Success accumulate enemies

Alert! Success may not increase your friend circle, but accumulate your enemies.

When I was an undergraduate on campus (OAU), my department was on the fifth floor of the faculty building. Anytime we were told that our lecture will take place in one of our lecture rooms in the department, all departmental students countenances will fall. At times, we try to convince our lecturer to change the lecture room. Do you know why? It was because of the stairs.

Faculty of Agriculture, OAU

Imagine climbing 4 flights of stairs containing 20 block steps like 7 times daily. Hmm… You can imagine, right? Ideally, a student will not give his classmate his matric number to check his result on his behalf except if they were close friends. Exam result is believed to be extremely personal by students, so they prefer to check it personally, sometimes wish it wasn’t posted publicly so that fellow students won’t even know their grades.

The thought of going to the department alone is enough to dis-stabilize us

In my department, because of the stress involved in climbing the staircase, anytime we hear that our results are out, we will write down our matric numbers to a classmate that is willing to go to the department. The thought of going to the department alone is enough to dis-stabilize us, not to talk about the anxiety and fear of the result. (The anxiety you feel thinking of what your grade will be).

Why am I talking about my campus days? Campus life came to my mind when writing the above quote. Why do you feel relieved when coming down from the stairs (descending) but feel reluctant to climb up the stairs (ascend)? When you descend the stairs, little energy is required, but when you ascend the stairs, you feel exhausted (depending on the altitude) and it’s always like all you ate that day has disappeared as a result of burning more calories. The scenario of the staircase applies to life. In life, it is so hard and difficult to get to the top of your career while it is so easy to fall from the top (height) of your career. This is because more calories are burnt on getting to the top.

 

Walking up the stairs of greatness is a calorie-blasting activity

As you walk up the stairs of greatness, you will burn more calories because stair climbing is a calorie-blasting activity. The calories burnt when climbing the stairs of greatness includes sleepless night, dedication, patience, self-discipline, determination, focus, positive thinking, hard work, smart work, innovative ideas, strong will… and enemies. Yes, enemies! If you don’t burn your enemies, they will burn you away from the stairs of greatness.

The enemies are the highest calories you must burn on your way to greatness.

The enemies you know, the ones you are not aware of, and the ones that seem to be your friend will burn you away from your achievement.

Enemies are determined to frustrate all your effort.

It is wise that you become aware of your enemies and decide to burn them as calories to get to the height of your career. Enemies are determined to frustrate all your effort to reach the top by placing obstacles in your way, criticizing you, envying you, device/ plan evil for you, etc. Your enemies, both the inside enemies (enemies within) and the outside enemies (enemies without) do the work of burning you away from your career height, just as your blood (within) and limb (without) are involved in the climbing of the staircase (inside-out).

One of the greatest mistakes a man can commit in life that will cause a lasting regret is to be ignorant of the fact that he’s surrounded by enemies and they increase as he keeps pressing on to the top. You can only solve a problem when you understand the problem. Always be on alert for enemies as you climb the ladder of success.

Don’t be easily carried away by men and friends that sing your praise. Trust me, some people you even consider as your friend is your enemy at heart due to envy/ jealousy. 

Don’t be easily carried away in the praise of men.

The earlier you are aware that success will accumulate your enemies, the better you get equipped to handle it and sustain your career height without falling.

Guide yourself from enemies and maintain your career height.

Let me quickly give you 5 steps required to guide yourself from enemies and maintain your career height:

1. Be vigilant
2. Always listen to your instinct
3. Confirm your instinct carefully
4. Keep your tongue (don’t say everything about your life or your plans to people   including your friends)
5. Be prayerful (let God destroy the stronghold of enemies over your life)

Be on alert! Success may not increase your friend circle but it will surely accumulate your enemies as you climb up the ladder of success. For those that don’t want to climb up (be successful), their life’s result will be determined by those that took the decision, endured the pain and burn their calories to climb up.

Enough of living your life at the mercy of others. Climb Success Stairs!

Back to my campus life story, as soon as the person that went to our department (climb up) to check the results comes back, we will inquire our grades from him. You know what? There is no way for us to confirm the accuracy of the results he checked. He could probably have made a mistake of mixing up the grades, but there is no way to confirm unless we also decide to go to our department (climb up). We definitely become what he says we are because we refused to climb up (go to the department). Thank God for technology. When I got to part 3, Our faculty started posting our results online on the campus e-portal, so we don’t have to worry about the stairs. We will just log in to the portal and check our result, this development made every student happy as it also promotes result privacy.

Decide to burn the calories, so that you can truly be in charge of your life.

I remember an incident that happened back then in school. A lady was told she had an F in a core course (3 units) by someone who went to the department to check. She cried and said she feels like dying. She did not wait for the next lecture; instead, she went to her hostel (I guess to cry more). That day, the lecturer gave us an impromptu test of 20 marks. Of course, she missed the test, therefore missing 20 marks already in a core course (5 units) in the Harmattan semester (new semester). After the lecture, her best friend decided to go to the department to confirm this lady’s result, only for her to come back and said the lady did not have an F, she had a C. The first person that went to check the results made a mistake in her matric number. We were happy to hear the news that it was a C. We blamed the first person that checked, but to be candid, he has no fault. The question is: Why didn’t she decide to check her result herself (climb up), but decided to rely on someone’s else effort?

If you are not determined to climb success stairs, you will be a slave to those that climbed.

If you don’t decide to climb up the success ladder, you will be a slave to the one that climbed the success ladder; and your life will be a product of his action, whatever he gives to you is what you will take. I challenge you to get up and burn the calories! Enough of living your life at the mercy of others. Decide to burn the calories, so that you can truly be in charge of your life and make an impact in this world. Life is not about jut breathing, it is about making an impact. Success is beautiful and it is readily available to those that stretch forth to receive it; it is never partial.

Don’t trust anybody completely; always give room for disappointment

Play smart! As you rise in life, don’t trust anybody completely (100%). Always give room for disappointment from people so that perhaps if they disappoint you, it won’t negatively change the course of your life, you will be able to move on with life. If you are highly placed in your career, be careful, less you fall from grace to grass. Remember to fall is easy, just decide to become irresponsible, lazy and carefree, and you will fall; great will be your fall. Falling does not require any other energy than the gravitational force.

If you are highly placed in your career, be careful! Remember to fall is easy.

Success is beautiful to behold and expensive to keep it up. Success comes with a caution. If you ignore the warning signs of success, you will lose it, but if you adhere strictly to its signs, you will gain it.

Be vigilant! Don’t be ignorant, enemies exist.

Success may not guarantee that your true friends will increase, but it will always guarantee that your enemies will accumulate. Wake up! Stop wishing you have no enemies. As a matter of fact, if you don’t have enemies, then you are not progressing in life. Your life is as good as dead. Accept the fact that there will always be enemies on your way to success and then play smart.

“Alert! Success may not increase your friend circle, but accumulate your enemies”

Don’t fade away from your career height. Never be an Ex-champion

The worst feeling ever is to be an ‘Ex-champion’ -Refuse to be regarded as someone that was formally successful,  wealthy, great, influential, etc. When you get to the peak of your career, do whatever (morally acceptable) it will take to keep/maintain your position. Be vigilant! Remember, it is easy to fall. Never fall a free fall in the gravitational field of your career.

Escape Route

Your exit could be your escape route. Never ignore it!

Never Ignore It

If you keep doing something in a wrong way or continue to channel your talent into the wrong direction, no matter how determined and focused you may be, it will never yield a positive result. Never ignore your exit! For you to be successful, you need to take exit (escape route) from the wrong path.

For you to be successful, you need to take the exit, from the wrong path.

I remembered during the raining season last year, a man decided to plant maize on the plot of land by the side of my house (it was the season of maize). He planted maize on the full plot of land, but his maize never yielded corn, not even a single mature corncob. This man was determined to harvest corn that season, he stayed focused, he never gave up, he weeds the plant frequently, did everything as expected but he never had anything to show for it. Do you know why?

Nothing to harvest at the end of the season.

The land he planted the maize was a sandy soil (cannot retain nutrient). In other words, this man channeled his idea (planting of maize) to the wrong direction. If only he did not ignore his exit, he would have had something to show before the maize went out of season.

Your exit is your way of stopping every activity you are doing (take a break), and think (analyze) if your pathway, method, or style to achieve a meaningful thing is right. If it is not right, then leave that method to start a new method or to walk in a right path. To exit from a place is not for you to give up, it is just for you to re-analyzing and re- strategizing your situation. 

Re-analyze your situation

Think

An exit is a break to analyze a situation. You can't get to see the structure of a building if you stay inside all through. You have to go outside (take the exit) and walk through the building to know how the whole house looks like. Exit helps you to analyze your situation. It is a break you can either resume after the assurance that the method/way you are taking is fertile to yield a result or you start a new method/way to achieve your goal if the previous method or way is infertile/unproductive.

The exit is a pathway that leads to the outside of a place. Your exit doesn't mean that you are giving up. When I tell people not to give up, I am simply saying, fix your gaze on your goal.

Fix your gaze on your goal

For a clearer understanding, let me give you a scenario. I want to go to Ikeja silver bird to watch the latest movie by 12 noon. That movie I am about to watch is my goal. You know that there are many routes that lead to Ikeja (for those familiar with Ikeja, Nigeria). Now I have passed through Ogba to get to Ikeja, I encountered a serious traffic because a trailer fell on the road. I then decided to make a U-turn and take Agege road to get to Ikeja and I eventually was able to meet up with the time for my movie (12 am). Later, after like 5hrs (5 pm), news came to me that the Ogba road is totally blocked, even those that have been there since 10 am are still there. Meanwhile, by that time (5 pm), I have watched the latest movie in the cinemas and I'm even back home. My exit from Ogba route to follow Agege route was my escape route. When I decided to change my route, I did not change my goal. Why? My gaze is fixed on my goal (watching the latest movie). I did not give up on my goal. If I had stayed on Ogba route, as a matter of fact, I would have missed out from my goal. I won't be able to fulfill my goal because I will still be stuck on the way.

The man that planted maize beside my house missed his goal of having corn during its season.

Analyze your situation

If he had stopped to take a break and analyze the situation, he would have worked on improving the soil condition of that land but if the cost of improving the soil condition is very high, his exit from that land would have been his escape route to save guard his goal. He would have moved to another land, apply his analytical skill and knowledge obtained from the previous land to the new land (i.e. also determine/ensure the new land is fertile) and plant the seeds if the new land is fertile. He also would have had corn before the end of the season to harvest. Do you know? One thing about the wrong path is that it always looks like the right one until you get to the end that is when you will realize it's a wrong path because you couldn't get to your destination.

Wrong path always looks like the right path

This man’s maize plant was growing in the sandy soil, he was seeing changes in the height of the maize plant, and he was given a false hope that he will also harvest his farm produce soon but at the end of his path, he has nothing to show for it. Don't wait until you get to the end of that path, it might be too late to start afresh. Why not analyze the path now and take the exit as your escape route if need be.

The reason why some people have nothing to show for their hard work is because they channel their efforts to the wrong direction/path and they couldn't take an exit because they have totally ignored their exit. 

An exit of a place is the entry of another place

EXIT exists for you to reassure or reconfirm your decision to stay in a place. If you cannot confirm your stay, you can take the exit. Always remember this; An Exit is a pathway. It is not for you to give up. An exit of a place is the entry of another place (don’t forget). Your pathway is not your destination, ensure you get to your destination.