40+FAB Blog

Put into practice

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

August 24, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

We are encouraged to have a learning plan when we are in the process of taking on new knowledge, however, knowledge that is not applied can become as impotent as the state of ignorance prior to learning.

A proactive way to avoid unapplied knowledge is to have a practice plan that complements the learning plan.

What are you going to do with the new information? How are you going to use it? Picture yourself applying it and write down the scenarios where it can be used, then plan how and when you will use it.

As you put your learning into practice, you gain knowledge that is truly powerful and not just a theory that occupies space in your mind. Remember, the most useful knowledge we have today is that which we are able to apply to accomplish our daily tasks.

0

---

40+FAB Blog

Spaced repetition

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

August 23, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

Spaced repetition is a system of learning that has been proven to improve the rate at which people learn. The system entails repeating lessons that have been learnt in the past. Those lessons which are well know are repeated less frequently, while those that are not well known are repeated more frequently.

In your course of learning, it is good to take a break, or create space to review past learning. Purposefully include rest/review days as a part of your learning process.

When I heard about this technique, I started applying it to myself and my children and so far it is proving to be effective. You can actually see a mirror of this principle applied in the gym, and it works for those who are improving their fitness.

0

---

40+FAB Blog

Not only a salesman

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

August 22, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

Nobody likes the sales person very much especially when we are not interested in what they have to offer. They can be a nuisance trying to persuade us to buy or do what we are not interested in doing or having.

Sometimes, we are that sales person trying to push off our ideas, products, projects, things to do, agenda’s, requests etc. I am sure you know that friend or family member who only calls you when they need something. Or that work colleague who only has work tasks to talk about. They are pretty much selling to us. We are no different and have our own selling moments too.

Relationships are never a one way street, and we must be willing to give to others more than we can take from them. The givers will always be loved and welcomed more than the sellers.

Let us try to do more giving and less selling and watch close or casual relationships become much better.

0

---

40+FAB Blog

You’re not your work

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

August 21, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

As hard as it is to separate a person from their work, the truth is, you are not your work.

Whatever work or task you are given to do will always be a predefined activity with a fixed outcome. For example, the task to make a sandwich will always remain the same. How you choose to make it may differ from how another makes it, the speed to make it may vary, but the outcome always remains the same, a sandwich is made.

When it comes to you however, you keep changing, for better if you are learning and growing, or for worse if you are not. This is a fundamental difference between you and your work.

Those who spend an inordinate amount of time on their work may not have made that distinction between who they are and what they do. Their work becomes an avenue by which they seek approval of themselves from others, that is why they take work so personally. If their work is rejected, they feel their person is rejected and so they work hard, not to deliver a task, but inadvertently to be accepted.

It is worth pointing this out again, you’re not your work. Separate yourself from it and seek the right avenues to get reinforcement for a better self concept.

0

---

40+FAB Blog

Make a move

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

August 20, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

I have been learning that physical movement is good, not just for the body, but also for the brain. There is a good feeling in the soul or attitudes when we are well exercised. So, we can say that our physiology affects our psychology.

If you are faced with a situation that doesn’t seem to be moving or which you have a mental block in dealing with, try doing this, take a long walk in a relaxing environment and mull over that situation. That movement of our physical being has a way of getting our minds processing better how to move a mental state.

There is something about making a move that seems to create possibilities where they did not seem to exist. Make a move any way you know how and watch how a movement in one area creates progress in others.

0

---

40+FAB Blog

Learn to improve

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

August 19, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

Learn to improve could have two meanings.

The first is to learn how to make yourself better by increasing knowledge in the various aspects that make up your life, like communication, leadership, finances, parenting, a career discipline, business, etc.

The other way to look at it is, the discipline of learning generally improves you as a person. Albert Einstein said, “Once you stop learning, you start dying”. This type of learning does not have to be targeted at an area you are seeking to improve, but opens you up to things that are new to you, because there is much more to life than the tiny area where you focus.

You could learn gardening, baking, a new language, how to play an instrument, and so on. Learning new things could also be recreational depending on the area of knowledge you choose.

When was the last time you increased your learning in one of the vital areas you needed to improve? Have you ever made a conscious effort to learn something totally new to you?

Apply learning in all forms of it’s application and see your life grow and improve.

0

---

40+FAB Blog

Say it differently

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

August 18, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

It is a well known advertising fact that a message has to be repeated frequently to get noticed. There is something called the rule of 7, which suggests that repeating the message 7 times finally gets it noticed.

This rule, as you may have guessed, is vital for everyday communication. How many times did you tell your spouse to take out the bin before it was finally done? how many times do you have to instruct your children on where dirty clothes need to go?

I love this phrase I saw, “It’s not nagging: repetition is effective communication”. I think we can get creative with our repetition though, so we can say the same thing many times but in different ways, or maybe through different media.

Talk about it, write notes, send text, record voice notes, put up post it notes, play songs that address the issue at hand, remind, cajole, and whatever else you think of. Surely one of the 7 times you have said it will hit home.

0

---

40+FAB Blog

Be open for change

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

August 17, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

I heard someone say today, “If you fight for your limitations, you get to keep them.” It then occurred to me that every excuse I have been making of why I can’t or won’t do something different, was in a way, me fighting to keep my limitations.

We should never be afraid to try out something new, after all, the process of growth is the process of experiencing something we have never had before, be it a new height, size, or position. Whether it is physical, mental, emotional or financial, we have to be open for change in order to grow.

The other thing that struck me is that growth is natural and will seek to happen, so it is therefore a fight to put limitations on a system that wants to grow. The effort spent on limiting growth should be redirected into facilitating it.

Don’t fight for your limitations anymore, be open for change and facilitate growth.

0

---

40+FAB Blog

Clarity on next steps

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

August 16, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

At the beginning of the lockdown period, which we were forced into due to COVID-19, there was an illusion that we had more time to get things done. As the weeks passed, our lives were soon filled with video call after video call and other activities that were birth as a result of the season we found ourselves. This meant that time, again, began to elude us, and the list of things to be done became longer than the hours we had to do them.

So, what is the best way to maximise this very precious and limited resource of time?

I find that clarity on what to do helps a lot. The advice to plan your day in advance is really key. Before you end the day, spend some moments reflecting on what you did and what you need to do next. Write it down, then when you wake up the next day, hit the ground running.

Keep your list of well thought through activities in one place and mark off what has been done, then carryover what is yet to be done. Prioritise the most important things and always do them first.

If you make this a habit, you will find that you will have clarity on what you need to do next, and are less likely to feel overwhelmed by the lack of time to get things done.

0

---

40+FAB Blog

Value in unlikely places

By Olaolu Faj Opebiyi on

August 15, 2020

- 40+FAB Blog

Everything has value. That is a radical statement in itself because right now you can probably think of a hundred things you consider totally useless.

Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so also is value. What one person considers rubbish and throws away, might be what makes another a fortune. In 2020, the top waste disposal and management firm in the UK had a revenue of £1.5 billion.

When it comes to value, don’t be too quick to discard the exploration of value on what everyone else considers a waste. If you can find what to do with it, you may have opened up a new stream of income for yourself.

If value can be tapped from the most horrible mess, then shouldn’t you feel really confident in yourself even when someone treated you like rubbish? Their eyes may be closed to it, but there is great value in the unlikely place that is you.

0

---