IMPETUS TO ACHIEVE:

HAVE ANOTHER LIFE OUTSIDE BUSINESS

ONE of my favourite hobbies is listening to the different views of various thinkers and how they perceive life. I use the term thinker here because I do not like to restrict myself to lending an ear only to the best value investors.

I have found that some of the deepest thinkers in the history of mankind did not care so much about money, but advancing causes whose value is much greater, and more far reaching than personal aggrandisement. That being said, do not find an excuse for failure to pursue an investment agenda because of these words. I am merely stating that deep thinkers exist beyond the realm of business, finance and investment.

We have deep thinkers in academia. Anybody who values a formal education should remember their former O’ level teachers and later on college lecturers fondly. There’s a buzz of excitement when you get to college or university.

The prospect of you qualifying and beginning a life as an independent member of society is a rather dreamy affair. As you are taught by one lecturer after another, you begin to understand and appreciate intellectuals and the value that they bring to society. Deep thinkers are found in areas beyond the realm of business, finance and investment. There’s a man called Sandy Weill – a legendary American banker, financier, philanthropist. He was the CEO of Citigroup from 1998 to 2003. In an interview he gave to Forbes magazine in the past, he said the following words:

“I retired as CEO of Citigroup in 2003 and retired as chairman in 2006 because I was afraid of making an abrupt change in my life. That turned out to be a mistake, as I should have retired from both positions at the same time. When you’ve been the CEO of something for a long time and you retire, you should really retire.

“As chairman, I spoke to directors about various issues and things that I thought were wrong, and I felt I was sometimes getting a response that they thought I wanted my old job as CEO back.

“I stress the importance of having another life outside of business so that when it does come time to retire, the transition is easier. For me that other life has been in philanthropy for the last four decades.”

Weill’s other life from business was and still is philanthropy. Despite using him as an example in my article for today, it is important to understand that many other areas of activity can be your life away from business.

In Zambia today, many of those that consider themselves to be doing fine primarily have formal employment as their main business; the main area of activity in their lives.

They say that you can’t serve two masters at one time and there is a lot of truth to that saying. However, nothing precludes you from making the most of yourself in a different field outside of your job. You’ll just never know where that might lead. There are people that are real corporate grinders at the office from Monday to Friday, yet at the weekend, you’d never recognise them in their overalls plucking weeds with their workers on their farms. They may not be the biggest farmers we have around, but as Weill stresses, a life outside of business is important so that when time to retire comes, the transitions is easier.

It’s kind of strange to me how a job loss in Zambia is always a tragedy regardless of how old the person that loses the job is. I find it strange that someone who is close to retirement age, perhaps five years away or so, can be mourning like he lost a loved one when he is terminated at work.

It goes to show that many people lead a life on a one-track mindset, a life that is too tied to business. And in Zambia, the main business is formal employment. If you talk to a number of deep thinkers, they will tell you

“I stress the importance of having another life outside of business so that when it does come time to retire, the transition is easier. For me that other life has been in philanthropy for the last four decades.”

that life does not start and end with your job.

As important as your job might be seeing as it sustains you, puts food on your table, you must shape your thinking to the dynamic reality that there’s more out there to occupy yourself with.

That’s why employees just starting out are reminded to think about their retirement from the first day they start work. In fact, if you choose farming, catering or any other investment as your other life away from work, you may soon find yourself in a position to have the option of retiring early or staying on.

The sort of liberty to choose your path is something very few Zambians get to have, and the reason is simple - most people have one-track mindset. And they never see the risk of that until it is too late.

There are people that are working professionals by day but Church Elders at the weekend. Such a lifestyle of dual commitment to both work life and religion is not uncommon with Catholic Nuns and Brothers. Different people choose to wear different hats.

That width in the nature of activities that one involves himself or herself in can be telling as to what the present and more importantly the future holds for you. I have a friend who is a pilot and when he is not flying, he runs around making a number of business moves. It’s working out well for him.

The thing about life is that we do not know what tomorrow might bring. It could be something good as we pray or perhaps a trying period that we very much dread. The problem with a one-track mind is that when you are stopped in that same track, you often have no idea what to do. Therefore, you must begin to look at it that way. It is also a form of risk management.

Versatility is one of the most valuable attributes in most human beings. Do not be one of those human beings too mechanical such that you can perfectly do only one thing. Instead, be versatile, be curious, courageous. Go for more than what is on offer. Be careful not to strain yourself though.

I remember growing up as a boy, my father would always stress that in life it’s a better to know a little about a lot of areas, than a lot about one thing. He was preparing our mindsets to understand how the world works.

He wanted us to have the power of general knowledge as knowledge will always be valued wherever you find yourself in the world. Ignorance on the other hand will almost always be a negative trait in human being.

My last words dear reader: don’t have a one-track mindset, be more than you are, have another life outside your daily business; it may just lead you to greatness.