He has made a monumental history; breaking barriers and shattering shells not just as the current richest man globally but the wealthiest man to ever walk the surface of Planet Earth! By crossing the hitherto unreachable threshold of $400 billion (£345 billion) and going ahead to hit a staggering net worth of a mouth-watering $500 billion as at December 2024 he is richer than both Microsoft CEO, Bill Gates and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos with their combined net worths that is according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index (BBI). Reading through these recent epochal achievements the million-naira question that gripped the mind of yours truly concerns what he has done differently to achieve these feats.
“Your potential is unlimited. Aspire to a higher place. Believe in your abilities, in your tasks, in your judgement” -Bryan Adams
That one unique man under discourse is none other than Elon Musk, the South African -American business icon whose rare innovations in cutting -edge technologies through Space X, Tesla, Neuralink and the Boring Company have revolutionalised the way we live. While Space X, his private aerospace engineering company is a game – changer and pioneering space exploration and satellite internet, Tesla, the electric vehicle manufacturing company is raking in the dollars due to expanding patronage.
There are certainly several significant lessons to glean from Musk as individuals, who want to be better at our various businesses and professional ventures, more so in the new year of 2025. One of such important factors is to understand that all the veritable ideas of the life – changing inventions and innovations that have led to the production of electricity, air conditioner, refrigerator, television, traffic light, motorcycles, cars, aeroplane, cell phone, lap top, internet connectivity and such others as even tooth brush, all emanated from man’s mindset. The mind, according to the famous motivator, Norman Vincent Pearle is made of two parts- the subconscious and the conscious. Whereas, thoughts, ideas, wishes, and dreams are like seeds sown into the fertile field of the subconscious mind, the eventual decisions and actions taken are products of our conscious mind. The lesson hereby is the imperative of having a firm control of our mindset, as Musk has done.
Once that is achieved one is able to open the horizon of the mindset. That of course, is what transpired in that of great scientists such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Isaac Newton, Pythagoras, Marie Curie, and our own Silas Adekunle and Prof. Philip Emeagwali. To them and other creative minds including artists, poets, novelists, film makers and creative chefs the word impossible does not exist. Not at all! That perhaps, explains why Musk thinks that going to Planet Mars is a possibility, travelling from New York City to London through an underground tunnel, taking but a few hours is a possibility. So, it is up you to come to terms with the difficulties you have had in the past years, including 2024 and muster the mental will to break the limitations that have held you captive. If Elon Musk could think about spaceships that travel much faster than those currently in place and work on the ideas, why not you? What it means therefore is to master your mind, but do so with a Positive Mental Attitude ((PMA) as Vincent Pearle admonished.
With such a PMA you should be able to identify your God-given talents, skills and passion. What is it that you do so effortlessly while others find it an uphill task to achieve? What gives you that inner joy, contentment. and eventual fulfilment in life? What, as the renowned American media mogul, Oprah Winfrey asked is that passion you can easily display even without being paid for it? Whatever it might be that is what you should identify and cash on to make not just a living but a reasonable one at that. Is it to be a tailor, hair dresser, teacher to the ignorant, nurse to sick, and lawyer to defend the defendless? Is it to clean the dirty environment? Or perhaps, you love to play football as Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman do? What about finding it engaging to repair to repair broken down vehicles, television sets, and cell phones? It does not matter what. Even it could be to be a comedian and crack other people ‘s ribs. Recall that our own popular actress, Mercy Johnson once hawked pure water along some Lagos streets, while the now world acclaimed singer, Patorankin also hawked rat killers in the same city streets. Even ace comedian Ali Baba once trekked all the way from Ikorodu to Victoria Island in search of a white-collar job. But unknown to them they had tremendous talents hidden deep within them. So, like gold and diamond that are not found floating on the surface of the soil, we all have to dig deeper to bring out the pearls within, hone them from their rustic appearance to glow and shine for the world to see, admire and learn from. Year 2025 is the time to do so.
Yet, to succeed you to do away with all forms of negativity. Say goodbye to doubts, don’ts, discouragement and delays. Those are the devilish doctrines that often lead to frustrating failures in life. That is the salient reason great scientists turn deaf ears to such demeaning and dehumanising principles. For instance, Isaac Newton was told by one of his science teachers that he was a failure and would amount to nothing in life. Similarly, Charles Darwin the man whose father laughed at as only good at chasing rabbits in the field did not listen to his bearer when he came up with his brilliant scientific research on the ‘Origin of Species’ and the history making ‘Evolution Theory’ way back in 1859. Even the Wright Brothers who were told by friends to forget the “crazy idea” of flying their airplane, that it would never work defied all negativity when they did what was then thought as impossible at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, precisely on December 17, 1903. What it means therefore, is not to listen to discouraging remarks of the traducers. They are nothing but destiny destroyers. Doing away with all forms of discouragement is one step forward towards achieving your goals come 2025. After that is the deployment of the unfailing principles of positivity, ‘can do it’ spirit, team work with those who believe in your vision, focus, and being a problem -solver with your creativity and innovations. Yes, you can!
It takes vision of what exactly you want to achieve as your goals and within set timeframe, in addition to the practical application of the four C principles of character, courage, confidence, and commitment. Not left out are the 3 H philosophies of honour, honesty of purpose, humility, integrity, in addition to continuous learning and the ability to adapt to the dynamics of life. As Benjamin Franklin rightly noted: ” Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning”. For all these to come to pass there is the need to make sacrifices of energy, time and valuable resources. And that is because success is not served a la carte or on a platter of gold. That brings to the fore the significance of the persistent pursuit of your set goals. You must therefore, never give up.
Instead, turn your stumbling blocks into stepping stones, as the late Chinese Kung Fu actor, Bruce Lee once admonished, to lift you to higher grounds. To do that you must muster the courage to keep going forward, against all odds. For instance, the legendary American politician, Abraham Lincoln ( of blessed memory ) failed twice in business, several times as a politician but he did not give up. Eventually, fate smiled on him as he was sworn in as America’s 16th president. In a similar spirit of doggedness, the scientists who worked on producing Dolly, the first ever cloned sheep failed 277 times! What could have happened if they gave up at the 276th attempt? The answer is obvious. It would also be recalled that Elon Musk ‘s fortunes fell to $137 billion in 2022 but he did not cave in. Today, he is the history maker. The message is crystal clear- never give up. As Ray Kroc the man who bought the franchise of Mc Donald aptly stated: ” persistence pays”.
So, as 2025 is placed before us as an empty canvas before a painter, what we make of it would be determined by our vision, passion, self-belief in our dreams, experiences and how well we deploy our senses of sight, smell, taste, hearing, thinking and the critical decisions we make. But one unfailing principle in our choices is that of being problem-solvers with the power of creativity. Interestingly, that is exactly what Elon Musk has done with 13% share in Tesla, and 42% share in Space X, which as at December 2024 was valued at $350 billion. In addition, he owns 79% share in X Corp by his $ 44 billion acquisition in 2022.
Going forward, we must be futuristic in the running of our businesses, upgrading the processes with cutting -edge technologies as Musk has wisely done. But firstly, ” know thyself and to thyself be true.”
Welcome to 2025, your best year ever!
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