Fola Daniel Adelesi: Your Association Influences How Well You’ll Do in Life

There’s a popular quote about being able to see farther because of the privilege of seating on the shoulders of those who have gone ahead. Why we may have overused that quote, it still speaks to being able to double your results and make the most of your efforts because of the kind of people that you relate to and work with.

There are times when you can have all the knowledge and skill and still be stuck at the same level for a long time. There are times when you can know all that the book requires you to know but you still do not know what life requires you to know. It is important for everyone in this time and age to realize that life does not honour just your knowledge; life honours principles and when you don’t do things in line with those principles, you may never get your desired results in life.

One of those principles that life will always honour is your association – when you are with the right people, there are opportunities that come to you on a platter of gold. Until you get into the right association, you will simply be labouring and you will not get as much as you deserve.

While it is true that we have always pushed for things to be done, not on the basis of who you know but on the basis of your skill and efficiency, it is also true that you will need certain people in your life to make things easier.

Just take a look at the life of musicians for a moment. Do you think that the most famous musicians today are the most talented? Certainly not. Some of the most famous musicians today either had the right platform or simply engaged the right promoter. With the right platform and promoter, you will get all the attention that you need. When you don’t have that, you can belt for as long as you want but you will continue to belt to your family members and maybe your little church congregation or neighbours. Until you walk into the right studio with the right promoter, we may never hear your voice except you leverage social media and are able to go viral one way or another.

Look at those in football as well. You may also have all the dribbling skills and still waste away like many of our brothers who play football in and around Surulere stadium. There are so many football pitches all over the country where these amazing talents display their brilliant skills daily. We all remember one or two people back in our secondary school days who played football and did amazingly well. Where are they today? Some have gone on to take the ball from their feet and passed it into their stomach, making it nearly impossible for them to now play. But if they had the right coach or football agent at that time, they could have gone father and we will all be celebrating them today at national or international platforms.

When you have the right association, you will become productive. This kind of association isn’t the one that gives you something you aren’t qualified for. It is this association that helps you get to where you’re going faster. It is this association that already has a ‘car’ (life resources or leverage) while you’re still walking or riding a bicycle and they ask you to hop in their ‘car’ to get you to your destination faster. Some of these people are at the level of ‘private jets’ (the level of connection that can throw you into prominence or destiny almost instantly) and they give you the help that you need to get to where you’re going.

Being efficient is not enough in life. Knowing what to do, when, where and how are not enough in life. If that’s all you do, you’re likely to continue for a long time. You need people who can give you platforms to showcase your skills and get the right results.

Sometimes you can get this association by choice and, at other times, staying consistent and maintaining your excellence is what attracts these people who you need to you. As you carefully choose your association for the purpose of productivity, you also need to sustain the level of excellence and even improve on it to attract a higher level of association.

This is not to say there are people you shouldn’t relate with. The point is that there are people who cannot help you and staying with them on the basis of loyalty means you’ll continue to waste away. You need to look for people who can add value to you while you’re offering value in return. You need to start working with people who can showcase your work and not just people who will admire the work – admiring your work will not pay the bills. When the right people showcase you or your work to the right audience, then you’re bound to multiply your productivity.

From today, watch your association and identify the ones that drain and the ones that add value. Get more of the people who add value – and who you can add value to in return – to multiply your productivity. Remember that sometimes life does not respond to your skills but to what platform you’re commanding from.

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