Ekene Moses

My straightforward book-reading tips to overcome bibliophobia or reading apathy/laziness.

I am trying to rekindle my reading habit, could you help me do that, please?

I’ll write an article on how to read more books, I hope that helps…

The above is the conversation between me and a friend that led to this article. I hope it helps her find her way back to reading books and also anyone who struggles with it or has lost it.

To begin with, we are more of a generation of readers compared to the previous five generations before us. I may be wrong, but I believe with the volume of content we consume daily — weekly basis via our mobiles, pads, tabs, laptops, etc., there is no way we could be very far from that.

Fun fact — a scientific study shows that we are bombarded by the equivalent of 174 newspapers of data a day.

The summary of the study indicates that every day the average person produces six newspapers worth of information compared with just two and a half pages 24 years ago — nearly a 200-fold increase.

But then, what do people mean when they say, ‘I have not been reading or that I struggle to read?🤷‍♂️’

It simply means when you find yourself not reading enough or at all the things your inner curiosity demands from you.

In my observation, which I believe if I research further, I’ll find is scientifically backed, is that our curiosity/brain works like our body which has appetites.

Below, I provide personally proven ways to read more books in 3 months than you have in three years, even if you have bibliophobia.

By the way, I hate those personal development strategies that are too harsh and near impossible to achieve. I kept it simple here: even someone who had never finished a book before could start by completing this article.

1 — Start from a place of interest and passion

Yes, interest and passion are essential in pursuing any goal. No matter how small or big. But the problem is that we often buy into hype and trends when it involve books.

Books are not like newly released films that everyone is rushing to get a feel of. And, even if we are to compare this scenario, I believe you had had several movies that a friend hyped, but when you started watching them, you discovered it is not your kind of movie and, in some cases, could not even finish it.

Before I was bitten by the bug of book worming, I remember that I had a friend that was into geography and history books. I tried them, but I was never able to finish any. Now I read vast and almost everything, however, of course, things that interest me.

So, the first approach is to ask yourself the genre of books you would wish to complete in the next three months. Once you have figured them out, go and get them…

2 — Spice it up with a mix

Monotony kills interest! But when it comes to reading books, I don’t think enough people bring this up into reasonable consideration.

As a starter, let’s assume you would want to finish two or three books (depending on their volume) in the next three months; I suggest you should not go for the same kind of books. This kills interest, period!

Imagine being served your ‘favourite’ delicacy every day for three months. Of course, you will be bored. That food might even seize being your favourite at some point. This example happens when you, out of the desire to rekindle your reading habit, go for a similar topic (finance, personal development, fiction, nonfiction, etc.).

Each year, noted bookworms and celebrities Barack Obama, a former president of America, and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates release a list of books they have read. I will provide you with links to these lists to see for yourself — 1. Barack Obama, and 2. Bill Gates.

On both lists, you will find a spiced-splash mixture of interests. You, too, can do the same!

A bonus tip on book selection — read the cover page to see what hypers said about the book and who those hypers were. You can also perceive a summary of the book from this.

3 — Page counting and deadline, boom!

This is the point it starts getting a little bit difficult. Because this is where the need for discipline steps in.

Page counting is something I learned from my father. He counts the number of pages a book has before he starts reading them. This enables him to set a deadline to complete that book.

A breakdown of how you can do this — Assuming you managed to settle for 2 or 3 books to complete in three months. Let’s say their average is 235 pages (I just got that number from a book I am currently reading, smiles 😁). As a starter, you can read five pages daily, no matter what.

Two books with an average of 235 pages are 470 pages in total. In that case, you should read six pages every day to finish these books in three months. Three months is approximately 84 days.

However, don’t forget to spice it up. You can read three from this and the remaining three from that. You can also read this and this and this for a week and that for just a day.

No matter how you choose to go about it, if you are dedicated, you will find both finishing almost the same week. Although, the one that interests you might finish before the other. In that scenario, start a new book alongside the unfinished one. The cycle goes on. At the end of the day, who is finishing numerous books? Youuu…

4 — Go mobile

Going mobile is a trick I use to read more books quickly by simply having their softcopies downloaded on my phone. So when I am too lazy to draw out a book and read or on a busy public transport, at least I can read from my phone. Another advantage is that you can play and listen to the audio.

Reading the book yourself is like eating the fruit, listening to it is like making a smoothie — unknown

A point that came to my mind is that you might not be able to find a free pdf copy of a book, and no one wants to pay twice for a book. To overcome this, you could take pictures of the number of pages you want to read that day from the books.

They are also softcopies so that you can go mobile with them. Then you can come back to highlight sentences that resonate with you on the hardcopy.

Bonus tip: Finishing any book you start is not a must. If it bores you, dump it and go for another one. By the way, you might come back to that same book later. But for now and always, stick to a book that interests you! Most often, the desire to finish a book that you don’t find captivating simply because you have started it negatively affects people’s reading habits.

5 — Be accountable to someone

This last bit is not easy to tackle. However, I have some tips you can use to overcome this:

  1. Form a book reading club with friends or search for one (book reading community or group) online and join. Since most people are interested in reading but need more zeal for it, finding a friend that is happy to join, especially when you introduce it as a challenge, might be easier. Although, you have to become that friend that brings the needed energy that pulls everyone along.

  2. Post on your social media status and keep updating your viewers. Write on your status what you have embarked on. State that you will be summarising your readings daily or weekly. You can even do this as a video, which might lead to vlogging or the next YouTube channel. Who knows?

  3. Practice journaling. Simply by summarising your readings or writing down lessons or even new words, etc., in a personal journal weekly or daily. This practice is personal. However, it is difficult to maintain since it is just you answering to yourself. But at the end of the day, just like all the tips I have listed (including every other personal development habit), you need self-discipline and dedication to conquer.

I hope these reading habit tips are as concise and helpful as I wished for them to be, dear friend.

Feel free to add personal tips or questions in the comments or, just like me -make a post on them. Also, don’t forget to tell me if you have tried any or going to try any. Cheers😁 !

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My fervent wish is for the personal growth of everyone and the success of all young professionals who put their hearts and souls into finding their purpose in life.

Copyright © Ekene Moses, 2023. All Rights Reserved.

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The Bittersweet Truth About Friendship Breakups: Mostly The Pain and Beauty of a Friendship

Friendships are often seen as the most stable and lasting relationships in our lives. We clutch onto them, hoping they will accompany us until the final breath, forever intertwining our souls. However, reality paints a different picture. Sometimes, these cherished connections end abruptly or gradually, leaving us feeling hurt, emotionally wounded, confused, and lonely.

Friendship breakups are not uncommon, but they are rarely discussed or acknowledged in our society. We don’t have a clear script for how to end a friendship respectfully, how to cope with the loss, or how to move on.

In this heartfelt exposition, I shall unveil my odyssey through the heartache of a friendship breakup, the reasons why it happened, the emotions I felt, and the invaluable wisdom gleaned from the wreckage.

I hope that by sharing my story, I can help others going through a similar situation, and show that friendship breakups are not a sign of our inadequacies but rather an inextricable part of life.

Welcome to my mind.

Around the final quarter of each year, people are always filled with thoughts that lead to writing and sharing their new year’s resolutions with friends and loved ones. Interestingly, in addition to this, I started seeing more people writing about cutting some friends off and not just habits — in recent years.

This subtly leaves me wondering how many friends or loved ones might have cut me off from their lives over the years without my knowledge. And if there were some, I imagine what I might have done for them to wish to remove me from their lives.

Usually, thinking about this makes me reach out to friends (those I have not cut off myself as well, smiles 😊) that our communication has recently been low, hoping that if everything is OK, I will receive positive energy back.

But last year, 2022, I received a direct email from a friend of over three years, and guess what — I have been cut off directly.

However, I am bittersweet about it — at least because of her; I will not have to wonder if anyone has cut me off since it can now be done directly. Secondly, she gave me her reasons.

How it all started

My thoughts on friendship take me back to as little of age as when I was in Primary 3 (an early childhood school system for the age bracket 6 to 8 in West Africa).

I remember vividly having our routine Thursday English language exercise called composition. This is a language creativity exercise that primary school teachers use to engage the pupils to compose and write a short story about something personal to them.

For example, we might be asked to ‘write a composition about your teacher’, ‘write a composition about your mother or father’, or even as complex as ‘write a composition about your village’ etc.,

That morning’s exercise was to write a composition about your best friend. I must also add that the teacher may wish to give a generic example on the blackboard to nudge pupils into brainstorming before writing theirs.

As a front-seater, I was handy as an example for this exercise. Below is how it went:

Teacher: Ekene, stand up and tell the class your best friend's name.

Ekene: The name of my best friend is Ifeanyi.

Teacher: How old is your best friend?

Ekene: He is five years old.

Teacher: What class is he in?

Ekene: He is in primary 1.

Teacher: No, Ekene, someone two years younger than you and in primary one cannot be your best friend. We have to use another classmate.

And that was it. I sat down and watched the teacher wipe out all the answers I gave to her questions and moved on to ask the next person. I remember that I could not describe how I felt at that moment.

But I am sure I did not feel sad about the situation or angry with the teacher. If not anything, the incident got me curious about discovering the meaning of friendship.

Over a few days, I have never fallen apart with Ifeanyi in everything (mentally and socially) as I started doing. I see myself constantly trying to clarify that I am older, wiser, and above him in class. This continued until I saw him become someone I could not call a best friend any more.

We grew to pass this stage and moved on with our lives, not remembering if we ever considered each other as best friends or just someone we knew as a family friend from childhood.

What does friendship mean to me?

Another lesson that childhood incident shaped in me is to question the intentions of people older, wiser, and above me in class when they call me their friend.

I remember courageously telling a friend of my mother during that stage that I am fond of that she was lying when she visited and ushered me to hug her and said, ‘My very good friend’.

This came as a shock to everyone. The reason I gave was, ‘You are much older and smarter than me (you are even a teacher), so you cannot be my friend.

Anyway, this faded out growing up, but not much because any friendship with someone much older and smarter than me is low-key perceived as mentorship by me.

But to be my friend is simple yet complicated. You simply have to have something above averagely interesting about you that is hidden but enough to ignite my curiosity, like appearing a bit more non-conformist.

For example, I am quick to notice and engage with the person sitting alone or not contributing much to the group. I am also that weird to pay attention to someone with different leg sides of stocks or unique dressing (to the point of even noticing how unique the eyeglass you put on is).

“It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.” — John Wooden

Fun fact: I said hi first to now one of my best-treasured friend simply because I saw he has diastema (a gap between his front teeth), just like my mom.

This is why she cut me off.

Over my a few decades lifetime, I have been friends with tens of people. I am still in contact with some, although as acquaintances. But very close to a few. There are some that I lost touch with as life's journey keeps drifting us in different directions.

I met my friend as an international exchange student in Europe. I became friends with her because I noticed she’s always quick to rush out of class and head home immediately after our lectures. I also felt that she is older than most of us.

Getting to know her better, I became friends with her husband and was invited to spend my last week with them before returning to my country upon my program completion.

We all stayed in close-knit communication throughout the months I stayed in my country until I relocated to England to further my studies. This was great news for all of us as we had thought that we might never be able to see each other again.

We were always making plans on how I will always travel to visit them in Europe during my holidays. However, Covid-19 happened in my second year in England, and everybody was locked down.

Like most of us, we overcame the lockdown by steadily conversing with loved ones. My friend was one of those I was constantly in contact with during this period. But after a few weeks, I noticed her energy towards me dropped low.

She later confirmed and urged me to give her space as she is really concerned about the state of things with the pandemic. There was no problem with this since everything went back to normal between us after the lockdown.

Fast forward to last year, my friend messaged me one day that she had bad news. She is pregnant. But she is one of those who never wishes to give birth to a child. I seized the opportunity to convince her that everything would be fine. And assured her that I knew she would be a great mother.

Everything seemed fine. A few months before her delivery, we were even on a conference call (all three of us) discussing a suitable name to give the baby now that they knew the gender.

But sometime in November, I noticed similar cold energy, but this time around, it came from both. I do not know if they have given birth or anything about them. Finally, on the 25th of December, I decided to check in on her on WhatsApp — but I was blocked. So I left an email.

I later got a response that she no longer wished to be my friend as life conditions had changed for her. She urged that I respect her wish and never to contact her again. I was sad that she did not answer my question about whether she had delivered. But most sadly, she informed me that she had not benefited anything from being my friend and no longer had time to keep committing to the friendship.

Well, I do not know if this is my usual friend who wants her space whenever she is in difficult situations and will still come back or if she is now someone who really wants to cut a friend off from her life.

I understand that becoming a parent is demanding, especially for couples who do not wish to be one. I also have been able to reconfirm the stand of my primary three’s teacher that you cannot be best friends with someone older, or more intelligent, and above your societal class.

I wish my friend the very best of life and a happy and peaceful family. I also hope she is aware that I am always here and that I will forever see her as nothing but a true friend.

Closing thoughts

I informed you what it takes to become close to me but not what it takes to be my friend. I believe in sharing. So, to be my friend, we should be able to share knowledge, happiness, and, most significantly, sadness.

I have come to realise that in friendships, it is mostly about enjoying the little things like time, moments, and laughter — for you’ll one day look back and realise they were the big things.

And I mean as little as giving a friend the chocolate she wanted…

In the words of Abhishek Tiwan — “It’s the most simple and smallest things in life that make you realise what true happiness is and what really matters”

I am sure I will add being a good friend even more to all my new year’s resolutions. Until then, I would love to hear if you have cut someone off from being your friend, are planning to, or have been cut off before — and the reasons in the comment section.

I leave you with one of my favourite quotes for times of transition – From A.A. Milne (Winnie-the-Pooh): “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

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Many thanks for reading my perspective and giving feedback. Discuss...

My fervent wish is for the personal growth of everyone and the success of all young professionals who put their hearts and souls into finding their purpose in life.

Copyright © Ekene Moses, 2023. All Rights Reserved.

Connect with me on LinkedIn…

My Analysis of the United Kingdom’s Property Market

An Overview of the UK’s Property Market/Real Estate

The property market is a significant industry in the United Kingdom’s economy. It spreads across the manufacturing and services sectors, which contribute 17.7 percent and 71.63 percent, respectively, to the UK’s GDP as of 2021.

With the UK being a developed country, the level of activities in the real estate sector at different levels is intense. The six top contributing assets divisions (Office, Multifamily housing, Retail, Industrial, Healthcare, and Student) run in billions of GBP.

Despite the impact of Covid-19, as of June 2020, listed office real estate companies had a market capitalization of 66.6 billion euros, while multifamily housing companies’ market cap stood at 53.9 billion euros. The third leading sector was retail, with a market cap of approximately 20.5 billion euros.

An Overview of AI in the UK

Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be defined in two ways, either as a ‘term’ or as a ‘process.’ As a term, it can be defined as machines’ demonstrated bits of intelligence, as opposed to the intelligence humans and animals display, which is controlled by consciousnesses and emotions.

As a process, it can be defined as a scientific system of machine learning, understanding, and application of knowledge to create an imitation of human activities (e.g., singing, problem-solving, and performing tasks) but in a broader complexity and accuracy.

Increasingly, the letters AI are appended to businesses’ tech products in the UK. This shows that AI is already an unstoppable force in the UK society and economy.

Tech Nation reports that there are up to 1,300 AI companies in the UK. That collectively generated a turnover of up to $2bn in 2021. An approximately 600% increase in the number of firms within the last decade.

The UK government also published research at the beginning of 2021 that shows that businesses spent an estimated £62bn on AI technologies and related labour in 2020 alone.

The Government has a 10-year plan that aims to position the country as a global artificial intelligence superpower that will compete on a global scale with the US and China. Similarly, Matt Chubb, Chief Technology Officer of Razor, supports the findings of the research commissioned by the UK government which posits “By 2040 over 1.3m UK business firms will be using AI, and then, investment in AI is predicted to reach over £200bn”.

Why AI will not take over estate agents’ jobs that soon in the UK

With all the glamour of AI in businesses, different sectors are asking ‘but what does this really mean for my profession?’

For the property industry, it’s unlikely that all professionals will lose their jobs, and be completely replaced by AI. Just like most other jobs.

The most recent adoption of artificial intelligence in the past recent decades includes big data computation in businesses, and public use recognition of human speech (Russell & Norvig, 2009),Generative Pre-trained Transformer like ChatGPT, autonomous operation of automobiles, intelligence in logistic networks routing, and military defence simulations (Allen, 2020).

It is exciting that adopting AI has the potential to process multiple tasks and decisions, which enables estate agents to make accurate decisions swiftly. And we have seen that it is ideal for processing and interpreting big data, which is something the human brain isn’t naturally good at and would take a long time to complete.

The possible adoptions above will help the industry in multiple areas. Properties in the UK have many factors to track, and utilising AI can assist to keep track of everything. With AI, everything is on hand to make accurate decisions quickly.

Since AI has been successful in logistics networks, it opens up possibilities for tailoring customised packages for prospective buyers and landlords by leveraging insights from previous owners. This personalised approach can result in more appealing and enticing deals. Additionally, AI has the potential to forecast buying cycles. For instance, when a Millennial or Gen Z individual purchases a property, AI can provide predictions on the duration they might contemplate upsizing or downsizing in the future.

With this facility, agents can use target marketing drafted five, 10, or 15 years in advance, rather than the current trend, which is reactive marketing. Also, with this, a buyer could potentially be a lifetime customer since AI helped in profiting and target-marketing them appropriately.

In a nutshell, AI will be about augmenting professionals and equipping them with the tools to efficiently do their jobs and more instead of replacing them. It has the features to complete low-value and monotonous administrative tasks. That will free up agents to focus more on the aspects we humans can do best — such as building solid relationships with clients and sound customer service.

Finally, real estate is still one of the top industries that harbour extortion and money laundering in the UK — AI can potentially make the industry safer by rapidly advancing security systems and smart technologies. In fact, there are a few barriers keeping AI from being applicable to every single industry in the UK. It’s inevitable, just not as soon as we assume.

Final thoughts

Probably, in two to five decades’ time, there could be less demand to employ people to do certain tasks, more so with fewer professionals being replaced when they retire or resign.

However, AI may create more roles in other areas of the real estate profession. As AI increasingly helps humans discover what they need to process tasks quicker, easier, and more accurately — more opportunities will rise for humans to do what they are best at. Optimistically, the future is simply going to bring more of these sophisticated technologies to make our everyday lives easier and smoother.

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My fervent wish is for the personal growth of everyone and the success of all young professionals who put their hearts and souls into finding their purpose in life.

Copyright © Ekene Moses, 2023. All Rights Reserved.

Connect with me on LinkedIn…

Should UK Universities Opt Out of AI Detection Tools? Insights on the Controversial Technology.

“The Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has begun ”, — as Bill Gates declared in one of his latest globally read GatesNotes Newsletter.

On defining artificial intelligence — he states:

“Technically, the term artificial intelligence refers to a model created to solve a specific problem or provide a particular service.”

So, one can rightly say that artificial intelligence is powering things like ChatGPT, which has been built to learn how to chat better continuously but can't learn other tasks.

Another aspect that makes ChatGPT a global thrill is that the tech has been around for a few years, and its second generation, released in 2019, has been trained on 17bn data points. This version has been trained on ten times that data and is the largest AI language model to date.

Meaning that, basically, it has been fed a truckload of texts from all over the web, which means it can use probability to work out what the next word should be.

It is currently free to use and therefore immersed 1m users in the first week of going live. And within two months clocked up 100m users, making it the fastest-growing web application in internet history.

ChatGPT, the acronym for Generative Pre-trained Transformer, is being sought after by people worldwide to write essays, computer code, or even create song lyrics in the style of their favourite artist, and then gasping at the rapidity and fluency of the results that come back to them.

However, it has become a frequent point of discourse in the education sector since more students and academics are boldly coming online on social to announce how they used the tech to write academic essays, and it passed.

“In September, when I met with them again, I watched in awe as they asked GPT, their AI model, 60 multiple-choice questions from the AP Bio exam — and it got 59 of them right. Then it wrote outstanding answers to six open-ended questions from the exam. We had an outside expert score the test, and GPT got a 5 — the highest possible score, and the equivalent to getting an A or A+ in a college-level biology course.

Once it had aced the test, we asked it a non-scientific question: “What do you say to a father with a sick child?” It wrote a thoughtful answer that was probably better than most of us in the room would have given. The whole experience was stunning.” — Bill Gates

Risks and problems with AI

  1. The most accentuated problem is that many teachers are worried that students are using GPT to write their essays. And this risks affecting the next generation's critical thinking skills and metacognition ability.

  2. Additionally, there are other issues, such as AIs giving wrong answers to math problems. Because they struggle with abstract reasoning or inaccurate data because they can only assess information within the data year they are already trained on.

  3. Finally, I perceive a problem with further polarisation led by again the inability of an AI to think outside the data load it was trained. This could provide massive access to information for students but at the same time introduce what I refer to as ‘knowledge homogenisation' — which is not healthy for our civilisation.

There are, of course, more risks and problems with AI — you've probably read about them, but here I outlined three foremost concerns regarding AI and the educational sector.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) detection tools and Why UK Universities May Choose to Opt Out

On 4th April 2023, Turnitin, an Internet-based plagiarism detection service used by most universities in the UK, announced the addition of AI writing detection functionality to their similarity report.

Here're the possible reasons why UK universities may decide to opt out of the first release of this detection tool:

  • Turnitin is a subsidiary, of a privately held American company. So UK universities may not have any access to the tool before its release, meaning they are unable to test it thoroughly or prepare guidance for staff.
  • There is a concern and fear of disruption. Although the world of academics thrives on taking on changes and complex dynamics, UK universities may not want to introduce a new tool in the middle of the academic year, especially when a busy assessment period is about to commence and grading is happening in many institutions.
  • Turnitin has been unable to provide any information about how the tool works or how its quoted levels of accuracy have been calculated.
  • The AI working group that has only recently been formed in UK universities are still developing institutional policies regarding AI. This may mean a step ahead of this vital regulation body.

Photo by Ron Lach from Pexel

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My fervent wish is for the personal growth of everyone and the success of all young professionals who put their hearts and souls into finding their purpose in life.

Copyright © Ekene Moses, 2023. All Rights Reserved.

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An Authentic Reflection on Freedom and Personal Lifestyle

In today's world, the more civilised a country/society is, indicated how well they have embraced democracy and an unwavering empowerment of individuals' power to personal freedom, where civilisation thrives hand in hand with personal liberty – especially in the global West.

Four years ago, I bade my family and all my loved ones back home a bittersweet goodbye to travel to one of these countries, where I will immerse myself in unprecedented freedom, lifestyle and liberty.

I gave my mother that longest and warmest goodbye hug and kiss and whispered to her ears, “I am going to enjoy the liberty to do whatever I want with my life and live a carefree lifestyle.”

She gave me her usual beautiful smile, but not the standard African mother's approval one; instead, the one that cautions, 'You better be joking!'

This is because, culturally, older generations associate carefree lifestyles with negative aspects of this freedom. Generally, the pursuit of carefree living to them is to disregard responsibilities and consequences, such as excessive partying and indulgence in substances which result in health issues and addiction problems.

Or the pressure to conform to societal ideals of beauty (like aggressive body parts piercing, surgeries, and extravagant tattoos) and success, which promote a superficial and materialistic mindset, fostering anxiety and dissatisfaction.

Taken to extremes can result in a lack of direction, accountability, and a sense of purpose – where young females have multiple kids with different men out of wedlock, and those immature men are unwilling to take responsibility and are absent in the child's upbringing.

Peculiarly to men, you find the unquenchable sexual desire and obsessions over the female bodies that lead to rape – this is not a problem only experienced in the West, though, but all over the world.

Lastly, there's the issue of gang groups that are packaged and sold to young men as a free and rapid welcome into masculinity. Also, you have violent people, rapists, criminals, killers, tax avoiders, corrupt civilians, planet despoilers, sex abusers and dinner-party bores etc.,

Now that I think of these, I wonder which categories of vices my caring mother would have imagined me doing – I am curious... However, let me take you on a journey of freedom and personal liberties that one could enjoy in a Western country like the United Kingdom.

The bohemian artists living in vibrant neighbourhoods, the tech entrepreneurs blazing new trails in innovation, or the nature enthusiasts seeking solace in picturesque landscapes, the West provides a fertile ground for carefree living.

Its progressive mindset encourages exploration, creativity, and the pursuit of personal passions. Here, individuals can enjoy various leisure activities, indulge in diverse cuisines, and immerse themselves in vibrant cultures.

What I foresaw as my freedom starts from waking up on a sunny Saturday morning like today and, instead of doing chores or going to the fields to farm, I am sipping my first cup of coffee for the day and typing my thoughts on the computer for the world to read.

I will hopefully go to the park sometime today, have some me-time with books, and probably meet new people/friends.

The night before, I struggled to sleep, so I took a long walk outside the mainstreets road and was greeted with colourful streetlights and speeding cars enjoying the free road drive.

As a university student, I attended parties where my mates smoked and got drunk. In those moments, I enjoyed the liberty that they respected my wish when I said, 'No, I don't smoke. Thank you, I don't want another glass. etc.,'

Talking about fashion – I now enjoy the freedom to dress classic and look like what a young man in academia would look like in the 60s and 70s. I know where to get these clothes, and I love that I can wear them, and no one would even look at me twice.

Lastly, I love that I have the luxury of astonishing cultural/people diversity at my fingertips. This complements my hobby of trying different meals. And have made friends from all continents of the world.

I know that one day when Love and Marriage call – I also will have the liberty and freedom to marry a person, not the people...

Photo credit: Author

Many thanks for reading my perspective and giving feedback.

My fervent wish is for the personal growth of everyone and the success of all young professionals who put their hearts and souls into finding their purpose in life.

Copyright © Ekene Moses, 2023. All Rights Reserved.

Connect with me on LinkedIn…

The Interesting Story of Greg F. — Described by the Neuroscientist Oliver Sacks as “The Last Hippie.”

Let me start with a disclaimer the original thought leader of my title is Nikola Tesla, and how he said it was, “What one man calls God, another calls the laws of physics.”

Now that you know this information, I also must inform you that I am a religious man who believes there is a supreme power that supernaturally created and controls everything. I am a Christian, to be precise.

At least my mother will not be too dismayed reading this if, by any chance, she gets to. And similarly, so that you, my reader, do not think that this is another science nerd that has been consumed with a lot of science fiction, materials, and experiments to the point of doubting the existence of a creator, GOD!

By the way, this is stated without any form of disrespect to those, whether scientists or not, who do not believe in God or His or Her/Their existence.

Now that I have cleared the air, let me quickly take you on the interesting story of Greg F., — Described by the Neuroscientist Oliver Sacks as “The Last Hippie.”

Anyway, the world contains thousands of Greg’s stories of many unfortunate cases of various scientific curable illnesses that ended up damaging a person’s life profoundly due to religious clusters and beliefs.

As a teenager, Greg was troublesome and rebellious. Later dropped out of school and became a Hare Krishna, then moved to a temple in New Orleans. However, after some time there, the spiritual leader became impressed with Greg, calling him a Holy Man.

Then Greg slowly began to go blind, which was seen not as something to be treated but as a spiritual occurrence.

The spiritual leader posited that he was “an illuminated,” and so it was his “inner light” growing… And indeed, he seemed to be becoming more spiritual as the day passed — because an amazing new serenity had taken hold of him.

He no longer showed his previous impatience or appetites, and he was sometimes found in a sort of daze, with a strange (many in the temple said “transcendental”) smile on his face. His ‘Swami’ described this as a beatitude and proclaimed that he was becoming a saint.

After four years, the temple graciously permitted his parents to visit Greg, and when they did, they were terrified: their lean, hairy son had become fat and hairless; and wore a continual “stupid” smile on his face (according to his father’s description of this); and kept bursting into bits of song and verse, and making “idiotic” comments, while showing little deep emotion of any kind (“like he was scooped out, hollow inside,” again, by his father’s description); he had lost interest in everything “current”; he was disoriented — and he has become totally blind.

Sadly, it turned out that Greg had a tumour in his brain that grew to the size of an orange before it was discovered. It destroyed most parts of his brain devoted to vision and extended into his frontal lobes (upfront) and temporal lobes (on the sides).

The tumour was removed, but the damage was irreversible. He was not only blind; he had lost most of his memory for decades and could not form new memories. He was docile and, without feeling, unable to survive independently.

An interesting story like this has long been associated with many controversies over the details of what happened to Greg F..

His story has become more and more exaggerated and extravagant as time has passed— thus, the account above is as accurate as I could make it as I traced one of the story’s original sources — outlining the reference below for anyone interested.

Reference — Oliver Sacks, “The Last Hippie,” New York Review of Books, March 26, 1992, 53–62.

I picked interest in this story because of a cousin sister of mine who has been down with a stroke (I am even careful to declare this as it has not been confirmed by any specialist yet) for up to a year.

I had always advised from the beginning for her to be taken to the hospital, but the family have been moving her from one pastor/church to another in search of a miracle.

Finally, there is now a consensus to take her to the hospital, but I am afraid the sickness may have eaten deep and worsened.

So I ask, “At what point should we draw a straight line between what religion can handle and when science and technology should be given the chance it deserves — especially in developing countries?”

Personally, everything is a miracle. And yeah, that includes science and technology!

“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

― Albert Einstein

Photo by Maximalfocus on Unsplash

Many thanks for reading my perspective and giving feedback.

My fervent wish is for the personal growth of everyone and the success of all young professionals who put their hearts and souls into finding their purpose in life.

Copyright © Ekene Moses, 2023. All Rights Reserved.

Connect with me on LinkedIn…

Personal Raw Tips for 2023 College/University Graduates from Class of 2022.

One hears every day that time flies. But you would only know how fast it flies once you see yourself swiftly transitioning into responsible individual independent adulthood.

My realisation set in on April 2023 when my alumni university Programme Convener invited me to deliver a speech and offer some advice to current final-year students of the Business School.

Oh wow! It has been one whole year already. That was what I thought. Indeed, a lot could happen in one year... Even though I felt I had nothing much to share with them, I was amazed by the amount of information I was reflectively able to come up with through my lived experiences so far.

Thus, the idea to reach a broader audience came about. When I started writing, I had three friends in mind – two from my former university and one from another university in London. I wanted to write in a way that speaks directly to them.

But then I remembered that my classmates from my home country, Nigeria, whom I would have graduated with if not for an international scholarship (a story for another day) that brought me to Europe, are also graduating this year.

Then I thought of all the other graduates of class 2023 across the globe, and now I am left with thrills of how far my tips may go and how many people they will be invaluable to. For this reason, I wore my cross-cultural and diversity awareness hat as I wrote. Since I am no longer writing to just three friends.

Mine is an exciting and adventurous story because I passed through three universities in different countries before I graduated.

I started as a B.Agric Agricultural Extension student at a Nigerian University before I got a fully-funded international scholarship to Spain after my first year, where I studied a semester in BSc International Forestry Engineering before I left for England, where I graduated with a 1st class (distinction) in BSc (Honours) Business Management from a London university.

From this story, I draw my first point of advice. You have your own story to reflect on to remind you how far you have come and how far you can go – so do not be afraid to draw from this story to motivate you and others and to share them with an audience at any given opportunity, if need be.

Unlike other sets that graduated in different years, I would have commended your tenacity in attending university and graduating during some genuinely unprecedented times. However, we, too, had a similar experience of attending university at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and were used as an exemplary class to test all the new teaching methods and approaches it brought.

Although, at least, we had what used to be a normal first year in the good old days before the pandemic kicked in. So, I have a share of both experiences. But you, too, have a unique experience of graduating in a time of peak cost of living crises, high cost of energy, political instability and changing world trade, Rusia-Ukrainian war, to mention a few.

You should explore the above experiences and reflect on how to demonstrate to an employer or potential investor how your skills from the university have helped you understand these factors and how you could offer solutions to these real-life critical problems.

Before I go ahead to comment on career tips and advice on professional development, I would like to introduce some real-life nuances that you may not randomly come across. I belong to the school of thought that experience is the best teacher. But I equally have a contrasting view that no one has the time to experience it all and learn from it. So, learning from other people's experiences is similarly an invaluable way of living it.

With that stated, do not be in a hurry to move out from your family house where you pay no or little rent. Or be in a hurry to move to a neighbourhood that you feel compliments your new job salary. That is, if you are lucky enough to secure a graduate entry-level job already or not. Because the property rental market is bloody. And as a first-time solo renter, the systems in place are almost designed to make you pay through your nose. Especially considering the state of things with the global economy.

If it is crucial beyond all reasonable thoughts that you have to relocate home. Then, take your time to research the market for the best deal on rent and security deposits. And do not move in alone. I'd advise you to go for a flatshare for now. You should take this as advice from a former London-based real estate agent, a renter for close to 8 years, and a class 2022 graduate.

Now, let's talk about career and professional development. Personally, I draw my definition of career/professional development from numerous sources. First, I understand that many people conflate the terms “work” and “career.” Researcher – Marina Milosheva explains that work refers to employment and career is different. It is a continuing personal development project.

Understanding this helped me manage the pressure I faced as a fresh graduate last year. You probably feel a lot of pressure right now to make the right decisions about your career. It might feel like those decisions are permanent. They're not. Bill Gates says what you do tomorrow—or for the next ten years—does not have to be what you do forever. However, he advises that you keep gravitating toward work that solves an important problem.

I also follow his advice that suggests that one is never too smart to be confused. So this is why I am always eager to seek new information and to reach out for help – you, too, should do the same.

In my final year at the university, I completed a module in strategy, 'Applied Co-operate Strategy,' where I was introduced to the 'STRATEGY FRAMEWORK – WHERE TO PLAY, HOW TO WIN, MOST IMPORTANT GOAL.' Since then, this is what I continually apply in making any career decision, overlapping all the other suggestions, like Gates gravitating toward work that solves an important problem, etc.

Nevertheless, I understand that building a career that is a continuing personal development project can seem like standing too close at the foot of a very huge mountain with no sight of the tip, how to make the first move towards climbing or the obstacles ahead. There is a quick fix by Marina Milosheva.

Until you figure out your dream role, a quick fix could be to find decent and meaningful work.

Decent work upholds the basic principles of social justice and human rights. You will know that you are in a decent job when you are fairly compensated, your role is not precarious, and work does not make you chronically stressed or ill.

Meaningful work aligns with your values and lets you achieve the kind of life you value. Any work can be meaningful as long as it is compatible with what you consider important.

A meaningful job can be one that allows you to have a good work-life balance or comes with high pay. It could be a job that helps others or one that lets you express yourself creatively. It could also be a job that facilitates your personal growth or a job that contributes to the greater good.

Above all, choose a job that you enjoy and keep learning – so that if you do need to change course in the future, you know how to.

Lastly, do not underestimate the power of friendship and human connection. In Bill Gates's voice, 'Remember that people you've sat next to in lectures, skied Snowbowl with, and competed against on Wingo night are not just your classmates. They are your network. Your future co-founders and colleagues. A great future source of support, information, and advice. The only thing more valuable than what you walk offstage with from a university graduation/convocation stage is who you walk onstage with.'

By the way, do not forget to take care of your health (emotional, mental, physical, financial, spiritual) and general well-being. We all have a million dreams, but someone in a sick bed at the hospital only has one – to be healthy!

You have already made history by getting yourself educated and adding to the wonderful percentage of the human population that has contributed to this astonishing factor that has kept our civilisation for centuries. Thank you for trying and for giving it your best. You made it through in one piece; well done!

Congratulations to you.

Photo by Emily Ranquist on Pexel

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Many thanks for reading my perspective and giving feedback.

My fervent wish is for the personal growth of everyone and the success of all young professionals who put their hearts and souls into finding their purpose in life.

Copyright © Ekene Moses, 2023. All Rights Reserved.

An Introductory Summary of Everything I Want to Write, Why I Write, and The Add.On’s

As humans, we are constantly reminded of the unpredictability of life. No matter how hard we try, we can never accurately predict the delightful surprises or heart-breaking moments that may come our way. In an attempt, many sagacious men in the past and present have tried to offer statements to acknowledge and console this void of not knowing what is next. Thus, we have words like – a good opportunity comes, but once. Opportunities are like buses. The next one is coming shortly etc.,

My story as an online public writer started from a void of needing to know what was next. I had recently graduated from university, but my mind was afraid of opening a computer someday to type away my thoughts on the screen, only to find out that life had taken its gift of writing from me.

The first point of the call was to publish articles on LinkedIn. A platform that business school has helped me to start growing in popularity among academics and fellow students.

But I quickly realised how I needed to write about a particular set of topics that would help the personal brand that the platform promoted. And also acknowledged the words of Virginia Woolf – “Writing is like sex. First, you do it for love, then you do it for your friends, and then you do it for money.”

That was how I came about Medium, or should I write, Medium came about. According to Wikipedia – “Medium is an American online publishing platform developed by Evan Williams and launched in August 2012. It is a platform that is an example of social journalism. It has a hybrid collection of amateur and professional people, publications, or exclusive blogs or publishers. It is regularly regarded as a blog host.”

I jumped on it and immediately poured my heart into writing and engaging with others on the platform. Until the time we fell apart two months to celebrate our one-year anniversary. And, yes, I was at fault. I broke a rule carelessly and unknowingly during my early days. But then it was pretty unnoticed by Medium or myself until one of my content went viral on April 2023, thus drawing the attention of Medium to my page, and I was caught and suspended.

I deleted the content immediately after my attention was brought to it and appealed. But, Medium has a rule and reputation to protect, which they are not yet ready to bend for any writer. The more painful part is that a section of the rule also states that a suspended account can not create a new account or post. Otherwise, it will be considered evading suspension, so the new account and post will be suspended.

I was left to decide whether to quit my newly found hobby (writing online) or open a pen name and start writing on Medium. But I morally considered this a bridge of rule, and not only that, I am writing for my name, 'Ekene Moses' after all.

This was how I came on to Write.as|Ekene Moses. Another platform like Medium, which aims to help anyone build a permanent, pro­fes­sion­al home for their writing on the web. With no ads or other distractions. But built around keeping your identity confidential and your creative work safe.

Medium is a great platform, and I will always root for it. And somewhere in my heart, I wish that the company amends its rules a bit and reinstate my account so that I can keep writing and engaging with thousands of writers and readers, community friends of mine from across the globe that I have made on the platform.

However, I have realised how I needed a platform like this. Where I am not competing for the number of claps or followers with other writers on the platform. Nor do I have to focus on particular topics or writing styles because the algorithm is suggesting and dictating them for me.

Generally, I welcome you to 'The New Chapter' – where I will pour my heart as it is, undiluted. I aim to write about controversial things that challenge individuals' perspectives, personal life philosophy and psychology, culture, poetry, professional development and growth tips for young professionals, and most importantly, I want to freely write as me!

Indeed, life doesn't give most people a second chance, but there is always a new chance to be created – if you dare...

Photo credit: Author

Many thanks for reading my perspective and giving feedback.

My fervent wish is for the personal growth of everyone and the success of all young professionals who put their hearts and souls into finding their purpose in life.

Copyright © Ekene Moses, 2023. All Rights Reserved.

Connect with me on LinkedIn…

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