Tewa Onasanya urges Kigali audience to pursue success without sacrificing wellbeing

By Elias HAKIZIMANA.

Nigerian publisher and mindset stylist Dr. Tewa Onasanya has urged people to rethink how they define success, saying ambition and achievement should not come at the expense of personal wellbeing.

Onasanya made the remarks on August 26, 2026, during a fireside conversation at The Hut Restaurant in Kigali, attended by about 50 people, including staff from Access Bank Rwanda.

The event was part of her Rule Your Mind Tour, an initiative focused on mindset, clarity, self-belief and intentional living. Barbara Umuhoza joined Onasanya as a guest during the conversation.

“Success should not cost us our peace. We can be ambitious, accomplished, and still create lives that feel as good as they look. When we rule our minds and convince ourselves first, we become unstoppable,” Onasanya said.

Onasanya, founder and CEO of Exquisite Magazine and creator of the Rule Your Mind mindset-styling methodology, said people can become more intentional about the thoughts and beliefs that influence their decisions and behaviour.

She described “mindset styling” as the deliberate shaping of thoughts, beliefs and internal narratives that influence how people approach their daily lives and make decisions.

The approach is developed in her book Rule Your Mind: How to Style Your Mind to Live the Life You Desire Intentionally, first published in 2018.

Onasanya told participants that a lack of clarity, rather than a lack of ambition, is one of the major challenges facing many people. She encouraged them to distinguish between having a thought and accepting it as fact.

The discussion also explored self-belief, workplace pressure and the difference between outward achievement and personal wellbeing.

Umuhoza engaged Onasanya on these issues, drawing reflections from both Rule Your Mind and her more recent book, Convince Yourself First.

Access Bank backs employee wellbeing

Access Bank Rwanda participated in the Kigali event as the official Employee Wellbeing Partner, with a group of its staff attending the fireside conversation and a dedicated mindset-styling training session.

A representative of the bank addressed participants on the importance of building capacity around mindset styling among employees, describing the partnership as part of the bank’s broader investment in staff wellbeing.

The representative also explained the bank’s decision to support the initiative and its relevance to employees navigating professional and personal demands.

The Kigali event forms part of Onasanya’s wider effort to take the Rule Your Mind Tour to new African markets. The initiative was previously staged in Lagos alongside her Mindset Leadership Initiative.

The tour builds on the formal Lagos launch of Rule Your Mind and Convince Yourself First earlier this year, bringing conversations around mindset, clarity and leadership to audiences across Africa.