A criminal was brought to the King for Judgment.
The King gave him two options.
It was either he was executed by hanging or he was thrown into a mysterious room and faced whatever he meets inside.
He quickly decided to be executed by hanging.
As he was being led out to be hanged, he asked the King out of curiosity.
What’s behind the door?
The King laughed and told him.
I always tell everyone to make this choice and nearly everyone chooses Hanging.
Well, you can tell me what’s inside the room, He said.
Your secret is safe with me as I am about to be hanged.
The King replied, behind the door of that room is Freedom.
But most people are always afraid of the unknown that they chose to be hanged instead.
Now reading this story, you may be telling yourself that you would have chosen the room, but we both know that you would have most likely made the same choice as the criminal.
This same thing applies in life, thankfully we are not criminals so we can be freer to make decisions without fear of death.
You see.
Two things determine how far you go in life.
- Your ability to conquer fear
- Your ability to conquer Ego
My focus for this article is fear and I hope that I would get to write on Ego later on.
Achieving success in any area of life involves learning and application.
If you give room to fear or ego, you will never be able to apply whatever you learn and this will directly affect the results that you would get.
It does not matter how talented your teachers or mentors are or how sophisticated your learning materials and gadgets are.
The foundational determinant of success for every single human being on Earth is tied to an ability to conquer fear and ego.
Like I said earlier, I am talking about just fear today.
So let’s dive into it.
Table of Contents
Unpacking Fear
When I write articles, there is one thing that I aim for.
Not just for your reading, but for myself also.
The quality of this article is directly tied to how deep I understand what I am writing about.
If not, I will just highlight issues, fail to address them properly, and feel good that I have written something.
So I will not just unpack fear here, I would come from what I call the solution angle.
I am sure that you are well acquainted with fear.
Even as you read this article, you are kind of afraid that you would see something that would burst your bubble.
You have probably given yourself a perfect excuse for why you can’t do a particular thing, prepare to get your excuse squashed.
The Purpose of Time
You are probably very good at setting new year resolutions, but not that good at keeping them.
However, I am not here to talk against New Year’s resolutions but give a different perspective on the underlying act.
Which is setting new goals.
There is one important thing that you need to understand.
January 1st does not have a monopoly on new beginnings.
You don’t just measure time in years, there are also months, weeks, days, hours and minutes.
One important thing that you need to learn is to be consistent with action as you are with inaction.
Let me give an example.
You tell yourself, this year I will read more books.
So you set a goal of reading one book a week.
Week one, you read a book. Same as the second and third week.
Then by the fourth week of January, something happens and you fail to read a book.
What you do in the fifth week would go a long way in determining how your year goes.
Most people go into mourning and lament how they have failed and never go back to reading one book a week.
But you need to do the opposite.
You need to pick up a book in the fifth week and continue like you never stopped.
When it comes to being consistent with your goals, it is not strange to fail once.
The main problem starts when you miss out two times in a row.
So, let’s say you have a goal to write every day and you miss writing on one particular day.
Make sure that you write the very next day.
Don’t miss two days in a row.
You won’t perfect this overnight, but the more you act on this, the more you become more consistent with time.
I can give countless examples of how this has helped me personally.
Work on becoming consistent with action instead of inaction.
Don’t wait for a new day, week, month or year before getting back into action.
The moment you realize that you are slacking, pick up the pace again and start pushing.
Never take a day for granted.
A new day, week, month or year does not reset your mind or the world.
What determines the change that you see is what you do now.
You also need to get something.
Every year, month, week or day that passes brings closure to both failure and success.
So you achieved amazing things last week. So What
So you wasted last week doing nothing. That’s in the past.
Whether last week was a success or a failure for you, you are in a new week.
Make sure that you make it count.
The greatest enemy of your next success is wrapping yourself so much in your previous success.
Don’t be a one-hit-wonder.
Work.
The Genesis (Abi Exodus)
There is one saying by Myles Monroe that I love the most.
Success is the Potential Destiny of all Created things.
And this is one of the truest statements that I have come across.
Let’s slip back into the Human Realm and review how we make plans for things as Humans.
Before we build something, there are certain processes that we go through.
The Architect does some drawings before a House is built.
The Fashion designer does some sketches on paper before creating a dress.
The Business Man creates a business plan on paper before he starts building a business.
Every single one of these things and anything else that you can think of was finished on paper first before it was started.
Everything that we do as Humans mirrors the actions of God.
That alone should tell you that your life has been finished on paper by God before You started living it (Jeremiah 1:5)
You were born victorious. You just need to realize it.
What is Success?
While we are on this topic of building.
I must help you gain clarity on what success truly is.
Success is not about outclassing or overtaking others.
Success is tied to discovering what you are meant to build and achieving it before you die.
So you are not in a race with anybody but yourself.
Your goal should be to become better today than you were yesterday.
You can always find someone that you are better than.
So if you use people as your benchmark it is easier for you to trick yourself into thinking that you are getting better.
Comparing yourself with others also makes you run another person’s race.
The race is not for the swift or the battle for the strong.
There is something that I talk about whenever I teach about success.
And that’s Identity/ Self Awareness.
My definition for both is knowing the difference between who you are and who you wish you were.
We all have pictures in our heads of who we wish we are like or where we wish we were.
And these pictures are fed into our minds by watching others live their life.
Social media has given us access to the way others live their life and it is easy to see those who have seemingly perfect lives.
But first of all, you need to understand that everyone put their best foot forward online.
Even you.
When you take pictures, you do your best to pick the best one to post and ignore the ones that don’t look cool to you.
Same with every other person, they focus on posting the best parts of their lives.
So you sit there and compare and feel that your life is in total shambles.
You need to focus on who you are and what you carry.
At the end of your life, your success is not measured by how much money you have made.
It would be measured by how far you went to achieving your assignment here on Earth.
Like Gary Vee always says:
” It is not about how much you have in your Bank account, it is about how many people turned up for your Funeral”
Some people die today and only their families mourn them.
Some people die and the whole world stands still.
Kobe Bryant, Chadwick Boseman and so on.
These people died relatively early, but the time they spent here when compared to the average Human Lifespan touched millions of people.
No one was talking about their Money when they died.
The focus was on their impact.
RoadBlocks To Avoid
Some roadblocks would stump your ability to achieve your vision.
And some of these things are not necessarily bad, but when compared against your vision they can cause problems.
Let me use smoking as an example.
When you tell some people not to smoke cigarettes, they say things like,
It is not illegal.
Show me a place in the Bible that talks against it.
But there is no need for all that proof.
Right there on the cigarette pack, there is a message from the Ministry of Health that says “Smokers and liable to die Young”.
So do you want to live long and achieve purpose
Or do you want to spend the latter part of your life battling Lung Cancer and other smoking-related ailments?
So do a review of your life and check things that would take away from your ability to work hard on your vision.
It can be social media (there are periods where I uninstall Twitter and Instagram from my phones)
It can be that relationship that always keeps you on the wrong side.
No matter what it is, work on separating yourself from it so that you can move ahead.
Conclusion
The central theme of this article is fear.
Everything that I have talked about addresses fear from a certain angle.
If you don’t understand the purpose of time, fear would marry that and keep you stagnant.
You will always think you need to get to a certain point in time before you can try building again, not knowing that what you do now is what matters the most.
If you don’t understand that you have been designed to succeed, fear will cripple you.
Same as if you don’t understand what true success is.
You would always ignore the unique gifts that you have been given and try to run the race of others.
I believe that this article has helped you address fear from so many angles.
You are welcome to ask any questions that you may have in the comments below, I always reply to all comments.
if you will love to receive my articles in your mail whenever I write them subscribe to my Newsletter with the link below
P.S
I have published the article on Ego
You can read it here: Three Ways You are Suffering From Ego
Image Source: Visualize Value
105 Responses
Well-done Ajulu. Your articles are always a delight to read and I am sure this helped. Cheers!
You are welcome Nnamdi. I am glad it helped you.
This is insightful Ajulu.
“If you don’t understand that you have been designed to succeed, fear will cripple you.”
You are welcome Chinwoke
‘Don’t miss two days in a row.
You won’t perfect this overnight, but the more you act on this, the more you become more consistent with time.”
This is it for me. Thank you
You are welcome Jude
I have resolved not to write daily/weekly/monthly/yearly goals anymore. It doesn’t work for me. What I do is write down what I got done that day/week/month/year then strive to get more done the following day/week/month/year.
It is still important to document where you would want to be. It will help you frame things better when looking back
Thanks, Ajulu. This is good.
On the issue of purpose/building, how do you overcome confusion or overload when the height to attain seems big or too much?
Also, how do you not make road maps from the life of others when you can see that they are where you want to be (for instance, on confidence, wisdom and public speaking). I am of the opinion that one tends to create a hypothetical better version of oneself from their life and use that as a road map to being better.
Thanks again Chief!
The solution to this is finding a Mentor (just one person for clarity sake)
After you find a mentor, get what worked for them and use it to chart your path.
But understand that you won’t get there overnight, you still need to put in the work.
I just needed this today and I am glad I read through. I have been on a project that I so much believe in with my partner and sometimes the fear of ‘will it work out?’ overwhelms me a lot.
This is really a delightful meal beautifully cooked to help me out.
Thank you very much, Ajulu.
You are welcome Precious.
If you have envisioned it, you are already halfway there, just back your vision with action and you will see results
Impact>>> Financial achievement.
That hit really hard.
Thank you do much Sir.
What a read!
Yes. Process before Proceeds
I this article is really good. I love it!
I am glad it helped you Chidi
2 things that stood out for me here and also confirmatoons of what God has been taking me through.
1. Dont stop because you failed today. Keep going.
2. Always check where your focus is. Too many times I find that I am beginning to focus on who I wish I was than who I am
Yes, the journey is greater than the destination.
Thanks Ajulu for this piece. I learnt a lot but the striking one is not to make other people’s goal my focus (running other people’s race because I feel they are better than I am)
Thank you Sir
You are welcome Lisafi
Thank you for this beautiful article.. You really spoke directly to me.. God bless you
Amen. You are welcome
This was very succinct, and it came just in time. Thank you, Ajulu.
“The moment you realize that you are slacking, pick up the pace again and start pushing.”
I’ve taken that one home.
Great point to imbibe
Following you and digesting your articles since 2020 lockdown has shaped my reasoning alot. Thanks Ajulu
Thanks for sticking with me so far
“Don’t miss two days in a row.”
I think i can apply this consistently.
Yes you can
Thank you so much sir Ajulu.
There are three things that stood out for me in this article:
1.success is tied to discovering what I am meant to build and achieving it before I die.
2. If I don’t understand that I am been designed to succeed, fear will cripple me
And lastly this, which will always ring in my mind, my goal should be to be become better today than I was yesterday.
God bless you sir, can’t wait for next on EGO, am already excited.
Amen, do well to share the article with others
Wow 😊 i love tbis article, they way you simplified this peice is good and self explanatory, i gain value from it especially in the aspect of running other people race and thinking my own life is in shambles.
Thank you Ajulu 🙏
You are welcome Simon
Make sure that you are focused on your race
This article grabs one back by the belt on a road to doom. Good one Ajulu
This your comment is Poetry 🙂
Thanks so much Ajulu.
This has helped me in ways you probably can’t imagine.
If I could give myself a title, it’ll be the “King of Unfinished Projects”. Uncompleted projects litter everywhere, and I think Fear is a huge part of it.
I start strong, then slack off for 1 day, and before I know it.
It’s been 3 weeks.
I’ve learnt my lesson.
Keep up, and continue!
Thanks a million!
There is one thing that I have learned, and it is from a quote by Heraclitus ” Under the comb, the straight and tangled paths are the same”
When building, whether you are given 100% assurance that what you are building will work out the way you planned it or not, you still have to do the work.
Work needs to happen no matter what, so just put in the work and see what comes next.
I am happy the post helped you.
Thank you for this wonderful read, sir
You are welcome Glory
This is the best food ever served today. Thank you very much Ajulu.
I am happy that the post was satisfactory
This article addresses my procrastination a.k.a Fear. I have been saying I need to start writing again “soon”. Soon isn’t a realistic timeline for when I’d start but truly what has kept me is fear.. Would my article be found interesting? Would I have alot of people read my article? What if I fail at writing … All of these.. Reading this has catapulted my thoughts into a place of courage really. Thank you for writing.
You are welcome Kachi. The best time to start is now
Thanks a lot Ajulu.You’ve been a great source of joy…The weakness for me,has always been this 👇👇
“The greatest enemy of your next success is wrapping yourself so much in your previous success.” But then,you opened my eyes to see that fear is the root cause and not the failures of the past…
Yes.
Forgetting what’s behind. Press towards the mark.
Thank you so much sir,it was helpful 😊
You are welcome Christabel
Thanks for this article.
This is my first time reading your article and I must say I’ve learnt for this.
I am glad it was helpful to you Damilola
I love how swift the article was presented
The definition on Success struck me and I just needed it
It gave me a new mindset towards social life and security
Thanks for sharing
More Wisdom ….
You are welcome Gift. Truly, Success is our destiny
Thank you Ajulu, most times I’m scared that I’m not qualified for some things or maybe there is enough time for me to accomplish my goals. This causes me to do last minutes works. Any idea how I can change that.
You have time. What you need is to be more confident.
It takes the same amount of energy to aim both high and low
Aim high
Whenever I read your articles, it’s like God is sending you to say hey Greatness you are getting distracted again, Stay Focused… You are such a blessing to me sir.. God bless you richly
Amen. Thank you Greatness
This is my very first time of reading your article and i’ve gained a lot.
Welcome to my community Helen
Very insightful… A pleasure to read.. Thank you sir, for this piece.
You are welcome Kingsley
Sincerely speaking I always look forward to your write-ups, I can literally pulse whatever I doing and read your write-ups because it’s a bosster.
I’m seriously having issues with procrastination but this peice has made me see where I’m really lacking
Please i look forward to the write up on ego
Hello Jerry. Thank you for your vote of confidence
Also share the article with others. it will help a lot
thanks, love it
You are welcome
Thank you so much, Ajulu. Your approach to this topic was very instructive and has inspired me to improve on my blogging. You talked about the quality of an article in your intro. That was a major highlight for me.
Thank you for the reminders too.
You are welcome Keni. I am sure that you will create something amazing
So, yesterday I had to open up to a friend that i have been dealing with unexplainable fear for over two months. Basically about posting contents to my channel.
The annoying part of this, i wake up with the guilt and sleep with the burden of why i started in the first place.
For no reason, i have been unable to put down my thoughts.
I literally feel scared of going to my notes to pen down thoughts for my content.
The fear of actually making an impact and why people even trust me enough to share deep things with me is what i do not understand.
Stumbling on this yesterday same time i was chatting with my friend means a lot.
Reading this did not take away the fear, but i am encouraged.
1. Knowing that what i feel is real
2. I can do something about it
Thank you Ajulu.
You are welcome Ochanya. Start putting your work out
Great piece….
Thanks
Thanks, Ajulu. A great read to start my day. I can’t wait for the next article on conquering ego.
It will be up soon. Do well to share this article to your friends
Thank you so much for this sir.
Lord knows that my fear for what is in that dark room can be paralysing, but what I always fail to remember is that this is what lies between me and my next level of growth🥲
I’m really looking forward to your piece on EGO sir, God bless you
You are welcome Ebuka. Action is always the best approach.
Do well to share this article with others
This article is speaking to me. I now have the courage to deal with fear. I will no longer be a slave to fear.
Thank you Sir Ajulu.
You are welcome Lilian
“It’s not how much money you make, it’s how many people turn up for your funeral” ⚰️
Great read as always.
So help us God 🙏🏽
Amen. Work hard to make an impact in the lives of people
Thank you sir for taking your time to craft this, I anticipate you article on Ego.
I will publish it soon
Thanks a lot for this piece
You are welcome Chisom
This is a beautiful read… At first I was afraid of reading it through cos I knew my tables would be shattered but I guess I overcame the fear as I began to read along..
I am happy that it helped you
Thanks for this Ajulu.
Thank God I didn’t miss this.
You are welcome, Sam. You can subscribe to my newsletter to always get articles once they are published
Ajulu.substack.com
This article touched me in several ways, thank you very much Boss Ajulu for sharing I have seen the need to work on myself
I am happy it helped you Prosper.
Get to work.
I wished i read this article before now.
You just spat the truth to my face. I have always wanted to create but the fear of rejection has lamed me. While going through your article, i noticed that most people achieved less or nothing because they never started. I am getting to work ASAP.
I heard you speaking at your last Twitter space. You’re such a blessing sir. Thanks.
Good day Jude.
The most important thing is getting started.
It is not too late to start. I am happy that the article helped you.
Thanks you sir for this. I always enjoy reading your articles and I have learn a lot from it, but my problem is that I don’t have any skills or anything projects I am building. So I am kind of confused on how to start
There are some foundational things that you need to learn.
I urge you to start with this video series that I created for those just starting.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzzJP9QMAGGZMChY8b9EndA5AAbOz5kiF
I always resonate with the stories and also I’ve come to realize that I’ve been really distracted with relationships and indulging in things that take away my ability to focus on my vision. I truly appreciate the effort u put into writing these articles cos they’re enlightening and eye opening.
Hello Ovie
I am glad that you found the article helpful
At one point as I was reading my heart was beating fast. This article would really help me conquer my fear and also make me achieve my potential. thank you so much, stay blessed
You are welcom Sodiq. I am glad that you found the article helpful
This is an eye opening, Thanks a lot.
This isthe second time I’ve read this article. The first time I didn’t totally understand.
But this time, I actually felt the real form of fear, because it had crippled almost 5years of my life.
I’m glad I took a bold step to starting my perfume brand and I feel more fulfilled because I overcame that fear.
Thank you for this article big AJ.❤️
You are welcome Fortune. I am so glad that you are conquering your fears
Thank you so much sir for this article.
I’m still in the process of discovering my “purpose” I still haven’t found what is peculiar to me as a person. I need help sir.
Send me a message on WhatsApp ( 09064107416)
I read this and clarity set in for me on something’s I did wrong- setting back after a one time fail ( everyday gym)
Don’t fail twice in a roll. Very important
This came at the right time.
I am about to start a business online and I feel fear trying to creep in. I have been motivating myself. Thanks for this.
You are welcome Racheal