This year, something has become very clear to me that I think will help anyone at any stage of life.
I am not everyone else. They are not me.
Their life and experiences are theirs. Their success will not look the same as my success.
Therefore, I need not be swayed by what someone else has done to succeed.
In my case, where one of my goals is to use business and entrepreneurship to change people’s lives, that means when I read a biography of a successful business person in their lane, I do not need to try and copy them.
This is a trap that if I am honest, I have mentally fallen into several times. And if we are honest, maybe we too, have fallen into that trap.
A trap of trying to be the next Aliko Dangote, or Strive Masiyiwa, or Reinhard Bonkke, or the next Kaka. We see role models, people whose stories of fighting difficult odds and circumstances through faith, perseverance, and never giving up, and we are not only awed but we also want to be them.
More than that, we want to be our role models.
And when we try to do so and fail, we get disappointed. Because when adversities and trials come, the truth is fully revealed. We discover that within us we do not share the same burning passion inside us. We learn we do not have the same undying belief that this particular course of action is what the world needs, and it will work.
Worst case scenario after this-we start doubting ourselves, and wondering whether we will ever succeed and see our wildest dreams come to pass.
As I said earlier, it does not need to be like this at all.
You and I are unique. Unique in our gifts, experiences, passions, and drives. It is in embracing our uniqueness, that we will find the ultimate success.
The Bible says “we are all members of the same body, but not all members are the same.” The body is not all eyes or all legs. The differences between all the body parts; their unique ability and specializations working together is what makes the human body tick. If your liver tried to walk because it seemed like a great feat, you would not get anywhere.
The issue therefore I have discovered, is for me to embrace who God has called me to be. To do that and that alone, for which I am uniquely driven to do. All the secondary results of financial success, the peace that comes from knowing I am alive on purpose, not being tossed to and fro by every new seductive business or career wave, will automatically fall into place.
Easier said than done. I know. But that does not mean it is impossible.
So today, this week, this month-I encourage you to take time alone with God. Ask Him who He has called you to be. He will speak and answer you. And when He does, embrace the answer and the process that will come with it. It is the only way that will allow you, to say at the end of this life with Paul, “I have run the race that is set before me, and I have finished it.”
You only have one race to run. Yours.
***Scripture References
1 Corinthians 12: 12 – 27;
2 Timothy 4:7;
Hebrews 12:1