All posts tagged: success

The 21-Day Gratitude Challenge

Published by Osemhen

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLJsdqxnZb0] We like to think that we’d be happier if we were richer, better-looking, taller, thinner, fatter, married, single, (had more fuel in our tanks), American, British, more successful… Shawn Achor (see TedTalk above) says that it’s actually the other way round. If you’re happy, then you can perform better. I’ll take it a step further and add that happiness isn’t pleasure. Happiness is a decision. It’s less effervescent than joy, it’s deeper than pleasure. It’s a state of mind, of being. And luckily, that state of mind can be cultivated. I’d like to invite you to do the 21-Day Gratitude Challenge. Everyday, for 21 days, do at least two of the following: Write down 3 things you’re grateful for. (You survived the heat last night) Write down one positive experience you’ve had in the last 24 hours (trying to get past the 6-hour long queue for fuel) Write a thank you note (or email) to someone in your social support system (e.g. The fuel station attendant who alerted you when they started selling) Meditate …

It's a Madt, Madt, Madt (sic) World – Tolu Oloruntoba

Published by Osemhen

Clash of the Tolus this week 🙂 Dr. Oloruntoba shares with three other young men the dubious honour of outwitting me. Twice. It was the Zain Africa Challenge; and his team eventually lifted the cup. If you know me personally, you know that I don’t swallow defeat easily. And so it’s a testament to Tolu’s character that, within a year, I went from bearing a king-sized grudge to numbering him among my most treasured friends. He’s the Chief Editor/Publisher of Klorofyl, the digital mag I’m always raving about. Follow him on Twitter @toluoloruntoba. A Special Edition of the Newsweek Magazine early this year had the very compelling theme: ‘It’s a mad, mad, mad, mad world.’ Of course it is. And if you live in the developing world, it is mad, sometimes, to the fourth degree (or madt, in #NigerianTwitter-ese). It was a potent cocktail of inspiring stories we grew up on – of fairy-tales or folk tales, and Hollywood, adventure and possibility. We wanted to believe we COULD… we wanted, (needed?) to transcend our limitations …

My Definition of Success

Published by Osemhen

I’ve started, and discarded many posts over the last week. Laziness, ennui, hormones, sleeplessness, blasted writers’ block (thank God for whoever coined this term) took over and had me all sorts of cranky. This week, however, sanity prevails. Maybe it’s the prospect of Lent (starts tomorrow for Catholics). Maybe it’s the realization that the end of March marks the end of the first quarter of 2011 and my resolutions are on a downward slope. Need to tighten that belt, let’s go. One of the things I wanted to blog about was the definition of success. I’ve always balked at the automatic association some people make between success and wealth: to be successful is to be rich and if you’re not rich, or if you’re poor, then you’re unsuccessful. I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly doesn’t ring true about this definition. Maybe it’s the fact that it makes success too mercenary. I mean, if I’m a thieving senator, am I successful? (Don’t tell me I’m a successful thief!) If I inherit a billion …

Clearing Out My Head…

Published by Osemhen