2017 was a great year for me in a funny way. Things didn’t go as planned, but lots of progress was still made in line with my overall vision.
I’ll be sharing a couple of lessons I picked up during my journey which I hope could be of some kind of help;
-
Remember your why:
Most times we get so caught up in the details of what we’re trying to do and end up forgetting why we’re doing it in the first place.
I got better at evaluating my progress by taking time out to self-reflect, and I learned to measure progress in relation to my why, and not just based on shallow data. -
Nobody holds the key to your success:
Most of my 2017 was spent looking for funding for a new venture I’m involved in. I think I contacted about 200 potential investors in total. I was terrible at first, but the more I applied, mailed and spoke, the better I became at the whole process. Unfortunately, even after so many meetings and emails, I still had a hint of desperation which I eventually overcame.
I came to fully grasp the truth that; my success isn’t in anyone’s hands but mine. -
Delay can be good:
Sometimes delay can make things clearer. But for that to happen, you have keep learning, through books, through observation of the eco-system and from taking relevant courses. There are lots of free courses online.
If you make sure you have an open mind and develop yourself all the time, time wouldn’t be wasted whether your goals are met in time or not. -
Take it easy:
I know there’s so much to get done, but you need to chill. I was worried about a lot of stuff that eventually didn’t matter.
I wanted everything to be flawless, go according to plan and do so in time. When things didn’t, I was still standing, there was still support and plenty hope. So why was I fretting? It happens, bottom line is don’t waste your life worrying, do your best and enjoy the process. -
Society is a liar:
Do not base your values on society. Societal values would rob you of joy. You need to find out what is important for you and live by those principles. Lots of what we have taken as standards were created by people of a different time, there were reasons for these customs and traditions which most likely are not applicable today.
This is not saying every custom is not helpful; rather, we should be careful about the customs and values we imbibe in our lives. -
Do you:
Yes we need to be professional; we definitely need to improve ourselves and be the best at what we do. But we each have a uniqueness that makes our delivery different.
We need to preserve that uniqueness through our growth process, and allow it do the work it was meant to.
The uniqueness is not a bad habit, or shallow principles that could be detrimental to your success or make life unnecessarily complicated. Rather it is something that makes you unique, and can be termed as your individual unique selling point.
There were many more lessons, but these are the ones I feel are most worthy of been shared. Hopefully they would add value to our days and experiences in 2018 and beyond.