Dear friends,

It is human and progressive for us to be more aligned to success and only celebrate growth and progress. However, do you know that massive growth comes with failure? I know you know this but come with me as I tell you what you already know differently.

As far back as I can remember, my life has been plagued with massive failures. Take a peek into a few of my most renowned failures:

1. Failed to get awarded the Total E&P undergraduate scholarship (2009).
2. Failed to get awarded the Federal Government Undergraduate scholarship scheme (2009).
3. Failed to get selected for the Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF) (2017 and 2018).
4. Failed in being awarded the prestigious Chevening scholarship (2016).
5. Failed to get recruited into the Nigerian Immigration Service (2015)
6. Failed to get recruited into the Nigerian Army (2015)
7. Failed to get awarded the Federal Bilateral Education Agreement (BEA) scholarship (2016/2017).
8. Failed to secure 2 Postgraduate scholarships in Oxford and Cambridge (2017) i.e. the Gates Cambridge Scholarship and the Weidenfeld-Hoffman scholarships and Leadership programme.
9. Failed to secure over 10 PhD scholarships I applied for (2017-2019). Some of these scholarships included the UNSW PhD Scientia Scholarship (Australia), Commonwealth PhD scholarship (UK), Northumbria University PhD studentship (UK), Nottingham Trent University Studentship (UK), Trinity College Dublin PhD position in Sociology, PTDF Overseas PhD scholarship etc.
10. Countless jobs and volunteering opportunities (2017-2019).

NOTE: I have kept the list short to avoid a very long post.

Although a man who is successful has a lot to offer but I also argue that a man who has failed countless times will be an effective coach in mentoring you to success. While it is good to be associated with people who are successful, also take time and align with people who have failed because they sure have a lot of guidance tips for you. Why do you think they say experience is the best teacher?

Is there any man who has failed and not succeeded? I have not come across one because you see, you might have failed countless times but what is actually happening to you is not failure but a “disguised success and growth”. With every failure comes more development. The trick is to stay on course.

When you go for an interview and not get recruited, you become better informed on how to answer the questions next time.

When you release that song and it does not sell, you know the strategy to use next time and you are better informed to advise another artist.

When you apply for that scholarship and not get selected, you know how to structure your essays next time.

Growth comes with every so-called failed attempt, so I invite you to keep failing and smiling because when you finally succeed, you succeed massively.

In my own case, I failed to secure the Total scholarship in 2009 but with better preparation, I got awarded the same scholarship in 2011 (2years after I failed the first time) after I lost my dad (it came just in time init? Lol)

Between 2017-2019, despite failing to secure over 10 PhD scholarships, I finally secured 1 before the end of 2019 which turned out to be the best for me.

Even the death of my parents was a massive process of challenging me towards growth.

You see what my failures have done to me is build my capacity in varying ways. Today, I am always reviewing scholarship essays for friends, family, and people I have not even met. Many of which have gone on to secure international scholarships. This skill came with the experience of failing and growing. The more I failed, the better I became.

If your excuse for not trying again is because you have failed, be thankful for your failures and fail some more because it is almost your time to explode. Reflect on your every failure and there might just be an untapped skill (s) you have developed. Celebrate those skills and build them rather than dwell on the notion that you are a failure.

Tap into the power of your progressive failures and watch yourself ascend. Embrace your failure as growth and success will follow.

The failure is not in you not being selected/recruited, the failure is in you not growing and trying again.

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