DETERMINE YOUR LIFE; ESTABLISH YOUR OWN BUSINESS!

Studies have shown that one of the decisions people in work places find hard to take is leaving their paid jobs and facing the uncertainty of being their own bosses. This problem cuts across all cadres of staff but it is more common among young executives between the age ranges of 30-50 years. Asking them what their alternative plan of actions would be if they leave their paid job is a tasking and challenging question.

Some people are not really sure if there is need for it while some feel the time is not ripe for such an action, yet they suffer in silence on their paid jobs. The management of their company hardly appreciates their efforts as many of them lament that they have stayed up to eight, ten years on the same level without promotion. Some of them get suddenly and arbitrarily transferred to very remote and frustrating distant places without immediate payment of transfer allowance to aid their movement or out of station allowance to enable them settle down at their new locations. Young persons who are just out of school and who are their children’s age mates are employed by their company’s management as their bosses in order to spite them.  Such immature and inexperienced persons become their bosses and they are the ones that determine their faith and life for them.

Life is full of mysteries and ironies. It is often a wonder to find that while very many unfortunate and less privileged persons wallow in abject poverty and can hardly afford one meal a day in our country, very few and probably less than 5% citizens live in extreme affluence and on daily basis make and stash away endlessly billions of money. It is not as if these lucky bourgeoisie (highly prosperous or very wealthy persons) according to Karl Marx, a Sociologist, have special physique or special brain which the proletariat (commoners) do not have. What distinguishes them from the lot is that they have financial independence and self actualization. They have succeeded in carving a niche for themselves through the identification of their passions and building up some businesses that revolve around these passions. Most of them have monetized their hobbies or the things they loved doing most at little or no stress; things which hitherto they used to do freely.

Consequently, the relevant questions one needs to ask oneself in ones’ quest for the millions include: who am I? What is my passion? What is it that I often do which when doing I derive joy, excitement and personal fulfillment in? Is it teaching or imparting knowledge to people? Is it writing? Is it working with computers? Is it helping others to solve problems like helping people to get accommodation as Real Estate agents do? Is it helping workers to respond to queries? Is it selling things or marketing?

In answering the question “who am I”, one is bound to identify what one’s given talent(s) is (are). It is this question that would enable one to know one’s calling or one’s endowed or bequeathed gifts. The answer to the question “what is my passion” would undoubtedly reveal what one has always enjoyed doing for people free of charge and without stress; what one has always excitedly, joyfully, intensely and endlessly done either as hobby or pastime exercise. Then one should endeavor as much as possible to see how one can turn this hobby or activity into money making venture (business enterprise).

In turning your hobby or passion into a money making venture you must remember that the best way to make money is to identify a common problem which people have and which your business can solve for them. It is people’s continuous need to solve the problem and your continuous ability to solve the problem that would generate money for you. You cannot make money easily without first giving value or service to people.

The truth however needs to be told that one day if one does not leave one’s paid job voluntarily, the job will leave one forcefully and most time it happens suddenly and untimely. Many workers especially bank workers live in fear today because they stick to paid job as if their success in life depends only on it. Many of them have the talents that can make them become the dream person they wish to be in life but they are scared to take initiative for fear of the unknown. We trade off our financial freedom in exchange for monthly salary without alternative plan and we are made to believe in job security. Unfortunately there is no such thing as job security in paid employment.

Why not plan having your own business now before it is too late!

The following are various passions which people have turned to business enterprises:

Acting

Article selling

Article writing

Artwork collection

Baseball

Basketball

Blogging

Body building

Car racing

Carpentry/Furniture making

Cleaning

Computer programming

Cooking

Dancing

Digital photography

Drawing

Electronics

Entertaining

Exercise (aerobics)

Facilitation

Fishing

Fixing/orgaising things

Football

Freelance writing

Hairdressing

Horse riding

Hunting

Knitting

Lawn tennis

Magic

Modelling

Movie watching

Painting

Partying

Photography

Playing music

Product reviews

Reading

Renting movies

Research

Re-writing badly written adverts

Running

Selling/marketing

Sewing/Fashion Designing

Shopping

Singing

Soap making

Sports commentary

Sports writing

Swimming

Talking/Speech making

Teaching

Training

Web logo designing

Website building for others

Website designing for others

Writing e-books

THE SECRETS OF LIFE BREAKTHROUGHS AND LIFE SUCCESS!

Do you know what it takes to make it in life? Do you know why some people succeed in obtaining their life desires while others fail? The reason is not farfetched; it is that those who succeed know the secrets of life achievements, life fulfilment and life breakthroughs while those who fail lack knowledge of these secrets and give up too soon.

These secrets are: (a) Being focused in life (b) Having Determination (c) Having belief in oneself or one’s ability to perform (d) thinking positively (e) Being perseverant and persistent (f) Being hard working and relentlessness (g) Praying fervently for success.

Having focus in life means having clearly defined goals, aspirations, ambition, ends (as in Economic parlance) or objectives. Being focused in life enables one to plan one’s life and be guided in one’s life steps. Having determination entails being committed to what one believes in, being dogged, resolute and firm in one’s decision to succeed and making practical and concerted efforts toward achieving one’s set goals. Having belief in oneself or one’s ability to perform or deliver means having trust in one’s own capability to do things. This bothers on possession of self confidence. The relevant question here is, if one lacks confidence in oneself, who then would have reliance and confidence in one’s ability to do things? Thinking positively entails having positive mental attitude at all times, not giving room to negative thoughts, being optimistic at all times. This means that one must avoid being pessimistic and one must profess goodness to oneself at all times. One must not doubt God’s love and capability to solve one’s problems. Being perseverant and being persistent involve having irrepressible spirit or struggling attitude and having ability to endure pain or hardship. It has been said in the holy books that relief and joy cometh after hardship.  Being relentlessness means never giving up or losing hope, being resilient in the fight for breakthrough. It also means being undisturbed, undaunted or unperturbed by failure, no matter the number of times that one tries to get one’s desire and fail. A person who is afraid of failure can never make it in life. Faint heart never wins fair lady. In fact, to succeed in life, one needs to develop shock absorber or a rubber, though, and thick skin against failure. Of course, the role of prayer in in ensuring success can never be overemphasised. Prayer is the key to every human achievement and success. Prayer wades off evil and surrounds one with the aura of success and good tidings.

Please, the experience narrated below illustrates classical application of these secrets:  

I recently attended a party and met an old school mate whom I exchanged complimentary card with. On receipt of my card, he screamed ‘’Haba, you alone!’’ I was confused. Then he said, ‘’my friend, how come you have B.SC, ACA, ACIB, ACTI, ACIM, ACIPM, MBA, and M.SC?  How did you do it’’? I replied that it’s a long story. On his persistence that I should tell him, I narrated my story to him as follows: Initially, I read Sociology and Anthropology at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) and graduated in 1983. After my Youth service in 1984, I got teaching appointment under Ogun State Teaching Service Commission and I was posted to St. Brendans Grammar School, Ogbere in Ijebu.

On resumption there, I was asked to teach the final year students English Language. Incredibly, the students refused to buy the Practical English text book. Comprehension and summary exercises had to be written on the chalk board for the students to read and respond to practice questions. I soon became frustrated and decided to leave the school. My prayer, persistence and determination to leave got me another teaching job eight months after with Lagos State Teaching Service Commission. I was then posted to Obele Community High School, Surulere, Lagos to teach Government and Economics. I resumed at the school in September, 1985.

My goal in life was to become a professional and in fact, a consultant and help people solve business problems. I soon became sick and tired of the teaching job and longed for a job change. I wrote a lot of application letters to employers but received no response. I then decided to take my case to my creator and wrote an open letter to God! In the open letter, I bemoaned my condition and reminded God of my dream and wish to be a Banker and not a Teacher. Not long after this, my elder brother, a Chartered Accountant established his accounting firm and implored me to work with him every day after closing at school. I did so and through him I got registered with the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICAN).  I then enrolled for weekend accounting classes. Luckily, I sat for and passed the foundation and intermediate exams of the Institute within two years after registration. The results boosted my resume and shortly after, I applied to banks for job. In 1991, I was shortlisted for recruitment exam by Afribank Nigeria Plc, which I attended and passed. I was called for interview and I also passed the interview. Consequently, I got employed by the bank.

I never allowed the euphoria of becoming a banker to impede my focus of becoming a qualified professional and consultant. I therefore continued my accounting studies. Unfortunately, when I got to the final stage of the ICAN exams, trouble started. In professional accounting then, fail in one subject meant fail in all subjects. All the subjects passed including the failed one would be repeated. It happened that I continually failed one paper each time I sat for the final exams. The paper I failed this year would not be the one I would fail the following year. This problem continued for more than five years and almost eroded my confidence in qualifying as Chartered Accountant. But my belief and trust in my capability to pass exams was unflinching. But I needed urgently to re-assurance myself of this. So, I suspended the ICAN final exams and decided to try other professional bodies’ exams: I consequently sat for and passed the Chartered Institute of Marketing exams, Chartered Institute of Personnel Management exams, Chartered Institute of Taxation exams, and Chartered Institute of Bankers exams. I started each one of them from foundation and I passed the required stages’ exams in quick succession up to the final stage of each of the professions. These achievements boosted my morale, restored my confidence and encouraged me to return to my suspended final accounting exam which, with determination I eventually passed in 2007. I thereafter went back to sit for and passed the final exam of each of the professions which I had earlier suspended. I thank God Almighty today, that,  apart from my first degree in Sociology and Anthropology from University of Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University), I am a qualified Chartered Marketer (1999), Chartered Accountant (2007), Chartered Tax Practitioner (2011), Chartered Banker (2012) and Chartered Personnel Manager (2012). I also by the special grace of God have Masters Degree (MBA) in Business Administration (Financial Management) from Lagos State University and Master of Science (MSc) in Marketing (2008) from University of Lagos. This indeed is a confirmation that hard work, perseverance, optimism and prayer result in success and every disappointment is a blessing in disguise.