Use employment as a chance to learn and get paid for it

While you are working for someone else, enjoy the learning process and being paid to learn and most importantly, enjoy the wisdom and the immense wealth of personal and business growth that comes with the territory. FILE 

By Seraphine Ruligirwa-Kamara

In Summary

• Experiences of others can help you weave together a personal recipe to success and a model that makes theirs obsolete

“Madam, I am an ardent reader of your articles in the Business Daily and they encourage me a lot. I aspire to become a successful entrepreneur and I have faced challenges starting off, including my parents who do not believe I can start off without employment. I know I will make it despite the odds. Keep doing the good work and thank you.” Dancun, Nairobi.

Thank you for your email and kind words Dancun. I’m in my 12th year as an entrepreneur and it has been a rewarding character-building ride; yes, even with all the bumps and potholes from startup to this point.

You’re already experiencing your own potholes and sharp inconvenient speed bumps. That’s great. Those who do not understand or share your vision only serve to discourage you — especially when they are figures of authority in your life.

Your parents, friends and relatives hold a special place in your heart. Their words thus carry great weight for you. If they are entrepreneurs, they are probably looking to protect you from the pitfalls of private business as they know it.

If they are not entrepreneurs, their advice is based on fears borne of other people’s experiences. Whatever the case, they most likely mean well.

That said, you have it in you to do anything you set your mind to, no matter what anyone else. You have unlimited capabilities within you. No one can tell you what your capabilities are; not even the word’s most learned, experienced scientist.

The people around you will have opinions regarding your capabilities based on what they have seen you achieve or their perception, usually be based on their own experiences and knowledge.

However, perception is a manifestation of the law of relativity. This law decrees that everything just is; it is our view that makes it good or bad, positive or negative, possible or impossible. Your parents being good guardians are only expressing their points of view and asking that you exercise caution on your next career move.

Look at it this way — an adult who can talk and walk can teach a baby to do the same. A driving instructor can teach one to drive a car. A chef can teach one how to make delicious gourmet dishes.

Can the students in each of these examples learn without those who have experience? Most certainly. But think about the strange language that would emerge, the number of falls that baby would have to endure without the guiding hands of an able adult, the number of road accidents and possible loss of life the student driver would cause without the guidance and the burned food and wasted ingredients that student chef would have to spend money on.

I would thus encourage you work with others who have walked the paths before you. Learn to speak their language, walk in their steps on the paths they have already cleared. Learn to drive their cars and reverse into all the kerbs and street poles using their cars for practice. Overseason and burn their food or heck, burn down their whole kitchen while working with them.

Then out of their experiences, take nuggets and weave these together to create a priceless basket of your very own recipe to success, a model that makes theirs obsolete. With this, you will chart a vision that is distinctly yours.

Once devoid of a beginner’s costly mistakes, when you launch you will have as few potholes and bumps on your way as possible. This leaves you free reign to cruise all the way to success on a carpeted road devoid of potholes, bumps, stop signs, traffic police and with few other cars sharing the road with you.

And guess what? They pay you to do all this learning within their companies. It’s called employment but come to think of it, it actually is privileged college.

Now go on, enroll into privileged college. While you’re there, enjoy the lessons, enjoy being paid to learn them and most importantly, enjoy the wisdom and the immense wealth of personal and business growth that comes with the territory.