Warlord's 2024 : The year I turned Pretty

Introduction

No doubt 2024 was a year to remember, I would say its the year I turned pretty. I emerged from the ashes of a lot of situations. Looking back every difficult situation has been just an opportunity to learn something different when put in a much scaled situation. Looking back I wouldn’t have made it so strongly if not for the support and presence of my family. There have been there for me through and through, financially , emotional, and spiritually even when I’m not able to be there for myself.

Through the year I’ve experienced physical, intellectual, spiritual and career growth. The only true way to grow is in sync, growth affects all aspects of your life. Not change but true growth.

This is my definition of Growth. Growth the positive measure of change, as we know change is constant. Meaning you would always be put in unique scenarios, always! and its your choice to make the most of it. “…Everything is written but the choice is still yours…“.

Now after understanding what it means to grow this is how I grew in 2024.

How I Grew

Everyone aspires to experience Physical growth to have a great shape, look good, and feel healthy. Often overlooked, however, is the mental resolve and strength required to achieve this. It’s a constant physical competition with yourself, whether it's pushing for more sets or just reaching that final set. It's a mental battle every time.
I've always dreamed of having a six-pack and being agile enough to maneuver a my body during play football. I achieved both, and the euphoria of reaching that goal was incredible. To give you some perspective, I went from 113kg to 99.8kg. At the time of writing this, I'm in my bulking phase just cause it's festive season.

My Intellectual growth was greatly influenced by the urge to be better and learning to become the best. The conscious growth initiative came from when I read my first book at the beginning of the year: The Kybalion: A Study of the Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece. A book I think every human should have the privilege of reading at least once in their lifetime. This book of philosophy helped to build my deep thinking, how to think the right way, and cultivated the principles of consciousness of the ALL: "The ALL is mind; the universe is mental." Since the start of my first book, I’ve made my way through 4 books at the time of writing this, all on topics of philosophy, finance, self-development, and business execution. From time to time, I also find myself watching YouTube videos from thought leaders like Leon Aboud and a16z Crypto, expanding the way I think and how much I know. There is always something to learn on your way to the top, and staying there.

At the start of the year, I was struggling Career-wise; I had no paid roles, no proper initiative for getting one, and worst of all, I didn’t know where to start. I didn’t have an idea of how to utilize my X account. For a long time, my X account was used to access the profiles of projects and tunnel my way to their Discord or Telegram. I felt like the world was not working in my favor; I knew I could do the job (at least be average at it), but I kept hitting a dead end after every job application. On a fateful Wednesday, I got a notification from an "Alex is building" account on X, saying he’s having a live workshop. Why not? It was an opportunity to join a live event with live people; what could possibly go wrong? Joining the call, what was being discussed was how to monetize in web3 as a creator. I wasn’t familiar with what a creator was, but I knew I needed to monetize, so I paid attention, and I quickly knew there was something of value in these workshops. After the workshop ended, I quickly set a reminder to attend, although it took me about 2 weeks to attend my next space, but I got the consciousness that I needed to attend these workshops. During a period of 3-4 months, I learned so much about being a creator, how to write content, how web3 works; I was able to hear people’s stories, journeys, and learn from their experiences. Basically, I got a guide and manual in a space where there is none of the sort. I was able to put out a couple of contents which didn’t cause a massive shift in the timeline, but I also understood that it was never meant to. The next urging desire was to own a Bricktopian NFT, so I saved up, and I bought the JPEG!

As fate would have it, I was called back to work for a previous project, NetSepio, as a CM, and trust me, I was ready to go off! Using the initiatives I got from the Bricktopian workshop, I was also able to secure an LCM role at TOKI Finance and worked on a memecoin project, $BOWIE, as a Mod.
Since I started working again with NetSepio, and with the help of the team, I was able to successfully create and manage 2 successful campaigns at NetSepio: Cypherpunk Reward Program and NetSepio’s Meme Contest, as well as handling posts on different platforms like LinkedIn, Aptos Forum, Superteam earn and Substack . Currently, working on and published the Netsepio’s 2024 Wrapped.
On the other hand, working with TOKI Finance has been a series of milestones and achievements for me. From randomly attending a community session, to becoming a community member, to getting assigned the Expert Crew role, then being offered an LCM position—a match made in heaven with TOKI Finance. It was a story written with the pen of belief, hard work, and consistency. Among that, I've also received MVP awards from the team as the best feedbacker and for being extremely active and engaging in the community. My contributions with TOKI Finance also extend to organizing X-space events with Nigerian space hosts and managing the Nigerian KOLs as well.
Working on the $BOWIE memecoin, I've met a lot of great individuals along the way and learned that patience and sincerity are very strong virtues in this space. Understanding the story behind the profile picture and project logo is very essential. The $BOWIE team has very strong long-term ambitions and goals and is in no rush to hit quick pump-and-dump schemes. It has a very solid foundation and utilities that I hope the world gets to experience soon enough.

Saying that Spirituality plays more than a vital role in who we become wouldn't be less than 100% accurate. We all hear about preaching of God playing pivotal roles in people's day-to-day lives. What is even more consuming is not just being able to experience God's involvement, but to realize it and appreciate that you are truly not worthy of so much love. Slowly but surely, leaving the worldly satisfactions of the flesh and becoming a better person comes without thought, so spontaneously. I've been able to realize that everything happens for a reason, and you just have to believe and trust. Me writing this newsletter is nothing less than a miracle, looking back at the circumstances I've been through and how they have shaped me today. I've been able to acknowledge the presence of God in my life, and that's one step to continue drawing from His abundant blessings, wisdom, strength, favor, and help!

Conclusion

After reliving and reflecting on the year by writing this piece, I'm filled with extreme gratitude for the individuals who played a major roles. First, to my family for their unconditional love and support; and secondly, to key individuals like Shachindra Kumar: Founder of NetSepio, Alex is building: Founder of the Bricktopian NFT collection, and the entire TOKI Finance team (Founder Daikinesia and Core Team members Edu Strada & Motoki ). Their influence this year has perfectly illustrated the Butterfly Effect. The mere fact of their existence has made a massive impression on my year and life at large.
I've been blessed with working with amazing teams and projects that understand the human aspect of working in web3, being available, and understanding complex situations. I learned the essence of proper communication and reporting, being organized, and meeting deadlines with peak productivity.
My experience has made me all the bit wiser and smarter going into 2025. I've made mistakes along the way, but it's just inevitable when you grow; the best thing is to learn from the mistakes you make. "...there is no problem making mistakes; they just have to be unique every time..." - Shachindra Kumar.
I have new standards to hold myself by, and I'm already in competition with the 2024 version of myself to be smarter, wiser, and move faster. I’ve always wondered what Polygon 💜  has been up to, So that’s already a start.
I'm in a space where dreams come true and I can't dare to stop dreaming!.

If you didn't make it to the end, the letter wasn't meant for you anyways, but if you did, please leave me a comment. Contact me.

Signed,
Warlord.