Let a man be, and he will become.

Godwin Olingo
Nov 5 · 3 min read
Surfing lessons vs Entrepreneurial lessons
Surfing lessons vs Entrepreneurial lessons
Surfing lessons vs Entrepreneurial lessons

Decisions have consequences. Some help us get by but some change our lives completely. Bottom line is we have to make decisions daily and this was my situation months before I sent my application to join the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of technology-MEST. For a long time, I felt like I had to find a way to get a monthly paycheck that was commensurate with my creativity and input at work and I was convinced that this would work if my application to MEST went through. I was ready to sacrifice for what I loved before what I loved became the sacrifice and went on to do what nobody expected from a young man at the peak of his career and what nobody knows is that regret does not reside in my heart for making that plan and decision.

Fast forward and I am in class with fifty-five other individuals from across Africa and I can vividly remember the silent monologue . I sat in the room bouncing questions off my mind wondering who was helping with decision making in the various nine to five or five to nine jobs across Africa with all these multitalented and smart individuals in one room after flying from over thirteen countries in pursuit of something. Something different. Something they will be a part of. Something new. My answers would start trickling in days later when we got accustomed to one another and soon enough I also got answers to a question that had disturbed me for a while. Do entrepreneurs and those preparing to be entrepreneurs work all days of their existence? This lingered in my mind but soon I realised that the journey to be an entrepreneur is not all work. Play is also involved and this is fundamental in making sure that entrepreneurs got enough rest and chance to explore and network. Through my interactions, I got to hear of a surfing community in Ghana and immediately felt my curiosity begging to be fed.

Taking Risks

For me, these two words define the whole process. I believe entrepreneurship is all about trying new things and taking risks with a defined end goal. The urge to try and achieve a target or satisfy curiosity is what fuels every human being and as I walked to a wooden shed in Korkobite Beach-Accra Ghana, to enquire about surfing I had some curiosity in me of how the whole experience would be. Convinced that it would be mad fun, I hired a surfboard and surfing kit and walked to the beach for my first ever lesson in surfing. It was a crash course explaining what needs to be done to stay safe and how to pilot the board and ride the waves. Moments later I was in the ocean, laying on the board and trying to ride a few waves and generally had a good time out in the ocean. Had I just felt the end goal?

Surfing and Entrepreneurship.

As we drove back to Accra, I had a Eureka moment. I had just figured out a co-relation between surfing 101 and entrepreneurship. I equated my urge to surf to the urge entrepreneurs have to create new things. The lessons I took represented the skills entrepreneurs purpose to get to help them along their entrepreneurial journey. The waves I rode represented the uncertainty of the market place entrepreneurs launch their products. The number of times I fell off the board and got back on showed the resilience entrepreneurs must have and I also enjoyed moments of success with controlling the surfboard and to me, these were equal to the small wins an entrepreneur has. In the end, the smile on my face after a successful day went to show that after the hustle, hard work and determination rewards are imminent. Before I forget, smiles on my face have recently become a permanent mark and this is part of the end goal for everything I set out to achieve. The feeling of having learnt something puts a smile on my face every time I complete a task and as I continued with the journey back home I reflected on the journey towards becoming an entrepreneur as well. My journey home.

Godwin Olingo

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Leaving footprints as i become an Entrepreneur

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