Profiling of Ferdinard Senyo Lawson, a Ghanaian-British International Transformational speaker, life coach, and prolific author with the mandate to Inspire, Motivate, Empower, Encourage and Transform the young generation to become significant to the world by discovering of their purposes, developing their talents, and deploying themselves to add value to societies.
He is a born again Christian who loves and serves God faithfully. He has described himself as “a man full of passion to see lives changed, transformed and renewed through the word of God. Mr Lawson is happily married with two children.
In May 2011, Mr Lawson published his first book – ‘Igniting the power of your creative mind.‘ And since then has written and published 12 other motivational books on relationship, leadership, servanthood, success and personal development to become one of the most prolific African motivational authors of this era.
In a brief chat with Pleasures magazine, he talks about his inspiration, his messages and his latest book – “HOW TO CHISEL THE GOLD OUT OF YOUR MINE”.
Hello Mr.Ferdinard Senyo Lawson; how are you doing sir?
I am fully blessed beyond limits and curses. I am well, strong and soaring like an eagle on the wings of God’s grace. Thank you
What inspired you to write your first book?
I wanted to change the mind-set of my generation through writing because; I had a story to tell the world at a large. I have discovered that, in order to change the world and become relevant, you must first embrace change by renewing your mind positively. Therefore, you will find out from this book the need for not allowing failure to hold you back. It directs you from becoming a failure and from unpleasant and serious infectious comments from negative people in your life, which have the potential to destroy your destiny.
How has writing empowered you?
WOW!!!!!. This is million questions. I am not going to tell you to write every day but, personally, writing has empowered me to become a critical thinker and have helped me to develop an open-mind to life. It has helped me to collect thoughts, which I use to inspire my world through my writings.
The titles of all your books are mind boggling. How do you come about them?
I strongly believe that, we all have instinct that inspires us writers to come out with titles. I decide or pick the titles of my books by speaking to myself and questioning life. By this, I then write the answers down and brainstorm them and with prayer, I pick the one that, Holy Spirit lay strongly on my heart to write about.
Where has your support system come from?
This is going to be very difficult to say because, no one supported me however, I would like to say that, having a good publisher to publish your book, can be very helpful. So in this respect, I would say that, my publishers (Memoirs Publishers) supported me through this journey.
How about your family?
Yes… Yes… having a strong family unit can contribute a lot to ones successful life. Some supports may not be direct but majority of the help were indirect. My wife, Children, Father in laws and my personal daddy have all contributed in my writing. My children inspire me so much and indeed, children are indeed a blessing to parents.
How did your writing begin?
Writing has been my passion since the age of 10; although it was not clear to me that, I would write on a large scale at that time. At a time, suffered a speech impediment which prevented me from speaking. Right up until the age of 9, I could not talk and the only means of communication I had really was my writing. Even from an early age, I’ve had the chance of entering into poetry and story writing competitions. In 2011 after a long time, during the summer, I had the instinct to put my religious knowledge into a book and that, was the birth of my first book “IGNITING THE POWER OF YOUR CREATIVE MIND”.
Have you always desired to be a writer?
Hmm. I will say not really but, interestingly, it seems like that now. I have the desire to continue writing. It has become my second nature and I love it.
What was your first challenge to get your book published?
I did not face any challenges at all. I have always believed that, when God gives you a message to write as an author, and you follow through, he makes provision towards it. This is why you don’t just get up to write without having an inspiration from God. He makes provision and resources available for every vision and mission. Just be inspired by Him.
What did you learn during the process of getting your first book out?
I would say that; never rush to get your book published. Take your time to shop around to get right publishers, who are ready and willing to support you in the process. I have learnt to be patient and ensure that, I am the author and the decision I make regarding my books should be respected and valued by the publisher. I have also learnt to project my voice not to hide my voice through writing and speaking at events for free.
How long did it take you to get your first book out?
It took me about 10 months to get my first book out. I began to do self publishing until I met my publishers, who assessed my work and got interested in it and published it on Amazon and other online outlets such as Barnes and Nobles, Google book etc.
Did you have to adopt a particular lifestyle to stay motivated to write?
Yes of course. You can never achieve anything in life without planning, preparation and investment (PPI). I had to adapt to changes around me, family and work. I sacrifice an hour each night to write a chapter or 500 words. I invested quality time to see the goals I set for myself each week are accomplished. Procrastination was not my friend but my worst enemy. I ensured that, I avoided it at all cost.
What tips do you have for up and coming writers?
To be frank with you, this has been one of the most questions; I have had to answer over the years. What I will say to them is these;
- Never write to make money but to make impact in the lives of people.
- You have a unique story and only you alone can share it better.
- You do not have to write a book to start with, you can start to write blogs and get people to like and share them
- Be ready to have a mentor, who will be ready to support.
- Never be ashamed to make mistakes. You learn from your mistakes.
- Have a passion for what you write, please don’t be afraid to ask questions as a first time writer.
- NEVER GIVE UP…….
How can readers make your book successful?
They should spread and share the lessons from my books to their friends and loved ones. Whatever inspires them from any of my books, they should share with others too.
What can we expect in the future?
Well the future belongs to God and only Him alone, can tell what the future will be like. However, what we all do with the opportunities given to us will either create or destroy that future. So, i will say that, expect more transforming books from me.
Any surprising thing about you?
Wow. I would say that, life is a mystery and it can be surprising. So my life is a mystery and surprising too. Nothing much sir.!!
Who has most influence or inspired you and who do you aspire to be?
I would say that, life itself has inspired me a lot and I am still learning from life. Life is too short and risky to spend it with people who have no intention to help you learn from it. Therefore, until we become a student of life , we will never grow. This is to say that, we grow by learning from life’s lessons. The late Dr. Myles Munroe, has influenced me so much and I will never forget him. May his soul continue to rest with the Lord. Who I aspire to be would be Dr. Myles Munroe or John Maxwell. These individuals have been successful in their writing and have influenced and transformed many lives positively globally.
What message would you like to be known for ?
YOU ARE BORN TO SUCCEED IN LIFE AND NOT TO FAIL. STEP UP ANDKEEP UP. YOU ARE DESTINED FOR GREATNESS.
Can you give us some snippet from the book “HOW TO CHISEL THE GOLD OUT OF YOUR MINE?
I think the title is captivating and thoughts provoking.
In fact, the title speaks for itself. I would like ask a simple question before I answer your intelligent question;
Are You Making the MOST OUT OF LIFE?
Each and every individual born by a woman is endowed with dream, purpose, vision and goals for life, but the challenge is, only few are able to identify their purpose in life. Until you take full responsibility for yourself to discover that very dream, goal, and purpose in life, you will be denying the world of your wealth and value which can make your life worthless and end up frustrated. Gold is the most precious material the world has discovered and the value of gold in the stock markets increases daily. But the big question is, how did gold come about? Chiseling the gold out of every mine requires or demands to some skills and tools in order to achieve your purpose. Your dreams are the most important thing given to you by nature. You alone have the duty to discover and chisel it out to add value to the world. Perhaps; you have been made to believe that your life has no meaning!!!!! It does not matter what people say about you; just begin to explore who you are and you will discover that you have more precious gold lying dormant that needs to be chiseled out.
You have been regarded by many people across the globe as a man of inspirational quotes; how do you feel about that and can your share some of them with our readers?
Really!!!! Wow; I am even surprised by your finding. Well, my answer to this question is that, let God be your inspiration. God is the creator of words and he can find you faithful, He will continue to inspire you with inspirational words or quotes to motivate and encourage your world. Nothing i do or write is of my own wisdom but the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
“No matter how much someone motivates you, until you develop the habit to step up and keep up; you will never achieve anything in life. Your successful life lies in the action you take after you have been inspired.” -FERDINARD SENYO LAWSON