No one will invest in you if you will not invest in your own future

I love the old saying: you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

Many of us have the ability to improve ourselves, but we do not take the initiative to invest in ourselves.

The best way that any of us can prepare for opportunities, is by equipping ourselves with skills that will enable us to harness these opportunities.

Young people today think that entitlement, and not hard work, will get them somewhere. That is why there is always a skills shortage in South Africa.

People do not take the time to invest in learning a new skill or completing a course that will make them more efficient at what they do.

There are plenty of opportunities that are passing by with no one seeing them, simply because the people who should be taking advantage of these opportunities have no skills to identify them.

Many people are waiting for a miracle to happen and overnight success to come their way. Allow me to burst that bubble, because it is not coming for you.

Gain a new skill and look around, you will see what you’ve been missing out on all the time you’ve been running away from learning new skills.

I want to share something that I learned from my mentor. He said unless I was willing to do something about it, things were going to continue as they were.

That is when I got my first wake-up call and realised I had to do something new. People were telling me about an abundance of opportunities that were available and I just couldn’t see them.

My advice is to be prepared because fortune favours the prepared.

The mentality of entitlement drives up many social ills in our communities. The rate of unemployment would not be as high if we became a community of creators and developers instead of takers and consumers.

Improving yourself does not have to be a formal activity, it might be a conversation with someone that inspires you. You can read self-help books, attend seminars or read newspapers.

Kholofelo Pholafudi, nominee of “Young Entrepreneur of the Year” by the Business Chambers

Author of The Psychology, Science & Art of Turning Contacts into Connections and When opportunity knocks, its too late to PREPARE. Cell: 0723082554, Email: kholo@phqs.co.za, Fax: 086 685 4574, www.networkingbreakthroughs.co.za.