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.