Tools for 2023 – Oseni Rufai

Podcast Transcription

MaTaZ ArIsInG

Tools that can make you have exceeding success in the new year is to be objective in the society of sentiments. The thing that affects most people’s businesses is the fact that they’re not objective in the society of sentiments.

Objectively analyze if that business you’re doing is leading you to success or failure. But you see, people are so emotional and they’re not objective and they can’t tell themselves the truth, and the truth of the matter is emotion begets untested sentiments and untested sentiments begets failures.

There is nothing like empirical conviction that has been put through the test of rigor.

Do a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis of yourself – Do you have a good character? Because you keep saying that “I didn’t get married in 2022” – “I want to settle down” – “I want to do this” – “I want to do that” – “Oh, I didn’t get employed” – just check your character and be objective.

Can you marry yourself with this type of character you have? Can you marry yourself? Can you employ yourself? Because you know if you’re objective with yourself, you will know that you have a lackadaisical attitude to work. You don’t even put in enough effort at work, and you say you want people to employ you. If you’re a business owner, you won’t employ yourself. If you cannot employ yourself as a business owner there’s no point thinking another person will employ you.

But you see, people dwell on self-deceit and lies, and their lives become a cacophony of hopelessness. But except you are objective with yourself you won’t see yourself in the mirror.
Just like I warn Nigerians during election season, “be objective with your decisions, not be sentimental because your sentimentality will not lead you to stupidity, I pray.” We want functional leadership, not sentimental leadership. You want leadership that you know is tested and has character.

Be careful, Nigerians. As a mouthpiece, I’m warning and I’m giving out instructions – be careful, be objective – objectively analyze before you make decisions because if you make your decisions based on tribal sentiments, remember that we “campaign in poetry and govern in prose” Andrew Cuomo – one New York governor said that.

Coming back to your personal life – Are you objective? You said your marriage is not working. But have you objectively analyzed your marriage to see that you might just be the fault? Could you marry yourself? Can you stand your own attitude?
Some people, their character stinks that it sends away people, their character smells. It’s like rotten onion, pungent. But a lot of people forget that the true beauty is character – iwa – iwa gangan lewa.

You know there was a musician in the ‘70s – Haruna Ishola that sang a song, “Ina ran” apala. He said, “t’obirin ba dara ti o l’ewa, mi o le fi 1-naira fe” – what he means is that if a woman looks beautiful, but she doesn’t have good character, I can’t spend money to marry her. But when a woman looks beautiful – “t’obirin ba dara to de l’ewa, mo le fi 1,000 fe” – if a woman is beautiful and she’s got good character, I can spend 1,000 naira as at the ‘70s to marry her.
As it is women, so it is for men. Some men too have stinking characters and that’s why nothing works in their hands – their lives are shambolic – stinking characters.

But, if you want something good to happen to you in the new year, you must be able to look at that character. Because if you don’t, nothing will change for you. You’ll keep going round in circles, and a lot of people keep going round in circles in their lives, nothing changes, they keep going round in circles and their lives doesn’t get any better and they complain, and they blame everybody for their problems – they’re never objective to look inwards. So, if you don’t do that, then nothing can happen in your life.

But you blame other people for your problems. You are the cause of your own problem – your life has become a joke because you joke with your life. Nobody cursed you – stop blaming curses for your problems, you are just the cause of your problem. When people say, “somebody probably cursed me” – they are most of the time the cause of their problems. “My boss doesn’t like me” – look at your own performance ratio at the workplace. Is it not you that once you get to the office, you’re going to look at Linda Ikeji’s blog all day? What’s your productive level? People don’t objectively tell themselves the truth and the next thing they’ll say, “I want God to bless me” – God doesn’t bless stupidity. He blesses the good works of your hands.

The next thing, you’ll start comparing yourself with somebody that stumbled on free money, and that’s the problem with Nigeria. Too many free money out there. People are not working to make any money. So, the question is, is it sustainable? Does it last? Why succumb to personal deceits when you can change your world for yourself in the new year?

Objectivity is the key in the new year, and please I beg Nigerians again, please be objective as you make your electoral decisions, least you cast your foot against a stone again. My people, please go out there to get your PVC.

The second important tool for you in the new year is vision – you can’t live your life without a vision. A lot of people are living what I call, “the anywhere belle face life.” A lot of nations are living “anywhere belle face.” You can’t live your life to be reactionary, you must be productive. There are some investments I made 10 years ago in my life to myself, that I’m reaping today. Vision makes you invest in yourself. Vision makes you go the extra mile.

As a result of your vision, some of you might have to learn a new language. You might have to travel and see things anew; you might have to expand your horizon; you might have to stop thinking about your locality alone and spreading and expanding your business to other areas.

It is your vision that catalyzes that prospect in you. A lot of people do not have vision. The bible says, “my people perished because they lack vision.” Nigeria is wallowing because of visionless leaderships – Vision is key – the question is, “where do you want your country to be in the next 10 years?” You, as a leader, is it just for you to release budget every year and put money in your pockets rather than having a vision?

When are we going to have a long-term vision? Like in the next 10 years, we want Nigeria to be number 1 in Cocoa; number 1 in Sesame seeds; number 1 in Technology in Africa; number 1 in Cashew; number 1 in New Media. It is a vision that opens the prospect of an individual and of a nation. Because every individual forgets that they embody a nation in them.

In your own personal life, what’s the vision for your business? Where do you want to go? Do you want to keep doing things like that way you used to do them, or do you want to innovate? Innovation makes things faster for you and even better. You’re opening a new market – you’re thinking about things you never thought of before. All of these are off shoots of vision.

Where are you in your vision? Do you have a vision board? Do you have a place where you review and analyze? Where do you want to be? A lot of people don’t even know where they want to be in the new year. You can’t continue to live 2023 with “the anywhere belle face” mentality of 2022, because “the anywhere belle face” of 2022 will make your “belle” face anywhere. And that’s why people are doing “chaka chaka, cho cho cho” everywhere. No direction. You know what the Yorubas call “golugo” – you just keep moving like Dundee – You must be forthright.

If you don’t stand for something, you’ll stand for anything. What are you standing for? Where do you want to be in your personal life? Where do you want to be in your educational life?
You want to expand your vision. Maybe you should start by taking a new language course, learn a new language – open up and do things.
You see, the world is your oyster.

God has given you the capacity for the world, He has opened it up for you. What you do with it is what matters, and if you’re not ready to open it up for yourself, you will constantly be problematic. And you see, you don’t have the right to blame other people because you kept your horizon in limbo – you kept it in limbo by yourself because you’re not ready to expand your horizon.

Don’t blame anybody for your problems – you need to take responsibility for your life. Don’t blame anybody for your life when you need to take responsibility for your life. You’re not taking responsibility; you’re not rising up and challenging the status quo, you have no vision, and you say somebody is the cause of your problems. No. You see, a man that doesn’t have a vision will spend his whole day gossiping about the success of his mates.

May you never be that person that everybody comes to dash something when they come back to the village and you’re still there.

You’re the one always saying, “he’s bought a new car.” Because you see, when you’re jobless you gossip, when you don’t have a vision, you become a delinquent to society.

The Yorubas have a funny saying; they say, “agba ti o l’owo l’owo, omo ita ni ya.”

Transcripts from January 8, 2023 Rufai Speaks Podcast…

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