I was reading #NairaLife a few days ago. It was the story of a young lady who started figuring out what to do with life at a very young age. According to her, her first gig was during NYSC where she was earning 30k as a Human Resource Assistant 3 years ago and now earning N2 million a month as a voice over artist.
I love to read Naira life, it’s always a step by step story of young Nigerians and how they have navigated their journey in the most impressive way possible.
Back to the story of the lady, what stood out for me in her story would be the way she has always tried one skill after the other and trying them out to be sure what she wants out of life.
It’s a difficult world out there, unemployment is on the high but just like this lady in the story, my experience over the years has shown that in the midst of the unemployment crises, a lot of young people are thriving.
I have a mentee who bakes cake and is doing so well at it to the extent that she needs more hand to support her. That’s dexterity. I saw a video of Baksetmouth flaunting a leather bag few days ago, I feel so much pride knowing that the guy who designed the bag is just wrapping his HND at the Polytechnic.
During the last Agriculture Dialogue that we organised at CJID, the guy who took the pictures I shared is a corp member. I am currently working on a project with at least two guys who are corp members and doing so well managing projects.
I was a corp member when I first authored my first factchecking article that got me nominated for a continental award few years ago.
During the general elections, majority of the field reporters we deployed are campus journalists. I saw a design recently and I was made to know that the lady who designed it is still an undergraduate.
I can go on and on to talk about how a lot of young people are smashing goals in the midst of difficult challenges in Nigeria.
The lesson here is that you can also do something. There are a lot of skills that are heavily in demand in today’s world.
Project Management, Fundraising/Proposal Development, Event Management Skills, Photography, Graphics Design, Creative Writing, Data Analysis, Advocacy Skills, Monitoring and Evaluation, Social Media Management, Catering, and many other skills that one can pick up and learn between 3 to 6 months.
Please when you learn this skills and you are better at it, flaunt these skills and pitch yourself for opportunities at any given time. I think young people must develop an insatiable thirst for growth. Learning how to put yourself out there while learning the work to be better at what you do has a direct influence on how much value you get from what you know.
I saw a very powerful tweet from Wale Micaiah few days ago. It reads:
“Document your expertise and put it out there….stop winking in the dark!
Write and share…
Analyse and publicize it…
Express your skills…
Let your first impression be about the things you’re good at…put them ahead, for a man’s gift makes room for him to stand before Kings!”
I replied with my favourite quote of all time: “You can be quiet and be getting things done, you get more value by speaking about what you do”
It is a beautiful Thursday morning; another opportunity for you to pick a skills, learn it, get better and showcase the value you can offer to the world”
