Forgotten Dairies
Choices And Decisions: The Difference Between Game Changers And Onlookers -By Adedeji Afolabi
We live in an age where to be young and indifferent can no longer be synonymous. Now is the time to stop talking and start doing; positioning yourself as a youth, creating the future you have long envisioned. The world is opened to opportunities for everyone in any field they desire.
Every morning, you have two choices – go back to sleep and dream or get up and catch your dreams.
Up there is a thought I will never forget. Since I saw it, I completely broke away from procrastination and the early morning cold feat. All thanks to the social media guru, @DanLok.
Long ago, a study conducted by some scholars and researchers show that people who have a high performance index are not necessarily doing too much than those who don’t seem to have results.
It’s has always been a matter of what they CHOOSE TO DO DAILY.
This made me realise that true greatness has more to do with actions and discipline regardless of present predicament. Your condition won’t change overnight by a sheer luck but by those decisions you’re making daily.
Besides, many people think that due to their start out, they can never amount to anything in life — that they can’t achieve the greatness that lies in them. But that’s a blatant lie! You must have heard this saying, “don’t let your background put your back on the ground” — yes, never throw in the towel, because this saying is true.
We live in an age where to be young and indifferent can no longer be synonymous. Now is the time to stop talking and start doing; positioning yourself as a youth, creating the future you have long envisioned. The world is opened to opportunities for everyone in any field they desire.
In 1977, only 45 years ago, The Dangote Group was a small trading firm that nobody knew, but it will be a rare household in Nigeria today that had not used a Dangote product – sugar, salt or cement.
If that household does exist, they have certainly heard the name, which has now become the largest industrial conglomerate in West Africa, having interests even in real estate, banking, textiles, and oil and as. It used to be just a last name, like yours or mine. ONE MAN MADE IT MORE!
Moreso, how do you forget the name of the man who discovered electricity, or the woman who dedicated her life to save generations of twins in a foreign African country. Or those who fought for the freedom you take for granted today. Or the man who died for the world? Or have you ever asked yourself, “What will change because I passed this way?”
You need to know that you can purposefully make a difference in the world, in this lifetime, and you don’t need to be in a specific field, time or environment. Your field is right. Your time is now. And You can make your environment work.
You must be proactive, deliberately taking calculated steps, expressing willingness to build relationships and sustaining them, exuding transparency in whatsoever you’re doing, having a high standard and holding yourself in high esteem and Integrity.
Winners do not do different things; they do things differently. The ability to take old things and put them together in new ways is one of the hallmarks of outstanding legacies.
“Everyone is responsible for their choices and should be held responsible for their performances in life.”
Action Points
- A man’s life must not be left to chance. You must decide daily to be visionary, purposeful, skillful, adding value by being useful and intentionally doing those things that will bring you closer to your goals in life. Motivate yourself because no one will. You subdue any situation by having the right attitude!
- Choose to be happy. Why not choose to have that great life. Why not choose to live a better life than your parents did. Why not strive to leave the world better than you met it. Why not change the way you think so you can Change Your Life!
- Every real change championed in the history of the world was brought about by a large number of people each doing a little of the same thing at the same time. Get into better association, because if you want to go far, you need a team. Yes, TEAMWORK makes dream work because effort and efficiency are multiplied exponentially by the right association.
- Learn that skill, take those courses, continue with that dream, write that exam, go for that masters, start that business, invest in that idea, buy that car, build that house, make that wedding happen— do that which you have purposed without holding back anymore.
- Those you look up to and sometimes envy are only more proactive and decisive than you are. They are not necessarily super human. So get up and start doing something with your life today.
To conclude, a wise man once said this, “You were born looking like your parents, but you will die looking like your DECISIONS — and that’s not funny.” So take good steps. You can either make your dream come true or make excuses.
What are you prepared to do differently today? I leave you with this thought and action provoking caption… “If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way. If it’s not, you’ll find an excuse.”
This short piece is inspired from the book, “Great by Choice” written by Jim Collins and Morten T Hansen.
Adedeji Afolabi writes from the Ministry of Justice, Lagos State Government.
Twitter @dejiafolabiesq
