09/01/2024
I was reflecting on a simple yet deep question that someone asked me about how according to him, I succeed in everything I do. So consider this my long response to that question.
Beware: this is a long read ...
I've come to the conclusion that it's because I have a myriad of skills and character traits in my arsenal and I know how to whip out each and every one of them at the appropriate time.
I have always been an advocate of learning a little bit about everything. This is how I live my life: no skill passes me by. If I come across it, better believe that I must look into it and acquire even the littlest of knowledge about that thing.
That is how I learnt how to teach, code, cook, sew, speak a new language, invest, survive in certain situations, people skills, braid hair including my own hair, retouch hair, barb hair, assemble packed furniture, draw building plans, handle family financial accounts, project management, discernment skill, to name a few.
Some people who follow snippets of my life on YouTube (also Flo Chinyere) shout each time they see me displaying any of these skills. I am nowhere near an expert in any of these skills but I can assure you that I know enough to be dangerous.
In most cases in life, you will need several skills to achieve just one thing. And not having one of those skills may be the spanner in your works.
Example 1:
I know how to cook even when cooking is the least of my favourite things to do so imagine how I will throw myself into something I actually love to do. I don't consider myself that much of a cook, but I have gone on to use that skill to achieve many things so much that most of you think that I'm a chef, some even believe I own a restaurant or at least offer some form of catering services. Several people have asked me if I'm a chef at my workplace.
I enjoy teaching. I'm a teacher's daughter so I must have gotten that from my Mum. If I teach you something and you don't understand it just go and submit your head at a block industry, inugo? 😅
I know how to code. In 2010 I decided to beef up my coding skills when I was pregnant with my daughter and was on a long maternity leave at home. That's how my website www.allnigerianrecipes.com was born. I recently moved it to Wordpress but I coded it from scratch with HTML, CSS and a tiny bit of javascript in 2010.
Because I also know how to put my thoughts into words, I was able to write detailed recipes that took every single page of the website to the first page of Google whenever someone searched for anything related to that recipe, making the site the number one Nigerian recipes website in no time. As the site became more popular, more visitors came to the site and with that came more questions about the existing recipes and requests for new recipes. The only natural direction to take the knowledge sharing with all the numerous questions I was getting was to start making demo videos.
Back then, I did not know how to edit videos. But I did not let the skills gap stop me, I quickly learnt enough of how to edit videos to be able to share what I wanted to share. And my YouTube channel was born. I became the first person to open a YouTube channel that was dedicated to consistently sharing Nigerian recipes videos. I uploaded videos back to back inspiring a multitude of other people to open YouTube channels and share theirs too. I also have a cookbook!
To achieve this one thing (sharing recipes on the internet), not one, not two but several skills are at play: teaching, coding, writing, filming, video editing, cooking, can-do attitude, organisational, project management, speaking and adaptability skills to name a few. Add a few character traits: tenacity, optimism, discipline, passion, confidence etc and every recipe I uploaded was a banger, still bangers today.
Example 2:
In my day job, the tech knowledge of the job contributes only about 30% to your success in the job/career. Transferable skills such as people skills rank higher in my opinion. This is because we live and work with people from different parts of the world, different cultures and backgrounds, in a small space in a remote location far removed from the real world for weeks. You meet people right now and within minutes you form a team with them and get to work with them. So if you have zero people skills, you can't survive in this job for one trip no matter how much of a guru you are in the technical aspect of the job.
I also think that adaptability skills are at the same level as tech knowledge. That is why in this profession, when you are hired, you must go offshore at least once before your employment is confirmed. Life at sea is different from life on land so you need a lot of adaptive ability to be able to survive one week at sea let alone weeks. Last week, I shared a clip of me taking a walk at my work "neighbourhood" on YouTube and some people were dizzy watching that. On top water is not a natural habitat for humans so you need adaptation skills.
Having these skills have saved me all through my life and best believe me when I tell you they are the reason why I am who and where I am today. Having skills gains you a lot of respect from your peers, juniors and superiors. Having skills boosts your self confidence in ways you can never imagine because with skills, nobody can do shakara for you. If you have several skills you can make money with, no human being will do shakara for you because of money. If you can cook, you will marry right because when the time comes, you will look for a wife not a cook. 😆 Yes, I have noticed that some men start looking for a cook when they want to get married. I know because I see them in my comments and DMs on the regular. Some ladies look for poverty alleviators instead of husbands when they want to get married. Please acquire basic life skills so that you can have clarity about who you want to have as a life partner. It is very important.
Skills will open doors for you, and can be great conversation starters. Do you know how many opportunities you can get in life simply because you can strike up a conversation with someone on a wide range of topics?
Certain skills have saved me all through my stay outside Nigeria where people that can do certain things for you: tailors, hairdressers and barbers for African hair, that are readily available in Nigeria are nowhere to be found. The availability of these services depends on the number of black Africans living in that part of the world, so as a black African, "sorry" is your name if you find yourself in a predominantly caucasian neighbourhood, city or country if you don't have these skills.
All I'm saying is stay moving, don't let yourself go stagnant. If there's one message I'll leave you with at the beginning of this year, it's to learn new skills on the regular. The world is changing so fast these days and you need to keep up else ụgbọ aghalụ gị (you will be left behind). It's easier than ever these days when we hold the access to a world of information in our palms. All you need is data (internet access).
With skills, you can conquer the world. With skills you can have unique advantages in every room. With skills you have super powers.
What skills do you possess that give you superpowers? What skills will you learn this year? Please let me know below because I'm looking for more skills to acquire to make my life easier and more fun.
Bah byeee, see you soon! 😘
Flo Chinyere
