Step into your dreams

I chose to drop out of a MSc. programme sometime ago because I figured that the exercise was not adding any value to my life. My lecturers were so disorganised that they hardly attended classes and if they did, it was to sell their handouts, which of course added to students’ bottom line at the end of the course!

They quoted the same books they studied as undergraduates and imparted no current knowledge or skill! Out of discontent, I opted out to follow my passion for photography. I bought my 1^st D-SLR equipment, got trained, and today I’m happy, having added a veritable money-making skill to my life. I’m assured that I won’t have to live from job to job, seeking to make a living with an unjustifiable certificate.

Life is a decision. It is the way you dream and work towards it. Live a fulfilling life.

Money follows people wherever they go and in an overly populated nation like Nigeria, money flows along people’s path. Money-making opportunities abound and one must plug-in to discover how to trap this flow of currency. Your skills and ideas are necessary to create avenues of generating wealth.

The workplace is changing in such a rapid manner that graduates are now garnering skills and taking up vocations hitherto reputed to be practiced by illiterates and artisans. Professions like hairdressing, tailoring, photography, event catering and decoration are examples. In a few years, in fact, graduates who do not add an extra skill to their lives will be outdone by their skilled counterparts. It would make no sense not to get a degree but its only relevance would be just that and basic knowledge. Vocational skills would generate the currency you require to provide your needs. Spending decades on a white-collar job is definitely fading out as upwardly mobile executives are now looking inwards and creating the businesses of their dreams.

Usually, people find it Herculean taking the step of faith out of their comfort zones and zones in sync with public opinion. Below are tips to staying ahead:

Document your dreams: A dream is a stream of water; it flows away, never returning to its initial spot. A dream is a bird; it escapes on its wings so soon. The shortest pen is longer than the longest memory. Never underestimate the power of a dream, it has the capacity to bestow on you renown. Trap your hunches & visions down in written form as it helps you to crystallize your ideas.

Chart your course: Fill in the gaps between your current reality and your dream. What goals/steps would take you into the future you crave? Design an action plan and be disciplined enough to follow the path.

Get a mentor: Find an accessible & experienced person from whose wealth of knowledge and experience you can glean. You must be teachable, willing to serve and ready to pay the price.

Get informed: Go to school. Read books/journals. Attend seminars/conferences/workshops. Google it! We’re in an information age, you know? Information increases exponentially by the second. What you need is as close to you as the next click. Appropriately interpret what you read, hear, see and perceive.

Pay the price: Every prize has a price tag. The national anthem says: “The labour of our heroes past…” People become heroes as a result of their work. Work hard and smart at your dream. Subject yourself to physical, spiritual, financial, mental and social discipline in congruence with your dream. Be consistent, strategic and deliberate in your approach.

Keep the end in focus: Discouragement is bound to try your belief in yourself. Courage is the antidote to fear and doubt. Fix your eyes on the distant image in your telescope. Superimpose your future in your mind’s eye, never giving it up to momentary challenges. Your difficulties have a shelf life, if you’ll hang on; you’ll have what you desire. Hope is the medicine of despair so, be patient, consistent and you’ll climb to the top of your dream.

Never seek significance, rather seek destiny. In seeking your purpose in destiny, you’ll find significance. Those who seek significance find it only to lose it so soon.

Pix: Microsoft images

RUN YOUR RACE

“We live in a world where fictions are realities
and realities become fiction.” - Tinsel.

I know a lady who dumped a thriving career in a telecommunications firm for the high pay in the banking industry. The credit crunch storm currently blowing has however proven to her that this was a step in the wrong direction.

It saddens me that we sometimes trade our uniqueness and ingenuity for public opinion. We look at the “other side”, see an illusion of green grass, and jump over the fence only to discover the grass was all brown. Know your onions and find your market. Stay on your tracks, give your best and win the race.

John D. Rockefeller, an extraordinarily wealthy man says, “Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one’s aim.” Napoleon Hill puts it thus, “There’s one quality that one must possess to win, and that’s definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.” Run with a mission for your life. Stand for what you believe in, shun mediocrity. Speak for yourself.

How?
1. Run with a Vision- What is your race? Mention Oprah Winfrey, you remember talk show. The name Mike Adenuga is synonymous with business. A vision is a picture of a preferable future. Albert Einstein says, “The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” What do you see about the days yonder?

2. Run with Passion- Passion is the fire that ignites and empowers your soul for success. It is the unquenchable zeal that drives you towards your goals. You never achieve success unless you like what you are doing. Do you have the passion to drive your dreams? If not, get a vision that energises you.

3. Run Consistently- Tiger Woods is a golfer because he has been consistent at his game. Bill Gates, Wole Soyinka and Kanu Nwankwo are world-famous because they have consistently honed their skills and created an identity for themselves through their callings. Funke Akindele was a relatively unknown actress in Nigeria’s nollywood until she broke-through with her chartburster film, Jenifa. You cannot create an identity for yourself by what you do occasionally, but consistently.

Are you ready to run your own race, distinguish yourself by discovering your own uniqueness? Find peace within yourself and be true to your calling. You would be rewarded only for your own race. Run to the battle.