Why You Need To Have Coconut Head
To succeed in life, especially in Nigeria, you must have COCONUT HEAD.
Synonym: PERSISTENCE.
It means to have the ‘I die here’ attitude on your journey to succeed, to have grit and tenacity such that you don’t stop until you achieve your goals.
The first time I read the story of Thomas Edison and how many times he tried before the incandescent light bulb came alive, I had doubts.
How can one man try 99 times? Other reports claimed he tried 999 times. Whichever way, he tried more than once.
Last year, I read the story of a Nigerian billionaire who, at a point in his business, made some investments that came crashing down.
When I saw the amount he lost, my heart constricted because whaaaaaaaaaaatttt?
In his response to the loss, he said he was heartbroken at first, I mean, who wouldn’t be?
Then, he told himself that he had to get out of that mess and make his money back. Persistence.
Look around you. Every great invention you enjoy today was made by someone or persons who refused to give up.
You started a Vlog and your current traffic is not matching your expectations, so you want to give up?
You’re job hunting and rejection letters are hitting you left, right, and center, and you want to give up?
I imagined Thomas Edison in his lab, his back hunched over his invention, fitting the pieces together, wiping his brows at intervals, trying again and again till he got his desired result.
Listen, if it’s IMPORTANT to you, you will get it done at all costs.
You will PERSIST irrespective of the discouragement from people around you.
Heck, that sarcastic voice in your head will also try to discourage you. Sabri Suby, in his book, Sell like Crazy, calls the voice, ‘The little b.i.t.c.h’.
Discouragement will always come but let your COCONUT HEAD refuse to cave in.
Dig your feet in the ground till that phase passes. And when you eventually ‘blow’, the same people who tried to dissuade you from your plans will tell you, ‘I always knew you had it in you and I’m proud of you’
So, do you still want to give up?
