A note to my younger self: Worthwhile goals take time to achieve, so utilise your time MORE productively.
The last time I added to this series was in June 2025. But that is because I pretty much exhausted the topics I set out to cover and moved to the more entertaining #DiasporaDiary.
This one is for those of us who might be coming to terms with the so-called midlife crisis, as well as the younger ones who will inevitably face it at some point.
A man’s prime can fall anytime between his 20s and 50s.
Taking into account mental maturity, life experience, and financial stability, I agree with many who view their prime as occurring between the mid-30s and late 40s. With this perspective, I had decided I’d retire at 50 when I was still in my 30s.
Apart from a few typical hiccups here and there, I’m grateful to have mostly enjoyed financial stability. In my first 10 years doing business, I ran three filling stations and a fleet of trucks that generated millions in monthly revenue.
My family had been living comfortably abroad since 2004, and by 2010, I had added a master’s degree with a PhD in view.
So why shouldn’t I retire as planned? If I push at the same rate for another decade, I should be home and dry.
In my 50s, I envisioned myself as a political leader in Amawbia, breaking kolanut and pouring libation with my kindred every morning.
God had me covered, and early retirement seemed assured…or so I thought.
Nothing could have prepared me for this manic work life of bills..bills and bills across the Atlantic.
You see, I migrated when I was already in my 40s.
For the better part of the first 8 years, I relied on my Nigerian income here until the value of the naira made it unsustainable..foolish even, if you consider it.
I mean, how do you explain that 2 million naira can barely cover a weekend getaway?
A modest two-night accommodation costs €300..flights could add another €400. That’s more than half your budget gone.
So, yours truly decided to get a job. At least to start funding my junketing lifestyle without stretching my naira income.
But it had to be something flexible because I fly around like a pigeon.
Throwing applications here and there in search of academic jobs revealed that my age had limited opportunities in the job market.
I still wasn’t deterred. I had to start earning, so I started with a part-time stocktaking job and eventually obtained a license to operate a wheelchair-accessible van.
I planned to hustle for a year to learn the ropes before launching my own company with several vans.
Hitting the road early and returning late had me racking up to 50 hours in some weeks, and last March made it a full year of doing this.
As I said earlier, worthwhile goals take time. It will now probably take two years to launch with a couple of vans.
It’s been hectic, I can tell you. I deferred many things but never lost sight of my creative and intellectual growth, even if much progress wasn’t made in that area. And that brings me to my message today.
I reflected on my writing recently. We are already halfway through the year, yet I have only published four stories..in February, March, April, and June. Quite poor, even by my own standards.
How did six months slip away in a calm rush, leaving barely a footprint?
I’m not a stranger to barren patches like this. Indeed, no writer is.
However, I usually stack up drafts, albeit half-blank and a diary full of scribbled thoughts in disarray.
But this time nada..just me and stubbornly blank pages.
It is worrying because writing helps me articulate my ideas and accomplish more. My MITs (Most Important Tasks), to-do list, and, of course, the stories I publish.
Well, it could just be the usual recency bias. I have been through longer and poorer barren patches, so why should I be more worried now?
Moreover, it wasn’t for lack of thoughts, but rather a quiet phase of gathering. A period where hustle took precedence. When reasoning, reading and recording are eclipsed by the only thing that matters most: living!
Ok ok, I know, I know. You’ll be saying I can make all the excuses in the world, but the reality is that even if it could be argued that I’m not failing, more needs to be done.
In 2022, I practically wrote The Success Journey Series every week.
It’s a testament to what I can do. I don’t even have to work too hard because I can write. I only need to find time and what to write about.
I may have a solution. Yes, I’m listening to Dave Allen’s episode on Tim Ferriss podcast, and I’ve been blown away. It is titled Getting Things Done, and guess what? It directly addresses my current predicament.
For some years now, I’ve built a community of creatives through the cmonionline writing contests. We’ve made remarkable progress and recently identified a magazine project as the next phase of our evolution.
I have a team, and we started brainstorming 3 months ago.
Somehow and somewhere along the line, I suddenly got stuck.
An email from one of us got me thinking that more spadework needs to be done before we launch.
I had a chat with him, and since then I’ve been caught in a conundrum of sorts. Thinking, postponing and generally doing little to advance.
This morning, a concept broached on that podcast hit me.
To successfully finish one thing, select a specific task and focus solely on it until it is complete.
One thing at a time..bird by bird to reach the finish line.
What can I get done today?
A thought hit me immediately.
Since redesigning my site last year, the search button has been missing.
I have to use Google with the exact keywords to get my old stories each time. I’ve repeatedly postponed asking my developer to solve this problem. I’m not a web developer, but I’m not a novice either, so I could try on my own.
But what is actually stopping me from trying?
Time..time..time! I always tell myself it may take 30 minutes or more, which I can’t spare.
Really? Can’t spare 30 minutes? For something that’ll save me valuable minutes almost daily?
Well, I decided to spare those 30 minutes and get it done..today..at this hour..now!
I’m sure you’ve guessed it took longer.
Nope..you’re dead wrong. It took less..a lot less.
A short YouTube guide led to the activation of a plugin, and it’s done.
It took just 3 minutes, and my search button was up and running.
Meanwhile, this is something I had been putting off for a year.
Allen proposes simple, practical steps to getting things done.
The Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology is basically about renegotiating commitments. It involves altering, delaying, or cancelling tasks to maintain mental clarity and self-trust.
Instead of letting unfinished goals become broken agreements that drain your energy, you must either complete the task, say no, or explicitly reschedule.
The truth is that we know these things. Another truth is that hearing or reading them more concisely from experts who have tested and trusted the techniques helps you internalise them and get to work.
That is what I did, completing the smallest task of adding a search button.
Executing the GTD methodology is broken down into steps, and I’ve identified these 4 as critical.
1. Externalise: Write down all the tasks and commitments currently taking up your mental bandwidth.
2. Re-evaluate: Look at the list and ask yourself if the task is absolutely necessary at the moment.
3. Adjust: If you cannot do it now, explicitly move it to a lower-priority list or pick a new date to tackle it.
4. Work: If it can be done now, then get to work immediately.
I’ve now done 1 and, believe it or not, I listed 10… as in 10 frigging things that have been occupying my headspace.
Now they are out of my head and sitting where they should..on a piece of paper.
Remember, it’s important to write them down because, as Allen succinctly put it, your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.
After 2 and 3, I’ve moved our magazine project to the top priority.
And it will now be broken down into actionable steps. It’s time to get to work, starting with a web page
Moving forward, I’ll write more about our progress as I dissect GTD.
For one, it means I won’t struggle for prompts…hopefully.
And then putting down the words will not only help us articulate our plans and direction but could also serve as a useful guide for aspiring publishers in the future.
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If you wish to emigrate or collaborate, send an email to me; let’s work together.
