The Word Café Podcast with Amax
My unique message to the world is the power behind the words of our mouths. We have made light of it but cannot escape the fruits thereof. For me, words are the unit of creation, the building block on which our existence evolves. This podcast is for everyone who wants to better their living by using words and applying themselves wisely. I will be using the storytelling style fused with imaginative nuances to transport the listener to that place, where possibilities are not luxuries but everyday experiences; movie in voice.
This podcast will emphasize the power of routine, and what you repeatedly do, you most likely build capacity and expertise for what you repeatedly do. My podcast will help the listener learn how to practice success because the same amount of time you use in complaining is the same you can use to plant, build, prune, etc. I intend to draw the listener's attention to the power of their words.
The Word Café Podcast with Amax
S4 Ep. 229 Life After 40: Breaking the Myth of Limitation
The arbitrary deadline of turning 40 has long been accompanied by the ominous warning that "a fool at 40 is a fool forever." But is this cultural expectation rooted in truth or merely a societal construct that creates unnecessary pressure?
Drawing from personal experience and historical examples, I challenge this limiting belief by highlighting remarkable success stories that defy age-based expectations. Harlan Sanders founded KFC at 65, Gordon Bowick launched Starbucks at 51, and Ray Kroc transformed McDonald's into a global empire at 52. Vera Wang and Joyce Meyer both began their impactful careers at 40. These examples aren't exceptions—they're powerful reminders that your timeline isn't dictated by cultural norms.
When I turned 40 in 2017, I faced what felt like attacks on all fronts—corporate challenges, spiritual warfare, and financial pressure. This period of darkness nearly broke me but ultimately became the catalyst for writing my first book and creating this podcast. What appeared to be a season of failure was actually preparation for purpose. Through this experience, I discovered what I now share with you: "The wisdom of patience will teach you speed." Every trial builds competence, character, and capacity for your ultimate calling.
Modern achievements like Forbes' "40 Under 40" lists amplify the pressure to perform by certain ages, yet these arbitrary metrics ignore divine timing and individual purpose. Instead of measuring yourself against cultural expectations or corporate achievements, discover your God-given purpose and pursue it without the anxiety of comparison. You weren't created to fit someone else's standard but to fulfill a unique calling that transforms lives in ways only you can.
Have you been feeling the pressure of age-based expectations? Share your journey with us and remember—your story isn't finished, and your greatest contributions may still lie ahead, regardless of your age.
You can support this show via the link below;
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1718587/supporters/new
ready or not? Here I come, I'll find you, but I will not take you slowly. Hi, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good, everything. Wherever you are joining me. You're seeing, you're listening, how? How are you? Ah, yes, I will always ask that question because it means a lot to me. I always say it not because it is rhetoric, no, but it is the truth. Part of the reason why we're here is because you're there.
Speaker 1:Welcome to the World Cafe Podcast with Amax. I call it my happy space. Each time I come into this place, it's like the whole world stops for me because I'm about to unleash, not in a negative way, positive way. So how are you? Do you like how I'm looking? So let me tell you something. Uh, getting ready for you today, walking into the, you know, coming here, my wife saw me like for goodness sake, where are you going? I said I I'm going to the studio, I have to record. She said it looks like you're going for a board meeting and I smiled. Well, let me tell you, today's episode of the show is being sponsored by an amazing boutique here in the city of Abuja. But again, I have to tell you the truth. You can reach them from anywhere and everywhere. They've decided to be part of the show, to sponsor and all of that.
Speaker 1:I call him unique because he's a unique individual. Mike is his name, the name of his outfit is Unique concepts here in abuja, as in. I go there to, I think for as long as I can remember, that's where I go to buy my stuff for men, like from my shoes, stockings, undergarment and everything. So it's like come on, let's be part of the show, let's sponsor. So he's the one. So I mean you're going to get more information anyway at the end of this. Please go ahead, embrace him. You know, for ladies, you want to buy something for your husband, your significant other? Go to unique mic concepts here in abuja. Aha, I'm going to put his details at the end of the show so that you can reach him, but I want to say a very big thank you to him also.
Speaker 1:You like the way I'm looking right, I know you do like. You know we always come in here with that positivity. This is the space where we come in to lean on one another's what experience, to forge a positive path. I was with you for you to say that. Okay, now that we have this out of the way, but I I like the way I'm looking. Anyway I'm I mean the future. What are we going to be doing today, you're wondering.
Speaker 1:I made a promise some time ago and I'm going to fulfill that promise. My wife will always tell me when I make that statement. You say, remember, it's your father's name, yes, my dad's name, promise Amakri. So I always tell her it's your father-in-law. So I will keep my promise when I turned 40. Yep, there's been a lot about 40 and all of that, but I want to share with you my own experience when I turned 40, and we'll pick it up from there.
Speaker 1:I have, you know, some things to read. You know the way we do it on the show. We speak in and out and we have that conversation. So I'm going to read from my book A Cocktail of Words. If you've not gotten this book, please do. It's available on Amazon. You can put a call across. We will get it across to you.
Speaker 1:Recently, I was just going through certain things and I realized everything about my life so far that has been revealed is in the cocktail of words. Yep, I've written about four books cocktail of words, the color of words, my hr notebook and hocus pocus on god, but I call this my baby because I did a lot. This was when God really pushed me and I'm going to talk about it when I turned 40. So one of it is the law of sevens. I call it the law of sevens. Is it just a number or does it reveal a value that we should pay attention to? I'm talking about seven On the musical scale. We are not permitted to abuse this law. Give a portion to seven places and, upon careful arrangement, a harmony comes alive from the notes behind the numbers, from the notes behind the numbers. This I have come to see all around me, the human life expressed on the scale of time which follows this pattern of a musical scale obeying this law.
Speaker 1:The first seven, infancy. The second seven, teenage. The third, seven, adolescence. The fourth, seven, teenage. The third, seven, adolescence. The fourth seven, adulthood. The fifth seven, adulthood, continues. The proper bringing together of the sevens, on the premise of cognizance and applying oneself, brings about a sonorous harmony that the world cannot help but notice, just like the musical scale. Find yourself within the sevens and make that melody of yourself, do you like it? Thank you, thank you, the lore of sevens, somebody said. But the musical scale is eight, no seven. Do re mi fa, so la ti Do is a repetition, so you get it now.
Speaker 1:When I wrote that, when I wrote that, I mean part of it, part of it. So you look at life, I look at 40 is a fool forever, is that true? I'm going to read something I saw from somebody. She did a post, dami Lola Bamoye, oyala Ja, oyala, jaala, oyala, and I did an exchange with her. Anyway, many people have succeeded after 40. A fool at 40 is not a fool forever. Harlan Sanders founded KFC at the age of 65. Gordon Bowick, who founded Starbucks, I think, when he was 51. Ray Kroc joined McDonald's when he was 52 and turned it into a global franchise. Laura Ingalls Laura Ingalls Wilder, that's the full name became a published author at 65 years old with her first title, you know, with her first little house. Vera Wang launched her bridal design company when she was 40 years old. Joyce Meyer started her ministry and founded the Joyce Meyer Ministries when she was 40 years old.
Speaker 1:You can always reinvent, pivot or achieve your goals at any time. Keep working, keep in faith, keep meaningful connections around you, purpose-oriented people, go all in for yourself. A fool at 40 is not a fool forever. But even is there a fool at 40? So when I saw this, I was like, okay, it will help me share with you my own experience. You know, I never quite realized it until I was stopped, you know, in my truck to like look back.
Speaker 1:Yes, I turned 40 in 2017. And when I look back, when I look back actually retrospective, a lot went, would I say, wild. For me, it was like I was attacked on all fronts Yep, on all fronts. Yep, on all fronts Corporate, spiritual, what else? Financial. If you've listened to my prayer in the dark, that was what I was talking about in 2017. It was the year 2017. If you remember, go watch it. It it's there on youtube. That was what I was talking about depression.
Speaker 1:So many things happened that it felt like I was under this pressure. I wanted to explode. But in that same hour, I remember God speaking to me through my wife why not write? Why not speak? Why not write? You love talking, you love writing, you love engaging people and all of that. And I sat down and I wrote my first book. Just like Lara Ingalls, who wrote her first book at 65. I wrote my first book after 40, referring to what happened.
Speaker 1:So there's been this myth. I always say this don't base life on your human experience. It's very faulty. The authority of human experience is not final. It's not. The authority of human experience is not final, it's not. You may define things within human experience, but if you ask yourself closely, is that what God calls it? Is that what God calls it? Now? We now have this pressure to perform before 40. Yeah, we have this pressure everywhere. You see, even the corporate world is not helping. Forbes is not even helping matters. You hear Forbes 40 under 40 CEOs and all that.
Speaker 1:I read this story about this guy. I think I saw it on LinkedIn and he was so pressured that he made the list. He said after that he felt like commuting suicide. He became suicidal. So you come to see that when you put yourself out there, according to the expectation, societal expectation if Abraham had put himself, gauged himself, according to the societal expectation, he would have committed suicide. Yep At 100.
Speaker 1:What about, sarah? The story of Joseph? Go read it up. He saw he had a dream at the age of 17. It was a long walk to freedom for Joseph. When did he get to the palace? So try and put yourself in Joseph's frame. You know, unseen, imprisoned, sold. Imagine that. So how would you? But look at how it ended for him. Someone will say, okay, what are you saying? Joseph did not subject himself to human experience. No, he didn't. Rather, the dream he had was before him.
Speaker 1:There are certain things I don't share publicly, for obvious reasons. People will misunderstand it, misrepresent it. I saw things growing up as a child and I've shared some of my childhood experience and all that with you. I didn't share everything. Yes, I didn't. Some of them are not meant for public consumption, sorry, but when I, in my quietness, I begin to play them out, I see, just like Joseph said, okay, this is why what is happening is happening. So don't put yourself under undue pressure. So now, I believe in urgency, but I don't believe in the rush, if you understand what I mean by that. No, I don't. There are two different things. For your information, urgency looks like it must happen. Now, you know it. This is the time time.
Speaker 1:But listen, if you don't have a story, a journey, how would, when that time comes, would you be equipped to present? Listen, if you look at the life of joseph, everything that happened to him prepared him for one, just one moment to interpret Pharaoh's dream. So imagine if he had wished away those experiences, if he had like thrown them away and all that. No, it says seest thou a man who is diligent in his business. He will stand before kings and not mere men. So listen, sometimes we put that scripture out of context. And when he said, diligence is building capacity and competence and all of those experiences builds.
Speaker 1:And I was having an exchange with a videographer there and I were working on something and I told him his name is Jeff, by the way, one of these I keep talking about it, one of these I bring him on set, you guys will see his face and we'll have some conversation. And I told him something. And I said the wisdom of patience will teach you speed. So the wisdom of patience will teach you speed. So the wisdom of patience taught Joseph. It also taught me speed. So when you look at the word diligence, it's building capacity, competence.
Speaker 1:Joseph, how did Joseph learn to stand before kings? Pharaoh, do you know? It's a competence? How to stand before executives. They call it in corporate world, executive presence, the air. You know you command, how to read the room. This is what some master classes would teach you Square your command, how to read the room. This is what some masterclasses would teach you Square your shoulders, how to speak the tenses, the way you use them.
Speaker 1:You don't speak like a pauper. You don't speak like you're poor in your mental. You may be your outlook may be like he's not wearing anything fanciful, but when you hear him speak, you may be your outlook may be like he's not wearing anything fanciful, but when you hear him speak, reach in his, I mean vocabulary, his tenses, the way he communicates, he drives the message. Even the deaf can hear him and the blind can see. It all came. So for me, that was what happened. Yes, me that was what happened. Yes, that was what happened.
Speaker 1:I was thrown in the corporate world, to an unseen place, a place of obscurity, a place of where you would say how would somebody like you be here? One of my managers at the time was like how would somebody of your quality and caliber be here? I smiled. I said, don't worry, it's all about time. But in that obscurity I started to listening to God's instruction. Through my wife, I started building, I started writing. That was how the Word Cafe podcast began for me, and it has become a vehicle through which a lot of people are being reached globally.
Speaker 1:I share my story with you Most times yes, most times on this show. Everything you hear me share came from that experience. Yes, some of you are like this guy his words are deep and all that, yes, from that experience when I turned 40. So what am I saying? You are not a fool. A fool says in his heart there is no God. Certain statements that have been made by our ancestors were born, in my opinion, out of ignorance or just to fit in or just to align. May the 1% always move away from that, always, always. So that is it.
Speaker 1:You're pursuing Forbes 40 CEOs. No problem, if you want to, that's fine, but I'm not pursuing it. I'm setting my own scores. Yeah, I'm not setting my standard according to Forbes or according to the Ivy Leagues, the Harvards and the rest of them. They are limiting in my opinion. Yes, they are limiting, but do you know what? I said it on the show before and I'll say it again I was created for a purpose, according to God's purpose, with my eyes on Jesus, the author and the finisher, I am in contact with my destiny, I'm focused on it. I'm restrained from beating the air stable as a rock. No opposition can break my focus. I'm fighting a good fight. I'll gain the mastery and I'll win the crown. I'll give him all the glory. So it's not a question of this. That one Ivy League did the standards, so we're working according to the IU Park standard or the what do you call it again Nobel Prize and all of that.
Speaker 1:There's a lot of subjectivity to that. But when you know why you are here, when you know why the breath that flows in you, hello, 40 is just a number, or should I say it's just your years. There's more ahead of you. There's more after 40. There's more? Yes, there is. So that is what I came to do on the show today to encourage all of you listening to me.
Speaker 1:You're not a fool, are you 40? Relax, there's more. Oh, I've not achieved this. I have not achieved that. Calm down, nobody's. Let me say it the way we say it in Pidgin English nobody. They mark your score. So relax, nobody's marking the score. Hey, calm down. Live life, not in your own terms, but according to how the designer has wired it in you. Live it that way and, before you know it, your style will become one of the styles that designs the cosmos. Uh-huh, mm-hmm. Yes, if you want to run at Forbes' first 40 under 40, no problem, mm. Well, listen, like I said, you're not a fool. So, guys, there's more ahead of us. So much ahead of us, yes, so much. Do not allow the corporate world limit. You, do not allow the society define you. So when I turned 40, that was what happened and I just came to share that with you. How old am I now? You're wondering. Whatever, if you want to calculate it, that's it. But I know the best is yet to come. The best is yet to come. All right, guys, that's what I came to do on the show today to let you know, to remind you you're not a fool. Yes, you're 40. There's so much ahead of you. I'm going to end with this.
Speaker 1:Everybody somehow needs help. Yes, that's one thing a lot of us get to and we always complain I don't have anybody to help me. That's not true. Some of us get angry.
Speaker 1:So I read this scripture before coming on set the Macedonian man. When Paul saw him in his vision, he said come over to Macedonia and help us. Ask for help. David said I lift my eyes onto the hills. From whence cometh, said my help cometh from the lord. Ask for help. Don't feel that nobody wants to help you. God wants to help you. So ask for help. You know, I always like how would God show Paul a vision of a man calling for help. So that is how God is going to pick your cry for help and reveal it to the kings of the earth. Reveal it to those who have the resources they were without I wouldn't use the word sponsor now but to help you, because they are only fulfilling God's mandate. All right guys Ask for help and you will not regret it.
Speaker 1:So in closing, I'm going to repeat what I said in opening yes, unique Mic Concepts sponsored this episode. The way we're looking now, aren't we looking good, thank you. So I want to call out also yep, if you, if you want to sponsor the word cafe. First of all, it's been a blessing to you, it's been your plug, I'm grateful you're with us, but we are open. Yes, you can sponsor episodes. You can sponsor an episode. You can sponsor a season. Yes, the world cafe podcast, so that more people would reach, or rather, it will reach more people. And again, I want to make this appeal uh, referral, share with a friend if this edition editions. This show has been a blessing to you. Share with your friends, refer them to listen. Yep, let us reach more people out there.
Speaker 1:Well, I have to say this Before my producer was, like you, failed to say it. We are available on all the social media platforms. I've been mentioning Facebook, youtube, linkedin, x for my Twitter, tiktok, but again, we're on Spotify also. Yes, we've been on Spotify. You can follow us on Spotify. Apple is also there and all of that. Spotify is pretty huge this season. Guys, this is what I came to do on the show. You're not a fool. There's a lot ahead of you. That's a lot, so don't give up. No, no, no, don't give up. Reach out, reach out to him and God would definitely give you a word and direct your path. Yes, this is a space where we come in to lean on one another's experience to forge a positive path. My name is Amakri Amakri Subwe. Till I come your way again, I am your neighborhood word trader. Bye for now.