EMPOWERING BELIEFS PART 2: I ACHIEVE ANYTHING I SET MY MIND TO

It's been a long time coming so without further ado, I present to you the second of five articles dealing with the beliefs and principles that currently shape my life...

It was December 1992, by usual standards, a bitterly cold winter night at London's Victoria Station. For a 20 year old returning to the place of my birth for the first time in 17 years, it was hard to believe that people actually lived in this place. I felt like I was walking in a freezer.

My mum who knew what to expect had given me some money to buy warm clothing from Charlie Girl Boutique in Freetown's city centre. However, as I had no appreciation of how cold it would be, I put the money to 'better' use, going on an all night bender with my mates at Bintumani Hotel. That was the day before I left Sierra Leone to pursue my dreams and aspirations in the UK.

I had arrived at Gatwick on Christmas Eve and took the fast train to Victoria where my aunt would be picking me up. I was so cold I could barely unlock my fists to get my aunt's telephone number to find out where she was. I had to beg a passer-by to help me get the number from my pocket. The man, from Ghana, stayed with me until my aunt arrived, for which I was truly grateful. Mistaking the UK for Africa, I asked the guy for his telephone number as I thanked him, promising to visit him at his residence. He politely declined.

As I sat in my aunt's car with the niceties out of the way, I went into my space, reflecting on the journey it had taken to get me here. This was just reward for passing my A Levels.

Having been a brilliant boy in school in my early years, I increasingly went off the rails in my late high school years. I had disappointing GCE 'O' Level results because I thought studying was for wimps.

This promoted a heart-to-heart with my mother. She knew I had grown bored with Sierra Leone and wanted to return to England, where she had met and married my late father, while they were both studying. They returned with me, three years later, with future prospects looking bright. Fast forward to the late 1980s to early 1990s and things had fallen apart with mismanagement and corruption rife in the West African state. I just wanted to get out.

However, my mother, concerned about my future, insisted I would only return to England if I retook my exams and realised my true potential. This was the first time ever I considered what I wanted in life. It had all been about peer pressure before or doing what my parents wanted of me. I decided to dump science related subjects as I was hopeless at them. I took business related subjects instead.

I worked extremely hard, planning my timetable, attending all my lessons and actually revising for exams. Unsurprisingly, I excelled in the exams. I thought I had met my own side of the bargain and this was it, England here I come.

To my dismay, my mother moved the goalposts and told me I needed to complete my A Levels and be as successful as my retaken 'O' levels before I could return to England. I was devastated...another bloody two years.

Years later, I understood why my mother took that stance. It was aimed at character building and learning to plan to achieve results. In those two years, as I didn't want to spend a day in Sierra Leone after my exams, I played but worked extremely hard as well. It was also a tempting time because in April 1992, friends of mine led by 26 year old Captain Valentine Strasser had staged a successful coup-d'etat and I was rolling with the big boys. I could have been enticed into staying in Freetown and enjoy the trappings and ultimately the dangers of hanging out with a military dictatorship, even though initially they were greeted joyously by Sierra Leoneans. However, I had my goal in site and nothing was going to derail me.

My goal was England. The means to the attaining the goal was good 'A' Level results. In order to achieve the results, I needed to be focused and disciplined. I was intelligent - that was standard - but combined with a good work ethic I was able to succeed in my exams.

"We are here", my aunt jolted me from my thoughts as we arrived at her house in Stockwell, south-west London. "You've made it safe and sound", she continued. She had no idea how spot on she was.

Those early experiences in my life shaped my belief that I can achieve anything I set my mind to as long as I am confident in my ability, focused, disciplined and tenacious.