By Osideinde Adewale

It was their Physics 101 exam, Sam called out to Kunle in a low voice – Kunle! Kunle! Move your hand, I want to see your answer to question 5.

How many of us remember doing this? Confession time 😛 or maybe you didn’t ask for permission, you just copied anyway. Wehdone ma! Wehdone sir! 🤣🤣🤣

Maybe you were Kunle… Did you move your hand or did you raise your hand to report Sam? Aunty! Aunty! This boy is disturbing me. Shame on you for not allowing Sam to pass 😅😅😅😅. Don’t mind me.

While I am not endorsing cheating, the reality is that in school the rules of the game supported independent development, but in the larger society, the rules support cooperation and collaboration. We need to stop playing football with the rules of tennis.

Many of us continue to cover our book till today. We keep ideas to ourselves. We refuse to share what is working for us. We don’t want others to know how we are getting it done. We feel that by sharing others will take credit for it. We keep saying “sister mi, na God”. While this was in line with the rules in school, It’s time to repent because you are doing more harm than good to yourself.

The problem with hoarding is that you live off your past, your reserve and ultimately grow stale. The exciting thing about sharing is that it forces you to think of the next idea as you now have nothing, since the idea you had is now in the open and stale.

I am sure some of us wonder, how some people always come up with new ideas. The answer is simple, they don’t cover their book, they share! By sharing, it means they cannot keep sharing the same thing every time, so, they are forced to look for the next idea and then the next.

Leave that person you just thought about, now back to you, are you sharing? That thing helping you close more sales, get new offers, access funding, get promoted and more, are you sharing it or are you hoarding it? Refuse the temptation to stay quiet, else you become old, stale and irrelevant. Cultivate the habit of opening your book.

You read an article/book that helped, share it!
You attended a course that helped, share it!
You saw a video that gave you fresh insight, share it!
You tried a trick that worked, share it!
You listened to a podcast that was impactful, share it!
You saw a funding opportunity, share it!
You saw a job opening, share it!
You saw a networking opportunity, share it!

The more you give away, the more that comes back to you. That includes ideas 💡!

Open your book to someone today and experience the beauty of gratitude from others, the fulfillment of giving, the joy of watching your ideas refined and made better, and the honor of seeing others growing because of you.

Who are you sharing with today? What are you sharing? When are you sharing it? Do it today! Do it everyday!

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Adewale Osideinde is a Brand and Marketing Professional and an alumni of Harvard Business School X, Pan Atlantic University SMC, and Brand Management Academy. He was previously the Head of Marketing for A2W Group. He’s an avid reader and a proponent of continuous learning and development.