My mama once told me that
“you cannot continue doing the same thing and expect the same result. Only a
mad man thinks that way”. When she made that statement, I was perplexed. It
didn’t actually make sense to me at first.
But when I got to the
university, I started seeing reason with that statement, in fact I lived it.
You see one problem I have
with many Nigerian proverbs or clichés is that they are meaningless. They seriously
need to be restructured. Lets look at this one, I call it the ‘patient dog-ish’
cliché and it goes like this: “the patient dog eats the fattest bone”. It
doesn’t make sense at all. Maybe it did in the days of Adam and Eve but now if
the dog in question just lies on his tummy doing nothing, he might not even get
a bone let off the fattest hence, dying of hunger.
If we continue digesting
statements like this (patient dog-ish one) we might not fulfill our goals in
life because you become what you think with time.
The fact that over 2 million
Nigerian youths (especially graduates from higher institutions) are jobless is
no longer news. In fact if there is an industry called “unemployed youths plc”
with shares at the NSE market, you would be amazed at the avalanche of profits
you would make if you invest it such because the number of unemployed youths
increases annually.
When you ask the powerful
question “why”, you would get ready made answers like no jobs, government, and
e.t.c. Then you begin to ask yourself another question like; what is the
essence of spending 4-5 years somewhere when you have nothing to show for it?
I tend to wonder if nowadays
youths go to school with the aim of joining the “jobless crew”.
In my quest to finding a
solution to this dilemma, I discovered something incredible.
The best job you can ever
have on this planet is SERACHING FOR A JOB. It is the only job that creates
room for self development. And until you admit and realize searching for a job
is a job and drop the “patient dog-ish” proverb, you might remain jobless your
entire life.
SEARCHING FOR A JOB is the
only job where you are your own boss. I know you might be asking; how is
searching for a job a job? Relax, the answer is straight forward and all you
have to do is read on.
When you flip through pages
of your local dailies and you come across job vacancies ads, I know nothing
irks you more than the 10-15 years working experience part of the ad. And the
question that comes straight from your heart is; how am I going to get 10- 15
years working experience when no one would ever employ me?
The answer comes in two
parts: DO something, START something!
Is that it? You might say.
Yeah! I mean it, DO something.
Doing something, makes
searching for a job a job, Companies don’t employ a person that has nothing to
offer and that is why you would definitely find the 10-15years working
experience in their ads.
Work for free; apply for
internships at the industry you desire. Opportunity
they say can come as a disguise but make the best use of it. Don’t just submit
your CV somewhere and stay idle.
Keep doing something and you would be amazed
at the wealth of experience you would have acquired in no time.
The second part is START
something! Okay let me share with you my story; I started my first business at
the age of 17. You would see me then with a back pack selling my stuffs from
door- door. I got little or no gain, made lots of mistakes but I was persistent
enough that at 22, I already had a big store where I sold my computer
accessories. Apart from me making money daily; I am not trying to blow my horn
here (Okay just a lil’ bit), I learnt a lot about entrepreneurship and you
cannot get that experience and relationship I had developed with my customers
anywhere.
I started small but did not
limit my thinking. I thought big.
I didn’t wait till I had
enough money to build a big store. The mistake so many people make out there is
that they want to start big so they can start earning big.
If you start big without any
experience, how are you going to manage and handle big mistakes when you cannot
even stand the small ones?
Start with what you have with
a bigger picture in mind.
There are so many businesses
you can start up which requires little or no capital that can earn you big
profits; you may mail me at sadiqdaniel@gmail.com
for free tips and ideas if you wish.
We are in a century where it
is only ideas that work, if you can convince and get people to cherish your
ideas you win. You win financially; you gain power to change the world in which
we live. You just have to think.
As long as you can use your
idea to change the way people think, talk or act……… You can create value.
Fulfilling your dreams in
life is a journey that you can’t finish in a day even if you are traveling at
the speed of light.
Do something, START
something! And you would be surprised how far you can go in life.
You have unlimited potentials
in you. Tap into it today.
Searching for a job is
definitely the best job you can ever pray to have.
I would like to hear your
views on this article and you can reach Sadiq Daniel on twitter at @ayamtheone.
Email: sadiqdaniel@gamil.com for
free tips and advice
Thank
you
Sadiq
Daniel
