Work for Experience!

A lot of times when I tell my story, I leave out a part that seems to surprise a lot of people. Some think that I came up from a privileged up bringing or inherited a whole lot of money. I had a rich and wonderful upbringing, the kind of riches one can lament on not the money kind lol. After completing my diploma in Aeronautical engineering at college, I had no experience in the aviation sector and had sort of lost interest in aviation after NASA refused my eligibility to work there.
However my interest in biofuels had already peaked and I had decided in 2006 that it was my destiny. Using my knowldege of engineering principals, I started to research biofuels and biofuel technologies. At a certain point in my research, I realised that I didn't have the expertise to lead an engineering or production unit and I didn't have any money to pursue my dream. So I decided to join the 'tamanga' industry, street hustling, peddling imported goods. I did it for a few months, and was good at it, but there was a void I felt constantly, I felt that it was beneath me to join the simple business of trading, I had become a mere sales man, running after customers to nuy what some genius is making in his own comfort, it just didn't feel right. This made me work harder to realise my dream, so I started to invest in my goals with whatever profit I had made, which eventually led to my first back yard biodiesel production.
I had the technical side of biodiesel production down to science and was happy to sell it to a few mates who were brave enough to throw it in the fuel tanks. But something was still missing, I didn't know how an engineering production line worked. One day in 2007, I saw an ad in the newspaper, the local Airline was recruiting aircraft technicians. I had no experience but all the right paper work, so I dusted off my blank CV, and wrote an application letter. The application was denied, I had no experience, luckily I was granted an audience with the technical director, he was a really negative fellow, short and skinny behind his desk of magnificence and power. In that moment, I remembered my college instructors words 'doesn't matter at what level you enter the industry, as long as you're in'. I looked at the TD and said ' I'll work for free!'. That was an unexpected twist, simply because, our generation feels deserving of the good life, without knowing the value of work we want to reap the benefits.
I worked for 3 months without pay, only lunch in the company canteen. Most young people who hear this exclaim at the impossibility of working for free, and I get it I mean, we were brought up to believe that hard work is meant for poor people who have no option because of lack of education. But I was privileged to have gone to college in the UK, where hard work takes precedence over endless doctorates and wealthy backgrounds. Granted that these attributes help a lot when it comes to gaining access to certain privileges, but starting from the bottom is one of the most powerful assets anyone can have. In the 3 months I worked for free, I had a chance to work with a wide array of gifted technicians, met brilliant accountants one of whom became a shareholder in my business, made contacts through working with other professionals, learned admin systems that I still use to date. So many benefits but no monetary gain.
In whatever you do, look for the #silverlining.
WashingtonFellow2014 | BiofuelsExpert | Zambia
Skype: toba851

Parable of the talents!

Ever wondered which selection of progreSsive people you fit into? Whether one is religious or not, the parable of the talents from the bible applies to everyone, it goes something like this:
14 "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants[a] and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents,[b] to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' 21 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.[c] You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' 23 His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' 26 But his master answered him, 'You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Matthew 25:14-30
Now sometimes we wonder at why some have more while other have nothing, some say bad luck, others just have 'it'.
We are all born with talents, whatever it is we all have it, whether God given or honed over the years, we have the ability to generate some kind revenue, and can potentially grow that revenue to riches. When one looks at what they have, they would rather compare their potential to another's work, without knowing the advantages or disadvantages, will succumb to fear of failure and give up.
The majority of us are like the last servant, at a chance to progression in our lives, we run away simply because the thought of failure is greater than the dream of success. The first servant, had a lot more to lose but his dream of success was greater than the though of failure. And like in the parable, the biggest risk takers, are usually the biggest winners. In real life, the biggest risk taker is the one who takes a chance on the smallest of opportunities, with no way of knowing if he'll survive the hit if it came.
Life can be a wicked master, but if you put in the extra 1% effort more than everyone else, you will be 1000 steps ahead everyone else in whatever you want to do.
Focus on the prize, not the process. #silverlining
WashingtonFellow2014 | BiofuelsExpert | Zambia
Skype: toba851