At some point when I was in my twenties, I did very many jobs – at one time, I had five jobs: I was working in a small consulting firm business from 7am-4pm, a cyber cafe (they were necessary and mainstream those days) from 4.30pm to 7.30pm, I served cocktails in a hotel from 8pm to midnight and often longer at parties on Fridays and Saturday and I contributed articles to a number of publications.
On most days, in those days, I got 2-3 hours sleep. I always set Sunday aside to sleep only – from Saturday night through Monday, I mostly slept. I find that now at my age, sleeping less than 4 hours leaves me sluggish all day. In my twenties, as I am sure in yours, I had boundless energy.
My attitude then was that there were 24 hours a day and I would use them to move on up in life. I apportioned them as well as I could and I tried to use them well to achieve my purpose. I became clinical with my time – too clinical I daresay, because at one point I was all work and no play. But it helped because later, I could afford to play a lot more without crippling my bank account.
A friend of mine, Philip also did the same. In those days, he would go to villages in Kiambu and buy eggs for cheap and then he would come to Nairobi and distribute them in Kiosks. This was over and above the job that he had as a messenger in a law firm. Today, Philip is a major agriculturalist in Tana River County and if I ever wanted to invest on Agriculture, he would be my first stop for guidance.
Today, I see many twenty-year olds use the boundless energy that they have on fun and games. They will go Friday to Friday on drinking sprees – often from town to town. They will be seen at all the rugby games in the country – from Nakuru to Machakos to Jamhuri and they will be the most drunk.
I recently got on snapchat (I get on every social media app that comes up for a while to test it and leave if I don’t get it). On it, I follow a whole lot of young twenty-something year old professionals and I am amazed by their capacity to “turn-up” 4 days a week.
One thing I know now, that I didn’t believe then is that the body gets slower with time. It gets less capable to do some things over time.
Lesson 8: Use and Take Your Time
Whatever you do, know that time is the one resource that expires and that your body and its capacities are at their peak when you are in your twenties. Use them wisely and don’t waste them. The results of your efforts will be evident to you in your thirties and forties. Don’t believe those who tell you that your twenties are all about fun. Don’t waste your energy or time.