There is a simple truth which is available to the public yet kept a secret. The problem is with our desire to become  intellectuals and seem like the more elite has actually drifted many away from the Judea-Christian worldview, and the man in Galilee there speaks of a simple truth which is so secret.

What he asserts on the sermon on the mount is “Keep on asking and it will be given to you, keep on knocking and it will be opened, keep on searching and you will find”. I want to contrast the word “keep on” there because it speaks of persistence and another translation uses “continue".

What would you have achieved if you didn’t give up? There was a woman in Judea who had an issue of blood after she has exhausted all her avenues she heard about the man Jesus who claims to be the son of God. To her, that’s all she needed and in the original translation, it says he kept on saying to herself “If I may, but touch the hymn of his garment I will be healed” she was reciting this every day until she touched him and was made whole. She continued, she kept on reciting it and when it happened she bacame what she said. 

Why then do we give up so quickly? Because we are used to instant gratification and the only people who make it in life are the ones that continue even though everyone else stops, this is what sets the successful and unsuccessful apart. 

It’s a strange secret, no one can tell you the secret of success but I am going to share it with you here and it’s belief. “As you believe, it shall be so”. Control your thoughts, as you sow you will reap, and you should think positively about yourself. Earl once said a mind is the only continent that hasn't been explored and further made an anarllegy of a field which is waiting for the farmer to sow, whatever the farmer puts in the ground the farmer will reap, good seed or bad seed the field doesn't choose. Refuse to believe that there are things that will drift you away from your purpose. But to get there, this is the price we have to pay as suggested by Earl:

1. You will become what you think about 
2. Remember the word imagination
3. Courage, focus on your goal
4. Save 10% of what you earn
5. Action: Ideas are worthless

Let's try out an exercise for 21 days, take a card and write down what you want. Clearly define it and carry it everywhere you go and when you sleep look at it, if you have a visual to accompany it, it will make it much easier. Do this because you are the product of your thoughts and as you think about that goal you will become it. This has been verified by great men of history including Jesus. And it takes 21 days to form a habit.

The second thing I want us to do is to eliminate some things as they will hinder the progress, replace everything negative you think about with the goal that you have written down. Within the 21 days interval do more than usual, remember newtons third law states that for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. If you do this so far you are counted as the top 5% that are successful in the world.

Remember “for everyone that asks it will be given unto and everyone that searches will find and everyone that knocks it will be open” it is that simple. All you need is a purpose and faith. Give selflessly, do this for 21 days with me. If you fail, start over again because we need to form this habit.

“Act as though it is impossible to fail”

On the other side of the card write “Keep on asking and it will be given to you, keep on knocking and you will find, keep on searching and you will find” and on this journey, don’t worry about anything. Keep calm and positive. Does it seem hard?

If so, it explains why only a few are successful. Success is not a result of making money, making money is the result of success. Be of service first then you will make money, it is a reward for the value you are adding. It is the law. 

No man can be rich himself unless he enriches others. Once you understand this you will realize that if you give it will be given back to you. I would like to borrow words from a psychiatric doctor [David] who defined the journey to success

1. Set a definite goal
2. Stop running yourself down
3. Stop thinking of the reason you can’t be successful 
4. write down your ideal successful self 
5. Act based on what you described in 4

Let our test be recursive and see whether we can’t be successful or not, we have nothing to lose and have a whole lot to win

To erase the misconception, it didn’t feel as good as I thought. My name is President and am from Phola, a township near Witbank in Mpumalanga, some argue that you have to be successful to mention Phola in your bio so that people can see what you actually went through to get there.

That's not the case in this article, I want to share a few thoughts with you in my journey to making a million and not feeling like a millionaire. I didn’t go for a shopping spree or got myself a four pipe, not that I don’t want to but for a mere fact that it’s business.

When you grow up in a township like mine you can only think up to that far. As we are sandwiched by mines, if you don’t wear an overall there is no sign that you are working, the dudes who wear suits are either selling insurance or Jehovah’s witnesses. 

The industry I am trading in is actually far from the norm I grew up under, it is the ICT industry of which we are on a quest to inspire secure digital innovation and business sustainability in Africa through technology, making artificial and business intelligence as one of our pillars. These words are carefully thought OUT and there is a thesis I am writing on the subject as I can’t wait to get a PhD for me to write one.

Making money all starts with a vision, you don’t become rich by mistake, it is all intentional. The problem with vision it's that you can only think up to a certain extent based on what you are exposed to, for the vision to be real you gotta know where you want to go and it has nothing to do with purpose but everything to do with what you are passionate about and the direction you choose to take.

A problem with being in the low-class black and having a poor education is that things like these are not emphasised, neither in our school nor in the community. Your vision is important, whether an entrepreneur or not as it will direct your path. Only a minority have a vision, the rest will continue being mediocre for the rest of their lives for this simple fact: No vision.

What lies between you and your vision is hell. Let that sink in for a minute. The first thing that you gonna encounter as you take a step forward is criticism from yourself “what if it doesn’t work out?”, critics from outside don’t matter trust me. There is nothing that you can do or say that will make me stop, but each and every now and then I get a hard blow from life I question myself “What am I doing?” I remember one speaker saying “if there is no enemy within the enemy outside can do no harm” and the other one asserted that enemy is in-a-me.

The hellish part is where you have a mission and a set of goals to help you arrive to your vision only to find out that you had no idea certain things are going to happen. And every part of your body is against you, your body decides to get sick, to wake up late, to be lazy and your mind is talking you out of it every single day. Never mind the clients you don’t get and some with unrealistic expectations, this includes your nagging stomach craving for a Roco mammas and having no money to attend meetings.

This is just a tip of the ice bag because every now and then you will fail at doing what you are good at and everyone will say “I told you so”. What would you do? When on your way to your vision you get stuck between a rock and a hard place, will you go on? That’s what set us apart.

I can guarantee you that you will never make even half of what I made in the past week if you don’t immerse yourself beyond yourself. Switch on the TV if you will, it is filled with garbage that is designed to set you back including the radio and the music, it’s all bullshit. And the punchline is that all that bullshit is going into your head and inevitably becomes your reality.

I used to think that people who read books are just desperate especially those self-development books whose title include “How to live a fulfilling life” and the likes, I thought by having Jesus my life was fulfilled and to my surprise, it wasn’t. I was still stagnant, my belief system said it was okay to be in the state I was. Until you read you won’t reap. Life is too hard for me to be a spectator of every negative thing the media is trying to feed me.

I made the first million and didn’t feel like popping champagne because it is not the destination and quite frankly I have debts to pay. convert it to a standard currency and you will actually realise that it’s just below $100K and I have two companies to babysit.

When someone comes to me with entrepreneurial ambitions I shut them off, I don’t care whether they have the drive for it or not. And when they come in for the third time, I then know that they will make it because you can’t stop an entrepreneur and from then forward I know that when life shuts them down like a sphinx they will rise from the dust and make their second million.

When will you make your first one? No, your salary is not enough, you need plan B.

They are a rare breed. Whether they are made or born is a debate for centuries to come, there is just no scientific empirical formula for them. Their DNA looks normal like everyone else', from the surface there is nothing different about them. They wear suits, beanies and drink coffee like everyone else. They come in different shapes and sizes like everyone else. ADD, ADHD, lunatic, psychotic, trust me they had it all.

Though they look normal, deep inside them they have super powers that enable them to look at the world through different lenses. They are always on a quest for making things better, efficient and sometimes worse than they currently are. They are not only motivated by money, they drive change, they are masters of their own fate, they take charge. When you are with one, you will be left challenged. They are entrepreneurs and can’t be stopped.

They go an extra length, they sleep an hour late, they wake up an hour early. Though they look invincible, they also question their sanity every day and they also break down like everyone else. Entrepreneurs, that’s how they classify them and who wouldn’t question their sanity? They jump off a cliff with a belief that they only need their hands to fly and I mean that’s all it takes, belief. You can’t stop them, they are wired differently. You file a lawsuit against them they will rise above it, either by beating you down or starting another company.

You place obstacles in their way, they will destroy them and continue, you can’t stop them. They don’t have it all figured out but they still continue. Some of them have a vision, that’s all and as a matter of fact, that’s all they need.

They can’t be touched. They can’t be stopped. They can’t be moved. They can’t be rocked. They can’t be shook. They are the reason why the world is, they are called Entrepreneurs.

14 years old in my high school years I was trading as a graphic designer, it was fulfilling making extra cash independently. All I had to do was design and go to town to print out the designs, I can’t look back at the designs today to spare me the embarrassment but hey I was a pioneer, therefore, I have set the benchmark. Call it a monopoly if you will.

I always asked myself what was missing? What am I doing differently? See, where I was printing my designs they had a revenue and staff. We actually do the same thing, what am I doing wrong? I was the business, therefore, couldn’t pass the school bus test, but I didn’t care I just wanted to grow, but I had hit the ceiling. I couldn't understand what were they doing that makes them so successful.

Fast forward, as a second-year student in Computer Science and Informatics I registered Cyber Geeks it was a metamorphosis of my back then company President Production(Graphics and design). I finally answered the question “What is missing?”, three things in essence:

• Exposure, though I had a Facebook page it was only liked by my friends and family hence the business could only go that far. 
• Knowledge, I had no clue what was happening in the industry. I didn’t know how they were operating never mind having strategies in place, at least I had one I.e. to design one more calendar and get the cash. 
• Value, yes I was a good designer but it didn’t impact anyone. Let’s say I grow, who will I hire? No one had the skill in my township, the ones who knew a computer it was because of Mario Bros and typing CV’s 

Those three missing elements became the pillar of Cyber Geeks. Our duty is to inspire secure digital transformation and process automation in Africa through Software Engineering, how are we filling the different components you may ask?

• We take your business and rip off the working hours which is also exposing it in a universal scale. This means that your neighbour will not be your only client, but the entire universe can access you via a platform which can be both web or app or both! 
• We carefully choose the frameworks that we use so that there are no security loopholes left unpatched to give you the peace of mind. 
• A platform only is not enough if there is no data that is converted to knowledge which will help you better position yourself. Hence we also package it with business intelligence to put you on the cutting edge of your industry. 

As aforementioned we want to inspire what we do hence we have Geek Academy and blacksuit which is our skills distribution initiatives were we train the community so that we can have a sustainable digital ecosystem and securing it through awareness with regards to the cyber ecosystem. 

I often say I am an Entrepreneur who happens to be a geek, my entrepreneurial being heavily influenced the methodology who follow at Cyber Geeks. That is Design which speaks to purpose and meaning then Code has a certain standard we follow to make sure that it’s secured and lastly Disruptive, beyond innovation and efficiency. We driving a revolution that will give birth to new industries, and you will make a perfect partner.

Superman

2017 has been a thrilling ride, I am both excited and excited up to this point (yes, twice the excitement). Sometimes I laugh at myself on how stupid I am to start my own business. See, running a business is filled with uncertainty especially an upstart like mine in a competitive tech world and lack of financial stability. In the roller coaster of having to be a tower of strength, a leader and innovator, a magician(conjuring up pay rises, resources and extra staff at the drop of a hat), a kind brother, a shoulder to cry on, a dynamic motivator, a stern but fair judge, a diplomat, a politician, a financial wizard, a protector, a savior and a saint, or sometimes I even have to be Santa Claus. So I have times whereby I liken myself to superman, it makes sense to me as a founder of an upstart.

Being responsible for a whole gang of people which includes staff, clients, and the board. I have to coax out of them a decent experience and days of work. I have to ensure that they don’t eat themselves up, be an advocate for both sides and miraculously have them both win the case. I have to know their rights, my rights, and the country's law(thank God they don’t have a union… yet!). When the sun sets, I am expected to have a job well done.

Uh… I almost forgot I have to remain cool and calm — I can’t shout or have favorites. This entrepreneurship business is a tall order. Richard Templar further said “The team behaves like small children at times, you can’t smack them. At other times they will behave like petulant teenagers — sleeping in late, not turning up, refusing to do the real work if they do turn up, sloping off early, that sort of a thing”.

Welcome 

It’s depressing, if you have just started a business I would like to welcome you to the jungle. This reminds me of the financial meltdown in 2008, it felt like our financial world was coming to an end.  Barbers and billionaires were all panicking. I remember the headlines of a young man throwing himself over the bridge because the stock market has crashed. If my brother reads this article he would say I am lying because I am not even 20 yet, how do I know this? Well for everyone who knows me that well shut up! (I am kidding) even though I was born and bred in a small township called Phola, I founded an astronomy club when I was in primary school of which I was a chairperson (let’s be fancy and call it CEO). What made me aware of the Great Depression in 2008 was the fact that we were looking for sponsorships and we couldn’t get any then I used my Motorola V360 to get to know what was really happening.

With all of the entrepreneurship turbulence I encounter every day! I chose to lie to myself. See the dude who threw himself over the bridge at night, in the morning the market began to take shape again. In his book as a man thinketh echoing a biblical verse “as a man thinketh so his heart will be” I came to realize that most of the time I was filled with fear. What if I fail? What if I will lose? What if? What if? What if?! James Allen taught me that everything we create in our lives starts with a thought. And Napoleon Hill in his book outwitting the devil also affirmed that fear can be mastered as well and I remember the talk by Les Brown and he said: “FEAR stands for False Evidence Appearing Real”. Thoughts are lies and we choose to view our setbacks as failures or opportunity, we choose to be optimistic when we encounter adversity or pessimistic.

It's about your reaction

I looked at myself in the mirror the other time when I entered my apartment, I was excited about the deal that I have closed and to the contrary a few days back I was having a pity party on how broke I am and the business not doing well I thought to myself I might as well get a job. I realized how stupid I was, nothing has changed. My laptop is still space gray and my glasses are still bronze, nothing has changed. Why am I then excited today? Because I told myself a different story. When I was down and out, I told myself that I am not going to survive as a result I must explore the alternatives. It was not true, but I convinced myself that it’s over. Since thoughts are just lies and have a great impact on our lives. I lie every day to myself and that keeps my impulse healthy and momentum at a peak. No, I don’t have psychosis, I just don’t let the external forces get into me. I have established a firewall around me which protects me from all the negative substances that want to get into my system.

Be careful

To all the entrepreneurs out there, don’t let it get to you. I know it gets too much, but it’s business it doesn’t have any emotions. That’s why it’s important to work on your business, not in your business. If you get stressed in a way you don’t like, get some time out or daydream if you will. Change your thinking, life is bigger than your business. Not letting it get to you doesn’t mean not caring or not taking pride in what you do. No, it means putting things into context so you can go home and switch off. Don’t let it eat away at you, make you unhealthily stressed or overwrought. 

I was watching air crash investigation the other day on National Geographic, either than the fact that I enquire whether the engines have been serviced or not and aren’t there any expired oxygen tanks before boarding a plane, it was interesting to me on how the series of events unfolded on that episode, I wish to talk about the Bermuda Triangle but I will resist the temptation. The plane tried to run and take off but with no success on the first attempt, therefore, it had to rotate and try again, but there was no luck. On the third attempt the pilots were determined to take it to the air with full throttle in a manner that there was no turning back, the 200 passenger seat plane crashed in the nearby bushes and exploded.

With a close analysis, they found out that the cause of the dramatic event was due to frozen wings, therefore, they couldn’t band over to control the direction of the air hence it couldn’t take off. Planes, however, have anti-freezing mechanisms in the wings which is heat produced by the engines, but they were not serviced hence the doom.

Its okay to run in order to gain momentum for a takeoff, but if you don’t take off you will crash and burn. This is what happens in the life of a start up that doesn’t mature. You keep on rounding circles in which they consume your resources I.e. money and time. I don’t care how intelligent your team is, but if you are not going anywhere they will leave because they are under utilized especially these millennials. And as you keep on making those turns in which I am using them as a metaphor the inevitable will happen, because you have pressure from the surroundings and you have been trying for a long time then you hope it will take off, you hope your business will climb a step up. Even if there are resources, but for a mere fact that they don't communicate with one another they won’t work independently.

Have your checklist ready and ensure that you take off as soon as possible. It’s challenging running a startup, and it gives you the chills every now and then and as an entrepreneur the uncertainty is thrilling and exciting at times, but you will be depressed if it doesn’t mature into a business having defined processes and an exit strategy after sometime.

Love is precious, amongst many things I could say about love is that it’s divine more than just an emotion as it extends to attachment and trust. It blindfolds our eyes so that we won't be able to boast nor see the flaws of each other. Love is a powerful force that God uses to glue people together to a point where they commit to living with each other forever. Just to throw in some theology, it was love that made God to be touched by our lives even though we didn't want him from the first place.

Now, I will stop being poetic about this and ask a simple question: have you found her? have you found the woman you love? not the one you prefer to be with nor the one your friends prefer. Not the one you wanna brag about or like to be seen with. Did you find your soul mate whom you fall in love with each and every day? have you found your Cinderella, your queen, your babe, your chicken licken' finger lickin’ good, have you? 

If so, love her. Love her like you never loved before. Give her your heart, money is prioritised only in prostitution not in love. give her assurance that you are hers. since you have found her build with her. build your legacy with her, change your "my empire" to "our empire". Listen to her, no matter how stupid it is, listen to her still. Never mind other girls, they are only there for a while and you can't risk a queen for a mere servant.

Now, buddy, this needs you to be decisive. Shutting all others out is an indication of how you respect yourself, how disciplined you are. Yes, they are hotter, lighter, smarter but guess what? You have found yours(that's her). Value yourself enough to be exclusive, not because you don't wanna hurt her, but because you are goal driven and smart to know that others are just a distraction.

She has dreams, support them. As a man, make sure her dreams come true it's your responsibility. She is yours, make her happy. As a man, you gotta hustle for your woman and if she is a hustler too, that's a blessing.

Appreciate her, she chose you. And to the ladies: if you find a man who is going to do this, you better cover the bill at the restaurant and spoil your king. He is not trying, he is doing it!

💓Madina 

This Christmas I am rather bitter sweet, I am sorry to spoil your happy family time with the title. By no means I intend to make you feel guilty for being happy. On the bulletins lately I have seen reports of the accidents happening during this festive season and I haven't showed emotion to it, because it’s distant. “I will just pray for them” I said lightly. But this morning I received a phone call from a dearly loved one delivering the bad news to me that her loved one has passed on last night due to a car accident. After the phone call I sat and thought about it “What a paradox”, isn't it funny that we take things lightly until they happen to us or close to us?

Scriptures flooding my mind as I am trying to make sense out of this, but scripture alone is not enough. I am writing to all people who have lost their loved ones during this happy season, well, as much as we celebrate there are people who are mourning saying “it’s not the same without you” as they look in the sky with tears flooding their eyes. Trying to be happy, but deep inside lies a wound that opens up every time they pass this season for they haven't healed yet… I know a few.

“I will not leave you all alone like orphans. I will come to you. In a very short time the people in the world will not see me. You will live because I live” these are the words of Jesus the Christ of whom we celebrate his birth today, 

The Son of God whose Kingdom will never end 

He was there in the beginning and everything that was created came through him, 

He is not only the alpha but omega as well.

One time Lazarus was sick and he didn't come to his rescue until four days after his death and he rose him up from the dead and said “I AM the resurrection”, 

He is the same I AM who said to Moses “Tell them I AM has sent you”. 

They tried to dispute his existence and for more than 2000 years they have failed, 

he is Emmanuel- God is with us. They nailed him to the cross, he died and rose from the dead!

He said “You will live because I live”, to all those who have lost their loved ones, cry you must but don't cry like those who have no hope because they may have disappeared for a while, but because he lives, they will also rise again on the set date. “…And on that day you will know that I am the Father. You will also know that you are in me and I am with you”.

You are not cursed, God is trusting HIMSELF in you that you will triumph for his grace is sufficient.

The Toad, having finished his breakfast, picked up a stout stick and swung it vigorously, belabouring imaginary animals. 'I'll learn 'em to steal my house!' he cried. 'I'll learn 'em, I'll learn 'em!' 'Don't say "learn 'em," Toad.' said the Rat, greatly shocked. 'It's not good English.' 'What's the matter with his English' said the Badger, 'why are you nagging the Toad? I also do the same and it's good enough for me, it ought to be good enough for you!'  'I am very sorry said the Rat humbly.'Only I think it ought to be "teach 'em", not "learn 'em". 'But we don't want to teach said the Badger. 'we want to LEARN 'em-- learn 'em, learn 'em! and what's more, we're going to DO it, too!'

In the case of the Toad and the Badger their interest was not only to distribute knowledge, but it was also learning. This simply means that their definition of education is a two-way street. Not in our lecture halls, unfortunately, we are no longer having lectures but we go to the halls and listen to talks. The content being taught at schools, at least in South Africa is irrelevant, ineffective and lethal hence we have to unlearn. Wait... How did I arrive at this conclusion?

It's easy, take a look at social media platforms and the content in which our millennials are tweeting and twerking about (I also don't know where does twerking fit). It actually exposes what is happening in the classroom i.e. Nothing. If the school was effective we won't be having #MinimumWage as a trend and we won't be voting for ANC because it promises us a social grant. Since we are talking about money, the education system is not mindful of the entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship landscape. It is stuck in 19 something when Jan van Riebeek arrived at the cape, it's basis is on slavery.

The problem began...

Doing my ninth grade, I was taught that the aim of the business it to make a profit. This provoked excitement, but at a later stage after not making a dime for a year I realised that money is a byproduct of impact and value. You provide impact and add value, like smoke when a fire is lit, it appears.
Here is another one, "I am an entrepreneur, I am my own boss" these kinda people are either still living in a back room or can't write entrepreneurship without auto correct. The reality is: when you are an entrepreneur the government, clients, shareholders are all your boss' take a seat, Mr Happy Socks.
As our education system produces spoilt brats and low self-esteemed human beings, we end up with 9 out of 10 businesses failing within the first three years. 

Let me explain this further.

What happened when someone failed a grade? he was dimmed as a loser and an incompetent bastard who is wasting parents money. Ignoring the fact that only one out of 7 methods of teaching were practised and the content he is learning is irrelevant to the society around (I still can't figure out why I was taught about King Louis the Sixteenth). In the business realm, failing doesn't mean that. It's an achievement that you at least know what is not working. As of spoilt brats, our graduates are beggars.
I don't find it cute holding a banner saying that you have a degree in engineering and looking for a job at the robots(my English friends, I am referring to traffic lights).

Talking about traffic light... we didn't even invent that. How does a nail clipper work? You would be still chewing your teeth if they didn't introduce it to you, comfort zone. I agree with the founder of LinkedIn when he says entrepreneurship is like jumping off the cliff and building an aeroplane on your way down. The information you have learnt at school is outdated and poisonous, unlearn it or learn the hard way.