By Sylvester Oluoch
It is an overcast summer day in Dallas, Texas July 2016, and we are indebted to the air conditioning that makes life ever so endurable in. Kwame, a truck owner operator, of Ghanaian extraction reaches his pocket and draws a handful of quarter dollar coins.
He rocks and swings on the swivel-back chair. Then he puts his quarters back into his pocket. Now the stage is set for Kwame’s tale of how he “coined” air tickets for his wife and two daughters.
I want to tell you a story, he said. “Very well sir” I retorted. I was quick to tell him that I have studied in two of the finest universities in the world. But, I said, neither of these universities compares to the “University of Conversation, body language and emotion.” “I have drawn a lot of knowledge and wisdom from this University. Then I tapped my right ear gesturing that I am ready to be regaled by such tale in all its depth and expanse.
Then he began to speak.
“I have been your age. Listen to me now. When I first came to America in 1991, I worked at a Convenience store. I worked hard. I just wanted to get my family here. My workday began at 4:30 AM and ended at 10:30 PM every day. My pay was too little. I could not save much, so I devised a method. I had to make my money cumbersome to access, so coins were the choice.”
“I started getting empty plastic containers and filling them with coins, especially quarters (Quarter Dollar coins). That way it was too difficult for me to use it. I had to raise $1,899.55 a piece for my wife and two daughters. That required of me US$5,698.65 on air tickets before taxes – plus taxes, it came to slightly over $6,000.”
If you want to achieve a goal, be sure you have a strong emotional connection with the outcome, then device and work a plan of your choice, that works best for you with your strengths and weaknesses. This will give you the results you desire and help you form success habits.
“I kept many plastic containers and kept track of the estimates. When I changed the money, it was enough to get my family here at the time I prayed for.” He said.
In this act lies a tremendous lesson on goal setting. Kwame had a definite goal, down to the last coin. He had a specific timeframe, to the day and he had a specific plan that made interfering with his savings near impossible.
Finally, he crowned this with passionate and timely action. Having used the coin system to achieve a major objective, under odd circumstances, it became habit and that is why even with immense change in his fortunes he still assembles his coins, some in his house and others in his truck.
Kwame now uses the coins for things dear to his heart, like the latest iPhone, as of 2016, he bought his 15-year-old daughter.
When you take a definite purpose and hold it constantly in your mind, then you create a plan and you act upon it with passion, thought seeds become fruits. Always remember thoughts are things. Passion, inspiration, and perspiration yield massive results.
