My top-ten lessons of 2014

As we approach the end of 2014, I’ve decided to take some time out to reflect on the year as a whole and the events that have unfolded both on a personal and global level.

Unlike many people, rather than just spending my time planning for the New Year I tend to start off by looking at my highs and lows of the year, lessons I’ve learnt and new connections I’ve made.

I have a strong belief that you cannot make an improvement in the New Year if you do not critically evaluate your performance in the current one.

During my reflection, I remembered January 1st 2014, like it was yesterday when we were celebrating the New Year and many people including myself were setting our goals for the upcoming year. Trying to sum up my year, the only phrase I can use is ‘up and down’.

While there were many reasons to celebrate, there were also many challenges that I faced and many unusually high mountains I came up against in both my business and personal life.

One thing I can say is that I have become a better person all round as a result of these experiences, and I can now go on and use the lessons I’ve learnt to help others who may face similar obstacles.

One of my greatest achievements was the expansion of my business into Africa, namely Nigeria and Ghana. If you have been following my column for some months, you will have read about the projects we launched across Nigeria and Ghana and some of the work I’ve been doing across the continent.

Though I had plans to expand into Africa as one of my goals at the beginning of the year, I was unaware of the journey I would undertake in order to achieve this.

In order for me to share some of the lessons I’ve learnt on my journey into Africa I would need to write a 4 or 5 part series – and I may just do that in the New Year.

As previously mentioned, I reflect on the connections made during the year and one of the main reasons I do this is simply that I believe your next breakthrough or opportunity is only a connection away. Meeting the right person can take you into a new level you have never experienced before.

That happened to me this year when I was approached by a lady on my Facebook page to feature in a documentary to be shown in 37 countries across Africa. As a result of this, I was asked to become an ambassador for the Dreams Campaign that was launched by Webster University in Ghana.

This led to my face and brand being splashed across newspapers, magazines, online and a huge billboard in a very prominent area of Ghana. It also resulted in my current role as a columnist for the Business and Financial Times.

Another achievement was being able to expand our training and consultancy services to the Nigerian market, working with various top companies in several industries around human capital and business development.

We have also worked with several government and corporate organisations around youth engagement initiatives.

Due to the demand of work and commitment in Africa I had to spend 4 months in Nigeria, which meant I did not see my wife or 2 year old daughter for that period of time.

Throughout our five years of marriage this was the longest time I’ve spent away from my family, which was also a new experience for me.

During my reflection I made a list of ten lessons I have learnt during this year which I hope you can benefit from as you start off 2015:

1. Know who you are (your values, beliefs etc.): One of the reasons people are unfulfilled in life is simply because they don’t know who they are. Sometimes we confuse who we are with what we do. In your daily life, you are driven and steered by a set of beliefs and values. Your activities are governed by these factors whether you realise it or not.

You must sit down and reflect on your values in life and the beliefs that drive your decision-making. This is extremely important, especially if you want to do business in Africa. In January 2014 I had to turn down a deal worth over 100,000 dollars due to lack of integrity; I believed that the way in which the deal was being conducted went against my values and beliefs. Fast-forward a few months later and I received a better deal from multiple companies.

2. Clearly define your vision in life: If you haven’t done so, ensure that you clearly state your vision whether in the form of a vision board or by simply writing it down in a notebook and pasting it somewhere you can see it regularly. I have my vision written down and placed within my Bible which I read daily.

Your vision is simply where you see yourself in the future. Ten years from now, where do you see yourself? What do you see yourself doing? These are important questions that you need to answer, as the actions you take right now must reflect your vision for the future.

3. Don’t hold onto people who have gone past their expiry date in your life: There are several people that you will meet in life; some come into your life for a reason, others for a season...and there are those that will be in your life forever. You must not confuse these three sets of people.

When people are no longer supposed to be in your life you must not keep trying to hold onto them. This is one of the major reasons for setbacks. When you step into a new level in your personal, business or career life, understand that there are people who will not fit into your new way of living, and having them in your life will only pull you back on your journey of progression.

4. As you grow through life, expect and anticipate change and transition: The only thing that is constant in life is change, and this is something that you must hold onto going into 2015.

If you truly want to progress in life, you will be forced out of your comfort zone and there will always be need for a change in your circumstances. As I mentioned, I had to live away from my young family for four months, and as a result we had to put in reactive strategies to cope with the sudden change.

5. It’s your responsibility to prove yourself and your credibility: When you’re starting off as an entrepreneur in any field, one of the challenges that you’ll face is people not taking you seriously. Don’t take it personally! It’s your responsibility to prove your brand’s value and worth.

Nobody will give you a platform or patronise you without assurance that you are bringing something credible to the table.

6. If you truly believe in your vision, knock on enough doors and you will eventually get a breakthrough: I wrote an article about this some weeks ago. In order to truly achieve success, you must learn to persevere.

Once again, when you are staring off in business, rejection is part of the journey. You cannot avoid this phase. People will turn down your proposal, shut the doors in your face, ignore your calls -- but it’s up to you to keep knocking until you get a yes.

7. Don’t allow other people’s failure to become your reality: When I ventured into Africa this year and faced some challenges, it had an effect not only on myself but also on my family as a whole. I had invested a lot of money with no returns and it was having a huge repercussion on my family finances.

As a result, I was approached by one of my in-laws who advised me that -- based on his own experiences and those of a friend -- he had concluded that doing business in Africa could never be successful. He advised me to stop any plans I had of doing business in Nigeria as they would never work. Fast forward to some months later and we have started building a solid client base across Nigeria and engaged several top organisations on different platforms.

8. Preparation is a key ingredient of success: If you are truly working toward success, you must be prepared for an opportunity at any moment in time. After knocking on many doors while launching our corporate training programmes in Nigeria and facing several rejections and setbacks, the final breakthrough came in the form of one of the biggest telecoms companies in the country.

We were approached to deliver a training course the next day as the other vendors were not available. We had less than a day to prepare but the materials had been made readily available in case the opportunity arose. As a result of this training course we have also secured several others.

9. Don’t let a little taste of success get to your head: One of the biggest mistakes you can make is to get carried away by a little bit of success.

When you get a breakthrough in your business and a door of opportunity opens up for you, don’t relent in your efforts. Instead of slowing down, it’s time to increase your work rate and strike while the iron is hot. Always remember that there are others who are waiting in line to take your spot if you underperform.

10. Wherever you find yourself at any point in time, there’s a reason for it and a purpose to be achieved: This ties in with the point I made earlier about anticipating change and transition. Wherever you are or you find yourself, always make the best use of the opportunity.

There are different times and seasons. Just like a farmer, there is a time to plant and there is a time to reap. Like an athlete, there is a time to train and there is a time to perform. Don’t waste your training season, you will only end by messing up when you eventually get an opportunity to perform

I do hope that you learn from these keys and they help you with making a great start to the year 2015. I am truly grateful to have connected with you over the past months through this column, and I appreciate those of you that have connected with me through my various social media platforms. It is encouraging to hear about the impact these articles have been making in your life.

I wish you a happy new year and look forward to sharing more tips and stories with you in 2015.

Writer: Opy Onas

the writer, is an internationally renowned speaker, Youth Engagement Specialist, Corporate trainer, Business coach, Entrepreneur and author of the international bestseller titled ‘Turn Your Passion Into Your Profession’. He speaks and delivers training to thousands of individuals, small businesses and large organisations internationally.

Follow him on Facebook: Opy Onas and Twitter: @opyonas.

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