Understanding lucky breaks

Many people in Nigeria (and across the planet-earth) today want something for nothing. They dream of having it all but they are not willing to roll up the sleeves of their shirts and put in the required effort. They show up at a job and expect to be well paid without having to deliver the value that would justify them being well paid. It is a mixed-up world we find ourselves in right now, but the truth is, success is birthed through conscious choices and decisions.

A few years back, I was invited to inject life into a company that was daily dying and part of what I did was to lay some people off and employ some fresh bloods. I remember interviewing one of those—who sent in their application letters. In the course of the interview, I asked him how much he would like to be receiving at every month end, to which he did say that he would like to be receiving N300,000! Later, I did ask him how much he would be making for the company on monthly basis, to which he said nothing. This is the crisis on our hands in this day and time. There are too many people who want success for nothing like the applicant I am x-raying wanted N300,000 for nothing!

The truth is, anyone can be successful, if willing to pay the required price. Buddy, before desiring success, first find out what it takes to become successful in that area. Remember, no one is going to become successful either overnight or by accident. Over the years, I have watched those who call successful people lucky as if one can become successful only by sleeping, eating and waking up, only to repeat the same routine. Also, you need to understand that people call successful people lucky, so that they can get out of having to get off the couch and go do something valuable with their precious lives.

Lucky breaks are nothing more than unexpected rewards for intelligent choices we have chosen to make. Success does not just happen because someone’s star line up. No! Success—both in leadership, business and personally is something that is consciously shaped, created and produced. Once again, to become successful either as a leader or an individual, you have to be very deliberate about it. You have to plan for it. You have to work towards it. You have to sacrifice for it. You have to murder some sleep for it. You may need to take some new courses for it. You may need to relocate to another country for it to happen. You may have to learn some new languages for it to come to pass.

• What the rest of the world needs to learn from Ramadan fasts —Dawud Noibi

About 35 years ago, I would look at some successful people and would ignorantly conclude that they were lucky. I thought success was free! How wrong! Surprisingly, many people are still thinking like I used to think. Over the years, having studied hundreds of biographies of successful people, I have come to find out that success and luck are like two parallel wires. To become lucky is to work very hard. To become lucky is to make right decisions. To be lucky is to esteem relevant knowledge. To be lucky is to have a functional library. To be lucky is to roll up the sleeves of your shirt and get your hands dirty. Being lucky is not free! It is tough and this is why not many people do become truly great, successful and significant.

No one is going to become the President of a nation because he or she is lucky—without doing anything. First, no one is going to come to your house to fetch you as water and put the destiny of a nation into your feeble hands. To become a President, you would need to be very deliberate about it. To become a President, you would need to join a strong political party. To become a president, you would need to follow some renowned and influential politicians. To become a president, you would need to work on your capacity to sway and influence people with words…

Also to become truly lucky, you’d need to avoid living a life of excuses. Remember, it is impossible to build a tribute of success on a foundation of excuses. If you look at everything that is happening in Nigeria, you’d have a lot of excuses for not becoming who you are meant to become. But you need to know that in the same country you are living, people are living their dreams. People are building new beautiful houses. And they are not stealing.

In the same Nigeria, people are founding and running successful businesses. People are writing best-selling books. People are landing high-paying jobs. You can employ every disadvantage in Nigeria and become extremely successful. Excuses do not create success, deliberate and creative actions do! To become lucky, you’d need to avoid living a life of making excuses. Many potential successful destinies are buried in the crypt, mausoleum and tomb of excuses.

One of the reasons people are not becoming successful is the giving of an excuse, talking about what people would say about them. They think about what people would say about them—instead of thinking about their dreams and the untapped potentials locked inside of them. Successful leaders do not think about what people would say about them. You take care of what leads to success while they take care of what they think about you. When you become successful, what people think about you wouldn’t matter anymore.

Successful and great leaders construct monuments with the stones their critics throw at them. If you are not careful, the stones that people throw at you can stop you from moving forward into the land of success. They can discourage you, causing you to throw in the towel. The truth is, no one criticizes someone who is not valuable. People criticize you because they believe you have what they lack. They criticize you because they have accepted that you are better than them.

Till I come your way again, see you where successful leaders are found!