Dear Destiny Friends,

Money is a universal language, and highly revered by all. There’s no one on earth, who can claim he doesn’t want money. Some love it. Some adore it while a whole lot of others worship it. Little wonder the Americans place a lot of premium on their dollar. An anonymous person was once quoted as saying that the ‘almighty dollar is the only object of worship’.

A famous American writer, Washington Irving, also noted that “The almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion”. That is how much money is treasured among men. That is how much most men literally rever money.

My first mentor, who was my father, Chief Lazarus Ukazu, once said that ‘after God, money is the most important element in the world’, and there’s a limit to what people can do on earth without money.

Money operates with principles, which if followed, one will reap the fruit of his labour. Money operates with the principle of sowing and reaping. No matter how pious you are, there’s a limit of goodwill you can attract, especially if you don’t have value that will attract money to you.

The principle of money is universal. If you respect it, it will respect you; if you have value, you will attract it, and if you have good products and services as well as market them well to the right persons, you’ll attract money.

Every human being desires money because it helps to solve numerous problems if not all the problems in the world. Without money, there’s little one can do. Money helps to facilitate a lot of work and process. Without money it will be difficult to do good. Even the good Samaritan in the Bible had to use money to show love. Who knows who knows what would have happened to attacked man if the Samaritan lacked money. In fact, the Bible made it abundantly clear that “money answereth all things”.

Despite the goodness of money however, it can’t solve all of man’s problems. The use of money is limited in some situations. For instance, one might be a billionaire, but has limited authority to influence a policy. Elon Musk is regarded as the richest man on earth with an estimated net worth of $245 billion dollars according to Forbes in 2024. If he decides to run for election as Senator, Governor, or President, do you think he can win? Well, that’s a subjective analysis. The current Mayor of New York, Eric Adams wasn’t as wealthy as some of his contemporaries during the election, but he won the election. That simply explains that money has limits.

According to Dr. Yomi Garnett, an accomplished Ghost Writer, “money will buy a bed, but not sleep. It will buy food but not appetite. It will buy amusement, not happiness. It will buy a house, not a home. Whether you have plenty or a little of money, always remember that it’s only a part of you. While money is representative of God’s abundance and is not evil, one must not be dominated by it. Remember also what Paul said, Godliness with contentment is great gain”.

Did you see that money is indeed limited. There are certain things money can do and cannot do. It’s sad to see uninformed men who think money is indeed everything. Despite the resourcefulness of money, there are certain people money can’t influence. For instance, majority of ladies can be wooed and lured with money, but it’s not all ladies’ money that can attract or buy. Some ladies feel disrespected when you try to lure them with money. Don’t get me wrong; ladies generally love money, but some are not fascinated with money as their love language. Money only makes sense to this set of people if they genuinely like you.

Just like some people’s love language is words affirmation, gift, services, physical touch and time, some people’s love language is money. When they see money, they tend to lose control of their senses. It’s important to state that we are meant to control money and not money controlling us. If money controls you, then you are a slave to money. Money is good no doubt, but it should be used to solve the needs of man.

Even men are not exempted from this philosophy. It’s not all men that money can buy. While some can be bribed cheaply, some can’t be bribed. This set of great minds are governed by integrity.

Furthermore, there are people who no matter how much money you have or how close you are to them, you can’t have them to work for you. Your prayer is for them to agree to work with you. These sets of great minds have developed high capacity, competence and capability, and more importantly, they are controlled by values and principles.

It’s truly sad to see people with the mindset that with money, they can literally have their way. These sets of people truly lack understanding because if they have understanding, they will realize that money is like air or fan. It will rotate to whoever it desires. Just like rain is everywhere, so it’s money everywhere. One just needs to know how to attract it in addition to making it work for you. In the same manner, a fan blows on everybody by rotating. Some, if you have money today, it can leave you and visit another person. So, if you don’t manage it well, it will leave you and visit who will appreciate it.

Money works like respect, if you respect it, it will respect you, if you treat it with disdain, it will respond accordingly.

To understand how the limitation of money works, one must have contentment. It is with contentment one will understand how to humble money. This is because contentment makes a poor man rich, while greed makes a rich man poor. Isn’t it true that one of the secrets of happiness is deriving joy in what you have as opposed to wishing for what you don’t have.

In conclusion, no doubt the importance of money is priceless, however, we must be mindful of the passion, interest and desires we have for money. When we have excess desires, it can lead to overzealousness and when we have it in moderation, we will derive fulfillment and joy.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator.  He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your  and Unleash Your Destiny .  He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

Dear Destiny Friends,

The concept of destiny is very broad because it means several things to several people in diverse fields including religious, politics, education, entrepreneurship or family. It’s meaning is however, dependent on the interpretation one gives to it. But one thing is certain, destiny connotes the end point or destination of somebody or something.

As the author of Design Your Destiny, I believe I am in a better position to speak about destiny and how it is applicable to life. Not only have my life been transformed by destiny, but I have also seen in real times how destiny played a significant role in the lives of ordinary people.

To understand the concept of destiny, I will be writing from an inspirational and rational point of view. It is important to state that for the emancipation of anyone, one needs to understand how life and the principles of life work work, otherwise, one will be confused.

It is normal for someone to be concerned about what the future holds for him. Sometimes, one will be concerned about where the next food or job opportunity will come from. I have good news for you though, relax, destiny is working purposely for your benefit. You don’t have to know, but just believe and trust the process.

No human being can know what will happen the next second, minute, day, week, month, year, and decade. We only live by the grace of God. So, don’t be anxious of what life has in stock for you, just do your best and continue to add value to your life, and the universe has a way of aligning circumstances and life for you. In my native country, we have a saying: nobody knows the stomach that will give birth to a king.

I have personally seen and experienced transformation in my life. I have seen the grace of God. I have seen people who the world has given up as people who don’t have any chance of making a headway in life, succeeding in an exponential manner. A classical case of study is former President Goodluck Jonathan, who rose from a humble position of being a lecturer to Deputy Governor, Governor, Vice President and President, in a way no rational mind can decipher.

What most uninformed people fail to understand is that nobody knows tomorrow, and God is the greatest orchestrator of human destiny.  It’s so sad to see some people play God. It’s also instructive to know that the son of a certified pauper can become a man of means tomorrow if properly educated.

To put it in better perspective, no matter how one may try, nobody knows who will be elected as a Representative, Senator, Governor of a State, or President of a country. Nobody even knows who the wealthiest man in the society will be when tomorrow comes.

One may have a mentor or a biological parent who may be wealthy, or in a position of authority, or influential in the society, and note that no matter how much your parent or your mentor will love you, he can’t dictate what will happen when they are no longer in authority. The best the person can do is to strategically position you or give you publicity within his network of influence, but that will not determine if you’ll get what you desire in the grand scheme of things.

To really understand how this works, let’s take a case of Nigeria, where a mentor might influence the position of someone who is likely to be the President or Governor of a State. Upon expiration of the mentee’s tenure, they might decide who their successor will be, and the successor will also determine who their successor will be, and the list continues.

Do you now see the concept of destiny is relative. The creator might position somebody to take a position 10, 20 or even 50 years ahead just to fulfil a purpose.

Let’s take another perspective of destiny; the creator of heaven and earth might strategically position somebody to travel out of the country just to fulfil a destined purpose. The person might not know he is being used to fulfil a purpose just like the devil can be used to ‘bless’ someone in disguise without knowing.

Destiny can be quite complicated, some people might be destined to be in a particular region, while others might be destined to succeed in another region. To know where you are destined to be, I will strongly advise everyone to reach out to their creator by seeking the face and mindset of God through prayer and meditation. God has a way of revealing his plans to everyone.

The sad part of life is sometimes, human beings try to play God by working out their destiny and purpose in life. They fail to realize that they didn’t create themselves and didn’t get whatever they have by their ability, rather by the grace of God.   Whenever, men think they are god, God will let them know in subtle ways, he is the Lord and God of gods. So, be humble about life because you don’t know what life will unfold for you. It is pertinent to mention that, when royalties are failing, God will raise people, stones to praise him, so be humble before life will humble you.

On a personal experience, during my chamber attachment while in Nigerian Law School, I was experiencing a little bit of financial challenge, especially living in the expensive City of Abuja, and as such, I was trying to mitigate cost. I reached out to the posting coordinator in law school to give me a nearby firm which won’t allow me to spend more money, he stated, such practice is not allowed. He was kind enough to listen to me to explain my reasons, he really felt for me and asked for the name of the firm I wanted to intern with, I gave him the name of the firm, he searched the directory, but couldn’t find the name of the firm. I didn’t know the law firm uses a partnership name as opposed to an individual name. He asked me a question, “are you a Christian”, I said yes, he said believe in your God. He used himself as an example, he said, as Muslim,  he doesn’t believe in working things out, because one might work out one’s destiny. I took his word to heart.

Guess what, when the list was posted, I was posted in my estate where I didn’t have to spend a dime on transportation. The funny part was that, assuming my plan worked out, I would have to pay a decent amount of my money to get to my desired law firm. Do you see God came through for me? It’s destiny at work. The most joyful part of it was that, not only did I work with a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, I had the humble opportunity of being on television on a number of cases because my boss was handling the case of the daughter of the former President of Nigeria at the said time.  More importantly, during my sojourn to the United States this great man played a significant role with his thoughtful advice and assistance.  He was later appointed a Minister by President Buhari in 2015., but the cold hands of death snatched him away.

Another interesting story was during my National Youth Service Corp. While most people were working out their posting, I refused to work out mine despite pressure from friends and family members. I borrowed some sense using my experience during my law school. Ordinarily, I was posted to a remote place, but God came through for me when the Governor of the State came with a friend of mine who works with African Independent Television to cover the event.

During one of our engagements, he mentioned to me, the Governor gave him 500milion naira to set up African Independent television in the state. This great man asked me to recruit youth corpers who will work for him, and he will pay them 100 thousand naira every month, and mine will be special. I thanked him for the opportunity and informed him, I won’t be able to deliver because I will travel to the US after my service year.  After a decade, this man facilitated an opportunity to interview in Abuja. The moral of the story is that, imagine if I worked out my posting, who knows where I would have been.

Furthermore, when destiny is at work, God can command a sick person who is supposed to die to live simply because it’s not yet time for the person to depart this sinful world.

In conclusion, regardless of what you are going through, please don’t be hard on yourself, whether you are looking for an opportunity, life partner, mentor, etc., just seek for the creator to design your destiny by connecting you to the right people who will enable you to fulfil his purpose concerning your life.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator.  He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your  and Unleash Your Destiny .  He can be reached via info@gloemi.com

Dear Destiny Friends,

One of the greatest assets available to mankind is time. It’s quite unfortunate many people don’t know how resourceful and important time can play in the life of a progressive being. The proper utilization and resourceful use of time can play a game changer role in one’s life. Whether you are a student, professor, politician, entrepreneur, career professional, pastor or parent; time will play a crucial role in your life.

Just to make you understand how powerful timing is important; did you know that every day we wake up, our clock is ticking, and we are getting closer to our grave. In the same way, every single day you add value to your business, academics, career, or whatever you are involved in, you are getting closer to your success. That is why it is important for one not to give up when pursuing a goal or vision.

Just so you know, you can lose your money, health, opportunities, relationship and job and still get them back, but when you lose time, you can hardly get it back. So, to understand how your clock is ticking, one must be intentional in taking care of his health, relationship, investment and time because a single step might result to a major loss. It’s just like a man who is careless sleeping with ladies, you never can tell which lady will give you sexually transmitted disease or even have a spiritual curse or demon following her, and a minute of fun will usher in failure and setback in life and business.

It’s painful to see someone, who has invested so much time in a project and is literally on the verge of breaking through only to give up at the last lap. There was a story about a man who was striking a rock in search of gold, he was on the verge of hitting a goldmine, when he gave up trying. He didn’t know he was barely one strike to find gold. I guess, if only he knew he needed one more strike, he wouldn’t have left. That is virtually how some of us lose opportunities. Sometimes, ungrateful people with vested interest lose opportunities simply because of what they are looking for in their mentor, friend, benefactor or boss. These ungrateful minds fail to understand that there is a timing for everything. Your mentor, friend, benefactor might be testing your patience, mindset, personality, integrity among others.

Again, imagine a sprinter running a race, every second counts. At the slightest mistake, an athlete can lose his race. The world experienced the closest 100  meters race in history when  Usain Bolt of Jamaica  beat USA Justin Gatlin by less than a second. Usain Bolt ran 9.79 seconds while Justin Gatlin ran 9.80 in Beijing in 2009. Imagine what a second slip would have caused Usain Bolt if he had relaxed. He would have literally lost the race. That’s simply how the race of life works. A single mistake can cause you a lifetime opportunity. A single message, word, attitude, opportunity etc can set you back.

In the same manner a single opportunity, success, favor, attitude can set you up for life. It’s imperatively important for one not to take anyone and anything for granted. Live your life daily as everything depends on the opportunity you are experiencing because nobody literally knows the opportunity that will be a lifetime changer.

However, I strongly believe regardless of the missed mistakes, what will be, will be regardless of the mistakes one may have made especially when the creator is working on your case. He can remote your life in such a way your detractors will be confused in their confusion. The moral here is don’t take anybody, any opportunity, any access, privilege etc. for granted. The moment you do that, you are bound to pay for it. According to a revered mentor of mine, Dr. Dele Momodu, you are as good as your last performance. He also advised, no one should take access for granted. The moment you do that you are setting yourself for failure.

In the journey of life, we have created and lost opportunities. I can vividly remember when I met the first African (Mpule Kwelagobe )  to win Miss Universe in 1999, in Washington at a High Profile event where African presidents had a meeting with President Obama. She was inspired by confidence and inspiration to better the African continent with my ideas and articles. We had a rosy conversation and meetings. I can vividly remember when she told me she sits on the Board of Warren Buffet during one of our engagements. During that period, I wasn’t really exposed to managing access and relationships with the high and mighty and that robbed me what would have been a lifetime opportunity. Imagine if I had managed the friendship, I believe it would have blossomed.

Just to get a clearer perspective on how the timing of the clock works, if your time for opportunity has not come, there’s nothing you can do to fast track it. This is simply because one cannot fast track their blessings except it is “spiritually” orchestrated. It’s just like when you look at a mango, orange, or any fruit with seed, you will observe that while some are ripe, some are unripe. That simply tells you everybody’ timing and destiny is different.

Opportunity comes in at different times. Sometimes you need to learn, sometimes, you need to volunteer, sometimes, you need to serve, sometimes, you need to develop your craft. On a personal note, I have experienced delayed opportunities despite all effort to get attention. A case study when I got my first City job in New York. I was hoping my high-profile network would assist me, but it dawned on me, life doesn’t always go as planned. I came to the sublime realization and submission that if you are doing your bit to add value to life, you will blossom when the timing is right for you.

Men of influence are very important, but the message here is that one has to be careful and intentional in understanding the roles men and God plays in the lives of men. I say this because, as the author of “Design Your Destiny- Actualising Your Birthright to Success”, I understand the role of a second, minute and hour in the life of a human. So if not properly managed, it can cause you a fortune.

 I have even depended so much on people for opportunities and they failed woefully, it was only later in life, I realised the role of God in my life and the life of ordinary people. I say this with all sense of sincerity without sounding immodest because some opportunities and highlights I have attained couldn’t have been possible without the intervention of God. I remembered how the United Nations Development Programme came through for me at the last second. High profile people had to be up at night just to just ensure I board the last plane to fly me to Rwanda for a presentation and upon arrival, I was given a VIP treatment during all my panels and presentations. I can go on and on.

In conclusion, be mindful of how you treat your inferiors, superiors, strangers, etc. because you never can tell what word, attitude etc. you will display which may work against you.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your  and Unleash Your Destiny .  He can be reached via info@gloemi.com