While I have over 25 years’ experience as a working professional myself and bring a lot of wisdom, knowledge and skills to the table, a medically challenging period, illness and surgery left me unable to walk, on bedrest for two months straight and took me down a path of reflection I was not equipped or ready for. It wasn’t luxurious. It was excruciating.
Lying in bed unable to move, I had to examine my life, my childhood, feeling alone and like I never belonged from a young age, watching the entire being of my hard-working mother transform into a silent struggle as she dealt with life as it happened, dealing with my mother’s death at the age of 19 and operating no matter what I felt inside. Not just what happened to me, but really understanding who I was. I had never before been forced to think, “Who is Omozua?” “What drives my courage and resilience?” “What do I really bring to the table from within?” “What is my legacy?” “How do I positively impact the world – near and far?”
I experienced an existential crisis, fell into a dark well and I spent two months discovering things about myself and crawling back up.
Up to that point, the greener grass on the “other side” had consumed my attention unawares. There were so many boxes I hadn’t ticked off the success list of life that directed my life.
I realised how consumed I had become with not showing off in any form, not asking for help and not complaining so I wouldn’t draw unwanted attention. I also discovered I had a “I don’t have that and this list” which I put in a lot of effort to hide and made me play a good girl role to compensate for what I lacked. All this contributed to the sense of not belonging in a number of important settings despite what I had achieved.
On moving to Germany from Nigeria with my sister, leaving all I knew behind to pursue my studies, and learning a new language I was forced to show up strong and adopt a lucky-go-lucky approach which had followed me throughout my childhood to get by and survive.
A few years later, my sisters and I got a phone call to tell us our mother passed away. It was another pivotal moment in my life I didn’t address. I was fixated on ensuring I never felt or displayed shame, regret, guilt or weakness in that paradigm I was stuck in.
I was right at the bottom of my dark well. Change had to happen. It was only when I admitted this to myself that my breakthrough started.
My discovery during this journey of change was that, underneath the happy and bold face I showed the world, was pain, shock, anger, and deep regret over how much time I had wasted and lost. I had dwelled way too long in the “if only……, what if……, I should have……” zone.
One fact I had failed to understand over the years hit me like a tonne of bricks:
I tackled these POWER QUESTIONS: If this were the last moment of my life, what could I say, I had done to try to change things in my life? What contribution have I made to the world? What do I want my legacy to be?
My reflection helped me realise for the first time that playing roles driven by what I thought was expected of me was the source of my feeling drained, exhausted and completely lost.
You like me can surely relate to some of this, no matter at what level or phase you find yourself.
I started university at twenty-five and studied English philology, romance languages, linguistics and pedagogy after a specialised training in personal mastery & development. It was a late start but one I was proud of because it was a decision I took that was going to take me further in life.
On completing university, I worked a job for over fifteen years managing teacher teams, training people to train others in personal growth skills and language teaching and advising the sales team. I was respected and accomplished from the outside. But something vital was missing, and that left me wanting. Though I did my best to belong, I knew my highest needs weren’t met.
I needed to look at the formula of who I was in my comfort zone where all my pain and everything unhelpful resided. It was more like a pain zone.
There was a deep blind spot embedded in my inner wiring that dictated how much control I had over my brain. When I started to peel back the layers of my abilities by asking questions of myself, I discovered being able to navigate my emotional landscape was the key to resilience, a high-adversity quotient and confidence.
This was an empowering sliding door experience which took me on a journey to receive training from experts, deep-diving into the brain and emotions. I then learned about human-life skills, quantum physics, performance, the law of nature and attraction, spirituality, power of choice and the use of power questions to enrich my knowledge base.
The profound outcome of that transformation gave me purpose.
I realized that courage starts when I create my own success criteria, and it multiplies when I live by it. And we each have to go beyond self-help approaches which only address the surface of things when it comes to true transformation and self-expression.
Because here’s the truth: Life happens no matter who we are and no matter our titles or labels. We are constantly presented with events to learn or gain from. We are equipped with a great asset – the brain – and a powerful tool – Choice – which when both used well can contribute to living life fully, resiliently, and courageously. No matter what happens… and life happens.
My mission today using my knowledge, wisdom and skills is to contribute to a brain-friendly world with people who are Neuro Agile and help business owners, sales professionals, consultants, corporate managers, executives and leaders transform into the CEOs of their brains and lives, as I did with confidence and ease.
The Brainification program and the Manyoufest Code that I created reinforce the fact that you can shudder off inner-struggle, be confidently human and thrive in your career, life, and relationships by raising your awareness of the brain, emotions, and how to use them to optimize life on your own terms.
My experiences and research have proven the unhelpful ways we approach things in our lives can be transformed to attain self-mastery in every area of life. This has become my calling and vocation.
Brainification and Manyoufest are about understanding that our choices, behaviours and approaches to life are never random. Everything starts with the brain. It is my mission to show business owners, consultants, corporate managers and leaders they can do more and be more with this knowledge.
CWO SOLUTIONS (Coaching with Omozua) is partner of The Systemic Neuroscience Consulting Group, the authorized Regional Corporate Partner of Neuro-Link International, Inc. and Neuro Link Europe and Sole Provider & Accredited Practitioner Trainer for both the Neuro Agility Profile (NAP™) and the 360° brain-based 12 Emotional Intelligence Competencies Profile™ Assessments and the Brain-Based Online Emotional Intelligence ‘High Achiever’ Program™ in the Benelux and Germany.