Billionaires Do This Simple Ritual.

Nsuh Yose...
Sep 4, 2018 · 9 min read

Highly effective people operate from a point of absolute flow(peak state). You already know what this means so don’t ask me what it is. Let’s flow!

“Knowledge is power”. I grew up hearing teachers, parents, older people(even the senseless ones) and masters,recite this saying like some anthem. Its excessive use over time sounded cliche to me in my early twenties because I felt they used it as some way to brag around for being older or superior.

I finally had a real life experience with this saying only when I started learning a trade. Nobody needed to recall those words to me anymore. A bag of flour taught better lessons about knowledge’s power than Mr Ngong my primary seven teacher.

I had dropped out of school for finance and needed something to bounce back quickly. I decided to become a baker. The process of apprenticeship was very tedious from the beginning but along the line, I learnt how humbling, fulfilling and empowering the process apprenticeship is, in becoming a better version of one’s self.

Learning is an indispensable route to power. The more you know, the better you do. Action backed by knowledge is precise, efficient and yields outstanding results.

Let me share these words of the Buddha with you:

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

I want to talk about apprenticeship. I am not here to convince you into accepting apprenticeship as the ultimate route to success — but to show you how important the act of following leads to effective leading.

Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines apprenticeship as — a position as an apprentice : an arrangement in which someone learns an art, trade, or job under another.

Before finally deciding to face my fears and chase my dreams as a writer, I had done too many other different things to survive. All of which required some degree of apprenticeship to begin with. They ranged from — selling vegetables, traveling around different towns picking up used metal objects, selling used cloths, disk jockeying, working as a waiter and bartender in a nightclub, cooking, to baking.

You might be thinking by now that it’s too exaggerating for a 28 right? OK that’s cool. Sometimes I wonder too, how I managed to do all these in a 20 years but the answer is always amazing because the results are inside of me and I feel them each time I step up to attempt doing anything new.

People who know me always wow at the way I do certain things and never stop telling me how special they think I am. But conversely, I do think the excellence they see is forged either by the knowledge I already acquired in that field or the experiences I have had from my past.

For example, I dance salsa, kizomba, rock and roll, lambada, samba,hip-hop, makossa, and other contemporary neo-Afropop rhythms. All the above rhythms I dance to, have stories attached to them. I learnt to dance to classical and Latino rhythms while I served at the night club. I did hip-hop in my university days as an Economics student , I grew up as a kid dancing makossa, and the rise to prominence of Nigerian and Ghanaian Afrobeats are banging in my head and body these days.

Now putting all these in a box, the truth is, I learnt to do all of them from somewhere and someone.

I learnt so much about vegetable farming, conservation and trading from my mama. I learnt how to go about in search of used metal objects and distinguishing different types of metals no matter how rusted or old they might be from my older brother and some friends in the ghetto. In a nightclub; I learnt how to use turntables and do mixtapes, serve all kinds of liquor and break large blocks of ice into smaller pieces. I followed a baker and cook around, dedicated three years of my life learning.

Knowledge has a source. All the wonder works we see today in this our emerging world, are results of knowledge made manifest — knowledge inspired by something and someone.

It is the acquisition and implementation of this knowledge that constitutes the landmarks of evolution in our world of today.

OK! Let’s imagine for a sec — a world without any formal educational institutions, workshops, schools of thoughts. Where would the architects who built these beautiful castles we live in today emerge from? OK let’s still imagine they were naturally gifted. How would these gifts survive if they died and did not pass it down to their offsprings or younger generations? The answer is clear that knowledge is passed down from generation to generation.

Champions, billionaires, highly functional and successful people had understood that the process of learning is an indispensable route to achievement and mastery.

They enthusiastically invest time and resources in the process of learning each day. The fruits of are visible through the marveling success they amass in their various fields of endeavor.

They differentiate themselves from the mediocre men: by getting humble, recognizing the importance of learning and following through the process so as to have a higher knowledge of what they are passionate about.

I love Usain Bolt. I have great admiration for this ex-sprinter. I use his quotes everyday to better up my life. He once said, “. I think a lot of people, they see you run and they say, “aaah it looks so easy, looks effortless”. But before it gets to that point, it’s hard; it’s hard work. It’s day-in, day-out sacrifice. Just DYING this time when you run and you just want to stop, you want to give up, you just want to go home.”

Bolt admits that the ease, people see in the performance is backed by hard work. This is a man that worked with coaches almost at every level — beginning from his college days, when his cricket coach noticed his athletic abilities and advised him to develop them to when he was then groomed over by two other coaches who were former athletes.

The Telegraph UK of 25th July 2006 acknowledged Glen Mills as the man behind Bolt’s world record breaking performances.

Now, Bolt would’ve probably ended up with a lame cricket carrier or maybe in a small office somewhere in Jamaica, if his cricket coach had not noticed his athletic abilities and advised him to focus on a track sport.

Chet Atkins says,

“A long apprenticeship is the most logical way to success. The only alternative is overnight stardom, but I can’t give you a formula for that.”

The above quote from a country music legend, stipulates that long apprenticeship is an inevitable guarantee of success. Overnight stardom is inexplicable. It has no formula.

If you fall in love with learning, knowledge will fall in love with you. What are you passionate about? Is it fishing, skiing, singing, football, rugby, driving, writing? Just look up around and you’ll notice some individuals who have achieved topnotch success in that field.

Take the initiative to enquire the way they do things, follow them up, seek advice and help, find yourself a mentor in that field, who can identify your strength and make it grow into a fatal weapon.

Self help experts will tell you everyday, that successful people read more books and watch less TV. Why? Because they understand the value of learning.

They know the importance of some master talking into the life of a person. They understand the power that exist in being guided. They know how time saving it is to be directed from an expertise point of view.

My mentor Tchassa Kamga gave me an assignment when I went to him seeking mentorship. He referred me to a number of articles to read on apprenticeship and gave me the task to write down notes on each of them.

He asked me to submit these notes after reading . I read every single of them and made notes. The insight I gathered from following this guy’s instructions spearheaded my first ever publication here on medium.

After reading several articles of mine, he asked he just one question again. Which was; “what about what I asked you to do. I have been waiting in vain and I guess you don’t need me anymore?”

I checked our older conversation and realized i had not submitted the notes he asked me make. I had actually made them, but they were in my notebook and I had not sent them to him via whatsapp. From that point—I had to rush, type a soft copy and send to him immediately, then table my sincere apologies.

After receiving my message, he asked me who I was following on medium and I gave him their names. He then told me to follow Anthony Moore and Benjamin .P. Hardy . He told me to read more and write more.

I must admit this: upon submitted my assignment on apprenticeship, while typing, I gained deep insight on the wonderful and humbling benefits of following a master and how fulfilling the act of following a lead can guide an individual in achieving greatness.

Tchassa’s advice on following the mentors I mentioned above, really worked miracles in me. Since I started reading from them and a host of others, I have improved a lot in my way of assessing and conveying content.

To choose to be coached actively , that is — in person or by reading or following works of mentors online, is a very important step in becoming great.

Agreeing that you know nothing and seeking for knowledge from someone higher and more qualified than yourself is a well a lead step to success.

To be conscious about that which you so desire and to choose to be guided by a mentor is probably one of the best investments you can ever give to yourself as far as that domain of your life is concerned. Be it even in your marriage, petty trading, care giving, or learning to play a musical instrument.

The men whom Jesus Christ discipled ended up saints in the Christian faith. They worked miracles and wonders in their days after discipleship. Today their achievements are reverenced. Why? Because they were humble and determined enough to follow a great teacher’s lessons, which finally shone brightly through their own works in the end.

Invest in your dreams, give in something worthwhile. Amass the courage and step up. Get yourself a mentor, pay for apprenticeship if they demand a fee, if you are lucky to find one who charges no fee, no matter who they are, do not be afraid to man up.

Approach them, if they identify with you already, yield to them and if they are faraway from you and you have the possibility to read, listen or watch videos of theirs, don’t hesitate to follow.

Mastery is a summation of tiny instructions, carefully put together in obedience, discipline and total submission to authority and principles. Be determined and humble.

I have obeyed my mentor and this is a result of his instructions. I keep on obeying, while waiting on him. I keep doing my assignment as a writer.

I keep reading the works of those he has recommended, I keep reading even much more and studying their phrasal structures and the way they formulate sentences.

I keep writing and setting bigger challenges each day and I do it habitually. I meditate deeply and share with friends on a daily basis just as the master so demands of me.

I stumbled on a post this morning in a whatsapp chat forum and it really cleared my view on being open minded. It says.

“Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of facebook invited 5 people to his Harvard dorm room to discuss a business opportunity. Only 2 showed up and got involved. Today, those two people are billionaires. Dustin Moskovitz $6.5 billion and Eduardo Saverin $3.4 billion. NOTHING is MORE EXPENSIVE than a closed mind and a missed opportunity. Taking action when REAL opportunities are before you is very important. Open your mind to the possibilities that surround you.”

What about the 3 others that didn’t show up? Are they billionaires today? I don’t think so. Nobody is talking about them in terms of billions.

Samuel Smiles made this quote, “The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.”

“Ease is a greater threat to success than hardship is.” I borrowed that quote from Denzel Washington’s Oscar speech to tell you that, nothing good comes with ease.

Apprenticeship can be somehow a very demanding and painful process both physically and mentally but it sure is the best route to greatness.

Humility precedes glory and no shame there is in imitating good examples. Just like Zuckerberg looked up to Bill Gates as a role model and his dreams became reality, pick a role model for yourself too and follow their good examples.

Be bold, be humble, be passionate, be yielding, be aware and make the right decision to follow a lead. I blended a biblical proverb to an African one to give, “Iron sharpens iron, one hand supports the other.”

Comment, clap, like and share my work with your friends.

Keep reading and stay put. I will be giving you more tips on how to make that dream come true. Follow me and be blessed.

Thank you!!

Nsuh Yose...

Written by

A black boy braced in the wild wrists of the dark cruel ghetto streets of Cameroon. Longing to face the world with his back against the world.

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