How Can A Poor Boy (With No Money & No Connections, From An Impoverished Village) Make It In Life?
Like every other man on earth I was born, but not into a rich family..I never counted it as a loss of privilege because all are not born with a silver spoon...The background of a poor boy has nothing to do with his life and your background must not put your back on the ground.
So, I have a career today, that only existed in my imagination just some few years ago because I fed my dreams and starved my fears. Recognition and discovery of purpose changed it all for me. I worked it out by coming out of my locality because I know I don't belong to the place.
Is it not possible that I could have gone into cooperate Abuja and failed?..Absolutely Yes!.But I have made a lifelong commitment to acknowledge my fear without catering to it. I have made it second nature to nurture my dreams because that is the only way to turn them into reality...
You see, I finished my secondary school as a Science student, I won some competitive awards along the way and had an impressive WAEC and NECO results...With my JAMB score (which I later jettisoned and opted for the Traditional Igbo Apprenticeship) I can easily get admission into any University of my choice I wanted in Nigeria. Move into the school, study and graduate.
Not bad for a boy that was raised in a village with little wherewithal and no sure chance of making it in life. The problem was that financially, my hands were tightly strapped behind my back.
I needed to gain financial freedom before thinking of going back to school. I wanted to experience places I only watch on television and read about....I wanted the highest academic degree I could get. I want to study Civil Engineering; my childhood dream career and broaden my scope of knowledge, challenge my perspectives, make good and quality friends, engage with the world…I wanted more...only if wishes were horses!
I decided to serve the Traditional Igbo Apprenticeship...dropped my sec credentials.. became a steward...a routine, vague but sure way of getting out of abject poverty. That's If you will-fully pay the price and make the required sacrifices...
The only thing that stood in my way was FEAR! The fear of everybody around me. Mum, Dad, Friends, Siblings, Step brothers and sisters. . .Those closest to me didn’t understand why I would want to leave a partially guaranteed good life for an uncertain future. Many have tailored that same path but couldn't make it to the end.
GARKI, in Abuja!?
Where is that?
Do you know anyone there?
Have you ever been there before?
Why not consider a bigger, more diverse city like Lagos or conventional city like Onitsha, where majority of the people from our village housed themselves?
These among others are just a sample of the questions I had to field from those who were genuinely concerned for me...
Going for this Apprenticeship ranks as one of the most uncertain but best decisions I ever made all my life. I have made friends here that I’ll keep for life and built contacts that can lead me to CBN.
This is where I fulfilled a long-cherished dream of becoming an astute businessman(guy) And, let’s face it, what’s better than living your own dream?! Having people file up in numbers seeking for your attention?! Bankers, Suppliers, Customers, Agents etcetera..
Absolutely nothing!
I learned so much about business on my Apprentice and working for Mr. Goodhope Okike that I know I would be well prepared to set up my own business.
The experience was so amazing, protracted, grueling but fulfilling and working for him is probably some of the best training anyone can get as an entrepreneur, but starting your own business is a completely different thing to working for others. No matter what obstacles are thrown at you or opportunities come your way, you have to make it happen; there's nobody telling you what to do next or giving you advice.
Obviously, starting your own business will literally change your life. I mean, all aspects of your life. In short, there are more to entrepreneurship than what the majority think and I'm going to tell the story some other day.
.
.
.
It's not your fault that you are born into a poor family. It's ONLY your fault when you chose to remain in that state of poverty. You can change your fate.
The dream of every person born poor is to go to the best schools, graduate with good results, become a successful Doctor, Lawyer, or some other prestigious professions and get rich.
After that, it's all easy; vacation in the UK, a beautiful husband/wife, a great house, nice car(s). Sometimes, some people manage to make this dream happen, but it's not a sure-fire thing because life has a nasty habit of getting in the way.
Some of the richest people in this country started poor..I was reading the story of MKO Abiola of blessed memory, how he sold firewood to survive. But, the man went on to become one of the richest Nigerians in history.
I also have a mentor called Peter Osalor, he was poor too but have now become one of the best Nigerian entrepreneur today. I didn't have an easy life either while growing up in my home town, Amanator Isu. I remember sleeping on a straw mat until I turned 18 when I left for the Apprenticeship.
Life was rough, no electricity, no TV and no fan, It was rodents and cockroaches and it was just very miserable.
But today, life is different, I now see different people through different schools which I initially don't money to pay for myself, I can afford six square meals and a TV the size of my bed. Lol
Even though the statistics about poverty are depressing -poor people tend to stay poor, just as rich people tend to stay rich. But it's not because poor people are lazy(far from it) or rich people are more industrious (they are not).
It's because of people allowing things to stay the way they are. It's because people who were born poor accept their fate and conclude in their mind that there's nothing they can do about their situation. With that mindset, they are not doing what they are supposed to do to get out of poverty.
I want to tell us that your dreams will always exist side by side with your fears. Both of them are a product of your rich imagination. And you have the power to make one or the other a reality.
Poverty itself is in the mindset. To have life, to have liberty, to have happiness, you need to feed your dreams and starve your fears. What will prevent you from living the life you want is not lack of money, or lack of time or lack of talent. What will prevent you from living the life you want is a lack of discipline and a sheer disbelief in your dreams. You have to believe your dreams to make them real. On several occasions, people have asked me how I managed to survive poverty? .
How can a poor boy with no money and no connections, from an impoverished village make it in life? The answer is surprisingly simple.
I dream..
I dream....
And I keep dreaming...
The life I live today is the product of my dream yesterday. I am dreaming right now of the life I want to lead tomorrow and I will not let fear dictate what I can or cannot become.
Dislaimer: This exposé isn't meant in any way to condescend myself or gasconade my egoistic hubris but to aprise everyone that whatever our mind can conceive can be achieved.
My name is Bob Ani Ugochukwu David, online known as Bob Ugee, a seasoned Grocery Store Management Consultant and the CEO, BOBBY STORES LIMITED, Now PAYFAIR SUPERMARKET ( A distinctive retail-based provision store located in Garki, Abuja)
For further information about me, kindly search for 'Bob Ugee' on Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Nairaland, Qoura, Reddit, Disqus etc...follow me or send me a friend request. Feel free to give me a shout if you're business inclined and wants to know what it takes to hoist a successful (start up) business . I have helped over 10 different people set up their businesses and now they are thriving.
Thank you.
So, I have a career today, that only existed in my imagination just some few years ago because I fed my dreams and starved my fears. Recognition and discovery of purpose changed it all for me. I worked it out by coming out of my locality because I know I don't belong to the place.
Is it not possible that I could have gone into cooperate Abuja and failed?..Absolutely Yes!.But I have made a lifelong commitment to acknowledge my fear without catering to it. I have made it second nature to nurture my dreams because that is the only way to turn them into reality...
You see, I finished my secondary school as a Science student, I won some competitive awards along the way and had an impressive WAEC and NECO results...With my JAMB score (which I later jettisoned and opted for the Traditional Igbo Apprenticeship) I can easily get admission into any University of my choice I wanted in Nigeria. Move into the school, study and graduate.
Not bad for a boy that was raised in a village with little wherewithal and no sure chance of making it in life. The problem was that financially, my hands were tightly strapped behind my back.
I needed to gain financial freedom before thinking of going back to school. I wanted to experience places I only watch on television and read about....I wanted the highest academic degree I could get. I want to study Civil Engineering; my childhood dream career and broaden my scope of knowledge, challenge my perspectives, make good and quality friends, engage with the world…I wanted more...only if wishes were horses!
I decided to serve the Traditional Igbo Apprenticeship...dropped my sec credentials.. became a steward...a routine, vague but sure way of getting out of abject poverty. That's If you will-fully pay the price and make the required sacrifices...
The only thing that stood in my way was FEAR! The fear of everybody around me. Mum, Dad, Friends, Siblings, Step brothers and sisters. . .Those closest to me didn’t understand why I would want to leave a partially guaranteed good life for an uncertain future. Many have tailored that same path but couldn't make it to the end.
GARKI, in Abuja!?
Where is that?
Do you know anyone there?
Have you ever been there before?
Why not consider a bigger, more diverse city like Lagos or conventional city like Onitsha, where majority of the people from our village housed themselves?
These among others are just a sample of the questions I had to field from those who were genuinely concerned for me...
Going for this Apprenticeship ranks as one of the most uncertain but best decisions I ever made all my life. I have made friends here that I’ll keep for life and built contacts that can lead me to CBN.
This is where I fulfilled a long-cherished dream of becoming an astute businessman(guy) And, let’s face it, what’s better than living your own dream?! Having people file up in numbers seeking for your attention?! Bankers, Suppliers, Customers, Agents etcetera..
Absolutely nothing!
I learned so much about business on my Apprentice and working for Mr. Goodhope Okike that I know I would be well prepared to set up my own business.
The experience was so amazing, protracted, grueling but fulfilling and working for him is probably some of the best training anyone can get as an entrepreneur, but starting your own business is a completely different thing to working for others. No matter what obstacles are thrown at you or opportunities come your way, you have to make it happen; there's nobody telling you what to do next or giving you advice.
Obviously, starting your own business will literally change your life. I mean, all aspects of your life. In short, there are more to entrepreneurship than what the majority think and I'm going to tell the story some other day.
.
.
.
It's not your fault that you are born into a poor family. It's ONLY your fault when you chose to remain in that state of poverty. You can change your fate.
The dream of every person born poor is to go to the best schools, graduate with good results, become a successful Doctor, Lawyer, or some other prestigious professions and get rich.
After that, it's all easy; vacation in the UK, a beautiful husband/wife, a great house, nice car(s). Sometimes, some people manage to make this dream happen, but it's not a sure-fire thing because life has a nasty habit of getting in the way.
Some of the richest people in this country started poor..I was reading the story of MKO Abiola of blessed memory, how he sold firewood to survive. But, the man went on to become one of the richest Nigerians in history.
I also have a mentor called Peter Osalor, he was poor too but have now become one of the best Nigerian entrepreneur today. I didn't have an easy life either while growing up in my home town, Amanator Isu. I remember sleeping on a straw mat until I turned 18 when I left for the Apprenticeship.
Life was rough, no electricity, no TV and no fan, It was rodents and cockroaches and it was just very miserable.
But today, life is different, I now see different people through different schools which I initially don't money to pay for myself, I can afford six square meals and a TV the size of my bed. Lol
Even though the statistics about poverty are depressing -poor people tend to stay poor, just as rich people tend to stay rich. But it's not because poor people are lazy(far from it) or rich people are more industrious (they are not).
It's because of people allowing things to stay the way they are. It's because people who were born poor accept their fate and conclude in their mind that there's nothing they can do about their situation. With that mindset, they are not doing what they are supposed to do to get out of poverty.
I want to tell us that your dreams will always exist side by side with your fears. Both of them are a product of your rich imagination. And you have the power to make one or the other a reality.
Poverty itself is in the mindset. To have life, to have liberty, to have happiness, you need to feed your dreams and starve your fears. What will prevent you from living the life you want is not lack of money, or lack of time or lack of talent. What will prevent you from living the life you want is a lack of discipline and a sheer disbelief in your dreams. You have to believe your dreams to make them real. On several occasions, people have asked me how I managed to survive poverty? .
How can a poor boy with no money and no connections, from an impoverished village make it in life? The answer is surprisingly simple.
I dream..
I dream....
And I keep dreaming...
The life I live today is the product of my dream yesterday. I am dreaming right now of the life I want to lead tomorrow and I will not let fear dictate what I can or cannot become.
Dislaimer: This exposé isn't meant in any way to condescend myself or gasconade my egoistic hubris but to aprise everyone that whatever our mind can conceive can be achieved.
My name is Bob Ani Ugochukwu David, online known as Bob Ugee, a seasoned Grocery Store Management Consultant and the CEO, BOBBY STORES LIMITED, Now PAYFAIR SUPERMARKET ( A distinctive retail-based provision store located in Garki, Abuja)
For further information about me, kindly search for 'Bob Ugee' on Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Nairaland, Qoura, Reddit, Disqus etc...follow me or send me a friend request. Feel free to give me a shout if you're business inclined and wants to know what it takes to hoist a successful (start up) business . I have helped over 10 different people set up their businesses and now they are thriving.
Thank you.
