I have a lot to be grateful for, and for me this "Thanksgiving" is a special one, especially with regards to family, friends, colleagues and all loved ones.

Give Thanks.

There is really only one person who would understand this blog completely, I hope the person reads it.

As a college grad or maybe shortly before during my first corporate job - I had a distinct idea that although I may not know what I want to be,  I do know I don't want to be one of those drones or automations who take the 5.45am metro north train to New York City for the same job for 26 years.

In business school, this idea re-manifested itself as the "concept of middle management hell". This is like a lab rat running around in a wheel and not knowing why.

Currently, I am reading the book "the 4 hour work week by Timothy Ferriss" and I know that I am either on the verge of falling into this mindset or I have already, but there are several things that I am doing to avoid it.

A quote that capture it for me now is "The man who know how, will always have a job, the man who knows why, will always be his boss"

Now I need to discuss with a friend - for an intelligent and understanding viewpoint on this conundrum.

Unfortunate but true, we often tend to over estimate our own importance. And I think this is an habit we learn from childhood. For some it is an overgrown sense of self importance while for others it is all about ego. Yes, we all have egos and we need 'em and they come in various sizes. However, there is still a need to know one's place in the order of the universe or there is a risk of reality distortion.

The baby needs to know she depends on the parent and not vice versa

The parent needs to know, they depend on the firm

The firm need to know it depends on its customers

Customers need to know it depends on the people I.e. the government

Government need to know she depends on God and not vice versa

Even for me, this is a controversial topic, one which I hesitate to  write about. However, it is in my head, hence in the spirit of creative honesty, I think I should write about it.

Actually, my thought is simple - and it is the question, "Why is prostitution considered one of the oldest profession in the world"

Is there a purpose for prostitution, is there a need (beyond sex) that it serves in society? Does it help to achieve balance in some way? Is there a way to be liberal enough to look at prostitution with an open mind?

By the demystification of prostitution, is it possible to limit the dark underside of the trade. Humans are humans, legalized or not, prostitution it seems will happen, and some people will exploit and dominate others, it is simply in their nature to do so.

What do you think?

An friend asked me recently , What is it about you? Do you have some secret to share? What is your story? And so on...

Apparently this person felt there is more to me than meets the eye. I answered, what you see is what you get - throw out your assumptions, there are no secrets here.

I am not sure if he believed me, however, he did trigger my thought with regard to secrets.

What most people consider secrets are simply things that we don't want other to know about us. People have secrets for many reasons, however what is interesting is the extent that people will go to keep a secret.

Personally, I don't think lying to keep a secret is worth it. I always reserve the right to say "I don't want to tell" or "I can't answer that question" which is very different from "I don't know" an expression I am used to getting when I am being inquisitive.

You know, I realize it is not that I don't have secrets but that I believe that secret are better kept in open view.

The underlying principle is, half truths are more dangerous that untruths.

I recently exploded in anger. As a result, I am very disappointed in myself. The feeling is weird, on one hand, I am ashamed and truly sorry for what happened, on the other hand, I do want to change but I do not want to bury the root cause of the explosion.

Having been looking at a lot of resources available on anger management. I do agree that anger is sometimes justified - and burying the reason(s) you were angry in the first place won't solve the problem.

Toughest lesson - "it is right to be wrong" - I am not sure I can even internalize that one.

By gosh, this is going be quite a process, I can only hope I come out on the other end - a better man for it.

As I review the first week of the 60 days challenge, I have to give myself at best a C- more like a D. In my dramatic self, I almost thought of it as my last chance to make the best of it. But oh no - no, this is not the last time. It is the only chance. Why?

I have one life to live, and I need to live it out loud. Take the good with the good (because bad is a function of perspective). So please come on with me on this one and only journey through planet earth - in this form at least :)

An enduring characteristics of a leader is the desire to excel, here are some principles of leadership, that I have been thinking about.

1. Leaders lead by example not words
2. Leadership is about putting others ahead of yourself
3. Effective leaders covets the trust and respect of their subordinates, not spotlight
4. Leaders stays calm in time of crisis
5. Has an internal moral compass
6. Is always positive and optimistic
7. Insist on superior performance however is pragmatic

Skills of leaders:

1. Communication
2. Decision making
3. Motivation
4. Planning
5. Execution
6. Measurement and rewards
7. Learning and building others

Have you ever really want to achieve a goal?

First, determine what, when and how.

Next, create a metric and measure meticulously.

You get what you measure.

On a recent TV show, I learnt that Hindu saints classify the aim of human life into 4 categories. Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha.

1. Dharma (righteousness),
2. Artha (wealth),
3. Kama (desire) and
4. Moksha (salvation or liberation)

This is a neat way of looking at the human life. What does the Bible have to say?

Dharma has been variously translated as duty, faith, religion, righteousness, sacred law, justice, ethics, morality and so on.

Artha means wealth. Hinduism recognizes the importance of material wealth for the overall happiness and well being of an individual.

Kama in a broader sense means desire and in a narrow sense sexual desire.

The pursuit of Moksha or salvation liberates him and lead him to the world Brahman.

One characteristic (more like character flaw) that I recently notice in myself, is the inability to appreciate things I do well. Yes, like most people I like being complimented when I do good work, however, more often than not, I am dismissive of that appreciation or compliment.

There are several reasons, one is in my mind, I have already moved on to the next problem that I have to solve. So appreciating something in the past seems old. Two, I often feel, like compliments goads me to let my guard down - in my head, the voice is saying, what does this person wants? why are they complimenting me? weren't you expecting me to do well anyway? The third reason, is a sense of false humility, the self effacing, thank you smile, while inwardly I am saying, I am glad you notice but what else? will you remember this an hour from now? I guess I have a chip on my shoulder that most compliments are artificial and self serving. However, I can't really place the reason why I feel this way.

The sad part of this character flaw is that it affects my ability to compliment others. I really want to give sincerely compliments and be other people's champion. However, I would hate to be shallow about it, so more often than not, I just don't say anything. This is frustrating.

The solution is that I have to be conscious of this flaw , and I need to deliberately give people honest and sincere appreciation.

• Naijablog
• Nick in Naija (seemingly defunct now)