Tag: Self-awareness (page 1 of 7)

Reinvention: How to Live Multiple Lives in 1 Lifetime

Reinvention is how you live multiple lives in one.

Let me explain how. April 12 was my birthday. The birthday came with beautiful prayers, wishes, and messages.

And it felt so good to be appreciated.

The birthday anniversary also reminded me of how fast life moves, with responsibilities and relationships growing stronger or weaker with time.

Time is Constant for Everybody, yet Different for Anybody

When you are in your 20s, you seem to have abundant time.

It’s the same 24 hours for everyone, but you have more energy to stay awake. And so many interests, passions and causes compete for your ‘seemingly infinite’ time.

Whether it’s launching a business or growing your business. Whether it’s finding a new job or maintaining your current job.

Starting an NGO. Or being part of an NGO. Watching a personal development video. Or re-watching a Netflix series.

The options are limitless.

Then suddenly, your time now seems to get shorter with every birthday celebration.

Reinvention: The True Concept of Time

Reinvention: The True Concept of Time

There used to be days when I woke up by 5 a.m., went to work, called friends, read voraciously, wrote over a thousand words, took an online course, slept by 1 a.m., and still felt energetic the next day.

Now, there are days when I struggle to read, return a missed call or finish a 90-minute movie as I try to relax.

Even though you want time to go at your pace, this is when patience comes into play.

The Patience Paradox

In this present age of cybercrimes and the increasing display of wealth, it is easy to sway from the right path.

Let me explain this with a few real-life scenarios:

Example 1: You just started your business. You sell cakes. Or probably clothes.

Your cakes are sweet and amazing. Your clothes are top-quality and fitted.

But the customer patronage is low. The sales are not coming as you expect.

Then you ask yourself, why do I have Few customers?

The keyword is PATIENCE.

Example 2: You wrote your first book. Or built your first app.

You spend a lot of energy and time on it. Excitement overwhelms you. You are hyped up.

You finally launch the book. Your app is live on the mobile app stores.

You get a lot of congratulations, but the users are few.

It’s nothing compared to the resources spent.

Then you ask yourself, why is my book not a bestseller? Why are people not talking about my app with their friends and family?

My friend, the keyword is PATIENCE.

Example 3: You organise an event.

You design flyers and publicise them on social media.

The venue is set.

You even bought light refreshments for your guests. You tell your friends, family and even enemies.

Most of them promise to come. You are already imagining a fully packed event.

Then the D-day comes. Only a handful of people attended.

And some of them only came because they heard there would be small chops.

Then you ask yourself, am I missing something here?

The keyword is PATIENCE.

In these situations, you have two options.

You can either wait for your friends to make money and then buy your products.

Or you can search for clients who are willing to pay for your services.

Both choices will still take time. It will still require PATIENCE.

Does this mean, you should stop trying? Of course not.

Patience is one of the most underrated virtues. It takes patience to stop making rash or stupid decisions when climbing the ladder of success.

It takes patience to analyse a situation and make the right decision.

Reinvention: The Patience Paradox

Reinvention: The Patience Paradox

You can always speed up the process through direct mentorship, deliberate practice and careful observation of the greats.

But you should not skip the process altogether.

Trust the process. Enjoy every moment you spend today in improving yourself and your craft.

Patience is the bridge between lifetimes, and this is when it leads to growth.

Growth – The Misinterpreted Compounder

When we were younger, growth was often defined as the irreversible increase in age and size.

But now that you are older, this concept changes, especially for life itself.

Growth is now the increase in character, competence and convictions.

The attitude you exhibit. The passion and dedication you infuse in your work and craft.

And the values and principles that govern your daily decisions.

As I read some messages on my birthday, I rediscovered that growth is not just counting the number of birthdays you have witnessed so far on Earth.

But it’s also in the quality of your relationships – people above, below and on your level.

Growth is reflected in your influence over people and in the values you try to teach and learn daily.

Reinvention: What Growth also Means

Reinvention: What Growth also Means

The destination may change. The career prospects may not be what you planned it to be.

But one thing is still sure,

God’s Grace. Dedication. Diligence. Perseverance. Execution. Creativity.

The principles that worked for successful people will still work for you and me too.

Growth is the soil where your multiple lives bloom.

The Rule of Reinvention

In my “past lives”, I have been a laptop seller, graphic designer, biology undergraduate and even a client experience officer.

Elon Musk worked on online maps, business directories, and financial services before he became CEO of Tesla. Dangote imported and distributed commodities before he started manufacturing. Jesus Christ was a carpenter, healer and teacher before he became the saviour.

Most people replay the same year 10 times and call it a decade.

They work, sleep, scroll, repeat. They do not evolve, only age. That’s not life.  That’s existing.

Living multiple lives in one lifetime requires intentional evolution, not just passive endurance.

Leonardo da Vinci didn’t just paint the Mona Lisa; he was an inventor, scientist, and architect. Each pursuit was a “life” he lived within one lifetime. Oprah shifted from news anchor to media mogul to philanthropist. Each phase was a distinct “life.”

The key to reinventing yourself is to learn skills and keep compounding them. Every new skill is a new life. So, try to learn and apply one life-changing skill per year.

Coding, storytelling, public speaking, negotiation, photography — each opens a new version of you.

My book, Fast Track, can help you learn skills and place you on the path of reinvention in a shorter time.

Embrace skill stacking. Don’t see learning as ending with formal education or your current job. Actively seek out and dedicate time (even just 30 minutes a day) to learning a skill completely unrelated to your main hustle.

Use Patience to build competence, let time allow it to mature, and watch how this new skill adds another “layer” or potential “life” to your existence.

Treat your Life as a Netflix Series

Think of your life not as a single career path or role, but as a Netflix series.

Just as how a Netflix series rarely stops at a single season, you should not limit yourself to one version. Develop all aspects of yourself.

Each reinvention of yourself is a new season.

Your season 1 can be “the Hustler”. Season 2 can be “the Learner”. Your season 3 can be “the Baller”

You don’t cancel the show after one season. You keep producing, rewriting, shocking the audience. The plot twist is your responsibility.

Living multiple lives means actively working and balancing these different storylines in your series over time.

Some seasons might be excellent while others are just okay, and you might add entirely new storylines throughout your lifetime. Time allows each episode to improve, Patience helps you get better seasons (life challenges), and Growth is the overall increase in your series’ value (your richness of experience and character).

Don’t let your years pass by and track only birthdays.

Create intentional ceremonies or markers when you’re entering a new “life” phase.

What about the day you started your first business? Or started a new job? Did you mark the day you moved to a new city with just faith and your laptop?

Create the Right Timeline

Create the Right Timeline

In the End, Reinvention is for Your Own Good

When you cultivate different aspects of yourself – different skills, different roles, different knowledge bases – you build incredible resilience.

If one area of your life faces a setback (like a job loss, a business downturn), you have other developed parts of yourself to lean on, draw strength from, or even pivot towards.

You’re not a “one-season wonder.” You’ve lived multiple lives and learned different ways of thinking and problem-solving.

This adaptability, nurtured by patience through various growth cycles over Time, makes you better equipped to handle the inevitable uncertainties life throws your way.

You bounce back faster and see opportunity where others see only crisis.

This is how you will live multiple times in a Single Lifetime.

Reinvent Yourself Often

Reinvent Yourself Often

The Product Manager Mindset: Build a Better You Today

If you are not paying for it, you’re not the customer, you are the product being sold.

This phrase has been around for years and is often used for big tech companies like Facebook, Google, and, recently, OpenAI (ChatGPT).

In this context, the user is often the “product” served up to advertisers and their data. This is done to help companies manipulate users into making purchases from advertisers.

This principle applies to Life as well.

Breathing is free. Time is a gift. Waking up and Sleeping is free.

And since it’s all free, you are the product.

In business and entrepreneurship, a product fails without a product manager. Features are added without proper checks. User needs are ignored, and ultimately, the product fails to achieve its potential.

Similarly, without consciously managing your own “product” (your life and abilities), you can drift aimlessly, reacting to external demands rather than proactively shaping your growth and impact.

Don’t Drift Through Life on Autopilot

Many people drift through life without a clear roadmap or objective.

They wait for instructions. These people optimize for comfort. They never ask: What am I building here?

This mindset creates dependency, passivity, and missed potential.

That’s not you. You won’t be reading this if you simply want to drift through life. You prefer to proactively design your life rather than react to external forces.

When You See Yourself as a Product, You Start Improving

Your current strengths are the “features”. Personal weaknesses are your “bugs” to fix. Your life becomes the roadmap.

As the product manager, your ultimate objective is to ensure the overall product (you) is stable, efficient, delivers maximum value to its “users” (the world around you)

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself – Rumi

This mindset creates self-awareness and a system for continuous self-improvement, just like version upgrades in a product.

Embrace the Product Manager Mindset

When you embrace the product manager mindset, you become the architect of your life.

You prioritize your time, energy, and resources according to your own goals. This gives you a greater sense of control, purpose, and fulfilment. You are no longer a passive product but an active creator of your own experience.

You are constantly iterating, experimenting, and refining.

Become the best in the world at what you do. Keep redefining what you do until this is true. – Naval Ravikant

Here are the steps to become the Product Manager of your Life.

The 4 Rs of Becoming a Self-Product Manager

The Product Manager Mindset to Life

The Product Manager Mindset to Life

 1. Review your “features” and “bugs”

Review your life as a product manager by thinking in features and bugs.

A feature is a product’s specific functionality, capability, or characteristic that delivers value to the user. It distinguishes a product from its competitors and enhances its overall appeal.

Bugs are errors, flaws, or defects which prevent a product from functioning as intended. Bugs need to be identified, tracked and resolved to ensure a smooth user experience.

List your current strengths (features), your weaknesses (bugs), and your goals (roadmap).

Define your personal “North Star.”

In product management, a “North Star Metric” (NSM) is a single, measurable metric that best captures the core value your product delivers to customers. A North star metric is measurable, actionable, clear and simple.

What are your core values and long-term goals? Write them down and review them regularly.

Then base your daily actions on these principles.

And don’t be afraid to fail or make mistakes. Use those experiences as data points to improve your next iteration. Iterations lead to mastery.

The goal is not to achieve perfection but to strive for continuous improvement.

2. Refine and Make Data-Driven Decisions

When building successful products, product managers don’t rely on feelings alone—they rely on metrics.

Do the same with your time, energy, and priorities. Track decisions and outcomes in your life by using a journal or note app. Review your trends every month.

Schedule regular “product review” sessions with yourself.

Reflect on your progress and identify areas for improvement. Then, adjust your “roadmap” accordingly. Be honest with yourself about what is working and what isn’t.

3. Release the Minimum Viable You (MVY)

No one can compete with you on being you. Most of life is a search for who and what needs you the most – Naval Ravikant.

Just as a tech startup launches an early version of its product with core features to test the market, identify your core strengths and focus on developing them first.

Instead of trying to be everything at once, concentrate on delivering value in a specific area.

As you gather “user feedback” (through your experiences and interactions), iterate and add new “features” (skills and knowledge) to your MVY, continuously improving and expanding your capabilities.

Launch the simplest version of a project or skill, then iterate based on real-world feedback.

When approaching a new endeavour, identify the smallest step that allows you to test your assumptions.

Want to write a book? Start with one article.

Seeking a career change? Do a single project in that field before full commitment.

You can check out my book – Fast Track which shows you how to build and achieve the complete roadmap in achieving this step.

What is the Lifetime Value of You?

In product management, there is a metric called “Lifetime value (LTV).”

Companies calculate this metric to make better product development decisions. The lifetime value prioritizes high-value customers and allocates resources more effectively. LTV represents the total revenue a customer is expected to generate over their entire relationship with a company.

Apply this concept to yourself.

What is the value you bring to the world and your relationships?

What value do you bring to your well-being throughout your life?

How can you increase that value through continuous learning, growth, and contribution?

  1. Repeat and keep shipping updates

When building and managing products, there is a ritual known as “Daily Stand-up” done by the product team.

A daily stand-up is a short, focused meeting where the product team align on progress, goals and blockers. When done right, it always saves time and encourages accountability among the members. Daily stand-ups keep the team moving efficiently towards product goals.

Start your day like a daily stand-up meeting.

Ask yourself: What did I do yesterday? What am I doing today? What are my blockers?

Just like a product manager reviews progress and roadblocks, treat each morning like a product check-in.

Keep Shipping Updates

Why accept a version of yourself that stays the same?

Every week is a new version to keep learning, growing and doing.

Be real. Be yourself. Then become someone greater than your former self each day. – Victor Asemota

And when you are not yet your highest self with unfinished goals, tell yourself this:

You’re not stuck. You’re just a version behind.

Become the Product Manager of Your Life

In a world where free services often make you the product, take control by applying product management principles to your own life.

Treat yourself as a product. Your strengths are its features, your weaknesses are bugs to fix, and your growth is an ongoing iteration.

By embracing the 4 Rs of Self-Product Management (Review, Refine, Release (MVY), and Repeat) you shift from passive drifting to intentional living.

Define your North Star Metric (core purpose), make data-driven decisions, launch the Minimum Viable You (MVY), and continuously ship updates through daily self-reflection.

Just as great products need strong product managers, your life needs you at the helm. Stop being the product others shape—become the architect of your growth, value, and impact.

You are the product. Don’t let anyone mismanage you.

Why the 10,000 Hour Rule is Outdated (And What to Do Instead)

“Put in your 10,000 hours and you’ll become a master”

You’ve probably heard this advice if you’ve ever pursued excellence in any field. It’s been repeated in bestselling books, TED talks, and countless motivational speeches. But what if this widely accepted “truth” about mastery is fundamentally wrong?

For years, people have clung to the idea that 10,000 hours of practice is the magic ticket to expertise.

What is the 10,000 Hours Rule? (And Why It’s Misunderstood)

Gladwell’s “Outliers” popularized that 10,000 hours of deliberate practice leads to expertise.

The concept is simple: dedicate time, and you’ll achieve mastery.

But here’s the problem: time alone doesn’t make you great — iterations do.

Time Spent does not Equal Mastery

Time Spent does not Equal Mastery

Think about it.

If you spend 10,000 hours lifting weights with bad form, will you become an elite powerlifter? No.

If you practice the wrong technique in business, will you become a millionaire? Highly unlikely.

If you drive a car for 10,000 hours, do you become a Formula 1 racer? Not at all.

Why?

Because mastery isn’t about counting hours — it’s about counting iterations, refining each attempt, and learning from every mistake.

I fear not the man who has practised 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practised one kick 10,000 times. – Bruce Lee

This reminds me of Zenitsu, one of the characters in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Zenitsu mastered a single sword-fighting technique (Thunderclap and Flash), so he could utilize it even while asleep. His swordsmanship skill drastically evolved to match that of the Hashira, the highest-ranked and most powerful swordsmen in the story.

All I am saying you can spend 10,000 hours doing something wrong and remain mediocre.

Many people focus on the quantity of hours, not the quality of practice.

The Problem with the 10,000-Hour Rule

Most people misinterpret it.

The 10,000-hour rule misses a crucial point: two people can spend identical amounts of time practising something yet achieve dramatically different results.

Why? Because most people have misinterpreted the research, focusing on the quantity of practice rather than quality.

The problem with the 10,000 Hours Rule is that it focuses too much on time spent rather than the quality and structure of practice.

Many people have put in 10,000 hours at their jobs without becoming exceptional at them.

They focus on the sheer quantity of practice, ignoring the quality. It’s not about mindless repetition — it’s about strategic, intentional iteration.

It’s 10,000 Iterations, not 10,000 Hours

“It isn’t 10,000 hours that creates outliers, it’s 10,000 iterations.” – Naval Ravikant

Top performers don’t just put in time—they test, tweak, and refine.

They aren’t afraid to break things, fix them, and push the limits of what’s possible.

It’s about 10,000 focused attempts at perfecting that one sword technique, with feedback and correction each time.

Do this to Replace the 10,000 Hour Rule

Do this to Replace the 10,000 Hour Rule

Iteration is Already a Part of Life

Look around you—iteration is the fundamental building block of progress in nearly everything:

  • Children learn to walk through thousands of tiny adjustments after falling.
  • Startups use “build-measure-learn” loops to develop products.
  • Evolution works through iterations of genetic variation and natural selection.

Also, look at how technology evolves.

Mobile phones started as bulky bricks that did little more than make calls. Now, they’re pocket-sized supercomputers. From Nokia 3310s to iPhones and Samsung Galaxy smartphones.

Every major advancement in technology, art, science, and human skill came through repeated iterations — not just hours of effort.

The same applies to your personal growth and skill development.

You’re already iterating every day

You just don’t realize it.

  • Ever adjusted a recipe after tasting it? Iteration.
  • Ever tweaked your workout after feeling sore? Iteration.
  • Ever adjusted your playing style after failing at a game? Iteration.

The problem? Most people stop refining too soon. They settle for “good enough” instead of pushing for “what’s next?”

What is Iteration

Iteration is not repetition. Iteration is error correction.

This distinction is crucial. Repetition without adjustment is just going through the motions. True iteration involves these 4 Steps:

  1. Try something.
  2. Break it.
  3. Fix it.
  4. Repeat.

Each iteration should teach you something new about your craft. Without this learning component, you’re just spinning your wheels—even if you’re logging hours.

How to Iterate Your Way to Mastery (Progressive Overload)

The secret? Add weight to your practice.

  • Lifters add more plates.
  • Learners add more challenges.
  • Gamers add more combos.

The key to real growth is progressive overload.

This is the principle that small, consistent improvements over time lead to massive gains. Just like lifting weights, you don’t jump to the heaviest load on day one. You progressively challenge yourself, increasing complexity and intensity with each rep.

Imagine learning a new language.

You don’t just cram vocabulary for 10,000 hours. You practice speaking, make mistakes, correct them, and repeat. That’s iteration.

It’s not necessarily all about the volume of time, but the number of reps you put into a specific task. The magic happens when you complete enough quality iterations — whether it takes 1,000 hours or 20,000.

Because it’s the meaningful repetitions that matter, not the clock.

Make Every Iteration Count

Want to master anything? Make every repetition count.

  1. Start small. Focus on one variable at a time.
  2. Measure. Track what changes.
  3. Adjust. Improve one thing each time.

This is progressive overload—the same way athletes build strength by gradually increasing resistance.

But instead of weights, you’re adding challenge, precision, and refinement.

Mastery isn’t about sitting in one place for 10,000 hours — it’s about pushing through 10,000 iterations, each one sharper and more refined than the last.

It’s not the hours put in at work, it’s the work put in during the hours.

If you want to accelerate your success, stop worrying about the clock. Instead, focus on how many quality reps you’re putting in.

Your highest self will thank you.