It’s understanding: Not what, but how.

1) Doing
First let’s apply this concept to ‘doing’. I used to be a guy that did a lot, but when I reflect back I fail to see what I really got done. You see I was running through actions trying to build up a number of experiences to ‘show off’ to others not realizing that the experiences themselves lay in HOW I was doing those things.

It wasn’t about going to Ghana and doing things to end poverty, but how I was showing up to do it. Was I putting it all on the line for those I was impacting? Was I listening and learning? Was I empowering others? Was I not doing for the sake of doing but doing for the sake of making a difference? You know I struggle to say I am happy with the how I did things overseas (I could have been more courageous, humble, vulnerable, and empathetic), but nonetheless feel I was fortunate enough to do a lot that I believe made a difference. Had I really understood this concept of how I think I would of had an even greater impact.

So what you can apply to your life is don’t be so concerned with what you’re doing in your life right now, but rather how you’re doing it. Are you going into everything you do with a good attitude? Are you embracing every moment? Are you challenging yourself to become better? Are you learning from mistakes? Are you connecting with others? Are you aware of how your actions are impacting others? etc.

2) Having
We can also apply this concept to ‘having’. It’s never really about what you have but rather how you use it. This works great when it comes to money. A lot of people run after having a lot of money, but why? For the sake of having money? There’s nothing wrong with a lot of money but it really comes down to how you use it (I personally think when you run after providing value, money will come along with it… money is just a shadow of value).

I used to be the type of guy that wanted a lot. Wanted the fanciest technology, fanciest ‘kicks’, clothes, you name it. All that ‘stuff’ used to define me so if I didn’t have the latest and greatest, well I defined myself as worthless. Worst of all I wouldn’t even know why I was buying half of it, most of the time it was probably to keep myself entertained from all the unfulfilling doing.

Now that I’ve shifted my perspective I’ve realize what an epidemic that mindset is. I’ve begun to live with less and it’s pretty awesome. Plus the stuff I do have I’m very considerate about why I have it. Over the holidays I bought a tablet for the main purpose of showcasing #GameOn Leadership presentations while out for coffee with people. I knew that being able to store an organized presentation on it would allow people to grasp the idea better. I honestly cannot say I’ve used it for entertainment even once since I got it a month ago.

So applying it to your life, find out what you have and ask yourself how you’re using it? Do you really need it? Do you really need more or better of it? Do you need more stuff? Can someone else use it for better purposes than you are? Can you use it for better purposes than you are currently? Challenge yourself to think different about everything you have and you’ll be amazed at what you notice. You might even see you’d rather have more experiences in your life where you are conscious of how you encounter those experiences.

PS – If you skimmed through this blog and quickly judged it or disagreed with it or argued it without considering it, notice how you read the blog. Not saying anybody did this, but just wanted to point out how every action is about the how not what, even small ones like reading a blog!

Moral of the story: Failures happen. Just eat them up, learn from them, and move on. You’ll never appreciate a sunny-side up if you don’t know what it’s like to have a yoke explosion ruin it all.

I gotta say yesterday was a tough day. It’s never easy to let someone go (see last post) and well it was a rush of emotions, thoughts, and confusion. With my new compassionate perspective on life, it’s hard to even fathom trying to ‘cut’ someone out of my life intentionally. I’ve decided to write about it because I know a lot of you out there can relate.

With the thoughts of reason draining me all day, something finally clicked by the evening time that totally revolutionized my thinking on ‘letting go.’ In my last post I ended saying “I just gotta let it go.” But what was ‘it’? At the time writing it I’m guessing I meant my feelings, but let’s be realistic, how do you just let a feeling go? I mean come on, it’s a feeling! It’s like feeling sick and saying you want to let it go. If that could happen, man I would never worry about ‘cold season’ again! lol Or maybe ‘it’ means ‘someone’… but even that’s tough. How do you just erase someone you care about from your mind.

So I contemplated it more and what I realized is that the ‘it’ actually represents ‘expectations’. Here’s an 8 step process I went through that seemed to help quite a bit in ‘letting go’ in a relationship and I hope it helps you as well!

1) Know what you want.

A lot of times we hold onto a relationship (and I use this term broadly, from friendship to intimate) without actually thinking about ‘why?’ I mean when you really sit down and say “what do I want in a relationship?” you begin to gain a lot of clarity in what’s important to you. You might find that the other person may not be what you want in your life. Nothing against them of course, it’s just you want things in your life that light you up!

So first, know what you want in a relationship.

For me I want people in my life that continue to challenge me, catch me when I fall, encourage me to push my limits, and want to interact/communicate on a deeper level and vice versa.

2) Know why you want it.

Whenever I talk about what you want, I believe you need to also understand why. This why is called ‘reason’ and well we live in a very reasonable world and for some reason the ‘right’ reasons can really help our mindset.

I firmly believe that your why must be balanced, meaning it must,
a) Benefit yourself
b) Benefit others

So for me wanting the above fulfills me and keeps me focused on bringing out the greatness in myself and others. It also allows me to live a meaningful life and help others do the same.

3) Express those wants to others.

Next you need to express these wants and reasons to the other person in the relationship. Let them know straight up where you stand and that you want them in your life, and well at the same time you are looking to fulfill these personal wants as well.

For me this wasn’t possible since I’ve been blocked and there’s no communication.

4) Find out the realities of their want.

Now that you know what you want, it’s important to find out what the other person wants. Their wants are JUST as important as yours. So really listen hard to what they want and respect it.

For me since no communication is possible, well it violates the ‘interactions/communication’ I have in my want. Right there we have an issue in the relationship. Plus I believe that this person’s want is that they do not want me in their life.

5) Evaluate the options.

This is the negotiation part. Discuss your wants and see if both can be satisfied with creating flexibility of the wants. It’s important here not to be stuck to the negotiated outcome. You gotta test it and see if it works. It might or might not, you just have to try and adjust if issues arise.

For my case this process could not take place again because of no communication. So there is no way to see if the relationship can exist.

6) Respect their choice.

Now after you discuss you might find that your wants don’t line up and you don’t feel a healthy relationship can exist, so in that case you can simply let go and move on. However, there could be the case that you still want them; however they may not want the same. This is tough because you know what you want, they fit that want, and well they don’t want you. It can be a hard pill to swallow.

OR

I recommend you ask why to get the feedback and learn. Don’t argue on the spot. Take the feedback and think about it. Maybe you’ll find you aren’t being real with them. If you do see areas that you can change, communicate it to them and commit to them what you are going to do to change those areas. Be careful here not to sacrifice who you are and what you stand for to have someone in your life, it’s not worth it. (To make sure this doesn’t happen it’s important to have your mission/vision/values clear… once again #GameOn will be able to help with that… I promise you I’m working hard to get it going!!)

If after letting them know what you realized they still don’t want the relationship, respect their choice.

This stage is where I was unknowingly stuck. At the end of the day this person did not want me in their life and I was refusing to respect that. There was no open communication to even discuss and well I should have just left it at that point. There was nothing I could do without violating their choice.

7) Control your expectations.

This is very important because your mind might start to mess with you. It’s going to come up with scheming ways to try and change their choice and how it could look if you did. You can become very attached to these ‘fantasies’ and start convincing yourself that you can make it happen. While sure you might be able to sway their choice through persistence, there’s also a fine line of falling into the “banging your head against the wall and expecting a different result.” You fall into this dangerous territory of reinforcing a potential outcome with the relationship that could work, and again while it could, you could also be wasting a lot of energy trying or even violate that person’s personal space. So here it’s important to really keep your expectations in check. Once you LET GO of your expectations, you’ll begin to see yourself detach from the ‘feeling’ of wanting the person. Easier said than done, but it takes practice. That’s why a lot of personal development books call it ‘conditioning your mind’.

I fell into this trap, with my mind creating expectations of what the situation could look like if I kept trying to make the relationship work. I’ve been fortunate to develop a lot of ‘wisdom’ over the past few months and well realized how it can make me feel certain in my expectations and forget that there is no guarantee in it working. I need to be more careful. Nothing is for sure in life.

8 ) Refocus your energy.

(Credit goes to 2 close friends who inspired this one) Finally just refocus your energy. If this person is not choosing to have a relationship with you, realize that you trying to get them to choose otherwise will probably just waste your energy. Refocus the energy you’d put into that, into something others who DO want you in their lives. You can also use that energy to explore new things and new experiences. I’ll be posting soon about top things that waste your energy and this is certainly one of them.

For me I was putting so much energy into building and holding expectations, that I was creating a ‘false reality’ for myself. It became such a strong attachment I wouldn’t even let close friends tell me otherwise. At the end of the day here I was putting energy into someone who wasn’t on the same page. Neither at fault, just different wants. I’ve now accepted their choice and refocused my energy into my other priorities and my mission of bringing the greatness out in others. It feels good. Really good!

*Note* All of this can be applied for groups of people as well.

I hope this helps some of you finding it hard to let go of a relationship of any type. If you have any questions/comments/concerns please don’t hesitate to comment below.

Imagine you knew someone. You knew all about them, after all you trusted them and believed they were always themselves. Now imagine that all changes. Imagine that person shows up and tells you, “I haven’t been completely myself. I was too scared.” For half of 2011, that was my life. I faced the reality that I wasn’t all I set out to be. I was selfishly addicted to ‘looking good,’ often keeping people close to me to reaffirm that point. Was I a complete jerk, I like to think not. However, was I completely me, I struggle to say I was.

As time goes on you begin to see those who truly stick by you through thick and thin. Those who are courageous enough to say “Yea that was pretty low of you, but hey none of us are perfect, I still got your back.” Not only that, some even take the courage to even begin believing you again and embracing the ‘new you.’ Well I want to say Thank You. All of you who have chosen to stick by my side despite my ‘facaded’ (is that even a word?) past, you can’t imagine the respect I have for you.

While I’ve been putting it all on the line recently, I can honestly say the journey would be a hell of a lot harder without you on my team. There are many of you who have continued to support, and even more who have begun your support, and I want to really thank you all. This isn’t an easy path to be on, but I know it’s worth it.

There are a certain few I want to thank personally. First of all my mom, dad, and sister. You have been my rocks through anything and everything. Even when you highly doubted some of my choices, you always stood there (and continue to stand) to catch me if I fall. Words really can’t express how much that means to me. Secondly I want to thank my best friend George. George you were one of the few that seemed to see something inside of me even when I had no idea what it was. Despite all the changes, and all the truths, you have never skipped a beat in believing in me. Your friendship means more than you will ever imagine.

To all mentioned above, mentors, and to all of you on Facebook and Twitter who always have my back, believe in my mission, and even take the time to give me that short boost of confidence before a big meeting or nerve-wracking speech, this song’s for you!

And well a final msg to the one person who I hurt the most throughout this all…
What I did to you is inexcusable, pathetic, and unfair. I learned my lesson. When I first apologized to you it meant nothing because my words meant nothing. I worked hard to build back my word to give you something I wanted you to have for all you put up with me when I was a jerk in our relationship… A genuine apology. Because I knew once you found forgiveness, you’d find more than you bargained for. You’d find what it means to unconditionally love. Something you helped me understand last year, and something for a while I’ve been wanting to show you. But it seems there’s no point. You have chosen to block me out of your life and ignore the fact that I would give my life for what you did for me. I’m now realizing a gift means nothing if it isn’t willing to be received. Lesson learned. Whenever you are ready to accept it, please know I’m sorry and I love you. Always. For now, I just gotta let it go.

I’m extremely excited to share my personal perspective on how I believe we can make the world work. This document has been in the works for a little while now and was created to help me stay focused, and I’m sharing it in case it triggers thoughts and ideas for others.

As you’ll notice the philosophy behind this is that if we can somehow get everyone to connect in a meaningful way (in my eyes, through passion), we’ll all realize that we’re all connected and equal. This connectedness will allow us to then work together to create something beyond us. What that looks like I have no idea. I’m a curious guy and it just seems cool to strive for this result.

Click on image to access full document.

I realize a document like this can be perceived in many ways, so I want to be clear on what this document is and isn’t…

What this document is NOT…

1) This document is not an attempt to start a new religion or cult
My intention with this document is NOT to try and create a new belief system. I have no desire to try and convince anyone to believe what I believe in.

2) This document is not ‘the way’ 
This is a potential strategy. As with any strategy it can fail. It is not meant to be seen as “right” or the only way to make the world work, but rather a unique perspective on how we could potentially make it work.

3)  This document is not an attempt to show “I know better.”
As I always say, “I know what I know but don’t now what you know that I don’t know.” I don’t know better or worst, I just know what I know, and this is a reflection of that. You may see areas that don’t make sense or potentially won’t work and I invite you to challenge it.

What this document is…

1) This document is merely a perspective on how I see the world working.
I want to emphasize this is just a perspective. No “right or wrong” involved. It’s a philosophy. What I truly hope it does is inspire you to think of your own vision and mission for your life and perhaps put together your own documents like this, in a way that resonates with you. I’m also very interested in anyone who wants to evolve this into something bigger and more in depth (If so def. connect with me).

1) This document is idealistic.
Yes the document may seem very idealistic, and well… it is. From my perspective, pursuing the idealistic in a realistic way is meaningful way for me to live my life. I believe that just because something seems next to impossible to achieve, doesn’t mean it’s not worth a shot trying. We only get one shot at life and it’s how you spend it that makes all the difference… literally. We all have our own battles, and like they say “pick your battles.” This is just one I’ve chosen for me, and I invite you to choose one that means something to you.

I’ve narrowed it down to 2 reasons that we fear asking for help:

1) We expect it without asking
I was big at this. I would always expect help to fall in my lap. To make it even worst, when it didn’t come I would judge the other person as being ‘selfish’ and ‘uncaring’ even though they probably had no idea that I wanted help! Why? Because I never asked. Expectations get you nowhere. They keep you waiting. Worst of all they lead you to blame others.

2) It’s a win/lose situation (selfish focus)
When we’re focused on our own interests it becomes harder to ask for help. Think about it, how are you supposed to confidently ask someone for help in something that personally profits you and creates more work for them? Usually strains the relationship and even if you figure out a way to do this effectively, I feel it doesn’t allow the relationship to grow. I’m a firm believer anything you want in life should be genuinely balanced, so benefit you and benefit others. From what I’ve seen over the past month, people love helping you when what you’re up to impacts the lives of others.

So how can you get in the mode of asking for help?

Well first of all stop expecting it. Honestly, stop expecting anything. Leave nothing up to chance and everything up to choice. Know what you want and pursue it with confidence (#GameOn Leadership Coaching will be able to help you with this!). Secondly, always think win/win. How does everyone involved benefit from what you’re doing? If the person you need help from can’t directly benefit, then make sure you help them when they need it. When we all work together it’s amazing what we can accomplish!

So go ahead and ask for help! And hey if they can’t help, it’s all good. Thank them for letting you know and go talk to another one of the 7+ billion people we’re surrounded by.

Yesterday I found myself in a very unique Facebook discussion. After posting what seemed to be a ‘behind the scenes’ picture from a Canadian company that wasn’t very pretty (stack of dead animals), the debate began. Perspectives flooded in, eventually leading to someone finding the source of the picture being from Russia, while the company under fire produces the product here in Canada. As the comments came in, I started to feel my own perspectives of the photo shift like Shakira’s hips. It started with “What the heck?” moved into “Those @$$holes!” then into “Shit this was a fake, why’d I post it. Idiot Ryan!” and finally into “Woah some people are still looking past the picture and standing for the message.” For me, the last one was the most fascinating perspective. Even though 2 sources ‘proved’ that the picture was a fake, some comments arrived that still focused on the perceived injustice. As always there were perspectives that went against that belief, perceiving that it was a part of the cycle in consumerism. All in all, it was a very interesting convo to keep up with. I want to thank each of you who took part in it and continue to encourage you to share your voice and perspective in an open-minded way like all of you did!

The moral of the story for me is simple: We are plagued with perspectives, but it’s what we do with them that makes all the difference. We will always get perspectives from others, on our ideas… our lives… our choices. While incredibly helpful if you listen to them as a perspective, at the end of the day you get to choose what to do with those perspectives. You can let those perspectives keep you in the safety of reality, or use it to empower you to take action and stand for a cause, movement, or belief. To chase the idealistic in a realistic way. As you do though, always keep in mind that your choice in perspective still remains just that… a perspective. It will shift, change, morph as you go along, and as long as it stays true to you, keep running and keep adapting. So let’s stop arguing about the contents in the glass and do something with it! #GameOn

Here’s a look at 5 elements that define how much of an impact we have in our lives…

TALENT
Talent is this innate gift we’ve all been given. Again to not sound all wishy-washy with the lingo, I’d say it’s the beginnings of your passion (Passion itself is encompassed in all 5 elements). When you recognize your talent, you’re connecting with the roots of your passion. I believe the game of life is finding your talent, living it, and then putting it towards a purpose. We can all become good at anything we want, but I believe when you focus on something you’re talented in, you give yourself the chance to be great. It’s one of those things where thoughts and ideas in relation to your talent come effortlessly, but it involves a lot of work (and by work I mean the engineering definition of transferring energy… so capturing your thoughts on paper or executing your ideas). Once you begin to recognize what you’re talented at, life becomes a lot more meaningful.

SKILL
Skill is getting better at executing our talent. Just because you’re talented at something doesn’t mean you don’t have to build skills. Skills allow you to create new things in line with your talent. You might need design skills to express your talent, or even communication skills. You may even need cooking skills (which I def. do not have) to keep your life balanced as you live out your talent. As Will Smith says, “Skill takes hours and hours of beating on your craft. It allows you to connect with your artistry (others who have similar talents).” Even before recognizing your talent, you can start to build skill. Best thing to do here is find skills you’re interested in while you discover your passion. Then use those skills with people who have discovered their passion. From there you’ll start to discover your passion.

KNOWLEDGE
Knowledge is what you know about your talent and what skills you have. It’s what you’re aware of. It’s a filter of how you see the world and everything in it. To build your knowledge, build skills and capitalize on your talent. The more you execute your thoughts, the more knowledge you build about the world around you. You can begin to see what works and what doesn’t work in getting you towards your goals.

INFORMATION
We live in an age that’s bombarded with information. I consider information all the thoughts and opinions that surround us. Basically it encompasses everything that others see from their perspective. One way I like to coin this term is a quote one of my mentors gave me, “I know what I know (knowledge), but I don’t know what you know that I don’t know (information).” I think the most important thing to keep in mind here is to listen to information but don’t take it as face value all the time. Listen to other opinions, thoughts, and feedback, and understand it, but don’t necessarily mimic it.

WISDOM
Wisdom I believe occurs when you begin to see beyond your perspective from the lens of your talent.  It’s when you see how your talent, skills, knowledge, and information, can apply to making the world a better place. It’s when you see way beyond the present, and understand the impact you can have on the future. It’s a special place to be; however, being here makes you know better or worst than anybody else. It’s just a different game. Instead of searching for your talent and passion, you are now living it and putting it towards a purpose.

So as an example… It took me 25 years to discover what I was really talented at (Leadership Development) and sparked my passion when this talent began to consume me (it was all I wanted to think about). While discovering my passion I was building skills in leadership development, and now with #GameOn Leadership Coaching you’ll soon see I’ve applied many of my skills from engineering into expressing my passion for helping others find theirs. I’ve gained a lot of knowledge from the experiences in my life and am beginning to see the inner workings of my talent. There is so much information for me still to absorb, like learning about business and even more about leadership. However, right now I value every conversation as a way to collect more information. Finally, since I am now putting my passion towards a purpose of helping students and young professionals find their way, I’m seeing the bigger picture of my talent in making the world a better place. I am also able to see many other perspectives (not just my own) as you’ll notice from many of my blog posts. I have now tapped into wisdom which again makes me no better or worst than anybody else, instead it just allows me to take focus off of myself and put it on others. The game is no longer about finding myself, it’s using myself to impact others.

Alright I’m gonna leave it at that for now and see what you all think. Comment below and give me your thoughts. Did I miss anything? Did I contradict myself? Anything unclear? Disagree? Agree? Whatever it may be comment on it and let’s really crowd-source this to turn it into something that can really benefit others.

Dear friends,

I would like to share a story with you. It’s a long one, but meaningful to say the least. It’s from a good friend of mine in Ghana who I believe is going to be a great leader in the country. He is at a point where he needs support in making it through his education, and I am at a point where I am unable to support him from a financial perspective. I wanted to put this post out there in case anyone is interested in helping me support Daniel through his education. As you’ll see from the following write-up, he is an ambitious young man with endless amounts of determination. I still remember when I first met him, he was working 2 jobs and never missed a beat. He was a huge part of my personal success in Ghana and I am committed to helping him as best I can.

If you are interested in helping Daniel out, please let me know (im-at-ryancoelho-dot-com) and we can figure things out. Daniel operates with high integrity, always keeping myself and others who support him informed of where the money goes.

My life story is very interesting and pathetic to anyone who pay heed to it as it unveils. Anyway first of all my alphabetical nomenclatures are ASAAH DANIEL NSOH.  ASAAH in my language which is gurune means RAIN , DANIEL means GOD IS MY JUDGE and  NSOH means FATHER and why NSOH  because i was named after my great grand father. For that matter i am accorded great respect and honour me in my family Both old and young, the clan and the community.  They accord me the necessary respect and honour because they see me to be the representative of our great grand father since i am named NSOH after him. So sometimes decisions cannot be taken in the family without my knowledge though I am 26 years not elderly but yeah they honour so that is the interesting part of my life hahahaa.

Beside am born and raised by very poor parents who hardly get three meals a day. A family that everything seems to never work which I do ask myself wether there  has been a curse in the family . Since the genesis of creation, there has never been any education or any success in the family. Living from hand to mouth is the best phrase I can use for the family. Farming is their major priority to livelihood. They live in real abject poverty. They do rearing too sometimes but have to sell them for food or settle hospital bills in case ill-health strike a family member down. But the amazing thing in the family is that they are always happy and never complain meaning they are very happy people. This makes me cast my mind back to a book I read which says “A PAINLESS POVERTY IS BETTER THAN EMBITTERED WEALTH” and I totally agree. Money is not everything in this world. I see money as a material which serves as a medium of exchange but it cannot provide you air or happiness. Some people have superfluous wealth but they never know what happiness is about. Sometimes I do wish I hadn’t been born into such a family. I have gone through a lot of hell life all my life and in fact considering my family background, I see only education as the tool that can transform the family and my personal life as well as my two siblings and others in the family. I have struggled a lot just to get myself into school to pursue my career and I am finally now studying marketing in Bolgatanga Polytechnic.

HOW DID I PAY MY SCHOOL FEES?

How can someone like me from such an unfortunate pay my school fees after you read the above. Kudos goes to Ryan Coelho who I met 2008 in Ghana when he was posted as a volunteer to work for engineer without borders. In fact, being honest and trustworthy pays. I must say because I know they studied me before extending friendship to me. If I hadn’t lived up to his expectation, I don’t think a time like now I need his help, he will mind me. I am philosophical to strange people I meet anywhere .I  have always respected and humbled myself before anyone I meet in this world because it’s a global village and it’s so small and you can’t tell who will change your life tomorrow. I met Ryan like a friend and I never knew a time will come where he will make great impact in my life but look at it today. When Ryan was in Ghana, from his conversations we had several times, you realize that he sis the type who want to change lives. I could always see it from his eyes and his body language. He supported me a lot in terms of so many things. The care and love he showed me is more than giving me pots  of gold and treasure. I was always happy because I felt I was nobody but also I felt was loved by someone who is not even a family member and that is Ryan. Up to now he is still doing a lot. He was the one alongside other concern Canadian citizens who contributed to making my admission possible. The fee was a lot and I felt hopeless because there was no way I could raise such money. But I informed him and he worked hard and made it possible. In fact, my  indebtedness goes to Ryan and Megan Putnam. They are the people who brought me this far. Their names can never be forgotten in family and wherever I find myself. I truly and truly love him and I must confess from the bottom of my heart. May happiness, good health and prosperity be your portion. I am lack of words for you but know that the four letters LOVE is what is rooted in my heart for you. You have left a huge legacy and foot prints in my life. If we have 50% people like you in this world, I promise it will be a better place to reside. Bro you are my MEN.

WHY IS DAN STUDYING MARKETING AT THE POLYTECHNIC?

Marketing as a course has been my passion to pursue and not for a superficial reason. Marketing is also a field one can make money for himself. But the money involved after the course is not  my driving force. I think I will be happy to see myself doing what I have always loved to do. It is a field my potential greatly falls. In the initial stage, I wanted to do nursing but I realized it was not my dream. I have the qualities to be a good marketing officer or manager. I know myself.  There is very high unemployment rate in Ghana and people always feel it’s the government’s responsibility to get them jobs but to me that is purely disputable. The youth in Ghana and not only Ghana but other West African countries after their education feel the Canada, USA, UK, Germany, etc are the best places they can make it. we can make it here in Ghana even bigger and bigger. We can all make it in our homeland be it Ghana or any west African country. We have the know the knowledge but it’s the negative attitude that retrogresses our own progress or success. If one refuses to look, how he can see?. People fail to use the knowledge we tap from school to invent or establish some creative businesses. It’s about time we stop criticizing the government for jobs and rather find alternative ways of becoming self employers.  One reason of studying marketing is to establish my own business enterprise and not relying on the government for job opportunity. When I complete this course successfully, I can create employment for the future generation when I secure job or establish my own business. One of the role of the marketing officer is to create employment because you need a lot of hands to help your business grow or succeed.. I know numerous graduates  who have completed the universities, the polytechnics and they are just sitting redundant at home for years doing nothing and crying in the government’s ears for jobs. It’s so sad to here people explain how they apply for jobs and they are turned down because corruption has become more than a system in recent times in Ghana especially when you are applying for Jobs. For the ladies they have to use them before they the job. For the gents, they have to bribe with huge sums of money before they secure employment. It’s heart breaking when you hear these form our future leaders what officers are doing to them. So looking at this, I think when I tap marketing knowledge and establish my own business I will help reduce the unemployment rate by creating employment for the jobless. And my employment is going to base on merit and not whatsoever. So I was motivated to study marketing because of some of these rising factors. There should be somebody to bring exemplary style of employment into the system and end these dirty acts. One of those to bring changes to Ghana in terms of giving genuine employment devoid of bribery and sex before giving jobs to people should  be Dan myself. I am very proud to say that cause it’s about time somebody stand up and fight such acts which are uncalled for.

Let me hammer on a countries socio-economic development. If you want to consider the development of a country, you realize that the government cannot solely transform the country’s image. There is great impossibility for the government to accomplish 100% development in all sectors of the economy or our beloved country Ghana. So there is the need for all hands to be on board so that we can together as one to lift the status of Ghana. SO HOW DO WE ACHIEVE THIS? If everyone really has a good foresight for this country like I do, I think students after pursuing their career courses at the polytechnics or universities should endeavour to bring up initiatives that can create businesses not to create employment only or job opportunities, but also businesses that the government can source revenue for development. So indirectly you realise that you are playing a major role in the countries’ transformation or development .Most countries development largely comes from retailers, wholesalers and some giant business institutions. Taxes taken from citizens working on government payroll alone cannot do much for the country. It’s sad to keep receiving donor help every year. This is y country and we should develop our country and not someone doing it for us. It takes the citizens of a nation to give such a nation a facelift.  Sometimes the government have to take huge sums of loan from the USA, CANADA, UK etc to develop our country. Ghana’s level of development is largely contributed by NGO’s and philanthropist because they see that the government alone cannot play a development role in such a third world country like Ghana. My purpose of pursuing marketing is to use my knowledge and establish my own business venture so that whatever income I may be making, part of it can contribute to the development of my country. Even if it’s not enough, but at least it’s better than none. Half a loaf of bread is better than none as they say.

Beside, in everything you do you must love yourself before others. I don’t know if my statement is disputable but to me that is a fact. If a friend say pass a knife across your throat to show him how you indeed love him, I don’t think anyone will stand out. Though I love my country and hope to contribute woefully to my country’s betterment but beside that I have two siblings I have to take care of. Looking at my parents to create a good academic foundation for them will be in vain because they can’t contribute anything because they don’t have. They show us the love parents should show their children but they are financially handicapped which I wouldn’t cast my hopes on them to take care of my brothers educational needs. So as I am in school studying this course, my future anticipation is to come out successfully and secure a good job or establish my own business and make some money to support their education. I am the senior and they are all looking up to me so that means if I fall, then they fall too. I love my brothers and I want to give them the best education I can but the unfortunate thing is that, I am financially powerless which I can do nothing for now but I am very optimistic that this course I am pursuing will get me somewhere as well as seeing my siblings and others impacted by success.

MY CHALLENGES IN THE PURSIT OF THIS COURSE.

Being a first year student is like running a cross country race. It’s very difficult. You get somewhere and you feel like ending race there because you are getting short of breath and no water to wet your throat and cool down your temperature so that you can have the energy and the urge to continue. Same applies to me here in school. Everyday I have to eat three times a day, I have buy sachets of water number of times a day, Sometimes a friend will complain since morning nothing dropped in his stomach and you are human. You can’t just say get the hell out of my way. Life is funny and you don’t no what you also need from him tomorrow. Today you are better and he thinks you can help him and what about you. Do you what will happen to you tomorrow? You don’t know. So sometimes I have to be caring or humane, I ride motto to school and I buy fuel four times in a week  and service it monthly, paying water and light bills, unplanned budget or emergency,etc all sum up to GHC 387.50. This is the honest expenditure I make. Beside I have not spoken on hand outs yet. When it comes to hand outs I can’t be specific because sometimes it depends how fast we finish a topic before going to another that will determine the number of hand outs we buy in a whole month and that will also go in the long run to determine how much is spent on handouts. So I hope you will understand me on this note of hand outs. Though sometimes I spend GHC 200.00 or GHC300.00 or spending less on hand outs. One funny thing about handouts is that it’s not compulsory to buy handouts I may go and do my research somewhere and answer the lecturers question he may set during exams be it mid-semester, semester or class test but if you don’t buy his handouts, he will intentionally fail because that is also where he make extra money. So he feels like STUDENT what are you trying to tell me? Hahaha so you see. It’s serious. So for hand outs, they are indirectly compulsory to buy no choice for man. Sometimes I don’t care even if I haven’t eaten but I should be able to have money for handouts. Sometimes I don’t have this entire amount for my upkeep unless a good Samaritan from somewhere help me with money. Sometimes I miss lectures because I may not be able to fuel my motto to school. In fact, if I want to keep hammering on what I am going through, you can’t read but I just want you to get a clue of what I am talking about. I have a bright future in the pursuit of this course but my main hindrances to my future in this course are my challenges.  They say he who wears the shoe knows how it pinches. Ryan this is I want to share with you. But all the same I appreciate what you have been doing for me and still you are doing your best for me. Deep down my heart I really appreciate it. GOD CONTINUE TO BLESS YOU FOR YOUR KIND GESTURE TOWARDS HUMANITY. Greetings to everyone who care about me and I love them all. MEERY X’MAS TO YOU AND THE GOOD CITIZENS OF CANADA. MAY YOUR NEW YEAR BE A BLESSED AND A DREAM COME THROUGH ONE. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Daniel.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read this and if you have any questions or would like to support please do get in touch!

Forever grateful,
Ryan

You see in my mind I thought I was a leader throughout, but the problem is those same thoughts were saying “Hey look at me!” rather than “I’m going to help you achieve just as much.”

In my opinion, leaders inspire the actions of others. They don’t aim for glorified fame, they aim to bring out the best in others.

Here are my learnings on how to be a true leader:

1) Put your focus on inspiring actions of others

2) It’s not about being glorified for your leadership, but rather grateful you made a difference.

3) Always show up yourself. Don’t put on a facade.
(It’s weird writing this since I used to tell others in the past to put on a happy face even if they weren’t happy… I encouraged them to be fake. I was wrong and am sorry for that poor advice.)

There you have it. #GameOn