“You can walk in front of your enemy when hungry, but you should not walk in front of your enemy when naked.”
The above (I was made to believe) is an Arab proverb.
Naked was exactly how I felt writing this series.
My plan was not to write this series at this time. My plan was to write it after I “don blow.” This will then allow me use the write-ups as a sales pitch to get people to come learn “how I did it.”
Thus for over a month, I struggled not to write this series. I know enough about God and the Holy Spirit to know it was an uncommon urge to write. So my question to God was that, “if I am not writing this thing to celebrate my breakthrough, who is this for?”
And question 2 was, “I am King Olulu o, you know the part I have played in poetry in Nigeria, how would this be received by family, friends, fans and foes?”
I got two questions as replies,
One, “is your gift for you?” and two, “who did you say you are again?“
I kept shut and write; I did; and I’m doing. So this might just not be about me. But I wonder who needs it.
The funny part of it is that since I have started this series, my younger sister had been sending me information about vacancies in different organizations. And two of my best friends have called me stubborn for not seeking another job.
I use to tell my friend and my sister (Atilola), that she is aggressive. Each and every time, she would replied, I’m not aggressive, I am assertive.
So to me people, I’m not stubborn, I’m focused.
I see what I want, I know what I want, and I’m working towards it.
Besides, I knew there was a process involved before I achieve my desire, and that it was not going to be a simple walk in the park.
I was prepared for the long haul.
Ok, I admit, maybe not well prepared. Because I was optimistic that it won’t be “big long” but “small long” (to borrow the vocabulary of my 4 year old).
As part of my preparation (before I left banking) I did case studies of people who had achieved some measure or a part of the success I seek for and from the case studies, 4 of them readily comes to mind: Jimi Tewe, Teju Babyface, Vusi and Pastor Sam Adeyemi.
I got to know that after Jimi Tewe left banking for entrepreneurship, he did two years in the “financial wilderness” before he reconnected with Fela Durotoye and got sorted out.
My study of Teju Babyface was as regards getting sponsorship. For years, he sought for sponsorship for his TV show. I bought his books, CD and watched all his YouTube videos. In his own words, “sponsorship does not respond to the merit or brilliance of ideas. Sponsorship responds to self-interest. Sponsors respond to where or what they will get calculated maximum benefit. Sponsors have no interest in what benefits all of us.”
He concluded by saying that, “you must learn how to go to the market (to sell your products). Also, getting private individuals to invest in you is usually the best route to build your idea/ concept/event into one with an enviable track record. After which, corporate sponsorship would come.”
As regards Vusi, he stated that for 7 months he slept in his car which he parked in his office basement at night. He would leave the car at 4am every day to bathe in his office and won’t leave the office until 10pm at night to go sleep in the car. In order to get a good meal, he would go to the house of his then girlfriend (now wife) to eat.
As regards Pastor Sam Adeyemi, I binged on his content – books, CDs, DVDs and all. One thing that he usually said was that, “it is always easy to say here are are 7 ways to make it or 15 steps to wealth, when you have made it. But if you are honest enough to admit it, there was a time you tried all those steps and none worked.”
My first training after banking was on Marketing and Sales as organized by SalesRuby. I have done several other trainings after that.
I have tried plenty things and still trying plenty things. Some work e.g. the occasional $2 or $5 from Amazon. But most are not working yet. However, I document it all. So I can know what worked and repeat it.
It is a process, I don’t like it, but I know I need it. I probably won’t have written the books I wrote if things had worked out earlier.
Besides, this series is another book in the making. Or, don’t you think so?
“So no cause for control, everything is under alarm.”