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Fola Daniel Adelesi: Why Are You Still Doing This?

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As we try to succeed in life we will meet people in different places who look at us and they tend to pity us more than we pity ourselves. They are the ones who seem to keep records of how many times we have tried something and it did not work. Rather than encourage us so that we can do it better and eventually succeed, they ask us why we are still doing what is not working and proffer a solution to us.

Usually their solutions suggest that we leave that thing we are doing and go for something else. They want us to have a great life and they give us the regular path that they know and also refer to as greatness.

In my own case, it was ridiculous for years to say that you wanted to be a public speaker or a motivational speaker. People just did not understand why a brilliant child who can easily get a job and think about rising to the top of the organisation will say he simply wants to be talking in different places.

‘How will you make money from that?’ is what some people asked me. I remember having to fill some forms in some organisations and when I write ‘Public Speaker’ as occupation the person receiving the form would look up and say, ‘how can you say you are a public speaker? Is that a job?’ To make the matters worse, I told a pastor that one of the things I would love to be doing is being a Master of Ceremony! He didn’t say anything to me. Days later he was talking to someone very close to me and he said, ‘how can he say he wants to be doing MC? What is that?’

At those times, I thought I was still really young and I just did not know how to convince them to believe that what I felt in my mind was the right thing for me to do. Unfortunately I also did not know all these famous public speakers that we now know today who have made several millions from speaking. So when the arguments came up, there was no one I could pick out as a point of reference for them to believe I can also make it in that field.

I just looked to them like someone who was struggling with what is not working. None of them seemed to consider that when you start something, there is a trying period.

I guess you might also be in your trying phase right now and people are not giving you that chance of success. Instead of encouraging you they are asking you to quit what is not working. They think you are just wasting your time.

For me, I was told to get a pensionable job. They talked about how life would be great and I would have something to fall back on when I retire. Although I could not prove what I believed in and how wealthy I would become but I knew so well that their solution was not for me. You may also be doing something right now and your own people are calling you ‘jobless’ because what you are doing does not look like a job to them. For years, after I started speaking and writing, my mum would meet some people and still say to them that ‘my son is looking for a job’.

She told people to go and counsel me but at the time, they were all focused on what was not yet working for me. They did not focus on the potentials or possibilities. If anyone comes back to me today and asks me questions about doing those things I believe in, even when there is no result to show, I will simply tell them it is what I want to do.

When they ask me why I still want to do what does not seem to be working, I will tell them I am preparing for my greatness. I guess you should do the same. When you understand the potentials and possibilities in what you are doing and others cannot see any result, just tell them you are preparing for your greatness.

When a seed goes into the ground no one sees anything. So you may have nothing to show today but when your harvest shows up, trust me, they will envy you.

In all this, I have a note of warning for you. Before you stick to something that is not yielding instant results, be sure it is what you want to do in life. Be certain that it is what you are wired to do. Seek counsel and when you can see that all your skills point in that direction, carry on with no worries because you are preparing for greatness.

Just do it right.

Photo Credit: Dreamstime| David Gilder

Fola Daniel Adelesi (also Fola Daniel Speaks) is a Professional Public Speaker, Learning & Development Expert, Communications Professional, and an author of more than 13 books. He's a highly engaging training facilitator who holds his audience spellbound when speaking at gatherings. Apart from his several platforms which include banks, insurance companies, and religious organizations, he has been part of some national television shows and he spoke so intelligently. Some of his published books include: - Get Up and Hit That Goal - Basic Skills for Outstanding Leadership - Breaking Grounds Despite Backgrounds - Writing Business Proposals - Indebted to Ignorance He's also a highly skilled master of ceremony with excellent poise and diction who is endeared to many corporate clients. He was on the Debaters TV reality show Season 1, he presented 'You Can' on Radio Continental in 2011 and he did motivational segments on Galaxy Television from Dec. 2008 to August 2009. He currently features consistently on Channels Television and Television Continental, two of the leading TV stations in Nigeria to discuss national and youth issues. He keeps a vlog at https://youtube.com/foladanielspeaks and his books are available on https://amazon.com/author/foladanielspeaks or https://ediblepen.org/shop

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