The Central Laws of Productivity (Book excerpt)

A very poor young man desperately wanted to become rich. He set out to consult with the oracle regarding the possibilities of making some money rituals. The witch doctor told him there was no problem, that it is achievable. “In order to get rich quickly, you will need to follow some basic instructions”. He was eager and attentive. "The instructions surround certain rituals which you shall observe daily in other to go through a rite of passage unto riches". He was happy and ready to follow through. The witch doctor said the process will take twelve full moon (equivalent of one year).He was to wake up every day at 4:00am to make some incantations.  He left excited, knowing that in about a year's time, he would have become very rich.
"Here is the sacred horn of the gods, wrapped with red cloth; you must henceforth, feed this horn daily.If you don't, the red piece of cloth shall turn out as your very blood flowing on the highway! Your head shall turn out as the detached horn of the animal which you are holding right here!” The young man was afraid at that warning and determined to follow every instruction. Each morning, he wakes up to consult the oracle as instructed. After a period of twelve months, he returned to the witch doctor to report for final rite of passage into riches.
Upon removal of the red piece of cloth, there was some money.
The young man was asked:  “did you follow every instruction given?”
 “Yes I did”. He replied.
“Did you make those incantations each morning for the last twelve months?”
 “Yes I did.” He replied.
Both went out into a thick jungle wherein the witch doctor asked the last question.“Before we proceed into the final ritual, can you explain how you did each morning? I just want to be sure you did not offend the oracle”. Narrating his rituals, he replied: “I woke up at 4:00am to consult the oracle, touched my head with the sacred horn. I fed the horn with $20 bill each morning. I put away the sacred horn with the red cloth for the next day.” The witch doctor nodded. “Oh! I can see how you have the ability to become rich because you can follow basic instructions. How much do you have in total right now?” The witch doctor asked.
The young man quickly calculated the money that was fed into the sacred horn for twelve months, and announced: "$240 in total sir.”
The witch doctor nodded again. He looked up and down. Then, suddenly, laughed in scorn of the young man. Then, he became angry and sternly, announced: “Young man! You have succeeded in leasing for yourself a piece of land, at the rate of $240 per Annum; for the next twelve months.You must wake up as early as 4:00am according to how you have done from the beginning. Do not break that ritual! You must consult the oracle briefly, run down to this farmland and start planting yam-seeds. Your wealth has been hidden in this soil. The gods has commanded that you start farming on this piece of land. In the usage of your muscles lies your passage to riches. This shall be your next ritual. Now, you must be careful to obey the voice of the oracle! Because failure to bring out bountiful harvest from this land in twelve months means you shall surely die! That young man worked so hard. He became a successful farmer. He was able to feed himself, his family and his task master.
The moral? -Productivity births economic freedom! Do not wait for anyone to rescue you. There are no dream-sponsors around any more, unlike in the olden days. Your dreams is in your hands. It is your responsibility. And if you have any vision, just go out and pursue it with tenacity, because there is no magic in crossing from poverty to riches.

How to get things done without spending cash!

This article is about how to get things done without actually spending cash.I am about to share with you one of my life’s top secrets. Being a man from a humble background; in the course of my growing up; I had to eke out with difficulty to spend money on what I wanted for myself. Most of my things were bought for me and my siblings. We never had excess cash flowing around as kids. There was nothing like pocket money. I started thinking of how else to get what I wanted in life without having to be deprived and denied. At a point I would think of doing trade, business with any thing called resources at my disposal. I can sell/market any stuff I can lay my hands on, once it is mine. I love to have cash on me. Much more i love to have assets. I remember once when we were young. I was in the elementary school then. I was eating breakfast with my younger brother. I could not finish my food but my brother had finished his meal hurriedly. I remember turning my piece of bread into a burger snack right there at the breakfast table and selling it to my junior brother for money which he was to pay back on credit. He found it so difficult to reject my offer as I marketed that left over breakfast of mine to him. He was so convinced that he was buying something different from the same piece of bread and omelet we were eating together at the table. Although, he went into perceived debt just to eat that instant “burger snack” I manufactured and sold to him at the breakfast table that morning at home. Sadly, he was unable to pay me back thereafter. And that was the first experience that should have taught me not to sell anything on credit again. My point was that since childhood, I had grown a business mindset. I had been selling things. I advanced into a student- business man when I entered high school such that I bought a certain used toy-game of soccer and rented it out to school mates when I was in high school. They will play my game and pay me some token for it. I will time them on it to make more money.

In a nutshell, my childhood experience with inadequate liquidity or flow of cash, shaped my thinking and forced me into thinking, asking questions, experimenting on how else I could successfully get things done without having to spend money directly. And I remember how I started early in life to trade in things like invisibles, values, trade by barter, exchange services. I tried maximizing my relationships, made more friends, whether they are intimate or not, it does not matter. I realized that I was going to need people to get to where I intend to go in life. I did not want to be misjudged or perceived wrongly as a user or a leach or a parasite on people. So I started thinking of how to trade value for value. I figured how to be resourceful and useful to people’s causes. I had to earn trust with people. I had to develop myself and force myself to learn to grow into someone who will have something so meaningful and edifying to say, something tangible to offer the people I come across. There were points when I had to serve people in order to be assisted, accepted and be paid. I had to volunteer at some points. I have helped some people in order to win friends, network people and thereby winning friends and gaining more influence. I’ve had to read wide in order to create great knowledge base.
I had to read the bible to reach spiritual consciousnesses. I meditated to reach a depth and develop uncommon strategies, ideas that can attract money. I stopped asking for money for whatever reason. And I started asking for a bond, a relationship and trust with people. I knew that if I asked for money; I will only have it once and that is from the transaction we may have together. But after that transaction is over, I will not be able to go to the person to get another cash to meet my needs until I have to get into another transaction again with similar or another set of people entirely. I realized that if I could just focus on building relationships and I am able to make trustworthy friendships. Things will be a little bit different. From my friendship I will build a trust. And if I could build a trust, then I would have access to people's cash at any time. So I focused on something much more important. And that is relationship.
It was with GOD and His inspiration in terms of this idea that I have been able to achieve more. Hence, I was able to network and do much of what I did without having money. For instance, I shot a movie as an undergraduate without a sponsor. I published my book in United States of America without spending my personal money directly. To list a few, I achieved small feats here and there as a young man without having abundance of cash in savings account. I got out of debt after shooting the film which I shot as an undergraduate through the same principle. I worked with an elderly lecturer-friend who recruited me based on his recognition of my potentials and on the relationship we share. The bonding we had together snowballed into being a part of his family life. I traveled out of my country of birth and tried this same principle in another country and it is working. And I am getting discounts, gifts, free tickets, gate pass, and so on without spending my personal cash. This principle of relationship formation works. I call it learning to bond with people rather than just meeting them casually. Encountering people on a deeper ground; require that we listen deeply to them. Appreciate whatever they are doing; whatever they have done in time past and what they still need to get done. Ask for how you can be a part of whatever they are doing so as to help out. Please note that I emphasized that we must think in terms of win-win for the people we are relating with. I tried to use value to achieve value. I tried to use people relational skills to achieve something of great value. This is how to achieve results without virtual money.And you can do the same thing.