How much shit have you shovelled today?

When we switch as 8-year-olds from writing with pencils to writing with pens, we often do not realize the significance of this transition.

Hi guys,

Hope you are well. I’m doing okay, Alhamdulillah.

I write this at 5:37 pm on a rainy Saturday evening, my first time starting this newsletter ahead of a Sunday in what feels like forever. I was lying in bed reading Excellent Sheep by William Deresiewicz (an absolutely fascinating book that I will probably write more about in the future) when a random thought entered my head.

Your probability of professional success is directly proportional to your capacity to shovel shit.

Put that thought aside for a moment.

The way the world works is very funny. From birth till age two or so, we have zero aspirations, zero achievements, zero desire to be intentional. We basically live a life of eating, sleeping and crying, while the whole world fawns over everything we do.

"He just said Dada!"

"Baby she just walked for the first time!"

"He gave me the remote all by himself…such a smart baby like his father!"

"Aww see her tiny poo…it's so little and cute!"

Hahaha okay, maybe not that last one. 😂😂

Somewhere between two and five, we begin school, where everything is fun - coloring, playing in the sand, nap times…for a while. Somewhere between ages six and nine, school goes from being somewhere you go to see friends and play to somewhere you're actually supposed to learn something.

All of a sudden, memorizing the multiplication tables is important. Having a straight handwriting is important. Learning the names of countries and their capitals is important. Knowing how to address a letter is important.

When we switch as 8-year-olds from writing with pencils to writing with pens, we often do not realize the significance of this transition. Our paths just became more rigid, and life just became a lot more serious. No more playtime.

And then we begin the rat race of secondary school…There is a lot more homework, the teachers are less pleasant, and then 13-year-olds are suddenly supposed to know what they want to do with their life.

Science class vs Art class?

Biology vs Technical Drawing?

Geography vs Literature?

** side note: Children of nowadays will tell me that it is Science vs Technology vs Art vs Commercial. E je kin gboran.

These decisions are never straightforward.

A two-time winner of the National Cowbell Maths Competition, Ibrahim is clearly the brightest student in the year. Also, his father is the Head of the Physics department. How on earth will he get away with wanting to choose the Art class and work towards his dream of being a journalist?

Nobody in the entire year hates debates, essays, and literature more than Kemi. But how will Kemi go alone to the "Science" class and be in a different building from Aminah, Lizzy, and Uzo?

And so many young people make these choices, either following the "advice” of their parents or because their friends made them too.

The next few years are more of the same.

Study study study, hard work, hard work, hard work, and decisions, decisions, decisions.

I should pause here and say that the people I have been referring to above mostly fall into the second category - the 'optimizers'.

For people in the first category, all these problems are alien. They have always known what they were going to do. Temi has known she would someday become a musician since she was born. Abdullah has told everyone who cared to listen since primary school that he will be a doctor. Chigo will spend the rest of her life drawing cartoons, that's for sure. Her parents may not like it, but they have no choice.

While the optimizers make decisions by optimizing for something (money, success, friendship, family-pleasing, etc), the self expressionists choose a clear path based on what is their most natural extension of self. They were 'born for it’.

As the years go by (think university and early career), both groups chase their dreams to varying levels of success. Along the way, they both have to make many important decisions.

Optimizers:

Should I write ICAN exams now so I'm more employable immediately after I graduate or should focus on finishing with a 2:1 and then write ICAN after?

I have an offer from GTBank but I'm confused about which team to join. The Branch Operations division seems to produce managers fastest but the Foreign Exchange desk pays almost double their salary.

Self expressionists:

My book draft is finally ready. Should I self-publish or is it really important to find and pay for an editor, artist, and publisher?

The day Don Jazzy came to UI, he said my voice might sound better in a group. Should I abandon my dream of signing with a label and making it on my own and start from scratch with a band?

** side note: I do not mean to imply that the only two buckets all individuals must fall into are 'optimizer' and 'self expressionist’. A general problem with all attempts at describing x sorting people (including the more advanced personality tests of which I am a fan) into groups is that we are incredibly complex creatures. There are usually a lot more overlaps x unknown x grey areas than we care to admit.

Anyhoo…

At some point in life, both the optimizers and self expressionists are slowly leaving the learning phase and are actively working towards their version of career x professional success.

Which brings me back to what we started the newsletter with.

Your probability of professional success is directly proportional to your capacity to shovel shit.

I use 'shovelling shit’ because, well, nobody likes shit. It's dirty, it smells, and nobody ever aspires to be a shit shoveller. But every job, career, and life decision involves a commitment to shovel some shit.

Kenem is a young professional in Investment Banking x Consulting world. He is super smart, well-read and talented when it comes to managerial decision making, due diligence, building financial models, strategic thinking, etc. The last thing on his mind when he joined the workforce was writing minutes for meetings and doing quality checks on client presentations.

So Kenem was be shocked when he realized that these constituted almost a third of his time in the office. Surely his company wasn't paying him xyz amount of money just to waste his time.

To put it mildly, Kenem is shovelling shit.

If he were a brilliant Reservoir Engineer in the oil and gas industry, his 'shit shovelling’ might be running the two thousand safety meetings per day. Or as one of the youngest engineers on the oil rig, he would be responsible for going on a weekly 'hazard hunt’ to identify all the potential causes of incidents or injuries on board. After this, he will likely help 10+ senior engineers to fill these incidents in their log books and report back to HQ.

Basically, 'shit’ is the unglamorous work that has to be done. Nobody likes it, but it is present, it piles up, and somebody has to do it. As the young person trying to get ahead, the shit inevitably gets directed your way. And shovel it you must.

You might wonder…Why was it relevant to paint the picture about optimizers vs self expressionists? Would it not have been easier for us both if I had just gone straight to the point about the importance of shit shovelling?

Well, for many of us with a pile of shit to shovel, there is a tendency to re-evaluate our life decisions. If only we found our passion, then perhaps we might have only worked on things that were fulfilling, versus shovelling shit everyday.

We might be tempted to think that our artist or musician or footballer friends are more fortunate, spending all their time doing something they love.

Surprise surprise.

It turns out that to be successful as a 'self expressionist’, there is a lot of shit to be shovelled as well.

Let's step into the shoes of Amaka, a talented novelist who just sold half a million copies of her latest book. Amaka became a fiction author for one reason - It was an opportunity to get away from people and put her hyperactive imagination to creative use in her solitude.

But now that her book was a bestseller, it turns out her contract with the publisher included a book tour - visiting 120 libraries and bookstores across the country, where she has to give a quick speech and sign copies of 300+ books per day.

So Amaka, who has spent her entire life channeling her love for solitude and introversion into writing now has to spend several months of the year doing the one thing she was running away from?

Well, Amaka, like all of us must shovel shit to be (read: remain) successful. I have spent several hours and many fictional stories trying to make a single point. If you are a young person that aspires to some career x professional success, then shit shovelling is a requirement.

As you prepare for a new week, ask yourself a simple question. How much shit are you prepared to shovel?

** Jara content:

Ibn Abbas reported: I was riding behind the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, when he said to me,

“Young man, I will teach you some words. Be mindful of Allah and He will protect you. Be mindful of Allah and you will find Him before you. If you ask, ask from Allah. If you seek help, seek help from Allah. Know that if the nations gathered together to benefit you, they could not benefit you unless Allah has decreed it for you. And if the nations gathered together to harm you, they could not harm you unless Allah has decreed it for you. The pens have been lifted and the pages have dried.”

Sunan al-Tirmidhī 2516

Have a great week. ✨