How I Connected To My Calling

“Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” Steve Jobs

We all start life having our calling or purpose in mind but then as we grow, we depart from that calling. In school, we get told what others think we should be. The opinion of others about who we are drowned out the inner voice of our calling. At first, we resist people’s opinions and trust our calling. However, as they persist, we come to believe the groupthink and align with it. As a result, by the time we are in our twenties, we have completed department from our purpose and build our whole lives on what others think we are.

Those who stay connected to their calling and resist the other opinions of others are pressured to give up their stance and become what others want them to be. They are called stubborn, proud, ungovernable, and self-centered. That is a manipulative way to get you to leave your calling. It would help if you stay connected to your calling; the reason why you are on earth.

I was very good at mathematics and sciences. I was naturally inquisitive and just loved tinkering with things. My dad decided that I should study engineering. Deep within me, I wanted to study law. I was unable to make known my desires because he pays the piper so he has to dictate the tune and my role is to dance to the beats. So, I gave in to his opinion about who I was created to be and am grateful I did.

If I had gone to study law, what I love and was naturally endowed towards, I would have not found my calling. From my first day at the University, I found engineering boring. To compensate for my frustration, I spent my time in the library. I was reading everything I could lay my hands on from engineering to biophysics, astral travels, philosophy, psychology, drama, physics, mathematics, and so on. I was searching for my calling.

In my third year, I connected to my calling. By my fourth year, I and a few engineering friends started an organization on campus to realize the dream. The calling consumed me. I started burning with the calling. It directed my life. Engineering no longer became what I was studying, but something I was leveraging to impact the world.

I took a course in systems engineering and I fell in love with it. Today, I use system thinking as a tool to analyze everything. Law for Engineering is another course that opens me up to what I loved. Economics for Engineering introduced me to how engineering can impact the entire value chain of a business. Then I happened upon a program run by Acumen and IDEO, Design Thinking, which impacted me deeply and became the cornerstone of everything I do.

I got discouraged along the way and started focusing on how to get money. So, I started to dabble into everything that will bring us funds to run the organization. Personal needs and desire for success can motivate you to disconnect from your calling. You must get lost in your calling to find life in it. Someone met me when I was low on motivation and inspiration and she advised that I focused the organization on developing appropriate technologies. I started developing my capacity and capability to be able to achieve that.

You see so many of us have dreams but in our hurry to make it a reality, we hardly take out time to develop capacity and capability. Dreams can’t become reality when you are not competent. I remember reading 500 books in 6 months. I was desperate to develop the right capacity and capability.

Today, Engineers Without Borders Nigeria is focusing on using systems and design thinking to solve Nigeria’s most challenging problems. To achieve this, we are setting up hubs and labs across Nigeria to design technologies. Through these centers, engineering students will develop technologies for communities in Nigeria. Some of those centers are:

1. Nnewi Tech Hub (where we tackle technologies in education and healthcare)

2. Calabar Waste Tech Hub (we design technologies in waste and sanitation)

3. Ilorin Energy Tech Hub (we design appropriate energy technologies)

4. Jalingo Food Tech Hub (we design appropriate agricultural technologies)

We want to transform engineering education in Nigeria in two ways: create a platform that engages all Nigerian engineering and science students to work collaboratively to design products and techs, and transform engineering education. In the next 3-5 years, we plan to establish a university dedicated to producing global engineers. Nigerian engineers should be part of Nigerian export to the world. These engineers will be trained to be value-added engineers giving value anywhere they are. They will understand law, economics, business, and value creation.

I am not saying that when you connect with your calling everything will turn out fine. On the contrary, everything will be tough. Your calling will require you to grow. Growth is tough. You have to be like a seed. When you are connected to your calling, you will grow and become like a tree that bears its fruit in its season.

If we all connect to our calling, we will build a better world for everyone. Our calling is a major part of our humanity. With our calling, we have an abundance mindset and are others-focused, however, the moment we disconnect from our calling we develop a scarcity mindset and self-centered.