By Tope Popoola

Copyright tribuneonlineng

“Write the vision, make it plain…” Habakkuk 2:2

Frederick W. Smith, the founder of FedEx, is known for revolutionizing the parcel delivery industry with his vision of a time-sensitive, integrated air-to-ground network for overnight deliveries. Smith’s idea was initially expressed in an economics paper he wrote in 1965 as an undergraduate in Yale University. His paper envisioned a system that could handle the urgent delivery needs of a rapidly automating society. The idea, though visionary and revolutionary at the time, was considered outlandish and indeed outrageous. Expectedly, his Economics professor was not impressed. He was said to have graded the paper a ‘C’, a grade he grudgingly gave just because he felt he needed to be magnanimous. But the young Frederick refused to give up his dream. Something within him convinced him that there was a significant problem to be solved in the sphere of timely deliveries and he was determined to fill that gap. He was convinced that he had chanced on an idea whose time had come.

Frederick’s paper eventually became the blueprint for one of the world’s largest express transportation companies. Six years later, specifically in May 1971, Frederick founded FedEx in Little Rock Arkansas. It began actual operations in April 1973 when it launched its overnight delivery service from the city of Memphis in Tennessee. Memphis eventually became its headquarters when it incorporated the “hub-and-spoke” delivery system centered on a main hub with planes and trucks connecting to various cities. On the first day of its operations, FedEx delivered 186 packages to 25 cities in USA using 14 aircraft.

At the beginning, the business struggled financially and teetered on the verge of bankruptcy. The idea of delivering mail and parcels by air at that time was as unprecedented as it was unthinkable. Afterall, why would anyone even want to compete with the United States Postal Service? Financially, it was a herculean task. By virtue of size and spread, FedEx could never match the postal service which had a nationwide reach. Very few people gave the venture a fighting chance. What kept the company afloat in those challenging years were the strength of the dream, Fred’s resolve to succeed and the winning he made from playing blackjack as a side hustle.

Over time, FedEx has expanded internationally, offering intercontinental services and becoming an almost indispensable major player in global trade. What started as a dream expressed in a term paper has become a logistics behemoth with a turnover of over $88billion in 2024 (almost thrice the entire budget of Nigeria for the same year).

There are several lessons from this story.

The first is that only YOU who can discourage you. Discouragement is a distraction from your focus. His teacher’s grade was merely an opinion on the quality of the vision expressed in it. But the young Fred did not allow the teacher’s opinion to suspend his dream. The storm around you only prevails when it meets a storm within you. What sinks a boat or ship is not the rage of the waters around it. It is in the waters that get inside it. Rejection is just an opinion. Don’t take it personally. Become your own number one cheerleader. Those who never went to bed with you should never be allowed to determine the content of your dream.

Furthermore, recognise that whatever it takes to discourage you is all it takes to ground you. Failure is not synonymous with destiny. It is mostly a perspective. Failure is simply feedback on the limitations of current strategy. It is the fees that champions pay to learn what school could never teach them. The real failure is the one who gives up on his dreams because of temporary setbacks. Setbacks only define limits and boundaries of current capacity. The answer is to outgrow them through aggressive learning.

Keep your vision alive, especially by writing it down in as specific detail as possible. If you cannot see it, you cannot do it. Why? Whatever is not specific cannot be dynamic. Even if it is not written down, let it be so engraved on the canvas of your heart that if someone pinches you in the middle of the night and asks you about it, you can describe it in great detail. One day, a very poor man was describing to his son how he had the vision of becoming rich in future and owning a white horse that would be better than the king’s horse. He went into great detail about how he planned to deck it with ornaments and have musicians singing his praise while he rode majestically around town. He left nothing out as he described his resplendent robes and the calculated royal steps while riding the horse. Enthralled by his father’s narration, the young boy said, “Father, I will also mount the horse and gallop around town on it “ktpa ktpa ktpa” (mimicking the sound of a galloping horse’s hoofs.) As he described what he would do with the horse, his father’s countenance suddenly changed as his eyeballs turned red. From out of nowhere, he brought out a whip and started beating his son. Flustered, the young man blurted out, “What is my offence? I was only responding to what you described.” His father retorted, “You must be a callous idiot. Do you want to kill my horse?”

Desire without pursuit is mere poverty dressed in the robes of fantasy. A dream that cannot be followed up with action, no matter how small or risky the path may be, will end up as nothing but a nightmare or at best a fantasy to the dreamer. Every transformational opportunity comes dressed in work clothes. Be willing to put your nose to the grind.

Be discerning concerning your environment and feel its pain points. Keep your ears open and listen to problem conversations. Society’s problem is the harvest field of the discerning. While others only see and talk about problems, you choose to think solutions. Problem analysts don’t get significant rewards from the universe. Problem-solvers do.

Determine to weather the storm. If you make it through the storm that comes, you will savour the calm that follows. From a funds-starved enterprise sustained largely by personal grit and blackjack winnings, FedEx became a giant multinational with an annual turnover in the billions. I can only imagine what would have been going on in the former professor’s head, seeing the growth trajectory of FedEx.

Protect your dream. God delivers the future to every man in a picture. So, the picture of the future that you see is an indication of the future in which you were ordained to feature. Mental pictures and visions only mirror possibilities.

Finally, don’t eat alone. When God blesses you, it’s not just about you. Frederick Smith went ahead to become a large-hearted philanthropist who empowered the dreams of future generations through educational scholarships and grants to educational institutions as well as the US Army, himself being a Navy veteran. Before his demise on the 21st of June 2025 at the age of 80, he was also supporting several health and community causes.

Your dream is your passport to your earthly relevance.

Nurture it. Activate it. Protect it.

Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!