THE JOURNEY

Writing had never been my hobby. I preferred talking because I enjoy talking.

There is always a sense of accomplishment when you speak and people just listen to you. I could talk for hours, just having fun. It wasn’t just my hobby; it was a life style. I got into trouble for talking and I got out of trouble for talking.
In 2012, I had a blogger as a friend. He showed me the e-library in my school where I could use the internet for 2 hours daily. It was free and only a handful of students knew about it.

I was excited about the news and the first day we went together to browse; I quickly went to Facebook. Then I realised there was a restriction on some sites. We couldn’t login to social media.
I was in year 1 and I was studying Agriculture. There was no much things to browse on. So I googled my name “Livingstone Imonitie”. Nothing reasonable came out, just my Facebook page. Nothing more. It was amazing. My name out came out on google even though it was just Facebook. I was naïve.

I went over to my friend and I saw him writing. I asked what he was doing and he told me about blogging. Writing was his hobby so he wrote daily on his blog.
I told him I was interested and he helped create a blog for me. But there was nothing to write about. So, I went to news site and copied news from there and pasted on my blog. I was a thief. Stealing contents that were not mine. I didn’t know it was plagiarism.
Writing was boring. Going to the library every day to copy and paste news and gossips was not fun. Everyone wanted to be like Linda Ikeji who was making money from blogging. I lost interest and I stopped blogging. I stopped going to the e-library.

Why should I be wasting my time trying to be like my friend when I could be something else?
When I gained admission into School of Engineering, I met another friend- Joshua Asih. He was different. We were always together, being weird in our own ways.

In 2014, he started his platform called Choose God and Grow. He would write a short message and send to all his contacts on WhatsApp. I got the message every day. They were inspiring. Short and inspiring messages.
During the holiday after year 1, I started mine. I enjoyed talking but there was no platform for me to speak. So, I would write what I needed to say and send to my contacts on WhatsApp.

Every day, I would write a motivational write-up and send. Short but powerful. I got good feedbacks and not too good feedbacks. Some of my contacts said I was disturbing them. Others said I was annoying. Some said I wanted to use that medium to gain popularity for my political interest.

I made some errors in my sentences but I kept doing it. It became fun. Writing different messages every day. I was enjoying myself. Others acknowledged my efforts and looked forward to receiving my goodwill message the next day.
Then, a friend came over and informed me that my messages were getting too much. That he enjoyed it when I started but now it was just too much. He advised I reduced the messages.

I listened to him and I started sending the messages twice a week. Then later, once a week. Every Sunday after church, I would send out my message. I had found a new hobby. Writing became fun.

In 2016, a friend came over and appreciated me for my messages and advised I wrote a book.
“Write a book?”
“Who would want to read my book?”

Writing a book is hard work. Writing a short message was easy but a book, that’s suicide.
At that point, I wasn’t sending my goodwill messages every day. I was sending once a month.
I met someone- Jerry Asih, younger brother to Joshua Asih who showed how to use Wordpress. He was a blogger too. This time, I wasn’t copying other people’s content, rather I was creating mine. I wrote articles and motivational messages on my blog. And when I googled my name, my Facebook page and blog came up.

Few months later while I was interning in Kano state, I got a message from another friend advising I wrote a book. He said he would read my book if I wrote one.
Well, since they wanted a book, I would give them a book. I went back to some of my short motivational messages and put them together and that was how my first free e-book came out.
“70 Push Ups For Success” was made accessible to the public on March, 2017. It was a collection of my previous messages and I gave it out for free. I got few comments and they were amazing. Finally, I had written an e-book.

The book didn’t really go far. I got few downloads.
Writing at this point had become part of me. I wanted to do more. So in October 1, 2017, I launched my second e-book – 13 Secrets You Should Know About Life Before You Die.
“Who would read a book about life from a young boy who knows nothing about life?”
I was wrong.

I got so many downloads from my blog and other sites. Awesome reviews. Writing a book and people applying the principles in the book was fulfilment to me. It was the best feeling I ever had.

I got comments from across Nigeria, across Africa and abroad. Sometimes, when I get comments from people and I asked them the country they were texting from, I would have to go to google to read about the country because I had never heard of it before.
I got emails from reporters in Egypt, emails from a military man in Nigeria, messages from India, Uganda, Rwanda, China, UK, United States, Bhutan, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and so on. I really cannot explain the feeling after reading those mails and messages on WhatsApp.

At that point, I started getting invitations to come speak in conferences. I had people to mentor and online trainings. I was training people from other countries online. And I got invitations to come speak in other countries.
Engineering did not bring me to this point. My hobby did. I was just consistent in my writing and I kept improving on my writing skills.

In 2018, I got an award as The Best Writer in Faculty of Engineering. That was my first award in writing.
Then I joined Wikipedia and volunteered as a contributor.

Everything I was doing was in line with writing and public speaking. I had found purpose and I used my skills to achieve that.
I wasn’t writing for money or fame. I was writing for value. I wanted to teach, inspire and motivate young adults. That was my goal. Not money but value.

I went back to google and searched my name- Livingstone Imonitie. My online presence had increased. I connected with people, wrote articles for magazines and had fun.

I kept writing and kept having fun. I kept improving and kept reading.
Writing was a skill I learnt and anybody can learn a skill to be somebody.

Go online and search your name on google. When you see the result, screenshot and save. Go and work. Then come back 365 days later. Google your name again. If you see the same result online, then you haven’t done anything. If you see a different result, great job. Go back to work.

For young professionals, try to create a LinkedIn account and put your achievements there. When people search for you online, they tend to go through your LinkedIn account. It’s like your online CV. Update it regularly.

Keep learning and keep doing amazing things.
Sometimes it will take time but do not give up. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel.


“You are not limited by lack of opportunities. You are limited by lack of creativity” – Livingstone Imonitie.

Always remember that your SUCCESS in life is directly proportional to your SMART WORK.
My name is Livingstone Imonitie and this is my journey.