by Charles Umeh

To have the mind of Google is one of the enviable dreams of young people born in this era. I am a millennial; my life is affected by default by the happenings on the internet. Irrespective of how many times I go on an internet diet or try to detox from the social network, I always comeback to learn afresh like a child.

What’s your Strategy?

There lived a mother who had a routine of breaking her fishes before putting them into her pot to cook. She passed on this routine to her beautiful daughters as her recipe for cooking delicious meals.

One day while watching her mother carry out her procedure for a delicious meal a particular ritual caught her fancy; it was the normal ritual of breaking the fishes before putting them into the pot.

Below was the conversation between mother and daughter.

Daughter: Mum, why do you break the fishes before you put them into the pots?

Mum: (passively) that’s how my mum taught me; she insists we do it that way.

Still curious to know why, she persists and finds out from her aunt her grandma simply broke the fishes because her pots were small and it couldn’t contain the size of the fishes she had.

Moral: Never assume!

Welcome to the social era where connection and being inquisitive is the currency of our time.

Many believe the social era started ten years ago when Mark Zuckerberg gave the world Facebook or eight years ago when Evan Williams founded micro-blogging site Twitter.  Hardly would you find a young person who has never used these popular global social media networks unless they live in a remote place with no internet access.

Facebook had over 200 million users in its first year. It’ is said that if Facebook was to be a country it would be the third most populous behind China and India. Facebook recently acquired Jan Koum’s WhatsApp application for 19 billion US dollars.

Hollywood actor, Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears are said to have more Twitter followers than the entire population of Sweden, Israel, Switzerland, Norway, Ireland, and Panama. However, the social era isn’t Facebook or Twitter either, the social era is about connection.

The evolution of the internet as far back as the early seventies set the stage for the social era. One of the Interesting features of young people in the era is that almost everyone has an affair with one gorgeous bride named  Google.

To have the mind of Google is one of the enviable dreams of young people born in this era. I am a millennial; my life is affected by default by the happenings on the internet. Irrespective of how many times I go on an internet diet or try to detox from the social network, I always come back to learn afresh like a child.

I finally concluded lately it’s a complete disservice to self not to keep abreast with the currency of this generation hence striving to draw a balance is key.

This is an era a child would rather Google a question on the internet than ask a parent what the answers are. I have a moral obligation and social responsibility to improve on the new version of myself.

A recipe to living in this era is simple, grow up, immerse self in knowledge and be inquisitive like a child. In the end, the race is with you.

In this era, you find young people whose work for a living is “unconventional”. However, they lead happy lives. Someone learns how to paint peoples face and is called a Make up artiste.

Another learns how to listen to sounds and mix songs and is called a Disk jockey (DJ) or music producer. One sings a song about heartbreak and   sells quadruple platinum and gets a Grammy, other masters the art of kicking the soccer ball you have lying idle in your room and is called a footballer. The list is endless…

Young people are daring these days; you would be amazed at what life could be without such daring minds. Don’t ever think they earn less.

A footballer in the 3rd division in England earns three times what your average highest paid in your industry earns.

A radio DJ who has honed his skills and produces songs for several artistes in a  month has financial gains that is no joke compared to your highly contested white collar job earner who might not be fulfilled, satisfied or happy.

We are back into the world of ideas which must be kept alive by using the platform of our connections.

Ideas shared with connections in this era could create amazing sparks. I believe strategic alignment of ideas would be more fruitful that individualistic egocentric minds. The ability for everyone to work as a team virtually or physically is a plus.

The Wright brothers’ strategic alignment is proof a prove that strategic alignment pays off; we have the aeroplane as evidence.

I wrote myself a letter some years ago about how to live my life… I hope you write yours and live by it.

Dear Self,

Remember why you were born in this part of the world. Face the fact it was intentional.

Never take it for granted what you can do effortlessly. Before you were born God thought of you as a solution. Irrespective of how much you get disappointed about life, remember someone bragged about you being the man for the job.

Do your very best not to disappoint Him for you still have a date with Him after your journey here on earth.

If you live so long like your grandfather you would live for 114 years. If you live close to his record you live for 100 years.

If you live for three scores and ten years like it is biblically stated, it is all good. However, remember you would account for your life when you finally meet your Creator. In those years, make it count!

Namaste.

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