10 Life Lessons From Ghana - Lesson 7

Lesson 7 is

Do Things You'll be Proud of

I give Rachel Maddow full credit for the words: Do Things You'll be Proud of because whilst I've been trying to live by these words for the last couple of years, I was never able to express it so expertly.

In the last 2 years or so, I've realised I have a disease. This disease is an extreme need for relevance in my life. You could call it the "so what" syndrome. Before, during, and even after I do anything big, I ask "so what?" or "then what?". And if I can't justify it to myself in a way that makes sense to me, I don't do it. This disease alone wouldn't be so bad...except I have a 2nd disease called Idealism. And if you put these 2 diseases together, you'll  understand what sort of things leave me conflicted. Being idealistic is not always considered a good thing. Actually, the world likes people who get real. So sometimes being Idealistic gets me in trouble. But I can't help being who I am. Or rather, I could help it if I wanted to but I don't want to help it. Secretly I think I'm right, and it's the world which needs to wise up and get more idealistic.

What's interesting is that I haven't always had these two diseases. I acquired them in school. I became idealistic in college, and the need for relevance happened in graduate school. That's expected, you know. It's expected that you'll want to save the world when you're in college. It's expected that you'll be naive enough to think you can. What's not expected is that you'll remain like this when you enter the "real world". In the real world, you are expected to get real. Sadly, most of us do. 

When we leave college, we also leave behind our childish notions of wanting to change the big bad corporate world. We leave behind dreams that we will one day set good examples. Life gets in the way. You find yourself at a point where you need a job and you take whichever you get. We no longer question why we make 10 times more than another person in our workplace who brings equal value but does not have an American passport and was not recruited from abroad  and so is not considered an expat. The activists in us die. We cease questioning "the bad guys" especially when things begin working in our favor. People without advocates continue to be without voice because those of us who can speak have chosen to keep quiet. Pretty soon, we become the "bad guys". Life goes on, and nothing changes. That's what's expected. That's what will happen to 90% of the people reading this blog right now. Unless they actively guard it.


You can keep interested in these things by regularly checking what advice people who've actually done noteable things in life give to young people about to start life. Such people are the ones who get invited to give commencement addresses so you could just read a lot of commencement addresses. I do. I suspect that's why I'm still not cured of my diseases.

My diseases influence the kinds of work I would be proud to do. It even influences where I'll put my money. A few months ago, in conversation with a friend, I said that even if I knew I could make money and become fabulously wealthy importing stuff into this country, I wouldn't. So she asked why and I said because it's not interesting. There's nothing to it. She made a case for why it might be interesting.I think she used Melcom as an example, saying this business has been serving the needs of Ghanaians for years, and that Ghanaians cannot (do not?) make everything we use anyway so we'll have to import some things so what's wrong with having a business that addresses this need? Nothing.  I couldn't really articulate what exactly it was I felt. I saw the sense in what she was saying. I bought it, but I still wouldn't do it. Why? It's honest business. It addresses needs. It makes money. What's not to love? What I couldn't articulate at the time is that it wasn't something I'd be proud of. I know. There's something wrong with me. I wouldn't be proud of owning Melcom? Nope. Sorry.

I think it's because secretly, I believe we should be manufacturing our own damn electric stoves, and kettles and tvs. But If I can't figure out how to make that happen, I'm not going to be a part of the problem of foreign dependency by getting into the business of importing them:) I told you I had a disease:) And I also secretly think we could produce everything we need if we tried hard enough. Idealistic. Check.

My good friend Thomas who likes to leave long comments on this blog told me the last time he was in Ghana that he thinks this is a weakness. And I said, actually maybe it is. I even gave him an example from my own life. It was about how at some point in my life I'd wanted to clean the streets of Accra but my solution at the time was a complete solution. It involves collecting the waste and then recycling it. The recycling bit seemed to require millions of dollars. As a college sophomore, I didn't know how I would find this money, so I gave up. But I realise that Zoomlion just focussed on doing the first part - collecting rubbish - and are making enough money from it that they probably can afford to recycle at some point in the future if they want to. I said then, that it would seem to make sense that sometimes you can make the money first doing something "less interesting" and then use that money to do the important thing. But personally, I wouldn't. hehe. I couldn't give him any sensible reason why I wouldn't. I chalked it up to idealism or something like that. And we left the topic on that note. I don't think I expressed this, but in my head, I was thinking that very few people actually stick to their plans of doing something else first to find the money to do the "important thing". I didn't want to end up as one of those people who abandoned the "good intentions" after realising how much money I could make doing the "less interesting" thing. I wouldn't be proud of myself.

Because for me, making the money was not what was going to make me proud. What's going to make me proud is that I solved some problem and made money along the way. Now that problem needs to be one I care about. For some people, it doesn't matter. If they can make money doing it, and it's honest business, they'll do it. For me, I ain't doing it unless I'd be proud to solve that problem.

What's the point of all this talk? To tell you to do that which you'll be proud of. If for you, that is importing kettle, by all means do that. I'm not sure if this is a lesson I learned in Ghana. It's sort of a realisation I've come to. Hopefully it helps you think through what you will and won't do. I hope lesson 6 discourages you from doing business that is dishonest. But when it comes to business that is honest, how do you choose? 

I hope my "lessons" series will get you thinking about what you want, and how you decide what you will and won't do. Let's have a conversation. I hope to learn from you.

Until then, I'll leave you with a video of the speech that inspired me to write this post. Rachel Maddow's commencement address to the Smith College Class of 2010 on May 16th. You have to watch it! Even if you live in Ghana and your internet connection is slow and it takes 15 minutes to download it. You have to watch it. I promise it's worth the trouble. I found it thoroughly inspiring, so hopefully you will too.

Let's talk after you watch it. I know I haven't been good about responding to all  your comments, but I'll try.