Matthew GaulMany may know of the online, visual podcast – Common Cent$, hosted by Matthew Gaul that started September last.
For the past 10 months, we have been glued to our screens every Thursday evening at 7PM, to absorb the educational episodes centered on money, to help us make better financial decisions. Some of the popular ones being: Financial Red Flags you should be aware of; The Monopoly Board Game and Financial Principles; Dating and Finance; Men and Money; Women and Money; just to name a few.
The response from this brilliant and timely initiative, saw the birth of the inaugural Common Cent$ Colloquium and Business Mixer. The podcast, but in-person. This was hosted on Sunday evening, and was attended by tons of young Guyanese with vested interest in personal development.
Personal and business development experts, Cassandra Jaikaran, Wil Campbell, Richard Rambarran and Tashi Browne, were the speakers who gave insight on how to thrive as a female entrepreneur; thinking your way to wealth; seeing and seizing investment opportunities; and collaborate or die, respectively.
If you missed it, here are some key takeaways you should note:
Stop limiting yourself
Cassandra Jaikaran noted that females face much more obstacles in the business and professional arena, and when confronted with these, their business confidence plummet. “How we combat those challenges, is how we thrive,” she said. There is a constant fight for women to get a seat at the table, and another to be heard. Developing mental strength, and removing limits from yourself, helps you develop the confidence to turn the obstacles into positive outcomes.
Cassandra JaikaranTo master anything, you must first master the brain
Wil CampbellWil Campbell injected that having a clear mental picture of what we want to achieve is paramount to becoming successful. “When you don’t have a clear goal, it becomes impossible for the brain to formulate any focused approach. Start with clearly defined goals. Write those goals down, put them on paper and refer to them frequently. To generate wealth, our brain must be trained to focus on the process,” he said.
You can’t have an eagle-eyed view when you’re hanging out with chickens
“We can’t see it if we don’t have any idea what it is,” Wil Campbell. This was particularly referring to people who grow up in impoverished situations. Those who grew up in those circumstances have very little idea of what it means to be wealthy. We see wealthy people, but we don’t know what it is like to live that life. We want it, but we have no idea what it is. And for some intrinsic reason, we feel like we don’t have the capacity to generate wealth, and only rich people could get wealthy. Those thought patterns keep us from developing the right mindset to generate wealth. To counter this, he said identify those limiting mental scripts and work on changing those thought patterns that keep you from making sound financial decisions, and this sometimes means changing your friend circles.
If your job is not helping you fulfill your dreams, move on to something that will
Let go of the failure and go with what works. We do not grow by staying where we are comfortable. Gather as much information as you can so that you can make informed choices and take calculated risks. Create a clear mental picture of what you want to achieve, train your brain to be patient and take the leap.
Collaboration is necessary to grow
Tashi Browne“If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.” Tashi Browne elaborated on the importance of collaboration in growing your business. She highlighted that having the limited perspective that your ideas are going to be stolen if you collaborate, holds you back. “Recognise the bigger picture. The world is our oyster. Every authentic and genuine pursuit, you reap authentic and genuine results,” she said. Collaborating allows access to professional circles who share resources and cut costs which ultimately enhances your business.
Everything that belongs to us, will come to us, if we develop the capacity to receive it
Richard RambarranRichard Rambarran so eloquently pointed out that human resources are the greatest contributors to Guyana’s growth and development. Hence, you must understand your career path and trajectory and build your capacity. “We exist in a competitive environment and understanding the direction of the economy is very important. It is not enough to say ‘I did not know’. Understand the Oil and Gas sector in Guyana, because it will mammoth everything in a few years. There is an entire economy that is structured outside of oil. Understand the landscape and institutions in Guyana,” he said. Advising further to “Focus and plan. Invest in yourself, and build yourself as a young professional. Cater for failures and setbacks. Plan with a plan A, B, C, D and E. Incrementalism infused with discipline will change your life.