Get Rich or Die Trying. It was Bill Gate who wrote, “If you are born poor it’s not your mistake, but if you die poor it’s your mistake.” So to be born poor is not a sin but to die poor is a sign of lack of knowledge.
Dr Olumide Emmanuel will always say, “Everybody can be rich but not everybody will be rich.
Everybody can be wealthy but not everybody will be wealthy. The simple reason
is that not everybody will know what they need to know, not everybody will do
what they need to do. The problem is
always ignorance, laziness and lack of action.”
Fela Durotoye admonished, “It is because you are managing, that’s why your situation has not changed”.
This title is similar to 50 Cent’s debut album “Get Rich or
Die Tryin”. 50 Cent’s literally couldn’t make an
album like it again. The anticipation for Get Rich’s release was so high that Interscope Records rushed
it out five days before its scheduled Feb. 11 date 2003.
Prior to the release
of his mix-tape, Curtis Jackson, also known as 50 Cent was an
aspiring rapper who grew up on the streets trying to earn a living by hustling
and selling drugs. Eventually he was thrown into prison where he used that time
to write lyrics for his upcoming albums which eventually was picked up by
Eminem.
An interesting fact to note is that while 50 Cent was
building his music career early on, he was involved in a drug battle which
resulted into him getting shot 9 times throughout his body in Queens, New York on May 24th, 2000.
Most people would give up at this point and hold back in
pursuing their dreams but 50 Cent didn’t. Instead he survived, fought on and
used his experience to push himself forward to becoming one of the most
influential rappers in the music industry.
I read a lot of stories about people who were faced with
death and they usually embark on a spiritual journey whereby they reach
enlightenment and realise their true purpose. I guess 50 Cent went through that
process and used it as his driving force towards anything he focused on.
When you go through a traumatic experience such as being
shot at gun point and surviving it, I guess the usual fears we all have
dissipates because nothing can really match that experience.
Now you don’t have to get shot 9 times to get rich or become
successful so instead, I’ll share with you the secrets of self-made millionaire
and billionaires.
Because the secrets of men are in their stories, until
you know what they know you wouldn’t get what they get. I want to believe that
those who are listening to me are either millionaire or potential millionaires.
But before I go further,
listen to this, it is better to be
impetuous than cautious in pursuit of fortune because fortune is like a
stubborn he goat, and if you wish to dominate him you must beat him and batter
him. It is clear that he will let himself be won by men who are impetuous
rather than by those who tread cautiously. 
AfrAsia
Bank Wealth report of 2018 cited that 71,000 millionaires are living
in Nigeria, 320 centi-millionaires, and 25 billionaires. The total private
wealth held in Africa is expected to increase by 34 percent over the next ten
years, with the possibility of reaching USD 3.1 Trillion by 2027. When we think
of wealthy individuals in Nigeria some
names come to mind such as, Femi Otedola, Mike Adenuga, Aliko Dangote, Tony Elumelu, Bola
Ahmed Tinubu, Igho Sanomi, Oba Otudeko, and Folorunsho Alakija etc.
Have you ever paused to think about their habits? You
see, successful people all do similar things. As Brian Tracy would say, “Success
leaves tracks.” The wealth you desire will not fall on your laps like
ripe mango fruits, there are certain practical requirements and responsibilities
you have to meet and carry out before you can have it.
01. Dream Big Dreams: To
succeed in life your dream must be big enough to make you rich at the end of
the day. It should be convincing enough to push you off the bed by 5 am. It has
to be simple enough for a 6 years old child to recite it, comprehensive enough
to be documented and very plain, such that anybody who sees it can run with it.
Your dream should be
sparkling enough to take your breath away, and if your dream doesn’t scare you,
it’s probably not big enough. Your dream should
be big enough so that when you announce it, people will say you are crazy. Your
dreams should be big enough to involve God in the fulfilment of it.
02. Believe
in yourself: The abode of riches isn’t easy, so if you
want to be rich, you’ve got to believe in yourself. The world’s most wealthy
people have unshakeable confidence in themselves and in their vision. Without
it, they would have given up too easily after a few obstacles got in their way.
How is your confidence? Do you believe you can be rich?
I’ll tell you something in case nobody told you before: You can do whatever you
want in life, you’ve just to first believe it, and then work like mad to get
it.
03.
Make a committed decision: (Reach a Point of no Return). Decision not condition will make you rich. Burn
that bridge and damn the plan B mentality! The
story of burning the ships is as relevant as ever. In 1519, Hernán Cortés arrived in the New World with six
hundred men and, upon arrival on the shores of (what is today) Mexico he gave the order to his men
to burn the ships. This sent a clear message to his men: There is no
turning back. Two years later, he succeeded in his conquest of the Aztec
empire.
What Cortés did was
force himself and his men to either succeed or die. Retreat was not an option.
I believe that to truly achieve the level of success we each desire, there are
times when we need to ‘burn the ships.’
04.
Develop a Clear Sense of Direction: You need to be
intentionally-goal oriented. You’ve got to know what you want in every area of
your life, and decide how much exactly it is that you want; write it down and
make a plan to get it. Determine the price you have to pay to get it and
resolve to pay that price, because you have to pay the price ahead. Brian Tracy
is the master in this area, he will ask his audience to remove a sheet of paper,
write 10 goals inside it and choose one major goal out of them and work on it
immediately.
05.
Be Hungry, Be Obsessed with Strategies and Be Resourceful:
Hunger is the greatest motivator
of action,
and action is the key to success. When you are dying of hunger, you will do
whatever it takes to get yourself a meal. And if you don’t succeed, you will
die trying. If we truly want to be great, to do great things, and to find
success in life however it might look to each of us, we need to stop snacking
and let those hunger pains push us a little harder.
And there is not a more important trait to possess than resourcefulness
in the pursuit of riches in life. With
a resourceful mind-set we’re driven to find a way. There is no waiting. We’ll
always try to find a way, always!
06.
Dedicate Yourself to Lifelong Learning (personal development):
Rich people never stop learning.
They believe that learning never ends. This doesn’t mean they’re going to
school to get new degrees, although they may. Even without formal education,
they’re constantly reading and learning from others around them, perhaps from
books, trade magazines or conferences, or from others who are ahead of where
they want to be. To become a self-made millionaire you are going to fail and
fail again but you must not give up the enthusiasm. And to become an unshakable
optimist you must be committed to painful detour of personal development and
self-growth.
07.
Develop a Workaholic Mentality: Have you ever met someone who is
super-rich and lazy? Neither have I. The truth is that the road to riches is
paved with hard work. If you want to achieve great wealth, you’ll need to wake
up early, stay up late and put in your time. Success doesn’t just come to those
who want it. You’ve got to pay your dues. Aliko Dangote once said that in the
first 13 years of his business he never took a vacation.
08.
Get Around the Right People: If you want to be wealthy, hang out with wealthy people. If you want to
be funny, hang out with funny people. And if you want to be poor, hang out with
poor people.
The truth is that people naturally mimic the
behaviours of those around them. Mind-set
is contagious. So if you want to be a very rich person in life, spend time
with others who are already rich. Don’t know anyone who is rich? That’s okay.
You can read books written by them or about them. Listen to their radio
interviews or watch them on TV. Attitude and success is contagious, so catch it
by hanging around some of the great people.
Earlier this year, I planned to attach myself to
one of the foremost motivational speakers in Nigeria and today I’m happy to say
Fela Durotoye is my mentor.
9. Develop
the Qualities of Courage and Persistence: Rich people persist until they achieve riches. Obstacles to success are normal and should be
expected. However, you can decide when you are committed to success that you’re
going to persist no matter what obstacles arise.
Go around them, go over them, or push through them,
but persist no matter what happens. That is what successful people do, and so
should you if you want to be successful. You must be prepared to climb from peak to peak.
10. The
Quality of Self-discipline: The quality of self-discipline is a
habit, a practice, a philosophy and a way of living. All successful men
and women are highly disciplined in the work they do. All poor men
and women are undisciplined and unable to control their behaviours and
appetites.
And
when you develop
the same
high personal discipline possessed by the most goal-oriented successful
people in our
society, you will very soon become successful and rich.
