by Chinonso Ogbogu

If you desire to win in life, then you must develop a different viewpoint on 0/10 and 10/10. In fact, in life, you can’t have all the right answers to the questions that confront you.

Our class teacher annunciated our names as we trudged in rapid succession to her desk to collect our respective score sheets from yesterday’s class tests. While some advanced assuredly with bated breath to behold their usual 10/10, others proceeded with belated, silent prayers not to find 0/10 or anything akin to it. And then there were those who, out of their juvenility or sheer apathy, didn’t care a damn about what Mr. Red Pen boldly said. (Somehow, I normally oscillated among or within those three characteristic ends). However, no doubt, the 10/10 mark yielded a certain degree of pride to their deserving or undeserving bearers—a pride that parents or guardians sometimes crow about during or outside PTA meetings. If you attended primary school, then I’m sure you do capture my drift.

In primary school, 10/10 is just a perfect score; and majority still crave for it. Why? Either because it provides them and the class with a proof of their relative wits or it saves them from the likely scolding or lashing at home. Simply put, in class, knowing and providing all the right answers to questions is just a great measurement of wits. (Pah, stupid!) Unfortunately, this theory only rules in the classroom—and not in life. In life, the theory that rules is way different.

If you desire to win in life, then you must develop a different viewpoint on 0/10 and 10/10. In fact, in life, you can’t have all the right answers to the questions that confront you. There will be situations that will be so overwhelming that you go blank—i.e. you can’t just figure out on-the-spot solutions. There will be times in life when you’ll goof or lose your grip. There will be times when you feel as if you’re on the rocks and it’s just your entire fault. But do any of these circumstances confirm that you’re dumb or you don’t have the potentials to rise to the top? Boy, no!

Look, if you can’t come up with the right answer now, that doesn’t mean you can’t. If you missed the mark today, it doesn’t mean you can’t hit it if you try again (and again). If you made a mistake, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn from it and still move your life forward. If your life, business, career, academic, or relationship is on the rocks, it doesn’t mean you can’t pull through. Hence, NEVER think less of yourself and what you carry on your inside. Because, in life, unlike the classroom, it’s OK not to have all the right answers.

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Chinonso Ogbogu is a business trainer, success coach, highly sought-after conference speaker, gifted writer, adept blogger, and a radio personality. He is the radio host of popular radio programme known asSuccessMatters™, and the owner of www.chinonsowrites.com. He is the author of the powerful book known as ‘THE VOICES’. Follow in him Facebook on: www.facebook.com/chinonsowrites or twitter on:@chinonsowrites

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