Happy new year to you all my beloved readers, old and new, young and old. For those who didn’t make it to the new year, I say may your soul be received by the Almighty God. Those of you who made it to 2018, I say congratulations. I hope we’d have some exciting moments this year.

That said, here we go again. I don’t know if they still make New Year resolutions. In my days as a young man, we used to make resolutions every new year. We’d say all the funny things we hoped to do and not do in a new year. Usually, we drew up a wish list and tried to achieve a set of goals.

On this list, we vowed to give up bad habits like smoking, hard drinking, flirting, for those who indulge in these things, it was a real struggle to try and overcome them in the new year. Today, I want to encourage all my folks on goal-setting. In 2018, try setting goals for yourself and work toward them.

I speak on a range of contemporary challenges facing the youth of this generation on JYB TV (Channel 361 on Startimes). Last year, I started giving seminars in colleges to motivate students toward becoming future leaders and successful citizens who are empowered to make a difference.

My New Year resolution is to use all the great platforms available to me to empower this generation through the teaching of life-changing messages that motivate and inspire people to shatter their glass ceilings, break new grounds and free themselves from the bondage of ignorance. These inhibitions are wrought by tradition, religion and fear.  

I don’t know your New Year resolution. If you don’t have any, please resolve to do something great for yourself and your generation this year. Set some goals, identify your targets, learn to analyse all the constraints that will inevitably come between you and your goals and look forward to overcoming them. If your goal is to set up your own business, don’t wait for the right time. Such a time rarely ever comes;  you have to know that the right time to do anything is when you decide to start. Time waits for no one. Opportunities do present themselves sometimes, but not every time. So, create your own opportunities, if you can’t find any. Water will forever find its level. Men always go to any length to survive.

What inspired the great strides we have achieved in the world today, especially in the last 100 years, was the incredible obstacles we faced in trying to conquer starvation, disease, inclement weather, environmental challenges, threats to life, etc.

In trying to overcome the obvious mortal dangers that threaten human existence, scientists, through trial and error, have been able, with the grace of God, to get us to where we are today. These great men and women were game-changers whose innovations, sacrifice, hard work, pains, investment of time and money in science and technology have made the world better for all of us.

I challenge you to resolve today to be one of the global game-changers who are changing the world. People like Einstien, Larry Page, Mark Zuckerberg, Thomas Edison, Michael Faraday, Hippocrates, Kepler, Copernicus, Galileo, Abraham Lincoln, Florence Nightingale, Lious Pasteur, etc, have made a huge difference in our world.

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These people were ordinary folks like you and I, but they now appear superhuman because of the impact they have made with their contributions to humanity. You, too, can do the same. Try to google the names I listed above and read their profiles, you’d be inspired. Nothing stops you rising above the ordinary to do extraordinary feats that can improve your world. Only one person can stop you from achieving: yourself.

Please, recognise that there are no easy routes to success. The road to victory is laden with thorns and thistles. If you want to make it, you must be ready to pay the price. Before I was offered all the platforms I use today, this column, and those on radio, TV and the colleges where I give seminars, I worked hard for about 40 years preparing myself academically through self-tutorials. I worked as a labourer to fund my private lessons, which enabled me to sit for the GCE O’ and A’ levels (and passed with good grades) as a private student, since I didn’t go to secondary school. I have had to overcome horrendous obstacles in ministry, business, education, personal relationships and marriage. With God helping me, I am still struggling to overcome, but none of these challenges could stop me from doing what I purposed to do to achieve success in life.

 So, beloved, don’t let anyone, anything, stop you from reaching your goals. Every man thinks his burden is the heaviest, according to Jamaican reggae icon, Bob Marley, but who feels it knows it.

Begin now to pursue your dreams, otherwise nightmares will pursue you. I don’t wish that for you in 2018. My resolution for you this year is to succeed and be in good health.

Weekend Spice: You must be the change you hope to see in the world

– Mahatma Gandhi

OK, folks, happy new year, once again, and stay motivated. See you next Friday.  

  

Ladi Ayodeji is an Author, Rights Activist, Pastor and life coach. He can be reached on 09059243004 (SMS and Whatsapp only)