What are your plans for the second half of this year?

Umar has been working in a tertiary hospital since he finished his secondary school education as a ward assistant. He is very brilliant but was orphaned at the age of 10 when his parents were involved in a fatal road traffic accident. He and his younger brother were brought up by their uncle, a peasant farmer, who was very nice to them but who could not afford to sponsor their tertiary education. He was determined to improve himself and gain a higher education. He kept working in the meantime to earn something for his upkeep and to stop being a burden to his uncle.

He was always very pleasant and went about his tasks with a cheerful mien. He also closely watched and learned voraciously. He taught himself how to use the computer via an old computer system that was often left idle in the ward for patient’s recreational use. He soon discovered so many free online courses and started enrolling in classes and mastering them. Thereafter, he enrolled with the National Open University of Nigeria and earned a degree in Business Administration. He especially liked entrepreneurship and loved the idea of attaining financial independence and being able to help others. He has been consistently saving 60 percent of his salary via involvement in a contribution scheme where he gladly accepted to be the last recipient in November. His plan is to use the capital thus raised to expand a business idea, he had piloted for the past two years. He was excited about his plans maturing later in the year. He was happy to be alive and to be working towards something that would empower him.

Salisu, on the other hand, was sponsored through school by his parents and graduated from the University of Maiduguri with a second-class lower degree in Public Administration. He was still living with his parents, but was bitterly frustrated that he has not been ‘fixed up’ by his parents with a good job befitting of his status as a university graduate. He was usually grumpy and lamenting all day while lazing around the house. His father suggested that he joined him at the Monday market where he sold caps, but Salisu was having none of that. How could a graduate be selling caps in the open market, not even a shopping mall? This was not acceptable to him. He complained all day long about Nigeria and the lack of job opportunities. He was frustrated and miserable all through 2023 and was convinced that 2024 would be even worse. The first half of the year only reinforced his negativism. He simply believed that the solution to his problem was for the government to employ all graduates and give them comfortable salaries so he could begin to live a good life.

Mid-year review: Search for opportunities or focus on problems?

The nature of human psychology is such that we are wired in different ways, and we view issues from different perspectives. Is the glass half-full or half-empty? It mostly depends on your perspective. And since we cannot change the circumstances around us in our environment, what we can work on very easily is our perspective to issues, as well as to roll up our sleeves and get cracking at addressing them.

Thus, every month and every new year or half year, offers fresh opportunities to tackle our problems and take advantage of opportunities that may be available to us. But if we are too fixated on lamentations and complaints while refusing to work hard and adopt a growth mindset over time, we would undoubtedly have a very bad year that will feed into even more lamentations.

Whereas, if we focus on what we can do for ourselves, such as adding value via continuous self-development and skill acquisition, we are more likely to make progress, be head-hunted for better jobs or create such jobs for ourselves and we would have succeeded in laying down the foundation for a happy and fulfilling year ahead.

This is not to naively discountenance the harsh socio-economic climate of the country. No. But this is to encourage us to adopt a positive mindset of unleashing our best potentials, via continuous self-development, intentionally nurturing human relationships (no man or woman is an island) and looking for opportunities to advance your career/life goals.

In the interim, work like crazy on whatever task is before you at the moment, whether it is to sell caps at the Monday Market, or to work as a ward assistant. Whatever role you currently could be engaged with do it. This is the path to emotional tranquility and peace of mind. What are you sowing for harvest later this year? Your emotional wellness depends on your choices. It is in your hands.

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