Several terms have been used to describe people’s experiences of life. You may have heard people say life is a battle, life is a journey, life is an investment, life must be approached as a business etc. In my view, life is all of these and more. Regardless of how you perceive life, one thing is clear; to achieve success in life requires a strategy. Over the next few weeks, we will be discussing various aspects of this theme.
Today, I will like to focus on an aspect of strategic living which is about developing a mindset of the future or future mindedness. Allow me to illustrate this point using the game of snooker which I only recently came to appreciate. When a good snooker player is taking a decision on which ball to port with the cue ball, at that same time he/she is also thinking of how the current move will affect the next 3-4 moves. Only an amateur will make the first move before thinking of his next move. Eventually, such a person will concede his/her advantage to the opponent. Unfortunately, a lot of people are only concerned about the present and act with a mindset of how their immediate action affects the now. They inadvertently end up either in a position where they cannot make progress or have conceded their advantage to others.
A very good example of how many people concede their advantage to others is by being stuck in jobs for life, with their employers getting the very best of their skills. If they had a different view point of life, these same skills could have been used to achieve much more. Strategic living is deciding before taking your first step how your current action fits into your overall life goal and affects your subsequent steps. Why are you undertaking further education? Is it because you need a promotion now or is it because the skills you will acquire from the course are essential to your achieving your overall life goal, for example starting up a business?
Why do you want to marry that man or lady? Could it be because of apparent financial security or could it be because you know you will be happy together and can together work at achieving your life dreams? True success comes from envisioning your life many years ahead and taking steps today that draw you nearer to what you have envisioned. Successful people are future minded; they think of best ways of harnessing what tomorrow brings or better still create the tomorrow they want. What do I mean by creating tomorrow? Do you realise that every age that man has been through was created and/or driven by a few? We talk about the jet age, the information age, all these ages are named after the achievements of a few, popularised by others. The sad truth is that many of us have been spectators, at best consumers in this age. My goal today is to stir you up to begin to live your life strategically.
Draw up a long term plan for your life. Thereafter take stock of what you possess now including skills, relationships, assets, education and the odds you necessarily need to overcome. Based on this, decide on what further things you need to do or get to help you achieve your plan and how to get them. For example, do you need further training in certain areas of your life? Do you need to form new relationships? Do you need to make a complete turn? After taking stock, all that is then necessary is to act and constantly re-evaluate. You will achieve great success! Join me next week for the continuation of the series. Until then, please feel free to comment on the article and share with others.
By Henry Akintunde
