by
Patrick Ogungbola
MD/ CEO, BLUEHEDGE REALTORS
Yes! Yes!! Yes!!! We made it to the year 2020. Happy, Happy, Happy New Year!!! It is with utmost joy and great excitement that we welcome you to this brand new year. It shall be a year of prosperity and all-round advancement for every one of us (Amen).
At the beginning of a new year like this, we are usually filled with so much joy, hope, aspiration, expectation and belief for a bright future and that all our wishes will come true; we feel very optimistic and have the assurance of a better tomorrow. However, few days or months into the year, the hope and excitement begin to wane and fade away, and sooner than we realize, we pray the year ends quickly so that ‘another good year’ can begin. The bitter truth is that every year is neutral, it is basically what we make it to be. In other words, what we reap at the end of every year is a function of what we have sown, a farmer who sows nothing reaps nothing. We must let go of mediocrity mentality and vain belief; ‘you cannot fool God, so don’t make a fool of yourself! You will harvest what you plant (Galatians 6:7, Contemporary English Version).
We thank God we’ve crossed over to a New Year. Every year is an extension of previous ones, no year is in isolation. Another interesting fact is that this is not just the beginning of a new year, it also marks the beginning of a new decade. Most people are accustomed to think and plan for one year, we call them ‘January – December’ people, whereas to make meaningful impact in life, we must learn to think and plan for several years ahead, at least 5 years ahead. Thinking and planning for only 12 months when you have over 50 to 70 years to live is myopic and shortsightedness.
We must ask, ‘why is it that most people only think short term, in other words, why is it that most people can’t see beyond the present? Well, the answer is not farfetched. The first reason why most people think short term, especially in this clime is due to the level of uncertainties and the hopeless state of things. We live in a very uncertain and unorganized society. Insecurities, bad economy and uncaring government are part and parcel of our system. Most people around here are hopeless, as no one is certain of tomorrow; a big man’s pet is more certain of tomorrow than some human beings. Little or no value is placed on human life. Life here is indeed a survival of the fittest. This is why some don’t see the hope or reason for living; only those that are hopeful for a better tomorrow will plan for it.
The other reason people think short term boils down to our orientation and belief; what do you expect of a culture or religion that believes that everything that happens in life, whether good or bad, has been ordained by God. As a form of illustration, if someone drinks alcohol to stupor and immediately gets into his car to drive himself, and five minutes later, he’s involved in a fatal accident which claimed his life, who can we say killed him? Is God to be blamed for his sudden death? Obviously, most deaths and other ill-fortune that happen to us as people are self-inflicted. As a matter of fact, God, being a loving Father does not want anyone of us to die before our time, just like any sane human father will not wish his children untimely death.
Lastly, most other people plan short term because of fear of sudden death which is also partly due to the uncertainties in our system, amongst other reasons. Few years ago, a gentle man had a heart-to-heart conversation with my grand mother on why he has made up his mind to take life easy and not stress himself all in the name of making it, as somebody can die at any time. My grand mother who is a stark illiterate gave him a wise response, she said, ‘You only live this life once, I’ll advise you to live and give your very best. What if you think you won’t live long and you end up living to a very old age, how will you cope and fend for yourself and family?’. That’s the advice from my illiterate granny to a graduate, this shows that real education is not what we are taught in the classroom, but what you discover by yourself outside of school.
The popular saying, ‘Live as if you will die tomorrow’ is meant to prepare us ahead and for us not to be caught unawares. James Dean said it in a better way, ‘Dream as if you will live forever. Live as if you’ll die today’. The essence is to enable us plan ahead, prepare and think beyond the present – long term thinking.
With the above understanding, our hope should come alive even if the current situations around us seem hopeless (we are living not just for the present, but the future). Let’s endeavour to live right so as to live long. Take excellent care of your health. What I wrote in our August 2018 article titled – ‘Keep Hope Alive’ is still relevant here. Please find below the excerpt:
“Sometime ago, I read something very instructive and enlightening in a book titled, ‘Be a Sales Superstar’ by Brian Tracy; he said in Page 137 that, ‘Make a decision that you are going to live to be eighty years old or more, and begin today to do whatever you have to do to achieve that goal’. The day I read that statement, my eyes lightened up because I have had the premonition that to live up to that age is not within anyone’s control but 100% God, but what Brian Tracy is saying here is that although the God’s factor is very important in this, you have many roles to play to live longer, it is your decision; by watching what you eat, as well as your lifestyle, as many people have died due to careless living and preventable ailments which could have been avoided”
Without losing focus, the essence of this article is to encourage us to start thinking long term – having a dream and goal of 5, 10, 20 years or more and having the drive and commitment to pursue it. Funny enough, during my research on this article, I learnt that the real long term thinking are for 100 years, 1,000 years or even 10,000 years and that this was part of what informed Amazon’s Jeff Bezos decision to build the $42 million dollar clock that will run for 10,000 years. Part of the reason why he built this clock is to remind himself, and others, about what it means to think in the long term (https://bit.ly/2ZHxOWY). Quite amazing, right! Most things worthy of endeavour takes more than 12 months to complete, so why do we think mostly ‘January – December’ projects. Mega projects always last more than one year to complete, except by miracle. For instance, Dangote refinery project started in 2017 and operation is estimated to begin early 2021, despite the fact that work goes on there day and night, and billions of naira has gone into the project. Most courses in the Tertiary Institutions takes between 4 to 6 years to study. Of a truth, everything meaningful in life takes time. If you want to go far, think long; the higher a building is meant to go, the deeper must be the foundation. The foundation for a bungalow is not the same as that of a sky scraper.
Henceforth, let’s start thinking concrete and specific long-term thoughts as often as possible. How do we do this? By thinking of what we want our life to realistically look like in 5 years, 10 years, or 20 years? Sit down and sketch it out, with much detail as possible, be realistic and positive about this. Then examine through each sphere of life: Physical, Intellectual, Spiritual/ Philosophical, Marital, Parental, Social, Professional, Financial, Avocational and Other areas. In other words, let’s start living our life with future in mind. Thinking long term will make us see reasons to stay alive and also appreciate life better.
In closing, I want to share with you ‘12 things everybody should do in 2020’ as written by Din Shariff. I feel they are good advice; please find them below:
- Pursue something. Don’t work in the entire 365 days without having something particular in mind to achieve. Start a building project, buy a car, pay some school fees, start some job. Just do something!
- Walk with people wiser or stronger than you. In 2020, surround yourself with people who will inspire you, who will make you feel you can do better, who will challenge you.
- Check your dressing or appearance. Don’t put on ‘anything’ just because it covers your nakedness. Your appearance tells a lot about you. Iron your dress neatly. Don’t wear dresses in the name of fashion or trend. Wear more decent but fitting dresses. This is the slogan: Simple but Classy.
- Check how you talk. Before you open your mouth, be mindful of who you are talking to, where you are talking, when you are talking and also know that your integrity is at stake. In every situation, choose silence over speech unless you don’t have any option.
- Visit old people’s home to appreciate them, also orphanage and children in need of special care. Don’t let them feel unwanted or neglected in the scheme of things.
- In 2020, be more prayerful. You can’t live your life thinking things occur merely logically. There’s a Supreme Being (God) who makes things happen, pray to Him.
- In 2020, start thinking or planning towards doing more for humanity.
- In 2020, always think Positive while being Realistic. When you see tigers praying to God, don’t join them. You can be positive that they won’t ‘chop’ you since they are praying but be realistic too that after the prayers, they’ll remain tigers and God will feed them with flesh.
- Buy gifts for your loved ones. In 2020, try and do something ‘small’ for parents. You have no idea what goes on in their minds. Let them feel you are not far off.
- In 2020, Invest more, save less, spend less. Put your money into investment ventures. Buy T-bills, buy shares, buy fixed deposits, import some goods and sell, be a stock broker, etc. In fact, get more than one stream of income! (My thought: Recently, I wrote an article where I advised on ‘save more, invest less’. This point look contradictory, right? This is where wisdom comes in. Times and seasons differ, there are times you need to ‘invest more and save less’, and there are times you need to ‘save more and invest less’. Wisdom is profitable to direct).
- Many known names have gone and life goes on. The point is, don’t work your life out. You won’t take your work with you when you die. You are not as important as you think, calm down. Take time off work, go and do medical check-up, visit your family, visit gardens or the beach and appreciate nature, etc.
- After reading, send this message to all your contacts, it may be of help to someone.
We wish you the very best of the New Year and the New Decade!
As usual, we want to once again 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. This is our promise, and will always be.
Meanwhile, please find below the powerpoint presentations of our current properties for sale in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Thank you.
Affordable Properties For Sale in LAGOS, Nigeria
Affordable Properties For Sale in ABUJA, FCT, Nigeria
Affordable Properties For Sale in PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE, Nigeria
