The BRT Experience

IOn week days' mornings I normally go to work in Lagos BRTs. If you live on the mainland and work on the island and you don't drive your car to the office you will understand the ease of going in the BRT.

I have had so many experiences riding in the BRT and I will be sharing one of the experiences.

On a particular morning so as to avoid getting late to work, I took "standing" stood as I did not get a seat. I was hoping to get a seat later if some of the passengers seating down alighted at their bus stops.

To be truthful, my expectation was so low as I have not been "lucky" getting seat if I initially stood instead of seating. There was always one passenger beating me to the available seat.

On that fateful day, as the bus approached Stadium bus stop, I noticed a passenger three seats from me pressed the bell to alight. I was initially happy but the happiness did not last as there were four or five people in front of me that had more chance of getting the seat, yet I hoped.

I moved forward like I was about to alight too using the entrance door and so the people in front of me made way for me to pass. Not taking away my eyes off the about-to-be-vacant seat, I purposefully moved forward till I got to the seat. The bus arrived at the bus stop immediately I got to the seat and the passenger that pressed the bell to alight stood up to get down and I had the chance to sit down beating the people with the better chances to the seat.

It looke dso simple. Like the passenger that wanted to alight was waiting for me to get to the seat before standing up from it but I can tell you it was more than luck. It was planning, ability to see ahead, it was strategic positioning for oppurtunity.

Life is not going to wait for you. you have to make yourself available to grab any oppurtunity it's gonna throw your way.

Plan ahead, always think three to five years ahead. Don't be too focused on "now". Look beyond your immediate surrounding, dress beyond your present circumstance. Overall, always prepare to grab the next available seat oppurtunity.

 

Fables and Stories Series 1: The N1000 Note

It's the month of September and I am excited, it's the last quarter of the year and there is still time to take stock of the 8 months that have passed and still accomplish more feats.

I will be doing a series on fables and stories for this month so sit back and enjoy.

I read the story below on several sites and I have slightly modified the story to fit what is obtainable in Nigeria.

 

The Story:

"A well known speaker started off his seminar by holding up N1000 note.

In the room of 200, he asked, “Who would like this N1000 note?”
Hands started going up.
He said, “I am going to give this N1000 to one of you but first, let me do this.” He proceeded to crumple the naira note up.
He then asked, “Who still wants it?”
Still the hands were up in the air.

“Well,” he replied, “What if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.

He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty. “Now who still wants it?”

Still the hands went into the air.

“My friends, no matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth N1000.

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way.

We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. You are special – Don’t ever forget it!” Author Unknown


Whatever the situation you are passing through is, whatever is it you have gone through, you are still YOU! You can only feel inferior if you permit it. Even if you have fallen, you can still rise up again if you desire to.

Action!

 Lookin at a friend's DP, I saw a status message which read thus "Yesterday you said you will do it tomorrow. Today, you have not done it, you are saying tomorrow again!"

I really pondered on the words above, relating them to my life.

Trully, I have been carrying over some activities that will really benefit me, delaying doing them because they would take my time. Pure procrastination.

What are you carrying over too? You have been saying you will do it tomorrow and tomorrow just keeps going. List them and do the most unpleasant one first, get it done with and move on to the next item on your list.

I am sure that's the way great achievers carry on. No wonder the greatest individuals are not the most brilliant fellows but people with abilities to follow through their projects without giving in to momentary pleasures.

It's your choice really, you decide if you actually want to follow through those lofty ideas and derive satisfaction from putting them to life and shaping the ideas till they have identity or you just keep delaying, moving them over each day to the next day and suddenly find out you are 70 and time has really gone by.

Let the world celebrate you too, give your self a chance, you really deserve that break so why are you holding yourself back?

Think on this, ponder dwell but take action. Just do it!

Take that step, JUST DO IT!

I have always longed to be a writer, a speaker and an author. It is a passion that has been with me for a long time. I dream it, I see it, I live it everyday. I have resigned at two jobs just to follow my heart. Presently I am on a job though.

It has not been an easy task . Guess what? I got discouraged after several failures and attempts but each time I had little success, I have been encouraged to forge ahead.
I have landed on my back several times but still have the courage to rise again.

I still remember my first attempt at public speaking, it was in NYSC camp in Lagos. I was in camp with other corpers, it was a talent show night. I thought I couldn’t sing, couldn’t dance, was not involved in acting. I could as well talk! I felt in me I have been born to talk. I summoned the courage to register my name too that night.
When it was my turn and I was called to come up, I felt jittery wishing the ground to swallow me up. Suddenly all the courage disappeared, I walked unsure of myself to the podium. All eyes were on me, I am sure they were all wondering what I had up my sleeves, a one-man act.

I did what I wanted to do, TALK. I encouraged them to believe in themselves and follow their heart. I did not capture everybody’s attention, some even booed but was so glad I was able to do what I wanted to do. The camp commandant was present and gave a talk after my own “presentation” saying it was great for me to come out and sort of encouraged me and others to do what was in our hearts.

That did it for me. I have spoken in my church several times before the NYSC camp but it had been to a crowd I was familiar with. I have been involved in programmes and conventions but none that was in an unfamiliar territory. That night had been a starting point in my life.

Presently I have not reached the top but I have been paid several times now to talk and facilitate. There was one that I trained senior NYSC officers just 2 years after service!
I still know I am not there yet but I am taking it step by step, living day by day encouraging myself and constantly seeing the BIG PICTURE.

The important thing is the fact that I have started, I have dared to take that first step. I am no longer afraid to go out and talk.

What is that thing you long to do? Start a business? Learn to drive? Get that second degree? Learn a trade? Write that book?

Take a pen and a sheet, write it down and run with it. This is the time to use your heart and not your head. Don’t take the time to think, you have always done that. You have been telling yourself for a long time you can’t do it. I am telling you YOU CAN. Do it and learn from your mistakes. At least you would have learnt what not to do the next time you embark on that project. The irony is that you won’t necessarily fail.

Surround yourself with people that encourage you, that believe you can do it. Read books or listen to tapes. Visit BELLANAIJA.COM and read the “inspired” and “career” sections. Read stories but ensure you motivate yourself anyway you can. Do it not because you want to impress but because you have always wanted to do it.

In all you do, ensure you take that step. JUST DO IT!

Starting all over again

It happened to me now. I woke up this morning to write a new post. I had written a long article and I really “felt” it. It was titled “Feeling Left Behind”. I spent more than an hour writing and the unexpected happened, an errror occured and my write up got wiped off! Just like that.

I did not know if to cry, scream or smash something. ”Wasted time,wasted efforts” I thought.

I later sat down and reflected, it wasn’t a wasted effort, I have learnt something, you can always start afresh. No matter the failures, no matter the set backs, keep pushing, keep striving, keep working at it till you get the desired result.

Re-submit that proposal, go back for that audition, re-enroll for that examination, go over that plan again, go back to the studio and work on that song again, do anything except sit back and fold your arms. Never accept failure but challenge it and I tell you that success is just around the corner.

This period you are going through is a phase of your life, a scene depicting trouble but don’t worry, another scene is starting where you are going to smile and fun. It is a bend and not an end. The crying will stop and tears will be wiped off your face.

You will still build that house, you will still have children, you can still earn your degree and you will still succeed in that business only if you don’t stop, only if you don’t give up.

I did not write “Feeling Left behind ” now but I can still write it and can still write a better article but I love what I have just written “Starting all over again”.

It is great to know that I am dedicated to writing this new post today and I feel glad that I have written it.

Likewise you, START ALL OVER AGAIN

Writer’s Block, Success’ Block, Blocks to success

Writer’s block is a common phenomenon that writers experience. You sit down to write and all you can do is stare at the paper. You even attempt to pen down some thoughts but you find out you keep tearing those pages out, you feel all you have scribbled down is rubbish. There is just no inspiration.

We at some point in life experience success’ block. As a result of painful experiences in the past, we tend to be success shy. There is fear holding us back from setting forth to achieve our goals. We write down the goals but we are scared to take the first step, most times thinking it’s going to be like the last time.


Times when we are afraid or times when we feel sad, abandoned, helpless and unloved we tend to achieve little or no success. Looking at times when we are excited, happy and feel loved, we are often in the “let’s conquer the world” mood and this mood tends to attract success.


The question now is how do we guide against all kinds of blocks? How do we overcome the blocks and go for the success behind the blocks? How do we keep attracting success?


For writer’s block, let go of all the negative thoughts, don’t set too high standards for yourself. Sit down to write what you feel about a topic and don’t initially set out to write the best write up. I am not asking you to write rubbish or not have goals, but often times we tend to set too high goals or standards for ourselves. You want to do better than Shakespeare with your first write up, how reasonable is that?

Go ahead and write the rubbish at first, as long as that gets you to write. Out of your nonsense and scribblings, however, believe that something good will come, a great idea will spring forth, there will be sparks and patterns will emerge. You will always discard some pages and write all over again, it’s alright just keep writing.

Also, move around with a small writing pad and pen. Ideas come to you when you least expect, it might be even be in the loo! Good ideas do not always come to us when we need them. We must learn to catch ideas as they come to us, fortuitously, even as we’re about to fall asleep at night. Then work on your ideas later, develop them and run with them.


For success block, forget about your past failures, take them as learning oppurtunities. Let go of the embarassment and focus on the end result you so much crave or desire to see. Winston Churchill once said success is going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.


You have to overcome all your fears. Deal with the pressure causing the block, illness,depresion, troubled relationship? Seek professional help and talk to someone that can counsel you. Simply discussing the problem or pressure with someone can reduce the effects of the pressure. After discussing with a person who listens, the problem often feels less difficult.

You also need to constantly see yourself achieving what you have set out to do. Ignore the thoughts that tell you “you can’t do it, no one has done this before, you are not competent for this”.
Deal with the false evidences appearing real. Deal with FEAR. Fears are not real. You have to know that fears are most times self created, e.g, I can’t succeeed, people will make fun of me. How did you know this?

Combat barricades either by pulling them down, digging a route through them or finding an alternative route entirely. No matter your decision, ensure obstacles,barricades don’t stop you. These problems, barriers are often there to define us, to toughen us and make us appreciate the success even more after we have it. Barriers, obstacles are situations that must be discovered and scaled through, you must overcome them.


It’s not going to be always easy but the fulfilment you will have at the end of the day when you are successful is worth the troubles and pains. Keep writing. Keep working at it till you succeed.

10 Reasons To Keep Going.

1.You are so close to success: Often times when we give up, we are only some few breaths away from success. This is not new, you have been told several times and I am emphasizing it again. Success is just around the corner, keep going. Where you are now is just a bend and not the end of the road. Keep going, don’t stop.







2.You have it in you to be successful: You are a strong person. You are stronger than all the setbacks you have experienced. Those problems are dying to see you give up but you have kept going and you have it in you to keep going. What is left for you to face is not up to what you have alrady faced. Keep pressing forward.





3.Winston Churchill: Like Winston Churchill, your life is different from that of your father. You don’t have to die early like your parents did and you don’t have to go through hardship simply because it has become a norm in you household. Winston’s father, Lord Randolph Churchill died on 24 January 1895, aged 45, leaving Churchill with the conviction that he too would die young and so should be quick about making his mark on the world but it was not so. Winston Churchill died on Sunday 24 January 1965, 70 years to the day after his father’s death.










4.Abraham Lincoln: From a humble begining he bacame the 16th president of the united states. He had made a living spiltting wood for fire and rail fencing. He has also worked as a shopkeeper, postmaster, and eventually general store owner. He later became a lawyer, teaching himself the law by reading Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. Who would have thought at the time he was still growing in indiana. Your past will not determine your future. That you came out with third class degree does not mean you willnot succeed. That you failed the employment tests will not prevent you from being an employer. Keep moving towards your dream.











5.Orprah Winfrey: Born in rural poverty, then raised by a mother on welfare in a poor urban neighborhood, Winfrey became a millionaire at age 32 when her talk show went national. At age 41, Winfrey had a net worth of $340 million. Forbes’ international rich list has listed Winfrey as the world’s only black billionaire from 2004 to 2006 and as the first black woman billionaire in world history. As at August 2011, she was listed as the 14th most powerful woman in the world. You can also rise above your limitations and go on to rule the world.








6.You are not the first to experience this: This phase in your life has been experienced by someone before. It is not a new thing. So brace yourself and continue going forward, if one person has scaled through beforw, so you can.




7.To disappoint the Haters: I love this. There will always be people who are waiting to see you fail. Don’t humour them. Don’t give up. Even after that setback, keep going. Don’t give them reason to be happy. It’s your life, live it. It’s not about their beliefs. They believe it can’t be done or you can’t do it, it does not matter. What matters is what you believe.





8.For the sake of your children and family: What example or legacy do you want to leave behind? Someone that gives up, loses hope or someone who is a go getter? Persist because of them, you might read more, try another approach or enroll for that examination again. Be successful not because of you alone but because you want to help the people you love and provide them with a great life and example.




9.For yourself (Put your name): Yes keep going for your self. For your self worth, prove to yourself that you can do it. Prove to youself you have the tenacity and doggedness to keep going. You have to be able toprove to yourself that you don’t give up. Let you daily watchword be “Never ever give up”. Write down what you will want the world to say about you and keep going to achieve it.



10.I belive you will get there: You should keep going because I believe you will be successful. I know that if you keep at it, then your success is eventually going to come. There is always a “YES” behind every “NO”, Keep going to get that YES and your Success.