All posts by : Success Bridge

“Miracles happen to those who believe in them” – Bernard Berenson

It’s a new month and we are looking at belief, which is an important mental aspect of an individual’s life. One thing is sure, the power of belief and thought, will move reality in the direction of what we believe and conceive of it. The popular saying is true: If you believe that you can do something, then you can. 

When you envision a victorious outcome, engrave it in your heart, and are firmly convinced that you will attain it, your brain makes every effort to bring the mental image you have created to life. And then, through your unceasing effort, that victory is finally made a reality.

Mohammed Ali comes to mind whenever we talk about belief. Over fifty years after he burst upon the scene as a gold-medal winner at the 1960 Olympics in Rome, he remains a magical figure, known and loved worldwide. It is the repetition of affirmation that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen. This was probably one of the most prominent success tips from Mohammed Ali.

At the beginning of every match, Ali will claim that he was “the greatest.” And he did become the greatest. One of Ali’s famous sayings is, “It is not the mountain ahead to climb that wears you out; it is the pebble in your shoe.” Whenever you have a significant challenge to confront, be it in your academics or any field of endeavor in life, your lack of self-belief will hinder you more than the challenge itself. 

An old African proverb says: “If there is no enemy within, the enemy without does us no harm.” It means that what you think affects your belief system, and your thinking can also make you believe it. Ignore negative and impossible thoughts and dwell on the positive ones because those thoughts you entertain and dwell on in your mind will grow to make you or mar you. Every accomplishment in life begins with a belief and a decision to try. Success itself generally starts with an attitude and ends with a lifestyle. Start believing in your dreams, and you will sooner or later be living in the reality of those dreams.

I will be eager to hear your comments and questions in the comments section below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Henry Ibrahim is the Content Creator at B2SL. He loves working with young people to help them discover their purpose in life. You can contact him at Ibrahim@b2sl.org.

According to the dictionary, excellence is the possession of good qualities to an eminent or lofty degree. There is always something remarkable about people who put in great effort to achieve things. People who carry an air of exception around always exceed expectations. However, exceptionality comes at a price of commitment, discipline, focus, hard work, and consistency. The level of your sacrifices determines the status of your reward.

One of the rewards of excellence is elevation. Elevation projects you into new heights with a lot of merit and opportunities than the previous height. One who excels in a particular pursuit, such as winning an essay, singing, or winning a sports competition, stands the chance of elevation. When you put in the required hours of practice into that competition or the necessary hours of study for you to excel, the top is your destination.

Striving for excellence increases your knowledge and potentials in everything you do. When you start putting wholehearted effort into the things you do, you will soon find that you are growing beyond what you expected. You will then see your original ability multiply. As a result, every area of your life will start to improve. The increase in your capacity and ability will reward you with excellence. 

Excellence also distinguishes you from others. People will not overlook your efforts when they see you doing well. For example, as a student, when you get a good grade in class, you stand out from others, you become outstanding in that class.  People will acknowledge your intelligence. In that case, your sacrifices are rewarding you with excellence.

Excellence also rewards you with scholarships and promotions. Promotion in your career, academics, etc. How good will it be to see yourself advancing as an employee to attain a management position because of your efforts?

In conclusion, excellence is an attitude. When we cultivate that attitude in our everyday life, our success is guaranteed. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Ayomide Blessing is a Secondary School student in Nigeria. She is dedicated to success in her academics and future career. She is a member of B2SL Success Hub.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – (Quote attributed to Albert Einstein)

Excellence is the quality of being outstanding. We all celebrate excellent results, looks, or achievements, and there is nothing wrong with that. The Tokyo Olympics just finished, and we could see how people who competed in the games and won medals got rewards. It appears our environment wants us to compete against each other rather than cooperate to achieve societal advancement. 

What if I told you that there is excellence in you! That you too can be celebrated by other people! That you don’t have to compete with anyone to succeed. I understand if this is shocking to you, especially when our society always pushes us to battle, especially with other people.

There is no shortage of competition globally, from our classrooms to our sporting fields and then into our lives. People continually try to outdo one another. Competition is more pressurizing and intense when we judge everyone by the same standards. For example, if we believe that everyone that writes an examination must get the highest distinctions. When you have this mindset, you will see everyone else as an obstacle to your success that you must crush. For goodness’ sake, everyone must not get A1s in all subjects in WAEC or NECO or score 390 in JAMB.

When we talk about excellence, we do not mean you have to struggle to be the best in your class or neighbourhood. We instead want to see that you have discovered yourself and are working towards constant improvement. A fish is a genius when in the water. But take the same fish out of the water, and in a few minutes, you see it struggling for life. Most birds can fly, but not all birds can swim underwater and survive. The fish is an excellent swimmer in the water, just as the bird is a fantastic flyer in the sky. They do not compete, but they shine in their ways. There is a natural ability in everyone that, once discovered, makes you excel naturally.

Do not judge your life by competing with other people and their achievements. Discover areas of your life where you do things without much effort. It could be acting or singing, fixing machines, an interest in fashion, and ability to organize things in detail, or nutrition. If you cannot discover your abilities, do not shy away from asking people around you to point out areas where they think you might be doing things effortlessly.  At B2SL, we aim to help you discover and use your natural abilities to succeed.

Let me know your thoughts or questions in the comments section below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Besidone Ebule is the Project Director at B2SL, where he works to encourage personal development and build success networks. You can contact him at bessy.ebule@b2sl.org.

“There is nothing that can’t be done. If you can’t make something, it’s because you haven’t tried hard enough.” – Sakichi Toyoda.

You have seen the meaning of excellence, and it is now time to focus your mind on working towards it. It is a negative attitude when students who are not performing well in a particular subject console themselves by pointing to other failing students. They fail to look at those ahead who are doing excellently well. There’s a quick real-life story to explain further.

Sakichi Toyoda was a Japanese inventor, industrialist, and the founder of Toyota Industries Company Ltd. His father was a carpenter and farmer, and Sakichi was an apprentice of his father. From the age of 14 or 15, Sakichi began to think about ways in which he could be helpful to the people around him and serve his country. When Sakichi was twenty years old, he decided to leave his village and travel to Tokyo. There he saw modern factories that made use of the latest machinery. He became so fascinated with new technology that he developed a passion for machinery and engines. 

After he had returned to his village, he started studying familiar objects in his immediate environment. He devoted himself to improving the hand loom, which looked cumbersome and was not easy to use. Many years later, he encountered challenges in his development of the textile looming machine design. Kiichiro Toyoda, the son of Sakichi Toyoda, said they could steal their machine designs but not their excellent attitude of continuous improvement. 

Sakichi’s attitude towards excellence was seen in his moving from the village. It appeared the rural people were not improving themselves as much as the people of Tokyo, which was the centre of constant improvement as seen in their latest machines. You can learn something from this action of Sakichi. From time to time, you will need to expose your mind to an environment or friends where you can find tireless continuous improvement to getting better. 

After exposing his mind to the latest machines of his time, Sakichi went back to his village and started spending his time on improving the textile looming machines one step at a time. So also exposing your mind to excellence is to the end that you are always spending time on things that help you improve your academics and life in general. 

From when Sakichi started constantly improving on the textile looming machine to our present-day Toyota cars everywhere, we can conveniently say working towards excellence is worth it. 

I look forward to hearing from you in the comments section to know what you learned from this article. You can also be free to ask any question for clarity on working towards excellence in your academics, career and life in general.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Charles Adimah is an entrepreneur and the Project Manager of B2SL INITIATIVE, where he manages the vision. He is a great believer that a prosperous Nigeria is a product of successful Nigerians. You can reach him via email at charles@b2sl.org.

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“To achieve something you have never achieved before, you must become someone you have never been before” – Les Brown.

It is often difficult to resist an excellent performance. We all appreciate people who have put in considerable effort in achieving their goals. If you are watching the Olympics going on in Tokyo, you must have been observing some electrifying performances. You will likely admire a neater and more organized store with excellent customer service over a disorganized one where the store attendant looks horrific. You might also easily remember the guys at the top of your class because of their outstanding performances. Excellence is a state of being consistent in good character, attitude, quantity, and standards. 

Serena Williams is one of the greatest female black tennis players and embodies excellence in her field. Williams became a professional tennis player in 1995 and won the French Open, the U.S. Open, and Wimbledon in 2002, defeating Venus, her sister, in the finals of each tournament. She won her first Australian Open in 2003, making her one of only six women in the Open era to complete a Career Grand Slam. In 2008, she won the U.S. Open and teamed with Venus to capture a second women’s doubles Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Games. Williams is also the only professional tennis player to accomplish a Career Golden Slam in singles & doubles. In December 2015, she was named Sportsperson of the Year by Sports Illustrated magazine.

What was Serena’s secret? In 2013, Serena said to ESPN, “Luck has nothing to do with it because I have spent many, many hours, countless hours, on the court working for my one moment in time, not knowing when it would come.” Here’s Serena fighting for excellence off the court, which later translated into success. Distinction flows from consistent performance over time. It is rarely gained by single action but rather through a succession of positive attitudes and actions. Press on to obtain what you are committed to achieving.

Life does not reward mediocre people, unfortunately. Only those who have performed exceptionally get the prize. If you want to succeed, you must start taking a shot at doing things with a touch of excellence, whether writing an article, completing an assignment, or participating in a competition. You must always put in your best effort. It is not just about doing what you are supposed or expected to do; it is about being good at something and striving to be the best you can. You can start from where you are today by deciding to add some quality to the things you do.

I will love to hear your comments and questions in the comments section below.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Henry Ibrahim is the Content Creator at B2SL. He loves working with young people to help them discover their purpose in life. You can contact him at Ibrahim@b2sl.org.

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