BLOOM AND GROW

Signing up for Mrs. Ibukun Awosika's "Life Series with Ibukun Awosika" was one of the most important decisions I made in 2020;  for real. It was a paid event (although just a token) and it was a birthday gift to myself. I've blogged about the insights I got from listening to the speakers that day but I had no idea that Mrs. Awosika was going to gather all the attendees into a Bootcamp and coach us for 7 weeks.  So, for almost two months over Whatsapp and Zoom, we were engaged by the Life series team: Assignments for the week (due every Wednesday, otherwise you were cut from the Bootcamp) and Sunday sessions with Mrs. Ibukun where we literally could ask any questions.  We heard from a woman who had summoned the courage to leave a good job in Lagos for studies abroad despite having a newborn, to another person, who was struggling with the fact that she had just being made appointed a leader.  There were so many aha moments for me. These were probably not the best less

Photo by  Samuel Silitonga  from  Pexels I'm always looking ahead; trying to get better and do better; and I believe there are so many young people in the world today like me who are either learning a new skill,  a new language or engaged in one educational pursuit or the other. And the side effect of always looking forward is never taking time to look to the past.  It is important to remember our wins often because they remind us that we are capable, especially when life circumstances try to tell us otherwise. Personally, I believe that when we achieve something, we move our lives forward and we must never take this fact for granted.  Most of us think of wins in terms of big achievements and to be honest, our own successes might look pale in comparison to the things we see in places like Linkedin and Instagram. However, it's really a question of personal self-worth; whether or not we believe our own wins matter, however "small" they are. So how should we measure our

Sometimes, when I  close my eyes, I see you. I'm wary not to hold your image for too long for fear that you might actually show up in my bedroom. Even though you were my friend, I'm still terrified of ghosts.   I left a comment on your last Instagram post which was regarding the ongoing protests against police brutality, ENDSARS,  To be honest, I didn't read the caption. The image showed clenched fists and bullet holes, it was loud enough.  There were other comments regarding your demise and I had to delete many of the things I wrote to ensure I  didn't come across as overzealous. After all, our friendship was electronic.  I  said I was going to pay you a visit. I say this to a lot of other people too. My aunt thinks I'm keeping a grudge because I haven't visited her in almost two years despite the fact that her house is a 20-minute drive from my place. I swear I'm not a bad person, I just find it easier not to do much on weekends.  I wonder who came up with

 Recently, I came across a post on social media about stinginess being a person's unwillingness to spend money on the things that could push their lives forward, and that insight was mind-blowing for me. Many of us have dysfunctional relationships with money. While some can't seem to keep money at all, others like me have a hard time spending it.  It is important to think of money as a tool to push your life forward and I have made this a commitment, personally.  For example. I always make sure I have internet data for GPS navigation while driving to and fro work. I used to think that buying data for this purpose was expensive but I now see that using GoogleMaps saves me a lot of the time that I would otherwise spend in traffic.  I'm also carrying this mindset over to my work as a blogger especially in terms of promoting my posts on Twitter to reach more people. No matter how talented you are, it's very important to be seen.  So, again, money is a tool. You don't ma

I promise you, this is a serious article. I love music and I understand that music influences the way we lead our lives whether we believe it or not. I love Beyonce's music and I appreciate the fact that she pays a lot of attention to the artistry of her videos. Here are life lessons from 5 of my most played Beyonce songs ever! 1. Party (Beyonce ft. J.Cole)  This is my TGIF song. The visuals depict being with friends and having a good time. It is important to know how to balance work and leisure and I've come to understand that productivity levels are higher when we give some time to play. City life can be isolating and stressful. So here's a reminder to be socially engaged and to have a strong social support system. 2. Dejavu ft. Jay-Z It's a high energy video. There is a dance movement in almost every frame of the video. And this is where I highlight the importance of exercise in keeping us strong and healthy. There's a strong correlation between length of life an

"Confront the brutal facts but never lose hope."  I first came across this quote while reading Good to Great by Jim Collins and it means to face our truth but remain optimistic. It's about facing what makes us uncomfortable but having faith despite. The reality of death is one of those topics we are very uncomfortable with. However, I feel that we need to live our lives purposely because it is finite.  We need to appreciate that life is such a remarkable gift and that wherever we are in the spectrum of bliss, we are OK because we are alive. When we fall on hard times, it might be tempting to commit suicide because we are trying to escape our pain. But the actual way to escape pain is to understand that life is never about us.  The real purpose of life is service and I know this for sure because everyone is a beneficiary of someone else's service. And everything we do matters to the perfect stranger. Life is about being present. Not worrying about tomorrow and not regr

We should be concerned about our world. As Chimamanda Adichie alluded in her 2019 commencement speech at the American University (AU), we should try to change a tiny bit of our world.  We don't realize that when we choose to do this, we are indirectly making efforts to improve our lives.  When this subject of "changing our world" comes up, we are quick to think this means we should go green or save the endangered animals. However, let's remember that our world is also about humans and our social-cultural exchanges.  So, below I share my take on four very important points  on changing the world, raised by Adichie in that speech  ,  1. DO SOMETHING "Do something is to try", says Adichie. In my opinion, to do something to look at your immediate environment and take an action that improves the lives of those around you.  It is to give some of your money to deserving charities.  It is to give some of your time to helping others.

Photo credit: Chimamanda.com In this article, I explore some of Chimamanda's  ideas from her 2015 Wellesley address. Original Photo from Chimamanda.com 1. Your standardized ideologies will not always fit your life because life is messy. In my opinion, this means we should learn to take life has it comes. There are many things in life we cannot control, so we should not try to mend the world to fit our ideals. For example, you cannot always win. That is, going by the mainstream understanding of what winning means. A lawyer can argue as best as he can but the court might not rule in his favour. A doctor can try everything to save a patient’s life and that patient might still die. Hence we must be willing to change our beliefs about everything. Make your ideologies your own. Give your own meaning to things; to winning for example.   Perhaps, something that justifies the efforts you put into the work you do; without the need for external validation.