During an IAmAÂ (I Am A) on Reddit, Colonel Peter Mansoor, former executive officer to General David Petraeus during the surge in Iraq and now a professor of military history at the Ohio State University, offered the following nugget of wisdom on how to be successful in life:
- Get as much education as you can.
- Marry well and for life.
- Start saving early and make it a habit.
- Find something you love, and figure out how to make money doing it.
I love #4. He naturally mentioned that “#4 is tough for a lot of people, but if you can pull it off you never work a day in your life.”
I wonder how many of us in Mauritius really find something they love doing and actually do it on an everyday basis?
I do. At Knowledge Seven. Being an entrepreneur is about trying to do #4 every day of your life, failing numerous times, until you finally succeed.
Do you?
I like number 4 too. But then if you cannot find number 4 try to love what you do rather than being frustrated. But this again shouldn’t stop you from your perpetual search of finding what you really want to do. As for number 1 I prefer education for self improvement and curiosity sake rather than the piece of paper that has become so important these days that the core purpose of education has been lost.
You’re spot on, Raj. Education is not about obtaining a piece of paper: it’s about learning something new and interesting every day for making things better… Mauritius needs a lot of educated people as opposed to degree holders only :-)
At the risk of sounding very pessimistic, I would say that number 4 is generally easier to achieve in “big” countries that in smaller countries like Mauritius. That said, in Mauritius, number 4 is probably easier than in many countries in Africa.
Personally, I find “trying to love what I am doing” hard. Others may be able to pull it off, but not me. If I don’t love something, then I don’t love it.
Hi Patrick,
I think that people in Mauritius have a unique opportunity to do something they love. The fact that life is relatively easy here (compared to poorer African countries and/or the enormous competition in Europe and in North America) makes this possible. It is just a question of asking yourself if you are happy and pivoting if it’s not the case. Of course, nothing is easy: being an entrepreneur is very tough but, at least, you are happy…
Avinash