Work for no pay as you would for a huge pay

 About this time of the year last year, I had a custom of sending out a Monday morning whatsapp greeting and motivational or scriptural message to my contacts. I usually signed off my messages with the line “I love you” after which I would add my Initials PCB. On this particular day, one of my contacts asked me why I ended my text with “I love you”, this particular contact was concerned that I was sending out a wrong impression especially to the opposite sex. I thought to myself and wondered why someone would get the wrong impression from a motivational or scriptural message that ended with I love you especially that most cultures or  faiths actually encourage people to not just  love one another but,  show or express the love for each other.

In Christianity there are several texts that encourage expressive love, including greeting each other with an embrace and a holy kiss. If just saying I love you seemed to send the wrong impression to my contact, I wonder what a kiss would do. My contact suggested that doing so, would create more problems amongst the community. I am yet to see or experience a Christian community that fully practices this kind of greeting, and that means I cannot say whether my contact was right or wrong. All I  know is that different cultures have different perceptions on the subject, I thought the Europeans were more expressive but some little research actually reveal that most European cultures and surprisingly even the united states of America is a conservative society , It is rather the Latino’s and French that practice this form of greeting but also usually amongst those that are well acquainted with each other and strangers would usually be greeted with a handshake.

The chat was long and unfortunately inconclusive, none the less it ended with a question on what general advice I would give to my contact. From discussing an inconclusive subject, I was now put on the spot were it seemed like I was being examined for something,  I could tell from the discussion, that this person was very analytical and critical. Then I remembered that I did not have to give a clever answer but, my experience and something that I believed. In college I met a friend who introduced me to Napoleon Hill’s the Law of success, though old the book is very practical and if you are yet to read it get yourself a copy. The advice that I got from this book which I shared with my contact was that “The man who does more than he is paid for will soon be paid for more than he does.”.

My interpretation of Napoleons hill’s writing is that it does not matter the task that you are given whether it’s for charity or for a meager pay cheque as long as you have agreed to do the task, you need to apply yourself efficiently and effectively. Applying this principal has worked out for me on several occasions, one instance, was when a friend asked me to help out prepare a set of  financial statements for a church, from the onset I knew there was no pay for this work but I applied myself as professional as I could. A few months down the line, I was out of formal employment and the same friend that had asked me to do work for charity recommended me to take up a consulting management accounting role at the Zambia Development Agency, this was huge considering that at the time I had not accumulated a lot of experience.

Many times, we often make the mistake to think that we can save our best efforts for the biggest opportunities (role, job, position, or business) or when it matters most in life, unfortunately work ethics or most life situations are not easily changeable as clothes. If your attitude is wrong or bad when executing tasks that you consider less important, it is highly likely to that you will fail when the opportunity of a lifetime presents itself.  As they say “Garbage in Garbage out” Your current life is a sum total of all your good and bad choices, one needs to ensure that the scales are always tipped or balanced on the good choices side in order to cease the opportunities.

Life is a constant evaluation, it’s not just about one exam , one audition or one interview , one business pitch that has to be successful, every day you are either adding or subtracting from your score-sheet by the attitude that you have towards “work”. It is true that we get to choose who or what we are but,most of the time we do not get to choose when opportunities present themselves. You must ensure that you are ready to take on the chance of a lifetime by doing more than you are paid not just sometime but all the time.

Laziness will yield lazy results; lame efforts will yield lame results.

Managing the unmanageables

 I was doing the final semester at the Zambia Institute of Management Studies (ZAMIM)-Chilanga Campus for the National Accounting Technician course, my prospects looked very good and I was pretty sure I was proceeding to the next level. I saw myself not just graduating but possibly somewhere at the top of my class, In my mind this was definitely something that was going to make my Father and Mother proud, as I was going to do something right in my (and with my) life for the first time or  in a long while because I cannot recall good much before this.

Getting to this position was not so easy for me, I had what one would term a “troublesome” filled childhood, with me mostly being at the centre of the trouble, I really don’t know how I got so messed up ! My friendship with drugs and alcohol started out somewhere between my fourth and fifth grade, by the time I was coming out of Secondary school these two were my best friends accompanied with a dictionary of insults and foul language. I do not know how I got messed up however, I know I started making changes to my life for two reasons, the first was for my mother.

I had not spent so much time with my mother but, every time with my mum was awesome, she pampered me a lot and being her last-born child, I was always a baby to her. Aside from the pampering my mother is the kind of person that is kind-hearted, and she helped a lot of people- relatives and strangers alike. Sometime in the last years of my secondary school life, mum decided to go on voluntary separation after many years of service working as a nurse for the government. By the time I was out of secondary school and even as I write this article, her promised pay-off package was not yet paid. I detested the condition that she was living in and this made me think of reshaping my life so that I could now be the one to pumper her. After all there is a Bemba saying ”Mayo mpapa naine nka kupapa”   which I can literally translate as “My mother carry me now  when am a child , weak and vulnerable and I will also carry you in future when I'am grown, strong and able.  The second reason was for “Love”.

For my mother I was willing to do anything, not really what I desired or what made me happy. I enrolled for an Electrical Technician Certificate course at the then Lusaka Trades Training Institute. This was not really something I wanted to do but, rather something that could get me somewhere and mostly totally different to what my older brother was doing. All my life I had an older brother whose shadow I seemed not able to shake off and in the “life competition“ in my head my brother was always ahead of me, scoring points and getting the applauds. Being away in boarding school helped to shake off the shadow for a bit, that side I had a name of my own, but back home, I wonder if people even knew me. I was mostly referred to as the younger brother to my famous older brother. He had taken up my father’s career path which is sort of what I had wanted to do as well.

On my path to recreation and reformation I met this girl that made me want to become a better version of me, even before I could ask her out or confess how much I was love struck. Its not about what she said or did, but it was “love” inside of me talking, this was the first time anything other than drugs and alcohol communicated something strong in my heard. Just like that, I made the switch, went home, and told my sister I was quitting the electrical technician certificate course. After some consultation I enrolled in the same course my brother was pursuing.

Now back to where we started. On a certain evening I got home from college, prepared supper and was eager to share with Dad and my brother that I had a good day at school, I had scored well in a test and was definitely going to ace the exams in June. A rare thing happened that day, Dad and my brother arrived home at the same time, they had their meal and the next bit of events was shocking and paralysing. I was informed we were going to spend a night at our eldest sister’s place, my mother had died. Just like that!! Even though my mother had an asthmatic condition, this time there was no news of her being ill at home or admitted in hospital. She had died during the day, while I was at school, even though I may not have done anything to change the situation, I was not told until late in the evening. Three days later, I saw my mum laying lifeless in a coffin and with that a lot of things in my life lost life. I did not graduate at the end of that semester; it took two more examination sittings for me to clear what seemed like easy courses at the time and I sprung back to my friend alcohol.

In most religious teachings, there is a promised life after death. Hindus accept reincarnation – the belief that, after death, the atman (soul) of a person passes into a new body and life. This new life depends on how the person lived their previous life. Hindus believe in karma, which is the sum of the good and bad actions taken. Good karma helps with a better rebirth. Muslims believe life is God's gift, it is not given by man. Believing in an afterlife is one of the six articles of faith in Islam. Yet, the abode of the deceased is up to debate. They may either be in heaven/hell, in an intermediary state, or "sleep" until a great resurrection. The Catholic church conception of the afterlife, the view which most Christians hold, teaches that after the body dies, the soul is judged, the righteous and free of sin enter Heaven. However, those who die in unrepented mortal sin go to hell.

Seventh-day Adventist beliefs about death are different from most Christian churches. Adventists do not believe that people go to Heaven or Hell when they die. They believe that the dead remain unconscious until the return of Christ in judgement. After which there is a separation between the good and the bad, the unrepentant bad are killed in hell fire, while the repentant good are rewarded with eternal life. Most atheists are very death positive and see death as a natural part of life. It is not always something that deserves any great fanfare, and there are usually no religious or spiritual beliefs around the passing of life. At the end of one’s life, most people believe that you cease to exist.

Regardless of your belief, the fact that we can all agree is that death is real, the dead are not so much affected by it, as it is either the decisions they made before they died or the decisions made by those still with life, that will dictate  even how they will be disposed (buried, cremated etc). The other thing we can agree on is that our Life, plans, and actions are not entirely dependent on factors that we can control.

In life one needs to understand that the existence of these non-controllable factors should not and does not negate your aspirations to get that which you want or desire. The very existence of these factor should drive you to enjoy and live life of the highest quality. My mother’s untimely death was one such thing, I can no longer have the life I envisioned to have with her. I thank her for the wonderful times she gave me because that is all I can have, I have learned to live life in the moment. To have fun and enjoy the bits of it that I can, each time I play and laugh with my kids I have it all. Now, it is one thing knowing that non-controllable factors that may impact negatively on your career, business, life exist, and it is another thing adapting to life after you have been struck by calamity or disaster.

If you search the internet, you will get a lot of suggestions on dealing with calamity or disaster. Dealing with disaster and calamity is not something that can be scripted and does not have a template from which one can easily copy and paste. For me, it is a time to reflect, readjust and reposition oneself, to see what works for you. Ultimately, the hard Job is to get the clouds to clear so that you can have clear sight of how you want to live your life, manage your career, run your business, manage your relationship(s) regardless of what has happened in the past. While it is true that passed decisions have an influence or effect on our current situation, our future is entirely dependant on the decisions we make now. I once read a statement that I forever treasure. “Man is not a creature of circumstances, but rather circumstances are creatures of men” - Benjamin Disraeli. We cannot blame a disaster that happened in our life for our future failures, we need to be able to create conditions that will enhance the quality of our life despite the current or past challenges. Today, many of us might be blaming Covid-19 for a lot of things right now. It is true Covid-19 has happened and has had a lot of negative effects on the World’s and National economies, it has negatively affected Multinational organisations and SME’s have not been spared, individuals and family units have their own tales.  

I cannot spell out the opportunities that lie in the current or past unforeseen uncontrollable events that occurred in your life, I can only encourage you to take a deep look and begin to pursue. If you are still breathing Life is worth living and living at a higher level.

 

Remember to give feedback and comments in the comments section.

   

Its just a matter of perspective- value or no value

We can all agree that the value of one Zambian Kwacha today is the same in all parts of the world regardless of the person that has it and that Its future value is largely based on the person that is currently in possession of that one Zambian Kwacha. Having established this  we can further state that  even though the value is the same today  despite  were it is in the world, its value is depended on the person that has it and the choices that the possessor makes (spend, invest or even waste).

Economic value is a measure of the benefit provided by a good or service to an economic agent. It is generally measured relative to units of currency.  Value is also either the importance, worth, or benefit https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/value . Value will usually be reflected in the price that people are willing to pay for the product or service.

 

My knowledge of the North-Western Province of Zambia came from my fifth-grade social studies lessons by Mrs Mutengo in the early 1990’s at Kalewa Primary School in Ndola. That time North-Western Province was one of nine provinces in Zambia with its provincial capital being Solwezi. The most notable agriculture and economic activity was in Mwinilunga district which had a pineapple canning factory. I must say at the time I was learning my fifth-grade social studies, the Pineapples of Mwinilunga district were pretty much on paper as they are today. Further insight on the province came from the experiences that my mother had during her Nursing training at Kaleni Hills Mission Hospital. I recollect her mention that the place was largely underdeveloped and not easily accessible due to lack of proper roads. Looking at this very shallow, narrow, and limited presentation of North-Western Province, I cannot think of anyone that would be willing to settle or invest in the North Western Province then.

From the year 2005 the North Western Province has developed into a Major Mining Province. Lately, there has been plenty in the news about who should run or own, or mine "gold" in the Province. The Province hosts major mining operations like the Barrick’s  Lumwana Mine with reported performance in the year 2019 of 238 million pounds or 119,000 tons of copper output at a cost of $2.13 per pound. That output at the current offer on The London Metal Exchange (LME) which is the world center for the trading of industrial metals of $6453.50/Tonne would translate into an estimated turnover of $767,966,500

https://www.barrick.com/English/operations/lumwana/default.aspx

According to First Quantum from its two open pits, the Kansanshi copper-gold mine near Solwezi, in the North Western Province of Zambia, produces more copper than any other mine in Africa. Since it started production at Kansanshi opening in 2005, the operation is now capable of producing 340,000 tonnes of copper and more than 120,000 ounces of gold per year. That is an estimated $2,194,190,000 worth of Copper and an estimated $246,720,000 worth of Gold at current LME prices. The Projected Outlook for 2020 expected to be 220,000 to 235,000 tonnes of copper, and 120,000 to 130,000 ounces of gold. .https://www.first-quantum.com/English/our-operations/default.aspx

 

Looking at these figures one would be led to believe that the picture between 1990 and 2020 of the North-Western Province has significantly changed. It is has transformed from insignificance to an economic powerhouse. However, I would like to argue that it has not changed at all. The Province did not suddenly have mineral deposits overnight, in fact there were plenty of “small scale miners”, some fortunate to have made fortunes mining in the North Western Province at the time people thought of it only as a source of the now seemingly depleted pineapples. I must also state that even though the livelihood of the indigenous people of North-Western Province has changed a bit  due to this development, the shift is not that much as they are not the direct beneficiaries from the value of minerals and the same can be said for the Country.

Like my fifth-grade knowledge of North-western Province, our understanding of things/events is usually not based on the actual reality but rather on narrow, shallow, and limited inferences or opinions of others. We accept limitations based on parameters that have been defined by others as our own. We are not able to see beyond the surface and as a result we hardly  realise the value in what we possess.

It is high time that we start to shake the barriers and limitations that we have placed on ourselves and begin to look beyond. Mining may seem like a daunting venture for most people sighting a lack of education, capital, equipment and so forth so lets bring the subject closer to something seemingly simple. For many years, it seemed traditional Zambian drinks like Amaheu, Umunkoyo, Tobwa, Chibwantu were products with no commercial value, they  were usually made for recreational purposes, traditional events or a small-scale trade usually operated from the vicinity of a village hut or township yard and not a trade that could be associated with a university graduate. Today the same product has been transformed by Trade Kings Limited into a commercial product.

An ape can mimic a person, but it can never be a person, a person can mimic another person but can never be that person. Each creature, person is has different traits, strengths, and weaknesses, ideas, and thoughts.  Every person has got great value within them and that value has a potential commercial value. As the cliché “you do not miss the water till the well runs dry “ most of us do not see the value in what we have till someone else starts to realise the benefit  and at this point it is usually late as the rights to access the value may have been give away or wasted. There is something that you are passionate about (singing, writing, painting, sport, cooking, baking, designing, handcrafts, building, analysing, gossip etc)  and only see it as a hobby when you supposed to be earning money from it. No time, resource or talent has ever existed to waste.

Start realising your value today