Paula: [00:00:00] Well, hello everyone and welcome to a special edition of Chatting with the Experts, where Chatting with the Experts is where I speak with women primarily from Africa, from the Caribbean, and in the diaspora. And these are professional women and successful entrepreneurs. Today’s episode is special because I’m speaking with a man and he is from Africa, so he falls within that the parameters. So, today our title is Leader, Lead Yourself, and we will be unlocking the power of personal leadership. My guest who will be joining us in a few minutes is Dr. Michael Koku, and he’s a physician and independent executive director, speaker, coach, and trainer with the Maxwell Leadership team. He’s renowned for [00:01:00] simplifying complex ideas into actionable insights and empowers leaders in business, education, healthcare and beyond through his impactful coaching and leadership development programs. I could say more about him, but like all of my guests, his bio is so impressive. So what I’ll do is welcome him to the show. So welcome Dr. Koku to Chatting with the Experts.
Dr Koku: Dr. Michael Koku is a physician and Maxwell leadership team, speaker, coach, trainer, and independent executive director well known for his ability to encapsulate complex ideas and present them in concise, compelling fashion. He helps leaders to lead more effectively so they can improve their lives personally and professionally. He is the author of 11 books, including the Four Keys for Effective Leadership, the AREA Code and LIVE LIFE BIG. He is also the Chief Visionary Officer of the LAMP Global Community, the parent organization for WILL [00:02:00] (Women in Leadership League), PEARL (Parents Empowered Academy for Right Leadership), YES (Youth Empowerment Society), and TBN (The Berean Network). Let us give a warm and cheerful welcome to Dr. Michael Koku.
Wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. Hi, Coach Paula. I’m so excited to be here. And how are you doing today?
Paula: I am excellent. Thank you for saying yes to being on the show, and I’m especially excited because I have a copy of your post.
Dr Koku: Oh yes, you got it right. And so do I.
Paula: Yep. Leader, Lead Yourself.
Dr Koku: You can see it also in my background. Yeah. My Zoom.
Paula: It’s in your background.
Dr Koku: Yeah.
Paula: So, today we’re gonna be talking about your book, about you, why you wrote it. But one thing that stood out for me is you said leadership starts with you.
Dr Koku: Yeah.
Paula: It starts with me. So tell me a bit about that, [00:03:00] because there’s something else that you said earlier on off camera. I think it was where you said change is a choice.
Dr Koku: Yeah.
Paula: That start with leadership starts with us as individuals. Can you elaborate on that?
Dr Koku: Yeah. Thank you so much. First of all, for the opportunity that you’ve given me, because this is not just a book. It’s more than a book. It’s more than a manual. It’s a mirror. And this is a movement, you know, and because this book is a movement and that will shift people’s mindset the way they see leadership. I remember when we having a global launch in June 21st, someone attended the global launch that we have for this book. And she said, until now, and this person, she is more than 60. She said until now she’s from Detroit, you know Michigan, she’s an African-American. She said she has never seen herself as a leader.
Can you imagine? She thought to be a leader you need to have a ton [00:04:00] of degrees, a ton of titles. She never knew until she came to the global launch, and I realized that. Everyone is a leader. I have this concept I call LIFE, Leadership Is For Everyone. So Leader, Lead Yourself is a call to action to everyone, including the old, the young, the male, the female. No one is left behind. So this book is a call to action for everyone on earth. Anyone that is I mean, even a little kid that is walking and that can learn, this is a mirror that can show them that this is how to lead myself because the crisis of our time is seeing people finding themself in leadership position and they have no clue on how to lead.
You know, it’s like someone, you know, driving a car. You don’t [00:05:00] drive a car because you grown and said, oh, I’m grown. I can drive a car. And maybe your cousin came to see you, your cousin, and happens to be 18-year-old, maybe even 58-year-old. He has never driven a car before. Coach Paula, can you hand over your key? No. That’s a disaster going somewhere to happen. That’s how leadership is. So, but the good news is it’s a learnable skill that we all can learn. So that’s why I wrote the book. Yeah.
Paula: It’s a learnable skill that we all can learn.
Dr Koku: Learn. Yeah.
Paula: And from listening to you, you said, you know, it’s for everyone. It’s for…
Dr Koku: It’s for everyone. Yeah.
Paula: Men, women, even young adults.
Dr Koku: Yeah.
Paula: Hmm.
Dr Koku: Yeah.
Paula: Yeah. Alright. So, talking about that. So you talk about how personal leadership is a foundation for all leadership.
Dr Koku: Correct. Yeah.
Paula: What do you mean by that, sir?
Dr Koku: Now when we talk about personal leadership, first of all, let’s define personal leadership and there’s a [00:06:00] definition I like to share by Stephen Covey, the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, and he also wrote another book called The Eight Habits. This is what Stephen Covey said, it’s a personal leadership is the process of keeping your vision and values before you and aligning your life to be congruent with them. That means you putting your vision and values before you and putting your life in alignment with those vision and values. You know, and I mean, this is also very true, and it’s there’s another person, an English author and philosopher, Aldous Huxley. He said, there’s one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that is your own self.
Paula: Say that again. I like that.
Dr Koku: That’s, see, there’s one corner of the [00:07:00] universe you can be certain of improving and that is your own self. you, see, this is what personal leadership is all about. You know, personal leadership , it’s more than a title, it’s more than a position. This is a problem. A lot of people want to have influence over others. Influence should not begin with others. It should begin with what I call TECH. Yeah, I like acronyms so begin with TECH, T-E-C-H. So where influence begins should be over your time, over your emotions, over your character and habits.
That is where influence begins. True influence does not begins with [00:08:00] others. It begins with TECH, T-E-C-H, over your time, over your emotions, your character and your habits.
Paula: Ooh.
Dr Koku: Because that is the beginning of influence, a pure influence, and this is it: to lead yourself first is the foundation of all leadership, because it involves you mastering your thoughts. It involve you discipline your behavior, aligning with your values and growing consistently so that when others follow you, they follow someone that is authentic because authenticity is the new influence in this 21st century. People are not looking for a perfect leader. They’re looking for an authentic leader. Leaders that are grounded, guided, [00:09:00] and growing. And also the time people just see, you know, someone would just say that, you know, there’s a social media influencer, and it’s true, they can have just like 21 million people following them. But their private life is so bad that, I mean, you just marvell at the kind of things that they do and they call themselves a leader.
No, you not. You are not. And that’s the thing about it, because if people can know that one question, one desire that everyone that you are leading, they’re asking one desire that they have is leader lead yourself. That’s what they’re saying. That just lead yourself first. Because when you lead yourself well, you don’t have any problem. In fact, I opened the book with a story about Mahatma Gandhi. There was a woman that came to Gandhi with her son and the woman after walk [00:10:00] a long hours. It took him a long hour, a long walk to get to where Mahatma Gandhi lives. And she got there with the son. And because the son has been eating a lot of sugar and she talked to the son, the son wasn’t listening. The son has sweet tooth, he continued to eat anything sugar. And when they go to Gandhi. He said, Bapu. The Bapu means father in India.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: He said, my son has been eating a lot of sugar. Please, can you tell him to stop eating sugar that is not good for his health? So Mahatma Gandhi looked at her and thought about it and said, please, can you bring your son back to me in the next two weeks? The woman was confused that she thought Gandhi will do something so well since he told her to come back in two weeks. So Gandhi went back home and, sorry, this, the woman went back home with the son and after to come the long [00:11:00] distance again. And when she got to Gandhi and Gandhi, look at the son.
He said son, stop eating sugar. It’s not good for your health. And then the woman said, what you mean? This is why we have to come here after two weeks to cover the long distance. I say, why can’t you say the same thing to him two weeks ago? So Gandhi, moved closer to the woman and whispered into her ear that two weeks ago. I’m still eating sugar like your son.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: So I can’t say that to him. I have to stop eating sugar myself for me to say that. So what did Gandhi model? He modeled true personal leadership, which is integrity before instruction. That’s what personal leadership is all about. It is moral integrity [00:12:00] before instruction. He could have passed instructions, but there’s no integrity to see, whenever there’s an instruction without integrity, it leads to destruction.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: And that’s what personal leadership is all about. You have to understand that Gandhi is the same person that said, an ounce of practice is better than the tons of preaching. You know, you can tell people what to do, but the question is, are you doing it? So this is what this book is all about. And to show leaders that listen, you can learn. So in this book, I share the 10 transformative pillars of personal leadership in a simple acronym leadership.
Paula: That’s what I want you to talk about. That’s something, those 10 transformative pillars.
Dr Koku: Yeah.
Paula: Let’s go. Let’s dive into that.
Dr Koku: Yeah, that’s a good one. You see, but before I do [00:13:00] that, I like to share a context. Okay. Because content without context does not bring true learning, because context shapes content. You know, Stephen Covey said, the context in which we live becomes the lens through which we see the world. So the key to successful leadership today is influence not authority. So, in giving these 10 pillars, first of all, let me share a context because Peter Singh also said, the meaning of any event is not determined by the event itself, but by the context in which it is placed. So this is the context. Are you a zero, a one, or a multiplier?
Paula: Okay. Say that again. Are you a…
Dr Koku: Okay. Are you a zero? There are three kind of people in the world. So we have zero…
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: One.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: And multiplier. This is a mathematical metaphor.
Paula: Mm. I get it [00:14:00] now. I get it.
Dr Koku: Yeah.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: Yeah. So, because if numbers could talk, they teach us one of the most important truths about people. So some people are zero. One thing about zero people is when you hang out with them, zero multiply by zero is zero. So these are people we called values eraser. They erase your value. So let’s say you are somebody that is 50 or a hundred. And you coming alongside with zero. So zero multiplied by you, which is 50 or a hundred, goes back to zero. So they erase your value.
Paula: Value eraser.
Dr Koku: So I call them value eraser. So they erase and erode your value. They bring you down to zero. So those are zero people. So some people are one. Oh, I mean, oh, well, I’m not zero. I’m this, I’m even [00:15:00] thankful that I’m not zero. I’m one. So let’s see what one looks like.
Paula: Tell us.
Dr Koku: Now one people, I’m talking about the number one O-N-E.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: These are what we called the status quo keeper.
Paula: Status quo. Okay.
Dr Koku: The status quo keeper, because any number multiplied by one is that number.
Paula: Always one.
Dr Koku: So these are people that leave you unchanged.
Paula: Oh.
Dr Koku: They leave you unchanged. The zero people, they cancel everything. They bring you down to zero. But one, they’re status quo keeper. So one seems harmless They don’t reduce you, but they don’t grow you either. Any number multiplied by one equals the same number. So some people won’t hurt you, but they won’t help you grow either.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: So these, and there’s a lot of ones. There’s a lot of ones. Nothing good, nothing [00:16:00] bad. Just normal. Status quo. So a lot of people are one. So now…
Paula: Can, I guess? Can I get the multiplier now? Just based on…
okay. Zero, people erases value a value erases. Yeah. They don’t change you. In fact, they bring you down. They bring you down.
Dr Koku: No. They change you. Zero people change you. They change you to zero. They take you to zero. Okay. They change you for evil. They change you for bad. They change you for worst.
Paula: Okay. Alright.
Dr Koku: Yeah.
Paula: They
Dr Koku: leave you unchanged. They don’t change you.
Paula: They leave you unchanged.
Dr Koku: They don’t add to you. They don’t take out from you.
Paula: Okay. So lemme guess the multiplier.
Dr Koku: They keep you at the same level.
Paula: At the same level. Multipliers.
Dr Koku: Now bring us to the multipliers.
Paula: Alright? So that’s what I’m trying to guess.
Dr Koku: Yeah. So the multipliers are people we call the value amplifiers.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: Yeah. [00:17:00] The value amplifiers. Now the multiplier starts since we are talking about numbers, it’s a metaphor of numbers. The multiplier starts from anything from two, so we have 2x multipliers, 3x, four x, five x, 10 x. A 1000x, you know, a million x. Oh boy. I’m loving it. A Million x, trillion x. So there’s no limit. That’s why the book is called Unlocking Your Power with Personal Leadership. So to unlock your power with personal leadership, you need to be a multiplier. So that means you are not in the zero conversation. You are not in the one conversation. Now, this is a different thing. Now let me give you an invitation to become a multiplier.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: So first of all, what does a [00:18:00] multiplier look like? I said, like I said, the minimum you can be as a multiplier is two. So let’s say you are two. So let’s say I’m two, for example, coach Paula is five. So two multiply by five is 10. That’s better. I mean, they don’t leave you the same. They don’t bring you down to zero, but they make you better. But guess what? You can have somebody that is five. What if someone that is five come alongside of you? That’s five multipliable. Who you are before five times five is 25. What if you are 50? You find a multiplier that is a thousand, that is even much better.
So that means by looking at this lens of life, you can decide to have a better view of life. Realizing there’s no limit to unlocking your power to lead others. Unlocking your power means the power to lead others, the [00:19:00] power to influence others. And this is what you can do with personal leadership. So multipliers, you know, and there’s a quote by Albert Einstein. He said, try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value.
So multipliers are people of value. That add value to others. So multipliers are people will lift you higher. They add wisdom to you. They multiply your energy, they elevate your vision, they stretch your potential. They’re not just inspirational, they are transformational. So this is the special invitation to become a multiplier. You must unlock your power with personal leadership. And this is what this book is all about. Now let me unveil the 10 pillars now that we see the context now. Yeah. So because like I said, the good news about this Coach Paula, is this, you can choose what X you are. You can choose to be 2x. I said, why do you wanna [00:20:00] choose to be 2x when you can be 10x?
When you can be a 1000x? Yeah, you can be unlimited version of you. The world is looking for the you that is yet to emerge. And this is why through these 10 pillars, you can continuously unlock your power to lead and influence others positively with personal leadership. So these are the 10 pillars. Like I said, the acronym is LEADERSHIP. All my books are acronyms.
Paula: Yes.
Dr Koku: If you know me now you know, interestingly, Coach Paula, I was looking at my Facebook memories and I realized that. A year ago I was on your podcast.
Paula: Yes. You were.
Dr Koku: July 10th, for my tenth book.
Paula: That’s significant.
Dr Koku: Yes. It is! You know.
Paula: Oh my word.
Dr Koku: I mean, just this morning I was looking at this was the book that we did the other time. Live Life Big.
Paula: Yes, live. Yes.
Dr Koku: Live Life [00:21:00] Big. You see what I’m saying? Yeah. And the good thing about that was it was the morning I came to your podcast that I actually got a framework for that book. I never had the framework. It was why preparing that I got the framework. So it was an acronym called DREAM.
Paula: Yes.
Dr Koku: So we done with it. Now this one is LEADERSHIP.
Paula: Leadership.
Dr Koku: So these are the 10 pillars of personal leadership. Like I said, this is a mirror. I look at this thing every morning. So we gonna go through the alphabet that spelled leadership together. So the first L is learn continuously.
Paula: Learn continuously.
Dr Koku: Learn continuously.
Paula: Right.
Dr Koku: Learn continuously. That’s L. So the second one is E, Exercise self-discipline.
Paula: Writing it down.
Dr Koku: Exercise self-discipline.
Paula: Discipline. Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: Exercise self-discipline.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: And the third one, alphabet A is Act [00:22:00] with accountability.
Paula: Act with
Dr Koku: accountability.
Act with accountability.
Paula: Right.
Dr Koku: Then the fourth one is Demonstrate emotional intelligence. Demonstrate emotional intelligence.
Paula: Intelligence.
Dr Koku: And the next alphabet is R, Reflect and realign regularly.
Paula: Excuse me, I’m sorry. We left our E because I’m writing it down.
Dr Koku: Oh, sorry. Sorry. Okay. Okay. We have L learn continuously. Then the second one is E Exercise self.
Paula: Self-discipline.
Dr Koku: Self discipline. Then the next one is A, Act with accountability.
Then the next one is D,
Paula: Demonstrate.
Dr Koku: Demonstrate emotional intelligence. Then the next one is E. Yeah, you’re right. E, Embrace purpose and passion.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: Embrace purpose and passion.
Paula: Loving it.
Dr Koku: Then followed by R.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: Reflect and realign regularly. Reflect and realign [00:23:00] regularly.
Paula: Regularly. Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: Then the next one is S.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: Set clear and stretching goals. Set clear and stretching goals.
Paula: A.
Dr Koku: Then the next one is H, Harness your inner motivation.
Paula: Harness your inner.
Dr Koku: Harness your inner motivation.
Paula: Motivations. Okay.
Dr Koku: The next one is, I Inspire yourself first. Inspire yourself first and the last, but not the least is P, Persevere through challenges. Persevere through challenges.
Paula: Challenges.
Dr Koku: Yeah.
Paula: This is impressive. One quick question before you expand on that. Did you come up with this yourself? Was this inspired by God?
Dr Koku: It’s inspired by God, I tell you. You know,, like I told you, you know, one thing unique about me, I’m a personal fit. [00:24:00] And I believe in Job 32 verse eight. There’s a spirit in men and the inspiration of the Almighty giving them understanding.
Paula: Amen.
Dr Koku: Because to be real with you, this book is a landmark book for me, and I wrote my first two books when I was in medical school.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: The first one came out in, and that was in November year 2000. That’s a small book, you know, like a booklet. I still got it right here. It’s called Understanding Medical School.
Paula: That’s good.
Dr Koku: Yeah. That was the first book. You know, it was just a booklet. That was in November…
Paula: Of 2000.
Dr Koku: Yeah. Year 2000. Then the second one came, you know, that was three years after, you know, that was during my 30th birthday. And that one is called Understanding Your Gift. This one. Understanding your gift.
Paula: Understanding your gift.
Dr Koku: Yeah. And I know my picture was a big, I thought that was really cool then, you know, but I was like, really? Was this really me?
Paula: Oh my [00:25:00] gosh.
Dr Koku: After those two books for 20 years, I never wrote a book. And I wasn’t really happy, and this is one of the reasons why this book is so, so important to me because I lose that. I don’t really understand this personal leadership the way I do now.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: So I wasn’t leading myself well, the way I ought to. And we all get to that place because there are four different zones in life. Coasting zone, comfort zone, and we have the challenge zone and the creative zone. So I was in that comfort zone. A comfort is a zone in which we comfortable, but it is actually comfortability in mediocrity. And you know, it’s a place in which, I mean, nothing new, same old, same old. There’s no growth.
Paula: No growth. Yes.
Dr Koku: So I was there for 20 years. I never wrote a [00:26:00] single book, and that bothers me until two years ago when I was about to clock 50 and I said, God, I don’t want to live this way again. So I made a commitment that year they wanna write 10 books. Now watch this. You’ve not written a book for 20 years, you now say you want to write 10 books in one year. That’s what we call BHAG is what we call Bold Hairy Audacious Goal from Jim Collins that wrote it from Good to Great and I finished that year not writing 10, but I did five books, 2023. Now, the second year, 2024, 4 new books came, and then this year, this book, so this year is the 10th book. So that means 10 books, 10 new books [00:27:00] in less than two years. And they’re all here. ’cause I wrote it, the first one that I wrote. This is the 2.0 for the other one of the Understanding Medical School. This was written for medical student.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: So that’s the 2.0 for their one.
Paula: Was that book number three?
Dr Koku: Yes.
Paula: Okay. That was book number three.
Dr Koku: Yeah. Yeah. And these are other books that came. Yeah, the Beautiful People. I have another one. Five Keys of Networking. I have another one, Four Keys for Effective leadership.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: Yeah. That one came. Then this one, this understanding, you give the 2.0 for the the second one that I wrote. That one came then, then this one, the AREA Code on Servant Leadership.
Paula: Yes. Yeah, we talked about that in last year on my podcast.
Dr Koku: Yeah. This is number 10. And the one that we talk about. Your…
Paula: Live Life Big. Don’t leave goals.
Dr Koku: Yeah, Live Life Big. Don’t leave your dream. Live your dream.
Paula: Yeah. Don’t leave.
Dr Koku: Yeah. And the one before, this one now is called the Mentorship Advantage.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: Yeah. So this one came up then Thanksgiving last year, November last year. [00:28:00]
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: So before this one, eh, this number 12, you need to buy all of it.
Paula: Yeah. I mean, I have had so many authors on my show that now I’m at the point I’m collecting everybody’s at least one person, one book from each other.
Dr Koku: Yeah. That’s awesome. Now, like I said, so this book is a landmark book. it is the 10th book in less than two years. And people say, how do you do that? And the answer is this personal leadership, because like I said, you know, I dropped the ball in leading myself for 20 years, so I began to learn about personal leadership, and this learning is something that just learning from other leaders and all that and having more self-awareness and by divine inspiration, and when these 10 pillars came, I was so excited because it gave that framework not just for me to lead myself, but for me to [00:29:00] boldly share with people that if you want to lead yourself, this is how to do it. And the good thing about this book, Coach Paula, is it’s no theory. It is all practical. There’s actionable steps.
Paula: Yeah.
Dr Koku: Stories. My personal story is in all of those templates.
Paula: Wow.
Dr Koku: The process I have to go through, number one, the first one is learning continuously.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: You know, this was initially challenging for me and I shared it in the book. I’m someone that will take a book. You know, I learned to read in medical school. I love to read. Even while reading my medical books, I learned to read other books. I’m the kind of person that I’ll be in a world grant, you know, before the consultant come, I’m reading Zig Ziglar. While my colleagues are, you know, reading something else or chatting away. I’m reading Zig Ziglar. You know, so I love to read, but along the way when I left school, like many of us, we leave school we stopped reading.
Paula: You stopped learning .
Dr Koku: Just flattening.
Paula: Yes.
Dr Koku: [00:30:00] So I get to a point and I became lazy with my reading. I’m the kind of person that I hold a book. I won’t read it. So my barber is from Vietnam. So I was still with him yesterday and, okay, that was today and yesterday. So he saw me with a book, the same book. He’s been seeing that book for a long time and he started asking me, are used to reading this book. Wow. I felt guilty that, wow, this man, you were paid to cut my hair. Not to remind me of my sin of not reading it, but he was used to wake my conscience.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: And to keep him quiet, I took another book. So I didn’t finish the book that I was holding. I took a new one so that to keep him quiet, so he was quiet, but my conscience now came alive. And since then I said no, I can’t live this way again. So I began to learn this habit of reading. And it was a [00:31:00] process, and I shared this process in this book.
Paula: Ah.
Dr Koku: Now how do you go from someone that was stuck? And I know many of people that listen to me right now, you know, I was stuck on reading. I have the book in my hand, but I wasn’t reading it. But I share how I came out of that in this book. Guess what, coach Paula, today, I’m reading 11 books every day.
Paula: How do you do that? That’s a question that has been on the tip of my tongue to ask.
Dr Koku: Well, the thing I did that is I learned something from a great leader and I modified the concept, and I call it SOAR. So the SOAR concept, I’ve shared this concept with many people and, but I share the concept inside this book. That’s a bonus that I put in this book. So lemme quickly share with you ’cause you asked. Now the SOAR is based on this context, like I said, it takes context to understand content.
Paula: Yes.
Dr Koku: Content without context does not bring understanding.
Paula: [00:32:00] Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: So we have two nature inside of us. We have the, hippopotamus. And the eagle nature.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: So the hippopotamus is our lower self.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: The why, the eagle is our higher self, the highest version of ourself. So the hippopotamus in us is what? Like to wallow, like just becoming lazy. In this book, I shared another bonus that I learned from Anthony Robbins about seven things that laziness is costing you. I shared it in this book. Yeah. But what I didn’t share is how to overcome laziness. But the good news about this is, that’s SOAR concept is what help us to connect to our higher self, the eagle in us ’cause eagles soar. So this is it. It is S-O-A-R.
So the S is whenever you wanna start a new habit. For instance, your bad habit is not reading. Let’s say you want, you are the one that was [00:33:00] stuck like me before. I wish somebody have shared this with me before. You are stuck and you want to start reading. So that mean you wanna start a new habit of reading. So the S means start small. So let’s say you pick up this book. Now you want to start reading, you know you’ve not been reading. You’ll be stuck. So start small. So just commit to you, maybe you bought this new book on Amazon.
Paula: Yes.
Dr Koku: And after buying the book, you said, okay, I’m gonna read two pages of the book a day. That’s the starting small. I wanna read one page. So that’s what it means to start small. Just start small.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: So that’s the S.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: So the O is make it obvious. So what that means to make it obvious now. You want to start reading this book, you want to make the book obvious. That means you wanna put it somewhere you can see, because we all need a visual reminders.
Paula: Yes.
Dr Koku: So make it obvious. Put the book somewhere you can see it for visual [00:34:00] reminders. All the books I’m reading, Coach Paula, they are within my vision.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: Yeah. So that’s the eight. So make it obvious so that the book will remind you that you are, you’ve not read me today, you are yet to read me today. When are you gonna read me? When are you gonna read me? Those are visual reminders.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: So you make it obvious. So that is the O. Then the third one is A. Make it automatic.
Paula: Automatic.
Dr Koku: Now, how do you make an habit automatic? A new habit, automatic. Now there’s something called habit pairing. For you to make a new habit automatic, you need to pair it with something with a habit that is already automatic.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: And every one of us has some habits that is already automatic. And no matter where you live, no matter where you are, there are two kind of habits that is already automatic. One of them is eating and one of them is sleeping. That means it doesn’t matter how busy you are, you [00:35:00] have time to eat, you have time to sleep. You need to pair this new habit with eating or sleeping. So case in point, you can pair it up with before breakfast. I’m gonna read two pages of this book. So that means you’re gonna write a statement, you’re gonna put it in a statement. Before breakfast, i’m going to read one page or two page of this book. So that is, you are pairing it with breakfast or before lunch. I’m gonna read one page or two page or before bed that is pairing it up with sleeping before bed. That’s why some people came up with. For instance, if you’re a person of faith, there’s a new concept that people say, no Bible, no breakfast, no bible, no bed.
That was the same concept. So we call it habit pairing. So you have to pair a new habit with something that is already established, like sleeping or eating. So the fourth one is [00:36:00] R, make it realistic. Make the new habit realistic. So what that mean is this. Don’t say, I’m gonna finish this book in one week. Don’t forget, you just started reading. But if you said, I’m gonna finish seven page in one week, that is realistic.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: Or 14 pages in one week, that is realistic. So that is the principle that I used to do my reading. So like I said, I’m reading 11 books every seven. So what I do, I commit two hours. 10 minutes to those books. So I have a primary book, one of our team leaders, I’m reading a book now. I’ll spend 30 minutes on this one. Then the remaining book, I spend 10, 10 minutes on those books.
Paula: Ah, I love it. So it’s actionable. It is realistic. It’s
Dr Koku: Yes, realistic. So my goal within. Those 10 minutes is to finish two pages.
Paula: Uh-huh.
Dr Koku: At times, I read three pages. Guess what? Coach Paula, I just finished a big book, the [00:37:00] biggest book I’ve ever read in my life. It’s called Team of Rivals.
Paula: Team of Rivals?
Dr Koku: Yeah. It’s on Abraham Lincoln.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: The book is so big. I just finished the book yesterday.
Paula: Wow.
Dr Koku: It is close to 900 pages.
Paula: And you did it using the…
Dr Koku: I was reading two pages per day and I learned the same thing from Dr. John Maxwell. That is how you read the book. Do you know, for a long time I have the book in front of me. I couldn’t finish it. I was like, how do I read this big book? Coach Paula, all I need to read is two pages per day, close to 900 pages. I just finished it yesterday. And that’s how I finished most of the books. And since using this concept, I’ve finished a lot of books and I keep buying books. I just ordered that for two books today, two biographies today.
Paula: Dr Koku, I would love to continue talking with you. You know, we have to open up the floor [00:38:00] for audience, questions and you know, people, I mean, they’re hearing all of this and they’re like, how can I talk to this impressive…
Dr Koku: Oh,
we just started. I thought we just started.
Paula: I know. I know. So, I have a quick question, which is if people wanna get in touch with you, that’s gonna be the quick question because we wanted to talk with you in the audience.
Dr Koku: Well, to get in touch with me and, , you can link up with me on LinkedIn.
Paula: On LinkedIn.
Dr Koku: As Dr. Michael Koku.
Paula: Mm-hmm.
Dr Koku: And then you can link up with me on Facebook as Michael Koku. Okay. Then my YouTube channel, Dr. Michael Koku and so I mean Instagram, Michael Koku.
Paula: Okay.
Dr Koku: Yeah. Really. So that’s the easiest way.
Paula: Easiest way. So LinkedIn YouTube, Facebook and IG.
Dr Koku: Yes.
Paula: Just search for either Dr. Michael Koku or Michael Koku.
Dr Koku: Dr. Michael. Yeah, yeah. Dr. Michael [00:39:00] Koku or Michael Koku. Yeah.
Paula: I could talk with you forever. I said last year that we had to do, no…
Dr Koku: I thought we just started. I tell you, I was just having fun, you know?
Paula: We have to continue this conversation in another episode because maybe that’s when you’ll be writing your 11th. That would be your 13th book actually, because you…
Dr Koku: You know what? My mentor warned me to slow down. He said Michael, slow down. Slow down. So what I’m gonna do, I’m gonna write books, but I’m not publishing books. The only book I’m gonna publish in November will be insightful quotes. That’s a book on quotation. ‘Cause I have a I have a professional following called Thinker Island of more than 255 professionals in the world. So every day I share a minimum of five to seven insightful quotes. And so I’ll bring that one out before the year. That’ll be my 13th book.
Paula: Your 13th.
Dr Koku: But new books will come out next year, so I’m on tour right now.
Paula: Okay. Okay. Okay. Well it seems like I’m in sync with your, [00:40:00] you know, your publishing of book, so we will have to do another episode for your 13th book.
Dr Koku: Yeah, no problem.
Paula: Before 2025 ends.
Dr Koku: It’s okay. I’ll be glad to.
Paula: And now to those of you who would like to be a guest on the show, you know, I talk mainly with women, but I also talk to men as you can see.
Dr Koku: Men of substance.
Paula: Yes. Men. Sometimes. I always…
Dr Koku: Men of substance. Yeah.
Paula: But if you would like to be on the show, please reach out to me on my website, which is chattingwiththeexperts.com
Dr Koku: Mm-hmm.
Paula: I’m also on LinkedIn as Paulo Okonneh. My IG handle is at chat_experts_podcast. And I am on Facebook as Paula Okonneh. I have a business page there too, but most times I’m more easily accessible on my personal page. And last but not the least, please subscribe to us on YouTube.
Dr Koku: Yeah.
Paula: We have so [00:41:00] much content out there with all amazing, amazing people who are empowering, educating and inspiring women globally. Dr. Koku, this has been awesome.
Dr Koku: My pleasure.
Paula: And now let’s open the floor for others to join us and ask you all the questions that they have been wanting to ask. Thank you.