The question that comes up in the mind of any individual that has come across Gordon Brown’s book is, can people really develop a positive mental attitude to life? Does it really work?

Well, my aim here is not to give all the answers to the dozen questions that emerge as a result of this, but as long as I have chosen to delve into the matter, I will try as much to alleviate some pains that these questions have created in the lives of people. The book in question caught my attention by its catchy caption and when I tried to read through, my attention was quickly drawn to simply explore the world through imaginative thinking and a proper, careful study popularly referred to as Research and Findings. I was also captivated by another unique avenue which is attending seminars, workshops, symposiums, conferences basically for renewing of the mind. His theory of developing the habit of viewing or listening to information products such as documentary and educative programmes, presentation and reading of inspirational books that would awaken the giants in me, stayed in my mind for a long time.

All the same, I later discovered that it is one thing for a man to go through a thing and come out without that thing going through the man and remaining. I have watched a lot of people passed through an institution, yet they never become a true representation of that institution. What makes a man is the man in the man. Without the man in the man, everything else is an inference. People go to school for the simple purpose of having a qualification attached to their names, not that they want to become what they opted to study about. Little wonder then many people with certificates of great institutions are not making impact in their generations.

Every man, every woman is created to fill a niche. When you make an input in your field and I make another in my field, this generation will be advanced. Creating a positive mental attitude is to ignite the man in the man to perform his niche, assume his rightful position, and build a conducive world for all to live. Development and progress would have been the goal if every man and woman is working towards the development of a positive mental attitude. Gordon has done a nice job, but who among us will bell the cat? Who is to inculcate the true traditional values and norms to our young ones? Who among us has truly developed that positive mental attitude towards himself or another? Take a look at our home-fronts – Divorce has taken the place of love and good relationship. Children born in such homes cannot be said to be 45% balanced, emotionally. They are deranged by the activities of those that could have given them love and care. How could we offer help, when majority of us are living like people without conscience, ambition and purpose? Our institutions of learning have become a place of all kinds of evil activities, instead of a place to call people to manhood. Our religious affiliations have all the same become places division rather than the peace, discipline, love, morality, care, good relationship and worship of God in truth and in spirit. Are we not guilty of the problems of our time?

Friend, the way forward is the way up. Our lives started from cradle to end up in the grave, so we need to re-discover ourselves as individuals, as fathers, mothers, entrepreneurs, agents, civil servants, etc and begin to do what is expected of us. Discovering ourselves is the first step, the next is to position ourselves to our individual assignments and pursue our set goals to the end. However, we must be daring enough to go for not only gold but also for diamond. Let us develop the mindset to climb the mountain, reaching the pinnacle of anything we set our mind to be.

Finally, making good use of our time is of utmost importance. When we manage our time well, we can truly have time to think about ourselves and others. We cannot accumulate time as we do to money or raw materials, because time waits for no one, and the best time we have to develop is NOW, not tomorrow!