Why do black people – and their nations – often lag behind others? I have argued for years that the reason is NOT genetic. Instead it is the mental attitude of majority of us.
No one can under develop us. We have the power to develop and advance ourselves. I am doing that for myself and my family. No one can stop me. I do NOT need the government to do it for me.
If more of us would adopt a similar mindset, we would transform our individual lives, and the fortunes of our respective families and societies.
My accomplishments over the past 2 decades prove that my sentiments are accurate. But the 2 books and a movie that I feature in this report offer incontrovertible proof that we, as a people have what it takes to excel on this planet.
I recommend you read this report and follow the URLs provided to learn more, so you (and your kids) can be empowered!
Preview: We already know that we do not know enough about African growth. This was revealed by the extent of upward revisions to estimates of GDP during recent rebasings – anywhere from up 25% in the case of Kenya, to up 89% in the case of Nigeria. Africa has been growing faster than we thought all along. We were not adequately equipped to measure this growth while it was happening.
The news on Africa’s middle class has also been mixed. When a well-known multinational in the consumer goods sector, Nestle, announced that it was disappointed by the scale and growth of Africa’s middle class and the return on its investment, and that it would be cutting its regional workforce by 15%, the news dominated headlines. What went relatively unnoticed?
Today, I feature the article titled “What is Excel-VBA”, (which I wrote back in 2007) to inform and educate my desired target audience and other relevant stakeholders, about the difference between Excel-VB programming that I did, and Visual Basic – that most of them were more familiar with, and often tried to equate to what I did.
This need to put forward a clarifying piece like this comes from my recent discussion with a Farm CEO, who works a 9 to 5 job as a Network Administrator.
He caused me major amusement when he asked me to email him a “patch” to download to resolve a problem he had with one of my Excel-VB software that he’d purchased.
At that point I was forced to bluntly inform hims that Excel-VB programming vocabulary does NOT include such terms used in the Windows Operating System world – which was where he’d gotten the word “patch” i.e. as per the downloads that happen on Windows PCs to plug bugs or vulnerabilities in the Operating System.
The fact that he chose to use that term (meaning he assumed that kind of resource existed!), in addition to calling me a “Visual Basic (VB) Programmer” proved conclusively to me that he had NO CLUE what Excel-Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) was about and just how VERY different it was from anything he knew.
This is one tendency I’ve noticed in many people who feel they are IT expert or savvy in this part of the world. They readily assume they know what you do, and will often claim they can do it better than you.
What I do however know is that most of those I have met lack the needed MENTAL discipline to commit the needed time and effort to acquire the needed training to be able to do what I do.
And that is what gives me the edge to stay more than one step ahead of them.
For those who learn from me, or who use the apps I build, the article below provides useful insights to help you educate and inform any such persons you may come across.
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What is Excel-VB?
What Is Excel-VB?
Microsoft Excel is a powerful tool for recording, re-organising, analysing and presenting information. By Excel VB, I refer to Excel VBA – where VBA means Visual Basic for Applications(VBA). VBA refers to the highly extensive and flexible macro programming language developed by Microsoft for use in their MS office applications – Word, Power Point, etc.
VBA is therefore different from the Standalone Visual Basic program used(by conventional programmers) for developing “standalone” or “executable” (.exe) software applications – though it borrows many of the latter’s features.
Think of Excel VBA as being the standalone Visual Basic software built into Excel for the benefit of Excel users/developers who are not traditional-minded programmers, but who are keen to exert more control over the application to enhance user productivity.
So, Excel VB offers any interested persons the necessary tools to make the application deliver more functionality. The final product is still an Excel document, but with extra functionalities added using VBA..
[Tayo Solagbade’s comment: If you’re not doing Shameless Self-Promotion (I call it “SSP” for short), you are short-changing yourself BIG TIME in your business marketing. This excellent Copyblogger article explains why SSP works, and how to do it] Here are some excerpts:
The Art of Shameless Self-Promotion”So self-adulation is something I try to stay away from. But self promotion? That’s a whole different story.If you take a look at the most successful (or talked about) people in any field, you’ll almost always see someone incredibly talented in the art of self-promotion….If you implement this plan successfully, you’ll probably take some flak. People might label you over-confident or cocky.That’s good. Define yourself in such a way that people either love you or hate you.There are fans out there for every self-promoter. Your task is to find them. That, and to make it easy for them to bring a friend.Your ideas need you. If you have a vision, don’t let anyone stand in your way.”Read the full article at:http://www.copyblogger.com/shameless-self-promotion/
[Quick Take-Away: This article is a gold-mine of information. For me, the experience based tips in it confirm the most important point I always emphasize to people about negotiating – which is that is NOT the same as “haggling”. The former involves people interacting based on empathy, while the latter is typically driven mainly by win-lose, selfish interests.]
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15 Negotiation Tips From People Who Always Get Their Way
Negotiating can be intimidating. Uncomfortable. Even embarrassing in some cases.
Inveterate negotiator Niraj Jetly concedes that he can reach that extreme. “I think my son is embarrassed when I negotiate,” says Jetly, chief operating officer of NutriSavings, which helps companies educate employees about healthy eating. But that won’t stop him. “My only unconquered frontier is negotiating the college fee. I plan to try. We’ll see if I’m successful.”
Jetly learned negotiation techniques at Harvard Business School but found that taking the techniques into the real world was a whole other learning curve. Outside the ivy-covered walls, Jetly quickly realized even the best techniques won’t work unless administered in an environment of empathy. “It’s about building trust, nudging people in the right direction, and giving people space to move at their own pace.”
Below are links to some past articles I’ve published that I give out to farm CEOs who reach out to me – with my best wishes. No strings attached I.e it’s NOT designed to get you to buy from me.
These articles explain various aspects of what I call a BOPMS (Best Operating Process Management System)™ – or at least mentioned the need for it, towards achieving consistent farm business performance.
1. Story: After Resolving Layers Feeding Problems, Selling Increased Eggs Output Became a Headache! |
If you have (or plan to have) kids that go on to have empowering and fulfilling relationships in their personal and work lives, I recommend you STOP and read this article. It’s based on text transcript excerpts I prepared from a TV Talk show on Domestic Violence, featuring a Psychotherapist specializing in domestic abuse.
[A word of caution before you begin reading or acting on what you read or watch in the rest of this piece: This is another in my Best Practice Parenting series. The information offered is to guide your efforts in parenting your kids.
However, only an adult who is competent in handling him/herself in relationships, can be reasonably expected to be able to empower his/her kids to do the same.
So, if you struggle with the abuse issues raised here (be you the abuser, or the abused), I recommend you follow the tips offered by the expert (and others) to help yourself, so you can be better enabled to help your kids.
As the saying goes, “You cannot give what you don’t have!“]. Now read on….!
The real life male caller to this show was somebody’s son – and he apparently had been suffering in a marital relationship, because he did NOT know what to do.
I do NOT want my child to ever have to wait to call in on a TV show, to get help to get free from abuse of any kind. What if no such show even exists where s/he lives?
In my adult life, I have both witnessed and experienced abuse – including vicious verbal, emotional as well as physical kinds. So I KNOW how damaging it can be. What has saved me from being ruined by my exposure to those potentially traumatizing experiences has been the powerful physical and mental stamina I developed and nurtured all through my adult life.
It is what has always protected me, and kept me from ever going under, till I freed myself from the abuser.
That’s why as a parent, I am DETERMINED to coach my kids to develop their own mental toughness as well.
They will learn to do so, with regard to making the right choices of friends, and partners to relate with, and how to MANAGE those relationships to experience the healthiest physical, and emotional existence possible.
You owe yourself and your kids a similar obligation – and this TV show’s message provides a useful starting point.
Text transcript of excerpts from the show
Janelle So [Kababayan@la18.tv, 8/10/2010 4:46:07 PM]: All your questions about domestic violence being addressed today, on the show, with Dr. Jill Marie – a psychotherapist. She’s written a lot of books about domestic violence and we’ll talk a little bit about that also today.
But for now, let’s go to the phone lines, because the phone lines are burning. So many people want to call.
It’s okay if you want to call anonymously, we’ll still get your phone call.
Ehm. we have an anonymous call – a male caller. Hello and welcome to the show!
Anonymous male caller: Yes, hello, ehm…I would like to speak to a doctor(indistinct)
Janelle So: Yes, go ahead
Anonymous male caller: Okay, my name is Kotey, and I am in relationship, and er, my wife, sometime(s) she tell(s) me very mean thing(s), and sometime(s) she beat(s) me and she tell(s) me mean thing(s) like I have big nose and she make fun of my english. And she says if I report her to the authorities that she (will) take away my children. So I, I, I (don’t) know what to do.
Janelle So: Thank you
Dr. Jill Marie (Psychotherapist/Author): Well I’m really glad he called because we really shouldn’t think that this is all males abusing females. Females can be very abusive to men. They can be abusive physically and they can be abusive emotionally. And Janelle, these threats that this gentleman just talked about, that his wife is making, are emotional and verbal abuse.
And so….
…The title of my 3rd book is “But He Never Hit Me”, and I want people to understand that it is not “just” emotional abuse, or “just” verbal abuse. Those are crippling, crippling, abuses. A lot of times people ask me, what’s worse? Emotional Abuse or Physical Abuse? As if one is okay, which they are not. If I had to choose, I would say…
Watch the video below to for the full responses and advice given by the psychotherapist guest on the show.
Do this for YOUR own sake, and especially for YOUR kids, and other loved ones who may benefit from getting the powerful insights provided by this expert.
It is my considered opinion that ALL adults MUST make the effort to equip themselves, as well as male and female kids they have, with the know-how to DEAL effectively with, and protect themselves against ANY form of abuse by others, be they members of the same or opposite sex.
I’m working on a new service to be offered via TayoSolagbade.com in which I will offer a monthly updated compilation of informative, and educative resources on “Protecting Yourself from and Succeeding In Spite of Domestic Abuse” from various sources that I will diligently research.
In this week’s issue of the Farm CEO newspaper, I feature 3 articles discussing possible ways Extension solutions can evolve to better meet the needs of farm businesses. Especially in the area of data recording, analysis and report generation automation, towards achieving timely and cost-saving decision making.
In this article, I discuss two major challenges that many farm CEOs face that tend to limit their ability to deliver a consistent quality of balanced feed to their livestock – especially in Nigeria/Africa. 1. Poor Feed Compounding Know-How Apart […]
Findings from a 2013 questionnaire survey I conducted of Farm CEOs in Nigeria, for an international agribusiness paper I was engaged to write revealed 55.6% bought commercial feed (from “2 sources” or “anywhere they can find”). 66.7% of that percentage said their animals’ performances varied noticeably with different sources of feed. Their farm output tended […]
Rising prices of major feed ingredients like Maize, Fish Meal and Soya beans plus dangers associated with aflatoxin complications in use of groundnut cake, have driven many farm business owners to explore alternative feed ingredients. But in doing so, they also have to enter uncharted territory. Locally available ingredients which are often cheaper, typically tend […]
This week I refer members of my Excel Heaven Visual Basic Automation Club to an excellent article (by By Jorge A. Gomez) that discusses key VBA programming terms that one needs to understand, in order to succeed in developing useful VBA applications.
Like I continue to emphasize to my club members, I believe in exposing those learning from me (via the home study tutorials I send them) to the work of as many other competent experts as I can find, so they get the benefit of insights from a wide variety of perspectives.
This, in my experience will boost their abilities to develop flexibility in their creativity, when developing their own unique solutions for clients.
My success in developing a unique range of custom Excel-VB software that I sell for passive income, to buyers within and outside Africa derives from my own exposure to similar influences.
So you’ve created your first (or your first few) Excel macro(s), perhaps by following these 7 easy steps to create a macro. By now, your colleagues are already looking at you like you’re a wizard.That is a great sign that you’re on a good way to learning macros and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA).
However…
Being able to create a basic macro in Excel is only the beginning in the process to become a really efficient and productive user of macros and VBA. If you really want to unleash the power of these tools, you must learn VBA due to the fact that, among others, recording a macro sometimes simply doesn’t “cut it”.
…a multi-disciplinary blog for people passionate about reaching their goals!
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