THE BOOKS I HAVE READ

TEN YEARS DOWN THE LINE

This book was recommended to me by a very special friend and I’m glad I read it.

The author of the book is JOE MWANGI.

In his book, Mr.Mwangi majors on “all achievers have a story” how to make your story. A story that will inspire someone to wake up and work hard, be a source of hope and inspiration.

Here are a few lessons I picked from the book:

1.  THE PHILOSOPHY OF DUALISM

Mr.Mwangi emphasizes on this philosophy by narrating about one of his motivational sessions at Bahati girls’ high school when he called the students for money.

Some students raised their hands, others shouted their names while others made funny noises in order to be noticed.one girl seated at the back rose and walked to the front and was given a thousand shillings as the others wowed with discontent.

He then asked the others to clap for her.

Just like in this case, in life, there are people who are clapped for while others clap, there are players and spectators, there are news makers and news watchers.

Some people are waited for while others wait. We should not be contented by just being waited on the two days designated for everyone to be waited for by God i.e.

·        The day we are born everyone anticipates our arrival with gifts

·        And the day our bodies are waited for outside the mortuary to rest us in peace

2.  THE IMBALANCE OF REALITY

Last weekend I attended Pepe Minambo’s initiative, GFEST {Get inspired festival} ambassadors’ conference at Kenyatta University and he mentioned that power is an illusion. The moment you understand people, you have power over them and the easiest way to conquer the world is by conquering yourself.

This theory is enhanced in this book by the common test of optimism and pessimism of the half full glass and half empty glass. We always have different perspectives when exposed to the same situations.

Even if everyone in the world earned the same salary, the world would still have trillionares!

3.  EFFORT

The author describes effort as the price we have to pay for the success and greatness we so much desire.

Effort, to Mr.Mwangi, is creating time to go an extra mile, dropping all your excuses and making hard decisions so that you live big.

Most people wait for things to be right for them to start but this never materializes.

There is this statement Pepe Minambo always uses “the richest place in the world is a graveyard “.In a graveyard lies books that were never published and empires that were never built. You have to be bold enough to follow your dreams now, lest you become an average human being, doing average things and dying an average.

4.  CONSISTENCY

Nothing good comes trouble free and Mr.Mwangi compares this to labor pains and birth. There can be no baby, no birth without labor pains. Nothing comes easy! Consistency breeds reality. When you fail and bounce back, fantasies end and dreams detach from reality. You may have to fight a battle more than once to win. This does not make you a looser, it makes you a winner because winners never quit, and quitters never win. Always remember no one ever won by quitting.

The decisions we make, make us. Every day, every minute we make choices. Pepe Minambo says that there are two things that majorly influence our lives:

·        The books we read. If you want to be a great politician, read books and autobiographies of the great leaders that have been, let them tell you their story and from that, you will develop your story. This is more of a self-fulfillment prophecy. See yourself in them. Its common sense that you study commerce to venture into business related ordeals. You can’t study commerce and show up at a medical interview to be a doctor. Ahaaaaa!daent make sense*

·        The people we meet. Watch who your friend s are because you are an average of your closest friends. If you become friends with nine millionaires, chances are high that you’ll be the tenth one. Even if not in monetary terms, you will be rich in thoughts and your perception about the world becomes like your friends’.

One power story on consistency that caught my attention is the story about our Kenyan president, Uhuru Kenyatta. He dreamt of being a president in 1997 and that’s when he put foot into active politics. He vied for a seat in his constituency, Gatundu and lost by a landslide. His dream actualized 16 years later!

Another inspiring story in the book is Larry Madowo’s story. Larry is popular for his program, the trend. He achieved a lot as a young person and has made sacrifices to be where he is.

Meanwhile, being born in Agha khan hospital does not mean you will work there as a doctor there. You may not even qualify to be a patient there.

Get inspired, be bold and decide to actualize your dreams.

I recommend this book to awaken your SELF.

 I appreciate Pepe Minambo and Joe Mwangi for the great work they are doing. Inspiring and motivating young people. Reading their books and listening to them speak has been instrumental in this first step I’ve taken towards actualizing what I want.

At the time I’m writing this piece, I am 22 years old. Ten years down the line, I will be 32.what about you? Let’s meet TEN YEARS DOWN THE LINE and see what we shall have accomplished.