Tough Times Never Last, but Tough People Do!

– Robert H. Schuller

Here are the story and the insights of a young man who never did give up, even he went  through very tough times.

With discipline and vision,  Sam Adeyinka continues his way and goes after his dream.

Here he did write his story for us and shares his insights. A vision and strong desire brings through tough times and makes stronger.

“Be a victor, not a victim.”-Joel Osteen

 101 insightful things about Sam Adeyinka

1. Call me Sam (but I’ll answer to Sam Adeyinka too).

2. People always ask me how I make money blogging and I tell them simply to find out at incomesplash.com or hit my inbox.

3. I was born in 1991, in Lagos, Nigeria at exactly 8pm.

4. I’m a ninja of the “finding really cool stuff online” variety.

5. My momma died of Cancer (of the eyes) diseases when I was 17. For years I thought it was my fault.

6. I wrote a really short book about Fiverr Sales Machine once. You have NO IDEA how long it took me.

Go to my blog’s about page to download your FREE copy!

7. I played the Guitar for 3days.

8. I skipped Kindergarten. Too smart. (Notice I didn’t skip any other grades.)

9. I’m the author of the book “You are the Success Factor” (sales page link will be shared soon)

10. I drive a Leg Benz but I’d prefer a Real Car. 🙂

11. I love a good hymn every now and then. It is Well with My Soul is my favourite.

12. I’m a Mass Communication dropout.

13. I’ve lived in 2 different countries.

14. I’ve attempted to learn 3 different languages. I only remember one. English.

15. I think public school teachers are the biggest unsung heroes in Nigeria.

16. I used to bite my nails. Now I only bite the skin around them. You should see them now – my nails.

17. I am a die-hard perfectionist. Is there anything like that?!

18. I really love Pizza but I only get to eat it once.

19. I exercise, but not because I like it but because I get tons of female admirers, some looking to bed me, but hey, am a lover of Christ!

20. I am moved to tears whenever I hear the sound of a good music. I’m not sure why.

21. I am a badass home-schooler.

22. Beans are my favourite food, especially when served with fresh brown bread.

23. I played basketball. I also played volleyball, tennis & football and I ran track. Not because I was good but because I like when I see professionals play the game.

24. I graduated from high school in a class of 2009, in Africa.

25. I had a dog when I was 9 up until I was 16. His name was Blacky.

26. I almost hit a giraffe while learning to drive with my friend’s car.

27. My favourite colour is Red.

28. I usually order a bottle of Coke whenever I go out to eat.

29. I’m picky. Infuriatingly so, infuriating even to myself, but not about food.

30. My parents up until their deaths didn’t live together. Don’t ask me why, because I’ve got no answer for it!

31. I turned down a book deal once. And I’m glad I did.

32. I’m a badass home-schooler. Did I say that already?

33. I am a Christ-follower.

34. I rarely watch TV. The Internet is my Villa!

35. I don’t have a favourite movie. But I sure love an outside-the-box movie. Example would be “Game of Thrones”.

36. I’m all about efficiency. I like killing two (preferably more) birds with one stone.

37. I used to have panic attacks. I wouldn’t wish those on my worst enemy.

38. I have expensive taste. Unfortunately, I don’t have the funds to match.

39. I’m good at starting things.

40. I’m horrible at finishing things. (Notice this list does not have 101 items as I intended.)

41. I’m a people pleaser. Who does that?

42. I get exceptionally grumpy when I’m tired.

43. I worry way too much about what other people think. Just said that above, huh?

44. I currently live in Ibadan (the largest city in Nigeria) and continually ask myself “How did THAT happen?” But I like it. Plus, I like open space and there’s lots of it here.

45. I do not like the technical aspects of blogging. But I like to write and blog.

46. Last year, my January 20 was dedicated to writing my toughest course instead of throwing a party. This year is no different.

47. I created my first successful blog in 2013, even though I started blogging 2years before.

48. I love fine girls, especially slim, cute and light in complexion ladies. I could kill to have them all to myself!

49. From childhood up until now, I still live in a fantasy world, where I own cattle upon a thousand hills. My fear is many of these fantasies might never see the light of the day. Some, however, are already unfolding.

50. I am a stucker for books, especially great books and of course literature!

51. I have always love fiction but my love for it quadrupled when Akintunde Aiki came to my school to teach us the “art of writing fiction”. It was his mouth I first heard the maxim “Show don’t Tell”. And he would go on to mention names like David Hymar, Santi Femi, Olubunmi Familoni, Eriatar and a host of others whilst he stressed to follow them on facebook as if they are the best to ever happen; of a truth these men have proven to me that there are loads of fabulous writers in Nigeria and not just the Wole Soyinkas and the Adiches!

52. I am afraid of height but like to be on high places.

53. I always have frights before and 3minutes after my name is mentioned to make my public talks.

54. I am a die-hard fan of Country Music. I particularly love Don Williams and Kenny Rogers and maybe Dolly Parton.

55. I believe Real Madrid is the best club in the world and that Cristiano is the best to have ever played the game!

56. January 1st, 2008 is the saddest day in my life. That was when my momma crossed from here to the afterlife (heaven).

57. I hardly sleep at night that a neighbour thought and gave a friendly advice to treat myself of insomnia.

58. I am a freethinker but I totally am taken in of the belief that God exists and that he’s the Supreme Being.

59. I love to watch and read tales of Greek Mythologies not really because I love to but because there are plethora takeaways of great quips and witty sayings.

60. My top three priorities in life is God, family, and my career.

61. Being a thespian and a writer was my childhood dreams but I now study Computer Science and find myself writing endless codes instead of writing and acting.

62. I spend 16 hours daily writing my blogs. Don’t ask further questions.

63. I love a good sex!

64. I launched my first podcast, July 10, 2016, even though I recorded the episode in January. How my perfectionism attitude drives me crazy!

65. I love and teach about how to get the most out of social media to drive traffic and grow your business.

66. My watchword is never to be intimidated by anyone; by their beauty, money and whatever can make one feel inferior.

Now, that, in a nutshell, is all about me. However, I think going a little bit deeper into who I am, where I am coming from and what I do will really make sense. What do you think?
So once again, I am Sam Adeyinka and I am a dreamer who had and still has BIG dreams to make the world a better place to live.

Sometimes, in January 2008, I think the first day in January, I lost my momma who happened to be the most significant person in my life – it was her who taught me the essence of reading which ultimately turned me into a wordsmith.

I can stay on my computer, morning through to night weaving and crafting words on my PC’s blank screen and it sometimes take a battalion of hungry worms running around and screaming words like “Hunger!”, “We are hungry!”, “Please dude, give us food.”, before I get off my computer to munch on something edible. That’s how great my love for writing is.

Call me crazy all I care! But seriously, I have come to realize that if you were to become great in life you will have to become an avid reader and voracious consumer of anything that takes the form of a text.

After all said, the man you are now reading about at some point in his life couldn’t speak a word in English language let alone type it out or get in front of a crowd to talk for long hours.

What happened?

Book happened!

Books like “Inspire the Sleeping Giant Within” by Andre Lara did sparke and awake the sleeping giant within me and what I have become the better for it.

Ever heard of Andres Lara? Andres at the age of 16 escaped from Cuba to America and in the space of 8 years, he became one of America’s most renowned motivational speakers at the age of 24.

This was a man who didn’t know a word in English, was without his parents, was without money and of course, was homeless.

How was he able to turn his life around? How did he get off from the streets to living the life of his dreams?

These and many more questions are what I’m sure is running through your minds right now.
Instead of tell you how Andres got out of the shackles of poverty to living and fulfilling his dreams, I’d just relate it to my own life instead by answering those questions on the things I did to get to where I am right now.

As you might have imagined how tough it’d be to live life as an orphan – I went through a lot of life’s dark experiences; of endless hours of hunger, not because I wanted to fast but because I didn’t have food to quench my hunger.

It got really bad that I had no choice but to drop out of college to work and get money to feed, shelter and maybe send myself through school.

This was when I started to work different jobs, from serving food in parties as a waiter to working at some hotel down town as a bartender to selling Nescafe on the streets of Lagos. Yes, I experienced first-hand sufferings!

But I love that remark by Robert H. Schuller, an American Clergyman and it reads something like, “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”

These words were like a suiting balm to my soul because it readily calms my mind and gives me some burst of encouragements to keep Pressing On knowing that no matter how humongous the huddles are, I will surely stand strong to overcome them.

And I know I am still not close to where I want to be in life but I however, find solace in the thought that I am not where I use to be before.

So in the summer of 2011, discovered my purpose I discovered what I was meant to do and who I will become if only I could persevere and do all it takes to get to the other side of the tunnel – success.

And then I decided that writing a blog will further get me to my dreams of changing the world and how? With my writings, the words I say and the deeds I do – that’s what gave birth to my then blog – Pro Motivator, which later became Income Splash.

Last month, I concluded my course in Computer Science, making me a bona-fide computer scientist, and I am proud to tell you that I sent myself through this school without getting help from anyone other than the jobs that I did – designing/redesigning websites, designing graphical representations, and of course writing for blogs and for clients as a ghostwriter.
I have learned the hard way the lessons of life; that I am the only panacea for my life’s success.

Listen to what these ten (10) great men and women have to say about success:

• “Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure – or you can learn from it. So go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because, remember, that’s where you will find success.” – Thomas J. Watson (February 17, 1874 – June 19, 1956) was the chairman and CEO of International Business Machines (IBM), who oversaw that company’s growth into an international force from 1914 to 1956.

• “The great successful men of the world have used their imagination, they think ahead and create their mental picture in all its details, filling in here, adding a little there, altering this a bit and that a bit, but steadily building – steadily building.” – Robert Collier (April 19, 1885 – 1950) was an author of “self-help”, and “New Thought” metaphysical books in the 20th century.

• “Success doesn’t come to you, you go to it.” – Marva Collins (born August 31, 1936) is an American educator who in 1975 started Westside Preparatory School in Garfield Park, an impoverished neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.

• “Desire is the key to motivation, but its determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal – a commitment to excellence – that will enable you to attain the success you seek.” – Mario Gabriele Andretti (born February 28, 1940) is a retired Italian American world champion racing driver, one of the most successful Americans in the history of the sport. He is one of only two drivers to win races in Formula One, Indy Car, World Sports car Championship and NASCAR (the other being Dan Gurney). He also won races in midget cars, sprint cars, and drag racing.

• “Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it’s not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure  because you won’t. It’s whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.” – Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.

• “Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome.” – Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. (July 10, 1943 – February 6, 1993) was a former World No. 1 professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States. Ashe, an African American, was the first black player ever selected to the United States Davis Cup team and the only black man to ever win the singles title at Wimbledon, the US Open, or Australian Open. He is also remembered for his efforts to further social causes.

• “Action is the foundational key to all success.”- Pablo Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer. One of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century, he is widely known for co-founding the Cubist movement, the invention of constructed sculpture, the co-invention of collage, and for the wide variety of styles that he helped develop and explore.

• “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” –Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and promoting economic and financial modernization. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, Lincoln was mostly self-educated. He became a country lawyer, a Whig Party Illinois state legislator, and a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives, but failed in two attempts to be elected to the United States Senate as a new Republican Party.

• “I think that feeling that if one believed absolutely in any cause, then one must have the confidence, the self-certainty, to go through with that particular cause of action.”- Akinwande Oluwole “Wole” Soyinka (born 13 July 1934) is a Nigerian writer, notable especially as a playwright and poet; he was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first African in Africa and the diasporas to be so honored.

• “Explore in the inside of you and discover your true potential; after your discovery, ameliorate on it, and it will yield to an endless success.” – Sam Adeyinka (born 20 January 1991) is a young Nigerian motivational writer, a digital marketing strategist, and a talented speaker. He is a seasoned blogger who trains people on how to start an online business and make money off it. You can read his blog at incomesplash.com and subscribe to his newsletter to get teasers and updates on making money online. Sam is the Founder of Hazo-Kemuel Initiatives, a platform that helps him reach and teach people the “The Power of Self-discovery”. Hazo-Kemuel Initiatives, however, has other channels that which it focuses on; amongst them are Web Design and Freelance Writing Services and His Platform Connect+, which helped him raise young leaders in Nigeria and African diaspora.

Wrapping up

Jonathan Winter said, “If your ship doesn’t come in, swim out to it!” likewise, I tell you, if your opportunity, that is, success, doesn’t come to you, go to it!

There’s one thing linked with success, and that is failure, so don’t be too daunted to pursue your dreams when failure hit you hard but pray for more failures because success is failure turned inside-out.

To achieve success or failure in life depends on you, and all of your success starts with you. Perhaps it’s logical, but it is repeatedly disregarded.

Albeit, you also need some persons in your life to be able to achieve maximum success, and that’s where building relationships comes in.

I am who I am today because of the investment people like Adrienne Smith, Harleena Singh, Sue Neal (She no longer blogs), Enstine Muki, Nosa Ero Nosa, and a host of others have made in me.

By reading and commenting on their blogs, I have been able to learn the technicalities of blogging and hence was able to make money online by following their cheat sheets.

It’s your Turn…

I have said so much about myself, and I wanted to give you the opportunity to ask me questions by using the comment box below.

You know what; just let me hear your thoughts. I love reading feedback, and I appreciate your comments more than my post.

Can’t wait to hear from you!