Bolade Ogunfuye: The three pledges I took to make my life better [NEW VOICES]

by Bolade Ogunfuye

All of life, through the many prisms with which we view it, is mired in change; I guess that’s why our elders say: “we cannot become what we want to be by remaining what we are”. Quite often, we evolve through enormous courage, tenacity and perseverance; only through these may we become. If you want take your life from being just good to better and best, you must be willing to come out of your comfort zone and do things, which you never even thought of doing.

I learned to evolve, constantly, many times over through my life’s checkpoints: teenager, young adult, leader, passable human. To make that change happen, I had to develop and stick to three pledges that I stuck to religiously, and a shitload of tenacity.

 

Pledge 1: To never stop learning

I have sworn to never accept that I have reached my limit in learning. Every single day, there will always be something to absorb, think about, nibble on, mull over; if we stop to listen to the world around us, it is ready to teach us something new, something interesting, some new way to analyze and understand the world just a little more.

Learning is not confined to just facts and education. I can’t guarantee that you will ever come to a satisfactory destination, but I guarantee the journey will have been worthwhile.

Pledge 2: To be grateful for everything I have

I have come to realize that gratitude is a trait that we find seldom in people. And, I was no different. I was one of those people who are always complaining about things they don’t have. As I grew, I decided to bring a change in me and be thankful for everything I have in my life.

Yes, it did change me a lot. I am more optimistic now; my perspective of looking at life has completely changed. I practice thankfulness wherever and whenever I can. I strongly believe nothing is too flimsy or inconsequential to not be grateful for. And, it has helped me a lot to evolve not just a professional, but as a person as well.

Pledge 3: To start my day the night before

In my youth, when asked about the starting point for my day my answer would have been just like every other person — in the morning, when I wake up. But, things changed as I learnt more about the inherent power of our subconscious minds.

The more I learnt, the better I viewed my subconscious mind, more as a powerful weapon with which walls may be obliterated. If we feed it information the night before sleeping, our subconscious mind will continue to work on it while we are sleep. Perhaps this is the reason that some of the successful people I know, or have even heard of, start their day the night before.

That’s when I took a pledge to always end my day after planning my schedule for the next. And, it has been one of the smarter moves I’ve made. I no longer have to face the day as a blank page, warily eyeing it like a lost soul who does not know what’s in store for the day. This way, I can compartmentalize and prioritize my work, my life and my day, and make the most of my life through the twenty-four short hours.

So those were the three pledges I took to grow and evolve. This is not to say that the same things will work for you; I don’t know your story. But here’s mine, hope it helps.


Bolade is a writer and multi-media development professional. He began as a writer, and has since expanded his repertoire to include media content design and development, brand strategy, new media, advertising and PR with a career spanning the last decade. He is addicted to caffeine, sartorial excellence, sarcasm, true crime and media content of the highest quality; and is very fluent in double-speak.

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