“The First-Class Edge,” written by Israel Alabi, was published in 2022 by Value Plus. And in the book, Israel, a graduate of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering from the University of Ibadan, believes in the power of education to change society. Thus he prefaces the book with a declaration that excellence must always be preceded by work and discipline: “being the best requires much more than natural talent and wishful thinking. It requires work, and it requires obeying certain ethics.” In other words, nothing good is achieved by just lofty thoughts and sense of entitlement. So perceptive readers, especially the young ones, will quickly get the memo that in order to produce and sustain a first class life, one has to respond to principles.
And in this six-chapter book, the author provides his own life, struggles, and victories to help us achieve this.
In the first chapter of the book, the author talks about his intense desire to help others as a propelling factor for his undying passion to study medicine early in life. In the chapter, aptly titled, The Edge of Passion, the author expresses to us his confusion and loss after his teacher advised him to consider engineering due to his mathematics score. While his desire was medicine, he reports that he took his teacher’s advice and applied for engineering. He thus informs us that his conversation with his teacher taught him that excellence begins from within even when life throws you out of your passion. But staying on course requires a strong sense of direction, and vision.
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The second chapter of the book discusses vision, and the author tells the story of a girl who wanted to be free, and in the course of her journey down her path, she came across a fork junction and couldn’t decide where to head. She saw a wise old rabbit and sought his advice and when she was asked where she was headed, she admitted that she had no particular destination in mind. The rabbit then replied that it doesn’t matter which path she takes. The author here connects Alero’s lack of choice with her lack of vision. She had no mental vision of where she was headed and what she hoped to achieve. For him having imagination helps us envision the things we want to do or the direction we desire to take. Not having vision therefore means that we might not know what to do with the potential and resources that we are given, and we would not utilize them to the fullest.
The third chapter of the book discusses the place of focus in the attainment of a first class life. The author here states that focus is “concentrating our mental presence and resources on the things that we SHOULD do while ignoring the things that we COULD do.” (P24) So, for the author, achieving outstanding results requires maximum focus, and while it is natural to have numerous ideas at the same time, it is important to concentrate our mental presence and resources on things that need to be done than ones that need to be ignored. The author admonishes that we should focus on a thing and achieve big than to be involved in numerous things and achieve little. Taking a step at a time is much better than spreading yourself thin and achieving nothing. The longer a goal is put aside to accommodate other things, the harder it is to get back to that goal, the author submits.
The author labels Chapter 4: “The Edge of Association,” and avers that our associations and how we decide to use them will significantly determine where we end up in our life. So, he explains the importance of associations and associating with right people especially the people who would push us to do and become better. He buttresses the importance of having the right association with proverbs such as “if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go with others.” The importance of connecting with the right people cannot be overemphasised as it helps in one’s life sojourn.
In the book, The First-Class Edge, Israel Alabi informs the reader over and over that the key to success lies in consistency and discipline. For him, knowing what to do and when to do them is essential and shows discipline. He has strong words in this book for those who find it convenient to keep postponing work and schedules, and warns that to build a first class life, we must be disciplined. He states that pushing the work of today into tomorrow (procrastination) is indiscipline and does not help with growth.
In the final chapter of this 84-page book, the author urges balance in all things. In his words, “success goes beyond what we do…it involves what we choose not to do.” And he opines that balancing academics, spiritual, physical, mental and personal life which he called ‘the super edge’, is very important. Therefore, all-round success includes but is not limited to academics. You must believe in God, be tolerant of other people’s religious beliefs, eat good food and sleep well. He submits that to get a balance in life, we must become value exchangers, learn tech skills, and engage in competitions, among other things. Ultimately, the author believes that creating a balance all the things in one’s life is important and paramount to success.
This book is a potent guidebook for everyone who desire exceptional life, and are ready to achieve it by making deliberate, informed and disciplined choices and actions. The author has done a good job with this work. It is particularly recommended for young school-age persons who are desirous of academic and personal success, especially the first class edge.
. Olatunbosun is a broadcast journalist, fact-checker and book reviewer at Splash FM 105.5, Ibadan. He can be reached via molatunbosun@splashfm1055.com, and on X and Instagram @miketunbosun.
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