Latest / Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh / Don't Leave Your Dream—Live It

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Don't Leave Your Dream—Live It · Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh

• 0:03
  Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Chatting with the Experts TV
• 0:07
  show with your host, me, Paula Okonneh.
• 0:11
  This is a show where I bring women from Africa and the Caribbean and
• 0:15
  in the diaspora to educate, empower, and encourage women globally.
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  I love making exceptions to that though, and I've had men grace my show.
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  And today I have an exceptional man called Dr.
• 0:32
  Michael Koku, but before he comes on, I've got to introduce him to you.
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  He is a physician and a Maxwell Leadership Team Executive Director.
• 0:42
  He's a speaker, coach, and trainer, all in Maxwell Leadership Team, and
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  he's well known for his ability to encapsulate complex ideas and present
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  them in concise, compelling ways.
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  We are going to be talking about how to do life big.
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  In other words, don't leave your dream, live your dream.
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  And now I will introduce to you, Dr.
• 1:15
  Michael Koku.
• 1:16
  Welcome to Chatting with the Experts TV show.
• 1:21
  You're welcome.
• 1:21
  Thank you so much, Coach Paula.
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  And it's so much with great joy and anticipation that I just like to serve.
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  Your leadership community, and I'm glad to be here.
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  Thank you.
• 1:35
  Well, is there anything I left out about you?
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  I mean, you are such a dynamic.
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  I wouldn't say young man, because most people on my show,
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  a lot of people sometimes.
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  I'm a young man.
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  No doubt about that.
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  I'm old.
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  I'm young.
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  Yeah, I'm a young man.
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  Yeah.
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  Yes.
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  Also, I'm an author.
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  Yeah.
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  So, An author of seven books right now.
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  Seven books!
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  Yeah.
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  Working on the eighth one at the moment.
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  That's so inspiring.
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  Yeah.
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  And that's what I love about this show.
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  I meet amazing people and I'm able to share them with the world.
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  Yeah.
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  And that's what you're going to do today.
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  So I love that title.
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  Do life big.
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  Live your dream.
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  Don't leave your dream.
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  Let's talk about that.
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  Wow.
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  That's awesome.
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  Wow.
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  You know, it's really great to be here, Coach Paula.
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  And there are two things that are very interesting in the life of a leader.
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  What a leader has learned, and what the leader is learning.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  So what the leader has learned is all about the leader's experience.
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  What the leader is learning is all about the leader's passion.
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  Yeah.
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  So, and those things, those two are very important.
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  And because we need to realize that respect comes from what
• 3:00
  you are doing in the now.
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  And honor comes from what you've done before.
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  So if you capitalize only on what you've done before, you'll be honorable, but one
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  thing about honor is it fades with time.
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  So honor requires respect to keep it honorable.
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  So, and that's why I like to work on new projects.
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  So what I want to talk about is what I'm working on at the moment, what I'm
• 3:25
  learning more about and what I have lived is my, it's my own life and do life big.
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  A lot of people are not doing life big and the subtitle is don't leave your dream.
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  That leave is L E A V E, live your dream.
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  A lot of people are not living their dream.
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  So true.
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  The only time that you are living, L I V I N G, is when you are living your dream.
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  Anytime you are not living your dream, you are not living.
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  You are just existing.
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  Hmm.
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  And that's the thing about it.
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  You know, and I want people to listen and realize that this is so important.
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  You can't do life big when you are not living your dream.
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  So the question is, are you leaving your dream or living your dream?
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  I'm using two things that rhymes now.
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  Yes.
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  It's not what rhymes now.
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  It's not pun intended.
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  It is the truth.
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  Many are leaving their dream every day, they leave their
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  bed and leave their dream.
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  It is good to leave your bed L E A V E, but it is bad to
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  leave your dream L E A V E.
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  So it is okay to leave your bed because for you to live your dream
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  L I V E, you need to leave your bed.
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  So you leave your bed in the morning, you hit the ground running, you
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  wake up in anticipation, there is no place for Oh, God is Monday.
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  Thank God is Friday.
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  That is not for people that are living their dream.
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  People that are living their dream, they are always excited on Monday.
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  They are the thank God is Monday people.
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  Every day, it's such an opportunity to live their dream.
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  So I wanna make it so simple.
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  I don't like something complicated.
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  I'm known for making things that are complicated, simple.
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  So I wanna use an acronym.
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  I wanna give people a handle.
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  Now, have you ever hold something before and maybe you wanna
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  take a lot of things together?
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  You went to the...
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  for some of us that are not used to country life, you went to the
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  forest and you have a lot of sticks.
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  And you have like a hundred pieces of sticks now, what is the
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  best way to lift those things?
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  You can either take it as a unit, each of them trying to pack it with
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  your hands or get something to tie it up together as a bundle so that you
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  can easily lift it up as a bundle.
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  As a unit.
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  As a unit.
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  Yeah.
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  I love that.
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  That is what acronym does.
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  Acronym give us handles.
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  You know, somebody said you can't change the world without acronym.
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  And it's so true.
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  The word USA is an acronym, United States of America.
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  Yes.
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  Every day we live in the world of acronym.
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  So, and I've been rightly accused of being a chief acronym specialist
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  and I'm guilty as charged.
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  So today I want to give you a simple acronym to help you to live your dream.
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  Because my goal today is to help you to do life big.
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  Listen, you have only one life.
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  You can't afford to do life small.
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  Everyone can do life big.
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  Doing life big is not for...
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  it's not an exclusive reserve of some.
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  It's for everyone.
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  It's for all.
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  And what we help you to do life big is what I'm sharing with you.
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  So the acronym I want to share with you to do live big is DREAM.
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  D R E A M.
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  I'm writing that down.
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  D R E A M.
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  I created this acronym, especially for you.
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  Oh, for me?
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  Yeah.
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  This will be for your audience, for whoever will listen to this podcast.
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  This will be the first time I'm sharing it because I just created it this morning.
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  Woah.
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  Yeah.
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  In my study.
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  Yeah.
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  So I just created it this morning.
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  So do live big.
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  It's very, it's not an option.
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  If you want to live a life of relevance, you need to do life big
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  and to do life big, you need a dream.
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  So this is the DREAM acronym.
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  So the D is you need to have a dream.
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  The D means dream.
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  Start with a dream.
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  Start with a dream.
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  That's the D.
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  So the
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  R is the resilience factor.
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  The resilience factor, and I'm going to give you an acronym
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  to help you to be resilient.
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  I'm going to give you an acronym for that because we
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  have to be resilient on purpose.
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  I'm going to give you an acronym for that.
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  I'm still coming back to that.
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  All right.
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  Then the E is embrace teamwork.
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  You can't live your dream without a team.
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  Embrace teamwork.
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  Mm-hmm.
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  And the A is Accountability partnership.
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  Yeah.
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  Accountability, partnership.
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  There's a need for accountability partnership in order to live your dream.
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  And the last one M is Mentorship.
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  Wow, it all!
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  So to do life big, you need to start with a dream.
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  That's the D.
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  Then you need to remember there's a resilience factor because there will be
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  things that will happen to you along the way that will want to make you to quit.
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  But you must be able to bounce back, and I'll show you how to do that.
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  Okay.
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  When life happens to you, you happen to life.
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  Don't let life happen to you.
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  You happen to life.
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  You know, I was trained as a physician.
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  So one of my colleague and we went to medical school together, and
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  he liked to send me a test message that how is life treating you?
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  And I will send the message back to him that.
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  I'm the one treating life, life is not treating me.
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  I'm not a patient of life.
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  So there are two kind of people in life, people that let life happens to
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  them and people that happen to life.
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  So, it's good, people that happen to life are proactive, people that let
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  life happen to them, they are reactive.
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  So don't be a patient of life.
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  When you are a patient of life, you are a patient for life.
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  You are a victim for life.
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  So this is key.
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  So the resilience factor is key.
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  Then we talk about the embrace teamwork, accountability
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  partnership, and mentorship.
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  Now let's start.
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  From the start a dream.
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  So what is a dream?
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  There's a question I was about to ask you because that's a
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  question I hear all the time.
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  What is a dream?
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  That's good.
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  That's good.
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  And I'm ready to answer the question because the thing about that is like, when
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  you don't know what something means it's like, you can really maximize the benefit.
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  So the best definition that I have about the dream is one for my mentor, Dr.
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  John Maxwell.
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  And he defined a dream as an inspiring picture of the future that energizes your
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  will, emotion, and mind, empowering you to do everything you can to achieve it.
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  Ooh.
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  I love it.
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  Yeah.
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  I love that.
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  Yeah.
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  I'll say it again.
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  A dream is an inspiring picture of the future, that energizes your will,
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  emotion and mindemnd powering you to do everything you can to achieve it.
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  Thank you for repeating that.
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  Yeah.
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  So now your dream have to be inspiring.
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  If your dream does not inspire you, it cannot inspire others.
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  So we said the first thing is start with a dream, but that dream
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  have to be an inspiring picture.
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  There must be clarity.
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  It will be so clear and inspiring picture of the future.
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  Vision is all about seeing the world the way it could be and the
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  ability to communicate it to others.
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  So that picture have to be clear.
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  A dream is an inspiring picture of the future that energizes.
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  So that picture have to be so clear.
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  The clarity have to be so real that it brings energy into your soul.
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  Your soul has three different compartments.
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  Your will which is your chooser, your emotion, which is your feeler
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  and your mind, which is your thinker.
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  So it must energize your soul compartment.
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  Man is a spirit.
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  He has a soul and dwell in the body.
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  Can you go over that again?
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  What your way?
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  So, I mean,
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  Your soul is?
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  Your soul has three compartments.
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  Yes.
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  Your will, emotion, and your mind.
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  Your will is your chooser.
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  Your emotion is your feeler.
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  It's what makes you feel things.
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  Your will is what makes you choose things.
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  Center of decision.
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  Yep.
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  Your emotion is your feeler.
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  It's what makes you to feel something, to experience things.
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  And your mind is your thinker.
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  Thinker, yes.
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  I love that definition too.
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  Did you put this up for me today as well or for the audience?
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  It's alright.
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  Or not?
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  Don't worry, there's more to come.
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  All right.
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  I'm loaded.
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  And I'm ready to discharge.
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  Yeah.
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  Ok.
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  So that's what a dream is.
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  So it's an inspiring picture of the future that energizes.
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  So that energy, just like, think about charging your phone now.
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  It brings energy to your will, to your choice making, to your
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  emotion, the way you experience life.
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  And to your mind, the way you think.
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  Empowering you to do everything you can to achieve it.
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  Because there are so many things that look like dreams.
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  They're not dreams.
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  They're mirages.
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  There's no time to really go over those things that look
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  like dreams that are not dreams.
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  But the main thing I wanted to just get is start with a dream.
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  Everyone needs a dream to do life big.
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  Why?
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  It's a dreamer's world.
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  It's We live in a dreamer's world.
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  There's one mentor of mine that has really inspired me a long time.
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  You know, I have an encounter with him in 1998 and that encounter, this is like
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  26 years ago, turned my life around.
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  And one day I took a trip.
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  I went to his base, his headquarters.
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  I was just walking around.
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  I was trying to find out what is this man's secret?
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  Did you find out?
• 14:46
  Yes, I did.
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  Ok.
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  And I was going around and I saw a write up that was put in the...
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  he has a big church.
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  In fact, in 1999, he has the largest church in the world,
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  the single congregation.
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  So the single building at that time now his building, I'm talking
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  about Bishop David Oyedepo.
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  His building, the biggest church in the world now called the Legacy
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  Project that's going to house 200, 000 people with the extension 300, 000.
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  So I saw that write up and the title is, it's a dreamer's world.
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  We live in a dreamer's world.
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  Why?
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  Dreamers are rulers.
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  Visionaries are commanders.
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  So it's a dreamer's world.
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  When Walt Disney died, he died before they opened up the Disneyland, Wonderland.
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  So when they were doing the commissioning and one of the persons was giving a
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  statement and said, oh, he wish Walt Disney was alive to see all this.
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  And the wife took the mic.
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  She said, Walt actually saw it before you all saw it today.
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  I love that.
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  And that's the same thing that happened to Martin Luther King Jr.
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  Dr.
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  Martin Luther King Jr.
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  I have a dream.
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  I have a dream.
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  He didn't say, I have a plan, I have a dream.
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  Mm-Hmm.
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  And a day before he died.
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  He said, I have seen the promised land.
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  I might not get there with you, but my eyes have seen the glory.
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  He's a dreamer.
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  He saw a world.
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  He said, I have a dream that in this same nation that the slave owners and
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  the children of the slave, will both sit together on the table of brotherhood.
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  That was weird.
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  That was unthinkable.
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  Don't forget.
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  Your dream is going to bring energy into your will, emotion and thought.
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  Change the way you think.
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  If you are still thinking ordinary, you don't have a dream.
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  There's no true dreamer that thinks ordinary.
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  One of the books I'm reading now, it's called Rules For Revolutionaries
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  Rules?
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  For Revolutionaries.
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  Okay.
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  Yeah.
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  Rules for Revolutionaries by Guy Kawasaki.
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  That is the book.
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  All right.
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  Guy Kawasaki.
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  Yeah, he's written some great books.
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  This is one of the men that was part of the Apple Macintosh and that
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  revolutionized the computer industry.
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  And he wrote that book.
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  It's one of the books I'm reading right now.
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  So, and in that book, I don't want to digress.
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  Let me stay with this topic.
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  Yes, because we all agree, right?
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  Exactly.
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  So, start with a dream.
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  That's it.
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  Start with a dream.
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  And don't forget, Don't forget.
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  Your dream is not what somebody wants for you.
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  It's your own dream.
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  Your dream have to be your dream.
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  It's not what your mother wants.
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  It's not what your father wants.
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  It's your dream.
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  It has to be your dream.
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  Borrowed dream cannot bring energy.
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  Don't forget, a dream is an inspiring picture of the future that energizes
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  your will, emotion, and mind.
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  When you borrow a dream, It will lack enough energy to bring to
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  your soul compartment, which is your will, emotion, and mind.
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  So that's why borrowed dream has low energy.
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  Up to you.
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  I love that.
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  So in other words, make this personal.
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  Yeah, it has to be personal.
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  It has to be your dream.
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  And it has to begin with you.
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  It has to begin with you.
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  So your dream must be your dream.
• 18:29
  When Dr.
• 18:30
  Martin Luther King Jr.
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  has a dream, it was his dream to say, I have a dream that in this nation,
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  my children, my four children will not be judged by the color of their skin,
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  but by the content of their character.
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  That was his own dream.
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  It was not a borrowed dream.
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  So don't borrow anybody else's dream.
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  You must find your own dream.
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  So let's go to the second one now.
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  Resilience.
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  Resilience factor.
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  Now, having discovered your dream.
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  That's another content talking about how to discover your dream.
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  That's another content on its own.
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  We'll have to do that on another episode.
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  Yes.
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  I promise that I don't mind.
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  I will.
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  I'll be glad.
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  Now I won't find your dream.
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  You would just like Martin Luther King Jr.
• 19:15
  Find his own dream.
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  You need to find your own dream because don't forget
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  borrowed dream has low energy.
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  It can take you far.
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  It's like you try you it's like a plane is trying to fly from
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  Philadelphia to California.
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  There's a particular amount of fuel that the airplane needs.
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  So you must have enough energy to get to your destination.
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  Don't forget it's all about the future.
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  So if you borrow a dream, you're going to crash.
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  You won't land.
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  You won't get to your destination.
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  You won't make it.
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  So make sure your dream is your dream.
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  Your dream is your dream.
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  And I love that analogy where you said with a plane, having enough
• 19:59
  fuel, because if you don't have enough fuel for your own dream.
• 20:01
  You'll crash.
• 20:02
  Exactly, because your dream comes with its energy.
• 20:07
  Like I said, it's an inspiring picture of the future that energizes.
• 20:11
  So your dream comes with its own energy.
• 20:14
  Mm-hmm.
• 20:14
  It's like when you buy some some toys for kids, they will set batteries included.
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  So with your dream comes the battery, the energy.
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  I love that.
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  But borrowed dream has no battery.
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  There's no battery.
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  It's flat.
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  It's flatlined.
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  So you need to be your dream because dreams requires
• 20:36
  authenticity for productivity.
• 20:39
  So it has to be authentic.
• 20:41
  Yeah.
• 20:41
  So the resilience factor, is that part of the, I mean.
• 20:44
  Now, the second thing is like the acronym dream out to do live big.
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  So the first one is start with a dream.
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  The second one is the resilience factor now for you to be resilient.
• 20:54
  Resilience talks about is a vital, you know, part of life that is
• 20:59
  required for you to do live big.
• 21:03
  So it's the ability to bounce back from setbacks.
• 21:09
  Someone said setback is set up for a stronger comeback.
• 21:17
  So when thrown against the wall, you are either an egg or a tennis ball.
• 21:26
  So resilience makes a difference.
• 21:27
  So if you're a tennis ball, you're going to bounce back.
• 21:29
  Yes.
• 21:30
  If you're an egg, you don't.
• 21:33
  That's it.
• 21:34
  So the question is, how can you be resilient?
• 21:36
  Now I've created an acronym for you on how you can be resilient on purpose.
• 21:42
  Oh, it's an acronym now.
• 21:44
  Yeah.
• 21:44
  It's another acronym.
• 21:45
  Resilience is not something that is automatic.
• 21:49
  It's something that is intentional.
• 21:52
  So how can you be resilient on purpose?
• 21:54
  So the acronym is purpose for you to be resilient.
• 22:00
  I'm giving you this purpose acronym for you to be resilient.
• 22:03
  So what's the P?
• 22:04
  The P is Picture your possibilities, picture your possibilities.
• 22:11
  A lot of times people picture impossibilities, they picture obstacles.
• 22:18
  Yeah.
• 22:18
  You need to visualize success.
• 22:20
  You need to see it ahead of time, picture possibilities.
• 22:24
  Of course, I'm not denying there's going to be obstacles in the way.
• 22:29
  You need to picture possibilities.
• 22:30
  The story of the 12 spies.
• 22:33
  Ten of the spies, they see themselves as grasshoppers, but two of them, they
• 22:37
  don't see themselves as grasshoppers.
• 22:38
  Exactly.
• 22:42
  So picture your possibilities, visualizing success, and focusing on the
• 22:47
  potential outcomes can fuel resilience.
• 22:50
  So you have to picture your possibilities.
• 22:53
  If all you see, listen, in fulfilling your dream, there's
• 22:57
  going to be so many obstacles, but don't focus on those obstacles.
• 23:01
  Picture the possibilities.
• 23:03
  Okay, so then we have you.
• 23:05
  Because, I mean, this is so good and we have a time factor.
• 23:09
  Yeah, it's okay.
• 23:10
  So the you is this, use your failure or mistakes as a learning tool.
• 23:16
  Okay.
• 23:17
  In the quest of pursuing your dream, fulfilling your dream,
• 23:21
  you're gonna make mistakes.
• 23:23
  You're going to fail, but listen, fail is an acronym, fail means
• 23:27
  first attempt in learning.
• 23:30
  I know that one.
• 23:31
  Yes.
• 23:31
  The real failure is when you don't learn from your experience.
• 23:37
  So use your failure as a mistake or mistakes as a learning tool.
• 23:44
  Failure is not the end, but rather a stepping stone to growth.
• 23:49
  It is.
• 23:50
  Remember Thomas Edison?
• 23:52
  How many times did he do that attempt?
• 23:54
  He famously remarked, I have not failed, I've just found
• 23:59
  10, 000 ways that won't work.
• 24:01
  Yes, I love, I believe in that.
• 24:05
  Yeah, so embrace failure as a valuable lesson that propels you forward.
• 24:09
  Okay, let me put the R now.
• 24:11
  So the R is reach out.
• 24:13
  Reach out.
• 24:14
  Reach out for help.
• 24:16
  Reach out for help.
• 24:17
  Yes.
• 24:19
  Seeking support from others is crucial during tough times.
• 24:24
  And in living your dream, I was reading the biography of Michael Dell,
• 24:28
  the CEO of the Dell Technologies.
• 24:31
  There was a time he reached out for help to fulfill his dream
• 24:34
  because he was a college dropout.
• 24:36
  He has the passion.
• 24:37
  He has the dream.
• 24:39
  But one time he met a man and he reached out, he told the man that, please,
• 24:42
  I need you to come and work with me.
• 24:43
  The man first of all said no.
• 24:47
  And later on, the man reconsidered and came back to help him and took the
• 24:51
  company to another level before he left.
• 24:55
  So in other words, do not look at, Oh my gosh, I need to ask this person
• 25:00
  who may say no, still reach out.
• 25:03
  Reach out for help.
• 25:04
  Yes.
• 25:04
  So you have to reach out, you know, John Maxwell said something.
• 25:08
  He said, when a vision becomes bigger, you have two choice, either
• 25:17
  to give up or to ask for help.
• 25:22
  Say, I've chosen to ask for help.
• 25:24
  This same thing happened to me last year.
• 25:27
  I know I need a team to do life big and I know I don't have that team.
• 25:32
  I have to reach out and in reaching out, that's why people like Dr.
• 25:37
  Ayo, that have been on your podcast and Dr.
• 25:40
  Olabisi Oshikanlu, they are now part of the team.
• 25:44
  Yeah, 22 of them that we are doing live big together.
• 25:47
  We just had a youth empowerment conference for 30 people
• 25:53
  registered all around the world.
• 25:54
  Very impactful last Saturday.
• 25:57
  And we need that.
• 25:58
  Reach out.
• 25:59
  Yeah, for the young people.
• 26:00
  Yes.
• 26:00
  Exactly.
• 26:01
  So let's go to the next one.
• 26:02
  Yes.
• 26:03
  The next one is P
• 26:04
  Mm-Hmm.
• 26:06
  Put things in Right Perspective.
• 26:08
  Put things...
• 26:09
  if you see me looking down, I'm writing these things down.
• 26:11
  I got you.
• 26:12
  So put things in right perspective.
• 26:14
  Okay.
• 26:16
  Maintaining a balanced perspective is key to resilience.
• 26:21
  You know, at times things does, things are not the way they are.
• 26:26
  When things happen to people, people just kind of blow up, you
• 26:30
  know, things got so hyped up.
• 26:33
  Mm-hmm.
• 26:34
  You need to reframe challenges as opportunities for growth.
• 26:40
  You can navigate obstacles with greater clarity and resilience.
• 26:45
  So you have to put things in the right perspective.
• 26:48
  It's like, you know, someone that have a half a cup, half full of water.
• 26:53
  And someone is looking at, Oh, this is half empty.
• 26:56
  So I said, no, it's half full.
• 26:58
  Yep.
• 26:58
  I love the half full.
• 27:00
  I only look at that.
• 27:00
  Exactly.
• 27:01
  So put things in right perspective.
• 27:04
  Love it.
• 27:05
  Okay.
• 27:06
  What is O for?
• 27:07
  Yeah.
• 27:08
  Perspective.
• 27:08
  So the next one is O.
• 27:09
  Operates with optimism.
• 27:12
  Operate.
• 27:13
  Yeah.
• 27:13
  Operate with optimism.
• 27:15
  Optimism.
• 27:16
  Okay.
• 27:17
  That means you need to approach every challenges with a positive mindset
• 27:22
  and that makes all the difference.
• 27:25
  And Winston Churchill said, the pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.
• 27:31
  Say, but the optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.
• 27:37
  So you have to be optimist.
• 27:38
  You have to be an optimist.
• 27:40
  Yes.
• 27:40
  It takes optimism to gain magnetism.
• 27:45
  Mm-hmm.
• 27:46
  To attract the right person to your dream.
• 27:49
  So it's very important.
• 27:50
  And the last one.
• 27:53
  Okay, we still have two more.
• 27:54
  We have two more.
• 27:55
  Yes.
• 27:56
  The next one.
• 27:57
  I want to say the next one is serve others.
• 28:00
  Find a way to serve.
• 28:02
  Servant leadership.
• 28:03
  Servant leadership.
• 28:04
  I just finished a book on servant leadership.
• 28:06
  It's coming out this month.
• 28:08
  Find a way to serve.
• 28:11
  Service is very vital.
• 28:13
  If there's one word I can use to summarize leadership is service.
• 28:18
  Mm-hmm.
• 28:19
  Find a way to service.
• 28:20
  Serve to serve others, because contributing to something greater
• 28:26
  than yourself can provide a sense of purpose that make you to be resilient.
• 28:33
  When you are serving, your resilience is being reinforced because service helps you
• 28:41
  to focus on others instead of yourself.
• 28:44
  Yes.
• 28:45
  Mahatma Gandhi said...
• 28:46
  I would like to add to that and I believe as Christians,
• 28:50
  we follow the greatest servant.
• 28:52
  Yeah.
• 28:53
  Jesus Christ.
• 28:54
  Yeah.
• 28:54
  That's why yeah.
• 28:55
  You write about, he's the greatest servant leader, you know,
• 28:58
  Greatest Servant Leader.
• 29:00
  Exactly.
• 29:01
  And that's why I had a concept for servant leadership called the Area Code.
• 29:06
  The Area Code means accept responsibility before exercising authority.
• 29:12
  Mm-hmm.
• 29:13
  You know, yeah, the book will be out this month.
• 29:14
  You know, it's something I talk about.
• 29:16
  It's the Unveiling the Essence of Servant Leadership.
• 29:19
  But the main thing I want to say is serving others make you resilient because
• 29:22
  you are no longer living for yourself.
• 29:24
  Yes.
• 29:24
  You're living for others.
• 29:25
  Ellen Keller said, life is an exciting business and it's most
• 29:29
  exciting when lived for others.
• 29:31
  So living for others, serving others, make you to be more resilient.
• 29:35
  Then the last one is, E.
• 29:37
  Embrace joy.
• 29:39
  Ooh, I love that.
• 29:41
  Yeah.
• 29:42
  Embrace joy.
• 29:43
  Embrace joy.
• 29:44
  It's a choice.
• 29:45
  So, amidst every challenges, you need to find moments of joy and gratitude
• 29:50
  that help you to be more resilient.
• 29:52
  Joy does not simply happen to us.
• 29:56
  We have to choose joy.
• 29:58
  We have to choose joy.
• 30:00
  And keep choosing it every day.
• 30:02
  Joy is a choice.
• 30:05
  I agree.
• 30:06
  And you, this is how you cultivate joy.
• 30:08
  You cultivate joy by focusing on the present moment
• 30:14
  and by practicing gratitude and engaging in activities that bring
• 30:21
  you happiness and fulfillment.
• 30:23
  That goes back to service.
• 30:25
  I mean, and that's one of the things I build.
• 30:27
  I find joy when I serve others.
• 30:29
  Yes.
• 30:30
  Like someone defined joy.
• 30:31
  It said joy means Jesus first.
• 30:35
  Others second, you last.
• 30:39
  Another acronym.
• 30:41
  Yeah.
• 30:42
  Love it.
• 30:43
  Okay.
• 30:43
  So because of time, we need to go back to dream.
• 30:46
  So we had the D.
• 30:47
  Yeah.
• 30:48
  Which gave us purpose.
• 30:49
  Let's go to E, embrace teamwork.
• 30:51
  So the E's embrace teamwork.
• 30:54
  Yes.
• 30:55
  It takes teamwork to make dream work.
• 30:58
  Yes, it does.
• 31:00
  Without teamwork, your dream cannot work.
• 31:03
  But not just any team, you need the right team.
• 31:08
  A great dream requires a great team.
• 31:11
  I did that last year.
• 31:14
  I have to seek for leaders, not just anyone.
• 31:17
  Great team required.
• 31:18
  Why?
• 31:19
  A great team with a bad team is nothing but a nightmare.
• 31:27
  So every great dream requires a great team,
• 31:33
  not just anyone, but people that share your values.
• 31:36
  So embrace teamwork is very important.
• 31:40
  Dr.
• 31:40
  John Maxwell said, if you want to go to a little hill, you don't need a team.
• 31:45
  All you need is a pair of sneakers.
• 31:49
  You can just climb the hill.
• 31:51
  Yes.
• 31:51
  Why?
• 31:52
  Because as the challenges escalates, teamwork elevates.
• 31:58
  Yes.
• 31:59
  I just did a series on LinkedIn on a five week series.
• 32:04
  On leadership lesson from the NBA final, the National
• 32:07
  Basketball on the power of teams.
• 32:10
  The team that won the NBA final 2024 this year, Boston
• 32:14
  Celtic they operate as a team.
• 32:17
  So embrace teamwork.
• 32:20
  You can't do your life big as a one man army.
• 32:28
  You need a team.
• 32:29
  The word team is an acronym.
• 32:30
  It means Together Everyone Achieves More.
• 32:34
  So embrace teamwork.
• 32:36
  Embrace teamwork.
• 32:37
  It's so important.
• 32:38
  I can't overemphasize teamwork because if I talk about teamwork like by the grace
• 32:43
  of God, I have a team of 22 leaders that we work together for global project.
• 32:48
  Now we're working towards a conference for women and leadership conference coming
• 32:52
  up September 7 for women and leadership.
• 32:54
  I can't do it by loan.
• 32:56
  I'm not a CEO.
• 32:58
  CEO to me means Chief Everything Officer.
• 33:00
  I am not a chief everything officer.
• 33:04
  What are you?
• 33:05
  I'm a CVO, Chief Visionary Officer.
• 33:08
  Love that.
• 33:09
  Alright.
• 33:10
  But coming back to the women's leadership, you give me more information later
• 33:14
  so we can put that in our show notes.
• 33:15
  Yeah, we will.
• 33:16
  Yeah.
• 33:16
  The women in Leadership League and Global Women Conference comes up twice a year.
• 33:22
  And first Saturdays in March and September, we had one in
• 33:25
  March that the second one.
• 33:27
  So the third one is coming up September seven.
• 33:29
  So we'll give you the information.
• 33:30
  Okay.
• 33:31
  Now let's go to the next one which is number 4.
• 33:35
  Now about teamwork, I want to share something about the teamwork.
• 33:38
  This is very important because you know, a lot of people, they don't
• 33:41
  like, they want to work as a solo.
• 33:43
  I want to be by myself.
• 33:44
  Isolation will take you to the land of desolation.
• 33:49
  Collaboration is the new currency.
• 33:51
  This is what sister Joanne and sister Benedictine said.
• 33:56
  This is what she said.
• 33:57
  I just learned this, this morning.
• 33:58
  He said it is trust in the limits of the self that make us open and it is trust in
• 34:06
  the gift of others that make us secure.
• 34:10
  We come to realize.
• 34:10
  Say that again.
• 34:12
  Yeah.
• 34:13
  So we come to realize that we don't have to do everything.
• 34:19
  Yes, we don't.
• 34:22
  We can't do everything that's what I can't do is someone
• 34:27
  else's gift and responsibility.
• 34:31
  It says my limitation makes space for the gift of other people.
• 34:37
  And this is very important to embrace it.
• 34:39
  We see a lot of people, they want to do everything by themselves by
• 34:43
  themselves, but we have to collaborate.
• 34:46
  So that's everything.
• 34:47
  So the next one is to do life big.
• 34:51
  So A, accountability partnership.
• 34:55
  Accountability partnership is very important in everything that
• 34:59
  we do in life, because when you don't account, you can't amount.
• 35:04
  You can't amount to anything great when you lack accountability.
• 35:10
  Accountability is key to productivity.
• 35:14
  I was reading a Life of a Leader called Joel Manby that wrote the book Love Works.
• 35:19
  And he talked about three friends that he met when he was in Harvard
• 35:23
  Business School, that these three friends, that they are still friends 30
• 35:31
  years after that they call each other once a month to check on one another.
• 35:38
  Lovely.
• 35:39
  That one time, one of the friends, one of those friends, they are
• 35:42
  four, you know, she has three friends with him making four.
• 35:45
  One of them was having a problem with the wife.
• 35:48
  One time they all flew right there to settle the problem.
• 35:53
  That is the power of accountability partnership.
• 35:55
  And I call it peer.
• 35:56
  I give it an acronym called peer.
• 35:59
  And that peer means Positive, Enriching and Encouraging Relationship.
• 36:06
  So that's what accountability partnership is all about.
• 36:09
  It's a positive, enriching, and encouraging relationship.
• 36:15
  For instance, I'm writing a book,
• 36:20
  and we have, and for that book writing to keep on, we have a forum
• 36:24
  called the Authors Forum, where we meet one hour in one month.
• 36:31
  And also I'm reading eight books every day.
• 36:35
  I have an accountability partner called TRAIN, The Reader's Addiction
• 36:40
  Inspired Nation, that we report the books being read on that.
• 36:44
  As I finish a book, I report, I just finished this book, this is my replacement
• 36:49
  book, this is what I'm currently reading.
• 36:51
  Because that's the key!
• 36:53
  To productivity.
• 36:54
  So to do life big, you need accountability partners, people that
• 36:58
  you do in life together, you are heading towards the right direction.
• 37:00
  Now the last one, because our time is off, is the mentorship factor.
• 37:05
  I can't overemphasize this mentorship.
• 37:09
  Talking about role model, author and writer Ben Johnson said, if he that
• 37:17
  has himself for a mentor is a fool, that means if you have yourself as
• 37:23
  your own mentor, you are a fool.
• 37:25
  Mentors deliver us from tormentors.
• 37:32
  I love all these.
• 37:34
  Yeah,
• 37:35
  I love that.
• 37:35
  Mentorship is the ship that will take you to your destination because
• 37:40
  mentors have gone ahead of you.
• 37:43
  They are people that inspires us.
• 37:45
  They are role model.
• 37:46
  Without role model, you can play your role well.
• 37:50
  So all we have said today in to wrap up.
• 37:54
  To do life big.
• 37:56
  The acronym DREAM.
• 37:58
  You need to start with a dream.
• 38:00
  R, the Resilience factor.
• 38:02
  E, Embrace teamwork, A, Accountability partnership, and M, you need Mentorship.
• 38:10
  Thank you.
• 38:10
  Oh, my word.
• 38:11
  Hasn't that just been great?
• 38:14
  Yes, it is.
• 38:14
  Doing life big.
• 38:17
  Yeah.
• 38:17
  So, don't leave your dream.
• 38:19
  Live it.
• 38:20
  Your dream, yes.
• 38:21
  Live it.
• 38:22
  I love the fact that, you know, you're able to give us that acronym
• 38:26
  because it's easy to follow.
• 38:28
  Yeah.
• 38:28
  But I know we have a lot more.
• 38:30
  It's just because of time.
• 38:31
  We are limited.
• 38:32
  Yeah.
• 38:32
  And you do have to come on again to talk more about some of the other things.
• 38:38
  I know you talked once to me about only changed people can change the world.
• 38:43
  Yeah.
• 38:43
  That's another topic for another...
• 38:45
  Exactly.
• 38:46
  Another time.
• 38:47
  Yeah.
• 38:49
  Dr.
• 38:49
  Michael Koku.
• 38:50
  Yeah.
• 38:51
  Between today and the next episode, if someone wants to get in contact with
• 38:56
  you, how can they find you online?
• 38:58
  Oh, that's good.
• 38:59
  You can find me by going to YouTube and type in Dr.
• 39:03
  Michael Koku.
• 39:04
  You, and that's my YouTube channel.
• 39:07
  And then you can go to LinkedIn and type Dr.
• 39:10
  Michael Koku.
• 39:11
  And you'll find me have a lot of content right there.
• 39:14
  Then you can go to lgcleadership.
• 39:18
  com.
• 39:18
  That's my website.
• 39:19
  lgcleadership.com.
• 39:22
  Then you can also find me on Facebook as Michael Koku on
• 39:26
  Facebook and then Instagram too.
• 39:27
  You'll find me right there.
• 39:29
  And so it's such a pleasure to serve you.
• 39:32
  And I believe this has added so much value to you.
• 39:36
  Don't leave your dream, live your dream so that you can do life big.
• 39:40
  Thank you.
• 39:41
  Awesome.
• 39:42
  And for those of you who want to be a guest on the show, just like Dr.
• 39:46
  Michael Koku has been, please reach out to me on my website,
• 39:49
  which is chattingwiththeexperts.
• 39:51
  com.
• 39:52
  I'm also on Instagram.
• 39:55
  My handle this at chat_expert_podcast.
• 40:02
  I'm on LinkedIn plus look for Paula Okonneh and I am on Facebook.
• 40:09
  You can contact me any of those places because having guests
• 40:14
  on my show, it's not for me.
• 40:16
  It's for others and it's for women and it's for whoever else we have
• 40:19
  men watching these shows too.
• 40:21
  That's why I have, I brought on this awesome gentleman.
• 40:24
  So thank you again, Dr.
• 40:26
  Koku and we will have to do some additional episodes.
• 40:31
  You're welcome.
• 40:32
  I'll be glad to.
• 40:33
  Thank you.
• 40:35
  You're welcome.
• 40:35
  Thank you so much.
• 40:36
  Yeah.