How to win

the game of life

Gain insight into strategic areas of your personal and professional life as well
as how to tackle and conquer the ever present challenges you find in those vital areas

Olatunji Ladi Adejumo II

VOL. I
How to win
in
the game of life
VOL. I

Olatunji Ladi Adejumo II

MEGA QUANTUM BOOKS

MEGA QUANTUM CONCEPTS & MARQUES
INTRODUCTION
“Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a
mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this
picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your
mind will seek to develop the picture...Do not build
up obstacles in your imagination”
Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993)

Fame and glory did not come easily to the most popular soccer player of Asian
origin today; Ji Sung Park. A diminutive stature and skinny frame were sufficient to
discourage anyone to play any other game apart from soccer but not Ji Sung. He
realized early that his stature and frame could be an impediment and went about
finding a solution to that seeming obstacle. He embarked on rigorous exercises to
build his physique and many times, his parents found him performing rigorous push-
ups long after other players had gone home.
According to his High School coach, he had the best work ethic even though he was
the smallest on the team and he was never late to or absent from training. He carried
this work ethic with him as he was spotted by Gus Hiddink and invited into the
South Korean national soccer team for the 2002 World Cup Finals hosted by
Korea/Japan. Having distinguished himself at the World Cup, Gus Hiddink took
him with him to PSV Eindhoven in Holland where again, he proved his mettle
against the likes of almighty AC Milan of Italy. His performances compelled Sir Alex
Ferguson to buy him thus making him the first Korean to play for one of the biggest
clubs in the world; Manchester United.
Ji Sung epitomizes the determination which can lift you to the heights you desire in
life. He refused to allow his small stature and nationality to prevent him from
achieving his goals in life and play against and alongside the football greats. He
identified the areas in which he needed to develop himself in order to become
indispensable to his club and country and worked on them thus making him a winner
in life. Ji Sung is a typical example of what this book is all about; how you can
identify and work on those areas of your life which can make you a winner in your
field and lead you to success, sustainable success.

Thank you and always remember that you can achieve what you want in life if you
are prepared to pay the price.

Olatunji Ladi Adejumo II

CREDITS
Photos

For sale Sign by Aaron Murphy 1

Soccer nl-scotland by Henk Beld 3

Pool balls 2 by Cathy Kaplan 5

Pondering by stockers9 7

Fossil by Karolina Przybysz 9

Figures excelling 4 by Sanja gjenero 11

CONTENTS
1. How To Sell You:
Building A Personal Brand 1

2. Unique Selling Proposition:

The Crux Of Your Personal Brand 3

3. Winning:
Never Too Late 5

4. Written In Gold 7

5. Winning:
You Must Keep Evolving 9

6. Winning Through Teamwork 11

 HOW TO SELL YOU: 11
BUILDING A PERSONAL BRAND
“If no one is sold on you, no one will buy from you” ...Simply because
Olatunji Ladi Adejumo everyone has a
Welcome to the world of personal branding.
brand: bad, good or
somewhere in
This is the era of the brand. A lot is said about product and between, knowingly
corporate branding but human beings are part of the interface or unknowingly...
between brands and the product or company. The inescapable
result of this fact is that you must also begin to look at and work
on yourself as a brand.

Let's get this right, the choice

you have is not to have a brand
or not but what kind of brand to
have. Why? Simply because
everyone has a brand: bad, good
or somewhere in between,
knowingly or unknowingly. The
difference between you and the
person who has consciously
built a virile and vibrant personal brand is that the person has
taken control of his/her personal brand. The result is one of
someone who radiates all the attributes and qualities which s/he
has predetermined to exude.

The concept of personal branding is closely related to that of

leadership and at the heart of it is passion. The professional who ...Your personal
takes his/her personal brand development and management brand is not a quest
serious is bound to rise to the top and act as a path for others to for a holy grail but
follow. the result of a
planned and
One fundamental purpose of branding is to differentiate one sustained
product or service from another. The same purpose underlies the programme which
process and outcome of personal branding: to differentiate you has a definite
from the others in your field. outcome...
1
 In a world which is in constant need for professional services,
...Success can only success can only belong to those who can stand up and stand out
belong to those who of the crowd, those who can prove that they have something to
can stand up and offer before being given the opportunity to sell a product or
stand out of the service, those who have developed a rounded, viable, virile and
crowd, those who can vibrant personal brand.
prove that they have
something to offer...
A personal brand is not a result of laboratory alchemy or rocket
science. It involves and is all about you. It however, takes time to
build, maintain and sustain. It must be nurtured carefully as
people's perception of you is what determines their level of
involvement with you.

Your personal brand is not a quest for a holy grail but the result of
a planned and sustained programme which has a definite outcome.

You personal brand stands you out and elevates you above the
mass realm preventing you from being bogged in the swamp of
sameness and avoiding the 'me too' impression. While it will not
confer upon you the status of a movie-star when you are an
accountant, it will make the critical connection between you and
your target market. A personal brand is a must in contemporary
society and a key factor in your success.
...You personal brand
stands you out and
elevates you above
the mass realm
preventing you from
being bogged in the
swamp of sameness
and avoiding the 'me
too' impression...
2
Unique Selling Proposition:
The Crux Of Your Personal Brand 2
The tension in the country was palpable. The teeming football
...David Beckham
loving fans of England were staring loss and the attendant
curled the ball in his
absence at the World Cup Finals 2002 in the face, and to make
trademark manner
matters worse, on their home soil. Their opponents, the Greeks
into the net and the
had just a few minutes to hold out and the sweet taste of victory
entire stadium and
over England was gradually creeping into their mouths. The
indeed, the nation
game remained at 2-1 against England and at the last minute,
went wild. He had just
England was awarded a free kick. The stadium was tense and so
sent England into the
was virtually every household in England. There was only one
World Cup finals with
person England could rely on at that point in time: David
another spectacular
Beckham and as he strode up to place the ball and take the free
BECKHAM
kick, everyone watched with bated breath. David Beckham
FREEKICK...
curled the ball in his trademark manner into the net and the entire
stadium and indeed, the nation went wild. He had just sent
England into the World Cup finals
with another spectacular
BECKHAM FREEKICK.

The ability to curl a football

above or around a wall of players
or place a clinical pass to a team
mate had come to be associated
with David Beckham so much so
that references were made to BECKHAM PASS and BECKHAM
FREE KICK. These have come to be regarded as part of David
Beckham's UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION (USP).

In an earlier article (How To Sell You: Building A Personal

Brand), I mentioned that a personal brand is a definite
combination of expectations and associations which are nurtured
and projected over time. These expectations and associations are
what people come to
3
 look forward to .while dealing with you. It goes without saying
. . W h a t a re t h e
that such associations must be positive and beneficial to your
expectations which
target market. Imagine an entire nation waiting, believing that
you can create in
one man could deliver their World Cup dreams. David Beckham's
your target market?
USP took him a long time to build. He had to discover that he
What associations
could actually do it, practice such as to perfect it and continually
are you drawing for
deliver on it. He may not have coined the terms BECKHAM
t h e m ? A re y o u
PASS OR FREE KICK but that association resulted as he
delivering?...
continued to create the expectations and deliver on them.

David Beckham had his free kicks and clinical passes. What are
the expectations which you can create in your target market?
What associations are you drawing for them? Are you delivering?
Do they look forward to you fulfilling their expectations? Do
they believe in you? Do you inspire confidence in them? Will
they stake their success on you?

Personal branding is built on self-discovery, connects on unique

associations, succeeds on delivery and is sustained on
consistency and perpetual evolution. You must discover and
continually project your Unique Selling Proposition (USP).
...Personal branding
is built on self- Remember, “If no one is sold on you, no one will buy from you”
discovery, connects
on unique
a s s o c i a t i o n s,
succeeds on delivery
and is sustained on
consistency and
p e r p e t u a l

4
 Winning: 3
Never Too Late
...Even where the
Life is a game. You are given time in life just like in any game.
endeavour is an
You must develop skills or hone those you have to perfection.
individual one, it
You must develop a strategy to win in a game just as you must
takes more than one
win in life. And you must have a strategy for sustenance of any
person to develop.
success you may achieve.
Imagine where Tiger
Woods will be today
I always like to relate the game of life to various sports. You without his
must understand that life is a team sport. Anywhere you go, you trainers...
will find that any success recorded by anyone is a result of
teamwork. Even where the endeavour is an individual
one, it takes more than one person to develop. Imagine
where Tiger Woods will be today without his trainers.
Or any successful athlete without his/her coaches. In
the end, life is always a team sport and success only
belongs to those who learn to play in the team.

The beauty of individual sports is that it teaches you to

perfect your skills and rely on no one on the field of
play. Team sports, on the other hand, teach you to
combine your skills with those of others to produce a commonly ...The beauty of
beneficial outcome. For the purpose of this article, I will use a individual sports is
cue sport: Billiards. In the game of billiards, you basically strive that it teaches you to
to attain a particular number of points before your opponent perfect your skills
using three balls; one belonging to you, another to your opponent and rely on no one on
and another belonging to neither of you. By hitting the balls and the field of play.
sinking them in the various pockets, you get points which add up Team sports, on the
and the person who gets, say 100 point first, wins the game. other hand, teach you
Sounds simple but it requires the most precise skills you can to combine your
master as well as the ability to think ahead of your opponent. skills with those of
others to produce a
commonly beneficial
outcome...
5
 The lessons in cue sports I have learned which are applicable in life
MAXIMISE
can be summarized as follows:
EVERY ACTION
1. ALWAYS HAVE AN OVERALL GAME STRATEGY
AS IT WILL
BRING YOU
2. NEVER ACT WITHOUT HAVING A CLEAR IDEA OF
C LO S E R TO
THE INTENDED OUTCOME
YOUR OVERALL
GOAL
3. MAXIMISE EVERY ACTION AS IT WILL BRING YOU
CLOSER TO YOUR OVERALL GOAL

4. BE VERY PRECISE IN YOUR THOUGHTS AND

ACTIONS

5. IF YOU CAN GET YOUR SEQUENCE CORRECT, YOU

CAN OVERHAUL ANY DISTANCE YOU HAVE LOST
AND GO ON TO WIN.

6. ALWAYS STRIVE TO ACHIEVE THE MOST WITH THE

SMALLEST EFFORT

...If you can Each of the above made points will form the basis of subsequent
understand the articles. Always remember, life is a team sport and a game. If you
spirit behind can understand the spirit behind success in sports, you can
success in sports, understand the spirit behind success in life generally and live a
you can understand fulfilling life.
the spirit behind
success in life
generally and live
a fulfilling life...
6
Written In Gold 4
A certain young man decided to study law as a profession and was
...The top is never
reminded by his mother that the legal profession was already
crowded...
crowded. His reply? The top is never crowded. He went on to
become one of the most revered Justices of all time; Lord
Denning as well as a reference point for all in the legal profession
all over the world, delivering landmark judgements and
enunciating principles of law still relevant today.

Lord Denning was relentless in his pursuit of excellence. He knew

it was the only way he could get to the top and remain there. It
was the only way by which his name
could be written in gold.

It is a cardinal law of nature that the

many will always be ruled by the few
and this applies to all fields of
endeavour. That is why there will be
only one Managing Director for a
bank or enterprise, why there will be
only one President for a country, why the number of First Class
graduates will always be significantly fewer than the other grades
and why even amongst them all, the few who will rise to the
pinnacle of their respective professions will not necessarily be
...Excellence is not a
those with the First Class Honours.
destination; it is a
lifelong journey and a
Excellence is not a destination; it is a lifelong journey and a prize prize with a
with a corresponding price attached to it which is won on a daily corresponding price
basis. This is evident in the rise and fall of some who are expected attached to it which is
to go all the way to and remain at the top won on a daily basis...

7
 People like Lord Denning were possessed with the spirit of
...A person who is excellence. A person who is filled with this spirit has a clear picture
filled with this spirit of his destination in life and wastes little time on frivolities and
has a clear picture of ventures which have no bearing on his pursuit. He amasses
his destination in life knowledge and the requisite qualifications for his pursuit.
and wastes little time
on frivolities and
ventures which have The spirit of excellence imbues him with the ability to rise above
no bearing on his his equals and peers, pulling far ahead of the pack and achieving
greatness. The time he spends is of the greatest essence to him
pursuit...
because he knows that God might call him early but he is secure in
the knowledge that at any time, he will be able to give an excellent
account of his stewardship on earth.

No great man lived who wasn't filled in great capacity with the
spirit of excellence and like Lord Denning, any filled with this
spirit will have his/her name written in gold and his/her
endeavours spoken of by generations born long after.

...No great man lived

who wasn't filled in
great capacity with the
spirit of excellence...

8
Winning: 5
You Must Keep Evolving
...Tiger kept insisting
In the game of life, you are either evolving or dissolving. Life that he was a 'better
itself is not static and so cannot support a lack of movement. player' and went on to
Cultures evolve; technology evolves as does management prove it when he
techniques amongst others. All these are controlled by human perfected the changes
beings and so it goes that human beings must of a necessity he had made by
evolve in their thinking. This does not mean that their physical winning even more
makeup will change but their mindset must change and ascend to than he had before
a higher level in order to bring about advancement in all areas of the changes...
life.

The story is told of how Tiger Woods desired to bring about a

change to his famous swing in order to
become even more productive and as a result,
had to build some of his arm muscles. The
entire process took time and even though he
had started seeing the improvement, he had
yet to start manifesting them. This prompted
people to wonder if Tiger Woods was just a
'flash in the pan'. In the midst of all these
negative insinuations, Tiger kept insisting that
he was a 'better player' and went on to prove it
when he perfected the changes he had made by winning even
more than he had before the changes. ...personal branding
is built on self-
He could have just kept on playing the same old way, believing discovery, connects
that he was the best. He knew however, that such a mindset will on unique
only get him so far. He knew he had to evolve in order to keep a s s o c i a t i o n s,
winning. He had to sacrifice that period of relative comfort and succeeds on
invest in the agony of re-training and re-invention in order to delivery and is
reap the benefits in the future. He must have lost some revenue sustained on
during that period but his material worth after that period bears consistency and
out his decision to sacrifice. perpetual
evolution..
9
 In another article (Unique Selling Proposition: The Crux Of Your
...You must see only Personal Brand), I mentioned that personal branding is built on
the goal and keep self-discovery, connects on unique associations, succeeds on
moving to open and delivery and is sustained on consistency and perpetual evolution.
widen the gap You must continually strive to re-evaluate yourself, knowing full
between you and well that your 'best' can be bettered again and again. You must
your competition. You continually re-invent yourself whenever you have to in order to
must evolve, not surpass your competition and go on to win. Success is not a
dissolve... destination; it is a journey which only has parking lots for losers
and slackers.

Remember, when you re-invent yourself, you will face a period of

relative lack of productivity during which you will perfect your
changes but in the face of criticism and seeming failure, you must
push ahead, keeping in view, the new and improved you. You must
see only the goal and keep moving to open and widen the gap
between you and your competition. You must evolve, not dissolve.
Remember, if no one is sold on you, no one will buy from you!

10
Winning Through Teamwork
...Lawyers attribute
In the popular TV series, the A-Team gets the better of their
their success in court
adversaries and sends them packing with a parting shot- “next
to their legal team,
time, don't get a squad, get a good team”. When Liverpool
doctors to their
Football Club of England lost the Champions League Finals to
medical team and
AC Milan, the coach Rafa Benitez said “we lost to a better
even politicians to
team”. Lawyers attribute their success in court to their legal
their team of
team, doctors to their medical team and even politicians to their
advisers...
team of advisers. An outstanding player in a sports team usually
attributes his success on the field of play to the efforts of his
teammates. Life is a team sport.

Your success in life depends largely on those you

include on your team; knowingly or otherwise.
They could make or mar you. In any game, each
player has a definite position to play and a
particular task to handle. His ability to execute his
task perfectly well is vital to the overall success of
the team as it is only as strong as its weakest link.
The defender in soccer must ensure that he marks
the dangerman he is assigned to as a moment of distraction may
give the match to the opponent.

Many make the mistake of placing their entire hopes on a

teammate. This is not ideal. Inasmuch as you must rely on your
teammate, you must never overestimate his abilities nor for that ...Inasmuch as you
matter underestimate those of your adversaries. must rely on your
teammate, you must
never overestimate
his abilities or for that
matter underestimate
those of your
adversaries...
11
 You must map out the areas in your life which need to be covered
...Sacrifice is a for you to succeed and go about getting people to fill those
keyword in team positions. These people must not just fill; they must man those
sport. Each person positions well and must have the overall collective goal in mind as
must be ready to the guiding principle for all their actions.
sacrifice for the
overall benefit of the Each must understand that one of all will take a lot of credit but
team... each team member is as important as the other. Sacrifice is a
keyword in team sport. Each person must be ready to sacrifice for
the overall benefit of the team.

As I mentioned in an earlier article (Winning: Never Too Late) “If

you can understand the spirit behind success in sports, you can
understand the spirit behind success in life generally and live a
fulfilling life”.

12
THE AUTHOR’S PROFILE

Olatunji Ladi Adejumo II

Put some magic in your brand !

Olatunji Ladi Adejumo is a professional Public Relations and Management practitioner specializing in e-
Public Relations, Brand Management and Communication. An avid follower of various sports, a
motivational speaker, writer and coach, he has a relentless passion to assist business owners and professionals
rise to and remain at the top of their game in life. His systematic and innovative educational program using
sports as a medium helps go- getters connect with their aspirations.