THE RUN

One step at a time. Start and keep going. 

It might look hard, tough and confusing, but the law of process says as long as you don't stop going in the right direction, you still stand a chance of getting there. Not stopping is part of the process and process is a law. The only catastrophe is if you are journeying in the wrong direction, then you end nowhere. Before you bake the bread, learn the recipe. The ingredients needed, how to mix and other steps needed to get the banana bread or the kind of bread you want. Learning always precede doing. If you miss the learning part, then you miss it all. Be an apprentice, read, watch others do it; get the basic know how and then start. If you learn in what you are naturally gifted in, it becomes easy to learn. This is a true story. A young man that had no interest in mechanic work was sent to a mechanic workshop to learn. He kept skipping work, running off and didn't learn anything. His master got tired of flogging him for lateness or absenteeism and reported him to his parents. His parents tried hard yet he did not change until someone advised them to first find out what he was naturally endowed and cut out for and train him in that direction. They discovered he loved tailoring work, sewing clothes. They sent him off to go learn there and within a few weeks he excelled above all he met there. He was so passionate about it that if you do not hide your clothe material from him at home, he will sew it for use or sale. He could sit and work for hours without getting tired. He excelled at it, graduated from apprenticeship with flying colours, established his own tailoring business and became famous through it. 

It took me three attempts to get admission into the university many years back. It was all because I was trying to attempt courses I was not cut out for. While in high school, English and literature came easily to me, I could read novels endlessly and repeat everything I read. Reading was so natural to me just like drinking water, I enjoyed it and still do. Literary criticism was inborn. Thinking up stories was like breathing. I never failed in both English and literature. In fact, till I graduated in high school, I was the best student in literature amongst my set. I won prizes in literature. I failed science woefully, didn't have a clue. The school placed me in social sciences, the appropriate place for me. I left secondary school and time came to sit exam into the university and I followed popular pressure; medicine. Everybody wanted it, all parents wanted it, why not me. It was and still a lucrative course. Doctors enjoy good money. I chose science subjects for exam so I can pass and get admission to study medicine, I failed woefully. I waited another year and tried another course: Economics, I almost succeeded, but the English language score which was my joker amongst the other subjects I sat for to gain admission was cancelled for everybody. I did not do well in the other subjects, but did well in English language. If it had been added to my total score, I would have gained admission to study Economics. English was cancelled and I failed again. So fortunate I did not gain admission  to study Economics, things would have been hard; I was not cut out for it. I waited another year to write another exam, but this time I had learnt my lesson. I simply chose English and Literature as my preferred course. The subjects I was to sit for included English, Literature and two others of my choice and also as required. I simply added Bible knowledge (being a Christian) and probably another subject I was average in. You sit for four papers back then. It was in 1990-1991. I did not stress myself preparing, I was busy jumping about, though I studied well too. It was too easy for me. If I can still remember clearly, I had candies (we call it sweet in Nigeria) in my pocket during the exam; licking and enjoying the game the papers were playing before me. I 'dusted' English, literature and Bible knowledge like sawdust. I finished early and was just busy licking my sweet and watching others sweating over papers. I was not bothered about the result, I was too sure. The result came, I got the third highest result for that course in my university of choice. I would have done better but for the fourth subject that reduced my score. I got far above the cut off mark for admission. I think it was 239 while I scored 253, guess I am accurate being long ago. I simply strolled into campus. I went through literature in the University like a plaything....If you have been reading me, you will know I am saying the truth. In all my works I hardly copy people. I have used AI to create stories only once and probably to add a few martial art stuffs in a previous story and below so far, simply because I did not have the time to study surfing and baking I wanted to discuss. Outside these thus far, all my works have been my own copyright. All my stories my own creation. In my other works, whenever I copy I always state I copied. No one on earth has ever edited my works for me. It has never happened thus far. I can do far better in stories. I make them simple here and elsewhere because they are just blog stuffs meant for relaxation and to teach motivation. Nothing complex is necessary. 

You get my point. Go learn in what you are naturally gifted in then take off running. Never stop no matter how long it takes or how hard it get. IF YOU KEEP GOING YOU STAND A CHANCE, IF YOU STOP GOING YOU STAND NO CHANCE. That statement is my copyright. Let's read Talon's confession below. A fiction I created with slight help from AI. 

TALON'S CONFESSION 

My name is Talon, i am a man more familiar with the chaos of my workshop. I never sat down to follow a process. I was not tidy, nor organised in detail. Business was bad, big work hardly come since I always fail to deliver on promise. I was about to pack it up as a failed profession when I suddenly found myself unexpectedly drawn into the intricate dance of processes. It all began with banana bread. 

A recipe, a sacred text called for a precise sequence: mash the bananas, cream the butter and sugar, whisk the eggs, fold in the dry ingredients, and finally, bake at exactly \( 350 \) degrees Fahrenheit for **55** minutes. One day, in a fit of haste, I skipped the creaming step. The result ? A dense, gummy brick, utterly unlike the light, fluffy loaf it should be. This culinary catastrophe sparked a revelation. I realized that each step, each ingredient, was a crucial component, and the order was sacrosanct. Just as a lawyer meticulously builds a case, I understood the importance of following a process. I began to apply this newfound knowledge to my work. Before, i'd dive headfirst into projects, often getting lost in the details. Now, I created checklists, breaking down complex tasks into manageable steps. I learned to anticipate potential problems, just as a lawyer anticipates counterarguments. I measured, I timed, I refined. I started with small projects, and soon I was able to handle larger and more complex projects. I learned the law of process. Just like the banana bread, following the right steps resulted in a perfect result. I applied this to my business and things began to move, today business is booming. Thanks to banana bread. 

Now go mash the bananas, cream the butter and sugar, whisk the eggs....... 

*The story is mine but written with the help of AI in few places. 

(C) Tosin Oke 

Global Motivation