This morning, I got an e-mail from a self-described well-educated, young urban professional who would like to build on his current great life’s foundation. He wanted my “blunt” opinion on what I believed to constitute the secrets of success in life. And he suggested that I posted the opinion on my blog so that others, like him, could also benefit.
In my humble opinion and in a nutshell, success in life entails either one or both of two factors. On the one hand, success can come from destiny. That is why some individuals (in spite of little efforts on their parts) are leading successful lives. By some divine reasons, they are always at the right place, at the right time. And, on the other hand, success can arise as the product of a great personal strategic plan. In most cases, this comprises of a good education, dedication and hard work.
In addition, success from either or both of these two factors can be accelerated and strengthened. To do this, all you have to do is surround yourself with successful or potentially-successful people. They will be the wind beneath your wings. The saying about birds of the same feathers flocking together (for good or for bad) can easily be applied here. It is your responsibility, as an individual, to painstakingly choose friends who inspire, motivate or challenge you to rise above your potentials. If the majority of your friends are people whose life history is all about failures in relationships, marriages, careers, finances, social graces and other life’s accomplishments, you are in trouble. You’ll be like the victim of a capsized boat who struggles to swim above water while some haters, out of spite, keep pulling him/her down. In your pursuit of success, frustrated and miserable friends or associates can never be happy for you. And it does not matter if their faces are constantly plastered with smiles each time they see you. So, here is the bottom-line: Choose your friends wisely if you want to be successful in life!
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14 comments:
Thanks for sharing this opinion.
I hope I don't get into trouble for often leaving my work to "quickly" read your blog posting. The good thing is you never disappoint. Good piece.
Personally, I have seen too many people (with great potentials) fall by the way side. Some are in fact, in prisons as I write this comment. And the reason? They made wrong choices in friends!
Sometimes, I feel like you are writing about me and my life. Having made some dumb friends that pulled me back (fortunately, not down) I have since decided to be careful of those I call friends.
I don't know about the destiny bit. But I totally agree with the part about getting a good education and working hard as great ingredients for success.
I already sent this via your e-mail address. Thanks very much for your response. It was much quicker than I expected. Thanks also for posting it for those who care to share in it.
Thanks for reminding me to be careful of those I choose as friends.
Just wanted you to know that in the past couple of weeks, I have been reading most of your past postings and I should say, you are an awesome writer!
I believe that there are some people who always appear to have the "Midas touch" in their careers, marriages and others areas of lives. How I wished I were like them. But since I am not like them, I have focused strictly on my education and great work ethics and it has paid me well. If only many of us can just learn to do this, success can hardly elude us.
Friends? Thinking, out of sentiments, that one could not choose her friends, I have found myself falling victims of "friends" in certain crucial periods of my life---- until I got a good grip on myself and learned to be choosy. And I am the better for is since then. Thanks for posting this opinion.
Wow! Where do I begin to comment on this topic? Earlier in my life, I relied on those two factors you referred to (destiny and personal strategic plan) and they paid off. But then, I messed up every gain (from those factors) with my poor choice of friends. I mean, I thought it was wrong to ignore childhood friends in spite of their poor choices in life. That was until they spread the sad effects of their dumb baggage on my life. Fortunately, I survived, though at a great cost. Thanks for posting this piece.
Very impressive! And good job!
Another good piece. It's amazing how you come up with these thought-provoking writings so often. Thanks for sharing this piece.
I'll go ahead to share this piece on my facebook page. I know some of my friends that will find it insightful and interesting. What a great piece of writing!
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