DAD'S ADVICE ON JOB HUNTING

This is another excerpt from my book, "Permission For Greatness". I thought I would share it with you on this blog. Look out for the book in the next few weeks online and in Bookshops.

“The economy will improve and you will definitely get a job” –Dad, some years back.

I was going through a transition just after my teenage years. Jobs were difficult to come by. I was disillusioned about life, fearful about the outcome of it all. My greatest fear was going back to the village to dig in order to make a living. I cannot complain that there was no one to give me guidance and solace, dad was readily available. However, dad in his pure and well meaning heart consoled me saying that the economy of the country will improve and there will be openings in the job sector soon.

Much as that calmed some nerves, it did not serve the purpose anyway. I needed something practical that I could work with. You cannot blame dad with his reasoning can you? He was and still is a victim of the 'Reverse Order'. If he had known better, he would encourage this old boy to pursue his dreams. If he had this resource (Permission For Greatness) in his hands, he would mentor me, seizing a golden opportunity of my transition. He would know that at the moment when this old boy was facing a big fear, that would be the right moment for him to sit me down and impart 'the blessing' upon my life. He would know that at that semi-traumatic moment, a serious paradigm would easily be installed in my psyche, never to be tempered with. What a chance that was for receiving 'Permission For Greatness!'

He would talk to me about wealth; he would talk to me about success, significance and wealth. Of course he would still talk to me about life itself, that the punctuation I was experiencing at that time was just that, a punctuation and not the whole story of my life.

Our focus on the government improving to create more job opportunities is good, but does not give us the direction that we need. It keeps us locked in the beckoning light of the ROLE, while at the same time totally negating the PERSON. I believe that when the ROLE is not here, we should keep working on the PERSON, specifically their potential as we ‘wait for the economy to improve’.   

This is a more powerful way of waiting for jobs, building our capacities and unleashing our potentials than dropping CVs all over the place. We need to look inside of us and around us. We need to focus more on the spark that lies within us than we focus on the government of the day improving. I believe that no government on the face of the earth is formed to specifically and directly involve itself in my permission of greatness. The best they can do is to facilitate, create an enabling environment, offer peace within the borders and regulate markets. We can therefore never fully bank on the governments of the day if we are to be great. We can never wait on them to improve, we must improve our very selves where we can.

One thing all job seekers need to ask themselves is this: What value are they adding? No, am not talking about the name of your degree; am talking about the value you are giving to the world. Please do not say you are looking for any job...that is the height of mediocrity, I tell you!

Finally, all parents out there: paradigms have shifted since the last time you were in school...do you have a different plan for your child's education or are you still waiting for the government to improve the current education system? SELAH.