Activating The Greatness in Your Dna

1 Activating the greatness in your DNA
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
ACTIVATING THE
GREATNESS IN YOUR
DNA
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
This publication is designed to provide competent and reliable information regarding the
subject matter. The author and publisher specifically disclaim any liability that is incurred
from the use or application of the contents of this book.
Copyright © 2018 by Kingsmith Akinwale
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or any electronic
or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without
permission in writing from the publisher except by a reviewer who may quote brief facts
in a review.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Table of contents:
Foreword
Dedication
Introduction
Chapter ONE: The Power In Becoming A Licensed Murderer
Chapter TWO: Breathing Greatness by The Power Of Your Gifts
Chapter THREE: Bearing The Sacrifices To Become Great
Chapter FOUR: Exercising The Tasks Of Being A Life’s Student
Chapter FIVE: What Great Men See That Mere Men Overlook
Chapter SIX: Hacking The Greatness Code
Chapter SEVEN: The Place Of Divinity In Achieving Greatness
Chapter EIGHT: The Indirect Model Of Learning Directly From Great Men
Chapter NINE: Harnessing The Potentiality Of Networking
Chapter TEN: The Essentiality Of Having A Partner In The Journey To

Greatness
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
FOREWORD
"As I facilitated in class at Skye bank’s training center Ilupeju, Lagos, I would never have
imagined that one fine banker seated in the class would be able to identify the greatness
encoded in his DNA and unlock it within a short period in time.”
My first meeting with Kingsmith Akinwale was never coincidental. It is true that “purpose
determines the kind of people in your life”. I am glad to be a part of a greatness habitat.
When seeds of greatness find the right habitat, it will grow into something beautiful,
something the world wants to have or pay for.
Greatness is encoded in the DNA of every man. Unfortunately, amidst chaos, ignorance,
pain and foolishness, one can easily accept the ordinary life. However, with the
introduction and acceptance of light, i.e. sound counsel, the right habitat for seeds of
greatness to blossom can be created.
Kingsmith Akinwale has beautifully weaved together sound management principles with
biblical counsel to provide a toolkit for building habitats in nurturing seeds of greatness
encoded in our DNA to trees of greatness for serving humanity.
“One of the greatest gifts from God to mankind is our ability to make choices” –
Kingsmith Akinwale You will learn how to make choices that gives live to an hitherto
dormant seeds greatness within, you will also gain mastery on how to build net worth
through networking and how to sharpen your gift set amongst many other insights in this
book.
Get ready for a journey that will raise your self-awareness, attack your doubts and push
you to a place where you begin to question your self-limiting actions. I welcome you to
the journey to greatness. Keep going don’t hit breaks and don’t detour.
‘Jide Williams
Pastor,
Management consultant at Potent Shift Consulting Firm.
17 of August, 2018.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to the love of my life and my ever dynamic son.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
INTRODUCTION
Hello The Great,
When some of you first read that word, DNA, you were like, how does this relate with
greatness. Well, to get you out of your curiosity, read the following:
DNA, short for deoxyribonucleic acid, is the molecule that contains the genetic code of
organisms. This includes animals, plants, protists, archaea and bacteria.
DNA is in each cell in the organism and tells cells what proteins to make. Mostly, these
proteins are enzymes. DNA is inherited by children from their parents. This is why
children share traits with their parents, such as skin, hair and eye color. The DNA in a
person is a combination of the DNA from each of their parents.
Now, the fact that you are given birth to is a license that you have greatness already
embedded in you.
God has installed greatness in everyone. It is only unfortunate that most of our parents
didn’t get to utilize the greatness before they gave up the ghost. But for you reading this;
be you a father, mother, man or woman, you are indeed lucky to have release yourself
from the shackles depriving you from being great.
Information is what separates those that are great from those that are not. How
informed they are.
Again, give thanks to God that you came across this book that will open your eyes to
those things you need do (some you have heard, done before) to drink the juice of
greatness from the orange.
Being someone like you who rose from a background that is not poor nor too rich, I
understand what it takes for someone not to harness his or her greatness.
Today births the end for you to keep lurking around chances of not being great.
I shall be exposing you to 10 cogent factors, that has worked for me and a host of others
to help you fine tune your journey back to greatness.
It is high time you read this book.
Welcome to the land of greatness.
I believe in the greatness in you.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Chapter ONE:
The power in becoming a licensed

murderer
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hat makes a man is not the clothes he wears; the wrist watch he wears, the home
he came from, his background, his nationality, his identity, his status, his spoken
and written words, his walk style nor his families.
The end result of every man is also not based on the aforementioned facts.
What then makes a man who he is?
You see a man (man in this context means both sexes) and at first sight, you loved the way he
appears. You see another but you instantly felt irritated by his looks.
Have you ever sat down to really think about the cause in difference? I mean, after all they are
both men but they differ in looks.
Let me help you out of your mystery. The simple thing that makes a man; that gives man the
end result that everyone then sees; that makes man unique or irritating at first sight is just a six
lettered word.
It’s CHOICE.
The choice a man makes up the appearance he exhumes. The choice a man makes is the
outward show of who he is and what he is made of.
I know you may be wondering the kind of title I chose to give this chapter. Well, its intentional.
When I say becoming a licensed murderer, what I simply mean is that:
My Pastor, Bishop Oyedepo of living faith church defined CHOICE to be, “the DECISION made
based on PREFERENCE that points to your FUTURE”.
Now, the etymology of the word ‘decision’ is decidere (from latin word) and this means “murder
other options”.
That means, for you to choose, you have to decide and for you to decide, you have to
necessarily kill. You must murder. What are you murdering?
Simple: other options.
Look at this scenario.
A young girl who lives with her poor parent. She wants to go to school but there is no funds to
send her to one. The parent struggled to get capital to start a little business but in the process
of doing that, died. She became a sudden orphan.
At that point, she is presented with varieties of options such as: go learn trades, start
prostitution, start robbery, look for ways to make quick cash and many more options.
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However, whatever she chose now becomes of her life later.
Now, going by the definition of Bishop Oyedepo, every decision is propelled by preference. That
is, what you actually prefer.
I could remember a period when I finished secondary school and was set for tertiary institution.
I wanted a university. That was my preference. So, I made a decision to follow through until I
gain admission into the university. My decision led me to write jamb. My decision then led me
again to the choice of rewriting those JAMB examinations as my cut off didn’t qualify me either
for the course or the school. The result of my choice was that, for all those times I was writing
those exams and was failing (to me), I was at home… doing almost nothing.
Again, the result of where you are now is as a result of the choices you’ve made.
One of the greatest gifts from God to mankind is our ability to make a choice – Kingsmith
Akinwale
Below is one of the inspirational stories about choices that I have read.
“I believe that, at least to some degree, we can each exercise control over our outlook and
attitudes. And the problem is - if we don't control our attitudes, they will surely control us. One
farmer took charge of his outlook. He did it by filling his mind with awe and gratitude. He found
that doing this gave him more energy to work on problems and to tackle those things that
needed his attention. His neighbor’s outlook could not have been more different. One summer
morning he exclaimed, 'Look at the beautiful sky. Did you ever see such a glorious sunrise?' She
countered. It'll probably get so hot the crops will scorch.' During an afternoon shower, he
commented, 'Isn't this wonderful? Mother Nature is giving the corn a drink today.' 'And if it
doesn't stop before too long,' came the sour reply, 'we'll wish we'd taken out flood insurance on
the crops.' And so it went. Convinced that he could instill some awe and wonder in this
hardened woman, he bought a remarkable dog. Not just any mutt, but the most expensive,
highly trained and gifted dog he could find. The animal was exquisite. It could perform
remarkable and impossible feats that, the farmer thought, would surely amaze even his
neighbor.
So he invited her to watch his dog perform. 'Fetch!' he commanded, as he tossed a stick into a
lake, where it bobbed up and down in the rippling water. The dog bounded after the stick,
walked on the water, and retrieved it. 'What do you think of that?' he smirked. Her brow
wrinkled. 'Hmmm. Can't swim, can he?' Not to sound too pollyanna, but I agree with newscaster
Paul Harvey when he said that he has never seen a monument erected for a pessimist. A
stubbornly positive attitude can often make the difference between happiness and misery,
between health and illness and even between life and death. Viktor Frankl would have agreed.
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Dr. Frankl chronicled his experiences as a Holocaust and concentration camp survivor in his
book Man's Search for Meaning. In it he asserts something really quite remarkable. He says that
everything can be taken from a person except one thing. What can never be taken away is the
power to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances. We can decide to choose our
attitudes every day. That may be one of the most important decisions we will make. I don't
want to neglect making that choice".
Here's another one as I was blog-hopping on a particular day. See how man can escape even
death through making correct choices.
"Jerry was the kind of guy you love to hate. He was always in a good mood and always had
something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, "If
I were any better, I would be twins!" He was a unique manager because he had several waiters
who had followed him around from restaurant to restaurant. The reason the waiters followed
Jerry was because of his attitude. He was a natural motivator. If an employee was having a bad
day, Jerry was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.
Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up to Jerry and asked him, "I don't
get it! You can't be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?" Jerry replied, "Each
morning I wake up and say to me, Jerry, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a
good mood or you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood. Each time
something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or I can choose to learn from it. I choose to
learn from it. Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their
complaining or I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life." "Yeah,
right, it's not that easy," I protested. "Yes it is," Jerry said. "Life is all about choices. When you
cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You
choose how people will affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The
bottom line: It's your choice how you live life."
I reflected on what Jerry said. Soon thereafter, I left the restaurant industry to start my own
business. We lost touch, but often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead
of reacting to it. Several years later, I heard that Jerry did something you are never supposed to
do in a restaurant business. He left the back door open one morning and was held up at gun
point by three armed robbers. While trying to open the safe, his hand, shaking from
nervousness, slipped off the combination. The robbers panicked and shot him. Luckily, Jerry was
found relatively quickly and rushed to the local trauma centre. After 18 hours of surgery and
weeks of intensive care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still
in his body. I saw Jerry about six months after the accident. When I asked him how he was, he
said, "If I were any better, I'd be twins. Wanna see my scars?" I declined to see his wounds, but
did ask him what had gone through his mind as the robbery took place. "The first thing that
went through my mind was that I should have locked the back door," Jerry replied. "Then, as I
lay on the floor, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live, or I could choose
to die. I chose to live. "Weren't you scared? Did you lose consciousness?" I asked. Jerry
continued, "The paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when
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they wheeled me into the emergency room and I saw the expressions on the faces of the
doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read, 'He's a dead man." I knew I needed
to take action." "What did you do?" I asked. "Well, there was a big, burly nurse shouting
questions at me," said Jerry. "She asked if I was allergic to anything. 'Yes,' I replied. The doctors
and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled,
'Bullets!' Over their laughter, I told them, "I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive,
not dead." Jerry lived thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude.
I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully". Attitude, after all, is
everything and both(choice and attitude are inseparable).
I believe that with that which you’ve read, you have been able to grab everything about choice.
As you journey through life, its your choice that with lead you to anywhere you will ever find
yourself.
The time to begin make the choice to live a life of positive choice is now.
In life, what happens to us always demand our reactions. But whatever we chose to respond
with determines what becomes of us at the end.
I could remember a scene that happened the first day in the bank.
As an I. T student, I wasn’t as experienced as those in the bank. I was just like every normal
Industrial Training student. So, I was given a sum of money by a man to help remit in his
account. Immediately I was given that money, I went straight to one of the officials regulated
for that. But, I wasn’t sure who I gave the money to. I knew I gave it to someone at the counter,
who it was, I couldn’t tell.
After few days, the man came to report that he didn’t receive any alert. I was shocked. I was
called upon as the man described me well. When I came, I said I gave it to the one of those at
the counter. I was asked who, but I couldn’t give a positive response.
I was taken to those at the counter but couldn’t point to just one person that I gave the money
to.
There was however a strong conviction that I gave the money to someone and that I wasn’t
lying. But, who could believe such?
Funny enough, every one of them at the counter all said I didn’t give them the money. What a
funny but costly experience.
At this point, my choice is of utmost importance. If I chose to quit immediately, I wouldn’t have
gotten to the position I am now at skye bank. If I’d done other terrible actions, I may be jailed.
Though the lady I gave the money to was caught and was retrenched but my choice before and
after the incident speaks volume.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
I simply chose to remain still and here I am.
And yes, your choice may be influenced by other people’s successes or failures. Anyways, just
take the responsibility.
For example, because you heard it that nobody that chooses medicine in Jamb ever gets it given
to them on merit unless they pay for it, when its your turn to choose, you end up choosing a
course influenced by people’s opinion.
This is not bad.
Oftentimes, it is a guide to choose rightly but the best thing is to always weigh your options.
Weighing your options needs you to look at the most promising side of each choice you want to
make and go for it.
That is where the problem is for most people.
When you make a choice, it is important that you take the risk of taking action. That is why you
made the choice.
Now, back to our becoming a licensed murderer. Once your preference has pushed you to
decide, SIMPLY ELIMINATE ALL OTHER OPTIONS and focus on the most important thing you
have chosen for yourself.
You become licensed when you stand by your choice and never deviate from it.
Make your choice guide you right to the right places in life. Your choice determines the
outcome of your life, think before you choose. Don’t allow the failure of others make you
choose what is not okay for you and your destination. That she failed is not a sign or a fact that
you will also fail. That’s her choice, make yours!
You may choose to just read this book and not take actions. But I dare you to read to the end,
take action and become the great man/woman you’ve been born to become.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Chapter TWO:
Breathing greatness by the power

of your gifts
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T
his book is written to let you know the importance of what God has deposited in you
which is greatness. However, it is not only for you to know the importance but to also get
the strategies and media through which you can actually live that life of greatness.
Having mentioned some of those things you need do for you to become great at whatever thing
you’ve chosen to do, there are still some secrets which I shall be unveiling to you now.
It’s the power in your GIFTs.
Your gifts; an unlimited power
Some call it talent, some call it endowments, and some call it gifts. Whatever you have chosen
to call it, I know and believe that we are on the same page.
Based on my discoveries and observations, I saw that one of the most neglected areas in many
lives is the area of gift that God has placed them. Many individual devote their entire life to a
field of endeavor or a profession that has nothing to do with their inborn talents. In fact, many
people spend their lifetime trying to change their natural make up.
The powers that your gifts came with are unlimited. You as a person are powerful. The gifts in
you are full of powers. Both are engineered to bring out the greatness in you.
With your gifts, you have the potential to go places. With your gifts, you have the endowments
to do things that are even humanly impossible.
Albert Einstein was one of the greatest men on earth, what do you think made him achieved
such feat?
Thomas Edison who invented the fluorescent bulb was once a dullard. What part of him do you
think rose to get him the crown?
Simple: their gifts.
Even the holy book of the Christians confirmed it to us that, “the gift of a man maketh way for
him”.
The natural endowments on and in you, deposited by God is meant to be a means of not just
survival but significance to your world.
You are a light to this world. One big way you can actually shine is via harnessing the powers of
your gifts.
Never underrate the power of your gifts and talents that are within you. They are given to you
not only so that you can fulfill to the fullest of the call in your own lives but also to reach the
soul of those who desperately need the solution your gifts is bringing.
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There are people whose lives are waiting to be affected by your gifts and talents. You won’t
want to disappoint them.
Also, your gifts make you different. It is the edge you have over the other person. It is your
uniqueness. And if there is anything that will get you ahead of everybody, it is your gifts and
talents.
The Gifts Bank Account (GBA)
Gifts and talents are deposits in your personal accounts but you are the one to determine the
interest on them.
Just like every bank account, you open one to have one. When you open an account, it is what
you save that you will get.
In this case, God has already opened the bank account for you and me but we simply need to
keep saving there.
How?
By using it.
What is the essence of a new car if it is not commanding respect for one?
What is the necessity of a brand new house that one doesn’t live in?
Its high time you deposited in your bank account. Deposit in it by using it.
The greater the amount of interest and attention you give to them, the greater their value
becomes. Natural gifts and talents are never loans; they are always deposits. Also, they are
never used up or depleted, rather, the more they are used, the greater, stronger and valuable
they become. Whenever they are to good use, they provide information, insight and revelation
that cannot be received in any other way or from any other source.
You need to make full and good use of all the gifts and talents so that you do not abound in one
area while becoming bankrupt in another. You need to step out and make maximum use of your
natural gifts and talents in your life.
Using your talent will make you become what you are created to become. I am even prompted
to ask: if you are not using your talent to better this world, what world are you saving it for? Are
you SAVING IT FOR THE NEXT WORLD that you are not sure if you will be coming? Please be
aware that you only got one life to live. Remember too that a bird in the hand is worth more
than a thousand in the bush.
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Focus on making the present world the best it can be with your natural endowments. Just get it
developed because in them, you will find better opportunities.
Clarity surfaces when the journey has began
The truth is, no one came to this life with all the clarity about their gifts. It is when you dip your
legs into the water that you will know how cold or hot it is.
That you don’t know how to start off about your gifts doesn’t make you abnormal. The fact is,
you are ready to start.
What you simply need to do is therefore look out for opportunities to explore your God-given
talents.
When you start first, always expect to fail. Failure is necessary to success. What you fail at today
is a lesson to learn to succeed tomorrow.
"Clarity is never at home but on the road ".-Bankole Williams.
As you go through making use of your talents, law of attraction has ways it connects you to the
lives, things and events that you need to get the clarity you deserve.
At this stage too, your gifts needs to be refined and defined so that you understand the core
essence of having the gifts in the first place.
It is no longer news that your gifts are there to help solve people’s problems. So you need to
fine tune that now and work towards making yourself and gifts relevant to the present world
and age.
How do you do this?
Seek help.
A closed mouth is a closed destiny. Once you are not clear about a thing or two, simply open
your mouth and ask for help; from the person you know can help.
Get mentors/coaches.
No matter your kind of gifts or talents, someone has trailed that path before. What you just
need from them is to learn from them. Hire coaches who can help you to fast track your
journey. Get a mentor to guide you. Add value to them too.
Attend related and useful events.
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Don’t sit at home alone. Go out and attend events that will help broaden your knowledge about
what you think you know but don’t know better. Even with your smart phone, you can attend
webinars that will groom you to become the great person you were design to be.
Read. Read. Read.
Update yourself with what is going on around you in your field. It is very necessary so that you
can remain relevant and useful. Read books; both online and offline.
"Purpose will take you to where toiling will never take you".- Babajide Williams.
One good thing about your gifts and talents is that there is always a correlation between them
and your purpose. Your talent will make you discover your purpose in life. Purpose is the gate
fee to success land. It remains your direction. The master of success does not respects
certificates or degrees, it only respects people who have identified and made good use of their
gifts and talents, thereby fulfilling their ultimate purpose in life.
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Chapter THREE:
Bearing the sacrifice to become

great
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I
n most movies that we see, it has always been the norm for anyone who wants to get rich
too quick using fetish power to always carry a sacrifice.
From that line of thought, it sends a signal to us that for anything you want to be, you have
to work for it. That working is the sacrifice we make to get what we want.
Nonetheless, some people get what they want, easily. Others struggle really hard to get what
they want.
Why?
They had bore the sacrifice to become a great person and one big way to that is TAKING
RESPONSIBILITIES.
Seek no shortcut
Yes, through shortcuts, we can actually get what we want or get to our destination faster. But,
has season been replaced with duration?
It is no longer who gets there first but who got there, and still left a legacy that everyone
embraced even after their demise.
A symbol of greatness is not known by how much you show desperation to get or want
something and thereby doing everything FAST to get it. It is known by how patient you were to
get there, what you did to get there and what you are doing as you were there. There is always
a lesson to learn in the process.
As you make your journey to greatness, you are definitely learning; which is pivotal to your
success. However, the lessons you got while on the journey is what some people need as their
template to also get to the top.
Imagine if the people you read their book now hurried to get to where they are by plying
shortcuts, would you have anything to read from?
Apparently no, because they will have no story to tell. So, for you too, instead of having no story
to tell when you get up there, why not be calm to pass through the refining process to be great.
Yes, the trials, challenges you face before you get something are there to make you value the
greatness, help you get enough experience to keep excelling should such cases occur.
Shortcuts are good but just like its name –short –cuts, they cut you short of your journey to
becoming the lasting and impactful great man everyone desires.
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So, there is a price to pay for everything. There’s a sacrifice to make to get anything done. Even
the books you downloaded for free, you thought it was free but no it isn’t. You spent data, isn’t
that? You had to power your phone or system you used in downloading and more.
So, what then is the greatest sacrifice we can make to be great?
Respond to your abilities
One of my mantra in life is always to take ownership of my behavior and do excellently

everything at my disposal. That is taking responsibilities.
When we take responsibilities for our actions and lives, we would be more grateful at the end.
RESPONSIBILITY is simply the response to your ability. What you can’t do, the universe will not
placed before you. That is a fact. So, that you keep getting challenges, harder works and all
those unfair side of life is never a mistake. They are all the tools you need to be great and
remain great. To get them, you have to respond to your abilities to overcome.
I am a product of responsibility taken. I love to take responsibility for everything that is in my

name. I do them as if no one’s is better than me and at the end, the result becomes positive.
Before I later settled to attend a polytechnic, I decided that I will be very focused on my studies
alone and will never lose focus on that. I vowed that nothing as dating will ever come in my way
unless I graduate.
Little did I know that the world was watching my in 3D and were waiting for me to get there
first.
And yes, I was admitted in 2008 and that was the beginning of many things I never had in mind
at all.
I was able to fulfill my vow of being single throughout my education but the first one…
I hoped for distinctions though but as I went deeper, my hope for it veered off even without
taking my permission. I was so occupied with many things.
Below were some of my posts held and organization I was doing them for:
Vice President – Prevent AIDS
General secretary –young Disciple International
Director –Kogi State Student
Deputy Speaker –S.R.C
It was in Federal Polytechnic, Offa that I became active in politics.
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All of these things actually helped me become the better person I am now.
I started writing since 2011. I would write all this wisdom nuggets, motivational speeches and
more.
“God will not give one man what is meant for two. And He gives provisions to the level of
your capacity.”
Today, I am proud to have taken responsibilities for those activities.
If I wasn’t fit for them, I won’t be appointed. And when I was appointed, I followed the words of
my darling wife, “Anything you have to do, do it well.”
When I speak at some events, some people look at me and have this feeling like I have been
trained from birth. Little did they know that I am a product of taking responsibilities.
Yes, Skye Bank would train me when I begin to work there, but I learnt how to converse with
people, how to persuade people right there in my National Diploma.
Remember I told you that I never wanted to go to a polytechnic but a university but my life
became more of what it is doing now based on my exposure at the polytechnic.
That was a redefining moment in my life. I appreciated it greatly.
When I started working in the bank, a lady didn’t seem to like me and she showed it. That was
the same lady who wanted to get me in problem on the first day of my admission into the
banking world. I took responsibilities by choosing how her attitude will affect my life.
As I worked there, I took responsibility both for my job and the people working there. I was just
there as an I. T student. In fact, I could remember what one person among the staffs there told
me one day. She said to me, “you are politely rude”. I couldn’t control my laughter that very
day. Well, that was a result of me taking over the actions and results in my life.
“Until you accept responsibility for your actions or failures, it’ll be very difficult for you to
develop self-respect or even have the respect of others.”
Sometime in the bank, I was opportune to have my table directly in front of the RM. It wasn’t
that I was appointed as his PA but by virtue of my sitting position, I automatically became one.
When anybody wanted to see him, he will tell them to meet me first. Before he comes in the
morning, I’d have cleaned his table. When he comes, I will run errands for him. I did everything,
with joy and enthusiasm. I never knew what I was doing will eventually pay off.
Eight months in it, I bought the Staff Contract Form as led by the Regional Manager (RM).
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Before you can be accepted as a staff, you’d need three guarantors. He stood by me all through.
He so loved me and I am using this medium to tell him thank you once more sir. It was through
God and him that I am currently in Skye bank today; of course, doing well.
Because I still loved taking responsibilities for my job, I was awarded the best front desk officer
within the space of 2012-2014. I got it even when I didn’t lobby for it. I was also appointed as
the Chief Teller when I have just stayed for 4 years; a position for someone who has stayed 8
years.
Via my acts of taking responsibility, I was able to induce three things to work for me: attitude,
referrals and longetivity.
“Whatever you have now is to the level of responsibilities you have taken.”
The problem of most youths however is that they want to enjoy what is meant for marriage
while they are still single.
I could remember a junior colleague of me asking me: “how can I be like you?”
I smiled and asked him back that, “can you take responsibility like Kingsmith?” he was shocked
and that’s the truth.
You want to enjoy what Abraham enjoyed and you are not ready to take responsibilities like
Abraham. Stop being a joker.
You need to learn how to also take responsibility for something you didn’t cause. It involves
moving beyond yourself and taking action to help people or situations around you that call for
assistance. This reveals something about your character and the type of person you are. Clearly,
there are many people who’ll walk away from the person who needs help in the street, or down
on his luck. However, there are others—thank goodness--who’ll quickly stop and try to help. It’s
not hard to determine which of these two actions the most responsible choice is. Be on the
positive side.
Over time, failing to accept responsibility has severe consequences. First and foremost, it has a
devastating effect on your own mind and heart. When you know you have failed to take
responsibility for something that you should, it’ll begin to bother you, to eat at you, little by
little. Pretty soon, you’ll feel very small inside.
Failing to accept personal responsibility may work to your advantage on occasion or in the short
term. For example, you might get away with keeping your mouth shut about something that
you’ve done, or even blaming someone else for your wrongs. You might not face consequences
for your wrong actions (at the time). However – make no mistake about this – eventually this
poor choice will catch up with you and, it’ll typically cause more pain for you down the road
than if you’d stepped up to the situation, took responsibility for it and honestly said, “I did it”.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Even God loves responsibility takers. Make him love you, NOW!
One destination, different route
Things may not always go as planned but most go as aimed.
My desire to have a degree made me write JAMB several times. But when I was persuaded to go
to the polytechnic and after my graduation would automatically go to the university afterwards,
I saw it as if God hated me and my plans didn’t go well.
Alas, because of my hard work, I was able to rise to some positions and by virtue of my taking
responsibility mantra; my boss got a form for me while I was working in the bank to study at
UNILAG.
As you could see, my aim came to pass but through another route.
What we aspire may not always come fast. But life has a way of bringing to our steps little
things, positions, events that may appear very small compared to what we want. It will be the
greatest mistake ever to then push aside those things and not do them.
Greatness comes in stages. Obedience to them gets you there.
What you want may not come straight but through corners. Your job here is to do all you can at
your disposal.
Take responsibility for anything that comes your way.
The world is wicked at no man. You are only being wicked to yourself if all you do is wish for this
and wait until you get it while being idle.
You have not been admitted and you keep sitting at home doing nothing. You are yet to get a
job and you keep submitting your CVs everywhere watching your phone for calls for interview.
What if you go learn a skill that will at the long run help your life to go far?
Don’t forget that nobody wants a job but financial freedom. When you recognize this, you will
never remain idle while you strategically wait for the next big thing to happen in your life.
Recognize what it is you are actually pursuing and you will appreciate every moment to get
what you want.
Again, there are different ways to get what you want. Life presents to you those ways.
Seek to know before you are known
That was the word Babajide Williams said to me when I met him in his office –seek to know
before you are known.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
When you seek to be known before you know, you may never last in the market of greatness.
Knowledge is relevant in greatness. It can’t be avoided. Those looking up to you want to always
meet you updated.
The higher you go in the hierarchy of greatness, the more investment you need to keep making
on yourself.
When you know, you will be known.
Understanding the principles of accepting responsibility, knowing, working while waiting are
recipes to actually rise to the ladder of greatness.
You are not exempted there!
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Chapter FOUR:
Exercising the tasks of being a

life’s student
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
I
am fully aware of the fact that you reading this now, has in one time or the other in your life
heard the sayings that, “Life is a school”.
To confirm it to you, yes, life is a school.
A school where everything you see, hear and do becomes a lesson to you except you simply
don’t want to learn from it.
I tell you, each adventure of the day opens us to another chapter of reasoning. As we journey
through the day, we consciously and unconsciously unlearn, learn and relearn.
The life’s subjects
And just like every normal school, there are varieties of subjects.
You may be wondering if there are subjects meant for studies in life and I am saying it to you
now that, yes, there are.
When it comes to money issue, that’s a subject on its own. Talk about food, that’s another
subject, housing and habitation is not left out and many more. Even company you keep is a
subject on its own.
And like every other subjects too, there are modules for each of them. Under money issue, you
find yourself talking about money for feeding, money for schooling, money in exchange for
service/products and the likes. These are modules of life.
Excelling in life’s subjects
You sometimes wonder why there will be like 30 students in a class and only few will come out
with distinctions. What do you think is the catalyst for this?
Your guess is same as mine: some reads while some do not.
But, going deeper, is reading alone the only reason why they excel?
When I was in primary/secondary school, I loved reading just anything I get to lay my hands on.
As much as I read, I still did not come out top of my class. That gave me the notion that it is
actually not reading that does it all for all of these people excelling.
What then is it?
I cracked it. It is embedded in just three phases that I will be highlighting soon.
Why you may never be great in life
As much as people in the school fail and don’t come out tops in their various classes, some too
fail in life.
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They struggle to make ends meet but they always ended up living from hand to mouth.
Why some riding big and gigantic cars and some can’t seem to afford ordinary bicycle?
Why is some losing a huge amount of money and they never bothered as they have more and
some lose just a small amount of money and they cry their eyes out?
I don’t get it: why is it that in this same world, people as you and I go to school, study, and
ended up doing what they didn’t study in school simply because there’s no job?
These set of thoughts gave me the reasoning that not everybody is meant to be great. However,
in the course of my discoveries, I observed that, as much as everyone is not entitled to
greatness, you and I have our own share of the greatness available. That is, we have it in out
DNA to be great. We have the seeds of greatness already planted in us, only for us to water it
and watch it germinate and we become the great man and woman we have envisioned to
become.
The key to unlimited freedom
The level of information you are exposed to determines your level of alertness and freedom.
When you read, you get exposed to a lot of facts, details, beliefs, values, and customs. You get a
paradigm shift as to your essence. You understand the powers that are installed in you.
Many a people don’t know what they have, what they know and how to use it best to help their
lives, business, career and academics until they read books.
With books, your eyes become opened.
What you know can’t harm you any longer unless you decide to act like an ignorant.
When you read, you become free, unlimitedly.
Reading is essential to greatness. Becoming aware of yourself and what goes on around you is
very key if you want to crack the code to greatness.
Reading is not enough
Do you agree with me that reading is not enough? No, it is not.
Remember I told you that aside reading, what makes genius actually genius is because they do
what I will be highlighting to you soonest. To also win in life as one of her students and become
one of the few great persons that greatness awaits, you have to do these:
BE DECISIVE
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A person who doubts himself or herself is like a man who enlists in the ranks of his enemy and
bears arms against himself.
“Poor is the one whose pleasures depends on the permission and opinion of others” –
Kingsmith
You must be able to take decisions for yourself and not rely on associates. Your dreams are
yours to live.
Some people leave their decisions for their friends, partners, parents and what have you to
make for them. After going by these people’s opinions and permissions and they ended up
failing, and then they immediately start apportioning blames. Yes, others may play their part in
making you actualize your dreams but the main responsibility is on you. You are the main driver
of your life.
Everyone has his or her dream to live. The actualization however is not anyone’s responsibilities
but yours.
Do you know the implications of placing your decisions on others to make for you?
First is that, they may disappoint you. In their bid to protect your interest, your best associates
may become stumbling blocks in your own way. They tend to protect their friend but their over-
protectiveness may deprive you of seeing your flaws that needs to be corrected and making you
overlook them, thereby standing as the main architect of your problem. You may end up not
achieving the greatness you truly desire.
Your friends, families, relations and associates should not dictate what becomes of your
greatness but they can only encourage and support you.
No one should tell you what to do, once you are clear about the journey. If it is right, wait for
nobody’s permission and act. Remember, you are the driver of your life and you do that via
your decisions.
“The finest gift you can give anyone is the encouragement. If they received this
encouragement they need to grow, the genius in them would blossom.” – Sidney Madwed
Think about this: why don’t they just give you the encouragement and live you to the rest.
“You are one thought away from change. Never expect time to create change, decisions does.”
KILL PROCRASTINATION
There was a day, when David slept in his house when he was still a bachelor. He ensured he
locked all the openings to the house.
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At midnight, he heard knocks on his door, what had happened? THIEVES! They came to rob…
Stop!
That thing that took your attention away when you wanted to do what you had already decided
to do is called a THIEF.
That thief is called PROCRASTINATION!
Procrastination is the direct opposite of time consciousness. People say it is the thief of time.
“Everyone is born with time but only few knows how to trade with it” – Fela Durotoye
No matter your race, gender, tribe or individuality, you are born with time and you have your
own special version of time. How you use it is what matters.
One of the best things you can do to yourself is to learn to say NO to procrastination. The
greater control you exercise over your time, the greater freedom you will experience.
The difference between people who succeed at almost everything and anything and those who
do not achieve an iota of greatness is how to spend the time at their disposal.
Those we refer to as great men and women all have the same 24 hours that we have. How
come they are more successful than we are?
Simple: the way they use their time.
To also ensure you don’t fail being a life student, you have to do all it takes for you to achieve
greatness. Be stubborn about killing procrastinations.
John L Mason said,”the regret that most people experience in life comes from failing to act
when they saw the opportunity.”
You may argue with yourself that you will never fail to act when you see an opportunity to do
so. I tell you, except you have a strong decisive mind; you won’t be able to do what you have
already planned to do. It’s not maybe something is wrong with you but its nature’s way of
telling you that they are in control.
And I know some will crave for the fact that they’d never get the opportunity, read what Albert
Duming said, “great opportunities come to all but many do not know that they have met them.
You see that? Therefore, the only preparation to take advantage of is to watch what each day
brings and act upon them. Seize the moment.
Quit procrastinating and always be ready to give an instant action. I agree with what Senea said
that, “begin at once to live”.
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Another thing that will boost your morale to kill procrastination is to always be at the right place
the right time doing the right thing.
The world and nature is there to always give you a thousand reasons not to act but it is your
choice that must stand against all of them.
To achieve greatness, you need to be time conscious. Time management is not an option but a
must for you. I bet you.
The future you crave for begins today, why would you want procrastination to rip you off your
chances of becoming the person you desire to be?
Again, know and apply
Now that you know what you need to become great and come out top in Life’s University, you
need not just know them… you need to also apply.
And the best time to being application, is NOW.
Welcome to the land of greatness.
Soar!
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Chapter FIVE:
What great men see that mere

men overlook
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
“It is better to fail at something than to succeed at nothing.”
This was the statement I learnt from my senior prefect in secondary school. If you fall off your
goal, dreams or success, it is not new; what is new is falling and not rising again. Chief Obafemi
Awolowo once said, “Never admit failure in life until you have made your last attempt. Never
make your last attempt until you have succeeded.”
A careful look at what Chief Obafemi was saying shows us that, until that time that we are sure
to have made the last attempt, and then can we admit failure. He proceeded by saying that you
shouldn’t make your last attempt until you succeed.
How can you know if that’s your last attempt? To me, I feel and know that the last attempt can
only be made when you are dead. Indirectly, Chief Obafemi Awolowo is telling you not to give
up too soon until you get to the land of success.
That’s the spirit.
Have you failed your Jamb before? Well, it’s not new. Just like most people, I wrote my first
Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in 2004 while I was in SS 2. I got more than the
cut off mark but was brought down by the POST UTME. “First time is not always the luckiest
time for everyone,” was what I said and moreover, I didn’t write it to use it to gain admission
but for me to only have the experience. I wrote the second JAMB and also failed. I was gunning
for University but my scores weren’t as high to that level and even for my departmental cut off
mark.
That was how I ended up writing JAMB up to 2008 with no admission. Did I stop? NO! I only
changed my motive and that was the genesis of my being a graduate today.
What do you think would have happened if I chose not to write again or now to apply for any
school for admission again? If I had not taken that decision to keep writing until I get accepted,
will I get employed in SKYE BANK that I currently work for?
Again, “do not admit failure until you have made your last attempt and do not make the last
attempt until you succeed.”
Your failing is a thing of the past and you need to stand up and face the challenges in the front.
“The cheapest way up is to stand up and forget the past; make the best of today and be excited
about tomorrow” that was the statement of Bishop David Oyedepo.
The positivity of obstacles
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You should always have it at the back of your mind that great trials are the necessary
preparation for greatness and the breakfast of champions is not cereal: its obstacles.
Have you ever imagined the motive behind why we never pass some places or do something
again?
Let’s take a look at this scenario.
Ade had always been the brightest student in the class. He was the genius that every member
of the class and teachers respects. There was a particular period that the time table for
examination was pasted. Ade saw it but choose to rely on his brilliancy and never read.
Unfortunately after the examination, he failed.
Judith works with a boss who is diplomatic. However, regardless of whatever the boss will say,
Judith will always find herself not following or doing it. Hence, she keeps failing at her job.
One day, she got to meet a coach who helped her to demystify her beliefs, values and culture.
That was when she saw her main failure agent. Immediately she changed gear and focused on
what works.
Ade will never try not reading for examination again as he has learnt his lessons. He now
understands that even when you are a genius, preparation has no substitute.
In the same vein, Judith has been able to identify what makes her to Judith has identified what
made her to keep failing and she has adjusted.
They both enjoy their lives now.
Failure is not to show how bad you are but to show you the bad in being bad so that you can
tune in to the good you.
Every obstacle introduces people to themselves. How they respond to these obstacles is
important. It depends on how you figure out the obstacles; you may think it is too big which will
discourage you or too small which will make you to fight back.
No obstacle will ever leave you the way it found you. You will either be better or be worse. The
choice is yours! Let each obstacles force you to go to the next positive and greater level. The
truth is, if you like things easy, you will have difficulties but if you have a dream without
aggravations, you don’t really have a dream. The obstacles of life are intended to make us
better and not bitter. Problems are the price of progress.
Samuel lover uttered “circumstances are the rulers of the weak; but they are the instrument of
the wise.” Obstacles subdue mediocre people but great leaders rise above them. Do not look at
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
obstacles, see possibilities. This is a principle I learnt from a half man. Someone who was not
born with legs nor arms, yet he does virtually everything a complete man could do, even more.
He can swim, run, cook and operate computers. He also trade in the stock market and he is a
motivational speaker which also fetch him reasonable amount of money.
He is pastor Nick Vujicic . The lesson the man teaches is that there is possibilities in every
obstacles.
The world’s concerns
Those who do not expect anything are never disappointed; those who never try never fail.
People who have no failure also have few victories. People get knocked down; it is how fast
they get up that really counts. Nobody wants to know how many times you have failed but how
successful you are after diverse failures. Know that victory or success has many brothers and
sisters but failure is an orphan. Nobody wants to associate with it.
A food seller was known best for the excellent dishes. She has a restaurant where people gather
on a daily basis to eat. She felt everyone loved her but little did she know that her major selling
point –food was the major catalyst of love showering.
There was a day she wasn’t in a good mood and she told one of her staffs to do the cooking. She
did and soon after, the food was ready for consumption. The first customer came to buy. “Oh
my God,” the food was a disaster! The second customer came and it went on until everyone
couldn’t finish the food they bought because it tasted awful.
The news went on that those who ate there went ahead to tell the rest about the state of the
food.
For a whole week, they didn’t buy her food.
Did you just said, “after all, it’s only for that day”? Yes, it was only for that day but the world
resonates with success and leave behind failure.
The world is solely concerned about your success; they are less concerned about your failure.
This is enough reason you need to get busy working things out until they all work out.
Failure is a feedback
Have the attitude of Loiusa May when you are in the wheel of progress, it is inevitable to run
away from adversities and challenges. It is like human and the shadow, business and risk. You
truly fail only when you do not learn from an experience. The decision is yours. You can choose
to turn a failure into a guidepost. Learn the lesson and forget the detail. If you have found
yourself throughout life never scored, embarrassed, disappointed or hurt, it means you have
never taken any chance
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The more you look backward, the less you are able to look forward. Move forward strongly and
stop worrying about the downfall for worry-ness is like a rocking chair, it keeps you moving
without taken you to anywhere. Never let it direct your life. The less you worry about the
downfall, the more ideas, insights and revelation you will have. Brace up the victory and success
before you. There are no great people anywhere; it is the great challenge that ordinary people
faced and defeated that makes them great. There are no challenges today that has not once
been in existence and defeated so you facing any challenges now is ,like facing a solved
problems, what you should do is just to input extra remedies.
See failure as a feedback that what are you are doing or how you are doing it is not working.
Remember, you can’t do things the same way and expect different results.
You failed at a business once and you decided to pack up? No, you don’t have to do that. You
just need to think through what you did that catalyzed the failure and focus on how you can
work it out to transit to success.
Failure shows you that you can do more. Success shows you that you have become more.
Ask any wealthy men you see out there, they all have in one time or the other lost money and
that never made them lose hope of not starting all over.
To harness the greatness in your DNA, you need to see failure, not as the end but a means to
the end –feedback.
Great people throughout history have all failed at some point in their lives. In facts, successful
people always have more failure in their lives than average people do. He who never make
mistake never make discovery. Borrow a leaf of wisdom from the 16 th president of united states
of America who failed in business in 1831
Who was defeated in business in1832

Who failed again in business in 1834
Whose wife died in 1835
Who had a nervous breakdown in 1836
Who was defeated in election in 1838
Who was defeated in congress in 1843 and 1848
Who was defeated for senate in 1855
Who was defeated for vice president in 1856
Who was again defeated for senate in 1858
But was elected president in 1860.
He is Abraham Lincoln. The question is, if you are the one who passed through all of these, what
would you have done? You don’t need to break your neck or pack your bags. You can achieve
your aim and goal before or without reaching his level of defeats. A man once said, “do not let
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your present situation affect you negatively. Wake up, count your assets and be the best you
want to be?”
An irish once said to his employees, “never concentrate on your weaknesses or faults while
doing your tasks. Appreciate your little strength and advancer gallantly to perform your best.”
The correlation between winners and quitters
The 37th president of United States of America, Richard Nixon said, “Man is not finished when
he is defeated. He is finished when he quits.”
No matter the number of times you fail, there is still a loaded amount of greatness in you; even
an iota. It is for you to keep grinding until you succeed and win and never think of quitting.
There are some people whose names can never be remembered in history, not because they all
didn’t do something worthwhile in life but because they quitted and most times, its at the point
where their moment of breakthrough is near.
When you fail, quitting is and should not be an option for you. It is only for you to re-fire and
never retire.
Always have the thought that you are too loaded to fail and too appointed to be disappointed.
A man who wins is a man who thinks he can win. Shared from the statement of the 43rd
president of USA George w. bush where he said “winners never quit and quitters never win”
Remember in life, whether you win or lose, it is your choice to embrace failure and tailor it to
your own advantage for success.
Failure is a journey with different pathways
When I was writing those JAMB examinations, it isn’t that I failed all to be accepted into tertiary
institutions but I was very keen on becoming a BSc holder.
That made me wrote the examination over and over again.
Thanks to my creator who pushed me through an advice I got from a relation to go study first in
a polytechnic since it is appearing that the University of a thing isn’t working. That was how I
ended up studying in Federal Polytechnic, offa. I studied Business Administration.
It was through this that I was connected to a distant uncle of mine who connected me to work
in a bank even though it wasn’t my plan to go for my Industrial Training (IT).
It was after this I. T that I was retained and began work there.
Via my attitudes and steadfastness to work, I was also advised by a boss of mine to start a part
time course of studies in UNILAG (University of Lagos) which I did. I ended up studying
Economics there and I graduated as a BSc holder.
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Alas! I ended up a university graduate.
What if I had chose to sit at home because I failed my JAMB examination and decided not to go
to school again, would my long term goal of becoming a university graduate be realized?
You see, failure is a journey that is leading to somewhere. It leadeth to a place that can take
several routes to get there. However, you are to decide where it leads you.
I could choose to let failure lead me to sitting at home or remain an SSCE graduate but I decided
to let myself go into the successful ending with the route that comes with it.
What you want may not come as planned but with all patience and doggedness, you will surely
get it.
To activate the greatness that is already in you, you have to learn how to navigate your failures
and turn it into an everlasting success.
Understand that the world is not after your failure stories but your success stories.
Recognize the fact that everything that is obstructing you may not always be an obstacle but a
moment to retrace your steps to become that person meant for greatness.
Failure is not the end but a means to an end. It is a feedback to show you what you need to do
more of, less of or not to do at all.
There’s just a code to hack into activating the greatness in your DNA on the highway of failure
and it’s simply for you TO SUCCEED! It’s a must.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Chapter SIX:
Hacking the greatness code
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
I
could remember vividly. I was standing by the road side with my uncle. While we stood
there talking, a car drove by us. I simply told my uncle, “I will like to have this kind of car.
Very soon, I will have it.” We both laughed over it and soon forgot that I even spoke about it.
Fast forward to few months, I got the same car as my first car. The exact shape, model and even
color.
Taking a close watch at the above description, one thing played out and that’s the function of
the MIND.
The mind is a powerful part of human that can be used variably to get many things done.
“The mind is a powerful force. It can enslave us or empower us. It can plunge us into the
depths of misery or take us to the heights of ecstasy. Learn to use the power wisely.” David
Cuschieri
Just like the mind can be used to attain greatness, if proper care is not taken, one may also use
that same mind to bring him or her down.
A person’s mind is likened to be a fan to someone’s flame. In a closed system, the fan can
silence the flames but in an open system, it gets it up and running.
Whatever you place on your mind will be the result of your life. Place negativity and receive
negativity; place positivity and there will be radiation of positivity all over you.
It all starts from your thoughts
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” Buddha
In a remote village, a man once lived there. He was by name, John. He has a wife and three
children.
There was a particular day he called his eldest daughter. Upon arrival, he gave her some money
and demanded that she go get him some foods.
The daughter collected the money and left. She headed straight to the market, bought
everything she was asked to buy and was on her way back home. When she got back home, her
father welcomed her warmly and started eulogizing her.
By the time he would unwrap what the daughter had bought, he had this change in his face
expression.
“What happened?” the daughter inquired. “Are you asking me what happened? You mean you
don’t know I don’t take this and this (pointing at some of the things she bought). The girl was
confused. “But you told me to buy everything sir.” She said, almost weeping. “Even if I said it,
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didn’t your sense tell you that it was a mistake? You will be severely punished for not correcting
my words when you ought to know what I am thinking of…”
Come back home.
To you reading this, has the daughter done anything wrong? Who is at fault between the both
of them? After all, the girl is the eldest daughter which means she understands well what the
father needs and she understands better the difference between what he says and what he
intended saying. How come she didn’t do that? What if she has followed what the father
intended saying and the father still chastised her for not following what he said?
Smiles.
Do you know what?
The girl’s not at fault neither is the man. What played out there was simply, INPUT and OUTPUT.
Budha said, “The mind is everything. What you think is what you become.”
That is the simple truth. You get what you invest in your mind; directly or indirectly.
The man is likened to be you. The daughter of the man is likened to be your mind. Whatever
you send your mind is what he will deliver to you. Oh, you are wondering you can send your
mind on an errand.
Watch this and relate.
Most times when you wake up in the morning and you just started getting snarled at almost
everyone. You didn’t show the happiness that your mind needs. You were just here and there
hissing and getting angry (for no reasons most times). Your wife comes to you, you shout at her.
Your children come, you gave them the cant-you-see-I-am-in-a-different-mood look and they all
ran like goats away from your presence.
First, your family watches us to later come by to get along with you.
But your mind, never. It simply acts on the errand. Which errand? Simple: unhappiness, anger,
nastiness amongst others.
Almost every time you start your day like this, that is what you get in return. And just like the
man, when you come back at night, you will be blaming God that at least he understands your
situation and he should have simply give you the best day. Sorry, it never works that way. What
you ask is what you get, regardless of what you meant to ask or expressed in another style. The
fact is, you have asked and that is what you will get.
Read that part where the holy book said that, “as a man thinketh in his heart so is he.”?
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
That is just what it is. Whatever you have consistently thought about in your mind is who you
are.
Your thoughts become you and you become your thoughts.
“Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one
day become a reality”
If all you do when you think is to think about lack, that is what you will eventually become. Your
thoughts are powerful and they need to be fed with positivity always.
No one ever sows okra and reap yam. It is impossible. You simply get what you think about all
the time.
“Our life is the creation of our mind.”
Our life is created by our thoughts. Our life is like a building and our thoughts are the bricks we
use in building them.
You can’t use a different brick to build your house and on the long run, you see a different brick
from the one you actually used.
The push of your thoughts
No matter what you keep thinking about persistently, you will eventually become those
thoughts. Thinking is an input and at the long run, every input transits into outputs.
Ask yourself, what is my input in how my life is progressing? A man can never hide from his
pattern of thinking. If it was possible to know the thoughts of men from their appearance,
knowing the kind of person they are wouldn’t be a problem.
One fact I will love you to admit is that, you are currently in this position, state, situation that
you are in now based on the level of your thoughts.
But many people fail to admit this and instead make the mistake of blaming people, situations,
circumstances, and things for the outcome of our lives. But then we have totally forgotten that
we called the happenings into our lives through our actions, triggered by our thoughts.
As you think, positive or negative, it is a push to the universe to bring to reality what you
persistently think about. It’s a cycle. Welcome to the system.
The words…
Someone once said, “Watch your thoughts, they become your words. Watch your words, they
become your actions. Watch your actions, they become your habits. Watch your habit, they
become your destiny.”
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Isn’t that true?
I am always careful about what I say and how I say them. Ever since I observed myself to be
someone whose minds attracts anything and immediately processes it out, I chose to remain
positive all my life.
There were times where I will jokingly say that something bad would happen and believe you
me, it will happen. I am not a magic wander; it is only a product of the mind.
Most times, It is what you have thought about that you said out. There’s nothing as I didn’t
know when I said that. Never. The truth you need to open your arms to embrace now is that,
every word that proceeds out of your mouth has undergone a screening of your thoughts.
While you may not say it out when you were thinking about it, but when a case of similar
situation arose, definitely you will say it out. When this happens, accept the responsibility and
don’t blame nature.
Your words are powerful. They are errand boys too that delivers exactly what you tell them to
do.
The kind of words you say is as a result of the kind of thoughts you have and it is directly
proportional to your lifestyle too. You can’t cheat nature. Impossible.
When you wake up, the words that took more control of you determines how your day will be
and accumulation of all these dictates your life at the end.
Your words may be positive; it may be negative but be ready to defend your cause that you are
actually the pioneer of your end results.
Law of attraction
You are the most powerful magnet in the world. You contain a magnetic power within you that
is more powerful than anything in the world, and this unfathomable magnetic power is emitted
through your thoughts.
Law of attraction still works till date.
It is like a magnet.
Let me paint a little picture.
Whenever you are angry with another fellow and you are narrating the experience or the
motive behind why you are angry with that person to another fellow, what do you think
happens?
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Your thoughts simply connect with your words and together, they produce only the bad
attitude of the person to you. That is when you start remembering all what the person has done
wrong. It is so effective that you won’t catch yourself remembering the positive thing the
person has done. As a matter of fact, even if a positive act of that person surfaces in your heart,
your mind will help you to see the bad side of the good part that person has done.
That’s law of attraction.
It is as a result of what you set into motion. Immediately you began quarrelling with that
person, you become weak at the end of the day. You have wasted energy to do many, profitable
and productive things.
Whatever you think about, you bring about. How you get result in your life is as a result of law
of attraction; what you do to worth having that thing.
The law of attraction is also obedient. When you think of the things you want, and focus on
them with all your intention, then the law of attraction will give you exactly what you want,
every time.
However, when you focus on things you don't want-'I don't want to be late', 'I don't want to
fail'- the law of attraction doesn't hear that you don't want it. It only manifests the things that
you are thinking of, and its going to show up over and over again.
When you think about what you don't want, this is what LOA termed it to be:
You say 'I don't want to fail' -LOA says 'I want to fail'
The hacking code
If you read closely, you will understand the codes to hacking the greatness system.
The bedrock of whatever results that happens in your life is your thoughts. Therefore, how do
you hack this to propel you to greatness?
Simple: Great men are known by their thoughts. To become a great person, you have to think
like they do.
One help you can always do to yourself at anytime of the day is to always stop what’s not
working or yielding results.
Quit any habit that is not helping you attract what you need to. If thinking shallow like mere
men is what have been stopping you from actually remaining shallow. Up your thinking game.
See yourself becoming that great man/woman. Think about what you will do when you become
great.
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By the way, how do you know how great men think? Refer back to the indirect model of
learning from great men. Read their books, listen to their tapes and see their videos.
Likewise, great men reserve their energy for the most profitable and productive living. Stop
using your energy wrongly. You use energy to do everything. Don’t kill your mental energy by
thinking negative thoughts.
Say the right words at the right time. Don’t be found saying a word that will not move you to
that level you desire to be in your life.
Greatness is already radiating all over you, yours is simply to summon it through persistent
thoughts, positive words, focus on your focus, right attitude, correct application of energy,
positive attitude and a unique you.
Keep being great.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Chapter SEVEN:
The place of divinity in achieving

greatness
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I
got to Lagos in 2011. I had just finished my National diploma (ND) in school and was waiting
for my Industrial Training. Prior to that period, every December has been scheduled for the
Shiloh’s gathering as one of the members of LIVING FAITH MINISTRY. So, December 2010, I
was at Shiloh too. Bishop David Oyedepo who was the presiding minster enjoined everyone to
learn to sow a seed to God here at Shiloh.
I made a vow to God to pay N2, 000 only. After all, I wasn’t working. When I left the program, I
told God that it is only when you get me a suitable place to have my IT as that will be the only
place where I can raise the money. What a funny dialogue!
Ordinarily, when I got to Lagos in 2011, I was coming with the expectations to start a job
immediately. But the person to put me through and safeguard me wasn’t available. That means,
I will have to wait for him to arrive before I will be able to resume work.
That was how I stayed in Lagos for good two weeks. Coincidentally, an uncle of mine sent me
10, 000. I took that money and was deliberating oh how to spend it.
I then recalled my vow of paying N2, 000. I brought it out and paid it to the designated unit.
Funny enough, as I paid that money, I was called upon the following day to resume work. Even
at this point, the person I was asked to wait until he arrives is yet to be back. I received new
sense about God and his works that very day.
Let’s take a little walk:
Only few in the world will accredit their successes and greatness to the God whom they serve. I
respect people’s religion, beliefs and culture and I don’t talk down on how any of them chose to
live their life. After all, it is ‘their’ life.
However, I have come to the full understanding that, greatness is divine. Greatness isn’t by how
much money you have in your account but how fulfilled you are over a course in your life,
career and/or business.
There is a place of divinity in our day to day activities. The person whom we refer to as divine is
always doing things that ordinarily we do not ask for or are not even worthy of at all.
There is this unexpressed faith in a God we believe exists or not. After all, we have someone
that created us. Someone molded us. Someone made us. The question is, “why is it that we
don’t consult him before promising to see someone the following day?”
What gave you the assurance that you were going to see tomorrow? We mention dates without
thinking about it. We are common with words like:
“I will finish the job and deliver in the next two weeks.”
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“We shall go visit your parent tomorrow.”
“I will hold a meeting with you all by Tuesday.”
“I will hold a seminar by next year”
“This event will continue to hold every year.”
I could go on and on.
Let me ask us again, “what gave us the confidence that we will see that day? Please, try and
take away the words that we shouldn’t think negative. Yes, you shouldn’t but where does that
faith sprung from?
After all my enquiries and personal time spent with the God I serve, I discovered that for
whatever thing you want to have, do or become, there is a place of divinity. Greatness is divine.
Where do we place it? How can we harness it? Why have we not been exposed to the parts that
unveil divinity? What’s the place of God in our life? Why do we even need to let God know how
much we value him?
Let us go on a journey, shall we?
The position of Him in our life
The normal routine exercise every morning for most people, including me is, wake up, make
your devotion (not frequent), take your bath, get dressed, prepare to go work.
Why is making of devotion not frequent?
We place a lot of value on our personal belongings than we do to God. Well, since we don’t see
God as our personal person, enough reasons why we give him accreditance only when we win
or about to win.
Where do you place God in your life, business or career? Is it in the first position or aftermath?
As Creator, Sustainer and Source of all good, God deserves the first place in our lives.
How you do one thing is how you do other things. It is how you see and treat God in our life that
will make it affect other aspects of our lives.
Putting God first in our life starts from the heart. When the heart cherishes, appreciates and
long for God, it will encompass all other areas of your life. When do you even remember God? Is
it when you need something? When you are expecting a request? When you have already
gotten what you want?
Answer sincerely.
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It is where you place God that he will place you.
We cannot give God, plus something else, first place in our lives. That is not possible. Jesus said:
“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he
will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon” (Matthew
6:24).
When we give God the place of highest honor in our hearts, we will also put Him first in our
lives. We will offer Him the very best we have. And we will find joy in serving the Lord, instead
of experiencing it as drudgery.
Greatness is divine, I said earlier on. To get to that position of greatness, you simply have to
learn to acknowledge that God is already in the journey.
As we go about our day every day, putting God first before any other thing is very key. With
that, we are sure to attract the divinity to get to our laps the opportunities of greatness.
The spiritual exercise of true greatness
We put God first by serving others. Jesus came to serve, not to be served (Matthew 20:28). We
want to be like Him. Jesus told His disciples: “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your
feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14).
Service is the core mantra of choosing to be great by divinity. Your place is royal but service is
the link to becoming an everlasting great person.
When you are successful, it isn’t to your credit to keep rejoicing and becoming a boss over other
people only. The onus is on you to use your success lift other people to succeed too.
By doing this, you are serving. God promises you greater places, when you get there, you are to
serve the people you are leading.
"Service is the tuition fee of the school you are which is life". Babajide Williams.
Shine! Shine! Shine!
Jesus said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify
your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).
You see, it is not your fault that you came to the wrong house, but it is your fault that you don’t
use the light in you to shine.
It is divine that you are here on earth. There is every resources needed in you to shine and until
you start seeing them yourself, you may not get to shine.
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Jesus has opened the passage way for you to shine. What’s stopping you? It is high time you
started working towards ensuring you shine, against all odds.
If you do all, NEVER try this
Back to my story that I shared at the beginning of this chapter. What if I had decided to not
even pay the 2, 000, do you think I will get the job?
A lot of times, we make vows to join the trail that everyone is making a vow to God. This
shouldn’t be. Read these three bible verses:
Ecclesiastes 5:4-8
Do not let your speech cause you to sin and do not say in the presence of the messenger of God
that it was a mistake. Why should God be angry on account of your voice and destroy the work
of your hands? For in many dreams and in many words there is emptiness. Rather, fear God. If
you see oppression of the poor and denial of justice and righteousness in the province, do not
be shocked at the sight; for one official watches over another official, and there are higher
officials over them.
Ecclesiastes 5:4
When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools Pay
what you vow!
Ecclesiastes 5:5
It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
When you make a vow to God that you will do something, don’t be childish enough to change
the terms and conditions ‘cause if you do, you are altering the promises of Him over your life.
Every promise is a debt. Every vow to God is one too. Don’t be too fast to make and once you
make it, by all means, pay!
God loves you
Many of the times, God is more of us than e are more of him. But yet, he promised us that we
will be great. He hasn’t change. He is still on that promise. That you can wake up each time you
sleep is evidence. That you can pick up this book to read is a proof and many more.
Sometimes, I feel God is on my side than anyone else. I don’t know how you may feel with that
but that’s the truth. I feel this favor all around me everywhere I go. You feel it too but you have
not been able to recognize it.
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Most of the things we get, become and do aren’t because we are qualified but He always got
our back.
There is greatness in divinity. Tap into yours today by following the simple but powerful
principles lay out to learn.
God existed. He still does and he will continue to do. Put him first, tap into the blessedness of
the day by fulfilling your vow with him. Become relevant and greatness-filled.
I salute your sacredness.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Chapter EIGHT:
The indirect model of learning

directly from great men
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L
earning encompasses different sorts depending on the media chosen by the person who
wants to learn.
Many a people lament on the fact that the person they want to learn from is of higher
caliber compared to him/her.
You’d hear some people struggle to get to sit with who they refer to as their mentors. They
admire someone who by their definition, is great and travel into wishful thinking (what they call
prayers) to just get one opportunity to meet with that person and have their heart desires and
problems poured out to the person.
Social media
On social media, the one some projected themselves to us has made a whole lot of us fall into
the ‘trap’ of including in our prayer points the grace to meet with them. Why? They hold the
key to the door of our lives; they are the best when it comes to the job of handling our
solutions, they understand us better and therefore can give straight forward answer to our
issues.
You may find yourself reading a particular book or listening to radio or watching the television
and they mention some names that you’d love to reckon with. This is normal but how do you
learn from them?
The Ancient great men
I was not opportune to be alive during the times of Socrates and Plato but I was able to learn
from them. How?
Back then in secondary school, I was in the social sciences and we learnt about how Abraham
Lincoln attempted to become the president but failed countable times. We learnt about
Williams Shakespeare. We were not alive during his lifetime but we had access to him. We saw
him. We held him. We embraced him.
How?
Follow me.
There are some great men that we only heard of but have not been opportune to see in real
life; perhaps we were not able to meet them while we were alive.
The works and achievement of the great philosophers that has served as bedrocks for most
present day philosophers were learnt; I mean from these people. But how then do or can we
learn from the ancient men we admire their lifetime.
The milk from the breast
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Like a mother who recently gave birth must give the child milk to survive and stay healthy,
strong and well developed, in that same vein many people love to learn from those they see as
great men.
Just a little illustration. Do you know that as a mother or even a father (better put: a male or a
female), you can feed a child that’s not yours. How? Via feeding bottles that have in it, the
required milk of the child. In a simple language, if you can’t suck the breast for the milk, you
should get fed from the feeding bottle.
That explains the two major aspects of learning.
The facets of learning from great men
Just like you can’t suck the breast of someone who’s not your biological mother but may only
get fed by the feeding bottles, in the same vein, you may learn in two ways from ‘great men’.
Take it or leave it: you may or may not be related to the great and wonderful people you admire
or aspire to be like.
There are two major facets of learning: DIRECT AND INDIRECT LEARNING.
DIRECT LEARNING, as the name implies, is the accessibility given, by choice or by chance, to
consume another person’s thoughts; physically and visibly.
This is synonymous to that baby who sucks the mother’s breast directly to get milk.
Here, you sit with the person you want to learn from. You speak with the person over phone.
You chat with the person; directly.
Will the chance be possible always? Will you say because you want to learn from the great men
that are dead, you would die too to go meet them where they are?
INDIRECT LEARNING: This is learning from someone physically but visibly not present and have
the thoughts forever lingering in you.
Back to the illustrations and analysis I’ve been doing at the beginning of this chapter.
I made referenced to some great men whose works and lives have blessed many. But how were
they able to connect with these great men? It’s simple: indirect learning!
How?
Try to take your memory back to those times you were in school. Aside your notebook which is
given to you by your teacher, how else do you gain knowledge and get along with the subjects
or topics being discussed? Simple: Textbooks, right?
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Same thing when we got to studying about the philosophers and the scientists, we were able to
know their thoughts about a particular course via what they recorded.
For your information: Every great man you admire has a recorded tool you can use to spy on his
thoughts.
Indirect learning varies according to our ability to adapt and assimilate well. They come in the
forms:
Audio: tapes, radios…
Visual: books, articles, websites…
Audiovisual: videos…
This means, you have no reason not to say you won’t learn.
Our major focus though which is part of my secret is READING!
With reading, you get direct access to the hearts of men whom you couldn’t meet with
physically.
The Soldier man
One of the habits that have helped me grow overtime is reading. With reading, I get armed.
There lived a soldier man who lives with his family in an apartment, in the barracks. Living there
made him accessible anytime war is been declared. He’s among the people to be called as soon
as a sign of war is booming.
As a soldier man, he commands respect in the society. He exhumes this authority whenever he
speaks. Whenever he’s on uniform, the regard that alone commands is likened to that God does
(no pun intended).
There was a particular time when it was declared war. Everyone dashed out of their abodes; got
dressed, got their AMMUNITION and were set.
They got to the war field and it all began. Guns were shot sporadically. Bombs were thrown at
intervals at the enemies and vice versa.
All of a sudden, this particular soldier man’s gun fell. Lo and behold, he was faced directly with
one of their enemies. You guessed right; he was shot dead!
Hmmm, this should send a message to you. Just in case you didn’t get the message clearly, I will
help you.
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Do you know that with the right INFORMATION (or knowledge), you can unlock any box. Call it
any type of box.
Do you know that access to it can make a whole lot of difference in your life?
Do you now know that with application of all of those knowledge and information you have
access to, can birth a total turnaround for you and your journey in life?
Come back home: When that soldier man was with gun, he was confident; he could attack the
enemies fiercely and he could stand up to them without fear.
That’s your ammunition. With great books comes great knowledge comes great understanding.
Let’s assume you are going to a competition and luckily, you have access to the book that
contains all the questions, how would you feel?
Bold. Confident. Majestic. Right?
That’s the same with you as that soldier man with gun.
Now, when the soldier man fails to shoot the gun at the sight of his opponent, what becomes of
him?
When you then don’t use the knowledge or information in you at the right time, what happens?
You lose!
Now, that soldier man suddenly lost or misplaced his gun that was his shield, and he was shot
dead.
When your book is no longer with you to devour, you become obsolete.
The bullet-less gun
Come to think of it, what is the essence of a gun without bullet?
In the same vein, what is the use of a book without the right sets of information therein?
While it is good to read, and you are not limited to some kind of books, it is necessary that for
you to thrive in life (success, financial, spiritual, academicals, health, time, social, physical,
mental), you have to read the ones that matters!
I am a banker; of course I work in the bank. But, my passion for motivational speaking and
coaching pushed me to read books in this field. While I’m not restricted to that alone, I read
books that matters to me NOW. I don’t read a book because it is good or everyone reads it, I
read because there is something for me therein. I read because I know what I will read now, will
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benefit my CURIOSITY now. So, when you read a book that will not do any change to your life
NOW, you are holding a gun with no bullet!
Readers are not leaders
It has become a popular and common saying that readers are leaders. Come to think of it, is it
true?
My immediate sister, while we were in school always topped her class. I could remember how
mummy will force the hell out of me to go read a book. Like every child, I will only pick up the
book; act as if I’m reading and the rest they say, is history.
But my sister’s case was different. She would read at every opportunity she got. What do you
expect of such? Of course she is always among the first three; oftentimes the first in class.
I then wondered if reading alone can make the difference, hence I began to keep a close tabs on
my sister.
I noticed that whenever she is reading a book, when it got to a time, she would close the book,
raise her head up and mumble some words out. When she’s done, she would open the book
and most times smile and show that feeling of excitement.
I continued to wonder how and why she’s doing that, and then I observed and confirmed that:
When she raises her head to mumble some words out, she is trying to memorize the words she
has read on her own without looking into the book. And when she got it, she would show that
excitement. No wonder she was always able to remember whenever she was asked questions.
While thinking about her case, I said to myself that, “no, readers are not leaders; action-taking
readers are.”
It was this attitude of hers that pushed me into reading more. I could remember picking up any
book to read. Anything written becomes my pal.
My father’s attitude
Even at that, I still did not come out top in class. I was always among those that took the 4th
position downwards. My worst result however was when I took the 19th position out of 79
students in Jss3. What a shame for a teacher’s son!
I could remember properly a day when we vacated at school. My sister and I got home that very
day with our report cards. I got inside first only to find my father sat in the living room. I
stretched my hand to him handing over my report card to him. He just looked at me and gave a
signal with his hands for me to move one side. I sheepishly went to my mum. Mum calmed me
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down and gave me a sign of assurance by using her left hand to wipe down from her chest
downwards her tummy.
Dad collected my sister’s own with joy. By the time he would glance through it within few
minutes, he smiled. “That’s my girl, he replied.”
Mum then called me to tell me that it isn’t because my father hates me or doesn’t want to see
my result. He just wanted to check my sister’s own to know that she has not started dropping in
her grades. With her soothing and calming words, I forgot everything… partially.
The king’s fortunate in law
I once read the story of a man who lived in a very big village. The king had called for a meeting
with the whole villagers. He told them that his daughter would be getting married soon and he
would love his daughter to get married from one of the men in the town. However, he knew
that there would be quest from all to marry the king’s daughter hence, a call for competition.
All the men in the meeting rose for joy and began to tell themselves that they would be the
king’s in law.
The day of the competition came and all the men were gathered there. They were all wondering
what kind of contest the king would place them. They were all beside a big river. Then the king
arrived and said to them that in this river lies all sort of carnivorous animals like crocodile,
snakes etc. The rule is that the first person to jump into the water and swim to the end wins the
competition and would marry the king’s daughter.
All the men started to withdraw from the call. They all were grumbling that the contest isn’t a
fair one. All of a sudden, one of the men was seen inside the river. With care, hastiness, skills
and of course God, he swam through to the end of the river. When he got out, he said, panting,
“Who pushed me?”
That was how he became the fortunate man to marry the king’s daughter.
What’s the bottom line in this story? Simple: if you can’t find it easy to read on your own, be
pushed!
I never did literature in school but passed it. Kudos to Dr. Maxwell who taught me well. Shout
out to great men like Williams Shakespeare whose books shaped my knowledge about
literature.
If you can’t read on your own, you need someone to push you. Find an accountability partner.
Someone that will be on your neck until you do that which is right. If it needs paying that
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person, please do it. It is for your sake. Reading is one key that opens the door of greatness that
already lies in your DNA.
"it is through books that we enjoy intercourse with the dead, the faraway and even the
unknown" Kingsmith.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Chapter NINE:
Harnessing the potentiality of

networking
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I
have come to realize that, life cannot be lived alone; we live with and by people. Those we
see at the top actually got there because someone at the top took them by the hand there.
There are some people whom you may imagine that by virtue of their former status that you
knew with them, they shouldn’t be in a place meant for the influential men. But they are there.
How come? Network!
Your Network; your net worth
I want to believe this isn’t the first time (and won’t be the last). If I may ask you, what does that
mean to you? That those in your circle determine the financial prosperity you will have?
Well, you may be right.
Let’s take a look at the definition of both:
Network: This is a group or system of interconnected people or things. Another definition tells
us that it is a group of people who exchange information and contacts for professional or social
purposes.
Net worth: According the Investopedia, Net worth is a concept applicable to individuals and
businesses as a key measure of how much an entity is worth.
With a careful consideration of the two words, one can easily conclude that the combination of
both means that, the group or system of interconnected people that determines the status of an
individual.
On a general note too, they could mean the people you are connected with to get to a certain
status.
For each of those meanings up there, the basic thing I want you to hold unto is that, who you
mingle with determines the end result of your life.
You as a person, is the sum total of the people you spend your life with.
Basically, talking about networks, each and every one of us is connected to one person or the
other. We have networks ranging from
Families, Social, community, business, friend, clients and so on.
For all of these set of people, they form what becomes of our lives.
Janet is an ambitious lady who was admired by all. Anytime she enters the office, all eyes would
be on her.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
One day, a former boss who has once worked in the same office but was transferred came
around. When he saw Jane, his eyes lit up. He was amazed at how beautiful Janet was.
Then he made a statement: “was it not this same Janet that was looking like a village girl the
first time she came to our office?”
That statement took everyone back to memory lane and they all got thinking, “what could have
changed her? How come she looks stunning every now and then? The once-village-girl-looking
of then…”
They put a closed tab on her.
They began watching her as to who she moves with, hangs out with and spends more time with
too. Then the greatest discovery came!
They discovered that she spends most of her time with some classic ladies whom we call
happening babes. And by that virtue, she was been trained to of course, be like or more than
them.
They knew where the change came from instantly. Going by the records, her dressing alone has
won awards for the company, got the company big contracts jobs and lots more.
Listen, when the people in your circle rise, you can’t remain down.
There is this mindset that goes and grows with network. Check it, every sane person moves with
sane people. Every wealthy men moves with wealthy people.
Janet was that girl that everyone detests her dress sense but all of a sudden, she came alive and
became the talk of the office. What changed? Network!
Who knows; what if her circle of friends before were village girls like her?
That prompted me to tell you that you can’t grow more than the people or things you spend
your time with. It is impossible. It is a law. Dear, follow!
There are some times that you’d see some families doing pretty well in almost everything and
you wonder what their secrets are. One of their secrets is network.
What those in your network are doing and achieving will be the same thing you will be doing
and of course getting. There are no two ways about that.
The greatness mining
You know what miners do? They excavate the ground and bring out valuables that we all
cherish and admire.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Just like those miners, you need a network of people who would bring out the greatness in you.
It has been my emphasis that as long as you have life, you have greatness in you. It takes some
forces however (people/things/circumstances) to discover it.
But with the right network, you can get that greatness out and become the great person you
were created to be.
The first process however is those miners first of all look out for the potentiality of what the
ground they are to mine has and thereafter work out bringing it out to reality.
Every person in your network, when you select well do these for you –looking for what’s best in
you and do all they can to bring them out.
You don’t need friends
I could remember a period in tertiary institution that I had nothing on me. It was on a Friday.
Prior to this day, I had nothing at all. I was broke not because I was an extravagant spender but I
had spent it based on my scale of preference and it will still not meet up.
That particular Friday, I picked up my phone to see if I could get a friend or (the so called)
relative to call to help out. While I scrolled through from A-Z of my phone’s contact list, I
couldn’t point out just a soul to call to request for money.
There it dawned on me that it is not enough to have ‘friends’ but ‘clique’. A dictionary defined a
clique to be “an exclusive circle of people with a common purpose.”
Read that definition again.
Imagine rummaging through your phone to find just one person you can put a call across to for
assistance and you found none. How would you feel?
This is to tell you that you actually don’t need the people you ‘unconsciously’ call friends but
people you all believed in one particular course or purpose. To these people, you all have a
common understanding and reasoning and will be a able to see motives for helping out
someone in problem; collectively.
Join the league of your dreams
In this present age, our connection/ association is now so important that our success rate in life
is depended on it.
For example, when you don’t have money, you definitely cannot find money unless you call
someone or do something that will fetch you money.
“Who are the people in your circle? Who are your cliques?”
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
You need to answer that question honestly.
You need to find those who you have like minds to mingle together. That is only when what you
aspire can be achieved.
No man is a lone pair. Collaboration is the new fan to your flames. In a simple language, join the
league of your dreams.
“The purpose of your life should determine the people in your life”
You may be wondering however that how would you find these people?
Understand that, first, you determine who comes into your life. Knowing this fully well gives you
the edge to the kind of people you select in your clique.
“Who you are is who you attract”
When you finish the process of self discovery, the right network of people will present itself to
you and you will have more than enough reasons to join them.
“If you are going to make progress, you have to be more committed to your dream than your
comfort”
You don’t have a dream and sit down looking. You have to work it out. Dreams remain dreams
when you are inactive about them.
Progress can be made more when you commit to making that dream actualized than to your
comfort zone.
Sometimes we have to deny ourselves of some things to get some things.
Personally, I even feel COMFORT is overrated and COMMITMENT is underrated. Meanwhile,

reverse should be the case.
Add value to your network
Having mentioned a whole lot that you can gain from being part of a network that positions you
for super achievement of your dreams and fulfillment of your purpose, you also have to bring
something to the table.
Value begets value.
One of those things that will keep you in a good network of great people is when you also bring
value to that clique.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Imagine being among rich and wealthy men and all you do is to learn and learn and learn… you
have never for once even stood up to teach something you are also good at. While you may get
result with the knowledge you glean from them, you may not last in their midst. I tell you.
In all, don’t live a parasitic lifestyle. As you receive, share too.
Build healthy and effective relationships
Many of you may misinterpret both terms –relationships and network. In the real sense, there is
no much difference between them except a different in spellings and pronunciation.
Relationship building has taken me far to even places I never imagined that I’d be.
It was through relationship building that earned me the position of the Chief Teller my first few
years at Skye Bank; a position required for someone who has worked for almost 8 years and I
got it in just 2 years and it has earned me the respect and vouch of superior colleagues of mine
in the bank.
Networks open closed destinies
Pastor Sam Adeyemi once said something about being among two billionaires. While they were
talking about money, they weren’t mentioning thousands. They were only talking about millions
and billions of properties and investments. All he could do then was just to watch them as they
speak.
Fast forward to few years, he could now sit with them and talk with them for they were not on
the same page.
What improved?
By listening to his fellow men talk about billions while he’s yet to make his’ he was challenge
intellectually to do same.
I am not saying you have a closed destiny but if you sit, talk and engage people already where
you are, you will surely get there.
Modeling network
One of my coaches whom I greatly adore, Bankole Williams said that while he was still a banker,
Fela Durotoye facilitated training for his then bank. As Fela speaks, all Bankole could do was feel
unease and said it in his heart that, “Sir, you are living my dreams.”
Today, we know the story.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Bankole didn’t have the opportunity to go after the now Presidential aspirant but he did
something. What was that, he modeled him. It was through that, that he got his attention and
till date, they are in the same clique.
In the same vein, when I was just accepted to work at Skye bank, we were to get trained.
Luckily for me, Bankole Williams was the one who came to train us.
I just felt a bit unease that I needed a stroll out of the training hall as we all await the facilitator.
As I got outside, I saw a car approaching me. I took a halt. It was a very fine car. As I wait to see
the person in the car, something tells me that he must be the trainer we’ve all been waiting for.
As he stepped out of his car, I saw a good-looking, clean, and well dressed man. It was Bankole
Williams. I pleaded to help him with his briefcase but he declined. I insisted, he declined but
after many pleas, he allowed me.
That was how we connected. He knew my name and all through the class, he never stopped
mentioning my name.
As the class was on, he saw that look on my face and said to me, “Smith, hope you are all
right?” I replied in the affirmative. Little did he know that I was seeing my future being acted by
another man.
That was how I was modeling him.
Today, aside being a banker, I am a motivational speaker and this is my first book. I am living my
dreams now.
Modeling here simply means, you watch from afar how someone you admire does his things
and simply replicate in your own unique way.
Everybody can do the same thing differently.
Its not necessary for you to see the person physically but you just have to learn from the person
from afar; oftentimes, the person is unaware.
However, don’t lose yourself in the process of becoming more through modeling. Still be your
unique self.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Chapter TEN:
The essentiality of having a

partner in the journey to
greatness
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
“I bless the name of the lord for the privilege of having a phenomenal man like you as a
husband. Meeting you was by grace. I’m proud to be called by your name. It all started like a
joke, but thank God for how far we have come. I am highly persuaded daily that the hand of
God is in this union. Without any iota of doubt, how far he has brought us within this short
period is an evident. God bless you Ma Duke, God bless the day our paths crossed, God bless
Akinwale-Smith family. Together we shall continue to conquer and soar higher. Love you.”
Guess who just wrote what you just read now. I know you may want to guess who wrote it
because you had already read my name being mentioned therein.
For those who don’t know, that was my wife; my darling, the sugar in my tea, my Duchess.
(smiles).
The contact point
The journey of man, in this life, I always tell people that it is divine. God has planned everything.
So, I don’t believe in coincidence as such. I believe what has been written that will be will surely
be.
I told you I work in the bank. That was where I met my royalty. We work in the same place.
And like every boyfriend and girlfriend relationship, you know how it rolls. From always calling
her name to accompanying her home to doing some silly things that ordinarily we can’t do for
just anybody to asking her if she had eaten to so many things like that. I did that too.
Again what will be will be, there were ladies in the bank who I could easily approach but I saw
what was lacking in me in her. I saw a replica of me. I saw someone that was created solely for
me. I never saw her the first time like someone I will just date and forget about. I was seeing
someone I would spend the rest of my life with. That gave her the total difference among all the
other ladies in the bank.
And today, we are happily married.
It went from I don’t know you to I know you to I want to know you more to I will like to be your
friend to will you please date me to I see a future with you, can you walk the aisle with me to
HAPPY MARRIED LIFE.
It’s indeed a perfected journey. I love every bits of them.
Spiritual growth
I was attracted more to her simply because of the qualities I saw in her that was missing in me.
Oftentimes, I call her Mummy GO because when it comes to spiritual matters, she after God,
she is my backbone.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
She grew me up spiritually. Of course, it wasn’t so visible to her about my spiritual status when
we were dating. But when we got married, she was able to see a lot of things and like what the
bible said, “I will provide you an helpmeet…” she was indeed one for me. She stood in the gap
for me and built me up too.
Prerequisite for entering any relationship
Before you can enter into a relationship with someone, not necessarily romantic relationship,
you need to be sure of so many things. Things like, the person’s abilities, character, attitude,
way of doing things, and above all, ADVANTAGE in those areas you are DISADVANTAGED.
A lot of people miss it here and that is where their area of greatness is not always visible to
even themselves let alone the world.
Great people surround themselves with fellow great people. Check it, everyone surrounding
them is rich in those areas they are deficient.
That reminds me of a story of some animals.
In the animal kingdom, a Chimpanzee was always consulted whenever they had issues of their
electronics being faulty. Anytime anyone had a faulty gadget like TV, they will bring it to him
and he will help them fix it.
He lives in a hut and you will always find him sat outside. The other animals who are his
customers now notice that whenever they go to him, he will just go into the hut and within
minutes, he’s back with the gadget fixed.
“What’s his secret?” one of them asked out of curiosity.
They all gathered one day that they were all going to meet him and find out exactly how he is
doing it.
When they got to him and asked him, he just smiled. He asked them if that was what they
wanted to know and they all chorused yes.
He ushered them in and they all went inside. When they got inside, they saw rat, cat and lizard.
“What were they doing?” one asked. Chimpanzee smiled and said to them: “Lizard is the one
who run around to get materials. Cat uses his sight to see the instrument or tools to use even
up till late night. Rat uses his small hand to hold some of the gadgets as he (Chimpanzee) can’t
because of his fat palm. They are the real Maverick.”
They were astonished.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Just like the Chimpanzee, he understood his strength and weaknesses and instead of his
weakness to show, others saw it as his strength simply because he is a relationship with people
who are experts at what he is an amateur at.
That story should pass the message to you well.
Appreciation
My wife is so special and important to me. I appreciate her for all she does and is doing for me.
My wife still wakes up to cook for me. My Mojisola Abigail Ademola (Now Mojisola Akinwale
Smith). She is humble to the core. I had to stop her because I cannot kill her o. Lol.
What is it that a wife does for her husband that she doesn’t do?
This is appreciating her publicly as I have always done privately. I dedicate this chapter to her
solely.
Even before the arrival of our first son, we are both paddy of life and the joyful arrival of
Kingsmith junior didn’t stop us from having nice times together.
Sometimes, I will just become playful at home. This is to let her know that I appreciate her for
being with me.
Appreciation is a necessity to anyone we are into a relationship with; be it romantic or platonic.

We need to appreciate our partners.
Appreciation evokes the recipient’s mind to do more. The more you appreciate people, the
more you get more of them.
Never let anyone feel like a slave for being with you or doing anything for you. In all, learn the
acts of appreciation.
Appreciation is a mindset great men have grown into having. They appreciate people a lot.
Oftentimes, it isn’t about money. Money is in fact too small compared to what positive words
can do.
Imagine when your partner is working on something and you simply go to him/her to say a soft,
gentle and simple “well-done” with smiles, it will reduce stress and embrace strength.
Learn to use your words to motivate people; appreciate them and let them feel special anytime
they are with you.
Two good heads: enhancement of focus on most important things
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
Focus is an entity that hates to be shared. To attain the height of greatness, you need to learn
to have partners that will help you to focus on the most important things.
When I got married to my Duchess, most of those things I used to worry about naturally veered
off into thin air. I mean naturally.
You can’t do it all alone, you need to outsource some to other people. That is what makes you
effective and efficient. And efficiency plus effectiveness, GREATMEN don’t joke with. That is
their wings. That is their pride.
Outsourcing rightly can only come out successful when you have built a relationship with people
who can handle it well.
It is no longer two heads are better than one. It is now, two good heads are better than one.
Many good heads are better than one.
I tell you, no man is WE.
Meet with people who can do better than you are. It attracts you to greatness too.
Meanwhile, as you go into relationship with anyone, never allow other parties into your clique.
It is my wife and me. No third party and never will it occur.
Your success/failure can be better sorted out and celebrated within those in your cliques to
avoid headache from people who even envy you.
You are in the journey to greatness, don’t go alone. Go in pairs.
I believe in your greatness.
Open declaration
Moji Smith as you love to be addressed. I love you from the depth of my heart. I love you and
our son. I know you love me too and I am not here to argue who loves each other most.
I will always love, care for, adore, cherish and respect you. You are the bone of my bone. The
flesh of my flesh.
“He who finds a good wife, finds a good thing.” I am a living witness of that statement. I am
proud to have you.
You will always remain in my heart. I will forever shower you with love.
Till date do us apart (at very old age).
Mummy GO, My Duchess, Mojisola Mi, eleyinju ege, oreke lewa…
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
You alone, I will continue to love.
Your Duke,
Akinwale Kingsmith.
KINGSMITH AKINWALE
KINGSMITH AKINWALE

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1 Activating the greatness in your DNA

Copyright © 2018 by Kingsmith Akinwale

Chapter ONE: The Power In Becoming A Licensed Murderer

Chapter TWO: Breathing Greatness by The Power Of Your Gifts

Chapter THREE: Bearing The Sacrifices To Become Great

Chapter FOUR: Exercising The Tasks Of Being A Life’s Student

Chapter SIX: Hacking The Greatness Code

Chapter SEVEN: The Place Of Divinity In Achieving Greatness

Chapter NINE: Harnessing The Potentiality Of Networking

Chapter TEN: The Essentiality Of Having A Partner In The Journey To

It is high time you read this book.

Welcome to the land of greatness.

I believe in the greatness in you.

The power in becoming a licensed

What then makes a man who he is?

When I say becoming a licensed murderer, what I simply mean is that:

Simple: other options.

Look at this scenario.

However, whatever she chose now becomes of her life later.

I simply chose to remain still and here I am.

This is not bad.

That is where the problem is for most people.

Breathing greatness by the power

It’s the power in your GIFTs.

Your gifts; an unlimited power

Simple: their gifts.

The Gifts Bank Account (GBA)

Clarity surfaces when the journey has began

"Clarity is never at home but on the road ".-Bankole Williams.

How do you do this?

Attend related and useful events.

Read. Read. Read.

Bearing the sacrifice to become

So, what then is the greatest sacrifice we can make to be great?

Respond to your abilities

One of my mantra in life is always to take ownership of my behavior and do excellently

I am a product of responsibility taken. I love to take responsibility for everything that is in my

Vice President – Prevent AIDS

General secretary –young Disciple International

Director –Kogi State Student

Deputy Speaker –S.R.C

It was in Federal Polytechnic, Offa that I became active in politics.

Today, I am proud to have taken responsibilities for those activities.

That was a redefining moment in my life. I appreciated it greatly.

One destination, different route

Things may not always go as planned but most go as aimed.

Greatness comes in stages. Obedience to them gets you there.

Take responsibility for anything that comes your way.

Seek to know before you are known

When you know, you will be known.

You are not exempted there!

Exercising the tasks of being a

To confirm it to you, yes, life is a school.

The life’s subjects

Excelling in life’s subjects

Your guess is same as mine: some reads while some do not.

What then is it?