We give all sorts of reasons why we, as individuals cannot get our act together. Now I am not saying that some of these reasons do not have merit. They do. However there are some people who have decided that they are going to make a change in the education system, government and so on. The sad reality is that the vast majority of complainers are on the sidelines. They watch others take up their seats and complain about their performance in the seat. Every so often their calls for change will be aired on twitter and that’s where it ends.
Then there’s those things we complain about but are as a result of our own choices, borrowing money, spending money without a plan, the list can go on. It’s just that complaining provides a distraction to that gnawing feeling inside that knows we are meant to do things differently. We are different. We are meant to push in a certain direction. That’s what the seat on the table is about. That’s why there is nobody in the world with the same thumbprint as you, not even an identical twin. It’s discovering what truly gives fulfillment and makes us grow. Making the change we were meant to make.
Everybody was given something that they can always use. The difference is in whether you will use it and develop it, or simply go with the flow. That is buy into how life is supposed to be rather than what it can be. We have been so conditioned to think in a certain way that we do not recognise what we have. We get caught up in the career title that we cannot see what we are really good at, which is working with people, organisation, creativity, and other natural skills. Any work opportunity that comes our way has to align to the title and money, rather than the impact we could make and simply the joy that we would have doing it. So the career becomes this shell of an existence that is covered up with nice cars and fancy club memberships. We are trapped, only that the trap looks like it’s made of gold. There are many in various leadership positions, nationally, privately and even within families. However there is actually no leadership being displayed. Title with no substance. The seat is about substance not what you were called.
There are those of us who are so controlled by a regular income that we never explore or experiment that bug that is telling us to start a business. We give into fear including other people’s perceptions year in, year out. Then there are those of us who just show up at work to earn money and it’s obvious. You give nothing of your true self in your role (which is actually what would make you stand out and help your case in a salary review). We wonder then why in our financial lives we live from paycheck to paycheck, yet our only motive for working is the paycheck. To stop the rat race of paycheck-to-paycheck would mean we have done the work of connecting with a different motive which most of us are not willing to do. There are some of us who will do anything, and I mean anything to ‘make it’. We will lie, cheat, steal, manipulate step on others… to get it done. We wonder how someone else with so much less looks so content and peaceful and secretly envy them. We are jealous of people who have “made it’ in line with their core values and integrity.
Then there are those of us defined by circumstances rather than letting those circumstances grow us. Failure, hardship is part of developing the muscle to fully utilize your seat on the table (Click to Tweet this thought). Your failures, hardships, challenges will not look like somebody else’s because you were not put here to nurture the same muscle. Therefore let’s stop comparing ourselves with others and be bold enough to walk our journey and keep walking. There are those of us who are compelled to give more; money or time. However we are caught up in our lives and commitments and delay it. Somebody’s’ life could have been changed today had you done that.
I’ve mentioned just a few but your seat on the table could be anything. Becoming a stay at home parent, vying for a leadership position, mentoring, writing a book, going back to work, starting a business etc. Only you can come to terms with it. So this year let’s commit to taking our seat on the table. Let’s try and discover what that seat is. It will never look like somebody else’s seat. Let’s understand the resources that came with the seat. You didn’t have to do anything for some of them. Maybe drawing comes naturally. Other resources may have been added along the way like networking. Let’s accept how the seat will stretch us. Let’s enjoy the blessing of the seat without feeling guilty. Let’s grow. Let’s create impact in our own ways. Take your seat at the table. (Click to Tweet this thought)
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Waceke Nduati-Omanga runs programs on Personal Finance Management, Entrepreneurship and Career Success.
Find her at waceken@centonomy.com| twitter @CekeNduati| Facebook /CekeNduati