Evolution creates a baby but to be a man, a boy has to recreate himself.Whoever you are today is the creation of who you were yesterday.
A successful man is a man of different phases and who at each phase recreates himself to not only survive but to excel. Ask an old person, they have so many tales to tell, of times and events, how opportunities were lost and how unforetold doors were opened, how time stood still in times of hunger and how they sped during fun times, how being broke wasn’t fun and how being rich comes with its headaches; phases of life filled with both regrets and rejoice. Nonetheless, those who had more regrets than rejoice are often those who failed to recreate themselves regularly along the way.
I will share with you two of such stories and I will hope that you will pick up few lessons to better inform you:
There was this man in the 80s, a young brilliant telephone technician. This was the days of landlines (cable, poles and phonebox). This man was very popular amongst the rich who could afford the luxury of telephones and he charged them heavily. This man was living on top of the world, two vehicles (a convenience car and a truck), a house of his own and a happy family. It was all fun for this man till 2003 when GSM came to Nigeria, people started abandoning telephone boxes in exchange for mobile handsets. By the 2004, this brilliant phone technician had lost his relevance; no more installation works or quick fixes. By 2010, he had sold all his assets to feed his family and now he is just a nobody struggling to make ends meet.
Also in the same 80s was another man, a Volkswagen (beetle) automechanic. He was the mechanic of the educated and the creams of the society. This was the time when owning a Beetle meant you are a graduate with a beautiful job. This man made the most of the situation and like the phone technician, he bought two cars, built a lovely house and a beautiful family. By the early 90s, Japanese cars became the new toast of rich and gradually the numbers of Beetles started going down. This mechanic saw the trend immediately and sold one of his cars to raise money for a 3months’ course in Japan on “how to fix Japanese cars”. Most of his fellow mechanics thought that was a dumb idea and a complete waste of money, as they felt cars are cars, German or Japanese. However, by early 2000, there were very few Beetles left and the few left where owned mostly by the poor who can barely afford to maintain them. This mechanic had recreated himself, he was still the toast of the rich who now drives Japanese cars and also a star amongst his colleagues who now had to come to him for training on how to fix Japanese cars.
A successful man is a man of different phases and who at each phase recreates himself to not only survive but to excel.
Lessons
1. Life is dynamic, ever changing, if you want to stay relevant then you must continue to recreate yourself.
2. Comfort zone is great but it could also be a dangerous zone when you stay there for too long.
3. Whatever field you find yourself, always look ahead and improve yourself accordingly. Acquire knowledge at high cost if that’s what it takes so you don’t pay the ultimate price in the future.
4. People with lesser ambition may call you over ambitious, don’t let that distract/deter you, it is better to standout than to be unnoticed.
5. Your life can only get better when you strive to be better. The quality of your input will determine the quality of your output.
Your life is a story in writing, a story only you determines how it will end. Create, recreate and re-recreate yourself!
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