Will Power R Us

They say 95% of people have no written down goals or committed a life plan to paper. Of the remaining 5% with a plan only 2.8% of them go on to achieve their goals. Do the Maths; 97.2% of people are blowing in the wind. (Don’t you just hate it when someone tells you to do the maths and then does it before you can engage your brain??).  These surveys we read seem to point to the fact that people have no plans and the ones with plans have no results. Well in Nigeria we have a solution to these survey results. We just say, ‘not my portion’.

They say that birds of a feather hang out on the same telegraph lines. That appears selfish of them for if the 2.8% Club of achievers only talk to each other, how will we learn the secret behind their exclusive success? Now you do not have to believe what I say for it is purely speculation, but let us go on speculating. If really these 2.8% of people exist, I suspect they stop talking or quickly change the subject when an ‘outside’ happens to walk in on them. That means that if your richest friends always talk about Arsenal FC whenever you walk in, you need to be suspicious. They might have modified the conversation to fit those who have been judged to have no definite purpose in life and as soon as you leave for the loo they resume the talks about the $1 Billion loan from the World Bank. They might have judged their dreams too precious and delicate to risk having you pour words of foolishness and doubt on them. So are these true friends? They love you, just the way you are. They know you cannot like them go three days without sleep from meeting to meeting for you have perfected that ‘work- life-sleep’ balance tipped strongly in the direction of your bed. Are these people selfish for hiding their dreams and work ethic from you? (Bearing in mind that someone once called one of them a workaholic for going back to work after Christmas dinner and it hurt them).

Is it fair that Billionaires hang out together and Millionaires eat dinner together? One man once told me of how he went shopping with someone. Their conversation went well till they got to the shops and he began to pick the things his wife had ordered, bags that cost about £500 an item. His friend started complaining that these bags cost more than his salary and it was a waste of money. The shopping trip had to be terminated for there were items on the list that cost £2000 and my friend did not want anyone to curse him secretly. He returned to finalise his shopping alone the next day. He also vowed never to mention work or money with anybody below his level ever again and he also decided to shop alone till the end of his days.

They say that people do not bother with life goals because they fail to achieve even simple New Year resolutions. Six months into the year about 90% of New Year resolutions are all but dead and gone. Why plan when failing will only make you feel bad? People still keep planning though. Even if not bold enough to write dreams down, some still ask, ‘what if?’, and ‘why not?’ Day dreaming about riding in a nice car is a kind of plan. The first steps. People see things, watch adverts and ponder if these could be their reality. These are all the vestiges of plans.

So why are there so few people going from dreams, to written downs goals and finally to ultimate achievement of desired goals?

ANSWER-   Bringing things to past appears to be just plain hard and time consuming.

There are other things which give short term returns on our time and effort. These things are the sweet nothings of life. These are the temptations that provide a ‘sensible’ alternative to a hard existence.

For those who grew up learning that a bird in hand is worth ten in the bush the promise of pleasure a few months down the road seems absurd. What if we don’t live that long? Now is the only time we have truly got after all.

The short term sweet things always give the senses value for money and time. Resisting their alluring call means gratification is delayed. Now delaying gratification is the key to all achievements. It is a choice we all have to make and will power is needed to make a choice for the long term. Buy now pay later versus invest- now and profit later.

We all have the will power to delay gratification and achieve long term gains. For those who do not just pretend you do and marry someone who does.

Will Power R Us.

Babawilly

Dr Wilson Orhiunu

19-9-2014