Creed number 2. I will also be like them - Israelmore Ayivor

My eyes gripped a scene on the screen a while ago when I was watching a televised documentary. The documentary was about African culture and that episode revealed pictures about African rites somewhere in the western diaspora. The shot that brought my attention to this concept was the coverage of a cemetery ground featured in the documentary. I saw a sign post mounted beside the main entrance of the fenced graveyard and on it was written “we were once like you; you will also be like us”.

On the spot I became terrified as if the inscription was written by one of the inmates of those immovable tombs and was reading it to me in voice saying “we were once like you; you will also be like us”. It took me few hours to appreciate the faultlessness of the statement after reality dawned on me. I agreed and whispered to myself, “It is a fact”. One day soon to come, our fleshes will also find resting spaces under one of those compacted stony frames although that will never be our spirit’s home.

I agree will everyone who believes and affirms “no condition is permanent”. With time, everything will change.

“For everything that the future holds, one thing is certain; it will not be the same”- Alan More

In everyone’s life, it is certain that the future will never be the same! It will definitely change whether positively or negatively!

Your assignment on earth is just to envision the future to see its change as positive. A future well-planned is always bright!

“The quality of persons’ life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor”- Vince Lombardi.

As an aspiring achiever, you have celebrated achievers who were once like you, young and dreaming big. If you truly dream and stay committed to be a great achiever like they were, you must first acknowledge this fact that they were once like you! Once they were once like you, why won’t you also be like them one day? You can, and will definitely be like them! You can graduate to that peak of excellence even being more than they were! Always put this on your tongue and affirm it every day!

Briefly, you need what it took your predecessors to make it to those higher heights. Some of the qualities and attitudes they put up and that accounted for their success are listed below as “Five (5) qualities you need to be like them”

Consistent Commitment:

“Commitment unlocks the doors of imagination, allows visions and gives us the “right stuff” to turn our dreams into reality”, says James Womack (a great author). To be committed means “to be dedicated to a task or a purpose”. All great achievers, both living and gone, had in one way or the other stayed true to what they pursued and it was all success they accumulated at the end. You can also be like them! Why not?

In other to be like them, you must show commitment to what you do. Commitment is different from interest. When you have an interest, you do it only when circumstances permit. However when you are committed, nothing can stop you!

“It was character that got us out of bed; commitment that moved us into action and discipline that enables us to follow through”- Zig Ziglar (American motivational speaker and author).

You don’t have to waste your time jumping from one task to another if unnecessary. That is inconsistency! A rolling stone gathers no moss, and by often falling to the same spot, the rain drops make holes in the rock! Be committed; be consistent and you will definitely be like them!

Self-analysis:

Self-analysis or self-audit is a qualitative measure of regular personal assessment meant to identify any inclination or declination in personal exploits. By the attitude of self-analysis, a destined achiever or an aspiring achiever becomes aware of whether he/she is on track or wallowing in a pit of stagnation.

To audit yourself, order you conducts aright and watch yourself from the back to see how you are faring. You also ask questions about what you are doing and how you are doing it. Think about who you impress and why you impress that person. Through this you will discover the acts that add value to you and your accomplishments.

All achievers in one way or the other had encountered a tap on their respective shoulders through daily experiences that kept telling them to “get back on track”. They also had encouragements at certain times and rebukes from people who are truly responsible and offered them a mentoring directions. Rebukes made them realized that they were drifting and all they need to do is to re-align.

Carefully offer the opportunity to similar minded people to inform you about where you are heading towards and you will surely be there!

Constant improvement:

Decades ago, the Wright brothers (Orville and Wilbur) worked together to invent the first airplane which was made up of frames of metallic bars. Today, pictures of that first airplane do not look attractive in any way. Ask why and you will get the answer to be “improvement”. Today’s airplane is really different from the model invented initially and I believe if the first inventors are resurrected from the grave today to pilot today’s airplane, they might ask for some time to learn about it.

Why? It is because there were series of improvements and modifications on what was first developed and each attempt to modify the structure earns the machine more comfort.  Improvement is geared towards attaining excellence. It clearly tells us that a dream is not achieved overnight. You keep improving on upon what you dream about and work out the improvements with passion till the final product is ready to be celebrated with excellence.

If you dream about writing a book, believe it or not, you just don’t have it published on the following day. You need to draft, edit, re-edit, type… all these are meant and geared towards improving what you envision. Thus maybe you write one chapter per week or less and once committed, you will have the true version of your dream book.

As an aspiring achiever, set goals for yourself and every single step you take should shape your dream into its divine format! Take today as another day to add another block to the castle you envision!

“Repetition of the same thought or personal action develops into a habit when repeated frequently enough becomes an automatic reflex”- Norman Vincent Peale

Positive affirmations:

No great achiever had ever down-sized him or herself into a state of unworthiness. Take note; you can’t make any positive impact if you keep repeating it to yourself “I am a failure”. No. If you really want to dream and have your dreams established, you have to say positive things about yourself. Epitectus confirmed this by saying “first say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you do” and you will surely become the very person you dream to be.

“Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality”- Earl Nightingale

Buy books that inspire you positively. For instance, this book is mainly focused on putting positive affirmations on the tongues of all young dreamers. Join groups with positive themes and activities. Choose friends who instill positive behaviours into you!

Personal branding:

Do you know how those great achievers left their success footprints on earth? It was by how they branded themselves and you can also do the same and be like them! Branding of self has to do with adding a “specific” name tag to yourself and by that name tag, you are being marketed. Any one that sees that tag reflecting in you will proclaim “that is the person we were talking about”!

If you brand yourself as a “smoker”, everyone who heard about you and sees you for the first time may be inspecting you with glances to see if smokes are coming out of your nostrils even at the time that you are not smoking! What you say, how you said it and why you said it; what  you do, how you did it and why you did it; how you feel and how you react when you feel that way, all goes into branding you with a “peculiar” trade mark that tells the whole world who you are.