Innocently Speaking.com

It is not uncommon today to see people in the scramble for survival dabbling into one line of endeavour or another without first asking themselves some very pertinent questions. Asking and finding answers to some questions will most definitely solve the problems associated with job or career dissatisfaction that is now so prevalent, because with so many self help materials out there and the increasing reliance on them, there has now risen a population of extremely “motivated” idiots who dabble blindly into endeavours that they are most certainly going to fail at.

Start a business. Be creative, be confident. It all sounds so good and perfect but one pertinent question you must first answer is what do you want? And more importantly, what are you best suited for?

That starting a business is an age long viable alternative to paid employment does not make it ideal for everyone.

No matter how stupid you are you must recognise that it is not always true when they say “you can be what you want to be, you can achieve what you want to achieve, your only limitations are the ones you put on yourself, bla bla bla.

Tell me. If your dream is to be a super model because you desire the glamour and fame it promises and you are four feet tall with great bow legs, how realistic can that be even if you apply all the positive thinking and expecting and acting there is?

I know a guy with terribly coloured dentition who fancies himself a model and decided one day to attend an auditioning for a toothpaste commercial. He knew his chances were minimal but hey, you can be whatever you want to be right? After all, OJ Simpson overcame rickets to become one of the greatest running backs of all time. Besides, whatever defect that was apparent in his dentition could always be covered by technology. The most important thing, he mused, was to have the confidence and personality and self belief to achieve. (Recognise those words?)

Need I tell you how much of a disaster the auditioning turned out to be? You cannot assume everybody is deluded simply because you are. Nobody is going to waste scarce resources on you just because you are thinking to grow rich. And even technology has its limits.

I also know of a guy who blazed the trail in mobile toilet business in Lagos. This guy has encrypted at the entrance to his business premises the beautiful catchphrase “shit business is good business”. And for all the repulsion it elicits, this guy is successful, and I dare say it is so because he is doing what suits him and doing it happily.

Please recognise your peculiar situation and go start your own shit business before you run out of options. Know what you are best suited for and do it and don’t delude yourself that everything is possible because some guru said so.

How can you go and start a business with borrowed money when you don’t know the first thing about self discipline?

Better go and be a clown.

There is much misery and disenchantment today because many have allowed themselves to be deluded. It is not for nothing that we have talents and traits that distinguish us; therefore it is our place to find out what these distinguishing traits are and use them.

I know this can be quite a challenge if you live in parts of the world where you will be lucky to get elementary education not to talk of getting to the level where you can recognise the medical doctor or lawyer or engineer within you. In cases like that you just have to give yourself an honest appraisal and decide what you can really do. Don’t believe in that crap they suggest that you should meet someone close to you to give you an appraisal. Not many of us can look at our husbands and tell them truthfully that “honey, you are really so ugly I think you should give up the movie ambition and go be a clown”.

But free of all delusion you can tell yourself the truth.

Because hankering after high sounding pursuits that do not suit you will give rise to dissatisfaction when eventually reality sends you to where you belong.

That is why today we have people in noble professions as cleaning, bartending and shit administration who are decidedly unhappy because someone has fed them tales of “higher possibilities” and they do not take time to look at themselves objectively. You could excel and even become rich at that seemingly odd job if you accept things the way they are and look for ways to offer improvement and not spend the whole time dreaming dreams.

The world will not come to an end if you admit that you are stupid or ugly or something like that; which might just be the key to discovering what you are best suited for. We have seen dwarfs become movie stars and idiots become politicians. So please do yourself the favour and stop lying to yourself or allow anybody to lie to you. Get happy doing whatever you can because life is kind enough to create situations that ensure everybody’s relevance.

Good luck.