Context

Growing up in a family of four siblings, as the firstborn I have always been a big brother to my 2 sisters and young brother. When I was 13 and 17, we lost our father and mother respectively. I had to quickly assume both our parent’s figure roles. It wasn’t easy to learn on my feet or rather hitting the ground running.

For this piece I want to share some 10-life advice points I shared with my young brother (last born) upon completion of his Masters degree and while he landed his first job. I didn’t want to dampen his spirits by telling him, welcome to the rat race, or as they usually say ‘job’ is an abbreviation for journey of the broke. Mine was a pure brotherly advice, swinging from one direction to the other as I let my mind wonder on some life nuggets encountered along the winding journey of life.

Letter to my brother

Dear Young brother

I hope I find you well, as you step into the new chapter of your life, trying to map your life ahead, I would want to share a few points on life as follows: –

1. Remember every decision you make for yourself, will remain with you for the rest of your life, think through every bit of a decision before executing. They say it is better to measure twice before cutting any cloth, so is life’s worth decisions at times.
2. Do not find yourself making decisions based on peer pressure from anyone whatsoever no matter how close they are to you even myself. You should make decisions that are independent of your emotional circumstances.
3. You don’t owe anybody, so do not apologise for living your life, as such do not succumb to the temptation that you need approval from anybody, you may ask for advice but remember you are the one to make the final move.
4. Get your facts right and don’t blindly decide to please other people. Get your facts straight from the onset. Remember my point 1 to 3.
5. Don’t over commit especially financially, build your personal coffers as much as you can and be a self-sustainable man. Invest into your Financial literacy, its worth it.
6. Plan your life accordingly, dreams do come true. Have Short-term, Medium -term and Long-Term Goals for your life (these can stretch 10yrs or more), but always have a plan in place.
7. Whatever you do be grateful to God the Almighty and all those that played a role for your journey in life. Always thank God for the gift of life.
8. Always take care of the body, which entails your health first, that is important, eat well, sleep well. It doesn’t help to gain all the money in the world and later struggle to try and buy back your health, that never worked at all.
9. Friends are good to have around, be careful not to fall into the me-too trap, you are never in competition with anybody for anything, be it for driving a fancy car or owning the most expensive gadget, know yourself better, be your own self.
10. You are your own personal brand, take care of that brand let it not be distorted by noises outside. Seek guidance and advice from those who can give it, not those who can’t. Be careful not to ask for a shirt from a naked man.

Some of these lessons I picked them later in life, I wish somebody had hinted me earlier. Like they say, there is no straight path in life. One man’s encounter cannot determine the other’s, let me emphasise that I don’t want to rob you of the opportunity to experience life at your own terms.

Your loving and caring

Big Brother

In conclusion

I know there are better life advises out there but pouring it from own heart feels great. I enjoyed writing these words to my young brother, I hope he could pick one or so from this list and apply on his life journey.

I had to share this personal letter to my young brother, for your inputs. Do you consider this a worth piece of advice from a big brother to a young brother? You could also share some aspects that could have been included in this letter.

Feel free to tweak these points and share around too.

Thank you for finding time to read this piece.