Create a path to your success.

Success is not accidental. You must work and create a path for your success. Also, it is not an overnight achievement but a process that involves ideas, plans and actions.

I met this young lady, Chika, at a function and was amazed at her success as a fashion designer, and she is planning to lunch her clothing line soon. According to her, she had a passion for fashion and started designing clothes as a little girl. Her dream was to own a big fashion house and a clothing line. 

Yes, everyone has a dream, and it takes courage and determination to achieve it.  Chika didn’t just dream but backed it up with action and hard work. After completing her higher education in computer science, she decided to follow her dream but not without an action plan.

She knew starting a fashion business required a lot of effort and input. So, first, she did her research, studied the fashion industry, followed fashion blogs, and attended trade shows and networking events. She also sought advice from successful fashion designers.

With the knowledge gained, Chika created a business plan, which included a detailed marketing strategy, financial projections, and a production and distribution plan. She also identified her target audience to design her clothing line accordingly.

To fund her business, Chika applied for a business loan from a bank. She also reached out to family members. With her business plan and funding secured, Chika built her team, hired experienced designers and production managers and worked with them to create her collections. The overwhelming response to her design encouraged her to work harder. She invested in her brand's online presence by creating a website and social media accounts to showcase her designs and reach more customers.

Finally, after years of hard work, Chika is set to launch her fashion line. Her success is not accidental. She created a path for her success by 

Doing her research.

Creating a solid business plan.

Securing funding.

Building a talented team.

Investing in her brand's online presence. 

With determination and hard work, Chika turned her dream into a successful reality. She didn’t gain her success overnight or by wilful thinking but by planning and taking action. Chika’s story proves that anyone can achieve success. Identify your passion, your dream and work to bring it to reality.

Do things that will create a path to success in your chosen career.

She positions herself for success.

 

If you don’t push yourself to stand out, you remain obscure. A sister who is a science teacher in a secondary school narrates how one female student met her and said, “aunty, I like you and will want you to mentor me.” She laughed and took the girl’s word as a compliment.

However, she noticed that anytime she had a class with the students in the lab, this girl would return to tidy up the lab and always ensure the lab was neat and well arranged before going home for the day. She was touched by the girl’s gesture and created time to talk and encouraged her to study and improve her academic performance. She told the student she could rise to the top of the class if she put more effort into her study.

Months later, a medical group invited the school for a quiz competition. The science teacher selected two of her best students and added the girl as a support member as a reward for her good gesture.  While preparing the student for the quiz, the girl showed brilliance and boldness. On the day of the quiz, she picked her, and the girl considered the best science student in the school to head the team. At the quiz competition, the girl answered more of the questions correctly than the one regarded as the best student, and their school won the second position.

Overnight, the girl became a hero and a star student. She positioned herself for success, pushed herself positively, got noticed by her teacher and worked to improve academically, and became a winner. 

With strategic positioning, determination, dedication, and patience, anyone can create a path to success. Her story serves as an inspiration to all who desire success.

To be a winner: 

Position yourself for success.

Put yourself before people who would impact your life. 

Do things that would attract people to notice your talent. 

Work to improve yourself daily.

LIVING A SUCCESSFUL LIFE.

Success is a journey. Living a successful life is a dream of anyone. Every achievement recorded on this planet earth is a product of successful living. A person who succeeds in life is admired, he becomes a role model and he is respected. From the beginning, God designed us to become a successful personality. God from creation instructed man in the Holy Bible to go into the world and become fruitful. Fruitfulness means to live a life of purpose vide life of accomplishments and successes.
A successful life can be achieved by developing a vision and working on the vision. In addition, to succeed in life we must develop a heart of prayer to enable us to have conquering spirits. Seeking information is also a sure way to achieve greatness. Success comes also through locating a mentor; this is what raised James Owen to a greater height in sports. Many years ago, James Owen wanted to become a great athlete in Europe. He sought the view of his coach; who gave him four keys to stardom: Determination, Dedication, Discipline and Attitude. James Owen started working on them. At the 1923 Berlin Olympics, he got four gold medals and his record in long jump lasted for 25 years unbroken. He did not just have a goal, but he applied himself to the four vital keys for success.
Therefore, living a successful life is a combination of many values amongst which is a relationship with God, developing a vision, reading books, talents development, identifying a mentor, attending seminars/ conferences and taking action.

RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD: Abraham Lincoln a former United States of America president. stated “Without the assistance of a Divine being, I cannot succeed. With that assistance, I cannot fail”. Developing a relationship with God includes reading and meditating on God’s words and praying to God which builds a strong relationship with God. Through a relationship with God, inspirations are developed, knowledge and wisdom developed at the same time.

A right relationship with God gives us a conquering spirit to face life challenges and pursue our goals towards living a successful life. A prayerful relationship with God equips us with the fruit of the spirit- love, peace, right temperance, gentleness, faith and meekness (Galatians 5:22), these are positive traits that help us to succeed in life; successes are not achieved in bitterness and rancour.

VISION: To live a successful life, one should develop a vision of what a person is desirous of achieving in life. One’s vision must be in line with one’s purpose on this planet earth. The place of God in discovering one’s vision is important. If one’s vision is developed early in life, one’s success story starts early as well. Vision could also be developed later in life and pursued. The most important thing is to develop a vision. The vision should be backed by a working plan. Vision developed and pursued leads to destiny fulfilment in life.

Chinedu Nsofor graduated from the University of Nigeria, Enugu State Eastern Nigeria. He is 30 years old as of 2020. Chinedu Nsofor set his vision to impact life in his environment, he identified his goals and pursue it. While at the University he developed his dream project-WORK WHILE IN SCHOOL; a programme designed to encourage undergraduates to start early to think on their future plan of life. As at present, he has secured a partnership with the National Commission of Colleges of Education (in Nigeria). His vision has made an impact in the Nigerian Society.


RENDER SERVICES: Some persons on this plant have impacted society and improve themselves through rendering services. Our Lord Jesus rendered great and mighty services to the people; the services he rendered are still being discussed positively. Mother Teresa is noted for her services which she rendered to the people, thus she gained world recognition. Mahatma Gandhi rendered services which earned him high regards by his Indian people and the world many years after his demise. Gani Fawehinmi a Nigerian lawyer was known for tremendous legal services he rendered to the people including the needy through which he became an outstanding personality admired by all. Thus, they all lived a successful life.

READ BOOKS: Francis Bacon the great French author said that reading makes a man. This is true. Every reader attests that reading moulds a personality. Successful personalities have admitted continuously that reading shaped their lives towards their accomplishments. Reading quality books and periodicals is a sure way to excel in life as books reading equipped one with the right values of life. Many persons including Dr Ben Carson, John Maxwell, Brian Tracy and Ogbo Awoke Ogo have all attested to the fact that they excelled in their career through reading. Ogbo Awoke Ogbo; a Nigerian and founder of Giant thoughts International once said: “I literally fall sick any day I do not read for a minimum of two hours”. Also, reading books played great roles in my humble achievements including developing my website ( http://www.inspireforgreatness.com/), publication of my five e-books, online leadership and mentorship academy, championing reading culture etc.

DEVELOP YOUR TALENTS: One sure way to become successful in life is for one to discover and develop his talents. These talents include potentials, skills, gifts, abilities etc. They are heavenly deposits in one. They must be developed and put into the right use. Many have developed their talents and succeeded in business, sports, writing, governance, motivational/ public speaking etc. When you mention persons like Daniel Ally (Founder of Ally Way International), Preston Vander van, Dr Linus Okorie (President of Guardian International) etc, the mind runs to persons that are making waves in motivational, leadership, public and conference speaking sphere. Mention Joyce Meyer, she is remembered as an Author, Bible Teacher, Preacher and Conference Speaker.
Mention Donald Trump, Tony Elumelu, Charles Schwab and Aliko Dangote, you remember them because of their exploits in the business world.

HAVE A MENTOR: Another way for one to live a successful life is to have a mentor. A mentor is a guide, a counsellor. If one locates a mentor, his life would be guided early in life. Parents are mentors. Friends and relatives are also mentors. Authors and speakers also serve as mentors. Leaders are also mentors. The primary role of a mentor is to bring the mentees to the original purpose of their life as to live a destiny fulfilled life.
The role of Sonya Carson is a typical role a parent plays in the life of their children. Dr Ben Carson has severally written on the role the mother who encouraged him to read books early in life played over him towards his accomplishment in life.

ATTEND SEMINARS/CONFERENCES: To further excel in life we need to attend conferences/seminars which build our minds for life pursuits and greatness.
Inspiring conferences have also become a great way to influence one positively. The thoughts shared at such gatherings shape one’s mindsets towards accomplishments. Pastor C. Maxwell; an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker and author in his book the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership stated that several years ago while teaching leadership to a group of people in Denver U.S.A., he noticed the activities of a nineteen-year-old named Brian, who he said he spoke to and encouraged him in his life pursuits. Today, Brian Tracy is an accomplished author, leadership expert and motivator.

TAKE ACTION: Preston Vanderveen said, “A dream with no action is just a wish”. To excel you must take action in any identified activity. If we develop a vision plan, read books, attend seminars/conferences, have talents etc, without taking action, all is in vain. Taking action would manifest who we are before the people. What we manifest will be a measure of value people and society will place on us. If the persons mentioned above never took action, history would not have recorded them positively.
Therefore, we should employ the BASATA SUCCESS PRINCIPLE as espoused by my humble self, James Okere.  BASATA SUCCESS PRINCIPLE; Begin Action/ Activity. Start Action/ Activity. Take Action/ Activity. This is one sure way of moving towards life accomplishments.

---- By James Okere

James Okere is a political scientist, an author, public speaker, social entrepreneur and inspirational blogger- http://www.inspireforgreatness.com/

Nine Strategies for success

Once you have your goal described and laid down, you think of the steps you will take to successfully achieve your goal.

The key to success is having a strategy for getting to where you want to be and how you will get things done to get there.

The dictionary defined strategy as "a plan of action intended to accomplish a specific goal."

Having a strategic plan allows you to look at and identify your plans for the future.

Nine Strategies for Success

1. Be Specific. You need to have a specific goal. Having something to aim for will help you move forward. A success that is not defined is very hard to achieve. Setting S.M.A.R.T. goals can be a helpful tool in your planning process. A goal that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound.

2. Write it down: making a plan and writing it down brings it to life. It makes it tangible and achievable. Putting your plan on paper helps you to know in advance what you will do, and when and where you will do it. It gives you a sense of direction as well as provides a reference point as you work through the plan. It also helps you to take notes, monitor and checkmark your progress, and make updates and corrections where and when necessary. In outlining the step you will take to achieve what you want;. make sure to tie it to a timeframe; create a timeline to follow when pursuing your goal.

3. Challenge yourself. Pursuing a goal that is achievable is a great way to increase your drive for success. Challenges can keep you interested in a task, build your willpower muscle, improve your self-esteem, and offer feedback on areas you will need to improve on as you strive forward.

4. Be competitive. Don't fear competition. There are other people trying to achieve the same goal as you, but this doesn't mean you should give up. Having competitors gives you a base to compare your efforts to others, as well as spur you to keep doing better. You need to be competitive and combative in a healthy and positive way to be above your competitors to achieve success.

5. Mental toughness. If you don’t have it already, you have to develop it. It is the resilience you need to forge ahead even in the face of challenges. People who possess mental strength don’t buckle in the face of challenges. Rather, they see them as opportunities to learn and gain experience. One of the key habits of successful people is that they always look at setbacks or failures as learning opportunities.

6. Believe in yourself. Stay positive and be self-encouraging. have control over your vision, be confident of your abilities to succeed, and be committed and focused on getting to the finishing line. Even in the face of impossibilities or setbacks, don’t allow them to hold you back or weigh you down. Focus on ways to overcome them.

7. Network. The world is now about who you know, not what you know. Make use of social media. Network online and offline. Networking increases your sphere of influence. Build beneficial relationships with successful people. It will open doors of opportunity you probably will not encounter if you go it all alone. Look for people who will tell you where your flaws are and what you can do about them, not sycophants who will sing your praise and make you feel infallible.

Doing things alone can be difficult, but having a backup makes things easier. Your network includes friends, co-workers, and family members. They are your powerful support team, especially when things get tough. They can offer advice and assistance that can help you improve your chances of success.

8. Find a Mentor(s). find people who have already achieved what you want to achieve and make them your mentors. One reason you need a mentor is to make sure you will not make the same mistakes as those who came before you. Learn from what others have done and how they did it. It will help skip a lot of setbacks and speed up your path to success.

9. Prayer. Above every other thing, you need to be prayerful. Commit everything into God’s hand if God is with you and, for you, your success is assured.

Success mindset.

The slogan, “If you want to be a millionaire, think like a millionaire,” was made popular in Nigeria in the days of ‘Bassy and Company’, a television drama. In essence, it’s all about mindset.

You want to be successful, cultivate a success mindset. Develop a mental picture of your success in your mind eyes.  Be passionate, be purposeful, be intentional, be disciplined and be dedicated to your quest.


Choose something you love to do, set your mind on it, stick to it no matter whether you’re good at it.  Take proactive measures. Look for ways to gain the knowledge and develop the skills you needed to overcome your ineptness.

To have a success mindset involves determination, firmness of purpose, a willingness to work hard towards your goal no matter the obstacles, difficulties or challenges along the way.  Do not see failure as a reflection of your abilities, rather view it as a spur and a valuable source of experience from which to learn, improve and move forward.

Put in your best effort and believe your effort amounts to something worthy. Your effort and your hard work can lead to significant growth in your quest for success.

Importance of Success

Most people are preoccupied with being successful in life because we all want to feel like we matter. We want respect and recognition from those around us.

Lack of success makes us look back on our life with disappointment for our lack of impact on the people around us.

Working  towards achieving success gives a greater purpose to our life and  keeps us fighting to grow and impact others and  improve our self-esteem, 

While most of us might not get to the level of international success, the fact we attained our goals in life is enough victory to live by.


The aim of achieving success helps us live a more purposeful life,  pushes us to overcome challenges,  makes us work harder and adds to our happiness and state of well- being.

Success-driven life

I was once counselling a young man who had become delinquent. And I asked him, “What do you want to be in future? He told me he wants to be successful.  “Good,” I responded. “But successful in what?” He gave me a blank stare and no response. I’m not surprised, being successful in life is everyone’s dream but few people have set down goals that will propel them toward being successful.

But then. Success is subjective because success is whatever you define it to be for you. Also, your reason for wanting to be successful in life will be personal to you. Your family, parents, and friends may have their own definition of success. But their definitions may not tally with yours. 

Success is not always equated with being rich or winning awards, it can be about personal fulfilment of goals.

Yes, genuine success is the achievement of your set down goal(s)

Whatever that will make you feel fulfilled and happy is what you need to focus on while working towards becoming successful. Determine which aspect of your life you want to achieve success. Is it in your career? In your business? Or spiritual life?  First, you make the decision that you want it, then you strive for what you want.

You want to achieve success in life?  Dream big always, think positively, don’t settle for half measures and then, read, study and learn from successful people. Back up your dream with constant action, never give up, believe in yourself and be proactive. Success will come when you’re committed.