Q: Why have you changed 10 jobs in 14 years?

A: To get financially sound and stable before getting laid off the second time.

Q: So you knew you would be laid off in the year 2009?

A: Well I was laid off first in the year 2002 due to the first global economic slowdown. I had not got a full-time job before January 2003 when the economy started looking up; so I had struggled for almost a year without job and with compromises.

Q: Which number of job was that?
A: That was my third job.

Q: So from Jan 2003 to Jan 2009, in 6 years, you have changed 8 jobs to make the count as 10 jobs in 14 years?

A: I had no other option. In my first 8 years of professional life, I had worked only for 2 organizations thinking that jobs are deserved after lot of hard work and one should stay with an employer company to justify the saying ˜employer loyalty™. But I was an idiot.

Q: Why do you say so?

A: My salary in the first 8 years went up only marginally. I could not save enough and also, I had thought that I had a ˜permanent™ job, so I need not worry about ˜what will I do if I lose my job™. I could never imagine losing a job because of economic slowdown and not because of my performance. That was January 2002.

Q: Can you brief on what happened between January 2003 and 2009.

A: Well, I had learnt my lessons of being ˜company loyal™ and not ˜money earning and saving loyal™. But then you can save enough only when you earn enough. So I shifted my loyalty towards money making and saving “ I changed 8 jobs in 6 years assuring all my interviewers about my stability.

Q: So you lied to your interviewers; you had already planned to change the job for which you were being interviewed on a particular day?

A: Yes, you can change jobs only when the market is up and companies are hiring. You tell me “ can I get a job now because of the slowdown? No. So one should change jobs for higher salaries only when the market is up because that is the only time when companies hire and can afford the expected salaries.

Q: What have you gained by doing such things?

A: That’s the question I was waiting for. In Jan 2003, I had a fixed salary (without variables) of say Rs. X p.a. In January 2009, my salary was 8X. So assuming my salary was Rs.3 lakh p.a. in Jan 2003, my last drawn salary in Jan 2009 was Rs.24 lakh p.a. (without variable). I never bothered about variable as I had no intention to stay for 1 year and go through the appraisal process to wait for the company to give me a hike.

Q: So you decided on your own hike?

A: Yes, in 2003, I could see the slowdown coming again in future like it had happened in 2001-02. Though I was not sure by when the next slowdown would come, I was pretty sure I wanted a ˜debt-free™ life before being laid off again. So I planned my hike targets on a yearly basis without waiting for the year to complete.

Q: So are you debt-free now?

A: Yes, I earned so much by virtue of job changes for money and spent so little that today I have a loan free 2 BR flat (1200 sq.. feet) plus a loan free big car without bothering about any EMIs. I am laid off too but I do not complain at all. If I have laid off companies for money, it is OK if a company lays me off because of lack of money.

Q: Who is complaining?

A: All those guys who are not getting a job to pay their EMIs off are complaining. They had made fun of me saying I am a job hopper and do not have any company loyalty. Now I ask them what they gained by their company loyalty; they too are laid off like me and pass comments to me “ why will you bother about us, you are already debt-free. They were still in the bracket of 12-14 lakh p.a. when they were laid off.

Q: What is your advice to professionals?

A: Like Narayan Murthy had said “ love your job and not your company because you never know when your company will stop loving you. In the same lines, love yourself and your family needs more than the company’s needs. Companies can keep coming and going; family will always remain the same. Make money for yourself first and simultaneously make money for the company, not the other way around.

Q: What is your biggest pain point with companies?

A: When a company does well, its CEO will address the entire company saying, ˜well done guys, it is YOUR company, keep up the hard work, I am with you. But when the slowdown happens and the company does not do so well, the same CEO will say, It is MY company and to save the company, I have to take tough decisions including asking people to go. So think about your financial stability first; when you get laid off, your kids will complain to you and not your boss

People look to wise sayings to shed light on dark areas. I seek in my writings to say things that can be read to provide understanding sought or challenge retractable opinions. This year I have read some really impressive stuff from so many of my peers. In fact I now look for inspiring words not from the Churchills and Socrates of the yesteryears but from the people I interact with everyday. Here on Facebook I have read from some of the finest writers; I have learned from some of the deepest thinkers.

One statement stuck out the most this year in all my reading. It was written by Dele Lawore in his note titled “The Fathers Call” – http://www.facebook.com/notes/dele-lawore/the-fathers-call/124772328000. By the way note that a good number of people go through their entire lives without ever coming up with an original statement borne of deep thought, supported with facts and exuding wisdom.

Dele said and I quote – “Your walk with Me is one of duty towards not only Me but towards every man, woman and child you encounter, not because you owe them anything, nah BUT because you owe Me everything”.

Happy holidays.

And all of this will come true unless we choose to reverse it .

It’s the life we chose
Where dough becomes enthroned
And you let its lack lead you to your biggest low

It’s the life we chose
Where love can grow cold
But the hurt can only seem like it will never go

It’s the life we chose
Where friends become foes
With the reasons not disclosed cos it brings them low

It’s the life we chose
Where hate submerges race
And the color of ur face will make em segregate

It’s the life we chose
Where hope can never die
And you can strive for change while you’re still alive

PS: For those who insisted on one (extra-year) when they were offered two.

It is easy to choose what to eat, what to wear, the beer to drink, parties to attend, friends to keep but few bother to choose to approach the days work with the right attitude – most don’t even know they can make that choice. Ultimately, we tend to inadvertently remove the easy and intangible decision points from our “choice concept”. As such, we ignore “choosing rights” to important things like confidence, happiness, love, positive attitude etc. The lack of choice as an excuse for action or inaction is in itself a choice. You can choose the preferable, unfavourable or attempt the impossible but never say you had no choice. Truth is, from the moment you wake up you make decisions till you go to bed; consciously and otherwise. These decisions drive the activities around you changing the possible futures at every decision point regardless of the size. We can make our choices in such a way that the consequences help steer us in our chosen direction as much as possible.

HE gave man the power to choose and thus the story of the world today. Therefore, there is a need to develop the right attitude to living; to discard the notion that we cannot steer our lives in a little way in this unpredictable world and attain some level of foreknowledge as to where we are headed. Yeah, I know HE has a draft plan for you but the plan requires your input to get to completion. The input will be the choices you make as life throws decision points at you, big and small.

I dreamed I had an interview with God.

“So you would like to interview me?” God asked.

“If you have the time” I said.

God smiled. “My time is eternity.”

“What questions do you have in mind for me?”

“What surprises you most about humankind?”

God answered…

“That they get bored with childhood, they rush to grow up, and then long to be children again.”

“That they lose their health to make money… and then lose their money to restore their health.”

“That by thinking anxiously about the future, they forget the present, such that they live in neither the present nor the future.”

“That they live as if they will never die, and die as though they had never lived.”

God’s hand took mine and we were silent for a while.

And then I asked… “As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”

“To learn they cannot make anyone love them. All they can do is let themselves be loved.”

“To learn that it is not good to compare themselves to others.”

“To learn to forgive by practicing forgiveness.”

“To learn that it only takes a few seconds to open profound wounds in those they love, and it can take many years to heal them.”

“To learn that a rich person is not one who has the most, but is one who needs the least.”

“To learn that there are people who love them dearly, but simply have not yet learned how to express or show their feelings.”

“To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.”

“To learn that it is not enough that they forgive one another, but they must also forgive themselves.”

“Thank you for your time,” I said humbly.

“Is there anything else you would like your children to know?”

God smiled and said, “Just know that I am here… always.”

- author unknown (http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/)

I miss my first night in OAU when I hooked up with my old friend Ivenso who introduced me to AY and IK and we drank beers and Chelsea till the wee hours of the morning (talk about starting off on the wrong foot!)

I miss when we used to play basketball every other day in part 1 and we never went for lectures

I miss the hangouts of the original “School 1” (AY, Ivenso, Babi, IK, Tolu, Fallopian and Mafi)

I miss the gatherings at A6 the headquarters of our movement in part 1, everyone was there

I miss the night outs behind aluta drinking God knows what then having to find my way back to town at 1am

I miss the calypso nights in Part 2 particularly the one that nearly got us in trouble with student union until MM bailed us out

I miss Ojikutu house (where I stayed in part1 and part2) and the never ending drama from the herbalist to the choco boys

I miss the W15 days and the shelter it provided me on the nights I was too stoned to get home

I miss the W15 parties in Part2 particularly the one me and slim hyped up a little with some external stimulus

I miss the days at elect library when we used the internet like it was going out of fashion

I miss the havoc we caused Intecu looping through every restriction they came up with (Bode!)

I miss channel 10 at the white house (it was a good point and kill location)

I miss AIESEC, a place where passion and hard work meets fun

I miss staff club despite the fact the food was sometimes wacky; the setting was serene – a necessity for the times when depression set in during the extra year

I miss Elugbaju house where I became “Chairman” after enriching the landlord for 4 straight years

I miss the beefs they had against us in the department; it was my then source of motivation

As we have moved on the game has changed the posts are no longer were we left them. As such we must adapt to continue to forge ahead. To live the old life in the new disposition would be retrogressive. I look to the past with a smile on my face because it makes me realize the best days are still ahead.

PS: My first note in months.

Thinking along the above lines will make you realize that the “evers” are so many…. and so what? Those who are too concerned about the talents and uniqueness of others will never find time to discover what makes them tick. I tell you; no man is more than a 100%. We were made in His image – all of us – to perfection – none substandard. Deep thinking made me realize that no matter the unique skill and talents we have we cannot be more than a 100%. Therefore to be extremely capable in one thing will mean to be less capable in others. An obvious talent/skill/gift will make you known but it doesn’t complete you as a human – a combination of all other factors does that.

Basically we are all given same chances to what we want to be be. Based on how we develop ourselves some capabilities become accentuated than others – they eventually make us stand out. However with this trade off we are less proficient in other areas. The idea is to be balanced in all other things except the one thing in which you stand out. That to me is what makes you complete. So… there is no need envying others or feeling inferior; you only have to look into yourself and discover you own unique selling point as we all cannot be good at the same things. How accomplished we feel in life is a function of how we have developed different areas of our living in percentages. In the end nobody is more than 100%. Others have developed their percentages the best way they can. You should do same.

However be wary not to develop your percentages in such a way that you become average with no stand out points. This is how most people develop themselves; to be no different from the next guy but in reality common things are not attractive.