Shatta Wale II: A walking paradox

After my last article on the self-proclaimed dancehall King, founder, leader and life patron of the Shatta Movement(SM), I thought it will be fair to know the man a bit more. Something in his temperament and upbringing must account for his lifestyle. I left a half an hour conversation with a close confidant of his convinced that he was not merely an attention seeker. He is in fact a perfectly good man with an emotional intelligence deficiency worsened by the badman ideology.

According to the source, he is in fact the shy type. He extremely introverted with an incredible capacity for showing respect to others. He is described an extremely generous and self-sacrificing beyond reason individual. He is also very trusting and quite dependent on the people he loves and trust. Quite a contrast you might think—perhaps.  But this personality is not a very rare one per se. Such persons who easily sacrifice themselves and trust others tend to expect the same treatment from others. In our beloved Ghana, you don’t get a lot of that kind of integrity and hence disappointment is the other of the day. The self-sacrificing individual suffers.

Temperaments like his; possibly melancholic is a bit of an extremist. They are either being too nice or reacting too violently. This violence whiles not their nature results from the depth of emotions. This character is also a deep thinker and we know that actions are the result of thoughts. In between is the emotional alarm system that warns us. Deep thinking begets extreme actions and the individual appears unrestrained. Yet those who are close will tell you what wonderful person they are by nature.

In Shatta’s case, he may need a good understanding of his temperament and the reason why he behaves the way he does. He must also understand the nature of his environment and learn to accept how it works. So that he will be clear on how he fits into it and how he can influence it with what his has towards an achievement of his goals. He must also understand that he is influenced by the dancehall culture which is to a large extent abusive and violent. This makes his extremism even worse. Yet he can control himself from the thought level but only if he understands enough.

He must finally realize that what he does on a daily basis will culminate into his larger life and therefore the amount of positives he accumulates in the seconds and the hours are what will determine if his life is a positive or negative one. Shatta Movement like most tools in the hand of individuals is like a knife, he can cook dinner with it or he can stab someone with it. What will be King Wale?

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Shatta Wale: Another case of self-sabotage Pt.I

I recently wrote a piece on Gifty Anti and her self-sabotage at springboard. Perhaps I should mention that these articles are not meant to attack any personality but to analysis the conduct of very visible individuals and how it affects their occupational and life performance. In effect they are performance analysis and it is hoped that readers will learn a thing or two from the situations.

Barely a fortnight after the Gift Anti article, the self-sabotage alarm bells went off again. This time, it was a bigger catch or is it. Shatta Wale have managed to get himself sued for 10 million GHS by entertainment event giant Charterhouse. Doesn’t sound good but believe me it is worse than it sounds. Even if by some miracle Charterhouse decides to drop the charges, Shatta Wale would have had a close encounter with bankruptcy barely two years after his breakthrough. It is not fun by any stretch of imagination and it could actually mean career death.

Anybody who lives in Ghana knows that Shatta Wale although extremely, talented only just started peaking after so many years of obscurity in the industry. His contemporaries; most of who are in possession of only a fraction of his talent left him behind as he struggled to gain the recognition that he truly deserves. Many years ago, I was flipping through radio stations when I heard his voice verbally assaulting an ace producer. That was the first time I heard him speak and got my own helping of his famous venom. He is not a very nice guy when he is unhappy. It takes a specific kind of person to release such insults on a well-respected public figure especially when the whole world is listening. Shatta Wale is that guy and he left no stones unturned and he dealt with Mark Okraku Mantey.

Not too long ago I started hearing his voice on X fm as a regular on a show hosted by one Mr. logic. They donned the dancehall “badman” badge and proclaimed its manifesto complete with the extreme negativity and profanity that characterizes the Jamaican dancehall. In the midst of the cacophony they called radio broadcasting, Mr. Logic constantly chanted praise to Mr. Wale as he pointed the whole world to his talent and the authenticity of his rebel mentality. He projected Wale as the true dancehall artist as he has  not only the talent but also the attitude. They had fun for a while but nothing lasts forever.

The two apparently got into a misunderstand for reasons I have not bothered to find out. But it wasn’t long before Wale’s constant appearance on xfm or perhaps the magic of Mr. logic’s management skills paid off. His Dancehall king single took the whole country by storm and before one could say Ananse; Shatta Wale is off the ground. But there was no Mr. logic with him. Then came the dis songs and the counteractions. Lyrically and musically the two were at each other’s throats and apparently it hasn’t ended.

I have deliberately decided not to mention his well know brawl with Samini for obvious reasons. It seemed Shatta Wale is not a very patient man and that in more than one way accounted for why it has taken him so long to get off the ground when talent wise he had more than it takes. I saw some of his famous videos on YouTube. The same videos that have earned him a 10 million GHS law suit and I struggled to understand what he was getting at besides the obvious burning passion to abuse charterhouse and its owners. He seemed very good at it which can only be the result of years of practice – you see being disrespectful is a mainstay of the Jamaican dancehall. They even have competitions about it. If you can’t dis, you are not cool.

Wale epitomizes the self-sabotage phenomenon- building something you treasure with a lot of hard work over a long period of time and by your own action destroying it in a day. There is no negative behavior that results in positivity and those who do not understand this little moral law tend to row against the tide when they can sail downstream aided by a strong yet gentle breeze.  But to understand these moral laws are the realm of structure. In my work I have talked extensively about the important influence of structure on content and how it is structure that determines the direction of content. Our friend in question obviously has a weak structure though he carries great content. That he is a very talented individual cannot be challenged. He generates a lot of power applying his gift but he has a problem knowing how to use this power. This is what has made it possible to use it against himself coming close to destroying everything he has built over years of struggle.

Think about it this way; when the ordinary person records a video abusing a powerful institution, it doesn’t really attract that much attention. But when a person with as much power at his disposal as the founder and life president of the SM movement does it, it attracts a law suit. So he does have power but what can he do with that power. But let’s just assume that he doesn’t understand these things; how is it that those who have a commercial interest in his work did not know better as their cash cow is on the path of self-destruction. If indeed his managers are capable, we must see a tactful handling of the matter and a resulting drastic change in behavior. Otherwise they may all need the service of a life coach who might help them answer the questions concerning how your regular activities will determine how your life will ultimately pan out.

From where I stand, Shatta has a few problems; wrong thoughts that will without fail lead to wrong behavior, lack of emotional intelligence leading to a low level of socio-emotional competence and a weak structure to manage the great content he has. A weak structure is like a cracked glass trying to hold precious water. The solution to his problems is a simple one, he needs more than his managers, he also needs a life coach.

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Your eight or so intelligence systems

Your eight or so intelligence systems

In this post I attempt to address the Howard Gardner multiple intelligence system developed by the Harvard professor of developmental psychology. In his 1983 book, "Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligence," Gardner distinguishes seven kinds of human intelligence: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, and two types of personal intelligence. He proposed that people who exhibit intelligence in one domain do not necessarily exhibit it in another. Each person's unique blend of competences produces an individual cognitive profile. This means that one may have a variety of levels on the testing matrix and this can be used to determine which field they can naturally excel in. It is a simple understanding of where you are strongest so you can put your best foot forward.

In my work as a performance coach, I have encountered many an individual who really have no idea where their strengths lie. Some are partially aware but are not sure if its worth following. This is matter that needs more attention than is often given. In the self-knowledge section of this blog, we treat other test systems that help to identify strengths to help guide you to a good choice. If one’s life enterprise is the only thing they live for then what they use to undertake this enterprise must be handled with utmost care.

I must warn however that whiles articles like this might provide a good idea of the system, it is not a good enough substitute for reading the work of its creator and Wikipedia is a good starting point. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Gardner

You must however find the book itself and read it. For those who attend our workshops however, you will receive a guidance on how to use the testing system and receive analysis and recommendations by experts. So it is prudent to attend the next SPiD-UP workshop. But if you do read the book or attend the workshop, here is a taste of what you might learn:

# 1 Musical–rhythmic and harmonic

While we all love music not all of us have the gift to create or perform it. In fact, some friends of mine are completely tone deaf. They can’t sing one song right- they just don’t have it. This area of intelligence has to do with sensitivity to sounds, rhythms, tones, and music in general. Such people are able to sing, play musical instruments, and compose music. They generally excel in music and related fields.

# 2 Visual–spatial

This area deals with spatial judgment and the ability to visualize with the mind's eye. People who are visual-spatial learners excel in the arts and sciences. They are also leaders and strategic planners who are intuitive and have the ability to see the big picture.

# 3 Verbal–linguistic
People with high verbal-linguistic intelligence display a facility with words and languages. They are typically good at reading, writing, telling stories and memorizing words along with dates. They excel is careers related to words, speaking etc as they have a natural flair for it

# 4 Logical–mathematical: This area has to do with logic, abstractions, reasoning, numbers and critical thinking. This also has to do with having the capacity to understand the underlying principles of some kind of causal system. People with this kind of intelligence excel in math and related fields. They are good at strategy games, have a mind "like a computer", enjoy science experiments, organizing things by category, Abstract thinking, looks for a rational explanations, Wonder how things work. I think I might know somebody who is heavy in this area of intelligence except the math part. They make good Scientist, Mathematician, Lawyer, Doctor, Accountant, Bookkeeper, Computer Programmer, Researcher, Financial Planner etc.

# 5 Bodily–kinesthetic

The core elements of the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence are control of one's bodily motions and the capacity to handle objects skillfully. Gardner elaborates to say that this also includes a sense of timing, a clear sense of the goal of a physical action, along with the ability to train responses. People with high bodily-kinesthetic intelligence excels in athletics, dancing,  acting. They also make good builders, police officers, and soldiers etc.

# 6 Interpersonal

This type of intelligence is characterized by a high presence of Social skills. This area has to do with interaction with others. In theory, individuals who have high interpersonal intelligence are characterized by their sensitivity to others' moods, feelings, temperaments and motivations, and their ability to cooperate in order to work as part of a group. They make good sales persons, politicians, managers, teachers, counselors and social workers.

# 7 Intrapersonal

This area has to do with introspective and self-reflective capacities. This refers to having a deep understanding of the self; what one's strengths/ weaknesses are, what makes one unique, being able to predict one's own reactions/emotions. Having this kind of intelligence as it helps one to have a deep understanding of themselves.

# 8 Naturalistic

This area has to do with nurturing and relating information to one’s natural surroundings. Examples include classifying natural forms such as animal and plant species and rocks and mountain types. This ability was clearly of value in our evolutionary past as hunters, gatherers, and farmers; it continues to be central in such roles as botanist or chef. This sort of ecological receptiveness is deeply rooted in a "sensitive, ethical, and holistic understanding" of the world and its complexities–including the role of humanity within the greater ecosphere.

Of recent times there has been discussions concerning what some refer to as spiritual intelligence. Whiles Howard Gardner himself has not committed to the idea, he has proposed an existential intelligence as a more acceptable construct. Personally, I subscribe to the idea of spiritual intelligence idea. In the the x-Gen component of the SPiD-UP® workshops we treat spiritual awareness as a full topic as we are aware of how much influence it can have on a person’s output. In Christianity it is thought to take the post of the most important intelligence system available to man.

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Man; know thyself

Self-knowledge plays a key role in performance. We have seen from the work of theorist like Maslow that high performance comes from being more of what one already is.

“Self-actualization is the intrinsic growth of what is already in the organism, or more accurately, of what the organism is”. (Psychological Review, 1949)

“A musician must make music, an artist must paint, and a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be.” (Motivation and Personality, 1954.)

When there is a lack of self-knowledge, one is likely to engage from a weak position. Many other theorists agree to this idea. Man from time immemorial has continuously made many attempts at categorizing people in the hope of explaining their capabilities. Every culture, religion and worldview recognizes that no two people are the same and as such have made attempts at identifying the strengths in people in order to ascertain which aspect of life they are meant to function in. For the individuals this knowledge can have a rather profound influence on the power of their engagement. For we are or have all been faced at some point with the question of what we must do with our lives.

Whiles this may not be such a difficult question to answer on the surface, it becomes more complex when we are looking for the vehicle that will allow us to not only engage but also be the best that is possible for us to be. This of course must determine the occupation and when we get it right, all things work out for the best; then we are on a roller-coaster ride to peak performance. We have seen of course that a quality output in our daily engagement must result in a high output in our larger lives. But the knowledge of what we are made of gives us more than an idea of what we must do or be. It is also a primary source of confidence and the highly valuable self-esteem. It engenders self-belief and we must remember that high performers start with a belief in their ability and its correlation with the task at hand. Those who have self-knowledge therefore have extremely valuable information that sets the foundation for peak performance.

Self-knowledge was so important to Plato, he is said to have made famous the expression, “know thyself”. He had it inscribed at the very entrance of his academy and ensured that all neophytes resolved the matter before learning anything else. He developed his own categorization system for people; a topic which I shall address as part of the self-knowledge section of this blog. Hopefully I shall find a way to remove all the seeds of eugenics therein.

For the forgone reasons, self-knowledge is an important part of the SPiD-UP® workshops. We use various test systems to help participants identify their strengths and weaknesses and help them align them correctly for optimum output. It is after this that they can move on to the career component of the project.

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Otabil brings structure home

I experienced a surge of inspiration this morning when I tuned in to E-TV and beheld godfather; Pastor Mensa Otabil of the International Central Gospel Church delivering with incredible insight and Biblical dexterity; the very idea that have come to form the backbone of my own thinking. Look around this blog and the one thing you cannot miss is my thoughts on structure and content. Over the years I have been put in so many different situations that have afforded me the opportunity to witness from a front row seat the effect of the imbalance that without question causes failure.

He built his case on Elijah and the poor widow (1 Kings 17:7-24) who had very little oil and but soon needed extra vessels to keep the oil that resulted from Elijah’s miracle. There was a clear analysis of what the vessels represent and what the oil they contain represent. He explained that every person carries something that is their own oil but must work towards the vessels in which it will be carried and delivered. Now that is quite significant. Elijah instructed the widow to borrow vessels from everywhere including her neighbors. This he said represented how people carried and delivered their own oils i.e.; how they do things.

He pointed out that when the vessels are weak, they will not carry the oil very well. He insisted that one needs to borrow know-how from almost everywhere but we need to take precaution regarding who we are borrowing from.  He explained that some of the seemingly successes we see around are not necessarily due to good vessels. Hence borrowing from such people might lead us down the wrong road as their vessels may be weak.

In his experience most people go to borrow the oil and not vessels. When they go to a rich man they will attempt to borrow his money (the results) and not his vessel (how he has reached that result). In our context oil is what you have by way of capability -- what you are going to engage with and vessels represent how you function as a person. When the vessel is weak, the oil leaks out and the result is not the desirable. We see again that high performance is the result of a good structure and good content. Where there is an imbalance, the result is not the best it can be. However, the influence of structure on content is quite profound and hence structure becomes the more important of the two. A number of experts on the subject agree on this. I realize this needs further explanation so I shall do another post on the matter. But imagine a highly talented individual who lack the needed discipline (discipline is an element of structure) that will help him carry his capability to the best.

Discipline will not only polish the talent; it will also manage it and deliver it. So that it is clear that the one who has a weak structure is not likely to succeed with his content and everyone has content.  For the vessel leaks and the oil does not get to serve its purpose. What we do at CSD Africa®  and project SPiD-UP® is structure education that is supposed to allow and enable the content that people have by nature and that which they have gained from formal education so that they can be complete. For more on structure, http://spid-up.blogspot.com/search/label/Theory. When a man of Pastor Otabil’s stature validates your thinking, you are inspired to do more. J For more otabil messages; https://www.youtube.com/user/motabil/videos    

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Meet Peak Performance PT III | The Emergence of Structure

This is the final part of a three part presentation. It will be useful to read the previous parts first for better understand.

In the previous parts, we saw the emergence of the two levels of performance and how the micro influences the macro. This must prompt the invocation of one of the laws of nature (a major topic of discussion in Uptimetrics®), what C.S Lewis refers to as the moral laws. Among which is the “as above, so below law” made famous by the esoteric fraternity. It is in fact the very nature of God’s creation which is no secret at all to the observing eye. By this law then, the peak experience in the moment; what I have termed occupational orgasm is only but the micro and therefore life maximization is a giant orgasm as it is the accumulation of occupational orgasms experienced on a daily basis. This is what many speakers will refer to as fulfillment or success in life or being at peace with one’s self or in our case the maximization of existence. This then must be the life goal of any entity. The postulating of a goal will require a way to reach it; for it is also the nature of things (laws of nature) that a destination will need a path. So we see that a vision will need a mission as a business objective will require a business model. The what needs a the how to be possible. This is the realm of structure which we will come to see as the master key to any possible maximization of existence.

The objective and the path to reach it form the structure that allows the process of reaching a goal to be possible in the first place. The entity then that makes use of this structure can be referred to as the content. Structure is the arrangement and order of things. Whiles it’s benefits are endless, it primarily breeds order and clarity which makes easy the identification of things. Indeed the very arrangement of the micro and the macro levels of things represent structure. Structure is present everywhere in nature. Its primary purpose is to enable the workings of content by providing a path and allowing its effort. This is why water as content needs pipes as structure to travel to a destination. Electricity will needs cables for transportation and a destination. Even radio waves needs specific frequencies on which they must travel. Cars will need roads and trains will need their tracks. The business goal will need a strategy. Thoughts will need a book to manifest.

By the forgone we see that the very nature of the structure will determine the final outcome of everything. For if the pipe leaks, pressure will be low and not enough water will reach the intended destination. It is this same pipe that determines the destination which must be reached and therefore if it changes direction, it breaks the order and water does not get to the right place. Whiles this is negative, the presence of structure makes it easy to trouble shoot one’s way to a solution. So that a broken pipe is identifiable and fixable.

Information which is what humans function on must also succumb to structure as it is the order of things (moral law). Whether man is a victim of the Tabula Rasa phenomenon or not, he must learn as he progresses along life’s journey. By observation he gains information about his environment as the structure and of himself as its primary content. He sees that the more he unites with structure the more progress he makes. By another law however, the nature of things are the same above and below, within and without. With this understanding then, the information he acquires is of two kinds; Structure information and content information.

By structure information he understands the arrangement of life itself dealing with such things as objectives and the means by which he must get there and why. The second information then is what he gains as a trade—the means by which he can engage and be of use. By this we understand then that a lawyer is lawyer only because he is in possession of information that makes one a lawyer (that could be anybody), that’s content. However what determines whether he is a good lawyer or not is dependent on how he applies this information. He needs information on how to live life effectively towards a maximization of his existence applying his legal knowledge. In fact it is structure that determines what his profession must be for it is also the nature of things that a person must follow a specific purpose to a specific end and structure information is how he comes into this understanding.

In his formal education however, he loses the balance born out of the unity of structure and content. He gains only content education (what he must engage with) at the expense of structure (how he must engage). He is not complete and this shows in his lack of understanding of his environment, himself and how the two fit together. By this lack of understanding he goes about his business conflicting with the flow of life; breaking the very moral laws that was made for his advantage. His true potential is never reached because of this conflict with structure and he never experiences the occupational orgasm we are concerned with. His performance is challenged on all levels and this affects his self-esteem.

I have used the word entity several times in this series for the convenience of easy identification; the moral laws apply to persons just as it applies to organizations. So that the methods used to gain peak performance by individuals are not that different for organizations and nations. I have demonstrated that an individual needs a goal and a path to get to it just like organizations. We have also seen that the individual is the micro component of the organization and therefore the performance of the organization is directly dependent on the individual.

It is of primary importance for organizations and nations to recognize the fact that, high performing individuals are guaranteed to make a high performing organization and ultimately successful nations. For this reason a well-informed population will have great influence on a nations output.  High performance begins with awareness and this is why the SPiD-UP® book series begins with performance awareness. Gaining information affects perception and results in a change of behavior. CSD Africa was created to provide the other (Structure) education that makes one complete resulting in a high performing personality who will influence the ultimate output of any group they find themselves in. To do this, the right structure is needed as we have seen. Project SPiD-UP® is one of CSD Africa’s main vehicles to achieve this. SPiD-UP® and its three gates of training and exercises as well as books were designed to develop high performance mindset  

More on structure

   

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Meet Peak Performance PT II | Maximization of existence

This is the second part of a three part presentation. It will be useful to read the previous parts first for better understand.

Performance is the evidence of existence. It represents activity. Without Activity this universe will be a dead place. When something exists, it serves a purpose. Life is in constant motion - nothing stays the same. Change is guaranteed even if it is cyclical. This is the very nature of things. The cells in your body are active doing something or serving a purpose. The various organs in your body are serving one purpose or another. This is beautifully evident when you take a close look at the human anatomy. The sheer organization of the body alone is astounding. To understand the importance of each of the purpose being served by the components that make up your body, you just need to stop your nose form serving its purpose for five minutes. You will soon see that life begins to travel the opposite direction.

The ecology of the earth itself is a remarkable example of how everything serves a purpose and how the various elements of nature interact with each other in order to maintain the balance that keeps us all alive. Nature’s food chain is carefully designed to maintain this extremely important balance. As human beings you are a part of the grand system that is constantly in motion and serving a purpose –  you are involved in one activity or the other “Being of use”. By the nose hypothesis, I have established that to stop being of use sends life in the opposite direction. The degree to which you can serve your purpose or “be of use” depends on performance. Peak Performance is when you serve the purpose to the best of your ability.  Performance is what determines whether you are successes or failures. One would think therefore that performance will be a major subject of study but unfortunately this is not the case as very few daring psychologist and others in related fields have peeked under the hood to see what it is that causes high performance and low performance alike. Notice I have pointed us to performance as separate subject from the matter concerning how an entity can be of use- the manner in which they will engage. This is a crucial point you have to understand clearly.

In a family setting everyone has a role to play or to put it another way, everyone serves a purpose in the system. Not all families are set up the same way of course; in fact it differs from family to family as it differs from nation to nation. However, every single member has a purpose to serve. Some of the roles are constant regardless of location or culture whiles others can differ. Let me illustrate this:

there has to be a source of income for every family. In many places, that will be the job of the father. Sometimes it is both father and mother whiles other cases differ completely. A child could be handed that role from an early age depending on the family’s unique circumstance. Regardless of the setting, a successful family will depend on how effective the players are performing or serving their purpose in order to meet the individual and collective goals. When the income earner fails to perform, the whole family suffers. This affects growth and as we have seen, growth gives way to decay per the laws of nature.

In the grand scheme of things, man was made by God to serve a purpose. The Bible insists that he has a grand plan and you are playing a role in it. For this grand plan to succeed, you have to succeed (be the best that’s possible for you to be) as individuals, organizations, nations, continents and planets etc.  He has for the purpose of our success, equipped all of us with the tools with which to serve this purpose. Just as the nose is the only organ capable of performing in the breathing role.

We each have a unique combination of things that makes us the only one qualified to be us. To under-perform is therefore to undermine Gods plan and the result cannot be positive. Consider the organs in your body; if your lung fails to perform its duty at its best, your whole body suffers. When cells stop functioning, tiny as they are they become a cancer? Permit me to say then that non-performing individuals are the cancers of any organization or group. Non-performing cells can continue to increase until they disable the whole body and no performing people can do the same with an organization and a nation.

The principle is therefore the same no matter how you look at it and where you look at it from. Individuals must perform at a high level in order to obtain personal success that contributes to the grand success of the whole. The individual’s success is the micro component that powers the macro. Just as the successful heart contributes immensely to a successful body. True success is but a product of high performance.

In the first part of this article we encountered the peak performance phenomenon by way of one time experience.  Now we have seen that it can influence the manner in which an entity is of use in the larger system. In Uptimetrics® this is referred to as the micro- level and the macro-level. The two terms are used interchangeably as per the context. So that we see that the macro is dependent on the micro. A person’s way to maximization of their existence (performing at their peak over a lifetime (macro)) is dependent on their occupation (what occupies them now, the job (micro)). Apostle Paul and King Solomon understood this quite well. Solomon admonishes out of his disdain of vanity in ecclesiastics 9:10

 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the realm of the dead, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom. NIV

Paul proposes in Colossians 6:5

 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. NIV

To solve a failing life therefore, a careful examination of the occupation (current job) is required. It must then be related to the entire life of the subject and it is then that a solution will begin to emerge of its own accord. Uptimetrics® graduates are equipped with the tools to do this effectively making them coaches and motivators who impact any group they find themselves.

I shallproceed to the concluding part of this series. Please continue here

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The Uncertainty of Success

So everyone wants to succeed these days. Not that it wasn't the case with previous generations but ours for reasons I cannot phantom just seems a smidgen more urgent. We are the Brian Tracy and Anthony Robbins generation after all. We have more motivational speakers than any other generation can boast of and we love them apparently. Absolutely nothing wrong with that except many of us just seems to think we can do it by being normal. Normal is fine but it doesn't make you that outstanding person you would like to be. Normal here refers to performing at an average level being like most people.

How much you put into something determines how much you will get out of it. That’s like life’s little law you cannot break. No one is exempted. For this reason success must begin with performance. Those who are the best at what they do are likely to be successful. Most of the people we call successful are not simply people who set a goal and reached it. Most people here refer to those who are doing things beyond what most people are doing and that’s a very few number of people. Think about this very carefully.

Most of the people who set SMART goals and reach them you never really hear about. Many of the people you see flying high have probably not even reached the goals they have set yet. In between these two, there are a variety of others. So that the high performing guy/chic is really the one people look at when they think about success. The guy who makes doing something looks easy. The one people point to when they look for the best or one of the best at something in particular. That’s the person you want to be and you want to be that person BEING what you know how to BE best. If you can be that thing, your success is well on its way. I hold the view that perhaps the term peak performance itself maybe a fallacy as it is not possible to know how much more a person could have done when they pass on. I am sure most people will agree and that such men like Steve Jobs and Bob Marley could have given the world more. Yet were they not outstanding men of their days with plans to achieve more in the future?

Upshot; it doesn't really matter what success means to you. I say this because in my work as a performance coach my interaction with people on a daily basis reveals something different every time. So I have to agree with those who hold that success is simply deciding on something to achieve and actually achieving it. Size doesn't really matter at this point although; there is quite a room for further discussion. If it’s about money, you get that when the demand for your service goes up and that happens simply because you are that good at what you do. If it’s about changing the world and making a difference I can assure you; that will not happen by you doing average things. Change comes only by doing more than the usual. Regardless of what you think you want, performance is what counts in the final analysis. Here is a cold fact: nobody hires anybody for their certificate. They hire you because the certificate means you have had some training that means you can give them what they want. Which high performance in a particular activity or they won’t bother with the interview. Even if they hire the first guy who shows up, they have made a case of punctuality. Once you are hired it is all down to performance or you won’t have that job for long. To do well in your life you have to do well with whatever is in your hands at any given point in time.

Your employer wants you to be the best, your God wants you to be the best, your parents want you to be the best. You must want to be the best. All you have really is your life and God gave it to you for a reason. Don’t be like the last servant in the parable of the talent who buried his talent in the ground when others where making profits on theirs. Be the best you can be! SPiD-UP® is here to help you achieve that. 

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The one thing Steve Jobs got right

It is a deliberate thing on my part not to quote the likes of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates in my work. Sometimes they seem like the extraordinary people God created for whatever reason. They seem too far away and the size of their success is hard to identify with. I find that most young people in my part of the world have this difficulty which comes from comparing their environment with the one Steve Jobs and Bill Gates grew up in. A young person in the UK or the US appears to have more advantages than those in Ghana or Nigeria. That is the kind of truth that does not allow you to see yourself being the next Bill Gates even if you are told all the time that all things are possible.

But what has value has value and there is nothing anyone can do about it. Hence my research into the life of Steve Jobs has led me to share this videos as he reiterates some of the key point I make at the SPiD-UP® workshops. Your job is referred to as occupation because it occupies your life. You spend 8 or more of your 24 hours in it and another 8 sleeping. The last 8 you use for the countless other things you do as part of your life. If you do the math right, you will see that your happiness, success, achieving your life goal etc. all depends on your job or occupation. It is that simple and apparently Steve Jobs understood this very well. If your job makes you unhappy, you will be unhappy for the rest of your life… I mean you will have an unhappy and an unfulfilled life. I am yet to meet anyone who wants that. By 8:31 he starts making this point very clearly:

"Sometimes life can hit you in the head with a brick. don't loose faith. I am convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love...and that is as true for work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe to be great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet keep looking and don't settle." 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF8uR6Z6KLc

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People Dynamics Vrs. People-centrism

If you have read my two part post on why you work hard to underachieve, then you have run into these words. In this post I will try to explain the difference between the two and their relevant to the maximization of your existence.

People-centrism is about functioning with people as the center of your existence. You live because of others; your life is about other people. Whiles I am aware of some of the counter-worldviews presented by some titans of philosophy, I am convinced by the superior example of Jesus. I submit that he is the single most accomplished individual to ever walk the earth. This is evident in his legacy which has not stopped growing thousand years after his departure. Scripture teaches that the period of his engagement was only three years. In that period he achieved more than any other individual in the history of the world. The reason is simple; his objective was to save the whole world. For this, the world owes him some attention and that includes his critics. It is impossible to ignore him. His is the perfect example of a maximized existence.

Those who understand the power of living for others have been able to use it to achieve great things. Such men as Mahatma Ghandi, Kwame Nkrumah, Rev. Martin Luther King Jnr. Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela and many others literally followed this Christ example of sacrificing their lives for others and the result of that life is clear for everyone to see. People-centrism in born out of altruism and it has been proven to be the most effective way to perpetuate the existence of any group. The existence of any group is dependent on the survival of its individuals and therefore the group will cease to exist if it starts to destroy its individuals ceteris paribus.

People dynamics whiles related to people-centrism is a more complex matter in practice than in theory. The complexity stems from the fact that whiles people are tools in our hands; they are not to be used as the means to ends but must be treated as the end itself- people centeredness. It is concerned with how to deal with people in our world in order to reach our objectives. It deals with issues of converting liability to asset by repositioning ourselves- socio-emotional competence. The books of proverbs and ecclesiastics are loaded with people dynamics wisdom. Perhaps it will be very useful to have an example here:

Everybody likes to receive or get. It assures them of their continuous existence. For this reason they will love and protect the source of this assurance. To understand this one must pay attention to the person they give to very often and how they treat the person who gives to them. When compared to how we feel about those whose action challenges our continuous very existence, we begin to get a better understanding of this idea. However, there are instances when elimination becomes the useful option for both the eliminator and eliminatee. A typical example is one we hear from most success crusaders;

Do not hang with the wrong people,
who you associate with will determine who you become,
show me your friends and I will tell you who you are.

Often it is in the interest of both parties to not be together as their acquiescence with each other has negative impact on both parties. Important questions arise concerning what the best way of dealing with such situation is. People dynamics is called into action at this point. So that people dynamics compliments people-centrism, although the two have very different concerns. In Uptimetrics® the two are treated under the topic of socio-emotional competence (a Hegelian-dialectical product of emotional and social intelligence). I shall soon start publishing papers on Uptimetrics® in order to present some of these topics in their more technical manifestations for deeper understanding.  Please feel free to ask questions if you have any. 

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