Losing out on something or someone is not what anybody loves. However, you might be losing out not because you have not done your best but just because you have left the necessary things undone.

Don’t be surprised because there are times when we feel there are no stones left unturned and just to find out that there a couple of them that has not been touched at all. How funny and disappointing it might be!

This post will be looking at issues on why our long awaited dreams or ambitions don’t seem forthcoming. However, at the end of this post, you must have been fully hinted on what you can do to make your dream a reality.

I have come to understand over time that a lot of people have something they dream of possessing. For instance: a type of house, a brand of car, a particular type of home they dream to have in the future and so on. However, as time rolls by I don’t see them really possess all these things simply because they are still at the level of dreaming and they have never taken any action towards possessing them. Even if they took some actions towards the possession of these stuffs, I have noticed that it is not a well calculated action.

I need to remind you that life does not give you what you deserve or desire but rather what you are determined to get. A dream will remain a dream until you have taken the right steps towards making it a reality.

I have watched with rare sympathy and it really pains me when I notice that a lot of us expect to achieve our dreams but…

We have no set goals to the achievement of our dreams

What I mean is that some of us have a dream but how we are going to achieve the dream, we don’t know. A lot of us are familiar with the saying that the failure to plan is the plan to fail. Looking at it, it seems like having a destination in mind (the next filling station or phone call centre) you want to reach and not knowing the way/path to the destination. That is exactly the way it is.

I need to be very candid with you that you never get to a destination you don’t know a way to- It’s extremely impossible. The first thing is knowing the way to a particular place (which seems like setting a goal) before you can actually get to the destination of your dream. Set your goals (know what needs to be done to achieving your dream) and you are surely on your way to achieving your dream.

We have not put the goal on paper

Research have shown that whatever we see have the power of motivating us than what cannot be seen. The idea of putting your goal into a written format is so that:

• You can be more sure of how to achieve your dream
• You can familiarize yourself with the challenges on the way
• You can be daily motivated to continue the journey to achieving your dream

It’s like going on an expedition and you have a fair or not too clear knowledge of the path to take then you get to a point on the way where you have a junction that has similar diverging paths and you don’t know which one to follow, a map of the journey should come handy in helping you on the next path to take. So it is when you put your goals on paper, it keeps you wary of anything that can mislead you on the way to achieving your dream.

We are not ready to change

I have come to understand that a lot of us have forgotten the fact that to achieve our dreams, we have to change those things that we do but we know are unproductive. You shouldn’t continue to do the same thing and expect a different result- No! Don’t you think what has kept you in this same position is your inability to change your position with your old methods and strategies of approaching life.

You need to consider a change of thought, environment, information and so on. Sitting too long at a point may make you weigh so much that progress might be one of the most difficult thing to do. You need to change your base to see new things. To get to where you have never got to, you must be ready to do what you have never done.

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I am from a family of five-my father, mother and two brothers. We are a small happy family of dreamers and achievers. I am a native of Ibadan, grew up in Ibadan and got tired of Ibadan. I promised myself that I was not going to have my university education in Ibadan.

I got admitted into Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife to study Sociology and Anthropology after I finished my secondary education at Amazing Grace International College, Ibadan.

I am in my final year in the university.

My growing up was quite boring but impactful. I was not exposed to a lot of things. I can’t remember playing games or having toys. Not that my parents couldn’t afford what I wanted then but they believed their children should be more focused academically and be the best in their classes.

We were not deprived of books and whatever they felt will make us grow academically. We grew up reading academic books and watching the family television only when we were told to do. Sometimes we sneaked out to play football or roll tires (and if you were caught you would receive the beating of your live).

While in School, I made a lot of friends and did not bother to concentrate on my studies. This influenced my poor performance in my academics because I was not concentrating in class.

I was so unserious and it didn’t take too long before I realized what life really meant.

An event happened that caused a great turn-around in my life. I was in a public secondary school and about to get promoted from SS 2 (Senior Secondary School 2) to SS 3, but guess what? I wasn’t promoted because I failed.

The thought of my parents knowing about my failure was unimaginable. I thought death was going to be the result not because the wages of sin is death but because my father beats like you can never imagine.

I went to my father’s friend who was a teacher in the school and I tried to beg my way out of the mess but it just didn’t work.

Then the unimaginable happened, my father later discovered that I failed and he did what I least expected (Am sure you want to know?)

I can’t remember myself.

All I can remember is that, I was not beaten. He withdrew me from my school and he enrolled me in his own school, he owned a school at that time (Because it was my father’s school I was sure I would be put in SS3.)

Ladies and Gentle Men, I was admitted into SSI.

What a great demotion!

I cried my eyes out. I thought of my mates who were going to be far ahead of me.

I thought that was all until the result of the GCE exam I sat for was released and I earned for myself a head-bowing F9 parallel. So, sad!

This event had a great impact in my life and I had to take responsibility for my life. I dropped all science subjects and went to the commercial department (The thought of all those science subjects made me shiver).

My academic performance started to improve and I became more disciplined and mature. I was confident in myself.

I rose to the top of my class and I cleared my Senior School Certificate Examination at the end.

Life is good once you are ready to make a good out of it. Life is good once you are ready to invest into it. Life is good once you are ready to take charge.

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In the past posts in this story, I have talked about the fact that in our lives, things might not happen the way we want them to but inspite of all these obstacles on our way to achieving our dreams, we can make it only if we get our minds out of the circumstances surrounding us and focus on our dreams knowing that we are not alone because there is always a leverage out of that present circumstances. This post is going to be hammering on the importance of starting to pursue that dream of yours early.

From what I stated in “Lessons on the road to Lagos”, I left quite early for the journey and I think I wouldn’t have left earlier than that because I didn’t expect the delay I experienced on the way. Nobody expects or prays to experience or encounter a delay in any of his pursuits but there is bound to be delays if we miss the timing of start-up.

Talking about timing, the best time to start pursuing whichever dream you have got is NOW. A stitch in time saves nine. A quick start of that pursuit will save you a lot of stress that might hold you back on the way to achieving your dream. Don’t you think an early start could make you escape what could be an obstacle in achieving your dream?

Waiting for the perfect time to unleash that business idea or make that proposal is a quick route to not doing anything at all. Haven’t you noticed that it has been long since you have been waiting for the perfect moment and it doesn’t seem forthcoming? I need to make you understand that if you stay too long at the point of thinking and planning out the perfect time to start, you will surely do nothing and rather get run over by those that started at the speed of thought.

Don’t wait until you have the feelings to do it, just do it and the feelings will come. Don’t wait until that perfect moment, start now and you will know that there would have been no other better moment to start it than NOW.

Success is a NOW deal and not a LATER thing. Come to think of something, how do you start when you don’t even know which way to take? That is another problem entirely. It’s one thing to start and another thing to start on the right path. There is definitely no sense in starting and running hard on the wrong path-instead of getting closer to your dream, you might actually be getting farther from it.

How do you know the right path to take? Here are some quick tips;

1. Know what you want: What do you exactly want from your life or from that business or relationship that seem to be giving you a lot of hell. Success means different things to different people: decide what your own success is by stating what you want to achieve.

2. Find out those who have achieved the same: Brian Tracy said in his law of cause and effect that everything that happens or whatever you are seen around has a cause [paraphrased]. This means there is a propelling force behind every success. There is always a path to the top that can be best unraveled by those that have been there. Look for these people that have achieved what you want to achieve and be ready to submit yourself to their hard but productive tutelage. Nothing good comes easy, you know and the quickest path to the top is the road of service.

3. Your time starts NOW: You have by now moved with the successful ones and you have learnt a great deal from them. A lot of light has been shined on the road to your dream. You are now left with no other option than to start right away and keep moving.

You might have got any questions or additions, just do good to drop them in the comments below. Thanks.

An Important Discovery

The journey to the top is not an easy one. Achieving your dream could mean doing what you have never done before or even doing what you naturally don’t like to do. Getting what you desired out of life is not always fun-filled.

Here is why I am sounding like this. I really never knew what the trek had in stock for me when I started it – It was damn long and difficult. I never wouldn’t have imagined in my life that I will walk that long. As I think about how everything went again, I think my main motivation for doing all I have done despite how stressful they were comes down to the fact that I really felt it strongly in my mind that If I was not at the seminar then I was nowhere – this was my driving force. Getting to the top might not be easy but if you have got a driving force, you will surely make it through – it might just take time. Don’t let this discourage you: nothing good comes easy. With patience and determination, you will make it. Throw your mind across the bar and you will definitely find your body on the other side of the bar. More than all these, I discovered that climbing a wall that seems the tallest will be a lot easier with the aid of a ladder – this is the main point I want to emphasize in this post.

The Leverages

According to Microsoft Encarta Dictionaries (2008), a leverage is something that has power to get things done – power over other people. It is especially something that gives an advantage but is not referred to openly. In my own words, it is something that enhances your efficiency and eases the stress in delivery of a particular task. Your journey to the top might get overwhelming but if you leverage or get a help, it will surely become easier than expected. This was rang in my subconscious when I noticed at a point in the trek that I could get a bike to take me over to where I would be able to find my way and the journey might become even faster than I imagined. I got a bike and indeed it made the journey faster and less stressful. I got over this hurdle and yet another one surfaced again.

I got a ride from a co-participant at the seminar while heading home after the seminar and right on the third mainland bridge, his tire got punctured and we were there with a flat tire and wondering how we were going to fix the “shit” that got punctured. He’s got an extra tired but how to fix it was what we were still imagining when two men showed up (they actually help out stranded vehicles on the bridge for money). They were a ready help and we were so relieved to have them fix the tire for us. We leveraged on their ability and we got out of there in no-time.

My Word For You

I already said this that your journey to success might get overwhelming but if you leverage or get a help, it will surely become easier than expected. You must understand that a help keeps you going at a point where you are rather supposed to be stranded. It takes two to tango. Some ideas become world-class when more than one head cook them. There cannot be anything better than me supporting you when you lift it. The journey to the top is faster and more exciting when we move hand-in-hand. It would rather be foolish to hesitate to seek for a help when you can get it and it seem the only option left.

I need your constructive advice on this blog. Drop it as a comment. See you in the next post.

The story still continues!

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Now, to the business of the day! The unforeseen obstacle on my way was a traffic jam. I was held up in it for close to two hours until I decided that if I was going to leave that spot early enough, it was up to me. I needed to find a means to leave that spot. We couldn’t have hired the world’s strongest man to carry the bus in which I was seated and scale us through the traffic. That’s not in any way possible and that would have even been the easiest way to compound our problems. Instead, I did something that might sound stupid.

During our stay at that spot, we got the information that the traffic jam is not likely to be cleared in the next imaginable hour. Some even said they have been there for more than six hours. “So terrible!” you said? That was exactly what I thought to myself. Does it mean I will be at a spot for hours and end up missing an important seminar? God forbid!

In a bid to get a fresh air and free myself from the stuffy air in the bus, I got out of the bus. While outside the bus, I had a feel of how terrible the situation was. I noticed I couldn’t see the end of the pile of vehicles on the road. All hope of getting any further seemed to be lost.

Suddenly, my understanding came to the fact that if I was held in there, it’s neither the fault of the government nor the bus driver that took that road but my fault. Does it sound funny to you? You don’t seem to be able to understand how it is my fault.

I knew I had got a choice to make; maybe to stay there for hours or leave immediately. At this point it dawned on me that if I have got to leave that spot and move forward, it’s up to me. My mind was made up to leave this spot at all cost. I saw that nothing was holding my legs back from moving forward. The wheels of the vehicles were the ones held back from moving but not my own natural wheel- my legs.

At the birth of this thought, what was I waiting for again? I got my legs to action and decided to walk myself out of the traffic jam. This sounds pretty cool to your ears but it was a tough decision.

Why have I taken time to write this epistle? I love you and want your progress. I need to ring it to your ears so loud that you are definitely at that point because you allowed yourself to be at that point. Nothing happens to you in life without your consent. Nigeria or whichever country is what it is today because you and I permitted it. Your financial status is at that same spot because you never took the bold step to get to the next level. I took a bold step less than a year ago to step up my personal life and it is what you are enjoying today.

Get your mind out of the bus. Get your mind out the present situations and you’ll see yourself on the other side in bliss. You are engineered for progress and not set-backs.

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