Apply: African Women in Leadership and Peacebuilding Fellowship @ Kings College London

ODI’s Fellowship Scheme for early career economists

For climate policymakers: One Young World x BMW Scholarship

"If you could get paid to work on anything of your choice for the next 6 months, what will you work on?”

1. Here’s one thing I’ve learned from writing these newsletters every week: the hardest part is getting the first sentence on the blank sheet. Once that is in place, my mental tap is open and everything starts to move.I say this with all certainty: getting started is the most difficult part of any journey. All our focus should be optimized towards getting past that initial illusion of difficulty, and everything takes care of itself immediately after.

2. "If you want to combat error, critique your in-group. You speak their language and they trust you, so you might persuade someone.

If you want to raise your status, critique your out-group. They won't listen, but your in-group will love it."


3. Something we all know, but a few will admit, is that the requirement for great success is great ambition. We can significantly increase our potential for future success by becoming more ambitious than others. 

Great skill with little ambition amounts to little success. Great ambition almost always makes up for what you lack in skill and resources.

A-B-C: The requirement for great success, and how to get started on anything.

🔥 ONE QUESTION FOR YOU TO CONSIDER THIS WEEK:

"Is the work you do worth doing? Why do YOU do it?"

1. If you have any genuine talent, you must be ready to make almost any sacrifice to cultivate it to the fullest. The reason why this is important is that it is very rare to have something you’re really good at - very few people have that. If you have something that you’re better at than most people, go ALL IN on it.



2. A man’s first duty: a young man’s at any rate, is to be ambitious. Ambition is a noble passion which may legitimately take many forms: but the noblest ambition is that of leaving behind something of permanent value. “ - 


3. The design of your living space reflects your priorities. If you have a living room for entertainment; a bedroom for rest, you should have a space of equal magnitude dedicated to work. 

Depending on whom you are, you probably should have multiple spaces where you work, each tailored for different levels of depth, attention and engagement. 

For example, you may do shallow work like responding to emails on a dining table with others around, but you cannot study any material of considerable complexity with that. 

The effort you invest in creating these workspaces significantly shapes the path of your personal and professional growth.

A-B-C: What constitutes noble ambition, and how to design your living space

Commonwealth Distance Learning Masters Scholarships

Apply to join one of the leading accelerator programs from Baobab Network

"What talents are you burying because you’re afraid?"

1.  Uncertainty gives life its meaning. When we play games, and the outcome of the game becomes certain, we cancel the game and play a new one. Because the whole zest of the game is that you don't know what the outcome is.

That’s exactly how life is. Abandoning the quest for certainty in life is not only liberating, but makes life a more enjoyable game. When we seek certainty, life becomes predictable, like knowing the outcome of a game we've already played.True meaning comes from embracing the unknown and finding meaning in the journey rather than having everything figured out in advance.

2.  It's often easier to accomplish things when you're young because you haven't built a reputation yet, making it easier to take risks. As people get older and gain status, reputation, money, and family, they become less inclined to take risks. One way to preserve your youth into your old age is to develop the voluntary ability to let go of status and start afresh, if necessary. By doing this, you will outcompete those who are afraid to take such risks.

3.  Burying your talents because of fear, or your desire to please others doesn't help anyone—not you, not the world. The world will be better if your star shined brighter.

A-B-C: Uncertainty is great, and letting reputation go!

MacDowell Fellowship: Awards 300 Fellowships annually for emerging & established artists

Accelerate Africa: Apply for their new accelerator program which will admit 10 Africa-focused founders.

McKinsey: Apply to join their next Africa Women Leaders convening in Paris.

"When was the last time you were obsessed about something in your life?"

1.  The most effective way to make progress on tasks is through “timeboxing”: that is deciding 

you do with your time: rather, success is measured by whether you do what you planned to do. It’s fine if you scroll social media as long as that’s what you planned to do. Alternatively, checking work email, a seemingly productive task is a distraction if it’s done when you intended to work on a presentation.

2.  Willpower is not a finite resource. It is an emotion. Just as we do not “run out” of joy or anger, willpower ebbs and flows in response to how we feel.

So, when you need to do something difficult, it’s more productive and helpful to believe that a lack of motivation is temporary, than it is to tell ourselves that we’re tired, and need a break

3. To stay focused on anything, it is important you know clearly what you’re really trying to do. You must set a clear picture of what a goal looks like. You cannot call something a distraction until you know what it is distracting you from. 

 A-B-C: How to stay focused, and making progress through difficult tasks!

Glasgow MBA Scholarship For Women (Full-tuition scholarship for outstanding women)

Doctoral Dissertation Research Fellowship, for Social Sciences in Africa

Volunteer with Slum & Rural Health Initiative

"Unfinished projects can’t compound. What projects are you running away from finishing?"

1.  "Finish stuff, complete assignments and projects. Don’t leave bits and pieces of this and that all over life. Your life should not be the synonym for abandoned projects, the vocabulary of incompleteness. Finish stuff. That’s how you become a great achiever”

2.  The more accessible you can make your product or service, the easier it will be to market it. You can raise your price later, 

be the creator; the “idea guy”. They like that because it’s sexy and because that’s what comes easy to us. But I suspect we like it also because we're afraid.

 We’re afraid of taking full responsibility for everything that comes next. If we put it on someone else then we have someone to blame when the project fails. Maturity is understanding that you have to go out and make something happen. The competitive landscape for creating something is not one for the half-committed.” 

A-B-C: 3 Things I Learned this Week!

Joint Japan/World Bank Graduate Scholarship Program

(Open to Master's degree applicants in development-related fields)

Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program 

(For African scholars pursuing research projects with higher education institutions)

With the decisions you’re making today, what generation will your kids inherit?

: If you find this newsletter valuable, consider sharing it with at least 1 person today. Click the button below to share with one person.

1.  Here’s something that’s better than learning something every day; unlearning something everyday. Most times we don’t suffer because of what we do 

 know, but the things we have internalized that do not serve us properly.

2.  The effects of a generation's choices lag by one to two generations.

The reality our generation experiences today is a by-product of collective decisions made by our parents and the generation before them. This understanding can be both empowering and discouraging. On the one hand, it means that we cannot do much to immediately change the reality of today’s world. On the other hand, we have the collective ability to shape the world that the next two generations will inherit.

Whether to feel empowered or discouraged by this is a personal choice, but feeling empowered is generally more positive.

3.  Your capacity for imagination is much more important than your capacity for knowledge. Most young people have crippled imaginations – the exact opposite of what you need to be a high-flyer. There are two ways to develop a good capacity for imagination:

, read the classics. Read stories about great people who have done great things. A simple Google search is a good place to start: ask questions like 

Why do monumental projects take longer to complete today than they did 100 years ago?

, get in the habit of questioning things more. 

Why do chairs have 4 legs and a flat base

  Initially, this may seem forced and false, but over time, you develop genuine curiosity that becomes an integral part of how you think

A-B-C: Are you Free, Igniting your own Luck, and 3 Opportunities for you

Hansen Leadership Institute Fellows Program for Future Leaders

Nomfro Technologies’ Entrepreneurship Empowerment Program

(Training & mentorship for Entrepreneurs)

One Question for you to Consider this week:


What is ONE thing you need to do for 2024 to be a GREAT year?

Yesterday I read this quote from Philosopher Henry David Thoreau: “

If one advances confidently in the directions of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours”

What is something you’re deeply convinced you should be doing? That you’re uniquely built for? Find that thing, and don’t let go. If you are committed to it enough, you will inevitably find success.


What I Wish I Knew At the Beginning of the Year:

“Embrace your strange and unique interests—strange is good. Strange tastes often mean you're really on to something, and that passion will make you super productive.

Look where not many people look, and you're likely to discover new things.

When you discover new things, do not water your excitement down because you’re worried about what other people will think, or how it makes you look.

Anytime you think of something that seems simple but hasn’t been pursued, you should pay attention”


Be scared. You can’t help that. But don’t be afraid. It’s an essential distinction.

A scare is a temporary rush of a feeling. That can be forgiven. Fear is a state of being, and to allow it rule is a disgrace

Embracing your interests, Scare vs Fear, and 3 Opportunities for you

Kofi Annan Global Health Leadership Program for Health Professionals (Fully-funded)

CANEX Africa-Portugal Fashion Programme 2024 for African Fashion Designers (Fully-funded to Portugal)

CcHub-Mastercard Foundation Edtech Fellowship Program for EdTech Startups ($100K for your startup)

 If you find this newsletter valuable, consider sharing it with at least 1 person today. Click the button below to share with one person.

No work or love will flourish out of guilt, fear of hollowness of heart, just as no valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now”

The most painful periods of my life are when I try to play “God” by anxiously worrying about the future and what next to do with my life. No true success is borne out of fear. I’ve rarely gotten anything I desperately wanted.



. That is true with money. It's true with time. And it’s true with love.

Are you spending or investing your money, time and love?



Ignore the cheers, ignore the boos. You’re not as great as people say you are. You’re not as bad as the faceless trolls say you are.

A-B-C: Why you should live now, spending vs investing, and 3 opportunities for you

Don’t make an idol of your pain or suffering.

The condition for loving yourself and others cannot depend on your ability to produce results. We often fail in most of our attempts, but remember, successful people just need to get it right once. You must respect and love yourself, even when you’re not producing the results you need

Our truest ambitions naturally extract the most sacrifice from us. One way to measure your interest in certain things is to consider how much you’re truly willing to give up for it.

“Failure shows us the way—by showing us what isn’t the way.” 

― Ryan Holiday, The Obstacle Is the Way

“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself and in no instance bypass the discriminations of reason?

You have been given the principles that you ought to endorse, and you have endorsed them. What kind of teacher, then, are you still waiting for in order to refer your self-improvement to him? You are no longer a boy, but a full-grown man. If you are careless and lazy now and keep putting things off and always deferring the day after which you will attend to yourself, you will not notice that you are making no progress, but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary.” – 

What is keeping you up at night these days? Will it matter in 12 months?

A-B-C: Idolizing your pain, and how to find your true ambitions

1.  The price you need to pay to be the people you admire is often one you wouldn’t be able to foot the bill for.

2.  Sometimes, seemingly positive character traits are symptoms of internal crises. 

 because you do not know how to say no to strangers - often at the expense of your own self and family. Being “nice” in this case is a bug, not a feature. Audit your life to eliminate bugs that may pass off as features.

3. It takes more time and energy to build a bad business than a good business. Same thing applies to every valuable endeavor in life: relationships, jobs, marriages, social projects, teams, etc.

 When things are not working out for you, revisit the quality of what you’re building - you will likely discover the problem.

1. “One of the most destructive forces is unused creative power. When someone has a creative gift and out of laziness or for some other reason doesn’t use it, that psychic energy turns into sheer poison. That’s why we often diagnose neuroses and psychotic diseases as not-lived higher possibilities“ - 

Marie-Louise von Franz, Shadow and Evil in Fairytales


2. “Somebody who thinks they’re nothing and don’t matter because they’re not doing something for a few days is depriving themselves of stillness, yes—but they are also closing themselves off from a higher plane of performance that comes out of it.” - 

If you continue to grow at your current pace, where will you be in 10 years? Is that the life you want?

A-B-C: How to avoid mental illness; and imagining your life in 10 years.

1. Do not be careless. Do not take opportunities and access that you have for granted. Do not be careless over your principles and convictions. 

2. Never dilute what you actually love with expectations for what you should love.

3. Here’s how to become a more original thinker - and the smartest person in the room:

After you read for a little bit, stop, write down what you’ve studied in your own words.

While writing down, you’re thinking about it, you integrate it and it gives you other ideas. That’s the way I study.

It’s marvellous, just wonderful, the relationship between writing and thinking 

. The one who cannot see the wealth that was given to them at birth. The one who cannot see the wealth that they have accumulated in their relationships and experiences.

Solving your problem of poverty is an achievable goal and can be fixed by earning and saving money. No one could seriously claim otherwise.

The issue is when we think these activities can address spiritual poverty.“
- 


2. “Most of us will be seized with fear if our bodies went numb, and would do everything to heal from it, yet we take no interest at all in the numbing of our souls” - 

When last did you feel loved by the person you want to love you the most?

A-B-C: How to be a better thinker and seeing differently

1.  Every human is born with gifts that are unique to them. There are at least two ways most people lose their gifts:

b. by making decisions based on fear. It is important to go back to who you were before the world told you who to be.

2. In most cases, you don't have to go through a lived experience if you learn from the lived experiences of those around you. 

It allows you to build mental models that churn out as much learning as your own lived experiences while keeping the pain away. In what area of your life could you use some lived experience today?

3. One way to be a great storyteller? Be ruthlessly present in your day to day moments.

1.  "Genuine love comes from knowledge, not from a sense of duty or guilt” - Alan Watts

And I have seen boys with their arms torn out, and their legs ripped off.

But there is nothing like an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that” - Al Pacino, Scent of a Woman


What is one thing you wish you quit a long time ago?

A-B-C: How to be a great storyteller, and how to genuinely love

1.  Be your authentic self; don’t ever look at your life from the perspective of others. They are outside. 

2.  Being a multipotentialite doesn't mean you are "all over the place". It's a gift that you should appreciate and harness to make it work for you. Find your sweet spot, find your intersection, and use your talents to further your life's mission.Your multiple interests can serve various missions as long as you have capacity - and you can build capacity, if it's important enough to you.

3.  Your dreams are valid, they are not unattainable fantasies. Your dreams are the whispers of your spirit, urging you to step outside your comfort zone, take risks, and create a life that aligns with your passion and purpose.

2 interesting quotes from books & articles

1. “Practice isn’t the thing you do once you’re good. It’s the thing you do that makes you good.” - 

2. “You can become King by interpreting the dreams of others”

Story written by Moses, The Bible Genesis 41: 14 - 33

1 question for you to consider this week from Adaora

If you were given a chance with no limitation, what one thing would you do today?

A-B-C: How to stop comparison, and becoming your authentic self - Guest Feature with Adaora "Lumina" Mbelu

1.  Two things that have helped me scale myself

: competitive debating and starting a company. The similarity between both is that it carves out an entirely new domain that expedites learning, exposure and tolerance for risk. You're playing on the edge of your potential, and your ambition spreads like a fractal stain. Who you become is directly commensurate to the effort you put in.

One way to succeed in life is to continue to find domains that give us the unfair opportunity to scale ourselves in a very expedited manner, and play in them.

2.  The most practical way to evolve yourself is to take the posture of someone who has been set apart for greater works: in your thoughts, words and actions. If others work 8 hours, work for 9 - even if it’s just for the fun of it.

3.  Here’s how to have great conversation: The classical art of conversation is to avoid any imbalance, people need to be equal at least for the purpose of conversation otherwise it fails. That’s why you’d rather have dinner with your friends than your professor. People are only willing to be social friends if they don't try to outsmart one another. 

1. “When young people who want to help mankind come to me asking “what should I do? I want to reduce poverty, save the world” and similar noble aspirations at the macro level, my suggestion is:

start a business. Put yourself on the line, start a business.

Yes, take risk, and if you get rich (which is optional), spend your money generously on others” - 

2. “You come home, make some coffee/tea, sit down in your armchair, and all around there is silence.

Everyone decides for themselves whether that is loneliness or freedom.” - Christina Ixchel

Do you want to get wealthy - or is there something else you prefer, the avoidance of poverty?

A-B-C: How to have great conversation, and taking risk to reduce poverty.

When choosing who to work with, the most important question to ask yourself is “

, keep looking, you have not found your person. This applies to most human relationships.

All our anxiety comes from worrying about the future. We worry about the future when we are not sure about the present. We are not sure about the present because we’re spending time doing something we are uninspired about. When you work on something you are deeply inspired by, you do not worry about the results, only your input matters. The most successful people understand this.

When you are anxious about your to-do list, take comfort in your “have done” list.

1.  "The poorest people are the children of those who were once very rich. It is hard for people to give them help as they never believe that all of that wealth can vanish in a generation.

I have seen it vanish in a year. Real estate won't always pay bills and may incur bills.


Cash flow is very different from dead assets.

The richest people I know generate cash every second. They don't wait to sell things or get rent to pay for their lifestyle.” - 



2.  “There may be some jobs where you have to work diligently for years at things you hate before you get to the good part, but this is not how great work happens. Great work happens by focusing consistently on something you're genuinely interested in. When you pause to take stock, you're surprised how far you've come. The reason we're surprised is that we underestimate the cumulative effect of work. Writing a page a day doesn't sound like much, but if you do it every day you'll write a book a year. That's the key: consistency. People who do great things don't get a lot done every day. They get something done, rather than nothing." - 

A-B-C: How to win anxiety, and becoming wealthy

1. Say what you’re going to do, and go ahead and do it. No excuses. The biggest stumbling block between who you are today and the most successful version of yourself is your psychology; It is how you think about yourself.

2. The only relationship between work and chatter is that one kills the other.

3. Each time you reach out to people, bring them a blessing; then they’ll be happy to see you when you bring them a problem.

“Don’t get caught up trying to be the star of the show. Some of us are called to be partners, and to align with others on the same journey as ours”


2.  “Be honest with yourself about what your handicaps are, and create systems that compensate for your weaknesses. I batch create my content on days I feel motivated because I know I can be lazy.”

What systems can you create in your life to help you overcome your weaknesses?

A-B-C: How to stop making excuses, and overcoming our weaknesses

Success is intoxicating, yet you need to be sober to maintain it. Most successful people eventually fail. Nothing fails like success.

It is really easy to become someone who reads. Read books that are relevant to what you want to achieve now and reading will never seem boring.

The luckiest of men are those who were blessed with good teachers. Find good teachers.

"The question to ask when you feel pride is this: What am I missing right now that a more humble person might see?What am I avoiding or running from, with my boastfulness, panic and embellishments? It is better to ask and answer these questions now that the stakes are low, than it will be later.” - 

 on how to unlock a bigger, fuller life:"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."

 - The Diary of Anais Nin, Volume 3: 1939-1944

1 question for you to consider this week:

If you could be doing ANYTHING with your life right now, what would it be?

A-B-C: How to unlock a bigger life, and the habit you need to maintain success

When building relationships, quality always beats quantity. The most successful people know that you do not need to build professional relationships with 10,000 people. Find 10 people who can connect you to 10,000 people and build very deep relationships with them. 

If you want to grow exponentially, make the hard decisions you keep putting off.

When you are a very young man, women tend to have leverage over you in relationships. As you get older, you begin to reclaim leverage. An important test of masculine strength is whether you handle the process of reclaiming leverage with grace, attention and responsibility.

"No problem is too small or too trivial if we can really do something about it.


You say you are a nameless man. You are not that to your wife or to your child. You are not nameless to me. Do not remain nameless to yourself - it is too sad a way to be.

Know yourself in your world and evaluate yourself fairly, not in terms of the naive ideals of your own youth, nor in terms of what you erroneously imagine your teacher’s ideals are.


– “Perfectly Reasonable Deviations from the Beaten Track: The Letters of Richard P. Feynman”

2.   “Your potential, the absolute best you’re capable of—that’s the metric to measure yourself against. Winning is not enough. People can get lucky and win. People can be assholes and win. Anyone can win. But not everyone is the best possible version of themselves.” ― 

When last were you truly excited about your life?

A-B-C: How to grow quicker than peers, and building relationships

You are more likely to succeed when you no longer desperately need to succeed. Your thirst to win deprives you of power

Limit the number of desires you have at any given moment. Only then do you become truly free.

For the rest of 2023, be someone who finishes what you start

"Each time you reach out to people, bring them a blessing. That way, they will be happy to see you when you bring them a problem" 

– Kevin Kelly, Excellent Advice for Living

"No valid plans for the future can be made by those who have no capacity for living now" 

Whose validation are you trying to win at this point in your  life? Is it worth it?

A-B-C: How to finish what you start, and becoming successful

Be careful with people who don’t have anything to lose when you have something to lose.

Most aspects of personal anxiety can be avoided by simply having a personality: things you’re deeply interested in, people you genuinely admire & imitate, and a schedule for engaging in extracurricular activities.

Keep your identity small and flexible. Throw away ”this is who I am”.

“It's a dangerous thing to mistake speaking without thought for speaking the truth.” -  

"Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” Detective Benoit Blanc.

“Have almost too much self-belief. Self-belief is immensely powerful. The most successful people I know believe in themselves almost to the point of delusion.”

What is one thing you could do this week to make it better than last week?

A-B-C: How to be successful, and getting rid of anxiety

The luckiest people are those who were blessed with good teachers. Find one

All aspects of society work best when men become more responsible. You can tell how prosperous a society is by how busy its men are.

The highest kind of knowledge is not “know-how” but “no-how”. To be able to do without a specific method. The highest forms of creativity express no-how - from artists, to sportsmen, to musicians. Find a field of endeavor that enables your no-how.

“Make friends with people who want the best for you.” ― 

“Your goal in life is to be able to say on the day before you die that you have fully become yourself.” - 

Are your thoughts building you or tearing you down?

A-B-C: How to become lucky, and making friends

 What is to give light must endure burning. Go through the fire now, so you can bring light to yourself and others later. Nowhere is too dark when you carry around your own sunshine 

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