Start. Pause. Don,t Stop- The subtle principle of giving it a try

BUILDING AIRILY CASTLES

A couple of months ago, I had met this friend of mine and after we had sat at tables to enjoy a hot afternoon’s fufu treat, we took to our usual chit chats on how we could make our lives better. After several interesting banters, one statement that came up, which still rings a myriad of bells was “in the end, majority of us will remain dreamers. We will only dream big, feel big, sigh high, enjoy the cloud nine feeling of those dreams and recline to our feeble, stressed, disabling, unpalatable, boringly aspiring reality we call life. Success in itself would be something we could only hope for.” This was after he stated that a business plan, he had envisioned had remained well nourished in its wonderful chamber among an umpteen other dreams, wiped clean on a regular and given its due place over again.

THE COMMON AILMENT

This isn’t going to be like how careful and friendly I always sound in most of my write-ups. A little bit of an upper cut on the jaw could set some rethink in many akin heads. We all have a common issue and don’t look at someone as though yours is all neat and prime. We all suffer that bit of dreaming without taking steps to see them turn into fleshy, graspable entities. Draw your life a few months back and you would realize you’ve been a total disappointment to the ink, book and time you spent pinning down resolutions for the year 2020. Just like myself, don’t hide behind the failure of Covid-19 has messed up all our plans. The even more annoying cliché that 2020 cannot to be counted, we are only surviving it. Tell that to the viruses. See the defect, acknowledge it, throw down some excuses, undo some pride and let’s roll along on how we could make our lives better.

THIS ISN’T GOING TO BE EASY ON YOU.

And let me sound a bit of caution. This post isn’t for the lazy. It isn’t for those who see reading as work and not pleasure. The road to success itself isn’t one down the line of ease. It is going to be long, boring, annoying, painstaking, image dreading, but as well challenging and firing. So, if you really up for it, then don’t flip the page, tarry along.

The Art of Dreaming

You’ve always heard and have been admonished to dream big. In fact, to dream for the sun so as to fall on the moon should things go awry. Please be careful how you dream. Some dreams are discouraging in their own thought. Its like Tahiti dreaming to win the world cup on the first try. Dreaming is an art founded on the principles of feasibility and time. With regards to feasibility, you would have to know all the factors that come together to ensure the probability of success or otherwise of what you’ve dreamed of. If feasibility doesn’t favour the dream, its realization might rather delay and the more it delays, the more that dream is subject to the whiles of discouragement, loss of enthusiasm and procrastination.

Subject your goals to time frames. Don’t dream and aim without having time targets. Time is the greatest measure of advancement. Goals without time tags are like sails destined for nowhere. I am not here to mention names of people who have chalked successes in various fields and how they did it. Our circumstances differ. Our eras differ. But time is a common commodity. The next time you plan to roll out a business, tag it with some time – either short term or long term. These would be your measure of success.

Keep it Penned.

One great mistake most of us make is, our plans get mixed and messed up with the other billions of worthless ideas that we process in days, weeks or months. Gradually they lose their firepower and we let go off them without knowing. How many of the many wonderful life changing ideas have you penned down in some safe place? Even if you feel its out of the confines of feasibility, get it written down. The very powerfully active brain God has given you has not time to keep the details of one idea for years. Your brain by its nature and activity relies on external impulses and sensations which could turn that same blockbuster idea into a hell scenario. Our recent lifestyle leaves us spending majority of our time perusing through other people’s successes and lies on varying social media ends whiles the very things that could better this wretched life dies and withers in the loneliness of negligence. Thinking has been relegated to play non-fiddle if not never-fiddle. If you perhaps happen to chance on that precious bit of having time to think of an idea, INK IT.

START

Is it starting that is more challenging or maintenance? If you don’t start, you procrastinate into nothingness and there’s nothing to maintain than the previous norm. Encouraging you to start is a waste of my precious time. Just know these few facts about starting an idea up.

1. You have to overcome the force of inertia. That inertia could be your will, your laziness, your fears, your procrastinating being or maybe your carefree negligent side.
2. Starting idea A means dropping attitude B. Something has to take precedence with regards to what you do with your time. Deciding to do more to your life doesn’t mean life will add more hours to your days. A quick and better substitution is the way.

   

3. Disregard the fears – whether internal or external. Fear is an exaggerated panic response to an expected threat, which most often than not isn’t a real entity. Look back at your life and you will realize most of the things you feared didn’t happen or even if they did, their magnitude wasn’t as anticipated. For every single achievement chalked, there will be a million and thousand multiple reasons why you should not take a step. The I can’t or someone would laugh at me thoughts are just spoilers on your pedigree. You will only know you can’t after trying.
4. After you start, the path starts to clear. Maybe the only thing you see up the cliff is the first stair. What if stepping on that is the switch that turns the light on all along the way? After you have started, the other things will start falling in place.
5. If you don’t start now, you may never actually start at all. There’s no better time to start than now. Let all the time and energy you invest this time round go waste. There’s that priceless asset you gain – experience. It surmounts all other things.
6. Don’t start without planning. I hate to say this but it seems the ultimate truth. Failing to plan equals planning to fail. As elite as your dreams may be, if they are void of planning, their weight in terms of value matches not that of a strand of cotton wool.
7. To start means to be adventurous. The land of success is no play area for men and women who aren’t ready to take a step beyond the norm to do the unexpected. Seeking to remain within the flock keeps you safe but limits you from realizing the vast land of treasure lying unexplored. Life is all about risk. Your decision to drink water is a risk, swallowing has been someone’s cause of death. No pain, no gain. He who fetches the water, breaks the pot.

Where to Turn When the Challenges Come.

Approximately 6 weeks ago, there was a flush of energy through my brain that had me wanting to start a backyard farm on a piece of land I have come across. The first few days found me going on a daily basis to clear the bush on that land. On the fifth day I had made a nursery bed and nursed some of the vegetables I had envisioned to cultivate. Six days later, they had well germinated. My efforts of watering them every morning after carrying buckets of water through some 400 meters wasn’t going to be in vain. I visit the place two days later and to my surprise, all the seedlings had been chewed away by some invisible creature. I got saddened. But all that work couldn’t just go down the drain. I had to re-make another nursery. Preparation of the seeds required about 4 days. I went through the process again and this time around with more care and precision, by the fourth day, they had germinated. I kept watering them. Things looked lively again. My visit on the 7^th day brought another regret. These hope notifying seedlings had been eaten away by some unknown creature one more time. Standing in limbo with only my thoughts to engage, I felt all this was not worth it. I came home. Didn’t visit the farm for some three days. Then one morning I called my Dad and explained my plight to him. His first question was “did you cover the nursery with palm fronds?” “Yes, I did” – my response.” Well… Its crickets that have been chewing your seedlings away. Get a knapsack sprayer, get any insecticide solution and follow the procedure I will outline.” What he expected me to do seemed a bit cumbersome. After about five more days, I ended up doing just as he said. The seedlings are now standing straight with each having its leaves well in blossom.

Lesson: Your planning doesn’t mean there wouldn’t be challenges. There’s no sail without tides. But what you do to or with those tides is what matters. I had initially decided to plant only vegetables, but when things went rough, I realized other options existed. I added coco-yam, potatoes and some cassava – they all aren’t doing bad currently either- not to talk of the yam.

It’s not too bad a thing to ask.

To be successful, seek counsel. You don’t need to make mistakes which others have made. Had I asked my Dad earlier, maybe my second nursery would have worked and I wouldn’t have missed as much rain as I have. Deciding to ride alone could be life threatening. We all need somebody to lean on. Put the pride aside. Sweep the shyness under the carpet. Approach people. Ask questions. You might not need to pay a dime to get the amazing answers you will need. You will be amazed the amount of information your single question would erupt. Believe there are good people out there amidst the many bad ones who are ready to offer help without forcing one out of you.

Where does inspiration/motivation come from?

Should all around you suggest that your dream makes no sense, would that hit the pause button or would you rather call it a quit? The disappointments, the struggles, discouragements, challenges – they are pause buttons on their own. They don’t mean stop. They don’t mean return to your former self. They don’t mean impossibility. They mean rethink, refresh, forge on. To forge on, there should be a fountain of flowing inspiration. The greatest of such is from within. No one carries your abilities, capabilities and potentials more than you do. Draw inspiration from the first gush of belief that sprung up the idea in you. Always return to that first rush of blood. It’s a life saver.

Money is a seed.

Those who see money as a fruit treat it as such. Fruits have their ends in the meals. But money in its right sense is a seed, meant to be cultivated to yield more seeds. Don’t make your money a fruit. Successful means understand that money is wealth only in its liquid form. They invest to make more. If you are not investing, then you are keeping your money more as a fruit. Fruits are nice to consume but their pleasure longs in shorts. Seeds need nurturing and caring. They may disappoint and result in tears. But when blossom, you have your seeds back in bounties, with extras of fruits.

A Little bit more of Sacrifice

Pleasure principles seem the best. Satisfaction is an ultimate want. Sacrificing at an early stage in life might be all you need to get to the pinnacle of that dream. Many dreams would have been realized if a little bit of painstaking sacrifices had come their way. Forgoing that snack could have meant you buying that mind transforming book. Ignoring that habit would have seen you attain that shape you’ve so longed for. Let go some attitudes. Prune some practices away. Shed off some cares. Those tiny bits of sacrifices run their pieces together into adorable ornaments in days to come. Learn to say no to the many things you’ve been doing which have proven unnecessary. Sacrifice them for the damn unknown. When ever you have the chance to think about pleasure, think as well about your dreams and see if an ounce of sacrifice wasn’t more worth it.

Understand How God’s Blessings Work.

Having great faith or being righteous does not automatically translate into success. Manna fell from above but it required work to pick them up and obedience to keep them from the spoils. Having the unction of blessing of God upon your life and dwelling in the fantasy of that, doing nothing, amounts to disgrace of the Grace upon you. God blesses your hand works. Putting in effort paves way for the blessings of God to have its effect. Any quantum of Grace multiplied by your zero effort amounts to nothingness. God expects you to work so He can bless You.

Capping it off

As DrC’s the best lies we tell everyday would say, you’ve lied for far too long. Get your as off the bucket of fear and misery filled comfort and reach for your dreams by hitting the start button. Give it your all. Trying is better a thing to do than hoping. Faith without works is dead. Dada Awu!

I bow out.