The fires in Los Angeles this week have been quite destructive and sad to watch.
For some of us that live here, it has been a real test of will, compassion, and emotional resilience.
Life is filled with tests? Isn’t it?
This stakes me back a bit.
When I was about to leave for college in the US, I did what every Nigerian had to do:
go through the white iron gates of the American embassy on Walter Carrington Crescent in Victoria Island, Lagos. After several rushed lines, multiple stages of standing, seating, and rechecking all the documents my mom had put together for me in a yellow see-through plastic folder, my number was finally called.
During my interview, I gave the young American interviewer all my documents.
Family history.
Admission letter.
Proof of finances.
He was stern (there’s no smiling in the American embassy, by default). Then he asked: “Why do you want to study mechanical engineering?”
I answered with confidence: “Because I like Physics.”
He looked at the document with my grades, nodded his head, then asked a question that almost stomped me: “You like physics, huhn? So what’s a second-class lever?”
Whaaaat? Jamb question!
I went through the possible answers in my head and rattled off an answer: “uuuuhhh…that’s when the load is between the effort and the fulcrum.”
We both paused, looking at one another. Then he broke eye-contact and said: “Good, come get your student visa next week.”
Wooh. I finally exhaled. I gave a thumbs up as I walked out to my new embassy family. They cheered in silence, as they waited for their turn.
This physics question about levers has stuck with me since.
I didn’t realize it would be important later in life.
I didn’t link it to failures and success.
Moving the World
The Greek mathematician, Archimedes, once famously said, “Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand and I will move the world.”
It means that a fulcrum can multiply the results of physical effort.
Theoretically, if you have a strong enough lever, the load (regardless of how heavy) can be moved if it’s properly placed from the fulcrum.
Most of us think, you just have to do more work (increase the effort) to get results.
Perhaps, there’s another way – build leverage and use it.
When you understand leverage works, you begin seeking out levers you can turn to help you achieve your goals and live a more meaningful life.
Let’s talk about some Ls.
Labour Trap (Get out of it)
I remember telling a friend I was making music at night and he said: “You must not have problems, only rich people have time for things like music.”
It was ironic because I had never been more broke in my professional life. I had just started my business.
Ever since, I’ve thought about why it was important to explore creative projects on the side.
Let me take you back to a very influential book I read while I was a 22-year old chap, making a decent amount of money in Austin, Texas. Besides going to bars on 5th and 6th Street, and buying BBQ, I’d use my money to buy books at a now obsolete store called Borders.
One of those books was “The Wealth of Nations” by Adam Smith.
It’s a foundational economics book. The main gist is that the wealth of a nation is built with three things: Land, Labor, and Capital. Whoever has any of the three can build wealth. The person that owns all three, amasses the most wealth.
Why is this important?
Well, in a capitalist world, capital accumulates faster in the hands of those that provide capital and land than those that provide the means of production (labor).
Most of us are trained to go to school to work for some company, providing our labour in exchange for money.
This can become a trap.
As time passes, we keep trading labor for money. If the capitalist that you work for is smart, they wouldn’t want you to do anything else but use up ALL your time to do their work. With the lever analogy, your effort (labor) stays close to the fulcrum. You always have to show up or increase your effort to make anything happen.
How does this relate to me taking the time to make music and do side projects?
Well, the only way to escape this trap is to develop leverage.
You have to move away from the trap of being so close to the fulcrum by building a longer and stronger lever. This happens when you build away from your labor-trapping tasks. Exploring music and my creativity was that thing for me.
Leverage (Rethink failure)
Now that I’ve gone on a leverage and labor rant, I’m going to quickly talk about how to build this leverage.
Must people hate to fail but you can build leverage with failure. You just have to flip your losses on its head.
There are two ways to increase your lever. Extend it farther away from the fulcrum (make it longer) and make the material of your lever stronger.
- Learnings (Do it)
Deliberate learning is the best way to make your lever longer.
This can be in the form of books, podcasts, mentorship. I believe the most important thing you can learn is how to improve your communication and persuasion skills. It helps you build your business, advance your career, attract investors, and work with people you’d enjoy working with.
- Little bets (Take them)
Try out your lever as it gets longer.
We consume a lot of content until we become over-educated. Don’t get stuck in research mode. As you extend your lever with knowledge, you have to put it in use.
You’ll find that your lever might break. You might have to start again, mend it, or replace it with another material. Until you test out your knowledge, you would hardly know how strong it is.
Practice the art of taking little bets by deliberately building a self-directed side project – a newsletter, an album, an app.
Not something that your boss tells you to do.
Not something that will make money right away.
Just an intentional project that you can learn from.
A lot of them might not go anywhere. In fact a friend would laugh in your face when you talk about it, saying “you’re lucky you have the time.”
You can respond with: “I don’t have the time, I’m making the time to build my leverage.”
Listening (with your entire body)
Listening is the last L in this train of thought.
We listen with our ears but you can listen with your entire body. When you learn something new, there is a dopamine hit of acquiring new knowledge. But then you might test it out and realize it didn’t pan out as you thought in your head.
You might feel discouraged. You will feel it in your body as a discomfort in your stomach or tightness in your chest. Pay attention to the feeling.
In reality, as you build you’re just learning how you learn.
Self-awareness is your biggest leverage.
Find your spot in the world…
Build your lever so you can shape your reality.
If all you do is trade labor for time, you might be stuck in a trap. Get out by building your levers. Do this through learning, adopting the practice of taking little bets, and self-awareness.
Wish you all the best.
Yours truly,
Nifemi
