The choices you make has alternatives. Think about it.

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From previous posts, i mentioned that i majored in economics at the university and have been learning economics since senior high school. Two of the many theories in economics that really struck a chord with me is the concept of choice and opportunity cost. People with no basic knowledge of economics will wonder what these two theories are about. I will therefore try and explain these concepts in a best way possible. 

Opportunity cost is basically what you have to give up to acquire something. There are several ways we can use our resources be it money, energy, time etc but these resources are limited that is why we are forced to make a choice. Opportunity cost can therefore be seen as the best immediate alternative you could have spent you resources on had you not spent it on something else. Therefore the things you decide to spend your limited resources on is your 'choice'. From face value, this concept does not seem extraordinary or eye opening but i've personally come to respect this theory as i grow up and begin to make choices. Because economics theories tell me that for every little thing i've spent money, energy and time on, there are other important alternatives i could have used those resources on. In this blog post i have separated my 'resources into three key areas that is time, money and energy. Time because as humans, we have fashioned our lives according to a certain O'clock by which we function. There is time to go to bed, time to rise, time to go to work/school, time to come back home and so on. Majority of us are paid by the number of hours and days we are willing to work. Hence the higher the number of hours we are willing to work, the higher the wages we expect. Time is such a valuable resource whose importance can never be underestimated. How many times have you heard a couple or people in a relationship having an argument and one of them say "you don't spend time with me like you used to" or "we don't spend time together any more". In this sentence we have seen the word "time" associated with "spend". Which means the fact that you can "spend time" shows it's a limited resource. How i spend my time is beginning to matter to me these past few weeks because once in a while the question of how i'm spending my time pops up in my head and i sincerely hope i'm spending my time the right way. 

I classify money as another important part of my resources because it's almost impossible to live without money. The basic things you need to exist on earth have to be bought with money. It is therefore little wonder money is tightly associated with time. "Time is money" its often said. We wake up everyday trading our time for money because we have to survive and after we have paid for our survival, we also want nicer cars, phones, clothes not forgetting the occasional holiday. I personally love entrepreneurs and startup founders and i always wish there were more entrepreneurs. But i ask a lot of young people why they haven't turned their great ideas and skills into business and the response i usually get is. "I don't have the capital (money) to start" or "i am barely getting by" therefore it looks like money as a resource can act as a stumbling block between someone who has a great business idea and actually starting a business and enjoying success. 

My third and final resource i consider vital is energy. The energy to wake up everyday and get something done be it writing a blog post, speaking to startup founders and entrepreneurs and how best i can help them, connecting with my family and friends and even the energy to resist junk food. How i spend my energy is now a prime concern to me because there is an opportunity cost and a best alternative to whatever i'm spending my energy on at the moment. For example, the time and energy i spend wondering whether a blog post would be successful could be used to do further writing and research to make the blog post and the blog even better.

If my opportunity costs are the best alternate ways i can use my resources (time, money and energy). Then it is imperative that whatever these resources go into must offer me the best in value and returns. But the question is how do i know that i'm spending my resources on things that have value? And the simple answer i use to determine that is "regret". Do i regret how i spent the day when i'm retiring to bed at night? Or how i spent money on things i didn't really need. If i continuously regret how i'm spending my resources then it means something has to change.

Why Combining a Regular Job with Entrepreneurship is Hard

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I strongly believe the sure way to become truly successful is by becoming an entrepreneur. My definition of success here is the ability to make an impact on the world alongside the money, fame and all the people who would like to sleep with you. So i started reading a lot about entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs from a young age and i realized the successful ones started either very early in their lives (Richard Branson) or the latter part of their lives (Colonel Sanders). I have a theory of why this is so. I think being an entrepreneur or founding a startup is primarily fueled by passion before any other factor comes to play. When you notice something in a field you are passionate about and you believe you can make a difference, beginning a startup is the way to deal with that problem. Or you notice an opportunity in a particular field and you work to take advantage of that opportunity. But my little observation makes me draw inferences such as young ones who have the passion to truly make a change do not have the money, resources, connections and what have you to start a business and older people who have the passion likewise lack the time and energy although they might have the money, resources and a powerful network. 

Therefore it comes as little surprise to me when i see that a lot of successful young entrepreneurs come from the tech space. Since the requirements for writing a program, software or app is quite minimal as compared to a young chap who wants to introduce a new food product unto the market. As a young person who wants to start a business one day, i continuously begin to see why that might never happen as the days and months go by. I started writing this blog in May of this year to get my ideas to spread and allow people to also read my thoughts. True, i have heard of bloggers who make so much money off their blogs but it takes a period of about 4-7 years before you can really make so much out of a blog that you stop looking at other sources of income. What matters to me the most is to tell my own version of the African story to anyone who cares to listen (read). That is why i write solely on the two things that i'm passionate about at this time of my life which is travel and entrepreneurship. My writing has given me opportunities to write on other blogs and websites which is great by the way but then it doesn't make me any real money. For someone who's out of school and an aspiring entrepreneur, until my dreams of founding your own startup materializes, i am tempted to look for a job so that i can earn money in the mean time.
The "let me find a job to get by"  phase is when most aspiring entrepreneurs hit the brick wall and never return. Because a steady stream of income can make you very comfortable. You know that at a certain point in the month something will fall into your account, and then there is settling down, starting a family. By the blink of an eye, you're fervently preparing for retirement and the startup never gets done. Because a job doesn't end at the stipulated time frame that an employer gives. There are various nuances and subtleties that comes with a job which might take up you free time. Like bringing work related task home, wondering whether your boss will fire you for the blunder you committed the other day, and all the social events and drama that surrounds the life of your co-workers. Therefore it takes a person who has real fortitude, passion and determination to combine a startup (considering how hard it is in the beginning) with a full time job. So it comes as no surprise to me that successful entrepreneurs start really young at a point where they don't have any idea of the bitter/sweet 9-5 drudgery or at a late age where after a point of holding a series of odd/boring and various jobs that do not interest them, they have a "light bulb" and decide to become entrepreneurs.
As i sit here approaching a quarter life, i really really really hope i don't become the latter.

Upper West Reunited

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I have officially left the upper west of Ghana as a national service personnel, upon leaving upper west, i spent a few weeks in Kumasi which is the capital of the Ashanti region of Ghana. Kumasi will always hold a special place in my life since i lived there more than a decade. What i love about that city is that it has the perfect mix of urban feel and cultural heritage. There is a lot to see and do from visiting wood carver and their beautiful arts and crafts stores in Ahwiaa to checking out lionesses at the zoo. But for some really odd reason, i would not like to stay in Kumasi long term (i see it more as an escape city). I came to Accra after my Kumasi visit but whiles in Accra, i knew i would go to upper west soon. This is because i had some unfinished business that needed taking care of. Though an inconvenience for traveling all the way north for some really trivial 'business' reason that could have been done over the phone, any opportunity for travel for me should not be missed.even if i have have been to that particular place a thousand times. It would also be an opportunity to catch up with some old friends from the program who i'ld probably be seeing for the last time. 

All Hail the amateur motor rider

My friends from the national service program Emmanuel, Domnic, Julius, Daniel, and Micheal

Country side always beautiful 

Countryside

I didn't do anything really special on this trip, i just took a leisurely work in and around the main market to see what traders had in store as well as a walk through the principal streets of Wa which is the capital of the upper west region of Ghana. A few minutes after taking the beautiful pictures of the countryside. The weather became gloomy that explains the cloudy nature of the weather in the other photos.

A walk through the market

Heavy rains prevented me from doing a lot more sight seeing and walking 

Recording African History One Story At A Time

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My twitter profile says i'm an information junkie and that's true that is why i started blogging anyway. To add more information to the news going on especially what is happening on the continent of Africa with regards to travel and entrepreneurship.  My love for information has turned me into one of those people who cannot fully function without the internet. I'm constantly checking online for the latest news and reports coming in. For example, i kept refreshing the internet 2 days ago so that i could catch a glimpse of the iphone 6 and 6 plus and the watch (will it be called an iwatch?). I love the internet because it is an instant source for news and information update. What the internet has done is that it has democratized news dissemination and reporting therefore a lot of us do not necessarily look up to the traditional news outlet for our news anymore. There are blogs, websites and online magazines which now syndicates news in real time as they come in. I particularly love blogs because a blogger gets to have an opinion on matters they are reporting unlike traditional media which try satisfy a wide range of audience. The success of Huffington post, Mashable and Techcrunch shows how important blogs can be as a source of information.
But in terms of news and information, Africa is not taking advantage of internet media enough. Most of the blogs and online magazines are dedicated to two things. It's either entertainment/celebrity news or sports. There's a lot happening in the fields of technology, entrepreneurship, business and governance which we need to address. I am usually worried when i search a particular niche with respect to Africa and i see that more research work and articles has been written on that particular African topic on foreign websites. This looks like we as Africans are not interested in chronicling our history and events. This is why i tell my friends and people close to me to set up a blog all the time. Even if no one is reading it, we are in our own small way recording and preserving our history.  I am hoping every African who is on social media can also blog not as a money making venture but as a way to record local culture, sports, history, festivals and activities. Because information is key, and it is a known fact that "the most successful person is the one who has the timeliest information" 

A Trip To The Zoo

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About a week ago, i visited the Kumasi zoo which is right at the city centere. The zoo is close to the 'Kejetia market and bus terminal' which is said to be one of the largest open air markets in West Africa hence, the location of the zoo is not a place to miss. It is about the only zoo in Ghana. There is no zoo in Accra which is the capital of Ghana. A few years back, the zoo in Accra was closed down for relocation to another part of town so that a new zoo could be built. The animals in the Accra zoo was transported to Kumasi zoo as their temporary home. But a few years and counting it doesn't look like the Accra zoo is going to be finished anytime soon. Therefore if you have any plans of seeing some wildlife in Ghana, then your best bet is to go to Kumasi or the Mole national park (northern Ghana)

I grew up a  bit in Kumasi so i got to go to the zoo a lot. Hardly a month passed without me going there. I was really fascinated by the animals especially the lions. I remember an incident which happened years back. My friends and i went to the zoo and whiles doing the normal animal watching, other visitors joined us. I as usual was standing by the lion enclave and just admiring them. There was this kid who also came to the zoo that day wearing a red sweater with matching red pants. As soon as the lions saw this boy they started roaring and banging the cage trying to get out to catch the boy who i must say was fear stricken and therefore couldnt move. Everybody at the spot started running for their dear lives and i also run as well. But whiles running i was still looking back to watch how agressive the lions were in trying to get out to catch the boy. I must admit that the female lions were the most aggressive in trying to get out and pounce on the boy. The fear stricken boy who was obviously shaken couldn't run like the rest of us and started crying and screaming for help. All this happened in a matter of seconds. Other visitors who didn't know what was going on also started running thinking one of the animals has let loose. A guide in an office close by the lions enclave heard the shouts of the boy and the noise, he went for the kid and brought him to the office to calm him down. Since that day i never forgot not to wear red to the zoo and never ever mess with a lion and even a lioness for good measure. So what's with animals and the color red? I have been chased a few times by a turkey because i had on a red sweatshirt, on the television i see this really bizarre (but interesting) sports where bulls charge at full throttle to attack young men who are holding red flags. 

I haven't been to the zoo in ages (about 5 years now) so i visited on a bright Tuesday morning and did not have problems locating it after all the years i haven't been there. I paid 10 cedis which was the standard rates for adults. Upon paying i thought i would be given a tour guide to take me around but the man took the money and said nothing. I also didn't request for one either. The zoo covers a wide area with lush trees and plants. There are many cages housing different types of wildlife. Upon entering the zoo one of my lifelong dreams came true. I saw an elephant. This might sound funny but until that time i had never seen a real elephant. All i had seen of an elephant were the bones i saw in a museum some time ago. Seeing an elephant and other wildlife in their natural habitat was the main reason why i wanted to go to the Mole National Park next year. The elephant was very adorable and i watched it more than hour, just daydreaming how my life would be if were my personal pet. Civets, deer, donkeys, python and geese were new animals i had not seen on my last visit. Though its been nearly 2 weeks since i visited the zoo, i still can't get the image of the African python out of my mind. The snake was huge!!. I have heard they can swallow human beings whole and i am tempted to believe now that i have seen them. Good thing they can go 6 months without eating. Because i was sincerely wondering how many deers a python like that has to eat before its full.
After seeing the new animals, i went to see my old pals ie lions, hyenas, eagle, ostrich, camel, monkeys and so on. When you come close to wildlife, they are bigger than when you see them on television. For example, the camel and ostrich were extremely tall and the hyena was fairly large. The hyenas and lions were taking a nap when i got there and after waiting for them to get up and walk around without much success i moved on to watch the monkeys. Anytime i visit the zoo, i educate myself on the difference between a baboon, chimpanzee and the various monkeys but it looks like it doesn't stay in my memory for a long period. Therefore on this zoo trip to i did the same. Now my hope is that it stays in my memory forever.

PS: I know you are wondering by now why i didn't add pictures? I took lots of pictures but i mistakenly deleted them when trying to load it on my computer. My selfie with an ostrich is gone forever. But no, worries because i will return to Kumasi this December for the holidays. Therefore expect zoo pictures and more images in my statue and monuments collection.

The Recently Profiled Adult

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I visited the zoo not too long ago (a post coming that soon) it dawned on me how entry fees to places especially tourist sites are a bit on the high side. Now i pay full ‘adult’ prices for everything. Technically, i have been an adult since age 18 but i paid discounted gate fees to most events and tourist centers since i had a student ID. But these days, the story is different. Everywhere i go, i am usually profiled as an adult therefore have to pay full price. My students id card expired last year when I finished university therefore I don’t get discounts on entry fees to most tourist sites. Therefore society and my environment has already profiled me as an adult. But the question is am i ready to be an adult? Being an adult means having responsibilities and things to do finding work (or working for yourself) and taking care of yourself. As an adult no one will tell me what to eat for dinner, what time you have to go to bed and what to wear.

Being an adult is hard because you have to make every decision yourself. And we all know some decisions will have negative consequences. At least if you are a kid someone has to make judgment calls on your behalf. I have always heard that people who are dying always regret things they didn’t do and wish they have done than the actual things they did. But i always wonder what it was these people didn’t get to do and what was restraining them from doing it. Was it laziness, lack of motivation or resources for them to do what they wanted to do? The thing is, we don’t live unto ourselves. We have parents, friend and family and someway somehow we have to account how we are living our lives to them. If you have desperate need for cash to take care of yourself, you usually don’t wait for your dream job but take the reasonable job that pays the bills whiles working your way towards your dream job. In working towards the “ideal life” that is where burnout happens and a lot of people decide to give it up altogether. The more you settle for the reasonable version of everything, the more life becomes mediocre.

I have a few elderly friends and anytime we talk, they usually talk about some key moments in their life they could have made a change. But for some reason that change never happened or they never got round to that change. So from where i stand it look like opportunities are rare and far in between ones life. If you do not utilize the opportunity you see around today, they might be gone in the blink of an eye. Yes when one door closes another opens but how long do you have to wait for another door to open.

Therefore as a recently profiled adult i am beginning to see that being an adult means there are three broad areas i have to look at. They are responsibilities, opportunities and regrets. Growing and the art of adulthood means performing your responsibilities in the best way possible. It also means choosing a life and career path that you are comfortable with. Taking advantages of opportunities as soon as you see them without giving excuses because you never know when another opportunity like the one you have might come.The road to being an adult is a big deal and it is its full of choices and everyday as we sleep and wake we hope we make the right choice. The right choice being the choice that would give us peace in soul and spirit.

So i am gradually getting the concept of adulthood. Right now, adulthood means not having many regrets when you are ready to die.

The Art of Listening

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There is a difference between hearing and listening but a lot of people do not realise that. Hell!! i didn't even realise the difference before i started paying attention. Hearing is simply receiving information and making no use of it whereas listening on the other hand involves receiving information, thinking about it and trying to draw inferences and analyse someones words and non-verbal actions. Simply put, listening is more important than hearing. Listening consist of not only the word coming out of a persons mouth but also taking a cue from the persons non verbal actions. (Hint: This is why it always advisable to learn a new language from native speakers/countries because you will learn a lot of non-verbal cues which will help you learn the language faster). Usually when people are talking to us we try to listen and think of the response we are going to give to the person. Which does not work. If you listen attentively you would almost always have a perfect response to anything or question someones asks you. This is how you can answer any question
The ability to listen and listen well can serve you well in your life as an entrepreneur and in your career. We are now in an information age, the person who has the most timely information is the one who wins. Maybe as an aspiring entrepreneur you are looking for your next big startup idea or your next business plan. Pay attention to what people are saying. If you are in business what are your customer saying? Maybe they want another color of your product or a new flavour or packpaging. Especially when someones says "I wish there was something (a product, service or a company) that could........" That is your cue as an entrepreneur to create something new. Therefore listening here means being in tune with your environment. Because the successful entrepreneurs are the ones who have looked for social problems and have solved them in extraordinary ways. 

Are you looking for your next million dollar idea? Be a good listener!!!