Feeling Lost

[OLAJJJ]

Hi all, I read the fastlane 4 years ago... I'm 23 years old from Lusaka, Zambia. A developing country in southern africa. I have been a long reader of the forums but never signed up until now.... Im currently 23 years old and in the past I have made some little money designing websites for companies, but I just couldnt get consistence clientss and so I was broke here and there also tried other ventures that dint go well but i learnt from them. Im currently living with my grandma and as I write this write now am feeling lost.... 4 years ago i thought i would make a business that would make an impact and here I am. unemployed, no college education, broke and no where to go as my grandma will be renting out the house so i need to find an apartment to rent and i am broke. I am currently applying for some jobs here and there now to find some money to pay the bills... I still have one online business that has potential, I just need to find some little money to invest in some ads on a certain platform. I dont know why am even writting this.... I just feel lost, I have relatives telling to get into college, which I dont want to. Theres a part of me thats still tellling me I can do this and college would just be a waste of time to me, i feel like i would rather spend that energey working on another business than attending lectures, graduating then job hunting.. right now am trying to follow the method in Alex becker book 8 pillars of weath which is to find a small job, find a cheap living cost and work on a business with high potential but low startup cost then scale it. But even that would take time because even if I find a job most of the pay would be going to pay rent. I feel like all my relatives are looking at me as a failure right now... I know this is a bad introduction... I just Dont know what to do anymore

 

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[George Appiah]

Hello @ollari,

I'm 23 years old from Lusaka, Zambia.

I'm 38 years old and I'm from Ghana, a developing country in West Africa

Im currently living with my grandma and as I write this write now am feeling lost.... 4 years ago i thought i would make a business that would make an impact and here I am. unemployed, no college education, broke and no where to go as my grandma will be renting out the house so i need to find an apartment to rent and i am broke. I am currently applying for some jobs here and there now to find some money to pay the bills...

In Ghana there's a common proverb that can be loosely translated as... "You don't stand in the band of driver ants and pluck off the biting ants from your body."

My experience has been that whenever I find myself desperately chasing gigs/jobs/money, I don't make any headway. Which just goes on to deepen my desperation, and the vicious cycle continues.

It's only when I somehow figure out a way to stabilize myself (for some reason, I can't think well when I'm starving... shocker ) and concentrate on helping, that I'm able to turn the vicious cycle into a virtuous one.

That often begins with identifying and helping ONE organization achieve some specific desired result.

I dont know why am even writting this.... I just feel lost, I have relatives telling to get into college, which I dont want to. Theres a part of me thats still tellling me I can do this and college would just be a waste of time to me, i feel like i would rather spend that energey working on another business than attending lectures, graduating then job hunting

In many cases, college and entrepreneurship shouldn't be mutually exclusive... especially when you're bootstrapping and/or freelancing.

If you have the means, could you not go to college so you have some stability, while at the same time pursuing your entrepreneurial ambition?

... right now am trying to follow the method in Alex becker book 8 pillars of weath which is to...

I don't know about Zambia... but in Ghana here where I come from, there's no government unemployment benefits, no food stamps, no credit cards, no universal healthcare, no shelter programs... none of the social interventions commonly available in developed countries.

So if you fall down, you're COMPLETELY down, and on your own... with no support whatsoever!

And with the rapid "Americanization" of our family system, if you're not careful and blindly follow some internet guru and don't play your cards well within your own local context, you could end up seriously jeopardizing your career and your (financial) life.

Ultimately the decision is yours to make.

For additional considerations in making this decision, please take a look at this collection of forum threads: Do I Go To College? Dropout?

And note that your most important asset is your time.

Don't squander it daydreaming and chasing the latest shiny objects from Internet gurus.

Feel free to PM "Uncle George" (that's what folks call me down here in Accra) whenever you desire to bounce some ideas with someone.

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