The 24th Birthday Project: Day Three

 

Learning how to handle failure

A lot of us have read biographies, autobiographies, articles, or heard stories of how millionaires and billionaires got to where they are now. How they starved and were broke for years, failing continuously, etc. How they kept working hard till they finally achieved success. We’ve heard them say ‘trust the process,’ ‘it’s about the journey, not the destination,’ and similar motivational speeches.

Well, I have to say failing sucks, the process is brutal, any attempt to move out of the ordinary is hard, and recovering from failure is hard. It’s nice to hear all the stories about rags to riches. It gingers the spirit. But when you start wearing your rags, it is not funny at all. It takes a great deal of strength and courage to persevere, and as a Nigerian, we need double doses of these.

I haven’t experienced a lot of failure in my life. I went from graduating from university to NYSC to continuing work at the company I did my service in. I had my salary, I wasn’t paying rent, or had too many responsibilities. My life should be great, right? I was in the lucky percentage of Nigerian youths that had a paying job. As the typical human being that I am, I wanted more (I still want more), so I decided to look for how to make more. Why did I want more? It was simple, my salary can’t give me the life I desire. Financial freedom is the goal.

So I started looking to invest, reading up, and all that. An opportunity came to go into the agriculture sector and I grabbed it with open arms. It made sense since that was a sector that hasn’t been fully explored and there was a deficit, demand exceeded supply. Long story short, it ended in tears. The loss was brutal to the extent I was in debt because of investors’ monies. Life 1 Lynda 0.  Life is so crazy that even when we were trying to get out of the mess, it kept hitting hard, harder, and harder. I learned what it meant to be strong. Failure teaches you lessons that nothing else would. Now I understand why there are not many billionaires in the world. It is not for the faint-hearted. The willingness to go out of our comfort zone and do more, not just want more but do more is not something everyone dares to do.

 I understand the process is hard, failing is awful but it trains the mind and body for the great things we seek. To achieve the level of success where few people are, I believe a trial is necessary. How you handle failure determines how well you can manage your success. This is the beginning and I’m learning.