Personal Growth: Getting Out of Your Way

Once again it is a pleasure much cherished, to share with amazing people like you some of my thoughts. Thoughts I think would change your thinking and possibly your life. I’m made to understand that I am to speak on the topic: personal growth going all out. Well you must all understand that growth has to do with increase in value, capacity or size. In other words as humans you are expected to make progress and increase in whatever capacity you are functioning in. Little wonder one of the characteristics that makes us up as mammals is Growth remember MR NIGER DA in your Biology class? I also need to bring to your knowledge one obvious fact and that is whatever does not grow dies. That is the reason a dead person can't increase in capacity but rather decompose in other words reduce in capacity of state of existence or being. Some of you may have stop growing in size but I tell you there are still signs and evidence of growth in you. Take for an instance your finger nails and for the guys your hair, and since nature have made this point quite glaring, we as humans can't help but experience growth in all ramification either as individuals or a group.

Let me drive my point home, when people who knew you five years ago get to meet you do they notice any difference? I don't mean in size and looks, I’m talking about your intellectual capacity, I’m talking about your achievements and feats. Can I tell you something? The world will never celebrate your similarities with others

I needed that point to sink in

Now here is the icing of the cake. To get out of your way as the topic so beautifully puts it you need to go against the norm. Of the over seven billion people in the world a little above 1,700 are billionaires and it is so because they do differently what every other person does similarly. Truth be told it is not so difficult getting to that point if you will only do what they do and I will tell you some of the things they do.

They read a lot don’t forget Readers are leaders. The beauty about reading is that it affords me the opportunity to live someone's entire life in a matter of hours. By reading the biography of Aliko Dangote, I don't need to live 30 years of his life to get to where he is now; it spares me the pain of his errors. Ladies and gentlemen you find amazing ideas when you read and the reality of your ignorance begins to dawn on you.

Another thing you ought to do is become an enemy of the norm. In your pursuit for personal growth think of ways to do things differently because whatever you see possible today was once deem impossible. Here is my thought; I think Knowledge is like water, you never get enough of it no matter how much of it you have had.

I needed to add that

Still speaking of the norm, who remembers the second man who went to the moon? I doubt if anybody here does but we all remember the first man who did it. I will tell you a quick story. In 2016 my team and I hosted the first TED talk event in Kaduna. In 2017 another group of people hosted another TED talk, but I still get calls about the event because virtually everyone thought I was the one hosting it, though our TED talk comes up in October. You have to strive to be that one person that is determined to view things differently.


Another thing you need to take into cognizance is the network of your friends. Take it or leave it, your friends either make or mare you, they help you to develop or kill you. If among your friends you are the wisest I think it is my to change your network of friends because they are suppose to challenge you to go beyond your present state to go beyond your limitations. Growth as an individual is a deliberate effort; it is not wishful thinking, that is why you must be determined and thankfully so in our last training we talked about goal setting and achievements.

If you know about chemistry, try to scale up to know about literature, if you are sound in business management strive to be knowledgeable in financial management. Task your capacity and GO BEYOND YOUR LIMIT because one thing that is constant in life is change and so we need to change with the times by developing ourselves.

Attend seminars, workshops, training, learn from those who are ahead of you in life, don’t be hostile to criticism because what doesn't kill you makes you stronger and better. Do a routine check/an evaluation of your life and aim to keep getting better on a regular basis. Ascertain what is the global standard of whatever it is you do and see if you measure up, for instance if you make furniture and it doesn't look like what is obtainable globally then you are living in mediocrity. This very much reminds me of a rhyme we used to recite in Nursery school:

Good better best, I will never rest
Until my good is better I shall never rest

Ladies and gentlemen I want to believe that I have been able to challenge us tonight, the biggest room in the world is the room for improvement, and there is always a better you and a better way of doing things.

Thank you for your time

I want to thank the leadership of this great house for the opportunity to share with you all, I want to encourage you all to stop at nothing in becoming the best you can be.

God bless us all

Online Training Session held in JCI YABATECH online Forum by
Enyinnaya Iroadumba Chairman and CEO Beacon Group Nigeria

Date: 10/5/2017

Courtesy: JCIN

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