Fashion academy undergraduates have been urged to get more organised and structured, to turn their passion into successful career, and ultimately contribute to the development of Nigeria’s fashion industry.
The Executive Director GMYT Fashion Academy, Kelechi Oghene made the appeal while speaking at the academy’s induction ceremony in Lagos themed ‘Beyond fashion: Building value, legacy & enterprises.’
Oghene stressed that structure and knowledge are key, saying that it should shift students’ learning curve from slow to rapid, high–skill and set them up for success.
According her, the fusion of structure and willingness, sparks a transformative shift, hurling progress to new heights.
On the induction ceremony which welcomed 21 students from Nigeria and abroad, GMYT boss said it aimed to reorienting their mindset towards taking their studies serious.
Giving a brief history of GMYT Academy which was established some years back, she said it was built not just to teach sewing, but to build entrepreneurs.
Speaking on, ‘How to crush the biggest dream killer’, Mounfiq Raiyan Abu identified imposter syndrome as one of the dream killers, describing it as a mental feeling that makes an individual feel inferior.
Explaining further, she said: “It can make one lose so much in influence, affluence and congruence. It is the reason that your dreams seem so far away from your attainment. It is the reason you face so many limitations and are unable to surmount the obstacles that you face in life.”
Quoting a recent statistic, she said: “Sadly, the statistics show that imposter syndrome affects at least 75 percent of the global population, disproportionately impacting women and professionals of colour.
“An important fact to be aware of is that imposter syndrome is a symptom of self-doubt which is a belief system.
“It comes from a part of you that is not confident and it makes you not to trust yourself especially when you see other people that you think are more qualified than you.”
For one to break free of this feeling, she said it starts with paying close attention to the kind of words one tells herself daily.
“The words you tell yourself will lead you to fall or rise; it’s your choice. Whatever the trigger, these feelings can lead to damaging habits like self-sabotage, self-doubt, lack of confidence, and demeaning thoughts such as constant self –criticism,” she added.
To overcome imposter syndrome, Abu stressed the need for one to track her victory in every area of life/work and record them.
Explaining further, she said: “When you do this, you will begin to see the evidence of work in your results.
“Tracking your victories helps you know and trust in your own ability, skills and experience so you begin to feel capable, competent and confident. This helps you take action on your dreams without self-doubt and crush the feeling of imposter syndromes from your mind”.
She also identified daily self-validation practice as another means of crushing imposter syndromes, adding, “When you have self-validation, imposter syndrome can never come near you. You become very self-assured and confident in whom you are. And in days where you feel defeated with life, which happened to the best of us, you encourage yourself with affirmations, positive intentions, self-encouragement, meditation and other tools that enable you validate yourself.
“The person that can validate herself is the most powerful person in the world. That person never has anxiety, create joyful moments, find peace amidst chaos, and find the learning experience in every difficulty moment, staying optimistic, being a goal getter,” Abu noted.
Some of the newly inducted members who spoke in an interview poured out gratitude to the academy for the life-changing opportunity to learn and gain knowledge that would shape their future.
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