by
Patrick Ogungbola
MD/ CEO, BLUEHEDGE REALTORS
Hurray!!! You made it to the Year 2018. Congratulations!!!
It is with so much joy and excitement that we welcome you to this brand new year. To many, this is a much awaited year, with so much expectation. Your great goals and aspirations for this New Year shall be fulfilled. Amen!!!
We want to sincerely appreciate our clients, friends, colleagues, well-wishers, our avid article readers, and others who made the year 2017 very exciting and memorable for us. Thank you so much for your continuous patronage, support and encouragement. Our promise to you is to exceed your expectation in this 2018.
The year 2017 has come and gone, it has become a history; a past event. Yesterday was December 31, 2017, and today, January 1, 2018; less than 24 hours interval, but many things have changed already. The former was the end of the past year, while the latter is the beginning of a new year, a clean slate which provide a new and fresh opportunity to rewrite our destiny, to right every wrongs, to break new records, to make positive impacts on humanity and to make the world a better place than we met it.
Without the past, there cannot be a present; and without the present, we cannot talk about the future. They are all interwoven. It is the past that gives birth to the present which in turn births the future. Agreed, the past is past, but vital lessons can be gotten from the past and applied to the present to better our future. This is the reason why ‘History’ will always be a relevant course in our schools.
Yes, the year 2017 is over, but what lessons can we hold on to, what mistakes have we made that needs to be corrected in the New Year. There are lessons for everyone as individuals and also as a nation. No one, and by extension, no nation is currently in its finest state; there will always be room for improvement. As someone had said, the graph of success is always pointing upward. Our problem as a nation, and as individuals is that we don’t, or should we say, we refuse to learn from the past (history), and that’s the major reason we keep making the same mistake over and over, year in, year out. And, Albert Einstein had said many years ago that it is only a fool that will keep doing the same thing and be expecting a different result.
Is it possible to be making the same mistakes every now and then, and be expecting that a miracle will happen, to change the expected result? God cannot be mocked, whatsoever one sows, that he shall reap. Are we good citizens? A nation is basically a reflection of the attitudes and behaviours of her citizens. A good and great nation is made up of large number of good and great people.
How do nation/ people become great? Why is it that some economy/ country/ individual advance above others? Why are some countries/ people referred to as ‘developed’ while some others are ‘undeveloped’ or ‘underdeveloped’? Why is it that some people progress on a yearly basis, while others remain stagnant, or are worse-off?
I have discovered that every achievement or underachievement is usually a product of thought, as well as decision. “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he”. Every successful person or nation always starts with the definite decision to be successful. Thereafter, they create a plan on how to achieve that and they then walk the plan through decisive action and follow through by discipline. There’s no luck or magic about it. As a matter of fact, we can say they create their own luck or magic because success and fortune smile to the prepared, as emphasized in the book ‘The Richest Man in Babylon’ written by George S. Clason.
The year 2018 presents to us another unique opportunity to correct our past doings or undoings, first as individuals and then, as a nation. How can this be achieved? By doing what successful people and nation do.
To this end, highlighted below are ten important things to look into in order to make the year 2018 your best year ever:
– Plan – The starting point of every worthy endeavour starts with planning. Successful people plan their life in advance; they don’t live their life to chance. Life is not a fun fare, life is a serious business, and hence, it must be treated as such. The need for proper planning of ones endeavours cannot be overemphasised. You can always tell the difference between a building with plan and the ones without. Time is ticking, have you planned for this year? Remember, he who fails to plan, plans to fail.
– Goal Setting and Periodic Appraisal – The importance of setting SMART goals cannot be underplayed; SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound goals. Imagine a game of soccer without a goal post; it will be expedition of efforts in futility. There is also the need for periodic appraisal to see if the set goals are being achieved or not, and then to know the next line of action.
– Take Action – Planning without action is futile; and action without planning is fatal. Action is what will bring your plan (dream) into reality. A building plan will remain a plan without the building until action is taken. I am yet to see someone that was given a bachelor’s or master’s degree for planning to study a course or have you ever seen somebody that was given an award for planning to invent something? It is action that separates the achievers from the underachievers. Hence, just do it. In 2018, let’s ‘do’ more than we ‘talk’. Remember, action speaks louder than words.
– Don’t Procrastinate – Procrastination is a trap that many of us fall into. It is simply postponing what you can do now or what you need to do now till a later period. According to a researcher/ speaker, Piers Steel, 95 percent of us procrastinate to some degree. While it may be comforting to know that you’re not alone, it can be sobering to realize just how much it can hold you back. We need to realize that time is a very scarce and non-renewable resource; time lost can never be recovered – it’s gone forever. Let us value and cherish time. Do what you need to do when you need to do them; delay can be very dangerous.
– Be Disciplined – To be disciplined is to have self-control or self-mastery. Every truly successful person or nation is disciplined. Discipline is the master key to success. Remember the word of Plato, ‘The first and best victory is to conquer self’. Discipline is like the fuel or force that will propel you to actualize your plan. Self-Discipline separates us from our ancient ancestors and the rest of the animal kingdom. Rather than responding to immediate impulses, we can plan, we can evaluate alternative actions, and we can refrain from doing things we will eventually regret. Give everything you do your best shot and work towards your goals like there is no tomorrow.
– Engage in self-improvement activities – Self-improvement is the practice of improving oneself in your areas of interest such as career, education, relationships, health, productivity, spirituality, and other personal goals. Everyone is striving to be better than they were before, and hence no one is beyond improvement. Self-improvement is a form of growth, and it’s been said that once we stop growing, we‘ll start dying. To improve yourself, you can go back to school, attend seminars/ workshops, read books and watch/ listen to tapes or CDs on areas of your life you need improvement. Improve on yourself until the act becomes a habit. Remember the words of Aristotle, ‘We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit’.
– Work hard and Work Smart – There are no shortcuts to success, but only through hard and smart work. Great things take efforts to achieve. Working hard is considered to be the cornerstone of every achievement. Smart work is about making the right strategy, about following a disciplined work culture. Hard work translates your vision and ideas into results. Hard work and smart work must go hand in hand for you to be successful. You need to constantly innovate and improve; and you need to work hard as well as smart. Be strong willed and work hard to get what you want, because the desire to achieve something is only as strong as the smallest distraction that can take you away from it.
– The 4 Essential Ps: Passion, Perseverance, Persistence, and Patience – Passion is the strong feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or about doing something. It is the passion you have for something that will get you far. Perseverance is the continued steady belief or efforts in a course of action or purpose, especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. Persistence is the quality that allows someone to continue to do something even though it is difficult or opposed by other people; and Patience is the capacity to access or tolerate delay, problems or suffering without becoming annoyed or anxious. It is persistence and perseverance that keeps you going even when the initial motivation that made you to start has already left. We must be encouraged in the fact that most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying even when there seemed to be no hope at all. These essential 4Ps are very important virtues that must be inculcated to make 2018 our best year ever.
– Good Health is Wealth – Health seems to be one of those things we become enormously concerned about when there’s a possibility we’re going to lose it – and yet we take it for granted while we have it. All your goals and aspiration cannot be accomplished without good health. Endeavour to practice good hygiene, eat balanced diet, engage in regular physical exercise, have good amount of rest, carry out periodic medical checkup, and engage in every other things that will ensure you have a sound health.
– Relationship with God and People – The belief in God is the unifying factor that binds all the above points. It is God that gives you the fantastic ideas to work on, and for the ideas to come into fruition. He guides and directs your path, and also gives you the ‘power’ to get wealth. Having a higher connection to the spiritual is divine. Also important, is our relationship with our fellow human being. Almost all the dealings we have in our lifetime are with other people. We must nourish and maintain good relationships with our family, friends, colleagues, and everyone we come in contact with. There are immense benefits of treating people well and showing that you care; and remember, your network (people) determines your net worth (value). And also, remember the golden rule, ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you’. We must be true to God, other people and to ourselves.
As far as we are concerned, the above represent the resolutions we have set for ourselves; they are like our ten commandments. You can also adopt them as yours. To achieve the desirable results, we must be highly disciplined. The first American President, George Washington once said, ‘Nothing is more harmful to the service, than the neglect of self-discipline; for that self-discipline, more than numbers, gives one army superiority over another’.
It is our sincere wish and prayer for you that the year 2018 shall truly be your best year ever.
As usual, we want to remind you that we care so much about you, and that when it comes to your real estate investment and advisory, we are always here to give you the very best service you can never get elsewhere. That is our promise, and will always be.
Thank you.
