Day 1

MASTER FAITH

Faith is an irrational belief in the impossible. The impossible becomes possible with faith. Faith is a belief
in the unseen. It is a quality of vision. No man has yet attained greatness without faith.

You must master faith. Classically faith is defined as the evidence of things not seen, the substance of
things hoped for. Thus the core of hope is faith. You cannot really be hopeful without faith and the
evidence that you will attain your future is your belief in that future. Believe in your future. If you truly
believe, you will act according to your belief. You will act as if the future were already present. Faith
galvanizes action.

Life is a series of closed doors. This is why we sometimes have a sense of frustration and helplessness,
and for some, hopelessness. The doors open when a man of determination and conviction leans against
them. These doors lead into the future but can only open one after the other. In other words, life is full
of opportunities. They open up to you as you prove yourself one assignment after the other. Without
your best efforts in the present there can be no grand tomorrow. The man who despises little things
despises great things.

The more we strain against the doors of life, the more Life is convinced that we're ready for what comes
next. Dedicated pursuit is a quality of achievement. You must put in all you've got.

You must seed your future. To 'seed' the future you must apply the Law of Beginnings: Everything bears
after its own kind. Therefore you must give, to the degree of your want. What you sow you reap and
the degree to which you sow is the degree to which you reap. This is an eternal and inviolable principle.
The enterprise called earth is founded upon it. [Harry was fond of' sowing', as he called it, towards new
projects. When he wanted to buy his first house, he donated money to a couple having problems paying
their rent.] The wishful thinker and the lazy imagine that the future automatically opens. Not so. We
must strain against the doors of life one frame at a time. When you've done all you can in any given
situation, a door opens up before you. If you want business capital for example, you must do
comprehensive homework. You must invest your time and resources putting together a cogent and
concrete business plan. A good business plan is a compelling argument for capital. If you do not do your
homework to the utmost, you're a capital risk and the door of capital will not open before you. Life
discriminates between the serious and unserious,

The man in faith always acts on his conviction. You must believe in yourself and your vision. Without a
vision faith has nothing to pursue and without self-belief faith has no propellant.

Master faith.
Day 2

MASTER YOUR HEAD

The second mastery is the mastery of the head. By this is meant the mastery of knowledge and
competence. If you want to be highly regarded in life, be competent. Know your onions. You must be a
master at what you do and then life will differentiate you. You must be willing to learn, and you must
apply what you've learnt at every given opportunity. But to learn you must be humble. To master your
head you must master your heart taking on a humble disposition. If you think you know you’ll never
know. And if you don't know you don't know. You'll make a fool of yourself in critical situations or you'll
fob your way through life, your incompetence showing embarrassingly like an exposed undergarment.
Nothing is more dangerous than an incompetent fool in a position of authority. Many people are too
proud to learn and pride short-circuits future attainment,

You must be skillful in what you do. You must have dexterity. But remember, skillfulness is not enough.
You must develop intellectual capacity. If you do not, when technology changes you may be wiped out.
Not all typists survived the onslaught of the Information Age. Many could not migrate from the
typewriter to the computer. Intellect allows you to migrate from one platform to the next and you
cannot rise above the height of your intellect. You must stimulate your brain and increase its capacity
for learning and retention. The more capacity your brain develops, the more capability your hand
develops.

Some are intelligent but lack the wisdom for application. They don't know how knowledge can be
adapted to presented scenarios. Thus they are limited. This applicative power is what separates Grade A
people from Grade B people. A "Grade B" person can only do what he's accustomed to. He cannot
intellectually dissect a situation and do proper analysis and diagnosis. He's a man who learnt a set of
skills and when the factors change everything becomes trial and error, and more of error.

An intelligent man understands causative factors and can dissect situations. This ability allows him to pin
point problems, display an understanding of the issues and proffer intelligent solutions. Technically this
is called Wisdom. You must develop critical thinking ability. Read books. Read journals. Read
magazines. The more you know, the more you know. Love knowledge for the sake of knowledge. It will
do you good.

Master your head.

Day 3

MASTER YOUR NATURE

You must master your nature to succeed. To master your nature, you must control your appetite and
your tendencies. You must discipline your thought and control your emotions.
Unchecked, the nature of man has a tendency for excesses. That's why we have alcoholics. In addition,
our nature as humans is highly opportunistic and predatory. Without control it will overrun our lives.

A critical make up of man is his emotions. It is the basis of relationships. Emotions must be regulated.

Emotions often resort to polar extremities. It can either manifest as temperament or weakness. A
temperamental man is a city with broken down walls. A temperamental man alienates people and
makes relationships difficult if not impossible. He will always insist on having his way and unless he has
his way, he'll flare up like a match. A temperamental man is an impatient man with violent tendencies.
He is a dark foul weather from which many seek refuge. A man must regulate his temperament.

The emotionally weak on the other hand cannot handle the stress of life.

The slightest rebuke leads to emotional breakdown. Such a person will be overwhelmed by life's
complex demands.

Often times the major contest in life is a contest between the will and the emotions.

Without the power of our will we cannot succeed in life. A will bespeaks determination, purposefulness
and clarity. A will presumes decision making capability and enduring capacity. Life will throw all sorts at
you. The man with a strong will, will survive.

But we must distinguish the will from stubbornness. Stubbornness is a positional refusal to accept facts
and truth. It is a senseless insistence on being right. The man who is corrected but refuses correction
suffers from stiff-nakedness. He may break his neck.

To master your nature you must also develop your talent. Some of the most miserable failures in life
however, are the obviously talented. A man with little talent but possessed of discipline will outpace the
hugely talented who lacks discipline. Indiscipline wrecks promising careers and cuts down the future like
an axe fells a tree. Talent is not enough. It requires practice and regimental discipline. Talent is life's
economic Starter. It does not guarantee success. And talent becomes limited without knowledge and
practice.

In addition, you must master your negatives and the things that hold you down, be it laziness or lack of
drive or procrastination....the list is endless. You must curb your self destructive tendencies. Without
discipline there will be limits to attainment.

Master your nature.

Day 4

MASTER YOUR REPUTATION

That which we do over time and we become known for become our reputation. Without
repetitiveness and third party evaluation, we cannot have a reputation. And reputation is either
negative or positive. A man who wants to possess the future carefully nurtures his reputation, being
mindful of what he does and says. [Harry said this in one of our talks-. "I once knew an intelligent young
man that everyone avoided like a plague. He 'outsmarted' everyone he did business with. He lacked
ethical scruples. Everything and everyone was exploitable. "What can I get out of this?" was the basis of
even platonic relationships, and though he never 'stole' from anyone, everyone who went into business
with him came out with ashes in their mouth including my good self. Soon his reputation spread. The
sad thing is he'll never know the deals he's missed. What a hard way to live."]

A good reputation is built on trust. When no one trusts you, your road in life will be hard and you have
to rely on your wiles to succeed. This in turn seals your reputation.

A good reputation is a credit facility. Henry J. Heinz, the founder of the food empire whose products
bear his name was known as a man of honour. He went to great lengths to keep his word, sometimes at
great cost. He had promised a group of farmers that he would buy all their farm produce for his factory
use. Unfortunately that year, there was a freak bumper harvest. In keeping his promise he was wiped
out of business. Amazingly, without prompting, people gathered money together and gave him to start
all over again. Today we all use Heinz tomato ketchup, all because of a good reputation.

You must be honest in your dealings and be possessed of integrity. People must be able to put faith in
your word. A contract, written or unwritten, must be sacrosanct to you. We must be able to shake hands
with you on an oral agreement and not have to worry about you fulfilling your end of the bargain. There
will be hard times in life and what seems expedient for survival is not always reputable.

Master your reputation.

Old Harry passed away at Hammersmith

Hospital, England on the 16th of April, 2007.

He bequeathed his enormous wealth to his

charitable trust. He was 82 years old. His loving wife Abigail passed away in 2002.

This is a work of fiction.

Leke Alder trained as a lawyer. He works as a strategist and brand consultant to Government and
corporations. He is the author of 4 books: Life as I see it, Minding your Business, Conversations of a 21st
Century Saint and Pilgrimage. He has also developed a business kit (Bizkit") for entrepreneurs.
Contact

leke@lekealder.com

www.lekealder.com

Also by Leke Alder

For more information, please visit www.lekealder.com or send an email to leke@lekealder.com

Life as I see it

A heart-seasoned understanding of life in prose, poetry and photographs.

Minding your Business

A very practical guide to building and managing an enterprise. Touches parts many books cannot reach!

Conversations of a 21st Century Saint

The principles ol Power, Money. Business, Success and Politics through Ihe lens of the Bible.

Grim White Green

Thoughts on Nigeria and Blackness.

Brandit!

How to brand your company and steal market share.

BizKif

A business development kit for entrepreneurs.

080808

Leke Alder's first novel. A political thriller with a peculiar twist.

My Boss is Demanding

What every boss would like employees to know.

Pilgrimage

The soul's pictorial journey through life's difficulties, complexities and imperfections. A coffee table
book.

The Great Alchemy

The big book of business innovation on how to convert problems into business.