“Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;” Psalms 1:1 NKJV
One year after I completed my University education, my business mentor outsourced a marketing project to me. It took me two months to execute, and I made my first million. It was a surreal experience for my team and I, and we had him to thank.
Unfortunately, I did not seek good counsel on sustainability and in one year, I was down to less than N50,000 in my account. That meant one thing – I needed a job.
In a short time, I got a job in the most unlikely way, with my uncle’s firm which he managed with a business partner, who became my boss. My starting salary was N50,000 monthly. Oh, how the mighty fall!
After my first month, there was no salary in sight, no official memo explaining the payment delay and my personal resources were depleting fast.
Two weeks into the new month, only 80% of my salary was paid, with no explanation. The following workday, I asked my boss about it, and he simply said, “That’s what is available right now”. Something shifted in my head as I stared hard and long at him. He must have felt my gaze because he quickly changed the subject.
I felt cheated, disrespected and knew I needed to leave. So, I planned a four-month exit strategy and contacted my business mentor, telling him I needed to get the business up and running again, fast.
By February of the following year (in exactly four months), recurring business revenue matched the salary, and I sent in my resignation letter. But my boss refused and asked that I stay on board, so I did. The higher purpose that the company had is what made me bend because I disliked the culture.
After another six months of erratic and incomplete salary payments, business revenue had grown to six figures monthly. I sent in my resignation the second time and walked away from the job.
Good counsel is good throughout life. But there are key destiny-altering moments that can take you on a journey of wasted years if you don’t have good counsel. This includes moments like getting married, switching careers, taking a new job or quitting one, starting a new business, etc.
For every new season, you need to interpret the season correctly and get the right strategy for it so you can enjoy the benefits. Sometimes you may be unable to see things clearly yourself because your emotions may cloud your judgement. This is why good counsel is so important.
How do you know good counsel? You can know this when the person you’re seeking counsel from has good works in the area of focus. For example, my business mentor had a badge of failures and successes in our industry, with a good reputation and history. I could trust his advice.
The reason your work is only yielding its current fruit is because there’s some knowledge you don’t have. Don’t blame it on the government, your parents or the system. Why? Because there are people who do what you do and have the same factors working against them, but have access to more financial blessings all because of the right counsel.
I forgot the power of good counsel and for almost a decade, I made mistakes I had no business making. But I now realise its power and seek it dearly. You should too.
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Today’s Task: Identify your current season and the person you receive good counsel from. Reflect on and write down two pieces of advice that have given you leverage in this season.
Complete this…
“If I were giving advice to someone in my situation in life right now, I would tell them to…”
You can also provide good counsel to others. Be part of someone else’s story. Write down your answer in your journal.
Source: I get these growth prompts from my digital journal – GrowthDay.
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