10 Fascinating lessons Nana Addo’s victory should teach you

“You can never be president,” he was told.”

Naysayers are all over the place. They see nothing ever achievable because they have no guts to even try them out. They’ll do all they can to tear down what others may try to build or aspire to be. They see gloom, speak impossibility and give their ears to vanity. Whether you may allow such pessimists stand in the way of your dreams or not, it’s yours alone to decide.

We ought to choose our friends carefully. Choose your company with caution. Choose who/what stays in your heart. In life, what matters most is not what you’re told. It’s what you admit! What matters is not what enters into your ears but… what stays in your heart. If you admit lies about yourself, you’ll live that lie. If you admit pessimism, you’ll exude nothing short of negativity.

“Most Ghanaians’ respect for him shot up through the roof when he honorably conceded defeat after the Supreme Court ruling… for peace sake.”

Sometimes, we get more value from letting go… instead of trying to fight on. Just sometimes, the best win is to let go. In life, sometimes you have to give up on some fights. Sometimes, what we may get when we lose honorably, we may never have gotten should we have won. Choose your battles carefully. Don’t fight them all. Know which to fight and the others to let go. You may just expend all your energy fighting less important battles so much that you may have no energy to fight the most important ones.

“He was ridiculed severally but his focus could never be diverted.”

People can distract you on your life’s journey. They’ll refer to your ugly past. They’ll taunt you. They’ll hurl insults at you and vilify you so badly. It’s all a ploy to steal your attention. Know your focus. Know what you are about in this life. Know your priorities.

Don’t be entangled in petty matters which would only hinder your speed and growth. Keep your eyes on the road. When they refer you to your ugly past, refer them to your beautiful future. Keep working on your dreams. There’s no time. Don’t be distracted!

“He had had a good taste of what failure is. He had been chasing his dreams since 1998!”

Life tests us all the time. Failure tests your persistence. Success tests your consistence. Persistence is a sign of how much our dream means to us. A vision may take ages to be a reality. However, don’t give up. Life is only testing your persistence. Hold on a little more.

“Many voted for him because of His Excellency President Mahama’s ‘dead goat syndrome’.”

We soon forget how we reached the top; the God we prayed to, the friends who watched our back and sometimes, the family who physically and financially supported us. We should continually be grateful to the people in our past. We would continually need them even in our future. Don’t ever take for granted the masses who pushed you up. You still need them to stay up there. People matter. You matter. We all matter. To stay up, never forget how you got there. Never forget those who had to almost lay down their lives yesterday to give you life today. Don’t take them for granted.

“Many others voted for him because of the brains he had on his team.”

No one ever got to the top alone. Success is teamwork. Even God created mankind with others. He said, “Let us…” How far you’ll ever go is dependent on the team you are on; your spouse, friends, etc. Choose a good team. They’ll cover up for your weakness. They’ll make you look like a Superman or woman. A good team!

“The overwhelming turn up at NDC’s last rally at the Accra Sports Stadium still couldn’t stop Nana Addo!”

There’s time for everything and everyone. Nothing can stop you when it is your time. When your time is due, not even the overwhelming following of your competitors can stop you. Be patient for your turn.

“Anytime Nana Addo failed, he tried one more time.”

If we all had tried just one more time after failing, there would be no failures. The difference between a success and failure is that the former tried one more time after failing. The latter didn’t. Have you failed in anything before? Try one more time again. Success is only a ‘try again’ away from failure.

“When others were busily calculating why he couldn’t be president, he was out there busily convincing the masses why he should be the President.”

Know what to busily spend your time on. Not everyone/everything deserves your attention. Focus on your priorities. Keep yourself busy with things/people that matter to your dream.

“Within the space of 24 hours, a man who was ‘too short and violent to be president’ was referred to as ‘His Excellency’!”

Be hopeful. All you need to be where you dream to be is… 24 hours. Thank God for your life!

The writer is a playwright and Chief Scribe of Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com), a writing company based in Accra. Get interactive with him on his Facebook page, Kobina Ansah.