Mastering Life with Four Key Principles

Have you ever encountered someone who always seems to have the perfect advice just when you need it most? In this episode, I share the transformative journey with a remarkable mentor who shared wisdom that has left an indelible mark on countless lives. This mentor distilled his life's philosophy into four powerful principles: manage yourself, manage your work, manage your relationships, and pursue continuous improvement. Each principle is a cornerstone for leading a balanced and fulfilling life, and we break down their significance and practical application.

Discover the importance of self-care, the essence of professional integrity, and the pivotal role of relationships in personal success. We'll also explore the relentless pursuit of growth and how continuous improvement can lead to a more enriched existence. Filled with heartfelt anecdotes and candid reflections, this episode promises to leave you inspired and equipped with timeless advice to implement in your own journey. Join us for an intimate and motivational conversation that celebrates wisdom, humility, and the power of genuine mentorship.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:13

Have you ever met anyone or someone in your life that every time you have an interaction with them, they give you these words or they say these things that are just the perfect words and these things that you needed to hear? At that exact moment, you may have been grappling with some challenge and you meet this person, and this person just says everything that you needed to hear to validate a direction, or they give you some clarity that you might not have previously had. Well, I met one of these people, maybe about I don't know five years ago, and at the time that I met this person I didn't know how the interaction would unfold. It was somebody I'd met in relation to the work that I do with Watt and he's an older gentleman, we'll say and at the very beginning it was purely a work relationship. And then, you know, over the years it evolved into, I would say, a mentorship type of relationship. And recently we were celebrating or honoring this person as they move through a career change, and I was first of all honored to be invited to the event. But at the event, you know, there's a room full of people that are waxing eloquent about this person and what I realized is, you know it wasn't unique to me and you know, sometimes our ego gets in the way and we think that it's only us. But no, I mean, everybody was talking about the exact same experience that they'd had with this person and the wisdom and the guidance and just how he's so humble and I mean this is a pretty successful individual but so relatable and so human, with all the successes that he's achieved to this point in his life. So, but he gave four. He said four things.

Speaker 1: 2:32

You know after, you know when he was addressing the folks in the room and you know extending gratitude for everyone being there and whatnot, he'd said you know he's lived his life by four things and I wrote these four things down because they're really, really simple and I thought what a great rule book to live life by. But the first thing he said is manage yourself. And he said managing yourself means taking care of those very basic things that you need in life, which are sleep, eat, exercise, pray, meditate, whatever it is that you need in a spiritual sense. But first things first, manage yourself. Make sure that you do the things that you need to do in order to have those really basic things in life, kind of taken care of basic things in life, kind of taken care of.

Speaker 1: 3:25

And then he said the second thing that you need to do is manage your work, do it and do it well. And actually he said it so emphatically. He was like don't fuck up. So in other words, what he was saying is, like you know, kind of honor your word. Like if there's something that you need to do at work, do it and do it well, no excuses, just get it done and do it to the very, very best of your abilities and honor your commitments within that. So if you tell somebody I'm going to get it done by such and such a day, do that. And if you can't do that, then communicate it and clearly in advance and ask for help within that. So utilize the resources that are around you in order to help you manage your work and managing it very well, order to help you manage your work and managing it very well.

Speaker 1: 4:18

The third thing he said was manage your relationships. None of us get to the top by ourselves, and so this was really really evident in you know the way that his colleagues and his staff talked about how he treated everybody the same. It didn't matter if you were the cleaner in the building, the security guard in the building. It didn't matter if you were a board director, if you were a fellow CEO, if you were a CTO, it did not matter to this man. He treated everybody with the same grace and, you know, the same kindness. And those relationships don't just mean your work relationships, they're your personal relationships your spouse, your children, your parents, your siblings, your friends all of those relationships. And ultimately, as I said, we can't get where it is we desire to go without other people in our lives to help us get there. So treat the people in your life well and it will be reflected back to you.

Speaker 1: 5:28

And then the last thing that he said, which is my favorite, is pursue continuous improvement. And again, this is very evident in what everybody was saying on this day, because everybody would talk about how intelligent he is and how much he likes to read and how he's always learning. And you know all these things. And one thing that I often say is you know, if you're not learning, you're dying. And if we approach this experience on a daily basis with the idea and this one came to me randomly a few months ago but every interaction is an opportunity to either teach or learn. So if I'm not teaching you something, what am I learning from you or from the experience? And I think often if we approach every single experience in that way where we are either teaching or we are learning, then we can drop some of the barriers in an experience and really open up to what we're supposed to either teach or learn.

Speaker 1: 6:34

So it was so well and succinctly put together and really quite easy to digest that I said you know what I got to share this because this is like some juicy info, a juicy nugget, as I like to call it. So I'm so happy and I've asked him a few times. I said can you please be a guest on my podcast? I just I love talking to you. I would love for you to be a guest and he has agreed. So stay tuned and I hope you enjoy the wisdom that he shares as much as I do. He is one of my favorite, favorite, favorite people that I have met in Nigeria and I cannot wait to share the experience with you. So that's it. That's all that I wanted to share today, short and sweet and to the point. So until next time, please. No-transcript.