It isn’t what you earn but how to spend it that fixes your class1. This is a vital lesson to corporate Nigerians since we focus too much on wrong desires – Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions2. Action expresses priorities3. Since most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important4, I have decided to reword the title of an article I wrote in 2008 to make it relevant for today’s consumption. The message below looks at 5 priorities we should be investing our time in to make career success:
1.The Mind:
“As a man thinks,…”
I asked an Engineer working in the bank why he was working there. He said he wanted money for his masters. So I told him he could get his masters done without money and he just could not understand. I asked him how many years he had been working in the bank and he said 3 years – he had been able to save 1.5 Million Naira. Since I knew his academic profile, I was shocked that he could stay in one bank for that long in the name of “one day doing his masters”. I knew immediately that he had an issue with the mind. So I asked him which school he wanted to go; he said he was not sure but he is working on a school in Malaysia. So I asked him how much longer did he think he was going to work to get the money he needed for the masters; he replied emphatically “I am going to be promoted soon and with that kind of money, I should be able to raise the five million Naira I needed for the masters in 3 years”.
Now the problem with this Engineer is that he did not know that he did not have to work for 6 years to get his Masters done; he needed to work on his mind for 1 month to get his Master’s program for free. The greatest investment you can do in this world is investing in your mind. Nothing in this world can compare to mind investment; it is what gives you financial sustenance and saves a lot of heart aches when it comes to losing. Every other thing can be snatched from you except your mind. Invest in it each day and it would empower you to recognize opportunity therefore giving room for leverage. The mind is one of the greatest leverage investments you can commit to though most corporate Nigerian fail to see this. The mind is inelastic; once it’s stretched it cannot regain its original form making it a viable investment vehicle. You can never lose by investing in the mind; you can only gain.
2.The Tongue
“So also the tongue is a small member and yet it boasts of greater things”
I never knew how powerful the tongue wass until my year 2 undergraduate days when a couple of us had a routine of speaking words into our future. One of the words I normally proclaim during these confession sessions was the fact that “I cannot lie”. After 3 consistent weeks of speaking these words, I found it very difficult to lie even when the lying was going to favor me. I found out that the heart controls the body and the tongue fuels the content of the heart. Armed with this revelation, I was able to locate other wisdom words from Jesus that supported my claim; Jesus said “It is not what enters a man that harms him; it is what comes out of the man that defiles him”.
It is invariably the tongue that controls the life of a man. James used the ship in a sea to explain this important revelation. He compared the rudder of the ship to the tongue. The rudder is what controls the ship; it is analogous to the steering of a car. No matter the waves, storm or external forces that influences the direction of the ship, the rudder keeps the ship in the planned direction it always wanted to go. Investing 15 minutes a day speaking great things to your future goes a long way to affect your life positively. It keeps your life in check and directs you to the direction you proclaim. This is a priority that is missed by most people and regarded as religious hocus pocus but those who use it are eating the fruits thereof.
3.The Talent
“The gift of a man makes room for him”
Most people intuitively know that it is what they are good at that would set them apart from others (common sense, right? Wrong). When external factors like money come to the equation, this type of reasoning is thrown away from our minds. What we fail to understand is that it is the constant honing of these talents that sets us apart career wise. I really cannot blame the youths of today because the faults emanate from early background where we are forced to be like others. A lady comes home with her report card; scores distinction in English and fails Arithmetic. She is immediately forced to work on her Arithmetic in order to be like others while these may seem logical; it is definitely a wrong approach to greatness. If the parents recognize that their daughter has a flair for English, they should invest all their resources to make sure no one can compare with her in English Language then make sure she gets above pass mark in Arithmetic.
After reading and watching biographies of prominent men and women in the world today, I realized the parents focused on their strength from child hood. This is also imperative in career investment; invest in what aligns with your strength/ talent.
Warren Buffet comes to mind; he aligns his talent to his investment and he is the second richest man in the US. He gave out the biggest charity donation in history of the world; 32.5 billion USD in 2006 and he was quoted saying “I do not like engaging in charity, I rather give the money to Bill and Melisa Gates to give out the money”. He knew his talent lies in squeezing money from people not in giving out money. Knowing and utilizing your talent gives you leverage.
4.The People
“When did we feed and clothe you?”
Investing in people is so latent that most people obviously ignore it. People invest negatively with other people that they most of the time miss out on so many opportunities that they could have. Anybody that really matters to you should be highly invested on with time and gift. For most workers that make use of brokerage services for investment vehicle, your broker should be your best friend (not literarily); he would definitely make you richer than you can imagine with little attention given to him/her. He would remember you whenever there is an opportunity that can change your statues forever. I have people that work with me in business; I always make sure it’s a win-win business relationship. I always go the extra mile to make sure they win so they would always remain loyal. What I have done is simply deposited into their emotional bank account thereby creating leverage for my entire business venture.
In my former office, people wonder how I was able to keep my personal driver for so long and how he has been so loyal to me (Personal drivers are the hardest employees to keep). I just smile because they do not know that I invest heavily on him not just monetary but time and patience. I overlook his misgivings and encourage his strength with rewards. Just one month after I employed him, my salary was upgraded in the office; I upgraded his own salary too and he was very shocked. I remember buying an expensive wristwatch for myself in his presence and I asked him if he wanted the same thing. The shock in his face was just too obvious. Whenever, I travel out of the country, I make sure I buy things for his girlfriend. What do I gain by doing this? His utmost loyalty which is the essential ingredient of an employee-employer relationship. My car has never visited the mechanic ever since I employed him; he makes sure everything in the car is fixed and also repairs my generator for free. The return on investing in people is huge.
5.The Family
“A man that doesn’t spend time with his family can never be a real man” – Don Coleone of Mario Puzo’s Godfather.
This is one of the greatest leverage in every investment. Spending time with your family is a strong leverage to career investment. Most people ignore this particular part of their lives and invest in career without their family. The Bible says it this way: If two shall agree as touching anything on this earth, it shall be approved by the heavens. Most people have misunderstood this for prayer; it is not about prayer but about an agreement between you and your spouse or anybody you have a strong covenant with. If both you and your partner (could be your brother/sister) do not come together and agree, you are underutilizing a powerful leverage that is ignored by all. There is strength in the agreement of two than one; it is easier to bear losses if you are two instead of one. It is much fun to share your winnings instead of consuming it alone.
Most men prefer not to let their wives into their career investment; I believe this is a huge mistake. They fear she would make demands on trivial stuff when she knows the salary he makes. You must be open to your spouse concerning your finances and discuss all investment plans. When she makes demands on what the man considers trivial; set an example by not purchasing what she considers trivial; then it would be easier to tell her to sacrifice for the greater good.
- Sinclair Lewis
- Dallin H. Oakes
- Mahatma Ghandi
- Stephen R. Covey
