The Ghana Youth Series #3: My 5 Biggest Youthful Mistakes To Learn From

By: Marricke Kofi Gane
Our experiences are most often not ours – here are 5 of mine, that I hope saves someone’s:

MENTORING:
It never crossed my mind growing up as a youth, to intentionally go out looking for a mentor – now I do and I have a few. It’s crucial. I have learnt later in life, that mentors give you the benefit of avoiding falling into life’s pits or making expensive mistakes you would have otherwise made on your own. But you must give them full, not partial access. I have also learnt that combining this with mentoring someone, forces you to be accountable “up-line” and responsible “down-line”.

MARRIAGE:
As a man, it’s easy to be lured into thinking, “you need to have it all together before you get married.” WRONG!! You’ll never have it all together – it’s a refined approach to procrastination. If indeed you need to marry, then “having it all together first” should not be a deciding criteria. If you are a woman, don’t let tradition hold you back – if you like a man, don’t sit there consoling your traditional mind-set that it’s a man who “chases” a woman and not vice versa – You SIT there and don’t be a “Diplomatic CIA” – my sister, help the process waiiii!!

FREE FROM CLASSIFICATION
I chartered as an accountant quite early but I made one mistake – I allowed the social classification of being “an accountant” to imprison me. The fact that you are an accountant, lawyer, doctor etc doesn’t mean you brain cannot be good at anything else. So eventually, you’ll get trapped in “NOT allowing your capability to expand into all its other multiple components. Now, I am also passionate about international development, training, writing and basic programming – not bad for a traditional accountant.

YOU ARE THE REAL ASSET
In the days of our grandfathers and fathers, the knowledge they acquired from tertiary institutions was enough to last them through life – that is NOT true in our time. I missed that and you may too. With the world becoming totally immersed in everything – you need to be continually adding value to yourself, otherwise your career shelf-life is at best 1 year (you are your real asset) – Now, I make it a point to attend 2 courses every year – 1 to add to an area am already practicing in, 1, in an area or subject that is entirely new to me.

THE 20-CORE
Your success in life is going to be instrumentally dependent on the people in your circles – but you have to create your own circles. I used to make the mistake that my friends are all I need – WRONG! I suggest you set out and build an international linkage of 20 people. People that you will value, stay in touch with and stay connected to. The 20 should include at least one of the following – Lawyer, Doctor, Accountant, Taxman, Information Technologist, Spiritual man/woman, Academician, Politician, Police/Military, Media Person, Celebrity,

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