African Youths

Workshop #1: Goal Setting

There are 3 types of people in the world. The winners, the losers, and more commonly, those who don’t know how to win yet. These are people whom I call winners-yet-to-be. In order for Africans to grow from winners-yet-to-be, to the level of winners, they need to re-program the way they think. If we study winners and losers, in most cases, the difference is simply the way they think. In other words, if Africans change the way they think, all of them can become leaders. It’s simple - learn about the law of success and apply it. Everything in life follows some laws. If you plant seeds in the right way, they will harvest. If you work out with the right program, you will gain strength. And same, if you apply the law of success in the right way, you will eventually become the winners in life. If you are not at where you want to be in life, at this moment, you got to ask yourself – why? A lot of times I heard Africans complaining. ‘Our government is corrupt’, ‘taxes are too high’, ‘this country does not have opportunities’, ... The list can go on forever, but essentially these Africans are implying that, government is responsible for them not winning the race in life. This is a typical phenomenon, and it is so interesting that, I have never come across a winner who blames others. I am also not a fortune teller, however the only thing I was able to figure out is, bad things always seem to happen to these blamers! If you are not as successful as you want to be, maybe you should not change the government, nor the tax code,  you should just change yourself. Here are two simple facts:

If you’re not as successful as you want to be, there’s probably something you don’t know. If you already know the law of success, you should already be successful. Isn’t that reasonable?

If you keep doing what you’ve always done, you’ll keep getting what you’ve always got. If you do the same thing everyday and expect a different result, that’s called insanity. Isn’t that also reasonable?

My brothers and sisters, please stop putting the blame on the others, and start putting the blame on yourself. Also, please start shifting your frame to a larger vision. Of my travel across Africa, I always encountered people asking for ‘a little help’, or a small donation of money. In Sudan, I was even being approached by a policeman because he wanted 10 Sudanese pounds (which was around 0.5 USD by that time) from me! This mindset needs to be changed. People in this continent should stop telling themselves that they need help, or they need money from others, so they can become someone they want to be. My friends - you don’t need help, nor do you need money from the rest. You need self-help, and you need to become so resourceful that, you, can help the others. You notice the shift here? If we ask for little, we will always be getting little. And if we start upping our games, we will get a lot more than we can ever start to imagine.

I was born and bred in Hong Kong, for 20 years. Between 21 to 24, because of me figuring out these laws of success, I was able to achieve things I used to think I couldn’t do. The government is the same and my friends have not changed, but I changed, and everything has therefore changed for me. If you want things to change for you, you got to change. If you want life to get better, you got to get better. At 20 years old, I was an average person, with low self-esteem. I was afraid to even speak with strangers, and to walk the path that others have not travelled. I felt confined in Hong Kong, and I wanted so badly to see how people in the other parts of the world think, to learn from them. This dream had planted seeds into my mind, subconsciously. It was a goal, vague and not written down. However, the goal was so powerful that it induced me to take corresponding actions unconsciously. And then one day, I got my chance to study in Norway. It came with surprise and has changed my life. Success builds on each other, and one small step can lead a long way. Next, I was the first student from HK getting this scholarship to volunteer in Sudan, I opened a café there. And then, I was admitted to another prestigious college for an exchange semester in China, with full-tuition fee being waived. And then, I become the first Chinese intern to work at an African supranational bank. Now my goal is to use my story, to help and inspire you all to follow your dreams. Looking back, all of my achievements come from the very important fact, that I set a goal.

Christiano Ronaldo was the best football player at my time. Well, someone would argue that it is Leonie Messi. But let’s stick with Ronaldo for the time being. I am willing to place a $1000 that, you will be a better scorer than Christiano Ronaldo... if only... we blindfold him so he does not know where the goal is. It might sound silly, how could Ronaldo score if he didn’t know where the goal was? Yes! Exactly, how could anyone score if they didn’t know where their goal in life was? I don’t care if you are good as Barack Obama, or as smart as Stephen Hawkins, you will not be able to achieve anything if you don’t know where the goal is! And no one, no one in life can hit a target that they don’t know. This is the essential message I want to deliver in this workshop. If you are facing some challenge or problems in your life, I guarantee you, that all of those problems are internal, and are relevant to your lack of goals. Yes,