THE MOST DAUNTING TASK.

Sending men and machines to space is one of the most technically, psychologically and physically challenging tasks that can be embarked on. It takes the very best of men to put the process together hence it is not surprising that it is a project usually undertaken by the most advanced countries on earth, yet it is not the most difficult job to do on earth.
The most difficult job on earth is not that of miners who go so deep underground for minerals and metals. Some miners in the process get trapped and are buried in these mines as a result of mine related disasters.
Some people have even told me how very challenging and daunting it is for them to find a life partner! Ladies complain that "good men" are very scarce while the guys Complain that "decent girls" are in very short supply if not non-existent! This level of concern is heightened because of the pressure on young "marriageable" guys and ladies to get married, from friends, family and the society as a whole. But may I submit that it still doesn't represent the most difficult job on earth.
In my estimation, the most daunting task on earth is the job of self appraisal. The reason it is the most difficult job is because doing it determines how successfully the first three tasks (and more like them) will be done. Like most other tasks that concern us, we wish it would have been done for us by someone else. We wish we could lay back and have someone else do our own self appraisal; but unlike some other tasks, it is one that we must do ourselves.
An appraisal of self, like that of a project, comes with immense benefits. It helps you know where you're coming from, how you got to where you are and what you must do to move to where you ought to be. It is a task that will help you know where and how resources have been expended and where and how resources at your disposal will be needed for optimum performance.
At this time of the year, I challenge you to pause and think of how you have used the passing year, 2015. Think of what you did excellently and how you were able to do them so you can replicate the success in the coming year. Think of what you couldn't do that you should have done and why you didn't do them so you'll not make the same error in 2016. Pick a pen and paper right now and get down to the task of charting a better course for yourself in year 2016. It is your duty to do so.
It will be unfortunate if you enter 2016 and not be in control of your life from the very beginning. It will be sad if 2016 meets you still groping helplessly in the dark.
There is a road called "progress" and "fulfillment" and only the prepared will walk on it. The goodies of life don't come by accident, they are attained by design. So get up right now and get on with the task of self evaluation for a better you in 2016!

Be Inspired!
Remain Motivated!

CHECK THE TIME!!

Everything on earth began with time, moves with time and will end with time. It is the currency with which we trade in life. A wise investment of it, a wise spending of it and its prudent use guarantees satisfactory returns on investment.

Over the years, I have come to see that the quality of life you live or hope to live is directly proportional to the choice(s) you’ve made in time. Some of us dream of glorious futures; a time in our lives when pains will be gone, difficulties subdued and life more worth living. In our dream however, we forget that “the best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time”[1].

Until we start seeing time as a resource that will go to waste if not properly used, we will be like paper tossed in the air that goes hither and thither. As a matter of fact, it is the scarcest of all resources; it goes by in an instant without the ability to recover it, making it the most non-renewable resource so that once lost, it’s lost. If you have ever lost anything of value, I am sure that the experience you went through when you lost such item prepared you to handle it more carefully the next time. If you understand the place of time in the life of man, then losing any portion of it should jerk you into a more conscious and purposeful use of it because “…most people get ahead during the time that others waste”[2]

The regret most people will have in life is not in what they failed to acquire, where they failed to go or whom they failed to meet, their regret will be in the waste they put their time to. It is worth emphasizing that “a man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life” [3]But how do some people seem to make it better than others with the same 24 hours allotted to all? Are these people able to get ahead than the rest because they simply have more time to get things done or because they have a special favour from God? The answer is “no” however, it is “lack of direction, not lack of time, that is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days”[4]. If you know the reason why you wake up every morning and the reason why you remain awake till night, then it will be less likely that you will be lost in time or that time will be lost to you.

The illusion that there is always a tomorrow where tasks can be completed kills creativity, drive, purpose and a sense of urgency. The tomorrow we usually dream of is actually with us. Every second that passes by is the building block of the tomorrow we hope and long for. There is no better time to start living than now. When the time is up, the game will end. Don’t be fooled into thinking you’re still young therefore can afford to be frivolous with your use of time, remember that the old men and women of today were the young people of yesterday and the young people of today will be the old men and women of tomorrow.

“Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it”[5]

Be Inspired!

Remain Motivated! 

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[1] Abraham Lincoln

[2] Henry Ford

[3] Charles Darwin

[4] Zig Ziglar

[5] Scott Peck

INCENTIVES MATTER 2

I have met so many undergraduates who have no clue whatsoever as to what they will end up doing with a University education. Some who are not so well educated also do not know in what trajectory  they should direct their lives.
It is not unusual to find young men and women roaming the streets in an endless search for nothing. It is not unusual to meet people who do not know that to make money is to solve problems and get paid for solving them (it’s as simple as that).
Last week, I told you that the fourth principle of Economics according to Gregory Mankiw is that people respond to incentives, and I said incentives matter. Very briefly, let me share with you some of the areas I believe will deliver to you enough incentives to leave where you are and start doing something about where you hope to be.
I remember learning about Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs in my management class as an undergraduate and was attracted to the way he arranged man’s needs (even though I have reservations about its hierarchical nature yet it was a fair description of man’s needs). With the eye of an undergraduate, I didn’t see needs, I saw problems. I saw opportunities that are always there to take as long as there are human beings. Whether you are seeing this for the first time or you’ve seen it before, I will like to briefly describe Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. In a subsequent post, I will give examples of things you can do to solve those problems (that is, meet the needs).

Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

1.The Physiological Needs

These include the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as the need for water, air, food, and sleep. Maslow believed that these needs are the most basic and instinctive needs in the hierarchy because all needs become secondary until these physiological needs are met.
Most of these lower level needs are probably fairly apparent. We need food and water to survive. We also need to breath and maintain a stable body temperature. In addition to eating, drinking, and having adequate shelter and clothing, Maslow also suggested that sexual reproduction was a basic physiological need.

2.Security Needs

These include the needs for safety and security. Security needs are important for survival, but they are not as demanding as the physiological needs. Examples of security needs include a desire for steady employment, health care, safe neighborhoods, and shelter from the environment.
The needs become a bit more complex at this point in the hierarchy. Now that the more basic survival needs have been fulfilled, people begin to feel that they need more control and order to their lives. A safe place to live, financial security, physical safety, and staying healthy are all concerns that might come into play at this stage.

3.Social Needs

These include needs for belonging, love, and affection. Maslow described these needs as less basic than physiological and security needs. Relationships such as friendships, romantic attachments, and families help fulfill this need for companionship and acceptance, as does involvement in social, community, or religious groups.
4.Esteem Needs
After the first three needs have been satisfied, esteem needs becomes increasingly important. These include the need for things that reflect on self-esteem, personal worth, social recognition, and accomplishment. At this point, it become increasingly important to gain the respect and appreciation of others. People have a need to accomplish things and then have their efforts recognized. People often engage in activities such as going to school, playing a sport, enjoying a hobby, or participating in professional activities in order to fulfill this need. Satisfying this need and gaining acceptance and esteem helps people become more confident. Failing to gain recognition for accomplishments, however, can lead to feelings of failure or inferiority.

5.Self-actualizing Needs

This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others, and interested fulfilling their potential.
I don’t think anybody should grope in the dark haven seen how much there is to be done in solving the problems of humanity. What are the things you can do to meet these human needs? What factors are holding you back from meeting them? How can you overcome these problems?
My subsequent posts will attempt answers to these questions. I look forward to seeing you then.

Be Inspired!
Remain Motivated!

Credit for the Hierarchy of Needs goes to:
http://psychology.about.com/od/theoriesofpersonality/a/hierarchyneeds.htm

INCENTIVES MATTER

The fourth principle of Economics according to Gregory Mankiw is that people respond to incentives. The first question one is tempted to ask  is: “what are incentives?” Incentives are the driving forces of actions. The reason why you carry out an action is embedded in the incentive you hope it brings you.
Incentives could also be seen as the incremental change in a course of action. This is what Economists describe as the margin.
While we live in a world where information is sometimes asymmetrical, it is however incumbent on us to enquire about the incentives a particular course of action will yield, as much as possible before embarking on it. The price of not doing this is very high.
Listening to a panel presentation yesterday on passion, I heard one of the panelists say it is better not to pursue a career in your area of natural giftedness because according to him, it amounts to commercializing the gift God has freely given you, he rather posited that career paths for people should be in such areas that are outside their place of natural strength. I found his position very misleading because there can not be a better place to have greater spiritual and physical returns than in such areas that one is very strong at, especially naturally. Knowing this will immensely help you to chat a proper career path for yourself. Imagine if Ben Carson, Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson, Albert Einstein and so on did not pursue their careers in areas of their natural giftedness, perhaps they wouldn’t have been as much a blessing to mankind as they turned out to be.
Incentives matter, it drives the kind of person you go out with, the type of church you attend, the kind of friends you keep, the school you attend, and everything about you.
You see,  I have personally made a conscious effort to engage in Ventures that will add value to my overall wellbeing and that of the people around me (that is my incentive). I am not saying I do not care about monetary returns on my investments – visible or otherwise (by the way, Monetary returns and other forms of returns will usually follow right investments) however, you will agree with me that money alone, is not the driving incentive for action- the feeling of contentment, joy, satisfaction in oneself and a sense of peace are priceless. While these may look unattainable in the face of the daunting challenges that we face daily, strife as much as you can to face these challenges doing what you love doing and being where you love being.
Incentives do matter. Define what yours is but make sure it tallies with who you are.

Be Inspired!
Remain Motivated!

Now and Later.

Humans most times think of actions only in terms of short-run benefits (the here and now). We make decisions based solely on the returns we’ll get from such a resolution in the now without asking what long-run implications it will have. Don’t mind Keynes who said we’ll all be dead in the long-run. Remember that economics as a way of thinking helps us cone to terms with the consequences of the choices we make.

The actions we take as humans are usually motivated by the rewards we’ll get or not get from taking them. It is rare to find people do things they know won’t bring them any reward. In fact the higher the rewards of an action, the more likely it will be taken and the lower the rewards, the less likely it will be taken. That is, to increase the likelihood that an action will be taken, simply increase the reward (or reduce the cost) obtainable from taking such action. On the other hand, reduce the reward (or increase the cost) obtainable from a course of action and you’ll find people reduce the chances of carrying it out.

It must however be understood that while some actions carry short-run benefits and long-run costs others have short-run costs and long-run benefits. More often than not, we make decisions based on what rewards we’ll get now. It is possible some of us act like this because we have not been trained to think of actions in terms of benefits and costs on the one hand and in terms of long-run and short-run effects on the other.

You might however ask, “how do I know what a short-run or long-run in my circumstance is?” It is not a question with a linear answer. The answer to this question is found in the circumstances surrounding the actions we take or decisions we’ve made.

Five or ten years down the line, would you be better off or worse off being in that relationship you’re in despite the momentary enjoyment you are deriving from it? Five or ten years from now, what career path do you see for yourself given your present engagement? How easy or difficult would it be for you to make a switch to something you think is better some years from now? What will be the effect on your bowel in the morning of that extra bowl of ice cream you want to consume? Outside the context it’s being analyzed, it’s usually difficult to explain the long-run and short-run concepts

While I understand that the exigencies of the present can drive us to take actions without thinking them through, it is important we stop a while and think through the actions we take especially as we know that they’ll have some effects on us beyond now.

I think it will be better to endure the present discomfort of walking on a chosen path which you know will bring you future rewards. What do you think?

I know in the long-run we are not all dead because the long-run is the sum of various short-runs!

Be inspired!

Remain motivated!

WHAT IS, WHAT OUGHT TO BE AND THE NIGERIAN DILEMA

I am one economist who de-emphasizes what is for what ought to be (the unending positive economics vs normative economics debate). A concentration on what is, locks one in a box and limits the ability to reach for the possible. In Nigeria, we know what is and what ought to be but we go for what is.

Having square pegs in round holes in Nigeria is what is, and we prefer it.

Assuming national duties by virtue of state of origin, religion, tribe and/or personal affiliations is what is and is preferred in Nigeria above competence, capacity to deliver and know-how (what ought to be). In fact, we are ready to go on protests to protect “our own” (when s/he’s brought under scrutiny) that has clearly demonstrated incompetence and brazenly looted our commonwealth. This is what is and we love it! The result of this preference is seen on our tattered roads, in a dilapidated educational system, in unsecured security forces and in a broken social structure.

However, it is not unlikely to find exceptions to rules such as this in Nigeria in very unlikely places. One of such places is the position of head coach of Nigeria’s national senior football team (the Super Eagles). On Wednesday, 15^th July, 2015, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) unveiled former Nigerian player, Sunday Oliseh as the new head coach of the Super Eagles. A position that had in the recent past been held by Austine Egwavoen, Samson Siasia and Stephen Keshi, all from the South-South region of the country. In all the conversations I listened to surrounding the drama of Keshi’s exit and Oliseh’s enthronement, not one Nigerian went for the usual what is, that is, nobody flew the tribal/sectional kite in the selection of Oliseh knowing fully, where his predecessors had come from. Everyone instead was more interested in Oliseh’s capacity to deliver (what ought to be) hence the controversy over his ability judging from his lack of experience managing a football team before now. This deficiency though, I heard Nigerians rallying fellow countrymen around him so he won’t fail. I heard people compare him to other untested coaches who eventually did very well and have pumped themselves high on optimism. Let me repeat that I have not heard anybody complain about a particular region dominating that position (unlike us!).

While I have nothing against football nor any other sport for that matter, I wish to submit here that there is no amount of laurels we win in football that will build our schools, roads, hospitals, improve our living standards nor mend our broken society (I want to see a society where this happened).

Fellow Nigerians, is it possible for us to channel this sense of what ought to be to other (I dare say) more important areas of our national life where it is hugely important to score policy goals because lives practically depend on it. Can we jettison sectionalism, favoritism and nepotism (like we have consciously done in the appointment of a football coach for Nigeria) and rally round our country within the extra time we have before it is game over?

YOUR PRODUCTIVE POSSIBILITIES FRONTIER

In economics, the production possibilities frontier represents the possible combinations of two goods that can be produced in a certain period of time under the conditions of a given state of technology and fully employed resources.
A country operating within the frontier is said to be under-utilizing its resources while the one that has moved outward and is along the frontier is seen to be fully utilizing its resources. However, it takes deliberate and calculated actions for any country to move outward from within the frontier.
In the production possibilities frontier, the more of a good you choose to produce, the less of the other you produce. It presents a trade-off (a core concept in economics).
Now coming to you. What output goals have you set for yourself for the rest of the year? That is, what are the things you have set out to achieve in the last half of the year given your productive capacity? Remember we said earlier that in  production possibilities frontiers, the more of good x you produce, the less of good y you will produce.
Dear friend, there are certain things you need to pay less attention to in your life because they contribute very little to the desired outcome you long to see- better education, financial freedom, better health, healthy relationships, upward career movement, and so on. If any of these outcomes resonate with you but you are not getting them, then there is a problem with how you combine your productive capacity.
You see, your productivity is measured by how much value you add to yourself and your environment per unit of TIME. Therefore, there is the need for you to take stock of what you have (time, money, innate ability, people, etc.) and understand how to combine them to produce the outcome you desire.
The last half of this year is yours to take. Don't feel overwhelmed by the negative circumstances around you (this writer deals with them everyday). Keep your eye on the GOAL; however, strive to meet daily or weekly or monthly TARGETS as you aim to score. Remember, it takes deliberate and calculated actions to get the desired outcome!

Be Inspired!
Remain Motivated!

Image credit:
www.investopedia.com