The Big Step

"All glory comes from daring to begin.” – Eugene F. Ware

When I was fifteen, I had a vision of starting an organization that helps poor secondary school students. I envisioned my dream organization going from school to school, meeting needs. But for a whole year, my vision remained in my head, basically because I felt I was not ready to birthe such an idea. I mean, I didn't even have the money to register the organization, I hadn't found the perfect team members yet, I hadn't even found someone who bought into my idea. So why bother? These thoughts bugged my mind continuously, slowly pushing aside the entire vision. 

Then one day, I met a man, Raphael Stephen, Founder and Executive Director of Fashioned And Made For Excellence (FAME) Foundation. He told me something that  changed my orientation forever.  He said, "Goodluck, if you keep waiting for the perfect time and situation before you work on your vision, you will most likely never see it come to reality." These words sank into me like an anchor dropped in the depths of the  ocean. I took those words, meditated on them and that same month, started working on my vision. Today, though my dream organization is not here yet, I find that I derive certain levels of fulfilment in helping my target beneficiaries in small, consistent ways.

Zig Ziglar once said, "You don't have to be good to start; you just have to start to be good." The biggest step on our success journey is always the first step. Opportunities do not come to us in a ready-to-go package. Instead, life delivers them to us in fragmented pieces that'll make up the whole puzzle. The major obstacle then becomes the willingness to go out and find those pieces. But, the ability to find them stems from having the courage to start the game. 

Most great leaders did not have the perfect conditions for leadership before they started out. David didn't have the necessary military know-hows to combat a war giant like Goliath. Not all CEOs had the perfect capital at the start of their business. But, as Mark Twain said, the secret of getting ahead is getting started. As three-time grand slam champion, Aurthr Ashe puts it, "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." Remember, success only comes to those who have the courage to take the first step.

"The beginning is the most important part of the work.” – Plato