The Ghana Youth Series #2: Being Principled Is The Real Branding

By Marricke Kofi Gane
People interpret being principled as being “HARD” – too bad. It is essential that we all are principled, at least to some extent. It is difficult for us to interact with the world or for the world to interact with us if it is impossible to know what we stand for or what we don’t stand for. Whether you have your own life’s principles or none, here are 7 of mine that I believe as youth, will take you far:

1. NO ONE OWES ME JACK: So I don’t expect a lot from people. If they do things for me or bless me in anyway, I appreciate them because, they didn’t have to. But more importantly, it helps me not to be disappointed if they don’t give back the kindness, the love, the friendship that I give to them – I am free from people.
2. TIME IS THE PARCEL: I strive to always be on time no matter what. I believe every element of time (whether seconds, minutes, hours, days etc) is like an individual pregnant woman – it always arrives at the point of your meeting, impregnated with the blessings and opportunities allocated to that particular time slot. If you miss an appointment for 4:30pm, you have not only missed a “time” – you have also missed every blessing and opportunity impregnated into 4:30pm that should have been birthed into your hands – missed forever.
3. THE GREATER ALWAYS GIVES FIRST: In any human interaction between two people, it is the greater of the two that blesses first, that gives first. Our human nature lies to us that if we give first, we have sold ourselves short – the truth however is opposite – whoever gives first, controls a relationship. So always be the first to give forgiveness, to offer kindness, to give help.
4. BE A PROBLEM SOLVER: People may remember you for a while for looking good, talking nice, driving a good car – but people NEVER forget the man or woman who solves their problems. It’s the secret to making an impact on people – when you meet them, interact with them, acquaint them, always keep an ear open for a problem they may have that you can easily solve – and solve it without them asking.
5. IF I AM ON THE BOAT, IT HAS TO WORK: So many people will shy away from this because it means taking responsibility. If it doesn’t work, yes you may blame one or two people – but in the end, YOU solve the problem. There are no excuses. But guess what, it makes people trust working with you – because they know if you are on the team, it will work. You should be the only assurance that something will work.
6. MY VALUE MAKES ME SEE VALUE: If I am not adding value to myself, I cannot see the value in others. So I always try to add value to myself and others. The truth is if you surround yourself with people who have no value, they will drain off the value in you. So add to them or help them gain value – that way you can all feed into each other’s value-ecosystem.
7. I AM ALWAYS GRATEFUL TO GOD: Check out yourself – you cannot be grateful to humans, if you are not regularly grateful to God who made them and gives them ability. I see God as the originator of every opportunity – your gratitude to Him and to the vessels He has used to channel the opportunity is the only guarantee that you will be entitled to more. I am always grateful.

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