted in 1976. Though there was nothing like social media and technology had not near advanced to what it is today, there was still need for social rehabilitation. Therefore, it is safe to say that technology and social media only aggravated the need for social rehabilitation, as it exposed the frailty of man’s intrapersonal relationship and connectedness to one’s self.

I believe that the first step worthy of taking is public enlightenment and orientation on the need to reconnect to this world with our senses and human receptors. When people become aware of what they really need, they become more receptive to change. It is vital that people are told the truth, no matter how hard it hits them, truth has a way of mentally liberating as many as receive it.

It has become popular in our society today to know about treatment strategies and rehabilitation for drug addiction. However, what remains unpopular is how we can tackle the innate drives that push people towards these addictions, especially those that have been commonly termed “behavioral addictions”.

People need to be convinced that they are already getting addicted to ideas of being inadequate; and this before any other thing must be corrected. The whole idea of social media celebrities and the image of narcissism that they portray is also doing a lot of havoc in the mental frames of young people. Once these young people think that they do not fit or match up to a non-existing standard, they judge themselves unworthy, some falling into depression and unnecessary anxiety which leads to many of these addictions that young people deal with, and can ultimately lead to suicide.

Just like addictive drugs, one way of quitting drug use is detoxification. As a Neuropsychological research puts it, giving up the drug and allowing the body to cleanse itself of the drug residue. With our mind, it is slightly different. Detoxification mentally will be inadequate if we decide to just give up certain ideologies and habits; substitution is required. The mind does not allow for vacuum. If you need to get rid of something in the mind, substitution is the best remedy. Just as Agonist treatments replace an addicting drug with another drug that has a similar effect, so is the treatment of addictive misconceptions.

Those who are capable of providing support systems within communities need strong alliance to begin restructuring their communities. It is better done than said, should be the case in the pursuit of social rehabilitation. The process to this is better explained in another article I authored, titled Catch the EA FLU. This concept was coined out from one of the writings of John C. Maxwell.

The EA FLU is an acrostic that stands for Encourage, Appreciate, Forgive, Listen, and Understand. It is very vital that we take this into consideration, as they not only help to build healthy relationships, but also a very healthy society of understanding people. We must be able to Encourage people when they put a foot forward, Appreciate their progress, Forgive them when they offend, Listen to them when they speak and ultimately, Understand not just what they are saying, but what they do.

Though many may not understand this next point at first glance, I believe it remains very vital. Social and more interactive architecture should be encourage. Architecture has always been a very vital tool in connecting people in a most unique fashion. Over time, it has also served the purpose of disconnecting people from one another. Architecture has a very loud voice and speaks a very clear language to our subconscious mind, which creates automatic suggestion on how we ought to live in certain communities.

Architecture, whether in developed or developing countries has a way of deciding how people interact. It would not be fair and so necessary to go into the details of the psych power of architecture. However, it is important to note the vital role it plays in redefining and restructuring the human community.

Looking at two cities with almost completely opposite social composure and structure, you will find out that the two cities in question have been architectural planned in different ways. One may suggest that since human beings design cities, then it must be the other way around. Not that architecture affects social structure, but social structure affects architecture. That is obviously a good intellectual argument, however, we should come to accept that cities outlive people, and that within a century, it is possible that there has been a 100% replacement of people in a particular community. Though man influences architecture, architecture in turn has a way of influencing us.

In conclusion, the one quality we need, especially in invention and innovation is Empathy. We need to look farther than what our inventions and works will bring to us, and look towards the effect it is having on other people; what is the holistic effect on society? If we fail to be empathetic, we have automatically signed up for a pathetic society. Jim Ron said, “let us be touched by the smallest of people’s challenges; don’t just be touched by the challenges, be touched by the problem; let people’s problems get to you… Be touched”.

Is our World in need of Rehabilitation? (#01)

In February 2017 WHO hosted Rehabilitation 2030. According to reports, it was a call for action, which brought together over 200 rehabilitation experts from 46 different countries. The meeting highlighted the urgent need to address the extremely unmet needs for rehabilitation around the world.

The word ‘Rehabilitation’ scares most of us, fact being that it is attached to disability. Statistics show that within the past decade, the need for rehabilitation has increased drastically across the globe. As issues needing rehabilitation increases, so also is the need for it. There has been notable increases in the prevalence of alcohol use disorders, opioid use disorders, major depressive disorder, just to mention a few. All these just give us navigation signals to where the world is going.

Though we are aware, or getting to know more about real health issues and disorders that need urgent rehabilitation, the world is however getting trapped by some other forces that we have created by ourselves. Looking through a research by the Center for Disease Control in the United States, it shows that there has been a 25% increase in suicide rates since 1999. Half of all U.S states experienced a dramatic increase of more than 30%. The research also shows that in more than half of those cases, the individuals were not diagnosed with a mental health condition.

There have been many suggestions to the cause(s) of the research result. As stated, some suggest that economic factors can increase the risk of suicide. The principal deputy director of the CDC also made an important contribution to this, stating that limited access to care, behavioral and social serves and interaction may also increase the risk of suicide.

How can there be an increase in suicide rates and depression, having lack of social interaction and care as major causes? Over the past decade, statistics show that social interaction has greatly increased, however, virtually. Looking at these statistics, does this raise a very valid question? What is the correlation between increased virtual interaction and relationships and the increase of certain ills in the society?

An article by Bryan Kramer relays that technology has become an electronic addiction for some, taking them out of the physical world as they cling to the features it offers. And like many addictions, there is an impact on the number and quality of relationships and interactions. Conversations through social media are beginning to take the place of traditional interactions and discussions; eventually, a person does not even need to leave the house to communicate with others. This can lead to social isolation, which can be crippling for many.

Human beings naturally long for connection and belonging. Several studies have linked social support to positive mental health, Psych Central reports. Research has further revealed people with fewer social relationships die earlier on average than those with more. Yet with the rise of social media, there are concerns that many are substituting virtual, online connections for real-life, social relationships.

Just as the internet has given room for virtual interaction, so has it given room for virtual living. On social media, people tend to put up their ‘best’ self while interacting with others. Qualities of deep, intimate relationships cannot be revealed on social media, as insecurities, conflicts and emotional weakness are generally concealed. Steven Furtick, Senior Pastor of Elevation Church USA, in a sermon, trying to illustrate how we have secret spots within us and hide them through screens, he said, “The screen keeps other people from seeing you as you really are… shame always creates a screen; a screen to keep you from being who you really are… we hide behind a screen where you create digital personas to hide your dysfunction. And in an age when we have more apparatus to connect than ever before, we are impotent to be intimate, because intimacy requires proximity”.

A typical person checks their phone every ten (10) minutes or less, amounting to about a hundred and fifty (150) times daily. This and other research facts show that this in itself creates a form of anxiety in the human mind. Someone said in a speech, “The hype generational segregation of our time is bizarre, unhealthy and historically unprecedented. You’ve never seen the like of people sitting at a table in a restaurant, not talking to each other, because they are texting and using their Facebook and Instagram and twitter. They are at the table and don’t even know each other, in the house and can’t talk to each other. And the pressure that’s on us to be like everybody else is so great that everybody tries to live like they’re in a reality show”.

Bill Maher said, “The tycoons of social media have to stop pretending that they friendly nerd gods building a better world, and admit they’re just tobacco farmers in t-shirts, selling an addictive product to children. Because, let’s face it: Checking your likes is the new smoking. Philip Morris just wanted your lungs; the app store wants your soul”. As derogatory as that sounds, we hardly can doubt its fact.

CBS News interviewed Tristan Harris, a former Google product manager. He made a lot of comments and assertions relating to this issue. One of which is the fact that whether they want to or not, Silicon Valley is shaping the thoughts, feelings, and actions of people. They are programming people. There’s always this narrative that technology is neutral. And it’s up to us to choose how we use it. This is just not true, Harris said. It’s not neutral. They want you to use it in particular ways and for long periods of time. Because that’s how they make their money.

One may chose not to completely agree, but we cannot completely doubt that, towards the negative, technology and social media advancements have made enormous contribution to the unsystematic way our society is moving today. Our society is severely suffering from lack of cooperation, misinformation, mistruth, misdirection, and what have you.

Did you know that the more people learn to communicate directly with other people, the less criminality in the society?  Research shows that 90% of all criminals have difficulty communicating directly with other people. This goes a long way to show us the need for Social Rehabilitation. We need to rehabilitate ourselves to fit back into a more structured and flowing society, where people listen to, understand and encourage one another.

Social support can be strong predictor of positive mental health. Emotional support has shown to protect us from a wide array of both psychiatric and physical ailments. However, unlike online friendships, real-life relationships take time and effort. They help us learn about others and ultimately ourselves.

This article has no aim at shading the negative effects of social media and technology. It is imperative to state here that technology has done humanity a lot of good in making certain areas of work and our daily activities easier. However, we cannot neglect the rise of negativity that has been linked with the use of these technologies.

In a 1976 research conducted by Eric D. Auerbach and Mansell Pattison on Outcome of social rehabilitation: Whom does it help? , they highlighted that a successful subgroup of people examined comprised of clients who had a psychotic diagnosis and a history of acute psychiatric hospitalization. However, there was another subgroup, considered as unsuccessful in the research, which was comprised of clients who had neurotic and characterological diagnoses. They had no hospitalizations. This population was defined as “silent disabled”. They present a life of chronic disability with attendant chronic marginal emotional compensation. This latter population typically does not receive mental health services.

Unfortunately, forty-years after, the latter population typically describes most people in this tech age, especially those in their teens and young adults. This suggests that action must be taken in the direction of this trend. As that early research suggests, the treatment consideration of the two subgroups will have to differ. That is to say that a suggestion of about 2 billion of the world’s population seeing a skilled professional is unrealistic. Statistics show that there are less than 10 per 1 million population of skilled rehabilitation practitioners in many low-and-middle-income countries.

What then is the solution?  Most times, it is easier to point out a problem than to proffer a viable solution to it. However, the aim of this article is to make considerable suggestion that can help reconnect people back to a well-structured and flowing society of personally interconnected individuals.

THE UMBRELLA PRINCIPLE

“No one rises above the level at which the one holding the umbrella puts it”

It was raining and we needed to be seated for a program 400 meters away from where we were. The rain wasn’t looking like it was ready for some negotiation, as it poured down with greater force as the clock kept ticking. The only option left for most of us was either to miss the program (which was not a good idea) or to step into the rain, get really wet, but still make it to the venue for the program on time. After much deliberation from many, some decided to take the leap and move right under the rain. My friends and I thought it twice. One even suggested that the rain was going to stop any time soon, which obviously wasn’t looking like it. Then someone just sprung up, as if he had an eureka moment, “I just remembered that I have a large umbrella two floors above, let me go get it”, he said. We all in his clique were excited, waiting in high expectation that the umbrella will take most of us. All together, we were five in number. To our amazement, when he came down with the umbrella and opened it, it couldn’t just take most of us; it could accommodate all of us. That was just what we needed. So we left for the program leaving some other people behind who weren’t ready to get themselves wet that morning.

A 400-meter journey soon turned into a life experience when I began to notice several things as we moved. Noticing these things from our clique under the umbrella, I also noticed it from other cliques we met on the way as we went. Just allow your imaginations play this scene in your head as you read along. Five young men under a pretty large umbrella trying to take cover from a heavy down pour as they walked briskly. We soon were approaching a little ditch filled with water right in the middle of the walking path; we could either navigate ourselves through the left or through the right. It was quite obvious to anyone who could mentally and visually measure space that the space to the left of the ditch was more than that to the right. However, the owner of the umbrella, the one who also held unto it decided that he was going to take the right. Oh I knew that was not the best decision, but I had no choice than to follow suite. Passing around that ditch, two guys in our clique got their shoes really wet, because they had to walk on water if they were going to remain covered by the umbrella.

Soon after that event, I noticed another clique of individuals, this time ladies under one umbrella, their umbrella was smaller, so it was no surprise that they were just three in number. But something struck my gaze, which I later recognized was also prevalent within our clique; the lady that held the umbrella, presumably the owner, was the shortest one amongst the three. The other two had no choice but to bend under the umbrella, and walk that way to their destination. Under our umbrella, the owner wasn’t the shortest; however, he wasn’t the tallest either. The taller guys had to also bend their way through out our journey. I personally had no problem; I was just about the height of the ‘holder’ of the umbrella.

As I was taking notice of all these, I also noticed that everyone under any umbrella always walked in the same direction, the direction of the one holding the umbrella. That had to be the case if they had to remain under the umbrella. Not only were they walking in the same direction, trying to beat the same obstacle the same way, they were also walking at the same pace. These definitely sound and look like obvious observations, any dummy can see these things. True, but what they taught me later on changed my approach towards leadership.

I must not fail to tell you about a unique group of young men, about three in number under an umbrella. They had almost the same characteristics as the rest of us, but something stood out amongst them. They moved out about the same time as my clique did, so I was able to pick out the owner of the umbrella. When they began their journey, the owner of the umbrella held the umbrella. Amongst the three, he was the least tall one, so he had to stretch his hand high to allow others fit in under the umbrella without bending, though the tallest had to bend a little. About 200-meters into the journey, which is half way into it, the one who held the umbrella gave it to the person on his right and relocated to the right of the new holder. Though the new holder wasn’t the tallest, he did not have to stress to hold the umbrella comfortably above everybody’s head.

Sitting down to think through all I observed, I discovered that I had just learnt some incredible lessons in leadership.  First, I came to accept that the one that held the umbrella was the Leader.

The size of the umbrella he held was what I like to describe as his leadership quotient, which is Influence. This determined the number of people he could accommodate per time under his leadership. The larger the umbrella, the larger the sphere of influence.

The Leader (the holder of the umbrella) makes the popular decisions. He decides and non-vocally dictates the pace and direction of everyone in the team. As long as the team members wanted to remain in that team and under the umbrella of the leader, they had to go in the direction and at the pace of the Leader.

No one in the team rises above the level at which the one holding the umbrella puts it. As we saw in the illustrations, no matter how tall the team members were, they had to bend to the level to which the leader had placed the umbrella. I call this the leadership standard. To sustain a team, every member of the team must be willing to accept and bend to the standard of the leader. John Maxwell, very popular leadership author, in his book, Be a People Person, makes mention of a principle, which he teaches, called the “leadership umbrella”. Imagine an open umbrella held by a hand – the hand of the leader of that organization. Under the protection of that umbrella are all the departments of the organization. The success of each department can never, will never, rise any higher than the level at which the leader holds the umbrella. That explains it all. He went on to say, Leadership sets the standard, whether the organization be a business, a church, or a family. The higher the standard, the more effective the Leadership. I believe the third group of people in that illustration explains the whole idea of raising the standard. To accommodate everyone effectively, the Leader had to raise the umbrella higher.

However, when he saw that it was not still as effective as he wanted it, he did what many other leaders were not ready to do; he passed over the baton. Many people believe that passing over the baton means they have lost their leadership. Actually, passing over the baton means that you have extended your leadership; you have extended your impact. He was ready to leave the middle so that, everyone in the team could be effectively covered by the umbrella. This principle above all is what I have come to believe to be the most important aspect of leadership, which I will like to call Legacy. Can you pass over a baton even while you are still there? Many people see legacy as something you leave when you’re gone. I believe legacy is what you pass on to other people that make them better leaders than you were.

If you want your team to rise higher than where you have led it to, and you don’t feel capable enough to take it higher; why not look for someone in the team who has grown taller in skill, in knowledge, in influence and above all in wisdom and understanding, and pass over the leadership of the team to that person. That in itself makes you a better leader.

Arinze David-Isaac

#RISK: WHY WE GET SCARED OF BEING FIRST

It was time to submit our project topics to the department for them to know what our research interest was and suggest fitting supervisors for us. However, that did not seem like a good period for me, because it was a moment of decision that really mattered. We were advised to choose topics that we were very interested in, and we can go along with even up to a doctorate level.
I do not know if it is only me that feels very uncertain when it comes to making such major decisions that can affect your life’s experience in a big way. As little as choosing a topic was, it meant choosing a supervisor, it meant choosing an area of specialization. To be honest, I had thought of it a lot even before this time came, however, my major fear was not how hectic or wide my area of research was, but how many people had done it in my department before.
I came to discover that that was the first time it was going to be done, and that gave me a big scare. In that case, I dropped that topic and looked for something that had been covered to an extent before. I know… You never had that kind of a problem; in fact, you made a groundbreaking research of what the future holds in your field… Bravo. However, the aim of this article is not to discuss research topics and outcomes. If I am to give this another title, it will be ‘Why we HATE Risk’. Because, that really is what I am trying to drive home.
The word ‘Risk’ has become a very frightening word in our world today. Once someone says, ‘that thing is risky’, it almost automatically means, ‘do not try it!’ However, one thing I have come to understand is that the greatest risk you can get involved with is not taking risk. The potential of success in a high-risk business may be very low, however it can never get as low as it will be when you do not try it. When you refuse to try it, the potential of success is zero (0). We are often scared of getting involved in things that do not guarantee a high amount of security and insurance. However, come to think off it, everyone is at risk every day of falling prey to many things we try to avoid; death, illness, accidents, and so on. Why do you not fall ill every day? Why are you not involved in accidents every day? I know you have an answer, ‘He that watches over me neither slumbers nor sleeps’… Cool bro! … That may be your truth, but to your neighbor, he is finding it hard to understand what that line means. Yet, he is going through the same cycle as you are.
Risk is a cycle. Many people define risk as a potential for failure, some define it as potential uncertainty, and some define it as insecurity. No matter what you define risk as, it is important that risk is an ever-present cycle, because, Life itself is a risk, and everything in this world is a risk. Religion, Business, Education, Politics, and every other thing in the society carry an amount of risk in every of its operation.
Therefore, if you are looking for anything that is not risky, I know one. Death! Death is certain. Everyone will die someday, so why not look for death now if you decide to run away from risk. Many researches show several facts about risk in our daily life, and if we decide not to do things because of how risky they seem, then we are simply saying that we do not want to live life. Many people prefer the average life, because they get to live with unknown risk alone. Once they know the risk involved, they withdraw from such things.
However, let us look at the bright side of taking risk. Every invention, innovation, business breakthrough that has come into this world has come out of someone taking risk. Sometimes people die in the process, yet the result looks successful to those who are alive to see it. However, if no one took the risk, many of these things will not come to be.
What if I try and it does not work out for me?… What if you try and it does work out for you? We are often scared of getting things wrong, of getting hurt, of failing. However, those little hurts or large failures never lead to total destruction. There is always a lesson to learn from every ill and hurt that you would have never learned if you never tried. Thomas Edison said, ´I did not just discover how to make a light bulb, I discovered 999 ways not to make it and 999 ways to start other inventions’. Why not try it today. It is better to be optimistic about life, that way you will always look towards the bright side of life.
Though risk-takers are potential losers, much more risk-takers are potential winners. The higher the risk, the greater the potential success.
After volunteering during World War I, Ray Kroc spent his career selling paper cups and milk shake machines. He was not doing badly with his business and career. At the age of 53, Kroc decided to go to California to meet a restaurant had bought eight of his multi-mixers. He became convinced that the concept and design of this small chain had the potential to expand across the nation. He was so impressed about the operation and administration of the restaurant that he decided to give up what he was doing and partner with the owners of this restaurant. At the age of 59, Ray Kroc purchased the company. He transformed McDonald’s into the world’s largest franchise before his death. He was worth about $600 million. Kroc was not the founder of the fast food idea; however, he was smart enough to see the future in it. He took the big risk and
he sure did win big.
That thing you thought of might never have been implemented before, you spoke to professionals about it and they laughed off your idea. Take the risk, work on it. It is worth trying. It may not bring the result you imagined, but there is definitely a result it will bring that you need.
Life consists of every one taking known and unknown risks every day. Life itself is a risk, so do not lose it by not taking that risk. However, it is important to know that not all risks are worth trying. Be smart enough to know which one is necessary for you to take.
Stop asking yourself what if it does not work, start asking, ‘what if it works?’

#VALUE: WHY YOU DO NOT GET TO DECIDE HOW MUCH THAT ORGANIZATION PAYS YOU.

If you are given a blank cheque tomorrow by your boss to fill out how much you want to be paid from henceforth for the work that you do, how much will you fill out? That is a question to ponder on, but not for all. Some will say, such things do not happen… if they
ever did, not now. Some others will prefer to laugh off the idea of it; a number of people will chose to turn it into a prayer point; however, one person will take this seriously and decide to find out how possible this is. Are you that one person?
Some years ago, one of my sisters came back from the UK after finishing her Master’s degree in business psychology. Before she left for her masters, a shipping company employed her, which was a subsidiary of a larger business group. On her return, she had the option of returning to that same company to fill the same office she occupied before she left, or find a job somewhere else, which could include more strategic and well paying jobs in another company owned by this same group.
After much thought and discussions were put into place, she decided to leave the shipping company and go to the oil company of this same business group. In that case, she had to come in as a fresh job applicant. She probably had a better chance of getting a job in this company than any other applicant. She now had two university degrees of important magnitude and a working experience in one of their subsidiary companies. That was good enough to get the job she was going for. Later on, she was called for an interview. According to her story, during the interview, she was asked a question that brought up a serious conversation later on. The question was, “How much do you think we should pay you to work for us?” That sure sounds like a blank cheque, doesn’t it? Looking at it very well, some may say that is a blank cheque. Some others may say that looks more like a set up.
However, here is what happened. She was given some time to think about it. When she finally responded, she was replied with another question; “Why should we pay you $…?” My sister is very smart, so she began to give many reasons. But you know what? Her interviewers were also smart. For every reason she gave them, they had a reason why they should not pay as much. After this, the interview came to a non-conclusive end.
She was later contacted that she got the job; and this news, as good as it sounds came with an offer letter. In this letter, the company stated out her potential job description and how much they were willing to pay her for it. The offer was way below what she expected or had asked for, but she took it nevertheless. Half bread is better than none… It was not bad after all. She got a job and many do not have one… I think I am reading your mind. Let us make a valid discussion out of this. Looking at the question she was asked during that interview, “How much do you think we should pay you to work for us?”… Do you think the company was being serious and sincere about this question? It is possible they were not, looking at the state of our society today, many people ask so many insincere questions, just to make a joke out of situations or raise false hopes. However, let us imagine they were being sincere. (At least they gave her some time to think about it…). What response would she have given that would have been acceptable? Rather, put yourself in her shoes; what response will you give if such an opportunity faces you tomorrow?
I came to understand something that I think is very vital for everyone to understand. No one will pay you what you want, to do what they will train you to do. In well set-up organizations, there is something called graduate training programme. This programme is set up to train individuals that wish to work in that organization, enabling them with skills needed to offer certain services as required by the organization. Along with this training comes an offer thereafter, which includes what the organization wants the trained personnel to do and what they are willing to pay for that service to be rendered. They are the deciders of the job description, and definitely the deciders of the pay that comes along with it.
Well, that is not in all cases. In some cases, an organization is not willingly to train a new staff, so they rather will look for experienced personnel to work for them. The experience the applicant has however, must have to do with the job description they lay out. This is true in many cases.
Check this out, “People pay for value added”. True or false? If one can proffer a solution to another’s problem, who decides how much will be paid, the solution provider or the problem recipient?
This remains the case in any area of endeavour. As long as you are not the one with the solution, you are not the decision maker. The trick of that organization is simple to understand. They know and understand the problem; they have the solution; they need people to help them to solve the problem; they teach the people about the solution; they do not teach them how to understand the problem and relate the solution as required; they keep them in different sectors with specific job descriptions (they call it division of labour); they decide how much these people get paid… Is this bad? Answer is NO. This is simply how to run an organization. It is very interesting when you are the Executive officer or Managing Director, because it looks like you are now on top of the food chain. If you were not the brain behind that business, then you simply got that high not because you worked hard, but because you got to understand the problem and how to incorporate the solution in the right way. The board will definitely choose you because you have that knowledge. In some cases, people are just employed into organizations as managers and top executives, simply because they understand how some things work.
If you find yourself in the same situation my sister did, with that same question, “How much do you think we should pay you to work for us?”… Just understand that that organization wants to know if you have a special value to add (which they do not have), or you are like the rest who are simply coming to work out the job description.
Sometimes, you will not be asked that question. However, every interview, meeting and
networking arrangement is an opportunity to tell others what you can do for them, what value you can add, what problem you can solve.
You do not go to the hospital to meet a doctor and tell him, hey doc, I will pay you $10 to treat my malaria… The Doctor may not call security on you, because he may think you have a good sense of humour. The Doctor holds the solution, the Doctor decides the bill. Your landlord holds the solution, your landlord decides the rent. Isn’t that the case? The case in any area of life is, you have to have a value to add, or they will tell you the value they want you to add. Once you allow them do that, you have simply signed up as their subject.
You do not have to be self-employed, you do not have to be an entrepreneur, all you have to do is be the master of your own game. Look for that problem in the world, in your community, in that organization, and proffer that brilliant solution to it. You will discover after that; You will no longer work for companies and organizations, you will begin to work with them.

Discovered Purpose?

“When the purpose of a thing is not known, abuse is inevitable”…. Dr. Myles Munroe

That statement does not exclude human beings. As a matter of fact, we are the greatest victims of undiscovered purpose. Many of us do not fancy this whole purpose stuff, and we try to ignore the burning call in us to fulfil our purpose in life.
Every human has a purpose, assignment and calling… And it takes a conscious search to uncover this prescription on the inside of us…

I’ll be sharing a chain of articles that will help you discover purpose and walk into this thing called ‘calling’…

This Is The ONE Single Mistake School Systems Do That Dumb Down Our Children

High minded academics have considered education as an ‘ideological state apparatus’. In simple terms, what that means is that education and the school system is a great way to control people. The purpose of education, even though it is sold as a way to expand your mind, is just as easily used to limit it. Over the last few decades, we can see that there has been a qualitative shift in the educational model of the country.

The storage and perpetuation of information is the sole aim of education. It seems teachers’ job has become to establish authority, not to make children question it. Children are taught more than ever to be a cog in the machine, not question the existence of the machine. We don’t ask questions. We don’t imagine. We don’t truly apply our minds.

Einstein Quoted: “School failed me, and I failed the school. It bored me. The teachers behaved like Feldwebel (sergeants). I wanted to learn what I wanted to know, but they wanted me to learn for the exam. What I hated most was the competitive system there, and especially sports. Because of this, I wasn’t worth anything, and several times they suggested I leave.”

Why is this happening? Very simply, the more power gets concentrated in the hands of the 1% elite, the more they want to keep their well-oiled machine going. Elitism and perpetuating that elitism is the point. The point of education now is to create a system which takes in creative and curious children and churns out obedient workers. For the powers that be, the scenario where they have a truly aware and questioning public is not a comforting thought. They need us to not question. They need us to believe that there can be no alternative. Pink Floyd puts it much better than any of us can. Just refer to their thoughts in ‘Another Brick in the Wall’.

Some people defend it by saying that critical thinking is a fanciful ability that people are born with. Schools can’t teach you to think. At best, you might land a job through your school education. Never mind that the thought that accepting a job you’ll be frustrated with for the rest of your life is the point of school nowadays. The Ancient Greek philosopher, Socrates (one of the smartest people who ever lived), knew a thing or two about critical thinking. It was he who said, “I cannot teach anybody anything; I can only make them think.” Don’t tell me school is useless when it comes to making a fully rounded human being.

What we need is to teach students how to question. Sometimes, it needs to be stressed that asking the right questions is a better sign of a person’s development than giving the right answers. Speaking of Socrates, teaching philosophy in schools is not a bad idea. Philosophy is a method of asking questions. It trains the mind to always investigate and take nothing for granted.

Before you scoff and ask me ‘how is philosophy going to land me a job?’ let me ask you something in return. How much more different could our lives be if we do learn the courage to question. Philosophy might not get you a job at McDonald’s, but it sure will make you question why you’re doing what you’re doing. Sometimes in your own life that’s all that is required.

Lastly, our questions are possibly the last line of resistance before we see our schools become a chain of factories and retail stores; not imparting knowledge but producing packaged products called students. It’s time we reclaim our schools as well our minds from The Man.

According to Harvard Psychologists: Parents Who Raise “Good” Kids Do These 5 Things

With technology advancing at a blinding pace, childhood is no more what it used to be. Parents are getting more and more concerned about how to raise their kids as children nowadays have acquired new habits, new sets of behavior and attitudes that are radically different from what their parents’ childhood.

One of the main concerns of parents stems out of the fact that kids no longer feel the need to go outside to play or make new friends. Rather, with technology at their fingertips, they seem to lead a more secluded existence. Such circumstances have made parents apprehensive about how to take care of their kids in order to grow up to be complete persons.

Psychologists at Harvard University have conducted a study on this issue and they have come up with the conclusion that there are still innumerable elements that are very basic for every kid’s childhood… and it might not be as difficult to raise a child as it seems to be.

Following are the five secrets to raise a good kid:

1. BE A STRONG MORAL ROLE MODEL AND A MENTOR

Children learn mostly from their parents. So you should be very careful about your manners and how you behave in front of your kid. You should not hesitate to apologize in front of your kid if you commit a mistake. Kids have impressionable minds and they acquire things from their surroundings quickly. You should earn the respect and trust of your child by being honest, humble and kind to them and they will learn to behave in a similar manner.

Watch After: This Is What Happens When A Kid Leaves Traditional Education [VIDEO]

2. SET HIGH ETHICAL STANDARDS AND TEACH THEM TO HELP OTHERS

You should teach your children that caring for others is as important as their own happiness. But words have no effect unless they are backed by actions. You should set high ethical standards for your children and teach them to be responsible towards others. Also remember that you will have to justify your words with actions.

3. TEACH THEM TO APPRECIATE AND BE GRATEFUL

People with gratitude are more likely to lead happy and healthy lives. Teach your kid to acknowledge the things they receive from others and at the same you should be thankful about them for the nice things they do. But showing too much gratitude might spoil them. Try to maintain a balance.

4. EXPAND THEIR HORIZONS

It is very natural for children to care about their families and close ones. But that only will not do. Make them think about people outside their circle as well. It might include other kids in their classes or people from different communities or different linguistic backgrounds. They should be made to realize how their thoughts and actions might affect people from different backgrounds.

5. SPEND QUALITY TIME WITH YOUR CHILDREN

It is not enough to just be there for your kid. You should be able to make your kid realize about the bond you share by spending time with them. Let them share their problems and dilemmas with you. Your kid will not only love you more because of this, but they would also have an enriching and happy childhood.