This question has been on the lips of many people all through the Centuries.
And it's
not like it is very difficult to answer,
it is
just that the answer does not seem obvious to many people.
Like I
have said here many times, success is imprinted on our DNA.
Every man
born of a woman and every woman conceived by another woman has that eternal
command - Go ye and succeed
However
just like any other thing in life, not all persons choose to listen and hear
and then obey that command
For those
who obey the command, they turn out to be exceedingly successful and for those
who do not obey, well - they turn out to be not quite successful
Right now, you are in the age
bracket where things happen - the good, the bad, the ugly and sometimes even
the very ugly.
Your hormones are raging
wild and you want to taste all the tasteables
You want to impress your
mates and show them that you are no baby any longer
You want to prove that you
are now a man or woman as the case may be
And so you spend time on
social media sites comparing notes
You upload pictures of
things that you have never done and claim that they are really from you
You visit the Kardashians'
Instagram Pages and you wonder why you are not like them
You visit Jeff Besos'
instagram page and you think that he's stinkingly rich and yet he does not know
you
Let me tell you something
All those seconds and
minutes and hours you spend on Instagram and other social media sites comparing
notes with people you don't know and may never get to meet in person and
wishing that you were like them is WASTED TIME
It is time you should
channel into doing something creative to better your lot in life
One fact you need to allow
sink into your brain right now is that social media life is a false life - most
people photoshop pictures and post on their handles pretending to be doing what
the pictures say but in real life, they are not like that, so when you watch
such posts and you get envious or jealous or even angry at your God, you are
losing it.
And such a feeling makes you
want to taste success in a hurry as a matter of NOW, forgetting that
"success is not a destination, it is a journey"
At this age of yours,
chances are that you are either in a Higher Institution of Learning or you
actually, have graduated.
Now if you're still a
student, how are you using your time?
Playing around most of the
time?
taking in all junks in
terms of food and drinks and the others?
chasing all in skirts or
trousers?
having flings here and
there, sowing your wild oats?
being a party freak?
having good times, so much
fun?
Allowing your mates to
convince and confuse you?
And then remembering to
read only when the Examination Time Table is released? Yes??
Does anyone still need to
ask why you have a certificate but cannot defend your degree?
Does anyone still need to
ask why you are unable to make one complete sentence in English without adding
a local exclamation or even broken words?
Let's say you are already
a Graduate and peradventure you are serving your Fatherland if you're a
Nigerian; all that talk about you acquiring skills for a living make no sense to
you because your Pastor or Imam has told you that "Your case is different"
and that "Companies will locate you in your house and give you an
appointment letter"
Your mind is sold to
"getting a good job after service" and when you're asked what
constitutes a good job, you're like "a good pay with other perks"
The fact that so many other
persons who were also told by their Pastors and Imams that their cases were
differentbut who have spent years
waiting for their cases to become different in a world filled with indifference
does not seem obvious to you
So you finish youth
service and with no other skills except the certificate you're banding around
and with no other plan except to "pick up a good job with good pay in a
good Company" you start counting the years 1 year, 2 years, 3 years and
your Pastor or Imam still keeps telling you that your case is different - but of
course it has become.
Then you arrive at that
frustration point where you're forced by circumstances to pick up a job quite
below your expectations and then you start the 9 to 5 grind at a job you hate
with a passion but have to do so as to have a meal on your dining table and your
singsong becomes "30 days make 1 meal"
The time to pick sense my
friend is NOW
When you're in School, do
exactly what you were sent there to do - READ
Don't just cram to pass
examinations, read to understand the subject so that you will be able to defend
your degree when you eventually earn it
When you're serving, take
nothing for granted, learn whatever skill you can "don't just burn the
time on your hands, use it effectively"
Arm yourself with Plans A,
B, C, and even D so that when the service year is over, you won't only be
dropping CVs all over the place, but you'll be busy making a life
Making a good life is a
process that comes with patience. You must have to fall in love with the process,
you must deploy patience while executing the process
The process is not
automatic unless you were born with a golden spoon in your mouth but if you
were born without any spoon in your mouth at all, then you've got to establish
the process of making a good life and that starts right at this age bracket (18
- 25)
Decide what you want out
of life and then go and build it
Today, go and start a side
hustle. If you've got digital skills, then deploy them to digital marketing.
The old popular saying
that "Slow and steady wins the race" is still very much apt even in
the now because like I said earlier - "Life is a marathon and not a
sprint"
And right now, drop all
forms of competition; just know that you're competing with yourself
Every day, work on improving
yourself by 1% and in 100 days time, you would have hit 100%
Decide, Plan, Act,
Succeed, rinse and repeat - that's the solid key to success
And if you're 18 to 25
years of age, you are in the best time of life - use it WISELY
PS
What do you think?
Do you have something more to add?
Share your opinion with us by commenting on this post
The newest day and newest month in the whole wide world
A new month usually arrives when men are tired of the old month and so it comes as a relief from the "stress" of the old month.
Thus new months come with lots of hope, new thoughts, new visions, new plans, new goals, new everything and if you were really stressed in the old month, you can take a deep sigh of relief as the new month steps in.
I am not here to wish you good health, plenty of wisdom, plenty of properties, long life, much money, e.t.c. as others are wont to, because I have no control over those things, but there's one thing I have control over and that is the message of hope and which states that no matter who you are, what you do, where you are from, what your gender is or if you have no gender at all, my message of hope to you is thatGOD LOVESYOU and His promises to you are YEA andAMEN.
This May, irrespective of what may come your way, I want you to hold fast onto that promise of God, He is not a man that He would lie, and He honours His Words even more than His Name. He is your Father and before Him, you can always cry "Abba Father"
Hey, I said earlier that I am not here to wish you anything but I just remembered that I really have something to wish you and that is WHAT YOU WISH YOURSELF (you have more control over what comes to you than I have)
Be that as it may, just know that even when the storms of life blow from all sides and threaten to steal, kill and destroy, it shall always be well with our souls
God bless you in this new month and lift up His Countenance on you and all that concerns you to give you a hope and an expected end.