Do you rather I tell you some home truth or sugar-coat the realities on ground? I think I would choose the former; if you are reading this article, you have a maximum of a 100 years to live (well, I still have to sugarcoat it). Look at where you are today; do you think you would be where you are today if you made an alternate decision in the past. For example, if you chose not to go to school, you are likely not to be reading this article; you are likely not to have the friends you have; you likely not to be married to the person you are married to or working where you are working. It is funny how past decisions affects where we are today.
Another realization hit me when I was driving to VI; I was comparing two scenarios in a traffic jam; a dirty hungry looking girl below 7 years was hitting my car window, begging for money while at the same time I noticed another below 7-year old girl sitting alone at the owner’s seat of a Hummer jeep. Contrasting these two girls, their economic difference definitely had nothing to do with yesterday’s decision but simply by the relationship they have. This 7-year old girls did not really have a choice on the relationships to belong to but if they did; they both could have chosen the affluent parents.
Unlike the 7-year olds, I am sure you had a choice on the relationship to keep because the relationships you nurtured and kept determined your today. In determining the true success of a man, the bible tied it to relationships in Psalm 1: 1: “Blessed is the man that neither walks in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the ways of sinners, nor sit in the seats of the scornful.†The relationship I am talking about is not limited to humans but encompasses the books your read, the TV shows you watch, the schools you attend, the articles you read, the God you serve, etc
If the position you are today is based on yesterday’s choice of relationship, then your tomorrow is going to be based on today’s choice of relationships. Let’s stop kidding ourselves, most people that are stars today made a conscious choice to be one; practicing 2 or 3 hours daily in preparation to the dreams they hold. Every decision you make today affects your tomorrow; you do not have to be Nostradamus or a gifted seer to know your future; just look at what you are doing today.
On one of Larry King’s show, he was asked by a teenager if he knew he would be where he is today when he was a teenager. His reply was very instructive; “there was no satellite so I never dreamed of being known globally, I wanted to be a local radio host because that was the prevalent media and I practiced my speech everyday in front of the mirror.†The thing about predicting your tomorrow is that you may never know if cars would be flying or you may be teleporting but you know that every decision you make today would make your tomorrow.
When I look back at the decisions that some people made in my undergraduate days; I am not too surprised at where they are today. One of such persons is Gbenga Sesan. His decision to join Junior Achievement of Nigeria (JAN) @ 10K per month when everybody was rushing to the banks, the PWCs, the P&Gs, Schlumberger, Mobil, etc @ a far better salary; it was based on what he was seeing. This was not a popular decision but looking at his profile eight years later, he is definitely living a dream opposed to others.
‘Gbenga has completed Executive Education Management Training Programs at Lagos Business School, New York Group for Technology Transfer, Oxford University, Harvard University and Stanford University. His consulting experience includes assignments completed for numerous institutions, including Microsoft, Harvard University, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Res Publica, Computer Aid International, Heinrich Boll Foundation and the International Telecommunications Union.
Beyond Nigeria, ‘Gbenga has consulted and made presentations in various countries, including Austria, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, United Kingdom and United States. He is a member of the United Nations Committee of eLeaders on Youth and ICT and Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellow; and he was Nigeria’s first Information Technology Youth Ambassador. He has won numerous awards including 2005 Stockholm Challenge Champion honour, 2004 NiPRO Excellence in Information Technology award, 2003 JCI Ten Outstanding Young Persons (TOYP) in Nigeria award, etc.
In 2006, he was appointed as the youngest member of the Nigerian Presidential Task Force on the Restructuring of the Nigerian Information Technology and Telecommunications Sectors. ‘Gbenga is also an author and regular feature on some of Nigeria’s popular television shows. ‘Gbenga Sesan has been profiled as one of the 35 Icons of ICT in Nigeria and he keeps a personal website at www.gbengasesan.com. He is married to Temilade, a PhD scholar with research interests in Renewable Energy Policy and Implementation for developing economies (especially Nigeria and Kenya) and his forthcoming book, “In My Own Words” will be published by Imprimata in August 2009.
Trust me; I had to do a lot of serious cuts on his profile because they are far more than this. Whenever someone like Gbenga makes a decision, it is important to seriously consider it because he sure can see tomorrow. When he informed me he was attending the PMP class organized by Ayo in Sheraton Hotel to meet the 35 contact hour to write the PMP exam, I knew he was seeing something about the future. If you are not aware about Ayo’s PMP class, please click HERE. This is what he had to say:
“Getting a credential like PMP boosts your career and positions you for growth. There is no better time to get a project management certification than now. The present economic situation has ensured that organizations run their projects in a more efficient and cost effective manner rather than the haphazard ways they used to do it. PMI provides a well structured method of running projects according to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK). Getting a PMP credential does not only help you become a qualified Project Manager but also gives you an in-road to other disciplines that contribute to running an organization, e.g. Human Resources, Budgeting, etc.â€
Wow! What can I say? I have decided to join Ayo’s PMP class because I definitely can see the future and I know that sacrificing my today’s funds and time will be worth it because I can see history repeating itself. Seats are getting filled; if you are interested in Ayo’s class, please click HERE. But before I go, I am sorry I could not give books to those that did not meet the deadline for the “RAT Race” comment. However, I would be given a much better book from Yale University: It is called “YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS“. Before 29th of May, the first 20 people to share with us in the comment section on “how their past affected their today and what they are doing today to impact their future” would recieve this book FREE.  Have a wonderful week ahead and make today count for the tomorrow you see: Ciao.
