DELAY GLORIFICATION

Read that again...Not delayed gratification..

When we were kids, many of our parents told us stories, but they didn’t just tell us stories for bedtime.

Many times, they were running a curriculum.

If you grew up in an African home, you know exactly what I mean. Stories weren’t just entertainment. They were vehicles specially engineered to transport “moral lessons” into your skull without your consent.

I remember one that never seemed to go out of fashion: the tortoise and the hare.

You know how it goes, race begins, hare bolts off, tortoise crawls, hare gets distracted, tortoise wins. End of story.

And from that day, the slogan was born: “Slow and steady wins the race.”

So instead of just laughing at the clever tortoise or the foolish hare, you got a whole lecture in values, discipline, and how to stay away from “yahoo yahoo.”

Parents loved this line. They used it to train us into “process people,” emphasizing patience, warning us against shortcuts, and drumming into us the dangers of illegitimate wealth. They would repeat it over and over, not just to teach patience, but to warn us against “fast money.” No yahoo, no 419, no shortcuts.

And honestly, that training saved a number of people.

All good. Truly.

But here’s where it gets interesting: when you stretch a good lesson beyond its proper context, it starts to backfire.

That same “slow and steady” mantra for many individuals subtly mutated into what I call Delay Glorification - Unnecessarily glorifying delay.

Relax, I’ll paint a picture to help you grasp this concept

You see, every exam in the university had various sets of people. But amongst the many classes, there were 2 people that stood out to me:

1. The “extra sheet” people: those champions who would raise their hands every 20 minutes asking for more paper like they were downloading from heaven.

2. The “till the last minute” people: those ones who would keep writing until the invigilator had to drag their paper out of their hands like a wrestling belt.
   

Back in the university, I remember finishing an exam early one day. I stood outside the hall, waiting for my friends, and I could see some people still bent over their papers, scribbling furiously. At first, I thought, “Wow, these people must be geniuses, writing long essays while I’m out here chilling.”

Now, here’s the funny thing. Staying longer in the exam hall didn’t automatically mean they were producing better answers. Some were just slower writers, sure. But others? They were sitting there chewing biro caps, waiting for a miracle, hoping that somehow the spirit of Einstein would descend and complete the exams for them.

P.S: I must pause you here to protect my aura, I was intelligent o! Before you’ll start asking why I was out and waiting while others were writing…

Now that we have settled that, we can proceed.

Worst case, sometimes the results would come out and I would have higher scores than someone who submitted hours after me.

You see, that day, I learned something powerful:

“Time spent is not equal to value created.”

The fact that you stayed longer didn’t mean you did better.

Sometimes, staying longer only meant you didn’t know what to do.

That single thought changed how I viewed life. Because you see, many of us have been taught to equate length of time with quality of result.

If I can produce A+ quality work in 45 minutes, why should I force myself to sit there for 3 hours pretending to “struggle”?

Fast forward to adulthood. That same “delay glorification” mindset has crept into how people measure success.

You’ve heard it before:

• “I built my first house at 40.”

• “It took me 20 years before I made my first million.”

Then they turn to you and say, “Don’t rush. Take your time.”

And I get the message, don’t be pressured unnecessarily in this life, however like I said, it can easily morph into an extra relaxed mental posture, and inhibit your ability to maximally drive yourself, and you will mask that laxity under the guise of ‘not rushing’.

And sometimes this great advice may be from people older than us, but sometimes what they may not realize is, they achieved that result based on the tools available in their time.

If we have better tools, the least we can expect is more optimized processes

For example,

• Technology now allows you access the global market place with the ability to earn in stronger currencies and spend in weaker currencies , without stepping out of your bedroom.

• Communication has leaped from letters that took 10 days to arrive, to video calls in 10 seconds.

• Funding and grants are everywhere: angel investors, venture capital, accelerators. Back then, your only investor was the government, and even that was a gamble.

• Transportation has gone from donkey backs to global flights and same-day delivery.

• Investments? You can now buy stocks with an app download. Back then, you had to “know a guy” at the stock exchange.

• Media leverage? Today, you can build a global audience in months without leaving your house. Before, if NTA didn’t show your face, forget it.
  
  And I haven’t even gotten into A.I
  

So here’s the point: Slow and steady is noble when it’s about discipline, patience, and process. But when it becomes an excuse for unnecessary delay, it’s not nobility, it’s an excuse you tell yourself not to drive yourself maximally.

Using leverage to achieve in 5 years what took your parents 20 is not dishonor. It’s wisdom.

So, my advice? Don’t glorify delay. Don’t wear “slowness” like a badge of honor.

The question is not, “How long did it take?”
The question is, “What cost did it require?”

And if the cost was minimized because you knew how to use leverage, congratulations. You’re not cheating the system. You’re mastering it.

Because in today’s world, leverage is the new “slow and steady.”

Like I’ll always say, taking shortcuts is different from accelerating progress

Whenever you can do the latter, please don’t hold back.

Go for it.

I hope this helps

-Okunade Boluwaduro

---

LEVERAGE - (How to get more done with less effort), is just one of the conversations we will have at the Incubator this year.

If you’ve ever wanted to have a thorough conversation on business and finance (not the generic things you hear online), then, you should quickly sign up.

This year, for about six hours, I will be cracking down everything on business and finance in this edition.

As always, we have extremely limited number of physical seats (50 seats) ..and over 20,000 people will receive this information, just like you’re receiving it. The earlier you sign up, the better.

Don’t let procrastination cheat you again

All the details are in the poster below

Apply to be in the room physically by clicking here