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The power of effective ‘Slipstreaming’

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As a young girl who wanted take on media and communications as a career, I admired Oprah Winfrey greatly. You see, to me, she was PERFECT. How was she doing so well and excelling in this field? How did she become so influential?

I would sit down to watch ‘The Oprah Winfrey show’, I would watch the movies she featured in, I would go online to research on every possible story that was out there on the internet about her. Did someone say stalking? Well maybe. Much later, I had discovered that she was not PERFECT afterall. She definitely had a story to share.

At this point, I should define the term ‘slipstream’- According to Merriam Webster Learner’s Dictionary, It is an area of low air pressure that is immediately behind a vehicle that is moving very fast and that other vehicles can ride in to go faster with less effort.
Slipstreaming simply implies following closely behind.

I had no idea of what the term meant until two years ago when a mentor had mentioned it at a conference. It was only after that I gained knowledge and I realized I was only stalking the right persons, however, blindly. Your mentors, close or distant are a gift as they create learning experiences and give great advice that has the capacity to change one’s life. The term slipstream is however best likened to our distant mentors.

There are a lot of individuals we admire from a distance, who we do not even have a personal relationship with but we lean into their lives from the materials they continue to resource us with – books, videos, workshops, seminars, blogs, social media etc.

It is not about trying to build a personal relationship with them, upsetting them to respond to our every email or message or putting a ‘kfb’ (kindly follow back) tag on their every post on social media. Often times, when people ask for very specific things, they simply need a material, a piece of information or they need help in their personal or professional life. Most of our distant mentors are deliberate as to leave enough information in their slipstream and if we stay close to them, we will most likely find the answers that help us make better decisions in life.

As someone staying in a mentor’s slipstream, you should have someone or persons that inspire you in whatever career path or field. You should seek a mentor who shares information about their lives, mistakes etc. Stay in their slipstream and learn from anything they are generous enough to share. Buy their materials, download their videos on YouTube, attend their seminars. Etc. It is quite amazing how people have become too lazy to the work for themselves and would rather wait till they can get a one on one talk with someone who is literally difficult to book to be a speaker at a large conference.

We find answers to most of our questions from any one of their resources because these mentors are engaged and may not have all the time to reach out to every individual on a one on one basis. They share all the knowledge you seek for on their websites, blogs, you tube channels, almost on a daily basis, it is now left for you to do the work for yourself and go and source for these materials that would make you a better person at the end of the day.

Secondly, for the people who are leaving rich slipstreams for others, people are in your slipstream so that they can learn from your story, experiences, struggles, relationships etc. and so being vulnerable is okay if you have overcome a particular thing to share with an audience so they can learn from you. If you have a story, find a medium to share and the right persons will fall into your slipstream, that way, they find solutions and answers to their challenges. It is really not about commendations or condemnations; it is teaching, encouraging and motivating millions of persons who need answers and solutions to their challenges at the time.

You do not need anybody’s approval, permission or validation whatsoever. The world is waiting for what you have to offer.

 

Nigeria’s top youth newspaper - actively working to deliver credible news, entertainment, and empowerment to 50 million young Africans daily.

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