Be Unstoppable: No Excuses

By Tariku Bogale

THE WORLD IS A LARGE AND MYSTERIOUS PLACE.

 

We don't usually know what we are born to do.

 

We certainly also don't know what kinds of obstacles we will face, or what forms they will take.

 

When we understand how the world has been connected through history—through the movement of people, goods, languages, music, movies, and many other things—we see our world more clearly as a shared planet and a home for everyone.

 

There is very little in life more important than acting quickly and with great decisiveness. Many people all over the world have dreams—big dreams or small dreams. To get there, we have to take risks.

 

People who have studied business or been in the business world, like me, know that in business, one often discusses risk versus reward.

 

BE UNSTOPPABLE is a golden nugget of wisdom, through the stories into which my life's energy has flowed and emerged greater each time, that will bring you gold, in real money and in what is important in your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tariku Bogale
• Release date: May 10, 2024
• ISBN: 9780998293448

Tariku Bogale

The greatest success stories can spring from the humblest beginnings.   Such as the case with Tariku Bogale, a Serial Entrepreneur, Author, Ghost Leader, Trusted Advisor, Film Producer, Actor, Writer and Philanthropist.   A strong believer in the power of education, Tariku self-taught and funded his own education, furthering his studies in South Africa, Switzerland and United States and enrolling without a first degree in a Master's in Business Administration (MBA), Master's in Law (LLM) and an Advanced Master's in Leadership International Economics Law.   From his early days raised in poverty to becoming the CEO of numerous companies, Bogale is unceasing in his drive to achieve the unthinkable, experiencing the worlds of politics, prison, business, mining, filmmaking, tourism, real estate, and entrepreneurship across Africa, Europe, and the United States.    Tariku has been nominated as an African Pioneer for the Black Business Awards, the 2016 Best Workplace Diversity & Inclusion Strategy Award, the 2017 Top Empowered Business of the Year Award, the 2018 Business Excellence Awards, Winner of Literary Titan Book Award and New York City Big Book Award.   Unstoppable: Challenge Accepted is his first book and is seceded by Be Unstoppable, his second book.

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BE UNSTOPPABLE

Dual Publisher © 2018 by Tariku Bogale

All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. 

No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever

without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied

in critical articles or reviews.

ISBN: 978-0-9982934-4-8 

Table of Contents

PART I: TIME

Chapter 1: Make your time

Chapter 2: Delegate

PART II: COURAGE

Chapter 3: Confidence

Chapter 4: Keep your options

Chapter 5: Take risks

PART III: SACRIFICE

Chapter 6: Mental strength

Chapter 7: Strive for success

Chapter 8: Keep in balance

PART IV: FORGIVENESS

Chapter 9: Fight peaceably

Chapter 10: Reconcile and forgive

PART V: HOPE

Chapter 11: Give hope

Chapter 12: One world

Dedicated to

 John Fitzgerald Kennedy 

May 29, 1917 to November 22, 1963

35th President of the United States of America

PART I

TIME

Chapter 1:

Make your time

There is very little in life more important than acting quickly and with great decisiveness. Many people all over the world have dreams—big dreams or small dreams—and yet I hear them say they do not have the time. When I was a small boy growing up in a dusty town in Ethiopia, we did not have access to the internet. I learned from visiting Peace Corps workers how large the world could be. Today, even children in such a remote place might know how large the world is; and yet not everyone will act to move beyond the station in life that they are given.

Even in big cities like Los Angeles and New York I meet people who busy themselves with small things but fail to dream; or worse yet, they have dreams—small dreams or big dreams—but think, Now is not the time for that. Today, I have to go to my office and do my small job, which I do not like at all. But what else can I do? Having a small job that gives them little beyond a paycheck, they come home more tired than they need to be, because they are not getting any energy from moving toward a dream. I do not have the time in the evening to work toward my dream, thinks such a person. Already I am very tired—and anyway, there is something I can watch on TV, or something to look at on the internet. And so an already small life slows down even further. Or perhaps that person just takes their pay and goes out, enjoying a nice meal night after night, dulling the boredom of living the life that is not the one they want.

Maybe you wish to train for a new job, or to get a degree in business like the MBA I studied for in Zurich. It is not the time for that, they think; or I am so busy! I have friends, a spouse, kids, a busy job already. I do not have the time to learn something new. I am already exhausted.

How many years will pass, do you imagine, before that person realizes how much time they have wasted? How long before they wake up old and gray and little bit paunchy, and still stuck not living their dreams? Wouldn’t it be better to try, to make a little bit of time for that dream so that years later they can look back and say I was not held back just because I decided to wait—and for what? For nothing. If you do not make the time to do what you want, all you will find is that you will have grown older, grayer, and probably a bit fatter, but in the very same place as before and perhaps more afraid to get started than you were in the first place.

I have learned this in business: Stepping out of your comfort zone and trying something new is like a muscle, and you must exercise it or it will become weak and make you weak with it. In order to leave Ethiopia and make a better life for myself, I had to seize every opportunity. I had to take risks. And many times, I failed and was brought back. I found the time to try again, and that gave me energy; and all of this moved me forward toward the successful life I have now.

Making time for new things is not only about taking risks, however. It is even more difficult when life is acceptable, when life is okay—pretty good, but not great. Some needs are met, some fun things happen; but if you are really honest, you are not living your dreams. Not even close. Our routine makes a mold for us, and we fill every space between the things we are accustomed to doing—like watching TV or surfing the internet for articles to read or clothes to buy—and the things we must do, like go to work each day. Every free hour is filled up with these activities, and there is no time left to notice that our dreams are not fulfilled. You must look into your day and find an hour where you can and take it back, make it your own.

It is critical that you know your mind and be fearless about it or this will never work. Many people are afraid of their dreams. If they have just a minute alone with their thoughts, they will pick up their phones to check their Instagram or Twitter feeds. If you know your mind, then you know what you really want to do; but you must also be fearless and strong! Because what happens when you ask yourself honestly, Is this really what I want to be doing? Is this all there is for me, and am I satisfied?, and then you find the answer is no? This is a very frightening prospect. Much easier to just pick up your phone again and see if you can find the latest jeans on sale, or if someone else has commented on your post, or if there’s some new outrage in the news to take your mind away from this difficult problem of making your own life.

When you know your mind, and can say to yourself unafraid I will make a change, then you can make the time. So much of my success has depended on this: knowing my own mind, choosing my life, and making the time to make it happen. Maybe you have big dreams of making a huge success in business, but can’t quit your job to study for an MBA, or have too much to do in the evening to go to networking events. Over time, you will find you are unhappy. You will probably drink too much, eat too much, sleep too much, and get discouraged. You don’t have to live this way!

When I took the enormous risk of crossing into Tanzania on my way to a better life in South Africa, I ended up in prison in Dar es Salaam just for crossing the border without papers. My crime was wanting a better life and acting on that desire, and for this I was punished harshly—but I did not let that stop me.

It was a very cold and frightening place to be so early in my life. I was very young—just a boy, really—and vulnerable to many dark forces in a grown man’s prison. The food and conditions were terrible. I was frightened a lot of the time, but I did not lose sight of the reason I left my home to begin with. I could have stayed in Ethiopia and made a small living in a small place; but I wanted more, and when I was discouraged, I reached out.

Even in the prison, among hardened criminals, there were elders who knew something about the world and about life. They may not have had the success in life that I wanted—they were criminals, after all, and that was not the life I was choosing—but they had success in prison. They were able to survive and get what they needed. From a famous prizefighter imprisoned for life for murder, I learned the importance of training my body. Instead of sleeping later, huddled for warmth and comforting myself in this terrifying place, I woke early and exercised. The prison had taken my time away from me—that is quite literally what a prison sentence is, doing time—and I brazenly took it back where I could.

Physical training can be grueling, but it can also be a gift to yourself. I rose early each day and gave myself the time to become stronger. By taking this time back—time in a prison meant to diminish my spirit and keep me down—I laid claim to my life. Maybe you are not in a prison, but perhaps you are in a prison of a life you do not want! A life that isn’t really right; a