The problem with easy success isn’t just that you expect it.

And you might expect it after hearing things like “if you find something you love and do it for a living, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”

The problem is the hypocrisy you need to be walking in to feel entitled to easy success.

But it’s the same reason many young people will keep suffering. You don’t want to hear the truth.

You aspire to a certain position, because you think it’s glamorous. But you also want magic. You don’t want to hear the truth.

You don’t want to hear a successful entrepreneur, tell of how difficult it was to even register their business because
a) they didn’t have the necessary fees in full
b) even when they had the funds to register it, they didn’t know anyone they trusted enough, to be the second company director.

You don’t want to hear real stories of how they couldn’t even afford baked beans, cos EVERY penny went into the business.

Or how their marriage almost crashed, because their child got sick and there was no money for an operation or medication.

You don’t want to hear about when nobody would give them the time of day, never mind a project or contract.

You don’t want to hear a successful artiste or corporate exec talk about all the doors that were slammed in their faces.

You don’t want to hear an award-winning or bestselling author talk about depression.

How they lost sleep, trying to figure out how to create their very own niche because they didn’t want to be stereotyped.

What it felt like to invest their last thousand Naira or ten dollars in their brand, knowing that they had nothing to fall back on.

You don’t want to hear the reality of how they wept because they were working away from home, missed their husband/wife/child so bad, that they wanted to just pack up and go home. But they couldn’t.

Or about the times that NEPA and internet suppliers joined forces to make a liar out of them, to a client.

Or how they overworked themselves because they were juggling, fell ill as a result, and had no liver to tell their other half.

You don’t want to hear about the times they had to refuse to go through doors you’d call breakthroughs, because they were thinking, “The money is good, but after I spend the money, I won’t be able to look myself in the mirror.”

You want to hear the lies about easy success.

You want to hear lies about:

• how Bassey was singing in the bathroom one day and god sent someone to wait for him outside his house with a record deal
• how Funke sowed a seed, a management team fell from heaven and it’s been easy success for her since then
• how Chinedu got everything on a diamond-encrusted platter of gold, because he fasted, prayed and was prophesied upon
• some other rubbish of easy success and always having everything go your way

But I won’t lie to you. Even if it’s what you might be used to.

Especially if it’s what you’re used to.

You want to be successful?
You will work your a** off.

And there will be times when you’ll want to give up.

Because you’ll learn that those who tell you that “if you find something you like and do it for a living, you’ll never have to work a day in your life” are LYING to you.

And unless you’re a trust-fund kid, there will be times when you won’t have a budget because it’s only someone who has money, who can be talking about a budget.

There will be times when even the person who loves you more than they love their own life and would kill for you if necessary – there will be times when even they will not be able to still or silence the voices in your head, telling you that everything will not be OK.

You will learn who’s really on your side, how to identify them, and which friendships and relationships to discard.

You’ll also learn not to feel guilty, when you cut some people off.

You’ll learn to go with your gut, even when something doesn’t make sense. Otherwise, you will learn it the hard way. And that’s a promise!

You might finally understand algebra and Venn diagrams, as money is involved.

You’ll learn how to define success for yourself, not the tripe that one person or the other media outlet is selling on Instagram. And if you’re a woman in Law or Media who needs help, apply here.

But you might want to hear lies about easy success cos that’s what you may be used to.

You might feel like you need to hear lies cos you’re lazy and prefer overnight success…