My story

I grew up in the East End of London - Hackney to be exact.

Life, growing up for my family, was challenging!  

My parents migrated to the UK in the 1960's as Commonwealth citizens.   

The backdrop:  

• Newspaper headlines announcing Hackney as the 'poorest' borough in London; 
• The depravation acutely seen on  ours and many other run-down council estates, was painful; 
• My parents struggling to raise a young family (myself & my three brothers) in the midst of trying circumstances.  

The impact of these led to me having feelings of low self-worth, hopelessness and confusion about what to do with my  life.   Both the negative emotion of low self-esteem and the lack of clarity about my purpose - were to shape my outlook on life and my actions and thoughts

My Childhood Epiphany.  

The most memorable & positive memory of my childhood, was during one of the weekly Saturday walks, to the local library with our Father.  Like most Nigerian parents, my Father was academically driven.  He was keen to ensure that his children took our education seriously.

On many of these walks, we also had great talks from our Father than provoked us to think deeply about our ability to shape our destiny in life.  My Father thought education was key.  Whilst, I did not disagree with him, I always felt that there was more to it than just formal education.  

Honestly, life began to take a turn for the better when I became aware of the fact, that Christ has died for me and as a result I  have a restored relationship with the Father in Heaven.  In addition, to this knowledge, I  have also discovered three important truths from my Christian walk:

1. Firstly, God's intended plan for man/woman is that we should have Life and have Life in abundance. John 10:10.  So I have settled that it is ok to do life BIG!
2. Secondly, all of us on the planet earth are gifted with a unique purpose, that we are meant to fulfil.
3. Lastly, I believe that within everyone, exists natural talents, gifts & abilities.  Your talents and gifts are already wired within you,  waiting to be discovered, developed and utilised.

Fortunately, I discovered in my late 20's - through a Specific Assessment Test - that I was gifted in three areas:  area of teaching (or training in business language), Leadership and Giving.  

Thus, my blog is part of me living My Purpose.   In essence, it is my platform to share what I have learned/am learning (and also some of the things I struggle with) from my readings, musings  questions and observations; or simply put another way, to share my Insights2Success i.e. illuminating truths for successful living!!!

All of my life I have been fascinated with two things:

1. Success, &
2. Human Behaviour

The two are inextricably linked.  Put simply, how we behave (which, incidentally starts with how we think) has an impact on how successful we can become in life.  

Growing up, my mind continuously swirled with questions and musings around success. The main questions I wanted answers to, were:  

• Why is one person successful and another is not?
• What role does our beliefs play in the outcome of our lives?
• How about our environment?  Our upbringing? Are these determining factors?

I used to read about the actions and life histories of famous people.  This included: presidents, spiritual leaders, authors, successful entrepreneurs, etc.   The aim was to find out the reasons for their success -  because, as Anthony Robbins, always says, "success leaves clues."

I also observed individuals in my neighbourhood, with keen intrigue and interest.   Those who looked happy & fulfilled and appeared to have healthy family relationships.  I always asked myself what makes these people tick and what did they do to achieve success?  

My search for answers to this question,  means I am a  a lifelong learner of Personal Development - an area that I am deeply passionate about!!!  I am an avid and voracious reader (I never get upset when I am in queue in a store, as I always have a book that I can whip out of my bag and start reading).   My areas of interest include: non-fiction, autobiographies and The Holy Bible.  Here's a link to my Top 10 Books to read and have in your library.

Unashamedly, It is a lifelong pursuit for me to be successful (in the truest sense of the word - see below for my definition of success), and as an advocate of continuous improvement, the biggest question for me has always been....... "How can I be successful and share my discoveries with others?"

There are so many definitions  for Success.  Sadly, too often people mistake material wealth, i.e being financially rich) and fame as success.  However, we do not need to look too far to see examples of: 

Individuals with fame &/or money, but who struggle with addictions. 

Individuals who may have a plethora of material possessions -  but have very little to show from their relationships with their family and friends, 

Individuals who, in the pursuit of money, have neglected their health?  Consequently, they now live a life of regrets. 

Such individuals, despite their fame and fortune, tend to live unhappy and unfulfilled lives.   Evidently, this is not success!  Yes - money & fame provides us with a variety of options.  However it's never a guarantee of happiness, nor fulfilment.

However, my greatest revelation about success actually came from the  Bible.  The oft-quoted scripture is found in the book of Joshua 1:8, which reads:

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

When I read this scripture, I was amazed to see that it  mentions 'good' success, which got me thinking - if God thought it important to identify 'good' success, then it follows by implication, that there is such as thing a 'bad' success. That was an eye opener!!! 

A personal blog dedicated to individuals who are interested not only in success, but also:

• Discovering & Living life to their fullest potential,
• Realising their dreams, &
• Achieving success in all areas of their lives e.g. Business, Careers, Family, Relationships, Health, etc.

I view success as a journey and not a destination and this has meant that my favourite definition on success comes from Earl Nightingale's definition from 1950's classic "The Strangest Secret.' It is one of the best definitions of Success, that I've ever discovered and the one that I most subscribe to. 

           "Success is the progressive realisation of a worthy ideal."

I love this definition as it ties in nicely with my view on success being a journey. I  believe that each and every one of us has the opportunity - every single day - to be successful.   It is for this reason, that Insights2Success exists - to help you on your progressive journey towards realising your worthy ideals.  It does not matter whether you are stay-at-home parent, a busy executive, a business owner, or a employee in a 9-5 job.  Insights 2 Success is your resource to live life successfully and & help you in fulfilling your potential.

I have two children, and consider myself truly blessed to have them.  I am a head of household, which in everyday language, means I am a single parent.

Joshua, is my eldest child, and  I often refer to him as My 'most coveted' son.  Joshua is super talented in a number of areas - all of which he takes in his stride.  My second child is my 'beautiful' daughter, Jasmine. Jasmine and I share the same birthday - which is really cool.   She is incredibly thoughtful!   I am inspired by them both daily.

Insights 2 Success is my passion and a tool for me to use my gifts  and to to be of service to others.   I still work full time as a senior manager in the social housing sector in the UK.  Whilst, my other passions are: business & business consulting, investing in property, Apple products and other technological innovations.