I have to type this piece.

21 THINGS TO READ BEFORE YOU DIE BY MIKE AWOYIFA

My dearly beloved young journalist—whoever you may be. I am writing this epistle to you as a guide. Everybody needs a guide and guardian. Let me be your teacher, in this long, long journalistic journey.

As an old man in the profession, I have seen a lot and I am sharing with you the benefits of my experience and the little wisdom I have acquired over the years. Call it wisdom of time.

This epistle will be written in a series. It follows the pattern of the great Apostle Paul who wrote series of epistles to the early churches. My epistle today is given a scriptural anchor from 2 Timothy 2:15. It reads: `Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth’.

The key word in this verse is: STUDY. As journalists, we are workers constantly studying, constantly working in the fields of knowledge and constantly ``spreading” or ``dividing the word of truth” as Apostle Paul puts it in the letter to his protégé, Timothy. As we all know, news is the ``word of truth”! The Scripture as I have just quoted tells us God approves the endless search of knowledge through studying: ``Study to show yourself approve of God”. And the Scripture also tells don’t be`` ashamed” to seek knowledge.

As journalists we are students of life and students for life. We study so that we can be in a position of opinion leadership. We study to sharpen our brains the way physical exercise strengthens the body. Remember the saying that a sound mind makes a sound body.
Studying gives us information and information gives us knowledge and knowledge gives us wisdom and wisdom gives us everything—power, wealth, influence, everything.

I have deliberately titled this piece`21 Things To Study Before You Die’. It is not as if you want you to die or I want you to die. What I really mean is to provide you with 21 strategic things, from my perspective, that you need to study, if you want to succeed in life and business. They are as follows:

Study the laws and secrets of success in business and in life.

Study case studies. Study what has worked in other environments and see how you can apply them in your situation, to your business.

Study the latest research findings and the latest knowledge in your field or your business. Study your business closely.

Study the ways and habits of successful people. Stephen Covey has written along this line in his famous book, the 7 Habits of Highly effective People.

Study the biographies and autobiographies f great people.

Study the Book of Quotations and you would be wise and educated.

Study the Book of Failures and learn from it. Learning from failure can help you succeed. It teaches you what to avoid.

Study the success story of men who began with nothing and become wealthy.

Study the past masters in your field and study your superiors.

Study your market, your customers and your products and services.

Study your competition—his product, his strategies and everything.

Study what makes you sell and what doesn’t make you sell in the marketplace.

Study the feedback you get from the marketplace, from your customers and your critics.

Study in your study. Have a library where you have the time to think and meditate on your life and your business.

Study yourself. That is, know your strength and weakness then follow your heart and gut instincts and you will never be wrong.

Study human beings and you would learn a lot. Study the world around you. That is how we journalists get the news- from studying people and places.

Study the internet and make full use of it, because a lot of information lies out there in the cyberspace which can make you prosper.

Study the affairs of the world, the affairs of your country and the affairs of your locality. A journalist is a man of affairs.


Study good writers and discover new ones. The ability to appreciate a good writer is a stepping stone to being a good writer. Get excited when you see a good writing. There are just few writers that excite these days. The rest is sheer tedium. Sheer boredom. Good writers don’t bore you. There usually don’t write too long. But bad writers write and write and write.

Study the little things that make the BIG difference in life. Study little children because out of the mouths of little babies and suckling has thou ordained strength. (Ps 8:2).

Above all things study the WORD OF GOD and mediate on it day and night and you will never lack wisdom. To succeed in life and in business, you need to read often this wonderful book of wisdom which contains everything under the sun.

(This piece is an adaption of a talk I gave at a retreat for some managers and journalists. I’m downloading it and sharing it with you, hoping you would find it useful)

MOD please do the needful