[NB: This Personal Philosophy paper was originally e-published via  SpontaneousDevelopmentDotCom (now defunct) on 27th March 2003/Revised on 27th December 2006 by Tayo Solagbade – Founder SDAc]

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It rarely happens anymore, what with my increasing name/brand recognition for what I do…but several years ago, it happened fairly often. I mean people calling me a “Motivational Speaker/Author” – based on aspects of of my writing or learning events they were exposed to.

But whenever it happened (or happens), I made (or make)  a point of promptly correcting the person, by stating that I am a Self-Development Educator/Performance Improvement Specialist.

So, what’s the difference, you ask?

In this paper I explain why calling me a Motivational Speaker would be most inaccurate and potentially deny those who can benefit from me (possibly persons you care about!) the opportunity to discover that I can help them.

Yes, there is a motivational dimension to what I do, but my basic aim is to help people achieve Mental Emancipation™, by (re-) orienting them about what they (think they) know; how they see themselves/their society; and what they believe they can (or cannot) do.

You could in fact call it “Philosophical Re-Orientation”.

The unusual titles of many of my Talks and Information Products (e.g [NEW BOOK with Optional MP3 Audio files] Ten (10) ‘Storyfied’ Yoruba Proverbs for Children – Goes Live from 8th January 2015 at www.lulu.com/sdaproducts | SD Nuggets™ ) support my claims.

I have gained deep insight into the socio-cultural situation in Nigeria, and wish to share my ideas with others. My objective is to influence people to positively change the way they think/act towards getting what they want in life. That’s why I also describe my role as that of a Social Change Agent.

We all (should?) take time to reflect on our experiences, and develop our own philosophies about life.

We should also be unafraid to voice/discuss them with others, even if they differ from what the majority hold to be true. This is especially important, if our ideas can help others.

It is my considered opinion that many harmful myths, values etc are held in our society today, causing major damage to the self-perception of the average Nigerian

I believe that correcting this damage will enable many Nigerians (re)discover themselves, and achieve more personal successes to the overall benefit of our country.

You can help an individual become motivated to achieve success in a chosen area of life, but if the wrong “education” about himself/his society is not corrected by helping him re-think or unlearn certain things, his chances of achieving sustainable successes are limited.

The phrase “know yourself” becomes relevant here.

Many Nigerians – motivated or not – do not know themselves. For instance, many believe the only way to get respect is to have a white man as a friend…Or to be based in “Jand”(i.e. overseas), and visit Nigeria every once in a while.

I have worked with white people (from England/South Africa etc), right here in Nigeria. Some expressed unease with how most Nigerians treated them “special” for no obvious reasons.

A few wondered why we treated ourselves shabbily/with contempt! Our own Fela once sang “Let us think say, Oyinbo no good pass me”(translation: “Let us stop thinking the White man is better than us“). I guess most of us heard the music, but didn’t listen to the lyrics!

In certain ways, I see myself as a non-singing ideological equivalent of Fela Anikulapo Kuti. Through his lyrics, I discovered myself, and became passionately proud of being Black, Nigerian and African. (I named my first son after Fela, for this/his other good sides). My objective is to help others achieve similar Self-Discovery.

Think about Fela’s messages and you’ll find that just as he entertained with good vibes, he also motivated and often educated his listeners. For example he once sang about the white colonialists:

“…Na we open dem eyes. Na five hundred years slavery cause am. Dem meet us we dey do plenty things. I say we teach dem plenty things. No be me talk am, na books dey talk am. No be the yeye books you dey read, for the yeye school for your town. Na those colonial books from dat London..”

(translation: “We were the ones who opened their eyes. Five hundred years of slavery caused it. They found us doing many things. I say we taught them many things. It is not I who said it. It’s the books that say it. Not the rubbish books you read, in the rubbish school in your town. It’s those colonial history books in London..“).

So “Who” is a Self-Development Educator? And how does a Self-Development Educator differ from a Motivational Speaker? Here’s my personal definition of a Self-Development Educator:

A person who provides practical information about what people can do by themselves for themselves to achieve their goals in life.

Specifically, he/she will consider 2 major aspects to developing/empowering people: (a) Motivational – I help people see/believe they can achieve goals they set for themselves in life. (b) Educational – I actively challenge, (what I consider) any limiting sets of values, belief systems etc they hold, deriving from their environment or elsewhere.

I tell them why it is important to be Self-Educated and Emancipated Thinkers™, if they wish to empower themselves to achieve sustainable successes. Lastly, I SHOW them(through articles, special reports, talks, coaching programs and other learning events) – often using lessons from my experiences, and other real-life case studies – HOW TO empower themselves to go about pursuing their set goals in a way that increases their chances of success.

In showing people how to empower themselves, I work hard to make them INDEPENDENT of me, by helping them develop confidence in their own abilities to come up with solutions that work for them.

For instance in my article titled “A System That Can Produce Millionaire African Writers” (which has been read over 5,600 times since I republished it on this blog back in May 2014), I provided an example of how my adopted approach benefits the larger society:

“It is my strong conviction that empowerment of individuals to be multi-skilled, independent minded creatives, who are able to leverage technology and the Internet in ways that require little or no capital, for the purpose of offering value adding products and services for which they will paid, is the most realistic, and viable solution for Africans living in Africa. Adopting Print-On-Demand Self-Publishing as proposed in this article is one way individual Africans can easily adapt foreign ideas to achieve financial independence – and prosperity for their countries.” – Tayo K. Solagbade

Still think it’s all motivational?

Then why not read more of my articles or attend one of my learning events, and then decide afterwards.

Even better, you can actually take me up one-on-one on this issue – by sending me a message.

I look forward to “meeting” you!