Author: Willie Jolley
Publisher: Pastoral Care
Reviewer: Goke Ilesanmi
Accomplishment of success in life requires having a passionate goal in the area of your natural capacity, strong determination and effective time management. That is why I want us to examine this book entitled “It Only Takes a Minute to Change Your Life!” this week. It is written by Willie Jolley, a renowned motivational writer and speaker who is in high demand, especially in the United States of America.
Jolley says for so many years, he thought, like most people, that a minute was an insignificant amount of time. He adds that he figured that the only significant use of a minute was just to make hours, which were more important. This author reflects that he would hear people say “I’ll be there in a minute” or “Wait a minute” when they really did not mean a minute but more than that. According to him, a minute was just a figure of speech, something that everybody took for granted.
Jolley submits that as he grew older, he began to realise that great things can come in small packages. This author says he realised that a minute is not only vital but also the starting point of all success, thus advising that we must therefore be mindful of the fact that just as pennies create dollars, minutes create hours. According to this motivator, the difference is that if you throw away your pennies, you have the capability of making more, as many as you want. Jolley however adds that your time is not the same, especially that you have a limit on the time you have on this earth, a limit on the number of minutes that you have to live. He advises that you must therefore be mindful of time and respectful of the minutes that make the hours, that make the days, that make the months, that ultimately make the years.
Jolley submits that once lost, that minute cannot be regained, and what you do with your minutes will ultimately determine what you do with your life. According to Jolley, this book is written to share with you, the importance of time, and contains stories and thoughts that are designed to be short and quick but leave a lasting impression, as well as ideas that are designed to give the maximum in a minimum time. This motivator asserts that in an age of minute rice, instant coffee, fast food, quick cash and phone loans, he is happy to present this book that is about dreams in relation to time-consciousness.
Structure-wise, the book has ten chapters. Chapter one is the title chapter, that is, entitled “It Only Takes a Minute to Change Your Life!”and opens with a corresponding poem written by Al Johnson entitled “It Only Takes a Minute”. Jolley says, “Today we want to talk about the importance of a single minute, this minute you are investing in reading this page. It may not seem like a big deal, but let me tell you it is a major deal, because a minute is the starting point of building your dreams. From a great minute comes a great hour, and from a great hour comes a great day and from a great day comes a great week, then a great month, then a great year, and from there you can be the architect of a great lifetime and it starts with a single minute!”
Chapter two is entitled “To do the incredible, you must dream the impossible!”According to Jolley here, “As we look through the annals of time, we see that every great accomplishment, every outstanding achievement came about because some was willing to go after that which was considered to be impossible! …To do the incredible, you must first dream the impossible!”
He reflects that every day is brand-new, a day unlike any other day, brand-new opportunity to make your dreams come true. He stresses that in order for your dreams to become true, it is necessary for you to have a dream. “You’ve got to have a dream, a goal – not just a resolution that you make on the first of January and forget by the fifteenth, but a goal, target, a destination that you have made a commitment to. It is critical that you have a dream…,” says Jolley.
In chapters three to six, concepts such as goals as dreams with a deadline; a man being as he thinks; getting a new attitude; and never giving up are discussed.
Chapter seven is interrogatively entitled “What’s love got to do with it? …Everything!” According to this motivator, “Love has the capacity to heal and to cure, to build and to restore, to renew and reform, to translate and transform. Love hopes all things, bears all things, believes all things and endures all things. Love conquers all …and love never fails!” Jolley adds that love is a choice which creates options, while hate is also a choice, but it removes options. According to this motivator, “You have to learn to love yourself and feel good about yourself because if you do not feel good about yourself you will let anything and anybody talk you out your dreams and distract you from your purpose and your personal mission in life…To love self is the greatest love of all. Yet so many never ever learn to love themselves….”
In chapters eight to ten, concepts such as blessed assurance; the sky being the limit; and small steps taken on a mighty long road are examined. This author submits that the sky is truly the limit and your faith can and will take you as far as you want to go. Jolley stresses that there will be challenges, obstacles or difficulties that will test your resolve. “But if you can go after your dream, then you will see that it is true, The Sky Truly Is the Limit!” he submits.
According to Jolley, we all have defining moments that have altered and affected our directions, but it only becomes a defining moment when it actually defines and shapes our characters and perspectives. “It is really not the moment that defines it, but our response to the moments that are unexpected and that alter our histories, but many run from those moments and wilt in the heat of those moments. They refuse to rise to the challenges of the moment,” he says.
Conceptually, the ideas articulated in this book are creative and rich. As regards style, Jolley’s efforts are commendable in this book. Apart from the simplicity of language, the mode of presentation is unique. For instance, he uses a lot of reflective illustrations, biblical and classical/literary allusions for the purpose of analytical reinforcement to ensure easy understanding and concrete conviction on readers’ part. He uses thematically- corresponding poems to achieve conceptual amplification and radiate genre interconnectedness. Jolley also uses clock image in the discussed concepts to achieve thematic visual reminder or create temporal emphasis and consciousness.
However, Jolley mistakenly equates a dream with a goal in chapter two thus: “You’ve got to have a dream, a goal….” A goal is a dream with an action plan as he correctly says in chapter three. The verbose expression in chapter seven should have been better written as “Love has the capacity to heal, cure, build, restore, renew, reform, translate and transform”. In chapters eight to ten, Jolley says “The sky truly is the limit”. But the new concept is “The sky is the beginning”.
If you want to achieve your life goals in life, then you need to read this great book.
GOKE ILESANMI (FIIM, FIMC, CMC), CEO of Gokmar Communication Consulting, is an International Platinum Columnist, Professional Public Speaker, Career Mgt Coach and Certified Mgt Consultant. He is also a Book Reviewer, Biographer and Editorial Consultant.
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