It's been over a year and in that time I've learnt quite a bit. Actually it's what I've spent most of that time doing. Learnt a thing or two about photography, met some cool people in the business. I did a lot of self study on business management, advertising, marketing, branding, graphics design, web development etc. Recently I quitted my teaching job to become a full-time creative artist and also to create time to study ahead for a master program. Coming from a background in mathematics which is basically science and delving into the art world could be quite something or okay depends on how you look at it.
The point of this post is to share an important life lesson I had to figure out on my own. You see I've always been in search of myself, I was looking for the one thing where I'm better than most, so over the years I've done so many things but never really focused on any one in particular, so it's like one year I'm this and the next year I'm that, having an idea of many good things; music, web development, a number of programming languages etc., but never an expert at any of those really nice things. The consequence is that; one, my conviction was poor, practically had none, two, my confidence was low, because I never felt confident enough with any of the skills I have, I considered myself half-baked or even "quarter-baked" at these things, so I was scared to put myself out there for the world to see.
The problem was not that I didn't have the potential to be really awesome at one thing but that I didn't do any of those things long enough to get good at them. Didn't play the keyboard long enough, once quitted on writing, didn't code long enough to create that ad listing website I wanted even though I came so close to finishing and had learnt a lot of web programming already. I made a demo song at one time but even music, I quitted. The problem was lack of persistence.
Persistence
You see, life requires persistence. Imagine a man wanted to lumber a tree the old fashioned way that is, with a cutlass, would he strike the tree trunk all over or would he strike one spot and continue to strike that same spot until finally he cuts down the tree? You think about it. Let's look at another one, imagine if oil drillers had decided to drill a few meters deep of holes all over a suspected oil rich field expecting to find it close to the surface, didn't find it and gave up, hmm! think about it, what do you think would've happened, oil might still be lying in the belly of the earth as an untapped treasure because we didn't take the time to dig deep enough.
To arrive here, I paid close attention to my immediate environment. There are some big and fancy private schools in Agege area of Lagos, Nigeria where I live. These schools are all big and fancy now but I use to know all of these schools way back when they were nothing, they were the struggling ones. I remember one of them, Hope Dynamic Private School was once evicted from the place they were because they couldn't pay the lease, at least that's how the story went. This school is one of the biggest in the area now, with a big, fancy building, school buses and all.
The lesson of persistence hit me for the first time in my life after observing these schools. Then naturally my mind just spotted it all over the place, in people's lives, even my closest friends, families, in books, in the life our current president, president Muhammodu Buhari. After failing three times, 12 years, and with age gaining on him, spending a lot of money and effort on election campaigns, labelled a failure. I think after a time, the major contenders (presidential aspirants) don't even consider him a treat at all, but on the fourth attempt, after 16 years, he did it!
Persistent people are a stubborn set. They don't take no for an answer. They see every failure as a step closer to their goal not a draw back. They fail forward. Maybe you're just like I was, looking for that one thing that makes you special. Well I can tell you this, you're already special, you just need to do something with all your heart and persistently and soon people will see you for the special and unique person you are. Because it does take you doing the same thing over a considerable period of time before you get noticed or known for it. New businesses spring up everyday and one thing every good business man or woman knows by default is that customers don't start trooping in on day one. Some of the biggest websites today didn't even get a thousand hit per day for a long time. So you want something that makes you special? Do something you love, do what you can do and it will amaze you that after a while you'll discover yourself even more. You might turn out to be a natural at it
Success is a journey, and the road to it is bumpy and rugged, but you have to be on that road, you have to be on a road, you have to be going somewhere.
The first road might not be the one that leads to the where you're going, it's like wanting to go to the next street from your house, first you got to get out, take a direction left or right, still on your street, and most often we always have to take a turn, a left turn down the road, or maybe it's a right turn. The point is every turn puts you on a different street, with a street sign to that tells a different the name, that name is a new a path, a different road than the one you were on and that's just the way life is too. This road is just as important as all the other roads you're going to be on on this journey called life. You most definitely have to be on it and stay on it until the end of it because it always links to the right road at the end. I know it's scary to let yourself go for a course, yeah I know I've been there, done that, but I came out and chose a path and you're just gonna have to do that too. You are just one you, you can't be on two roads at time. At least I know a lot of people can't.
The first road might not be the one that leads to the where you're going, it's like wanting to go to the next street from your house, first you got to get out, take a direction left or right, still on your street, and most often we always have to take a turn, a left turn down the road, or maybe it's a right turn. The point is every turn puts you on a different street, with a street sign to that tells a different the name, that name is a new a path, a different road than the one you were on and that's just the way life is too. This road is just as important as all the other roads you're going to be on on this journey called life. You most definitely have to be on it and stay on it until the end of it because it always links to the right road at the end. I know it's scary to let yourself go for a course, yeah I know I've been there, done that, but I came out and chose a path and you're just gonna have to do that too. You are just one you, you can't be on two roads at time. At least I know a lot of people can't.
Oh! wait, there is still a problem, Aahh! just kidding, don't get scared now, it shouldn't be a problem, but seriously you need to make a decision now. Don't wait too long, decide on what you believe can give you the life you want and just focus all of your mind in it. Let every decision you make from that time on be inclined with your decision made, in learning this, I called this part, making a choice, but a wise man told me it's a little more than choice, it a decision. I believe the process involves both.
Remember now, don't wait around too long in making that decision, I don't think anyone can tell with perfect certainty how much in time currency they have to invest in their dreams before it yields the result they expect. So now is that best time to start.
"Persistent people begin their success where most others quit" - John Mason
In my next post I'll be talking about how I learnt the lesson of focus. Till then, stay outa trouble, be cool, be real, be honest. Peace out.
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