OPPORTUNITY: YOUR BEST FRIEND?

OPPORTUNITY: YOUR BEST FRIEND?

Hello friend, I visited a friend nearby who owned a company. I had not seen this friend or his company in about 4 months. I noticed that his company had grown in a short while. As we spoke I also noticed his knowledge had increased and his level of thinking had improved. I wondered what he had done to achieve this; and the answer came from what he said: “I loved moving from my house to my office and vice versa via bikes because it was faster for me, but when the restriction of bike was effected by the government, I was forced to enter a bus, however the bus is a lot slower because of the heavy traffic so I utilize the opportunity to read at least 2 pages to a chapter of a book every time to my place of work and another minimum of 2 pages from my place of work to my house while in the bus. However I couldn’t do this when plying the road on a bike. After getting home on the bike I would be too tired to read or something would distract me and on getting to the office, I would be too busy to read”.    It now dawned on me that this friend of mine saw an opportunity to improve himself in a “set back” instead of complaining and feeling annoyed like most people would. He turned it to his favour. By definition, an opportunity is a favourable time, occasion or period to do something or achieve a goal. It can also be defined as a chance for promotion or favourable or advantageous circumstance.

If opportunity is good, why do we miss our opportunities? Simple, because we do not know or recognize our opportunities when we see them.

“Opportunity usually is not noticed because it comes dressed in overalls and it comes as work”-  Thomas Edison.

Facts About opportunities:

1) Opportunities are everywhere and always facing us every day: I mean let’s check this out, you wake up every day and you see problems; these are opportunities. And solving these problems helps you to be promoted or to make money. I remember a young man in my country that was trying to study abroad but could not raise the funds. He was at home one day and he saw a foreigner trying to teach his son how to ride a bicycle, but he couldn't (a problem). So this young man volunteered to help the foreigner teach his son and within minutes the boy was riding his bicycle (a solution). The foreigner was so happy with the young man; he decided to help the young man school abroad in the foreigner’s country with all expenses paid by the foreigner. Why? Because the young man saw an opportunity not a problem.   

2) Opportunities sometimes come in seasons: Look at life for instance. You wake up in the morning and you go to bed in the night. You have morning season and night season. Seasons come and go but some of them return but some never and some take a very long time, decades or even centuries. A good example is your childhood. You will always be a child once; and after that you will never be a child again. You are an adult and there is nothing you can do about it. If you did not enjoy your childhood years by playing with toys and running around then it is too late to do that. There is a particular comet called Halley’s Comet that you see once in a life time.

3) Opportunities are sometimes not obvious and come from the least likely areas and sources. No wonder the great inventor Thomas Edison once said:” Opportunities usually not noticed by people because they come in overalls dressed as work.

4) Avoid places and people that will not offer you opportunities: A wise man once said that I do not go where I am tolerated; I only go where I am celebrated or needed.

5) Opportunities can be created: In the fifteenth century (1666/1667), Isaac Newton was at home, because his school Cambridge University had been closed down for one solid year due to an outbreak of a plague, while at home, instead of wasting his time, he created an opportunity by working on the experiments that later made him the world renowned scientist that he is now. Newton created an opportunity where there seemed to be none.

Final word: Opportunities are everywhere, use it now and don’t procrastinate. You’ll be effective.

May be continued later………  

Final Word: When opportunity encounters preparation, success is inevitable.

D.A. Ayo.  

D.A. Ayo is a Medical doctor by training and management consultant, professional speaker, trainer and a coach specifically in the area of soft skills, personal effectiveness and personal transformation in different aspects of life and leadership.

Contact:

e-mail: To get in touch with D.A.AYO send your mails to  da4j@yahoo.com or gloriousda@yahoo.com

Facebook: D.a.  Ayo

Twitter: D.A.AYO@DAAYO2                                     

IRREFUTABLE FACTS OF SUCCESS/LIFE

IRREFUTABLE FACTS OF SUCCESS

In every person, creature and living thing is the desire to succeed. Yet a lot of people still fail. Why? Possibly linked to the ignorance about these irrefutable facts.                 What is the meaning of irrefutable?  This means something that is true and must be accepted.

FACT 1: EVERYONE WAS CREATED TO SUCCEED: There is no manufacturer that goes into the factory to manufacture something that does not work. Let’s think about it, a manufacturer of a new car will not go out to manufacture a car that will be stagnant.

FACT 2 THERE IS NOTHING CALLED LUCK:  Any successful person was not lucky. What we call luck is when opportunity meets  preparation.  The funny thing is that when people are preparing, no one sees them but when they succeed, that is when the whole world notices. I know the question you’ll be asking is D.A. what about lottery winners? Well the so called lottery winners too have applied some laws that have made them winners. There are more than 5 laws that they have obeyed before winning the lottery. One of them is “the law of belief”. The lottery winner believed that he could win and that was why he participated in the lottery in the first place. Another law is the “Law of Action” which he applied by going out to buy the ticket. So there is no such thing as luck in success.

FACT 3: YOUR DESIRE TO SUCCEED IS A PROOF THAT YOU CAN SUCCEED:                      It’s a known fact that if something does not exist or does not have the capability of existing, you’ll not desire it; e.g. if the is no north pole then birds will not fly there, if man could not fly then the Wright brothers would not have desired the existence of a plane. If radio could not exist then Marconi would not have invented it, if a phone could not exist then Alexander Graham bell would not have desired its existence. Not everybody has your desire to succeed. Every successful person started with a desire and they nurtured and nourished that desire to succeed until it became a reality.  So do the same with your positive desires.

FACT 4: IF YOU WANT TO SUCCEED, YOU MUST PAY THE PRICE. I traveled”decide what you want in life and PAY the price”. Everything in your life will remain static until you act on it. Supposing you lock up your room for five years and nobody could gain access to it to clean it. Would it be looking great or worse? So success is available but it is not free.

out of the country to Dubai in United Arab Emirates. I went to a mall called Dubai mall. I saw so many beautiful things that I desired but I could not afford. So after spending 4 hours there, I left empty handed. I now asked myself many years later why I left empty handed. I discovered that it was because I could not pay the price for the goods. It now also dawned on me that anything that I love or desired that I do not have is because I’ve not paid the price for it. In the school of success, anything you do not have is because you have not paid the price. And the price is sometimes work. H.L. Hunt, a multibillionaire who was a broke cotton farmer at 32years of age and was earning $3million at 56 years of age  every day and was earning $5million every day at 76years was interviewed and asked what the secret of success was, and he said

FACTS 5: NOBODY CAN MAKE YOU FAIL OR SUCCEED WITHOUT YOUR PERMISSION: Another way to say this is that you are responsible for your own life. Mike Murdock says What you permit you must not complain about”.

Final thought: I’m sure with these points rightly applied you will be able to succeed anywhere on earth.

Yours in Transformation: D.A. Ayo.

D.A. Ayo is a Medical Doctor turned Management Consultant, Professional Speaker, Trainer and a Coach specifically in the areas of personal effectiveness/transformation in different aspects of life and leadership.

 Contact: Phone: +2348034709985 or +2348179032946.

e-mail: To get in touch with D.A.AYO send your mails to  da4j@yahoo.com  or gloriousda@yahoo.com

Facebook: D.a.  Ayo

Twitter: @DAAYO2

D.A.AYO

@DAAYO2

THE STORY OF THE WOOD CUTTER

THE STORY OF THE WOOD CUTTER

Hello Friends,
Can you sit back and read this short note.
Once upon a time, a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant and he got it. The pay was really good and so was the work condition. For those reasons, the woodcutter was determined to do his best.
 
His boss gave him an axe and showed him the area where he supposed to work.
 
The first day, the woodcutter brought 18 trees.
 
“Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way!”
 
Very motivated by the boss words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, but he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder, but he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing less and less trees.
 
“I must be losing my strength”, the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, saying that he could not understand what was going on.
 
“When was the last time you sharpened your axe?” the boss asked.
 
“Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees…”
 
 
 
Reflection:
 
Our lives are like that. We sometimes get so busy that we don’t take time to sharpen the “axe”. In today’s world, it seems that everyone is busier than ever, but less happy that ever.
 
Why is that? Could it be that we have forgotten how to stay “sharp”? There’s nothing wrong with activity and hard work. But we should not get so busy that we neglect the truly important things in life, like our personal life, taking time to get close to our Creator, giving more time for our family, taking time to read etc.
 
We all need time to relax, to think and meditate, to learn and grow. If we don’t take the time to sharpen the “axe”, we will become dull and lose our effectiveness.

Remember that personal income is often dependent on personal development and not the other way round. 

Ways to develop yourself personally:

•        Attend professional conferences.

•        Attend seminars and training conferences.

•        Pursue advanced academic degrees.

•        Read professional journals.

•        Read newsletters and books like you’re doing now.

     Mingle or Relate with people that are smarter than you.

     Practise what you've learnt 

You will be transformed.

D.A. Ayo is a Medical doctor turned management consultant, professional speaker, trainer and a coach specifically in the area of personal effectiveness in different aspects of life and leadership.

 Contact: Phone: +2348034709985 or +2348179032946.

e-mail: To get in touch with D.A.AYO send your mails to  da4j@yahoo.com dafidiayo234@gmail.com

Facebook: D.a.  Ayo

Twitter: D.A.AYO@DAAYO2

D.A.AYO

@DAAYO2

THE POWER OF IGNORING

It was a Saturday and I was busy shopping somewhere in a busy market. I had bought some things and I put them in a big bag. Suddenly I heard two loud voices shouting that I had dropped my things from the bag on the floor. I looked at the floor; I saw nothing and they started laughing. Few minutes later the same thing happened and these two men started laughing at me again. It now dawned on me that they were playing a prank on me and trying to make me look foolish. I moved to a shop close to where these young men were, and they did same thing but this time my response was different. I totally ignored them. I pretended as if they did not exist. The first thing that happened was that they were quiet. When I came out of the store, they had vanished. I realized from that moment that there is power in ignoring your slanderers, oppositions, detractors, enemies and any one that will not add value to you but only wants to devalue you.

Yes sometimes it’s good to reply anyone insulting you or trying to pull you down, but usually you must remember that only people that are down will want to pull others down. And hence life is too short to spend with people that are already down and wishing that you will join them. WHY?!!! Because 80% of the time they don’t count and they are inferior to you.

A world renowned and much sought after speaker narrated his experience in the hands of some brutal critics when he was starting. He said his critics would criticise him and he would reply them in annoyance. But his critics never gave up but continued to attack him. It now got to a point where it started affecting his level of confidence to the point that he had to see a Psychologist.                                                                               The psychologist told him to ignore his critics and face his job. The psychologist told him that the reason why his critics had power to criticise him was that he was replying them and that immediately he ignored them, his critics would become powerless and would stop criticising him. Sure enough, his critics stopped immediately he ignored them.                                                                                                           Friends listen “If you mind opposition, you will lose your position and if you mind your position and ignore your opposition, the opposition will lose their position”.

Final thought: Life is full of choices. And the choices you make will determine your outcome; if you fail in life, your detractors will talk. And if you succeed in life, your detractors will also talk. But it is better to ignore your critics and detractors and succeed in life; because when you succeed, your success will shut the mouths of all your critics and detractors.

Yours in transformation effectiveness and leadership.

D.A. Ayo. 

D.A. Ayo is a Medical doctor by training and management consultant, professional speaker, trainer and a coach specifically in the area of soft skills, personal transformation, personal effectiveness and leadeship  in different aspects of life and leadership.

 Contact: Phone: +2348034709985 or +2348179032946.

e-mail: To get in touch with D.A.AYO send your mails to  da4j@yahoo.com or gloriousda@yahoo.com

Facebook: D.a.  Ayo

Twitter: D.A.AYO@DAAYO2                                     

THE POWER OF IGNORING BY D.A. AYO

It was a Saturday and I was busy shopping somewhere in a busy market. I had bought some things and I put them in a big bag. Suddenly I heard two loud voices shouting that I had dropped my things from the bag on the floor. I looked at the floor; I saw nothing and they started laughing. Few minutes later the same thing happened and these two men started laughing at me again. It now dawned on me that they were playing a prank on me and trying to make me look foolish. I moved to a shop close to where these young men were, and they did same thing but this time my response was different. I totally ignored them. I pretended as if they did not exist. The first thing that happened was that they were quiet. When I came out of the store, they had vanished.                                                        I realised from that moment that there is power in ignoring your slanderers, oppositions, detractors, enemies and any one that will not add value to you but only wants to devalue you.

Yes sometimes it’s good to reply anyone insulting you or trying to pull you down, but usually you must remember that only people that are down will want to pull others down. And hence life is too short to spend with people that are already down and wishing that you will join them. WHY?!!! Because 80% of the time they don’t count and they are inferior to you.

A world renowned and much sought after speaker narrated his experience in the hands of some brutal critics when he was starting. He said his critics would criticise him and he would reply them in annoyance. But his critics never gave up but continued to attack him. It now got to a point where it started affecting his level of confidence to the point that he had to see a Psychologist.                                                                               The psychologist told him to ignore his critics and face his job. The psychologist told him that the reason why his critics had power to criticise him was that he was replying them and that immediately he ignored them, his critics would become powerless and would stop criticising him. Sure enough, his critics stopped immediately he ignored them.                                                                                                                                           Friends listen “If you mind opposition, you will lose your position and if you mind your position and ignore your opposition, the opposition will lose their position”.

Final thought: Life is full of choices. And the choices you make will determine your outcome; if you fail in life, your detractors will talk. And if you succeed in life, your detractors will also talk. But it is better to ignore your critics and detractors and succeed in life; because when you succeed, your success will shut the mouths of all your critics and detractors.

Yours in effectiveness and leadership

D.A. Ayo.  

D.A. Ayo is a Medical doctor by training and management consultant, professional speaker, trainer and a coach specifically in the area of soft skills, personal effectiveness and personal transformation in different aspects of life and leadership.

 Contact: Phone: +2348034709985 or +2348179032946.

e-mail: To get in touch with D.A.AYO send your mails to  da4j@yahoo.com or gloriousda@yahoo.com

Facebook: D.a.  Ayo

Twitter: D.A.AYO@DAAYO2                                     

THE DENTIST AND THE LITTLE BOY

THE DENTIST AND THE LITTLE BOY                                                                                                                                       

A man once took his ten year old son to the dentist to have his tooth removed. When he got to the dentist’s clinic, the dentist took him to the theater and told the father to wait outside.

While they were inside the dentist started shouting at the boy and the dentist was so mean that he did not allow the anaesthetic agent to take its full effect in the boy’s mouth before yanking out the decayed tooth from the boy’s gum. The excruciating pain made the boy to scream but the father could not hear him. The Dentist still did not have mercy on the boy; instead he continued to criticize the boy. The boy left not only with severe physical and mental pain but with the memory of the pain.

About 22 years later the boy, now a full grown man had another decayed tooth that needed to be removed. He still remembered the ordeal he had with the dentist when he was ten years old and now he wanted to know if the dentist had changed so he started looking the same dentist to help him remove his tooth but he could not find him. He later discovered that the dentist was now old and hence had retired. For continuity he handed over to a younger dentist whom he trained and mentored.                                                                                                                                                     This young man who was the boy the old Dentist had been nasty to when he was young now went to meet the younger Dentist to have his tooth removed. But contrary to his expectation, the new dentist was nice and he successfully removed the man’s tooth without any pain. The young man was very happy, and he now narrated his ordeal with the older dentist (the young dentist’s trainer/mentor). He asked the young dentist one question; “Unlike your mentor who painfully removed my tooth and with lack of consideration for me, how come your style and method of tooth removal is so humane and painless? Is it that you studied in a better Dental school than your mentor or your grades were better in dental schoo”l?  The younger Dentist smiled and said; “No, the schools I went to are inferior to my mentors own and so were my grades compared to his own. The only difference is that I have sat on that chair before as a patient and I have experienced the pain of having my tooth pulled out but my mentor hasn’t.”

Morale: Don’t be quick to judge anyone especially if you have not been in their shoes.                                                                                                                                                     Also remember that because a person has done something does not mean she/he deserves to be punished always.

From your friend in releasing your effectiveness: D.A.Ayo.

D.A. Ayo

D.A. Ayo is a Medical doctor turned management consultant, professional speaker, trainer and a coach specifically in the area of personal effectiveness in different aspects of life and leadership.

 Contact: Phone: +2348034709985 or +2348179032946.

e-mail: To get in touch with D.A.AYO send your mails to  da4j@yahoo.com or gloriousda@yahoo.com

Facebook: D.a.  Ayo

Twitter: D.A.AYO@DAAYO2