In 1994, I was spending the Summer in Atlanta when my life was confronted with a significant political event that would impact my immediate future. In June of that year, MKO Abiola emerged from hiding and declared himself the president of Nigeria. Abiola had won the presidential election held the previous year but had gone into hiding following the annulment of that election by the then Head of State, Major General Ibrahim Babangida. In November of 1993, General Sani Abacha took over power from the interim government that had been put in place after the annulled elections.
When Abiola emerged from hiding and declared himself president, he was promptly arrested by Abacha, and receiving that news put me in a state of fear. My mother was a civil servant in Nigeria, struggling to survive under harsh political and economic conditions. Communication with my mother was sparse because international communication wasn’t as simple as it is today. To access the internet, where I got news from home, I had to go to a computer centre. Calling Nigeria long distance wasn’t as easy as it is today, or, I didn’t know of an easy, affordable way to call home. My mom had a phone in the house, but she didn’t have a service called, International Direct Dial (IDD), so if she wanted to make an international call, she would have to go to a NITEL (the state-run telecommunications company) office to do so. So, we didn’t talk very often.
I don’t remember exactly what it was about the news that sounded the alarm bells for me, but I knew that it would be difficult to receive money from home and decided that I had to complete my college education the following academic year. I had just completed my sophomore year, which meant that I would need to somehow cram my junior and senior years into one year.
It was a great summer in Atlanta. Nigeria competed in the FIFA World Cup. Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes burnt down her boyfriend, Andre Rison’s house. And my friend, Ayoka, and I were on the phone watching the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets, and discussing developments in OJ Simpson saga when the screen changed into picture-in-picture mode with footage of a low-speed chase on California’s 405 freeway in the smaller picture. Yes, it was the now-famous police chase of the presumably suicidal OJ Simpson and his friend AC Cowlings in a white Ford Bronco. And before we knew it, the NBA Final was in the smaller picture and the chase was the main attraction. That was Summer 1994 for me.
I went back to college in Massachusetts that Fall and my goal was to graduate in a year. I needed to make it happen!
I had a GOAL. I had my MOTIVATION. What I needed was INFORMATION and a PLAN!
The goal was to complete my course requirements so that I could graduate a year early.
My motivation was financial difficulty due to the political situation in Nigeria.
The information I needed included the number of total credits that I needed to graduate; any enrolment restrictions on students; the requirements for my major; the policy on transferring credits; and any official approvals and procedures required to graduate early.
After I had gathered all the information, I set out to break down my plan into little steps, semester by semester, and set out to execute the plan to conclusion.
With the information I had gathered, I knew what needed to be done and how to go about getting them done. I scheduled meetings with my faculty adviser, and department heads to discuss my plan. And when I had the go-ahead, I got a copy of the course catalogue for the year, and went to work, selecting courses for the year. It looked hectic, but I at least I knew upfront what I was getting myself into. The steps also considered the possible roadblocks and how to navigate them. While we cannot anticipate every obstacle that will show up to derail our plans, we can anticipate some and have contingency plans to overcome them.
Having a plan and mapping out all the steps is the easy part. The challenging part is committing to the plan and executing it. Without commitment, execution suffers, and we’re that much farther from achieving our goals!
I believe that we can achieve whatever goals we set our minds to as long as we stay connected to our motivation, plan, and commit to executing the plan. The new buzz word regarding goals is SMART for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timebound. When you have SMART goals with an equally SMART plan, you’re more likely to hit those target goals that you have dreamt for yourself. Click here to download Ready, Set, Goal!: 7 SMART Steps to Hit Your Goals.
I find it helpful to write down my plans and have a reference document (physical or electronic) that guides me through the process from idea or goal, to completion.
What goals do you have? Are they lying dormant in your mind or are you actively working with a plan to achieve your goals? Or maybe you have started but are lacking the motivation to continue. It’s time to get to work! Don’t give up!
So, let’s go! Get it! Make a plan and take that first step towards your goal.