It is common for the average African university graduate to consider pursuing further education on their career path, and, the United Kingdom usually comes up as one of the choices because of the excellent education system.
We recently came across an interesting article about a Nigerian man who against all odds considered pursuing a consultancy career in the UK and has achieved great heights by becoming a partner in that consultancy firm.
We found his story a very striking one and believe that as an organization that is interested in the personal goals and career development of our members, we ought to share and highlight a few lessons from this journey to greatness!
Before proceeding with our article, you may want to have a quick peek at his original piece here: Charles in Digital Audit | PwC UK Careers
From what we read in that article, here are a few lessons learned, that we hope will inspire you too.

1. Any goal is achievable, especially if you try.

It is common to bear some doubts especially when you find yourself in an environment where you feel different from others, hence, the doubts of possibly being able to progress. The desire to become a partner did not go away for Charles, he was however scared, not until he was inspired, and then he tried!
We hope we can confidently encourage you by letting you know that when you are present, conscious and living with intentional purpose, you know, at a deep level, that anything is achievable!

2. Step out from your comfort zone

You know what they say about the comfort zone; it is the enemy of achievement, and life always begins with one step outside of your comfort zone.
Charles explains better how he was able to break out of his comfort zone.
You must break through your comfort zone if achieving your dreams are just as important as your comfort, because even the smallest changes in our daily routine can create incredible ripple effects that expand your vision of what is achievable.

3. Break through your fears and kill your doubts.

Sometimes your fears are only what limits you towards achieving your break-through. It is the only thing that comes between you and growth.
Charles broke through his fear by accepting that he doesn’t have to succeed at his first time trying. We face our fears for a reason: it helps us to grow and reduces our fears for a second- and third-time trial. You must overcome your fears, otherwise you will never move from where you are. Our fears only stop us from becoming a person of action, change, and ultimately success.

4. Curiosity doesn’t always kill the cat.

Be curious about more ways to achieving greatness. Seek out opportunities you never even thought existed, because in being curious you are building up knowledge. If Charles wasn’t curious, he would never have foreseen the possibilities of someone from his ethnic background ever achieving the height of becoming a Partner at PwC.
In an unfamiliar environment, it is wise to be curious about everything, never hold back on asking questions because curiosity is just research that is formalized.

5. Positivity is important to maintain.

If you have ever been in awe how the most underprivileged people turned out to be successful in life, we are here to tell you that one thing they all had in common was by adopting positivity in their everyday living. Dwelling on the negative side of your conditions can be very limiting and may lead you to quit because of lack of credence. Successful people share a common mantra, that negative thoughts breeds negative results; and it doesn’t matter how many times one fails, what matters is how many times one picks himself up and keeps moving on.

6. Actions are better than dreams:

The distance between your dream and reality is action. Everything starts as a dream, but to achieve these dreams, one must take actions. It might seem difficult at the beginning, but once that first step is taken, everything begins to fall in place and there comes the motivation to continue with even taking larger paces. Action is the foundational key to being successful.

7. Resilience and persistence won’t break you:

There is an adage that says “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, this was a true case for Charles. He mentioned that his struggles of being a minority was new to him. Also bear in mind that resilience doesn’t have to mean struggling for a better tomorrow, resilience can also be interpreted as accepting a new reality, even if it’s less good than your past, as you hope for a better tomorrow.
Conclusion:
You must keep in mind that all of these lessons do not become habits easily, success loses it importance when it is easily accomplished. The journey to greatness comes with a lot of obstacles, self-doubt and failure.
To achieve your dreams, you must be determined, put in consistent efforts, never give up, believe in your abilities and think like a winner. Winners never quit; quitters never win. Never let failure define you.
Failure is just an event, but Success is a journey.