Olusola Olarewaju

LIVING THE LIFE written and published by me

T This book will help you as a young person and alter your mindset in the area of leadership, being financially independent, success in the area of academics, how to handle sex and relationship and living the God life on earth. Each of this topic is vast on its own, that is why this teaching material is in series and volumes. S ola Olarewaju is the apostle of Divine Network Ministry with a church ministry arm called Divine Touch Christian Center. His divine call is to partner with Jesus in bringing perfection and maturity to the body of Christ through the Word of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. He has encouraged many to discover their divine call and they are fulfilled doing it. He is the host of "CELEBRATION AND MIRACLE SERVICE". A monthly program that is full of the demonstration of God's miraculous power. He also holds a major outreach program "RAISING GIANTS" that reaches out to the lost and births God's divine potential in people as they become part of God's Kingdom. He is married to Onyinye and has a son and a daughter. LIVING THE LIFE - SOLA OLAREWAJU here is a life of success and excellence that God has planned for young people and deliberate and conscious steps must be taken to live that life. As a young person this book will revolutionize your thought pattern, deliberately reprogram your mindset and substitute your natural thinking with God's thoughts, plan and principles. Success in every facet of life's endeavours is found in the laid down principles of God and also by functioning in His life. LIVING THE LIFE AS A YOUTH, This is your season to influence the world and be a game changer. SOLA OLAREWAJU YOUTH SERIES VOL 1 LIVING THE LIFE (YOUTH SERIES VOL1) LIVING THE LIFE (YOUTH SERIES VOL 1) SOLA OLAREWAJU As a young person, you can live a life that puts you on the world stage and make heaven to be proud of you. This is your season to inﬂuence the world and be a game changer. ISBN- Copyright 2017- Published: Divine Life Publications 4, Godspower street, Odoyi estate,OkoagbonAgboyi, Alapere Ketu P.O BOX 7949, Shomolu, Lagos state, Nigeria All rights reserved under international copyright law. Contents and/or cover may not be produced in whole or in part in any form without the express written permission from the author. All scripture quotations are taken from the Kings James Version of the Bible unless otherwise indicated. NIGERIA Divine Network Ministry Imedu Olori, Mowe, Ogun state Tel:-,-,- Website: www.divinenetworkministry.com Email-Face book: https://www.facebook.com/Divinenetworkministry/ Table of Content - Living the Life – Introduction (Page 1) - Chapter 1 – Leadership (Page 3) - Chapter 2 – Financial Independence (Page 11) - Chapter 3 – Success in Academics (Page 19) - Chapter 4 – Relationship and Sex (Page 27) -Chapter 5 – The God Life (Page 35) - CONCLUSION (Page 42) INTRODUCTION I am excited because this book will make impact on generations to come. When the youth of today is tremendously inﬂuenced positively, that is a guarantee that our future is also secured. Being a youth does not only mean a teenager. I consider a youth to be anyone between the teen age and 45 years old. The information and knowledge in this book are vital and important to you whether you have graduated from school or not, whether you are above 45 years old. The purpose of this book is to revolutionize the thought pattern of young people, to reprogram their mindset and to substitute their natural thinking with God's thoughts, plan and principles. There is a life of success and excellence that God has planned for young people and deliberate and conscious steps must be taken to live that life. This book will touch and alter the mindset of young people on of leadership, ﬁnancially independence, success in academics, handling sex and relationship and living the God life on earth. Each of these topics is vast on its own. That vastness prompted us to organize the teaching on these materials in series and volumes. This book is the volume 1. 1 God is the author of leadership, God created wealth and ﬁnancial transactions, God is the author of education that is why He gave us a mind and intellectual capacity, God is the creator of sex and started the ﬁrst family on earth; therefore the best person to source information from on the principles that govern all these aspects of our life is still God. Success in every facet of life's endeavours is found in the laid down principles of God and by functioning in His life. Open your mind and study this book. Discover the truth about living the true life God has destined for you and become a relevant personality and an icon in your generation. Do not take the backstage in life. Do not be a spectator. Stand tall in the world stage. Be a game changer and inﬂuence your world with that unique personality and ability inside you. CHAPTER 1 LEADERSHIP WHAT IS LEADERSHIP? Leadership is the ability to serve humanity, provide inspiration to people, be an example for others and consequently help others to discover who they are and ultimately fulﬁll the vision and objective of an organization, a group, a nation or an entity. VISION Vision is the discovery of your purpose. Vision is having the mental picture of what the future will and could be. Expressed differently, when your purpose is discovered and you have the picture of it in your spirit and mind, then you have a vision. Leadership starts with a vision. Without a vision, there is no true effective leadership. Jesus is our ultimate example of leadership. He stated his vision on the earth in John 10:10b, He knew exactly why He was on the earth. “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” As a youth aspiring to be a leader, you must have the capacity to see things as they could be not as they are. You must develop the ability to see the future. 2 3 The vision you have regulates all areas of your life. Your vision determines what things you do, how you do them, when you do them, where you do them and with whom you associate. However, to fulﬁll that vision, you must be highly focused. Focus is what makes your vision a reality. Focus is what makes you drown the inner and outer voices of discouragement, self-doubts and whispers of circumstances contrary to your vision. Focus is an act of concentrating your interest or activity on something until you accomplish it. Focus is what separates excellence from mediocrity. When you sacriﬁce today's pleasure for tomorrow's vision and greatness that is focus. To be an exceptional leader that will fulﬁll his vision, you must be focused. Jesus while on earth, had a high level of focus. With all the distractions that came to Him in the Garden of Gethsemane, He remained focused on fulﬁlling the will of God the Father. “And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 4 And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:41-42, 44) “Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” (Matthew 26: 38-39) In the midst of so many distractions both in the physical world and in the online/virtual world, you need high level of focus to accomplish your vision. While on the cross Jesus was abused, insulted and tempted by the same people He was dying for. Yet he still focused on His vision to save humanity. “And they that passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God.” (Mathew 27:39-43) 5 He was so focused on His vision that he remained and died on the cross even though He had the power to come down. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:5-11) Jesus submitted Himself to death, when He had authority over death because He was focused on His goal. Today He has received a name that is above every name because He fulﬁlled His vision. Synchronize your vision with focus and your vision will be fulﬁlled! SOME LEADERSHIP MYTH Some people think that leadership is about position. According to them since they are not aiming or aspiring for any position or any ofﬁce there is no need for any leadership training. You need to change the mindset that 6 leadership is all about position. Leadership deﬁnitely includes position and followership. But leadership is mainly about the number of people you inﬂuence. Inﬂuencing people may be from the standpoint of position or an ofﬁce but you can also inﬂuence people without a position or ofﬁce. People are around and you meet them d a i l y. T h e s e p e o p l e m a y b e i n y o u r s c h o o l , neighbourhood, place of work and many other places. The inﬂuence and impact you have on them with your personality is leadership. Some other people think that leadership is gifted an individual from birth. Hence, they are not qualiﬁed to be a leader, as they are not born with leadership qualities. Please, I want you to understand that leaders are made. Leadership skills can be acquired and built. Everyone on earth has the quality to be a leader at different levels of life, whether in a small group like a family or an organization or as large as a nation. LEADERSHIP SKILLS There are certain leadership skills you must develop if you are going to be inﬂuential. It is important that you step up your leadership ability because it determines your personal level of effectiveness. When you think more like a leader, you will make more impact in your world. The success or failure of a group, entity, organization or nation depends on leadership. Our future is dependent on leadership and God has called you to leadership. It is highly important that you respond to your leadership skills 7 and ability. The ability and potentials to acquire these skills is already inside you, so believe in yourself and what God has made you to be and start now. You can change your world and your generation but you must ﬁrst respond to the call of leadership. Leadership is a daily project not a day's project therefore prepare yourself to be a lifetime student as you grow in leadership skills. No matter your present skills, background, age, gender or qualiﬁcation, you can be trained to acquire leadership skills. Three of them discussed in this volume are 1. Character and self-discipline 2. Listening and effective communication skills 3. Humility and servant hood CHARACTER AND SELF-DISCIPLINE Character and self-discipline is a major foundational skill you must develop. Character describes the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. It can also mean a person's good reputation. Character includes walking in honesty, integrity and honor. Self-discipline is the ability to control one's feelings and overcome one's weakness. It is the ability to do what is right despite temptations to abandon it. To be inﬂuential in your world and be an effective and exceptional leader, you must develop self-discipline and strong character, as they make you stand for what is just and right and against wrong higher and popular opinion. They make you stand 8 for what is just and right and against wrong higher and popular opinion. They make you stand on the truth irrespective of the opposition. Character drives you to go for the best and never to be mediocre. Character and selfdiscipline does not mix with compromise. They will eventually produce fruits and progress in all your endeavors. Let us look at the story of Daniel in Daniel 1:3-16: “And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego. But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not deﬁle himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not deﬁle himself. Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs. And the prince of the eunuchs said 9 unto Daniel, I fear my lord the king, who hath appointed your meat and your drink: for why should he see your faces worse liking than the children which are of your sort? then shall ye make me endanger my head to the king. Then said Daniel to Melzar, whom the prince of the eunuchs had set over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink. Then let our countenances be looked upon before thee, and the countenance of the children that eat of the portion of the king's meat: and as thou seest, deal with thy servants. So he consented to them in this matter, and proved them ten days. And at the end of ten days their countenances appeared fairer and fatter in ﬂesh than all the children which did eat the portion of the king's meat. Thus Melzar took away the portion of their meat, and the wine that they should drink; and gave them pulse.” Daniel had the opportunity of pleasure and to eat the king's choice food but they will deﬁle him. However, because of self-discipline and character, he refused, at the risk of his own life and that of others, to be deﬁled He stayed true to what he believed was right and his results made him outstanding. We were also told in Daniel 6:4 that no fault or error was found in Daniel: “Then the presidents and princes sought to ﬁnd occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could ﬁnd none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was 10 faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.” Daniel was a man of strong character and self-discipline. They made him despite intimidations, not go below God's standard and to become an inﬂuential and exceptional leader in his generation in a foreign country. Character and self-discipline is highly vital for you as a young man or woman because of peer pressure. You must be emotionally strong. Do not allow people's actions dictate your reactions. As a young man or woman, one major area you must exercise high self-discipline is time management. Do not use most of your time on events and things that do not bring value to your life or lead to the realization of your vision. Disciplined people are always improving and maximizing the use of their time. You highlight your short and long-term goals and create plan and timing for its fulﬁllment. Do not waste your time on things that are not useful and do not develop the right character in you. Do not waste time with the wrong friends and associations. Walk with those that have the success mentality, that are achievers and are serious about their visions in life. Time is one of the few things you cannot replace when you lose it that is why time management skill is indispensable. When a second, minute, hour, day, week, month or year is gone, it is gone forever. Maximize your time; exercise it on useful things and events. 11 LISTENING AND COMMUNICATION SKILLS Listening is when you give attention to a sound, take notice of and act on what someone has said. This deﬁnition indicates that the proof that you listened is that you acted and/or responded to what you heard. Communication is the imparting or exchanging of information and the successful conveying or sharing of ideas and feelings. To be an effective leader in whatever level or ﬁeld, you must develop these two important skills. To upgrade your communication skills, you must ﬁrst and foremost develop your listening skills. If you do not learn how to listen and be patient to listen then you will have difﬁculty in analyzing words and communicating effectively. You must listen more than you talk. That is why God gave us two ears and one mouth. You need to listen more because the content and quality of the things you say is highly dependent on how you listened. James 1:19 says “Remember this, my dear brothers and sisters: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and should not get angry easily.” (God's Word version) Proverbs 1:5 says, “a wise person will listen and continue to learn, and an understanding person will gain direction” (God's Word version) 12 You must pay attention to other people's view, be able to analyze, process their views and communicate with them based on your analysis. As a good communicator, you must focus your response on the person you are talking to. Poor communication from a leader focuses more on themselves and their opinions than the people they are inﬂuencing. I stated earlier that leadership starts with vision, for you to disseminate your vision into the hearts and minds of people you are inﬂuencing or want to inﬂuence, effective communication is inevitable. Your vision will remain redundant if you cannot communicate it effectively. “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you ﬁshers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.” (Matthew 4:19 – 20) Jesus told them to follow Him and immediately they followed Him. They did because they were convinced by His vision after they had listened to Him earlier. They did not doubt His leadership that was disseminated through His communication skills. They truly believed He will make them ﬁshers of men or they would not have abandoned their trade. The message that Jesus gave the 12 apostles and disciples is still inﬂuencing the whole world until today. In addition, the bible is still the highest selling and the most circulated book in the world today. 13 One of the major challenges of leadership in Africa today is that people do not know how to listen and communicate; both those in leadership position and the populace. As a young person aspiring for leadership at any level, your listening and communication skills must be top notch. If you have to buy materials to study on these skills, attend trainings and seminars to get it, then do it. It is worth it! HUMILITY AND SERVANTHOOD There are many deﬁnitions of humility but the best I have come across is this: humility is submission to God's Word or His principles. The origin and creator of all spiritual and earthly principles is God. Man only discovers what has been created or set in motion. Therefore, submitting to God's principles or subjecting your knowledge to God's higher knowledge is actually true humility. God is wisdom, so you cannot be wiser than Him. To walk in true wisdom you require true humility. These are some scriptures on humility: “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:4 14 “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.” Matthew 23:12 “Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisted the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time” 1 Peter 5:5-6 True leaders are humble and are submissive to God's principles. Jesus is our ultimate example. He submitted to the will of God and humbled Himself even unto death. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name” (Philippians 2:5-9) A humble person has a teachable spirit. Without a teachable spirit, you cannot increase in knowledge and you cannot grow. Sometimes the people you lead will have more knowledge than you in certain areas be humble to listen to them. Leadership is about service and if you are not humble, you cannot serve. These are the Words of Jesus: 15 “Whoever wants to be most important among you will be a slave for everyone. It's the same way with the Son of Man. He didn't come so that others could serve him. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people." Mark 10:44-45 (God's Word translation) “But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.” Matthew 23:11 “And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be ﬁrst, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.” Mark 9:35 Service is the hallmark of true leadership. Service is looking out for a human need and reaching out to meet that need. All successful leaders and organizations in this world became who and what they are by serving people effectively and passionately. A leader makes sacriﬁces, serves and continually gives. This must be your life and lifestyle. Your mentality must be to serve and not to be served. That is why to be an effective leader; you have to be an effective follower. These three leadership skills discussed brieﬂy in this chapter are key foundational skills. As a young man or a woman, if you develop them, you will revolutionize your life, your nation and your world. There is a giant inside you waiting to be unleashed in your generation. This is a call to leadership and service. Be the man and woman God has called you to be. Fill the space He has created for you. 16 CHAPTER 2 FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE Financial independence is that state of ﬁnancial success that you attain based on fulﬁlling of your purpose and the exercising of the right ﬁnancial principles. Understand that as a youth, ﬁnancial independence is not based on age, qualiﬁcation or your place of work. It requires 2 major things: 1. Be at the center of your divine purpose 2. Function by ﬁnancial laws and principles Come to terms that you are not designed to be poor even if your parents, guardians or people around you are poor. If you are still a student, being in school is not a limitation to be ﬁnancially stable. If you will discover your purpose and apply the right ﬁnancial laws, you will be ﬁnancially stable as a student. Many young people are planning to get a job after school. While this is not a bad idea, it is not the best idea. If you can just follow the simple principles that I will communicate with you, then ﬁnancial independence is yours. The subject of money and ﬁnances is vast, but I will ensure that you receive the basic principles in this book that can always make you ﬁnancially successful anywhere in the world. 17 DISCOVERING AND FULFILLING YOUR PURPOSE Discovering and fulﬁlling your purpose is the foundation that you need to be a ﬁnancial success. However there are some people that are not at the center of their purpose and they are succeeding ﬁnancially because they are applying ﬁnancial laws in their lives. Though the effective application of ﬁnancial laws will make you ﬁnancially successful, but if you are outside your purpose, you will never be fulﬁlled in your life. My objective here is for you to get great ﬁnancial result and at the same time be fulﬁlled in life. True ﬁnancial success and freedom is the merging of life's fulﬁllment with great ﬁnancial results. Another major reason why your discovering and fulﬁlling of your purpose is the foundation of ﬁnancial success is that solving a problem is embedded in every purpose. There is no purpose in life that is not connected to solving a problem. Moreover, solving problems is highly connected to making money. Money is a reward for creating solutions to different human conditions and challenges. All rich people are problem solvers without an exception. Every human being on earth has a purpose here; no one is here by mistake. Since you have a purpose and you have been wired by God to do something then you have been designed and assigned to solve certain human problems and improve certain human conditions. 18 So ﬁnd out the problems you are designed to solve, learn how to solve them effectively, discover the people whom you are to solve them with and the people that has the problem. Purpose is the foundation of all ﬁnancial success. If you do not know your purpose, it is time to discover it. You can request for our free book on your Divine Calling, which highlights discovering and fulﬁlling your purpose. Our contact details are on the ﬁrst and last page of this book. THE STORY OF JOSEPH You will ﬁnd the major part of the story of Joseph in the book of Genesis from chapter 39 to 50. Joseph became a ruler in Egypt (a foreign country) by stepping into his divine purpose. Joseph had a gift of interpreting dreams. He solved Pharaoh's problem by interpreting his dream, which eventually solved the future economic challenge of Egypt and its environs including his own family's future survival. Joseph became ﬁnancially successful when he stepped into his purpose and his purpose was connected to solving a major problem that averted a future economic disaster in the land. Do not consider your age. You are not too young! Joseph was a young man when he became the ruler of Egypt. He was 30 years old (Genesis 41:46). FINANCIAL LAWS Laws and principles will always produce results for anyone that applies them. For example the law of gravity 19 works everywhere on earth for everyone irrespective of location and irrespective qualiﬁcation, weight, age, status and skin colour. Financial laws and principles are like the law of gravity. Even though you are young, the application of these ﬁnancial laws will produce ﬁnancial success and independence for you. I will discuss about three ﬁnancial principles in this chapter. I categorize these laws as inner and outer laws. Inner laws are principles that affect your mindset and paradigm. Outer laws are principles that involve more of planning and physical activities. The ﬁrst law is an inner law and the remaining two are outer laws. LAW1 It states that your outside status will always measure up with your inner state. What this law means is that all that you see outside is a reﬂection of your inner state. So, focus on the condition of your inner state. The biblical version of this law 1 is found in Proverbs 23:7. “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” Everything you see in life that has been sustained was created twice. It was created inside the mind initially before it manifested physically. If you do not have the mindset of the rich then you will not be rich physically. And peradventure you were given riches by inheritance, lottery or your talent and you are not rich inside, it is only a matter of time, your outside status will eventually 20 That money will be lost until you get to the level of your mindset. The mind is like a thermostat. A thermostat is a device that automatically regulates the temperature of an environment. Your mindset is your ﬁnancial thermostat. It regulates the amount of money around you. If you have a millionaire mindset, that is what you will eventually earn. If you have a billionaire mindset, that is what you will eventually earn. If your mindset is that of thousands then that will eventually be your ﬁnancial results. I want to ask you a question. Your answer is a reﬂection of your mindset. If you have 1 million dollars today, what would you do with it? What you are presently doing with what you have now is what you will do with 1 million dollars, but on a larger scale. Money is an ampliﬁer. It only ampliﬁes your present values, character and desires. Many people complain about money problem. Money will never solve your problem. If you are in a situation of consistent lack of money, the problem is not lack of money. The lack is just the symptom. The real problem is in your mind. Your situation is an offshoot of your mindset. Many people do not feed their minds, exercise their minds and create solutions with their minds. Until you adjust your paradigm and thought pattern, you will continue to get the same ﬁnancial results. As a youth, let it dawn on you that your ﬁnancial success 21 is not with the government, your parents nor the circumstances of your environment. It is dependent on you. Every ﬁnancial resource you will need in life is already here. For everything invented today, the raw materials were already in existence. The form was only changed. Every ﬁnancially successful person changed the form of what is already in existence and molded it into a form that provides solutions to human problems. Until you consistently upgrade and exercise your mind, wealth will elude you. Rich people think differently from the poor. That is the reason why I am emphasizing on your thought pattern. The only way to permanently change your ﬁnancial status is to reset your ﬁnancial thermostat; your mind. You must switch your paradigm to that of ﬁnancial success. The question then is how do you change your inner conditioning and mindset to that of the rich? You can quickly and easily adjust it because you are still young. To deal with a problem, it is better to know its source. We are conditioned and programmed in three primary ways. 1. Verbal programming – what you heard from childhood from many and different sources. 2. Model programming – what you saw from childhood from many and different sources. 22 3. Speciﬁc incidents – what you experienced from childhood through different occurrences and under various environments. All these forms of programming formed your paradigm and mindset and affected the content of your words that greatly inﬂuenced your level of awareness. The invisible creates the visible, so you need to adjust all the content of what programs your mind for you to have a different mindset. Read books written by ﬁnancially successful people, listen and watch the materials of people that have produced results in the area of ﬁnances, visit certain locations that affect your thinking, associate more with people that are more ﬁnancially successful than you are and learn. Every thought resident in you will be either an investment or a liability or will either move you towards or from ﬁnancial success. So develop your mindset. LAW 2 This law states that you will only be very rich in life, when you know how to skillfully make money, keep money and invest/multiply it. This law is an outer law that involves more of planning and physical activities. As a young person the earlier you learn that your skills, money management, business knowledge and investment skills is highly required for your ﬁnancial success the better for you. 23 Some know how to make money through their talents, sporting abilities and so on but they do not know how to keep it. Some know how to make money, keep it but they do not have the skills to multiply it, so they remain at the same level for too long. If you are going to be ﬁnancially successful, you must skillfully know how to do the three. Making money requires a different skill from keeping money and an entirely different skill from multiplying and investing money. But the three skills must be acquired. For example, a major skill needed to make money is to develop a product or service that produces value that people will always need. But you require self-discipline, accounting skills and budgeting skills to be able to keep the money after you have acquired it. For you to multiply your money then you must acquire investment education and employ the required strategies. You will be a good investor to the extent you surround yourself with materials of great investors and attend their seminars and webinars. Generally, for you to succeed in the application of this 2nd law, you must get materials in these areas. You must be very diligent to acquire the skills that made them successful. “Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.”(Proverbs 22:29) 24 LAW 3 This law states that wealth is attained, expanded and increased by giving into worthy projects that changes and enhances human lives and dignity. To be ﬁnancially successful and fulﬁlled you must be a giver. You do not need to have a lot to be a giver; whatever you have and whatever level you are, you must give something. You must give to live and live to give. There is no rich man that has sustained his wealth for a long time that is not a giver. It is a spiritual law that when you give, it will come back to you in a greater measure. Firstly, God gives you what you will give; it may be your time, energy, ideas, skills or money Secondly God also multiplies it when you give it. “He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” (2 Corinthians 9:10 (ESV) Be comfortable with giving. Let it be your lifestyle. Do you know why this nation and most African nations are the way they are? It is because most people are selﬁsh and greedy; they are not givers. Most people only think of themselves. The root of corruption is selﬁshness. Until you change your mindset about giving, untold wealth and ﬁnancial independence will continue to elude you. 25 “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease."(Genesis 8:22) Young man or woman you must accept the truth. Adjust your mindset and be a giver. Let it be your lifestyle and your ﬁnancial success is inevitable. It is a divine decree that seedtime and harvest shall never cease as long as the earth exists. Do not say you do not have something to give. You will always have something to give. It might be your time, energy, ideas, skills, voice or material things; there is something you have, start with that. God does not want us to just have things, He wants us to be a channel of His blessings to others. At your level, look out for a human need and reach out to meet that need. God is the ultimate giver. God gave Jesus the only begotten son He had for us to be saved. For God to save humanity, He submitted Himself to His own law of giving; that is how powerful the law is. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”(John 3:16) Jesus in following the example of the Father, submitted Himself to die for humankind and for us to live a glorious life. There is no harvest without giving. The reason I cited the above instances from the scriptures is that the one that created all laws, must also operate by that law of giving to get a harvest. Natural laws also proved that to us, such that you cannot get a harvest in the farm without planting seeds. 26 27 CHAPTER 3 SUCCESS IN ACADEMICS Let us face the fact, nobody goes to school or go through an academic program to fail. Yet many fail or achieve little success in their academics. Why? That is why this chapter is very important to you as a student and a young person. The principles mentioned in this chapter are validated facts to learn from whether you are presently in school or not. Anyone can succeed in their academics irrespective of their limitations, background, age, irrespective of what they were told and irrespective of their past results. The only hindrance to success in academics is ignorance. When you know the 'how' (directions) and you act on it, then success is yours. SELF IMAGE The foundational principle of every sustainable success is the mental image or perception you have of yourself. If you see yourself as a success, that is what you will get. If you see yourself as a failure or average, that is the result you will produce. If you want to change your academic results to a better one, you need to change the perception of yourself. You must see yourself achieving that grade or that mark you desire. 28 You must swallow and digest this thought: nobody was born dull. Your creator never makes a substandard product or an average product: your brain is neither substandard nor average. You have not just utilized what you possess. “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”(James 1:17) You can see from this scripture that your mind is a perfect gift. You cannot improve on perfect. Therefore the root and main problem is your self-image; your perception of yourself. Changing your self-image does not mean changing yourself or improving yourself. It means changing your own mental picture, estimation, conception and realization of that self. When all these changes, everything else about you will change. Have you heard of the story of Stephen Hawking that just died at the age of 76. He was a genius in the ﬁeld of mathematics and physics and he postulated many theories in these academic ﬁelds. When Stephen Hawking was 21, he lived a normal life and in his ﬁnal year at Oxford, his coordination began to deteriorate. He got clumsy with his speech and his speech started to slur. Stephen Hawking was then diagnosed with ALS, a degenerative disease where the neurons that communicate between the muscles and the brain stop working. This disease had no cure. And he was 21 years. The disease grew worse by the day and he lost almost 29 everything and was given only 2 years more to live. This event happened 55 years ago. Despite these challenges and problems, Stephen Hawking still had an exceptional and an extraordinary career with lots of achievement in mathematics and physics. This disease took away his ability to move and speak. It got to an extent that the doctors onetime told his wife to take him off life support. She refused and they performed a tracheotomy, completely removing his ability to speak. It was obvious that Stephen Hawking had all the reasons to give up and give in; most people would have given up and lost hope. He was conﬁned to a wheelchair, only able to speak through a voice synthesizer. Nevertheless, he exercised courage, commitment, endurance, and persistence until he became a great achiever. What he accomplished was unbelievable, which he did despite all hindrances and obstacles standing in his way. With all the limitations he experienced physically, he demonstrated the ability of a limitless mind. What you need to do now is to see yourself achieving your desired grade in your mind. Set your imagination loose and create the picture of academic success in your mind. This principle is the foundation of your academic success. To avoid struggling, when you read and study, you must ﬁrst and foremost see yourself succeeding. You must accept as truth that you are not a dull and stupid student but brilliant and intelligent. What anyone says, is not as important as your conclusion of and belief in you. YOUR GOAL AND YOUR PLAN “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Proverbs 29:18) I narrated this story because you have so much inside you that waits to be explored. You have no excuse for failure or for average results in exams. When you change your self-image, you just realized the truth about yourself. A basic and fundamental law of the mind is that we always act, feel and perform in accordance with what we imagine to be true about oneself and environment. Your feelings of been an average or been a failure did not originate not so much from 'facts' or past results or experiences but from your conclusions regarding the facts, past results and the evaluation of your experiences. 30 After you have created a proper image of yourself, the next thing to do is to set a goal. What percentage or grade do you desire? A goal is the object of a person's ambition or effort. A goal is an aim or desired result. You must have either seen or played a football match. You know that on either side of a football pitch is a goal post. Every move made in that match is to put the ball through the goal post. Everybody's attention is then focused on that spot. Whatever is their role, maybe goalkeeper, defender, midﬁelder or attacker; all their attention is on the opponent's goal post to score. 31 Since your belief system is formed based on what you see, hear, observe and say; you must use these mediums of programming to reprogram your self-image. You are intelligent, smart, and brilliant and you can be the best. That is exactly a picture of achieving a goal. Goal setting is a skill you must exercise if you want to succeed academically. You will have no direction, if you do not set a goal for yourself. A goal is what motivates you to go through self-discipline. When you know what you want to achieve, you restrain yourself to activities that will only cause your desire to happen. After you have set a goal, then you need a plan on how to achieve the goal. A goal without a plan is like walking in the dark or going around with no direction. If you want to get to the ﬁfth ﬂoor of a storey building, what would you do? Stand outside the building and jump or search for the staircase/lift or you climb the walls. If you stand outside and jump, you will not go further than the ﬁrst ﬂoor. If you climb the wall, you will most likely fall and end up in the hospital. If you choose the staircase or lift, then you will deﬁnitely get to the ﬁfth ﬂoor because each step you take or as the lift moves, it moves you closer to the ﬁfth ﬂoor. That is what plans are. Your goal is the ﬁfth ﬂoor and your plans are the staircase or the lift that takes you there. When you set your target grade, what will you do to achieve them? Your plan is your map. A map navigates you through the terrains until you get to your goal. Your plan should show you where you are, where you are going and the steps needed to get where you are going. Your plan is what gives you feedback on your progress. 32 When I was in secondary school, junior secondary school 3 precisely; my goal was to have an excellent result in mathematics. So what was my plan? It was a boarding house, so we usually end prep time by 9.pm. Instead of me to go to prep by 7pm like everyone else, I will go to bed and sleep. When my mates come back from prep after reading for about 2 hours; I will wake up at 9pm and read until 4am. I will calculate and study only mathematics. When my mates read for two hours, I will study mathematics from 9.pm to 4.am. That year I had an A in mathematics and till I ﬁnished secondary school I had A throughout in mathematics. I only did that exercise for a year and it produced several years of excellent results for me in mathematics. Till today, I am quick and proﬁcient in calculations. The lesson is this, I had a goal of having an excellent result in mathematics and I also had a plan of studying mathematics for several hours every day for a period. DILIGENCE AND CONSISTENCY Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.” Proverbs 22:29 Diligence is careful and persistent work or effort. After you have set a goal and you have a plan in place, then you must be diligent and consistent to see it through. You must study because it takes hard work to study. Do not study for a short period and then give up, you must be consistent. Make it your lifestyle to be studious. You must study today, tomorrow, the day after – everyday. 33 No matter how high your goal is and lofty your plan is, diligence is what is required to turn it into your experience. You must also know your strength in the area of assimilation so that you can channel your diligence in that area. Some people only need to hear the lectures and read a little and they will understand and retain high percentage of the information. Some people do not need to hear much of the lectures but they can read for a long period will understand and retain a high percentage of information. Some must hear all the lectures and at the same time read for a long time for them to retain a high percentage of the information. You must know your ability in the area of assimilation of information, so that you can fully utilize that strength. these principles I have stated to work. Have the right selfimage, create a goal, have a plan, then be diligent and consistent to put it to work; academic success will be inevitable. When I was in the university, I did not attend all the lectures but could read for 18 to 20 hours in a day, shortly before and during exams (when the lectures are concluded). I will only take few breaks to eat and pray and I will sleep for 2 to 3 hours daily. I had to discipline myself to sit for several hours to study lecture notes and textbooks. No matter the quantity of lectures I attend, I must read for a long time to properly assimilate the information from the lectures. Reading for a long time was my strength, so I became diligent in reading many books for long hours. And I succeeded in my academics. What is your area of strength, be diligent with it. Succeeding in academics is not by mistake, it is by following principles. Some people might look gifted to you but the truth is you can compete with anyone if you will put 34 35 CHAPTER 4 SEX AND RELATIONSHIP God created man to have relationship and fellowship with Him. God also initiated marriage and therefore He is highly interested in relationships including sexual relationships Relationship is the way in which two or more people are connected or the state of being connected. It is also an emotional and sexual association between two people. In this book, I will only discuss sexual relationship. The subject of sexual relationship among young people is vital. Sex is a very vast subject but I will elaborate on some few points that will be of immense beneﬁt to you. Many children grew up without any help from their parents or teachers in the area of sex education. Many became teenagers and youths and only learnt about sex from their mates and from external sources like magazines, books and the internet. Many young people grew up learning about sex from the wrong persons or the wrong source. Some have various questions in their hearts with no answer or wrong answers. If you want to know the truth about sexual relationship, you must go back to the originator and that is God. Many religious organizations also have an erroneous 36 disposition towards sexual topics as though it is a sin to talk about it. Man did not create sex or sexual feelings. God, with all His holiness did. He created every human body part to be the same for both the male and the female except the sexual and reproductive organs. He also programmed the male to desire the female and vice versa. Therefore, at certain age, this desire comes naturally. Youths and teenagers go into relationship with the opposite sex because when they start have feelings they think they are matured enough for it. At the teen age, young people begin to take notice of their body, its changes and want to feel appreciated. They want to be told how beautiful or handsome they are. It is normal and there is nothing wrong with it. Youths want to know what love really is and how to be loved. “I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as i. but if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.” (1 Corinthians 7:8-9) The question then is, at what age do you begin to burn or start having sexual feelings? It is when you are a teenager. It is normal for you to have sexual feelings but what you do with it and how you manage yourself is very important to God. Bible tells us here that rather than burn with sexual feelings and commit sin, you should go and marry. 37 What is sex? Sex is the sexual intercourse and all sexual activities between two individuals or living thing. I came up with this deﬁnition because it can be sexual intercourse between male and female, same sex, human and animal. I also added sexual activity to the deﬁnition because when you have started kissing, romancing, using sexual words, you have started the sexual process which is all part of sex. SEXUAL SINS God created sex, so sex is good and not wrong. Marriage is the only type of sex approved by God that is not a sin. All other type of sex is a sin. Fornication: This is sexual intercourse and its activities between a male and a female that are not married. Adultery: This is sexual intercourse and its activities between a married person and the opposite sex. Homosexuality: This is sexual intercourse and its activities between two males. Lesbianism: This is sexual intercourse and its activities between two females. Bestiality: This is sexual intercourse and its activities between a human and an animal. 38 Rape: This is sexual intercourse and its activities between a male and a female without the willing consent of one of them. All the above sexual practices are sexual sins to God as deﬁned in His Word. Stay away from them! If you are not ready to marry, then focus your attention on what will prepare you for life and marriage. Many premature relationships lead to fornication and it is a sin, which may also result in unwanted pregnancy. Some have the courage to give birth to the unwanted pregnancy (which is highly commendable )rather than have an abortion. Abortion is murder and murder is a sin. I would encourage you not to be a victim. Stay away from sexual sins and fulﬁll God's vision for your life. Sexual relationship as designed by God is meant for the spiritually matured, ﬁnancially matured, and emotionally matured. Focus on being spiritually matured. Develop your emotional and ﬁnancial stability especially for the male. Sexual relationship is not just the sex and its activities, but also the many other responsibilities attached to it. That is why I encourage parents and teachers who have a great role to play to help their young ones with sex education. If you are facing challenges on handling how you feel sexually, then seek for counsel from the right source (you can also contact us, if necessary). 39 Many have delayed or destroyed their destiny because of the mistakes they have made out of ignorance in sexual relationship. As young people, it would be okay for you to have opposite sex as friends but let it remain friendship. When you start upgrading to romantic feelings then be ready for marriage. In today's world, many things around us physically and digitally suggest sexual practices. It is a high distraction for your purpose and vision. However, do not let it distract you. Set your gaze on what is right and what will make you successful. The choice is yours. You either live a disciplined life and get the results of a disciplined life or live a way ward life and face the consequences. The results are never the same. A disciplined life gives you satisfaction, rest, peace, and fulﬁllment while a way ward and an undisciplined sexual lifestyle gives you regrets, sadness, dissatisfaction, pain and lack of fulﬁllment. You are still young, do not make immoral celebrities your role model. You have the whole world before you, make the right choices, cultivate the right relationships, and live successfully. If you have any questions or enquiries or you need help on sexual issues, you can contact us. Our details are on the front and back page of this book. 40 CHAPTER 5 THE GOD-LIFE If you have read the previous chapters and you are in this chapter, then you are very serious about your success. The reason I decided to put the God-life as the last chapter is because where all human efforts, abilities, principles fail God's ability starts. “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1Corinthians1:25) God's ability working in you through His life makes you a success in all areas of your life. I earlier said in the introduction that God is the author and creator of leadership, ﬁnances, academics, sex, and relationship. Then He must have the principles for success in all these areas. These are some of the principles I have discussed in this book However, beyond the principles you require His life and ability to be a supernatural success in all your endeavors. My aim here is not to present to you religion but reality. Christianity is divinity at work in humanity. When you get born again, you are born of God and received the life that makes you function like God and live a supernatural life. 1John 5:12: 41 “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” The reason it is a reality is because I have lived this life and I am a testimony of this life. The content of this book is based on the principles I have put to work through the demonstration of this life. That is why I called the title of this book “Living the Life” not “Living a Life”. “The life” means there is an authentic and original life that you are meant to live as a young person; a life that produces the best in you and expresses to the maximum the potentials God has placed in you. From my university days when I received the life of God until today, the life of God in me empowered me to a lead in different capacities. The leadership ability in me was unlocked and I have led and served people in different areas. I organized seminar in the university for my mates on how to succeed in academics and life as a student. I helped many achieve their dreams as a university undergraduate. Shortly after I ﬁnished my service year, I started a business with N6, 250 and grew the business until I had asset worth millions before the age of 30. I got married and started a family just before I was 30 years. When I was in the university, I have many testimonies on how I succeeded in courses and in exams that ordinarily I should have failed. I have many life experiences that I will mention in the subsequent volumes of this book on my successes and challenges in the area of academics and all other areas that you will learn a lot from. I am a living proof that this life is real and it is undeniable. 42 You can be a success as a young person; you do not have to be old before you achieve your dreams and aspirations. The life of God in you when exercised gives you dominion in any situation and places you at an endless advantage. That life produces unparalled leadership skills, deposits in you uncommon wisdom for ﬁnancial independence, gives you a sound mind that makes you an intellectual stalwart, grants you the ability to have a successful and fruitful relationship and live above sexual sins. This life is an extraordinary life and Jesus made it available to us all for free. I am offering the same to you today; if you have not received this God-life by receiving Jesus, then say this prayer with conviction in your heart. Say this prayer out loud: Dear JESUS, I believe you are the Son of God who died on the cross of Calvary. I believe in my heart that you died for me and you resurrected on the third day because of me by the power of God and the Holy Spirit. From today, I receive remission of my sins and I confess you as the Lord of my life. By faith, I receive eternal life into my spirit now. I am now a child of God and a part of the family of God in JESUS name. 43 If you have said this prayer, you have received the Godlife and supernatural abilities are now yours. Contact us through any of our channels outlined in this book, we will help you further on how to live successfully the God-life as a young man or woman. God has called you specially to inﬂuence this generation and your world, do not waste that opportunity. Greatness is inside you. CONCLUSION You have been called to live an authentic life designed by God; I encourage you to live that life. The knowledge you have received from this book, exercise it. There is an awesome future ahead of you, if you will live by the principles of the Word of God. God told me years ago, precisely on Saturday, January 8th, 2005 that many leaders will arise from very young people that will grow up to know no defeat and/or fear. All they know is His Word and His Spirit. They see nothing but possibilities and I should them to fulﬁll their destiny and purpose. God also told me on Tuesday, 30th of March 2004, that He will send leaders to my path for me to train them for the future because these leaders have a great purpose to fulﬁll on earth. I mentioned the above prophecies out of many other times God has shown me that young people will do mighty things in years to come. Do not live like a nobody, do not live a low life. Live the higher life; the divine life. 44 45 To know more about the ministry and messages of Apostle Sola Olarewaju contact: NIGERIA Divine Network Ministry Imedu Olori, Mowe, Ogun state Tel:-,-,- Website: www.divinenetworkministry.com Email-Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Divinenetworkministr y/ Twitter:@sola_olarewaju You can also join our “CELEBRATION and nd MIRACLE Service” every 2 Sunday of each month. Our special Women's program “Noble Women Conference” the last Saturday of every two months. 46 47

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