I want to address a subject that came up during our recent webinar. Let me also inform you that the recording of the webinar is available. It consists of two lectures—one by Dr. Apoki, PhD. I add “PhD” to distinguish him from his elder brother, who is a medical doctor, and from myself, a medical doctor with a PhD in Computer Science and working as a cloud engineer.
The issue I raised is contained in the videos—the lecture he gave and the one I gave. It was a master class. If you would like to get the recordings, send a message to +234 80 21 92 62.
I want to talk about time and space.
It was my former PA and principal, Dr. Raymond Orurugun, who actually refined the concept. I initially titled it “Time and Space Contraction of the World,” and he mentioned that in quantum physics—one of the areas he studied during his master’s degree—there is a concept called “time and space annihilation.”
So I went to check it out and discovered that the concept was first used by Karl Marx and later by David Harvey, a geographer. They explained that technology drastically reduces travel time and communication time, making distance almost negligible.
During the webinar, I told participants—who registered from all over the world—that I had contracted the world, compacted it, and brought them into my phone without traveling to meet them and without them traveling to meet me. That is the new normal.
The new normal is this: compress the world into your phone, into your space of operation, into the technology you are using. The world used to be described as a global village. It became a global street. Today, you can compress it into your phone.
Unless you have this mindset, you cannot thrive in this dispensation.
For example, someone consulted me from Madagascar this morning. I was on my bed discussing with him—and I earned money. If you are still thinking conventionally, you will only get conventional results. You must think within the framework of this era. This is the era of contraction of the world—you compress the world into your space.
At the same time, the world is intruding into your space. So you must deflect unnecessary and unproductive information.
You must distinguish between gossip and information. Gossip is the discussion of events concerning other people; it may not enlighten you. Information, on the other hand, should produce value.
You must also learn to extract insight from communication. Someone was discussing something with me, and I extracted what he did not even intend to reveal. There is always the surface value of what is being said—and then there is the deeper insight you can extract. A blind man listening carefully may gain insight, while someone with eyeglasses who sees clearly may miss it.
In this generation, you will be bombarded with so many things. Learn to extract insight from what is useful, and filter the rest. What you take in must be necessary and productive.
You must also filter access.
There are platforms I do not listen to. There are people I do not listen to. I filter access to my mind. I also filter access to myself.
One of my nephews, I blocked him. He even complained to my lawyer. But he adds no value to my mind. Anytime he calls, it is either a complaint or a problem. In those days, before someone would travel from Lagos to Ughelli to see you, he would think twice. Today, with video calls, he can appear before you instantly—with all his problems.
So you must filter access.
People say, “Can you spare 20 minutes of your time?” At my age bracket, 20 minutes is very expensive. I do not give my time out freely. People have access to you through your phone, but that does not mean they are entitled to your time.
I do not turn on my phone early in the morning. I first do my exercises, my meditation, check my vital signs. If not, your phone will wake you and dictate your day. Today I saw a hidden number. Anyone who calls me with a hidden number does not deserve my attention.
If someone wants to sit beside me for one hour, you pay. It is my time. It is my life. At 67, every hour of my life is precious and expensive.
Consider the number of WhatsApp groups people add you to—burial groups, birthday groups, marriage ceremony groups, coronation groups, tribal groups, and so on. They bombard you. Each one takes your time, your emotions, and your money. You must restrict it.
Then you must define your pursuits.
If you do not define your pursuits, you will be bombarded by trends—AI, Tai Chi exercises, one meal a day, this product, that product. Define what works for you. One meal a day has worked for me; my blood pressure is normal, and the joy of not taking medication is wonderful.
If you do not define your pursuits, you will just keep consuming and buying. There are endless things to sell online. Some of the people advising you are AI-generated voices, telling you how to live your life—and you do not even know them.
Restrict access to your mind. Define your pursuits.
Then reorganize your strategies.
Adopt modern technology if you want to be productive. Employ competent hands. Learn to earn even when you are sleeping.
To earn while sleeping, learn to disperse yourself using available vehicles. What do I mean?
In my compound, a tree is growing that I did not plant. Birds brought the seed—that is animal dispersal. There is wind dispersal. There is water dispersal.
In the same way, use vehicles to disperse yourself—radio, social media, and other platforms.
I speak to about 14 million people in the Niger Delta through two radio stations, and across the River Niger as well. I use Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube. Use social media to disperse yourself, your products, and your services. Otherwise, you will remain confined, ignored, and neglected while others gain attention.
The world has changed.
In the past, exam questions would say: If eight men clear a field in four hours, how long will it take sixteen men? If you answered “two hours,” you were considered brilliant.
Today, that is incomplete thinking. You must ask: Where are the men from? What kind of men? What are their sizes? What tools are they using—lawnmowers or cutlasses? At what time of day? In what season?
Intelligence today requires context.
There is something called AI—Artificial Intelligence. There is another intelligence outside your natural brain that you must connect to. When you link the intelligence in your head with artificial intelligence, your productivity increases tremendously.
In the past, I would write a book, my son would type it, we would edit it, and then go to print. That era is gone. When they charged me a large sum to reprint one of my books, Refined by Hardship, my son simply used technology and put it on Amazon.
I once gave a lecture titled From Salary to Surplus. I did not need to struggle. I typed the material, sent it through WhatsApp to Abraham, and he produced it for me.
Your productivity is no longer dependent on your muscles or even your brain alone. Your brain now exists in your phone and laptop. Part of your intellect exists outside you through applications.
Though the effectiveness of applications depends on the intelligence of the user, intelligence alone is not enough. Vision, insight, and spatial thinking—seeing what you can produce from what is in your hand—are more important.
We are going to start courses on this channel—academy.drapoki.com—both virtual and physical courses. There are many things coming up.
We have also started investing in real estate on behalf of people. We develop real estate for them, and they make profit from it. We are currently at the basic level of land acquisition. We partition land for investors. Someone recently bought five acres and is projected to make twice the investment within a short time.
There is a lot happening in this dispensation.
Do not think normally. Think possibilities.
Dr. Charles Apoki is my name. Send a message to +234 80 21 92 62 for more inquiries.
God bless you.
