Mindset
Your future has gates. Be careful who gets the key.
Praise, my son, I woke up this Sunday morning here in China thinking about you and the kind of man you are gradually becoming.
As your father, I know I have exposed you to many things. I have bought you books, taken you to places, including China, and introduced you to wealthy people. You have had opportunities to sit in rooms I could not have entered at your age.
But there is something Daddy cannot do for you forever. I cannot keep guarding your gates. As you grow, you must learn to guard them yourself.
Two gates I want you to pay serious attention to are your phone and your circle.
Your phone is shaping you
Your phone can make you rich in knowledge or poor in attention. You have a choice in how you use it.
That same iPhone I bought for you can teach you coding, sales, marketing, business, AI, leadership, and communication. It can show you how people around the world are solving problems.
It can also waste five years of your life while making you feel busy every day.
So, beyond checking your screen time, ask yourself, “What is this screen turning me into?”
After three hours on your phone, what have you learnt? Have you created anything or improved a skill? Have you made yourself more valuable, or have you spent the whole time watching other people live their lives?
My son, enjoy yourself ooh. Laugh, play, watch your football and your movies. You are still young, and I want you to enjoy your childhood.
But never allow entertainment to eat the future we are trying to build. Don’t let it become the landlord while your future is a tenant.
Be careful who becomes normal around you
We have had many discussions about your circle, Praise. Please pay attention to the people you allow close to you.
They do not all have to be rich. But they should have good values, discipline, ambition, integrity, and a desire to become better.
One good friend who tells you the truth can be more valuable than ten successful people who are destroying your character.
Watch how you feel after spending time with the people around you, especially your schoolmates. Do they make you want to learn and work towards something? Do your conversations help you think bigger?
Or is every conversation about gossip, complaints, showing off, and laughing at people who are trying to do something meaningful?
Your circle will slowly teach you what to consider normal. Be careful what you get used to.
Exposure comes with responsibility
I always tell you that exposure is a privilege, but exposure alone cannot save anybody.
I can take you to factories and introduce you to people who can teach you about business and money. I can buy you the best tools I can afford. But after all that, you still have to choose your habits and the people you follow.
Daddy cannot make those choices for you or keep blaming other people when you make the wrong ones. As you grow, you must take responsibility for your life.
Understand this early: everybody deserves respect, but everybody does not deserve access to every part of your life.
There are people you can love without taking their advice. There are people you can help without following them. You can be friends with your fellow students without giving them power over your decisions.
Even people who genuinely love you may not be able to guide you towards a particular goal. They may have no experience of where you are trying to go. You can appreciate their love and still be careful whose advice you follow.
Give your mind a gate
Our physical house has a gate. Why should your mind not have one?
We do not leave our compound open for everybody to enter just to prove that we are good people. So don’t leave your mind open to every opinion, trend, fear, negative conversation, and noise on social media.
Guard your gates, my son. And pay attention to what you welcome inside.
Make room for good books, our conversations, useful skills, and better questions. Look for problems worth learning how to solve.
Read this carefully ooh: your future may not change immediately because you change what enters your life.
Your thinking will change first. That will begin to affect your decisions and habits, the relationships you keep, and the opportunities you notice. Over time, you will become better equipped to solve problems.
One day, people may look at your results and think you suddenly became lucky. They will not know how many years earlier you began making different choices at the gate.
Praise, I love you, and I am proud of the young man you are becoming. Daddy’s prayer is that you become successful, valuable, disciplined, responsible, God-fearing, and useful to humanity.
One day, I will not be beside you to tell you what to do. When that time comes, please remember this letter I wrote to you from China.
Above all, guard your relationship with God.
I love you, son.
Daddy,
Billionaire Mechanic
Billionaire Mechanic
NC
About the Author
Engr. Ndubuisi Chidomere, MNSE is a Nigerian engineer-turned-entrepreneur, founder and CEO of Pamtech Group, a diversified conglomerate operating in automotive, oil & gas, media, and innovation sectors. He is a Forbes Business Council Member and thought leader on African entrepreneurship.
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