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The Future in the Past

Introduction

We often think of the past as something to leave behind. In truth, it is the foundation of every step forward. Wisdom traditions remind us that reflection is not stagnation—it is strategy. An elder pauses to understand the cause of a stumble. Similarly, we can look back. By doing so, we uncover lessons that shape our future. Whether in business, education, or personal growth, the past is not a burden. It is a reservoir of insight waiting to be tapped.

Learning, Leveraging, and Leading Forward

The Wisdom of Reflection

There is a saying attributed to a West African ethnic group: when an elder stumbles upon a stone, he looks back to understand the cause, while a younger person simply cries out at the accident and rushes forward on the journey.

This wisdom reminds us that the past is not meant to hold us back, but to offer lessons and opportunities for improvement. Consider how aviation mishaps are investigated: flight history is reviewed, black box data is analyzed, and every detail is examined. These insights are not for blame alone, but to ensure safer flights in the future—especially by manufacturers and regulators.

Yes, there is a future in the past. Progress is built on both successes and failures. Academic advancement depends on certificates earned at lower levels. A lender evaluates your credit history before approving a loan. Employers assess your previous achievements to decide whether to hire you or where to place you. Investors study the past performance of companies before buying shares. Customers return to grocery shops based on prior experiences or recommendations, and shop owners stock items based on past patronage. Project managers rely on repositories of past projects to guide current decisions.

In accounting terms, the past is the “balance brought forward.” It shapes almost every situation—whether casual, short‑term, or long‑term commitments. The challenge is not to let outdated methods dictate our future, but to manage how the past informs it.

Failure in the Past

Failure is feedback. It asks:

What went wrong?
What was missing?
Which skill was misapplied?
Who made the wrong decision?
Which part of the system failed to integrate?
Which resource contributed to poor quality?
Which procedure was neglected?

These questions are not about blame, but about control measures that redirect activities toward success.

No matter how severe the failure, it is vital to identify even the smallest success within it. That spark can boost morale and highlight opportunities to learn new approaches.

Thomas Edison captured this spirit:

“I didn’t fail 1,000 times. The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.”
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

Success in the Past

Success is valuable, but it is not a guarantee for the future. It should serve as a pedestal for new opportunities—whether moving to a new organization, winning a contract, or expanding influence. Success differentiates us, but only if we continue to build upon it.

As Colin Powell said: “There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure.”

Strategies to Deploy

Address the causes of past failure.
Use evidence from the past to adjust your current outlook.
Decide what to let go in the present.
Remove setbacks that hinder progress.
Let the scars of the past remind you that success is a process.
Do better.
Try again.
Use past experiences—whether failure or success—as selling points for your products or services.
Celebrate even the smallest victories within failure.

Conclusion

The past is not a chain holding us down—it is a compass pointing us forward. Failures provide feedback, successes offer platforms, and both together create the momentum for growth. By learning, adjusting, and celebrating even small victories, we transform yesterday’s experiences into tomorrow’s opportunities.

So when you look back, don’t see regret—see raw material for resilience. The future is always hidden in the past, waiting for us to recognize it, refine it, and rise with it.

Refuse to settle for mediocrity; strive to add extra value to your ordinary life. Don’t forget to inspire others by sharing the post.

Transform Your Aspirations: 9 Milestones in a Year

As we approach the new year, I am reminded of the story of the Ancient Israelites. They embarked on a journey that was meant to take just 40 days. However, it ultimately spanned 40 years. This journey encountered hardship and setbacks. It serves as a poignant reminder. Many of us face similar challenges in our pursuit of goals and aspirations. Often, we find ourselves spending far more time than anticipated on our objectives. Some may even give up after repeated attempts without success.

Before embarking on their journey, representatives from various tribes were sent to scout the land, preparing for the challenges ahead. They faced formidable obstacles, yet their perception of these challenges—viewing themselves as mere grasshoppers against giants—often hindered their progress. This mirrors the mindset many adopt in business, believing that success hinges on connections, experience, perfectionism, or abundant resources. However, this is not always the case.

The reality is that individual decisions play a crucial role in achieving success, rather than solely relying on team dynamics. Among those who started the journey, only two reached their destination. A few less experienced individuals also reached the destination by maintaining a positive mindset. Their success was not due to any special tools or resources. It was their ability to remain focused and unafraid of the unknown. They faced challenges, but with the guidance of a courageous leader, they persevered. Some competitors, initially perceived as giants, either allied with them or were ultimately outmatched.

Now, I challenge you to consider this: What if you could achieve a significant milestone every 40 days? This would result in nine milestones over the course of a year—an impressive accomplishment!

So, what could these milestones be?

– Learning a new skill or completing a training program

– Reaching a specific stage in a project

– Changing your employment

– Achieving a certain financial goal

– —???

To attain these milestones, consider the following strategies:

1. Be intentional about your approach and create a clear plan.

2. Network and seek opportunities by reaching out to others.

3. Embrace the journey, understanding that it may involve some discomfort.

4. Make sacrifices where necessary to prioritize your goals.

5. Share your successes and learnings with others.

6. Maintain a positive mindset and affirm your goals.

7. Reevaluate and adjust your methods if they are not yielding results.

8. Seek guidance from a Higher Power—in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your path.

By adopting this proactive mindset and approach, you can transform your aspirations into tangible achievements.

Refuse to settle for mediocrity; strive to add extra value to your ordinary life.

Beginning Something New: The Courage to Step Forward

The Power of New Beginnings

Every new beginning carries within it the quiet power of transformation: the chance to grow, redefine ourselves, and shape the future. Starting something new is rarely easy—it often means leaving behind familiar routines, stepping into uncertainty, and embracing the discomfort that comes with change. Yet it is precisely in that discomfort that transformation takes root.

New beginnings are not solitary acts. They are invitations to join a community, to collaborate, and to build something greater than ourselves. When we begin, we don’t just open a new chapter—we open doors for others to walk alongside us.

Why We Hesitate—and Why We Shouldn’t

Fear of failure: We worry about mistakes, but mistakes are the raw material of growth.
Attachment to comfort: Familiarity feels safe, but safety rarely leads to innovation.
Uncertainty of outcomes: We crave guarantees, yet beginnings thrive on possibility, not certainty.

The truth is, beginnings are never perfect. They are messy, unpredictable, and often humbling. But they are also the birthplace of resilience, creativity, and progress.

Why New Beginnings Matter

Courage over comfort: Starting anew often means leaving behind familiar routines. That discomfort is the birthplace of growth.
Learning through doing: Every beginning is a classroom. Mistakes aren’t failures—they’re lessons that refine our path.
Connection and collaboration: Platforms like ThePro remind us that beginnings are stronger when shared. We don’t walk alone.
Vision for the future: A new start is a chance to align actions with values, to build something that reflects who we aspire to be.

Practical Ways to Embrace New Beginnings

Anchor in purpose: Ask yourself why you’re beginning. Purpose fuels persistence when challenges arise.
Start small, but start: Grand visions are built from small, consistent steps.
Celebrate progress: Recognize milestones, however modest—they are proof of momentum.
Stay open to change: Flexibility keeps beginnings alive when plans shift.

The Collective Dimension of Beginnings

What makes beginnings powerful is not just the individual act of starting but the collective energy they generate. Communities like ThePro embody this principle: they provide spaces where ideas can flourish, where collaboration strengthens resolve, and where shared journeys create shared impact.

When we begin together, we multiply courage. We transform beginnings into movements.

A Call to Begin

If you are standing at the edge of something new—a career move, a creative project, a personal transformation—step forward. The unknown is not a void; it is a canvas waiting for your imprint.

So here’s the invitation: begin. Begin imperfectly, begin boldly, but most importantly—begin.

Because every beginning, no matter how small, carries within it the seeds of possibility.

Refuse to settle!

Thinking Differently

11 Lessons from a parasitic relationship

If you need information on conferences and other professional engagements, I might be able to help. I have lost count of the number of conferences I have attended, although I cannot add them to my CV for reasons you will know at the end of this post. I can’t complain about not having the resources to attend or that my organization does not approve any for fear of leaving my job for several days. Best of all, I do not solicit or apply to them; they just came knocking and organizers compelled me to attend without my formal approval.

You may wonder why I am so lucky when you have probably not attended any recently. You might say, “He must be very lucky and smart at what he does.” But wait, before further praise, let me explain more clearly.

It has never been very convenient to attend those events. Not convenient at all, I must say. To be fair to the organizers, they are consistent and focused, and I have many things to learn. But how do I tell them that I do not need them when they are always the ones giving? I have never seen the need to change my position from being a receiver. They have never complained.

They are well recognized, though not liked or appreciated in the global world, but they keep going. I think they are the most exposed to hostility in this world, yet they want to dominate the market space.

Despite my inability to cope with their supposed excesses, I have learned so much from their team, which I will share here before introducing them to you at the end of this piece.

Here we go…

Activity: Always active when they need to implement a project.

Operational: Always doing something.

Dominance: of their industry.

United: Team members have common pursuits.

Consistency: Never give up attitude.

Unbeliever: Never believe anything is impossible. Always going again.

Exemplary: Every succeeding member does not struggle to master their course because they always learn by example. The superiors are not afraid to give business secrets for fear of someone planning to start their own thing.

Eat more than enough: They are not carried away by little achievements. They take in or achieve enough to make it look as if they are unbeatable.

Timely: They can operate at any time, but they make use of their most active time, which is not always convenient for competitors. When they are less active, their customers may not give them the needed opportunity to patronize them.

They thrive in the most inconvenient circumstances, what most of us would call the ghetto. They have more than enough to stay active from their first life experience.

Independence: They teach their subordinates to be independent from the time of induction.

When many would give up fighting, they would rather wait for the most convenient time or the next opportunity to launch. Because they are actively alert, they easily act within the next available opportunity.

Before you realize their presence, they must have taken enough business secrets from you. By that time, you are already feeling their impact.

The team belongs to the mosquito family! Are you surprised I got these from them? Of course, I do. I felt if the relationship they have with man is beneficial to them, then man must also benefit from them.

If you have attended any of their unsolicited meetings, I am curious to know what you can learn from them.

I am anticipating your response!

How to Position Yourself for Career Relevance

In this post, I will be expounding on a principle that pertains to how one’s positioning should drive achievement in any endeavor.

Before delving into the topic, may I inquire as to how your day has been? Regardless of your response, rest assured that we are in this together. There are numerous unseen partners, such as yourself and I, who are on this journey. Let us continue moving forward. This is not a competition to determine who comes first, rather, our goal is to support each other until we reach our final destination.

Let us begin. As a bachelor student, my class was among the pioneering set of my department and faculty, although not the first set. We were foundation students who laid the groundwork for upcoming students in various aspects, such as curriculum, outlooks compared to other departments, performances, student leadership at the departmental level, politics, and so on.

As a member of the pioneering set, I had additional burdens or, let me call it, responsibilities. My name was the first on my class list. Others did not need to know my registration number to check my semester results when released, even though our names were not always included in the results. All they needed to do was to check the first line. It was possible to trace my performance, take note of when I failed a course, or compare my performance with theirs.

That burden was on me throughout my undergraduate days, except when our results were not posted. I seemed not to be very well-known until our first results were released. I think the best results were attributed to another person who was more outspoken than I, and maybe next to me on our class list. It was not long before I came into the limelight because the topper was first on the list, and that was me.

So, it behooves me to shoulder my responsibilities. It requires a lot of effort to maintain the topper position. You have no major work to do if you are below the ladder, even if your performance drops, no one is watching. At last, the unexpected happened to me. The capital ‘F’ came and did not wait for me to respond to its knock when it happened in a general course. As expected, my performance dipped, but I never lost my position, courtesy of the dipping of most results in my class.

As a carry-over student, I took on another responsibility to call on other course repeaters to attend the lower class together, and I finally passed the course. The right attitude towards failure is an important factor there. I attended classes as if it was my actual year course, participated in course activities, and even encouraged my fellow repeaters. I love telling these stories of my failures. I did that in my previous posts.

How does this scenario relate to my current motivation? Until a few years back, I seldom liked to appear in the public space. I couldn’t and wouldn’t even make an attempt except there was a compulsion, but it was rare. When I did need to make a public presentation or talk, I prepared adequately, and I think I did well in most of the appearances, but not without extra energy. I am an introvert.

I was motivated to start some public stuff because I was ready for a change. Against my wish, making some of what I do appear in the public space pushed me to go for more. I was not ready to disappoint my viewers when they eventually saw that all I was doing was just noise. I want to constantly exceed expectations. I do not have everything, but I can go for everything because everything will not come to me naturally.

ICYMI: Maximizing Your Skillset (Video)

The key to keep going may be to put yourself forward for people to see what you are doing. That way, you are like a pioneer or first on the list of those in your class. I am sure you are not ready to be a disappointment. Any laxity will drop your rank. Any failure is like a shame, but it is good when it comes. You can learn not to do what you did that brought the failure.

As for motivating you, many of my mates also put up good spirits and try to do more. Some were even doing better than I eventually, but they couldn’t outperform me because I had a clear lead, and it was difficult for them to catch up. However, because each of us recognizes our individual strengths and weaknesses, it was not difficult to consult each other when necessary to strengthen our position. It means you do not have to start well to start doing well or dominate your niche. Start anyhow and anywhere. You will eventually recognize that you have the potential to dominate a particular space. Before long, it will become visible that you are a leader in the space. Those who dare try the same thing will need to borrow your key to do so. Do not be afraid to give them the duplicate because you can decide to change the lock without their knowledge. They will return to you for another duplicate after several trials to open without success. If they open without your consent, appreciate the fact that they climb the shoulder of a giant, and that’s you.

Remember to Watch: Becoming An Asset

I expect you to start doing more. Perhaps, I will have the motivation to sustain or improve my current drive, but we can achieve greatness together. I know you can, and I can as well. This is not another motivation, but a reality that is staring at you to go farther than where you are.

On you mark, get ready, Go !