An author’s take on what success is not

Title: Sail Your Boat: Success is a Lifestyle and a Journey Author: Musbahu El Yakubu Genre: Nonfiction (Inspirational) Publisher: Amazon Date of Publication: 2018 Reviewer: Salamatu Sule Success is a subjective term as it has a different meaning to different people. According to Yakub, it is a lifestyle and a journey. As a lifestyle, it […]

• Title: Sail Your Boat: Success is a Lifestyle and a Journey
• Author: Musbahu El Yakubu
• Genre: Nonfiction (Inspirational)
• Publisher: Amazon
• Date of Publication: 2018
• Reviewer: Salamatu Sule

Success is a subjective term as it has a different meaning to different people. According to Yakub, it is a lifestyle and a journey. As a lifestyle, it refers to how the assumed success was achieved or acquired, and as a journey, to the method adopted in pursuing the assumed success. It is therefore the combined process and method of achieving it and its wider impact on the society that will determine what success really is.

In ‘Sail Your Boat,’ El Yakub adopts the use of the laws and theories of the physical sciences to analyse, define and describe success. Like the Scientist that he is, he applies a method that he is conversant with as against the theories of the social sciences that are fluid. But to describe, define and analyse success, you have to realise and understand what it is and should be, he wrote:

“Without a proper understanding of what true success is, generation upon generation of different nationalities all over the world risk using the wrong metrics for the assessment of personal and collective achievements. (Pg. 9) Therefore, the author is admonishing that, without understanding what success is, there is the likelihood that one spends wasteful years not knowing what exactly what he is looking for while also achieving nothing.

According to him, to understand success and to aspire for it, it is necessary to find answers to questions like: What is success? How do we measure it? and how do we attain it?

He also categorised success into three and gave examples of what it constitutes. He cited the example of a student who cheated during exams, an internet fraudster and a corrupt public official who compromised his office for personal gains at the expense of his country. These people can be said to have achieved success but with serious consequences for the entire society.

The second category of successful people are those who overcame both physical and social challenges to create value for the society. They are not only successful, but they also are an inspiration to generations to come because they do not allow their physical and social challenges to become impediments to their successful development. Also, all their achievements are within the limits of legislation.

An example is Nick Vujicic who was born in Melbourne, Australia, in 1982, with a rare disease known as Tetra Amelia where none of his limbs developed. He overcome his challenges and founded a Not for Profit Organisation called ‘Life Without Limbs’ in the United States of which he is the President. He also founded ‘Attitude is Altitude’ which is devoted to Motivational Speaking. He is the author of several books, the most popular being ‘Life without Limbs, Limitless and Unstoppable’, a New York Times best seller. Page 9-10.

Stephen Hawking was also another example of an individual who overcame his physical challenges to succeed in life. He was born in 1942 in Oxford, England and later on read Physics and Chemistry. He was later diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Motor Neuron disease, and became paralysed. But despite this challenge, he was mentally alert, brilliant and humorous. He contributed to the field of Mathematics, Physics, Cosmology and Astronomy. He was later awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour.

There was also Kuma Ung Yingping from South Korea, who from being a scientist at NASA in the USA moved to Civil Engineering in South Korea.  Another example of those who defy social challenges was Tawakal Karman of Yemen who formed the Women Journalists Without Chains and was later to become the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Laureate. Others are John Harold Johnson, an African-American who established the Negro Digest. Likewise, Dashrath Manjhi, an outcast and landless peasant in India who championed the construction of a road in his area so as to make it easy for his people to access health and education.

There are also others like Mandela, Bill Gates and Claudius, the Roman Emperor. These are examples of people who devoted their entire life to the course of their society. The success of such people has a positive effect on their society. This type of success can be classified as the most positive. The interdependence of individuals in the society created an impact and the ripple effect on the community is inevitable. Yakub likens this interdependence to the galaxy. According to him:

“From the great vastness of the known universe, we can still infer a direct connection to our tiny selves on our tiny planet. All the billions of galaxies exert certain physical influences on every other galaxy, no matter how infinitesimally small. Within each galaxy, all solar systems exert influences on other systems in the same way as others exert influence on them as well.” (Pg. 36)

But to achieve success, there are qualities an individual is expected to possess. These are, belief in oneself: You are expected to believe or have confidence in your ability to achieve your set objective(s). Perseverance is another key factor as success does not come easily. You will encounter a lot of disappointments and trials, but you must persevere to achieve your goals. Also, be focused and don’t be distracted. When you need to take a firm decision, don’t hesitate to do so.

In addition, you need to be knowledgeable about what you want to achieve. Therefore, struggle to be intellectually competent and perform in a manner that is impactful. Also, in any venture, risks are inevitable as there’s no full proof plans. You learn from past mistakes and make sure you have passion for what you are doing.

But achieving all of the above objectives is also dependent on what your personal qualities are; the timing or era at which you are trying to unveil your success plan, and possibly your location.

It is against this background that Yakub summarises success as, “Living a life in which we continuously apply ourselves to the best of our abilities in legitimate activities for the greatest benefit of the greatest benefit of the greatest number of people.” Pg. 156.

This book, which is simple, straightforward and with an aptly engaging narrative style is a must-read for anyone who desires to be successful.

Salamatu Sule is a literary agent based in Abuja