“Your potential is unlimited. Aspire to a higher place. Believe in your abilities, in your tasks, in your judgment”.– Bryan Adams.
As usual, the New Year presents before us the opportunity to reflect on the past months; take stock, how to avoid the mistakes made and plan our activities for the near future. There are vast and varied opportunities in different fields of human endeavor placed before us. More like an empty canvas before an artist, the picture you eventually paint on it would depend largely on your vision, dreams, desires, experiences and the ACTIONS taken at the right time. All these encompass what you have seen, heard, smelt, eaten and the people and places you have encountered along the chequered journey of life.
The truth of course, is that these would be predicated on the ideas that sprout out of your fecund imagination.Oh yes, your MIND! That is where it all starts from. According to Norman Vincent Peale, the best–selling author of ‘The Power of Positive Thinking’ your subconscious mind is like a fertile field. Be careful what you sow in it, for that is what you will eventually harvest. So, what you dream of, think and talk about, wish for and do everyday of the New Year would define your fortunes or failures over the coming months. This is not the time for self-deceit.
This is not the period to look back at your past mistakes and keep blaming yourself or others and dwelling on them. No! You must look deep inwards and out of sober reflections ask yourself the critical questions before you make those all-important New Year resolutions. What are your capabilities and limitations too? Are you at the right place doing the right things? Life is dynamic and you must be ready to move forward.
Interestingly, 2020 will don different colours and flavours from the previous year.
With increase in tax regime, VAT and other incomes for the federal and state governments, economic survival would be a determining factor. As Charles Darwin, the brilliant mind behind the Evolution theory rightly noted, it is always the survival of the fittest. You must be mentally and physically fit to achieve your goals. So, take good care of your health. Take your pen and paper and list what ever you want to achieve in the New Year. What are your priority needs, or the most pressing ones? What are your short-term(immediate needs), medium-term and long-erm plans?What isthe time frame allotted to achieving each of these? What is the cost implication, not only with regards to the money but the energy and resources involved? All these plans amount to your Vision.
Without doubt, you need the unfailing elements of Focus, Passion, Courage, Commitment, Perseverance buoyed with Can-Do-It and Never-Say-Die spirit to succeed. As far as Passion is concerned you have to do what you love and commit your energy towards that end. Life is like a race. You have to focus on getting to the finishing line in good time and not be distracted by the jeers or cheers of the onlookers or spectators. Both Orville and Wilbur Wright were laughed at by their friends when they mentioned the concept of an air plane. But they never listened to them. So it was for Edward Land when he had the idea of an instant polaroid camera.
Furthermore, understand the fact that you would succeed more if you are a problem-solver. Find some people’s pressing needs and seek for solutions to them and you will get paid for your efforts.You must therefore, be sensitive to the happenings in your environment. And muster the capacity to maximize the economic benefits derivable thereof. You must be able to dream big and to dare all odds to be on the receiving side of the billions of Naira that will exchange hands in the New Year.
Firstly, you should understand yourself. Who are you in the real sense of it? What mission has God, your creator brought you here on Planet Earth to achieve? What are your natural endowments; your talents and innate abilities? What do you enjoy doing so effortlessly that gives you self-satisfaction? Have your educational career and experiences positioned you along this line? What problems can you solve with your aptitudes? What value can you add to human existence? Until you are able to answer these all-important questions, you may end up like the rudderless boat swept up and down by the seasonal tides. May that not be your portion.
Oh, yes, it is good to have heroes-people who have succeeded in your chosen career that you look up to. But you cannot be like any other person because you are unique, remarkable, different, just like your fingerprint, the iris of your eyes and the marks on your tongue. You will succeed once you identify who you are and maximize your potentials. But why do people fail in their businesses? That is the million-Naira question.
They fail all because of poor and negative mindset, inability to identify their talents or looking down on them and mismanagement of resources. Other factors include misinterpretation of foreign religious beliefs, slavish mentality, delay in taking important action, I can-do-it-all mindset, giving excuses for failure and dependency syndrome. Details of this are available in my up-coming book, ’Unveil the Billionaire in You’.
Do not be confounded by your present situation of poverty or penury. As late Chinese actor, Bruce Lee rightly admonished, “lift yourself up and turn your stumbling blocks into your stepping stones” to greater heights. For instance, ace musician, Patoranking was once a seller of rat poison along Lagos streets. Top actress, Mercy Johnson once sold pure water in the same city. Otunba Mike Adenuga of Globacom was once a taxi driver in the United States. The list is endless.
The focus here is on those who would see a half-filled cup of water rather a half-emptied one. Stop complaining everyday, without making efforts to be solution provider. You do not have to be an engineer to drink from this fountain of knowledge. In the timeless words of Engineer Titi Omo-Ettu, a Fellow of the Society of Nigerian Engineers,“our new generation of engineers should accept responsibility that they are the solution providers of today. They must read widely, train continuously and synergize with other professionals. To make this effective, they should work in teams. They should see their environment as their constituency, communicate effectively, be fair and ethical and learn to choose wisely”.
My dearly beloved readers and ever faithful friends and fans, I wish you all a year full of divine grace, favour, love, mercy, peace, protection and all-round prosperity. For, those are the same goodies I wish for myself.
