>By Tobi Oyetunde<

 

Which is most desirable; working towards a goal with diligence or hoping on luck to be successful? That was the focus of forum by the Royal Character Academy with the theme, “Diligence as a performance optimiser: where is the place of luck in success?, which held in Lagos recently.
Giving an introduction to the discourse, the lead facilitator, Bosede Olusola-Obasa defined “diligence” as a combination of “hard, smart, successful, tireless, creative, timely and deliberate” work. She noted that “diligence is a determined, continuous and careful effort to accomplish a given task”. She further said, “for your diligence to pay off, you must cut distractions, stick to your plan, prioritize your goals, reward yourself and go extra mile”, noting that everything in life has its reward.

 

“Diligence has its benefit which are in reward, recognition and fulfillment”, she said, adding that some people have some wrong beliefs and expectations about being diligent only when they own their own private business, while others believe in waiting for luck.

Contributing to the discourse, the guest speaker, Mr. Peter Farotimi Olorunsheyi, Managing Director of PETFAM Technical Services Nigeria Limited shared the story of his life and how diligence helped him in attaining success in life. He told participants how he had to learn roadside mechanic after his primary education and how diligence helped him to take the learning serious, which inspired him to become an engineer.

 

He said, “I used to write notes about what I was being taught while undergoing my learning (as a roadside mechanic)” and it was “my diligence that lifted me from being a roadside mechanic to an industrial engineer”.

 

Olorunsheyi recalled how he was to later go to the Nigeria Army School of Mechanical Engineering, Lagos and then an upgrading course at the Nigeria Army School, Auchi. He noted that in pursuing success, diligence and hard work should not be negotiated for mediocrity just to please others.

 

Concluding, he gave seven key points that can help diligence to yield results, namely: Be determined, Dig your ground and you will find your gold, be meticulous, be a good thinker, be consistent, be focus and be practical in your thoughts.

 

The final segment of the forum was an open session where participants at the forum talking about ‘The Place of Luck in Success’ agreed that there is nothing as luck. A participants whose name is Lucky said: “You must take deliberate steps in life, be clear in what you want and be logical” while another by name Tope said “it is only lazy people that expect luck without doing anything, you must do something and that’s why there’s a saying that when preparation meets opportunity, success is inevitable”.