- Let there be light!
All the power you can ever use now exists and awaits your intelligent mastery
- Dr. Edward l. Kramer
WELCOME TO THE DEBUT ARTICLE IN THIS CATEGORY WE’VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT – SUCCESSFUL ACHIEVEMENT with Lanre OYETADE. The main purpose is to galvanise us towards good success in all we do, both in our private and public life.
The articles are essentially excerpts from my book, titled, Inspired Keys to Successful Achievement, the hallmark of my three authored books, which has received rave reviews from people whose lives have been touched and impacted by its content. The article will feature every Friday. I will suggest strongly that you do not miss it. So lets get down to business:
Some years ago, I attended a Christian foundational class at what is called the School of Exploits in my church. The resource person, Pastor Gbenga Efueye, (who also happened to be my General Overseer) stressed on the potential havoc that ignorance can play in a man’s life.
According to him, ignorance means darkness, and if you are ignorant about something, you are indeed in the dark about it, and can easily miss your way and dash your ‘feet’ along the path, since you are in the dark. “Until you have knowledge about a thing, you will be kicked here and there concerning it by the several inevitable vagaries of ignorance,” he stressed.
In this treatise, I have decided to address the imperative of acquiring knowledge in the process of wealth creation, wealth management/multiplication and wealth preservation.
Stock market ignorance
Many Nigerians, even among the educated elite, have little or no knowledge about the stock market for instance, and it is a known psychological fact that you habour a certain level of fear and resentment for whatever you have no knowledge about. So such people end up being apprehensive of stock market investments, and miss out on the formidable opportunity for wealth creation that lies in that market.
All over the world, stock markets have been veritable sources of wealth creation, regardless of the global ‘crash’ the markets experienced in 2008. The markets always bounce back, and many wise investors will still harvest large returns when they eventually do. Ask investors like Warren Buffet about their activities in the global stock markets over the decades.
Meanwhile, some of the people who manage to overcome their resentment and apprehension of the markets just ‘endeavour’ to put some funds in the market, and whenever there is a market downturn such as price depreciations of their stocks, they lose heart and sell off their holdings, swearing never to approach the market again!
Ignorance as bondage
Ignorance or lack of knowledge about a thing is really bondage in that thing, and the right kind of knowledge will throw in some light and truly ‘set you free’ just like the Good Book promises.
However, you must be ready to pay the price of diligent study to acquire the requisite knowledge that will galvanise you and aid your ascent in both your private affairs and public undertakings.
The heights by great men reached and kept, were not attained by sudden flight, but they, while their companions slept, were toiling upward in the night – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
A lot of people are of the opinion that there are lots of risks in the stock market but Warren Buffet – who should know, being reputed to be the world’s greatest stock market investor – puts it succinctly when he said that risk comes from not knowing what you are doing. I agree with him to the extent that knowledge of your investment windows and profile will go a really long way to alleviate the risk, and help you hedge against the uncertainties inherent in investment decisions.
That is why you find many astute investors having loads and loads of information, data and records at their disposal.
Successful people indeed do form the habit of doing what failures don’t like to do, just as Earl Nightingale stated. You must do this and equally look ahead, for he who does not look ahead remains behind, as the Spanish would say.
Until next Friday, please keep INSPIRED in His Presence!
