Why I walk

1. When you’re running a startup, every penny matters. Optimally, every kobo matters.

Find ways to save a few bucks here and there. When I’m not in hurry (I’m hardly in a hurry because I know my schedule for the next two weeks at any given time) I walk to the junction before catching a ride. I’m not walking because I consider it a form of exercise, nah; I walk to save the few bucks. Not that I’ll use the 200 Naira to transform my startup in some major ways but it allows me nurture my savings culture.

I read recently that saving isn’t for the future. It is personal development. The few bucks you save won’t guarantee you a better future, also the millions you put away in savings won’t guarantee you a secured tomorrow. But having the discipline to put something away is a major feat almost all humans are incapable of.

I do it for the discipline.

At least that’s what I tell myself. It’s better than telling myself that I trek for exercise or to save it for later.

See this is the exact reason I advocate everyone learns to code. Save the cash you’ll pay the developer. Why am I a developer yet advise you not to pay me? Cos well, at the end of the day the large percentage of my readers still won’t learn either out of laziness or the apparent discomfort of learning a new skill. Of all skills, coding. I’ve given it thought too, why do programming languages have to be so complex to learn?

I know you saw what I did there. I’ve correlated walking to savings and startupping.

2. I walk because it affords me the chance to think. I’m writing this down on my phone as I walk to the junction. I’m two minutes away. See all I’ve written? Imagine if I spend this time thinking. Yea I do. Whenever I take a walk down my street I think. I take a stroll in the evening, I think. I go out to buy something, I think. Most of these are fantasies like imagining myself playing football in the premier league or futuristic like addressing our 40,000 staffs in our new HQ or strategic like the next step in my sales funnel or playful like the writings I’ll leave on the wall for my wife when she steps into the house…there’s like a thousand things conjuring themselves up every minute and I’m trying to filter them and streamline them to fit my current agenda. Taking a walk helps me collect my thoughts, Mould them like a ball and start rotating them to have a view of one angle at a time, kind of like rotating the world 🌏 ball you’ve seen often in your friends office to view a specific part.

3. I walk because I learn new things. Frankly, the best form of learning is by interacting and listening to people. For instance, I just walked passed a lady who sells fruits. Another lady was approaching her to buy paw paw. How do I know that? Cos she said — do you have paw paw the size of a carrot?

Yea. You may not have gotten the drift of that question yet but the implied meaning is she wants a big paw paw but she is going to negotiate the price down like she’s on a budget.

How else would I have known how to buy paw paw at a discount? See? Walking is great.

I’m at the front of my street. Gotta catch my ride now. It’s not glorious. It’s keke. Again, be Nigerian and you’ll understand that.