The Rere Platform: September 2017

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, by The Rere

I read somewhere that if you focus on problems you will have more problems. And if you focus on possibilities you will have more opportunities. Over the past couple of weeks, one thing has become clear to me, excuses will be there for you but opportunities won’t be.

As Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.”

So many people are quick to make excuses because we refuse to open our eyes and see that life is beyond the now. If you don’t take opportunities as they come, what would be left is a life of “What ifs” and “Maybes”. The open doors of opportunity are all around you, but they won’t do you much good unless you learn to see them and recognize when to walk through them.

You see, you never know when the door of opportunity is going to open wide. For some, the big break comes early in life and for others later on. But for all of those who become successful, there is one key similarity: They were ready. And for every one of those who were ready, there were thousands more who weren’t.

One of life's biggest ironies is how often people complain about their circumstances, yet rarely do anything about it. It's not that they don't have good intentions, or the desire for change isn't great. It's that change is scary and risky. Even when we're unhappy with our current situation, we are familiar with it. For this reason, we often miss opportunities, even when they are staring us right in the face.

Let me share with you a story I read. Laurie was frustrated and burnt out from a very stressful job, she found herself with little energy or time to work on her wellness goals. Working in the face of constant deadlines led to lots of eating on the run, convenience foods and stress munching. Extraordinarily long hours made getting to the gym difficult. The only enjoyment Laurie got from her work was the huge paycheck she received at the end of the week. Of course, she had no time to spend it on entertainment or shopping. Although her savings was growing, her happiness was declining rapidly.

The one bright spot in Laurie's week was the volunteer work she did with underprivileged children on Saturday mornings. Despite the hectic schedule she kept, she never missed that appointment. She also served on the organization's board, made it to every meeting and did all the bookkeeping for them.

It was fascinating that although she complained about having too much on her plate, Laurie never entertained the idea of giving up her volunteer work. It was the one place she got to use her strengths, forget her daily concerns, and have fun!

Laurie began thinking around the idea of looking for another job. As so many others, Laurie had a vision of a better way, even a clear picture of what she would need to get there, but she was so often frozen in her progression. At times, she was desperate to switch gears, and yet sometimes undecided about making the change.

The more she thought about it, the more her confusion and worry mounted. What if I can't find a job that pays as well as this one? Could I make do with less? What if I think the new job sounds great, and it turns out to be just as stressful as this one? "What ifs" were keeping Laurie exactly where she was--except now, on top of everything, she was feeling frustrated and annoyed at herself for being "too scared" to try something new.

Laurie's story is not unusual. Why is taking a chance so difficult? Why do we hesitate to change, and so often spend more time thinking rather than doing anything about it?

Most of us lead lives filled with routine. We get up at a particular time, get ready for our day, and embark about the myriad of responsibilities we need to attend to. We don't give much thought to them; we just go through the motions getting things done, crossing them off our lists and then moving on to the next. When thoughts such as, "Is this all there is?" or "I'm bored, and want a change," creep in, we know it's time to look for new opportunities.

Sometimes, all you need to do is right there staring you in the face just waiting for you. It is better to act and be wrong than to not take action and be stagnant.

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, by The Rere

In Africa, Blogger

Success Is Not For Lazy People...

I have a confession.

Even after I wrote about procrastination, sometimes I still deal with it daily. At times I have to push myself to do things, prep myself to be extra. I have also discovered that if you do not have passion for something, there’s a slim chance that it’ll last very long.

If I have learnt anything, it is the power of hope. The Power of One Person. A Washington, a Lincoln, King, Mandela and even the young girl from Pakistan, Malala. One person can change the world by giving people hope.

Know that life is not fair, that you will fail often. But if you take some risks, step up when the times are the toughest. Face down the bullies, lift up the downtrodden and never ever give up. Know that if you do these, the next generation and the generations that follow, will live in a world far better than the one we have today.

Last week at the MSME Fair held at Teslim Balogun Stadium, there was this incredibly talented young lady. To be honest, I had stumbled on her instagram page a day before. Guess what she does? She uses old tyres to make furniture… genius right?! But that’s what I would call thinking outside the box, beyond the circle.

The beautiful thing is that she’s a slay queen! But this is a total slay, because even her brain slays with brilliant ideas.

You might have heard about Cyrus45 maybe stumbled on their page on the gram. Cyrus45 Factory is a company that focuses on not only recycling but also producing bespoke and ultra-modern furniture and products for the art savvy Nigerian. Olabanke Banjo, the creative director of Cyrus45 is a writer, Digital strategist and an all round creative. A graduate of Foreign Languages (French) from the prestigious Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife Osun State, Olabanke always stood out as an artistic child with an unmitigated interest in literature and fine arts.

When and Why did you start Cyrus45 Factory?

"Cyrus45 factory is an idea that was birthed last year May after several attempts to put my creative skills to good and impactful use. I was living with my elder sister in Lagos and at the time, there was a pile of about 20 tyres in her compound which her neighbours planned to dispose of. Being a lover of revamping old items, I told them to give me the tyres. The initial idea that popped in my head was to make a coffee table. So I went ahead to consult Google on recycling and reusing old tyres. I made a table for myself and after getting great responses, I thought "why not turn this into a real business?" And that was it.

What Motivates you?

Not to sound cliche, but my motivation has always been firstly God. He is the master creator of all things beautiful. Secondly, I have always been a lover of the Arts and more importantly, unconventionality. My family and friends have also been a strong support system. These are the things that inspire me. God has been my drive. He is the one who gave me the talent to be creative. All I know is Cyrus45 factory (which is derived from Isaiah 45) was established by God.

What Challenges Did You Face?

Just like any business or startup at its baby stage, things were not so smooth initially. There were production challenges and also, low sales. There were also very few people who truly appreciated my products and treated them as works of art. As a result of these challenges, I decided to shut down the business in May this year for about two months to restructure and re-strategize. After going back to the drawing board and tidying up to backend, I changed the business name from 'Revampe' to Cyrus45 Factory and relaunched in August. Let's just say the reception and recognition I have received after relaunching has been nothing but overwhelming.

In addition, I have always wanted to impact the society through my art and knowing that Cyrus45 is reducing environmental pollution, global warming and also conserving energy gives me the utmost joy.

Any Future Plans?

My plans for the future is to expand in furniture designs, create more functional products and also change the general perception of Made in Nigeria products. I also hope to be named one of the game-changers in the creative industry.
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Sometimes forget about winning or losing. Put your focus on learning and developing. It is a much better long term strategy, trust me. In her own little way Olabanke is changing the world, but the question is what are you doing?

One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks. Hold on to whatever you believe in, forget tribe or religion and just know there is God. Trust in that Supreme Being and watch things take shape.

Don’t let one bad day stop you from reaching your goal.

Keep pushing, every dream is attainable.

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, by The Rere

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