We all want to be prosperous in life but do we have what it takes to be successful? We have heard stories of some famous people who at the beginning of their lives had nothing. But later on in life, they become successful people, everything they do bears fruits. Most of them go through a lot of ups and downs to achieve the success they dream. Besides education, the other vital factors that can make an individual successful in life include: Being smart in life, working hard in life and Being Patient in life.
Education is a mandatory factor that will ensure the success of an individual. Gone are the days where people became successful without going to schools or training institutions. Education provides individuals with the knowledge and skills they need in achieving their set goals. After acquiring education, you have to be smart in deciding what you want to do in life or in choosing that specific dream you want to chase. After deciding on the path, you want to follow to achieve your goals. Next, you have to work hard. For example, in companies or business organizations, hard-working employees are the most rewarded. They can be paid in terms of increment of their salaries or get job promotions.
In Kenya, it is evident that people want to be successful in life, but they are not smart enough and are lazy at work. Many have looked for shortcuts to success and in Kenya; we believe that being successful in life is all about becoming wealthy. So some of the alternatives some Kenyans use in their attempt to gain wealth include:
Doing illegal businesses: Kenyans believe that unlawful professions. Such as drug trafficking and dealing in firearms are sure bets for becoming successful in life or being wealthy. In reality, the businesspersons undertaking such activities get arrested by law enforcement, their illegal goods, commodities, and substances are seized. Later they are thrown into prisons. They achieve nothing at the end of it all only many years in jail.
Through Gambling and Betting: In Kenya, the population of people who take part in gambling activities and sports betting is so big and overwhelming. Seriously writing this, you cannot tell anybody that you have invested in gambling and betting, people will laugh at you. To me, betting is a matter of somebody’s luck. You win today, tomorrow you lose, and the truth is people lose a lot than the times they win. Betika, a betting company in Kenya, did introduce the option of Mega Jackpot. It is where you bet on the matches they have selected. If you get all the games correct, a total of 17 games, you will win a minimum of a hundred million Kenyan shillings which is a mouthwatering amount. Most Kenyans perceive that as an opportunity to achieving success but to me, that is not a smart move because they end up losing a lot of money. At the end of the day, when you calculate the amount of money you will find out that it is more than enough to start you a decent business.
The bad thing about most modern people is that they want to be successful just immediately; they forget that travel of a thousand miles begins with one step. I relate this to being impatient. To be successful in Kenya, it is either you are an educated fellow, or you are smart in life, or you are just a hardworking individual. For a person to be referred to as a successful individual, he/she must have achieved his set goals. You are only successful in life if only you achieved your goals and made your dreams come to reality. I want to share two stories of two gentlemen that I happened to meet. They both began from grass to grace, and that is because they were smart and hardworking in life.
JEREMIAH’S REAL LIFE STORY
Jeremiah was born from poor parents; the family background was very humble. His father was a farmer and used to plow people’s farms to be paid while his mother was just his mother; she was a stay at home wife. By lousy luck, Jeremiah lost his father when he was still young. His father lost his life when he was only five years old. His mother could not take care of him, and so one of his uncles took him and promised to raise him as his child. Jeremiah was admitted to a school, and he was not performing well at school, but his uncle encouraged him to keep on studying hard. At the end of his secondary school education, he did not do well in his final exam hence did not qualify to join any university or college.
His uncle asked what training he was willing to undertake. The training was among Joining Kenya power and lighting company to train as a foreman, Vehicle repair mechanic or Motorcycle repair mechanic. Jeremiah chose motorcycle repair mechanic training. His uncle took him to an already established motorcycle repair mechanic who taught Jeremiah how to fix different problems in different parts of a motorcycle. After three months of severe learning and practical, he was able to master all the teachings and so he went on working in the same Garage.
As time went by, motorcycle owners trusted him more and more to fix their motorcycles. The reason is, he solved the problems carefully and ensured that the issues he fixed never came back again. His earnings were less, and he also had to pay the owner of the garage some amount of money to be allowed to continue working there. After working in that garage for two years, the owner of the garage decided to sell the garage to somebody else. Jeremiah was not ready to be sold, and so he decided to move out and start his garage.
He had saved some cash, and so he bought enough tools to get him started on his new garage. He only created a shade with iron roofs as his garage, and for like two months, he did not get enough customers, but he never lost hope. After some time, customers began going to his garage, and he made sure that he fixed all the motorcycles perfectly to attract more customers.
Because he employed a smart move, he received many customers that he had to add workforce to his garage. He brought in another motorcycle repair mechanic to help him out. As the number of customers increased with each day, he thought of selling some basic motorcycle spare parts. He bought essential spare parts and put them in a box. When a customer came to fix a motorcycle, and the problem could only be fixed by installing new parts. He would sell his spare parts instead of referring his customers to buy those spare parts elsewhere.
Jeremiah repaired motorcycles and sold motorcycle spare parts at the same time. He saved the profits he realized plus the money he got for his services. Every time he increased his order and would be supplied with more spare parts. After hustling that way, he opened a shop near his garage where he placed all his motorcycle spare parts. He fetched a county council business license that permitted him to operate his shop. He repaired motorcycles and sold his spare parts. His garage grew so big that he was forced to employ two more mechanics to work in his garage.
The profits increased, and Jeremiah was able to buy himself a brand new motorcycle. After purchasing the bike he thought to himself that back in their village are, there were no stable suppliers of motorcycle spare parts. Jeremiah went back to his village area, did his survey and confirmed that indeed there were no stable suppliers of motorcycle parts. He decided to try his luck in supplying motorcycle parts from his shop to his village area. He began by carrying a medium-sized box full of brand new parts on his motorcycle.
At first, shop owners did not want to buy from him, and he incurred some loses but never gave up. Jeremiah continued to supply the spare parts on specific days of the week and the other days; he concentrated on his first job. Shop owners back in his village area gained confidence in Jeremiah, so they began buying spare parts from him. He supplied the elements until he opened his second shop for motorcycle spare parts in another town. Jeremiah made sure that no type of motorcycle spare parts lacked in his two shops. He later opened his second garage to support his second shop and trained some boys to work in his second garage as motorcycle repair mechanics.
Jeremiah enjoyed the profit from his two shops and two garages, but he did not stop thinking of new ideas. Today, Jeremiah is a proud owner of four big motorcycle spare part shops and four motorcycle garages. Jeremiah managed to build for his mother a lovely house and made another beautiful home for himself too. Jeremiah has not stopped at that, he wants to achieve more and because he is a smart and hardworking individual, am very sure he will meet more.
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ALI’S REAL LIFE STORY
Ali was a resident of a particular town where my father used to work before he retired. I witnessed Ali’s story. Ali attended school but dropped out after completing his primary school education. He was unable to join any secondary school because he lacked school fees. His parents totally could not afford to pay for his secondary school education. The only job that Ali could do then was to fetch water from the Lake and sell to people. Some people were lazy to carry water, so Ali saw this as a big opportunity for him and utilized it.
He used to carry five 20 liter Jeri cans of water on his parent’s bicycle. He sold each Jeri can at 20 Kenyan shillings. The total would be 100 Kenyan shillings per trip, and in a single day he fetched water four times, so in a single day, he made 400 Kenyan shillings. In a month he made up to 12000 Kenyan shillings. He wanted to achieve more so he saved some of his earning, and after working hard for four years, he opened a general shop and stocked it with commodities. The shop was big although the products in it were less at first.
He kept on working hard and because many people in that town loved him because of his services, he attracted many customers to his shop. The more people came to his shop, the more he added stock of commodities in his shop. After a few years, he turned his shop from a retail shop to a wholesale shop, and now companies supply products directly to him.
With no time, he set up another shop, but this one was different. It was a Hardware shop for building and construction materials such as cement, iron sheets, timber, and many more. He then bought a vehicle for his customers, a Toyota pick-up truck. When a customer buys commodities and materials in bulk from any of his shops, he offers free transportation. Ali bought land and built a very decent and modern house for his family. He is still working hard to achieve more.
CONCLUSION
From the two stories, it is indeed necessary for people to be smart and hardworking in life to be successful. You may be weak in terms of academic performance, but if you are intelligent and hardworking, you will someday be successful in life. Being successful in life is not a thing of one day or month; it is a process that usually takes time, and so people should also be patient. The more you work hard, the faster you become successful in life.
