Every now and then, you read a story in the media and social sites about this whizzkid that was running their own office at 24, allegedly a millionaire. For many of you, it tends to make you feel [SIZE=6]inadequate. A FAILURE![/SIZE]
I mean, you are doing 36 and still living in a one-bedroomed extension in Langata, pretending to be middle-class. You are yet to buy your first plot or car. Perhaps you work for a mean Mhindi who you could kill in a minute were it not for the law. For you, life is a daily struggle to keep live and soul together.
Sitting down to your supper of sukuma and ugali, with the single fried egg that the missus has saved for the man of the house, you read a story about a Laura thisorthat who was running her/his own company at 23. You despair and put down the paper. Better to watch the fifth-rate Mexican soaps on K24.
They bring on a programme called Young Rich. More 20-something millionaires.
They all say they wake up at 4.00am.
They all say they work hard and smart.
They all say they started very young, about 11, being entrepreneurs.
They did it all by themselves.
They are smart. They are trailbrazers. They are winners.
They say anybody can do it, if they put their mind to it. If they worked hard. If they went to Church every Sunday and gave some quality time to family.
It all makes you, an honest, hardworking, God-fearing Kenyan feel inadequate.[SIZE=6] A loser.[/SIZE] I mean, at 36 you are living in a rented one-bedroom. Your kid goes to the local ‘academy’, not Hillcrest, and you still can’t pay the Sh15,000 fee on time.
And right there in front of you is this 27-year old millionaire who drives a VX and lives in Kilimani.
Before you reach for the rat poison, listen to me. Am a little older and what I have to say may be of interest to you.
IT’S MOSTLY LIES. LIES AND MORE LIES. OK, UNTRUTHS, HALF-TRUTHS AND QUARTER-TRUTHS.
FACT: Outside the ICT industry, IT IS VERY, VERY HARD TO MAKE A MILLION IN ANY INDUSTRY WITHOUT HAVING MILLIONS IN THE FIRST PLACE.
Read that AGAIN and AGAIN. Internalise it. It’s the truth.
What am I saying?
Let’s say you, the 36-year old, were born in Laisamiss to a nomadic father or even a teacher. You went to school when you were 6. Finished Class 8 at 14 years. Did KCSE at 18. Joined UON at 19 and finished at 23 (thankfully no strikes shut down the Uni for an year). You join the job market at 24. EVERYBODY IN KENYA WHO GOES TO UNIVERSITY JOINS THE WORKFORCE AT THIS AGE, TAKE OR GIVE!
When the whizzkids are making their first millions? How now? Did they skip some grades or what?
So, when the whizzkid is appearing on K24, talking about how hard they have worked over the years, you are attending your first job interview at a third-rate advertising company. Or the muindi’s in Industrial area. Before walking all the way to your uncle’s, where you are putting up. He lent you the coat for the interview by the way. And the shoes. And the tie.
You see, what the whizzkids NEVER, NEVER tell you is the TRUTH. THE REAL TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH.
[SIZE=6]AND THAT TRUTH IS?[/SIZE]
THAT 95% OF THEM COME FROM RICH OR UPPER-MIDDLE CLASS FAMILIES THAT GIVE THEM THE CRITICAL SEED CAPITAL AND CONNECTIONS TO start off.
DON’T GET ME WRONG, IT’S NOT A SIN. BUT IT WOULD BE GOOD, NAY, RIGHT, IF THEY ALSO TOLD THE REST OF US THAT DADDY/MUMMY LENT THEM THE FIRST SH5 MILLION TO TAKE OFF,AND INTRODUCED THEM TO THE PROCUREMENT MANAGER AT KENGEN OR WHATEVER.
That while, with your first salary of Sh15,000 you were thinking of how to buy your first decent shirt, a mobile phone, a TV (ngai!, a TV!), and at the same time pay school fees for your kid bro back in Laisamiss, they were being given FREE office space at Dad’s tower block in Westlands.
That while you were commuting daily from Dandora to the darn Muindi job they were living rent free in the three-bedroomed SQ besides their dad’s mansion. With DSTV. And a free phone to call the Kengen procurement manager. Or Email him on the HP Envy dad bought as a graduation present, to book an appointment to drive to in the Merc nobody uses. That while you were doing cybers to complete your job application forms, their dad’s secretaries, messengers and lawyers were at their beck and call (the latter to register more companies at Sh100,000 each, a dream to you, to win more tenders at KenGen or whatever).
So, now, you are 36 in one-bedroomed SQ and this 28-year old is on Young Rich. Or some blog. The Business Daily. Whatever. Claiming to be a smart, hardworking go-getter.
At hand is that rat poison. WHAT DID YOU DO WRONG?
RELAX. THROW THE RAT POISON AWAY.
THEY AIN’T TELLING THE TRUTH. THE WHOLE TRUTH.
[SIZE=6]SUCCESS IS NOT WHERE YOU ARE. IT’S WHERE YOU HAVE COME FROM. THE JOURNEY YOU HAVE TRAVELLED.[/SIZE]
Keep Walking, bro/sis. You ain’t failed. It’s a long way from Laisamiss (or Kilgoris, or Mathare, or Loki etc,) to Langata. Keep walking.
Let them keep yapping. Don’t begrudge them. Look at them and smile. YOU KNOW THE TRUTH.
Yours faithfully,
GUKA
