5 things my late father taught me about success

bykufekpo

118 followers

Updated 6 years ago

There are certain things my late father taught us as his children while we were growing up. He took a great deal of time to teach us about life generally and how to succeed in this frenetic life.

Notably, most of the things he used to talk about when he was alive, are becoming a reality, because we are all witnessing them happening now. To me, I would say he was a prophet, though back then, we doubted if some of those things he was talking about will ever happen. But they sure did.

The good times I had with him was when I was in high school, my dad took me under his wings. He bought many novels and literature books for me to read them. After reading those novels, you are expected to summarize the novels by telling him the stories you have read. While listening with rapt attention, he will sometimes, interrupt me by asking several questions based on the storytelling.

Through this, he inculcated into me the habit of reading. No wonder, today, I’m a veracious reader. I just love reading.

Apart from this memorable experience, I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to be successful during my growing up. There are more, but I will briefly touch on 5 of these:

• Humility: My dad was a down-to-earth person. That was evident in kind of the lifestyle he lived. He was the everyday normal guy. He dressed normal, lived in rented apartments, ride in his normal bike (Super Suzuki -200), and sent all his children to normal schools - nothing too flashy.
• Hard Work: Dad plunged himself deeply into his lifework. He met deadlines consistently, produced high quality content, and showed up daily. He always topped his peers at what he did. Dad told me, "If you can do anything to near perfection, the world will beat a path to your door ". I never did forget this wise saying.
• Do what you love: Dad did what he loved - Salesmanship. In his hey days, dad noticed that sales came easy to him. He may had struggled in other academic concerns but not sales. He didn't have to study hard like the other students did for such course, it just came to him.
• Think: It was Rene Descartes that remarked: "I think, therefore I am ". One of the things that separates us from animals is our ability to think. Dad was a deep thinker. He would sit alone, sometimes in the darkness, and ponder the issues on his plate, and make decisions accordingly. He thinks about what was said yesterday, and about where he wants to be 5 years from now.
• God: we got our Christianity from our late father right from the kindergarten age. but I did gain a deep appreciation for spirituality through him. He was a committed Christian. He said if you want to succeed in life, you must first put God in whatsoever you are doing.

I learned firsthand that he who would be lifted must humble himself. Humility opens doors and grants deep insight into mankind in general. When you understand men, it would not be too difficult to garner from them that which you need to be successful.

And so, when it was time for him to choose a career path, he picked the book keeping and sales as his field. No wonder he excelled at his work. He loved it and was passionate about it.

I learned through Him to stay within the field of my gifting - writing. I don't mind doing other things, so long as they are helping me get to where I can do what I truly love. To succeed, you need to put in the hours. This becomes easier if you are doing something you love.

He outsmarts his contemporaries repeatedly. He out thinks his friends and "outdo" his opposition. His insight into issues are remarkable and from Him I learned to "give it some thought ". Thinking can be tedious and is sometimes hard and painful but must be deliberately undertaken to succeed.

Because of the love for the work of God, he established a local church in the village for the propagation of gospel over there. He planned to attend the Lutheran Seminary, to be trained as a pastor. Unfortunately, he couldn’t accomplish that before death took him away.

These are 5 things dad taught me about success. But here is the real success: God found me at a young age and has been the most instrumental in teaching me about success. Mostly, God helps me define success.

Success to me is not in the big house, fleet of cars, or access to the finer things of life. Success to me is living each day as a child of God. What my dad taught me helped me navigate the issues of life that pertained to a good living, but what God taught me about success helps me navigate life itself.