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Your Better Self with Akanna: The 4Cs of All Human Existence

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Akanna OkekeFor the past two weeks, in my last two articles, I’ve been trying to convey a point.  However, I just have this nagging feeling that the point has been lost on a large number of my readers.

I’ve coated it with flowery words, mixed it with parables, but have not gone exactly to the point yet.  And that’s exactly what I feel I should do now.

It started when I wrote about “My Top 10 Books So Far” and under book #1, The Tanach, I mentioned that the whole essence of human existence was to: connect, communicate, collaborate and create.  And since then, I’ve been trying to paint that picture to you in my articles.

No more beating around the bush, I’ve decided.  I’m going to give it to you straight.  So this article is going to be short, sweet and to the point.

It is the 4 Cs of human existence and it’s in order of ascension.

The primary essence of humans on earth is creativity.  We were created in the likeness of our Creator and so it is in-built in us to want to create.

The thing is, unlike our Creator, we cannot create things alone, by ourselves.  We need others.  We need to partner with others and become co-creators with them, especially if we want to create anything of lasting significance.  We have to come together with others to do so.

And there is a process for all of this; an orderly one though it may not seem so.  I’ve chosen to call it the 4C’s, and here they are:

Connect
You have to have empathy with other people.  You have to relate with them in such a way that shows that you see them as having a valid existence.  You have to grant them (in your mind especially) the same rights you seize for yourself.  Without all this in place, you don’t have a basis to connect at all.

Connecting involves having common ground with people.  And if you view yourself as above them or beneath them, then connecting with them becomes very tough.  This makes the next ‘C’ even tougher.

Communicate
When a connection is made, when you begin to see others as you see yourself,  when you learn to love your neighbor as yourself, then it becomes easier to establish communication with them.

Your words would come off as more loving, more caring, more empathic, and a deeper connection than merely acknowledging them as fellow humans is made.

You move from being acquaintances to becoming friends.  It is now easier for you to partner with them, to team up, to make the next ‘C’ possible.

Collaborate
Remember how we said earlier that you cannot achieve significance alone?  You have to be a co-creator with others if you want to achieve anything of lasting significance.  This is where collaboration comes in.

If you don’t have the first 2 Cs in place – connection and communication – then you don’t have the basis for collaboration.

It’s just like at work.  You have to see your colleagues as co-workers with the same rights within the company as you.  That’s the first connection.  Then you begin to communicate with them through words (speech or writing).  Only after these are in place can you all collaborate together with the end goal of creating the company’s product or service.

Create
It is such a source of misery, sadness and depression to not be able to create anything.

Creating something – whether a business, a product, a service, whatever you collaboratively bring into existence – gives you so much joy because you were created to create.

A baby brings joy to people because it is the product of two people collaborating to create something together – the highest form of human creativity at that.

Without the first 3 Cs though, we won’t be able to create, and we’ll be miserable – very much so!  So we have to work on them so as to eventually lead productive lives, full of creation, full of joy!

Daniel Lapin explains these concepts elaborately in his two books: Business Secrets from the Bible and The 10 Commandments for Making Money.  I’m still reading the latter.

I stole borrowed the concept from him and I think I completely agree with him.  The heart of every business and family life is the ability to connect, communicate, collaborate and create.

What do you think?

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