Vision and Fear 10

GOOD MORNING and welcome to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

Fear, in order to gain ascendancy over your life, cuts you off from the positive side of your history. It seeks to disconnect you from your past victories. It capitalizes on your past shortcomings, magnifies them out of proportion and makes you believe there is nothing to celebrate about you. Because fear recognizes if you can connect with past success, you might create an upset for its tyrannical reign.

Each of us must strive to develop what I call a Victory Bank in order to overcome the scourge of fear before it destroys our vision. In this bank, the deposits are the past victories against our fears. The last time you stood up to your fear and moved along the path of your vision, you made a deposit in the bank. This deposit becomes your reference from which you can draw support in your quest to contend your next fear. If you are constantly dodging your fear and running away from a confrontation, you make no deposit and you have no reference to draw from. The larger your deposit base, the more the references you have to help you build confidence to win the next confrontation against your fear.

Now, these deposits or references do not win the war against fear. Past successes only embolden us to take on the next challenge. It is our ability to draw from these references inspiration, confidence, hope and boldness that guarantees us victory.

This is what David did. He connected to his Victory Bank and cashed inspiration and confidence to win the fight against Goliath.

To the suggestion by King Saul that he was just a boy and could not possibly fight Goliath, David responded with a rare confidence, drawing from his Victory Bank.
"I've been a shepherd, tending sheep for my father. Whenever a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, I'd go after it, knock it down, and rescue the lamb. If it turned on me, I'd grab it by the throat, wring its neck, and kill it. Lion or bear, it made no difference--I killed it.”

Visionary people are concerned about the level of deposits in their Victory Bank. They are constantly amassing victories and developing a support base for their confidence against the next challenge. You need to do the same if you want to win against the tyrant and despot called fear.

Vision and Fear 9

WELCOME TO Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

Fear thrives on external reinforcements. You are afraid of something and someone comes around or an event occurs to reinforce that fear. You are already gripped by the fear of failure and your spouse nags you, wondering if any thing good can come out of you. Or you learn your most trusted customer has crossed over to your competitor. The fear that our nation may never rise again is ours but it has been reinforced by the world’s perceptions about us. We are told nothing works in our nation and that confirms our fear. We have always believed that about ourselves anyway.

David was not immune from these external reinforcements. He was not only contending against Goliath but against a fearful people who were not ready to dare and were unwilling to encourage any other to do so. His first human obstacle came from within his own family.

“Eliab, his older brother, heard David fraternizing with the men and lost his temper: "What are you doing here! Why aren't you minding your own business, tending that scrawny flock of sheep? I know what you're up to. You've come down here to see the sights, hoping for a ringside seat at a bloody battle!"

The fearful king was the next obstacle to a dream that would restore Israel’s glory. King Saul was very direct. "You can't go and fight this Philistine. You're too young and inexperienced--and he's been at this fighting business since before you were born."

Now think about it. You have this great vision that is capable of making the difference to your society. The challenge this vision represents is already frightening. Then your older brother comes along with words like. “What do you think you are doing? You should not be doing this at all.” And then your nation’s President looks at you straight in the face and tells you, “This is a job for men not for boys like you.” I will assume that the already frightening challenge will now look impossible.

But not for David. He shrugged off both reinforcements of fear from outside to face his fear. In the end, he restored the pride of a nation before its famous enemy.

You can and should do the same to any obstacles that have reinforced your fear. Walk away from this obstacle with determination to face your fear. You might in the process restore the pride of your nation, put your name on the pages of history or advance a community to which you belong.

Vision and Fear 8

WHENEVER FEAR grips a man, the first thing it seeks to control is the tongue. Welcome to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

The Israeli troops in the days of David did not realize that. They amplified their fear through their words. They spoke among themselves, "Have you ever seen anything like this, this man openly and defiantly challenging Israel?” Words of bewilderment instead of faith. If only they had known that with their words they could win the war, they would have chosen better words filled with faith and boldness.

Fear understands the natural and spiritual laws. A man is not without power until he has said so. A nation is not without hope until the people of that nation have said hope is lost. A marriage does not collapse until the partners have said it is all over. A business may wobble but it remains on its feet until the owners say “I am quitting”.

The words we speak carry much more weight that we are willing to accept sometime. We only underestimate the power of words to our self-destruction. It needs not be so. With our words, we set a course for our lives and our society. With our words, we choose our sides, whether of victory or defeat. With our words, we are condemned or justified. The mouth is the gateway to prison; it is also the doorway to paradise.

Word is a life and a spirit. It has all the characteristics of a living organism. It grows; it dies. It responds to external stimuli like fear. It reproduces itself. In fact, it multiplies rapidly and takes control of your life. Your word is your life. It is this life that fear wants to control. So, he does not only make you agree with its suggestion, he makes you use the creative power of your tongue to set in motion a destructive course for your life.

Your word has a spiritual dimension. The world of the spirits is superior to and controls our physical world. What ever happens in the physical has already happened in the spirit. What makes it more potent is that we are often not aware of the spiritual dimension of the words we speak. To be sure, the spirit world does not succumb to physical limitations. It is not subject to its laws. So be careful how you amplify your fear. With every word of doubt and bewilderment, you open the door for fear to build a tabernacle on your vision. Each wrong word takes you deeper and deeper under the wings of fear until you see no reason to continue. By the time you finally give up on your dream, it will be not because your dream is too big but because your tongue has been abused.

VIsion and Fear 7

“EACH MORNING and evening for forty days, Goliath took his stand and made his speech.”

Welcome to Leading Right – a presentation of Life Africa. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

After standing unchallenged for forty days, Goliath is confident he has got you. He expects you not only to be terrified but to be totally frightened. Well, that was what happened to the Israeli troops. It probably has happened to you. May be you have allowed fear to take its stand and make its speech for days, weeks and even years.

With your permission, fear gains control of your life. You allow fear stand in the corridor of your heart making a loud boast unchallenged. Morning and evening, he presents a gory sight of your future and challenges you to a fight. In your cowardice, you refuse to talk back. You stand before your fear like a beat up child before a school headmaster. Fear thrives when you give it unfettered room and allow its claim go unchallenged. Each occasion you allow fear to make an unchallenged speech, you willingly hand over the control of your life to fear. And fear is a tax master. Its rule is devastating. Its goal is to kill your dream and to perpetually make you an underling.

Think about it, how long have you feared venturing out of your shell? How long have you watched helplessly as the picture of incapability and failure is presented to you? How long have you been intimidated by the challenges in your marriage or business? As a member of a community or nation, how long have you allowed fear make you believe that change is not possible in your time?

Determine, God helping you, not to feed your fear again. Instead starve it of your attention and contemplation. Refuse to allow fear grip your heart and mind. It is your call.

Now, this is not to say you can prevent fear all together. To be sure, each of us needs a measure of fear to jolt us out of complacency and inaction. The fear you should detest is that cringing and crippling fear that paints an unattractive future for you and your community and leaves you no hope of change. As detestable as this fear is, you cannot prevent it from confronting you. But this much you can do: you can prevent it from presenting itself to you unchallenged day and night for several days. Like a bird, you cannot prevent it from flying over your head, but you can prevent it from building a nest on your head.

Vision and Fear 6

THIS WEEK, we shall continue our discussions on fear and how it impacts on our vision. There is a Biblical story that I am persuaded has a lot to offer us in understanding fear and how to overcome it. I am referring to the epic battle between David and Goliath. It is the gallant war of a lad not only against Goliath but again what he represents – fear.

Goliath presents himself as an unassailable challenge. His stature is awesome. He stands more nine feet tall. That is about double the height of an average human being. He is heavily armoured. His amour alone weighs about 60 Kg. Well, I wonder how many of my listeners weigh far more than that. Even with that, Goliath still wears bronze shin guards and carries a bronze sword. You think he is done until you see the huge spear that looks more like a fence rail. You estimate the tip of the spear to be 7Kg about the weight of your six-month old baby. While you are still awed by the enormous size of just one man and his amour, you see a lad holding tenaciously a huge shield in front of Goliath. All of a sudden, you no longer see a warrior but an impregnable wall. Your heart misses a couple of beats.

You take one quick look at yourself and another quick look at Goliath; I bet you want to look for the nearest exit. While your knees are knocking each other you see the Goliath step out of his troops pitched on a hill. You and your troops are on another hill and there is a valley in between. He speaks. His words boom like a mighty ocean.

“Why bother using your whole army? Am I not Philistine enough for you? And you're all committed to Saul, aren't you? So pick your best fighter and pit him against me. If he gets the upper hand and kills me, the Philistines will all become your slaves. But if I get the upper hand and kill him, you'll all become our slaves and serve us. I challenge the troops of Israel this day. Give me a man. Let us fight it out together!"

A man? Certainly not me, you say. You take a look at the valley and imagine your bones and flesh scattered all over. Fear grips you. You will let this pass. You immediately turn into a philosopher. “He that walks away from a fight lives to fight another day.”

You are not alone: the entire army is in fear. The Bible records they were terrified and lost hope. The very reason of the existence of a Goliath is to terrify you and to make you lose hope. Now, look around you and picture your own Goliath. How do you stand before it? Are you terrified to the point of hopelessness? The time has come for you to free yourself from the tyranny of fear. The journey to your freedom starts today.

Vision and Fear 5

THERE IS this German proverb that says, "Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is."

Welcome to Leading Right.

I can never forget an experience I had several years ago. The austerity measures of the late seventies had spilled over to the eighties in Nigeria. Jobs had started to be scarce for qualified and skilled young university graduates. One of the nation’s conglomerates was recruiting. It advertised for Management Trainees with a Masters degree as the entry point. It received over two thousand applications, short listed five hundred for aptitude tests and eventually invited fifty of them for oral and final interview. The lucky candidates were split into five batches to be interviewed everyday Monday to Friday. I was one of the lucky candidates.

In my batch were nine others. Each with a burning vision to be a part of this progressive company. We were treated to a snack on our arrival as we were ushered into a tastefully furnished air-conditioned room. If any of us had not dreamt of working in this company at this time, I believe they changed their minds. As soon as the ushers left, I experienced a scene I would ever live to remember. A palpable fear fell on the group. These MBA holders from reputable universities succumbed to the spell of fear. What was supposed to be a fact-finding chat to determine the possibility of these top guys entering into a working relationship with the company was seen as a war. Even though the company tried hard to provide a non-threatening environment for us, my colleagues gave in to fear.

I thought I had a responsibility over the group, so I spoke to the group, reminding them we were some of the nation’s best heads. If any of us did not make it, I said, it would not be because we were not good. As I spoke some of them were clutching tenaciously to management books. One was busy going over a little book on current affairs. Another visited the toilet. One brushed aside my plea, wondering who had made me a class prefect. I watched as these eggheads saw the interview as a big deal. Fear had made the wolf to appear bigger than it really was.

Two weeks after, twenty of us reported for the company’s orientation programme. None of the candidates in my batch made it. It was a calamity. Fear had magnified the challenge to a war. They fell when they should have stood; they lost when they should have won.

Refuse today to allow fear magnify the challenge to your vision. The challenge is not as big as it looks.

Vision and Fear 4

ARE YOU looking for wisdom to be able to chart a worthy path for yourself and the society? Look for it everywhere except in the house of fear.

Welcome to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

Someone has said, "Where fear is present, wisdom cannot be." (Lactantius) I am sure you will not find it difficult to believe that if you have ever been under the grip of fear before. Fear seems to send your creativity on holiday. You no longer can think straight again. You have become so overwhelmed that the eyes of your mind become darkened. With the mind blackout, you can hardly see the way out. You become a slave to initial reaction as you act on whatever comes to your mind. Visionary people know that they cannot think right from a position of fear. They know how important wisdom is to their cause. They need to constantly make wise decisions in the pursuit of their dreams. A perpetual position of fear is dangerous to any vision. You will do well to face your fear and not run away from it. Fear is a tyrant and a despot. It will rule your life and ruin your vision. You must never forget this: What you fear comes to pass more speedily than you hope.

Let me quote from Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear.

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

That should be your litany as well. Whenever fear has gone there will be nothing. Amazing! So, face your fear. Let it chart its own course. But if fear points north, follow south. Never forget that fear is ephemeral. It is there today and gone tomorrow. But you will always remain. That is if you have not allowed fear to destroy you.

Have a nice day.

Vision and Fear 3

ANOTHER of man’s greatest fears is the fear of failure. How many times have you had it said, “Success has many fathers; failure is an orphan”?

This is Leading Right. Thank you for tuning in. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

We live in a crazy world. We over dramatize failure as if it were an end. Bad news sells. Newspapers, televisions, radios and the Internet compete for prominence in disseminating news of astounding failures. We read and hear of people that fall from grace to grass. Of popular politicians that lose to underdogs because they dare to stand for something; of rich men that lose it all to bad judgments; of homes that crash because of one indiscretion; of businesses that lose out while blazing a new trail…

We might think we are trying to prevent future failure, but in essence we are killing the society’s venturing spirit. In our nation today, majority of people believe it is too risky to try new things. We are more likely to maintain the status quo than to inspire change. We hate to rock the boat because the society is inpatient with failure. A footballer displays inspirational plays and becomes an instant celebrity. He loses form in a couple of matches and the song changes. He becomes a subject of ridicule. No one remembers his heroic past. We only live for the moment.

If only we would stop to learn from Winston Churchill, the War-time Prime Minister of Britain, we would realize that success is not the absence of failure. Success, in the words of Churchill, is moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.

Visionaries do not see failure as the end of their dreams. It is a part of the process. In fact; a vital raw material for their success. That explains why they make failure a friend, a partner and a teacher. From the hard lessons of failure a visionary leader learns to sharpen and redirect his skills, set new goals and move against the odds with greater determination. It is therefore not possible for great visionaries to fear failure.

Challenge your fear of failure today by taking that step that will change your life, family or the society. If you fail, good for you. You will have learnt from the experience and be better positioned for a sweeter victory tomorrow. And if you win, you will have learnt sufficiently from the victory to prepare you to challenge even greater fears.

Vision and Fear 2

IT WAS Lovecraft that said, "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."

Good morning and welcome to Leading Right. My name is Abiodun Fijabi.

Fear is not new to mankind. It is mankind’s oldest emotion. We have learnt to fear anything and everything. We fear darkness, height, water… We fear pain, rejection, poverty… We fear death. We fear speaking in public. We have phobias. Some have phobia for cat, fish, dog, dust… We talk about our fear with reckless abandon. We are quick to express our fears in glowing terms. How many times in a day do you say, “I am afraid” or “I fear”? These phrases have become vital part of our vocabulary.

For most of us our induction to fear started early. We feared dad’s return from office. The sound of his car or his voice sent shivers down our spines. We feared school because of the teacher’s whip, recklessly administered at the slightest mistake. We feared injection, being reminded of the accompanying pain. Some of us feared mom’s tongue lash. Others feared rejection by classmates.

Some of the fears were ridiculous. I remember fearing that I might not be able to write in cursive. I had started out like everyone else writing my words in separate disjointed letters. I watched in amazement and in envy as my older siblings scribbled words after words in cursives. I tried as much as I could but my words never looked like they were ever going to be like those of the older students. I gave in to fear and gave up on the ability to write in cursives. I hope you still remember that cursive is the “rapid handwriting in which letters are set down in full and…connected within words without lifting the writing implement from the paper.”

One of my primary school teachers showed me how unfounded my fears were. She told me she started out like that too. And then she said. “Everyone starts out like that. Then with constant practice, you gain proficiency. One day, you will write very well in cursives, I promise.” I agreed with her and my fear evaporated. Two years after, I won a city-wide writing competition.

Fear losses its grip once accurate information becomes available. Once the unknown becomes known there is no more reason to fear.

Dear listener, think about this: Your fear may not be more real than the fear that I might never be able to write in cursives. Your fear – indeed most fears – may be as ridiculous as that. For example, why do you fear dreaming big about yourself? Why do you fear that you might never be able to make a major contribution to the society? Why do you fear that you might end in failure?

Acknowledge your fear but face it with hard facts of history and expose its shallowness. In the face of overwhelming evidence, most fears lose their potency. You need not allow fear rob you of possessing a great vision for change.

Vision and Fear

THIS WEEK, we shall be looking at another enemy of vision. Its name is fear. Fear is an emotion experienced in anticipation of some specific pain or danger. It is a future pain carried into today. It is an anxious feeling that what is not may be. Anytime there is a doubt about the future, fear becomes inevitable.

The torment of fear is demonstrated more in the limitations it places on a man and the society that he bears influence over. A fearful man can only go far but not farther. If he dreams at all, it will be a little insignificant dream.

Fear of failure is more dangerous than failure itself. The man who fails has learnt a lesson that probably will stand him in good stead with future challenges. The man who fears failure has no experience to draw from. No man has won big without being daring. And no daring man allows fear to gain ascendancy over his heart.

Fear of the unknown is one of the reasons there are few dreamers. A dreamer creates a picture of the unknown and lives it out as if it were real. That’s too much for the fearful. There are just too many things that could go wrong. You can’t just trust people to live up to expectations. No one has ever done this kind of a thing before. This is just not the right time for such a dream. How can I possibly raise such a huge sum? The banks would not lend money for a thing like this. There is just no way Ann will agree to marry me. I am not just in her class. The litany goes on and on…

More than a psychological state of mind, fear is a spirit. It is a spiritual force that seeks to underguard our lives and frustrate our daring spirit. The torment of fear is awesome. Its pain is far reaching. It incapacitates and weakens our resolve. It increases the size of our challenge beyond its real proportion. It is the reason we stand like ants before the giants of our challenges. It is the reason why we sit when we should stand; why we stand when we should crawl; why we crawl when we should run; or why we run when we should fly.

Someone has observed that there are 366 admonitions not to fear in the scriptures. One for each day of the year. There is even an allowance for the leap year! This is God’s way of safeguarding the dreams he has placed in each of our hearts. Our dreams are as good as dead when we allow fear to rule in our hearts.

So, face your fears – all of them – today. Refuse to bow down to its tyrannical rule. Decide to be on top of your fear. Tell yourself there is nothing to fear about today. Refuse to carry the pain of tomorrow into today. The challenges of today are enough for you than to borrow into tomorrow. Let me leave you this morning with a quotation from Franklin D. Roosevelt: in his first inaugural address as US president. He said and I quote: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself - nameless, unreasoning, unjustified, terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.".

Vision and Complacency 5

WELCOME to another edition of Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

Contentment? Yes! Complacency? No. Contentment is your happiness with your present state in life. You need to be happy about who you are and the little or much achievements you have made in life. Indeed, you can not move forward in your desire to impact your world until you come to terms with who you are and your current state in life. A heart of gratitude to God frees your mind from the clusters of pains and worries. It puts you in the right position to think again and rightly too. It might seem contradictory, but contentment is your best shot to break from the grip of complacency. No wonder the Bible says, “In all things give thanks.” Thanksgiving is an attitude of Godly contentment and as the Bible says, “Godliness with contentment is a great gain.”

Take a stock of your life as you settle down to a new day today. Do you have reasons to call it quit and just run off with a mediocre vision of the future? What about yourself and your past make you sad? Do you have a reason to bemoan your misfortune and walk around with your head bowed? When was the last time you really smiled to yourself? When was the last time you fell on your knees to pray and all you could say to God was, “Thank you”? Thanking God in all things – the good and the bad times – may seem illogical. But that’s probably because you have not tried it before.

Now, do this today. Get a list of things you are happy with yourself about. It could be that you are holding a job in the midst of a huge labour market. You may have an understanding and caring spouse, despite the challenges you are facing. Perhaps your kids are the greatest kids in the world. Now, it’s just not possible for you not have a reason to give thanks. If you look well enough, you will find a reason to burst into instantaneous praise.

With this attitude, think of the things you are not happy about. Those sad memories that are better forgotten. Those fears that cripple your focus and make the future look bleak. Those people you hate with a passion. That prostrate position to which you have fallen and from which you do not believe you can rise up. That book you have left unwritten for years. As you joyfully look at your challenges, you are bound to begin to see the way out. Praise attitude seems to call God into the picture. Well, the Bible says, “God inhabits the praise of His people.” Literally, it means God tabernacles where praise is. I like that. You should too. Can you think of a better way to develop a vision for change?
Sing a new song today. Look into the future with hope. See the light at the end of the tunnel. It is a brand new day. It is the day the Lord has made, you should rejoice and be glad in it.

Vision and Complacency 4

WELCOME to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

One of the ways God brings us back to our dream is to make us uncomfortable in our port of complacency. He strikes at the very heart of our comfort zone. Like Job, the very thing that we fear most happens to us. We lose our most cherished job or a close relation. We find ourselves lying on the sick bed despite our faith in divine health. We are caught in a sin, for which we have openly judged others. We find ourselves failing where we once thought we were invincible. We do everything possible to get going. And indeed, we get going, only deeper into depression and trouble.

God’s approach to getting us out of complacency reminds me of one of my Physics professors in the University. His grasp of electromagnetic theory was legendary. Equaled only by his appreciation of the evil of our complacency. Sometimes, we were caught in the web of complacency as we thought we had got the topic all figured out. We manifested this by providing answers before he asked for them or helping him finish off his sentences. Some would seize the opportunity to visit the toilet, read a magazine or take a deserved nap. The professor would watch with a near-devilish smile. Suddenly, his usually quiet disposition would change, giving way to a stern and unfriendly look. His words would pierce through the silence and knock us off from our slumber.

“I can see you are enjoying yourselves. I think it is time to introduce an element of confusion coefficient.”

From that time on, we would lose track of his train of thoughts. Everyone would struggle to catch up with him. All eyes would open and stay awake. His was a core course no one could afford to fail. This one professor could stand between you and graduation. He had done it before; he could do it again.

Next time God introduces an element of confusion coefficient into your life, you will do well not to call a pity party. That may even not be the time to call a prayer meeting. It may be wise to consider running for survival and in the process launch yourself back into your dream.

That was what the disciples of old did. They had settled in quickly after rest from persecutions. They were all in Jerusalem when God’s purpose was for the Message to spread around the world. Trouble began among the widows concerning the food distribution. Not reading the handwriting well, the leaders set up a committee to maintain their position. Then persecutions broke out. The apostles stayed back in Jerusalem but many of the disciples ran for safety into the adjoining towns and villages. As they did, they preached the gospel. What peace could not do, trouble did.
The challenge you are presently facing may be God’s wise way of waking you up from your slumber and propel you to reach for the new height that will not only save your life but those of others. Have you recently lost your job or faced an embarrassment? Let God turn this around for you as you use this as an opportunity to take a leap into the darkness and reach your large goal.

Vision and Complacency 3

VISION challenges the status quo and moves a man to venture out of his comfort zone. It is a daring attempt to change what is to what should be.

Welcome to Leading Right.

The truth is that those who need change are the very last set of people to realize they need it. A company that is raking in a run-away profit might not see the need to adapt to change that is inevitable as soon as the current distortion in the economy abates. A highly paid worker in an industry might be blind to the challenges facing the industry and the imminent loss of jobs as long as the salary and the impressive perks are not presently threatened. A young man might fail to see the need for further training so long his current needs are satisfactorily met. The leaders might just sit and watch the nation burns so long as they are not just in government but in power.

History has never been on the side of the complacent. Who ever thought the Roman Empire could collapse? Iran under the Czar was thought to be safe and secure. That was before the communists came. For decades, communism itself was thought of as the perfect ideology for humanity. The idea of the proletariats (the working class) taking over reigns of power from the bourgeoisies (the economic class) was enticing. How about the maxim: “To everyone according to his needs”? The attempt to consign religion to the archive as the opium of the masses, made propaganda sense, but not economic sense as it could not remove the endless lines of people waiting for rations of essential items. Yet, the communist regime resisted change. When change eventually came, it made a clean sweep of the indomitable USSR. The republic was balkanized by the knife of change.

A company that has settled in soon faces internal conflict. A life that is not venturing is soon enmeshed in internal burden Ask David who stayed back in his palace while the other kings were at war. He saw Huraiah at the port of complacency, not on the way to his dream. He plotted the death of her husband in the comfort of complacency. He slept with her on the bed, not of meditation on his dream, but of complacency. He suffered a lot of reverses due to this action. Only God’s mercy allowed him to reach his larger dream.

Complacency does not only prevent you from moving forward, it makes you lose the very ground you are trying to protect.

Take time this morning to think deeply of your achievements. The giant strides you have made in your profession or business. The great leaps you have experienced in your family and the momentous contributions you have made to the society. It is appropriate to celebrate. But it is also time to dream again and higher. Whatever you have achieved is nothing compared to what still remains in you. The best is yet to come as you allow your mind to continue to soar; as you strive to break your best records and remove human and environmental barriers to progress. Well, if you still choose to stand by and watch your trophies, you must know this for sure: those trophies will soon become irrelevant. Your achievements will soon pale into insignificance. Only a constant deployment of your mind in new and more challenging ventures will bring fulfillment and assure you of a place in history. Good morning.

Vision and Complacency 2

WELCOME to Leading Right. We are still on complacency. When we settle in, we lose our zest to venture. We become comfortable. Like Peter – one of the disciples of Jesus – we lose the vision of the bigger picture and settle for three tabernacles on the mountain. I am sure you remember the mountain of transfiguration experience as recorded in Matthew 17. Jesus had taken three of his disciples to the mountain and had been transfigured before them. His face shown brightly like the Sun and his dress became as while as light. It was a great moment as the frightened disciples saw their Master talking with Moses and Elijah – two great leaders who had long died. Peter, without thinking said, “I have an idea. Let’s build three tabernacles here – one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” In essence, he was saying, “This is a great moment, let us not lose this.

Wahoo! Peter must have meant well. What a way to live! He had just seen three great leaders compare notes. He had just seen such a great glory of God no man had ever seen. He was content with just being there, savoring the moment, and if possible, extend the great moment for life. You would do this same if you were in Peter’s shoes.

But then, Moses and Elijah belonged to a world far better than the one Peter was trying to preserve. And Jesus was yet to fulfill his ministry. It would be premature for him to savor a glory when a greater glory awaited him. For Jesus, the mountain was one of transfiguration, not of complacency. It was to provide a temporarily glory – a transfiguration – in preparation for a greater glory. The mountain experience was to sharpen his vision and propel him on to the bigger goal. To Jesus, the Mount of Transfiguration was part of a process, not the end. He was meant to descend the mountain and face the issues squarely, basking in the euphoria of the new envisioning that the mountain experience had provided.

If you had read that passage well, you would have noticed Jesus did not respond to Peter’s request. The glory simply departed and the two visitors were no more. That is what happens to any victory. The euphoria of any victory soon dies down and a complacent leader may be caught napping.

Success has a way of playing a trick on us. We struggle long and hard for something and then, we get it. At last! Bravo! We quickly settle down to enjoy the new port of success. Who will not? Who will resist the temptation to be grateful for a hard won success? Who will not celebrate a deserved victory? But this is not about celebration, which by the way is very healthy. It is a about settling in at the port of victory for so long that the victory becomes irrelevant.

What contribution have you made to your family and to the society? How long have you celebrated this great contribution? Are you still winning and dining when the circumstances have changed and the times call for a greater contribution? It is time to put the wine back in the cellar and the glasses in the cabinet and start to dream another dream. Whatever you have achieved is nothing compared with what remains in the inside of you.

Vision and Complacency

IF VISION is so vital to growth and development of any people or organization, there must be reasons why many do not dream. The real reason, I think, lies in the very heart of any vision – CHANGE.

My name is Abiodun Fijabi. Welcome to Leading Right. And a happy Easter Monday to you all.

No vision is worth its name unless it promises a change. Intrinsic in a dream is the promise of a better tomorrow. It represents a hope in trouble; faith in perplexity; promise of abundance in the midst of abject lack; the hope of a rebirth where death is reigning; the sound of rain after many months of draught… A vision shows the way in the thick wilderness. It seeks to provide water in the desert. It assures that the current dark cloud will not long possess the sky. Visions are refreshingly different from the current experience.

Complacency is one great enemy of a dreamer. This is the feeling you have when you are satisfied with yourself or your circumstance and you do not see the need to move ahead.

Human beings have a way of adapting fast to situations. A situation, once thought to be despicable, is soon endured. You wonder why the children of Israel should, for any reasons, contemplate returning to Egypt – the land where they were treated with less than indignity. Yet, they wished for the status quo – the bondage and all – for the garlic and onions of Egypt. Or consider why some Africans would prefer to be colonized all over again because of the challenges of nation building. As the wind of democracy swept through Africa towards the end of last century, the expectations were high; the joy was boundless. The exit of the military was celebrated with fanfare. A few years into self-government, some would wish the military back into power. You think that was a disaster? Then you have underestimated the resistance of man to change.

We have endured many things – from poverty to tyranny; from pain to ignorance… Endurance here is a passive activity called complacency. We become so settled in that we no longer want to get out. Especially after so many failed attempts to change the situation. The fear of trying again is crippling. And so is our desire to change the situation, which has now become a status quo. With this mindset, we expect everyone else to see things from the same window. We are in a box and we think within that box. And so should everyone else.

Would you dare to examine your life and circumstances this morning? Are you in a box? Dare to challenge some of your fundamental beliefs about yourself and the world around you today and you will be amazed how a new thinking or just a little change in your lifestyle or action can make a great difference on your life and that of the society. Ask yourself: what am I here for? Why do I do what I do? How can I improve on my life, family and career? What greater contribution can I make to the larger society?

Complacency is a thief of dreams. Do not let it steal yours. Good morning.

Vision and Self-Esteem 5

IF WE have a healthy opinion about ourselves, it will manifest in the size of our dreams. We are more likely to accept challenges and move on to bigger issues in life if we think favourably about ourselves.

Welcome to Leading Right – a presentation of Life Africa. I am Abiodun Fijabi

There is the dreamer in each of us. Circumstances of life and people we have come across along the way might have contributed immensely in silencing the dreamer. Failures and disappointments of life may have suggested to you that nothing good can come out of you again. Many men, including the ones whose opinion you respect, may have confirmed there can be no special place for you in history. The problem is not with the circumstances or the people, but with you who have agreed with their suggestions. No man can pull down the dreamer in you without your permission. The dreamer dies on the alter of your acquiescence and not on the bed of the unfavourable circumstances or remarks

Why not stop for a moment and play the little child you used to be. Remember those dreams you used to have. Your minds used to soar above the challenges and the realities of your environment. Where there had been pain, you had dreamt peace; where there had been suffering, you had imagined joy. You were poor, but your night was never complete without a dream of abundance. You remember how you once felt when you saw an injustice done to someone. You had vowed to change things if only you could be in a position to do so. You remember playing the Rambo, fighting solely against man’s inhumanity to man. You promised to fight corruption. You were willing to stand alone if necessary. Remember how you used to support the underdog. You used to go for the weakest link and unleash the power of your support. You never wanted anyone to lose out of life.

You were living for something. Life was good.

That was then. Those days may look buried and forgotten. The good news is that you can awaken the dreamer again. The power to do so lies with you. But if this may help: there is a nation out there waiting for you to dream again. There is a world, hoping against hope that you will make your life count again. But the question remains: will you dream again?

Vision and Self-Esteem 4

YOU STILL remember Rose, the uninspiring and dull University professor played by Barbra Streisand? We conclude her story this morning.

I am Abiodun Fijabi and I warmly welcome you to Leading Right.

You remember the ignoble role Rose’s mother played in fostering her daughter’s poor self-esteem. The movie presents the mother the opportunity to help Rose rekindle her lost dream. It happens when both mom and daughter are seated at the table. Mom pushes the picture of a baby to her distraught daughter. Rose’s response is instantaneous.

“She has always been beautiful,” thinking that it is her sister’s picture.

“It is your picture, Rose.” Mom responded, her eyes filled with affection for her first child.

For someone who has lived with the feeling that she is ugly for a long a time, it is too much for Rose to accept. When she finally does, she speaks of herself as a third person. “She was pretty.”
Mom has learnt her lesson. She is more direct. “You were pretty Rose.”

It is a major discovery for Rose. This discovery drives her to work hard on herself in her desire to find back her youthful charm, which belies her present uninspiring look. She looks in the mirror and sees a pretty lady. It is her wake up call. She puts herself through strict diets and rigorous exercises to transform into the woman she had been and, she believes, she could be. It is a new day for Rose. Her dream lives on.

That rekindled dream makes the erstwhile desperate woman to have choices. So, when her former boyfriend breaks up with her sister and tries to find her way back to a new Rose, Rose shows the quality most dreamers are known for – right choices. She resists the handsome former boyfriend’s overtures, choosing rather to stay where her love is. Even if she has to wait for it.

It pays off. Gregory and Rose get off together to a romantic bliss. Rose becomes the toast of a mother who had earlier written her off and the envy of an erstwhile insensitive sister. Even her students applaud her new looks. Rose simply changes her opinion about herself and everything else changes.

It doe not matter how long you have believed a lie about yourself. The moment you change your perception about yourself, you set in motion a new wave of changes that will significantly impact your life and that of the society.

I think it is time you stop to look yourself in the mirror. Ask yourself: Do I genuinely love this person? Think about this: If you were a company on the stock market, would you be willing to invest heavily in your shares? Too bad if you do not love yourself enough, you cannot go far. And if you cannot love yourself, you can not love others. Thank God you can recover that innocent childhood self-esteem like Rose did.

Vision and Self-Esteem 3

THIS IS Leading Right. Welcome. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

We are still continuing with the story of Rose played by Barbra Streisand in the romantic comedy – The Mirror has to faces – that won two academic award nominations.

With disaster staring her in the face, Rose seeks to find out the origin of her low opinion about herself and her lack of drive to improve her self-worth and her physical appeal. Her mom is her first port of call. She wants to know if mom thinks she was beautiful as a baby.

“All babies are pretty.” Her mom’s reply does nothing to assuage her feelings. Rose is not concerned about babies but about baby Rose. Mom has missed the point. She seems to always miss the point. At least, whenever it comes to Rose. Rose chooses confrontation next.

“I never would have thought I wasn’t pretty if it weren’t for those things you said.” Rose’s mind races to her past. Mom’s words hit her hard in the face. All of a sudden, the damage done to her self-image by her mom’s words becomes glaring. She is a product of her mom’s verbal abuse, she concludes.

Mom tries in vain to assure her first child that she means well. But the damage is too deep to be corrected by such half-hearted piety.

Your low opinion about yourself may have come from the words spoken to you by the people whose opinions matter or had mattered to you. Words from parents, uncles, aunties, siblings, peers and teachers carry a lot of weight. We tend to believe what they say about us, whether right or wrong. What a colossal damage people have done to your self-esteem. Your teacher joked about your small stature and called you “Short man devil”. From then, it had stuck. Your mom said you were awkward and slow to think. You believed that and had never considered your self inspiring and intelligent. Your peers jeered at your inability to have a lasting relationship with women. You accepted that and today you have a history of broken relationships. Dad screamed at your adventurous spirit, wondering why you would want to do what no one in your family had done. “What makes you think you are better than others?” And so, you had stopped dreaming big.

The problem is that you believed those words. Because you are a product of words, words continue to play a creative role in your life and future. But not every word spoken about or concerning you affects you. Your life is only moderated by the word you hear and believe. It is this word that becomes like a computer program in your brain, running and operating your life.

To become a great leader with a great vision, it is time you change the program that has for long run your life. Refuse to believe those words that have moderated your life so far. Create a new program that takes into account your hopes and aspirations. Do that today.

Vision and Self-Esteem 2

GOOD MORNING and welcome to Leading Right. We will continue our story of Rose played by Barbra Streisand in the epic romantic movie – Mirror has two faces. Once Rose is by the roadside waiting for a taxi. One comes along and she moves closer brandishing the address of the place she is going. All of a sudden, the driver makes a U-turn, leaving Rose to wonder what is amiss. Just then, she sees a beautiful lady on the other side of the road and the taxi pulling over in front of her. She quickly concludes she has been passed over because of her ugly looks. Any trace of doubt about this is removed by the ‘I am sorry but the world belongs to the beautiful’ look on the face of the lady as she walks proudly to the waiting taxi.

If you were Rose your self-esteem would hardly fair better.

It is with this mindset that Rose meets and marries a fellow professor. Gregory (played by Jeff Bridges) is handsome but boring. After several frustrating romantic experiences he has deliberately set out to find and marry a woman with absolutely no sex appeal. Rose fits the bill perfectly. But a marriage built on such a foundation can hardly withstand the test of time. Within a short time, separation beckons and divorce is imminent.

There is one rule that applies in all cases. Think of an apparent disadvantage as a limitation and it becomes one. And very quickly, it begins to assert itself determining the course of your life and putting the ceiling on your leadership influence and capability. This limitation affects who you meet, where you go and how you are received by others. Like Rose, you will attract the likes of Gregory. Life will become a bore regardless of the limitless potentials that lie on the inside of you. You literally become a slave to your own limitation.

On the other hand, you can think of the apparent disadvantage as a challenge and an opportunity. Immediately, you deny it of its limiting influence. You clip the wings of limitations and instead, you increase your capacity in handling issues and experience the joy of turning your challenge into a victory parade. As you do this, you develop a new aura around you – an aura of hope and confidence. People around notice this change and accept you. They see beyond your apparent disadvantage and embrace the hope you represent. They identify with your vision and align themselves with your goals.

Remember, dear listener: Limitations exist only in your mind. There is no such thing as limitation except the one you create in your own mind. You are the one that labels your apparent disadvantage a limitation, not God. Not even the people around you. You create the label and the people around buy into it. You say you ca never rise again after the death of your husband and the people around say, Amen. You say I can never attract good men because of my lackluster look and good men run away from you. You say, I can never join the big league because of my poor background and people around look down on you.
Dear listener, make up your mind to change your label today. As you do, your dreams will change, God will move behind your dreams and the people around will buy into your new label.

Vision and Self-Esteem

YOU ARE welcome to this week edition of Leading Right. Happy Easter to you as we celebrate the resurrection of the world’s most self-confident men. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

You are a middle-aged woman with achievements that belie your age and lots and lots of promise. You are a prolific professor of literature in a reputable university. You are in all the Who is Who’s of your profession. When you speak, people listen; when you write, people want to read. You are a celebrity and you know it. You should be happy; shouldn’t you? Yes?

Well, no. At least, for Rose, played by Barbra Streisand in the epic romantic comedy movie nominated for two 1996 Academy awards – The Mirror has two faces. Rose has everything going on for her except for her looks. Rose looks in the mirror every morning and sees not the ebullient professor, but a plain, plumb, unattractive and desperate woman. Her hair is a disaster and a fitting complement to her general uninspiring look. Her clothes are Victorian, reminding you of centuries gone by.

Before you condemn Rose for having such a low self-opinion about her looks, think of these. Your only sibling, a younger sister, is a smashing beauty, sought after by many men. Your mom is a seventy plus widow and still dating. Once you have a man you are dating invited to your home, something very rare. The man sets his eyes on your sister and that’s the end. He runs off with your sister and they are married. They even have the effrontery to ask you to be their maid of honour at their wedding! Imagine that. Mom never says directly that you are ugly, but it is implied in her every statement. And even much more in her gestures. You were told as a baby to use your fore finger to push up your nose less it drooped. Immediately, you concluded your nose was not well crafted by the creator. He must have dosed off while creating you. Little wonder, you are uninspiring. Sandwiched between these two most important women in your life, your chances of a healthy opinion about yourself are slim.

In many ways we are like Rose. There are things about ourselves we are not satisfied with. Especially those things that we cannot change. Like the circumstances of our birth and our physical characteristics. We wish we had been born with a golden spoon in our mouths. We wish we had gone to an elitist school. We wish we had studied abroad. Some wish they had been born in another country. We wish we were younger than our current ages. We think of ourselves as unattractive. We complain of the big eyeballs. I am too dark, some will say.

With this poor opinion about yourself, you can hardly take on a vision of monumental proportion. You will be content with a mediocre achievement. But it does not have to be so. Great leaders have emerged from every disadvantage you can imagine. Chief Awolowo of Nigeria used the platform of his poor background to see himself through school and a disciplined life that prepared him for exemplary leadership. Roosevelt was physically handicapped but that did not stop him from becoming an American President. Abraham Lincoln was regarded by many as awkward and uninspiring. He failed at several attempts at elective office but he is today regarded as one of the best presidents America has ever had.
The rule is simple. Accept and be grateful to God for that which you cannot change about yourself. Starting from this disadvantage, dare to dream big for yourself and the society. Your disadvantage needs not be a limitation but a launching pad into a great future for you and for those around you. No disadvantage is n reality a limitation until you

Characteristics of a Vision 5

SPECIAL GOOD FRIDAY EDITION

The Good Friday conjures a feeling of sadness and pain. It is a day the wheel of the world’s progress should grind to a halt as we reminisce on one of the world’s most brutal days in history. True? False!

Welcome to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

One of the characteristics of a great vision is that its scope is greater than the personal needs of the visionary. It reaches far beyond the beneficial or parochial needs of the visionary. While lesser minds are consumed in the pursuit of their selfish ambitions, great leaders think beyond themselves to impact the larger society. If your vision answers to your needs alone, it is a small vision, incapable of engineering a remarkable change in the society. Only a selfless vision can safeguard the development of our society and guarantee our security.

Such was the vision that sent Jesus to the cross. Jesus had a vision that transcended his personal interests. He is God; yet he came down to the world in the form of a man. He was not a sinner, yet he reached out to sinners with an eternal salvation. He said so much about his vision in Luke 4:18, 19:

“God's Spirit is on me; he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to the poor, Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, To set the burdened and battered free, to announce, "This is God's year to act!"

What a vision! Jesus tapped into the Spirit of God in him to impact humanity. Lesser men could have used the same Spirit to gain more popularity, amass wealth and rule over men’s lives with a rod of iron. Not Jesus. He never once lost his focus. Once he said, “The Son of man has come to seek and save all that are lost.” Another time he said, “I am the true shepherd. I am not a hired servant that runs when the wolves come. As a true shepherd, I am ready to lay down my life.”

The first Good Friday was therefore not an accident of history. It was the culmination of a selfless vision. Nothing could have stopped Jesus from dying. His vision was so selfless to be lost in the pursuit of a personal agenda to the detriment of bigger picture for the society.

That’s why Good Friday is a celebration and not a calamity. In the words of a song writer, “Crucified, laid behind the stone. He lived to die, rejected and alone. Like a rose trampled on the ground, Jesus took the fall and thought of me, above all.”

I have an advice. If you must be sober today; it should be because you are wondering if your vision transcends your selfish interests to impact on the larger society. Otherwise, let the songs of praise rend the air.

Characteristics of a Vision 4

GREAT VISION generates opposition. Welcome to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

A body at rest is often not aware of any opposing force until it starts to move. A lethargic person is comfortable so long as he does not venture. A man without a vision is not a threat to people around. No one challenges him; no one queries his lack of ambition. He is an easy tool in the hands of the visionaries. He constitutes no stumbling block to anyone. He is not envied by any. No one celebrates him. No one opposes him either. He is in his comfort zone, peering out of his shuttered doors and windows, but never venturing out. Self-preservation is his priority. Whatever happens outside of his comfort zone does not appeal to him. He is locked up in his own world.

But the moment he tries to venture out, he exposes himself to the inevitability of opposition. Suddenly those who had not noticed him before begin to consider him and what he stands for. Outside his comfort zone, he is in the glare of the public, where he has to take a firm stand or fall. In standing for what he believes and fighting his cause, he runs at loggerheads with those who are either opposed to change or are not ready for it.

It has been said that the only permanent thing in life is change. Yet change remains the enemy to many. For change removes us from our comfort zone and leaves us vulnerable. That explains why we resist change, even though change is desirable for progress and development.

So, be ready for opposition to your dream. But be sure that those who deride you today for daring to be different will come around to identify with you tomorrow.

Think of any vision that has brought about significant development to our world and you will notice how viciously it was resisted. Who gave Bill Gates a chance on the development of the Operating System? Who ever thought the Apartheid regime in South Africa would end? When Galileo postulated the earth was spherical and not round, the power that be cried foul and hounded him in prison. Now, it a given that the world is spherical. Coming back home, there was a time when banking was a nightmare. A group of young men came into the scene and changed all that. They were derided and called names. Today, they are celebrities.

Another characteristic of a great vision is that it does not change. Goals may change but a great vision remains the same. In finding your vision, be sure to find a lifetime vision that runs through the entire gamut of your existence on earth. Some people call it, your ultimate purpose. Whatever it is called, make up your mind to discover what you are here for and be persuaded about it. Change your plans when necessary. Examine your strategies periodically to be sure you are on track. But keep your vision sacrosanct. Only a lifetime vision demands a passionate pursuit and galvanizes your resources towards the upliftment of the society.

Characteristics of a Vision 3

WELCOME to Leading Right, a presentation of Life Africa. My name is Abiodun Fijabi

We are still considering the characteristics of a vision that brings change to individuals and the communities.

Great vision tasks the visionary’s potentials and resources. Vision has a way of becoming an obsession. A man with a vision is possessed by a new spirit. His thoughts often gravitate towards the vision. Issues surrounding the vision occupy his mind and engage his potentials. His gifting receives an expression. A painter works assiduously on a masterpiece. A songwriter is absorbed in composing a hit. A social crusader spends endless hours trying to articulate a better approach to fighting evil. A thinker burns midnight oil to fashion a new and revolutionary idea that will change the world. While others are carousing with men and women of easy virtues, the visionary is on the mark, thinking through an idea, juggling options, collating facts, disseminating information.... Much time is given to just this one idea. It is a life goal. It is the reason for which he exists. His material possessions suddenly get a new orientation. Hitherto consumed on selfish passions, they are now devoted to pursuing a cause. His family and workplace become platforms to further this one dream.

So, let your dream be your passion. Give it all you have got. Let everything you do or say count towards this one dream. Let it be your waking thought and the last thought on your mind before you hit the bed. Let your resources be devoted to this dream. Let your gifting be an expression of your dream. Talk about it so often people around you will know what you stand for. Seek information. Talk to those who have succeeded in the area that interests you. Perspire over it. Labour night and day in the course of your dream. Pour yourself into your dream. Go beyond the call of duty.

To know how passionate you should be about your dream, think of gunning for a medal in the Olympics. That will be some dream. Think of the level of preparations you will have in your three departments of life. Physically, you will stretch yourself to the limit. You will strive to keep fit, alert and strong. You will pummel your body until it gives in to a new set of habits that ensure your success at the games. Mentally, you will above your competitors. You will learn and experiment with new techniques. You will tell yourself so often that you can do it. You will use the power of your imagination like many successful past Olympic stars had done by seeing yourself winning. You will see the garlands around your neck; see yourself taking a bow as you are adorned with the medal; imagine yourself at attention as the national anthem of your nation rents the air. You will hear the loud and endless ovation. Even now you can feel the tears of joy welling up in your eyes.

Spiritually, you will be prepared. Praying heard against forced or unforced error. You will trust God all the way.

Well, if you do that much for an Olympic medal, do the same for a lifetime achievement of being all that God has created you to be. And you know what? Start today.

Characteristics of a Vision 2

GOOD MORNING. Welcome to Leading Right. A vision is revolutionary. The society grows on the wheels of positive change. Change comes when people think outside the box. Change results when men challenge the status quo and call the impossible possible. Change is inevitable when men break new frontiers, challenge their own best records and constantly embrace new goals. For as long as our minds are locked up in traditions, we lose the power to create change. Stagnancy results and the society suffers irreparably.

Your vision is not strong enough if it does not pave a new way in the wildness of life. It is not strong enough if does not present a new hope for humanity. Whether in the family, business or society, you can evolve a vision that changes the course of the present and steers it along a new and beneficial course.

In suggesting this, I am not underplaying the power of inertia. It is difficult to break away from tradition. But no nation has progressed while struggling to maintain tradition. Mankind had advanced when it had challenged old habits; it had excelled when it had broken from the past.

Think about it, what do you when current habits have failed to deliver on the promise of a better life for you and the community? Someone has suggested, “If you do not like the output; change the input.” Change is inevitable if we must move forward as a nation and as individuals. It takes the visionary leaders to lead themselves and their communities to an attractive future which is a radical departure from the present.

If you are content with maintaining the status quo; if you are only interested in holding to your ground; or if you are concerned about mere existence; you have had it. You will never mean much to yourself, to your family or to your community. The future belongs to those who appreciate our present but see the changes that we need to live successfully tomorrow. They are the inventors, the niche businessmen, the entrepreneurs, the social crusaders, the innovative professionals, the creative wives, the unconventional dads, the students with a deft touch… We need more of these ordinary people taking on extraordinary visions that point us to new habits and experiences that create lasting benefits and move us up on the social, economic and political planes.

Are you still afraid of developing an extraordinary vision? I hope not. I doubt if there is any other way you can lead your life to its fullest potentials. And I am not sure you plan to die unsung. Your family, your workplace and your community are waiting for you to dream an impossible dream. It was Jesse Jackson that said, “We have removed the ceiling on our dreams; there are no more impossible dreams.” In essence, Jesse was saying, “We have chosen to make change our friend. Not just change, but impossible change.”

May that also be your decision today.

Characteristics of a Vision

WELCOME to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

This week, we will be considering the characteristics of a vision. We will be answering the question: What are the distinctive features of a vision that transforms life and the society?

A vision is unique. No two visions, even if they are out to achieve similar objectives, are exactly the same. Because a vision is born and nurtured by people, they are as unique as the people behind them are. Each vision comes in contents and packages of the visionary’s character, experience and personality. It is not strange to discover that your purpose is similar to the one being pursued by another with a greater degree of success. This may make you feel intimidated to the point of abandoning your cause. You might also wonder why you will have to be doing what someone else is doing. The truth is that visions may be similar but they stand no better chance of being the same more than our thumb prints. There is a personal signature that each of us brings into whatever we do. There is a unique angle from which the same issue is viewed by two different people. That is why you have different airlines plying successfully the same routes. It explains why there are different cars catering for the same category of users. It is the reason behind the different brands of computers. It explains where there are many universities catering to the same category of students.

The understanding of the uniqueness of your vision provides you the impetus to achieve it. If you fail to see the uniqueness of your vision, you probably will never develop the passion to see it through. Unless and until you are convinced you have something different to offer, you have failed to justify the existence of your vision. If it not unique, look for another name to call your vision.

It would seem to me that we live in a society that does not recognize and promote the uniqueness of the individuals. We celebrate uniformity over uniqueness. We promote conformity over the individual’s ability to think and see differently. I think we should lean to celebrate our uniqueness the same way God does. Contrary to what many will want us to believe, God loves variety. That’s why he has created nations, tribes, cultures, colours, sexes, personalities… A look at the cosmos will reveal unique bodies in harmony like an orchestra.

If we fail to see the uniqueness in each of us, then we might fail at creating and pursuing a unique vision. The truth is you are unique. And lying on the inside of you is a unique vision that bears your signature tune. No one can carry out that assignment exactly the way you would. So, put behind your vision the full weight of your uniqueness and bring about that transformation to the society the way only you can.

Vision 10

WELCOME to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

I do not know a better way to end our discussion on divine disappointment than to look into the story of a statesman and a leader. A lot of my listeners can identify with him. He held an important position in government that shielded him from the pains and agonies his people were experiencing. His people had been taken into captivity by a foreign army. The remnants that lived in his province were in great pain. At that position of importance he was safe, so was his family. His future was also secured. He could easily have forgotten where he was coming from and abandoned the hopes and aspirations of his people. No, not Nehemiah, a Jew, an exile and a cup bearer in the palace of King Artaxerxes.

Nehemiah kept a close touch with his people. He received reports regularly of the happenings among his people. One of such reports came while Nehemiah was going about his duty. The report brought a divine dissatisfaction. In his own words, he said, “When I heard these words, I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,”

This historic divine dissatisfaction was behind the vision of rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem and the return of the glory and the prestige of a people. Nehemiah was so discontent his boss, the King, noticed it. This opened some doors of favor that gave his vision a head start.

I think the time has come for us to seek for information about our world and to stop to ponder at the issues as they affect our lives, communities and nation. It is also time to recover our tears. I think we have become so numb by virtue of the fact that we have become so accustomed to the prevalence of evil and low standards in our nation.

I think we need to pray more, not about the problem but about what we should do to bring the much-desired change.

Because divine dissatisfaction should not lead to idea paralysis. Calling pity parties on our personal and national challenges may look emotionally gratifying, but it is destructive to our vision. Divine dissatisfaction leads to action. Nehemiah did not only ponder, weep and prayer, he acted.

What issues make you ponder, cry and pray? The time has come to start to do something about it today. Stop to make that call. Write that letter. Record that song. Work out the modality for starting that NGO. Give that fat gift to the poor. Take that important but costly trip with your family. Make that move today. Turn your divine dissatisfaction to an action plan that will uplift your life and set your community on the path of a social reformation. Nehemiah did it, you too can.

Vision 9

WE REMEMBER Martin Luther King Jr. – the first and the only American to have a national holiday in his name. We remember him for his relentless pursuit of total freedom for the people of colour in the US. For some of us in this nation, Mr. King has become a hero we love to identify with.

Welcome to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

To emulate Mr. King in our desire to change our society, we must start from where he started. Not from a dream but from a pure conscience. A heart that answered not to the fallen nature of man but to a higher law of God. A conscience that sends distress signals when the rights of others had been trampled upon. A mindset that recognized the limitations of the present but not bound by them.

Only on such consciences can the seed of change thrive. It was Tozer that said,”God speaks to the man who cares.” Only such consciences can inspire a dream that changes the course of human history.

At least, it was such a conscience that inspired Martin Luther King Jnr.’s dream. It was also such a conscience that gave birth to William Wilberforce’s dream. In 1784 William Wilberforce became a Christian and immediately proceeded on a mission to change his ways. This he accomplished through a disciplined Bible study and prayer life. As his Christian convictions deepened, the evil of slave trade and the decadent British social manners began to engage his attention. So engaging were these issues that Wilberforce was once quoted as saying, “God Almighty has placed before me two great objects – the abolition of the slave trade and the reformation of manners of England.”

We need to recapture our God-given consciences. As we allow him the lordship of our lives, we become partakers of his love for humanity. His love will be poured in our hearts by His Spirit. Our love for humanity will compel us to develop visions that uplift the human society. We will act decisively and effectively for the good of mankind. We can never out of good conscience consent to the dehumanization of man under any guise. The warning alarm will be too loud for us not to hear.

Moving closer to God will increase our sensitivity to rightness and wrongness. There is no doubt; God knows what is right for us and our society. He knows when we are living below our full potentials. He knows when our society is derailing from the goals he has set for it. And to be sure, he is not only interested in the so-called spiritual matters. All matters that concern his world – art, science, technology, economy and the like – are all within his circle of concern. In these and other areas, he has the best ideas, which he is willing to share. And when anything goes wrong, he raises alarm in the hearts of those who care and challenges them to act.

Dear listener, what efforts would you make today to recapture your God-given conscience? The closer you are to your maker, the more readily he will share with you his vision for you and for the orderliness and progress of his world.

Vision 8

HAVE YOU ever wondered how God runs his world? This is Leading Right. My name is Abiodun Fijabi.

I have wondered many times how God runs his world. I had tried to imagine what I would do if I were God. I would be the absolute ruler of the world. I would make laws and enforce them. The shifty nature of man would not make me trust him. I would not allow any of my plans to be aborted by man and his fallen systems. So, I would run the show absolutely. Alternatively, I would turn men into robots. No mind of their own. No vision. I would turn then on and off at will. With that, I would be able to safeguard my plan and achieve my goals.

Well, I am not God. I think that should make you happy. Our God is not an absolute leader and he is not threatened by the freedom of men to make decisions that could inhibit his divine plan. So, he created man like himself – free to make his choices; free to run his life and that of his community by the power of his vision. Of course, God runs the world by the power of his vision. His vision is driven by his love for men, his passion for righteousness and hatred for evil. He has graciously shared with us this love, this passion and this hatred.

The Bible says, God has given gifts to all men. So, in reality, God runs his world through the power of ideas that he has generously distributed to men. This means when a community is in trouble, he looks for a man he could give an idea of a change. When a business is in trouble, he looks for a man he can fill with an idea that will lift the company from the troubled water. When a family is about to collapse, he hopes one of the partners will wait on him long enough to get an idea that will save the marriage and bring back the lost passion.

To make us do this he brings a discontent to our hearts. Each time we break his laws or others around us do so, we have a caution in our hearts. Our consciences are troubled when we see evil triumph over righteousness. When our society is not being run the way it should, an alarm rings in our hearts.

Through his gifts, generously given to man and through divine discontent he puts in the hearts of men like you whenever his plan is in jeopardy, God runs his world. He hopes that you will be committed to using your gifts to the betterment of the society. He also hopes you will ever be ready to hold a good conscience and challenge the status quo wherever necessary.

Could you please take a moment to take a stock of your gifts? They may be a pointer to your God-given vision. And what are you disgusted about? That may be what you have called by God to change.

Vision 7

WELCOME to Leading Right. My name is Abiodun Fijabi. Still on Divine Dissatisfaction – our divinely inspired discontent with the status quo or the existing state of affairs in our lives, homes, organizations or nations. Why do I choose the word, ‘Divine’ to describe our discontent with the status quo?

The Bible at no time gave us the impression God is on the side of a disoriented life or society. His capacity for change is legendary and so is His desire to unleash the forces of change in His dealing with human beings. It is the reason why he had judges, prophets and kings in the Old Testament. It is the reason why his Son came. Jesus represented a new order that was diametrically opposed to the order of His days. And yet, he offered no apologies. It was a discontent against the evil of his days that made him go about doing good and healing all manner of diseases. When he raised the dead, he was distraught with death. When he healed the sick, he was at war with pain. And when he whipped the money changers out of the temple, he hated the idea of turning the house of God into a den of thieves.

I have never stopped to be amazed about Jesus’ hatred for traditions and customs that were not progressive. He wondered at the hypocrisies of the Pharisees in prayer and worship. He challenged old habits and practices that excused divorce on filmy reasons, and which denied parents of the support of their children for reasons of godless piety. He made friends with sinners and outcast to the annoyance of the religious people. He disobeyed their version of the Sabbath, insisting good works were permitted. He stunned his listeners when he said. “Man is not made for the Sabbath.” When He was accused of using evil power to cast our evil; he only wondered about their twisted thinking.

It would seem to me that His goal was to bring every man to a state of dissatisfaction with their lives and then move them to act differently. He did that for the Woman at the well, for Zacheaus - the small-stature tax collector, for the arrogant rich young ruler, and for the learned but ignorant Nichodemus, among others.

Once he was traveling with his disciples as recorded in Matthew 9. He had been touring many towns and villages teaching, preaching and healing as it was his custom. In verse 36 it was recorded that “when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. “ Finis Jennings Dake had defined the word translated Compassion here to mean, “That drawing and inner agitation of the innermost part at the sight of any distressed or miserable object. It causes a revolting action in the innermost being to bring deliverance from such unlawful and inhuman misery and suffering.”

Divine dissatisfaction characterized the life and work of Jesus. It should characterize ours if we are to make the needed impact in our society.

Dear listener, are you divinely dissatisfied enough to evolve a vision that is capable of lifting you and your community?

Vision 6

WELCOME to Leading Right. I am Abiodun Fijabi.

I hope by now you already have a vision. You have a dream of an attractive future that will change the course of your history and that of the world you live in. Great. Let me provide some insights that will help strengthen your vision and give it the passion that will see it through to fulfillment. It does not matter what kind of a dream or vision you have. Whether it is a dream that will change the nation or one that will take your business to the next level or a dream that will give your life a much desired lift.

Your vision, to pass the test of time, must arise from what I call Divine dissatisfaction. You probably have heard of Inspirational Dissatisfaction or Creative Dissatisfaction They all describe a state of serious discontent with the prevailing circumstances. If you like, a deep seated hatred for the status quo, arousing a groundswell of opposition to what presently obtains. This produces a compelling reason to act to change a situation.

This dissatisfaction is necessary to break the inertia of contending against the status quo. It is wise never to underestimate the power of the status quo. The status quo has a way of asserting itself as the only reality. We are constrained many a times to think of maintaining what we have rather than aspiring for what we should have. Locked up in the present, we tend to look down at the issues from the same prisms we have used again and again. With the perception that we should let the sleeping dogs lie, we deny ourselves of the divine dissatisfaction that is capable of inspiring a challenge to the status quo.

There is that consciousness in each of us as to what is right and wrong. This consciousness may, however, have been dulled by the circumstances of life and our experiences. That little hunch and that slight disturbance on our consciences may be the pathway to the evolution of new ideas that could change your community or advance a cause you believe in. The reason a lot of us are no longer listening to the voice of change is because we have failed to heed its several calls in the past. The only thermostat in us that helps us maintain the balance between today’s experience and tomorrow’s reality has been replaced with a thermometer. The thermometer makes no comparisons with the future. It only explains the present. And that is dangerous. Such perception of life only in the present cannot bring about the change our society urgently needs. We need men who constantly appraise the present against their dream of the future. It is only a perception of the possibility, and indeed inevitability of new realities from the current ones that our nation can become great again.

Who is divinely dissatisfied with the corruption that is endemic in our society? Whose conscience is pricked about the leadership question? Who weeps secretly at the general lack of organization in our society? Which teacher sighs at the endemic, or is it pandemic examination malpractices in our schools? Which politician sorrows at the level of corruption in high places? Which pastor is ashamed of the public perception of men of God in our nation?

It is time you raise your dissatisfaction level to the point you will be compelled to act on a vision for change.

Vision 5

HI. I am Abiodun Fijabi. Welcome to another edition of Leading Right.

According to Nanus, a visionary creates a “realistic, credible, attractive future for the organization,” Every organization or nation thrives on vision. There is no group that does not desire an attractive future. We all hope for a nation where things work, and where we are ruled by civilized laws and not by the will of a few selfish individuals. We long for a truly democratic leadership that seeks for the common good of the vast majority of our people. We hope for a more secure community where armed robbers are not lords of the night or agonies of the daylight. We wish our roads were safer. We desire a better education that assures us a better future for our kids. We hope for an industrial revolution that harnesses our numerous resources into finished products that meet genuine needs of our people and increase the quality of our lives.

At the individual and family levels, our wishes are legion. Each of us wants a better life. We desire a great career or hopes for a business breakthrough. For some, their wish is to get closer to God and increase their level of spirituality. Some of others will like to drop a habit that is inhibiting them from reaching their full potentials. Most of us desire greater family intimacy and wish we could increase our family’s financial base.

In our communities, I know of many who will want their lives to count more. They are not satisfied with their levels of contribution to the society. They want to help the poor, care for the orphans and make lives easier for the widows. They want to help fight corruption and put many Nigerians back to work. They are genuine people and genuinely desire a change.

We all hope for a better future but how many actually see this future? How many have an idea of what should be done? How many have a set of blueprints that will drive their lives, families, businesses and communities to this attractive future? How many are so passionate by the change they seek that they are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices to create it? How many see vividly the way in the wilderness and the water in the desert?

A vision is a roadmap to follow. Vision sets the agenda for change and gives us a roadmap into our future. It channels our energies and focuses our resources. We are not left in the dark. There is a clear path in the wilderness of life. The compass of our vision constantly points to the north; from where we find our bearing. With our natural eyes, we see hopelessness, but with the eyes of our minds we see the way to follow to an attractive future.

Dear listener. Stop to think about an attractive future you desire to create. It may be for you, your family, your ministry or your business. It may be a contribution you desire to make to the larger society. Take time off work to seek a solitary place to write it out your vision for the future. Write as many pages as you could without any distraction. Someone has suggested 50 pages. Now, don’t feel intimidated by that. Remember, your contribution is worth so much it can fill many more pages of history. But you must be clear minded about what you are going to become. So, learn to write out as much as you can. Have a great weekend.

Vision 4

WELCOME once again to Leading Right. A presentation of Life Africa. My name is Abiodun Fijabi

Vision is a vivid mental image. It is the formation of a mental image of something that is not perceived as real and is not present to the senses. It is the ability of a mind to soar above the realm of the senses with all of its limitations. The visionary possesses the power of foresight. He sees beyond his nostrils. This mental image is so entrenched in his mind that it becomes a reality. A dreamer thus creates a new reality, with which he identifies. This new reality gives him the energy to deploy his resources for its actualization. He lives simultaneously in two worlds – the world he presently lives in and the world he seeks to create.

Our nation needs visionaries today more than at any other time in history. Many are already content with the seeming hopelessness of our society. Overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenge of a new nation, we hear such statements as “There can be no change in our time”; “Our nation is doomed”; “Where do we start from?” “It looks like we are a cursed nation.”

A vision does not disregard the physical evidence, but it is not limited by it. In fact, the physical evidence is the raw material with which the visionary weaves a mental image of a new reality. He sees a change that is possible to accomplish in our time. Our nation may be troubled, in fact, at the tip of a precipice, but not doomed. He sees a light at the end of the tunnel. He asks where we start from, not out of frustration but out of a desire to take the first step, small and inconsequential as it may seem, to realize his dream. He recognizes that we have been in deep and perpetual trouble, but fails to accept we are cursed. Like Cassius in Julius Caesar, he believes that “men at some time are masters of their fates; the fault is not in our stars… but in our selves that we are underlings.”

We must admit what the senses perceive is true. But what the mind conceives is also true. The senses see the present; the mind reaches into the future. The senses only observe; the mind creates. Overindulgence on the senses will only bring greater frustration. Only a visionary mind will take us from where we are to where we should be.

Dear listener, I do not know what truth your present circumstances are presenting to you. Perhaps you are at a crossroads in your life, marriage or business. May be all you can see at the moment is hopelessness. You may have failed over and over again. There is no point arguing with the facts of history. Like someone said. “Fact is a stubborn thing.” But there is a greater truth, evidenced by the power of your vision. You can create a new future by envisioning a change. From where you are, you can get to where you want to be. From the present state of your marriage, you can move to a new level. From the current state of your community, you can lead it towards a goal that meets the real needs of the people by the power of your vision.

All you need do is lift up your head and look. As far as you can see will determine as far as you can go. Good morning.

Vision 3

THINK of anything that is strikingly good or evil today. There is every certainty that it came from someone’s dream. Marxism, capitalism, terrorism, democracy, globalization…are all results of men’s dreams.

Why is man so capable of casting vision with consequences? Because his creator is the greatest visionary. He envisioned a world and created it. He envisioned a man in his image. And there was a man with tremendous power! His visions had consequences, reverberating through the entire universe and determining the course of nature.

Even so, man is capable of visions with great consequences. History has proved this beyond reasonable doubt.

Hitler dreamt of a world run by his whims and caprices. He envisioned a dominant role for Germany in the new world order. He declared wars on his neighbours to realize his dreams. He scored victories after victories against frightened enemies. Nations, mightier than Germany, fell with surprised ease. They fell not to a man but to his consummate dream. One nation stood defiantly against Germany’s Hitler. Or should we say one man’s dream stood against Hitler’s dream? Winston Churchill had another dream – to lead England to win the war against Germany at all cost. What took place in the battlefield was not a war of weapons and of soldiers. It was a clash of dreams. One man’s dream set the whole of Europe ablaze and set the world on the edge of a catastrophe. Another man’s dream scuttled his sinister dream and restored hope. Hitler’s reign lasted a dismal twelve years instead of a thousand year reign he had envisaged. But he did succeed in one of his dreams: he killed more than half a million European Jews!

Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. It was a passionate dream, for which he was ready to lay down his life and for which he eventually paid the supreme sacrifice. He envisioned a time in the history of the United States when men would be judged by the content of their character rather than the colour of their skin. The world remembers King today for his relentless peaceful opposition to the discrimination against black people in the US.

History is replete with stories of men who challenged the status quo and made their marks on the sand of time. They dared to dream big with desirable or dire consequences. Nations like Malaysia and Singapore, fellow third world nations, have thrived by the unrelenting dreams of their leaders. Dream is behind the major rag-to-riches stories the world has recorded. It is dream that turned captives into victors. Astounding business successes are results of dreams. There has not been any politician with significant impact that is not a man of great dreams. Musicians, actors, actresses, sports personalities…all know they are dead without dreams. Their dreams, helped by the invisible hand of their creator, set them on the path of excellence and put their names on their profession’s hall of fame. It is a dreamer’s world!

You too can make history. All you need is dream a dream that is big enough that only God could help you accomplish it.

Vision 2

IDEAS RULE the world and ideas have consequences. My name is Abiodun Fijabi and I welcome you to Leading Right.

The world stands on falls on the vision of its inhabitants. No nation develops beyond the visions of its people. When a society is threatened by the challenges it faces, the best place to look is usually the last. When a life has reached a brick wall, our prescriptions for change are usually wrong. When a business is down and almost out, we are forced to look for easy answers. Far too quickly, we reduce the solution to the challenges in our marriages to following a few steps to success. Nations in turmoil so often look outside the shores of their lands to find help. In our desperate search for solutions, we look for more money and more aids. Some cosmetic changes here. Some quick-fix solutions there. When, in pragmatic terms, what we need is to reawaken the visionary in us and provide an atmosphere for our visions to germinate and produce fruits.

Without a clear vision, men and communities embrace the status quo. We become slaves to maintaining traditions and customs and watch as others match unto a glorious future. We do not have two worlds and the only one we have is ruled by the men and women of vision. Because ideas rule the world; the visionaries are the kings. The world belongs to the men and women who help us create a better future. Our today is a product of yesterday’s vision or lack of it. Today’s visionaries will determine the course of events in our world tomorrow. You do not need the stargazers to determine the future of your life, marriage, business or community. There is just one place to look: the vision that occupies your mind today. Your future is as good as the vision you have in your heart today.

And ideas have consequences. One man’s idea can take the world to a new level as evidenced in the information technology revolution kick started by Bill Gates. Another man’s idea can have an overwhelming negative effect on all of us. The world is obviously less safe than it was before Bin Ladin came to the scene. The most dreaded Al-Qaeda is the idea of one man.

Lack of vision also has consequences. The Bible says, without vision the people perish. It is a calamity not to dream. A life without vision is a life in peril. Only vision guarantees survival – be it of a life, family, business or nation.

Would you take a moment to reexamine your life and the contributions you are making to the society? Does your life show a clear vision? Can you say with confidence what you have been created for? And are you taking steps to reach that desirable end that you have pictured in your mind about yourself and your community? If you have answered in the negative, the time has come to take a hold of your future and that of your community by creating a mental image of a beneficial future for yourself and others. You can do it. Everyone can do it.

Vision

YOU ARE welcome to Leading Right. My name is Abiodun Fijabi

Today, we shall begin the journey to understanding vision. It is definite to be a long journey as vision is a vital tool a leader uses to navigate the stormy weather of change. Edmund Haggai is of the opinion that leadership begins when a vision emerges. We should not expect any leader to lead without a vision, same way a pilot is not expected to fly without a plan. Your life and that of any community you are involved in are doomed without a clear vision. More than a plan, a vision is a mental picture of the future the leader or the visionary seeks to create. It is the ability to see the end before we reach it. It is the faculty of sight trained to see far beyond the present. Vision is a vivid insight into the future.

Myles Munroe bemoaned the lack of vision in our world. He said the greatest tragedy of human race is to have sight and not insight. It will be foolhardy not to agree with him. Our generation sees more than any other in history. The miracle of eye glasses and contact lenses has kept our eyes working even at old age. The trained ophthalmologists work hard to ensure we keep our sight and our faculty to see. We do this much for our physical eyes, which are desirable and good; but fail to do the same for our inner eyes with which we sight and create a beneficial future.

For this sin, we are paying very dearly in our nation. At every level of the society and in every institution, lack of clear vision is easily noticeable. It is demonstrated by the lack of enthusiasm to work, the general lack of direction and the commitment to maintenance rather than to change.

Clear vision inspires enthusiasm. We bring passion to a work whose end we know and the benefit of which we desire, especially when the vision meets real needs. Motivation comes naturally, driving away every form of complacency. Discipline is easy once there is a clear and beneficial end in sight. For a shared picture of a beneficial future, we will be willing to moderate our appetites, mobilize and focus our physical, mental and spiritual resources and endure any pain in the course of reaching the future. We cannot talk of extraordinary achievement without a vision. Such achievement that uplifts a community comes when people can see and identify with a desirable end that meets their real needs. With vision, work suddenly takes on meaning. Energies are directed and focused towards the desired goals and a faith arises that overcomes obstacles and challenges.
What are you doing to develop your insight? Your ability to see beyond now? You desire to live your life to the fullest may remain a wishful thinking until you start to develop a mental picture of the future. You can create your future and that of the society through the power of your vision.