Lionnel Yamentou Blog, Leadership, Lifestyle Design

What’s worse than being off-track?

One of the authors who have had a great impact on my growth is Brian Tracy. I have read in his books quite a few times that a plane is off course over 90 percent of the time. But planes reach their destinations close to 100% of the time. 

Planes are incredible pieces of engineering, so are human beings. Every plane before take off goes through a series of tests to ensure its integrity and guarantee the safety of all the passengers on board. All planes leaving an airport have a clear destination. Virtually nobody would accept to board a plane if they didn’t know exactly where the plane would end up.

Just like planes we all must have a destination at any single moment of our life experience. Our destination will always determine our direction, and as a corollary, our direction determines our destination. One of the greatest tragedies of life is that most people don’t have a destination, or are not clear enough about it.

The only thing worse than being off-track, is not having a track to run on. Having a track to run on is knowing where you are headed with your life, and that determines what choices you make on a daily basis. Just like I have heard Dr. Wayne Dyer say quite a few times through his books and audio programs: “We are the sum total of the choices and decisions we make every single day, every single moment.” 

That means to improve the quality of our lives, we must improve the quality of our choices. To improve the quality of our choices, we must improve how much clarity we have about our destination. To improve how much clarity we have about our destination, we must accept the fact that being off-track does not mean we are off-course. Course correction is part of the course.

Keep your eyes on the prize, on your destination. At the same time, enjoy the detours life sometimes imposes us. Keep making course corrections and stay on-track, no matter how off-track it might sometimes seem you are.

Lionnel Yamentou Blog, Lifestyle Design

How to Take Revenge from People Who Don’t Believe in You

It’s easy to laugh at people’s goals and dreams, especially when it is people who we are close to and have seen grow. Our conscious minds as humans love to categorize and group things for them to make sense and consequently create a smoother life experience for us.

But the tragedy that comes with that is when we unconsciously keep people in smaller boxes than they are or trying to be in. If you have nothing good to say when someone shares their big goals and dreams with you, keep quiet. Countless dreams have been squished because pessimistic words were spoken when someone was at their most vulnerable. It takes courage to dream, it takes even more courage to share those dreams with the people we are close to. It is ironic that usually it is people who know the least about us who end up being our greatest cheerleaders. 

If you have ever had your goals and dreams laughed at, especially by people close to you, let their laughs inspire you as you plough through the challenges in becoming a better person and living all your dreams. I certainly have, and I am inspired and fuelled by those non-believers.

Just like Frank Sinatra said: “The best revenge is massive success.”

Keep moving forward. Onward and upward!

Lionnel Yamentou Blog, Lifestyle Design

Can Integrity be Congruent with Imperfection?

Operating with integrity at all times is challenging but it is a worthy goal. Considering the fact that perfection is not a human trait, how can we really claim to have integrity when we cannot be perfect no matter how much or how hard we try?

Maybe those words (integrity, perfection) are just words and what truly makes a difference is how we live our daily lives. Words have different meanings depending on who uses them, based on their life experiences and their belief system and core values. Those are shaped through years of exposure to a multitude of life experience interpreted via the lenses of positive, negative or neutral from the perspective of the one living the experience. 

Integrity is one of my core values. But can I really have integrity when I am inherently not perfect? Is there any congruence in that? Can integrity be congruent with imperfection?

I am so glad it does not have to be. Or does it?

Lionnel Yamentou Blog, Business, Leadership

It’s Never Who You Know

Jack is a skilled technician who always delivers above expectations and has 10 clients who know him and would never hesitate to refer him for work.

Joe is a talented artist who knows 100 people who have admired his work but have never bought his work. He has their business cards and he regularly comes across them in the galleries and artists meetups he attends.

Who would you rather be, Jack or Joe? 

To succeed in business, and in life, you must be a Jack, not a Joe. It is never who you know, it is always who knows you and who can vouch for you and the quality of your work. Quality has more value than quantity. Become a master at your craft and you will not have to worry about who you know, because who knows you will regularly bring you business.

Lionnel Yamentou Blog, Business, Leadership, Lifestyle Design

Could Your Work Be Your Calling Card?

What do you do for work? Would you still be doing that for work if there was no extrinsic (ie. financial) reward? How well do you do your work, and how much better could you do your work? When was the last time you assessed your efficiency and effectiveness at the work you do?

To work is to function or operate according to design or plan. Assuming you know what you were designed for and you have a plan to operate in alignment with that design, could your work be your calling card?

Are you so proficient at your work that people who are exposed to your craft can recall days, weeks and years later an interaction with you?

Could your work be your calling card?