Remember the story of the ant and the grasshopper?
If you already know the story, just scroll down to the lesson.
…So it was dry season and harvest time in the land of the animals. The grasshopper was euphoric, singing, dancing, and having wild parties. Food was scattered everywhere, and the grasshopper had no care in the world.
Singing along one morning, he noticed that Mr Ant and his family were very busy burrowing new homes, foraging for food, and storing it up in the new home.
“Hey there, Bre Ant, why are you working so hard, the sun is shining, and there is food everywhere. Why not come and join me, lets party!” the grasshopper shouted.
“No sir, I rather keep working, the rain is coming”, replied Bre Ant.
“You can’t be serious” retorted Mr Grasshopper. “The rain is still many months away!”
“So it seems” muttered the ant “so it seems “, and with that, he kept on working.
Mr Grasshopper hoped off merrily and kept partying. Days rolled into weeks and weeks into months. Then one day without warning, the rain came.
Grasshopper was caught completely off guard. He raced all around looking for shelter. Eventually, he came over to Mr Ants family, just as Ant was about to seal off his new home from the coming flood.
“Say Mr Ant sir, do you have enough room in your house, the rain is heavy and it might carry me away. Besides, there’s no food anywhere” begged the Grasshopper.
“Sorry Bre Grasshopper, I have just enough room for my family, and just enough food to last us through the rain” and with that, Mr Ant, sealed the entrance.
The rain was particularly heavy that night, and for several days to come.
Eventually, the stress of foraging for food, exposure to rain, wore down the Grasshopper. It wasn’t long before another rain came down, and the floods carried him away, never to be seen again.
Phew! I imagine I can spin a good story! but I think I got the basic elements of that old story right.
What is important is the beautiful and powerful moral lesson the story attempts to teach us, even though we were so young and innocent at that stage of our life.
But unfortunately, this is a lesson many of us have not learned, even today.
HARD THINGS ARE BETTER DONE WHEN THEY ARE EASY.
In one of our course on Time management, we teach a popular time management matrix developed by President Eisenhower of the United States (the extremely productive 34th president of the United States) and popularized by management guru, Stephen Covey.
In this time matrix, there is a particular Quadrant, known as Quadrant 2, or the quadrant of effectiveness, where most top performers in life, spend most of their time, and average people spend less of their time.
Average people don’t spend time on activities in this quadrant because, although these activities are very important and essential, they are not urgent activities, thus we usually keep putting them off, until they eventually become emergencies.
Why do most people have Diabetes in their 50’s and 60’s and 70’s, well aside from hereditary, the majority of such case, is because, in our 20’s and 30’s and 40’s, there is no urgency in eating healthy or exercising.
We consume every junk food, knowing quite well the adverse effects, but as long as we think we have time, we don’t mind, until one day, a doctor ominously announces that you have to eat only breadfruit and cocoyam in addition to daily insulin injection for the remainder of your life!
How many of us, have cozy salary work, and feel so comfortable that we are not putting away serious money for the rainy day, or better still, building up a side business, in case of the unexpected?
I know two men, friends of my dad, and both civil servants. One lost his work suddenly due to office politics, but several years before the unfortunate incidence, he built up a printing firm. So when he was sacked, he fell back on his firm, and within a few years, grew it even bigger.
He was able to see his kids through University and they are all doing well today.
The second man was not sacked, he worked till retirement. Unfortunately, he spent much of his earnings on cars and other indulgences. Out of respect for the dead, I will not mention his excesses, but suffice it to say, that he panicked when his retirement was around the corner.
After he was forcefully retired (because he resisted), he came to our house and was lamenting to my dad on his confusion. He felt lost and didn’t know where to start.
Soon family trouble started, most of his kids were stranded in University, and another one was stranded abroad.
Well, long story short, he broke down and died within the year.
This is already a long post so I will cut it short.
Make hay while the sun shines, may be cliché, but a very serious one.
There are many things in life which we put off because they are not urgent, these are the very things you must consciously do every day.
Some call it “intentional living”, and such lifestyle always results in a better living standard.
Maybe you need to start exercising, building up a new business, investing in passive income, building up your customer base, building up quality relationships, etc.
Just remember, difficult things are better started when they are simple.
Please don’ t wait for the hard times and if you are already in a hole, stop digging, and start climbing out today!
And if you’re thinking of starting a new business, the absolute best place to start is to take our Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management Course. With over 2500 graduates and more than 300 busineses started by our graduates, we have the most powerful and comprehensive business resources, training and support, to save you from confusion, build up your business the right way, and quickly get you started on the right path to wealth creation.
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Have a great day!
Engr Emma Okoro