Something I learned from watching few episodes of Downton Abbey is not everyone thinks of or cares about financial freedom the way we think or care about.
A common theme we preach is “not having a boss to answer to” but the truth is some people want a boss to answer to.
Some people want a life of order and regiment.
Waking up by 5, getting ready for work, spending 8 hours at work, coming back home in the evening and whatnot.
Not everyone wants the chaos and uncertainty associated with entrepreneurship, though some thrive in spite of it.
I had a neighbour who told me he didn’t have a single entrepreneurial bone in his body. He just loved the corporate lifestyle.
To them that’s happiness.
Not a miserable existence and a life of quiet desperation like we all think.
And it’s important we respect that.
Not everyone has big dreams like you or I do.
While some want to conquer the world, some simply want to pass through this world unannounced.
As marketers selling financial freedom & business opportunities, it’s important we understand the concept of points of entry when trying to sell to people.
It’s important to sell to people solely interested in you and what you have to offer.
Because you can never provoke or force or coerce desire.
People buy something because there’s a draw deep down in their spirit towards it.
Your words & promises are not meant to convince them, just draw those desires out and let them convince themselves it’s what they want.
Makes your job 20x easier.
I’ll end this with learn how to manage and conserve your energy (selling energy) for people who need it.
Fresh out of university I got a job working in a Bet9ja shop as a cashier/attendant.
Not the most ideal place for one to start their working journey, but I’d just finished school waiting for NYSC and needed the money to survive.
I also needed the lessons.
Here are the 8 things I learned: ππΏ
1. Sunk Cost Fallacy
“Guy, I wan recover, make I just play this one”
Sunk cost is the misconception that you need to pump more money or time into a bad investment and ‘force’ it to become profitable, or else all the time and money you already invested would have been for nothing.
People spend more time at a job that doesn’t fulfil them because they feel if they put in more time then it’d get better.
People stay in a relationship that drains them hoping their partners will change if they could just show them a little more love.
It’s a fallacy!
In reality, you end up wasting the new investment as well. No upside.
I saw people lose more money than they’d lost before while trying to ‘recover’.
“There are two important rules of business, knowing when to get in and when to get out. Of the two, knowing when to get out is the most important.” – Hymie Levy (The Power Of One)
I’m a stickler for determination and holding on, but whether in a relationship or business, sometimes it’s better to end it. At least for your mental health.
“Bros, you sure sey you no go free today own just rest?”
“No worry, make I just play this last one.”
And then he goes on to play 20 more times after that.
Not everything will work even with consistency.
2. Giving Has Nothing To Do With How Much You Have.
One of my best tippers was a security guard at a Zenith Bank branch close to my shop.
He’ll tip me for absolutely no reason whether he won or lost. Sometimes, he even brought snacks to my cashier stand.
Learn how to tip.
It makes the receiver’s day. It makes your day too.
Plus, in a world with an increasing income divide, many of these workers lowkey depend on your tips to keep body and soul together.
3. Pressure Tests Everything and Everyone.
The gambling world thrives on consistency.
But what happens when you don’t stop losing and just keep racking up debt?
How do you handle debt?
Some of the best gamblers crumble under pressure from losing.
Life isn’t any different.
Many people will crumble when life gets harder.
What about you?
4. The Man With Money Has More Friends, More Access And More Opportunities.
The big stakers and big tippers always had people around them. And they also got lots of special treatment.
A wise man once told me, “In all thy getting get money.”
And nothing could have been any truer.
People will treat you better when you have money in your pocket and they know you’ve got options.
5. Miracles Happen… And So Do Disasters.
I remember one Champions League night in 2016 when I needed 3 last minute goals to win a ticket.
They all came through.
86 minutes.
89 minutes.
90+1 π
I cried tears of joy, fam π
But what if it never happened?
That’s the same thing with life, you’re one win away from massive success.
You need just one massive win to wipe out a string of losses.
You’re also one wrong decision away from total disaster.
Some people would come from their shops after a day of business and blow everything (capital + profit).
Some people lost their jobs because they had gambling problems.
Be wise.
6. Luck Follows Consistency.
The guys who win big know they have to keep playing even after a string of losses.
I don’t advise you to be a gambler though because it could kill you.
But even in real life, you have to keep going.
Reminds me of this video π
7. Focus On What People Do, Not What People Say or Say They’ll Do.
If you’re going to be an excellent judge of character, it’s important you look past things people say and instead focus on what they do.
In your business, relationships, personal interactions, look at what the other party does, not what they say or say they’ll do.
This is one of the major reasons why I don’t rate what a lot of people post here online.
Talk is cheap. Action is the real differentiator.
“I’ll start investing once I make more money.”
“I’ll focus on my health once I…”
“I’ll start making better life decisions when I…”
Rubbish, they won’t.
8. Greed Is A Crazy Motivator.
They say there’s a thin line between greed and ambition.
If you add loss aversion to it, you’ll either be a great success or get wiped out.
Talking about loss aversion, I just remembered something that happened to me last month.
So, I remember trying to use this book website and I was given a 30 days free subscription.
But under one condition: I had to put in my credit card details.
I didn’t see it as anything.
I just believed I could put in my card details and if the website wasn’t worth it, I’ll just cancel my subscription and remove it.
Fast forward 30 days later, I hadn’t read the book that made me put my card details in that site π
They charged my card π
But as if that would be an awakening, I just managed to read one or two chapters.
I didn’t read anything from that book again until one day I woke up and my mind went straight to the website and I remembered they’d be charging me again soon.
Fam, I read that book till the end over the next week π
It was when I finished I discovered I wasn’t even about to be charged yet.
I was just afraid of losing money again and not getting anything out of it.
So, as much as gamblers tell you the number one rule of gambling is “don’t stake more than you can afford to lose”, nobody likes to lose money.
In the true sense, there’s almost no amount you can afford to lose.
Which is why if you want to make money from sports betting sites like Bet9ja, Nairabet and others WITHOUT PLACING A SINGLE BET, you should watch this video ππΏ
People always use the words “manipulate” and “brainwashing” in negative ways.
But it’s so wrong.
Of course, I’m not trying to argue with y’all, but let me tell you a story.
You see, 2 years ago I got an offer to work with a top 5 Nigerian bank.
I was just done with NYSC 3 months before, recently moved to Lagos, the selection process was crazy but I’d scaled through quite easily.
Didn’t have a background in traditional finance but I planned to do an MBA within 2 years.
Everything was perfect, or at least I thought so. And it looked like my stars had aligned.
But there was a small issue.
You see, just before that job offer came in, I’d been teaching Spanish on the side as a way to get by while waiting for a job.
The first client I had suggested I get a job in sales.
He’s a big time sales manager in one of the biggest wine distribution businesses in Nigeria.
I won’t say I really understood because everything I knew about sales, especially in corporate Nigeria was those bankers with wornout shoes walking under the sun begging people to come bank with them.
Didn’t sound appealing at all.
Just at the beginning of October, my client had to cancel because it was the start of the ember months and it was the season for serious business.
I was in a rut.
My only source of income at the time and I didn’t have a place of my own – I was sleeping around Lagos like an ashewo, fam π
As fortune would have it, I stumbled on this tweet.
I said as fortune would have it because my notifications were turned on for Toyin Omotoso.
I jumped on it and he replied, I asked to DM and we booked a date for the first meeting.
Subsequently, we agreed on 2-3 sessions every week for 2 hours per session.
I’d leave my friends house at Satellite Town on those days we agreed on by 10-11am in order to beat traffic for 4 o’clock meetings in Lekki.
Omoπ
Now, this is where it gets iffy.
You see, something crazy happened during those meetings.
After I was done teaching Toyin Omotoso Spanish, we’d start talking about stuff in general and next thing he’d start talking about sales and marketing, direct response, copywriting and lots of stuff.
I had no idea I was being brainwashed – in a good way π
Because when the job offer from the bank came in, I was in a bus at CMS when my phone buzzed that afternoon, I wasn’t so sure I wanted it anymore.
After our class that day, I told him I’d gotten a job and he was happy for me, congratulated me and all.
But then I told him I wasn’t sure about the job anymore. π€
I said I wasn’t sure if it was what I wanted out of life.
He told me to go take the job, and if I didn’t like it, I could leave.
Mind you, there wasn’t any job offer on the table from him.
But that was all I needed to hear to validate my feelings.
After the first day of work, while in the bus on my way back home, I kept asking myself:
“Is this what I’d be doing for the next 2 years? Living like this?”
It was around 11pm when I got to my street, I took out my phone and called 2 people: my good friend KCee who I always bounce ideas off and my mother.
My mother said 12 of the most shocking words I’ve ever heard:
“Whatever you decide to do is fine by me. I support you.”
It felt like a strange load had been lifted from my shoulders.
Made me wish I had dropped out from uni when I wanted to.
Never did because of her.
I knew it would break her heart so I just stayed on.
So this was crazy!
When the girl I used to ride the bus with called me the next day as she didn’t see me around, I made up some flimsy excuse.
I never went back.
I quit after one day.
I went back to teaching Toyin Omotoso Spanish and after each session he took my brainwashing and manipulation programming up a notch.
He’d print out tons of sales letters and give them to me to copy out by hand over the weekend and show it to him at our next meeting.
He’d give me books on sales, marketing and direct response to read.
The stories I was hearing then.
People running direct response campaigns and making millions.
Someone making one million Naira in a day.
From words.
As in the ABC?
You have no idea how things like this rewire your mind & recalibrate your brain.
But fam I kid you not, at some point it felt like pouring water on stone because I was a complete rookie.
I didn’t understand zilch. Nothing. Nada.
Big headed olodo π
This week makes it 2 years since then.
The internship program ends in October and the girl I used to ride the bus to work with sent me this message weeks ago.
Did I make the right decision?
Lol, yes I did.
Because hunger wire me like thief between December and January 2020. π
But roughly 3 months after I turned that job down, I got an offer to be an apprentice copywriter under Toyin Omotoso’s tutelage.
Now, I’m currently the Digital Content Manager, Chief copywriter and content creator at Expertnaire.
2 years later, I’m in the sphere of Copywriters who are good enough to charge $5,000 per pop.
But job titles, money and growth aside, I’ve had a more peaceful and fulfilled life.
I’ve grown like weeds, my guy.
There’s something CJ Johnson always says on Twitter:
Keep reading those books and listening to podcasts and brainwashing yourself.
I want to add keep taking risks, betting on yourself, manipulating your mind and brainwashing yourself.
Like the title of this article says: Don’t Let Them Brainwash You, instead do the brainwashing yourself.
It’s worth it.
– Uche
PS: If you’d like to be brainwashed too, then you should read this ππΏ
There’s a common misconception dopamine is released in the brain as a result of engaging in pleasurable activities like sex, eating a nice meal, having a drink etc.
But hold on to that thought for a second.
In which other country would an immigrant from Mexico, Italy, India or somewhere in Africa move to, start a business or get a job, see five of their kids through college and then one of them goes on to build a Silicon Valley startup worth $ 7 billion.
I don’t know whose family history this is exactly, but if you drew a line across the stories of immigrants, and even people of colour (despite the depths of institutional racism reported across the country), America rewards dopamine.
America rewards hardworking people.
Which takes us back to the third sentence in this post.
The misconception surrounding dopamine.
We commonly believe dopamine is only attributed to activities that can be termed as natty and time-wasting like Netflix & gaming.
But where else can a gamer (regarded as deadbeat in other cultures) go on to become a reality star, stack bundles of cash and even build a business off such natty behaviour?
Yet another reward for dopamine.
But this isn’t even the misconception of dopamine.
The bigger misconception is we believe dopamine only comes as an end product. We don’t even know dopamine is also tied to the process.
The process of building a business and racking small wins like your first order, your 10th sale, your 50th customer and then onto bigger things.
Dopamine hits like waking up everyday to Nike adverts and seeing these NBA players in the flesh and knowing that if you could put in work, chances are you could make it.
Dopamine hits like seeing Serena Williams on TV and being able to relate to her because her cousin was your classmate in high school.
Dopamine hits like walking down the Hollywood Boulevard and bumping into your favourite actor.
That kind of dopamine hit.
The one that assures you that everything is possible if you keep striving.
There’s a win around the corner.
Success isn’t far away.
This week there was another conversation again concerning the Yahoo menace in Nigeria.
I recall a friend sharing this story on Twitter:
“I just had one of the most unnerving experience of my life.
So this woman on my street called me to help her to talk her child that’s been moving with Yahoo boys and apparently started doing it too, the woman started the conversation by saying I’m an example of someone the boy should emulate and see as a mentor, seeing how I’m nicely dressed going to work everyday and I how I keep my life off drugs and going about things the right way.
So I told the boy, why old fashioned hard work pays and how there are legit ICT skills he can learn.
The part that blew me away, boy started by saying no disrespect to me but looking good in shirt and tie or being unproblematic doesn’t pay the major bills, that he doesn’t see me driving a car, but bro Tunde who didn’t even finish secondary school but does “G” drives a nice car.
Boy said he can’t waste the next ten years of his life just to become a guy that wear shirt and tie to fly bike to work or wait for office bus.
I tried to tell him that I have responsibilities and buying a car is a luxury I can’t afford right now that there are guys who are like me who can actually “ball” and that I enjoy life in a different way than spending money on call girls and alcohol.
Boy said he got an iTunes gift card of $200 within 2 days of asking and no work can guarantee him that..
At that point I just kept mute and told the mother to pray for him or find someone he respects to talk him out of it.
Kids these days see Yahoo boys as mentors than regular hard working guys because our society worships money and we live in a country that rewards greedy politicians than Doctors, teachers and co.”
This tweet is over 1 year old.
But it still lives in my head.
I remember writing “We need role models in our community. But we don’t just need role models, we need RICH role models with legal means” as a response.
But I don’t just think that’s enough.
Rich role models are great.
But people want to also feel like their efforts matter.
People want to believe their work can bring them success. Not get snuffed out by a system that rewards the guy who can break the law and get away with it.
In this fast paced Indomie world we live in today where instant gratification reigns supreme, we also need a system that rewards dopamine.
But not dopamine as we know it.
But as Americans & American immigrants know it.
I have a feeling this is why comedy, skit making & social media influencing are on the high nowadays.
With the exposure, monies, sponsorship & endorsement deals, it’s the closest thing to a reward system.
All those talk about writing how you talk, communicating simply, using power words, copywriting hacks blablabla
But here’s the ONE way I approach it everyday that makes it easier for me:
If you look at my bio, it says “Swiss Army Knife”
But what exactly is a Swiss Army Knife?
Before I define it for you, lemme give you a background.
You see, I’m what you call a telescopic learner.
Telescopic learners are people who like to know a little about everything, unlike microscopic learners, who know so much about one thing.
I’m a telescopic learner.
It’s why I can easily have conversations about sports, women, music, red pill, books, history, government, current affairs, religion, coding, business, writing etc.
I’m the guy who can conveniently have a 3 hour conversation with someone talking about different things.
Truth is, I don’t know any of these things deeply. I just know enough to carry a conversation.
Secured a half a million Naira contract in my 4th year in University because I could speak coding.
Mind you, I tried to learn how to code for about 2 months in my first year in Uni. Didn’t have a laptop, couldn’t afford it so it never worked out.
I got that contract and I didnβt even know how to code.
But I knew people who could and I got it for them.
I still donβt know how to code.
Got my current job from a client I was teaching Spanish.
But teaching Spanish? How?
I’ve never even left the country as an adult.
The two times I left Nigeria for Cameroon was as a child and a teenager.
But Spanish simply sounded cool at the time and I decided to learn it.
The other helpful thing is I’ve learned how to listen.
It’s a skill you pick up when you listen to a different girl every night vent for close to 4 hours during midnight calls in your teenage years.
So, I mostly just chip in, crack a joke and let them talk while I listen.
“Smartest kid in class, most informed kid in class, sabi boy blablabla”
I’m none of that.
Being a telescopic learner has been how I’ve been able to survive for most of my life.
This is how I’ve mostly survived up till now.
But somewhere along the line, I noticed if I wanted to thrive, then I had to go into something microscopically.
And copywriting was one of the first things that challenged my telescopic learning abilities.
The only thing I’ve ever tried to learn microscopically in my life is Copywriting.
So much so that for an entire year in 2020, I didn’t do anything else except studying Copywriting.
But not everyone has the time to do this.
Plus, remember this thread wasn’t supposed to be me talking about myself, but about how you can enjoy the Copywriting process.
Great!
So, how do I enjoy Copywriting?
Well, I approach each new project with the idea of learning something new.
For example, I found out recently that the bags under your eyes can be measured during a hospital test from a project I just finished working on.
That’s something I never knew before.
But it’s now a cool fact I have in my pocket to pull out during conversations ο
I wow my girl every time we talk about health related stuff and I just tell her random things she hasn’t heard before.
If only she knew my health plug is Matt Cook ο
Yesterday, while sourcing for ideas for a client, I wrote a line about Thanos and the Avengers.
The truth is, I’ve never seen Avengers Endgame because I hate sci-fi movies.
But I could pull out that random idea just to illustrate a point.
Last night, while watching Lord Of The Rings 2 (The Two Towers), I noticed a cool sales and marketing lesson embedded in one of the scenes.
I was up at 1am writing an article on it.
Copywriting has helped me notice even the most mundane things.
And that’s because I approach every single project with an open mind – to LEARN.
I know I make rookie mistakes every now and then.
I know I might write crap every now and then.
I’ve written copy that was unreadable.
I’ve written copy that has tanked.
But the only thing that makes me wake up every morning with renewed purpose to keep going is that singular possibility – LEARNING SOMETHING NEW.
And I remember I was supposed to tell you what a Swiss Army Knife was at the beginning of this post.
Anyway, Google is your friend π
But here’s what a Swiss Army Knife looks like, and what it means.
Everyday when I come online I see one new tweet, post or an article about what people say they’ll teach their kids or what they’ll make sure their kids learn.
I’ve seen people say they’ll make sure their kids learn skills like sales and marketing, copywriting, red pill and pickup artistry, coding, writing and whatnot.
I’ve seen people use terms like love, family, happiness, satisfaction etc, to describe what they’ll ensure their kids know and understand.
And of course, this is all good.
But I haven’t seen anyone talk about detachment yet.
Maybe it’s because it’s not as popular as the rest. But imagine training a child to learn how to be detached from outcomes.
And that’s because a detached person isn’t carried away so much by success they forget there are still battles ahead to be fought and won.
A detached person isn’t weighed down so much by failure or a series of failures they stop believing in themselves or fail to realize there’s always a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. And that this light is in fact hope, and this hope is a hope of success.
A detached person isn’t tied down by sunk cost fallacy – choosing to stay in a relationship, partnership, country, business or deal because of how much they’ve invested in it already whether emotionally,Β financially,Β physically or with their time and energy.
A detached person can always pack up and leave.
A detached person is willing to let go.
And that’s the beauty of detachment – from outcomes and people.
It’s the greatest form of freedom because it allows you see the forest for the trees.
It also gives you the much needed dose of clarity when everyone else is being led by their emotions.
It’s the greatest superpower.
If you teach your child nothing, teach them detachment.
This matters This matters as I ought to keep a generous mind This matters because I should maintain a grateful attitude This matters that I treasure every single moment, whether big or small as size and significance do not correlate This matters because this matters
This matters as I strive to live a life of very few regrets, as a life of no regrets is almost impossible This matters that I live even if it kills me This matters that if it is worth it then I should die for what I believe in This matters, of course, this matters
This matters that I am human, after all, what else can I be?
gods? If only I knew how jealous of me they are This matters that I revel in purpose, because without it these matters would amount to groveling in the dark, and unless something changes, with no promise of light at the end of the tunnel This matters that I accept risks and take my chances
Scratch that, I take chances, whether there are mine or not, as fortune favors the brave, and brave men are but cowards that other cowards just do not know about This matters, why not, this matters
This matters because these matters are quite simple, and living a simple life isn’t quite far from these matters This matters that I win, whether a victory, a loss, or an experience, I win all, with just an alignment of my perspective This matters that compromise, coexistence and community are not just words I gloss over, but that in the daily living of this life they are words to I live by This matters, but wait! Why wouldn’t it? That is why this matters
I could stay in this house for weeks and no one would knock on my door unless I’m expecting them.
Sometimes when I hear someone knocking, I’m genuinely surprised. Other times, people have knocked and left because they didn’t get a response.
Truth is, it wasn’t on purpose. I either didn’t hear them or I heard and thought it was on someone else’s door.
And as much as I love the privacy this way of living affords me, a part of me feels like this is a dangerous way to live.
I’ve heard stories of people who’ve died and left rotting in their houses unbeknownst to their neighbours.
Back in the day, people would sit outside their houses in the evenings with their friends and neighbours hashing out how their day went, laughing, chatting and catching up.
Nowadays, our apartment windows are so tiny, it sounds idealistic having a backyard or even front porches/verandahs where people can come outside to sit and say hi to their neighbours.
Maybe we should blame it on the stress that comes with city life.
Or maybe we should blame it on fucked up housing and badly designed buildings.
Or maybe we should blame it on ourselves.
We claim to have left the village for the city in search of a better life.
However, it seems we instead left our humanity and community behind.
I woke up on Friday and my mind went to my cousin Frank who constantly pushed us to imagine a bigger and better life than what we were used to in Cross River.
I was sixteen when I left home completely on my own for the first time. Since then I’ve been to over 20 states in Nigeria.
Some of these places were pit stops, some I passed through and some I lived in for some time.
I’m not even where I want to be yet, but a part of me strongly feels every man should leave their hometown at age sixteen, or at least eighteen, or at latest twenty-five.
Travelling to previously uncharted territory in this age and time might be the closest thing to signing up for the army or going to war as our ancestors did back in the day.
It’s one of the biggest tests of mental strength.
And that’s aside from the lifelong friendships and once in a lifetime experiences you’ll accumulate.
I look at my life and everything that has happened to me over the last nine years and I’m grateful because Cross River had little or nothing to offer us in terms of ambition.
Instead, it had everything that would blunt ambition: food (lots of it), alcohol (copious amounts of cheap premium ogogoro), beautiful women, familiarity, ease and comfort.
Kids would go to the same primary and secondary schools as their parents.
End up at the same universities with the same people they grew up with and went to primary and secondary school with.
Work at the same offices as their uncles and aunts or just go on to manage their parent’s businesses or break out and do the same businesses.
Live and know the same people for decades, drink at the same spots, engage in a few uninspiring ventures, fuck the same women and do the same damn thing every day.
Which of course, isn’t a bad thing.
Because as much as I’m a big advocate of stepping outside your comfort zone, especially in the pursuit of success and a better life, I’m not claiming everyone who left was successful.
I know a couple of people who weren’t.
But I also know a lot of people who didn’t succeed and came back and used their experience to become huge successes back home.
This clearly shows when it comes to travel, the education is in the journey, not the destination.
This is also why I don’t feel like anywhere is a permanent homeland for me.
Lagos, Ibadan, Asaba, Anambra, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Cross River.
There are all just spots in the journey.
Maybe my Igbo roots are the reason why, or maybe I’m chasing something or who knows? Maybe something is chasing me.
But I guess Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said it best:
βOwn only what you can carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bagβ
And that’s why I’ll forever travel light – no big bags, no large suitcases, no oversized luggage.
Because memories and experiences are mostly everything you need.
Paying for mentoring and guidance is like paying for a fresh pair of eyes and an extra brain.
But it’s not always an extra brain because the person you’re paying has accumulated a couple of brains to theirs already.
Yesterday, a stock recommendation I paid for made $35 in one day.
In one day.
Bring out your calculator and punch – times by 520.
That’s over N18,000.
In. One. Day.
This year alone, I’ve bought the 72IG Implementation Program for 2 people (almost 100k).
I also paid for Motley Fool’s 1-year sub for $99.
I just bought a program about webinars.
I know how to do webinars.
I’ve collected 250k from appearing for less than 2 hours on a webinar.
But I feel there’s a lot of room for improvement.
And I just paid for it.
One of my favourite Twitter accounts dropped a link to their book & I whipped out my card to get it immediately.
I randomly bought an e-book from one of my students weeks ago.
It wasn’t because I needed it per se.
Rather it was because I was impressed by what she was doing and wanted to encourage her to keep going.
I can’t get a Masterclass sub at the moment because my schedule is too tight & it’d be foolish adding more stuff.
Not because I can’t afford to.
The reason I haven’t paid for my Toastmasters annual sub is that we moved from physical meetings to online because of COVID-19.
And I’m not a big fan of watching screens because of my eyes.
It’s why I struggle with watching movies nowadays.
Plus, I miss most of the online meetings because of my sleeping schedule.
I might put together over 800k for Errol Gerson’s live coaching program.
Looks like it’s worth it.
But it wasn’t always like this.
There was a time I couldn’t afford any of these things.
Make I no even talk go far sef.
2 years ago, I couldn’t.
So, what changed?
I spent my entire NYSC year reading at least 2 hours every day (I don’t even read as much nowadays).
I ended up reading 60 books before the end of NYSC.
I spent the next 1-year writing articles every Sunday on a free WordPress blog.
For 52 straight weeks, I wrote at least 1 article per week and published it.
It didn’t matter if it was garbage or didn’t make much sense, I published it.
During this time, I would wake up by 3 am daily, read for at least one hour, then copy out a sales letter by hand.
I’d do this before going to work every day.
I still write letters out by hand every morning before going to work.
I did this morning too.
That’s aside from the voluminous sales & marketing materials I kept going through – some I didn’t even understand at the time.
I still do – some I don’t even understand.
I was also practising Spanish for at least 15 minutes a day.
Most of these things were free.
Maybe all of them.
The only thing it was going to cost me was data, time & attention.
I didn’t have money, but I had time.
And I had small money to pay for data.
That was all I had.
I’m saying this because most people start crying when they want to get something that might change their lives and they are told to pay.
They start asking why they can’t get it for free.
Or they complain about being ripped off.
Well, the truth is most of what you need to succeed is on the Internet for free already.
What it’s going to cost you is TIME & ATTENTION.
But the truth is you’re not ready to suffer.
You’re not ready to sweat.
You’re not ready to bleed.
You’re a baby boy or baby girl for life.
Go to YouTube.
Use Google.
Read Quora.
Read posts on Medium.
Go on Twitter and follow accounts that teach what you’re interested in.
Some of the stuff posted for free on Twitter are things you’ll learn for hundreds of thousands of dollars in Masterclasses.
Subscribe to free email subscriptions.
Get free books online.
Go to a library in your area.
Attend free seminars & conferences & webinars.
There are so many of them.
Is there a seminar in another city? Travel and go there.
The Queen of Sheba travelled from Ethiopia to Israel to see King Solomon.
She ended up getting premium dick, got pregnant for him and a successor to her throne.
Pregnant for a man who had 700 wives and 300 concubines but only 4 children – a master of the pullout game π
She changed the destiny of an entire nation.
My life changed from an Akin Alabi seminar I attended during NYSC.
I just sat there in the audience and told myself, “One day, I want to work with these guys I’m seeing on stage and I don’t know how, but it’s going to happen.”
Go to Church (your Pastor/Priest still has something to say).
Get a free WordPress blog.
Go to parties and socialize.
Comb through your emails.
There’s something in there.
Buy a notebook or diary and write.
Fuck that!
Write in your phone’s notes.
Someone I know wrote 150 songs in one year (2 songs every week) because they were trying to get better at songwriting.
But just know what’s most important in all of this is to TAKE ACTION with what you learn.
People have gone to work with Facebook, Apple and other big companies from skills they’ve acquired on YouTube.
All for FREE.
The data you use to scroll through Instagram every day, use it to read a post on Quora.
The time you spend looking at people’s WhatsApp status, use it to read a book (physical copy or on your phone) for 15 minutes.
Grab your PC and watch coding tutorials for only 30 minutes.
Practice what you’ve seen and watch your life change.
A friend I used to force during NYSC to code for just 30 minutes a day now works with a tech company.
And that’s aside from the other companies & side projects she regularly freelances on.
But if you feel you don’t want to waste time, then bring out your wallet or card and pay.
The only difference is you’ll spend most of your time sorting through some stuff that might be irrelevant.
But do it anyway.
After all, you don’t have money.
But you have time.
If you don’t want to pay, then do the work those people who are asking you to pay have done.
I remember a story about a woman who met Pablo Picasso in a cafe.
She walked up to him and asked him if he could draw her.
Sure, why not? He accepted.
In 10 minutes, he was done.
When she saw the drawing, she was so blown away by the sheer beauty of it.
She asked him how much.
He told her $10,000.
“What?????? It took you just 10 minutes,” she screamed.
“You’re not paying me for the 10 minutes it took me to make a drawing of you.”
“Rather, you’re paying me for the 20 years it took me to learn how to draw you within 10 minutes.”
When you pay, you don’t only pay for value at the moment.
You also pay for close association and experience.
You also pay for perspective.
My friend told me how he paid 50k for a seminar and learned just 2 things.
According to him, those 2 things were what changed his business.
Those 2 things helped him to scale his income from 1 million to over 10 million.
2 things he paid N50,000 for only.
Don’t go and tell someone who has paid for where they are today with blood, sweat & tears to mentor you for free.
Who are you exactly?
And why should they even listen to you?
Some of the stock picks I’ve seen on Motley Fool are even on my stock watchlist.
Yes, I’m that good π
But I’ve also seen some I never knew and have never heard of.
That’s the importance of paying for things.
Nigeria is hard already and we’re all trying to survive.
So don’t come and tell me the information I’m giving you is too expensive.
If you can’t afford it, go online and read and do your research.
I can’t even deny it.
I’m also lucky to have a mentor who gives me whatever helpful info he has which he believes will help me too.
Even when I don’t ask.
But one thing he keeps saying is, “Uche, I’m giving you all these materials because I know you’ll read them.”
My mentor drops millions of naira on courses and programs every year.
He never complains about any of them.
What he’ll tell you is no matter how bad it is, you’ll always learn at least one thing.
I also have a couple of people who pay for stuff and I get the opportunity to see them for free.
This means it’s also on me to use my time, energy & effort to get anything meaningful from these gifts.
As it’s on you too.
Use your kafa!
There’s nothing for free out there.
You either pay with money or time.
The videos you’re watching for free on YouTube, you’re aware YouTube is going to pay those guys, yeah? π
But it’s not me who paid for it though.
So, how about the hours you spent?
The data?
YouTube will pay them for being able to make you spend time watching their videos.
The sites you visit will get paid via Google’s ads placement program.
Don’t be foolish.
You’ll always pay for everything – one way or another.
I’ll end this by finally accepting to pay for my Toastmasters sub this year π
And just to add, I’ve lost money paying for information too.
The first time I paid for information was in my 1st or 2nd year at the University.
Some guy had a trick for beating sports betting companies on their virtual games.
It was around N4,000 or so.
And for someone who had it rough during university years, N4,000 was a lot of money.
I didn’t even know you needed a PC, and I didn’t have one.
I paid 100 euros for a project that never worked while in the university.
I borrowed money from my mother and paid 50 euros for something else that didn’t pan out while still in university.
Bought a guide on how to receive money from PayPal from Nigeria when I was hustling for a freelancing foreign transcriber position.
I no later use am.
We’ve put over half a million in a project that didn’t meet expectations.
I’ve got money stuck in places.
Maybe it’s the universe, I don’t know.
Just know you’re going to lose money while trying to make money too.
All the professional courses I did during NYSC look like I wasted money.
But I turned down a job from one of the top 5 fashion designing & styling houses in Nigeria, and another from a top 5 Nigerian bank.
But I probably wouldn’t have made it to those interviews if my CV didn’t make sense.
I’ve wasted time too.
Watched over 10 hours of weight loss videos in January because I was trying to develop a product.
Read a bunch of stuff too.
Ended up scrapping it because there was no big idea.
Do you know what I’m going to do by this time next year?
God willing, I’ll take what I know about the stock market, add it to what I’m learning from my paid sub, maybe collaborate with someone else and create a stock market product.
And then sell it to people.
And don’t ask me why I wouldn’t just teach people for free.
Last year, I was talking to a bunch of people about the stock market and they claimed they wanted to learn.
I went through the stress of putting together a Zoom class and guess how many people attended?
Zilch. Nada. None. Nobody.
I don’t care what you think.
But I hope this helps you.
Because that’s the way of the Shaolin.
– Uche
PS: The stock pick I mentioned earlier is Upstart Holdings.
