What Every Champion You Ever Admired Wants You to Know

A friend recently told me, “A child’s work is to play” and I cannot agree more. In our growing years, we played freely without anticipating the tensions of adulthood. And one of the features that characterized our play was the display of the abilities we discovered early from music to drama to sports.

Those who excelled above the others in these things were considered special and treated with preference as though they were success-bound. The fastest runner. The stylish footballer and playmaker. The soloist with a sonorous voice. That guy gifted in acrobatics who could do many rounds of backflips (na back fleet we dey call am). These were the toast of all eyes. They were “the guy to meet” and “the girl to have.”

The same phenomenon was carried into the classroom, a less playful and more disciplined environment. Almost immediately, a few emerged better than others in elementary subjects like English Language, Mathematics and Fine Arts. With little efforts and a great leaning on talent, they got more excellent scores than others in examinations.

The excellent ones were praised while the average ones were told to buckle up. The ones with poor results received nothing but bashing verbally and physically. As many innocent children began to compare themselves to the ‘stars’ among them, they fell into the trap of inferiority.

Fast-forward to adulthood and neither one’s mathematical prowess nor one’s athletic ability count as a legal tender. Abeg, who backflip epp? If that is all you have up till now, you would most likely be poor. The success metric changed without anybody’s permission.

There is, however, a mentality that we brought from childhood that has become a stumbling block for many people – the ideology that if you would succeed at anything, you don’t need much efforts to get results. Psychologists refer to this as a fixed mindset.

By magnifying the significance of talent at the expense of effort, many set themselves up for colossal failure. That is why they give up on projects once they try once or twice and fail to meet their expectations.

As in childhood, they even begin to compare their weaknesses with other people’s strengths and their ‘failures’ with other people’s achievements. Instead of fulfilment, they reap frustration and they heap regrets rather than rewards.

Kevin Durant was right when he said, “Hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard.” We see that happen again and again. Cristiano Ronaldo is known across the world as one of the greatest footballers that have graced our planet. What distinguishes him from others is more about his mindset than his natural abilities.

Patrice Evra once recounted an experience he had with Ronaldo during the years they were teammates at Manchester United. While relaxing, almost all of the players took a break from football and played table tennis. Rio Ferdinand emerged the best. He beat Ronaldo again and again. Ronaldo wasn’t even so good at it. After that day, Ronaldo returned home and got himself a table tennis board. He practised again and again then returned to challenge Ferdinand. Guess what? He beat Ferdinand to his game!

That mentality is what has made Ronaldo emerge as the world best footballer on five different occasions. He recognized that his abilities are not fixed. With more effort and time, he could always better his result and even emerge the best if he wanted to. He is known to train more rigorously than any other footballer and has developed his abilities in football to make him arguably the world’s most complete player.

The lesson here is that leaders are not just born, they are made. Yes, we need natural abilities, but they have to be nurtured to get ultimate results and that requires both time and effort. This is what growth mindset is about. It is about learning, growing and profiting from challenges.

Business does not have to hit all set goals from the start. The millions will not come immediately but if you keep trying, you will pull through. This is one lesson my experience in business taught me. Today, I write and consult for captains of industries in and out of the country but I had to wait for over a year to make a sensible profit.

Interestingly, I grew up with a growth mindset. It was with this ideology that I developed many abilities in childhood. Now, as an adult, I don’t back down when I see challenges. I go for what I want and until I get it, I don’t stop pushing.

I have learnt that talent can only take you so far, but it is your efforts that will carry you to where your heart desires. If your talent is an arrow, your mindset is the bow that determines its direction, speed and impact.

Beauty is not just about the natural configuration of your face ... it is about how well you love and esteem yourself and take care of your body.

The gifted musician might never taste the spotlight if he never works twice as hard as those who do not have the same deposit of talent that he has.

It is not necessarily the most anointed pastor that succeeds but he that has the discipline to organize and maximize his anointing.

The race is not to the swift my dear, you have to work hard so that when your time and chance come, you can seize them well.

You don’t need to jump from one business to another, from one relationship to another, from one vocation to another, etc. Stay where you are and cultivate it to your expectation then you can progress to something else, if you want, and replicate the same success.

As you prepare for 2020, see yourself as a bundle of opportunities. Stay hungry. Radically face and conquer your deepest fears. Learn from your experiences but don’t be contained by them. Constantly open your mind to quality information.

Continuously challenge your assumptions. Think with resourcefulness rather than resources. Attempt new things. Embrace diversity. Evaluate yourself with a focus on your potential not just your performance. By all means, outlast your challenges and grow!

To your success,

Bright UK

The Chief Scribe