There are three ways we can be begin to develop ourselves to attract the kind of successes we want.

1)     People

2)     Programs

3)     Practice

PEOPLE:

We develop ourselves through people we interact with, people we listen to, and people we allow in our lives. These people influence our beliefs and what is possible for us directly or indirectly. We, of course consciously and unconsciously, share and agree with their opinions, their views and sentiments. There are people who challenge you to develop when you listen to them. People you get motivated to grow to become your best when you listen to them or interact with them. People who see potential in you to achieve greater things. These people are nurturing people, a support system you need to grow. There are people who are pessimistic, energy drainers who have no dream, no vision nor plan to grow and achieve greater things in life. They don’t see possibilities in themselves so they can’t see it for you when you share your dreams with them. In fact they are dream killers who would want you to remain in the same level with them. Someone said, “When you go on a walk with someone, you either adjust to the person’s pace or he adjusts to your pace.” So whose pace are you adjusting to?

People that want to bring you higher for you to achieve greater things or people that want you to remain in same level with them.

Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo said and I quote, “The five closest people in your life tell us about where you are

and where you are going” If I see the people you constantly interact with, I can tell where you are likely to be in future. Many people fail in life because of the people they associate with. So a lot of people remain in a job they know they have outgrown but for the friendship they keep, they won’t move their lives forward until life move on them.

PROGRAMS:

One other way we can begin to develop ourselves is through programs or projects. You should have a program on

a yearly basis aimed at making you better in your career or business. New skills of doing your job. What program or project does is to increase your capacity and your skill set. And the implication is that your mind set would

increase, your value would increase, your standard would increase and of course your income would increase automatically because of improved contribution to your organization or business.

Very many people stay in a job without taken time to do programs of training that will enhance their capacity

for better their performance. Knowledge is increasing at a fast rate, and new ways of doing things are being discovered every day. So you need to learn in order to stay in job or business and be relevant, otherwise you will be out of job or business. Your knowledge would become obsolete if you are not improving yourself through programs, training and acquiring skills.

There is need to make yourself relevant in your organization. What will make your boss or your organization

wants to keep you? It must be the level of your contribution to the organization. The value you add to the company. What will make your clients to want to do business with you or even refer you to others? It must be the level of value you create and that you are adding. In a world where technology is taking over human jobs and a lot of companies laying off workers, you need to remain relevant for you to secure your job or even be promoted. Programs and trainings are very important. If your company is not training you, train yourself and increase your capacity. In the business world of today, it’s all about value and interest. You can negotiate for bigger pay if you discover you have capacity to add more value to your company. This is why I like the football world where players negotiate for better wages with their clubs once they start giving more or better still they leave the club to another club where they earn better. So same thing can be applied to you. Once you develop yourself by acquiring more skills and certifications, you can negotiate for better salary. In some cases, companies could even go as far as creating a new department and make you head the department because of the development you bring to the company thereby making it possible to generate more revenue for the company. It reminds me of a friend who after acquiring his MBA certificate resigned from his former job to join Coca Cola Company and was given a post of National sales director.

You see friends rather than waiting for increase in salary or promotion, that may not come or per herbs

after five to ten years. The best way to get increase in salary and promotion is to equip yourself with new skills and knowledge that will make your employer to call you to round table for negotiation. Don’t wait too long without improving yourself, until someone who has the required skills and training is employed to take over your job or you are been replaced by computer machine. If you need to go back to school and sit in class with people younger than you, to acquire the skills and capacity you need to move your life forward and achieve

your dream, then do it.

PRACTICE:

If you are going to develop yourself and grow, you will need to practice regularly. I believe the sayings that goes

thus,”You don’t become great to get started, but you get started to become great.” Many people won’t start because they don’t want to make mistake or fail. No! You just need to start anyhow. If you want to be your best in whatever you do, you must be ready to fail as many times until you get it right. Thomas j. Watson said,” if you want to be successful faster, you must double your rate of failure. Success lies on the far side of failure.” Through deliberate effort and practicing, you can become your best.

You know you have talents, you have gifts and you have ideas running in your mind. Get started through practicing! What is it you love to do and you are thinking you won’t be able to do it like a professional, don’t worry about that. Start anyhow, practice on consistent basis and before you know it you will become a pro. 

I remember getting involve in motivational speaking, it was tough and rough at the beginning. Standing in

front of audience to speak was challenging for me. Then I kept practicing anyhow. In fact sometimes, on a consistent basis, I would stand in front of the mirror talking and gesticulating as if I was before audience, just practicing to become better. And that went a long way in making me better speaker. A lot of people would say talent is the key, not necessary, you can have talent and gift in any area. But if the talent is not developed through practice and training, you won’t be your best.

In fact there are more unsuccessful people with talents than there are successful people without talents. You

can train yourself to become successful in any area with or without talents, but talent makes your journey faster. There are a lot of footballers who didn’t know how to kick football when they were kids but later join football academy and they are now very successful footballers. Talents and gifts are like a raw gold that needs to be refined to be more attractive and valuable. Value of crude is about $60 per barrel but find out the value of refined petroleum with all the other components that come with it. You will be amazed! I challenge you to start putting your talents, your gifts and creativity into practice. Many professionals

started the same way. They all started badly. Whatever is what doing is worth doing badly until you get it right

and become a pro.

In conclusion, I encourage you to develop yourself in order to accelerate your progress in life. Work more on

developing yourself, your talents your gifts and ideas than you work on your

job. There is no job security anywhere. Seek opportunity not security.