7 Doors To Greatness Updated With Pictures

7 DOORS TO PERSONAL
GREATNESS
“Greatness is within you”
RODRICK NABE
CONTACTS
+255 715 790 633
+255 742 884 932
E-mail: rodricknabe44@gmail.com
Facebook: Rodrick Nabe
Instagram: Rodricknabe
Twitter: @rodricknabe
YouTube channel: Rodrick Nabe (R2SUCCESS)
Blog: www.road2successtz.blogspot.com
Printed East Africa by:

Emerging Africa Limited,
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Lindi Street - Karume, Ilala Municipality,
Dar es salaam- Tanzania.
Email: emerging@africamail.com
Mobile: +255 716 299 399 /+255 656 77 93 94
ISBN: 978-9987-836-03-1
ii
CONTENTS
How this book will help you …………….
Introduction ……………………………….
Books ………………………………………
Seminars and conferences ……………
Videos and audios ……………………….
Mentors …………………………………….
Travel ………………………………………
Relationships ………………………………
Self evaluation ……………………………
Conclusion ………………………………
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DEDICATION
I dedicate this book to every champion who
holds, reads and applies these 7 principles.
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HOW THIS BOOK WILL
HELP YOU
7 DOORS TO PERSONAL
GREATNESS is a self help book that will tell
you a hard truth that, “If you change, everything will
change.” It is a book about personal development
because what you become is more powerful
than what your environment becomes.
“Success is something you attract by becoming
an attractive person.” – JIM ROHN
The 7 ideas that I share with you in this
amazing book have changed my life drastically.
I have lived all these seven ideas and things
have unfolded magically in my life. I actually
practice these ideas almost every day. This
book will help you see the dangers ahead of
you and it will also show you the opportunities
ahead of you. Therefore the wisest thing after
reading this book is to practice these ideas in
order to minimize the dangers and maximize
the opportunities.
This book will change your philosophy about
life. You will stop complaining about scarcity
and start seeing the un-utilized opportunities
that have been around you for a long time. It
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will help you tap into a well of abundance. The
world has a lot waiting for you.
You will become smarter; you will see what
others don’t see, discover your inner power and
understand your potential. You will understand
that whatever you have achieved so far is a
result of your own habits and efforts. You will
feel good about your future as you start crafting
a better life for you and your future generation.
7Doors to personal greatness is a book that
will design your life for others to learn and get
inspired. These 7 doors will lead you to a whole
new world of great friends, great opportunities
and great results. I am a true witness of these
7 principles. They have worked for me and I
know they will work for you if you apply them.
YOU WILL UNLEASH THE
GREATNESS WITHIN YOU.
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Life
Life is a struggle that requires a man’s heart
to be strong, bold, hopeful or rather optimis-
tic all the time. Failure is not a reason for
losing hope but it’s a reason for gaining more
strength. It’s a sign that next time things will
be a little easier on you.
If you fail once, take a lesson out of it and use
it as a road to victory or success. The pain
of struggle tears your heart and rips your
soul apart but remember victory will heal
the wounds and revive your spirit. You will
become stronger than before.
Success will shake your heart with laugh-
ter, joy, brightness and it will make the past
sorrows stories of reference, stories of bravery,
stories to remember. Those past failures will
become testimonies to others who are walking
the same road that you walked.
Therefore as your struggle becomes harder,
you should become stronger because it is
always the tough who get going; the weak ones
break. Don’t look back on your past to demor-
alize you; look at the past to push you for-
ward, to provide a stepping stone and to melt
down all your challenges.
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INTRODUCTION
A young man (Jack) proposed to the lady of
his choice (Mary) and they later got married.
It was a new start for Jack and Mary. Jack was
never to feel lonely again because he had got
a companion, a helper and a wife. As you well
know, marriage brings together two adults who
had private lives separately but now become
“one person”.
Marriage too brings together two families.
So in this case, the family of Jack was now
related to the family of Mary. A week after
their wedding, Jack’s mother paid a visit to
these newlyweds. She wanted to have some
quality time with her daughter-in-law (Mary).
Mama Jack was so happy to be at her son’s
home. Jack asked his mother how long she
had planned to stay. Mama Jack replied with
a smile, “two weeks” she also promised to
cook for them for the first three days of her
stay. Her meals were really delicious. During
the first three days when Mama Jack cooked,
Mary and mama Jack had a great time. They
did the house chores together; they smiled and
laughed a lot, took a couple of selfies and also
had a lot of storytelling to each other. Jack was
happy to see this kind of connection. Count it
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all joy if your mother likes your spouse. The
whole family was full of joy and laughter. Mary
wanted this joy to last forever.
Day four was Mary’s turn to do the cooking.
Mama Jack had always longed to taste Mary’s
food. Mary’s beauty somehow meant that even
her food would be delicious too. Mary cooked
on day 4,5,6…… but as days counted on, the
close friendship between Mary and mama Jack
became spaced. There were no more laughters
and selfies and storytelling. Mama Jack had lost
interest in Mary’s presence and Mary noticed
this attitude. This feeling did not please Mary
at all. It reached a time when Mary translated
mama Jack’s actions as actions of destroying
her precious new marriage.
She had to act quickly in order to save
her marriage. She spent hours of thinking
of a way to get rid of mama Jack. Her brain
finally produced the answer- she had found
the solution. Mary woke up early that morning
and run so fast to a place that she knew had
the answer to her problem. She went to a man
called Sangoma. He was well known for using
magic and charms to solve problems of those
who believed in him.
Mary cried so loud as she explained the
situation to Sangoma. She said that mama Jack
had remained with 7 days to stay with them.
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Sangoma advised her to wait for the seven
days so that Mama Jack could leave but Mary
couldn’t stand all those seven days. She said that
a day with Mama Jack was like a thousand years
in hell (I don’t know if she had ever visited
hell). Therefore Sangoma asked what she really
wanted to do in order to permanently solve
the situation. Mary boldly said, “I want her
dead.” Mary specified that she wanted a poison
that would kill Mama Jack slowly without her
husband noticing.
Sangoma was shocked but he did not show
it on his face. He agreed to make the poison
that would kill Mama Jack. He requested for
money, chicken, cinnamon powder, lemon
grass, chicken nails, mama Jack’s underwear
………. The “kill me slowly” poison was
ready the following day. As Mary took it from
Sangoma’s hands, her hands shook and sweat
dripped down her beautiful face. She was going
to kill her mother-in law. Sangoma looked
straight in her eyes and told her that she must
always smile while serving mama Jack with the
poisoned food. The poison would not work if
she didn’t smile.
Mary did as she was told. After three days,
Mary was so surprised to see this. Mama jack
began smiling with Mary. They became close
again. They took selfies and told stories again.
x
Mary thought, “why should I kill mama Jack
if she likes me again!?” Mary’s heart ached
with pain and she spent hours crying in her
bedroom. She felt the strongest guilt of killing
someone who liked her.
Confusion and guilt are the worst feelings
you can ever have. Mary ran back to Sangoma
the next day so that he could make an anti-dote
to prevent mama Jack from dying. She pleaded
as tears flowed from her eyes. Sangoma laughed
and laughed at her. He finally told her the
truth. He held her shoulder softly and carefully
looked straight at her and said, “My friend
Mary, what I gave you was not poison. I gave
you food spices.” Sangoma had realized that
mama Jack was not the problem; the problem
was Mary not knowing how to cook delicious
meals.
Many of us have a problem with our
cooking (our personality) but we fail to spot
and acknowledge the problem. We make
ourselves believe that mama Jack (other people,
the government, the friends, the banks, the
schools…..) are the ones with problems. We
look for ways to destroy other people by going
for Sangoma’s help.
This story talks deep about one’s personal
development and how it impacts the world. I
want you to ask yourself these questions before
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you go to chapter 1.
Who is the problem?
❧❧Me or the government?
❧❧Me or my parents?
❧❧Me or my boss?
❧❧Me or the neighbours?
❧❧Me or my relatives?
Why haven’t you produced your greatest
ideas? It is said that we get over 83,000 ideas
on a daily basis but we can only be super
successful if we implement only 3 -4 ideas per
year. The 7 doors I talk about in this book are
practical principles that helped me discover
that greatness is within each of us. We have
not yet discovered how good we can cook.
God gave us the universe to rule and control
whatever that exists. That means he gave us the
power of kings.
The 7 principles have helped me become
a published author, public speaker, trainer
and entrepreneur. Everything starts with you
and therefore you as the source of all your
achievements must be valuable first. You are
the source and therefore greatness lies in you
waiting for you to unleash it.
What lies before or around you is not as
powerful as what lies within you.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
Chapter
BOOKS i
“Knowledge is not power, applied knowledge is

power.”
Do you really understand the power of

books? I always remember the three words when
I see a book; READERS ARE LEADERS.
What I want to tell you is that books go beyond
leadership. Benjamin Franklin once said that,
“If you would not be forgotten as soon as you
are dead and rotten, either write things worth
reading or do things worth writing.”
WRITE THINGS WORTH
READING.
Most people with a passion of writing fail to
write because they think people will compare
their writings to their actual achievements.
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7 DOORS TO PERSONAL GREATNESS
As long as what you write adds value to the
reader, your financial status is none of the
reader’s business. Teachers are not the richest
people but they teach others who later become
richer than them. I don’t care how many failed
operations Ben Carson performed, as long as
his book THINK BIG can make me think big.
You are never too old to learn and too young to
teach. Make sure that your writings are worth
the money and the time of the reader.
DO THINGS WORTH WRITING.
There is a common way of classifying
people in society according to achievement;
✓✓ There are people who make things
happen.
✓✓ People who watch things happen.
✓✓ And people who don’t know what
happens.
You can easily ask yourself where you
belong. The people who make things happen
in this world are the ones we find in books.
People like Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa,
Martin Luther King Jr., Mwalimu Nyerere,
Wole Soyinka, Mahatma Gandhi, Thomas
Edison and many others. These people did
things which were worth writing.
You cannot leave unwritten a story of a
man who was arrested for 27 years and still
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Rodrick F. Nabe
held on to his vision. After the torture of all
those years, he comes out of prison and says,
“I forgive them.”
You can’t ignore a story of a man who failed
over 1,000 times to make the light bulb work.
Thomas Edison made our night life bright and
colorful.
It is inevitable to write about a woman who
served the most impoverished communities
with all her heart and soul. A woman who
believed that loving your family can make the
world a better place. Mother Theresa’s story is
worth writing.
You cannot ignore the Wright brothers
who did countless experiments to make the
aeroplane fly. Such people need to be in pages
of books.
What can we write about you? Have you
accomplished a single thing that is worth
writing?
Books are rich with knowledge about what
has caught the eye and ear of the writers.
Books also have terrible stories of people
who have shed blood of their fellow men. So
be careful with the choice of books you pick.
Jim Rohn is one of the most extra ordinary
speakers of all time who impacted the field
of personal development. He said that what
a man reads pours massive ingredients into
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his mental factory. He calls the brain a mental
factory. I want you to check and evaluate your
library. What kind of knowledge do you pour
into your mental factory?
While in secondary school, I chose the
subject of literature in which we had to read
novels and analyze them. The category of
African literature had books like Weep not child,
No longer at ease, The river between…..
These books talked about the cruelty of
the colonialists upon the Africans. As I sank
deeper and deeper into these books, I realized
that I had developed some kind of hatred
for the British. These books were starting to
influence my personality.
In the early years of my adult life, I began
reading self development books on a regular
basis. My mental factory began producing
enormous amounts of positive ideas. I started
viewing life in a different perspective. I began
seeing more opportunities than problems. My
habit of complaining about political leaders
diminished. I realized it is the system that makes
them act that way. The right books can change
a boy into a man; a loser into a winner, a victim
into a victor and a suspect into a prospect.
I became passionate about reading books
because they gave me answers that my teachers
never gave me. Whenever I spoke in front of
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Rodrick F. Nabe
people, they said I was a person of value. What
they didn’t know is that I was giving them what
I had stored in my mental factory. What have
you stored in your mental factory?
I amplified my skills of public speaking since
I had content and also improved my writing
skills. Personal development books may not
make you a good speaker but they will help you
discover your strength and passion. You will
become a better doctor or nurse or technician.
I have two friends in the medical field who
stand out because of personal development.
Raymond and Nelson are doctors. Raymond
uses poems to portray medical aspects while
Nelson is in the speaking arena.
Allow me to share with you some of the
books that enrich my personal library.
• RICH DAD POOR DAD – Robert
Kiyosaki
• THE BUSINESS SCHOOL – Robert
Kiyosaki
• INCREASE YOUR FINANCIAL IQ
– Robert Kiyosaki
• CASHFLOW QUADRANT – Robert
Kiyosaki
• WHY A STUDENTS WORK FOR C
STUDENTS – Robert Kiyosaki
• GIFTED HANDS – Ben Carson
• THINK BIG – Ben Carson
5
• THINK AND GROW RICH –
Napoleon Hill
• THE LAW OS SUCCESS – Napoleon
Hill
• THE RICHEST MAN IN BABYLON
– George S. Clason
• THE MAGIC OF THINKING BIG –
David Schwartz
• LEADERSHIP 101 – John Maxwell
• TOUGH TIMES NEVER LAST BUT
TOUGH PEOPLE DO – Robert H.
Schuller
• HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND
INLFUENCE PEOPLE – Dale
Carnegie
• UNDERSTANDING YOUR
POTENTIAL – Dr. Myles Munroe
Those are a few of my collection of
hardcopy books. I intend to give them to my
sons as part of inheritance. I also have plenty
of soft copy books and audio books. If you
analyze that list carefully, you will realize
that I have a collection of books on finance,
leadership, motivation, emotional intelligence
e.t.c. that is all connected to self development.
I don’t want to sink deep into leadership while
I lack financial education or people skills.
Balance is important in self development.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
REMINDER
✓✓ In any field, readers are leaders.

✓✓ If you do extra ordinary things,
your story will be written.
✓✓ Your brain is a mental factory. Give
it the right raw materials.
✓✓ Choose your books carefully
because what a man reads makes
up the fabric of his life.
✓✓ Read books that will unleash your
potential.
✓✓ Develop a personal library.
7
Chapter
SEMINARS iI
At the end of 2016, I went through my diary

as a way of self evaluation to find out what
I had accomplished and what I had failed to
accomplish. As I perused through the pages of
my blue diary, I noted a few major achievements
that I had accomplished in that year. I had
published two books, spoken on a number of
events and written educational materials for
some companies. I also realized that my asset
column had fattened and I had finally resigned
from my full time job. (You know how hard it
is to make such a decision). My communication
skills had improved, positive thinking was part
of my life and my home library had over 15
hard copy books on self development that I
had finished reading.
I know that all the above achievements
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Rodrick F. Nabe
might be small to some people but here is my
main point; I counted the number of personal
development seminars and conferences that I
had attended in that year. It reached a total of
61 events. On average, I attended 5 events every
month. Of course most of them were free but
some seminars dug deep into my pocket. Those
seminars that I attended transformed my
mindset, my network and my career in public
speaking. I stopped complaining about what I
didn’t have but instead my eyes were open to
various opportunities that could change my life
and the lives of those around me.
In one of the seminars that I attended,
there sat beside me a young beautiful lady who
whispered to me that she had seen me in a
number of seminars. She also told me that she
had got her best clients through networking
in seminars. She was an event organizer
specifically for planning weddings. She talked
much about the power of a business card and
how her client base grew every after seminar.
Do you know of people who go to seminars
for food!? Ooh!! That is so bad! In one of
the WhatsApp groups, one person was really
pissed off by a guy who wanted to know if
the advertized seminar had food and drinks
for the participants. The guy sent several
messages asking if food would be provided.
9
The moment he was told that food would be
provided, he replied by saying, “I will definitely
attend.” Some people mind about feeding their
bodies with the best foods available but they
ignore to feed their most precious asset- the
mind (their mental factory).
Steven Covey wrote about the ‘Seven habits
of highly successful people’ and he uses a
catchy phrase of sharpen the saw. What he
meant was not to physically sharpen the saw;
he meant to sharpen the mind in order to
produce more brilliant ideas. Every time you
leave a conference, you go home with new
ideas that you never had before. The idea of
the ROAD TO SUCCESS INSPIRATIONAL
brand was a result of seminars. After attending
a particular seminar, I realized that I had to
set up a program that would provide capacity
building to young people in schools and out
of school. Am glad that the Road to success
initiative has inspired a lot of young people,
youth who did not believe in themselves have a
new look at life. Fellow teachers who thought
life was meant to be a torture were inspired
to know that I managed to add value to my
teaching skills.
At a certain seminar organized by RENEW,
one of the facilitators, a middle aged American
lady took us out of the conference hall (this
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Rodrick F. Nabe
was unusual) and she made us look around to
witness the beauty that we ignore on a daily
basis. Alexis made us realize how beautiful the
trees were at that moment. I could now hear
the birds sing and the cool wind brushing off
my skin. We took deep breaths and closed our
eyes to appreciate such kind of beauty. Take
a look around you right now. What do you
see? Be grateful for what you can see and feel;
connect with nature because we are a spiritual
being.
Do you know why the best companies
take their special conferences off site (Away
from board rooms)? The feeling of a new
environment brings a new thinking. That is how
world class corporate companies strategize to
promote their sales and productivity. You too
can do it on a personal or family level. Every
time I take my wife to a seminar is when she
gets to write in her diary; the only time she
writes in her diary. The energy and ideas she
gets from the seminar environment get her
mind on task. Sometimes she comes up with
a new scheme of how to increase our income.
Seminars and conferences are powerful.
Leave your comfort zone.
Michael Mahundi is a friend of mine who
founded an organization called MOTIVATING
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TANZANIAN STUDENTS. During one of
the events that I organized with my partners,
he showed the audience a connection of a
political scenario with the aspect of a comfort
zone. He first told us the story of Ghana’s
independence struggle by Nkwame Nkrumah
and how it impacted Tanzania’s independence
led by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere.
He told us how Nkrumah informed Nyerere
about the independence of Ghana which was
the first African nation to break away from the
chains of colonialism. At that time, Nyerere
was in Scotland enjoying a sophisticated and
comfortable life. He was literally in his comfort
zone relaxing. But this news of Ghana, a
“black nation” gaining independence disrupted
Nyerere’s lavish Scottish comfortable life. He
came back to Tanzania in order to fight for the
independence of Tanzania. The whole country
would have failed to get independence in 1961
if Nyerere had stayed in his comfort zone.
Going to a live event can help you get out
of your comfort zone. The illusion of the
internet sometimes makes you think that you
are talking, walking and associating with other
people. With all the live podcasts, Skype calls
and online platforms, nothing can replace
physical contact of person to person. Every
time you sit in a conference, you begin to
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Rodrick F. Nabe
realize how valuable other people are. You
meet with amazing people who have extra
ordinary mindsets. You make a network of
friends; friends who will help you move ahead.
We all know that your network is your net worth.
Invest in yourself.
The wealthy people who invest in any
venture have to leave their offices and go
out into the wild to understand how their
investments work. Warren Buffet is one of the
world’s richest men who have invested billions
of dollars in the stock market. However he
strongly advises that “the best investment is to
invest in you.”
John Maxwell is the best leadership speaker
that I have ever heard of. He has written books
that develop great leaders. He once gave an
example of how association can add a lot of
value to an individual who gets together with
others to learn more. This is how he put it: if
you come with a good idea on the table of five
people and everyone shares their good idea,
you will walk away with five more good ideas.
You came to this table with one idea but you
leave with six good ideas.
That is what happens in conferences and
seminars. The power of networking will help
you gain new ideas from other participants.
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One famous speaker insisted that the network
you make in seminars must work for you. It
must be a net – that- works (net – work). Connect
with the people you meet during the events and
do something with them after the event. Some
people go to events to meet with their idols
but all they do is take selfies for posting on
Instagram and Facebook. That is really absurd.
One of the self development events that I
once organized turned out to be a classroom for
me as one of the speakers gave out a powerful
speech on the three ways which anybody can
use to achieve their dreams. He drew three
rectangular boxes and wrote the three ways.
PROFESSION TALENT SKILL
The speaker explained that some few extra

ordinary people in this world have been able
to use the three ways to achieve their dreams.
He mentioned people like Dr. Myles Munroe,
Ben Carson and many others. There are other
people who maximize two of those ways
to make an impact to the world. What really
fascinated me is that even if you only maximize
one of the three ways above, you can have an
enormous contribution to this world.
We have all heard about the immeasurable
contribution of people with talents. People who
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Rodrick F. Nabe
have never seen a white or blackboard. People
who have never met a lecturer or professor in
a class or lecture room. People like Diamond
Platnumz, Mrisho Mpoto and the world class
football players; People who neither have a
certificate, diploma or degree from a university.
Everybody on this planet has a talent that they
can use to make the world a better place.
Develop a skill of drawing or event
organizing and make sure you are good at
it. Brian Tracy actually says that all skills are
learnable. Just like the way you learn to drive a
car is the same way you can learn how to play
the piano or to edit movies. I have developed
a skill of working with people so that I can
benefit as they benefit too. If you don’t have an
education qualification or skill, there is nothing
to worry about. You still have your talent. Find
out your talent and use it to make this world a
better place.
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REMINDER
✓✓ Your network is your net worth

✓✓ If you go to a seminar with one good
idea, you will come back home with
more than one good idea.
✓✓ Leave your comfort zone and meet
new people.
✓✓ The best investment you can ever
do is to invest in you.
✓✓ You can either use your profession,
talent or skills to achieve your
dreams or you can use all three
together.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
Chapter
VIDEOS &
AUDIOS
iII
“Faith comes by hearing and hearing……..

most information that we have gets in through
the ears and the eyes.”
– LES BROWN
My computer is so valuable to me. it is over
five years old with scratches and markings made
by my son. Now you might wonder why an old
device with some keys plucked out becomes so
valuable! The greatest value of this computer
is the folder of videos and audios that I have
stored there. Videos of famous entrepreneurs,
leaders, athletes and champions, it also has a
rich folder of audio books and inspirational
audio files.
Every morning is another opportunity to
feed my mind through my ears and my eyes
with the best audio-visual materials that give
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me motivation and inspiration. As I watch and
listen to these messages, my faith grows and
my fear diminishes. I cannot completely make
the fear go away but I can cripple the fear
every time I listen or watch a message from
Les Brown, Tony Robins, Oprah Winfrey or
Richard Branson. These messages are like my
energy boosters. We know people who drink
red bull to get humped up but as for me, such
messages are my energy drinks. While people
sleep on the bus after a long day’s work, am all
attentive listening to an audio message by Joel
Osteen or TD Jakes or Jim Rohn.
One of my favorite audio messages is
entitled “I will fear no evil - for you are with
Me.” by Les Brown. Let me share a few words
with you of this message.
Many times am sure that we have all taken time just
to stop and reflect what’s happening in the newspapers;
where is this leading to? We must begin to look at the
things that we can do that will put a firm footing in our
life……
What gives your life a sense of meaning and
purpose? Because once you find that, it puts you in
your power place. If you discover your life’s work, I
encourage you to start working on it. If you can’t do all
of it at one time, do just a little bit of it. If you don’t
know why you are here, I encourage you to find out what
your purpose is.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
This audio message goes on for fourteen
minutes and thirteen seconds; A very powerful
message that talks about your purpose and
how to conquer your fears. It explains how fear
kills people’s dreams. Most people don’t do
anything big in life because of fear. They have
the fear of failure and the fear of success. One
person once said that life is a battle of territory,
if you stop fighting for what you want, what
you don’t want will automatically take over.
What you hear on a regular basis gives you fear
or faith. What do you watch or listen to on a
regular basis?
There is a time when my wife developed a
habit of checking my phone regularly when
I came back home. She would go through
my messages, Instagram posts, Facebook
and WhatsApp messages. This was a strange
behavior that she had developed suddenly.
It really pissed me off. So as I organized the
DVDs one day, I found a series of movies that
she had bought recently. One of the movies
was “If loving you was wrong” - it portrays
how married couples cheat themselves; having
sexual relationships with friends of their
spouses. The movie showed a whole bunch of
cheating boyfriends and husbands. This movie
had built a fear in her that I might also cheat
her. That is why she kept on going through
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my mails each day. The moment she stopped
watching the movie, her sudden behavior also
disappeared.
My first born Fredrick is a humble and
polite boy. There was a time when we visited a
family friend and when Fred was asked about
his future career, he replied that he wanted to
be a soldier. This caught me off-guard. There
is absolutely no one in our family who has ever
served in the army. Where could he have got
this inspiration? He even asked me for gifts like
helicopter gunships and pistols. My discovery
was that he was watching a lot of Rambo and
commando movies. He had developed a strong
belief that soldiers were the strongest and
coolest people on earth.
My mentor always talks about his attitude
towards listening and watching the news. He
said that all the broadcasted information on
T.V had a big percentage of negative news.
This is really true. Take this example of radio
X which has a morning program of reading the
headlines from different newspapers. On this
particular day, after reading Dale Carnegie’s
book of HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND
INFLUENCE PEOPLE, I decided to listen
to this morning radio show that provides news
headlines. You will understand that if you listen
to the news in the morning, your whole day is
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Rodrick F. Nabe
massively impacted with fear and negativity.
The radio presenter started by reading about
four Somalians found dead in a hotel. He then
went ahead to explain about the three men
who murdered their wives and later committed
suicide. That was not all; he and his fellow
presenter embarked on another news headline
of traffic officers who used fire arms to arrest
a former political leader for wrong parking.
These headlines went on with fake academic
document sagas, fraud stories, accidents,
inflation increase………
Les Brown is one the world’s renowned
motivational speakers who has ever earned
over $100,000 for an hour speech. He always
told his staff to tell him bad news between
10am and 12 pm after he had listened to
strong positive messages in the morning. Some
people think that knowing all about the deaths,
accidents and corruption cases in the news
helps them; these stories actually feed their fear
and limit their positive thinking. These stories
unconsciously make you a slave to your fears.
That is why we see people who die with a
broken heart because they accepted fear to be
their friend. They forget that what they hear
and watch contributes a lot to their decision
making. I once wrote a very powerful but scary
monologue called the dying man. It talks about
21
a man who was regretting of dying without
using his gifts and talents.
THE DYING MAN

Here I am sipping up the last breaths of my
life. I now see death coming to grab my hand
to take me with him. I don’t want to go with
him because I have friends calling out for me.
I see my dreams, my talents and my skills beg-
ging me to stay and finish the race with them.
I can’t move an inch towards them.
The book I didn’t write looks at me with pity:
the song I didn’t sing stares at me with anger,
the speech I didn’t give mocks me. They all say
I have let them down. As tears drop from only
my right eye, I stretch out my hand but death
is already at the scene. He smiles suspiciously
as he pulls me away from my dreams.
He then whispers to me, “what a waste of your
life you fool! You had all the power to write
that book, to sing that song and to give that
speech.” As he pulls me away from my talents,
he shows a thumbs-up to another person be-
sides my bed. He happily says, “thank you Mr.
FEAR for the good work.”
That is when I suddenly realize that Mr. Fear
was not my true friend. He was just mislead-
ing me. At this moment, my last remaining
breath evaporates and my eyes close for ever.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
I know how you feel now; that strong feeling

of guilt for not pursuing your talents. I also
feel awful after reading this monologue that I
wrote by myself. But this is a good reminder
that fear is not your true friend. Many people
start saying, “I fear this and I fear that………”
but you have to understand that fearing to
unleash your potential does not set you free.
Don’t smile with Mr. Fear, do not dance or eat
with him. And most importantly do not allow
him to take the space of FAITH.
Do you know how people are brainwashed?
They don’t pluck out their brains and wash
them with antiseptic soap. No! No! they make
you listen or watch the same thing over and
over again until your subconscious mind
believes that what you are watching is the only
truth. A terrorist group in Nigeria called Boko
Haram kidnapped a number of girls from a
community and held them captive for a long
time. After five years, four girls were seen in
a video clip explaining that Boko Haram is a
good group of people trying to make Islam
and the world a better place. Is that right?
This terrorist group had invaded a village,
killed the locals and kidnapped over 200 young
girls. Some girls actually lost their lives in the
course of rescue. Why would these few girls,
23
who were part of the kidnapped group, stand
in front of a camera to praise their kidnappers
(the terrorists)? The answer is simple. They
made them watch and listen to Boko Haram
activities until the girls’ minds reached a point
of believing that this group was doing more
good than harm.
I once met a teenager who wanted to join
the Road to success team. He was inspired by
my work of educating and transforming youth
in schools, colleges and universities. During our
conversation, I realized that he was putting on
ear rings; he had a tattoo on the right side of
his neck and a lot of bling bling on his hands.
He was always busy watching videos on his
phone. I politely asked to see the collection of
his music videos on his phone. He had albums
of Lil Wayne, Birdman, Snoop Dog, 50 cent,
ODB and many other black hip hop artists.
Let me hope you know what I am saying right
now? When he stood up to leave, his jeans
were sagging below his buttocks while a red
marijuana handkerchief peeped from the hind
pocket of his trousers.
The videos he was watching turned him into
a “nigger”. He dressed like them and all his
gestures while talking were similar to those of
the American rappers. Do not under estimate
the power of audio and video media. African
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Rodrick F. Nabe
girls have been influenced to bleach their skins
because they watch light skinned video queens
on T.V. someone once told me that habits like
smoking and drinking are partly caused by the
persuasive advertisements shown by the media.
They advertise a brand of cigarette by using a
handsome man and a gorgeous lady smoking
in a relaxed and sexy pose. The advert then
finishes up by words like, “for men of class and
ladies of destiny.” Do you expect an adolescent
teenager to resist such a temptation?
HOW TO GROW YOUR FAITH

I said earlier that life is a battle for territory,
if you stop fighting for what you want, what
you don’t want will automatically take over. If
you don’t fight for health, sickness will come in;
if you don’t fight for faith, fear will take over.
So use the videos and audios to bring you more
faith because that is what makes you stronger.
I recommend you take the following measures
to increase your faith and weaken your fears.
✓✓ Watch a motivational video and
listen to inspirational audios every
morning. This will help you start
your day with a positive mental
attitude.
✓✓ Do not go on social media in the
morning until you have reviewed
25
your own personal plans for that
day. This will help you stay focused
on your daily goals.
✓✓ Avoid watching the news in the
morning. The largest percentage of
broadcasted news is negative talk
that strengthens your fears. You
should not make fear stronger.
✓✓ Record a voice note of yourself
saying something good about
you and listen to it on a daily
basis. Your voice represents your
unconscious mind. Say words like
I am strong, I am a winner, I can, I
will, I must…….
✓✓ Gather enough information about
what you want to do in life- what
you really want to do for the rest of
your life. This will give you the full
meaning of your life.
✓✓ Reduce the number of hours you
spend watching other people’s
programs on T.V. think about
yourself being watched by other
people.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
REMINDER
✓✓ Faith comes and builds up by

listening to the right messages.
✓✓ Fear is not your true friend. It will
rob you of all your gifts. Don’t let it
consume you.
✓✓ Watch motivational and
inspirational videos and listen
to audios too. Those will be your
energy boosters when your energy
is low.
✓✓ Your behaviors or habits are also
determined by what you watch and
listen to. Who you are will attract
people of your kind.
27
Chapter
MENTORS IV
“You cannot see the picture when you are in

the frame.”
On 28th January 2016, I met a person that
I had chosen as one of my mentors. His work
as a public speaker was and is still amazing. I
really admired how he spoke while on stage; his
energy and sense of humor moved my thoughts
around. I saw myself on stage speaking to an
audience. He actually made me realize that I
could do more than what I thought I could do.
He is now my mentor now. He has made me
discover a lot of things about myself. I have
learnt to commit to excellence because of him.
I have also improved my listening skills, selling
skills and entrepreneurship skills.
My other mentor is a counselor,
psychologist, author, lecturer and event planner.
I like the way he values and connects with his
wife and family. He knows how to handle his
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Rodrick F. Nabe
lady, no wonder he is a psychologist. So how
did I get to have him on my mentors’ list!?
This is how it happened. I wanted to balance
the entrepreneurship life I developed from my
other mentor with the relationship part from a
psychologist I wanted to have a stable financial
empire but also a stable relationship with my
family. Those two people are doing well in their
fields and I really wanted to learn from them.
Even if my work schedule is tight, I will always
set some time for my family.
Our first mentors are our parents or
guardians. They are responsible for grooming
us into better people before the world clouds
us with its toxic character. Researchers say that
any person’s character is built between age zero
and 7. A research was once done which asserted
that children on average are told the word
NO 40,000 times verses the word YES (5,000
times). We get all those NO NO NO….. from
our first mentors (our parents and guardians).
The question is, “are our parents well equipped
to develop a winning mentality in us?” do they
know how to instill confidence and a sense of
identity in their children? Most parents actually
instill inferiority complex in their children by
telling them how they can’t do this and that.
A mentor’s duty is to awaken the greatness
in you. They don’t actually teach you anything;
29
they only show you how to use what you
already have in you. Someone once said that
you cannot teach another human something
new but you can only help them understand
how to use what they already know. My mentors
never tell me to back off any project however
big it seems. They make me see myself capable
of accomplishing what is ahead of me. They
then help me to go around, under or over
the challenges that I face along the way. Your
mentor should help you walk the road they
walked but in an easier and less stressful way.
That is why the word mentor is associated to
adviser, counselor, guide, tutor and teacher.
The dictionary also mentions Guru for mentor.
That means your mentor must be good at what
they are guiding you to do.
Did you know that Michael Jackson had
a vocal coach? Even though he was the king
of pop, he needed someone to guide him
across certain bridges. Phil Jackson helped
Michael Jordan to win a lot of basketball
championships. You too need a mentor in the
profession or career of your choice. Someone
who sees what you can’t see. The best teams
in the world would be able to survive without
a coach but they would not be able to win
trophies and championships.
Lisa Nichols is one of America’s well
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Rodrick F. Nabe
paid female speakers who uses her skill of
storytelling to capture audiences. She once
explained in an interview that she has four
mentors who have helped her achieve that
level of success. And she actually pays them
for the mentorship. If you don’t have a mentor,
this book is a wakeup call for you. Do not
just find any successful person to be your
mentor. Approach a successful person who
is in the profession or career of your choice.
I specifically chose my mentors because they
are successful in the fields that I want to be a
success.
MENTORS VS ROLE MODELS

(IDOLS)
I once heard a friend of mine saying that
Michael Jackson was his mentor. I asked him
if he had ever met MJ. And he said NO. I
asked him if MJ had ever communicated with
him; he said NO. I informed him that Michael
Jackson was not his mentor, he was his role
model. A role model is a person who inspires
you so much but has no close connection or
communication with you. My number one role
model is Will Smith; I know a lot about him
but he knows nothing about me. But that does
not stop me from being inspired by him.
A mentor is closer to you than a role model;
31
you know him and he knows something about
you. And you get regular advice and help
from him or her. I can’t spend a week without
connecting with my mentor. Your mentor
must know you in order to help you unleash
your potential.
I watched a powerful short video about
Colonel Saunders the founder of KFC
(Kentucky Fried Chicken). This is a person
who lost his father at age 5, dropped out of
school at age 16 and was fired from four jobs
by age 17. Such a life could have made him
give up. At age 18, he got married and had a
daughter with his wife. Unfortunately after two
years, his wife left him and took their daughter.
He joined the army and later applied for law
school but faced rejection after rejection. He
decided to take on jobs like being an insurance
salesman and dishwasher in a small café. He
retired at age 65 and got only $105 cheque from
the government. At that age, $105 was an insult
to such an old man. So he decided to commit
suicide because he thought of no reason of
staying alive. You too might have gone through
a hectic life but it’s not over until its over.
As he wrote his suicide note, Colonel
Saunders realized that he had not done enough
in his life. He remembered that he was good
at cooking chicken better than anyone he ever
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Rodrick F. Nabe
knew. He finally gave up the idea of killing
himself. He created a recipe of fried chicken
and started selling it to his neighbours. KFC
was born out of an inspiration of desperation.
I would be very blessed to have such a person
as my mentor. He would tell me how he went
through all those challenges of being rejected
and the inner challenges of guilt. A mentor
must have that thick skin that he developed
after winning countless battles.
By age 85, Colonel Saunders was a billionaire
with over 20,000 KFC branches in over 123
countries. If he had committed suicide, how
many jobs would die with him? We would be
deprived of all this inspiration. You are never
too old to succeed. Get a mentor to show you
a way that will ease your struggles. You might
not be as strong as Colonel Saunders.
MENTOR OF MENTORS
It would be unfair to share with you the
without mentioning this one person; a person
who laid a strong foundation in the world of
personal development. Jim Rohn is regarded
as the Guru of personal development. Mark
Victor Hansen opened up a video module
about Jim by calling him an influencer of
influencers. He called him a philosopher who
33
did not only impact the industry of Network
Marketing but also impacted the industry of
public speaking.
Jim Rohn always made this statement, “if
you change, everything will change for you.”
He made it clear that if you work hard on your
job, you can make a living but if you work hard
on yourself, you will make a fortune. He was
a great mentor to dozens of successful men
like Daren Hardy, Tony Robins, Les Brown
and many others. After passing away in 2009,
a collection of his videos was put together
into a course called the FOUNDATION FOR
SUCCESS. Jim Rohn has mentored successful
speakers, educators, networkers, businessmen
and sales people.
He always spoke with less effort but with
clarity of language. I really go through some of
his catchy phrases regularly;
• Stand guard at the door of your mind.
• How do you feel about the past and
how do you feel about the future?
• The fortune belongs to those who start
early.
• The same wind blows on us all….. what
matters is how you set your sail.
• Humans can do the most remarkable
things no matter what happens.
• Success is something you attract by
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Rodrick F. Nabe
becoming an attractive person.
• Those who have been mentored by such
a guru have drawn inspirational tattoos
at the heart of this universe.
MC PILI PILI
Mentorship can help a person who is
speeding in the wrong direction to change
course and go the right direction. Mc Pili Pili
is a comedian, motivational speaker and event
manager. He is also a teacher by profession
who was born in Dodoma- the capital city of
Tanzania. He is one of the few teachers that
I have seen succeed in switching careers and
becoming successful. Let me showcase to you
how mentorship changed the life of Emmanuel
Mathias (Mc Pili Pili).
While still teaching, rubbing blackboards
and marking huge piles of books, Emmanuel
was not happy with his salary. But, mostly,
he felt that he had not lived to his fullest. He
had a natural sense of comedy in him and
his students enjoyed his lessons. As he went
through some Facebook posts, he came across
a profile of a successful speaker, entrepreneur
and Mc (Anthony Luvanda).
He had to board a bus from Dodoma (an
8 hour journey) to Dar es Salaam to meet this
person. With only transport fares, he took the
35
risk and travelled to meet Anthony. After a
few months, Emmanuel resigned from a job
that was paying him an average salary of $150
per month. He committed himself to learning
under mentorship of his chosen mentor.
For one full year, Anthony taught Emmanuel
how to dress, speak, and sell and how to be a
professional comedian. He was a good student
and this finally paid off for him. Despite his
shortness, Mc Pili Pili is one the highest paid
comedians in East Africa. He is now the C.E.O
of Pili Pili Events doing motivational speaking,
radio presenting, stand up comedies and
business.He is also a published auther. From
being paid $150 per month to earning more
than $8,000 per month; he didn’t have to study
another degree or Phd.
Think about this for a minute, everything
you speak or do has been taught to you either
by someone physically or digitally. All that is
mentorship but is it giving you the right results
that you need? Why not choose an individual
that is successful in the career of your choice!
Some people have a strong EGO that does not
allow them to surrender to another person. I
know that you are not one of those egocentric
people. Les Brown calls Ego – Edging God
Out.
The fact is that there is always someone
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Rodrick F. Nabe
better than you in what you want to do. Learn
from them so that you can become more
valuable. I like the Chinese proverb that says,
“ask those who are coming from the direction
you are going.” I also believe that we should ask
for help not because we are weak but because
we want to remain strong.Get a mentor if you
want to be extraordinary in this world.
37
REMINDER
✓✓ Our first mentors are the parents

and guardians. If you are a parent
or guardian, play your part.
✓✓ Do not confuse a role model for a
mentor.
✓✓ A good mentor is one who walks
his talk; one who has applied the
lessons he has learnt in life.
✓✓ Swallow your EGO and be a
student. Learn from those who are
better than you.
✓✓ There is always someone better
at what you want to do. Look for
them and learn from them.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
Chapter
TRAVEL V
While speaking to a group of church

youths, I told them a story of how I fell down
on an escalator. You might not know escalators
and you have no reason of being ashamed.
Escalators are simply moving staircases used in
commercial buildings to help “lazy” shoppers
move from one floor to another. I think they
were basically made for old and sick shoppers
but even young energetic people enjoy them
so much. The first time I encountered an
escalator, it was a real challenge to me just like
my first time on a plane.
I miscalculated the steps and eventually
found myself down on these moving stairs
taking me up. It was an embarrassing situation
but am glad it taught me a lesson. It will never
intimidate me again in my whole life. Travelling
gives you exposure to new environments
that stimulate new ideas in areas of business,
relationship and personal development.
Whenever you move away from your familiar
39
territory, you get to experience new cultures
and innovations that you wouldn’t notice if
you stayed in your environment.
The Chagga tribe in Tanzania doesn’t believe
in kneeling for another person. They believe
that you can only kneel before God but not
fellow man. In Uganda, they have a different
take on this culture. The Baganda, the most
powerful tribe in the country use kneeling as a
sign of respect for the other person. This world
has a vast diversity of cultures, technology,
geography and ethnicity.
It is said that a child has the ability to learn
seven different languages at the same time if
that child is exposed to the right environment.
This means that our greatness or potential can
be seriously limited by the places we reside.
The more you travel the more you learn and
that is how your personality grows. That is how
you can bring out the best in you to impact
your community.
Let us look at a simple practical illustration;
if you put together two children with different
levels of exposure - One who has traveled to
different countries and one who has never
crossed a boarder. Who do you think out-
smarts the other in evaluating social, economic
and political issues of the world? That is
the same thing that happens when such two
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Rodrick F. Nabe
graduates meet at an interview. The same thing
happens when such two employees meet at a
job. And that also happens in business where
one business owner has traveled the world
while another business owner knows only the
boundaries of his village.
In one of Napoleon Hill’s books
OUTWITTING THE DEVIL, it explains
how our potential is minimized by the devil
by making us believe in scarcity. The moment
you travel to distant lands, you realize that you
have a lot of resources at your disposal. Our
thoughts at most times can only go as far as
our eyes can see. Your job is to expand your
horizon by going to new places where you can
learn new things.
My friend Sarah is not a travelling person.
And sometimes she fails to generate business
ideas with a mentality that there are few
options. When she travelled to Comoro Island,
that is when she realized that this world is full
of opportunities. She came back excited and
confused. She wanted to start exporting a
whole lot of items because she found out that
there was ready market for foodstuffs. She
told me that she could even set up a business
centre in Mtwara for easy management of her
businesses. You better understand me here.
This is a person who had a mentality that
41
nothing new can work for her but all of a
sudden, she is fired up after that trip.
Have you ever wondered why most African
leaders take their children to study abroad? The
reason is not to get sophisticated European
transcripts, no! no! the real reason is to give
their children exposure; to learn more about
the world than those children who study from
the local institutes. You will agree with me that
those children who study abroad come back
and run the political and economic game in the
country.
I always give this example when I talk about
travelling. If you stay indoors for a long time,
your self confidence will also be affected. It will
diminish. That is why high ranked government
officers are sentenced to house arrest.
Their dignity will be preserved but their self
confidence is damaged. Confining yourself to
one area only gives you access to same people,
same opportunities, same old friends, same
challenges and lifestyle. You learn very few
new things.
You don’t need to travel to another
continent in order to meet new opportunities.
Just leave a few kilometers of your comfort
zone; visit the next town, village, district or
region. If you can’t visit another continent,
visit a nearby country. There is always a new
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Rodrick F. Nabe
opportunity or lesson for you.
YOUR CITIZENSHIP
Every time I travel to another country, I
need to show up my passport in order to get
a visa stamp that allows me to enter the next
country. This activity really pisses me off and I
know it annoys some other people. I believe we
are citizens of the universe. We should be free
to move and enjoy what God created for us.
However human laws have been put up to limit
free movement. I am a citizen of the world and
so are you. Do you want to live your whole life
in one small town? Not knowing even your
neighborhood? There is a lot waiting for you
to see – get a passport and travel as much as
you can.
There is a saying, “known hells are preferable
to hidden heavens.” Many people fear going
to new places, meeting new people and doing
new things. They dread along each day doing
the same old things they know well. They
prefer staying in places that they are familiar
with. They enjoy meeting the same old friends
but I believe that the grass is always greener on
the other side. My interpretation is that there is
always something good on the other side. But
you won’t know about it until you step foot on
the other side.
43
REMINDER
✓✓ Travelling is like opening another

page of your life book.
✓✓ Your vision and imagination can
be magnified if you visit new
environments.
✓✓ You are a citizen of the universe.
Challenge yourself to know more
about the universe.
✓✓ New environments open up new
opportunities. The grass is always
green on the other side.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
Chapter
RELATIONSHIPS VI
I want you to start this chapter with a simple

task. Take a few minute and write down five
of your best friends; people whom you at least
meet or communicate with everyday.
✓✓ Then analyze their general financial
status
✓✓ And then analyze your financial
status.
✓✓ And lastly compare your financial
status with that of your friends.
You will discover that you almost have the
same financial status or lifestyle; the income,
places you hang out, foods you eat, saving
culture and beliefs. You might not exceed
them- not more than $200. You have heard of
the saying, “birds of the same feathers flock
together.”
There is a disease called RELATIONAL
ILLNESS that is contagious from friend
45
to friend – birds of a feather flock together.
Sometimes birds of different feathers can look
alike mentally if they stay together for a long
time. The people you spend most of your time
with can influence the way you think, talk and
walk.
OUR RELATIVES
From what I know, we cannot choose our
relatives. Your mother becomes your mother
automatically when she gives birth to you.
The same applies to your father, uncle, aunt,
brother, sister……….
Have you ever thought of having another
brother or sister because the biological brother
or sister is a pain in your life? I know of a
family which has an addicted thief. I call him
an addicted thief because he couldn’t stay a
day without stealing anything. He would steal
the home utensils, clothes and even food. He
sold whatever he stole at a very cheap price. He
even sold the things he owned. So the family
was so fed up with this guy and I remember
one of his brothers lamented in front of me by
saying, “I wish this guy was not my brother!”
His wish was genuine but it could never
come true. The moment someone is born in
your family circle, they automatically become
your biological relative. So we can’t change
their status, however bad they are. I have an
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Rodrick F. Nabe
aunt who is fond of gossiping and spreading
rumors to bring confusion in the family; People
wish that she was not part of the family but that
can’t change anything. In the African setting,
a father is given right to disown a disobedient
son or daughter. They can even expel them
away from the home environment but that
does not change their status in the family tree.
So if you have negative relatives, I think
the best way is to give them less of your time.
The more you stay around them, the more
you drown into their negative talk, negative
thoughts and negate lives. It becomes your own
task to creative a positive environment that can
also transform them. The people around you
will affect you no matter what. Therefore it is
important to stay around positive people and
self motivated relatives.
OUR FRIENDS
As we grow up, our circle of relationship
expands from family members to neighbours,
schoolmates, and workmates and so on.
We make friends in places that we visit, stay
and work. They eventually get access to our
conscious mind which means they can affect
our paradigm system. The greatest advantage
we have over friends is that we can choose our
own friends.
47
Do you know the main kinds of friends
that you will come across? Some will be toxic
friends while others will be nourishing friends.
It’s your duty to choose which kind you want
to associate with. The good thing is that even
if you choose a toxic friend, you have a choice
to let them go because relation is compulsory
but friendship is a choice.
TOXIC FRIENDS
I once read a story about a frog and a
scorpion. A frog met a scorpion at the banks
of a river stranded because he wanted to cross
the river but didn’t know how to swim. So the
scorpion started a friendly conversation with
the frog.
Scorpion: Hallo Mr. Frog, I would like to
cross to the other side of the river but as you
well know, I can’t swim.
Frog: That is so bad for you.
Scorpion: It is not that bad because you are
my friend now and I would like to ask you for
a favor. May I hope onto your back so that we
can cross together?
Frog: No! no! no! you are not my friend.
Secondly, scorpions are dangerous. They can
sting frogs. And if you sting me, I will die and
drown in the river.
Scorpion: You are not thinking well with
48
Rodrick F. Nabe
your frog brain. If I sting you, we shall both
drown and die; I am not that stupid and I am
not ready to die.
After those convincing words, the frog
allowed the scorpion to hope jump onto his
back. As they reached half way the journey,
the scorpion stung the frog hard. And as the
frog drowned with the scorpion on his back,
he could not believe how he stupidly trusted
the scorpion.
Frog: oh my God!! Why did you sting me?
Scorpion: I stung you because I am a
scorpion; scorpions sting frogs.
The frog and the scorpion both drowned
and died in the river.
Toxic friends will tell you how your
friendship will blossom but their nature will
force them to sting you along the way – just
like the scorpion. a toxic friend cannot walk
their talk. They talk about punctuality but they
show up late; they talk about love but their
actions are full of hate and hypocrisy. They are
wolves in sheep skin. Have you ever had a toxic
friend in your life?
Perhaps let me give you some statements
that you can get from a toxic friend.
• Going to seminars is a waste of time.
Let’s watch this latest movie (they
disrupt your personal development)
49
• Do you really want to save money? Life
is really short. Enjoy life right now (they
disorganize your financial management
skills)
• If your wife disturbs you, just divorce
her. There are plenty of single ladies
(they weaken your commitment vows)
• You can’t be successful. You come from
a poor family. Don’t waste your time on
thinking to be wealthy (they kill your
dreams)
Such statements and advice can come from
a friend, a toxic friend. That is someone who
puts your energy down. Such friends instill fear,
inferiority complex, selfishness and arrogance
in you. It will be difficult to live an extra
ordinary life with such people around you.
NOURISHING FRIENDS
You might have heard of this statement
very many times-
“A friend in need is a friend indeed.”
According to the eleventh edition of the
oxford concise dictionary, Nourish is defined
as;
1. Provide with food or other substance
necessary for growth and health.
2. Keep a feeling or belief in one’s mind
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Rodrick F. Nabe
for a long time.
So when I talk about nourishing friends,
I mean friends who will give you substances
for your personal growth and development.
Remember that life is about growth and
change. How can we say you are alive if you
neither grow nor change? Furthermore, such
friends will help you keep positive beliefs in
your mind for a long time. As you well know
that if a positive idea stays with you for a long
time, it will have a positive effect on your life.
A challenge to you.
At this moment, I would like to challenge
you. Put this book down and write a list of
all your close friends. Check your list and find
out how many toxic friends you have. But also
single out the nourishing friends and make sure
you treat them right from today.
After evaluating your friendship circle, lets
continue with nourishing friends – some of
the statements you will hear from nourishing
friends are like;
✓✓ Don’t give up, you are stronger
than your circumstances.
✓✓ Your marriage is hard but keep the
commitment you made at the altar.
✓✓ Success is for everyone including
51
you my friend. Work harder and
smarter.
✓✓ Let us go to that seminar to learn
about financial education.
✓✓ Develop a health plan my friend.
The next generation depends on
you.
The longer you stay close to good people,
the better you become. Friends who are
successful in relationships will advise you
to treat your partner well. The same applies
to nourishing friends who are successful in
business and personal development. I am
glad to have met incredible people who have
positively impacted my life. Dr. Ringo Mowo
is one of those people. Apart from being a
wealthy businessman and speaker, he is a great
family man. His money and status does not
stand in the way of his family. Such a person
will advise you well on family matters.
Nourishing friends who are financially
successful will advise you to take care of your
money well. They will push you to get financial
education. Your circle of influence must be
made up of mostly nourishing friends.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
REMINDER
✓✓ You cannot choose your relatives.

You can reduce the time you spend
with negative relatives.
✓✓ There are toxic friends that will kill
your dreams.
✓✓ There are nourishing friends who
will nurture your dreams.
✓✓ Your circle of influence matters in
your growth.
✓✓ Average people will make you
average and great people will make
you great.
53
Chapter
SELF-EVALUATION ViI
“Experience is not the best teacher; evaluated

experience is the best teacher.”
Have you ever wondered why business
people prosper financially more than
employees? There is a factor of self evaluation
that differentiates these two people.
Mr. X is an employee of a certain corporate
company that pays him $1,000 per month. In
order to evaluate his earnings, he has to wait
till the end of 30 days to check all his errors in
judgment as connected to his income. Therefore
he makes strategies of correcting these errors
the following month. But remember that a
period of 30 days comes with a lot of small
errors that build up a hill of errors that can’t be
fixed in that short time all at once. That is why
when Mr. X receives his salary at the end of the
month, his income cannot fix all the errors. So
he corrects a few errors and carries the rest to
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Rodrick F. Nabe
the following month.
In three months time, Mr. X will have a
small mountain of unfixed errors in his balance
sheet but his salary does not grow not until he
signs a new contract after a year or two. Other
unavoidable disruptions come in like inflation,
bank charges, taxes, sickness, bad weather,
wedding contributions; funerals which make
the mountain even bigger. He will then resort
to bigger soft loans which will resort to loans
that eventually put a snow cap on his error
mountain.
Jim Rohn once said that if you wait too
long, the weeds will take over the garden. 30
days is too long a time to evaluate your financial
mistakes and fix them. I think that is why God
gave us six days of labour and one day of rest.
If we mix up the numbers, the weeds will take
over our gardens. Those who sleep too long
will find their gardens filled with weeds like
debts, disease, bills and many others.
Mr. Y on the other side is a businessman
who makes a stock evaluation at the end of the
day or at the end of the week. He checks for his
errors and corrects them the following week.
That means he evaluates his financial progress
four times each month as compared to Mr. X
who does this evaluation once a month.
When I was an employee, I happened
55
to work in a school where the head teacher
introduced morning prayers on a daily basis
for all staff members. After the prayers, the
head teacher mentioned a few highlights of
the previous day that needed to be corrected;
maybe a student missing lunch or a teacher
delaying to go to class. One or two teachers
would account for the errors and even propose
solutions to the errors. It dawned on me one
day and I realized that this Morning Prayer
session was not basically about prayers; it was
one way of evaluating teachers’ errors on a
daily basis. I assure you, that school performs
better than other schools in that region.
I suggest that you get a diary where you
record your daily activities and if possible set
aside time at the end of the day or at the end of
the week to minimize your errors. Do not wait
too long to do self evaluation. Most people set
up New Year’s resolutions on 1st January every
year. They only do evaluation when December
comes. Others wake up two months before the
year ends and start working so hard to fix all
the errors made during that whole year. John
Maxwell has a strong quote that I like which
says, “if you keep on fixing yesterday, you will
not get time to prepare for tomorrow.” People
who tend to fix a mountain of errors in a short
time find themselves cultivating more errors.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
Let me share with you my dear reader the 7
mistakes or errors that pull people back. If you
can do self evaluation on a daily basis, these
errors will be minimized.
MISTAKE 1: WORKING ON YOUR

WEAKNESSES AND FORGETING YOUR
STRENGTHS.
There is a story about a little bird that did
not know how to swim. His friends laughed
at him for not knowing how to swim. He
couldn’t stand all this embarrassment and so
he decided to devote all his time to becoming
a good swimmer. He hired a swimming coach
who turned him into an excellent swimmer.
Unfortunately during the course of perfecting
the swimming skills, he forgot how to fly. And
we all know that birds are meant to fly – that is
their strength.
Instead of dwelling on your weaknesses for
a long time; work on your strengths because
that will bring out your true purpose of your
life. We never talk much about how Ronaldo
can’t speak English well; we are always talking
about how he can dribble the ball so well.
His weakness does not define him and the
same applies to you. Stop empowering your
problems by giving them all your energy. I
57
have learnt that if you honestly work on your
strengths, your weaknesses won’t matter.
MISTAKE 2: THINKING THAT YOU
CAN DO EVERYTHING ALONE.
Oprah Winfrey once said that no one is big
enough to succeed on their own. She confessed
that she couldn’t be where she is if she had
walked the success road on her own. I am not
big enough to do it on my own and so are you.
There is no self-made millionaire.
You need people to fix the missing pieces
in your life puzzle. That is why it is important
to have a mentor, coach or teacher in your life.
You need someone to hold your hand and
point you to the right direction when confusion
comes. It is absolutely true that no man is an
island.
Sports players do well because of the support
of their coaches; students have teachers, actors
have directors and authors need the editors to
go through their work. Without these people,
we cannot be world class material. We cannot
do extra ordinary things in this world. All
the self centered people are average people
because they think they can do it on their own.
There must be a time for you to trust your
vision to someone who can nurture it and help
you achieve what you want.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
“If you want to go fast- go alone but if you
want to go far – go with others.”
It is imperative to choose the right people
who will carry your vision and support you
reach higher grounds.
MISTAKE 3: LISTEN TO THE LITTLE

MAN IN YOU
Before you take any decision- minor or
major, a small voice in you either encourages
you or discourages you. According to a classical
story of a young boy who wanted to steal
money from a blind beggar, he was faced with
these two small voices. As he approached the
goat skinned wallet of the beggar, two voices
battled in his mind. One voice told him to do it
because his mother was sick and needed food
but the other voice told him that stealing was
a sin. As he hesitated, one voice reminded him
that he would buy food for the sick mother
and remain with more change to buy sweets
for him.self Another small voice came in and
told him that he was an honorable young man
who could work and earn such money.
As one voice said YES while the other said
NO, the young boy got fed up and shouted,
“SHUT UP!” Everyone around him was
startled by this loud voice but it was a battle that
only the young boy fought in his mind. He had
59
finally listened to the voice that told him not to
steal. He walked away, asked for a sweeping job
and earned honest money. I know you too fight
such a battle on a daily basis.
However, it is not only the voices in us
but also the little voices from other people.
Some people will talk you out of doing extra
ordinary decisions because they have little
faith. Some do it to protect you from getting
hurt. That is why it is important to tell your
dreams to people who can mentally handle the
size of your dreams. I once told a friend that
my dream car is a Mercedes G63 model which
worth $230,000. His mouth was wide open for
some time. He then burst into laughter which
meant that I could never own such a car. Some
people will see your present situation as if it is
going to last forever.
Some people will not understand your
dreams because those dreams belong to you
not them Listen to that small voice that say,
“you can, you can--------”
MIATAKE 4: BEING AFRAID TO

FAIL.
Failure hurts; it’s painful when you work so
hard and then fail to achieve your goals. The
question I usually ask myself is, “is this the last
chance to do this?” the answer is NO. I have
60
Rodrick F. Nabe
another shot if I decide to try again.
The best example of failure is when a young
learns to walk. They burst their lips and get
uncountable bruises. Do they give up? NO!
They try again and again until they crawl and
then walk by themselves. We should actually
learn a lesson from them. We as parents and
guardians even encourage them to try again.
We don’t focus on how many times they fall;
we only want them to walk. So we encourage
them by clapping for them and holding their
hands. We actually see them walk before they
really walk. That picture of them walking is
so real and thick that we care less about their
fallings.
If your dream is big enough, the odds won’t
matter. The challenges will only be stepping
stones. I have also learnt that failure is not
the opposite of success; it is part of success.
Thomas Edison failed a couple of thousand
times before getting the light bulb work.
The Wright brothers failed many times
before their airplanes worked well.
Henry Ford troubled his team of engineers
until they developed a perfect engine for the
Ford automobile.
Elon Musk, the founder of SOLAR CITY,
TESLER MOTORS and SPACEX had three
attempts failed to send a spaceship to mars but
61
he eventually succeeded.
Ben Carson once narrated how a fellow
surgeon had failed to perfect an operation
on 13 patients who all died. But these failures
pioneered a successful brain surgery operation
that surgeons do today without any difficulty.
I don’t know what the 14th patient would say
if he knew that the surgeon going to do his
operation had failed to save 13 other patients?
Failure is one way of perfecting your next
move. So it is important to learn from your
failures. Don’t let your failures demoralize you.
Use them as stepping stones to go higher.
MISTAKE 5: BLAMING YOUR

CIRCUMSTANCES.
When the going gets really tough on some
people, they look around for who to take the
blame. They blame their negative relatives,
friends and neighbours. They also blame the
weather, the traffic, the soil, the machines and
other circumstances.
Your life is your full responsibility because
all decisions are made by you. Put the blame on
yourself and not on the circumstances. In fact
your circumstances are available to help you
achieve your dreams. The sun shines for you,
the rain falls for you to plant and moon lights
up your nights.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
• The drought is there to help you
improvise an irrigation system.
• Your creditors knock at your door to
remind you how harder you need to
work,
• Your negative friends and relatives are a
reminder for you to be positive.
• You will fail to get a job just because you
were meant to start your own business.
• The land lord will raise the house rent
so that you get the opportunity to build
your own house.
All those adversaries are designed to make
you stronger and better. Instead of blaming the
circumstances, count it all joy because you are
going to become a better person if you persist
all through the hard stressful process. The best
gems like gold and diamond are put through
hot and high pressure in order to refine them.
Don’t bleme yuor circumstances.
MISTAKE 6: NOT TAKING

IMMEDIATE ACTION.
You might hold onto that magic idea for
as long as you like but the opportunity will
not wait for you. If you don’t take immediate
action, someone else will take action. Have you
ever thought of doing something and then you
63
find out that another person has implemented
your magic idea! You then feel guilty and stupid.
Procrastination is a disease that has limited
very many people to become their best. The
feeling of acting tomorrow or next week
or next month is what makes most people
unsuccessful. Procrastination gives birth to
laziness which also gives birth to poverty. It is
advisable to strike the iron when it’s still hot.
Take action immediately.
If you have thought of making that phone
call, just do it. If you have an idea of starting
that business, now is the time to start - just do
it.
Time is one of the things that can’t wait
for any man. Whether you sleep or work, the
clock is tick- tock-tick-tock-tick-tock……….
It never stops for you. We have 24 hours of
each day; make sure you get something out of
each day because when the day is gone, it will
never come back. You have to learn how to
redeem time. One person said that successful
people buy time while unsuccessful people sell
their time; successful people redeem time while
unsuccessful people waste time.
A friend of mine once told me how one
minute of procrastination cost him $200. He
is a construction engineer who had got this
lucrative contract of building a mansion for
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Rodrick F. Nabe
someone.
On one Monday morning, he was supposed
to wake up early, go to the ATM, withdraw
money and send it via mobile banking to the
officer on site. He hesitated for one minute
while on the bed. By the time he reached the
bank, there was a long queue of people at the
ATM.
The site manager had already called for a
bulldozer to level the ground. This friend of
mine rushed to another bank but still couldn’t
get the money on time. Work at the site was
at stand still because they were waiting for
payment of the hired machinery. So instead of
hiring the machinery for one day, he incurred
an extra expense of hiring the machines for
the second day. All this commotion was caused
by just a little procrastination. You will never
know how far you have pushed your dreams by
procrstinating.
MISTAKE 7: LACK OF SELF

AWARENESS
It is a shame to understand other people’s
values while you don’t even understand your
own values. Knowing who you are is the best
thing that will ever happen to you. It is not a
one day process to discover who you are; it
took me over a year to realize that I was more
65
than what I thought of myself. That is when I
became aware of the uniqueness I had.
This book is about discovering yourself and
mastering your uniqueness. All the 7 principles
I talk about here are the things that helped me
gain self awareness. As I continue to practice
these 7 principles, I learn new stuff about me.
Take some time alone each day and ask yourself
these questions again and again;
• Who am I?
• What do I want to do for the rest of
my life?
• What am I doing for the rest of my life?
Ask yourself these questions several times
until your mind pops up with answers. You will
realize your ability, uniqueness, mission and
purpose.
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Rodrick F. Nabe
REMINDER
✓✓ Life is not about how long we live, it

is about the experiences. Evaluated
experience is the best teacher.
✓✓ Don’t take too long to check your
errors. The weeds might take over
your garden.
✓✓ Work on your strengths more than
you work on your weaknesses.
✓✓ No man is an island; you are not
bigger enough to prosper on your
own.
✓✓ Make your circumstances stepping
stones; don’t blame what is
available for you.
✓✓ Take immediate action;
opportunity does not linger
around in one place waiting for a
procrastinator to make up their
mind.
✓✓ Discover who you really are and
what you can really do. Discover
your self -worth.
67
CONCLUSION
“What lies within you is greater than what lies
around you.”
A man decided to sell his house and move to
another city because he believed that he could
never become successful in that neighborhood.
He had struggled for many years but all in vain.
So he sold the house and moved to another
city with hope of a new beginning. He assured
his wife and children that they would have a
better life in the new city.
As the new owner of the house dug in the
backyard to make a rubbish pit, he discovered
that there was gold. He could not believe what
he saw. He began digging all over the place
and he even found more gold. The house was
sitting on a gold mine. He was so excited that
his loud laughter brought the neighbours to his
compound. He explained to them how he had
just bought the house a few days back.
The story attracted journalists and it was
broadcasted on T.V all over the city and
neighboring cities. The man who sold this
house watched the story on T.V and literally
fainted. He could not believe how he easily
sold his gold mine for pennies.
There are many lessons from this story but
68
Rodrick F. Nabe
I want to make one lesson clear to you, “You
might sell your greatness in search of outside
greatness because you haven’t discovered what
you have in you.”
In the book THE ALCHEMIST by Paulo
Coelho, he explains how a young man left his
premises in search for a treasure. He wondered
around far places but little did he know that
the treasure he searched for was buried in his
home ground.
I strongly believe that even if you have no
strong academic background, you can achieve
an extra ordinary life. The list below shows
some people who have lived an extra ordinary
life after discovering the greatness in them.
✓✓ Steve Jobs – Apple
✓✓ Bill Gates – Microsoft
✓✓ Michael Dell – Dell computers
✓✓ Henry Ford – Ford motor company
✓✓ Richard Branson – Virgin group
✓✓ Ted Tuner – CNN
✓✓ Mark Zuckerberg – Facebook
✓✓ Colonel Saunders – KFC
✓✓ Ray Kroc – McDonalds
✓✓ Thomas Edison – General electric
✓✓ Oprah Winfrey – OWN
✓✓ Nasib Abdullah (Diamond
platnumz) – WCB
✓✓ Nelson Mandela – South Africa
69
The list can go on and on and on. Your
formal education has little connection to
your success. Someone once said that 98% of
success in your life depends on your personal
development. Only 2% is attributed to formal
education. This analysis can be true because
we have witnessed people who never stepped
in school but did extra ordinary things in this
world.
One last question to you my friend, “if they
take away your education certificates, will you
die?” the one who created you put something
special in you; something bigger than that
degree or PhD. That is your talent. The world
is waiting to see your product or service. I
know that it will not be easy to write that
book; to release that music album or to start
that business. It will not be easy to bring out
your greatness but it will be worth it. After all
the struggles and challenges, you will look up
and smile. And then you will say to yourself, “I
made it.”
GREATNESS IS WITHIN YOU
With love
RODRICK NABE
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Rodrick F. Nabe
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7 DOORS TO PERSONAL

Printed East Africa by:

“Knowledge is not power, applied knowledge is

Do you really understand the power of

✓✓ In any field, readers are leaders.

At the end of 2016, I went through my diary

PROFESSION TALENT SKILL

The speaker explained that some few extra

✓✓ Your network is your net worth

“Faith comes by hearing and hearing……..

THE DYING MAN

I know how you feel now; that strong feeling

HOW TO GROW YOUR FAITH

✓✓ Faith comes and builds up by

“You cannot see the picture when you are in

MENTORS VS ROLE MODELS

✓✓ Our first mentors are the parents

While speaking to a group of church

✓✓ Travelling is like opening another

I want you to start this chapter with a simple

✓✓ You cannot choose your relatives.

“Experience is not the best teacher; evaluated

MISTAKE 1: WORKING ON YOUR

MISTAKE 3: LISTEN TO THE LITTLE

MIATAKE 4: BEING AFRAID TO

MISTAKE 5: BLAMING YOUR

MISTAKE 6: NOT TAKING

MISTAKE 7: LACK OF SELF

✓✓ Life is not about how long we live, it

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