Why Don't Things Always Go As Planned?

13 years ago I finished my secondary school education. I had done extremely well in my senior secondary school certificate exams (SSCE). I was full of hopes for the future. Everyone close to me talked about how my brilliance will open doors for me and get me an easy life. Then JAMB wouldn't let me go for two years.

When I finally got into the university, the hopes were rekindled. I was hitting the dean's list for many semesters and got a Mobil scholarship in my year one. I had a voice in the class. Everyone treated me like I had a bright future. In the end, I graduated second best in my department and waited for NYSC.

Before NYSC I had secured a job in Lagos with a multinational company and the manager I would be under already told me that I would be sent for training four times in my first year at the company's training centers spread across Europe. It was a struggle to accept my NYSC posting to Bayelsa and not change it to Lagos where I was expected to resume for the job.

In the end I went to Bayelsa for my NYSC. I gave business the same focus I gave my studies in school. In the 12 months I spent in Bayelsa, I had done several revenue generating activities -- photographer, CCNA instructor, private lesson teacher, an extra teaching job at a private school, ran a desktop publishing biz and wrote program for money. I also got a job with a Polytechnic as an ICT lecturer, but turned it down as I wanted to come back to Lagos. So with high hopes I left Bayelsa for Lagos to enter the job market fully.

And again I was lucky. In less than a month I got and resumed a great job. The same company I had the job offer from the previous year but because I had not resumed last year and they had taken 2 people that year, I was placed under a graduate training programme rather than taken in directly as an internal staff. But it was still way better than not getting a second chance. I even made more money than a lot of my friends. And was getting rich faster than I thought.

6 months down the line, the trainee program ended and the process of internalizing us began. Unfortunately, business had gone southward and the HQ wouldn't increase the headcount in Nigeria. None of us in the trainee program got in. And it marked the beginning of a new phase of life for me.

Up till then, things have been going as planned or better for me (except for the JAMB extra year delay). Even the Bayelsa NYSC year ended up a very pleasant experience. But from that day forward, almost nothing went as planned except my new found obsession with being my own boss.

I got another job in less than two months, with another global telecoms company and was doing a great job as part of the team running their Africa operations. I was a Business Analyst and MIS Analyst with them. I discovered Excel while on that job or, more appropriately, Excel discovered me. Then after one year I left for another job.

Then I got some job interviews and the HR kept saying: "You've had 3 jobs in 2 years. We know you have the skills and have an impressive CV. How are we sure you'll stay?" And that question always trip me up. So I decided that they were right. I was never going to stay for long and I had better go for the one thing I have always wanted -- being on my own.

image: bplans.com

And now I am on my own, Yet things still won't work as planned. And I find myself asking the question, "Why don't things always go as planned?"

Do you have an answer for me?