Make the Moments Count

Okay, so two things....

Firstly, can you believe the year we are having with all the craziness that is going on in the world (Mass killings! School shootings! Kidnappings! The Nigerian election primaries!)? Somehow, we thought that as the pandemic abated, things would get quieter.

Then secondly, how are we already almost halfway through the year?

June is the end of the first half of the year and at this point, I can no longer keep telling myself that the year is young. I know that in no time at all, we will be singing Christmas carols and preparing our new year resolutions.

June is a bittersweet month for me: It’s the month in which I experienced the first loss of someone very close to me (my younger sister); and the month in which my son was born. So now, each June, I am reminded that life is a circle (people are born while some others are transitioning out of this world).

I don’t know if you’ve experienced any of these two things, but for me, when my sister passed away, I kind of expected the world to stop until I was ready to get back on. What a shock it was to realise that life went on for most people. Colleagues (who didn’t know of my loss) still called me to follow-up on work deliverables. I went to the mall one day and saw people laughing, shopping and going about their normal business.

And then when my son was born, I was awed by the treasure and miracle that is life. To imagine that a seed that had been growing inside me for 9 months was now this fully-formed baby with a distinct personality already evident.

I think what I mean to say in a nutshell is that life is a precious gift that gives us both the most beautiful and unfortunately sometimes the worst experiences ever. Hopefully, we will have more of the beautiful experiences and less of the tragedies in our lives. But I’ve come to realise that we are less in control of what happens to us than we’d like. However we can try to put in the work to prepare ourselves to deal with the vicissitudes of life.

I try to make the most of each day and the opportunities that life brings my way. I do this by trying new things and embarking on new projects that excite me, even when I don’t feel 100% equipped for it. I know that the most valuable learning usually comes on the job.

I try to organise my time so that I am able to complete the things I have committed to and enjoy enough rest and recreation. This means knowing what requests to say “No” to. For this, I recommend a great book I just finished reading called “Redeeming Your Time” by Jordan Raynor about how to be purposeful, present and wildly productive.

It can also mean positioning myself so that I am able to attract new opportunities. I do this by acquiring knowledge, developing new skills and sharing my learnings with the world.

For instance, earlier this week I participated in the facilitator's workshop for Google’s “I am Remarkable” initiative. #IamRemarkable is a Google initiative empowering women and other underrepresented groups to celebrate their achievements in the workplace and beyond.

I participated in one of these workshops last year and learnt so much about how women (and men too) frequently struggle when it comes to talking about our accomplishments. Many cultural and gender norms as well as imposter syndrome can discourage many of us from even acknowledging all the fantastic things we’ve done, much less talking about them.

I am committed to ensuring that we can all tell our own unique and interesting stories in ways that feel comfortable and true to us. So I was very excited about this workshop and look forward to hosting a similar workshop for you all.

In the meantime, remember that I am always happy to help you review how you are showing-up online. Check out my service to review your professional bios and LinkedIn profiles.

Stay blessed,

Ore