Musings with Enuma Akuru

I've come to realise that knowing who you really are, finding your identity is perhaps one of the greatest assets one can have.

Over the past years, I have often painfully struggled to find & understand myself, my identity, the purpose for my existence & the drive behind my thoughts, decisions & actions.

Thankfully God has been kind to me by putting teachers & mentors along my path, leading me to navigate through the "mucky" waters of life.

A few months ago, while attending a masterclass on "Producing"; I "struck oil" when the concept of values became clearer to me.
Values; the intrinsic compass that defines a company's core beliefs & directs their decisions. The very purpose for their existence.

Given, light came in the context of business; i also found the same parallel meanings in a person's person life too - an intrinsic compass that defines a person's chatacter & how he navigates the world.

I identified these personal values as ALTRUISM, a service to Humanity; EXCELLENCE, a commitment to continuously improve no matter the cost; AUTHENTICITY, to be true to one's self at all times, even if it means standing alone; & COLLABORATION, to harness the power of the human capital when we come together for a singular purpose.

My path has been made clearer, my load has been made a lot lighter...
I pray that you find the same simplicity & clarity as I have, along your own journey..

You can also find more material to aid you via the hashtag on Facebook :



Happy New Month & God bless you....

Happy New year everyone !!! 🙌🏾

Today, I've decided to highlight some common mistakes by Entrepreneurs & how you can overcome them in the market place.

• MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

A skyscraper was once a blue print & a plan on a piece of paper.
A forest was once a seed, or seeds.
A giant was once a baby being nursed at his/her mother's bossom.
Whatever you want to build or create would take some time. Embrace growth and enjoy the journey. You can have accelerated growth but grow you must.
Don't take on projects or tasks or clients you should be handling in your 5th year on the first month. You probably might not make it to the fifth month.

• OVER-TINKERING

After you have done your research, canvassed the markets & carefully developed a winning strategy born out of a deeper understanding of your potential customers & the problem you intend to solve; there's only one thing left for you to do - persevere !

•OVER-SPLINTERING

Successful brands that have transcended over 50 years & still forging on have doggedly designed their businesses around a few core competencies.
They simply understood what they could be the best at & delivered on it with tenacity & absolute focus.

It doesn't make logical sense for you to be in the oil & gas sector & then also produce foods; or be in the food industry & then somehow appear to distribute electronics too.

No matter what "umbrella" you choose to tag all your businesses, you only end up confusing your clients & worse off splintering your focus & dwindling your resources.

• BRAND COMMUNICATION & SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENTATION.

We've all heard the saying, "the internet is unforgiving".
For heaven sake, unless you're a stand-up comedian, your business is not a comic relief to entertain your contacts.
Leave the "memes" out of your brand communication.

Live knowing you're always selling yourself & your brand whether you intend to or not.
Every article, post, photo, video is being scrutinized & judged by everyone who views them.
Some scary ****.
Welcome to the digital age !

• NO SET STANDARDS.

It's one of the greatest honours of mankind to solve the problems of others either by creating a product or providing a service.

The hard truth is, people perceive & pay exactly what's being conveyed by you; no more, no less.

In the world of entrepreneurship & in life, your mouth is your driver.
Speak highly of yourself & what you do until you start believing exactly what you say & then some.

Set high standards for yourself first & keep raising the bar, your clients & potential customers would sense it & do likewise.

• MANAGING (SQUANDERING) YOUR HUMAN CAPITAL.

There's a reason humans were created in the image of God.
Humans only, have the capacity to co-create, design & redesign just like God.

I've always emphasized that "Dissent is not Disloyalty".

If you're unwilling to take feedbacks from humans, constructive or otherwise ..perhaps, you're in the wrong line of work.

Not every contact on your list is open to the services you render or the products you create.
Not every contact is meant to be pitched to or bombarded continuously with your ads. *Why on earth you should even consider doing that.... that's a story for another day !**

Some contacts carry an influence to do one thing for you that'll change your business forever, be wise enough to know when to use that card !

Don't, please for the love of God, don't squander all your human capital making your contacts do homework by reposting your endless ineffective broadcasts & fliers !!!

Do have a productive week ! ☕

"LEGENDS IN THE MAKING"

I write this journal to those selected few..

Sir, I hear you can't make sense of all that burns in your heart...

My lady with that insatiable drive for service to mankind...

Gentleman with the unexplainable desire to carry burdens for not just individuals but organizations...

My lady with questions of expressions...

To the boy/girl who's dreams far outweighs any career path...

God has a plan for you, He sees you.
He knows you. He hears you.
You can bank on a "pathological promise keeper" who would fulfil all that He has said concerning you.
He is not a man that He should lie.
He does not change His nature for no one.

So, I entreat you....

• Be careful of narrow, stereotypical thinkers, who are merely conveying their own limitations and fears to you.
Make no apologies for exerting and excelling in all your endeavors. Keep raising the bar of excellence for yourself.

• Be conscious of those seemingly unconventional errands in systems you find yourself.
You are preferred above others, hence greater responsibilities would be conferred upon you.

• Celebrate little victories along the way.
At every stage of your development, never trivialize the little wins and projects completed; they are the fuel for accomplishing greater feats.

• Never allow your inadequacies, inexperience or idiosyncrasies hinder you from doing what you feel strongly in your heart is the right thing to be done in any situation.

I salute you. 🍷

Hello everyone,

So, I came across this amazing book titled "Signpost on the road to Success" by E.W. Kenyon.

After reading through it, I can say it's an amazing read with ancient wisdom in every page.

We all need wisdom every now and then, and I've taken some time to draw some excerpts I gleaned from the book because I love y'all 😅😅✌🏽.

If I may share some with you this afternoon...

Excerpts from "Signpost on the road to Success" by E.W. Kenyon

• The man who can govern his tongue, his temper and his appetite though he has but mediocre ability is bound to get to the top.

• Very few men take the time to think through a problem - they guess, speculate and theorize.
- But down yonder behind the desk however, is the man who takes the problem and resolutely drives himself to think that problem from every angle.

• Never repeat scandals. Never repeat the calamity things.
- Let others do the talking about that, keep your lips for beautiful things, helpful and comforting things

• Nothing hurts a firm more than to have in its employ, men holding important positions who are chronic knockers, who are always finding faults with the business, with the management and with the material they use.
- Men of this type should be eliminated.
- We have no business stirring up strife and bitterness in a place where we collect a salary.

• Be a real CONTRIBUTOR to your age.
- Don't just exist .
- Be a lover of men, forgive your enemies. Never go their level and hate with them.

• Fight for TIME.
- It is the most valuable asset you have.
- Make yourself ready for the opportunity.

• You are rated by your WORDS.
- Your salary is gauged by the value of your words.
- Study your work. Study how to say things. Study how to use words that will change circumstances around you.
- It is what you put into the your words that makes them live in the hearts of your hearers. ( Put your whole personality into your words )
- Love always seeks the right word to convey it's message without loss in transit.

• "Your deeds have their place and we give you credit for them, but it is your words that set us on fire".

• Remember, WORDS are apples of gold in network of silver.

- No man is safe to go out into the business world, until he has first learnt the secret of absolute trust in the Lord.

• In these days of opportunity, of preparation, put your best into every effort of your life.

- Give to every task your best; get the habit of doing fine work. Make each job better than the last.
- You cannot play with duty.

• It is necessary that we make the right choice, find out what our talents and abilities are and have them properly trained and fitted to achieve the desired end.

- There must be a purpose for which we cannot be swerved.
- There must be the right kind of companionship. The wrong kind of associates are a serious handicap, but it can be overcome.

This book comes highly recommend by some of the greatest coaches around and I trust this would be an amazing read on your journey. Feel free to share your thoughts or questions.

So..I run an elite team of Facilitators, who basically coordinate and facilitate the operations within and around facilities to make it's occupants safe, efficient and comfortable..

Sometime late last year, one of my crew members recently got a job as a procurement manager at a major procurement firm. Safe to say he wasn't in anyway prepared for the amount of work he was submerged into so suddenly.
He was stretched in every direction possible working crazy hours 6 days of the week...

So, I called one day just to check up on him and he mumbled something like he was almost overwhelmed with work and that he didn't sign up for this.

Long story short, we talked for a while and I must have encouraged him of some sort and intimated some wise remark from my own experience or from the experience of others.....lols.

Weeks later, I didn't remember anything I said or even recall the conversation we had, however he told me that he took my words literally and kept meditating on a particular phrase. This phrase he had lived by and used on his siblings and coworkers to keep him and them grounded and focused.
Suddenly what seemed like overwhelming pile of tasks became enjoyable and easy for him to do and the same energy has been transferred to those around him.

As i listened to him, my heart was filled with awe and overflowing gratitude. Humbled and astonished at the same time, all my mind could remember was an encouragement I had heard from my mentor, saying such as you have "give to the world". God isn't ashamed of your inadequacies. He pleasures in using the weak things to do amazing things if you'd let him.

Lesson:

Don't be overly preoccupied looking into the fields of others or comparing your achievements with that of others.
What you have is good, what you have is a blessing to someone right now.
Start there. Start now.

Thank you.
Have a wonderful year ! 🎉🍹

LOYALTY

Definition :

Faithfulness or devotion to some person, cause or nation.

Contrary to popular belief, working to justify a paycheck is the least expression of loyalty, neither is it the ostentatious display of agreement and "butt-kissing".
I find this word "loyalty" as one of the most abused words of human socialisation.

True loyalty, often are the things people do that they don't get applauded or recognized for.
You can't write reports on it; usually can't be explained to disloyal people and can only be modelled by an individual with a genuine and personal conviction.

It's the little things that go unnoticed;

It's the special and intentional care towards people in the same organization or institution.....

It's the giving of "the benefit of doubt" towards a colleague or superior even when you don't fully understand all the facts yet...

It's in the solving of a rising problem with personal resources that the institution may save face externally....

It's in the knowing, understanding and clearly articulating of the company's core values and beliefs....

It's in the display of patience and excitement in communicating the organisation's core values to an outsider or a client or an audience.....

It's in the display of silence in the wake of public accusation with circumstantial evidence towards a superior....

It's in the vocal but discrete disagreements and call to order when an organization obviously deviates from course to serve a personal agenda of a person or group of persons in authority....

It's in the knowing when to forgive and move on when the altercation has served it's purpose.....

and the list goes on and on.......

Feel free to drop your comments, questions and suggestions...

I just witnessed a little boy hawking nose masks so industriously almost knocked down on the road by a taxi.

I sincerely hope we don't wait for extremes such as an accident to an innocent child before we put an end to the proliferation of this sham of "Covid-19" awareness or so-called preventive measures.

It's about time the people refocus their attention, interest and businesses on solving real problems in their communities and the society at large.

In this life, make a conscious decision never to be destitute of influence, money and power; otherwise you're gonna be a pawn in someone else's playbook, a victim of some thoughtless policy and there would be absolutely nothing you can do about it.

Make up your mind to at least have a clear definition of your values and identity...and yes, early too.
Know exactly what is acceptable by you and what isn't and then build up capacity and reputation to back it up.

Time might be running out for you, please don't make the same mistakes with your kids and loved ones.

Play big or go home.
Enforce your reign or be subdued.
Be consolidated or be compromised.

30 in a bit.
Three decades on this earth.
Grateful. Awake. Alive. Intentional.

Enuma.

"Leaders are not applauded for being infallible and making all the right decisions...
They would however be revered for making the best use of all of the resources available to them per time...."

Enuma.

We live in a world where people act like their most important resource is their money.

From the most basic of institutions, the family unit; many have often interwoven competition into the very fabric of their development.
Parents thriving to outdo their own siblings and neighbours, with the same value system passed on to their children, all through to the very zenith of governments.

The time has come to be awoken to this epidemic!

At best people excel with a lot of sorrows, and at worst are just simply retrogressive.

People must learn how to harness the power of their relationships with others around them.

Life was built to be INTERDEPENDENT; this by itself demands that we think through and discover what it is about our lives, what we each bring to the table, our life's assignments and purposes; then ask, interact and discover the unique resources around us in people and how we integrate to achieve all that we came to give this world.

What comes to the mind of people when they think of you ?

What are your most dominant thoughts about yourself ?

Instead of all the facades and branding to fit a marketable or acceptable persona by the society, it would be wise to seek out your manufacturer and meditate on those unique abilities and interest that are inherent in you.

There's a reason particular things are of interest to you and others aren't.
There's a reason you have a greater affinity and distaste to certain things.

Take a step back from all the noise of societal expectations and set aside specific time as often as possible to stop and ponder, consider those things carefully and of course, prayer goes absolutely well with it.

Create a culture of consistent learning about these things and always seek out a mentor and ask key questions.

Your time is invaluable and so is your attention.
Put a premium on your life.