What do you want?

Hey friends,

Happy New Month! Hope October goes well for you.

This week has been great. Finally back in Nairobi to commence my sophomore year and also I was part of a team that welcomed the first years. More on that later.

Disclaimer: this might be a long piece so hold on tight🙃.

I came across an article this week and it was very impressive, titled What Do You Want?

It is written by one Calvin Rosser whom I emailed applauding his wonderful writing and got back to me😀. (Warning: a little showboating here🤠). Here’s a screenshot of the response email;

Felt pretty good to have him reply and give me a little piece of advice. I’ve read his other writings, and he is a great writer.

On the article What Do You Want, Calvin talks about a friend who wanted to quit his job due to unfulfillment - feeling that something was off, even though he was paid well, had a good boss and peers, and had enough vacations for the year. The guy further told him that he’s not sure if he could get another job like that one. His colleagues may think he gave up. He feels he should be grateful for having a job when people are struggling. “Those are fine considerations,” Calvin said. “But what do you want?” After a long pause, the guy said, “Hmm, I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about that.”

The rest of the article then talks of how Calvin helped him find a solution, and what he learned on the way. I’ll summarize what I learned, on fear of this issue being too long🥱.

He talks of how he personally (Calvin) quit his investment banking job to join a remote startup as a marketer. Of course that came with uncertainties and an inconstant safety/surety of money that his previous job gave him. But after a few years he got on good track and now does well.

But he says, that worked for him, and will most probably not work for his friend who is in a dilemma. His job was different. His reasons for leaving work were different. His situation was different. If his friend took the same path hoping for same results he would have been even more disappointed with his life than before. Because Calvin left his job knowing well he is going to be a digital nomad due to his marketing role. Of which if that didn’t work out, he would have gone back to his job or tried another field. But his friend would have left his job, not to follow a passion, but rather due to internal dissatisfaction. It was way not similar for him because he didn’t even know why he wanted to quit his job.

Calvin ends the article by advising his friend and us. I quote:

This read I think is best for us Gen Zs, who most of us nowadays are swayed by this notion that you don’t need to work a 9-5. That you can just sit around your laptop and do forex trading, Amazon FBA, freelancing, click buttons and expect to earn or have a fulfilling life. But who’s gonna build the roads, and the buildings or the next big thing. Some who are already in the workplace want to quit for ‘freedom’ because that is what is most advocated. Not knowing that that ‘freedom’ is not a sure bet and can leave you most devastated than before.

Someone has to sit in that office to do the paperwork. Someone has to be that lawyer to handle your marriage cases. Someone has to be that engineer on the road telling the workmen to put tar and mix gravel and cement. Someone has to do your books of accounts to make sure you’re not overtaxed or fail to pay tax illegally. People have to be in these industry offices and factories for the economy to run, for the world to run. Not everyone can be the ‘no 9-5 guy’. Hell! Most of our parents worked 9-5s, or some miniature jobs like doing laundry for the rich, but still produced and raised wonderful brilliant children that are now well off, and make the whole family happy.

It just depends on What Do You Want?

Might want a well-paying job for the rest of your life. Well and good.
Might want a free, travelling all the time, kind of life. Well and good.
Might want to be part of an NPO trying to solve some world problems like hunger and poverty. Well and good.
Might want to be the solver of societies other problems like financial illiteracy or lack of good transport systems. Well and good.
Might want to be the next pastor or Buddhist prophet. Well and good.

Question is, what do you want?

I still don’t know exactly what I want in my line of work or career, but I will definitely know my reasons why, coz I’ve decided to give it careful consideration and thought in my time. What of you?

❤️My favorite things this week

1. 🤓A new batch of freshmen - this week my university welcomed a new lot of first years. I was among the team that was orienting them on this new chapter of their life. Most were obviously confused and of weird first-time character (as we all were), but as the week progressed we slowly grew fond of each other, and the shyness grew off. It was very wonderful; from the evening sessions of getting to know each other, to the cooking together under the forest trees. I hope they settle in well. I’ll talk more on the first years later, as I talk on my freshman year last year, on my next issue so stay tuned😜.

2. 📸🎴Photos website/app - this week folks I discovered two amazing web apps for downloading wonderful images/photos. Well, it’s one app technically, coz one of them I have been using it for a while now but I’ll still recommend it. The one I’ve been using for a while is Unsplash.com, where I download images for this newsletter, or any other publication for that matter. The one I use for my graphic designs and posters is known as pexels.com. It is also a very wonderful free website that allows you download high quality images of your choice. And it has so many varieties of the image you want that you’ll be out of choice for which is the best😀.
   Below is an image of someone giving thought to what they want in life😂;

   

3. 🖼️🎈Design milestone - yesterday I hit a Canva design milestone of creating 50 designs on the free plan. This though a little achievement, has a big impact on me in that I am improving my graphical skills, in an era where you don’t need to know how to code to create awesome designs. Most of the designs have been awful obviously, coz it’s my first time and coz I’m doing most of them off the top of my head, with no prior learning whatsoever. But with consistent learning on YouTube and platforms like SkillShare I’ll be a beast by the time I hit 1000 designs on Canva😌 - hopefully by then I’ll be using advanced software like Adobe etc. :)

4. 💌💻New newsletter platform - I’m thinking on moving this my newsletter to the new platform that everyone’s talking about - Beehiiv🐝. Beehiiv is really cool, I’ve already checked it out, but I’m still having pros and cons of it compared to my current platform, Substack. Once I’m done with my research I’ll transfer or remain here on Substack, but what I love most about Beehiiv is how you can customize your newsletter to look so cool. You’ll see what I’m talking about😎.

🎧Favorite music of the week

Rossy by Musa Juma😎. 
Close friends and family know how much I adore the legend Musa Juma. I’ll write a whole article about him soon (again, stay tuned😝). But for today, I’m gonna highlight this his song. It’s not originally his song but he has a significant part in it.
The song, originally written a long time ago by another Luo artist known as Peter Owino Rachar, was redone by one of Musa’s close friends and band member - Ken Watenya under the name ‘Adhiambo Sianda’. Then a cover was again produced, now this time under the name ‘Rossy’ by Musa and Ken. This cover is the one I glorify this week, for the pure greatness by which Musa did his work. If you listen to the first cover, Adhiambo Sianda by Ken Watenya, it’s also great, no lie!💯 But listen to the second cover by Musa and Ken, and you’ll realize how phenomenal Musa was on the guitar. He redid the piece like a true master - someone who was one and the same person with his electric guitar. I love the instrumental of this song so much, and that’s why it’s my favorite song this week. You can listen to it here or on Spotify. It’s in Kenyan Luo, but don’t worry friends, I’ll be sure to post universal songs as time goes by. But for my first favorite, we kick it off with Rossy😌.

✍🏽Quote of the Week

PS: If you have a few seconds to spare, please hit the button and let me know what you thought of this email. I’d love to hear your thoughts on it and what could be improved. It also reminds me that there’s another person reading it on the other end of my screen😅. Thanks.

Have a wonderful week ahead!

Reagan.