Akin, delivering his lecture on Self-Empowerment through Attitude.

Lecture 1: Self-Empowerment through Attitude
In the year 1997, after my elder brother finished his Youth Service, he gave his khaki shirt to me, and then I made up my mind that I will one day put on the uniform.
Since then, despite all odds that have come my way, I did and am still doing all the necessary things that enhanced and will continue to enhance my thirst for knowledge and success.
So, I have come to share with you and to teach you about what helped me to go through all the odds and to stand out today, this will also let you know that, there is no man that can not make it in life.
The major thing needed by Any Man who wants to succeed in life is: ATTITUDE.
So, What is Attitude? – This is the way that you think and feel about somebody or something (talking about different situations you find yourself in life); it is also the way that you behave towards somebody or something that shows how you think and feel, so, your feeling and thought determines your attitude.
Listen to this: “If you have a negative attitude, your eyes will never be opened to see opportunities” – I discovered this statement on the 23rd of March this year and I will like to break it down to you for more understanding.
Man is a tripartite being, which means he is made up of three parts which are: Spirit, Soul and Body. I will be speaking particularly about the soul because that is the seat of the mind, where we think, have emotional feelings and the seat of understanding.
In defining attitude, I made mention of your thinking and we now see that we undergo the process of thinking in the mind, and the mind can see, hear and also talk, because your soul is your spiritual representative, for instance, when you see yourself in a dream, it is your soul that you are seeing.
The Book of all ages says that, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he” – it is talking about your attitude.
Let me tell you this, attitude can be divided into two parts, positive and negative – and it is not possible for you to exhibit the two at the same time, it is either you are positive or negative.
Many people are controlled by external factors, which usually make them to exhibit negative attitude, like I told you about myself, I passed through different negative situations, even from my family members, but I just kept on, building a positive attitude, which I am teaching you about today.
Listen to this powerful statement – The Attitude of a Champion is always positive, you are to have it in you – every successful person in life always have positive attitude in them, it is the power that helps champions to scale through bad times in their lives.

We need to know the factors that can affect attitude either positively or negatively, they are the 3 E’s of Attitude:
- Environment – Home, School, Work, Media, Religion
- Experience – Our behaviour changes according to our experience with various people
- Education – Education refers to both formal and informal, which ought to teach us not only how to make living, but also how to live.


STEPS TO ATTITUDE CHANGE
- Change Focus, Look for the Positive – You need to focus on the positive in your life, start looking for what is right in a person or situation, instead of looking for what is wrong. Note: Dig deep to look for the positive. A negative person always criticizes.
- Make a habit of doing it Now! – If you want to build a positive attitude, get into the habit of living in the present and doing it NOW! – Don’t procrastinate.
- Develop an Attitude of Gratitude – Always count your blessings, not your troubles. Learn to give thanks both to God and man.
- Get into a Continuous Education Program – Intellectual education (going to school) influences the head and Values-based education influences the heart. Education that does not train the heart can be dangerous. An educated person is someone who chooses wisely and courageously under any circumstances.
- Build a Positive Self-Esteem – Self-Esteem is the way we feel about ourselves. When we feel good within, our performance goes up and our relationships improve at home, at school and work.
- Stay Away from Negative Influences – Peer pressure not only affects children and teenagers, it is also prevalent in adults. Joining a secret cult will not and can not build your Self-esteem, it will increase your fear. The people you associate with affect the level you will reach in life.
- Learn to Like the things that Need to be Done – Start by doing what is NECESSARY, then what is POSSIBLE and suddenly, you are doing the IMPOSSIBLE.
- Start your day with Something Positive – Read or Listen to Something positive first thing in the morning. You need to make conscious effort and be committed to make positive thoughts and behaviour part of your life. Practice having positive thoughts and behaviour daily until they become habit.
- Learn to Smile – One of the most important things in living a successful life is smiling at and with people.
- Be connected to God – There is no man in this world that came into it by himself, we are all created by God, so, you must know God for you to exhibit a positive attitude.
- Get necessary Information – Information is know-l-edge gathered, “What you Know gives you an Edge above the rest”, get all the necessary information that relate to what you are doing or want to do, through books, internet, and friends. “If You are not Informed, You will be Deformed”.
You may be asking yourself that why do I need to go through these steps to build a positive attitude, I will highlight the benefits of having a positive attitude now:

BENEFITS OF POSITIVE ATTITUDE
- Makes for a pleasing personality
- It is energizing
- It increases your enjoyment of life
- It helps you inspire others around you
- Helps you become a contributing member of society and an asset to your country

CONSEQUENCES OF A NEGATIVE ATTITUDE:
- Bitterness – unhappiness
- Resentment – anger
- A purposeless life – living a life without meaning
- Ill health
- High stress levels

You must know that people with a positive frame of mind think about possibilities, growth, expansion and success. They expect happiness, health, love and good relationships. They think in terms of “I can”, “I am able” and “I will succeed”.

Within this little time, we have been able to see that it is very important for us to have a Positive Attitude because it is the bedrock/foundation for a successful living, it helps in achieving goals, achieving of success faster and more easily, more happiness, more energy, greater inner power and the ability to inspire and motivate yourself and others.
Listen to this two contradicting statements: Negative attitude says: ‘You can not achieve Success’, but Positive attitude says: ‘You can achieve Success.’
You can just chorus this after me, loud and clear – I WILL ACHIEVE SUCCESS.





Alo Olatokunboh Akin
Yep!
www.angeltokunboh.wetpaint.com
+2348036506376, +2348052930044
olatokunboh_alo@live.com