Monthly Archives: July 2013

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News, Parenting, Public Speaking, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

FYI: If You Experienced Difficulties Accessing This Blog’s Content between Monday 15th July 2013 to Saturday 20th July 2013, This Could Be Why…

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NB: Let me start by saying this post is being made for information purposes only. And it applies specifically to the period between Monday 15th July 2013 to Saturday 20th July 2013.

In case anyone’s experienced difficulties accessing articles/content on my blog in the last few days…hostgator has now confirmed they’ve completed the migration of all customer accounts:

” onto brand new, more powerful hardware which will include the latest versions of cPanel and CentOS.”

Alert email notice announcing start of upgrade

Screenshot of email notice announcing start of upgrade

Screenshot of email notice announcing start of my hosting account migration

Screenshot of email notice announcing start of my hosting account migration

In response to my enquiry, they’d replied thus:

“…there may be some performance issues for the server since the migration process will have an impact on the communications performance of both systems. This effect should be temporary.”

The screenshot below shows their email notice that the upgrade has been successfully completed for my account.

Screenshot of email notice announcing successful migration

Screenshot of email notice announcing successful migration

My DN Travel News, Parenting, Self-Development

To Be Truly Happy, Never Submit to Abuse

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“Find out just what any people will quietly submit to, and you have the exact measure of the injustice and wrong which will be imposed on them.” – Frederick Douglass

Nothing is worse than an adult who lets other people use him/her as a door mat. No one deserves to be subjected to abuse in any form – by anybody. Sadly, some adults – who have kids of their own – are so insecure and unsure of themselves. They get intimidated into adopting a second class existence, in deference to the ego of some other persons.

This situation is worse in certain societies than others. Yet, even where it is worse, YOU always have a choice.

In this article I offer insights you can use, against the backdrop of a true story.

What If Someone Tries to Oppress or Intimidate You? (A True Story)

What I share below is based on excerpts from comments I made on a similar theme in a recent online discussion.

Over a period of six years, a hotel client used an Excel-VB driven Hotel Management Software I built specifically for them. The owner (who happens to be about 10 years older than I am) paid me to build it in November 2005.

Upon completing the staff training, I sent in an invoice for my balance, but he refused to pay up. Eventually, I stopped calling to ask.

Three months later, they had problems with the software and called. I told them my balance had to be paid up, before they could be eligible for support.

On learning of my response, he called me on his mobile, to say I had no respect for elders.

I pointed out that self-respecting elders did not refuse to pay younger ones struggling to fend for their own families, for completed work!

After making threats, this CEO arranged for police officers to pick me up in a (rickety) jeep. Their boss, the Divisional Police Officer, turned out to be a graduate of the University of Ibadan. Not surprisingly, he asked for my side of the story.

On hearing me out, he requested that I resolve the problem the hotel had. I replied that I wanted my balance paid.

Again, acting like the enlightened man he was, he sent an officer with me to the hotel, who told them my request. When they agreed to pay, I got behind a terminal, and eventually resolved the problem.

The accountant promptly handed me the balance in cash, and I signed for it.

The hotel owner (who though “rich” is poorly schooled), later said to me: “Tayo, you’re a very stubborn young man.” My reply was that I acted that way, only to persons who I felt wanted to cheat or intimidate me.

From that day in 2006, up till 2011, they continued using the software.

Each time they had a problem and called me in, the normal agreement was that my call out support fees would be paid – in cash.

Yet, every now and then he tried to stop me getting paid – even after I’d worked on the reported problem for hours – AND resolved it.

Sometimes he crossed out the fee on my invoice and wrote over it a figure 60% less!

But my ready willingness to confront without being combative ensured I got paid my full fees each time. I knew he did not like that. But I was not scared of him either.

This is important. Believe wholeheartedly that your creator will support you against such abuse, when you fight back in this manner. Never let fear control you!

Among other things, I knew giving in would be the beginning of a very bad treatment. I saw enough to warn me, each time I visited.

He once traveled before Christmas, without paying his staff salaries. And he returned in February! I’ve also heard him speak abusively on many occasions to staff. Guests hear him scream “MAD DOG!” at some of them.

What I find most hard to comprehend is the fact that some have worked with him for years. I often see them fidgeting fearfully anytime they have to face him.

A few have told me they have no choice. Yet many are young and able bodied.

The way I see it however, they only feel they have no choice because they are LAZY.

In addition, they also lack self-esteem and dignity.

It’s the only reason any sane person would accept let anyone subject them to abuse everyday at work. I feel little sympathy for people who choose to live in this way.

Their unwillingness to choose a more dignified path in life makes them undeserving of pity or sympathy. I say this without apology.

God did NOT create anyone to be stepped upon by another – no matter how rich!

I’ve since told that client I’ll no longer support his company’s use of the software.

It all came to a head after I had to defend myself against another attempt he made – using his police connections – to try intimidating me to work without due payment in 2011.

That’s however a story to be told some other time. Suffice to say though, that I wrote complaint letters to the Governor, State Security Service and eventually the Attorney General’s office to get him off my back!

Final Words

Here’s my point:

In society, one will always come across good and not-so-good people. It’s not a crime to view life through rose coloured glasses – believing that others will treat you right.

But even the bible records stories of people who were bad, and used their position, money and power to subject harmless/innocent others to abuse.

It therefore goes without saying that you must prepare to stand up to such individuals as the need arises. Or you’ll doom yourself to being oppressed by them!

You deserve better than that. And so does your child.

Being gentle, easy going, and not wanting any trouble, does not mean you have to be someone else’s door mat.

Learn to assert yourself – by confronting without being combative, when necessary.

And teach your child to be the same way. It’s the key to living a truly happy and fulfilled life.

Career Development, My DN Travel News

To Move Up, Treat Your Subordinates With Respect

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“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they’re capable of being” – Johann Von Goethe

What you’re about to read is based on a true story. People usually start at the bottom to climb the corporate ladder to the top. Many new recruits have risen to become CEOs or top executives in the companies they work for. As new entrants, they had to be trained by people who would later become their subordinates.

That’s a fact of life.

In the military, a drill sergeant puts recruits through weeks of gruelling exercises. During this period he is their boss. But he ends up becoming a subordinate to those who survive, to graduate as “officers”!

A Reversal In Your Status Is No License to Mis-treat Those You’ve Surpassed

When a reversal of roles/status happens, interesting changes in the behaviour of people can occur. I’ve seen persons who turned round to victimize a former superior, saying s/he was too harsh on them.

Some people also look down on those they feel have lower status, position or authority to theirs.

Smart managers however know better than to treat their subordinates without consideration. Not even if such persons mis-treated them in the past, when their roles were reversed.

A Manager Dis-respects His Subordinates and Pays a Steep Price (True Story)

Some years ago, a set of graduate trainees recruited into a large manufacturing company underwent a company wide induction. As is the normal practice in most organisations, guidance and tutelage was given by people who later became their reports.

One trainee line manager was taken through the workings of factory plants by shop floor operatives. But he later became a thorn in their flesh, upon being confirmed as a full fledged manager…and their boss.

For this individual, it seemed having to learn from his future subordinates, was so damaging to his ego that he needed to erase the memory, by asserting himself at every opportunity.

So he frequently screamed instructions at the – mostly much older – men. And he rarely cut them any slack if they made mistakes or needed favours e.g. to attend to family matters.

Many got randomly served query letters anytime they worked the same shift with him, if he felt the output was not good enough. As a result, during end of year appraisal interviews, the men generally prayed not to have him chosen to assess their performance. Those who did rarely fared well.

Over the years, a silent resentment grew amongst the men towards this particular individual.

One night shift, an important machine on the production line stopped working. The operators called on the manager, claiming they did not know what the fault was.

From 11p.m till the close of that shift at 6a.m, this young man sweated trying to get the technicians to find the fault with the plant.

All to no avail. He was forced to write a handover saying the machine needed major engineering repairs. No work was done on his shift. He left for home feeling dejected.

Amazingly, 5 minutes after the next shift resumed, the resuming operators had the machine working!

When asked, he said he could find nothing wrong with it.

Your guess is as good as mine, as to what happened during that night shift…

Morale: Your Subordinates Can Make You Rise or Fall

That young manager could have had a better night shift, if he enjoyed the goodwill of his subordinates.

That is something that helps many managers look good on their jobs. It’s rarely that they know-it-all.

Back in Guinness, I had a habit of spending considerable time with factory shop floor operatives who reported to me, when I was a shift brewer. I always stopped to share jokes, ask after their families etc.

Even after I got promoted, and elevated to acting as a departmental head, I never gave up the habit.

Interestingly, some of my colleagues found reason to challenge me for associating that closely with shop floor level operatives in the company. They argued that as a manager, I needed to distance myself a bit from them, to avoid losing the necessary respect that would ensure I could control them.

But I ignored them. What I was doing was not acting. It was a natural thing with me. And if anything, rather than make me lose the respect of these men, I found that we actually bonded more!

A former expatriate boss – who was then Technical manager (and would later influence my promotion into higher positions lent credence to this assertion. He once wrote in a feedback form, that I had the loyalty of the men I worked with, and that my shift always delivered results.

And he was right. The relationship I shared with those men was a true friendship. These men often tried to discourage me from going on my inspection rounds while on night shift.

According to one of the shift leaders, when working with me, the men were always prepared to put in their best to make me look good. They felt they owed me a good outing any time I ran with them.

They’d say “Baba, look we will work for you. You need not nbother comeing to check on us!”

Of course, being a responsible manager, I never accepted to do that. However, I rarely had reason to think doubt their commitment either. Whenever we had problems on the shift, my heart always swelled with gratitude, to see them displaying just as much interest as I had in getting them resolved.

And if we failed, some actually felt so bad, they would come to apologise personally to me!

Final Words

You must understand that these men were mostly twice as old as I was. Most joined the company before I was even born! What’s more, I had been opportune, by virtue of my relationship with some, to meet their kids – who were about my age, and university graduates too.

Yet, they still maintained the respect they had for me.

That proves one thing: Respect is earned. And it is reciprocal. Treating people with respect will earn you their respect. In addition, it will bring out the best in them, and make them committed to helping you achieve YOUR goals!

So, no matter what anyone tells you, know this: The safest, and most reliable way to move up the corporate ladder (and stay there) is to treat your subordinates with respect at all times.

My DN Travel News, Self-Development

You May Not Need New Ideas

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If you’re struggling to achieve sustained progress towards your goal, it could be because you’re making the mistake described in this article. Sometimes we spend too much time, effort and resources searching for new ideas to achieve our set goal, and fail to make the most of the ones we already have. This makes us under-achieve most of the time. This article offers insights you can use to overcome this limitation, and achieve your full potential.

Times Change – But Success Principles Never Do!

The major guidelines for achieving authentic success, remain the same ones preached by gurus like Napoleon Hill, decades ago in his groundbreaking book “Think and Grow Rich”. They have not changed.

Most of today’s success gurus built their teachings on such time tested wisdom.

The steps for succeeding outlined below are among familiar recommendations they make – albeit in different words:

1. Set a goal
2. Break it into objectives
3. Take action
4. Persist even when you have setbacks
5. Remember to take care of your health
6. Look for mentors to guide/help you grow

And so on…

The Problem: Some People Take Success Guidelines For Granted

None of the above points is new. Really. Today we have a lot of learning resources written by experts which expand on the above guidelines – in creative ways.

The mistake some people make is in taking these truths for granted.  They fail to think as deeply as they should about (and also diligently apply) them, to achieve the best possible output.

Instead they keep searching for the next shiny object to follow e.g. the next big idea they can quickly grab and run with, before others find out!

And that’s a big mistake.

We Need to Apply Our Uniqueness to Every Idea

Most times the key to our success lies right within us. It only requires bringing our unique abilities and talents to bear on whatever interests us.

No two humans think or act alike. We have different talents and abilities.  And that includes even physically identical twins.

With respect to the success guidelines listed above, experts bring their unique insights to bear. Each gives us his/her perspective of how to apply them in our lives. From Zig Ziglar, to Brian Tracy, Robert Kiyosaki, Burt Dubin and so on. They only differ in terms of how they present the ideas for us to learn/apply.

It’s the same thing with religious teachers or leaders. Each one may offer his/her own take on specific aspects of a religious doctrine for instance. What they offer will often be dictated by insights gained from prayer, meditation and/or studying literature, scripture etc.

Start Making Better Use of Ideas You Already Have!

Some people dilute their efforts by running in multiple directions trying to catch the next big idea for succeeding.

For instance, they jump on every FREE webinar on offer, and keep exploring new initiatives. But they never stay long enough with one to make it work.

Yet quite often what you need to succeed may not be a new idea!

It could instead be a disciplined focus on applying your unique abilities to implement a few good ideas you already have – with consistency, faith and determination – over a period time.

And that’s my message to you in this article:  Stop trying to find so many new ideas.

Take stock of those you already have. Identify viable ways to make the best use of them to achieve the success you desire. This is likely to require using your unique thinking and talents/abilities in a creative way.

It is the key to making your success inevitable – because it will attract people and circumstances you need to achieve your valued goals!

“No one can ‘download you’ (i.e. pick your brain) if you do not want them to. When you TRAIN yourself to be a relentless Ideas Generator™, what you give away won’t matter, because you’ll ALWAYS get better ones. The hard part is making productive use of the ideas. Not everyone has that locked down. And that’s why some people only get MEDIOCRE results, from great ideas!”
– Tayo K. Solagbade
www.spontaneousdevelopment.com
Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, My DN Travel News

4 Essential Factors Affecting Feed Formulation

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In formulating your rations, there are four crucial considerations you need to keep in mind. I discuss them below in a question-answer format. I suggest you actively work through them in your decision making:

1. What feed ingredients are regularly available locally; in what condition do they come – and at what price?

Knowing the answers to the above will help you identify the most suitable ingredients to use as major components in your rations.

On Availability: For instance, if your farm is based in a location where maize is not available in adequate quantities, you’re likely to experience outages, if you formulate mainly maize based rations.

On Condition: Similarly, if your groundnut cake supplies often get exposed to moisture, you stand a risk of infecting or even poisoning your animals when it grows mouldy. In such situations, you may be better off settling on alternative protein sources with similar nutritional benefits, and/or reduce your use of groundnut cake.

On Price: Compare ingredient prices to discover which ones enable you minimise your costs, without sacrificing the desired nutrient profile in your formulated rations.

These 3 factors discussed above should guide your choice of key ingredients for formulating rations.

2. Are the ingredients you have chosen (or prefer to use) seasonal or available all year round?

Availability here differs from that discussed in 1, above: I refer instead, to the planting/production based availability, which is dictated by climatic seasons.

For instance, some ingredients are more abundant during the rainy season. So, when the dry season sets in, finding them in adequate quantities can pose a challenge.

Choose feed ingredients that are available for as much of your production period as possible.

Few feed ingredients can be stored for long periods without onset of spoilage or deterioration in quality. Therefore make your main ingredients those which can be readily found for most of the year.

In reality, your choice of main ingredients to choose will be influenced by what happens in 1, above.

3. Do you have substitutes that you can easily procure, in the event that your preferred ingredients are not available for any reason?

Let me put it this way: Have you explored the use of alternatives to your main ingredients? Do you have any that can be combined with your other routinely used ingredients to produce viable rations?

If no, you may run into problems. For instance, you could be forced to incur greater costs to source the main ingredients, if you don’t have viable alternatives at hand. And that will affect your ration’s cost.

Feeding often makes up 60% or more of total cost of rearing most livestock. You therefore want to achieve the most cost-effective production of your rations.

And that’s why exploring the use of viable substitutes that either cost the same, or are cheaper than your preferred ingredients, can be worthwhile. You will also want to do this proactively.

In other words, before the need to use substitutes arises, conduct trials to derive balanced ration using such substitutes. When your preferred ingredients become scarce, you’ll have a fall back formula ready.

4. What about quality of nutrient composition? Have you checked to confirm (via analysis) that the local ingredients you are using contain the expected profile of nutrients?

For instance, what if you get a supply of weevil infested Maize for use in compounding your rations? Using it would make your energy content calculations go out of sync with the actual content in the supplied grains. Your birds would therefore perform poorly, if fed on the resultant ration.

Some farmers fail to take this into consideration. And it ends up costing them greatly.

It’s like using adulterated medication when you’re ill. You’re unlikely to get well.

When the ingredients you use in your ration formulation are not of the right quality or nutrient composition, your ration will not deliver the expected performance in the animals fed with it.

The reason is simple. Your calculations are based on a certain expected nutrient composition in each ingredient. But that’s on paper. If the actual physical ingredients you end up using to make your animal’s feeds do not contain those expected nutrient levels, your ration will not be balanced.

If that happens, the animals’ performance will reflect it – and you will have wasted your money!

This is why results-focused farm business owners and/or feed mill operators often invest in periodic laboratory analysis of the feed ingredients they use.

Do this on a regular basis – at least weekly. Ensure sampling done is representative. Your efforts could save you a lot of money in the long run.

Final Words: Plan for the Unexpected

On a final note, keep in mind that beyond doing calculations o feed ingredients, you are also a manager.

Plan ahead for possible eventualities or the unforeseen – especially with respect to the above mentioned factors. If you don’t, your animals – and business – might suffer as a result.

PS: Click here to learn how my Feed Formulation Handbook and Excel-VB software can help you derive cost-effective rations.

My DN Travel News, Public Speaking

No. 98: Boost Your Credibility by Writing

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If I sound like a broken record on how writing builds name recognition, it’s because I continue to experience amazing benefits from doing it. And I see others reap similar rewards too.

IMPORTANT TIP: I discovered the power of writing as a means of self-promotion, when I read Burt Dubin’s “Why and How to Get Published”. If you’re serious about succeeding in your business marketing, click here NOW to read that article on Burt’s website, in a new browser window.

Click now to view the latest issue of Tayo Solagbade's Public Speaking IDEAS page

View Tayos video tutorials and demonstrations on Facebook Productivity Tips, Web Marketing, and for his Custom MS Excel-VB driven software applicationsConnect with Tayo on Facebook.comConnect with Tayo on Twitter.comConnect with Tayo on Google Plus

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Publication: Tayo Solagbade’s Weekly Public Speaking IDEAS Page (PSIP) Newsletter

Date: Monday 15th July 2013

No:98

Title: Boost Your Credibility by Writing

Author & Publisher: Tayo K. Solagbade [234-803-302-1263]

Blog URL: http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/blog

Archive (For E-mail only version started 14th May 2012): Click here to view

Archive (For Blog version started 24th September 2011): Click here

Hi,

Please find below the latest issue of my Speaking IDEAS newsletter.

10 Fruits You Eat That Leave Useful Peels/Skins Behind (FREE PDF DOWNLOAD)

E-mail your name, country, mobile number, occupation, & facebook/twitter URLs (if any) to tayo at tksola dot com, and I’ll send you a FREE copy of my detailed PDF report titled “10 Fruits You Eat That Leave Useful Peels/Skins Behind.”

Screenshot of PDF report titled “10 Fruits You Eat That Leave Useful Peels/Skins Behind."

CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO LEARN…

How to Make Drinks You CAN SELL, from Peels of Pineapples & Nine (9) Other Fruits!

 

No. 98: Boost Your Credibility by Writing

**** **********

NB: If you ever find yourself wondering what else I’ve written, some days after you’ve read THIS Speaking Ideas newsletter I send out on a Monday, here’s what you can do to find out: Point your browser to www.spontaneousdevelopment.com/sdnuggets to read at least ONE new post added to my SD Nuggets blog on a different category from Tuesday till Saturday (sometimes even Sundays) in line with this publishing schedule :-)

**********

If I sound like a broken record on how writing builds name recognition, it’s because I continue to experience amazing benefits from doing it. And I see others reap similar rewards too.

IMPORTANT TIP: I discovered the power of writing as a means of self-promotion, when I read Burt Dubin‘s “Why and How to Get Published“. If you’re serious about succeeding in your business marketing, click here NOW to read that article on Burt’s website, in a new browser window.

Many Still Doubt That Writing Can Be That Powerful

On with my newsletter message on this theme:

It pains me to see many who need it to SAVE time, effort and money in promoting their works, still not using writing!

Why do people still not use this low to zero cost marketing strategy that’s so effective?

I’ve asked myself this question often. I think it’s because they doubt that writing can be that powerful.

And who can blame them. When your peers and associates pour money exclusively into paid promotional marketing resources, you’re likely to think nothing would work better. Especially if those who do it have results to show.

But consider this:

If it costs you $5 US dollars to win a new buyer, using a paid advert, and you discover another method can help you win each new buyer for half a dollar, does it not make sense to adopt it?

Even if you’re already making hefty profits, would it hurt you to become even more profitable – this time by cutting down your costs? Would that not leave you with additional profit gain you can channel into other purposes, for the SAME effort you expend?

The above analogy shows how using writing for business promotion compares to other methods.

Nothing Beats a Marketing Resource with an Unlimited Shelf-Life

Look, every well written article (complete with promotional by-line linking to your product/service pages) is a timeless marketing medium, that can work for you, even while you sleep, at zero cost.

And as you write new ones, they will join those existing, to saturate search engines. When a potential buyer does a search, one or more of those articles will likely turn up on the first page of results.

Let’s say today s/he sees a piece by you at number 10 right at the bottom. Then maybe a week later your piece comes up closer to the top – possibly among the top five.

S/he may get curious on seeing it appear again – and she could click on your listing in the results page.

If you did a good job in your article, she could – on reading it – click your by-line’s promotional links. Especially if you put in an intelligent call to action.

Arriving on your web page, at least one of two things can happen (if you did your homework right):

a. She could send you an enquiry about something you offer for sale there, and could end up buying!

I’ve had that kind of experience too many times to count. Quite fulfilling – and addictive too. It makes you willing to do more. You basically taste blood!

b. If you have (wisely) setup a newsletter, which you publish regularly, s/he could subscribe.

Then over time, your useful information could move her to see you as a trusted adviser. So that when you make an offer to subscribers, s/he might eventually buy.

See how this works? It’s all linked together.

It Can Take a Year – But You Would Not Need to Stress Yourself or Chase Anyone Around!

Like I said in a past article (see screenshot below), I’ve had people who stayed on my mailing list for years, before finally buying from me.

In fact one such person – Oladipo Mann – just retired from paid employment some months ago, and started his own farm business. He recently emailed to inform me of that fact, after I re-sent him the password to login to the feed formulation software he bought from me last year.

We speak on phone and correspond via email like friends today – but still have never met face to face!

NB: In my article titled “Can You Be Trusted? (Real Conversations With People Just Like You)“, I told – among others – the story of how Dipo Mann took 3 years to check me out before becoming a buyer.

Click to read this article in which I narrate how Dipo Mann took over 3 years to check me out before becoming a buyer

People Are Wary of Getting Duped. Your Writing Can Make Them Trust YOU!

If at some point during those 3 years, I’d stopped writing my articles and newsletter (to which he’s subscribed), I doubt Dipo would ever have gotten convinced enough to buy from me.

This gentleman wisely took his time to be sure about me. Then one day, late last year, after I sent out my newsletter, I was driving to Ikeja in Lagos, when I suddenly got an email from him on my Blackberry.

It read “Please send me your account details so I can pay for the software.” It was that simple. The first and ONLY time we’d spoken 3 years before, he’d balked when I told him I had no office.

But rather than get an office I did not need (and incur heavy rental fees) or place volatile newspaper adverts, I simply kept writing – online as well as off the web. I knew from experience that as long as I kept it up intelligently, I would attract those who NEEDED what I offered.

And that’s the beauty of this strategy:  It helps you sieve the wheat from the chaff.

You actually attract pre-qualified prospects (not just curious people) – courtesy of your writing.

No other system offers such sustainable long term rewards.

You Don’t Need to Do It Yourself – If You Don’t Want to!

One more thing. If you don’t feel you have the time or training to do it yourself, you don’t have to!

Get someone competent to ghost-write for you.

I get approached – both on and off the web – by serious minded professionals needing writing support to promote the products and services they offer.

I ghost-write for them. I’ve done so for clients in a wide variety of industries for over six (6) years.

If you want ME to help, click here.

What matters is that you get good quality content out in YOUR name. As long as you’re competent, this will just be like dotting your “I”s and crossing your “T”s.

Doing so will cement your credibility in the minds of your target audience over time.

Need More Details of How to Make The Above Ideas Work for YOU?

If you need more specific details of how to make use of the ideas I’ve shared in this newsletter, send me a message using this request form – with “Re: Boost Your Credibility by Writing” in the subject line.

SD Nuggets Blog™

 New posts from last week that may interest you! *
Public Speaking

[Monday]:
No. 97: Forget Circumstances, Create Your Opportunities (Bruce Lee)

Entrepreneurship [Tuesday]:
Fast-Food Energy: Self-Repairing “Artificial Leaf” Cheaply Generates Electricity from Dirty Water (New Discovery)
Self-Development [Wednesday]:
Graduates Can Use Purposeful Self-Development to Succeed

Career Development [Thursday]:
You Can’t Establish Expert Authority with Money

Parenting [Friday]:

Proof that Schooling Can Dis-Empower Your Child Economically!
Writing/Blogging [Saturday]:
Write More Productively – 2 Proven Ways to Prevent Burnout
Want me to write for you? Click here…

Click now

Have a lovely week!

Tayo K. Solagbade*

Self-Development/Performance Improvement Specialist

*Sole Agent For Burt Dubin’s Speaker Mentoring Service In Africa

Mobile: 234-803-302-1263

http://www.spontaneousdevelopment.com

Self-Development/Performance Enhancement Specialist – Tayo Solagbade – works as a multipreneurial freelance writer providing  zero risk article and report writing support for website owners, while travelling slowly across West Africa as a Location Independent Entrepreneur.

He’s presently based in Benin Republic, where he’s preparing an English-French Language Guide, City Travel Guides, and a Commercial Rabbit Farming Guide.

In a previous life, before leaving to become self-employed, Tayo served for seven years as a high performing manager in Guinness Nigeria. He rose from Shift Brewer, to Training & Technical Development Manager, then later acted in senior management roles as Production Manager and Technical Manager.

When he’s not amazing clients with his superhuman skills (wink), Tayo works as the creative force behind his Self-Development Nuggets™ blog, and Public Speaking IDEAS newsletter (which he publishes to promote Burt Dubin’s Public Speaking Mentoring service to experts working across the African continent).

For a limited time, Tayo is available to speak to your group or organization for a moderate fee. Send e-mail to tayo at tksola dot com. You can also visit www.tksola.com to learn more.

Connect with him on Twitter @tksola.com and Facebook.

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Have you been undecided about whether or not to become a paid speaker? Or have you been trying to get your speaking career off the ground with little success?

Here’s a tip: Burt Dubin works with people who want to be speakers, and with speakers who want to be masters. Click here to visit his website NOW and submit a contact form message telling him what challenges you’re facing, and how you’d like him to help you. Tell him I sent you, and you’ll get a pleasant surprise offer from him.

Comments?

What do you think of the above message? Do you have any personal experience to share on this subject? Are there some other points you feel can be added, to help persons looking for answers? Please share your thoughts!

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You can choose to purchase Burt’s mentoring at any of the three (3) levels listed below:

1. Top Shelf [Click here] | 2. Mid Range [Click here] | 3. Budget Delight [Click here]

Burt’s three mentoring packages can be likened to the seating options offered by airlines: Budget Delight (Economy); Mid Range (Business); and Top Shelf (First Class).

At least that’s how I like to think of them!

All three will get you to your desired destination of “speaking success-ville” – so long as you meet the requirements/play your part well (your fare, abide by the set guidelines etc). During the “flight”, the seat you have will determine how much personal service attention and preference the provider will accord you. It’s that simple :-)

So, make your choice:1. Top Shelf [Click here] | 2. Mid Range [Click here] | 3. Budget Delight [Click here]

Send me an e-mail with your questions via tayo at tksola dot com. In the meantime, why not get started by subscribing here to get his 7-Part Course (How To Succeed And Get Paid As A Professional Speaker) .  . . and receive his monthly newsletter (Speaking Biz Strategies Letter) at no cost.

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My DN Travel News, Writing/Blogging

Write More Productively – 2 Proven Ways to Prevent Burnout

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I recently read 2 of my favourite writers sharing about how they overcame some form of burnout. I don’t mean writer’s block. As I’ve said before, I do not believe it (i.e. writer’s block) exists. But burnout – just like it happens in other areas of endeavour, such as sports – does really occur in writing.

What Does It Feel Like, and Why Does It Happen?

I like to think of it as having nothing left to “burn”. Like when a car runs out of fuel. That means you come to a complete halt. In writing, you literally become unable to get yourself to write more. Your blog gets stale with no new content, and in serious cases, you may even struggle to deliver new writing to agreed deadlines for clients.

To write productively on a continuing basis, you must keep replenishing yourself with new ideas. And you must have sustained passion for what you do.

Burnout typically occurs when the above is no longer there. We can run out of ideas, and our passion for a chosen subject, topic or theme may fizzle out. This can happen to anyone.

How Can You Prevent Burnout?

It pays to make careful choices of writing themes or topics. Choose those you can maintain adequate interest in. Passion for the subject is a crucial requirement for long term sustenance.

Next, identity the source(s) you draw on for writing ideas. Common examples include your personal experience, material provided by clients, Internet resources etc. Diligently nurture each one of them, to boost your writing output.

Recognize however that sometimes you may have to look elsewhere to be sure you deliver quality output. Indeed sometimes the above sources may fail to turn up the ideas you need. That’s often when burnout begins to threaten. So, you need to know about other places you can go.

I offer a few suggestions…

1. Start Reading Everything Around You: Not Just Books!

Reading helps us feed our minds with ideas we can mould into new writing.

Now stop for a minute. ‘Reading’ I propose here is a little different.

When writers see the word ‘read’, our minds readily go to books, e-books, websites and other conventional formats on which writing can be found.

But in reality, you can get even better ideas, when you “read” random stuff you see around you.

So start paying attention to quotable quotes you see as you move around. You will encounter them on office walls, flyers, billboards etc.

What about tag lines people include in their calling cards? Useful inspiration can also come from there.

Bill boards litter most areas in many societies, announcing some idea or promoting some product or service. Stop more often to reflect on what is written on them. Seriously – do this.

Keep pen and notepad with you to capture them – as may be convenient.

Sometimes, someone may say them to you – or around you.

I’m always alert to these magical opportunities. And most times when I lack pen and paper, I quickly type what I hear into my smart phone memo pad.

Your aim will be to tweak such quick reads into a write-ups that will be truly useful for your intended audience.

One Example: I once stumbled on the following quote credited to Mahatma Gandhi. And it inspired me to write a new blog post (within 30 minutes).

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight, then you win.” – Mahatma Gandhi.

I used each of the four highlighted actions he mentioned, as a subtopic in my article titled “Four (4) Phases Great Achievers Often Pass Through, to Succeed”.

Isn’t it amazing how having a logical outline to guide your thoughts can making writing much easier?

2. Use Anything Useful That Happens Around You: Be Alert!

In writing for a client here in Cotonou, I’ve had to unhinge my brain – almost literally speaking.

He is a legal consultant, and also provides private university educational services – in addition to professional language translation, for various cadres of clients.

The required writing was meant to cater for each of his fairly different areas of focus – all three of which I’d not written on previously.

To ensure I met his expectations, I carefully studied happenings in and around him, to gain useful insights I could apply to my work…

One day we went out for lunch. His young chauffeur made the mistake of failing to specify the size of bottled Sprite he wanted, when the waitress took orders.

As a result, when she came back with a large sized bottle, he requested she get him a smaller one.

My client was displeased with that – scolding him for making her do two trips, when she could have done one.

He said “Other customers are waiting on her, and some may also be due to pay up. Making her waste valuable time could upset waiting customers. Or she could forget to collect payment from some. That could cost her the day’s pay, or if a client leaves without paying a hefty bill, her job!”

That incident inspired me to write the first issue of a weekly newsletter targeted at his university undergraduates, on Acting with Emotional Intelligence – by treating others with consideration.

Final Words: This Article Is Likely to Become Part 1 of a 2 Part Series

I have some other ideas to share. This is a subject I’m quite passionate about – as a Performance Enhancement Specialist.

I’m tempted to make it a 2 or 3 part series (each one with 2 tips).

There are so many things you can do – honestly. I know because I write as if connected to a never ending source daily – literally at will – using these ideas!

A new post appears on this blog daily – even as I do similar writing for clients.

One basic assumption is of course that your love of writing, and your subject/theme (will) persist(s)…otherwise not even steroids will help you avoid a burnout :-)

What Kind of Help Do You Need?

1. Coaching support to write without burning out?

Click here to contact me

2. Writing support to get through a difficult period in your writing?

Click here to contact me

General, My DN Travel News, Parenting

Proof that Schooling Can Dis-Empower Your Child Economically!

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I recently posted a Facebook comment on an article titled Beware Africa’s “Middle Class”. The author – Bright B. Simons – provided an accurate analysis of the nature of today’s African middle class of consumers. He rightly warned foreign investors to avoid stereotypes in making sense of this group.

For instance, to estimate the size of Africa’s middle class, Simons compared data from multiple authoritative sources one would presume reliable. They were poles apart in their estimates!

That’s a nightmarish scenario for investment decision makers keen to pin down facts to work with.

What’s more, far from being homogenous, Simons noted that Africa’s middle class is really a mix of shades – not fitting into familiar “standard classifications.” And he’s quite right.

Many Young and Educated Africans Do Not Belong to Africa’s Current Middle Class: Surprised?

For me, the most striking revelation in Simons’ article, was his observation that (contrary to the norm in developed societies) young and educated Africans do not make up majority of the emerging African middle class.

If anything, they lack economic traits (e.g. purchasing power) characterising “middle-class status elsewhere”.

Simons says Africa’s middle class today, is increasingly dominated by the “rarely well educated” – but street smart – cross border trading types. Dubai-frequenting ones he calls “suitcase merchants”, who buy cheap fast moving or second hand consumer goods, for dispatch to “open-air markets” back home.

Not surprisingly, this new consumer “class” lack tastes and preferences typical of the conventional middle class.

Bright Simons should know these things…

He invented the SMS short code system used by his company (mPedigree Network – an award winning mobile service launched to fight fake-drug trading, by authenticating pharmaceuticals across Africa and Asia).

This work brings him in contact with members of Africa’s unusual middle class possibly on a daily basis.  

He’s also based in Africa (and black) – making him uniquely positioned to extract deep truths, that may otherwise be hard to uncover.

This Situation Calls Our Schooling System to Question

Simons’ observation makes it obvious we need a different kind of educational system.

Unschooled chaps with street-level business know-how are outdoing our graduates economically.

Something is NOT right here!

Simons apparently recognises that fact too. He describes our educational system, as being out of tune with the socio-economic requirements of today’s Africa.

And he proves his point by contrasting two groups of “consumers” in Africa’s middle class economy.

On one hand there are the swelling ranks of what he terms an “educated underclass” (African graduates churned out by our educational system).

And on the other, there is the “uneducated” but “rapidly rising underclass”.

The presence of both groups sends out confusing signals to prospective investors – who are used to looking for tell-tale “market and consumer behaviour” they see in middle classes from other societies

Quite rightly, Simons calls the described situation “an amazing contradiction”.

I’ve written about the need to overhaul our educational system in many of my past parenting articles. In them, I make elaborate reference to eye-opening write-ups – by Robert Kiyosaki, Sir Ken Robinson, Seth Godin and others, that can guide overhaul of our educational system.

Maybe with the picture painted by Simons, more African adults – parents especially – will pay attention.

Maybe.

What You Can Do As a Parent…

I strongly suggest you read Simons’ article, if you are an African parent (or plan to be).

It explains a trend we’re seeing more of, that strongly suggests conventional schooling may not help your child succeed economically.

In fact, I honestly believe what Simons revealed in his article, is embarrassing to educated African adults – parents especially.

He has basically shown that most young and educated Africans cannot match the purchasing power of their “uneducated” middle class contemporaries.

By implication, they have to play second fiddle, to less schooled contemporaries – sometimes as employees!

The edge they were told schooling would give them is NOWHERE to be found!

This can be quite humiliating, frustrating – and could make a person lose faith in formal schooling.

I say this from VERY personal – potentially traumatizing – experience.

African parents must help their kids get better prepared to achieve economic independence in the real world.

To do this, we must get more involved in coaching our kids on how to succeed in life out of school/paid employment – as early as possible.

We can no longer depend on formal schooling alone.

Our educational system still prepares people mainly for paid employment (which gets harder to find daily). It rarely prepares them for entrepreneurship (which is becoming more viable as the way of life, even if part-time).

Final Words: What I Mean…and What I Have NOT Said

Depending on who is reading, this line of argument I’ve adopted can be “provocative” :-)

Like I said in my Facebook post on this, I am NOT saying formal schooling is useless.

However, I argue that a lot of what we teach today, offers very limited value for succeeding economically (especially outside paid employment) in 21st century Africa.

Since jobs are now harder to find, it follows that our schools need to change what they teach.

In Nigeria for instance, many of my uneducated “in-laws” from the East (my kids are half-Igbo), buy and sell from when they can walk.

A good number usually end up achieving superior economic means, compared to their counterparts who choose to attend (or finish) schooling.

It is for this reason that I constantly challenge my kids with real-world relevant skill building activities.

My purpose is to help them LEARN OUTSIDE school, even as they continue formal schooling.

If you love your child, do the same for her from today. Or tomorrow, you may have yourself to blame.

As we say in Africa: “A word is enough for the wise”.

Career Development, Entrepreneurship, Farm Biz, General, My DN Travel News, Parenting, Public Speaking, Self-Development, Writing/Blogging

You Can’t Establish Expert Authority with Money

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In some parts of the world, some people get accorded authority status based on unproven wealth they display – and rarely little else. I grew up in a society where it happened (happens!)…a lot. However, authentic expert authority is not achieved by “showing money”. It comes via demonstrating verifiable, value-adding competence. This article provides insights you can use.

What Does It Mean to Be Called an Expert Authority?

An Expert Authority is one who has – by his/her achievements/contributions in a particular field(s) – demonstrated that s/he is a value-adding leader in thought and/or action.

Typically s/he has over a period of time made significant impact on stakeholders in that field. They would formally acknowledge his/her competence, and readily make reference to him/her as a result.

This can be in professional fields, and also in everyday social life.

I’ll start by giving a “non-sensitive” example.

Nelson Mandela is widely recognized as Human Rights icon. His lifetime achievements – including many ideas and thoughts he has expressed – have made the lives of millions better, earning him countless awards.

Mandela is therefore an Authentic Expert Authority on Human Rights.

Anybody Can Show Money – That Will Not Necessarily Confirm Expert Authority Status!

If no means exists to verify them, anyone can make any claims s/he likes – and we would be incapable of checking to determine if it’s the truth or not.

In this regard, developed societies (where personal records dating back to your ancestors can be reliably traced) have an edge over less developed societies.

In such places, people know they can get found out if they make false claims. So they do it less blatantly. But some daring characters still do it :-)

Now, like I said at the start, in certain societies, some “clever” persons cut corners by “buying” authority status. This is typically done by giving monetary and other rewards to “corruptible” key players and stakeholders.

As a result, they get accorded formal attention/recognition despite having limited (sometimes no!) pedigree, and offering little useful value.

Here’s a potentially “sensitive” example…:-)

Imagine a person convicted of looting public funds while in office, a year ago, being given an award on Human Rights in the same country(or indeed elsewhere)?

That’s absurd. But it has happened…many times, in certain societies.

An award confers authority status on the recipient. S/he is assumed by others as being an embodiment of the values and ideals on which the award is based.

One would therefore naturally expect whatever s/he has done (and will do) to be consistent with what the award is about.

A dishonest – and unrepentant – former office holder, conferred with an award meant for persons who protect people’s rights from abuse?
That’s not authentic authority status!
Like I said, money can buy it in some places.

But where things work, that’s rarely possible.

Final Words: To Establish Authentic Expert Authority Status – Prove Yourself Worthy

As an expert in your chosen field, the best way to establish yourself as an authority is to record achievements that make it obvious that YOU ARE!

It does not matter what field you’re in. Start by getting necessary preparation.

Mandela did not need to attend Human Rights school (if anything like that exists). Instead he set a real goal for himself to change the lot of real people.

Then he went out to make it happen. And he put every fiber of his being into doing so.

It took him time, but he eventually made it.

It was however in the course of doing it, that he recorded many achievements, attracting recognition – that eventually won him “Expert Authority” status.

Just as this works in the non-professional field, so it does also for professionals in various areas of endeavors – be it paid employment or business/entrepreneurship.

That includes lawyers, doctors, and experts in all other areas of interest and focus.

To establish authentic authority status amongst your peers, simply record achievements – via your contributions – that show you are indeed worthy.

So, even if you’re in a place where it’s possible to “buy it”, you now know better :-)

My DN Travel News, Self-Development

Graduates Can Use Purposeful Self-Development to Succeed

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Many young people today complete their university education, only to have the shocking realities of – a seemingly hostile – real world tell them they’re inadequately prepared to succeed in it.

When I graduated in 1992, I went on to observe my service year in Gulu-Vatsa village (remote, off-grid village…at the time) in Nigeria’s Niger State. While there, I taught students in schools, and worked weekends on farms with other teachers and natives. That was, after all, the essence of the service year: to unify us:-)

Post Graduation Job Search Blues

But my undergraduate and service year experiences  prepared me very little, for the real world I was to enter afterwards.

To be honest, I only began to have an idea of what I could do with my university degree when I got back to Lagos, a year later!

I quickly learned how to take intimidating job aptitude tests. Then I clung desperately to what was left of my battered self-esteem, when interviewers talked down to me, literally tearing my qualifications apart – making me feel almost worthless!

Now, this was not entirely their fault. One could ask: what was a graduate of Agricultural Extension Services doing applying for a job as a Marketing Officer for an Insurance company for instance?

If you are a Nigerian (or have lived there a while), you may be able to relate to what I am saying.

That’s why one finds degree holders taking up jobs that often do not require them to apply the specialized university education they received!

Many graduates (it would appear) are not particularly excited about practicing in the fields they studied for 4 – 5 years. In many cases they’re just glad to find any job with an employer that will have them.

Lack of Purpose: Graduates Accepted Courses They Lacked Passion For – Just To Get Admitted!

One main reason is that many of them settled for their courses of study after trying to get the ones they wanted and failing. Others do love their courses of study, but income derivable from practising it locally makes it unappealing.

Therein lies the problem. Young people tend to start off their lives being denied the opportunity (by adults and/or circumstances) to decide what they want to do.

When they are able to decide what they want, the enabling environment is rarely provided for them to successfully pursue their goals. They often find that they just have to take what is available!

As a result, many graduates lack sense of purpose. They keep asking “government” to create “jobs” for them. And they make this request even when they see graduates ahead of them still waiting “in line” for jobs that fail to show up!

A Proposed Solution: What Graduates Can Do To Help Themselves

I have passed through the same predicament myself as a university graduate.  I know how confusing it can be to discover nobody wants you, after you ’ve studied hard and gotten good qualifications!

The sad truth is that TODAY, fewer jobs await each batch of graduates that leave the university.

So, what is the alternative?

The truth is each graduate must come into the real world better prepared with real world relevant competence.

Note that by “real world” I do NOT necessarily mean the “labour market”. The latter, in today’s world, has fewer “buyers” in it. And most of them are more frugal than before – hiring fewer people, who tend to get paid less, while being asked to do more.

The real world I refer to is the larger socioeconomic environment.

Today’s graduate must enter it, with the added ability to earn a living outside of paid employment – should the need to do so arise.

To achieve this, she must adopt and begin to diligently practice Self-Development.

That will involve deliberately acquiring practical knowledge and skills – through careful reflection on future goals, and anticipated challenges.

For instance, developing entrepreneurial skills and interests would serve her well, if she chooses not to get a job after graduation.

Some successful entrepreneurs started their careers by operating micro or small enterprises on campus.

And if such a well rounded graduate does decide to go after the security of paid employment, she’s more likely to get the position ahead of other applicants.

Why?

Because recruiters will tend to find her resume more compelling, and her mental attitude/disposition of greater appeal.

In reality, results focused employers prefer employees with entrepreneurial mind sets!

Final Words

To summarize, today’s graduate can make a more successful entry into the real world using the strategy described in this article.

Simply develop a practical and purposeful Self-Development habit – and nurture it diligently.

Then use it to acquire knowledge and skills to boost your chances of getting hired; and at the same time, equip yourself with entrepreneurial know-how to create income generating opportunities, in case you’re not.

Goodluck

NB: This article is based on excerpts from my 113 page print manual Self-Development Bible. You can download the FREE PDF version by subscribing to my newsletter mailing list using the form below.