Life Lessons From GOT Series Finale

HBO hit series, Game of Thrones, came to an end in June 2019 (already 3 months ago) and a lot of fans of the show did not like the ending. In fact, over 2 million record number of people signed a petition to have the finale re-written and re-produced.

Since that's not likely to ever happen, it just shows how much people are invested in the show. And since that's the finale we get, it's good to adapt some life lessons as we reflect on the epic show:

1. Do not let your background put your back to the ground.
Jon Snow was presented as a bastard from the beginning of the series and he believed so all his life, until the reality hit him hard in the face, turning his life 360 degrees. From being a bastard, he became the Lord Commander and the Warden of the North.

Danerys Targaryen had her inheritance stolen from her (family), was married out of her will to a foreign warrior but she decided to chase that elusive inheritance. Her entire experience was an interesting one as she accomplished over and beyond what was expected of her.

Lord Varys was an orphan with no means or caretaker, castrated via withcraft from childhood and left to die literally on the ground. He brushed himself up and decided against all overwhelming odds to make something of his life. He went on to work with powerful people across the world with substantial influence.

Littlefinger (Lord Petyr Bellish) was from a poor family and was despised because of his size during his childhood. He allowed all this to motivate him to hustle and scheme his way to the top to prove others wrong and himself right.

One thing is important here: they were able to have interesting journeys because they took advantage of opportunities. They all made lemonades out of the lemon life threw at them.

2. Stay true to yourself.
Tyrion Lannister was a dwarf and despised by friends and family. He went from being a drunkard to being an effective manager and person of influence as he continued to stay true to himself.

Samwell Tarly was from an important house in a great region but had always wanted to be a Maester. He abandoned his heritage and even though he almost lost his life many times (due to the consistent dangers he had to face), he ended up as the Grand Maester for the King.

Arya Stark never liked to be pretty and looking all girly. She wanted to be like her brothers and father - fighting. With the help of her father, she was set on that track that turned out to be very useful for her family and for an entire nation.

3. Children need to be raised as adults
Tywin Lannister raised his children as adults even though he sometimes treats them as children in their old age. He allowed them take responsiblilities that will further the agenda of the family.

Ned Stark trained his children as adults and that's why Robb (his eldest son) was able to take responsibility for the family and go to war immediately his father was captured. That's why Jon Snow (his bastard) continues to take responsibility over and beyond that made his worthy to be the Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

Cersei did not raise her children well and that's why most of them ended up terribly (Her eldest son, Joffrey died of poison due to his viciousness while her last born son, Tommen died of suicide due to his gullibility).

In summary, the lessons reflect how taking responsibility and being diligent shapes one's destiny.

Don't go into that interview without reading this!

Always do your research.

Jason Njoku shared some of his experiences this morning on Twitter as regards recruiting Product Managers for irokotv and blacbetng.

I'm particular about the response to the first question: "Have you used either of the service?"

From his tweet, 100% of the candidates answered NO. That's not good.

This does not mean that these potential PMs won't do a great job but it sends a wrong signal.

As a candidate for any job, it's absolutely important you do your research on the job you're interviewing for. This always sets you apart.

You do not need internal gist of the company and all. If you can get it, not bad. Use it wisely.

What is important is knowing all the "google-able" information and packaging it in an intelligent way to sell yourself as the ideal candidate for that position.

Imagine if only one person came to that interview with a great load-down of how the product works and why his current idea can make it better. He will more likely be considered than others.

Preparation is what precipitates success.

Go get 'em!

P.S: Here is the link to his tweet - https://twitter.com/JasonNjoku/status/1028874632873553925?s=19

Don't give up on life

Learn from the Frogs' Story and be encouraged
As a group of frogs was traveling through the woods, two of them fell into a deep pit. When the other frogs crowded around the pit and saw how deep it was, they told the two frogs that there was no hope left for them. However, the two frogs decided to ignore what the others were saying and they proceeded to try and jump out of the pit. Despite their efforts, the group of frogs at the top of the pit were still saying that they should just give up. That they would never make it out. Eventually, one of the frogs took heed to what the others were saying and he gave up, falling down to his death. The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could. Again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out. When he got out, the other frogs said, “Did you not hear us?” The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time. Moral of the story: People’s words can have a big effect on other lives. Think about what you say before you say it. It might mean the difference between success and failure, glory and shame, life and death. I hope this encouraged you.  How will you encourage someone else today?

Make more money with your website

Publishers and bloggers generally have a hard time generating enough revenue. This is known. I have worked with not a few publishers in and out of the country to know this.

You can be a niche blogger or an all-round news publisher and the issue will still be the same.

It is demanding enough to generate rich content on your platform daily, but here are some quick tips (that can be done within the next 1 hour) to position for more revenue:

1. Focus on creating content for readers beyond your current location. Think of others outside of your state and country that will find your content useful and write for them.

2. The reason for Point 1 is because then you can attract high-quality traffic from other countries (particularly US, Canada, Australia and EU).

3. Make sure you have created social media handles - Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram - and made them PUBLIC. (Send me a message if you don't know how to do that or ask Google for quick answers).

4. Ensure you share all your content on all the social media handles as often as you have them and in creative ways.

5. How do you get this revenue? Google AdSense is the easiest mode of generating revenue for publishers (link in comment).

P.S: Have you done all the above and still want more revenue? Send me a message or leave a comment and I'll get back with you.

Grow Your Level

I once heard a man say, "life is in phases, men are in levels."

I have found this to be very true. Every man is on one level or the other.

What reveals to man his level is his COMPETENCE.

But competence stems from CONFIDENCE, particularly earned confidence.

If you do something over and over again successfully, you have gained some level of mastery, which will reflect as confidence in that area.

Usain Bolt could be said to have gained mastery in 100m sprint.

This concept was explained by Victor Cheng (a former McKinsey consultant and the founder of caseinterview.com). Here are some excerpts I found note-worthy:

Competence = Earned Confidence

Unearned confidence occurs when you perceive your skill level to be massively better than it is in reality.

Unjustified lack of confidence is the exact opposite. It occurs when you perceive your own abilities to be significantly worse than well informed outside observers.

A mild case of unjustified confidence or lack of confidence doesn’t hurt you much.

Problems occur when your self-assessment is wildly different than reality.

It is important to know your level and grow your level. Change is the only constant in life. Why not encourage yourself to change positively by growing your level.