Dear Destiny Friends,

Whoever says that money is not good is probably not aware that money solves most, if not all of life’s challenges. Without equivocation, money is good. It facilitates a lot of work and smooths the process. Rich, wealthy, and informed people, who understand how money works, know very well; you can use money to buy time, the same way the poor use time to buy money.

We all desire money but unfortunately, we fail to understand the principles surrounding the making and spending of money. It surely has a secret like any other area of life; every business has a secret, every family has a secret, every individual has a secret, every industry has a secret, every marriage has a secret, every team has a secret, and even every secret has a secret of survival. And if one does not understand the secret of any industry, they will have a hard time navigating through the industry.

Couple of years ago, I wrote an article titled, The Relativity of Success. In that article, I stressed on the importance of balancing life and success. While some people might value money, other parties might value family, career, health or even time. However, most people erroneously think money is the yardstick for measuring success. Yes, money might be one of the yardsticks, but it’s not the ultimate yardstick.

The secret to attracting money is by having a value the world needs. Value is very broad and relative. What might be valuable to someone might not be valuable to another person. But when it comes to money, value is a currency. To acquire this currency, you must either have a service or product that solves a problem.

It’s only lazy people who think they can easily attract money without doing any form of work. Isn’t it true that there’s no free lunch anywhere. Even when lunch is supposedly free, somebody has paid for it. Even if you don’t have a product or service to offer, please endeavor to have a sustainable value, which may be network, access or a form of information which boosts your resourcefulness.

I strongly believe everyone has a form of value, and there’s no harm in asking the question ‘how can I be of help to you?’ Everyone likes a helping hand, even a perfectionist.

According to Dr. Yomi Garnett, an accomplished ghost writer, “the money you will ever need to fulfill your obligations has been kept somewhere for you. It’s in the pockets of the people around you. However, they will release the money to you only if you add value of some kind to their lives. You can do this by offering some services or selling some products. Since you now know where your money is kept, resolve today to discover what product you should sell or what service you should offer to access their funds,  but remember, all you must be in accordance with God’s principle.

Further to Dr. Garnett’s assertion, the money we seek is in someone’s pocket. The only guaranteed way of getting the money is by appealing to their conscience on what works for them. Unless you want to rob them of their hard-earned money, you can do simple research on what they like. For instance, if the person likes jokes, you can consider making them laugh, if the person is a sapio-sexual being, consider investing in knowledge and putting up a programme of interest that can strike a conversation. If the person likes supporting “causes” consider the option of having a Non-For-Profit organization and explain to the person how your organization matches their interest. Nobody likes to invest in what they are not passionate about.

Let me share a personal experience with you. I derive interest in networking with resourceful people, and as much I have met the rich and might in the society. I initially felt that because we are friends, a part of their wealth will flow to me, but that’s far from the truth. When I began to add value to my life by publishing inspiring and educational articles, published my first book, incorporated my company, got interviewed in television, began to market to book, my company and brand, my resourceful friends began to take me serious by inviting me to their club meetings in addition to having high level business conversation with me.

The moral here is that while I was searching for money, there were certain people I wanted to meet, there were certain doors, and opportunities I was hoping to attain, but couldn’t get their endorsement because I’m yet to mature into the opportunity. But when I added so much value, not only did my mentors and resourceful people begin to take me seriously, they also began to relate with me as a contemporary associate.

This principle is applicable in every sphere of life. Whatever you want to do, whoever you would like to meet, and whatsoever you desire, you must endeavor to do some work. Nobody literally comes to you because you appear to be nice. In the grand scheme of things, values, principles, interest, and intentionality that bring people together.

In conclusion, if you desire an opportunity, money, network and many more, you must show relevance for people to take you seriously, and not only invite you to the table, but also offer you a seat.

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,

Nobody is a above mistakes, so goes the popular saying. And everyone, living or dead, has at one time or another, made a mistake or failed in certain undertakings. This however, has nothing to do with how perfect one is, or may try to be, or even how lousy or unprofessional someone is. Even known perfectionists have been humbled by their own mistakes. But nobody should be subdued by their mistakes or failures because they are not as bad as they are viewed. They are actually stepping stones to greatness if well harnessed.

The only person who hasn’t made a mistake in life is the person who isn’t doing anything. Isn’t it true that the more you strive, the more opportunities come to you. When you make a mistake, it simply means you are doing something, and you are learning.

We have all, at certain times and levels, made mistakes in our businesses, academics, relationship/marriage, profession/vacation and even in our personal lives. Mistakes and failures go pari pasu. Failure is the aftermath of uncorrected mistake. When you fail and refuse to stand up, the failure will define you. The same way a mistake will only define you if you don’t learn from it. It’s quite unfortunate some people allow their mistakes to define them.

Did you know that a single mistake can lead to a major mistake that can set one back. Imagine having a resourceful person in your life, instead of learning from the person, you decide to beg the person for money. Imagine also, you are driving, and you miss an exit, one may have to reroute to the next available route to get back on track.

If you have made a mistake, please don’t be hard on yourself. The mistake can be a set up for success. Sometimes, we feel we have lost an opportunity, but we fail to understand that the mistake was orchestrated by the divine because you never know what’s likely to happen in the near future.

The journey to a fruitful life is not really a smooth ride. One will encounter mistakes and failures along the way. The experience one encounters is used to test the character of the person in addition to strengthening them when they fail.

One of the best ways to capture the relativity of mistakes and failures was captured by Dr. Yomi Garnett, an accomplished ghost writer. According to him, “Anytime you fail, ask yourself these questions,; why did I fail? What lessons have I learnt? Am I grateful for the experience? How can I turn the failures into success? Where do I go from here? Who else has failed I this way and how can he help me?  How can my experience help others from failing? Did I fail because of another person, my situation or myself? Did I actually fail, or did I actually fall short of unrealistic high standards? In these circumstances, where did I succeed as well as fail”?

On a closer look of the above statement, one will decipher that both mistakes and failures are needed for success because they have advantages and disadvantages. It all depends on one’s understanding and approach to it. To put it in a more better perspective, see mistakes and failures like a pencil with eraser. When you fail or make a mistake in the journey to life, use the eraser to clean it and then begin again.

If you are intentional in achieving success; whenever you fail, and understand the cause of your failure, you will go to the drawing board to know where you missed it. When you discover the reason, don’t be hard on yourself, just pick yourself up and be grateful for the experience. Remember, if you don’t make mistakes, you won’t learn much. This is because a wise man learns from his mistakes, but a wiser man learns from other people’s mistakes so that he makes minimal mistakes.

One of the reasons people have failed and learnt from their mistakes is because they have accumulated so much practical experience. Imagine a person, who has failed in business or marriage, and is advising you on how to be successful in business or marriage; their advice will come from a place of experience. The same is applicable when they are advising you on what made them successful in their marriage or business. If you are smart enough, you will run with their words.

In our contemporary society, we tend to follow people who have only succeeded in their craft, and apportion little regard to those who have failed. A progressive and intentional mind will have a different mindset because they will know that whatever has the capacity to succeed also has the capacity to fail.

On a personal note, whenever I meet a resourceful person I adore, I always ask the person, what would you have done differently 20 years ago if you had the opportunity, or what has life taught you as well as what would be your advise to a young person who wants to succeed? All these are targeted to understanding the mistakes and failures the person experienced so I can learn and avoid it as opposed to focusing only on the reason they succeeded.

There’s no doubt circumstances, situations and human beings can contribute to the failure of anyone, but one thing is certain, we are responsible for our life because no matter what happens, circumstances don’t say who you are, they reveal who you are.

When you set high standards for yourself and fail, it’s not actually a failure per se, because you are trying to exceed expectations. Be positive and see the high standards as motivating yourself to do better as opposed to setting lower standards and exceeding expectations. The moral of this statement is for one not to be comfortable in their comfort zone.

In conclusion, if you are desirous of making an impact in the society, see mistakes, failures, and experience of life as life treasures. Remember, when you succeed, it is the failures, mistakes and your personal and professional experiences that will form stories. As a matter of fact, most people will be attracted more to your failures than your success because they will learn more from them.

So again, I will ask you, who has failed you, who has disappointed you, what mistakes have you made and learned from, and most importantly, how has your mistake and failures made you more efficient. In answering these questions, remember, don’t be hard on yourself.

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,

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