Your Dream Is Still Possible

By Ranipoma Bernard Zoungrana

Ranipoma Bernard Zoungrana is an expert at overcoming adversities and making his dreams reality. He survived extreme poverty, bankruptcy, homelessness, jail, and extremely limited opportunities from a poor village in French-speaking Africa to become a successful author, speaker, and philanthropist in the United States. He knows how to create opportunities and to hold on to a dream until it is fully realized. Your Dream Is Still Possible is a tribute to the success of ordinary people who have relentlessly pursued their vision and goals in life and have become successful, no matter the circumstances and the obstacles. In this book, you will have the opportunity to learn about the stories of many people who went through tragedies and hardships in life but have been able to live their dreams. In particular, this book will teach you how to develop a psychology for your success, how to make every adversity a university, and how to take actions for your success in life. Your Dream Is Still Possible will equip you with tested success principles that many ordinary people have used to conquer lifes challenges. In the process of reading this book, you will have the strong inspiration and motivation to revamp your old dreams and, therefore make them possible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 12, 2012
• ISBN: 9781449768485

Ranipoma Bernard Zoungrana

Ranipoma Bernard Zoungrana is a successful motivational speaker in the fields of personal development, leadership development, and applying success principles in life. Your Dream Is Still Possible is his first inspirational book. He travels internationally, conducting conferences in both English and French. Ranipoma Bernard Zoungrana lives in Mankato, Minnesota.

Book preview

YOUR DREAM IS

STILL POSSIBLE

RANIPOMA BERNARD ZOUNGRANA

logoBlackwTN.ai

Copyright © 2012 by Ranipoma Bernard Zoungrana.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1-[phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-6272-8 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012914705

WestBow Press rev. date: 9/07/2012

CONTENTS

Introduction

Remember Your Humble Beginnings

Discover Your Purpose and Vision, Be Inspired and Motivated

Develop a Psychology for Your Success

Develop Yourself, Your Gifts, Your Talents and Your Skills

Make Every Adversity a University and a Stepping Stone for Your Success

Stay Focused and Be Willing to Take Risks

Be Determined To Succeed

Take Action for Your Success

Epilogue

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks to God for the grace and favor I have been blessed with. I want also to thank Him for all the pains, frustrations and adversities I went through in my life: They have developed in me the character and the endurance I needed to fulfill the purpose of my life;

Thank you Dad and Mom for my human conception, my birth, my education and my upbringing;

Thank you, Zoe-Neba Caboret;

Thank you, Kouma and Rogoom-Nooma, my beautiful daughters;

I am immensely grateful to my mother-in-law, Emilienne Kouma Caboret for not only her maternal support but also her financial support for my education in the USA; I extend my gratitude to her children;

Thank you, parents, brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews and nieces;

Many thanks to Albert Bambara, and his family in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, especially, aunt Sabine Bambara, Xavier, Vincent, Stanislas, Marguerite, Jacqueline, Noellie and Rachelle;

Many thanks to Moise Lankoandé and his family for their support;

Many thanks to the Coulibaly family in Sarfalao, Bobo-Dioulasso for their support while I was living in Bobo-Dioulasso;

Thank you, Eric Ouédraogo in Seattle, Washington for accommodating me when I was going through a tough time in my life;

Thank you, Marcel, Adja and Kenny Ouédraogo in Seattle, Washington;

Thank you, Ben Amaeshi in Seattle, Washington;

Thank you, Jean Claude Kaboré for your exceptional help in tough times;

Thank you, Mamfé Osofa for your support and help when times were tough;

Many thanks to Jean Eudes Cassalom for believing in me;

Many thanks to all the people who have supported me in Saint Cloud namely Moussa Nombré, Eric Sauret, Hermine Nintiema, Kouni Nintiema, Dominique Kaboré, Françoise Ouédraogo, Arlette, Médard Zoungrana, Elias Agbazao, Kafando Oumarou, Romaric Zongo, Isani… ;

Many thanks to Blantina and Tony for hosting my family in Rochester for a while;

Many thanks to all the people in Saint Cloud, Seattle, and Mankato who have helped me one way or another. Many thanks to Clarence and Mari in Mankato, Minnesota;

Thank you, Sico Yao and Gaelle Ouédraogo;

Thank you, Alain Compaoré and Jenna in Seattle, Washington;

Thank you, Kate Olson for proofreading my manuscript;

Many thanks to all my coworkers at Target store, Mankato, Minnesota;

Many thanks to all the people who have contributed to the making of this book.

"The race is not for the swift, nor the battle to the strong,

nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but time and chance happen

to them all."

Ecclesiastes 9:11

This book is dedicated to all the persons, situations and circumstances that have helped me grow into who I am today.

Special dedication to the giants on whose shoulders I have climbed to see the big picture, especially Jack Canfield, Les Brown, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Réné Godefroy, Josh Shipp, Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer.

INTRODUCTION

Like many people, I have lived an unsatisfying life for many years. Indeed, my life was not reflecting who I truly was or what I wanted to become. I spent a big chunk of my life pleasing people, doing what I didn’t want to do most of the time. Fortunately, through readings, watching educational videos and listening to educational CDs, I understood that there were dreams inside of me that needed to be revealed; gifts and talents that needed to be developed and a purpose for my life that needed to be fulfilled. My purpose in life is to inspire and empower others to realize their highest vision and to make the world a better place to live.

I believe we all have the power within us to create the life we want; the life we dream about and the life we were born to live. We all deserve to fulfill our full potential and manifest our true destiny. I also believe the great contribution that we can make to the world is to grow in self-awareness, self realization and the power to manifest our own dreams and desires.

Unfortunately, many people have worked extremely hard all their lives and accomplished little. If you believe you are too old to use your gifts, I am here to tell you that you believe a lie. George Eliott said, It is never too late to become what you might have been. Your history or your past should never be your future. Don’t ever think you are too old or too small to make an impact. Anita Rodica said, If you think you are too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room. You can always stir up the gifts that you have dormant inside of you at anytime. I encourage you to always expect more and to do more. So dare to dream big.

The purpose of this book is to help you capture and fulfill the vision for your life. When you can see what is possible and believe it can come to pass, it gives you the courage to do the impossible. This book will help you make the necessary adjustments in your life so you can know how to plan for the future and stop making the same mistakes and decisions that have jeopardized your past. In this book, I suggest 8 steps that you can take to improve your life, to become what you have been created to be and to live a successful life.

My desire is that this book gets you inspired, motivated and challenged to go after the dreams you have put aside in your life because you thought they were simply impossible. Know this: your dreams are still possible if you are willing to work them out again.

CHAPTER

I

Remember Your Humble Beginnings

A man’s indebtedness is not virtue; his repayment is. Virtue begins when he dedicates himself actively to the job of gratitude. Ruth Benedict

Something tragic had happened in my family. I was awakened this morning by the noise caused by an unusual gathering in our compound in Sidéradougou, Province of Comoé in Burkina Faso. I left my room to head for the door of the house to watch the numerous people who were in the compound. On his bamboo chair my father was receiving condolences from many villagers. Although I was only five years old, I had the feeling that something bad had happened in the house. Automatically, my thoughts went to my little brother who had been ill for two days and whose health was not improving despite treatments received from the village health practitioner. I rushed into my mother’s room to find her in tears. I found her crying, the body of my little brother, almost a year old entirely covered with cloth. I asked my mother what happened to her for her to cry. She said that my brother had just died. I do not know how but I had the courage to tell her not to cry and that everything was going to be fine. My little brother had been ill for a number of days. I was told that he had been struck by the wings of an evil bird in the yard during the day. Tears did not run down my cheeks. Maybe I was too young to know the pain of losing a brother. I do not know. Still, I was brave enough to encourage my mother not to get discouraged.

I was born in Sidéradougou in the province of Comoé in Burkina Faso, formerly known as Upper Volta in French-speaking West Africa. My father worked there as a local law enforcement officer. I was named Ranipoma. In the Mossi language spoken in Burkina Faso, it means may it rain abundantly, because my birth coincided, according to my father, with a not very rainy month of August. My first name was not only my father’s supplication to his ancestors imploring that it rain heavily that year, but also it was an imploration for an abundant pouring of blessings over my life.

My father lived in a two bedroom administrative apartment provided by the local government administration. Back then, my native town Sidéradougou was not supplied with electricity, running water, or telephone. The only telephone line available was the one belonging to the government administration for administrative purposes, obviously.

When I reached the age of six, following an incident between him and a forest ranger, my father was assigned to Bobo-Dioulasso, the economic capital-city of Burkina Faso. The monthly wage earned by my father was extremely meager ($40 per month in the 70’s) and it would not suffice to take care of himself alone, not to mention two wives and 10 children. He had been able to support himself in the village of Sidéradougou because he operated several large fields of millet, maize, rice and cowpeas (beans). All my father’s children, both girls and boys learned to cultivate with a manual hoe. All the land surfaces belonging to my father were farmed by the children and at that time with the help of about 20 people. These helpers were remunerated four or five times during the rainy season in order to stay caught up with weeding. It was extremely difficult for my father to live in Bobo-Dioulasso, which did not offer the same crop operating opportunities like Sideradougou.

As expected, life in Bobo-Dioulasso was extremely hard for my father financially because he could only count on his meager salary to support his family. In addition, the fact that my father could no longer pursue his nocturnal hunting grieved him. Therefore, he asked for an assignment in another village in the region. After a year of service in Bobo-Dioulasso, he received his assignment to the administrative district of Fo. Fo is a village of about 1,000 inhabitants. The village is situated on a plain surrounded by two mountain ranges. This is where, at the age of seven, I started primary school. The school I went to had three classrooms and was constructed before the political independence of Burkina Faso (1960) to accommodate school-ready children from a dozen villages attached to the District. This meant that, at that time, the primary school administrative district covered more than 1,500 inhabitants. Because the school was so small, recruitment of new students only occurred every two years. And every two years, 80 children were registered in kindergarten. Because the elementary school had only three rooms, kindergarten and first grade courses occurred in the same classroom.

I am extremely grateful to my parents for giving my siblings and I the chance to go to school and, especially to support us until we succeeded in our studies. My father and mother were both illiterate, but I truly appreciated that they have always been interested in the education of their children. Without their support and encouragement, I would not be where I am today. Primary school enrollment was not mandatory back then in Burkina Faso. Every two years, my father walked one to two miles to accompany us for school recruitment. Sometimes he spent hours and hours in line waiting for our turn before the school recruitment committee. I am grateful to my mother for the education she gave us and for caring for us when we were unconscious of dangers. I am grateful to my brothers and sisters and especially to Jean Baptiste who demonstrated leadership and responsibility as the elder child.

In any event, I am very grateful to my parents for their smart decisions and sacrificial efforts. Sometimes we lacked pens, notebooks and books. Some other times we started school without the complete list of supplies because my father did not have enough income to provide for all the provisions we needed. We had to make arrangements with other students, especially when it came to reading, math and science. Every year, there were at least six of us children to go to elementary school, which had a really huge impact on my father’s budget.

I express my deep gratitude to my teachers at Fo Public Elementary School. Mister Somé Michael was my kindergarten and first grade teacher. We thought he was a sweet guy because he did not whip us too hard. On the contrary, Mister Senfo Flattié Victor, the second and third grade teacher did not go easy on the whip. Without favoring the use of the whip in school back then, I believe it motivated some students to be serious about learning and succeeding in school. This is only my personal opinion. Senfo Flattié Victor was the youngest teacher and we admired his three-speed motorcycle BB-RS, which was as praised as the Yamaha Dame V80 from the 90’s in Burkina Faso. Tiga Charles Ouédraogo, the School Director, was my fourth and fifth grade teacher. Besides being the school director, he was also the miller of the village. He owned and operated the only grinding machine for domestic cooking. Tiga Charles Ouédraogo and Somé Michael passed on some decades ago. I believe they are deservedly resting in peace wherever they are right now.

Among the 30 students who reached fifth grade, only three of us made it to the High School contest, which allowed us to receive a government scholarship to further our studies. There were not enough public high schools so the government organized a national contest to select the best students from primary schools. They were allocated a scholarship including accommodation, food and school supplies. Private schools were still budding and not surprisingly they were very expensive and out of reach for many children growing up in poor families. Several of my schoolmates managed to succeed in the Certificate of Elementary Primary Education (CEPE), which is equivalent to the GED in