MAKE YOUR PASSION YOUR PROFESSION

MAKE YOUR PASSION YOUR PROFESSION

Sometime in 2004 when I was in the university (Olabisi Onabanjo University), I read a book titled Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki. In this book, Kiyosaki used an analogy of the Rat Race. The Rat Race is the practice of “go to school; get good grades to get a good job”. By this, you can make a good living for yourself.  This Rat Race has been in practice and more in our country in this age. However, one of my models, Sam Adeyemi said, no matter how smart you are in running this race, you still remain a rat.

The Rat Race has almost become a national culture in our country. An average family wants the children to go to school, make First Class or Second Class (Upper Division) so as to qualify for good jobs in banks, multinational corporations, conglomerates and more attractively civil service (to have job security and retirement benefits). Closely related to this is the professional course culture, i.e. the study of courses like Law, Medicine, Engineering, Accounting and the likes. Those who do not study professional courses run after certificates of other Professional Bodies. This I describe as the Certificate syndrome. Who is to blame? There is an unconscious stigma for not having a University Degree Certificate or Higher National Diploma (HND) to say the least. This is what one of my friends described as nopaliphobia- the fear not having a BSc. Of HND Certificate (permit the grammar).

I am a lawyer but I am not writing this piece to kick the ladder to being a graduate or having professional certificate away so that others will not achieve same. That’s far from my motive. I rather want us to appreciate this subject in context. Education to any extent (SSCE, Technical School Certificate, Diploma or Ordinary National Diploma, Higher National Diploma (HND), Bachelor of Science (BSc), Post Graduate Diploma (PGD), Masters, Masters in Philosophy (M. Phil), Doctor of Philosophy (PHD), Professor and Professor Emeritus) is basically to aid our problem solving skills. The higher one goes, the “likelihood” of more sophisticated approach to problem solving. One basic thing to know is that education is not limited to formal education as in schooling and one’s field of interest will determine the kind of education one should pursue. There are also vocational training centres (dealing with informal education) where people are trained in different skills of interest.

We should know that formal education is no automatic guarantee to riches or fulfillment. For this we can ask Chief Oyin Jolayemi (the multi-millionaire) who never had SSCE Certificate or Alhaji Aliko Dangote whose rank of riches is at the continental level who is not a graduate but employs the best set of graduates and professionals. We can also think of the world’s richest man Bill Gates (founder of Microsoft Corporation) who dropped out of Havard to follow his passion. Steve Jobs (co-founder of Apple) also dropped out of college to work on what interested him. These are people who have also distinguished themselves in their fields on interest.

From the movies I watched recently, I love to mention 3 Idiots and Good Deeds as they are relevant to this subject. 3 Idiots have a singular message which is the title of this piece: make your passion your profession. You don’t normally struggle to function in your natural habitat. If one can strive to discover his passion or what interests him and make just that his profession, there is huge chance of being able to distinguish one’s self in it. We can easily think of the popular comedian Basket Mouth who is currently the highest paid comedian in Nigeria. His passion is simply making people laugh and he followed it. Today, riches and fame are the reward of following his passion. Genevive Nnaji the popular actress with an international repute is another whose record speaks for her. I also like to mention Chimamanda Adichie who has distinguished herself through writing. She is a superstar through just through writing.

Good Deeds is a movie by Tyler Perry (acting as Wesley Deeds) who was groomed by his father to run the Deeds Corporation and raised by his mother to be a gentle man. All his activities were practically dictated including how to barb his hair and the lady he should marry. Indeed he was brilliant at his work and delivered results but was never happy nor was he fulfilled. He was living up to a dream but the question is whose dream? He eventually quit and went after what interested him. This reminds me of the statement of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (an ex- American President- 3^rd best in survey in Presidential Leadership) to his interfering mother- “Please don’t make any more arrangements for my future happiness”. It is however not impossible that one can be groomed by parents or guardian for a life one may eventually be passionate about and have fulfillment in.

Certificate on its own has never made any nation great or guaranteed good standard of living of the people over the creativity and innovation of a value-driven population. In fact, it is the activities of creative and innovative value-driven population that enhances a nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP). China is a perfect example if this. I need to say that there must also be exploration of the knowledge of our Certificate holders. I sometimes wonder why our PhD holders and Professors are mostly engaged by international bodies for research and opinions than our own government and public institutions.

Without much ado, it is necessary to briefly highlight how people can discover their passion. For this, I like to use what Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Life described as the acronym SHAPE but with my explanation:

S- Spiritual Gifts:   Talents- writing, help, administration, pioneering, leading, visionary, communication, teaching, advocacy, creativity, negotiation, conflict resolution, love for people…

H- History:            Upbringing- what you enjoyed or were denied of, what irritates you and feel like changing, culture and tradition…

A- Ability:             Skills- art, acting, singing, cooking, researching, designs, talking, sales, figures, organizing, coordinating, sports, construction, tidiness, health, plants, animals, farming, driving, problem solving, tailoring, planning…

P- Personality:       Temperaments- Choleric, Sanguine (who are majorly extroverts), Melancholy, and Phlegmatic (majorly introverts).

E- Experience:      Personal or people’s experiences, situations…

Personality mostly help to easily determine where our natural strength lies. Information is another viable medium of discovering passion through reading books or magazines, listening to presentations or messages or by watching videos. One can also discover his passion through people e.g., an admired person or hero’s activity (ies). The list is not exhaustive.

All these call for self-discovery. Paying attention to one’s self is necessary. I once heard that those who have not discovered theirs display this passion at least one a week- especially for those in the employment they do not like. When they act on this passion, they feel elated and energetic with a sense of achievement. Some call it “find your bliss”. One thing about this is that you don’t need to think too deep to discover it- it’s just around you. It is a field that you don’t feel the pressure even when you have a short target time. Just pay attention to that thing you do unconsciously and effortlessly but make you feel happy. I can also say find the simplest valuable thing you can do and become an exceptional person at it. It is the simplest thing you can do and earn a living from it. You can talk to friends, family members, “secure” superiors or a counselor to help identify this passion in you. Our nation needs public guidance and counseling personnel now than ever. You may visit http://www.churchgrowth.org/cgi-cg/gifts.cgi. if you don’t mind.

After the discovery of this passion or bliss, identify the industry it falls in and discover how best to train to be a professional at it. For those who like teaching or researching in any field, university education to post graduate programmes is essential while for those interested in football which is also a career now, a BSc. may be surplus to requirement.  The truth is that whatever the field of passion, there is an appropriate training platform. Just follow it, work hard in that simple thing and distinguish yourself in it.

Some people may have passion in more than one thing. This class of people should try to itemize these interests and identify them in order of preference. They will know the one to follow first or more. And some other may discover that passion in one thing may connect to another. The important factor here is that one should not be mistaken on what to do in view of where his/her interest lies. This is actually the secret to loving what you do as the resources to function well are mostly from within you.

Our nation has experienced transformation in the entertainment industry especially in music. This transformation should extend to art and culture, the movie industry, education, science and technology, fashion and textile, cuisine (Nigerian dishes), business, public leadership, governance… This transformation will become achievable when our people discover their passion and follow it.

Discovery of passion and following it is the major breakthrough to nation building. This will remarkably boost a viable Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) and sporadically improve our GDP with a multiplier effect on our national wealth. Our citizens will have what it takes to earn a living and cater for their own needs with no dependence on aid. It is important to state that when the government works hard at providing the basic infrastructural facilities around the nation, our peoples’ productivity will be more enhanced.

While we are not ignorant of the fact that poverty (of finance and knowledge) can limit people’s ability to discover their passion and follow it, it should also be noted that discovery of passion and following it is the major cure for poverty. National development is Nigeria’s dream; it will become a reality with our peoples’ special attention to their passion and following it.

Kindly share this with as many people as you can. Nation building starts with information.

Olusola Akinyemi Esq.

President,

Joseph Initiative, Lagos.