As the true story I share in this article illustrates, sometimes you need to follow your instincts/intuition, and take action to get what you want, without procrastinating, if you want to achieve important breakthroughs in life.
Napoleon Hill and W. Clement Stone in the classic Self-Help book titled “Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude” repeatedly emphasized to the reader, the importance of applying what they called the “Self-Starter”: DO IT NOW!
<h3>Here’s a quote from their book, that explains:</h3>
<blockquote>”…Now what is the secret of getting things done and what is the self-starter that forces you to use this great secret? The secret of getting things done is to act. The self-starter is the self-motivator: DO IT NOW!
As long as you live, never say to yourself, “DO IT NOW!” Unless you follow through with desirable action.
…Many persons have the habit of procrastination. Because of it, they may miss a train, be late for work, or even more important – miss an opportunity that could change the whole course of their lives for the better. History has recorded how battles have been lost because someone put off taking desirable action.
…Memorize the self-starter DO IT NOW!
DO IT NOW! can affect every phase of your life. It can help you do the thing you should do, but don’t feel like doing. It can keep you from procrastinating when an unpleasant duty faces you.” </blockquote>
<h3>True Story: How I Won a Paid Speaking Invitation At First Contact, With No Prior Planning, and at Zero Cost</h3>
One morning in 2012, before I relocated to Benin Republic, I was driving past the premises of a popular higher institution in Lagos, when – acting on impulse – as the thought flashed through my mind, I turned into the compound and drove down to the Centre for Entrepreneurship Development on campus.
I’d once read about the centre on the institution’s website and often wondered about opportunities for collaboration to be had there.
With no specific plan of what I wanted to say in mind, and carrying no promotional materials – not even business/call cards (which I stopped using in 2004) – I walked into the office of the centre’s director, having been shown the way by students I met outside the building, on the campus grounds.
<h3>I told the secretary in the front office my name and added that I had a suggestion that would help the director add more tangible real-world relevant value to content served students being taught entrepreneurship there.</h3>
What I said, the serious tone with which I said it, and the confident manner I carried myself, looking directly into her eyes, undoubtedly made an impression.
I say this because she promptly asked me to wait, then went in to announce my presence to the director, returning to usher me in within minutes.
I walked in while quickly thinking of possible topics to present as a basis for discussion that would capture the director’s interest. By the time we’d exchanged pleasantries, I still had not settled on anything specific.
So, once again, I followed my intuition.
I told her that I believed the unique socioeconomic environment in which entrepreneurs have to function in Nigeria is one that nothing in our classrooms can adequately prepare us for.
She nodded in agreement to that, and continued doing so as I gave personal examples of how I’d learnt that truth the hard way after I quit paid employment to venture into entrepreneurship as a Nigerian living in Nigeria.
<h3>I then made my pitch by saying her centre’s learners needed someone who had been through it, to share with them useful tips and insights towards minimizing trial and error to reach their respective goals</h3>
This, I added, was important in light of the need for them to make the most of limited time and resources they have access to – otherwise many would likely be discouraged and even quit due to the hardships lack of such know-how would visit upon them!
<b>Long story short, she responded by saying I’d come in at a time when she was musing over how to identify and invite a guest speaker for the annual entrepreneurial lecture due to take place in a month’s time.</b>
She asked for my business card and I told her I used none.
“Then what do you use?” she asked in surprise.
I replied that it was just my website, and that it had all the information she would need about me and what I offerred..
She promptly handed me a piece of paper on which I wrote the website address and gave to her.
She then gave me her complimentary card, promising that she would review the website and if satisfied, would recommend to the board that I be invited as guest speaker for the event.
<h3>Less than 2 weeks later, after I’d sent in the draft talk outline in response to her emailed request, I got an email from her, bearing a scanned version of the formal invitation on letterheaded paper advising that the board had approved my selection as guest speaker.</h3>
In the 2 weeks that followed, I gave the talk to an audience in a packed auditorium with students/top officers of the institution present and the print/TV/Radio media covering the event.
Everything went well, and I even got interviewed after the event. The icing on the cake was that I got paid – even though my offer had been to give a FREE talk!
Looking back, there is no doubt in my mind that applying the “DO IT NOW!” self-starter was the key to my achievement of that breakthrough.
Having said that however, it is instructive to note that if I had not had an Effective Online Presence (EOP) that did what it was meant to do (which was to get visitors convinced that I’m the person they need) that self-starter would not have worked for me.
In case you wonder what I had that produced such an effect, I call it a Web Marketing System (WMS) – <a href=”http://tayosolagbade.com/smclub-nonfarm.html” target=”blank”>click here to learn more about it</a>