#DearNSPFellow: Individual Transformation Leads To Social Transformation.

Miss Esther Mawufemor Agbai is the Programs Manager for Bilth Studio, where she is largely responsible for Bilth Moment. A program designed to bring small business owners and young adults together to learn and teach each other on entrepreneurship and personal development topics. The sessions take place every weekend and we invite young speakers and startup leaders.

Now Miss Esther joined the team as a volunteer and during a personality profile, she was asked the question, “Why did you decide to join Bilth Studio?” I was in the group that day and off course waited for her answer. And to say the truth, I was astounded by her answer that I even took a screenshot. This happened in 2020, few weeks after she accepted the appointment.

Answering the question, she said, “Bilth. I’d say sometimes we are where we find ourselves to unleash our potentials, learn, make others benefit from our gifts, and to gain experience.” She went on to say that she loved the dream and was working on it in her own corner before she was called on board.

For her to give such an answer, means she understood what it meant to be a human being. She understood what the general purpose of humanity is which is not to live for self alone but to live so that others benefit from the life you live. She had something which she offered willingly for others to benefit. Today, through her efforts, Bilth Studio is gradually building a community where young startup owners and young adults are learning and sharing their experiences.

What does it mean to make a real impact?
As humans, we all have some skeletons in our boxes. No one is perfect; Miss Esther is not a perfect human being because of what she is doing. But the point is she is trying to impact the world positively. So real impact is trying to make the world a better place than you found it. It is allowing yourself to be transformed and allowing that transformation to spark social transformation.

We all want change, and we blame a group of people for not having the change that we want as a society. But the truth is, if there is a problem about the society, the country or economy, you in your small corner doing whatever you are doing, in one or the other, you are contributing to these same problems that you want just a group of people to solve.

The larger problem is the larger population of our society today doesn’t even know who they are. They live with no priorities and therefore no purpose. They are the same people who want a good economy and they are waiting for one leader to do that for them.

But in case you are here and you want personal transformation so that you can contribute to the society we all want. I have a few things for you to look at, think through, and start doing.

1. Understand what life means.
A life of purpose is doing what matters and benefits others in a positive way. This should align with your values and beliefs. The funny part is I can’t tell you what that life is, but you know it when you understand what life is and how you feel about your life.

If you are not being who you were meant to be and you ignore your higher life, everything is a mess and foggy, clueless. Inside, you are bored and tired but you cover than with the fake self you project outside. and since the higher life is difficult and the lower life you are living now seems to be feeding your physical needs, you chose the easy way out, and soon, life will slap you in the face, you may end up with regrets in your old age, thus if you manage to get there.

But when you are aligned with your higher life, even if things are difficult, you have peace and comfort inside. You feel alive, passionate, and compassionate. Your headache now becomes how to get to your destination and not how to please your peers, you are sure of yourself from the inside and you live for your higher calling even when you are afraid and not sure how things will turn out. Your task now becomes living a meaningful life instead of just living.

This only happens when you understand life is more than just eating and drinking, working and getting paid, women, sex and social media, boyfriend, and girlfriend. I don’t think life placed you here for just these things.

2. Tap into your calling
Everyone, whether saved or unsaved have a mission on earth. Whether you believe in God or not, He placed something inside you when He breathes into you. So to live your higher life, all you need to do is to look deep within. You already know what makes you feel alive (spoiler alert; not sex and drugs), you are just responding to the pressures of this world; sex, alcohol, party, abusive and unproductive lifestyle with no compassion.

Pay attention to yourself and connect to your true self. Tap into your calling and live a life that will be worth benefiting from. Attain an internal state of existence that is unchanging and aligns with how you value yourself and regard yourself in spite of what others may think or say about you, it is time you discover, develop and let these values transform you so that you can share these values with the society.

What are your gifts? What it is that you want to do that in the end can help build a society? It is inside you, all you need to do is to focus, pay attention and design the life you want from within.

3. Rethink your to-do list
The truth about the world is it has been programmed to waste our time and make us fail; the music, films, the unproductive life, and now social media. We all want to be visible. But time is too precious and we should value what we spend it on. So when we don’t decide what matters and what benefits we want to give the world according to our internal values, we will spend it all doing things that will not move us nor our society forward. And do you know who we blame, yes of course the government (Which is you by the way).

Examine yourself every now and then and make sure your life is of benefit. Decide every morning what is important and if that will benefit you and the people around you. Before you do or say anything, ask if that is what you want to do or say according to your value and the transformation you want. Does it feel right? Strive for value and ignore peer pressure.

Bottom Line
In childhood, we are almost the greatest liability and at the same time the greatest treasure to the world. But it is a shame to know that people graduate from universities and are still liabilities to themselves, family, and society. One thing is clear, we are not children anymore and if you have been a liability your entire life, it is not late, do something about your life now. All you need to do is to make that decision to turn things over. This is the time we need to build worthy networks and increase our credibility, find and start refining our priorities, purpose and have foresight, an insight into the future we want to have for ourselves and our families. This is the time to put our abilities into full gear and work towards creating positive changes in the life of others. Embrace good values, practice self-leadership, and have a solid sense of right and wrong, not only to do good but to be good.

The reality in the world is not what we normally see it to be. And sometimes, before we catch up with this reality, it is almost late and we may have wasted our lives chasing mundane lifestyles and pleasures. Accepting this reality and seeking out life and living a life of good character and impact will go a long way to fix this country. We will only see the changes we want when we decide to pursue a revolution of self-transformation and self-development.