OLD MEN WHO BEG

“An excuse is an explanation of failure but which even if that explanation was not there, even if that reason did not exist, the result would have still been the same”  -  Fela Durotoye

 

Have you ever seen old men that are labourers on construction sites, or carrying loads in the market or just begging for money with tales of woe? Do you cringe when you see old men serving as Gatemen, Security guards and doing menial jobs meant for young men? I am usually attracted to the sight of old people who do menial jobs and petty business at their old age. One question always comes to my mind when I see them:
“what were they doing in the days of their youth?” I have never been bold to ask them why they ended up like that but I have overheard most of them lament about how they got to doing menial jobs to survive and the reasons are usually: I used to be a rich man but I lost everything in a fire and since then life has been hard or I had no rich parents or relatives to support me so I have been selling pepper for 20years to survive,( Seriously! You could have owned a pepper factory by now!) Some say,”  I was duped by my business partner and I haven’t recovered since then. The worst is those who lament about the closure of the Railway industry or the sack from some major banks years back.  Some even go as far as singing it like this song I heard from a bus conductor: “if not for the troubles of this life, I know those I am better than.”

Hello! Everyone has problems to deal with. My point is anyone of us can end up like these people if we are not careful. Life does not answer to pity party nor does life share in your cries of woes or your excuses. Life is governed by universal principles which are not to be prayed upon but applied. Your youthful years are precious. Now is the time to visualize and decide the kind of life you want to live and how to make your dreams come true.

There are two major reasons people end up poor at old age: resistance to change, lack of financial knowledge and ignorance of universal principles. Change is constant. You can’t fight it; you only have to align yourself with it. People talked against the computer and its benefits but that did not stop the computer from replacing the typewriter. To stay relevant, you must be up to date on the revolutions of the world and how it affects your life and career.

Financial illiteracy is a killer disease. One of the greatest things you must learn about money is how to control it. The fact that you have one million naira in your bank account does not make you a millionaire. You can only be called a millionaire when millions remain in your account after you have paid for your expenses. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki explains it all. Many people will use their first salary to buy designer wears and expensive phones because they want to keep up with the Joneses. I still wonder what an unemployed youth is doing with an iPad. That is the road to poverty at old age. Many older citizens lacked financial literacy and this made their businesses fail and like Humpty Dumpty, they couldn’t put themselves back again. Life is governed by principles, Principles of wealth creation, Principles of business, Relationships etc. Your job is to find them and apply them. (You  will find some on this blog). The beauty of youthfulness is that you have the opportunity to make mistakes and fail and yet have enough time to do it all over again. Let me leave you with the words of Mrs. Sonya Carson, Ben Carson’s mum:

“You can be anything you want to be in life as long as you are willing to work at it…If you used all your free time plus TV time to develop your God given gifts; it won’t be long before folks started watching you on TV” 

“It is better for a man to pay his price in the days of his youth than to be a big boy now only to push the barrow later” - GIZI

The future you do not actively create is the one that will surprise you…Joshua Awesome

Recommended books: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and Who Moved My Cheese by Spencer Johnson (don’t worry, they are small books). 

Connect with me on Facebook: Ngozi Ilondu or via Twitter @Queengizi