We all know Chucky—yes, scary Chucky? If you are a fan of horror stories, then you must have watched Chucky from the late 90s till date, as the franchise keeps us on the edge of our seats with each release. As horrible as Chucky the serial killer is, many people have asked if Chucky truly exists. What if it genuinely exists but not as you see it in the movies? Chucky could exist through horrendous life’s challenges that we experience. We must approach them head-on and deal with them. 

“I don’t run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run towards it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your foot.” — Natalie Comaneli.

As we see in the movie, Chucky is that fictional serial killer that we are all afraid of, a point noted. We hide in closets avoiding the sharp blades it wields without mercy. We find a way to run out of the closet seeking help. However, that person we’re running to for assistance is also running from Chucky. One second you feel you’re safe, and the next second, Chucky is right behind you. Okay, not to scare you, the truth is that most of us have faced Chucky one way or the other. Some of us are still facing Chucky through life’s challenges that could be horrible or traumatizing.

What are these Chuckies? What are these traumatic experiences that we are ascribing the appellation “Chucky” to in this piece? By the way, “What is a traumatic event?” According to Healthline, a “traumatic event is an incident that causes physical, emotional, spiritual, or psychological harm.” Some examples of these traumatic experiences include physical pain or injury (e.g., severe car accident), serious illness, addictions, war, natural disasters, terrorism, witnessing a death, rape, domestic abuse, workplace abuse, incarceration within the criminal justice system, betrayal, etc.

The shock and effect of these life-attacking Chuckies can be devastating. On many occasions, many people live with the impact of these traumas without addressing them. Memories of their experiences often haunt many, that it at times cripples their will. Not managing the effects of these dire life albatrosses can be devastating to the victims of these traumas. This opinion piece gives Chucky victims a way of escape and a road map towards healing.

5 Ways to Beat the Chuckies of Your Life

Are you currently running away from Chucky (life’s horrors)? Here are practical ways to overcome complex challenges that life throws at you. Please, note these are the personal opinions that I proffer. They aim to guide you on how you can begin defeating the Chucky (i.e., trauma) that currently haunts you. However, if you find yourself in a terrible place, we recommend that you not substitute the advice here for professional advice. We advocate that you seek immediate professional help to help you dig yourself out of the hole you find yourself in today. So, what are the ways to beat the Chuckies of your life?

#1. Take a Deep Breath

Let’s start with the breathing technique. Breathe in, breathe out. Could you do it again like up to 10 times? How do you feel? Great right? Okay, let’s face it. Life horrors can be challenging. It could come in the form of depression, loss of a loved one, failure, or something scary or something that hurts deeply. To face these challenges, we recommend you take a deep breath. You can defeat Chucky no matter how difficult it will be at the end of the day. The truth is that it will be difficult, and not everyone will survive it. However, you’ve got to be strong so that you can be among the survivors. Just breathe!

#2. Stop Hiding

Now, come out of your closet. It’s okay. I know you feel safer hiding in there. Oh, you’re not in the closet? You’re finding refuge somewhere. You’re still hiding because you are so afraid to face your reality. Sadly, you can’t hide forever because Chucky still lurks around and knows where you are, earnestly desirous of slitting your throat. No matter what the tough life challenge is, you can’t always run away from it! So, pull yourself together and stop hiding. 

#3. It’s All in the Mind

Your mind is so powerful! If you can fight the battles in your mind, you can overcome anything that life or Chucky throws at you. Unlike what’s seen in horror movies that even the brave gets killed. In reality, you start by defeating Chucky in your mind. How do you do that exactly? It begins with changing your beliefs and creating new realities. If you believe that Chucky can defeat you, then no matter what you do to protect yourself, you may still be defeated because you have not defeated Chucky in your mind.

“Battles are fought in our minds every day. When we begin to feel the battle is just too difficult and give up, we must choose to rise above our problems.” — Joyce Meyer.

I used to run away from Chucky a lot, just like many people do today. I hated life. The fact that I was facing complex life challenges made me question my existence. I lived a defeated life, always running and hiding from the truth. Even those I took solace in were tired of hearing my life horrors because they too were facing their own Chucky. I was so tired of being defeated that I consciously decided to win the battles in my mind through daily victory affirmations! As I did that for days, weeks, and months, I started winning the defeat matches in my mind. I started creating new realities for myself. You, too, can start experiencing the freedom that comes with new realities after defeating the horrors in your mind. 

#4. Face Your Fears and Fight

From my experience, winning the battles in your mind helps you challenge your current reality. Stop giving Chucky room to defeat you when you are more robust than it is. Yes, it will be challenging, but you can win this. You have been able to defeat the horrors in your mind. You can now brace up and fight because your life depends on it. Beating the addiction, the pain, the struggles, and other life horrors you may be facing can come to an end. It may be a slow fight because the more you fight, the more Chucky claws hurt your mental health and psyche-skin. The more you face Chucky one on one, the more you’re likely to be wounded by its sharp blade but keep fighting. 

#5. Clean Up Your Wounds and Own Your Scars

You’re bleeding. The fight with Chucky was bloody, but one person has to win, and that is you. Congratulations! You’re a survivor, and the story ends beautifully because of the victory. You look back and stare at Chucky’s dead body, and you’re proud of yourself. No one else could have defeated Chucky, but you and you did it. Now, this is how it feels when you have overcome horrible addictions and painful losses. Or life’s frustrations that weigh you down and seem to suck out the life from you slowly. Just like how Chucky slowly kills its victims when it chooses to. 

The truth is that it is challenging to eschew Chucky 100% of the time. We all face life challenges from time to time. When we encounter Chucky, we first need to recline and take a deep breath, clear our minds, and then strategize an attack. Second, we need to stop hiding from the Chuck that plagues us. We must muster some courage to fight back! Third, remember, it is a thing of the mind. Use daily affirmations to build new realities. Fourth, face Chucky and fight. It’s as simple as that! Fifth, clean up your wounds and own the scars of the battle.

“Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” — Joshua J. Marine.

Once again, as stipulated above, this article can be the first point of action against any Chucky that battles you. However, do you feel like you are at a deep end of a situation? Is Chucky is choking the life out of you? Do you feel like giving up? We advise you to seek professional help ASAP. Don’t fight the battle alone if you need to. A problem shared is a problem half-solved. Don’t let your life albatross win! You’ve got this! Defeating your Chucky is possible!

Have you ever been so engaged with too much activity that drained you of so much energy, time, and resources? Despite all your efforts, you are still left with a sense of underachievement. Have you been so engrossed with chasing a dream that was never yours? Yes, it wasn’t your dream, but you chose to be a part of that dream because of pecuniary gains that will accrue because of your association with the pursuit. You may very well be stuck in a Rat Race loop—like a hamster, running around on the crazy loop of routine and repetitive life sans all fun and a sense of fulfillment.

“Alive or just breathing?” — Unknown.

How about celebrating Fridays because you are running away from your official obligations? What you thought was a channel of making money and meeting your ever-increasing needs has suddenly become a chore. It is now replete with dreadful thoughts of waking up on a Monday morning to continue the routine of turning up in your office and signing off before the close of working hours. You’re suddenly stuck in a monotonous loop filled with perfunctory activities that must take place to fulfill a ritual, all in a bid to prove that you exist on the face of the earth.

Are You Part of the Crowd?

Are you part of the crowd? Are you part of the rat race? By the way, “What is a rat race?” The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines rat race as “a strenuous, wearisome, and usually competitive activity or rush.” Wikipedia defines rat race as “an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit.” When we engage in this lifestyle, we ignorantly enmesh ourselves in an inordinate search. A quest that is laced with competition for wealth, power, and fame. This is precisely how the pressure and demands of this world have conscripted many of us to live. 

“The term Rat Race comes from the race between two rats to get the piece of cheese at the other end of the room. First, by trying to outrun each other. In the process, they spend more energy than the reward is worth.” — Dr. V. Subramanyan.

When it becomes evident that the overhead is rising, the monthly and yearly expense seems to be overshooting, making it difficult for the meager income to satisfy the ever-increasing expenditure. When it appears as if you have been left behind in the affairs of life, your schoolmates that were once your play pals are no longer giving you the same “class” handshake. These are some likely scenarios that plunge us into this race. In the words of Ogbonnaya Agom-Eze, “The rat race is all about keeping up with the Joneses. Because of this, we are on our marks, getting set to run the rat race of life. At the boom of the gun, we sprint, pushed by our insatiable cravings.” Now, that is food for thought.

Once these scenarios are given thought to, without considering the basics, the natural thing to do at this point will be to explore every available option that presents itself as an avenue for making ends meet. We start scampering through life like two rats running across the room, expending more energy than it’s worth to gnaw our desires on the cheese of life. This is where this irreverent pursuit sets in. At this point, caution is thrown to the winds. 

A mad completion sets in and schemes are hatched on how to outsmart a colleague. The goal is to get ahead of them or get a promotion before them by hook or crook. Standards are compromised, character and integrity are never mentioned, all in a bid to make ends meet while neglecting and trading the core principles of life. All these actions have obvious negative and terrible repercussions when disobeyed, but only a few think about this before making that move. This, in summary, is what the rat race means, and this is how it is seen in our society today. 

There is a Higher Plane to Operate and Live In

We can live and operate in a higher plane to help us transcend above the rat-race lifestyle and mindset. We can top the rat-race lifestyle one step at a time via the way and discovery of purpose. If we strive to discover and pursue purpose, we can live a more fulfilling life. There is a reason why we are here on planet earth, and it is tied to solving problems and meeting needs. A life based on this ideal brings relevance, satisfaction, and joy devoid of self-defeating, needless, and pointless pursuit.

“Knowing your life purpose is the first step toward living a truly conscious life. A life purpose provides us with a clear goal, a set finish line that you truly want to reach.” — Simon Foster.

When we focus on our purpose, this needless, self-defeating pursuit or entangled in the rat race becomes a thing of the past. Every individual here on this planet earth has a reason for being here. That reason is seated deep within us, crying for expression. It is that silent but loud voice within our spirit, resident in our core, trying to express itself through ideas and thoughts that momentarily flash through our minds. But in ignorance, we have neglected their nudging. We ignore their calls and continue walking on the common paths of life that mar us rather than make us into who we are meant to be. 

According to Etymoline, the earliest use of this term was in 1934 about aviation training. The terminology connotes a simple game of “follow the leader” in fighter planes. The leader does everything in the book—Immelmanns, loops, snap rolls, turns, always turns, tighter and tighter. In the game, other pilots try to follow in pursuit. The game, strenuous at best, was a fiercely competitive struggle. Or simply think about a rat wearing itself out running in a maze, the same way people in life get entrapped in a rat race.

Little wonder our activities as individuals can be likened to the strenuous pursuit of an air rat race. Or being compared to the rodents in a maze. We use the term “rat race” to qualify our actions when it lacks such a definite and straightforward approach in its pursuit in life. The rat race is a strenuous and endless pursuit of means. It’s like a dog chasing its tail.

How Do We Beat This Trap? 

What do I do to exit the hamster wheel of the rat race? Discover what it is you are here for. This will require a careful but assertive introspection. Look within yourself. When you do this, you will likely find that which you have been looking for outside. This will require asking cogent questions. Give attention to the ideas and thoughts that flash through your mind. Once those ideas and thoughts come, write them down. 

It doesn’t end there; you need to act by taking steps to see that they come to fruition. Everything we see today once existed in the thought realm. It was an action that moved them from the thought realm to the realm of existence. You can have all your dreams, purposes, and passions in the world. However, the process becomes futile if you fail to act on them. So, what else do you have to do to escape the rat race of this life? Let’s see:    

#1. Focus

It will require focus to achieve anything of worth, even to break free from the rat race you are in. Most individuals today lose focus due to pressure from the challenges of life. When you discover your “Why,” the end product of the pursuit will not be immediate. There will be adverse circumstances contrary to your expectations that will arise. But for you to see your “Why” materialize, you must remain focused. The Pinhole camera and the magnifying glass show us the power and effect of focus from elementary physics. Such clarity and penetration will be the resultant effect that will accompany your pursuit when you remain focused. 

#2. Determination 

Another word for determination is the firmness of purpose. This is your resolve to go through whatever challenges that will arise during your pursuit of purpose. One of the things that will help your resoluteness will be your ability to concentrate, refusing to be swayed by the loud voices that will try to persuade you to renege on your resolve to go ahead with that which you have discovered; to be your “Why.” 

“No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.” — George Washington Carver.

Our inability as individuals is to discover and focus on our Why, is what plunges us into the rat race in the first place. The American motivational speaker, author, and minister, Eric Thomas, Ph.D., said that “The discovery of your WHY and an answer to your WHY brings to an end this “Rat race.” When you find your WHY, you don’t hit snooze anymore! You find a way to make it happen!” Developing the inherent potentials that will aid us in bringing our Why to the point of value. Our inability to do this most times is the reason for so much frustration that is common in our societies today. 

Our relevance is tied to the solutions we bring to the pervading problems bedeviling our families, communities, and our nations at large. Finding that pain point to provide a solution is a sure way to break free from the rat race plaguing many. These solutions are found in our Why. Everything created in life offers a solution to a particular need and is tied to your Why. We must focus our gaze on our Why. After discovering it, we must show great determination to act and break away from the rat race that holds us back from becoming our very best. Go ahead, find out your “Why!” With your contribution and mine, the world will become a better place for us all.

Some people live in the past so much that they forget to live in the now. The past is an astute teacher that instructs us on previous happenings that allow us to live better in the present to have the future that we desire. Albeit an intelligent teacher, we cannot remain perpetually in his classroom. We must quickly apply the lessons we garner from the past to the present. Our present determines our tomorrow.

“Step on the past lessons and transcend. Dwell on past laurels, and it will likely drown your present like a millstone hanging around your neck.” — Ogbonnaya Agom-Eze.

Dwelling perpetually in the past will make us miss out on the present happenings that determine our tomorrow. Whether good or bad, lessons from the past can positively or negatively affect our everyday living. Learning suitable lessons from the past helps us shape our present for the better. We grow, we evolve, we become the very best that the universe has to offer. Wrong lessons of the past can either become mistakes we can avoid in the present if we heed their lessons. However, we can repeat mistakes of the past if we fail to learn. 

Hence, we only need a quick glance back to the past—learn and move forward to become that person that destiny intends us to become. Once again, dwelling on the past, whether good or bad, can negatively hamper our present, which affects our future. No wonder many end up having ghastly Destiny-Accidents that dot their lives and existence. In the words of Robert Plant, an English singer and songwriter, once said that “The past is a stepping stone, not a millstone.” Step on the past lessons and transcend. As you wade through the waters of this life, don’t dwell on past laurels. Doing so would likely drown your present like a millstone hanging around your neck.  

A quick glance back to the past is akin to the automobile driving process in some ways. But how? Have you ever wondered why you have one big front windscreen in your car and three small rearview mirrors? When driving, you look forward to the road via your front windscreen, right? As you go, you take swift glances backward through your rearview mirror at the center of your front windscreen. Or you use your side rearview mirrors to monitor your left and right sides as you flow and navigate through. Sometimes when driving, you may need to turn to the left or to the right quickly to check your blind spots.

However, when you drive, you focus 99.5% of the time on looking at the road ahead. The other 0.5% of the time is spent using your center rearview, and two side mirrors to take a quick glance backward or to the sides. In addition, you also take quick glances at your blind spots to make sure that you are not missing anything. The essence of this all is part of the defensive driving process to ensure that you are staying clear of others on the road. Although the hypothetical percentage of viewing the sides and rear while driving is infinitesimal, it could be the key to a life-or-death situation on the road. Also, these days, people take quick glances at their phones while driving—a bad and dangerous habit, to be honest. (NB. Don’t text and drive).

The previous paragraph explains the normal process of driving. We spend the predominant amount of our driving time paying attention to the road ahead. We do our best to avoid distractions while we survey the road as we drive. However, what would happen if you flip the script in percentages? If you spend 99.5% of the time looking backward and 0.5% of the time looking forward on the road through your windscreen, what will happen to you as you drive? Umm, your guess is as good as mine—you instantly become a danger to yourself and others on the road. You will most definitely have an accident on the road, and may God help you if you survive the crash. Pay attention to the road stupid!

Don’t get me wrong, the past is essential. There are things in everyone’s past that teach them—successes, Relationships, Trauma, etc. Harvey Mackay, an American businessman, author, and syndicated columnist with Universal Uclick, once said that we should “Learn from the past, but don’t live there. Build on what you know so that you don’t repeat mistakes. Resolve to learn something new every day. Because every 24 hours, you have the opportunity to have the best day of your company’s life.” The past is a learning place, not a dwelling place. Take a glance at it and let it inform your present. 

So, regarding the past, we are meant to take a quick glance at it, learn, and continue moving forward. Focus on the road ahead—focus on your destiny, goals, ambitions, and purposes so that you can get to your destination in one piece. However, we must spend 99.5% of the time looking ahead; looking to the past should be 0.5% of the time. Just the same way, we take agile glances at our center rearview and two side mirrors. Flip the percentages in this metaphorical analysis. If you spend 99.5% of your time looking at the past losses and victories you have experienced—you will soon be a goner. You will crash your destiny so bad that you will become history yourself.

Friends, do you think that Paul of Tarsus was a boneheaded idiot when he made that statement in Philippians 3:12-14 that “I have not yet reached my goal, and I am not perfect. But Christ has taken hold of me. So, I keep on running and struggling to take hold of the prize. My friends, I don’t feel that I have already arrived. But I forget what is behind, and I struggle for what is ahead. I run toward the goal, so that I can win the prize of being called to heaven. This is the prize that God offers because of what Christ Jesus has done?” (Contemporary English Version (CEV)) Far from that, he was a sage at best to say that “we keep our eyes on the mark, the bullseye ahead,” so that we don’t shipwreck our individual causes.

“Life is a culmination of the past, an awareness of the present, an indication of a future beyond knowledge, the quality that gives a touch of divinity to matter.” — Charles Lindbergh.

So, what has happened has happened—we cannot change the past. What is behind us are lessons. We can only pick up the blocks of history to build the edifices of our tomorrow in the present. The building blocks of your historical heritage are of no use when you remain in the past. Even if you had a DeLorean to go back in the past, it is still not humanly possible to build in the past. We can only create now. So, don’t be stupid to not pay attention to the road of your destiny. Pay attention to the road. Keep looking ahead to the end of your purpose and destination. Feed the data from your past into the Central Processing Unit (CPU) of your present. Use this information to write the program for your future. Carpe diem!

Are you aware that you can learn so much from life when you closely observe the happenings around you in your everyday life? Hidden in plain sight are sundry nuggets of wisdom and erudition waiting for discovery. There’s so much knowledge to acquire when we are open to lore and mindful that life itself is a teacher. Life is like the game of chess. It takes us being intentional and strategic to make these life discoveries, ceteris paribus.

“When things do not go your way, remember that every challenge—every adversity—contains within it the seeds of opportunity and growth.” — Roy T Bennett.

How would you react to challenging situations that occur without notice in your everyday lives? Your perspective regarding issues in life is of great importance because it will, to a large extent, determine how you confront the vicissitudes of life. Strategic living as a lifestyle is about being intentional and having a positive attitude in every situation. Let me share a story with you to give you some insights.

It Pays to Be Strategic!

Once, on a sunny and hot tropical afternoon in the bustling city of Port Harcourt, Rivers State in Nigeria, I had an interesting experience with my car keys that taught me a life lesson on strategy. The event happened way back before the advent and prevalence of remote keyless system (RKS) fobs. I had driven to a business meeting with a client. After the meeting, I came out to notice that my car key had a slight bent to it.

“Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it’s about deliberately choosing to be different.” — Michael Porter.

Upon close examination, I felt the bent would not affect the keys’ usage. But to my utter dismay, it did. It not only got stuck in the ignition but also got broken while trying to start the car. This left me distraught with no other alternative than to look for a nearby locksmith where a new key can be cut for me from the original since I couldn’t go back home to get the spare key. Little did I know that this was the beginning of a learning experience for me.

As I sat down to watch my attending locksmith choose from an array of assorted shapes of keys. I learned that the idea or strategy was to select a particular key with a form that would fit the broken key I came with. After careful selection, I watched as he slotted the chosen key into the cutting machine. Whirling as it went, the key-cutting machine followed the patterned grooves on my old broken key to shape what would after now become my new car key.

Suddenly like a thunderbolt from the blues, it struck me! When keys are cut, they are shaped to open a lock. The cut is the definition of the key’s purpose to open the lock that it is meant for, all things being equal. It hit me that if my car was parked out there without the key, it could not start. My car key aims to help me crank my engine up and give it life and action. It will remain parked, stationed in a fixed place, useless, and occupying a space that ought to be used for some other thing.

In a similar vein, many of us are like the broken or absent key that is not fulfilling the purpose of cranking up the engines of myriad pervading problems. Many of us have refused to embrace the divinely programmed challenges designed to shape or cut us into becoming the “keys” to various successes. Keys that should unlock the doors to these problems in our immediate societies, churches, communities, and the world at large. It pays to be strategic to make this self-discovery.

How Do You Handle Dicey Situations?

How are you reacting, embracing the problems and challenges that come your way? How do you handle the dicey situations that you face in life? Remember, the locksmith first had to choose the blank key that resembled my broken key before he could cut or shape it. In the same way, there are issues in life that you are patterned after to become a solution to it. There is a cause to the cutting and shaping of your life experiences. It will help you eventually serve a specific role. 

“Sometimes we learn the lessons of life through pain, melancholy, and the vicissitude of life, and sometimes we learn the lessons of life through joy and comfort. Whatever the case may be, the most important thing is the great lesson we learn out of the lessons life teaches us. If you fail to learn the lessons greatly, life will teach you a great lesson.” — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah.

You are destiny’s choice to go through your present life challenges. You have been chosen to be fashioned, prepared for a specific reason. You are destiny’s choice to become a solution to that problem in your family, society, and country. But you must yield to the shaping, tampering, and conditioning process. Because through these processes, a better you will emerge. Leaving you better and well suited for the part that has been allotted to you by destiny.

I studied Materials and Metallurgical Engineering in college. While still in school, part of our industrial training program was exposed to different methods of heat treatment that materials go through to toughen them. One such treatment is called annealing, a heat treatment process that alters the microstructure of a material to change its mechanical or electrical properties. It is used to reduce hardness, increase ductility, and help eliminate internal stresses.

Suppose materials are subjected to such a complex process to attain a suitable strength that will enable them to go through the rigors associated with its eventual usage. In that case, the challenges that come with life are how we as humans are toughened to be fit to face and handle life’s dicey situations. For these materials to attain such strength, their microstructure which is a crucial determinant to their mechanical and electrical properties, is altered. That is the same way that our makeup, our default mode, is changed when we willingly submit to being trained by the vicissitudes of life.

You Can Do It!

Brace up; you are fit for it. You just have to be tenacious and stick with it. You can make it happen. Gold had to go through fire to become marketable. For diamonds to appreciate in value, they have to go through a cutting and polishing process. Crude oil must go through the laborious process of factional distillation to be turned into various petroleum products. Iron ore has to go through the high temperatures of the Bessemer converter to be turned into steel.

“I think you grow wherever God plants you. I hope I’m growing as a person of faith, as a Christian. That should be our number one objective in this journey of life. That all starts with a personal, intimate relationship with Christ and then being in prayer every single day about all of those things—being tenacious about it.” — J. C. Watts.

In the same way, you must go through cutting and shaping to become the key to many successes. No one says that it will be easy; however, the product of the process is effectiveness and efficiency in your role and purpose in life. In the words of Christian Louboutin, the French-Egyptian fashion designer, “You need to believe in yourself and what you do. Be tenacious and genuine.” You must believe in yourself. You must trust the process as you are shaped for a strategic life of purpose. 

How can I equip myself to face these challenges squarely and come out victorious? I want to share a critical factor: if we have a firm grip on it, we can do life effectively and efficiently, irrespective of whatever challenges will confront us. It is a word that has often been neglected and downplayed in the scheme of things. However, it determines how we approach life and the results we get out of life if given attention. What is the word? Mindset. As the word sounds, it is defined as the established set of attitudes held by someone. One word that stands out in this definition, which also gives meaning to this statement, is attitude. 

Attitude is primarily what makes up an individual’s mindset and plays a crucial role in determining how our mindsets are shaped. What is it, and how important is it? Attitude is the way you approach life. In a simpler term, it’s your angle of attack. It is the way we express our thoughts and feelings. Our attitude takes form or shape after series of repeated events that lead up to a set of beliefs that things will turn out in a particular way. This outcome forms what is called expectations. Our attitude is determined by our expectations. This is why we react either negatively or positively when confronted by a challenge in life. But it can all be changed by changing our core beliefs. 

See the Challenge as a Learning Experience

Adopting strategic living as a lifestyle is all about being teachable. Teachability is the ability and willingness to learn. This attitude enables you to be open and receptive to whatever life throws at you while at the same time learning from it. Bearing in mind that whatever lessons learned will become an added advantage for you in the future. It is often said that evaluated experience is the best teacher. This willingness on your part will position you in such a way that you critically evaluate the experience to learn from it. 

“Believe in yourself, take on your challenges, dig deep within yourself to conquer fears. Never let anyone bring you down. You got to keep going.” — Chantal Sutherland.

The structure of a traditional educational system requires that you first learn a subject matter and then get tested on that body of knowledge. It takes a series of repetitive learning to sit and pass an examination or test. It is akin to what is obtainable in life. Life has been made so that you can only be promoted to another level of life when you have passed an examination it set for you. Life tests us intermittently, even in our ignorance, to see if we are ready for the next level of our situation. Most times, we fail these tests owing to wrong mindsets exhibited through bad attitudes.

Are you ready for the next challenge? Are you prepared for the next learning experience? Are you prepared to duke it out with the next challenge in your process of becoming strategic and practical? Strategic living as a lifestyle begins at the junction where you start surmounting the challenges that life throws at you. You must tenaciously fight every challenge. You must adopt a winning mindset in other to become the champion of your own fate and destiny. You must see all challenges as a learning experience. That is the path of continuous improvement. That is the path of becoming strategic in your daily living.

You Can Become a Better Person

We are products of circumstances. Our present cases in life result from the things we encounter in life and the experiences we have had to go through to reach the point where we are now. The summation of these circumstances and phases of life is the personality that is seen today. Understanding this life process puts you in the right frame of mind to know that you are a work in progress that gets better with the exposure that life takes you through. 

“Circumstances does not make a man they merely reveal him to himself.” — Epictetus.

Most times, I’ve also realized that we as human beings prefer to remain in our comfort zone. We wish not to be overstretched. Most times, we are oblivious that challenges stretch our experiences to new frontiers most times in life. By seeking to eschew challenges, we ignorantly miss grand opportunities that would have launched us out to a bigger and brighter future that we have prayed and desired for.  

With all certainty, if we approach life with these mindsets, we will become victors and not victims in this game called life. We can become champions in life by adopting strategic living as a lifestyle. Understanding this statement will make you submit to this experience. Gladly go through this furnace of fire called challenges. You will come out refined and empowered. Become tenacious through the experiences that you encounter. You will come out shining, radiating, and you’d be glad you did.

We can get what we want out of life and be successful when we are deliberate on how to achieve that. Many of us go through life feeling like a failure because our high hopes seem to be cut short. Certain universal principles are essential to getting what you want in life, and surprisingly it’s so simplified yet complex for many people. Living your best life does not have to be complicated. Read on as I share some insights on how to get what you want and be successful in life.

#1. Don’t Rely On Passion Alone

Found a passion and want to be successful in life living your dreams? Well, you have to do more than just admiring that passion of yours like a damsel you are so much in love with because that amounts to nothing. You can admire that damsel, but she’s out of sight when you don’t make a move. Meaning that if you’re not making a move to turn your passion into a successful career, you’ll be losing all you should have gotten out of it. Be passionate but also be committed to consistently making smart moves towards success. In the words of Richard G. Scott, “We become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to be every day.” Apply for that internship, sign up for that skill training, start that business, start applying for grants, do whatever is necessary to get you going, and enjoy the ride. In addition to passion, consistency is key.

#2. Be a Friend to Learning 

You can get what you want out of life if you’re open to seeking knowledge. Being knowledgeable about the things that matter to your continuous growth sets you apart from others. So, read books, and make it a culture. Learn under someone more knowledgeable than you in the area of life you’re most interested in and build your career with all the learnings you have gotten so far. No matter how far in the knowledge you’ve come, learning never ends. It only takes you closer to your Promised Land of becoming the best you ever and helps you keep evolving in your existence. 

#3. Thought that Lingers Rots

Your mind is a powerhouse waiting for you to harness its potentials. Your thoughts are energies too. They could inspire you, make you depressed or make you stagnant. You are what you think, so get rid of stale thoughts that give you reasons why you can’t make certain gold moves. The more stagnant thoughts you entertain, the more rotten it gets. Things you abandon rot and become dilapidated. Such could cripple your ability to see the future you envisage. It could also stall your ability to walk towards it. Attract the kind of life you want through your mind. Think positive thoughts only, and everything else will align in your favor. 

#4. Step Out of Your Comfort Zone 

You can’t get the life you want by sleeping on your dreams and waking up on the same spot every day. We get too comfortable with where we are that we are scared of getting our hands muddy and our clothes ripped by sharp rusted metals. In the words of Robert Whyte, “All the concepts about stepping out of your comfort zone mean nothing until you decide that your essential purpose, vision, and goals are more important than your self-imposed limitations.” Hence, great things don’t happen in our comfort zone; it happens outside of it. So wake up from your beauty sleep, pull up your sleeves, roll up your trousers, put on some boots, and get into the mud. It will be hard to face a cruel world when pursuing something worthwhile, but the reward is fantastic. 

#5. Draw Your Circle 

Let’s face it, when you’re on a journey to getting what you desire, you may likely lose friends who won’t understand your journey. Some will get off the bus because your goal and theirs do not naturally align. Getting what you want out of life involves your decision to keep a circle of people to help you get to your life’s destination faster. These people can be those who are on a similar path but ahead of you. However, you can learn from them as you journey towards your goals. The circle could also be individuals who resonate with you on a deeper level. The saying “show me your circle of friends and I will tell you who you are” is evergreen. It’s in your power to draw how large or small you want your circle to be. No matter the size, ensure they make your journey a fulfilling one. 

#6. Challenge Yourself 

Set realistic goals and challenge yourself to achieve them. When you reach them at a milestone point, always reward yourself. Doing this all the time gets you closer to getting what you want and be successful in life. In the words of Robert Tew, “Challenge yourself every day to do better and be better. Remember, growth starts with the decision to move beyond your current circumstances.” So, challenge yourself to write that proposal, make that pitch, walk up to that investor, and a lot more. Only the bold can do whatever it takes to become successful. Push yourself to become your best self ever. Inspire yourself to evolve. You can do it.

#7. Don’t Be So Hard on Yourself 

We can make plans, and it may not go our way. We may have high expectations and have them cut short. Some of these things happen, but it doesn’t mean we should be hard on ourselves. Understanding that this is the reality of life helps us brace up. When life’s circumstances shake and beat you to the ground, stand up, dust yourself off and keep moving. Failure is not the end of the road. Let’s learn to stop putting pressure on ourselves when in the face of disappointments. Life happens, and the failures make our stories inspiring. So to get the life you’ve always wanted, learn from failures and move on smartly. 

#8. Practice Gratitude 

Gratitude opens doors for you when you make it an attitude. Remember, according to the late great Zig Ziglar, “It’s your attitude, not your aptitude, that will determine your altitude.” Rather than being depressed when the journey gets rough, all you should do is be grateful for how far you’ve come. Gratitude is a healthy way to allow things to take their course because the truth is, all the work you’ve put in your journey so far is yielding results. You may not see the results in the interim, but it’s working. Motivate yourself towards gratitude. Stay grateful.

Everyone wants to be successful. However, you do not get what you want by sitting around and doing nothing. You must put in the effort and work at it. In this piece, first, I encourage you not to hitch your wagon solely on passion. Put in the effort to make your passion a dream come true. Second, become a reader so that you can become a leader in your field. In the words of Ogbonnaya Agom-Eze, “Learning is earning.” Third, things that you abandon will rot and dilapidate—even your thoughts and ideas. Please keep your thoughts and ideas evergreen by working on them. Don’t let them rot.

“Successful people do what unsuccessful people are not willing to do. Don’t wish it were easier; wish you were better.” — Jim Rohn.

Fourth, the magic happens outside your comfort zone—step away from it and see yourself begin to rise. Fifth, create your circle of influence and leverage on their wisdom, knowledge, and counsel. Sixth, challenge yourself to your success. Push yourself to achieve because no one else is going to do it for you. Be your own cheerleader. Seventh, never allow a setback to become the crucifixion of your dream to be successful. Don’t stay down when you fall. Rise and keep moving. Eight, practice gratitude daily; it will hone your attitude, which determines your altitude. Deploy these steps to get what you want and become successful. Start today! 

Your alarm wakes you up, and you still see the bills by the side of your bed. You sigh deeply and fold yourself back into your thick blanket because you are cold from life’s worries, opening your pores and making you vulnerable. So, you drag yourself out of your bed to prepare for a 9 to 5 job that makes you feel trapped in a rat race and unfulfilled. You are pigeonholed in that job. However, you can’t leave the job because you have bills to pay, and the economy can sometimes be quite hostile.  

“So many people live within unhappy circumstances and yet will not take the initiative to change their situation because they are conditioned to a life of security, conformity, and conservation, all of which may appear to give one peace of mind, but in reality, nothing is more damaging to the adventurous spirit.” — Christopher McCandless.

You try to put up a smile when you are out and about, so people don’t notice the weight of the world on your shoulders. On some days, when you, unfortunately, hit traffic on your way to work, it looks like the world just crashed in front of you as you envision your angry boss waiting to tear you apart as soon as you scramble your way into work—late because of the traffic. Day after day, this cycle continues, and you start to hate the way your life is panning out. The time has come for you to stop dreaming and start doing.

Most of us have faced this phase of life at one point or the other. Life throws spears at us, and only a few people have the shields to avoid its piercings and the toll of damage it delivers. Life at times can be like the boisterous waves of the sea, tossing and ravaging all that is in its way. It can get tough at times; however, as Robert Schuller once said in his epic book, “Tough times never last, but tough people do,” should give us some dose of encouragement to continue forging ahead. We must toughen our will as we go through the challenging situations of life.

We all respond to circumstances differently, and only a few decide and make the concerted effort needed to escape the rat race’s cyclical life. Life throws a lot at everyone, but only “the few” have the oomph to break away from the web of the everyday struggle that typifies the life they wish not to live. Only “the few” make the dreams of the life that they want to experience a reality. Many people, lacking the willpower, or just afraid, chose to remain in the life they loathe. It requires a precise mold of willpower to transform and change their lives’ status quo to the desired lifestyle they dream about. It’s time for you to act. 

Here is the hard truth—changing your life is not a walk in the park; sometimes, it sure can be a daunting experience. It can be arduous, but the truth also is that it is not impossible. So, would you preferably remain stuck in your unfavorable circumstance because you are afraid of the difficulty it takes to change your life? If you cower because of fear, that would be a sad choice. Nothing will change until you change. You must make up your mind and lay a grasp on the bullhorns of the change that you desire. You must pay the price for the change that you want. It’s time for you to take action, don’t procrastinate your change.

“The one thing you’ve gotta do is that you need to always do the best you can do, no matter what the given situation, no matter what comes up against you. You do the best you can do, and you never give up. Never quit.” — James Corden.

Wouldn’t it better you took a chance to seek a transformation of your status quo? Trying is better than not trying at all. Often, people choose to remain in their uncomfortable circumstances because they are crippled by fear—the fear of trying to make a change. They worry about not wanting to fail should they attempt to change, and the transformation fails—fear of embracing the unknown cripples their will to move forward. Fear of not wanting to leave the confines of their present situation holds them back from their dreams. If the life you are currently living is not the life you want to live, is it not better that you do something about it? However, the choice is yours to make at the end of the day.  

Changing your status can be as complicated as Advanced Calculus for those who find Mathematics challenging, but it all starts to turn for the better when you decide to have a better life. Start by embracing the pain and know that failures are necessary for a better you. Know what you want in life. Know that you only have one life to live. Be determined to make it a fun life that you will celebrate, not a life you will tolerate. Dwell on what you love doing most and develop an innovative idea of making money from what you cherish most. Create! Innovate! Elevate!

“Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.” — Michael Jordan.  

Start small and take it one step at a time and you will see your life gradually change for the better. Understand that anything worthwhile takes some effort to accomplish. Happiness is a choice, but life still happens. No matter what position you find yourself in, there is always a way out. However, it would help if you made a conscious effort not to dwell on the situation as the world has already ended. You can live a better life. Start doing something about it and get rid of all excuses that will make you remain stuck with your present reality. The time for change is now!

[Source: Original Version: If this is Not the Life You Want to Live, Do Something About It. Cited and edited with the permission of Nelly Essien by the Editor-In-Chief].

A lot of us get to the cliff of great opportunities and possibilities, and we just freeze. Some sit or stand, just watching others who have taken the leap of faith and are now in flight in their various life endeavors. We shrink back. We become afraid. We become incapacitated by the risks of our anticipated vision. We become numb by the what ifs. What if I don’t make it? What if I fail? What if I cannot sustain the success? What if I cannot get to the end of the road? What if this or what if that? A fact that remains certain is that you will never know what you can or cannot achieve until you try. You will never know until you take that leap of faith off the cliff of opportunities and possibilities. Do not allow the fear of the unknown cripple your will in the journey of your self-discovery. In other to become somebody of worth, you must plunge yourself into the depths of your purpose and into the reason-oceans of your existence. You can take that leap, you can become the best you ever.

There are many people today who have achieved a lot for themselves. They discovered their purpose and made concerted efforts to do something with it. It is not the discovery of your design alone that matters; what matters most are the actions that you take after the discovery. Successful people do not sit around to see what fate would hand them. Successful people grasp their destiny by the horns, risking it all in other to have it all. These people took a leap of faith into the great unknown, and today they are successful. They took the chance in the game of life, passed go, and are enjoying the benefits of their “Boardwalk” and “Park Place” investments today. They are the likes of Bill Gates, the Warren Buffett(s), the Jeff Bezos(es), the Mark Zuckerberg(s), the Aliko Dangote(s), the Richard Branson(s), the Oprah Winfrey(s), the Folorunsho Alakija(s), the Elon Musk(s), just to mention but a few. They took a stab at fate, they jumped off the cliff of opportunities and are where they are today. Cut off the timidity from your will, believe you can, and you will.

On a side note, I’m not telling folks reading to take a literal leap from off a cliff. If you literally jump off a cliff without a parachute, wingsuit, or a climbing rope harness, and with a sense of wit that you know what you are doing, you will most likely not make it alive to tell your story after the plunge. The ground or surface below will quickly snuff out your wick and receive your splattered bits. You would be committing suicide, and I do not sanction that one bit. You would be ending your narrative before you even begin it. So, I am talking about the metaphorical cliff that symbolizes life opportunities and possibilities that can take you from being a zero to a hero. It’s not a leap of extinction, but a leap of an extraordinary lifestyle. It’s a leap that goes beyond the “what ifs.” I love what a Louise E. Boone once said that “Don’t be so afraid of failure that it cripples your will to attempt new things. The saddest summary of life that you should yearn to eschew from the chronicle of your ephemeral life are the descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.” (Paraphrased).  

The Founder of the YouTube Channel, “I Encourage Somebody,” Kelechi Agom-Eze, talks about this topic in the video below. She highlights some interesting points. Her video gave me an extra boost to listen to Steve Harvey’s video on the same subject. There are five lessons that I got out of watching the video(s). First, is the need to get tired of the status quo. If you are not passionate about transcending beyond your status quo, you will never attain the heights of extra-above-ordinary success. Second, always remember that purpose is your parachute. Discover your purpose, embrace it, and leap into the possibilities of opportunity. Don’t be part of the statistics that will regret not vaulting into life opportunities—the “could have been(s),” the “might have been(s),” and the “should have been(s).” Third, make sure you shut down the fear factor. Fear will weaken your will to take the leap of faith. Fourth, just jump—if you never jump, you will never know your capabilities. Finally, spread your wings and soar on the winds of opportunity—become the excellence eagle and purposeful highflier in the affairs of life.   

“You will never know until you take that leap of faith off the cliff of opportunities and possibilities.”

5 Things You Need to Do

Taking the leap of faith does not come to you by just willing it upon yourself. You must come to a place in your mind—a point where you make a series of decisions that will launch you to the pedestal where you start seeing the various products that ensue from taking that leap of faith. In other to take the leap of faith, there are various things that you need to do. Let’s get to the brass tracks of what to do before taking the leap of faith.

#1. Get Tired of the status quo

Stop waiting to become the person of your dreams. Stop wishing to become your best you, start working on your aspirations to become great. The jigsaw puzzle of your purpose will not arrange itself. It will remain a heap of unorganized expectations and desires. You need to get tired of the status quo. Start ordering the puzzle of your life piece-by-piece. Embrace your confidence and believe that you can. You cannot stay on the sidelines of destiny anticipating and just hoping for a better tomorrow. If you are tired of your current state today, then get up and do something about it by challenging and transforming your status quo. Try doing things differently, try something new and don’t be nervous doing so. Don’t get stuck in a rut by clinging to old ways that don’t work. Don’t be overly risk-averse—learn to take risks at times. Being risk-averse to a fault can truncate the possibility of you ever taking on a feat of some significance and importance. Think big, think outside the box. You cannot take a leap of faith if you don’t get tired of the status quo.

#2. Your Purpose is Your Parachute

Your purpose is your gifting, your talent, your design, your aim, your point of distinction from others. We have unique expertise and abilities that make us distinct personalities. Whatever we focus on will grow. If you focus on honing your talent and putting it to work, the result will be growth to your utter amazement. It will place you in a place of distinction. It will open doors of opportunities like no other. Your gift will make room for you. Your purpose is the parachute that will aid you when you take the leap of faith. It is your wingsuit that will help you in soaring on the winds of time and chance. The winds of opportunity will catch the wing-suit of your purpose and allow you to sail the skies of extraordinary achievements. As you glide with your wingsuit, always remember that your parachute of purpose will not open immediately. If you fail first and you don’t succeed, lift yourself up and try again and again. Sometimes, you may have to try again and again until you are able to perfect your glide. One thing is sure, if you don’t jump, the possibility of your parachute opening at all is nullified. So, discover your purpose, pack and wear it as your parachute/wing-suit backpack and take that chance and jump. 

#3. Shut Down the Fear Factor

We are human and we at times experience fear. Fear is that instinctive survival signal that alerts us to danger, giving us a chance to react and escape tragedy. This part of apprehension can be beneficial, but only to a point. When we perpetually dwell in fear, it cripples our will to want to achieve anything. Don’t be afraid, just believe that you can, and you will. For instance, when we come to the cliff of opportunities and possibilities, it is natural to be nervous to take a plunge into an unknown fate, the unfamiliar turf, and untested waters. Every successful person who ever gave up something big in the pursuit of the golden fleece came to this juncture in the journey of their achievement. However, if they did not break away from the initial trepidation they experienced, these individuals would not be where they are today. Don’t let fear cripple your will, believe and take that leap of fate. Will everything be rosy as you aim to embrace your purpose and higher calling in life? Absolutely not. However, only those who attempt the unknown are the ones who have the final opportunity of acclaiming, “Eureka! I have found it,” should they make it at last. Shut down the fear factor at the cliff of opportunities and possibilities, give fate a chance as you pursue extraordinary excellence. Shut down your fears and take a leap off the cliff of opportunities and possibilities.

#4. Jump! Jump! Jump!

This lesson title reminds me of the scene in the Forrest Gump movie when Jenny, the girl Forrest liked in the movie, was calling after him to run away from some bullies who were up to no good. Forrest Gump was a fictional character who was depicted in the movie to have been born with strong legs but with a spinal deformity. As a result, he was required to wear leg braces that impeded his ambulatory activities when it came to his ability to walk and run. “Run! Forrest! Run!” Jenny repeatedly yelled as the bullies were in hot pursuit. Forrest ran so fast that the braces gave way and miraculously, he outran the bullies. In the light of this story, I am going to repeatedly yell through the words of this article, “Jump! Friend! Jump!” (NB. Feel free to put your name in the place of the word, “Friend.” Personalize it if you will). At the cliff of your opportunities and possibilities, “Jump! Friend! Jump!” Discover your purpose! Wear it as your backpack!  Don’t let the fear of what ifs stop you! “Jump! Friend! Jump!” Believe you can and you will! Believe in the possibility of accomplishing possibilities from your impossibilities.  “Jump! Friend! Jump!” Remember that mediocrity and non-accomplishment is at your heels. “Jump! Friend! Jump!”

#5. Soar on the Wings of Opportunity

Now that we have jumped and taken that leap of faith, I implore you to perfect your soar as you glide on the winds of opportunities. As earlier mentioned, when you jump off the cliffs of possibilities, it is the wind of opportunities that will catch the flaps of your wingsuit and give you a chance to soar. The word “soar” means to sail or hover in the air often at a great height. We can learn about the concept of soaring/gliding by observing the eagle. The eagle spends very minimal time flapping its strong and broad wings. A lot of flight energy is expended when birds flap their wings. Rather than flapping its wings for long periods of time like other birds, the eagle soars, glides, and ascends to great heights on the segments of the storm or winds. Why flap and expend energy where they can fly to great heights effortlessly with the help of the wind? Eagles are passionate about strong winds, while other birds flee from storms. Eagles harness the power of the wind to lift them incredible heights above the clouds. As they begin to glide, they rest their wings and let the winds support their lift and flight.

Let us learn from the eagle. As we soar, let us spread the wings of our purpose wingsuit and catch opportunities that will elevate us to effortless heights of opportunities. Successful people are passionate about the storms of life. Like the eagle, they see strong wings as an opportunity rather than an obstacle. When the eagles rise above the clouds, the relax and rest their arms. When successful people take the leap of faith, they begin to soar above the challenge-laden-clouds of this life. These individuals rest their ailerons in flight as they glide and become high fliers in the affairs of this life. They harness the strong winds as a competitive advantage, allowing the winds to catch the outstretched appendages of their purpose. Great achievers enjoy challenges and use them profitably. Eagles also have an incredible vision. If an eagle is soaring at heights of one thousand feet over the open country, they can spot preys over three square miles away from a fixed position. As we sail on the winds of opportunities, we need to have a grand vision of all that we hope to accomplish. Without vision, your purposeful soar is blindsided, and you will end up adrift with no sense of direction. Now, “Soar! Friend! Soar!” Soar to the unfathomable heights of purposeful achievements. “Soar! Friend! Soar!”

Soar like the eagle— “Soar! Friend! Soar!”

In summary, this article has been fun writing and is replete with a lot of lessons. First, don’t freeze at the cliff of your opportunities and possibilities. Knowledge of the unknown cannot be gained in the land of the short-sighted one-eyed cyclops of dormancy. You can only know if you act. Experience they say is still the best teacher. Second, the difference between the people of exceptional achievements and those of little or no significance is purpose-driven action. Those that become great take their destiny by the horns and subdue and master it. Discover your purpose and take a stab at fate—jump off the metaphorical cliff of possibilities and opportunities. Third, never be so discouraged by the challenges of this life that you choose to end your narrative prematurely before it takes flight. Do something tangible. Don’t allow the story of your life to be daubed with the descriptions: could have, might have, and should have.

Fourth, get tired of the status quo. If your current life condition is not yielding you your desired life result—don’t hesitate to change it and don’t get stuck in a rut. Challenge and transform your status quo. Fifth, your purpose is your parachute. It is the hallmark of your difference and distinction from others. Your purpose is your gifting, your talent, your design that will open the portals of unique achievements. Sixth, shut down the fear factor when you get to the cliff of opportunities and possibilities. Break fear first and don’t let fear break you. Seventh, “Jump! Friend! Jump!” You have discovered your purpose and now wearing it as your wingsuit and backpack parachute standing at the cliff edge of opportunities and possibilities—all well and good. Now, “Jump! Friend! Jump!” Finally, the eight-point is for you to perfect your soar like the eagle. The storms of life are the competitive advantages of those that end up succeeding greatly. Let the storms work on your behalf.  Let it pull you up above the clouds of life difficulties like the eagle. “Soar! Friend! Soar!”

Every place that we are in life is a stage in the set of our lives that we experience. Life experiences as they come can be positive or negative. Favorable experiences can be a place where we have all the comfort and pleasures of this life. It is a place where we have limited worries concerning providing ourselves with the necessary amenities of life. In this place, we tend to worry about few things. Life is pretty much a breeze with very minimal struggle. When we look on the other side of the spectrum, there are times when we experience different challenges in various stages of our lives. In this place, we are engulfed in the rat race of life. This other place is where we may not have the comforts that we want. What is your story? Whatever the situation that you face and whatever your narrative may be, the onus lies on us to make the best of where you are in life.

Everyone is in some situation or the other—it could be positive, or it could be a negative one. Whatever circumstance it is that we find ourselves in life, one of the most common denominators of positive and negative happenings in our lives is our attitude. In other to make the best of every position that we find ourselves in this life, good or bad, we must have a positive attitude. Our attitude determines our altitude in life. How we handle the episodes of our lives, will ascertain how far we will go in life. The second common denominator of our life situations is perception. In other words, how do we perceive or see the condition that we are experiencing via our mind’s eye? Do we recognize the opportunity of our situation and tap into it in other to make the best of where we are at that very moment? Or do we just see the negatives? Whatever our situations, my advice to all is for us to see the opportunity of the circumstance. It is either we see an obstacle, or we could choose to see a steppingstone that will translate us to greater heights. In the video below, the speaker highlights some significant facts worth considering concerning making the best of where we are in life.

“Make the best of where you are in life. See the positives and not the negatives of your situation. See the opportunity of the circumstance.”

The video drives home some lessons that are worthy of note. First, we need to be wary of complaining. If you find yourself in a favorable life situation, be grateful concerning your life situation. Always remember that many are wishing to have it as convenient as you have it, hoping that they could just be in your shoes. Are you in a less favorable situation, I also implore you to stop whining and complaining about your circumstance? Come to think of it, if you keep worrying about the position you find yourself and do nothing about it, will the situation change? Tell me, can all your worries add a single moment to your life? Instead of worrying and complaining about the lemons that life has dished you now, why don’t you channel the time that you spend complaining, whining, and worrying towards coming up with options to dig yourself out of the pit of your current situation? See your current position in life—good or bad—as an opportunity. Make the best of where you are now as you work towards improving the status quo.

Second, the present situation that you are experiencing is a phase of your life that will pass. While in that chapter of your life, aim to make the best of it so that when you look back at that phase, you will see a trail of lessons-learned from the situation. See your life as a story. As you pass through life phases—good or bad—recognize these phases as chapters in your life. When other’s read or remember the annals of your life, they will always have solid testament on how you handled that phase of your life. So, instead of complaining, see your current circumstance as a phase. See that life episode from the lens that you are writing the story of your life via the actions that you are taking today. Your actions today will define the reality of your tomorrow. So, as you see yourself in a situation, see it as an opportunity to write the best chapter ever in the epic novel of your life. Make the best of that passing phase, and don’t lose sight of that opportunity. Write the best story of your life as you approach that phase with a positive attitude. Don’t fail to see the light at the end of the tunnel and be encouraged as you forge ahead. It’s only a new chapter, a new beginning as you tell the world the story of the greatest you ever told.

Finally, as you journey towards making the best of where you are in life, always see it as a growth process. How can you become the best you if you don’t experience different things in your life? Various circumstances in our lives play a pivotal role is forging us into the best us ever. Experiences shape us into the vessels that we eventually become. The lack of happenings in our lives is the lack of opportunities. The lack of opportunities is the lack of vital catalyst that stimulates us into becoming. Mark Twain once said that “We should be careful to get out of an experience only the wisdom that is in it—and stop there; lest we be like the cat that sits down on a hot stove-lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove-lid again—and that is well; but also, she will never sit down on a cold one anymore.” Don’t stop there, let your experiences spur you to advance forward in your paths of becoming. Make the best of where you are. Learn from it and forge ahead towards where you want to be.

In summary, this article has shed some light on some essential facts that are very beneficial. First, life experiences can be favorable (i.e., positive) or they can be unfavorable (i.e., negative). Life happens to all of us. The events we face can be good or bad. Second, two common denominators establish how we approach our life experiences. These two common denominators are our attitude and perception. We can choose to embrace a critical stance and remain in the quagmire of despair, or we could elect to approach it with a positive attitude as we figure ourselves out and move the needle towards a more positive scenario. The other denominator is our perception. We can choose just to see the bad. In so doing, you will most likely miss the lesson to be learned in that scenario. Third, we need to be wary of always complaining. Stop worrying and start working your way out of your less favorable circumstance. Fourth, your present situation is just a phase. Write the best story you can concerning that episode of your life. Finally, it’s all a growth process. See your present circumstance as you grow up towards becoming the best you ever. Make the best of where you are!

The journey to success can be froth with many uncertainties. A lot of times the path to achieving success is rocky, always full of various obstacles that impede the journey. The remote road towards Salar de Uyuni in Southwest Bolivia is a picture of what the path to success could potentially resemble—desolate and dangerous. Whoever said that the way to success would be easy, smooth sailing, and effortless? The pathway to success is not perpetually an easy road. Whatever the impediment may be, what wins the race of success is a continuous and unflinching effort that defies all opposing obstacles. To achieve success, you must maintain a sustained bout of energy with an unwavering focus from the goal that is ahead of you. In the face of opposing variations, you need to sustain the course and keep going forward, despite the opposing drag. Onward ever and backward never. You may trip and fall many times; however, the worst thing you could ever do is to stay down at the place where you have fallen. What makes you an eventual success is that you never give up, despite all the hardships that you may face. 

The art of sustainable success is the art of never giving up. The Merriam Webster Dictionary establishes that the word “sustain” means to support, to hold up, to bear up. It means to keep up or keep going, as an action or process. To succeed in anything will require supporting and holding up your vision and making sure that you never lose sight of the goal. There will be obstacles, there will be uncertainties, there will be resistance and drag to halt your onward-forward-drive to want to succeed. However, despite the heaving variations and backward drag, the secret to achieving and sustaining your success is a constant push forward. You cannot let the concomitant pressures of your vision buckle the knees of your will. Despite the weight, despite the drag, having an unquenching determination is a core key to success. Jack Ma of the Alibaba Group once said that we should, “Never give up. Today is hard, tomorrow will be worse, but the day after tomorrow will be sunshine.” As Kelechi Agom-Eze of the “I Encourage Somebody” YouTube Channel stated in her video, “Giving up is not an option.”  

“If you quit you lose. Stay motivated whatever life throws at you. Remember, “Giving up is not an option.”

In her video, she highlights some notable points about an attitude of self-determination towards never giving up. A never-giving-up-disposition is the backbone for sustainable success. Anything short of that is spinelessly amoebic to say the very least. Listening to her encouraging words, I have been able to establish eight points concerning what we can do to perfect the art of sustainable success. 

Perfecting the Art of Sustainable Success

First, embrace a never-quitting-attitude. No matter how many times you stumble on your journey to success, you must never stay down. You must always stand up, dust yourself off, and continue your push towards sustainable success. Remember that your attitude in this life is what determines your altitude and how far you can sustain your upward climb to the pinnacle heights of golden success. Such an outlook will ensure that you keep moving up the upwards inclination of sustainable success. 

Second, ensure that you have a backup plan. Just as Kelechi highlighted in her YouTube video above, ensure that you have a backup plan or several back up plans towards the fruitful accomplishment of your vision. Your different plans are the different pathways towards reaching your vision. If Plan A does not work commence on Plan B, and so on and so forth, until you reach your goal.

Third, condition your mind and challenge yourself towards never giving up. Failure has a psychological effect of paralyzing the neural networks of our will to succeed, like the venom of the cuttlefish that attacks the nervous system of its victims. Failing to achieve a goal can numb our will and limit our push to want to continue our success journey. Sometimes, we need to be our own cheerleader. In cheering ourselves, we are conditioning our mind towards developing the thick skin of never giving up. Cheering up yourself is a catalyst that motivates us towards becoming our best self. 

Fourth, become a part of a community of like minds. The Book of Proverbs of King Solomon in the Holy Writ, Chapter Twenty-Seven and verse Seventeen states that “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend” (New Living Translation). There is absolute truth in this statement. When you find a community that is encouraging, you give yourself the opportunity of having people of like mind and similar interests that will encourage you in difficult times. The encouragement of others can help sustain, support, keep you up, and keep you going during tough times as you journey towards your success. Find communities that encourage and fundamentally inspire.    

Fifth, you must become self-confident. In other to perfect the art of sustainable success, you must believe in yourself. You must understand that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind on achieving. A Robert Collier once said that “Your chances of success in any undertaking can always be measured by your belief in yourself.” You will never succeed beyond the level of belief you have in yourself. If you doubt yourself, you sink your hope and confidence of ever achieving sustainable success. Believing you can become your best self is what gets you to stand up whenever you fall. Self-doubt robs you of what can motivate you to become the best you possible. Remember, the greatest weapon fear has over you is self-doubt. Embrace self-confidence and shun self-doubt. 

Sixth, you must be patient. What in the world does patience mean? It is the ability or willingness to suppress restlessness or annoyance when confronted with delay. It is you being quiet, embracing steady perseverance; cultivating an even-tempered care; and diligent in the face of trials and tribulations. Delays can happen in life. However, you must understand that delay is not denial. Impatience will make you a victim of anxiety, depression, stress, sickness, and death. In the now and in the future, impatience will be the death of many if not curtailed. If you are no longer here in the land of the living, how then will you be able to achieve sustainable success?

Seventh, embrace diligence in other to master the art of sustainable success. “Diligence” means that you are steadily and earnestly trying to accomplish that which you have undertaken. Attaining success means that you are working hard at achieving your vision, your dreams, and aspirations. Success is not a cakewalk. Sustaining your success requires a lot of persistent exertion of body or mind towards achieving your goals and objectives. The art of sustainable success is not for the lazy at heart or the faint minded. It is for those that have true grit towards wanting to achieve their dreams and aspirations. 

Eight, you must have an unwavering focus. Finally, realizing sustainable success is to have an unwavering focus. You must have a single eye in directing your attention or efforts on the mark. Those who will achieve sustained success cannot reach the apex of this goal lacking focus. You cannot afford to be scatter-brained. A Roy T. Bennett once said that “What you stay focused on will grow.” In other words, if you focus on achieving success, growth will be inevitable. However, if you choose not to stay focused, growth will be far away from you. Stay the course, stay focused and grow in your success; stay focused and sustain that success.

By embracing all the points in the preceding paragraphs, you will be on the path towards achieving sustainable success in your life.  Do yourself a favor and continue to seize the day by starting to assimilate all the points and making it a habit.  Do not procrastinate your efforts, do them now.  Stop putting it off with the hope that you will carry out the task tomorrow.  Procrastination is the excuse that potential failures use in putting off the joys of their potentially bright future.  So, begin to act today.  Remember always that determination today will always lead to success tomorrow.

Problems will come in life; however, how we handle them makes all the difference. At some point in everyone’s lives, a challenging situation is bound to rear its ugly head up. Problems can demote you to a status of shame, or it can promote you depending on how you choose to handle it. Our attitude when facing life challenges will determine the outcome that follows—it’s all in your hands. Our approach is what forges the result that we experience when we face situations. A great attitude leads to a desirable outcome and, a wrong strategy could lead to a contrary one. Some people cower in the face of difficulties, while others stand boldly and challenge their problems head-on. There are also people who are lukewarm about their predicaments. This category of people just allow life to take its toll on them.

Problems are the various obstacles that we face in life. Obstacles in the front of the cowering man will become an insurmountable mountain that crushes their will to achieve and conquer the course. However, for the confident or daring personality, obstacles become a course for scaling as they push onwards in the steeplechase of life. For the lukewarm person, they become a rag doll tossed around by the raging winds of the issues they face. There is a famous saying that goes “He who stands for nothing, will fall for anything.” These individuals do not go with the flow or against the current. They allow the complex situations of life toss them around. For those who will become successful, they must become those who stand up to their problems. They must embrace a confident stance as they face the raging waves of challenges in other to become achievers of enviable success.

Exercising a modicum of confidence is vital to learning how to stand up to one’s problems. A Helen Keller once said that “Being optimistic is the absolute trust that will lead to extraordinary achievement. You cannot accomplish anything of significance in the absence of hope and confidence.” (Paraphrased). You must never allow the fog of circumstances to blind your will and vision to achieve. Learn to stand up to your problems. Have the hope that you can, and then you can, and the impossible becomes possible. Robert Kiyosaki once said that “Confidence comes through discipline and training.” As you triumph over your problems, you become more disciplined, you become more trained to tackle more difficulties that arise in the future. So, as you undertake the obstacles of your life head-on, I encourage you to do so courageously.

In the video below, Kelechi Agom-Eze highlights the need for us to have some ounce of courage in standing up to our problems. Like the man or woman in a party who assert their importance and self-worth, albeit sometimes brazen, by asking, “Do you know who I am?” We need to brazenly standup and confront our problems in like manner. We cannot cringe before our problems, but we must tower above our problems. The problems that you face in your life needs to recognize your brazen confidence. Eliminate all fear as you ask your problem, “Do you know who I am?” When your problem recognizes your confidence, they will bow to your self-belief. In the presence of self-belief, your predicaments are pulverized. In the presence of self-doubt, your problems are magnified.  In the presence of self-doubt, your obstacles will crush your confidence and vaporize your destiny.   Hence, you must do yourself the favor of standing tall as you brazenly challenge your difficulties.

“When your problem recognizes your confidence, they will bow to your self-belief.”

Problems sometimes manifest themselves as an insurmountable mountain. However, we must sharpen our confidence as we scale the peaks of our problems. They come at times seeming to be the biggest giant that we have ever encountered. Trust me, a giant can make you wince in fear. However, as David faced Goliath confidently, we must also develop some ounce of self-confidence if we are to be successful in overcoming our seemingly towering problems. You must not allow self-doubt to crush your ambition. When you are wavering in your confidence, trust me, the Cyclops of your dilemma can smell that fear from a mile off and will hastily come in for the attack to deal a fatal blow on you, and crush you with the weight that it carries. From “The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath,” she establishes that “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.” Self-doubt, not being sure of yourself will be the undoing of anyone who does not deal with it; especially in the face of life challenges and problems. 

Just as E.E. Cummings stated that once we begin walking in the paths of self-confidence by eschewing self-doubt; we can then embrace the “…risk of curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.” Life is a risk, and to live a full life replete with successes, we must be self-confident. Ask your problems today, “Do you know who I am? Do you know where I am coming from? Have you not heard the folklore about how I crushed other Herculean problems in the not so distant past?” Approach life problems with the brazen confidence and belief that you will come out a victor and not a victim of the circumstance. Do not be crippled by fear, however, let the problem that faces you be crippled by your self-confidence when you assert, “Do you know who I am?” Never doubt your ability to triumph over difficult circumstances. Remember Robert Schuller’s statement and book, “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” Be assertive. Be confident. Face your problems boldly without entertaining any form of self-doubt and success will always be your portion and lifestyle.