The Liberia We See

THE LIBERIA WE SEE

CARASSCO CARASSCO

The Liberia We See ISBN 978-1-99-460121 Copyright © 2018 Carassco Carassco

All rights are reserved under the international copyright law (World Intellectual Property Organization). No content or cover of this book may be reproduced in whole or part in any part without the expressed written permission of Carassco Carassco.

Published in: Liberia

Appreciation My gratitude goes out to everyone who has a hand in making it possible for you to have a copy of this book. (Do them a favor by reading it to the end.)

i

Table of Content in Brief Introduction Unit One: Attitude and Behavior—Understanding Them 1. Chapter One: Temperament 2. Chapter Two: Mindset

Unit Two: Attitude and Behavior—As Relating to the Liberian People 3. Chapter Three: Now Waning 4. Chapter Four: Now Waxing

Letter Finally

ii

Table of Content Introduction ------------------------------------------------------ 1 Unit One: Attitude and Behavior—Understanding Them 1. Chapter One: Temperament ------------------------- 5 A. Basis B. Temperament Types C. Admixtures of Temperaments D. More on Temperament E. Exercise—Temperament 2. Chapter Two: Mindset --------------------------------- 34 A. Mindset Meaning B. Brain vs Mind C. Mindset Determinants D. Importance of Mindset E. Exercise—Mindset

Unit Two: Attitude and Behavior—As Relating to the Liberian People 3. Chapter Three: Now Waning ----------------------- 56 A. Basis B. Pleasure-Seeking C. The “Crab Mentality” D. Wasteful Lifestyle E. Dishonesty and Unreliability F. Exercise—Now Waning iii

4. Chapter Four: Now Waxing -------------------------- 93 A. Diligence and Humility B. Area of Gift and Passion C. Visionary D. Patriotism E. Liberality F. Exercise—Now Waxing

Letter----------------------------------------------------------- 135 Finally ---------------------------------------------------------- 141

iv

INTRODUCTION At a public area, three people (Saah, Bobby and Philip) sat watching a Western Film. The scene being displayed on the movie: a car was being driven on the well paved road in a beautiful city; the flash of that scene was taken from an overhead position—like someone in a helicopter doing the video—thus the city and its features were captured. The street was clean and beautiful, the skyscrapers tall and glaring, the road smooth, well designed and wide. People walking on the side of the road, some were smiling others were serious, however, almost all of them seemed to move with a focus. Right about as this scene was being displayed, a fourth person (John) walked in. He looked at it for about a minute and asked, “when will Liberia be like this?”. Saah said, “very, very soon”. John responded, “I beg you yah”. Are you concerned as to what the two other guys said? John and Saah are both Liberians, however, they have different views about the nation. Which point of view do you have about Liberia? It is commonly said here that there are three types of men— white man, black man and Liberian man. In fact, the Liberian artist Soul Fresh even sang a song entitled: “Three Different Men.” A Liberian man is considered different from the other two. Liberians behave differently, think differently and in most cases, get different results. Why is it so? Has it led us to declination or improvement? 1

A typical Liberian may complain about difficulties in the country. He/she may even go on to say that no one can succeed in Liberia. However, foreign nationals would come to Liberia and prosper highly—some even becoming millionaires in the end (in the same Liberia that most Liberians are complaining about)? Are Liberians bewitched/cursed? Are Liberians lazy? Are Liberians not interested in moving forwards? Do Liberians hate success? If only every Liberian knew the problems and the solutions to these problems, Liberia would move with speed—faster than others—and soon be what some saw as impossible to ascribe to this nation. With all of the above said, what is wrong? Can something be done to correct it? Is there a solution? Yes, there is! In fact, there is almost always a solution to every problem. Keep on reading this book to find the answer to these puzzles and many more. “The Liberia We See” is more than a book: it is a propeller, a trigger, a stimulator towards success. The book is divided into two units. Unit one which contains two chapters focuses on understanding attitudes and behaviors in general and unit two which contains two chapters focuses on attitudes and behaviors that relates to the Liberian People. Now is the best time to know, embed within yourself the things this book carries. The nation is being transformed and 2

you cannot afford to be left behind. You belong on the chariot moving forward. Now, put on your seat belt, we are going on a tour that would transform your life forever.

3

UNIT ONE: ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR— UNDERSTANDING THEM

4

Chapter One: TEMPERAMENT As defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, behavior is “the manner of conducting oneself”; the Oxford Dictionary of English defines attitude as “a settled way of thinking or feeling . . .” The behavior of a person is how he/she acts, or what he/she says and does; the attitude of a person is how he/she thinks. One’s attitude and behavior are determined by several factors. These factors combined together gives you the totality of a person’s attitude/behavior. The most determinant ones are: temperament, childhood upbringing, experience, education/training, and health. Temperament has profound effect on a person’s behavior. Thus, Temperament + Childhood Upbringing + life experience + education or training + health = attitude & behavior In this chapter, we focus on temperament. A temperament is an inherent set of qualities—neither inherited nor acquired— that highly affects a person’s behavior and has influence on his/her mental attitude. Your temperament influences the way you live, the way you see people and the world, the things you see in life, the things you pursue in life, etc. In other words, your temperament influences a lot of things that make you who you are. Based on the characteristics of a person’s temperament, he/she could be outgoing (an extrovert) or an introvert who prefers being indoor. There 5

are four types of temperaments: sanguine, choleric, melancholy, and phlegmatic. The first two temperaments give rise to extroverted characteristics while the last two give rise to introverted characteristics. Each of these four temperaments has its own characteristic features.

Temperament Types Sanguine A Sanguine is not just an extrovert. Rather he/she is a superextrovert. He is usually welcoming, very active and lively; he or she tends to be “life of the party.” He is a fascinating story-teller: when he/she starts to narrate to you a story, you wish it nevers ends until it actually seems like never ending. He/she is really a talkative. He/she is a self-justifier who seeks to justify his/her actions—even if wrong. Exaggeration and embellishment are his style in a conversion. A sanguine is usually the first to initiate a conversation in a group, and most often he/she is the dominant conversationalist in a gathering. On few occasions, when things get out of hand, he/she tends to be vilely profane. He/she sees life as an event of enjoyment. Sanguines are “present-only-people”: all they want to do is enjoy 6

themselves today, tomorrow and the day after. They live in the present not feeling guilty about the past nor being thoughtful/fearful about the future. They are almost always happy and smiling. They are very good at lifting the spirit of others and bringing joy and laughter. Due to their “presentonly-lifestyle”, they tend to pursue things that bring them pleasure more than any other thing. They have the highest attraction towards the opposite sex: “he like plenty woman business” and “she like man business”. I once had a sanguine friend who was very promiscuous. For each time I talked to him about it he would say something like this, “My man, I am a young man. I need to enjoy myself.” However, he/she likes and feel compassion for people in general. He/she feels the sorrow & joy of others. If a sanguine visited someone who is mourning, the sanguine is capable of mourning more than the victim, and you may think it is the sanguine who is the victim instead. Any gathering a sanguine finds himself/herself in, he/she likes to be the center of all attention. All temperament types have some sort of ego, but that of sanguine is the highest. He is so egotistical that he indulges into boasting. A sanguine is a kind of person that wants to be in good rapport with everyone. He thrives on the approval of people: “he want for people to like him.” He ends up conforming always to the status quo of his surrounding; he “peer-pressures” himself before his peers can pressure him.

7

A sanguine is very flamboyant in his dressing style. He seeks to convey the idea of “swag” more often than other temperaments. Despite this, he is very disorganized. If you were to visit his room/house, you would see that things are “scatter-scatter”. A sanguine is very good at selling. He/she makes good sale agents capable of selling almost any product. A sanguine is so good at this that he easily sells his behavior to others. Some people of the other temperaments tend to admire and copy the style of the sanguine. Sanguines are very persuasive. A sanguine is very optimistic and cheerful that he wants to try everything. Another authority has used the adjective “sparky” to describe the sanguine. He likes to try new things. However, his passion for things are short-lived. He talks a lot and acts little. A sanguine possesses child-like curiosity for his surroundings. A sanguine is the friend that comes to your house and is curious about every single thing in your house. He/she touches things impulsively without your approval. He never lacks friends. His tendency leads him to be a loving husband and father.

The two extroverted temperaments—sanguine and choleric—bear the emotional problem of anger. However, the major emotional problem of the sanguine is insecurity. In anger, the sanguine can reveal what is supposed to be a secret. The weak conscience of the sanguine prevents 8

him/her from really learning from past experiences. His forgiving nature is the highest of all the temperaments. A sanguine rarely seeks to discipline himself/herself and is weak-willed. When he talks about doing something or is told to do something, he sometimes procrastinates and ends up not doing it; at other times, he may start but does not complete. These make him/her very undependable. He dislikes tough times, difficulties or afflictions—his endurance is very low. Rather, he prefers instant success forgetting to know that success is a process. This sometimes leads him/her to stealing, trickery, prostitution, and other immoral and unethical behaviors. He makes decision based on what he feels. Unless done away with, his/her indiscipline, weak-will, unwillingness to endure, undependable trait and other factors, prevents him from being a good student or leader. Choleric The choleric is an extrovert. However, he is not as extroverted as the sanguine. The choleric is hyper-active, hot, hostile and quick at taking actions. Although he is not much of a talkative, he is very sarcastic—in fact, he/she is the most sarcastic of all the temperaments. The choleric is activity-oriented. He/she likes to be occupied doing productive things. He/she carries the hallmark of utilitarian attitude in life: everything he/she does should be useful. A choleric makes use of almost any opportunity 9

he/she comes across. He is very fast at starting new projects, organizations, companies or the likes. A choleric’s judgments are made primarily on intuition and not by looking at facts or using analysis. He grades people based on intuitive appraisal also. One thing to note about the choleric is, he is difficult to please. He hardly praises others, especially those he is superior to or at the same level with as he sees it as making them complacent or maybe placing their values above his respectively. He sees whatever he does as the best; he sometimes tells himself that he nevers make a mistake, but others do. He is good at blaming others for any sort of shortcoming or mistake—he is almost always never responsible. When it comes to fast decision making, choleric is the guy you want. Due to his intuitive decision-making process, he quickly makes decision. A choleric is highly self-opinionated, domineering, bossy and strong-willed. His/her style is, whatever he thinks or say is and should be final. One of his major styles is shouting at others. He/she has noticed that the yelling tends to make others timid. A cholerics is violent and likes violence. Most of the fans of the sport, wrestling, are likely to possess the choleric temperament. A choleric has the least-developed emotions of all the temperaments. He is indifferent towards the hurt of others. His major emotional problem is anger. He is almost out of control when angry. He/she may not possess much friends. 10

He is very independent, and does not tolerate “non-sense.” Most times, the family of a choleric tend to fear him. A choleric thrives in adversities. He/she has one of the highest levels of perseverance of all the four temperaments. He is dogged, very dogged! Cholerics are ambition-driven. Their success tendency and trait of adventures trigger them to set goals. When they set a goal, they seek it by whatever means possible. If they would have to discipline themselves, walk and crush over others, and do things that might cause people to look down on them, they do not mind as long as it gets them towards that goal. The adage, “I don’t care what you think”, is best demonstrated by cholerics. Due to a choleric’s taste for starting new business or venture, he/she ends up being a boss. I saw a photo that gives a good description of a pure choleric attitude towards employees. In the picture: there is a pipe within which flows a liquid— probably milk or something very valuable. The end of the pipe empties into the mouth of a very big guy—very fat with big stomach. From the end of the pipe, small drops of this liquid flows downwards towards the middle portion of the pipe and drops to the floor. Between the middle portion of the pipe and the floor is a very tiny man whose bones structure are almost visible. In his mouth drops the droplets of this liquids. The photo depicts the rich employers who under-pay their employees so as to get richer. I think this fits 11

the description of the character of a pure choleric employer. Unless there is some sort of pressure from elsewhere, a choleric would underpay his employees. A Choleric dislike those who do not dance according to the sound of his/her drum. He/she is very fast in taking action against them. Cholerics are the most confident and aggressive of all the temperament types. In leadership, he tends to be the most feared leader. He is poor at delegating responsibilities. A choleric is capable of adapting to almost anything. His hardworking ethics, goal-driven trait, self-discipline, strongwilled, decisiveness and other factors, make him a very good leader. Melancholy Melancholy is the most complex of all the four temperaments. Although he is an introvert, he is so prone to mood changes that he can be like a sanguine one minute and be doleful the next. He/she is very reflective and analytical. He wants to plan every single thing. He plans the clothes he would wear, the food he would eat, the time to study and do other things. If a melancholy could, everything about the future would be well planned several years before the future actually arrives. When he analyses things, and see shortcoming or flaws, he tends to worry deeply. His hallmark is perfection: he is a perfectionist. His standards are high for others to live up to and even for himself to live up to. He is full of criticism for 12

anything not bearing the hallmark of perfection. He criticizes others, he criticizes himself. He finds it difficult to commend anything that is not 100%. This makes him “almost impossible to please.” He takes life seriously and sees it as a mission. His mission— he thinks—is to alleviate the suffering of others: to sacrifice himself for the betterment of the world (or at least his country, region or town). It is common to see him going into the field of life that demands a lot and doing what others dread. He dislikes indulging into the human desires or pleasure. While the character of a sanguine is more epicurean, that of the melancholy is stoic. He seems to like making himself suffer and pay the price for the prize. He is very hesitant in starting anything new until he/she has analyzed things and thinks there is a good chance of success. He sees and analyses the possible obstacles to a project. However, when he starts, his high level of discipline, perseverance, passion and gifts helps him in going towards the completion. The betterment of the society and his passion are the two main things that influence the field of life he/she chooses. Melancholies are very gifted in a whole lot of different areas of life. He dislikes being in the company of those whose mentality are opposite to his. He withdraws himself from the normal society during most of his life time. He fears ending up like

13

everyone else and not fulfilling his mission of contributing to society. Melancholies rely on gifting while cholerics rely on hard work. A melancholy believes in working according to his passion and gift while a choleric believes that he can do anything he wants as long as he is determined and works hard. A melancholy tends to love music and the fine arts. He sees in a painting what the extroverted temperaments do not see. He/she is bashful and reticent. A melancholy is a deep thinker, deep feeler, and a respecter of traditions. A melancholy is detail-oriented. He/she has a curious and inquisitive mind that always wants “to know”. If you tell a melancholy, “I bought a car today”, he wants to know, “when, from where, for how much, the model, the color, the serial number (if it has one), the size, the highest speed. . .” The melancholy is a creative force in the world. His/her level of creativity is unmatched by any other temperament. His production is marked as “genius” in any field of life he’s passionate about and gifted for. A melancholy nevers seek the limelight. Rather he does the work behind the stage. A majority of the brains behind the quality of the product of most companies or industries you could think of are of the temperament—melancholy. While melancholies believe in quality and are more into being “brains”, cholerics believe in quantity and are more into being “founders”. 14

A melancholy does not readily make a new friend. However, when he/she makes one, he/she is very faithful and dependable. A melancholy is consistently in the habit of correcting others. He/she is the friend that when visited, he/she corrects you when you misplace things or make any other mistake. He is so engulfed into his passion for the field he chooses that he tends to focus all attention on it forgetting about every other thing including his family. A Melancholy possesses the most developed and sensitive emotional nature of all the temperaments, but he/she finds it hard to express this emotion. Sanguine is compassionate and develops intense emotion towards other human; melancholy is passionate and can develop intense emotion for humans, and especially things, such as a particular field in life. Due to his sensitive emotion and probably his analytical ability, he is touchy. He is very anxious. Although the both introverted temperaments—melancholy and phlegmatic—have an emotional problem of fear, the fear of a melancholy leads to worrying. This worry, sometimes, leads to depression (introverts are more likely to commit suicide than extroverted temperaments). The dark mood of depression tends to increase as he/she ages unless something else intervenes. A melancholy does not readily get angry; his anger is slowing-burning and deep. He is very revengeful—in a slowly building fashion—to others that have hurt him.

15

Sometimes he tends to judge things according to himself, and he sometimes fall short in these, forgetting to know that he is comparing the best quality of someone with a quality of his that is not the best. Due to his perfectionist character and high analytical abilities, he tends to see his shortcomings too often. This often affects his level of self-confidence, and leads him to under-estimate his worth and abilities. A sanguine as a student just wants the certificate or diploma or degree (as long as everyone else is going for it). A choleric as a student works hard to score grades and succeed. A melancholy as a student wants to understand deeply everything being taught or discussed. A phlegmatic memorizes the lesson, and only does much work if the instructor mounts pressure or if there is no other choice. A melancholy is one of the best leaders around. An authority in the field of temperament once said, “melancholies are arguably the best leaders”, while another authority thinks cholerics are the best leaders. Whichever the case is, a melancholy’s self-sacrificing traits, gifts, analytical thinking pattern, self-discipline, uncompromising style often make him/her a good leader. Sometimes his uncompromising style is considered dangerous to the society when he is in authority. A melancholy is likely to favor the style of “leading by example”.

16

Phlegmatic The phlegmatic is the most introverted temperament. He/she is the never-upset guy and peace-maker. A phlegmatic is non-violent and fights against social injustice—just not in an active role. If a person is being violently exploited—for instance—a sanguine would start narrating the scene; a phlegmatic would say, “This is not fair. Someone should do something about it.”; a melancholy would feel the pain of the victim and would want to know the root of the situation before he/she starts planning way to resolve the issue; a choleric would put a team together and take action immediately. Of all the temperaments, a phlegmatic is the most constant in terms of mood. A phlegmatic is naturally very humorous. A phlegmatic is a helper to the vision of others. He/she works with and for others in order to help them fulfill their dreams. A phlegmatic is kind-hearted and sympathetic although he may look otherwise superficially. A phlegmatic tries to avoid being much involved in things in life. While melancholies tend to avoid talking much, phlegmatics tend to avoid getting in much action. He just likes to be relaxed and enjoy life. Someone had described this attitude of the introverts of being withdrawn from the society as “they need to charge their batteries”. It is as though their batteries are depleted by being in large gatherings while the batteries of extroverts are “charged up” from the same gatherings. A phlegmatic may 17

take on a task if “he has no other option”. However, he/she finds the easiest way to complete the task. I once invited few of my friend over to my house. I locked the door leading outside while we were all inside. Upon completion of the visitation, those trying to go out noticed the door was locked thus, they called me but I did not come as soon as they had expected. Before I could reach there, my phlegmatic friend had—without any key—opened the door they (none phlegmatics) struggled on. Being that a phlegmatic rarely gets involved, he/she hardly has to face a problem. Nevertheless, when he/she does, he/she is a finisher that uses common sense. In similar problem, a choleric uses force; a melancholy uses analyses while a sanguine might just breakdown. A phlegmatic seems to work best when he/she is under intense pressure— sometimes he/she creates the pressure. A phlegmatic may be given an assignment that is to be submitted in five days’ time. Most often, he would wait for some hours toward the submission time before he starts on it. A phlegmatic is very easy to get along with and he/she is the most likeable of all the four temperament types. He chooses to live a happy, unexcited life. He is a genius at copying, and he has the best memory of the four temperaments. A phlegmatic behavior is that of a diplomat. The hallmark of the phlegmatic is efficiency and neatness. Someone once told me about his former dormitory roommate: “I na understand 18

lae man. Lae man will make up his bed, but time to sleep he can go sleep on lae ground oh.” “He is likely to be a phlegmatic”, I said to myself. A phlegmatic is very good at planning, and he can be “quietly obstinate.” If you tell a phlegmatic to do a specific thing, you better don’t expect more: he is straight to the point. In friendship, he is extremely dependable—arguably the most dependable of all the temperaments. A phlegmatic is a family man who tends to enjoy his wife, and children especially. The phlegmatic major emotional problem is fear. He fears that he/she might be hurt by others; he fears that he might lose his wife; he fears this, he fears that. In other words, he/she fears almost everything. I had a clever phlegmatic friend in high school who would not join the “quizzing” team from the start: he feared that his grades would drop. A phlegmatic is a good leader. However, he/she seldom “raises the hand” for this role. In leadership, a phlegmatic knows how to bring people together and defuse hostility. The major problem to a phlegmatic leadership ability is his/her lack of drive and ambition.

Admixtures of Temperaments We have discussed the four major temperament types: sanguine (San), choleric (Chol), melancholy (Mel) and Phlegmatic (Phle). However, an individual’s temperament is 19

not that simple. There are two schools of thought regarding the temperamental make-up of a person. One school of thought holds that, every person has all of the four temperament types. However, the four of them are not all dominant or at the same level. One is high, the other is next and the remaining two follows. The other school of thought—to which the author adheres—holds that most people have two temperaments; a few other may have three and once in a blue moon, all four. One thing the two schools of thought seem to have in common is, all individuals have at least two temperaments that dominate the most. The most dominant of the two is considered the primary or dominant temperament while the other is considered the secondary temperament. Two people may have the same primary and secondary temperament, but the percentage could be different. Musu and Flomo could both have Sanguine as the primary temperament and phlegmatic as the secondary temperament. Musu’s admixture of temperaments—that has produced a primary sanguine and secondary phlegmatic— might be 63% sanguine and 37% phlegmatic; while that of Flomo could be 76% sanguine and 24% phlegmatic. Another person may have two temperaments—let’s say sanguine and phlegmatic—equally dominant. His blend of temperament could be 50% sanguine and 50% phlegmatic. In this case the both temperaments are ‘codominant’ 20

(codominant is originally used in genetics/ecology to mean equal dominance); however, the extroverted one may seem dominant. The higher the percentage of a temperament, the more of its characteristics you possess and demonstrate. It is much easier to distinguish sanguine from melancholy, sanguine from phlegmatic, choleric from phlegmatic than to distinguish sanguine from choleric, choleric from melancholy and melancholy from phlegmatic. It is not uncommon to mistaken a person’s secondary temperament as the primary especially, if the secondary is an extroverted temperament and the primary is an introverted temperament. The admixture of two temperaments produces two blends. The primary and secondary temperaments of a person combined is a blend. The six admixtures of temperaments give rise to twelve blends. When it is said that this person is sanguine, it is his dominant temperament that is being referred to. The Admixture of Choleric and Sanguine The admixture of choleric and sanguine produces two blends. With choleric as the primary temperament and sanguine as the secondary temperament the blend is called Chol-San while with sanguine as the primary temperament and choleric as the secondary temperament, the blend is SanChol. Chol-San and San-Chol are the strongest extroverts. They know how to justify themselves, and blame others. They are one of the best public speakers, fundraisers, Master 21

of Ceremonies (MC’s) around town. The emotional problem of anger is at the highest in these blends. The Admixture of Melancholy and Sanguine The admixture of melancholy and sanguine produces two blends. Mel-San with melancholy as primary and sanguine as secondary and San-Mel with sanguine as primary and melancholy as secondary. Mel-San and San-Mel are the most emotional of all the blends of temperaments and their emotional mood fluctuates drastically. These people fall at the risk of being disliked by others: they not only criticize but they voice out their criticism. These blends demonstrate both anger and fear. The Admixture of Phlegmatic and Sanguine The admixture of phlegmatic and sanguine produces two blends also. Phle-San with phlegmatic as primary and sanguine as secondary and San-Phle with sanguine as primary and phlegmatic as secondary. Phle-San and San-Phle find it easy when it comes to getting their way into the hearts of others. They are the best in the stand-up comedy industry and other entertainment industries. Men of these blends often put their families first. They suffer at the hands of both fear and anger. The Admixture of Choleric and Melancholy The admixture of choleric and melancholy leads to two blends. With choleric as primary and melancholy as 22

secondary, Chol-Mel; with melancholy as primary and choleric as secondary, Mel-Chol. Chol-Mel and Mel-Chol are one of the best entrepreneurs—if not the very best. They are capable of scoring “A’s” in school and “A’s” in life also. Most of the world’s best leaders, influential and wealthy individuals are of these blends of temperament. These blends are the strictest disciplinarians in society. The Admixture of Choleric and Phlegmatic The admixture of choleric and phlegmatic leads to two blends. Chol-Phle with choleric as the primary temperament and phlegmatic as the secondary temperament; Phle-Chol with phlegmatic as the primary temperament and choleric as the secondary temperament. Depending on the percentage difference between both temperaments, they seek to cancel out each other in terms of violence, activities and others; or augment each other in terms of stubbornness—for example. The Admixture of Melancholy and Phlegmatic The admixture of melancholy and phlegmatic leads to two blends. Mel-Phle when melancholy is primary and phlegmatic is secondary; Phle-Mel when the phlegmatic is primary and melancholy is secondary. Mel-Phle and Phle-Mel are the most introverted of all the blends of temperaments. These blends are one of the best scholars and researchers in this world. Most of the genius the world has known are of this admixture. They are the students with the “best brains”. 23

More on Temperaments The four temperaments—conventionally known as the Theory of the Four Temperament—is used in giving account of the different personality types observed in the human population. The theory of the four temperaments originated as early as 460 B.C. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, used it in the treatment of his patients. At that time, there was a system of medicine known as humourism: there are four bodily fluids and these influence a person’s health; Hippocrates added that, these bodily fluids also influence a person’s personality. The four bodily fluids were believed to be blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. The system says, when all of these fluids are in the balance, a person is healthy; however, when one or more are higher, a person is unhealthy and adopts the personality associated with the one in higher volume. An excess in blood brings out the characteristics of optimism, fun-loving spirit, selfpleasure; an excess of yellow bile brings out the characteristics of being hot-tempered, activity-oriented; an excess of black bile brings out the characteristics of gloom, doleful; and an excess of phlegm brings out the characteristics of dull, calm, and apathetic coldness; and these give rise to the sanguine, choleric, melancholy and phlegmatic temperaments respectively. Blood is derived from 24

the Greek Word transliterated “haima”; yellow bile from “xanthe chole”; black bile from “melaena chole” and phlegm from “phlegma”. Hippocrates developed this into a medical theory that lasted for centuries through the help of Galen and other physicians until the advent of modern medical research. The psychologist—Hans Eysench—and others believed that temperament was biologically based. They believed that blood was produced by the liver, yellow bile by the spleen, black bile by the gall bladder and phlegm by the brain and/or lungs. In modern medicine, black and yellow bile have no distinction as it has been experimentally measured quantitatively and qualitatively that bile is greenish dark to yellowish brown and it is produced by the liver and store in the gallbladder. Phlegm in modern medicine is the liquid secreted by the mucous membrane of mammals especially those produce in the respiratory system only and not including the nasal passage. Blood has been found to be a bodily fluid produced in the red bone marrow, but it is also produced in the liver during fetal development. The only bodily fluid that seems to hold true to some extend is the blood. The Swedish Physician, Rubin Fahraeus, suggested that the theory of humourism arose from the appearance of blood caused by sedimentation. Blood sedimentation is the act of drawing blood from a person and placing it in a glass tube to 25

sit undisturbed for about an hour. When this is done, four layers can be seen. From bottom to top: a dark clot (black bile), red blood cells (the blood), white blood cells (phlegm) and yellow serum (yellow bile). Being that Hans Eysench and others believed that temperament was biologically based, intense research upon research have been conducted to provide evidence that temperament is biologically based. Scientists and others have experimented with and searched the blood, they found no link; the genes and genes sequencing, yet nothing; and many other aspects of biology and biochemistry, yet still nothing. Being that the theory of humourism has been disproven and linkage of temperament being biologically based has no evidence to support it, the four temperaments has not conventionally been accepted despite its apparent practicality. Its usage has been done as a pseudo-science since the scientific method has not found evidence to support its biological linkage. No evidence has been found concerning the source of temperament because the evidence has been sought after in the wrong place. Yes, in the wrong place! Our temperament is not found in our biological or biochemical make-up. Where is it found then? I will tell you—just a moment. The science writer, Michael Brooks, in his work “13 Things that Do Not Make Sense”, wrote:

26

“TAKE our best understanding of gravity, apply it to the way galaxies spin, and you’ll quickly see the problem: the galaxies should be falling apart. Galactic matter orbits around a central point because its mutual gravitational attraction creates centripetal forces. But there is not enough mass in the galaxies to produce the observed spin. Vera Rubin, an astronomer working at the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Terrestrial Magnetism in Washington DC, spotted this anomaly in the late 1970s. The best response from physicists was to suggest there is more stuff out there than we can see. The trouble was, nobody could explain what this “dark matter” was.” “There is more stuff out there than we can see”. This statement refers not only to issue of Dark Matter but also, a lot of other things. All that we see is not all there is. The fact that we do not see something does not mean that it is not there. I remember, when I was a child, my mom would often send me to fetch things from her room. On some occasions I would return from the room to tell my mom, “the X-Y-Z is not there”. Then, she would stop what she was doing and go there herself and fetch it. It is not that it was not there; the thing is, I did not see it. This may have been due to several reasons, which include: maybe I looked the wrong places; maybe I was not diligent and patient enough; or maybe I had it fixed in my mind that what I was looking for was not there.

27

Similar can be said of some of the lack of evidence for certain things in science today. Now, let’s return to the temperament. The temperament of each and every individual is found in the spirit of that individual. (More shall be explained on this in the next chapter, chapter II.)

28

Exercise—Temperament There is no known mechanical machine or electronic device used for measuring an individual’s temperament. It has to be measured according to observation, experience and analysis (don’t be scared of the word; you don’t have to be a ‘genius’). If you were to tell the temperament of a person, you would have to observe that person, and maybe spend some time with him/her. By now, you may have been able to identify your temperament—both the primary and secondary. If you have not, I suggest you take a look at the four temperaments on the previous pages. As you go through them, pick out the attributes of each temperament that relate to you. Also, review your life—honestly—and pick out past behaviors of yours that give clue in suggesting your temperament. Remember, you would demonstrate the characteristics of your primary temperament naturally and more often than that of your secondary temperament. It's good to know both your strengths and weaknesses. If I were a professional football player whose stronger foot is the right and weaker foot is the left. If I am aware of this, I would kick more with my right foot during a match while I thoroughly train my left leg and improve my right leg during practice sessions. If I am not aware, I may just struggle. Note: Set aside at least an hour and be in an environment that is suitable for you before you continue reading this section. 29

Do you now have an hour in a suitable environment? If yes, you can continue. This section is a very personal one. One way to complete it is, you could get a separate sheet, book, or document on which to write your responses to the exercise. The other way is, you could write your responses in the blank spaces provided. However, whichever of the options you choose, you would have to keep private the document on which you write your responses. The responses would be used for your improvement, you would look at them as many times as you choose and work on them until you have succeeded. It is good to know your strength and weaknesses so as to better them off.

1. What are some natural strengths you have identified in yourself? A. _________________________________ B. _________________________________ C. _________________________________ D. _________________________________ 2. What do you intend to do to further improve these strengths? A. __________________________________ B. __________________________________ C. __________________________________ D. __________________________________ 30

3. What are some natural weaknesses you have identified in yourself? A. _________________________________ B. _________________________________ C. _________________________________ D. _________________________________ 4. What do you intend to do to cover these weaknesses and turn them into assets? A. ________________________________ B. ________________________________ C. ________________________________ D. ________________________________ 5. Which blend of temperament ae you? A. Primary/Dominant: _______________________ B. Secondary: ______________________________ 6. What are some characteristics about you that makes you to think you are such-&-such a temperament? A. _______________________________ B. _______________________________ C. _______________________________ D. _______________________________ 7. Upon learning about your primary temperament, what are some characteristics of this temperament you think are strengths? A. _______________________________ B. _______________________________ C. _______________________________ 31

D. _______________________________ 8. How do you think these strengths can be further improved? A. _______________________________ B. _______________________________ C. _______________________________ D. _______________________________ 9. Upon learning about your secondary temperament, what are some characteristics of this temperament you think are weaknesses? A. _______________________________ B. _______________________________ C. _______________________________ D. _______________________________ 10. How do you think these weaknesses can be covered or turned into assets? A. _______________________________ B. _______________________________ C. _______________________________ D. _______________________________ 11. As was stated above, a lot of other factors besides one’s temperament influences his/her personality. What are some other things besides your temperament that have shaped your personality into what it is now? A. __________________________ B. __________________________ C. __________________________ 32

D. __________________________ 12. What are some of your characters that are not as a result of your temperament (they may have resulted from other factors such as you have listed above)? A. _____________________________ B. _____________________________ C. _____________________________ D. _____________________________ 13. Do you think a person could possess only a single temperament? ________________ 14. Can you reckon/guess the temperament of someone you are close to?

33

Chapter Two: MINDSET Mindset Meaning There is an account of a young girl (let’s call her Sarah): this account is true of most people. When Sarah was six years old, she would sometimes take her bath at the front of the house (completely naked) when someone else is using the compound’s bathroom. Since she turned fifteen, she has refused to take her bath outside. She rather be late than bath outside. What is responsible for this change in Sarah’s behavior? This change in her behavior is as a result of a new mindset formed over a period of time. The Merriam-Webster defines mindset as, “a mental attitude or inclination; a fixed state of mind”. One’s mindset gives rise to his/her mentality which The Oxford Dictionary of English defines as, “the characteristic way of thinking of a person or group”. One’s mentality also gives rise to his/her mindset. Due to the closeness in meaning, the two words can serve as synonyms for each other. Example, Flomo has the mindset of success; Flomo has the success mentality. However, the best-known synonym for mindset is mental attitude; as defined by the Word Web Dictionary, mental attitude is “a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and disposition to act in certain ways’.

34

A person’s mindset determines what he does or says and when he/she does or says it. A mindset is the disposition a person is bound to flow in line with in his actions and reactions. Your mindset is the totality of all the individual mindsets you have about different things—example, school, gym, hospital and football games. You and another person may have the same mindset about a particular thing, but have different mindset about another thing. A person has different mindsets about different things. One person sees movies as being a source of learning life’s lessons, another sees watching movies as time wasting, and yet another sees movies as a means of relaxation after a long period of work. Those three people have different mindset about watching movies, however, they may all have the same mindset about another thing—maybe music, for example: they see it as a source of comfort. “Speaking about the mindset, where is it formed”, someone may ask?

Brain vs Mind The mindset is formed in the mind. Now, wait! Not the brain, but the mind. The difference between the mind and brain has been a puzzle for a very long time. In science, there is no single agreed upon definition of the mind. This failure is also 35

at the heart of psychology. Psychologists and scientists have hypothesized and theorize that – the mind is the activities of the brain (the product of the brain’s activities). The brain’s functions of thought, emotions, memory, and reasoning is the mind. When once asked at a Mindfulness Talk, “how do you define mind then?” The then Director of Oxford Mindfulness Centre, University of Oxford, Mark Williams, D.Phil., who is now Emeritus professor of Clinical Psychology and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry; said, “I would say ahh, that (let’s say the conscious mind) is the awareness of our moment-by-moment experience that—but we also have to look beyond what we are just aware of because much of the mind is working as if it were behind the scenes. So, for example, also the things you are remembering to do tomorrow or the next day—which you are not thinking about now, but tomorrow, you would do them. So, the mind is actually storing all these up. . .. The mind has to encompass our conscious awareness but also all the things you’ve done in the past, but also you intend to do in the future.” Above is an example of psychologist struggling to define the mind: the field of psychology doesn’t fully understand what the mind is. The brain is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language as, “the primary center for the regulation and control of bodily activities, receiving and 36

interpreting sensory impulses and transmitting information to the muscle and body organs. It is also the seat of consciousness, thought, memory and emotion.” This definition given by the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language goes too far. Science cannot successfully support the claim that the brain, “is also the seat of consciousness, thought, memory and emotion”. Even psychology does not agree to this claim. The first of the two sentences in the definition given by the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language is the actual definition of the brain. The second sentence, however, gives the definition of the mind, but not the brain. The Merriam-Webster defines the mind as, “the element or complex of elements in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills and especially reasons.” What differentiates us from animals is our ability to reason. We have brains, animals have brains, but they do not reason because it is not the brain that carries out the task of reasoning. Now, what is this “mind” all about; where is it found? This brings us to the components of a human, who a human really is. A human—every human and any human—has three components (or rather, he/she, is one with two components): a spirit, a soul and a body. The spirit is who a person really is; the soul is a part of the spirit; the body is the housing or casing of the spirit. The soul contains the mind; the mind is the center of emotion, memory, imagination, and 37

reasoning. The mind is the link between the spirit and the body. The mind controls the body. If you were to relax and imagine your favorite dish being placed in front of you, your mouth is likely to water. The food is not really there, but it was seen as there (which if it really were, the mouth would water). That is an instance of the mind controlling the body. The Word “heart” has been used to denote the spirit (usually in combination with its soul) or the soul specifically. The function of the biological heart is to pump blood; there is nothing like love or any other emotion found within the biological heart, even science knows and agrees with this. The thought of the biological heart being the seat of emotion is probably due to the fact that, the change in our emotion affects the heart-beat rate. Imagine the time you bumped into your crush: one sure thing is your heart beat rate changed (if it did not, then, that person was not really your crush). We now know what, “I love you from my heart” means. The body does not really love or hate; only the spirit can because it possesses the mind and the mind is the center of our emotion and consciousness. Each individual has a temperament (actually, a blend of temperaments). Your temperament in within your spirit: that is why temperament is neither inherited nor acquired, and that is why no biological link has been found for supporting the existence of temperaments. Before your birth, your temperament existed so did your spirit.

38

Science (including medicine, technology and robotics) has not been successful in the attempt to “fully make” humans. It has progressed immensely in making of robots—who do not function nor reason as humans do. The life of humanity is not found in the blood, the brain or the heart. It is in the spirit. They—the robots—do not have life because they do not have a spirit (no wonder they have to be recharged to stay active just as any other electronic device is). The mind is a part of the soul, and the soul is within the spirit. The mind has not been, and is not within the brain as some think. Put the human nervous system (including the brain) into a machine, and the machine would still be “non-living”. In the science fiction movie, Ghost in the Shell, a machine with a human brain is portrayed as a law enforcement officer named Major who reasons, possess emotions and a soul. However, as the movie genre makes it clear, “a science fiction”, it imagines the futuristic impact of science, but it is wrongly imagined and thus portrayed. In science, there is nothing like 100% prove. In fact, the idea of prove does not exist in science. In science, the word “evidence” is used instead of “prove”. Everything currently accepted in science is virtually “theories”: they cannot be proven; rather, they can be disproven. When better evidence is provided for another claim or theory as compared to other theories, that particular claim/theory is accepted until fault is found with it or a much better one comes up. Even the law of 39

gravity is subject to this. That is what Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity did (it revised the law of gravity). The idea of “prove” is found in mathematics, but not science. The mind is the seat of consciousness: thinking-feeling, thoughts, emotion, memory, imagination and perception. The mind thinks. It differentiates us from animals; the mind makes us powerful. We may not be able to fly into the sky, but we can make things that take us in the sky.

Mindset Determinants A person’s mental attitude is adjustable. Have you seen a person who is afraid of heights? Here’s a story . . . Lorpu lived with her parents and two younger brothers—Mulbah and Peter—on the second floor of a three-story building. She loved her parents and two brothers especially, Mulbah. One day while they were all playing, Mulbah fell from the second floor to the ground breaking his right arm in the process. Since then, Lorpu had feared heights. My mom used to say, “When a snake has bitten you, you would run when you see the tail of a lizard”. This proverb and the story above, illustrate an important principle about a person’s mindset. Lorpu had never feared height until the accident of her brother. That accident changed the way she saw heights; it changed her mindset about heights. Few months ago, I was climbing a very elongated stairway with an elderly man probably in his mid-forties. We started 40

climbing the stairs together. However, after I had climbed about ten stairs, I stopped hearing his footsteps. So, I looked behind out of curiosity. Guess what? The man was still at the bottom step. Therefore, I walked down to him and enquired as to why he was not moving. He said, “I scare lor climbing up-step”. I supported him and we completed the stairway. By the time we got up, he said, “My eye can be turning and I can feel like I coming fall down or maybe the steps will break”. He had a fear-mindset about height (stairs) thus, he acted it out. Your mindset is housed in your mind. The mind serves as the middle man between the body and the spirit. Are you aware that our muscles and glands do not control themselves? (The nervous system does.) The truth is the body does not necessarily control itself: the mind does. The mind is the commander of the body: it is the commander of the nervous system. That is why the more you focus on an injury the more it hurts; research has shown that the pain a person perceives reduces when he/she is more focused on something else. In chapter one, we gave the formula of attitude & behavior as: Temperament + Childhood Upbringing + life experience + education or training + health = attitude & behavior The childhood upbringing, life experience, education (any form of learning or training), health and other factors forms a person’s mindset in totally. One of the other factors is the 41

temperament: one’s temperament has bearing on his/her mindset. Although the mind commands the body, the body and spirit can influence how the mind commands. The mindset is the power the mind uses to command. The body and spirit are windows through which one’s mindset can be influenced and adjusted. The spirit—as we have discussed earlier—is where our temperament is. One’s temperament has a bearing on his/her mindset. For example, a sanguine mindset about life is to enjoy himself/herself; a choleric’s is to be productive and successful; that of a melancholy is to pursue his/her passion and contribute meaningfully to the society; that of phlegmatic is to be relaxed, experience the joy of life and maintain peace and joy for others. Your spirit is also the window to your mind from the world we do not see with our physical eyes—the spiritual/divine world. When we receive inspirations and revelations, it is actually our spirits that receive them and send them to our minds. When it remains in the spirit, we are not fully aware of it. Most of the inspirations an artist, writer or scientist receives is from his/her spirit. Dreams are imparted into the mind from the physical (body) realm and the spiritual realm. We dream when our minds reflect these things usually, while we are relaxed. You may dream about something you have thought about a whole lot; 42

you may also dream of something you did not really brood about. August Kekule’ was a German chemist who came up with the solution for a problem during his time. During his time, an important organic compound, benzene, empirical formula was known. However, it’s unsaturated structural formula proved a challenge for scientists of that era. Kekule’ later revealed that he got hints about the structural formula of benzene from a dream in which he saw a snake having its own tail in its mouth. He then drew the structural formula of benzene of six Carbon atoms with alternating single and double bonds in a ring form. Our body is another window to the mind. It is easy for us to impart our minds using this medium. The body serves as window to the mind by means of the senses: seeing, hearing, tasting, feeling and smelling. What we get from the senses can be combined as learning(knowledge) and experience. When most kids think of how their mothers get pregnancy, several other thoughts—but mating—come to them. Most think, “God put lae baby in mama stomach. When lae baby na grow-small, mama will go to lae doctor and lae doctor will open mama stomach and takor lae baby”. I remember when I was a kid, I was watching a movie and picked a character in it as my best friend. At the end of the movie, that character died, and (I still can’t believe I did that) I started crying, “my best friend na die. I wo na see him again.” About some time later, I watched another movie in 43

which was the same character. I then thought, “Oh, he’in die oh. Maybe lae carry him to lae hospital quick-quick”. Years later, I learned that they were only characters acting. The knowledge I acquired adjusted my mindset about characters in a movie. We gain knowledge by what we see, hear, taste, feel and say. Years ago, I had a friend who used a certain phrase to express exclamation of annoyance or surprise; not too long, I caught myself using the same phrase (I had heard it a lot thus, it found its way to my mind). The videos we watch and music we hear plays a part in shifting our mindsets. In the previous story about Lorpu and her brothers, she later feared heights because of the tragic accident involving her brother’s fall from the building. A baby can play with a hungry lion in the middle of the jungle; an adult would dare not try it. The baby has no knowledge of fear about a lion; however, the adult does and this knowledge gives him/her a mindset. If you have no knowledge or experience of how dangerous a gun is, you would not take it seriously. However, if you have experienced it harming others, you would run when you hear it shot (even if it’s not at you); when it is pointed at you, ha! you may just “pee” on yourself.

44

Importance of Mindset Our mindset is the basis of our actions, and also, our reactions. It is a major force behind almost everything about us. We dress based on our mindsets. Your home dress-code is highly likely to be different from the one you would wear for a very important job interview. We eat according to our mindset. When you eat at home alone, you may crack and chew your bones. When you are on a date—especially if you are a shy—you would want to refrain from cracking and chewing the bone no matter how “juicy” it is. Your mind persuades you to do or say those things it is familiar with; and dissuades you from doing or saying those things it is unfamiliar with. This is mindset in action. If you are a faithful football fan, it is very difficult for you to miss watching your team play. If you cheered for a team once, but is not really use to watching its matches all of the time, you can easily miss watching a match If you have never smoked a cigarette before, it would be tough for you to pick up one to smoke—even if you attempted to, your mind would be very dissuading and restless. However, as you continue to smoke—maybe, once weekly, you would see yourself move to twice, thrice, then five times weekly and later, uncountable weekly. Before you know it, you are a smoker. The same thing is true of any habit. 45

If you are student who is not used to studying, few minutes after you pick up your book to study or read you would later find yourself either sleeping or doing something entirely different. Your mind is not supporting you because it is not used to studying. Although you would experience difficulties in studying, your persistence would pay off after a period of time. Then, your mind would start to form the mindset of studying, and this mindset would support and persuade you in the direction of studying. A man or woman who has been carrying on corruption at the job site would find it tough to leave the habit. When he starts thinking of leaving it, all sorts of responsibilities would start to pop up. Nevertheless, as he continues to make effort to do away with the dishonesty, he is slowly imprinting ‘noncorruption’ into his mindset. By the time it is imprinted, he would find himself not engaged in corruption and still be able to handle his expensive and responsibilities. Something about money is: the more the money, the more the responsibilities and expenses. A very promiscuous man may think that there is no way he can live without being promiscuous. If he practices—from his heart and with skills—not being promiscuous, he would discover that he surely wasn’t born a promiscuous man. Some habits are easier to learn and harder to leave while for others the opposite is true. It’s easier to start smoking than to leave it. It is harder to make studying a habit than to leave 46

it. It is easier to adapt the habit of corruption than to leave it. What do you say about promiscuity? We see, understand and judge things through the eyes of our minds. A non-smoker may criticize smoking and sees it as being “foolish” and damaging to the health. A smoker sees smoking as good—because it makes him feel happy and relaxed. Here are two opinions not about two different things, but from two different people. This is what Anais Nin meant when she made the statement, “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” We are what our mindsets are. You are what your mindset is. A man who has affairs outside his marriage ignores the harm it has on him and his family, but only see the pleasure it brings him. A wife who is being cheated on by her husband only gives in to the hurt it causes her, and does not clearly see the pleasure it gives her husband. You see, they are both seeing the same adultery from different angles. It is like having on a particular eye glasses; the properties of the eye glasses has an effect on how you see things. A dark eye glasses and an clear eye glasses both give different view to the same object. Your mindset is your eye glasses. Another role of our mindsets is what I term as, “sight-backed progression”. What you consistently see in your mind realizes itself more times than none. If a young man continually thinks and sees himself as a failure in life, he sees himself as

47

amounting to nothing in life. Don’t be surprise if he dies in abject poverty and failure. When you see something in your mind, your entire body follows that sight you have in your mind. In fact, the body does all it can to achieve that sight. A man who wants to be successful and sees success in his mind has already set himself on the path of success. His spirit would supply his mind with ideas that could bring him success, his body would be set for pursuing the ideas. A student who sees in his/her mind, “Mathematics is difficult; there is nothing I can do to succeed at it.” would most likely end up fulfilling that sight. This student could be enthusiastic about other things, and even spend a long period of time studying other subjects and doing well in them. However, when it comes to studying or practicing mathematics, he/she gets so tired, demotivated and sleepy. In fact, his/her mind wanders in class as soon as the mathematics instructor enters the class. Therefore, he/she continues to dislike mathematics and underperform. It’s not that mathematics is only for “angels or geniuses”, but the commander—which is the mind—has sent out an order marking mathematics as an “enemy”. You know what happens between a force and its enemy during war: they hurt each other. That is what ends up happening between that student and mathematics. Have you noticed that when you start to see, and become mentally aware of the good things of someone you tend to 48

like them? And when we continually see and become mentally aware of the bad things of another person, we tend to dislike him/her? Just in case you haven’t noticed, it happens. You like that girl (you-know-who) because you have seen sometime good in her or about her; you like that boy (you-know-who) also because you have seen sometime good in him or about him. When you meet someone of the opposite sex whom you are really attracted to, all you see from the onset are the good qualities he/she possesses. However, when you start thinking of leaving (break-up) with that same person, all you get to see are the bad qualities he/she possesses (Yeah, that’s the mind at work). The most liked sportsmen and sportswomen in the world are actually those who are at the top of their game. In football, we see Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar Jr., Mohammed Salah and the likes. In basketball, Kobe Bryant (recently retired), Lebron James, Kevin Durant and the likes. These individuals are liked because of their good performances on the pitch of play. One’s mindset also determines his/her “motivation to act”. Our mindset about anything in particular can be known especially though our speech and “reflex actions”.

49

Exercise—Mindset Whatever mindset you have about a place, person or thing is as a result of the experience and knowledge you have. Change that, and you could change your mindset about that person, place or thing. Note: Set aside at least an hour and be in an environment that is suitable for you before you continue reading this section. Do you now have an hour in a suitable environment? If yes, you can continue. This section is a very personal one. One way to complete it is, you could get a separate sheet, book, or document on which to write your responses to the exercise. The other way is, you could write your responses in the blank spaces provided. However, whichever of the options you choose, you would have to keep private the document on which you write your responses. The response would be used for your improvement, you would look at them as many times as you choose and work on them until you have succeeded. It is good to know your strength and weaknesses so as to better them off.

1. What are Four current habits you would want to change about yourself in the next few months? 50

A. ______________________________________ B. ______________________________________ C. ______________________________________ D. ______________________________________ 2. What do you think are the mindset(s) that have led to those behaviors/habits? A. _____________________________________ B. _____________________________________ C. _____________________________________ D. _____________________________________ 3. What new mindset(s) can help you rid of those two behaviors/habits? A. _____________________________________ B. _____________________________________ C. _____________________________________ D. _____________________________________ 4. What are four novel behaviors/habits you would like to adopt? A. ______________________________________ B. ______________________________________ C. ______________________________________ D. ______________________________________ 5. What is your mindset about promiscuity? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 51

______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 6. What is your mindset about the role of the man in the society? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 7. What is your mindset about the role of the woman in the society? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 8. What is your mindset about the role of school/education in a nation? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________

52

9. Upon reading this chapter, what is the mindset you have adopted about, “who a human is”? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 10. What is your mindset about the role of the government of Liberia to the nation and its people? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 11. What is your mindset about God (the divine being)? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 12. What is life: what is your mindset about it? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 53

______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 13. What is your mentality about marriage? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ 14. What is your mental attitude towards/about “friendship”. A. ________________________________________ B. ________________________________________ C. ________________________________________ D. ________________________________________ 15. Two things you have learned about mindset: A. ________________________________________ B. ________________________________________

54

UNIT TWO: ATTITUDE AND BEHAVIOR—AS RELATING TO THE LIBERIAN PEOPLE

55

Chapter Three: NOW WANING The major component and characteristic feature of any nation in the world is primarily its people (afterwards, the land). A nation is its people; the people of a nation is that nation. Liberia is Liberians; Liberians are Liberia. A nation can only be as great as its people are. Think about any great and prosperous nation in the world. It is not the buildings, streets, machines, and technology that have made that nation prosperous. It’s is the people! They build, develop and maintain the buildings, streets, machines, technology and so on. Take those same people from their home land to another favorable land and there is a high probability they would get back on the path of greatness and prosperity. Liberia was as it was in the past due to the Liberians then; Liberia is what it is today due to the Liberians now; and Liberia will be what it will be tomorrow due to the Liberians then. Every nation is and should be built by its own people. The status of a nation depends on the attitude and behavior the people of that nation possess and exhibit. The attitude and behavior of the people either cause their nation to regress, remain stagnant or progress. Liberians have been noticed as dropping certain attitude and behavior and adopting certain other attitude and behavior in order for them to progress. This chapter deals with the attitude and behaviors that are waning among the Liberian people.

56

Primarily Pleasure-Seeking On a sunny afternoon, a young man walks into a bar and orders a bottle of Number 9. While he and his friend were drinking the liquor, he says, “na small plan I planning for lae place.” “on my birthday”, he continues, “I will spoil here.” “You sure?”, the bartender interestingly asks. The young man responds, “My birthday la July. So, every year—starting January—I can start keeping any money I get for my birthday. On that day, I’n lying to you—I can boil and enjoy myself.” The bartender further asks, “So after your birthday celebration, you won’t boil again?”. “I beg you yah. I can keep lae mie I get during the week and boil on weekend.”, the young man responds. I was sitting at a public area some months ago. A man came, greeted me and then sat. He looked at me and said, “Yeahhhh my man, I can make lae money, but nothing good to spend it on. The only thing there, is to just drink and do plenty woman business. Lae sitting seh I doing here, la one nor my lil girl I waiting for so.” The attitude of Liberians toward pleasure is changing today. However, in the past, Liberians seemed to have the definition that, “Life is all about pleasure”. And some Liberians had seemed to have defined pleasure as two things, “drinking, and having indiscriminate sexual affairs.” Someone once asked me, “what pleasures are there to those that give their lives to a cause, and rarely do what we do for 57

pleasure?” I was quiet for a while and then asked, “What is pleasure?” She said, “something that can make you happy.” I said, “The cause they give their lives to makes them happy.” The truth about happiness is, what you see and practice as a source of happiness becomes your source of happiness. There are lot of people who do not drink alcohol nor have indiscriminate sexual affairs yet, they are happy. In fact, most are even happier than those that “put drinking and loving business on their heads.” Young people have higher desire for pleasure than older folks do. As a young man, you would feel intense attraction towards the opposite sex and a lot of other things that could bring pleasure. The youth stage of every man is good for selfdevelopment, learning and preparation for the future. As a young man, your mind is limited to the things it can handle at a time. In a single second, it is unwise to be putting a spoon of rice in your mouth and drinking at the same time: it’s better to first remove the spoon—probably chew the rice first—before you drink the water. Having friends—both males and females—are all part of the developmental phase each young man has to go through. However, if you place “woman business” first during this stage, it could negatively affect your future. Unlike the adult’s mind, the youth’s mind is not fully mature to carry issues of sexual relationship, and still properly focus. You could lose focus off your developmental track. The woman 58

herself at this stage is not yet developed (Women are “helpmates for men”). Also, if she is to help you, you must be doing something you need a hand with. Otherwise, she becomes a distraction to you, and you become a distraction to her also. When a man has identified his purpose in life and has started to pursue it, then, is he fit to bring a woman on board. Bringing a woman on board before this time may just be for sex, distraction and destruction of that man’s future and probably that of the woman too. It's advisable for a male to have a female friend as she can be a source of motivation and inspiration. Remember, the importance and emphasis is placed on the “friendship”, not the “sexship.” Two sources of motivation to every man are his dream (his passion, job, or what he wants in life) and his woman. You must know your dream; sometimes getting woman before this time clouds your mind and prevents you from knowing your dream. When you bring a woman on board be sure you already have idea of your dream and you are focused then, she helps sharpen your dream & focus (if she is developed to some extent and you continue to develop her). I once read an author’s account of a man he met. This man wished for a woman that can spend money. The author asked, why? The man told him that, if his wife spends more money, it would motivate him to make more money. Although his thought process was wrong (women naturally 59

should gather not scatter), what he said has some truth in it. A woman in a man’s life, pushes the man to want to succeed so that he can give her a better life, and make her happy; when she is happy, he also is. Men usually go to clubs for the sake of women. They would buy a lot of drinks and place them on their table; some would even refuse the waiters’ or waitresses’ request to take away the empty bottles from the table while they sit there— [you already know the reason]. Some clubs have noticed this and have thus, given a lesser price to tickets for women wanting to enter; in fact, some even make it “free-entry for women” and some have a special day for women called “Ladies Night”. A girl’s desire is, “to be loved and wanted”. She wants her family to love and want her, and she wants especially boys to find her attractive. I know a girl who is not ready for relationship, but she likes it whenever boys tell her, “You are beautiful.” Or “I want you.” The number one pride of every girl is her “body”. Most of the time, men judge women according to this. The mindset of a normal male is to enjoy himself with different women; however, if he can have his way, he should be the only man on earth who has slept with the woman he marries. The more a girl/woman values herself, the more men value you. Make yourself cheap, men see and buy you cheap. Every man wants a woman he can be proud of and boast of. When half of the community has slept 60

with a woman, it is a shame to her man. When a lady is young, it is the time to develop herself (the world is no longer run on beauty alone); build relationships (not sexual ones). If a man wants cow milk and the only means of getting it is by owning a cow, he may just end up buying the cow. However, if he can get the milk without owning a cow, he may just go for the milk alone. Why buy the cow when the milk is free? Ladies, acquire education, learn every trade you can, adopt the training from your family, be very obedient, and preserve yourself in waiting for your husband. The husband finds the wife and takes her along; it’s not the other way around. Don’t be confused, “sex is not love & love is not sex”. Let’s look at relationship between male and female. Men are naturally designed to be attracted towards women; women are naturally wired to wish to be admired and desired by men. This feeling can come early—sometimes, before age ten. It seeks to signal a person for the future stage of life where he/she would be attached to someone of the opposite sex. The father provides for his daughter, teaches and trains her, protects her and cares for her. When a man gets involved with a woman, he becomes her new “father”: he takes up the responsibility of the father. That is the reason you have to give your woman care, protection, love her and give her money (even if she is working). A woman can even make

61

more money than you the man; however, she still expects you to give her money—that is how she is designed. Every woman wants a man that can provide for her and give her comfort. Nowadays, the major means of provision and comfort is MONEY. Therefore, every woman wants her man to have money. By the way, she eats rice not love, she eats pizza not affection, she sleeps on mattress not “big boy swag”; she wears clothes not handsomeness. I know a young man (X) who is unemployed. He has a girlfriend he loves so much. There is another guy “pressing” his girl, and this other guy has money. His girlfriend openly tells him, “X, I love you, but…” There is something about money: it tends to make an ‘ordinary man’ very attractive to a woman. Only a handful of women—who are disciplined, trained and focused—can resist it. What a man really wants from his woman is respect. He interprets it as “love from her”. A man who can provide, care for and develop his woman would readily get it. However, a man who cannot perform his responsibilities makes respecting him a tough task. (Women, note that your responsibility is to respect your man and humble yourself to him no matter what. A woman who does this is honorable). “Rudeness” and disobedience within a woman reduces her attractiveness: it makes her unattractive. What a woman wants from her man is affection: demonstrate—privately and publicly—that you love her and demonstrate it as often as 62

possible. A woman always wants to be assured by her man that she is loved and wanted—she gets respect from this. When a woman cheats on her man, he interprets it as, “She does not respect me.”; when a man cheats on his woman, she interprets it as, “He does not love me.” As a woman, you cannot afford to cheat even if your man has cheated or is presently cheating. Maintain that pride for yourself, and it would pay off. Women have things they can bear; so, do men. The man serves as a wall to the wife. A woman with a man is harder to fall into the trap of deception. A woman is secure with a man by her side. The man serves as a crown to the children. With a man in the house, the boy children come up well: they are taught the meaning of manhood; they are taught how to approach life; and they are strongly disciplined and kept under control. Children—both boys and girls—tend to revere their father more than the mother: the mother is loved most often and the father is revered. The absence of fathers in the homes lead to boy children moving into the street life. The father provides for his daughter, teaches & trains her, and offers her security. High prostitution rate is due to men who are not playing their roles as husbands or fathers. Sometimes, a marry man would leave his house, the comfort of his wife, and come on the street drinking and chasing prostitutes. Then, the next morning when his family asks for “food money”, he complains that there is no money. His 63

behavior could lead his wife/daughter ending up on the street “looking for customers.” Most of the prostitutes in the street today are single mothers or fatherless daughters. I once over-heard a prostitute expressing her frustration to her friend. She had been with a man the night before who had agreed to give her a certain amount of money. However, after the intercourse, he started giving her “stories”. She got so angry because the next day was her son’s birthday, and she wanted to buy him somethings and cook his “best soup”. A woman needs a man to provide for her; in the absence of none, most tend to trade their “bodies” as a source of income. Liberian women are one of the most beautiful on the continent of Africa. Some of them have been carried away by their beauty, and start having affair with multiple men at the same time. I got an account from a Liberian man who married and took his wife, a Liberian woman, to the country in which he worked. He came on visit to Liberia; by the time he got back to his wife in the other country, there she was pregnant for another man. How shameful! There are a lot of successful Liberian guys that want wives that are faithful. No man wants a woman who makes him to worry “I wonder what she does or who she is with when I am not around?” In most cases, it takes the physical appearance of a lady to attract a man’s attention; however, it takes more than that to sustain his attention. 64

Foreigners within the country had termed Liberian women as “cheap and useless”, and the men as, “irresponsible”. A mother should set good example for her daughters and the other younger women around. How can she with the prostitution lifestyle? Nevertheless a woman not having a husband or father to look after her, there are a lot of other things she could turn to than selling her most precious jewel—her body. It had degraded the women . . . and men too. Almost every person on earth wants to have “good time” and enjoy himself/herself. I came across a statement some time ago, “Without self-discipline, there is no such thing as success.” You would have to be wise to know that pleasure is not all to life. Most times, we enjoy pleasure more when it is visited once in a while. Then, it becomes super-pleasure. Some people get pleasure by reading, some by watching sports, some by listening to music, & some by spending time with a loved one. You can—from your mind--adjust your definition of pleasure, and your body (including your brain) would follow. You don’t have to be part of “the fire man business” or “the water and sewer business” or “dun truck business”. More and more Liberians are now dropping the behavior of spending a lot of their money and time at the bar and on promiscuity. Join the chariot!

65

The Crab Mentality It was a wet Friday evening; I was an undergraduate at the time. After all classes of the day were completed, a friend of mine came to my room to pay me an unexpected visit. I offered him a seat opposite my bed while I sat on the bed. I left all I was doing and gave him my full attention. He started to talk (that’s one of the things he does well), and said a lot of things. However, there was something he said that I caught and I have never let it slip from me. He said, “One of the reasons we Liberians are still behind and backward is because of this ‘crab mentality’ we possess”. That was my first time to hear of something called, “crab mentality”. So, I asked him, “What is this ‘crab mentality’?” He said, “Bro, haven’t you noticed what crabs do?” “If you put crabs in a bucket or tub,”, he continued, “as one tries to climb out, another would pull down on it. Also, as the other one tries to climb up, still another would pull down on it. That is how we Liberians behave: we don’t like to see our fellow Liberian progressing and the next thing we start doing is pulling down on him or her with the mindset, ‘if it is not me or my own, it can’t be you’. That’s bad, bro.” Astonished by what he said, I have always wanted to experiment with crabs. One day, my mother and I went out, and on the way back home we stopped at the market to buy few groceries. During that time, I saw living crabs being sold. Quickly, I whispered to my mother, “Don’t you think the crab 66

would be nice with Palm Butter Soup?”. She looked at it and said, “Yeah oh, it would be nice.” We bought the crabs, and I was just excited about getting home so I could finally see what my friend had talked about. When we got home, I hurriedly got a bucket and empty the crabs into it. I observed the crabs, and saw that as one attempted to climb up the bucket, it does not fall by itself but was pulled down by another one, whether as a means for the other to climb or as an attempt to undermine the first one, at least, I had found some truth in the statement my friend had made. There are several stories relating to this crab mentality. Two good friends worked at the same place. Kollie’s office was higher than that of Boakai’s. After some time, Boakai was promoted and his new office was higher than that of Kollie’s. Since then, Kollie has been envious of Boakai. Boakai had an office boy whom he usually sent to buy his lunch (Boakai likes spending his lunch time at the office). Kollie discovered this and brainwashed the office boy and bribed the cook at the restaurant into poisoning Boakai’s lunch. Another aspect of the crab mentality is where the other person is not directly harmed. However, the assistance that is needed to elevate that person is intentionally withheld. Three Liberians travelled out for an international conference. When they got to the conference venue, they separately received a form to fill in. On this form, there was an opportunity to apply for participation in a seminar—in a 67

developed nation--where each participant would be given a very good stipend. Only one of the three Liberians took advantage of this opportunity, while the two others ignored it. While still at the conference, the result of the application for this seminar came up, and the Liberian that applied was successful. However, he needed something from his two other friends (Liberians, also) for him to go for this seminar directly from the international conference venue, but they refused to help him: “How all of us will come here, and only your one gets this opportunity. We will not help you; it is better that we all go back to Liberia like this.” And that was it. In a West African nation—I know—when one person succeeds, he goes for others and show them the way to success. This nation has one of the biggest and fastestgrowing economies in Africa. Even if they were to travel out of their country and find the pathway to success, they would surely bring on their compatriots to that path. In the past, it has been noticed that Liberians have favored foreigners over their compatriots (country man or country woman). I have heard people saying, “We the Liberians, we like to undermine one another too much.” In the words of a Liberian I spoke with yesterday, “Yeah, we really used to do it to our own-seh. If you really want know Liberians love each other, let them meet outside their homeland, but in their own country that love was not there.”

68

Several years ago, I used to know a boy (yes, a Liberian). He played football so well that those that knew him saw him as a rising star. He was the best on the field of play in any match he partakes in. He played the thing so well that comparison was being made between him and the iconic footballer, George Manneh Weah. This led his friends and football associates to start calling him “Baby George”. His brilliance got the attention of potential sponsors who were considering flying him out of the country. Shortly after this news came out, the next thing I heard was, the young talented boy was dead. A man gave an account some time ago. There was this lady he knew. She had received an invitation to travel to a developed country after she won the Diversity Visa Lottery. However, she needed to sit the visa interview and she also needed money to purchase her plane ticket. This man had helped her—not expecting anything in return—throughout until she was able to obtain her visa and plane ticket. She safely travelled away. Few years later, this man received an invitation from an institution to attend its conference in the same nation. The man was successful in the interview, and then, travelled. During his time in this foreign nation, he got financially stranded. Someone came to his aid unexpectedly; guess who . . . the same lady he had helped few years earlier. In this life, good has a way of paying off: good is never lost. If he had been envious and not offered his help towards that 69

woman when she was trying to obtain the visa and plane ticket, she probably would not have been able to and if she had not travelled, how would she have been able to meet him there and offer him a hand? Also, if he had not helped, but she was still successful in obtaining her visa & plane ticket, the two may have had a sticky relationship that could have prevented her from helping or prevented him from even asking. Also, being that he had helped her through the visa and plane ticket acquisition, his pathway for the acquisition of visa and plane ticket was also opened. Life is like a merry-go-round. Every point is a present, then a past, and later a future. Life is a ladder with different people at different heights and different time to climb. Those above and below you can help you, while you can help those you are above and below. It is good to fully support others on the journey to their destiny and success. Everyone has a destiny, and when your time comes, others would also fully support you. The person who you help today may tomorrow be of help to your children, grand or great-grandchildren, another relative or even you. This compatriot you have helped today could tomorrow be the most influential man or woman in Liberia, in West Africa, in Africa or the world. Every house is made up of components. One stone or block cannot build a house. There is no thing as a one-man success. Any and Every

70

successful person today have been helped by others on the way towards their success. Whatever we sow in life that we also reap. One of the fastest ways towards the growth of Liberia, is the growth of Liberians. It’s you and me, it involves every Liberian and every resident of Liberia. Other developed and developing countries are the way they are because they provide opportunities for each other, and they support each other on the path to success. We all need something, but not the same thing: I may need an eye, you a hand, another a nose, and yet another, legs. Supporting each other, we are stronger and better. It’s relieving to know that this behavior is currently waning among Liberians. Look at the Liberian Music Industry. It recently started to boom because Liberians have started liking and supporting Liberian Music. Never undermine the works or prosperity of anyone, especially your fellow Liberian brothers and sisters; offer any useful assistance to raise up another Liberian today. What goes around, comes around—take note.

Wasteful Lifestyle John calculates his weekly income at the end of each week. From there, he saves fifty percent and uses the other fifty percent to handle expenses of the upcoming week. If his 71

weekly income is fixed, he can expect to have in his safe hundred percent of his weekly income in two-week time; and would have half the total of his income in a year. John’s friend, Derrick, makes the same amount John makes weekly. However, at the end of each year, Derrick is usually broke and goes to John to credit. What do you think is the difference between John and Derrick? The answer is found in their usage of money— Derrick is wasteful while John is not. Although the number of Liberians aware of the true nature of money is increasing, only a few number of Liberians are aware that money is like a plant. If you eat the produce, but keep the seed and replant, you would still have something to eat. However, if you eat all the produce and seed, you would lack and go hungry. Money and resources need to be managed well rather than being wastefully used. Clothes has been one of the sources of the wasteful lifestyle affecting some Liberians. Whenever this young lady or young man gets money, the first thing that comes to mind is clothes and feet-wear. He/she goes to the market, and wants to “buy the whole market”. Sometimes, you see a person consistently buying clothing beyond the level of his/her income: that’s one of the pathways to poverty. Always sew your coat according to your size. Another source of the wasteful lifestyle is food. Josephine took one hundred percent of the money she received 72

yesterday, and went to the market. She buys the necessary soup materials, and adds raw fishes (“butter nose” & “cassava fish”); dried meat, fresh meat, “pig feet”, “chicken feet”, and other “particles”. She takes all these things home, seasons them well and cooks them (“oh, la girl can cook!”). She, and her young son sat down and completely ate everything. After this, she goes to the community square and “started chewing people’s bone”. Evening came, she and her young son slept. “Crow, cro, croooow”, the roaster crows. It’s a new morning. Josephine sits outside her door and spreads out her leg. “What’s wrong, Josephine?”, a neighbor asks. Josephine replies, “Lae country hard mehn. I’n even know wher-place I coming get money from to eat today seh.” Now look at Josephine. After she had spent all of her money on one day’s meal—spending extravagantly—then, she wants money to fall from the blue sky for her. She could have been more economical and discreet in order to store for tomorrow. I have a friend that used to complain that the money her father sends her for feeding is way too small. One day, I became curious and asked her, how she handles her feeding. She revealed that she cooks a soup daily for her alone. I suggested that she manages each soup she cooks for more than a day. Few weeks later, she informed me that she had been able to save a lot since she started using a soup for

73

more than a day. In fact, she found out that the amount her father sends her for feeding exceeds her spending by far. Some people think that wearing fine and expensive clothes makes a person successful. Don’t be deceived: it doesn’t. In fact, to some extend, the opposite is true. Some people have the mindset that, “I will save my money, and when it gets plenty, I will use all to buy expensive clothes, shoes, gold bracelets, necklace and ring, again and again. Anybody that sees me will think I rich.” Hmm, if you prefer appearing rich, but not actually being rich, then, you are still playing in life. You make others to think you are rich, and spend all your money on outward appearance while you don’t have your own house, neither do you know how you will eat. “My boy, my girl”, if this is you, you are still playing! The rich people of the world don’t really care much about outward appearance. They are not concern about making people think they are rich. Most of the time, it is those that don’t have something that are “fighting” to make others think they have it. I know a very rich man, a billionaire, that is known for his “always grey T-shirt”. If you want others to see you as a specific personality, don’t fake that personality. Instead, in the closet, become that personality and others would definitely see you as that personality in the open. Appear simple and work towards being successful. As you become successful, you can appear simple or successful and work towards being more 74

successful. You cannot afford to be extravagant in your appearance, but empty in your pocket or bag. You are way too wise for that. Another force that drives wasteful lifestyle is “comparison”. Several years ago, I heard the story of a Liberian footballer playing outside the country. He started to compare himself with another footballer who was wealthier than him. He started to buy and use similar things the other footballer buys and uses. After some time, this Liberian footballer’s financial account became very low. If he were surprised, he should not have been as, he wasn’t at the same financial level of the other footballer. He was to spend according to his account, not spending base on someone else’s account. All fingers are not equal, all fingers will never be equal but all fingers have value—remember that. A young girl admires the things her girlfriends possess. She wants to own similar things, dress like them, and eat what they eat, thus, she needs to get the money they get. Not being skilled enough to work, and her parents not being able to provide the money she wants, she turns to another means. She finds a “sugar daddy”. As young as she was, she was not content with what her family could provide and ended up selling her pride and dignity (that are to be kept for “The One”) for something that is a devaluation of her worth. Comparing yourself to others leads to wasteful lifestyle capable of destroying you and your future. 75

A person could be wasteful in managing his/her time—it’s another form of wastefulness. He/she sleeps for about thirteen hours. Then, he/she awakes and goes on to doing unproductive things for about five hours. And yet another three is spent on watching videos (especially movies & TV Series), and this schedule is almost an ‘everyday’ thing. If this person is a student, what is the time left to study and do assignments? If a non-student, what’s the time left to work, be creative and productive? The things you spend most of your time doing determine the results you get in life. As said by Michael Altshuler, “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.” Everyone—including the rich and poor—has the same twenty-four hours in a day. The thing that differs here is how and on what each of them spend their time. Use your time to—firstly—do the meaningful and productive things. Mismanagement of funds is a major force of wastefulness that had kept Liberians backward. When your expenditure is equal to or more than your income, you are having a mismanagement of funds crisis. There are a lot of people who were once rich, but are now struggling financially. There is a two-story building on the Roberts Field High Way. I was made to understand that it belongs to a man who was a top official in the government some time ago. Due to change of government, he became deposed of his office. Since then, things have not really been fine with him. He could not 76

sustain himself and his family staying in that big and beautiful two-story building thus, he put it out for lease (he initially thought of putting it on sale, but his wife advised him otherwise). Here is a man that worked very close with a past Liberian president during which time he earned a lot of money. An elderly lady told me about a young man in her community. This guy worked with a non-governmental organization where he was well-paid. During this time, he was very wasteful in his spending. Few years later, he lost his job. A few months after this, he started to struggle financially. What happened to his money? Answer: the same thing that happened to the former government official spoken about previously; they misused their money at the time they were working; they lived only in the NOW and forgot about TOMORROW. They might have thought, “Since we are making money today, let’s relax and spoil it: the money will keep coming.” Most times, life is not that way. Had they invested and wisely spent the money, even when unemployed, they would not face financial difficulties. Women are naturally gatherers: they are less wasteful than men. So, if you are a woman and you don’t get rid of wastefulness, your family is in trouble. If you are married, you and your spouse would have to agree not to be wasteful 77

or else, your effort to curtail wastefulness would not be strong enough. A lady would sell and save her money in the cash box. While she is away selling, her husband creeps behind her, opens her cash box and draws out the money. When the woman returns, she opens the cash box only to find it empty. He would use the money to drink and comes home drunk. Seeking too much pleasure makes a person wasteful and is capable of destroying a person’s future. Whatever you have today, avoid being wasteful but manage them well. I read that the RLJ Resort was initially placed into the hands of Liberians. Instead of managing the area, they mismanaged it on several occasions. Wastefulness is one of the reasons why most Liberians have been unable to successfully manage business. Instead of saving some of the profit, they would eat all the profit. Still, others would encroach on the capital of the business. There are a lot of foreign nationals who have started small businesses in Liberia and after some years, they become millionaires. They avoid wastefulness; know and obey the law of management. Would you?

Dishonesty & Unreliability “The Price of dishonesty is self-destruction” – Rita Mae Brown 78

Some months ago, a proprietor asked me to supervise his business and employees while he goes on a trip. Less than a week into serving as supervisor, I noticed that the employees were in the habit of fraudulent acts as it related to the money. I decided to call a brief and semi-formal meeting. When they were all seated and ready for the meeting, I sat quietly for some minutes. After then, I asked a question: “Do you like or agree with the idea that some of the workers in the government take away the nation’s resources/fund at the expense of the people who chose them”? They gave their responses, each with very similar idea that could be summed up: “No, I don’t like the idea because they are harming us the people and making our country poor.” “Ahem”, I cleared my throat. I then asked, “Do you like or agree with the idea that some of you take away this business fund at the expense of the same person that employed you”? (Quietude, complete quietude: the whole meeting became very quiet. You could have dropped a needle and hear it sound as it falls to the ground.) Dishonesty is a major flaw in a person. It is capable of tainting a person’s well-built character in seconds. A friend of mine used to say, trust is like a piece of paper. Once wrapped, it’s difficult to completely straighten. Dishonesty as part of a person’s mindset or in his/her character makes him/her susceptible to lying, cheating and stealing.

79

Dishonesty can start as early as childhood and elementary level. Not doing your school assignments, spying during test, examination and even quizzes and bribery are all acts of dishonesty. In a conversation with one of the managers of the Palm Springs Resort, I was made to understand that the resort has had a major problem with Liberian employees. He said, “They have found Liberians employees to be very dishonest, and between 2011 to 2018, they have sacked about two hundred Liberians due to dishonesty on the job.” “What!”, I exclaimed. It is this same dishonesty that has caused government officials and others to carry on corruption and embezzlement. Fraudulently, illegally or forcefully taking from others is not the way to prosperity. Wealth gotten by this means stains any other wealth you have achieved cleanly. Most of the time, people who get things by the means of corruption, embezzlement, lying, stealing or cheating; usually mismanage them. You want to know one of the forces behind the mismanagement that have hurt several Liberians? This is it! There is a law of life, those that wrongfully take from others become foolish in using what they have wrongfully taken. Dishonesty tarnishes a person’s spirit and personality. Being bribable means you can be bought for “a little of nothing”; it means you have rendered yourself less valuable and worthless thus, have sold yourself 80

out cheaply. When you are dishonesty, it causes you to lose confidence. You are skeptical, “John or Mary or Doe knows my secret. . ..” It makes you live in apprehension and lower your confidence and authority as a person. You make yourself short of a good example in the society. The wealth you have gathered could be taken away when your schemes are discovered. Someone said, one thing about stealing is, it is a profession; you are saying to yourself, ‘I cannot make/earn this thing on my own. I am less productive as compared to those that have it so, I must take it from them.’ I agreed with this: it is definitely true. The cheating, and lying and stealing all play part in bringing poverty, under-development and other hurts to a nation: these things are now waning in Liberia (join the chariot). Even if you think you are been treated or compensated unfairly, be honest always (honesty pays today, honesty pays tomorrow, honesty pays forever). There are some people that “just can’t see money”. They are so “itchy when it comes to money” that as soon as they see money, they want to take it. This, I term the “negative spirit of money”. A boy went to a man and asked him for job, just something to do in order for him to be able to feed himself. The man had compassion on him and gave him few responsibilities around the compound. At the end of every month this boy was being 81

paid. One day the man needed to send money to a friend nearby. He called the boy and handed over to him the money to take to this friend. He never saw the boy until after three years. I overheard a man telling his friend of a girl he gave “food money” in order for her to prepare him lunch. He said, “La money was so big in her eyes that she ran away, I’n see her since that time.” There are some people who ask their friend or neighbor for loan. However, when it’s time to pay back “they can refuse to pay back and start hiding from you.” This is the “negative spirit of money”. Unreliability is one of the closest relatives of dishonesty. It’s the inability to be trusted or depended upon; it is being undependable. With this attitude, people find it hard to trust you because you have dishonored their trust or the trust of others. Always honor the trust of people. You see, the people whose trust who have dishonored are the ones who trust you. When you display dishonesty on more than one occasion, you become marked with the tag, “he/she is undependable.” People find it hard to trust you—before even talking about recommending you. Besides, it is like a doubleedge spear that not only hurts others, but also you yourself. A boy named Flomo is serving a business man, Mr. Jones. However, during this time of service, this boy was very dishonest towards his master. Being that his boss would 82

leave him in charge of the business, he started to misuse and mismanage the business fund. When his boss heard of this, he became very angry and could not trust Flomo as before. After Flomo had completed his years of service, Mr. Jones established the same business for Flomo and delivered it to him. Flomo himself manages his business. Within less than a year, Flomo’s business started to shrink, and not long after, it collapsed completely. Flomo could not properly manage his own business because he had not practiced honesty while he served his boss, Mr. Jones. If you cannot take care of someone else’s property, how would you be able to care for yours. If you do not handle little things well, who will give you the big ones? Dishonesty in relationships also brings about unreliability. High unreliability can be displayed in friendship. A group of teens—all males—went on the third day of testing of one of their friend’s—Kollie—new car given to him by his parents. On the way back from the testing that evening, there was a minor accident between Kollie’s car and that of another car. The cars were taken to the Zone Three Police Station; however, they were told to park the cars at the station and return the next morning at 10:00 A.M. While at the Police Station, Kollie’s friends started talking and making “sharp mouth” that they would be there the next morning before 10:00 A.M. to vouch for him. The next morning Kollie was at the Station by 9:30 A.M. expecting his friends to be there 83

before 10:00 A.M—just as they said. The alarm on his wrist watch rang: it was ten O’clock. However, none of his friends had shown up. Trying to call them, their phones were both switched off. Eleven O’clock, nothing; twelve O’clock, still nothing. Put plainly, “nan nor them show face that day or the next.” A friend who only receives and does not give—anything—in return to his/her friend is an undependable friend. In fact, that is not even a friendship. Friendship is about giving and taking; every friendship established should be beneficial to the parties involved. Anything other than this, it is a beneficence or charity, but not a friendship. High level of unreliability can be shown in marital relationship especially in the form of infidelity. The spouse who cheats on his wife, makes his character unreliable. His partner finds it difficult to trust him. The same is true of a lady who cheats. My “old man”, some time ago, said, when a woman starts cheating on her husband, that man should be careful because she is now capable of killing him. It’s far better not to make a promise at all than to make one and not keep it. Unreliability can affect little things such as timing. If you are part of a group and you all agreed to meet—let’s say—tomorrow at 2:00 P.M., going late is tainting yourself as unreliable. There is no such thing as “Liberian man time” or “African time”. Time is time. When &

84

if you gave your consensus to something, follow through completely. Otherwise, don’t give your consensus.

85

Exercise – Now Waning The three major desires of the body are food, drink and sex and they are very strong; however, if you can override them, you are headed for productive results. We see going away the Liberia of primarily seeking pleasure; “crab mentality”; wastefulness; and dishonesty and unreliability. Note: Set aside at least an hour and thirty minutes and be in an environment that is suitable for you before you continue reading this section. Do you now have an hour and thirty minutes in a suitable environment? If yes, you can continue. This section is a very personal one. One way to complete it is, you could get a separate sheet, book, or document on which to write your responses to the exercise. The other way is, you could write your responses in the blank spaces provided. However, whichever of the options you choose, you would have to keep private the document on which you write your responses. The response would be used for your improvement, you would look at them as many times as you choose and work on them until you have succeeded. 1. Of the four major attitudes/behaviors now waning (declining) among the Liberian People (Primarily 86

pleasure-seeking; the crab mentality; wasteful lifestyle; and dishonesty & unreliability), write them down from most declining to least declining as in your own character. a. ______________________________________ b. ______________________________________ c. ______________________________________ d. ______________________________________ 2. What are other reasons for which you think the “primarily pleasure seeking” attitude needs to continually decline among the Liberian People—starting with you? a. ___________________________________ b. ___________________________________ c. ___________________________________ d. ___________________________________ 3. What are some of the things that have served as sources of promptings for you pursuing pleasure primarily? a. __________________________________ b. __________________________________ c. __________________________________ d. __________________________________ 4. What are some things you intend to do that could offset and annul those promptings? a. ____________________________________ b. ____________________________________ c. ____________________________________ 87

d. ____________________________________ 5. A. Do you remember having any relationship with the opposite sex that has either benefited you or/and that friend (without the involvement of sex)? Yes __________; No ______________; Other(s) __________________ B. If not, aim to achieve this. 6. Are you involved in a relationship that you think is holding you down? _____________ What are you doing about it? __________________________________________ 7. Besides the three major pleasure-seeking activities discussed in this book (drinking, promiscuity, and smoking), what are/is other forms of pleasure-activities that are harmful? a. __________________________ b. __________________________ c. __________________________ d. __________________________ 8. Have you been undermined by another Liberian or do you know someone who has been undermined by another Liberian? Yes __________; No __________; Others _______________ 9. What are reasons for which you think the envying and undermining of Liberians by themselves as described in 88

the “crab mentality” needs to continually decline among the Liberian People—starting with you? a. ______________________________ b. ______________________________ c. ______________________________ d. ______________________________ 10. What are some of the reasons for which Liberians have been engaged in this “crab mentality” of harming or not helping one another? a. ________________________________ b. ________________________________ c. ________________________________ d. ________________________________ 11. What are some steps that you and other Liberians could take that would help to obliterate this mentality among Liberians? a. ____________________________ b. ____________________________ c. ____________________________ d. ____________________________ 12. Why do you think wastefulness among Liberians need to decline even more? a. _________________________ b. _________________________ c. _________________________ d. _________________________

89

13. Besides wastefulness on food, clothing, time, mismanagement of funds and pleasure, what other areas have Liberians been wasteful? a. ______________________________ b. ______________________________ c. ______________________________ d. ______________________________ 14. What are some of the reasons for which you have indulged into the “wasteful lifestyle”? a. ___________________________ b. ___________________________ c. ___________________________ d. ___________________________ 15. What are some things you could do to override the “wasteful lifestyle”? a. _______________________________ b. _______________________________ c. _______________________________ d. _______________________________ 16. Organize your expenses/spending in a list-form from most important to least important. a. _________________________ b. _________________________ c. _________________________ d. _________________________ e. _________________________

90

17. What percentage of your daily/weekly/monthly earnings do you plan to start saving? ____________________________ 18. What are reasons for which you think you need to let go of the characters of “dishonesty and unreliability”? a. __________________________ b. __________________________ c. __________________________ d. __________________________ 19. What are some things that have made you dishonest (stealing, cheating & lying) in the past? a. _________________________ b. _________________________ c. _________________________ d. _________________________ 20. What can you do to rid yourself of dishonesty at the job site? a. ____________________________ b. ____________________________ c. ____________________________ d. ____________________________ 21. What can you do to rid yourself of dishonesty in school? a. ____________________________ b. ____________________________ c. ____________________________ 91

d. ____________________________ 22. What can you do to rid yourself of dishonesty at home? a. ____________________________ b. _____________________________ c. _____________________________ d. _____________________________ 23. If you have painted the picture that has made you appear undependable somewhere or to someone, what can you do to change that picture? a. _________________________ b. _________________________ c. _________________________ d. _________________________

92

Chapter Four: Now Waxing As some attitudes and behaviors are waning among the Liberian people, other attitudes and behaviors are waxing. These are the new attitudes and behaviors catapulting the Liberian people towards success. Diligence & humility; gifting and passion; visionary; patriotism and liberality are new characters being adopted. They form the stepping stones to the highest heights in life.

Diligence and Humility “Diligence is the mother of good fortune, and idleness, its opposite, never brought a man to the goal of any of his wishes.” – Miguel de Cervantes Diligence and humility are rare qualities. The meaning of diligence is made crystal clear by the understanding of three words: perseverance, earnest and energetic. Perseverance is persistence at any task or responsibility at hand; it makes you to not give up no matter how challenging or uncomfortable the task is. Being earnest is showing strong conviction in the task at hand; you ardently refuse to be dissuaded, discouraged or distracted because you believe in what you are doing. Being energetic is applying your strength, time and effort; you are hardworking when it comes to the task at hand. When you are diligent, you are perseverant, earnest and energetic. The trait of diligence makes you a “finisher”. 93

The lady, Margaret Thatcher, was the first female prime minister of her nation. Investigating into her life story, I found out that she only got into the race for the seat of prime minister so as to cause the men to behave as men: she wanted to positively anger the men in the parliament. The truth, she did not enter the race in order to be the next prime minister: she did not expect to win at all. However, she was very diligent (persistent, earnest & energetic) at her campaigning, and this caused her to foster support so high that she won and became the first female prime minister of her commonwealth. Whatever it is that you are currently doing, do it with diligence. The size does not matter, the toughness should not matter also, the height does not matte either; diligence is what matters. I have heard stories of ‘car loaders’. Some of them built house(s), bought car(s), sent their child(ren) to good school(s), and others sponsored their families just by ‘loading cars’. They were diligent although the job is seen as one of the lowest in the country. By being diligent at the task, they got result. The characteristic thing about diligence is, it is result conscious. Diligence when fully applied, is bound to produce desirable results. If you are cleaning floor, do it diligently. Do it so that, if a floor cleaning competition were held, you would be the best 94

and awarded the price. Clean your floor as though your life depended on it. Not everyone in life is successful, and one reason for that is not everyone in life is diligent. The more you practice to be diligent, the more diligent you would become. One truth about life is, anything you invest in would invest in itself and yield results for you. Being diligent at a particular task or responsibility, you develop competence and become a professional at whatever it is. “Do you wish to rise? Begin by descending. You plan a tower that will pierce the clouds? Lay first the foundation of humility.” – Saint Augustine Humility is being patient with others, being submissive to yourself and others, and obedient to authority. Besides the high diligence in the character of the Lady Margaret Thatcher, she was so full of humility. Going through her life’s account, I could see humility all in her character. No wonder she got able men to stand by her stand and offer their support and counsel. Humility is a good leadership trait. It takes you to the pinnacle of leadership. Once there, it sustains you and enables you to grow influence and support. Humanity is designed in such a way that we tend to love those that are humble—especially, to us. This is true in all walks of life including parenting. 95

An eleven-year old boy once asked his mother, “Mommy, from all of us [talking about his siblings] who do you love the most?” His mother looked at him and said, “I love all of you.” The little boy pressed on demanding his mother tell him. She then said, “I love all of you, but I will love more the person that is obedient.” This statement is true of most parents. Parents tend to love all of their children, however, not equally. A particular child may be most loved due to a certain reason—most of the time it is the level of obedience to his/her parents. Humility can cause your boss, teacher, friend, coach, and leader to favor you. Most of the time we want people and life to favor us. If you didn’t know, then, know that humility is one of the keys to unlocking the doors of favor. A lot of people try to elevate themselves and become full of pride and arrogance. Pride and arrogance in a person cause other people to dislike him/her. Practice humility then, life and people themselves shall elevate you. As human, our nature leads us to elevate the humble and downsize the proud. If there is promotion at a jobsite most bosses would prefer to promote the humble individual instead of giving the promotion to the arrogant and proud guy. Some confuse humility with low self-esteem. Humility is not low self-esteem. Low self-esteem is the lack of confidence and seeing yourself badly, and feeling unlovable and 96

incompetent. Humility is being confident, highly competent, lovable and yet being strong enough not to let them get over your head but, put them under control. Diligence is when: You are part of a team, and when you go on a trip for a match, you stay focused and committed to the game until it is completed. You let go of bluffing and focus on being productive every single day. When you are humble: You follow instructions from your coaches, teachers or leaders. As a bartender or receptionist, you respond kindly, politely and nicely to guests and customers. As a banker or accountant, you are very polite to those carrying on transactions at your counter. As a nurse, you are very hospitable to the patients you interact with. Humility is the basis of loyalty. Humility plus diligence plus honesty equals loyalty.

Area of Gift & Passion Each person has his/her unique gift. A gift is an ability that is natural and notable. It is something you can readily do with ease. A gift is usually accompanied by passion. Passion is the strong desire for that particular activity you are gifted at. 97

If you are gifted at singing, you are talented at it and you would be very attracted and in love with singing. The love and attraction are the passion while singing is the gift. The passion makes you to work hard and the gift gives you what is needed to do the job. I recall the story of the showman, Phineas Taylor Barnum (P.T. Barnum). The movie entitled “The Greatest Showman” was based on his life. In this movie, Hugh Jackman, portrayed as P.T. Barnum, does a job related to newspaper publishing. One day while working at his workstation, his pencil broke so, he walked up to the pencil sharpener. While sharpening his pencil, his eyes went towards the graveyard. Being touched, he started to suggest ideas to his boss, who was not really interested in those ideas. At this stage, Jackman and his family were at the poverty level: imagine, he could not repair the leakage in his house roof top. After being fired, he started to find ways of earning money to support his family. He then decided to finally pursue being a showman. P. T. Barnum was a very successful showman. If you were to convert the value of the money he made during his days to now, it would be in the millions. Although P.T. Barnum got involved in the fields of being a showman, a politician and a business man, he said, “I am a showman by profession…and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me.” Even if at an earlier age, Barnum did not know that being a showman was his area of gift and passion, he sure did know 98

during the later stage of his life. He was one of the best showmen the world has ever known. Why was he so good at being a showman? The answer is because he had the natural ability and talent of being a successful showman: he was gifted at the thing. Most people are unsuccessful today not because they are dull or bound for failure; it’s because they are outside their area of gift and passion. When you are within your area of gift and passion, doing the job, performing the task, is so very much easy. It comes to you naturally: others may have to apply extra effort, but even your little effort produces a far bigger result. Two brothers may be in the same class but one always scores higher and thrives in mathematics unlike the other. The other is not dull; however, mathematics may not be his area of gift and passion (if he must succeed in mathematics, he must work harder). Some parents are in the habit of pushing their children into studying a particular course or entering a particular field. Some do this because they think, “With my son/daughter in this field, he/she would never go out of good job. Therefore, he/she would never run out of money.” These parents may love their children, but are unknowingly storing up future hurt for their children. If the child is not gifted/passionate about that field, he/she would struggle. Even after completing the studies and the child goes on to make money, that child would not find fulfilment. If the child becomes 99

wealthy, he probably would have been wealthier had he pursued his area of gift and passion instead. Besides, wealth is not the complete definition of “success in life”. One day, my dad and I sat at the table while he had his meal. He usually uses such time to tell me things and this day was no exception. He said a many thing that day. During the talk he said, “When a man is blessed [gifted] in a certain area” he looked at the cup of toothpick nearby, picked it up and continued, “—even if it is selling toothpick—and follows through, he would be successful in life.” Many people work for money thinking it brings wealth, while it does the opposite. Work for purpose not money. Your area of gift and passion defines your purpose. When you make use of your gift, it takes you before kings, and attracts wealth and success. The mistake that most people make these days is, they grow interest in a certain field because someone has ‘made it’ in that field or because people are making it in that field thus making the field attractive. It’s highly likely that those that succeeded in that field had the gift to succeed there. Do you? For example, most Liberians were turning in the direction of football because President George Manneh Weah succeeded there. Now, most have turned their attention to music as the Liberian Music Industry is picking-up and the current musicians are achieving fame and wealth. These musicians 100

who are achieving fame and wealth are achieving those largely due to their gift and passion plus added hard work. Don’t get into a particular field, neglecting your gift, all because others are prospering there. Make use of your gift and passion—and who knows—you could be more prosperous. Make a new path if you have to. If you would like to find your gift, you would have to be quiet. You cannot find it in the noise. Try and spend some time with you. Spend some time being quiet, then meditate. Reflect on your life, your likings, your abilities, your qualities, your talents and yourself; from these, you can pick up your gift(s). Some people have more than on area of gifting, however, there is usually a dominant one at a particular moment. Many, including myself, term this session as “quiet time”. Once you have identified your gift, get into it. Although it is an area you have natural abilities at, you still have to practice by ‘keep doing’ so that you become better. Remember, practice makes you better. The highly rated sportsmen and sportswomen practice and work hard. In fact, one of the things making them highly rated is their work ethic. If you have the gift but don’t practice and work hard, you may be outperformed by someone who does not have the gift by practices and works hard. Your gift in combination with practice and hard work gives super results.

101

The principle of ‘area of gift and passion’ is sang of in the Liberian Song ‘Da My Area’ by Junior and African Soldier. Below is an excerpt from the song lyric. “Everybody got their area…your area is your area. Some people area to make their market. Some people area to…. Some people area to…. I got my area, it’s music area. Da my area oh. Yes, da my area Da my area oh. Yes, da my area Yes, da my area Yes, da my area Junior area is to produce music. African Soldier area—to produce music yah. “

Visionary Being visionary is having foresight. Foresight is seeing things way ahead of time or even planting them for the future. Being visionary is putting an aim forward ahead and then, you come to the start and plan ways of making your way towards it. We talked about diligence previously. Being visionary gives you something to be diligent about: your vision (dream or goal). You become perseverant, earnest and energetic so as to reach your dream. 102

What would you use your area of gifting and passion to achieve? Having a vision enables you to put your gifts and passions to use. Without a vision, you would have nothing to use your gift on. In reaching your vision, you apply your natural abilities and talents. Many a people wander here and there. They see life as being in a cycle simply because there is no fixed point they are trying to reach. Some of them sleep and wish they do not have to wake up the next morning. However, when you have a dream, you would want to stay up all night, and awake early the next morning so as to get much closer to it in an attempt of reaching it. The government leads the nation, but does not decide the fate of the nation—the people do. Most people make the mistake of fully relying on the government for alleviating them from poverty. The government was not organised to make you rich: yes, it wasn’t. The government was organised to maintain law and order. Making you rich is not part of law and order. The government can, however, offer you a hand in your journey to success but first, you must have a ‘journey’. Some people, still, cast the blames on their parents or families. He/she may say, “I am from a poor family. My parents did not have the ‘hands’. They did not do this or that for me. They are the cause of me being poor today.” Hey, stop wasting your time. The human nature likes to be pitied. However, it feels reluctant to take a step out of its crisis. So, 103

is it because your parents did not make it in life that you too would not make it in life? See you, you are there complaining and murmuring on their names. Get up and do something about it. Do you want your children and grandchildren to complain and murmur on your name in similar fashion that, “you didn’t build the foundation for them”? Your family not having the ‘hand’ should serve as a motivation for you. It should make you to desire to change that ‘status quo’. Is your family poor? Get up, do something and become rich. Is your family already rich? Still, get up, become richer and make your family richer. I was talking with a young man the other time, and advising him on certain things. He said, “All these things you are saying are true, but my parents did not give me these trainings.” I then said, “Okay, we agree your parents did not give them to you, but now you know your left and your right. You can train yourself and give yourself the training your parents did not give you.” As the ex-president of the Republic of Liberia, Madam Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, said, “The size of your dreams must always exceed your current capacity to achieve them. If your dreams do not scare you, they are not big enough.” Yes, dream; don’t just dream: DREAM BIG! The truth is, until you dream big enough, you have not really dreamed. Refuse to be like some people who give weak excuses to dreaming big. They forget to know that they are hurting and keeping 104

themselves stuck in one spot; they’d say, “Me, I don’t like to have high expectations oh.” That is why they are always where they have always been. If you seek, you shall surely find. Your dream or vision is what you want to obtain in the future (short-term or long-term). You could have more than one dreams. Don’t just dream to be a lawyer, a musician, a doctor, a teacher, a politician, a rich man/woman. . .; be: a lawyer with a difference, a musician with a difference, a doctor with a difference, a teacher with a difference, a politician with a difference, a rich man with a difference . . .. While pursuing your dream, don’t be completely dormant to your present life; focus on the future and focus on the present even more. It’s really fun to find your dream. You could set your dreams or locate them. In setting your dream, you set those things you want to obtain in the near future. You could set them as goals. In locating your dream, you would have to commune with the real you, your spirit (your spirit knows you and the future more than you think) especially during your quiet time. When you get in touch with your spirit, you can locate your vision and a lot more. A quiet area is suggested for having your quiet time. However, you do not necessarily need a quiet place; what you need is to be quiet. In the movie referred to earlier, “The Greatest Showman”, Hugh Jackman had the dream of giving his family a better life. 105

He started to work towards it by investing into the showman business. From this business, he became a rich man during his time and was able to give his family the best of life. Without vision, people perish! With vision, they live and succeed. One responsibility of every leader is to have a vision that he and the people can pursue together. Having a big dream makes you to work harder than you are used to. It takes you out of your comfort zone, and sometimes it is only out of that zone that we can discover our true selves. Several years ago, I visited an office and my attention was drawn to this anonymous quotation on the wall, “If you want something you’ve never had, then you’ve got to do something you’ve never done.” Have you heard about entrepreneurship? It is about innovation and risk-taking. An entrepreneur is a person who gets an idea—or formulate one—and execute it! Some people are meant to be their own bosses. Someone narrated to me the story of a man. This man had graduated with honor from the university with a degree in Business Management. He thought of doing office job. Upon graduation—after applying for jobs several times—he found no success. He had a dream, and when he awoke, he knew the meaning of the dream: he was to do donuts business. However, he was reluctant, very reluctant to do this, probably because he was a graduate and was concerned about how people would look at him. After struggling with 106

this, he succumbed to the calling. He started frying and selling donuts at the entrance of his alma mater university. The students, staff, residents and others started to patronize his business, and very soon the entrance of the university became crowded. This issue reached the university authority, and they did not want the front-view of the university looking like that. So, they called the young man and gave him a spot within the university. As he fried and sold, few students (whom he later employed) started to offer him a hand with the work. Very soon, the business grew big, and he opened branches at other university campuses and places within that nation. He became rich from the execution of this business idea. I remember my dad once told me something. He said, “Making money is not by magic; it is by idea.” That young man achieved success and wealth because he was humble enough to accept his vision. He pursued this vision using his gift and passion for business. He was also diligent. He was not wasteful or primarily pleasure-seeking: if he had been, he would have been unable to save and spend all that time behind the pot blowing fire and frying donuts. He was pushed up by others who were later employed by him. He who once was in search of someone to employ him, started to employ others. Entrepreneurship makes you a job creator. Every nation needs entrepreneurs in order for it to create jobs, develop, 107

and compete on the international market. Liberia needs Liberian entrepreneurs—Liberians who are getting ideas and pursuing these ideas. These Liberians would create jobs for other Liberians, and get the burden off the Liberian government’s shoulder. The government is not wholly and solely responsible for creating jobs; the citizens are responsible too. You don’t need to have everything to be an entrepreneur. For starts, all you need is the idea and your willingness to start the execution of the idea. The profit follows later. Entrepreneurship, like every other vision or dream being pursued, is illustrated using the seed and plant analogy. A seed, though it be small, gives rise to a very big tree that produces fruits bearing seeds. Those seeds can be replanted to continue the circle. Every dream starts from the seed level. You would need diligence, humility, gifting and passion to nurture it. The day it grows into a big tree, you can sit and enjoy the fruits. Once you already have a tree, you don’t have to go through the same stress on planting a single seed. The seeds from the tree would fall, plant themselves and grow. Besides, you would have people offering assistance, and you would give them some of your fruits. The less seeds you have, the less plants you have; the more seeds you have, the more plants you have. Entrepreneurship is one of the quickest ways—if not the quickest—to wealth in the contemporary world. Check out 108

the world’s richest. Most of them have something in common—entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs like, Jeff Bezoe, Aliko Dangote, Bill Gates, Larry Page, Mark Zukerberg, and Jack Ma—for example—are all billionaires. The list of the richest in the world comprise of both old and young individuals. Entrepreneurship comes in a lot of forms—venturing into any new idea that could generate profit is entrepreneurship. In our time, however, the most common example of entrepreneurship is a business venture. …want to be the next millionaire, billionaire or the first trillionaire, execute that idea that could bring you profit! When you are visionary, you have the visionary attitude. A visionary person thinks and talks positively, and he is very conscious of wisely using his time and resources. Our thoughts and words are very important. The thoughts determine the words. Both the thoughts and words have influence on our mindset (Remember mindset?). Someone said, our words are planted in the future and they wait for us there. Make it a habit to speak positively. Refuse to say negative things to yourself or other people, and refuse to allow people say negative or ugly things to you. For example, some people greet by saying, “How’s the struggle?” Why don’t they ask for something more positive—maybe, “the/your success”? Whatever you do, cling to activities, people or places that make you think and speak positively. 109

In contrary to the popular statement, “You have all the time in the world”, you don’t really have all the time in the world. You only have enough time to do something fully (that is what that statement really means). Time is one of the most valued resources on earth—if not the most valued. Each person gets the same twenty-four hours in a day, but don’t use them on the same things. Time is the currency of life; how much of it you have in positive usage determines what you can get from life. Use your time wisely. Some people have not dreamed. Others have dreamed and are pursuing their dreams. Yet, a few others have dreamed but are reluctant to pursue theirs because of fear. They fear that they would not be successful and it would hurt them in the process. Everything about life is actually risky: going out of the house is, and even staying at home is. A risk that promises a good gain is a risk worth taking. Just as there is a heating stage to the refinement of gold, there’s a heating stage to every vision. After you have envisioned something and start pursuing it, you may get to a point where it seems like you may never reach your dream. Things get tough—maybe in terms of support. There may be no one to help you through it, and you start to feel down. This down feeling can be so powerful that it can cause some people to completely give up in life and maybe think of taking their lives. However, it is those who remain strong and pass through this stage that are actually fit enough to taste 110

success. Those who completely give up at this stage almost never taste what it means to ‘reach your dreams’. When you’ve successfully passed through this stage, you become more creative, hardworking and productive. A mango seed, like many other seeds, first dries up before it starts to germinate. Then, it goes on to grow into a huge tree producing many fruits. Gold needs to go through heat in order to be well processed and refined. Be visionary, and pursue your vision; enjoy riding on the pathway that leads to your visions; also, be strong and never give up! You can start achieving success right where you are; you don’t have to wait.

Patriotism Patriotism is a form of love. Like any other form of love or affection, it is strong and backed by both emotions and actions. There’s love directed towards one’s parents, or spouse or siblings or field of study. Patriotism is love directed towards one’s country and the willingness to sacrifice for that country. This love for one’s nation, inspires loyalty within the heart. Patriotism can also be understood as loyalty towards one’s country. Loyalty is explained in three characteristics we have already discussed: humility, diligence and honesty.

111

About a month ago, I read an article on the News Public Trust Website with the title, “Liberia is not dying.” In this article, the writer pointed out that he had written this article due an article he came across in a local newspaper with the caption, “Liberia is dying.” One could guess that the writers of both articles are Liberians. However, their articles’ titles are directly opposite each other. One thinks and feels negatively about Liberia thus, speaking negatively, while the other thinks and feels positively about Liberia thus speaking/writing positively about the nation. The truth is, Liberia is Living! We discussed mindset in chapter two (you could look at it if you haven’t already), where we saw that the way you think about a place or someone determines how you see that place or person. For us to think, speak and write good things about Mama Liberia, we first have to see the good things. The good things are there. However, most people jump over them, and search for the bad ones. No matter what, there are things—a whole lot of them—to love about Liberia. You just need to choose to find them and see. Refuse to speak negative—in any way—about your beloved country. After all, it is your homeland. I am not saying we should not fix problems when there are some. Rather, let’s focus on the good and continually speak the good as we right the wrongs and fix the problems.

112

Some people have in the past just found pleasure in talking bad against the nation. Stop doing that. Your words are powerful: they can build up and they can also break down. In fact, speaking negatively towards your country causes you to dislike your country. How would you help the country you have disliked? Always see your country from a positive and prosperous point of view. If you are not seeing the good in your country, change your view by changing your mental ‘eye glasses’. I am proud to be a Liberian. Are you? You should be! Liberia is not cursed. Even if the nation had been cursed, it is no longer cursed. The curse is lifted and done away with. Liberia is a blessed nation, and the star of Africa. Liberia is ready to rise. Do you know who/what it awaits? . . . you and me. Liberia awaits Liberians who are ready to move forward along with her. It is our responsibility as Liberians to build Liberia. Patriotism is all about the people, their land, their culture and way of life. A patriot loves the people, their land, their culture and way of life. He/she respects the laws of the land and continually fight for the liberty of all. He/she is very much focus on bettering the country and the lives of its people. A lot of people want their country (or the government) to give them this or give them that. They want their country to build them houses, give them jobs, give them cars, give them food and even give them clothes (if possible) forgetting to know that they make up the country. In actuality—but not 113

knowing—what they are asking for is for themselves to provide all of these things for themselves and their compatriots (fellow citizens). When you are patriotic about your country, you seek ways of giving to your country, and not taking from it. Have patriotic dreams about Liberia. Dream of making a difference in the nation, in the land of liberty, in the star of Africa. We are the ‘lion of Africa’. If you ever want to get vex about anything you don’t like about Liberia, get vex with yourself not the government, not fellow Liberians or nonLiberians. This is because the road is open-up for you to make a change. What are you waiting for? Can you make a small change? Go ahead. The small changes made by everyone equals a very big change. Focus on your part, and do what you can do. There comes a point where you become so patriotic that you can give your life for the sake of your nation. Some soldiers went on a rescue mission. After they had released the hostages and were on their way out, a grenade was thrown in their midst. Only one of the soldiers saw it. They would not be able to leave that spot by the time the grenade explodes and the grenade is capable of killing everyone there present. This particular soldier knew this. Guess what he did? (Oh, just to think of it stirs me up!) That soldier hurriedly rushed and fell on that grenade and absorbed the blast completely.

114

That is what the true spirit of patriotism makes you do! If you are a non-Liberian reading this book, you should consider being a Liberian. Patriotism is a form of love. All forms of love can be developed. The Pledge is also a strong statement of patriotism and allegiance. Songs sink down into the soul. A song of loyalty and devotion to one’s nation is the national anthem. The Lonestar Forever is also a patriotic song of Liberia. When you say the pledge and sing these songs, say and sing them with conviction and mean every single word. The Liberia National Pledge I pledge allegiance to the flag of Liberia and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. The National Anthem First Stanza All hail, Liberia, hail! (All hail!) All hail, Liberia, hail! (All hail!) This glorious land of liberty, Shall long be ours. Though new her name, Green be her fame, And mighty be her powers, And mighty be her powers. In joy and gladness, 115

With our hearts united, We'll shout the freedom, Of a race benighted. Long live Liberia, happy land! A home of glorious liberty, By God's command! A home of glorious liberty, By God's command! Second Stanza All hail, Liberia, hail! (All hail!) All hail, Liberia, hail! (All hail!) In union strong success is sure. We cannot fail! With God above, Our rights to prove, We will o'er all prevail, We will o'er all prevail! With heart and hand our country's cause defending, We'll meet the foe with valour unpretending. Long live Liberia, happy land! A home of glorious liberty, By God's command! A home of glorious liberty, By God's command!

116

The Lonestar Forever First Stanza When Freedom raised her glowing form On Montserrado's verdant height, She set within the dome of night, Midst lowering skies and thunder-storm, The star of Liberty! And seizing from the waking morn, Its burnished shield of golden flame, She lifted it in her proud name, And roused a nation long forlorn, To nobler destiny! Second Stanza Then speeding in her course, along The broad Atlantic's golden strand, She woke reverb'rant through the land A nation's loud triumphant song, The song of Liberty! And o'er Liberia's altar fires She wide the lone-starred flag unfurled, proclaimed to an expectant world, The birth, for Africa's sons and sires, The birth of Liberty! Third Stanza Then, forward, sons of Freedom, March! Defend the sacred heritage! The nation's call from age to age Where'er it sounds 'neath heaven's arch, Wherever foes assail, 117

be ever ready to obey 'Gainst treason and rebellion's front, 'Gainst foul aggression. In the brunt Of battle lay the hero's way! All hail, Lone Star, all hail! REFRAIN The Lone Star forever! The Lone Star forever! O long may it float over land and over sea. Desert it, no never! Uphold it, forever! O shout for the Lone Star banner, All hail. Love all man; love your compatriots more. Putting Liberia first means putting Liberians first. The older generation is responsible for modelling patriotism and giving this model to the younger generation. The educators (teachers, instructors, lecturers, professors, principals, chancellor—just to name a few) teach our children at school; and they teach our children to be either patriotic or unpatriotic. During my time in school, I had some teachers that inspired the spirit of patriotism in the class, and few others were doing the opposite. As an educator, you have the responsibility of stimulating patriotism in the hearts and minds of the future leaders of Liberia. You must first be patriotic in order to do this. The same responsibility lies on the shoulders of our parents and leaders in all walks of life. 118

Choose your country; love your country. Even if you are working outside your country, always pay visits, and invest in your country. When it comes to investment, place your country at the top. You can travel out for education, training, business, contract, employment, or the like; however, just make sure to return to your country with the good things you have acquired. Let your country benefit from you. Don’t wait to retire or be too old. Build Liberia, better her and her people, and she shall be very attractive—even to foreign nationals. Some people wish to travel to a specific country because of the good that country has to offer: the truth is, the citizens of that country made it what it is. Let the citizens of Liberia make Liberia what they want in a good, prosperous and attractive nation. When you are patriotic: As a student, you go to school always, do your assignments on time, study your lessons, learn as much as possible and make a good pass. As an educator, you study, learn, practice and teach as best as you can and make a good and honest assessment of the students. As an employee (both public and private), elected or appointed official, you work patriotically, diligently, humbly and honestly; you are committed to the job and free of “eye-service” on the job. As a young adult, you focus on the future and abstain from teenage pregnancy. As a patriotic person, you always want to get better and

119

amount to something as you would like to give to your country of what you have. ‘Big patriotism’ starts from ‘small patriotism’. Be ‘patriotic’ to your schools, universities, families . . .. I talked with a young student who was feeling down few months ago. I told her, “You cannot give up now. Even if you would want to, you cannot because there are a lot of destinies—including those of Liberians—attached to yours. If you give up now, they would all be lost and so would Mama Liberia.” Success is for the strongest among men. Spend more time with positive things that relate to the nation, and you shall love the nation more. Get new information—better ones too—about the country. I read the story of a man who wished to divorce his wife after many years of marriage. He had found a girl outside the marriage. One day, he called his wife and told her his plan of divorce because he no longer loved her. She broke down in tears profusely. However, she requested one thing of her husband: he would demonstrate for thirty days the same level of love he demonstrated at the beginning of their marriage including but not limited to carrying her from bed to the dinner table and preparing her meal. After which, they would proceed with the divorcement. Reluctantly, he agreed. On the first few days, he did them but it was disgusting to him. As the days ran on, it became natural to and for him. Before the thirtieth day, he had found out that he loves his 120

wife. He broke up with the girlfriend and decided not to proceed with the divorcement. Love is truly inspired by good and kind actions. Make up your mind to do something good for Liberia as often as you can. Within and outside the country, there are a lot of positive, creative and inspirational things about the country to stir up and develop patriotism within you. You just have to find them. Few weeks ago, I came across two videos on Youtube.com with the titles “Step Up, Liberia – Word Walkers (H. Simeon Hinneh)”; and “Executive Mansion Movie”. Those videos are very inspirational. The future Liberia is by far greater than what you & I see today. A young man had a vision about the future society of Liberia. In the vision, he saw a Liberia where children were taken care of, people’s rights were respected and everyone had a good level of provision for his/her daily life. Children and adults were healthy; education was very much improved upon. A lady had a dream in which she saw two locations in Liberia. From her description, the first which is now an urban area was more beautiful. The street was beautiful and clean; there were sky scrapers; beautiful lights on the streets and doubledecker buses riding on the road. The place was so beautiful that she would have thought it was not Liberia if she had not known the place prior to having the dream. The second is now a rural area. However, in the dream it was like a 121

beautiful urban area. The road networks were interconnected and highly complex and advanced. The streets were well-paved. The ‘tomorrow’ of Liberia is much brighter than you can imagine, and it is Liberians that would enjoy . . . more reason why Liberians should take the nation there.

Liberality Liberality is the character of giving freely. Simplistically, liberality is giving. It is being free-handed or open-handed. A liberal person is a giver: he is always ready to give when the need arises; he is not tight-fisted. Being liberal does not mean you do immoral things so as to get money to give. It also does not mean that you become wasteful. It is true: when you save and save, you amass wealth. Sometime else is even much truer: when you give, you amass wealth and safeguard that which you are saving. Giving brings a lot of benefits. Liberality brings down upon the liberal person rains of favor, blessings and gifts. (For those of us who have always wanted favor, here is another key to the doors of favor.) Giving takes you before kings; it can take you to the place nothing else can. When you are liberal to man (male and female), man tend to be liberal to you. 122

A little girl—kindergarten student—noticed that her teachers favored two particular students in the whole class. Those students get extra time, extra attention, extra care: ‘extra of everything’. She set out to find out the reason for this ‘extra of everything’ given these two students. She observed that for each time the parents of these two students came to pick them up, they would “drop small thing” without the teachers asking. Sometimes, these parents would send gifts for the teachers by the hands of their kids. This little girl, having discovered the secret, told and persuaded her mother to start doing the same. Initially, it was tough for her mother to ‘give the teachers small thing’. However, the more the mother tried and did it, the more it became natural and she got to the point of doing it with ease. Consequently, this little girl became a part of the ‘extra of everything’ students. A secret to favor is liberality. I am not supporting “asking for small thing”. However, the truth is, “dropping small thing” brings favor. Giving tips is good; it is just that some people misunderstand it. A tip is not meant to be asked for; a tip is to be given out of the free-will of the giver. When you visit a public area, always render tips to those (for example, a waiter) who have offered you the service you received. You see, giving is a lifestyle. If you have not been a giver, you would be new to the “giving” business and find it tough at first just as every new thing is. Even though it is initially tough, persevering at it can turn you into a liberal person in 123

no time. If you find it difficult to give, then, it is when and why you even need to give. One truth about life is: give, and you’ll continue to give; beg, and you’ll continue to beg. Some people possess the giving mentality while other possess the begging mentality. For those who possess the begging mentality, they always want to get it form people, but don’t want to give to people. They think they are the only ones that want money or that know how sweet it is. Life is all about giving-and-taking. If you choose to be on the side of giving, you would always be full with abundance in order for you to keep giving; if you choose to be on the side of taking, you would always lack in order for you to continue asking others. When you are a giver, you don’t need to beg for things, they just come naturally. When you put your hands to something, it blossoms. A giver is a saver. The more you give, the more you receive. As you receive, continue giving and start saving. You only give everything, absolutely everything in extreme cases. Anything other than that, giving everything is extravagance and foolishness. It’s good to give to a handful of causes. However, the best causes to give to are those that are divine or charitable. A woman had recently given to a divine cause during the weekend and fell sick the same time. She was still very much sick on Monday, and could not go to work. On that Monday, the most senior administrator of the company she works for 124

visited her department and was displeased thus, all of the staff present that day in the department were paid off and fired instantly—including the head. On the next day, she went to work and surprisingly found her department virtually empty. While sitting in the office wondering, the director of the division under which her department falls, came and saw her still in possession of her working ID Card with her name absent from the list of fired employees. He then thought to himself that, the senior administrator must have been pleased with this employee not to fire her. Therefore, the director immediately appointed her head of her department that day. Here are few things to note about giving. Just as a seed planted into the soil takes time before germinating, the gift you give today may not return to you immediately: it may take a second, a minute, a day, a month, a year or maybe years. Also, unlike a seed, a particular gift may not yield a fruit in the same category as the gift. A mango seed planted gives you mangoes as fruits; a pepper seed gives pepper; a pawpaw seed gives rise to pawpaw. However, in liberality, a seed of cash may give you the fruit of cash or may give you the fruit of something else. Don’t expect to receive a car because you gave someone a car today but the bottom line is, you would definitely receive something in return— whether it’s more or not depends on your judgment. When you give, some of the things you could freely receive include cash, goods, idea(s), material thing(s), blessing(s), favor, 125

fruit(s) of the womb, service (s), assistance, contact(s), job(s), and scholarship(s). There was a time, I really needed money, and the only option that seemed available was, asking for it (it’s okay to ask if you don’t have; you really need it). However, I chose not to ask. In fact, I gave out the little I had. Sooner rather than later, I got an idea to generate money. When I executed that idea, it filled my pocket. Do you want to get more from giving? Here are three secrets to giving: number one, when you give, give from your heart; number two, don’t let your left hand know that the right hand is giving; and number three, don’t expect to receive from the recipient of your gift. Don’t you ever give your gift reluctantly or with grudge. If you do, you would not receive as you should have had you given from your heart. Also, do not go about telling everyone you gave this or that to so-soand-so. If you do, you could damage what you are supposed to receive. Furthermore, just because you gave someone ‘a pair of slippers’ does not mean that you should compel him/her to ‘do whatever you say’. People who classify themselves as being poor go about begging and asking for help. However, most of them have refused to actually help themselves and offer assistance to others. In most areas, the poor get poorer while the rich get richer. Most of the poor countries in the world have been living on the aids of the ‘rich’ nations. These poor have not 126

progressed because they “take poverty and place it on their heads” thus, they don’t give out to others. Therefore, they remain poor. To receive more, you must give. In order for a body of water to remain fresh, it must ‘flow’. The one giving done today, makes available many savings of tomorrow.

127

Exercise – Now Waxing “Success comes to those who dedicate everything to their passion in life. To be successful, it is also very important to be humble and never let fame or money travel to your head” – A.R. Rahman Note: Set aside at least two hours and be in an environment that is suitable for you before you continue this section. Do you now have two hours in a suitable environment? If yes, you can continue. This section is a very personal one. One way to complete it is, you could get a separate sheet, book, or document on which to write your responses to the exercise. The other way is, you could write your responses in the blank spaces provided. However, whichever of the options you choose, you would have to keep private the document on which you write your responses. The response would be used for your improvement, you would look at them as many times as you choose and work on them until you have succeeded. It is good to know your strength and weaknesses so as to better them off.

1. What are some things that have prevented you (in the past) from being diligent? a. _____________________________ 128

b. _____________________________ c. _____________________________ d. _____________________________ 2. How can you overcome them? a. ______________________________ b. ______________________________ c. ______________________________ d. ______________________________ 3. What are some diligent attitudes to demonstrate at your present (or future) occupation? a. ______________________________ b. ______________________________ c. ______________________________ d. ______________________________ 4. What are some things that have prevented you (in the past) from being humble? a. ______________________________ b. ______________________________ c. ______________________________ d. ______________________________ 5. How can you overcome them? a. _______________________________ b. _______________________________ c. _______________________________ d. _______________________________

129

6. What are some behaviors you could put on that demonstrate humility (especially, towards yourself, your seniors, & the authorities)? a. ________________________________ b. ________________________________ c. _______________________________ d. _______________________________ 7. Can you recall the story of a successful person whose life demonstrate the principle of diligence and humility? ___________ 8. What are some of the talents and abilities you possess? a. _______________________________ b. _______________________________ c. _______________________________ d. _______________________________ 9. In what fields could you make use of these talents and abilities? a. _________________________________ b. _________________________________ c. _________________________________ d. _________________________________ 10. How can you further develop these talents and gifts? a. __________________________________ b. __________________________________ c. __________________________________ d. __________________________________ 130

11. What are some areas in which you are currently making use of these gifts? a. __________________________________ b. __________________________________ c. __________________________________ d. __________________________________ 12. What are some ideas you have that could be implemented and beneficial? a. __________________________________ b. __________________________________ c. __________________________________ d. __________________________________ 13. How and when do you intend to start the implementation? a. HOW: ______________________________ b. When: ______________________________ 14. What are your short-term (less than a year) dreams? a. ___________________________________ b. ___________________________________ c. ___________________________________ d. ___________________________________ 15. What are your long-term (more than a year) dreams? a. _______________________________ b. _______________________________ c. _______________________________ 131

d. _______________________________ 16. What is/are your life-time vision/s (What you want to be remembered for)? a. _______________________________ b. _______________________________ c. _______________________________ d. _______________________________ 17. If you have experienced the heating stage of vision, how did you successfully go through it. If you have not experienced the heating stage of vision, how would you successfully go through it when you face it? ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ ______________________________________________ _______________________ 18. How often do you intend to say the ‘Pledge of The Republic of Liberia’? ___________________________________ 19. How often do you intend to sing at least the first stanzas of the patriotic songs of The Republic of Liberia (The National Anthem and The Lone Star Forever)? ________________________________ 20. What are some things you could do that demonstrate patriotism to Mama Liberia? a. __________________________________ b. __________________________________ 132

c. __________________________________ d. __________________________________ 21. Of those things, what is one you could do today? ________________________________ 22. Do you think reading the Constitution of Liberia would be helpful? If yes, when do you intend to get a copy? _______________________________ 23. Do you love your: a. School? _______________ b. University? ____________ c. Family? _______________ d. Fellow Liberians? _______ 24. If you were to travel out of Liberia today or someday, would you return home? If yes, why? a. ________________________________ b. ________________________________ c. ________________________________ d. ________________________________ 25. Why do you want to be a giver (a liberal person)? a. _________________________________ b. _________________________________ c. _________________________________ d. _________________________________ 26. What percentages of your weekly earning do you intend to allocate to liberality and saving? a. Liberality: ________________________ b. Saving: __________________________ 133

27. What are the categories of things you would like to give? a. _____________________________ b. _____________________________ c. _____________________________ d. _____________________________ 28. Do you have a divine/charitable cause to give towards? ______________ 29. What do you intend to put into place in order to avoid being wasteful? a. ________________________________ b. ________________________________ c. ________________________________ ________________________________ 30. Have you experienced the benefits of liberality? _______________ 31. Do you know of someone who has? ______________

134

Letter to the Government of LIBERIA The government of a nation is responsible for governing that nation, i.e. to control and direct how policies are made and executed. The Government of Liberia leads Liberia; the Government of Liberia is the eye and the other Liberians outside the government are the rest of the body. The policies made and executed about human capital, the working environment, and agriculture has the potential of deciding the future of Liberia. Firstly, human capital is “the knowledge, skills, competencies and other attributes embodied in individuals or groups of individuals acquired during their life and used to produce goods, services or ideas in market circumstances”; according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It measures the skills, abilities, and knowledge possessed by a labor force that can be used in productivity and increase that labor force’s earning potentials. A nation’s human capital is the individual human capital considered collectively in contribution towards that nation’s economy. Several factors determine human capital. Six of these factors are skills and talents; educational level; intelligence; experience; creativity; and habits. A map for the path of economic growth is, building of human capital. Liberia needs to develop its human capital pool. Liberia needs to start sponsoring its brightest minds abroad so as to better have their minds sharpened. Some of these 135

Liberians need to be educated and trained at some of the best—not just any one--universities and training centers in the world. These Liberians would be equipped to replicate here in Liberia similar style of excellence acquired during their studies abroad. The government would have to look out for brilliant Liberians. Even if the government cannot sponsor all of them out, the remaining within the country could be provided with scholarship to study locally. Vocational centers need to be invested into. These centers would train and prepare Liberians for employment (in fields such as plumbing and electricity). Having these vocational centers, high schools and university buildings is only a fraction. The instructional qualities need to be good: the teachers, trainers, instructors, lecturers or professors need to be equipped and trained (those Liberians sponsored abroad—upon their return, would form part of the instructional staff). In fact, if the number of instructional staff is low, it is better to have fewer vocational centers, or universities as long as quality is guaranteed. Teaching and training facilities is also another thing that needs to be considered. Seminars and conferences need to be held for impacting Liberians. True Transformation in within the mind. If Liberia would be transformed, Liberians have to be transformed! If Liberians would be transformed, their minds have to be transformed. At these seminars, qualified men and women 136

would motivate and inspire Liberians. Entrepreneurship would be talked up at these meetings as it is very cardinal to the development of this nation. The Liberian government has to decide to promote entrepreneurship among Liberians (also, get rid of monopoly and open up the market). After all of these trainings and acquisition of knowledge and skills, Liberians should be given first preference for any contract, or job that is available as Liberians are now qualified to perform the tasks. “Why is it so important to develop the human capital of Liberia?”, somebody asks. Well, with the human capital of Liberia developed as suggested above, the productive values and wealth of Liberia would skyrocket. Liberians would be employed and very productive on the job (currently, most Liberians are unemployed because they are unemployable). Increase in the quality and quantity of production leads to increase in monetary value. Liberians and Liberian agencies and companies would be the primary labor force, they would be our engineers, doctors, lawyers, nurses, professors, etc. and this would make Liberians and Liberia wealthy and prevent its wealth form being scattered. With these things, the economy of Liberia booms! Being that the human capital has grown—by this time—to a certain extent, the human capital will continue to grow even more. Secondly, the working environment needs to be favorable. The value of labor within in the country needs to be 137

improved and monitored. Employees need to be well-paid for their labor. As the labor cost becomes set/organized, the government must ensure that it is fully executed. At the jobsites, the conditions should be conducive. The materials needed to readily do the jobs has to be provided for the benefit of increasing and securing productivity. Pension and other benefits should be provided for both governmental (including ex-presidents) and non-governmental workers by the time they have retired. Within the terms of new contracts signed with local and international entities, provisions should be made for employers to develop the human capital of their employees. Also, if any of these entities have something to do with Liberia’s natural resource, some clause should be included that binds these companies to carry out the manufacturing or processing portion within the country (with the human capital of Liberia developed, most of these entities would be owned/operated by Liberians). With all of these working conditions put into place, Liberia would be full of good jobs that Liberians can do. This would help in retaining the developed human capital population of the nation within the nation. With the improvement in the value of labor and pension being given, the corruption level would plummet and so would the power greed in politics. Lastly, agriculture has the effect of overhauling the economy of Liberia. Liberia’s stable food is rice; Liberia needs to 138

produce its stable food. A nation is an independent organization of people under a single government. A nation first step to living the word, ‘independent’, is the ability to feed and fend for herself. The Liberian government should encourage and support farmers to engage in large scale farming in order to produce large supply of various produce—starting with rice. While this is at the initial stage, the government could engage in the business of importing rice herself and selling them in order to regulate the price of rice in the country (with the government as the number one importer of rice, it has the highest say on the price of rice in the country; every other importer would follow). Liberia needs to feed herself and other nations in the world—and this is just somewhere around the corner. With all of these suggestions made, the government would need a base from which to execute them. It is suggested that the Executive Branch of Government moves back to its home—The Executive Mansion. The Executive Mansion would offer much comfort, better working conditions and many others that would increase productivity. The Legislative and Judiciary Branches are already at home. Patriotism is putting your country first even when your country does not put you first; however, with your country putting you first, patriotism is much easier. The improvement of the human capital and working environment within the nation, and the people having enough supplies of food would 139

grow patriotism among Liberians and make the country more prosperous. Liberians would develop the infrastructures, technology, machinery, and feed Liberia and other nations. Invest in the today of Liberia so as to make the tomorrow of Liberia better.

140

Finally Now that you’ve read this book, TAKE A SNAPSHOT OF THE FRONT COVER AND SHARE IT ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA (FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM, IMO, WHATSAPP, ETC.)

Transform the life of someone with a copy of this book.

The author would like to hear from you. Contact him: [email protected]

141