Growing up my idea of success was following the framework I was made to believe would lead me to financial freedom. This was secondary school, college then university. After university getting a good job would set me up for life, giving me the ability to buy and have nice things. As I got older it came to my attention that having a university degree did not necessarily grant me financial freedom. I am currently reading Robert T. Kiyosaki's book 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' which made me realise I was sold the 'Poor Dad's' dream. This dream was to study hard and get a good job, this was all I knew when studying. I did not understand the importance of financial literacy. A great education with poor financial literacy will not necessarily give you the bank account you desire. Not everyone is interested in having financial freedom, but I certainly began to understand the importance of investing rather than saving. This linear framework had me questioning my idea of success when I left university. Once given a salary increase my expenses began to increase too which defeated the whole purpose of getting the increase.
Throughout my education I thoroughly enjoyed Business and Economics. The whole notion of supply and demand had me fascinated, I always thought to myself once you have a good product; demand is likely to increase. Although this was not rocket science, I still chose to ignore that being an employer rather than an employee is what would potentially make me 'rich'. When I take a look at Instagram, Twitter etc. I love the way the younger generation have used these platforms to utilise their brand and talents. The framework is no longer 'linear', social media has given us the ability to succeed in other ways. In other words social media has become a disruption, before my little sister got Instagram she was interested in becoming a Lawyer. Now when I mention becoming a Lawyer she looks at me as if I'm crazy. However, when I mentioned creating her own YouTube channel her eyes lit up, despise knowing she had homework to do; she instantly went on a journey of explaining her ideal brand image.
The evolution of social media has been a major disruption for the 'linear framework' I once thought my siblings would follow. My sister articulated her brand so well my Mum asked me to get her Canon camera for her birthday, I almost fell off my seat. If this were me 10 years ago I would have got the African mother death stare. There would have been no way my Mum would entertain my content producing dreams, but my little sisters managed to create a picture that involved influence and income. Social media is not the only disruption I have witnessed, apprenticeships was one of the first I acknowledged. From a young age I wanted to go through the required steps I thought was necessary: school, college then university. Looking back would I have done things differently? 101% yes.
Until we are exposed and educated on the different avenues we can take to reach achieve the desired goal, we naturally tend to listen to those around us. Especially when young, you tend to turn to those older than you for advice. Before I began to acknowledge the box I put myself in whilst growing up, believing that I had to follow the 'framework'. I began to acknowledge that I held back on being innovative in different ways. Because of this I no longer pressure my siblings to follow my footsteps of going to university. It would be wrong of me to advise those younger than myself to sign up for something they were not interested in, this would be misleading as I learnt I misled myself with the 'linear framework'.