I recently had a phone conversation with my friend and
former classmate from junior to high school. As it had been a while since our last communication, I noticed a significant change in the contents of our verbal chat. The
conversations seemed more deeper and probing as rather than talking about the
usual gossip and who is doing what it centered on what kind of things we want to
do and what motivated the decisions.
At one point my friend spoke about how he found the
subjects biology and chemistry in high school interesting even though he went
on to pursue Accountancy as his career.
“I thought its because you were the best in Math’s hence Accountancy was the
perfect fit for you?” I questioned.
“Yes, I was good in Math’s because I had to work hard
to get those results, but I didn’t find it as interesting as I found the
sciences.” He responded.
Then I asked him why he pursued Accountancy?
He recollected a moment in high school at which one
of our classmates remarked:
“Accountants at KCM and Mopani
get k40pin per month!”
“And just like that I was sold!” He remarked.
We had a hearty laugh over this story as it reminded us
of the good old days and the moments we shared with our ex-classmates.
Staying on this topic, I told him about how in high
school, subjects of civics, history and english were much easier to understand for me than the
sciences. I had to put in less effort to get the grades I got as compared to
double the effort to pass the sciences.
I then explained to him how I decided on my route based
on a professional in my neighborhood who seemed to be making a lot of money. I
started looking up to him and decided one day during my primary school days that:
“When I grow up, I want to be like him”. As he concluded my
story with the statement; “you were sold!
We burst into another round of laughter.
After our interaction, I pondered on but one statement my friend made during our chat: “You were sold!”
Prior to this conversation, I thought that the decision I made was 100% mine. After all, am the one who made up my mind on this, no one told me to do it.
Our decisions feel like ours because no one tells or forces us to make them. For example, when we go shopping for a shoe, no one tells us to buy the one we decide on. However, the motivation behind our choice maybe based on what we saw a friend or celebrity wear, trending fashion or advert, etc.
We may feel
like the decisions we have made are ours when in the actual sense we have simply
been “sold” into making them either knowingly or unknowingly.
We have in one way or another bought some one’s else’s plan in different area’s of our lives. This could be in our career, marriage, relationships, business, etc. The question is whose is it? Is it our parents, friend, uncle, celebrity, etc. And knowing what you now know, is that ok?
Start taking a keen interest in your life to ensure you “buying”
the plans which are in alignment with your inner voice.
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