All men commend patience, although few are willing to practice it – Thomas Kempis  

How long are you willing to hustle, get by with a small income or intern for free until that favourable job opportunity becomes available?

A friend of mine recently asked for my help in his search for a job. He is in his early twenties and currently working in a DVD sales shop. He complained of not being paid enough and how much he hated his job and wanted to quit. He had actually skipped a couple of days from work claiming that he was out “tarmacking”, looking for that ideal job.

Sometime back another friend of mine asked me to help her get sells people for a product her company was launching. Most of the twenty something year olds I approached refused to take the job, claiming they are not interested in anything to do with sales.

Twenty something year old's are a very picky lot, opting to ignore available opportunities and instead chase after illusive dreams. The media has painted this illusion of how easy it is to own a Range, live in Runda and have a well-paying job. Here’s the reality, most of the guys who own those Range Rovers, live in Runda and have well-paying jobs started from somewhere, Njeri Rionge being a classic example. Here’s her story.

Forbes.com ranked her as one of Africa’s Most Successful Women. She co-founded Wananchi Online, a leading internet service provider. She also founded Ignite Consulting, a business consultancy, Business Lounge, a startup incubator, Ignite Lifestyle, a health care consultancy and Insite, one of Kenya’s most successful digital marketing outfits. Forbes.com stated that Njeri Rionge now divides her time between homes in Nairobi and Toronto where she runs her diverse business concerns. Despite her numerous financial success, Njeri Rionge started out as a hairdresser. She recounted her earliest days in business to Forbes.com.

As a twenty year old, Njeri Rionge first business involved selling yogurt to the International School of Kenya and Loretto Convent Msongari High School over their 10am and 4pm school breaks. She sold the yogurt from her friend’s car trunk. Throughout that period she was employed as a hairdresser with a clientele consisting largely of high net worth individuals. Unlike what most twenty year olds would do, she recognized yet another opportunity and started traveling to London on regular basis using discounted courier tickets to purchase re-sale luxury merchandise which were not available in Kenya at the time which she sold to her clients.

Her twenty year old hustles were her stepping stop to her financial success. As illustrated above, she has achieved what most twenty year olds dream of, though she first had to start from somewhere.

In as much as we all dream of living in a maisonette in one of those leafy suburbs, drive vehicles that make a statement of our social standing, and enjoy a well-paying job, we first have to start from somewhere, most likely at the bottom.