FEATURES
EDUTIMES
BE PREPARED, DISCIPLINED AND
WORK HARD
By Rodrick Mulenga
I n life, in class or in school,
there is always a group of girls
and boys, ladies and gentle-
men who are serious and de-
termined in all that they do.
It shows in their actions and
conduct.
Their daily routine is a reflection of what
they want to be. We have all encoun-
tered such beings. If we have not yet
done so, we will. I met such people both
in High School and in University. When
I went to High School, I found a group
of young men and women who had
made up their minds to do one thing:
Study. I am very observant and willing
to join good company. It was not long
before I started to follow these vision-
aries, until I reach my apex. I literally
did what they did, hanged out where
they did and made the type of friends
they did. I got the results they got. I
discovered one thing… that imitating
behaviour, both negative and positive,
works. You just have to choose what
type of behaviour to imitate.
There were a few guidelines
I found stunning about my
seniors that I used to im-
itate, although they were
unwritten. Anyway, you
do not have to go through
the difficult phase I went
through because I have
put some guidelines down
for you.
Preparation was crucial. I found out
that you can never achieve success
without proper preparation. Prepa-
ration is very important from the be-
ginning to finish. I discovered that my
friends would take time to prepare for
everything they needed to do. They
used their time wisely and prepared for
the results they were expecting to get.
Nothing caught them off guard. Time
was the focal point of all they did and
it became so to me. It has been like
that since then. A person who does not
know the use of time is living out of
space. Time is everything. It is the only
commodity that never returns. Once it
is gone, that’s it. So, I started to learn
how to manage time, planning for ev-
ery activity, planning for every move,
seeing to it that no time is wasted, put-
ting everything into perspective and
taking nothing for granted.
When you work on your time manage-
ment skills, your results will not sur-
prise you. In fact, you will be in a po-
10
sition to know your results before you
actually see them. I did, I still know the
results I will get before they are ready.
How is that possible? You may ask.
Knowing results in advance is based
on the level of preparation for any task
and time management. Due to that,
the results are in my favour. I call upon
you to do that. I am not asking you to
‘try’ but to just do it.You need to know
this: Your success in all that you need
and do is dependent upon how you use
your time, nothing more, nothing less.
The earlier you learn that, the better. I
am glad I learnt it earlier. I was privi-
leged to have been partly raised by an
American family for close to 10 years.
I lived with them in the same house,
ate with them and I learnt a great deal
from them, about time management.
They value time so much. I guess they
know that all their success is based on
how they utilise the 24 hours in a given
day. There is nothing more I can tell
you about using your time well.
We were not living in the grandest of
places that would give you a bit of
hope. But here I am standing strong
today. This is not easy but it’s possi-
ble. You may ask, how did you do it?
Well, there are lots of factors but dis-
cipline is one of them. I have bene-
fited from it and you too can do the
same. In the situation I found myself,
I first had to know myself, I had to
discover who I was and what my pur-
pose on earth was. I also had to be
aware of my situation. I had to let it
sink that I was poorer than most peo-
ple, so I had to find a way to equalise
and be a better person in future. Ed-
ucation seemed to be the only way of
making my life better and that is why
I have taken it upon myself to help
as many children as I can to believe
that they can make it in life, through
education. Education of any form can
save your life, as it has saved so many
lives. I discovered that merely talking
about the benefits of education won’t
do anything. I decided to write down
basic instructions, so that if they were
to be followed, one life can be saved,
and indeed, from the feedback we
have received so far, many students
will be served and saved.
and the hard workers together and
with more effort, the hard worker will
outperform the rest. That’s the name
of the game, hard work. As a student,
I have said it time and again that you
have no choice…hard work is the key
to getting all you want out of life…in
fact this is applicable to everyone con-
cerned about personal development.
You cannot escape working hard in
life, unless you want to fail. We have
been doing the hard work and we keep
doing it. We have worked with some
so called intelligent people before
but we have outpaced them with our
hard work. I encourage you to work
hard. Find all the tools you need and
work without relenting. We need hard
workers, smart workers who will be-
come intelligent workers. Hard work
will bring you success and success is
sweet… success will come even if you
have failed before. Let not past obsta-
cles deter you from doing your best. I
once failed, but I re-launched and won,
so can you. Just be determined…a de-
termined person can never be denied.
Just keep showing up, pushing and
pulling every day. Eventually, it will
work to your advantage and benefit.
Sometimes, many students give up
on studying certain courses/ subjects
due to difficulties in grasping the data.
Please don’t stop! keep going every
day and one day, you will achieve suc-
cess.
It’s up to you to master the
art of time management.Do
you know that your station in
life is somehow based on how
you have used or you are us-
ing your time? Or how some-
one else used their time? Use
e disciplined in all ar-
your time well and watch your
eas of your life and in
results. I have done that…I
all you do, as every-
am still doing it and my results
thing affects everything Keep your focus. Never lose your fo-
are great.
cus in your pursuit of greatness. I
B
Discipline is critical. Discipline can liter-
ally save your life. In my few decades
of existence, I have seen many tal-
ented persons lose sight of their goals
due to lack of discipline. I have seen
lives lost, lives banished, gifts gone to
waste, resources lost due to one thing:
Indiscipline. There is need for more
emphasis on discipline. Discipline is ev-
erything. I think I am qualified to talk
about discipline due to my experience
with it, both at the personal and im-
personal level. Discipline saved my life
and it ended other peoples’ lives. Dis-
cipline has brought me this far. With-
out it, I wouldn’t be here doing what I
am doing with youths, my church and
all that my life affects. Those that have
read my story or know me closely can
attest to that. Without discipline, it
would have been impossible to do what
I have done. Discipline has helped me
get it done. Let me tell my story on this
forum, so that you can be inspired and
believe that all things are possible. You
too can do what I did, if only you can
master the art of discipline.
I
grew up without a
father. My mother died
when I was 11 and I
was left in the care of
my grandmother. I was
tasked to provide for two
of my siblings, due to
the death of our bread-
winner.
else. There are moments
you might think discipline
can only be applied in one
area of your life. This is
not the case. Discipline is
holistic, one dent affects
everything else.
When I am hired to speak to school-
children, I encourage students to pri-
oritise…first things first, one thing at
a time. That calls for discipline. In-
discipline at home affects your school
work. Equally, if you are always in the
wrong at school, always in the offend-
er’s book, this will affect you psycho-
logically. That is why I now preach the
formation of principles by young peo-
ple. As a pupil or student, you need to
have dos and don’ts. You do not need
to be the kind of person with whom
everything goes, at any time. Be prin-
cipled about who you can date, if you
have reached that stage, who you can
hang out with… there must be princi-
ples attached to everything.
never lost focus. Many times, there
will be distractions along the way to
your destiny, you may fall, you may
feel discouraged, out of place and lost
but never give up, never be misdirect-
ed or told that you cannot do it. There
will be moments of lacking, times
when you will not have what you need
to make it but never give up. There
will be moments of ridicule but never
give up, there will be times when you
might not get support from people you
expect to get it from, your family and
friends…never give up.
There is a saying that goes: there is no
failure for those that try, only for those
that do not try. Never stop trying, in
fact I don’t want you to try, I want you
to go all out and do it. Study hard,
be focused, be disciplined, be deter-
mined and goal-oriented. My purpose
is to motivate you to do that and to
tell you that there are more benefits
for those who work hard at their goal.
The harder the battle, the sweeter the
victory, says Lesley Brown. I was fo-
cused, resilient, determined persistent
and goal-oriented. That is how I made
it and that is how so many people are
making it. You must know what you
want out of life. What do you want?
What is it that gives you a sense of
meaning and purpose in life? When
you discover what that is, you will be
able to do what is necessary. I want
you to win in school like I did, and like
many are doing.
I have done that all my life… I am
picky, I just don’t associate with any-
one as a friend. Sometimes, it has not
been easy, being a Social Work prac-
titioner because I am trained to work
with everyone and help them solve
their problems but I don’t have to al-
low them to influence me negatively.
In fact, I have a positive influence on
most people I come into contact with.
Hard work pays. This has been my
message since day one, to my stu- Author of “How to Succeed with-
dents and all people I speak to. Hard out Being a Genius in School.”
work beats talent. Put the talented