When the system supports these mediocre ideas in the name of - let ’ s encourage our youth , then mediocrity becomes ingrained in culture . It is like when someone goes to a church to sing a song and then before they sing they say something like - please do not listen to my voice . Just listen to the words of the song . They then go on to offend the hearing of the listeners after which the pastor comes and tells us to encourage the singer by buying their music .
I believe in supporting the youth and I have dedicated my life to doing that but one thing I will not do is to support them to become comfortable with mediocrity .
One fundamental truth of money is that money does not grow on its own . Youth empowerment programs must teach how to grow money . This requires a growth mindset and not a fixed mindset . If given ten dollars most people despise it because they do not see the possibility of growth . However because our students at the Street University are trained to have a growth mindset they were able to turn a thousand Kenya shill to one hundred and four thousand in 30 days . This is the core of our nation building … drive a growth mindset .
While there is a structured lottery where people buy tickets and hope to win , the truth is that life itself can be a huge lottery . Investing is a lottery of some sorts and starting a business also has its risks . What makes the difference between the lottery winners and others however is that they did not grow into their money . This is very important .
There is a discipline that comes from working and earning money that can never be found in those who just come into money such as lottery winners or people
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Fixed thinkers look at people as they are while growth thinkers look at people as they can be and this is why growth thinkers make the best leaders . They are constantly transforming followers into leaders .
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The African continent is arguably the most spiritual continent on earth but with very little to show for the spirituality . If ability is discarded in favour of spirituality , spiritual centres will experience growth while national transformation will suffer massively .
who suddenly come into a big inheritance . This is the difference between them and the investor or the business owners . Most people who have made money from investments did not start with big money . True wealth comes in trickles . They make a little , make mistakes with the little , invest again , make more mistakes but fewer than the first time and so the progression goes . By the time they are getting to the big money they have learnt a lot of lessons and their minds are developed enough to handle it .
Perhaps this is why the bible says that to the person who has , more shall be added and to the person that has none , even that which he thinks he has shall be taken away . The person who has the mindset of success will enjoy more success and when such a person does win the lottery , it will add to the already existing success but the person that does not have that mindset , even if he wins the lottery , it will be taken away . He will not be able to sustain it .
Are there people who were able to overcome the lottery curse ? Of course . Once they had the right mindset before the money came and the right disciplines then handling it was not an issue .
The capacity for handling success is developed in the process and not in the destination . Nothing best illustrates this than the butterfly . It struggles out of the cocoon with great difficulty and the natural inclination of any good hearted person watching the struggle will be to help the butterfly to come out . However , if it is helped out , it will never fly because the strength that its wings will need to fly is developed through the process of coming out of the cocoon .
The road that leads to success is the training for handling the success . People who suddenly arrive there like lottery winners escaped the process and as such are not well equipped to handle it .
Nation building is a reality . Eradication of unemployment and poverty among the
willing is a reality but what precedes any of these is the development of a growth mindset and the patience to grow little into much . This is something that must be taught by any administration serious on creating sustainable jobs .
What is the conclusion of this matter ? If great care is not taken , we will continue to display our consumerism nature by the consistent celebration of finished products when we have the opportunity and the raw materials to develop home grown products . It takes a growth mindset to see things not as they are but as they can be . This is true of everything including people .
With a growth mindset , we will see that the greatest resources of our nation are the people and with the right support , we will take our place in the community of nations that have transformed themselves and move on to transforming others .
Dr . Wale Akinyemi is the founder and Chief Visionary Officer of the Street University . You can commune with him on this or related matters via email at : Wale @ thestreetuniversity . com .