When I was in JSS2, at the back of one of my notebooks, I wrote my name, with three branching lines, each for CEO, President, and a Petroleum Engineer, maybe I was ambitious! At the moment, I am not close to being the kind of CEO I envisioned, and I don’t even have any political affiliation that could probably lead me to becoming a president. But still an engineer, regardless of what I engineer.
For someone who has had a fair share of really tough childhoods, that seemed almost impossible, but the mind is the most amazing place I have ever been. It is the place where I can be what I want, do what I want, and live how I want without being judged. And I believe you have your share of wild imaginations. Still, for the mind to imagine, it has to be oblivious of the facts that create physical constraints.
Creating in the mind can be as manipulative as it can be rewarding. It can lead to a conclusion like this template:
When I achieve ….., then I will be able to act like …….
Or
After I achieve ….., then I would be able to ……..
Or
If I have X, I can do Y!
As we move over the timeline of our lives, we tend to underestimate the things that we could do right now for the later time that we envision happening. Most people that I have met and discussed with are too consumed by the things that affect them right now than the things that they can do to take a step forward.
In one of my recent self-reflections, I came to a conclusion that I have seen validated multiple times by different people. Yes, I preach work at high-impact places, and you should ensure that you make this happen to continue winning. Truth be told, it is overwhelming for someone with some kinds of background to achieve this, and this too can lead to conclusions like this:
When I have a Distinction in my degree, I will be able to do… and then I might get into ____ company and then I can take on that career.
Or like this:
When I move to Lagos, I would be able to do ___, where probably, I could meet ___ and then I can be able to create that biggest brand/business.
Or
Once my Uncle helps to push my CV, I will be able to get the job, and then I can go on to build that career.
Or
…
It can become endless, and I believe you have your own version of initial assumptions, but the goal of these assumptions is to keep you stuck and unable to proceed, just like a rigid body tries to overcome its inertia. And they(assumptions) all happen in the mind!
Most times, success stories emphasize a magic moment when they happen. For example, for Osimhen, it could be being picked to play the U-21 World Cup; for Ronaldo, it could be meeting with Sir Ferguson. For Messi, it could be Barca willing to bring him to the academy, but we fail to realize that a lot of previous events have been suppressed.
First, nothing can happen to you without being born, and all the great footballers might have focused their lives on something else if at some point they weren’t introduced to football. Even after the introduction, they might not be enthusiastic about it, or they are enthusiastic but not passionate. This and more are suppressed in success stories.
Secondly, feeling stuck is normal, even right now, I feel stuck. But doesn’t mean I have to wait for that single event that will unblock me. Rather, I have to ensure I do the decluttering that will allow that single event to occur. It is like picking a particular apple from a basket of fruits; the unneeded ones have to be segregated to get to the particular apple, and it doesn’t mean the segregation efforts are ignored.
This is the same thing with everything in life; nothing that we have experienced has ever happened at the speed of light; humans are too slow to achieve such speed.
Another of my wild imaginations is how I envision my retirement, if I ever get to it, how it could be, and, more importantly, how the world would be by then. While painting these different scenarios(in my mind), I also ask myself if I am actually doing enough to get me to have the perceived retirement. Here and Now, there and then!
But while considering retirement, I have to ensure to ignore existing physical constraints like: how much money I have right now, how much skill I have right now, my network, or even where I live. What I am allowed to imagine are the things that I can do to ensure that retirement works as I would want, and how I get the things that I need.
We always forget that we actually were at some point illiterate before we became literate, we were ignorant before we became that genius, we were once taught how to walk, how to take our first sip. Every great and successful person was once at a zero point or even below.
Many great software engineers became so good first by writing their first line of code on paper, and some great academics that did not see the barrier created by the poor education system in Nigeria, or by athletes with great talent that ignored the lack of equipment or trainers, and entrepreneurs that still went along with their ideas even in harsh and adverse environments like Nigeria.
When stuck, sometimes the only way forward might be to take an uninformed action; the feedback will guide you to either repeat the action or a modified version of it, or to change course completely. This is a quick-and-dirty concept of system analysis, which is why I am biased towards taking action.
The thought to end this on: Going from the person you are, with all the known baggage, to the person that you wish to be, do you see a pathway forward, or is it all roadblocks?