"Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe you can achieve"
- Mary Kay Ash

Life to me is a product of what we design it to be. I was born twenty years ago, with my late father being an engineer with an enviable and handsomely paying job, while my mother being a house wife. It was the good life and lack was a word we never heard on our tables. Six years later, my seemingly auspicious future was truncated by the death of my father; it marked the turning point of a new era for me and my family. Things were bound to change and indeed they did change.

I was withdrawn severally from one school to another and this was not far from related to the lack of finances and family issues. Life had given me reasons to quit and I was taking its route; at my final years at Senior Secondary School I had already started smoking marijuana and other substances. I scarcely ever saw a reason why I should be alive. My mother had complained daily of the dearth of funds and at times we scarcely had enough to eat. I had lost interest in education and a purposeful life.

This was a mindset, I had viewed my present circumstances and judged my future based on them, consequently I was taking the wrong path of life.

The dream of every young man of my age then was to be rich, but the surrounding circumstances pointed to the contrary, only a positive mindset could drive a man through all these to achieve the realities of his dreams.

I tried hard and was able to develop a mindset; that hard work will take you anywhere; and goals will drive you to where ever you chose to go; and in other words, hard work and goals will drive you anywhere you chose to go. I had come to understand that the world is filled up with opportunities which rear their heads every now and then, and then the onus is on us to grab them whenever they surfaced. I listened to a motivational tape, and one thing I learnt from it was this, "Luck is not a mystical energy that dances around the universe randomly bestowing people with satisfaction and joy; you create your own luck"

Over time, I had learnt that except I stretched my hands, I would receive nothing and except I took a step, I would remain stagnant. Then I decided to move; and become a world changer, surpassing even my biggest dreams. The first step I took in my journey of a million miles was to acquire a diploma in law; and even before I had finished the Diploma programme, I enrolled into a degree course. At my first year, I attended several trainings on Human Resource Development, I joined literal clubs to help me improve on my writing and public speaking. I opened myself to the positive society and gave my dreams a wider vacuum for increase.

A year later, I was appointed the Editor of my University's unofficial Magazine, and the following year I was appointed a Nokia Brand Ambassador. I am in my fourth year now and every day is another twenty-four hours to steer forward and attain a higher plateau.
Telling this story isn't borne out of the desire to get applauds, "wows", congratulatory notes or even jealous remarks, never; it's simply to tell the world that your mindset can make or mar you; can elevate or destroy you. It doesn't just start with the ordinary adoption of a life changing mindset, it fol-lows with the first step which leads you to achieving your goals and beginning the journey of conquering great obstacles life may throw at you. A noteworthy lesson I have also learnt in all, is that to attain success, you must never set limits or boundaries to your visions, when you do, you will stop at a point and be complacently self-deceived that you have reached your peak; Whereas the best is yet to be discovered in you and your greatness has rarely been tapped into.

The mind is what defines us; everything that exists today is engendered by the mind, however we must not forget that we were not created with just a mind, this mind is accompanied by a pair of hands and legs to make realities the creations of the mind. As Goethe puts it "whatever you can do or dream you can begin it ... "

Success is an after product of a mindset, if you can conceive it, if you can believe it, then You Can Achieve it.