Dear Destiny Friends,

One of the most endearing qualities of all great people, companies, businesses, leaders, and friendship is credibility. Credibility is a currency if properly nurtured. It works like character. When you have good character, it will be easy for people to work with you. No matter how smart, intelligent, or hardworking you may be, without good character, it will be difficult for you to be accepted. The same principle is applicable to credibility. Every employer loves to hire a credible employee. Nobody likes to associate with a person who is not credible.

Credibility works out what an employee has on the resume. Credibility in this case refers to attitude, mindset, personality, orientation and understanding of life.

What actually is credibility? Credibility is the quality of gaining legitimacy, trust, integrity and dependability in a person or organization. When you have credibility, people will naturally be attracted to you. According to Aristotle, the three C’s of a credible leader are competence, character and caring. Any leader that possesses these traits will endear himself to the people.

If you really want to succeed, you must be intentional. One of the intentional steps you need to take is being credible. When people perceive you as being credible, it will be easy to associate with you. It truly takes more than credibility to succeed; you need discipline, concentration, consistency, accountability etc.

Credibility works in different ways. It can be ascertained by direct evidence which is basically first-person experience. This works when people meet and interact with you; they’ll be able to determine who you truly are and what you represent. Secondary evidence is ascertained from indirect sources which can be what people read or watch about you or even what people who are experienced about you which they either say or publish for the world to know about you. Then, we have indirect evidence which is derived from effective presentation. You must establish primary or direct evidence first before people can believe you.

Nobody establishes credibility by speaking, people establish credibility by their actions which must be verified. Isn’t it true that circumstances don’t say who you are, rather it establishes who you are?  You must establish credibility for people to believe in you. When you have been tested and trusted, then, secondary and indirect evidence will begin to key in.

One of the packages that normally comes with greatness is credibility. This is because greatness always comes with a price. You don’t attain greatness by accident. You must put in the work which will entail denying yourself some hours of sleep. In such cases, you’ll have to sleep late, wake up early. This is necessary because you will have enough time to enjoy your sleep when you are done building your brand. A major mistake people engage in life is trying to reap when they have not sowed. There are cases when lazy people like to eat fruits they haven’t planted.

For instance, while some Bank Chief Operating Officers, corporate titans, Captains of industries and successful entrepreneurs have paid the prices by investing their time and money into their business, are sleeping, a budding entrepreneur or employee will want to enjoy the same amount of sleep without investing their time and money in their craft. It takes diligence to establish credibility.

 As Christians, the Book of life made us understand, God rested on the seventh day after creating for six days straight. What does that tell you? You must put in the work first before you can rest. People will have to see your credibility before you can earn their trust. It’s instructive to note that God didn’t rest on the first or second day, but it’s quite unfortunate most people would like to rest on the first and second day without putting in some work. God rested on the seventh day, why are you resting on the first day or second day? You will have to establish trust, diligence, and competence before you can rest which will ultimately give you some credibility when people have seen your work.

At a stage in life, all that is important is loyalty and trust, at this stage, people are not concerned about your money, words, perceived actions and understanding of life, they just want to know if you have their back when the chips are down, it is on this stage that circumstances don’t say who you are, rather it reveals who you are.

In any sphere of life, you must establish credibility for people to take you serious. When you are credible, people will want to do business with you, people will trust your judgment, and people will see you as a reliable resource person.

The question you may want to ask is how do you establish credibility? To establish credibility, you must be consistent in words and actions, you must be honest, you must learn and be knowledgeable, you must spend time to do the needful, you must be accountable, and you must be principled by not comparing yourself with others. You must stand for the values you believe in, even if it means standing alone as opposed to following the bandwagon.

In conclusion, in all you do, endeavor to establish credibility by building good human relationships beginning with your family, close friends, business partners, associates and the public at large. Trust me, when you do, you can be rest assured your name will be announced where you don’t imagine and you’ll be a treasure to behold.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker, youth advocate and creative writer. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success

Dear Destiny Friends,

Success and failure start from the mind. The human mind is like a rubber, the more you stretch it, the more it expands. The human mind is the brain, if you don’t use it, it won’t work. We all have the power to change the course of our life without allowing us to be victims. This is because the greatest power God gave us at creation is freedom and choice. Just like you have the power to think positive thoughts, you also have the power to think negative thoughts. It should be noted that whatever you focus on expands.

It’s quite unfortunate that many of us don’t know how we can use our mind to attract opportunities, if properly stretched. For the human mind to work at optimal capacity, it must be capable of using the power of imagination. According to Napoleon Hill, “whatsoever the mind can conceive, believe, it can achieve it. The right question we should ask ourselves is if we are using the power of our imagination.

Imagination takes several forms. The human mind can be artistic in nature, it can be creative, and it can also be challenging. The mind will only work on how you program it. If you program your mind to think like a leader, it will be activated, if you program the mind to overcome challenges it will be activated, if you program the mind to either think positive or negative thoughts, it produces the desired fruits for you.

You may be wondering where the power of imagination comes from? The power of imagination starts from the mind. To understand how the mind works, you have to look at the brain. The neocortex and thalamus are responsible for controlling the brain’s imagination, along with many of the brain’s other functions such as consciousness and abstract thought.

One may ask, is imagination the same thing as intelligence?  One can imagine something, but don’t take proactive steps to implement it, but the man who takes actionable steps can be regarded as an intelligent man because he got the inspiration and knows what to do. According to Albert Einstein, “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination”. This is a fact because the true intelligence level of an individual is not dependent on the facts a person knows but on how he applies them creatively to solve problems in the world.  Albert Einstein further stated that “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

The power of imagination cannot be overemphasized. One of the distinguishing traits between wealthy men and the poor men is their mindset. A big difference between a rich mind and poor mind lies in how they process information. While rich and wealthy minds have a positive and growth mindset, poor men have a negative and fixed mindset. While the growth mindset sees problems as opportunities to make impact by solving them, fixed minds see problems as obstacles to making impact. While rich and wealthy minds spend money to invest, poor minds spend money to impress. While rich and wealthy people spend after saving, poverty-stricken minds save from the remnant of their expenses.

This power of imagination works in different ways. Sometimes, it comes like a vision, a revelation. inspiration or even feelings. This imagination can be something you would like to change, or a cause you would like to work on. When you get this prompting, the best thing you can do is commit it to prayer and believe in it especially if it’s a revelation or vision you have been shown. It might look so big and impossible to attain. Whenever you feel this way, just know that you must activate your growth mindset.

Wealth creation starts from the mind. If you want to be successful in any craft, you must envision it in your mind. Most of the great people if not all the great people we celebrate in the world utilized the power of imagination to create a product. If you want to be rich or start a business, you need to take the bold step, if not, you’ll remain where you are.

Nobody can stop a person whose time has come. Nobody can stop you; you are the only one who can stop yourself if you doubt yourself or tell your dreams, vision, or ideas to the wrong person. The wrong person in this case can be your parents, friends, mentors or even your spiritual leader. Don’t get me wrong, these people may not be bad people, they may not understand the calling or vision you had. They may not even see you as the person capable of doing it because you don’t look it. They may be speaking from their experience which may not be your reality. Let me tell you, if God wants somebody else to get the revelation or inspiration, he will put the imagination in their mind. Just to encourage you, God does not call the qualified, he calls the unqualified and then qualifies you.

In conclusion, the power of imagination is a very powerful and creative tool a progressive mind can use to excel in life if properly activated. This is because nobody knows you more than you know yourself.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker, youth advocate and creative writer. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success

Dear Destiny Friends,

Life is governed by laws and principles. If one misses the principles and laws, it might be difficult for them to succeed.

Life has many dynamics and navigating through life can be very challenging.

In the course of this article, I will share some insights on how one can overcome the challenges of life. This article will focus on human relationships because that’s one of the best ways to live through life.

Whether in marriage, business, academia, politics, leadership, or entertainment, there are principles, ethics, codes of conduct, laws and rules governing them. When you miss any of them, there’s bound to be consequences. In marriage, for instance, when there’s constant infidelity, domestic violence and lack of communication, there’s a huge tendency for the marriage to break down.

In business, when you don’t have the right systems and structures, it will be difficult to scale up. The same applies to leadership, politics, and professional establishments; when you go against the rules or code of conduct, you are bound to pay the price. The inherent message here is that life is governed by laws and principles, nothing exists on its own. There’s always a corresponding reaction from every action.

It is very sad however, to know that many people just live their life carelessly with hope that life and things will align for them. This is a wrong notion and understanding of life. These shallow minds fail to understand that you can’t build something on nothing, nor can you give what you don’t have. It’s quite unfortunate to know that some people even live their life based on luck, failing to understand that luck only meets prepared minds.

It should be noted that there’s nothing in life that doesn’t have a pattern. Everything in life is governed by a process. Nothing exists on its own, just as no human being exists on their own. We all need one another to thrive. Again, look at the human body, no human organ exists on its own, they all depend on each other to function well.

For one to succeed as an individual, you must learn the art of human relationship. It’s a skill you must learn whether you like it or not. Human relationship is a currency which can attract goodwill if properly harnessed. It should be noted that in this kingdom called life, who hates you does not matter but who likes you really matters. Who likes you can create a million dollar opportunity for you that can change the course of your life. The question you should be asking yourself is how do I attract these people into my life? Your greatest prayer is for these men and women to find favour in you. When they do, they can break protocol for you. Do you know that men can redefine the possibilities of your life? This will only work when you know how to tap into the right principles of life.

You may be wondering what these principles are? While there are a million and one principles, your major concern is to identify the right principle that will work for you. To attract great people into your life, you must study their work, know the causes they support, the kind of principles they adopt, the books they read, the mistakes they made, their vision to life and their attitudes to life. These will give you an insight into their personality. When you do so, you have answered fifty percent of the questions.

Do you know that there are people you can’t cast away even if you don’t like them. Your ability to decipher the right form of wisdom to relate closely with them can be the game changer of your life. When you meet this set of people, your greatest prayer should be “Lord grant me favour to pass through their gate. This set of people may not fit into your ideal man/woman, but the truth is that you need them to get to your destination, and this takes humility to come through. Note that you will be making a big mistake when you talk too much instead of listening more.

These set of people might be the gatekeepers, custodians or even the influencers that can change the trajectory of your life. You will be foolish to disregard them and say, you’ll pray your way out.  When these people despise you, it will take divine intervention for you to overcome their rejection. Nor matter how bad they are, they have favours, graces and opportunities coming to them by virtue of their position or gift which you must tap into to succeed. These sets of people may be planned by God to do a particular job or fulfil a particular role. They may not even look it or qualify for the position, but again, that’s how life and nature programmed it. A typical example is the former President of the United States of America Donald Trump, who many people were surprised at how he was able to beat Hillary Clinton to become the US president. President Trump simply applied the right principles which in this case can be the language the people the people wanted to hear. Moral: God can place certain people in different positions to fulfill certain purposes for his glory or for someone. Be smart.

In our contemporary society, we have seen people who pray and do little or no work. My humble advice to them is don’t pray blind prayers or read to get good grades and forget the value of human relationships and mentorship, which place you ahead of your contemporaries, who were getting good grades.

In life, sometimes, you must roll your sleeves and ask how it’s been done technically, professionally, spiritually, socially, and academically. If it entails speaking the ‘street language’, please do. That goes to show how smart you can be when you think out of the box. After all, if you want to get something from a child, you’ll have to bend down, true or false?

Another way to understand the right approach to prayer can be seen when people pray. There are right ways of praying and there are wrong ways of praying. According to the Holy Book, it was recorded that a certain man was praying to God and he said, he was a good man who doesn’t commit sin like his tax collector colleague. At the end of the day, his prayer was not answered, God answered the prayer of the other man who asked forgiveness and admitted he was a sinner. The inherent message here is that of understanding. One of the men prayed right and the other had a proud outlook.

In conclusion, as you approach life, be mindful of how you relate with human beings through your thoughts, words, and action. Your ability to apply the right principles, laws, codes, rules and more importantly, attitudes will determine how far you will go in life.

Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He’s a Human Capacity & mindset coach. He’s also a public speaker, youth advocate and creative writer. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the author of the acclaimed book Design Your Destiny – Actualizing Your Birthright To Success