•Reveals How He Moved From SUCCESS To Significance
Dayo Olomu is a renowned international motivational speaker, human capital development expert, business transformation strategist, leadership trainer, business mentor, executive coach, award-winning event host, who cut his teeth as promotions manager of Premier Music in 1992 before taking over as the artiste manager of Nigeria’s famous Fuji icon, K1. He was also a show promoter and has promoted big artistes like the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti at Lekki Beach in 1993. He relocated to London in 1996, where is now one of the most influential and respected Nigerians.
Last week, Dayo spoke to City People magazine Publisher SEYE KEHINDE about his exciting life and how he combines his so many roles. He will be turning 55 in a few days time.
You are fast approaching your 55th birthday. How do you feel? How do you plan to celebrate it? What is the next phase of your life?
I can only give thanks to the Almighty God because it is not by my power or might but by His grace. By the way, I am not 55, I am 44 years old plus VAT (laughs). I feel good, I feel young and I feel 40 – where life begins. I feel happy. I feel great. I feel strong and I give thanks and praises to God for keeping me alive. I have just started.
I will say that God has been kind to me and that I’ve achieved success despite all odds. I really thank God for my life at 55. I’ve got a great wife and family. I’ve got beautiful kids too, a beautiful home, great friends and thriving businesses. I have achieved a steady-state of wellness, happiness, balance and inner peace. But, more importantly, today my life has purpose and meaning. I am living a purpose-driven life. I realise I was given a chance so that I could share my message of hope and possibility to help others. I have the privilege of touching the lives of people throughout the world. I am forever grateful for the life I have been given because my mission and purpose is to help others grow and reach their potential. As Og Mandino, one of the greatest self-help authors of all time said, ‘The hand of God reached directly into my life and changed my course from living in misery and despair to a life that is beyond my wildest dreams.”
On how I plan to celebrate it. The first thing I plan to do is to give praise to Almighty God. Due to the present global coronavirus pandemic, I hope to spend time in the morning privately and in solitude to thank and praise God. Later, in the day, I hope to feed 50 homeless people in Croydon and 500 homeless/less privilege people in Lagos.
In terms of the next phase of my live, I want my focus to be on significance. I want to move from success to significance. Success commonly means using your knowledge, skills, experience and expertise to achieve fame, fortune, power and influence while significance means using your knowledge, skills, experience and expertise to serve others and make a difference in the world – that is to change lives and destinies positively. The outcome defines the difference and changes your attitude toward what you do.
I am now driven by my passion to help others most especially the future generation to leave more intentionally and build enabling relationships to achieve and sustained success. I want to reach out and touch the lives of many people positively in the different ways I can. It is about using my time, talent and treasure to inspire people, impact community, influence change and add value to the human race.
On 23 October 2012, while walking with Archbishop Desmond Tutu when he came to Croydon to speak at Fairfield Halls as part of his “Conversation for Change” initiative, I asked him that how can we change the world, he responded by saying, “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
During your 50th birthday, you participated in the 100 KM walk from London to Brighton. Are you doing anything for charity this year?
I was to participate in two marathons. The first one is the Paris Marathon on 5 April 2020 while the second one is Brighton Marathon on 19 April to raise funds for Prostate Cancer UK. But due to COVID-19 they have both been postponed. I still intend to participate in an activity to raise funds and create awareness for Prostate Cancer UK.
Why Prostate Cancer?
On Thursday 21 November 2019, as part of the activities making the national campaign, Movember’ Men’s Health Week, I attended a prostate cancer awareness workshop out of curiosity.
From the workshop, I learnt that Deaths from prostate cancer have overtaken those from breast cancer for the first time, with a man dying of the disease every 45 minutes. Men’s reluctance to talk about health and embarrassing symptoms means there is twice as much research into breast cancer, clearly this needs to change. There and then, I decided to support the charity and do my bit.
In the UK, one-in-four black men will be diagnosed with the disease in their lifetime – double the one-in-eight risk faced by white men – yet only 14 per cent of black men are currently aware of their higher than average risk. A wider awareness of prostate cancer will save lives – many thousands of them. I want to persuade other black men to take control of their health. Statistics show that more than 100,000 men die prematurely each year. On average, men visit their GP half as often as women do. Their reluctance costs both lives and money. Millions of pounds are spent on treatments that might not necessary if men has just a few simple checks. They include amongst others cardiovascular problems, diabetes, lung cancer and prostate cancer.
I am doing my little bit, to create awareness for prostate cancer, raise money for the charity and encourage men to go regular medical check-up.
You are going to be 55 in a few weeks but you don’t look it what’s the secret?
Firstly, it is the grace of God. I also keep myself fit and healthy by running, exercising regularly and doing 120 press-ups every day. I also eat healthy foods. I ensure that I do 10,000 steps first thing in the morning from Monday to Saturday. I also feel my mind with positive thoughts and gratitude.
What are the lessons life has taught you?
The greatest lesson/s that life has taught me is that to be successful you must have trust God, have strong faith, have your own vision, define your goals. You must be hungry to achieve your dreams and a strong desire to succeed and back that desire with action. You must have absolute belief in yourself that you have what it takes to be successful and when setbacks or tragedies occur, do not give up; instead see them as opportunities for growth because success thrives on adversity. As the saying goes, “A calm sea does not make a skilled sailor.” Nothing worth gaining is gained without difficulty”. I must also add that you keep the right company and continue to build, expand and sustain a network of people who can support you to reach your goal. You must run your own race. It doesn’t matter what other people say about you. What is important is what you say to yourself. Be comfortable in your own skin. Be true to you. That’s a key source of happiness.
Finally, think big, start small and act now. The person determined to achieve maximum success learns the principle that progress is made one step at a time. A house is built a brick at a time. Every big accomplishment is a series of little accomplishments. The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. However, completing a journey of a thousand miles requires only that you keep walking in the right direction!”
What are you grateful for at 55?
I am grateful for the Lord’s grace upon my life because I am a product of grace. I am grateful for who I have become. I am happy the way my life has turned out Most people did not believe that I would turned out like this. I know my mother would be very proud of me that her toil in me did not end up in vain.
I feel great and fulfilled seeing the results in people and organisations that I have helped transform right in front of my eyes as they have choices and new strategies to help them live a more fulfilling and empowered life and become who they had always wanted to be. I am happy that I have been able to restore belief and confidence to many who have lost it, vision to those who can no longer see and cure many people of possibility blindness. I am enjoying the products of my dream and vision.
Every day I think of the many people that I meet through my writing, speaking engagement, workshops and social medium forums and their stories of how I have impacted their leaves positively. I am very thankful for the many opportunities that I have to make a difference in people’s lives.
Tell us what you do for a living l know you are big in PR and promotions
Organisational development, human resources, leadership training, executive coaching, motivational speaking, publishing, conference facilitation, event hosting and public relations
•Consultancy – PR, Branding, Social Media, Career & Organisation Development
•Design and lead workshops, trainings and seminars – on Leadership, Good Governance, Business Growth, Wealth Creation, Success, Motivation, Branding, Career and Personal Development
•Coaching – peak performance, executive and business transformation coaching by telephone, face to face, email and social media.
•Facilitation – expert in facilitating groups of all sizes from team meetings to chairing large conferences.
•Master of Ceremonies (MC) – for AGM’s, seminars, workshops, conferences, meetings, product launches, press conferences, birthday parties, weddings, banquets and balls, corporate events, civic events and receptions, charity/gala balls and auctions, award ceremonies, anniversaries, official openings and corporate dinners
Tell us about your beautiful wife and how both of you have managed your marriage.
I am married to a lovely woman – Goddess. I call her Goddess, but her full name is Mrs. Sade Dayo-Olomu. We met when I was doing my A-levels at Anwar Ur Islam College, Agege. When I relocated back to England, she relocated too. We didn’t meet for years, then we came back and we got married. And one of the things I believe is that marriage is the cornerstone of the society. We’ve seen the statistics. Statistics have proven that kids who come from happy marriages have high chances of being successful in life. The gang crime happening in the UK for example, show that a high percent of those kids are from broken homes. So, I am one of those who believe that private victory precedes public victory. That if you are not successful at home, your success outside is meaningless. So, I put a lot into developing my marriage, into working on it. Marriage is a continuous thing, you have to keep on working on it; and when you look at it, we also need to develop ourselves as men. Three things that has helped in our marriage are love/ friendship, mutual respect and commitment. Dayo is a man of very many parts.
