The Law of Wasted Efforts

Sometimes last year, a sow on my farm gave birth to many piglets but refused to give them suck. We tried all we could but the piglets died one after the other. It was a very traumatic experience losing all the piglets within a few days.

I belong to a piggery group on WhatsApp and it was when I reached out for help that I was given a suggestion that could have solved the problem but it was too late. Some weeks before, I had turkeys that died off without any warning. The first set of goats I bought died.

One of them had eaten a polythene bag and it blocked her innards. Through all these, I now know what to do should I be confronted with similar situations again.

I used to run a snailery. At a point, I had well over a thousand snails- very big ones. I invested a tidy sum on the project digging a borehole and constructing cages and planting cocoyam for the snails. Each cage had sprinklers.

One Saturday, I got a call. The security at the farm saw soldier ants and he wanted to save the snails. He sprayed the snails with petrol. I lost about a thousand snails in a single day.

Before then I had a yam and pineapple farm which I ran together with a partner. We had a very good first harvest only to later discover thieves would harvest our yams at night. We set a trap and caught 2 villagers in the act.

I had to abandon the farm as I could not cope with the rate of pilferage. That was why I settled for animal husbandry. At least, I can count my pigs, chicken and goats.

A few years ago, I invested a tidy sum in a startup online market place business similar to Jumia and Konga. It was meant to be a runaway success or so we thought. I held weekly meetings with the two younger partners who brought the idea. Long story short, it collapsed.

I lost all the money I invested. I however learnt great lessons that will live with me forever. One of it is that everyone must have some skin in the game. If you have equity in a business, it won’t be easy for you to walk away.

My foray into transport business will always make an interesting read. Now, I understand it’s not a business I can do. You must have some degree of madness to be able to do that successfully in Nigeria. I’m not mad enough.

After changing drivers about 6 times within a short time, I decided to drive it myself. I was a banker who just wanted a side hustle because my wedding was coming up and I needed money.

I didn't think having a personal car was just a luxury- the car would just be at the car park from morning till I closed- so I borrowed myself brain so I could get my asset to work for me. Anyway, I drove the cab once I closed by 6pm.

I changed my route from Ashi-Bodija to Sango-Apete. I drove from 6pm to 11pm on weekdays before I retired for the night. I took off my jacket and tie, put them in the glove compartment and put on a fez cap so people would not recognize me as a banker.

On Saturdays, I took long haul trips with customers to Ilesha, Ife and other destinations. I drove personally. My Volvo 340 DL was a very good car. I did this for months until my strength and health couldn't take it.

The Law of Wasted Efforts is an important law of business and life management. It teaches you what cannot work. It allows you to understand what you’re not wired to do. You may think you’re wasting time but you’re piling on great business sense and acumen.

You’re finding out through experience what you could never discover in books or business schools.

The Law of Wasted Efforts helps you to develop capacity. While it can be frustrating and looks like you’re wasting time, you’re developing mental muscles. It may seem like all your efforts are wasted. Well, not quite. Nothing is really wasted.

Not your efforts, not your experience and not even your failures. They all go into a bank where you withdraw from your deposit and call them experience.

You will become a better judge of people. Your gut feelings will become sharper. You’ll be able to smell danger from a distance. This Law is one reason you may not succeed the day you set out. You won’t have it all figured out.

Things may not go as planned. You may lose money and your investments.

Your lack of success at the moment should not define you nevertheless. An awareness and recognition of this critical law of wasted efforts should spur you on to learn your lessons and try again.

(Okey Okoli, my friend and classmate in Secondary School, provided the inspiration for this article through a similar note he shared with our Class WhatsApp group)

Bayo Adeyinka

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