Fighting Self-Doubt

𝐈 𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟒, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐞-𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭: 👇

I graduated from the prestigious Covenant University in 2013, with a first class in Banking and Finance. For four years, we were addressed as Kings and Queens, and when we graduated, we were christened Eagles.

My mind was conditioned to believe that I was a world changer and that I was one of Africa's finest leaders who would be at the forefront of Africa’s transformation.

I left Uni with this mindset and did my one-year National Service in Bauchi (northern part of Nigeria). Everyone thought I was crazy to stay. The Boko-Haram insurgency was already on the rise in that region, Yet I stayed! Talk about bravery! 😀

After the youth service, I was so confident that the finest jobs in Nigeria were waiting for me. So, I started applying, and as expected, the invitations to attend the first screening (SHL assessment 😒) started rolling in.

But alas, I never made it past that stage. Every morning, I was greeted by emails in my inbox that began with the dreaded phrase, "𝐖𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮...". With each rejection, another layer of my confidence was stripped away, leaving me increasingly discouraged.

I found myself grappling with this question: How could a first-class graduate fail to pass a simple assessment? Maybe I wasn't that smart? Self-doubt set in and mounted a throne in my mind.

I finally got a job, as a contract staff. It wasn’t what I expected at the time, but I took it anyway because I just needed a ‘breakthrough’.

I have since moved on to do big things and work for big companies, but I failed to deal with the imprint that challenging phase left on my mind.

While deep within my soul I knew I was a world changer, and one of Africa’s finest emerging leaders, I was being oppressed by self-doubt.

It was in asking myself the question: “𝙒𝙝𝙮, 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙖 𝙡𝙞𝙤𝙣, 𝙙𝙤 𝙄 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙘𝙚?” that I was able to excavate this soul wound and find my way to healing.

As we go through life, our souls may have been scarred by some unfortunate events that cause us to subconsciously shrink our potential.

As we begin a new week, I want you to do some soul excavation! Ask yourself the right questions and don’t stop until you get an answer. I want you to 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐝𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧.

Self-doubt won round one, but I have won and will keep winning every other round! 𝐈 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐇𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬.

I hope you make the same commitment to yourself this week! Have a fabulous week!

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