yes you can. do the impossible-suggested correcions

8/14/2019 Yes You Can. Do the Impossible-suggested Correcions

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YES YOU CAN!

Do the

IMPOSSIBLEThe Obama Story

Lessons therein;the winners persona.

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If there is anyone out there who still doubts that

America is a place where things are possible,

who still wonders if the dream of our founders is

alive in our time, who still questions the power

of our democracy, tonight is your answer-Barack Hussein Obama.

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Chapter One

HAVE A DREAM&

NEVER BE AFRAID TO DREAM BIG.

Nothing will work unless you do

-Maya Angelou.

It has always been said that he who cannot dreamdreams cannot see visions. Barack Obama occupies

the oval office primarily because he had a dream,which he pursued, and more importantly he was never

afraid to dream big. The journey of a thousand miles

begins with one step says an ancient Chinese proverb.

That first one step is to dream what you want, from

the moment you conceive this dream, you begin to get

a clear picture of what exactly it is you want, itbecomes an almost reality as you see it, feel it and

live it.

No sooner had Obama published his book; The

Audacity of hope that he was invited to the Oprah

Winfery show. The aura over and about him hadpresident of the United States written all overhim.

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It was so pronounced that the host told him she

wanted to be the first to know if Obama ever decidedto run for president. During his campaign, Obama

left the shores of the United States to meet with

prominent world leaders. Everyone in every country

he visited was ready to give him audience, as they

knew he would soon be sworn in as president of the

world; he was soon to be their boss. The aura was so bright it was blinding! The opposition and media

accused him of already acting like he was already

president; little did they know that the man was only

living out the dream conceived long ago. He had no

choice as his dream had already begun to manifest

even before the polls.

The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the

life of your dreams

-Oprah Winfery.

Another very important part of having a dream is

never being afraid to dream big. A lot of people are

afraid to dream big; they dream of having a job in an

oil and gas company, bank and other financial

institutions, telecommunication outfits and never

owning their own company, they dream of renting a

good apartment in a choice location and not owning

theirs, they dream of approaching men of God to prayand deliver them of their problems and not them

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offering prayers on behalf of others. These examples

are evident in our society today.The very few ones, who are not afraid to dream, stunt

the growth of their dream because of numerous

reasons, the environment and the mind of the

individual being such reasons.

I once heard a young lad whose football skills could put him at par with the worlds greatest players,

making him a contender for footballs highest

honours, say I dont even want to play top flight, any

club will do so long they pay in pounds He failed to

realize that he had started to deprive his dream the

necessary impetus to become a reality.The environments in which we find ourselves cause

us to be afraid to dream big. In an environment where

the trend is for one to get to a certain level and then

remain there, one might certainly not be inclined

toward dreaming big. But as an aspirant of success

with a winners attitude and mentality, we ought not

to allow our environment put a ceiling to how high we

should place our dreams.

Barack Obama found himself in an environment

where there was a limit to how far a black man could

go in his political aspirations. The country had never

before produced a black president, to make mattersworse, a black man had never even won the

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nomination of his party ever before. This was enough

reason to deter Obama from aspiring to becomepresident but as he could see beyond his nose such

was not even anywhere near what could stop him

from vying for the exalted office.

The mindset of an individual could also be a

hindrance to him dreaming big just like the exampleof the football lad. The mindset of a winner is always

on the prize; never wavering, never faltering. Obama

has such a mindset for he never believed it could not

be done. Little wonder he adopted the campaign

slogan YES WE CAN you and I know very well

today that YES HE DID

Fortune favours the daring

-Publins Terence.

Have a dream.

Never be afraid to dream big.

Let not your dream be cut short by you let

alone your environment.

Fortune favours the daring.

Every man is the fashioner of his own fortune.

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Chapter two

PURSUE YOUR DREAMS.

An idea not coupled with action will never get any

bigger than the brain cell it occupied

-Arnold Glasgow.

To have a dream is not enough, neither is justdreaming big enough. Pursuing such dreams with the

conviction that such dream is close to becoming a

reality is equally important as well. As it has been

said before, dreams can and have been cut short or

stunted by such factors as the environment and

mindset of the individual. However, the most

common factor that kills the dreams of many is none

other but failure of the individual to pursue his dream.

A lot of us must have at one time or the otherconceived a super duper dream to better our lot, our

immediate and extended family, the environment and

all humanity, carefully laid out the plan in our minds

but murdered this dream by not pursuing this dream

well enough, procrastinating about it or not pursuing

it at all.

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Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live

the life youve imagined. As you simplify your life,the laws of the universe will be simpler

-Henry David Thoreau.

Remember that those things we regard as great

inventions today are as a result of some persons

pursuing their dreams. In 1895 when WilhelmConrad Roentgen discovered the roentgen rays or X-

rays, a lot of people made fun of him, asking of what

use would a machine that could look into human

bones do? He never had time for such small talk, he

continued to pursue his dream and thank God for his

tenacity, the use of X-rays in medicine today cannotbe over emphasized.

In like manner, the great men and women leaders we

celebrate today could not have been if these ones did

not pursue to the end their dreams. Abraham Lincoln

pursued his dream of becoming the president of the

United States even with streaks of losing previous

elections.

Monhandas Karamchand Ghandi pursued his dream

of freedom for India despite resistance from Britain to

grant same.

African American clergyman Martin Luther King

pursued his dream of racial equality till he was felledby an assassins bullet.

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Fela Anikulapo Kuti the Afro beat legend pursued his

dream of a society devoid of autocracy, corruption,election fraud and other social vices risking his life

and most times jail terms. Even in death he is

celebrated as one of the worlds most influential

persons.

Bimbo Odukoya is today celebrated even in death

because she pursued her dream of setting married andsingle people alike on the path of light so as to enjoy

marital bliss. Everyone agrees today that her price is

far above rubies.

The list of several such people who risked everything

in pursuing their dream is endless. It will always be

so long as we pursue our dreams to the end defyingall odds.

Obama, after conceiving his dream of being president

number forty-four of the United States did not rest on

his oars, he courageously pursued his dream

rigorously using all available means to pursue and

surmount the impossible task

Courage is the discovery that you may not win, and

trying when you know you can lose

-Tom Krause.

Follow your dream and be ready to die for it.

Examples have already been made of people whovigorously pursued their dreams. Worthy of note are

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Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Mohandas Karamchand Ghandi

and Martin Luther King as they suffered onepersecution or the other in the course of pursuing their

dreams, some even died in the course of pursuing

their dreams.

Obama suffered persecution and threats were

allegedly made on his life, his family and his

supporters in his bid to occupy the Oval office. Aman was reportedly shot for wearing a t-shirt with

Obamas face on it. Other areas worthy of mention

where Obamas dream of becoming president was

threatened is the Ku Klux Klan; a secret masked

organization that, after the American Civil War,

became the chief instrument of the white undergroundresistance movement in the south against northerners

and African Americans, Obama was described as a

house Negro by the deputy leader of the Al Qaeda,

media houses were always digging to find something

to smear his reputation; some say he was born in

Mombassa, Kenya as against Honolulu, Hawaii as

boldly written in his birth certificate and as such he is

not an American, thereby making him not eligible to

contest. Some claim that his mother at the time of his

birth was not up to nineteen years of age, which

would debar him from being an American citizen.

Several were these threats that his acceptance speech

was made behind a bulletproof glass. The real people

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of America were not going to allow a disgruntled few

distort the course of history.

Obama was ready to die for his dream, as this was

evident in the way he pursued his dream, deploying

just about everything and everyone to see to making

his dream a reality. In the words of Reverend Charles

Blair Any man who doesnt have anything to die foris not fit to live

Pursue your dream.

Do not be distracted.

Be ready to suffer persecution.

Be ready to die for your dream.

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Chapter three.

CHARISMA.

Personality can open doors, but only character can

keep them open

-Elmer G. Letterman.

The Chambers Twentieth Century Dictionarydefines charisma as spiritual power given by God:

personal quality or gift that enables an individual to

impress and influence many of his followers.

Charisma plays a quintessential role in achieving our

dreams. It is more or less selling your dream, making

people see just why it is of utmost important to see to

it that your dream becomes a reality. Charisma is

appeal. Any person aspiring to lead must possess

charisma in its pure form not the kind bought with

money.

Many great leaders have with charisma printed their

names on the sands of time forever for the great deeds

they did whilst others for the nefarious acts

committed. It only shows the importance of

charisma. A leader needs to possess charisma; it iseither charisma or nothing else. Charisma drives

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people; people in turn drive your dreams and

aspirations to reality.

Martin Luther King is one of such persons; he ate,

talked and slept charisma. His influence on his

followers and non-followers alike was overwhelming,

people in their millions across the United States were

there to listen to his I have a dream speech; aspeech which still inspires people four decades on. It

only goes to show the extent of the role played by

charisma in the life of a leader.

Prime Minister Winston Churchills charisma obvious

in his oratory prowess saved Britain in the Second

World War. He is today regarded as one of Britainsfinest Prime Minister.

Obafemi Awolowo often referred to as the best

president Nigeria never had inspires many Nigerians

to this day. He was a colossus. He exuded such

charisma even in death that a monarch referred to him

as the greatest Yoruba man ever, after Oduduwa; the

progenitor of the race

To say Barack Obama inspires many and possesses so

much charisma would be an understatement; even

those who do not support him are not oblivious of this

fact, they say, in U.S elections, form rules over

substance and Obama thrives on it. His charismaobliterates the emptiness of his message.

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Obama is charisma. He is the worlds number one

role model as at the last time I checked. Everyonenow say they can aspire to be anything anywhere in

the world. His name is on the lips of everyone. The

obviousness of his charismatic nature is as seen in his

passion filled speeches that inspire all people,

irrespective of race, gender, party affiliation, status

etc.

Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to

great things

-Denis Diderot.

Reuters reported that a compilation of Obamasspeeches even before the at spes non fracta inaugural

address sold a staggering 400,000 copies in just two

months, making it a big hit in a country where few hit

novels sell more than a million copies in a year. A

member of the Asahi Press in Japan; Yuzo Yamamoto

was quoted to have said, In Japan, we dont have

politicians who have such a positive influence. Thats

why we have to turn to a foreign president for

someone in whom to place our hopesreaders have

sent in postcards saying that when they heard the

speeches, they were so moved and cried even though

they dont understand English very well. He also

said lawmakers from Japans main opposition

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Democratic Party had bought the book to study

Obamas speeches.

Nigerians in their thousands who could not make the

trip to the Capitol hill got front row seats in their

houses, offices, restaurants, etc to be a part of history

and to show solidarity for the president elect.

These are but just a trickle to the millions of people

who Obamas charisma leaves in awe because from

Kenya to Indonesia where Obama has family ties, he

represents a volcanic explosion of hope for better

days ahead.

A strong positive mental attitude will create more

miracles than any wonder drug

-Patricia Neal.

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Chapter four

HAVE A ROLE MODEL.

We learn to be moral by modelling the behaviour of

moral people

-Aristotle

Every young footballer wants to be like three time

winners of FIFA footballer of year Zinedine Zidane,

Ronaldo De Lima, every television show host has

Oprah Winfery or Larry King as their idol, every

painter, Michaelangelo or Pablo Picasso, every writer,

Hemmingway, every athlete, Usain Bolt and the listgoes on and on of different people, who they regard

as models in their respective profession.

A model is that person with such exemplary persona

that is completely suitable for imitation. The impact

played by role of models is such that it cannot bedown- played. Many people who consider David

Beckham as their model have been so influenced by

him that they adopt whatever haircut or style they see

him wear, protgs of Adolph Hitler in his time

fashioned their hair and moustache like that of

Hitlers, film directors with Steven Spielberg as their

idol leave their beards to grow, political office holders

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in Nigeria adopt the use of round glass lenses, the

small round cap and Obafemi Awolowos policies toshow solidarity with their father.

In 1954 when the young United States senator John F.

Kennedy was going to be operated upon, to correct an

injury sustained, knowing he would spend at least six

months lying on his back, he decided to use those sixmonths to research the most outstanding and

courageous individuals in American history. The idea

for a book was born. Profiles in courage went on to

win the Pulitzer Prize and became a best seller.

J.F.Ks study of courageous people inspired the

young senator to model his own life after them.

Its impossible not to draw parallels between Obama

and John F. Kennedy. Like J.F.K., Obama

exemplifies a positive attitude, inclusiveness, energy,

charisma and good looks

-Susan Porter.

Understanding the importance of role models, Obama

fashioned his life after the first president from the

State of Illinois, him being the third. The influence

this great man of then on this great man of now was

so immense Obama launched his presidential bidfrom the steps of the Capitol in Springfield upon

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which Lincoln launched his in 1860; a staggering 148

years in-between.

The circumstances surrounding the emergence of

Lincoln as the nominee of the Republican Party are

no doubt similar to those that surrounded Obamas.

Lincoln was a mere circuit lawyer from Springfield

Illinois. He spent years on a horse, travelling the backblocks and the small towns defending petty cases. He

came from nowhere too, a log cabin in Kentucky, his

mother dying when he was a boy.

He educated himself seriously, but he did not flaunt it.

He told jokes and regaled his colleagues with yarns

from rural America, stories about dogs and horses andcountry folks and ploughs.

What chances did he have now for the nomination

against some of the finest, most elegant political

thinkers and speakers of the day, the east coast types

like New York Governor William Seward and

Edward Bates and Salmon Chase and Edward

Stanton, the greatest trial lawyer of the age?

Each of these brilliant, thinking men presumed he

would win, yet each of them made mistakes and

enemies in the lead up to the convention. The

convention deadlocked and chose Lincoln, who

waited for news back in Springfield, yarning at the

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hardware store. He won the election and went to

Washington, a complete outsider and beginner.

The similarities in the personality of these icons is so

great, little wonder Obama was sworn in using the

same Bible which belonged to Abraham Lincoln, last

used in 1861. One can say that in the no too distant

future, Barack Obama would also take his place inhistory as one of United States greatest leaders.

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Chapter five

HAVE A PLAN&

BE READY.

Preparing for a battle, I have always found that plans

are useless, but planning is indispensable-Dwight D. Eisenhower.

A man who from childhood had always went on and

on about how he really wanted to be a multi

millionaire was confronted with the question of what

he was going to do with a cheque of a million dollarsif given him, he smiled, rubbed his palms together,

exhaled, paused for a minute, a minute turned into

two, two to three, three to four, four to five and on

and on like that till ten minutes elapsed. Ten whole

minutes elapsed before this man who had always

craved to be a millionaire all his life could musteranything. Obviously this man only dreamed it, he

never had a plan, neither was he ready.

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready

for his time when it comes

-Benjamin Disraeli.

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Failure to plan is planning to fail. A plan sets out in

detail the various methods or techniques available andneeded to achieve set targets, it prepares our psyche

for the task ahead. It is not enough to be prepared, in

the task of realizing set out goals, one must stay

prepared and be ready.

Obama in his bid to become president of the UnitedStates had prepared himself for the task ahead, little

wonder he always had answers for every question

thrown at him as to how and what he would do to the

different issues of concern to the people of America.

This showed his level of preparedness.

Knowing he was coming in a time resentment forAmerica was on a high and in a time of global

economic recession; he had prepared a plan to bring

America to its pride of place in the committee of

nations and to bring her out of the global financial

meltdown.

Our level of preparedness goes to show how well we

are going to function in whatever capacity we find

ourselves. To be prepared is telling those around us

that we are suitable to handle responsibility.

To achieve our goals, preparation is of essence,

preparation in every facet of our life; preparation of

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the minds, soul and spirit so as to meet up to the

challenges ahead.

It has been said, that preparation is not merely an

event, it is a perspective. Abraham Lincoln said, if I

had eight hours to chop down a tree, Id spend six

sharpening my axe. As a young man Lincoln had to

split rails with an axe, so he knew the value of stayingsharp. Wisdom always prompted him to prepare;

whether he was getting ready to cut wood, study law

on his own to pass the bar or lead the nation.

Be prepared.

- Boy Scouts motto.

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Chapter Six

Ignore the negatives.

The future belongs to those who believe in the

beauty of their dreams

-Eleanor Roosevelt.

In the quest to attain greatness, many are the

negatives that besiege an individual. Negatives take

on many faces, they come as friends, family,

colleagues etc, they keep telling us that we are only

but dreamers, it cannot be done, they sometimes hide

under the guise of helping us when in fact, theyhave come only but to do the opposite. Atimes, these

ones pretend to be constructive critics, one only need

pay attention for a short while before the realization

that these ones are only mediocre. You are told you

cannot do this or that, or that you should do this or

that, you do a retreat on your target, a retreat suddenlybecomes surrender.

Many were the African Americans who were told by

the white folks to quit school to work on the farm

because according to them, going to school was no

good because they will end up on the farm anyway

and besides, school was only for white folks.

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Another place where these negative takes form is in

the mind of the individual; you, on your own keephearing that voice that says it cannot be done.

An Optimist sees a doughnut, a pessimist sees the

ring

-Anonymous.

Inferiority complex sets in, you feel lower in any

respect, you trim your ambitions to conform to your

fears. Many individuals have as a result of inferiority

complex, suffered setbacks in the course of achieving

their ambition.

They are always unsure of themselves, alwaysinsecure, they adopt new names, new accents, new

skin colour, just so they will be acceptable to their

friends, colleagues and society.

Obama waived aside all these negatives and forged on

ahead to live it up! He was able to breakaway from

the stereotype, as he became the first African

American President of the Harvard Law Review. He

never allowed the colour of his skin to deter him. To

complicate issues, he had a funny first name;

Obama and a middle name; Hussein, a name not too

popular in a country that has reservations against what

seems Muslim. He certainly could have dropped the

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name so as to garner mass appeal, but all these he

considered non-issues.

Settle in your mind who you are

-Chris Oyakhilome.

Another crucial negative Obama had to deal with was

his pastor. Obamas pastor had in a lot of his sermonsand speeches made some not too good statements

about America. These statements of course were

unbecoming of a pastor let alone that of a presidential

candidate; it posed a threat to the presidential

aspirations of Obama. Seeing this, and considering it

a negative in the realization of his ambition, he had todissociate himself from his pastor.

To really live up your dreams, leave behind all that

will not help you achieve them.

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Chapter Seven

NEVER COMPROMISE YOUR DREAM.

Never settle for second best, winner takes it all

-Anonymous.

In the course of the democratic primaries, when it had become obvious to the Clinton political machinery

and staunch supports that the man of colour was no

doubt going to edge Mrs Clinton out of the race of

becoming the presidential nominee of the democratic

party, these ones started looking for ways to rewrite

history. Arrangements were being made in somequarters for the two contestants to run on a unified

democratic ticket, with Mrs Clinton as president and

Obama as vice president. Obama never compromised

his dream, even in the face of some super delegates

saying they were not going to vote him.

As time went by and Obama won the democratic primaries, pressure was now being put on him to

declare Mrs Clinton his running mate. Obama

refused to bow to pressure from who or where and

much to the surprise of these ones, he announced Joe

Biden as his running mate. Her eventual appointment

as Secretary of state was based on several conditions.

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In the pursuit of our goals, let us not compromise by

leaving the drivers seat to our fellow nominees,contestants, and colleagues only to be put behind in

the scheme of things all in the promise of making us

this or that which is only but a blur when compared to

the picture conceived in our minds of what we really

want to become.

Winning. Winning. Winning. Winning. Thats my

measurement of success

-Hillary Rodham Clinton.

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Chapter Eight

GOD FACTOR.

Whatever happens to man, either good or bad,

happens under Gods divine eye. Whatever also has

been proclaimed by man or destined to be his cross,

either good or bad will surely come to manifest anduntil it has come to pass, it cannot become part of

history. No amount of suppression or and anxiety

about same can change things.

-Olusoji Olugbekan.

It is often said that whatever will be will be. This isquite true but unfortunately many people hang their

shortcomings and inadequacies on this truism.

God through His laws that govern all creation asserts

influence on mans life journey. These laws are a set

of rules fashioned out to guide man in his journey on

Earth. Irrespective of how little or how huge we setour targets, plan and pursue them, its manifestation or

otherwise is decided by the God factor. This is not to

say that man does not have an input into what

happens to him in life. Little wonder the saying that

in our hands lies our destiny.

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To put our ambitions before God in prayers is quite

important as well. This is to commune with ourCreator, to bring to his feet all our aspirations, and to

let him lead us on the path realization of our goals.

The importance of prayers cannot be overemphasized.

It is an entreaty.

Many individuals, groups, nations etc have come toattest to the potency of prayers. Religions of the

world acknowledge prayer; both the Koran and the

Bible teach same. The Koran says of prayer as a

means of acquiring good fortune, prayer is also

considered one of the pillars on which Islam lies.

The Bible urges to pray without ceasing and assuresus that our prayer is powerful and effective.

Obama on his many journeys throughout the

democratic primaries to the election proper started

with prayers with members of his team and at another

time, Pastors of several churches had come to offer

prayers to God on his behalf. Here was a man who

understood the power of prayers.

The road may be rocky, but God is the steadfast

Rock you can hold onto. Trust Him to teach you

Enoch A. Adeboye.

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