Tough Transitions
“No one is coming to save you….”
“No one is coming to save you…” — That has been the mantra that I’ve been living for the last few years.
Ever since I found myself in my apartment kitchen bleeding from a self inflicted wound, I realised a painful truth: “No one is coming to help you”.
Thankfully, that was several years ago and I’ve learned to be self reliant and look out more for myself. It has become absolutely necessary for my own well being. I had to make hard decisions and learned to build myself back up with whatever inner strength I could find.
My life has had some interesting turns and I’m grateful I still have the ability to document everything.
At 26, I wrote a memoir about my life called “The Complex Mind Of Good Kid In A Cruel World”.
It wasn’t a best seller or anything but the fact that I could write a whole memoir was satisfying.
I put out a part of my life on paper for people to read.
I e-published the memoir and put it on Amazon for physical copies and Kindle purchases.
Then a couple of months later, I pulled it down.
Why? Because I felt too “exposed”. I had written a lot of personal things and for whatever reason, I felt like it was “too much”.
But I’m grateful that people got the chance to read it and give me their feedback. I’m contemplating re-writing and adding my content in the future.
The Quiet Competitor
I’m naturally reserved in person. But I consider myself as a “quiet competitor”. If there’s something I’m passionate about, I’m going to take it personal if I put in efforts and don’t get recognition. Thankfully, I’m not on Michael Jordan’s level when it comes to competition (You need to watch the “The Last Dance” documentary to understand this reference).
It’s odd, but I take some things “personal” and can be fierce when it comes to competing. When I started playing basketball when I was 17, I did all I could be better everyday. But that was high school. When I got to college, I realized that my “competition” was a little more advanced.
So I had to advance as well. I practiced on empty basketball courts working on everything from footwork, to jump shots to endurance and strength working out.
I went from being slow and not really good at shooting, to being very competitive and taking the lead on whatever team I played on.
I do the same with career and work. When I started working on Tech Nova, I wasn’t even paying attention to “competition”, but when I realized that what I was building not getting put on certain “lists”, I took a bit of offense…..
It’s weird, because I have gotten some recognition for building my tech news website, but whatever reason, it feels like its not enough (At this point, I feel like a psychopath lol)
It’s funny but that’s how I’m built. I work very hard behind the scenes and I can almost guarantee I put in twice the effort everyone does. So when I don’t get validation, I get anxious.
Maybe it’s where I’m currently located. Down in Ghana, you tend to get more attention because of who you know and how popular you are rather than get recognition for whatever work you’re doing.
Fast Forward
So where are we know? Well, currently, I’ve built Tech Nova is something which is bigger than ever, establishing interesting connections and looking to expand in other areas which don’t involve only content writing.
Also established the Labari Media Group where I’m trying to push local content brands like Harmattan Rain, CulartBlog and AccraWeDey.
UnOrdinary is a female content brand that is slowly picking up and hopefully, can be bigger in the future.
But I’ve started to realize that as I get older, my energy and competitive nature isn’t as it used to be. My focus at the moment is on my career which has evolved from just hands on user interface design to something else….
Going forward, I’ll probably look for people in the content space who want to help manage what I’m building. So in a way, I’m trying to take a step back from being hands on and would rather do admin as this point.
It feels like a semi-retirement but it’s needed at this point so I don’t push myself to the brink.
Last Word
Before I wrap up, I recently started a podcast called “Open Conversations”. It’s basically a podcast where I have a free flowing conversation with my guests about different themes and topics including marriage, dating, tourism, media, immigration, the current pandemic, mental health etc…
The podcast is already 15 episodes and I’m hoping to record more episodes in the future. It’s available on major podcast platforms including Apple and Google Podcasts https://linktr.ee/openconversations
I’m always looking to add new skills to my arsenal and podcasting is the latest thing I’ve gotten into.
“So what’s next Joe?”
I wish I could tell you. It’s been a long ass journey and I still have a lot to learn. There’s a lot of things I want to build and areas I want to explore.
But I’m happy with the journey so far. Right now, I’m trying to learn to be “content”.
That’s something I’m still trying to learn.
