The ancient Greeks and Romans loved their sculptures, and those who attained prominence would seek out expert sculptors to create masterpieces for them. As wealth and affluence increased, the demand for these tradesmen skyrocketed. This gave rise to crafty sculptors who wanted to cash in on the trade. Because they were not so skilled at their work, they started using wax to give their work the smooth finish that only an experts work could achieve. The problem with that was when the sun came out and heated up the statues, the wax would melt exposing all the flaws of their shoddy job.

The bona fide artisans began to put up signs that said “sine cera” which means without wax, and this was to provide assurances to their clientele that their work was authentic and they did not need to worry about wax melting off their monuments. There are many variations of this story which some say tells how we got the word sincere.

The value of sincerity, honesty and integrity can never be overestimated. No matter how much we put on an act to look like what we are not, when the real tests come, all the wax we have filled in to avoid the hard work of becoming a person of value, melts away and who we truly are is exposed.

Get rid of all the wax as you slowly, steadily and sincerely work on the monuments that make up a great life.

40+FAB Blog

Keep communication open

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

November 1, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

It happens to the best of us, when we misread situations or we misread the actions of others based on our past experiences that may not have been so pleasant.

The human brain is wired to recognise patterns and so it kind of jumps to conclusions when it takes in a few bits of information, from what is seen or experienced, and matches it to the database in your mind. You can identify most objects you are used to in an instant, but something that is new takes a lot more effort to consider. This is how magicians trick us, because our mind recognises what is familiar to us and we are then blind to new things happening around us.

Have you falsely accused someone before? Have you misread a situation that made you want to quit a job, or relationship? Maybe your mind has played tricks on you and has brought up patterns of a past situation where you were hurt and so you judge new situation on that basis.

The thing to do to overcome the pattern recognition bias is to take a closer look at the situation at hand, then open up communications with the parties involved. It will surprise you how much just one conversation can set in order, the things that looked like they were falling apart.

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It’s not my fault

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

October 31, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

My sister-in-law and I had a really good laugh today when she said, “sometimes our parents look at us like it’s our fault that we were born”.

I am all for taking personal responsibility, but there are just some things that you have been thrown into that are really not your fault. You should never accept, and never be made to feel guilty for a problem that you did not create, or were party to creating.

If you accept the guilt and try to work through it, you will always be the victim and forever trying to fix it. If however you choose to take responsibility knowing you are not the source of the problem, then you will be able to bring creative and constructive solutions to right the wrongs that preceded you.

Release yourself from any guilty feelings you have laboured under and tap into your inner strength and intrinsic self-worth to push forward in life like the winner that you are.

40+FAB Blog

Find your do-ability

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

October 30, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

Have you ever wondered why most of the successful people in business were probably never considered that smart in school? And conversely the smart people ended up working in companies owned by people who never matched their academic prowess. Another group to draw attention to is the geeks, the super smart ones who were never really tipped to be more than crazy scientists or nutty professors.

A lot of that changed for the geeks in the last few decades as we saw the rise of tech and how they took the world by storm creating some of the most valuable companies that have ever existed, out of seemingly nothing.

The reason why the not so smart group dominated the business world for so long was because of their ability to get things done. High achievers have been summed up as being the people who are able to do the hard work of turning thoughts into things. In other words they can take ideas to execution and extract value out of those ideas which people will eventually pay for.

The problem with a lot of people is not a lack of ideas, but a lack of do-ability, being able to turn ideas into tangible things. This is what the geeks discovered, they discovered their do-ability, and being fantastic idea people, they were able to match both and create amazing value.

It doesn’t matter if you are not so smart, or smart, or very smart, if you can find your do-ability and turn whatever thoughts you have into tangible things, products or services, then you will be walking in the paths of the high achievers which leads to amazing results.

40+FAB Blog

Beautiful mind

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

October 29, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

In the last few decades, a lot of breakthrough studies have been carried out that has helped to unlock so many secrets of the mind and how it affects our performance as individuals.

It has been proven that the mind does really have an effect over matter. A clear distinction has been uncovered between what is called the conscious mind where our thinking and Choices lie, and the subconscious mind which largely controls our emotions, habits and bodily functions.

Our conscious mind is like a customer who deposits or withdraws great stores of wealth in a bank, while our subconscious mind is the bank. Whatever we invest in our subconscious mind by what we hear, see, learn and do, compounds with interest over time to form our mindset and habits.

Just as it takes time to build a good habit into our subconscious mind, so it also takes time to replace bad habits. The good news is that no matter how chronic a negative mindset or habit one has had, going through the process of daily renewing the mind with better thoughts that form better habits over time.

Invest some time in learning more about your mind and how the habits and mindset you have are all functions of your subconscious mind. This will certainly help you to know yourself so you are able to grow yourself.

40+FAB Blog

Write program and run

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

October 28, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

Back in the day when I was taught how to write computer programs, I was instructed to think about what the program was meant to do, then I would write the code lines for it using all the logical statements in the computer language that would achieve the desired outcome.

After the code was written, the next step was to run the program. This was the step that let the code loose to automatically perform what the programme was meant to achieve. While the program was being run, there was nothing left for me to do in terms of thinking, and the outcome was purely based on what I had written in the program. Sometimes the program would run for seconds, other times for minutes and in some cases for hours.

If there was an error in the code I had written, the program would stop running and flag the error. When that error was corrected the program would be run again and continue till the next error or until completed.

Planning your day in advance is a type of programming of sorts as you write a list with the logical language of tasks and priorities that you need to get done. Once the day commences, you are committed and you begin to run your errands and complete your tasks according to their priorities. Sometimes, some tasks don’t fit in with the day and you have to move them to a later date or reprioritise them to the bottom of your list.

How have you been programming your day? Do you actually have a program for your day? Your daily programs will determine how your week or month or year is designed. Your yearly programme will determine how your life is designed.

Maybe it’s time to put a little more thought into how we program our day and then we can be confident that when we run, we run to win.

40+FAB Blog

Curiosity didn’t kill the cat

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

October 27, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

I am not sure how and why this saying came about, “curiosity kills the cat”, but it was usually used to stop children from being curious and meddling.

In the short term, it seems like a useful thing to do to silence the curious and possibly prevent them from making or getting into trouble. Rather than curiosity leading to trouble for the curious, it is actually the path to the discovery of many great things.

There have been people who were not curious enough to know why there was a lump in one part of their body or another. Their lack of curiosity is what could actually cost them dearly.

Let us learn to cultivate our curiosity, asking questions all the time to understand better the world around us and to operate in it in an optimal way that guarantee’s life’s best.

40+FAB Blog

The inner winner

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

October 26, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

We are all born with a unique attribute that if developed would lead us to becoming great champions in that specific area of our lives and we become a great asset to others who will benefit from our gift.

That winner is born within every child, but over the years through faulty training, we tend to squash the winner and promote the mediocre. This manifests itself in poor self esteem and an unwillingness to try anything that could be really outstanding.

The good news is that no matter how much the inner winner has been suppressed, when it becomes exposed to the slightest bit of inspiration and possibility, it begins to rise up again.

What are you doing with your inner winner? Are you cultivating it or are you making it unproductive? Believe in yourself again, count on yourself, bet on yourself. You are more than capable of handling all that has been thrown your way, so let that inner winner come alive again.

40+FAB Blog

The programming

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

October 25, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

I have listened to and read about some discoveries in the field of psychology which has found that the way we respond to real or imagined events are actually the same.

If someone ate an oyster and felt nauseous after eating it, whenever they see or think of an oyster, it would trigger the feeling of nausea. It has been found that the case would be no different if that person imagined eating raw fish and felt nausea, anytime that imagination is played, they would feel the same way.

This is why it is so important to guard not only what we expose ourselves to in reality, but also what we expose our imagination to. The study found that watching certain things on TV like violence or scenes of a sexual nature had a significant impact on how people would respond when faced with situations, and they were more likely to play out what they had been used to watching.

TV programmes are exactly that, they mess with our minds and programme our thinking and responses to situations. News, adverts, fantasy etc. all have an undeniable effect on us.

So what have you been exposing yourself to? How have your current beliefs been shaped? Maybe it is time you stepped back and do a critical assessment of all that you are consuming through various media, and then cut out the stuff that is likely to programme you away from your desired place of success.

40+FAB Blog

365 days

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

October 24, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

I am grateful for having lived through another 365 days. On my birthday last year, I set a goal to write everyday for the next 5 years as I would be reaching another milestone age by then. The thought of doing that was quite daunting so I focussed on taking it one day at a time to see how far I would get. On day 100, I was really excited to have reached that milestone and there was no looking back from then on.

Today is the start of another year for me and I am happy to have completed writing everyday for all 365 days, 52 weeks, 12 months and 1 year. All I can say is that the journey of a thousand miles or a thousand days, begins with one step, taking it one day at a time.

Here’s to the next day that hopefully turns into another 365 days and eventually I reach my 5 year goal.

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Melting monuments

Keep communication open

It’s not my fault

Find your do-ability

Beautiful mind

Write program and run

Curiosity didn’t kill the cat

The inner winner

The programming

365 days