𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐌𝐲𝐭𝐡

Lillian Imenka

I’ve never believed in luck. Maybe this is why I have never been lucky as people regard luck.

Maybe. Blessed, favored, and preferred, maybe. But lucky? No, just like David, I’ve always worked and gotten ready for the opportunity.

You must have read or heard stories of people who experienced an overnight rise to fame.

Those who started a business or enterprise and, within a year or less, became a household name.

Ever heard of Chimamanda’s Danger of a Single Story?

That's what most success stories have become. Single Stories Using a part for a whole.

The truth is that what appears to be instant success is frequently preceded by years of struggle and hard work.

Research has also shown the postulation that it takes an average of years to master any craft. Now, there are exceptions. But they all follow the same process.

It is a long, thorough, and hard road to success. The only thing is, when we achieve success, we all focus on the last mile.

But it will be incomplete without taking into consideration the times of obscurity and difficulty we had to endure to get to the hilltop of glory.

The people you look at and think they are having the time of their lives now once had moments of pain, failure, regression, and rejection.

Now, that doesn't mean you need to stay on a course for 10 years before you will excel. People might grow grey hairs before then. Nor does it mean that patience is the optimal way.

You may need to change direction, tweak the to-do list, or do something different.

The idea is not to eat up your seed.

Rushing to write a book because a few people on this street have told you how "deep" your posts are isn’t wise.

Producing a half-baked track because your friend achieved more in a short time is another definition of immaturity.

There is always a waiting time.

I like to think that the donkey Jesus used for his triumphant entry into Jerusalem was tied and fed to be used at such a time as that.

Other donkeys might have felt it wasn’t doing enough because donkeys were made to convey goods and humans, not tied and fed. But it was being "cultured" and preparing to triumphantly carry the King.

So, it would be wrong to call it the lucky donkey that carried Jesus and walked on red carpets. It had its waiting season.

This January, reject instant gratification by all means possible. You will purge. It is always half-baked.

Sit at someone's feet and learn if you have to. Your glory will emerge. Pay no attention to the fact that people are eating their harvest while you are planting. They have paid their dues. This is your time to work.

Keep going. Every house is built by a man, but the one who builds everything is God.