I have an assumption. My assumption is that you have ideas and plans, you have dreams and desires that you drift towards everyday. Some are written, some are not. You have shared some, others are not shared.
I had to make that assumption because desires, plans or dreams are the first requirement for actualization. Actualization starts with the possession of a desire. There must be something in the nearest or farthest future you are lounging to get. If that THING is not present, then actualization is useless.
There must be an objective in your mind to reach. There must be a goal or an ambition, there must be a mark or a destination. This is the first requirement.
Believe You Can
People don’t draw up business, career or spiritual plans if they don’t believe they can achieve it. In fact, one of the reasons why you have not drawn your plan is because you don’t believe you can achieve it. You don’t believe you have the right resources, knowledge, network, experience or just the grit. I know. You believe you will fail if you do. Writing up plans is easy, dreaming is soft, but it’s the people who believe they can achieve their goals who set it. A lot of people have tuned out today, they will write no goals, or scribble no plan.
The desire to plan comes from the belief that you can. Except you are under peer pressure
Actualization requires power. That power is the inner belief that you can. No matter how many plans you set, I can tell you for sure that you will not hatch a single one of them if you don’t believe that you are capable.
How do you believe in yourself?
It’s not by repeating chants, listening to motivational speeches or speaking words of affirmation.
It is first by keeping the promises you make to yourself. By taking the tiny steps and executing the little actions.
Self belief builds on a pattern. If you have never executed anything in recent times it will be difficult to believe you can. It’s a habit you form by DOING, by executing and following through. It is a muscle that you develop by lifting weights of action and scaling the weight gradually.
Very few things can stop you if you believe that you can achieve your plans. It’s the first investment for anyone who wants to ACTUALIZE. If you don’t believe it, don’t bother writing those plans.
So start by building your muscles. Wake when you say you will, do what you said you would. Complete your tasks. Round off your projects.
I don’t care how bold, beautiful and touching the promise you made to yourself, if you didn’t keep the last one there’s only a slim chance you will keep the next one, so straighten up and keep the damn promises!
Spiritual Detox!
Another secret is spiritual alignment or detoxification. This creates a lot of clarity. It helps to clarify your mind and reinvigorate your spirit which leads to strength. We indulge in a lot of activities that distract and dulls our spirit. Some relationships and conversations form plaques around our mind. They become a burden rather than blessings. Some content creates fear, lethargy, lukewarmness etc.
Constant detoxification helps us to purify our mind and clean our lenses. Read your bible, pray, meditate etc The clarity we get, the peace we experience and the strength we gain from these activities are not small.
The debris is huge, you must find a way to get them out of your system.
They are consequences of living, of interaction, and functioning in the world, you cannot avoid them totally, however you can flush your system periodically. If you don’t, the consequence is huge. Your WILL will plummet, your enthusiasm and excitement about life will dip. You will mistake fear for logic, bitterness for criticism, and lethargy for preparation.
Spiritual alignment sharpens focus and makes discipline less rigorous because of the strength it supplies. You will not feel like you are missing out of anything because you are enjoying your path.
Write the Plan
The next step to actualization is to write the plan, and conclude on the vision. When you do this, let it come from your soul. The path to actualization sometimes can be very lonely. So when the track is quiet and it gets lonely, you won’t freak out because the dream came right from your soul with huge conviction. You will be tested, your resolve and ‘why’ will be tested. If you started the business because others did, you will face it but if you didn’t, you will survive the storm.
If there is not plan to chase, resources to execute will blend with the environment.
Gather Your Resources
Aggregate your resources. If you have been reading me for a while, you must have heard me yell on this important point. Identify your resources, advantage, leverage and privileges. By the time you finish listing your resources, it would be clear to you the next action to take, the next business to start, the next direction to launch your net. You can have a thousand plan but you don’t have the resources to execute them equally. Monkeys climb to the top of trees but its a branch at a time, they leverage the nearest branch, not the farthest. Many people are dying to actualize the vision that is out of their reach while neglecting the resources within reach.
If you are climbing on a staircase, you will use the nearest possible stair to reach the farthest possible stair. Do the critical work of analyzing your resources.
Trust me you have more resources than you think you have.
We focus too much on the resources we don’t have. How about the things you have? The input required to achieve what you want to achieve will come from what you have, not what you don’t have.
Don’t overestimate your lack, elevate your resources.
Write them down. Do not be fixated on money, how about other forms of capital?
Financial Capital (money, debt, equity)
Physical/Manufactured (skills, knowledge)
Human Capital (skills, knowledge)
Social Capital (networks, relationships)
Intellectual capital (patents, ideas)
These come before actualization.
Execute.
By now you should have believed in yourself that you can, you should have a plan or at least have the desire to draft one, your will to execute should be strong, there should be clarity, and you must have outlined the resources available to actualize your written plan, goal or desire. Make no excuse. Make it very easy by making it clear.
Getting it done is getting it done. There’s no code or trick.
Of course it could be scary, sometimes rough. But get it done. I don’t know anyone who finds it smooth and predictable. Execution is not a walk through an orchestra. It’s not taking a nap. Expect it to not look like what you have on the drawing board.
You may find people whose hands you can hold when the waves become boisterous. You can find a team or a partner to work with, you can find a mentor to guide you or a team of encouragers that can chant you on, but no matter what you do, Execute.
Every dream you’ve dreamt, every move you’ve contemplated is action activated. You will find out everything you’re worried about at the other side of doing it. Don’t let anything bother you other than trying to solve the important problem of doing. Do it bold or scared, do it prepared and unprepared. This is why.
It does not matter in the future the challenges you faced. The future asks only one question, “Did you do it?” If you did, then you will get the reward.
Be Accountable
In 2015, the American Society of Training and Development conducted research on accountability and goal achievement. They surveyed people who set goals and tracked their success rates based on how they structured accountability. They found a 95% success rate for people who have a specific accountability appointment where they report progress to another person on a recurring schedule.
According to Cohortly, specific accountability appointment means:
Someone else is expecting an update: You have an appointment to report progress
The timing is specific: “Every Monday at 10 AM” not “sometime this week”
The format is consistent: You report the same metrics each time
It’s recurring: Weekly or more frequent, not one-time
The other person follows up: They ask questions if you don’t report
Actualization is not a mantra to be excited about. It’s a lot of work and I hope you will give it all it requires this year!
Finally, this is my prayer for you this year:
Everything you know, everything you’re capable of, everything you represent, everything you are created for will cease to be steam in your mind but a result in your palms. You will materialize and actualize the resources at your disposal. You will create real products and have tangible impact. You will not only move internally, but you will expand externally. Your plans will be hatched and they will succeed. You will build actual structures, inspire real change, connect with real people, and build and scale real businesses. You will expand actual territories, build real innovation and give expressions to all your desired dreams. You will not remain an imagination, but a touchable structure.
Have a great year, and breakthrough from within.
When you’re ready, Here’s 2 ways I can help you grow your business
1. Pick my Brain
Book a 1-hour intensive clarity session where I structure your gifts, talents, experiences, and skills and turn them into clear product and income ideas by sending an email to iyiolaabiola@gmail.com.
2. Build a strong personal or business brand
Let me shape your brand, teach you how to write with clarity, and confidence, help you communicate with purpose, and tell stories that connect, persuade, and convert across all digital platforms.
©Abiola Iyiola, 2025
Thank for the wake up call
Thank you very much Coach!
God bless you.