Stick with your ideas...you don't need to be great to start out...you need to start out to be great.
Observe these six things about persistence: You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great. The first two letters in the word goal are ‘go’. So don’t just sit and say, “I wish I can be an entrepreneur or I wish to be a pilot.” Every wish has a plot attached to it. Go for it.
Some people dream of doing great things; others wake up and actually do them.
Anybody who brags about what they’re going to do tomorrow, probably did the same thing yesterday. You will never be what you ought to be, until you’re doing what you ought to be doing. Mohammed Ali’s teacher at college once told him “he was a never do well.” He chose to break free from the limitations placed on him by the woman. And what was the result? She got his first Olympic medal as a boxer right on her table.
What limitations are set before you? What are those dreams your friends have called you a crazy person for? Set out on your sail. You are the captain of your ship. No matter the raging storms, hold firm to the steering wheel. You will definitely get ashore.
If you’re having trouble thinking outside the box, it’s time to get out of the box. When Lester Wunderman was fired from his advertising job, he felt he still had a lot to learn from the head of the agency, Max Sackheim. So, the next morning he went back to his office and continued working as he always had, talking to co-workers and clients, and sitting in on meetings - all without pay. Sackheim ignored him for a month.
Finally, he walked up to Wunderman and said, ‘Okay, you win. I never saw a man who wanted a job more than he wanted money.’ Well, guess what? Wunderman went on to be one of the most successful advertising men of the century.
He’s credited with having invented pre-printed newspaper inserts, plus subscription cards like those used by Time-Life Books and the Columbia Record Club - ideas that produced millions of pounds in profit. Now, advertising may not be your thing, but action must be. I remember well my beginning as a writer. Way back in 2007. I was an addicted reader. Reading in bed. Reading in toilets. It sucks altogether to some people around me. Publishing in Nigeria was more tough than cracking a kernel. Yet I never quit.
I published two books after discovering self publishing platforms. Till date, those books don’t even have as much as a review. Do I have to give up? Definitely not.
I perused the internet daily. Joined authors and readers sites like authorsden,
writers.org , cfwriterz.com and the likes, continued being entangled in writing prompts. I have being involved in six writing prompts and counting. Ranking fifth only once. Followed my online secret facebook coaches like Mr John Obidi and Miss Edirin Edewor. Twitching ruefully at the inability to buy their materials for progress though. I smile at my achievement. Little as it seems. I say to myself, “I can always better.”
This article you are reading right now! Is still one of my efforts at my dream. Using all resources available at my disposal. An android phone not the lowest grade and quality. A computer lying fallow. A shared internet connection from a friend I squat with. An author follows me and constructively criticises my write ups. I take a good note of each error pointed at my nose and make sure it doesn’t repeat itself. My email notification booms, another member of my platform for showcasing what I got choses to follow me. Now he will get a notification of my post. Am happy and I thank God. My next book would be out soon and I have a free copy for my follower already when it does. Notifications of sales of just two copies of my Previously published book “Save the last breath” published just a few weeks ago thrilled me.
So why all these stories? you ask.
Someone who has given up or who is afraid of failure needs to be jump started.
If Dangote can rise to be rich and make an impact in Nigeria’s economy and even in West Africa, then why can’t I? If Mark Zuckerberg the Facebook prodigy can be so innovative, making way for people like myself to rise, then why should I be sunken into oblivion? Jide Babatunde - pardon me if I find get the name correctly, like myself, didn’t have a job. Not that he didn’t want to work, but no one hired him. Today as the brainbox behind
jobberman.com thousands of people have been employed in Nigeria TODAY.
So! What are you willing to do to achieve your dream? Work without pay? Just like me writing without any financial profit yet. Refuse to be hindered by the storm and getting to the land of your dreams or to quit before even rolling out your boat? Success belongs to those who trust God – putting a lot of effort and sticking with it. Stick with the plan.
There are numerous resources around you. When you ask God for a birthday cake, all he gives you are: baking pans, flour, colouring, ovens, milk, eggs etc. Do you desire a birthday cake from God. Then you must watch out for the baking materials and carve out the cake of your dreams.
In Nigeria you spend the Naira. Dollars in the United States. So as a Nigerian in the States you need to do your conversion. There is no Naira nor Dollar in heaven. So when you ask God for MONEY. What does He do... He gives you the currency of heaven. And what’s that? REVELATION then what do you do since we spend Naira here and not Revelation? I bet you know the answer. Take that bold step today and stick with it.
You certainly have a knack for writing many genres. Probably because you were addicted to reading, and perhaps, still are. You also have ambition. I must caution you that ambition alone will not bring success. But you are learning as you go and that learning will eventually show you the way to success.
American writers complain about their health, their “writers block,” and their computers that are old or have viruses, partly because of their neglect of taking care of their computers. But most of them have it easy compared to you when it comes to writing and using the Internet. So I must commend you on your perseverance and willingness to be very productive. Continue to seek help with editing and I know you will eventually find a niche where you can make money. I haven't made any money, but I feel I must write regardless on ideas and issues that I have a say in.
Sepsis knocked her down and out. Faith, hope, and gave her the strength to get back on her feet. I am a Runner She fought the river of death They said she'd never run again
She proved them wrong...
(Richard M. Feldman) Ever since I was a young boy, the only thing I wanted to be was a cowboy. I wanted to own and work on a real ranch, with cattle and horses. Especially horses.
While I never became a cowboy, considering everything I have done
