“…Procrastination can be a torturous place…”

Zoey: Good afternoon, sire.
I’m Amami Yusuf (Zoey), and I’m a blogger at grow.withzoey.

Thank you again for agreeing to this. I’m grateful 😁

The energy god: Thanks for the opportunity 🙏🏾

Zoey: This interview would be featured on the blog on the last Friday of this month, under the tag featured Friday.

What this entails is that every last Friday of every month, I interview people who have amassed some level of growth in one or more aspects of life. And you, sir, made it to our list. I’m excited!

The energy god: Thank you so much

Zoey: Please tell us a little about yourself— who you are, what you do, your background and growing up. We’re basically having a little chit chat, so please, feel at home.

The energy god: Okay, I’m Abraham Audu… 22 years old, born and raised in Minna, Niger State.

Growing up, I did a lot of experimental play with ‘science’ stuff and eventually went on to study engineering — currently in my final year.

Zoey: Interesting. So all the ‘experimental play with science stuff’ influenced your decision to study Engineering. Right? That’s wonderful.

The energy god: Yes! 😃 The early interest in science play was influenced by my immediate elder brother who’s also enthusiastic about such things. It made me believe at the time that I’d invent some crazy scientific stuff which will revolutionize the world… hahaha.

Zoey: Amazing! Siblings who inspire each other. Beautiful.

So far, has all the enthusiasm and ‘play’ paid off? Or you’re still in the process?

The energy god: Yes 😃. I currently run Periva Energy Systems— A renewable energy company where we believe that with solar-inverter systems, we can provide constant affordable electricity to homes, businesses and institutions across Nigeria and Africa.

The company initially started with the idea to manufacture and sell solar water heaters; but that didn’t quite kick off, so we pivoted to something more easily accepted by the market.

Although, we intend to explore other technologies as we grow.

Zoey: Awesome! Is the Periva Energy your idea and invention?

The energy god: Well, the design of the solar water heater was an original concept—other designs exist. But the solar-inverter systems are quite mainstream.

Zoey: Oh, that’s cool.

For clarity sake, could you tell us a little more about the Periva Energy? Who knows, some of us might want one soon afterwards. Amen? Lol.

The energy god: Hahaha… okay… what we have done is to simplify the process of getting a solar-inverter system for your home or business by creating bundles which meet specific ranges of power needs starting from as low as under $350 (N129,600) to power basic appliances all the way up to much larger needs like Air conditioners, etc.

We offer part replacement and maintenance services for already existing solar-inverter systems.

Finally, we offer consulting services to ascertain power needs, design and implement solar-inverter systems for applications which are less straightforward such as farms, churches and other unconventional structures.

Zoey: So cool. If, no, when we need Solar, you’re our go-to guy, right?

Do you have a website or someway we can contact you?

The energy god: http://www.perivaenergysystems.com is the website—although it’s currently under maintenance.

The fastest way, however, to reach us is via our Instagram account @periva_energy_systems or on Facebook @perivaenergysystems.

You can also reach out to +234- 815- 584- 7735 to speak to our representative.

Definitely the go-to-guy 👍🏾

Zoey: Alright, cool.

I understand all of this can be super demanding, coupled with school and all. How have you been able to strike a balance and keep sane? Lol.

The energy god: Hmmm… I’m not even going to lie, it gets tough a lot of times.

Not many people know this, but I was on the verge of dropping out in my third year. Although I had to stay in school because you know, this is Nigeria.

Zoey: Whoa. The pressure can indeed get crazy.

The energy god: After the episode of ‘drop-out’ pressure, what I did was to set priorities. To make myself understand that school is for a season and if I’m doing it, I better do it right.

So I created a hierarchy I use: school, business, other responsibilities. (In that order).

When I’ve made significant progress in my academic pursuit, I then think about business and when I’ve pushed on the business end and feel the effort is good enough for that period, I try to engage in other pending activities, relax and be taken care of, haha.

Zoey: Hahaha. “Relax and be taken care of…” that’s super important.

Thank goodness you’ve been able to find that balance, and that you did before the pressure tore you apart.

The energy god: Yeah, we keep figuring it out daily.

Zoey: Let’s talk about your new-yet-to-be-published book, shall we?😁

“Unfinished; the art of never finishing” (for those of us who have gotten the pre-published copy). I must say, it was an enlightening read.

The energy god: Thank you 🙏🏾

Zoey: How were you, a master ‘unfinisher’ (as per your words in the book, lol) able to complete such a huge task?

The energy god: Hmmm…tough question, haha.

Zoey: Lol. Well, you’ve had it too easy since.

The energy god: I think one of the first things that made it possible was that I saw it as a journey to understanding my predicament.
In that period, I read and watched a lot of Jordan Peterson—clinical physiologist and absolute genius.
In one of his videos he talked about writing as an exploratory journey rather than a demonstration of mastery.
And I stuck to that approach.

Zoey: Hmmm, wow.

The energy god: I wrote one section per week; so whilst writing, I dug into research papers and had long periods of simply sitting with myself—and appropriate thoughtful music—to go on introspective journeys.

I achieved two things with this process: (1) An understanding of how I processed the events of my life (2) Extracting the objective principle in play by comparing with scientific research.
What this process did was to help create solutions based on the underlying issues rather than creating case-specific subjective solutions based on my life experiences alone.

Zoey: Whoa. A journey indeed.

The energy god: So to return back to the question, I think this whole process of discovery about self and the subject matter of the book on a weekly basis kept me fired up because every section held the potential of an “oh wow, no wonder” moment.

Zoey: Haha, I see. Well, I think that’s really lovely.
What would you say was one emotion you felt through the process of this book?

The energy god: Pride!
Lol.
Every week I got to tick a box made me feel I was winning.

Zoey: Hehe. Pride can be a positive feeling to spur you to more action, sometimes.

The energy god: Although, on second thought, it was more like anger. And the times of writing were therapy sessions.
Because the process of knowing exactly where you fall short due to self examination and an examination of the human condition can lead to a lot of strong emotions.

Zoey: Sure, indeed.

Would you say these emotions were still in a way, your driving force?

The energy god: Yes. In fact, I became ‘happier’ towards the end and started struggling. But then in viscous cycle style, the slacking made me angry and I pushed through, haha.

Zoey: On page 76, you wrote “the period between when I became clear on the pathway to follow and when I finally achieved the goals was one of the most painful periods of my life… the problem wasn’t the goal, the problem was me!” Can you tell us a little about this experience?

The energy god: Okay, where I spoke about my stint with data science.

Zoey: Yeah!

The energy god: Well, procrastination can be a torturous place—as 95% of humans can attest.
In the book, I talk about how that delay can be masking for a deeper issue
So in my specific case, deep down, I was scared of what the journey would actually entail.
In reality, not much was in my way… I just kept on seeking perfect conditions to begin as a decoy for the fear of what the journey to being a better version of myself would demand of me, and if I had it in me to push through.
I think this right here holds a lot of people back. Because in the final analysis, most things just require a few initial steps before the direction of force switches and it’s the goal pulling you in, not you pushing it.

Zoey: True! Perfection does have a way of holding people back and bound.

Do you now think that process was a necessary part of the equation?

The energy god: No. I think I merely wasted time, because the actual journey was way different than I anticipated. I didn’t even require some of the requirements I created.

Zoey: Oh, ouch! Lol.

The energy god: For more creative projects, it may give a little time to be more open in your approach but generally, it really doesn’t help much to forecast when you don’t even have a feel of the landscape.

Zoey: Can you say you have finally mastered the art of never finishing?

The energy god: Nope. I wrote as an explorer and I’m still exploring, although I’m much better at finishing things. Finishing the book is evidence, haha.

Zoey: Lol. It sure is. Congratulations again.

In a few words, what can you say about “Unfinishing”?
And should we expect more books in your name?

The energy god: I think Unfinishing is something which can be outgrown or effectively managed by self-exploration to know your reasons for jumping from one interesting task to the next without seeing the end of it, and then solving for that limiting belief. I think that’s one of the aims I hoped to achieve when I wrote Unfinished —for myself and anyone who reads it.

If I encounter something puzzling enough in life or business, why not? 😃

Zoey: Awesome thought.
Lol. We look forward to it then. Fingers crossed.

Thank you so much, for your time and for sharing your stories with us.

We appreciate it. I’m grateful.

The energy god: My pleasure. Thank you for the opportunity to share 🤗

Zoey: 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

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Thank you for reading through. Do leave your comments (or even questions), and check back again; as often as you breathe🥰

Sending love and light your way.

Cheers to steady growth,

Zoey.