FEMI TAIWO ON MONDAY: I HAVE WHAT I NEED
STRATEGY WITH FEMI TAIWO ON MONDAY
Michael is a first class chemical engineering graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria, and a PhD holder in same discipline from the University of Arkansas, United States.
We are wired to obsess about what is lacking in our lives. We think often of how we do not measure up. “If only I had more money, or more connections, I would have a successful business” a friend recently told me. I understand his sentiments. It is completely natural to take for granted what is. I used to think like that before. I was always thinking “If I were born into a rich family, I’d really make impact; if I were born in the US, my life would be much easier; if I were a bit taller, I would be great at sports” etc. But then I realized that this defeatist attitude will take me nowhere. It is draining to feel there is something wanting, something incomplete about who we are or what we have. Then one day I had a revelation. I was meditating when a thought came to me: what if you already have all you need? What would you do? Who will you speak to? What risk will you take? How much harder will you work?
That was when I changed my thinking and started saying to myself: “I have what I need.” I believe this 100%. I have what I need. It is empowering to live this way. It is very freeing to know that you have, in the here and now, what you need. Some readers may be thinking “This is nonsense! I need $10,000 to start my business and I don’t have that!” Well, it may be true that you don’t have the $10,000 in your account as we speak but you have plenty you can use to exchange for the money. You have a business idea, you have time, you have talent, you can seek out partners and you have financial institutions…all these are already available. And if you use them right, they will produce the money you need. You have what you need. You have the friends you need. You have the education you need. You have the money you need. You have what you need.
The converse is also true. You don’t have what you don’t need. If you don’t have it, you probably don’t need it. Maybe you don’t need to start a business; that may be why you don’t have the $10,000. Or maybe it’s not $10,000 that you need; maybe you desire $10,000 but only really need $500. Whichever, when you start living with the mindset that you don’t need what you don’t have, you overcome much evil.
The root of envy, jealousy, bankruptcy and a host of other maladies stems from the thinking that we need what we don’t have. But it’s not true. We have what we need for the season that we are in. Remember that though the world may have moved to money as a way to buy and sell goods and services, the good old trade by barter system is alive and well in concept. You can always trade what you have for what you need. You have what you need. I have what I need.
