Knowing the unknown unknowns… | Theodore Kanjo

This is for the prescholars, scholars, alumni, me, or anyone whose eyes have been fortunate enough to land on this. Welcome to my world.

I remember standing there, about to walk up to speak to the students at Open Dreams Academy. This is what was going through my mind. This is what I was going to say. This is me, living it out loud, in my head, before it even happened.

Here is where the story begins.

The first thing I was going to do was ask for permission. "Can I feature all your amazing faces on my YouTube channel?" If someone says no, they move to a different seat. Simple. But then, what if I didn't have to make anyone move? Good. I am glad I did not have to make someone move.

But here is the real question. What if, yes, you (while pointing in her direction and startling her), what is your name, “Sarah”, she says. What if Sarah did not want to be in my video, and I told her to move, and she moved? What does that say about me? As I continued the conversation.

It says I have power. I have leverage because of my perceived value, my reputation, and my presence. I am here. You are there. And the distance between us? Maybe one meter. Five at most. But that distance hides the most important thing (imagine me standing in front of a classroom of about 15 students). It hides what it takes to move you from where you are to where I am. And that is what we are talking about today. (Are you following, you the reader?)

Let me show you something. Who wants to be rich? Everybody. Of course. I threw five 10 XAF coins on the floor. (For context — 10 XAF is roughly 2 US cents. Not much. Stay with me.)

How many of you picked it up? If you didn't, you lied. You said you want to be rich, an opportunity appeared, and you left it on the floor. You were 10 XAF richer, and you saw no value in it. For those who attempted and could not pick up the coins in time, it was not your turn. Next time, be faster. I will give you props for taking action. Because that is everything. You can be the smartest person in the room, listen to every success story, study every challenge, take notes on every lesson, and remain exactly where you are if you never apply any of it. For those who picked up coins, congratulations, you have made it through to step 2. (Find resources and create systems to work for you, again, leverage)

Action equals truth, as my mentor always says. It goes like this: action, the steps you take to bring into existence what you say, speaks louder than what you say. (I am sure you have heard "actions speak louder than words" before.)

Now back to Sarah.

What if Sarah refused to move?

You would probably judge her. She doesn't respect authority. But what if Sarah had a terrible day? What if the food she ate made it physically hard to get up, and she didn't want to bring it up out of fear of embarrassment? You never really know what is going on in anyone's life until they trust you enough to let you in. Can you provide value that equates to trust?

Mental note: Embarrassment is an unexplored emotion. Take recording a video in public, for instance.

First take: perceived fear of embarrassment, because you care about what people think, or because you have never done it before (it is likely both). By the 20th take, you only focus on what is important, and you do not care about what people are thinking.

Here is what I have learned. Everything, as strong as I have put it, is a decision. There are always two choices on the table. You will be told to just pick one. But I do not see it that way.

If I want both options, I have to provide value that equals or exceeds what is being asked. That is what gives me the right to take both. That is what lets me have it all without limiting myself.

Value is leverage. If you have it, you win. If you don't, you will be looking for a rich uncle. And even then, you still need to show your rich uncle value for him to invest in you. You see what I mean?

Build value. Never limit yourself.

Start talking to yourself. In doing so, you will understand who you are, your strengths, your weaknesses, and how you can evolve. From there, you will know yourself. When you know yourself, you begin to believe in yourself. When you believe in yourself, you discover what you want. When you know what you want and why you want it, everything starts to align, the steps reveal themselves, your goals stop feeling distant, and you begin to see them happen in real time.

If you think talking to yourself is absurd behaviour, then let me ask you this: to learn about who I am, you need to have a conversation with me, right? (So, to learn about you, you need to ask yourself questions and search for the answers, don’t you think?)

Those are the ingredients you need for the clarity to see in spot dry land muddy waters, as my favourite writer says (I think that is how it goes). 

I have given you value today.

Now, is that value worth subscribing to my YouTube channel?

You know what to do.

🎥 Subscribe here → https://www.youtube.com/@HoodPhilosopher101

• Kanjo Theodore'15