We are just 19 days into 2018, the year of election campaigns. Now is the time to share some survival strategies with our teeming youth population who face a bleak future because of the uncaring attitude of our governing elite.
It is now clear from the unbelievable revelations of political corruption that politicians are only interested in using our impoverished young folks to capture political power at any cost in order to continue to plunder our national patrimony. This is how they maintain their obscene lifestyles.
Every young person should brace up for the challenges of survival and reject being used by politicians as assassins, thugs, protesters, sourcing of human part for rituals, or any form of violent activity. They will soon approach you to do some dirty jobs, with peanuts, from the billions of looted funds hidden in strange places like sewage vaults, cemeteries, etc. Don’t allow yourself to be used as cannon fodder, hatchet men, henchmen or couriers of any politician. They have no plans for you.
You have to plan how to survive on your own. From the pension fund mega-scam, and other looting scandals, it is obvious to all reasonable Nigerians that most of our so-called leaders are politicians of fortune. I have given you this preamble as a wake-up call. Your problem is how to live a decent life. Since our government can’t guarantee you that, you should not lie down and die. Don’t fold your arms or take to fraudulent or violent means of survival. There are better options to make a decent living.
Let me assure you that there are no easy options, no royal road to success. Even violent criminals like armed robbers and kidnappers face grave, life- threatening dangers. This is a foolish risk because it is illegal and when they are caught, they either pay with their life or get a jail sentence. Therefore, you should rather take good risks that lead to success and, even if you fail, which sometimes happens, you’d still gain valuable lessons and the experience that stands you in good stead to try again.
Don’t let past failures deter you this year. Many young people are frustrated because of shattered hopes and expectations. You expected your friend, pastor, dad, or trusted mentor to help you but they disappointed you. You’d face this kind of experience before you make it. When learning to ride a bicycle, you trip and fall down many times before you master the art of riding smoothly with motion balance. You do not abandon your bike because you fall down many times; you pick it up and try many times before you perfect your skill. It’s so with life.
Never give up on past “failed” projects. Some of the things you did last year probably failed because the time wasn’t ripe, or you just didn’t have enough skill or experience. Do a post-mortem, like I always do on all my projects, then start again. Sometimes, when you attempt to start your car, it doesn’t start. You do not throw the ignition key away or storm out of the car. You try again, again and again until the car starts. If it doesn’t, you open the bonnet and look through the engine for some faults.
That’s what you should do when things don’t work out the first time. Try again, check the hidden faults; they may be in you, or in the project itself. It could be the environment, location or some unexplained factors you have to investigate and deal with. In order for you to succeed, keep trying; never give up until you achieve your goal. When you first woo a lady, she’d most likely tell you off or say plain no! If you try again, her defenses may weaken. Then, after you have persisted, you may win her heart. That’s life. Good things don’t come easy.
Therefore, learn to restrategise. Explore new opportunities. Some of these opportunities may be obvious, others are hidden. You have to search them out. Take time to study your environment for the needs in your neighbourhood, city, village, or location. There are always some needs out there waiting to be met. Making money is meeting needs. That’s the law of demand and supply; if you supply a need, people will pay for it. I’m a life coach. I train, teach and motivate young people, especially. This article you are reading is a product of my thoughts. Now, it is meeting a need in your life by inspiring you to do something for yourself. In order to read this piece you paid for it, either by buying The Sun or paying for data to log on to the site of Sunnewsonline. I identified a need, I did a research and wrote this piece. The Sun published it for its readers to read at a price.
Identify a need, work toward meeting it, then you are in business; better still, identify your strength. What is it that you are good at? What do you do naturally with little effort? What’s your discipline? Combine these elements and they form your strength, your power to make a living. Look for a market for your skill, there’s someone somewhere who needs what you have. Do a search on the Internet, advertise your skill through bulk SMS, blogs, and many platforms of the social media. You’d get a market, I can assure you.
(To be continued next week)
Weekend Spice: Your future and ability to succeed aren’t tied to what others think of you. They are tied to what you think of yourself.
– Myles Momroe.
OK, folks. Stay motivated. See you next Friday.
•Ladi Ayodeji is an author, rights activist, pastor and life coach. He can be reached an 09059243004 (SMS & Whatsapp only)