I grew up hearing the sky is the limit and later on in life I learnt that the limit is not the sky but myself. The limit of self comes from the things we hear everyday. Perhaps from the societal standards.
We live in a society that gauges ones ability to succeed based on their education. This comes from the grades that one gets in school. The higher the grades, the more lucrative a course one pursues at the university. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what grades do. There are professions that need people who are gifted with grasping academic work. Oh and of course it helps in setting standards of doing things. I would say school brings a sense of uniformity in a society. This is through a set curriculum which learners and teachers adhere to in the hope of applying what is learnt in school to working life. I however feel there is more to school than just what one studies. Here is a story of a couple that dared beyond their professional academic training.
Emmanuel and Beldina Oluoch are teachers by training. They are also teaching in re-known High schools at the heart of Nairobi. I find their story of resilience so inspirational as captured in the People Daily 15th September 2020. Before Covid-19 pandemic they both had ventured into making use of their gifts. Beldina's passion for baking led her to open a Bakery while her husband ventured into landscaping. Beldina did home science and Emmanuel did agriculture in high school. According to Beldina she perfected baking at a friend's bakery. They recently opened Grand Hotel in Karen, Nairobi.
It's sad to imagine many of us went to school but we don't go the extra mile of applying skills taught. Home science in itself comes with business opportunities like cleaning, tailoring, cooking,baking.... How then do we say we are not equipped? Agriculture comes with business ideas like farming, livestock rearing, poultry keeping, bee keeping, farm management, landscaping... The list is endless. The same applies to other subjects like: Mathematics, English, Swahili, Biology, Chemistry,...We need to aim not just to complete school and get a certificate but to take time to reflect on our interests. In each subject there is a topic that captures ones heart. That is one way of discovering ones interest.
Many people keep asking how they can discover their gifts. Topics of interest back in school offers a good starting point. Once one identifies their topics of interest they then can do a further analysis on which can be transformed into a business idea. While there are those topics that require technical expertise and authorization, majority can be self taught. The internet has made learning so easy. There is not just theory learning there is demonstrative learning. A person that loved painting during the Art class, can try a hand in commercializing painting. They can start with one room where they live as they progress. We don't have to wait for a white collar job. We have the ability to be employers.
Back to Beldina and Emmanuel. Beldina says it takes one to believe in an idea first before daring to activate it. Money isn't a factor, one needs to dare start small. All it takes is God and passion. She shared she has trusted God through the steps she has taken and He hasn't disappointed.
One of my mentors once said to me opportunities aren't available. Opportunities are created and grabbed. Over and wide it's been said the richest people are in the grave. Many of us have many great ideas but we spend our whole life second guessing it. We are so afraid of starting and failing . We should be focused on starting to know if it works. The difference between successful business people and other people is they dared to put their idea into reality.
God has blessed us with abundance but we are not daring to trust Him to lead us into abundance. We think we shall be successful by copying another person's idea. We think we need connection. That I am afraid may not happen. We shall become successful by putting our ideas into reality. Our connection needs to be God. This is because the idea comes as God's revelation to our life of abundance. It is He we should seek divine understanding from.
Have an idea? Get into researching how to make it work. It's true there are those ideas that are totally new but many have been tried elsewhere. They just may not be in your area. Let's not die poor and our Heavenly Father is rich. A step of faith needs to be the starting point.
God harmonized us all by creating us in His own likeness. We have the ability to create. The question is what are you doing with your creative self? Are you creating things to make or break you? Are you busy creating jealousy while you could be using your creative self to harvest abundance. Cultivating bad vices only robs time that would have been used for self improvement. It's about time to ask yourself:
1. What have I been cultivating ?
2. How has it brought me growth?
Let us learn from Beldina and Emmanuel. Dare to be different. Dare to put ideas into reality. The outcome could amaze you and/ or the society. The limit is within oneself not outward. I wish this power couple the very best. May God continue to scale them up.
See attached photo the story of Belinda and Emmanuel courtesy of the People Daily.
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