THE “WOW-FACTOR”

I was going to title this post X-Factor (Xtra factor) but I changed my mind cos when I thought about this article, the first thing I said was…WOW!

I was not a fan of Lagos, not at all. My friends who were born and bred in Lagos spoke about the fun city like it was a second paradise but somehow, I still did not share same thoughts with them as the Lagos bug had not bitten me yet. No doubt, the city was lively and fun but the traffic killed my buzz. I lived in Abuja and had only been to Lagos twice so the thought of being in Lagos for 5 weeks crept life out of me. I missed my flight from Abuja to Lagos, that’s how bad it was but I finally boarded the last flight and got into Lagos for the 5-week training. I was not so excited about staying 5 weeks in Lagos but it took a WOW-experience to change that.

The training school always saved the best part for the last; so on the last day of training, our final facilitator, Dr. Noel Akpata walked into the class. I was already getting my things together so that I could leave immediately he was through but the reverse was the case. When he started talking; I was like….who is this? My antennas sprang up and my ears wanted to hear some more. He spoke with such enthusiasm and charisma; the kind of words that will make you want to run out of your comfort zone, so much ginger and motivation. It was a boom-sha-sha experience and after the lecture I was like..WOW!!! Lagos was worth it afterall. I was not so keen on leaving immediately because I had to tap into some of this “wow-factor” and trust me….I sure did.

Do you have a “wow-factor”? What is it about you that attract people to you? (Guys I don’t mean your swag & ladies I don’t mean your face). What is that extra thing that makes people say WOW after an encounter with you? Do they want to keep coming back? (Pls I don’t mean your exes). One “wow” moment from you can be a turning point in someone’s life. You may look at yourself and say, “I don’t have anything to offer anybody”. That is not true because you have not searched within you to discover the virtue that is hidden within. There’s always more than meets the eye if only you’re willing to discover it. You’re not ordinary because God has deposited treasures inside of you which can only be seen when you use it.

Is there something you’re passionate about? Go for it. NIKE will say “Just Do It”. Don’t be the one sitting and watching others, come out of your comfort zone and bring out the “wow-factor” in you.

Today, Dr Noel Akpata has represented Nigeria in national and international conferences. An example is The World Economic Forum on Emerging Markets/Global China Business Meeting 2010.(Dr Noel Akpata representing Africa and Nigeria amongst fortune 500 business leaders and political leaders from around the world).  It all started with one “wow” experience and a combination of many wow experiences is what I call..BOOM-SHA-SHA.

You can do it too.