The REAL Reason Young Ghanaians Are Struggling - Money, Girls & Internet Scams Exposed

Summary

Konnected Minds Podcast
Episode: The REAL Reason Young Ghanaians Are Struggling – Money, Girls & Internet Scams Exposed
Host: Derrick Abaitey
Guests: Shama (Sean), 19 (content creator, entrepreneur) & Kokudia "Kweku" Abechi, 25 (university student, entrepreneur)
Date: January 16, 2026

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Overview

This episode dives deep into the core struggles facing young Ghanaians today: outdated education, unemployment, social and financial pressures (including relationships and peer comparison), and the growing allure of internet scams and gambling. Host Derrick Abaitey creates a lively, candid roundtable with two diverse young voices—one choosing entrepreneurship and rejecting university, the other trying to hustle through school and side businesses. The conversation is raw, self-reflective, and peppered with tangible stories and hard truths about fear, societal expectations, and the cost of chasing "success" in Ghana and wider Africa.

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1. Outdated Education & the University Dilemma

Rejecting University: A Personal Story

• Sean (Shama), 19, explains his decision to skip university, citing the irrelevance of curricula:

  "I tried to look through what they are teaching at the universities and the things that they were teaching are outdated and they wouldn't serve me. Now, at the end of the day, university is also a business and they need to make money." (00:05)

• Describes being from a family of educators but wanting to carve a unique path influenced by entrepreneurial biographies and online content.

  "The content I consumed, I started consuming entrepreneurial content… people who are building businesses who are either my age or 70, it doesn't matter. The fact that they are doing something interesting and different piqued my interest." (06:14)

The Systemic Problem

• Both guests spotlight the origins of the schooling system:

  “The way school was set up, they were set up to churn out people who work in the factory… So companies would grow… Companies are not being created, and the companies that have been created are full. That is why we have the problem we have today.” (11:45, 13:29)

• Pervasive parental "status" pressure to push kids into university, regardless of child's interest.

  “When their child finishes university, they want their child to go and become a bank manager …instead of helping them grow their business and make it bigger.” (20:45)

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2. Economic Pressures & The Job Market Reality

"Jackpa": The Search for Better

• Most students are planning to leave ("jackpa") after school; employment in Ghana is viewed as bleak.

  “Those that want to get a job after university are all thinking of flying…There are no opportunities here…we’ll fly.” (13:45)

Side Hustles & Sacrifice

• Kweku, 25, balances university and import business, describing the sacrifices involved:

  “It was a sacrifice I did. I wouldn’t eat twice a day. I would eat once … just to save that money… sometimes it’s buffalo, like three cities.” (44:14)

• The importance of using skills and networks (affiliate selling, observing family businesses) as survival and entrepreneurial tactics. (43:00 – 45:00)

Notable Quote:

• Derrick summarizes,

  “The fastest way to make money in 2026 is buying and selling. If you learn how to sell, you should never go hungry ever.” (46:15)

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3. Parental & Societal Expectations (“Status” and Programming)

Cultural Programming

• Parental pride and “status,” not always aligned with economic sense or child’s passion:

  “The promise that you were given—that status: …for communities to see that my child is a doctor…” (20:17)

• Parents push children away from family businesses, then are surprised kids don’t want to take over:

  “They’ve basically, every programming has been to not be like me. Now what do you think is going to happen at the end of graduation?” (21:31)

External Pressure & Judgement

• Family and societal judgment loom large, especially when diverging from the norm:

  “I don’t even think it’s that my parents don’t want me to do what I want. Sometimes it’s like what other people will say about you. I think that is actually the challenge.” (24:10)

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4. Money, Scams & The “Godfather” Culture

Why Internet Scams?

• Social media sets unrealistic expectations; lack of real options drives youth to seek shortcuts.

  “Social media has raised expectations of our life…Every kid now will probably say they will become a billionaire, but in reality, that’s not what will happen.” (32:30)

• Skills for scams are handed down peer-to-peer (“godfather” mentorship):

  “Mostly they start, that’s when this theme came about—Godfather …you try to get close to understand for him to show you…” (33:03)

Moral Complexity & Desperation

• The dissociative effect of online fraud (“avatars, not real people”):

  “When you’re scamming someone outside…You don’t internalize that there’s a human being who’s built 80 years of their life building this wealth…you’re just talking to a machine.” (34:36)

• Hunger and desperation as a root cause:

  “If you are rich in a poor community, you are not safe, because the people…are hungry. And when hunger comes too, there’s desperation.” (36:00)

Empathy for Those Who Scam

• “If I was the exact same person as them or if I was put in their environment, raised the way they were, I’ll do it.” (36:45)

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5. Daily Pressures: Relationships, Social Media & Peer Influence

The Trap of Comparison

• Envy, insecurity, and “pressure” are heightened by social media:

  “Social media…you see a person like younger than you…it’s on the media, all this money, all these cars …you feel like, because if it was you, you’ll be happy to have it.” (47:00)

Host’s Perspective on Pressure

• Derrick describes being unaffected by social pressure due to self-motivation and “laser focus,” though acknowledges others feel differently.

  “People have said, ‘Hey Charlie, you know the house you live in,’ and I’m like, look, for me, it’s not even the end goal. I’m just getting by.” (52:29)

The Algorithm of Excess

• Shama says:

  “The algorithms reward these kinds of extreme lifestyles…If you are not extreme, you don’t cut through the noise.” (53:19)

Happiness ≠ Possession

• Derrick:

  “There are people that have got these things that you so called admire but they’re not happy…true happiness is not in possessions. It’s inside.” (55:24)

Girls & Money

• Kweku laments the “bills” that relationships add:

  “Sometimes you want to have peace with your money…But the bills from these people, especially the girls and your mom stuff too, they come unplanned.” (59:13)

• Both men caution young guys to focus on building a foundation before focusing on relationships:

  “At the early ages…16, 17, 18…you should focus on building a life first.” (60:44) “If the things you are bringing into your life are not adding to where you want to go, then they are not important.” (62:58)

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6. Gambling: Risk, Reward and Lessons Learned

Gambling as an “Entrepreneurial Teacher”

• Kweku's personal lesson from gambling:

  “I lost all the money… How are we going to survive now? …as long as I'm alive, if I’m really going to take a risk in business…I’m not scared to go inside. If I lose all, I’m still alive.” (67:50)

The Addictive Cycle

• Shama on the psychology of gambling:

  “If there’s a possibility of you winning, even though you lose a hundred times, if there’s a possibility… it excites your brain chemical. The chemicals go off, you know, and it motivates you to just keep on doing more.” (65:01)

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7. The Underlying Enemy: FEAR

Fear as the True Barrier

• Shama’s key insight:

  “Fear is the thing that is stopping people. Fear of how other people react to the stuff that you are doing, fear of your mother looking at you weird. That is what is stopping people and that is the problem… I want every young person, Ghana, Africa, to look into fear’s eyes today and say, you, I’m scared of you, and go.” (69:45)

• Beautiful snake analogy on fear and ignorance. (70:00)

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8. Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• “At the end of the day, university is also a business and they need to make money.” — Shama (00:05)
• “If you learn how to sell, you should never go hungry ever.” — Derrick (46:15)
• “If you are rich in a poor community, you are not safe. Because the people there are hungry.” — Kweku (36:00)
• “The algorithms reward these kinds of extreme lifestyles.” — Shama (53:19)
• “Fear is the thing that is stopping people…look into fear’s eyes today and say, you, I’m scared of you, and go.” — Shama (69:45)

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9. Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Guests' Backgrounds: 00:00 – 06:14
• The Education System and Parental Pressure: 06:14 – 21:00
• Job Market & Entrepreneurship vs. University: 21:00 – 29:00
• Internet Scams & “Godfather” Influence: 31:21 – 36:45
• Hunger, Desperation & Survival Strategies: 36:45 – 44:00
• Doing Business as a Student (Import Side Hustle): 44:00 – 46:56
• The Buying and Selling “Sweet Spot” in Ghana: 46:15 – 47:33
• Social Media Pressure & Peer Influence: 47:33 – 56:22
• Girls, Relationships & Financial Pressure: 58:53 – 62:34
• Gambling: Risks & Lessons: 64:27 – 67:50
• Overcoming Fear: 69:45 – 72:21

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10. Final Reflections

This episode captures not only pragmatic advice for Ghana’s youth but also the emotional and psychological battles that define a young generation’s journey. Authentic, unfiltered, and empathetic, the conversation encourages self-discovery, calculated risk, and resilience. The hosts and guests urge listeners to view fear as a challenge, not a limit, and to resist hollow social pressures in favor of a life guided by self-awareness and authentic goals.

A must-listen for anyone interested in the realities of youth ambition and survival in modern Ghana and Africa.

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Transcript

[A]

So you right now, you've come to really accept that university is not for you.

[B]

I'm 19 years old. I told my father, I told my mom, but we had a lot of difficult conversations about this matter. I tried to look through what they are teaching at the universities and the things that they were teaching are outdated and they wouldn't serve me. Now, at the end of the day, university is also a business and they need to make money.

[C]

Before even I entered university, I had.

[A]

Started something of my own as a university student. Where did you get the money to start important items?

[C]

It was a sacrifice I did.

[B]

Really.

[A]

Why can't you just accept what you have been told? That go to school, get good grades, you can potentially get a good job.

[B]

The way school was set up, they were set up to churn out people who work in the factory. My father's generation, they feel the sports, all the investing students coming out, where are they going to film?

[A]

When you sit around in your friendship circle, what are some of the conversations you have about getting a job after university?

[C]

Those that want to get a job after university are all thinking of flying.

[B]

Jackpa, the one left inside. We all want Ghana to succeed. Me too. I want to eat. And if there are no opportunities here for me to eat, we'll fly.

[A]

Now let's talk about the pressures of girls on the lives of young people.

[C]

Serious. Sometimes you want to have peace with your money, but the bills, especially the girls and your mom stuff too, they come unplanned.

[B]

If your girlfriend, if your friends are not adding on to where you want to go and they are taking, then why, why, why are we doing?

[A]

Bro, have you tried gambling before?

[C]

It's had a very good impact in my entrepreneurial life.

[A]

Good impact.

[B]

Fear is the thing that is stopping people. Fear of how other people will react to the stuff that you are doing, fear of your mother looking at you weird. That is what is stopping people and that is the problem. And I want every young person, Ghana, Africa to look into fear's eyes today and say, you, I'm scared of you. And boom.

[A]

You're welcome to Connected Minds Podcast. My name is Derek Abayte and Happy New Year once again. I'm glad to have you here. Now did you know that you can go on Apple podcast and you can also go on Spotify and search Connected Minds Podcast and listen to our podcast when you're driving, going to work or even at the gym. Now a few weeks ago we launched an importation episode and it was screened in the cinemas in Accra and many of you were asking how they can also get to watch it. There's a link in the description and also in the comments right now that you can click on watch Tribe I.O. and also watch the episode. Excitingly, I've answered a question that a lot of young people have been asking me. When are we going to see people we can also relate with on your podcast? And this is why today I've got Sean and Kweku in the studio. Now, Sean has a very interesting story. A young Ghanaian boy who decided not to go to university and chart his own course. And I must say, he's doing amazing with that. And I have kweku. Now, this Mr. Bechi guy decided to stay at university and follow what a lot of our parents have told us to do, but also become a role hustler at university. Look, there are a lot of struggles that the average Ghanaian youth go through. And today this conversation is going to discuss a lot of the issues. For some older people, it's going to be nostalgic, but I hope you enjoy it. Stay connected. You're welcome to my studio.

[B]

Thank you. And yourself, thank you very much.

[A]

Yeah. How's it going?

[C]

Everything is cool over here.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Happy New Year, man.

[B]

Happy New Year to you, too. 2026. More work to be done.

[A]

Absolutely. Absolutely.

[C]

A lot to be achieved.

[A]

Yeah. How do we turn this into a discussion rather than an interview? And that's my aim today. I want us to discuss the Ghanaian youth problem or maybe say the African youth problem, because that's where we are.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And I love what you guys do.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

Honestly, thank you.

[C]

Thank you very much.

[A]

When I was at university, I was wild. Actually, before even university, I was quite wild, you know, always after the money. But I see what you, you have done especially, and you yourself, your content as well. Amazing. Now let's talk about it. Talk to me about yourself very quickly.

[B]

Okay. So my name is Shama. I'm 19 years old. I, I, right now, what I do is I create videos on the Internet. I usually answer questions and tell stories about things that people might not necessarily want to find answers of, but we do that in a deep way so that when they leave the conversation, that one minute, 30 second video, they get something that impacts their lives that they can carry on and tell other people about. And so that is what I do right now. Yes, that's.

[A]

Is it paying you?

[B]

Is it paying me? Yes. Yeah, yeah, it is. It is giving.

[A]

I mean, later I'm gonna get deep into the reason why you decided not to go to university. And how your parents felt about it.

[B]

Right? All right.

[A]

All right.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

So my name is Kokudia Abechi and I'm a student of the University of Ghana. And also I'm an entrepreneur. I do importation and then, yeah, also production. So yeah, that's what I do for right now. And then that is what is keeping me up.

[A]

Now you are, you were in Kumasi, you had to rush here.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

What happens there in Kumasi?

[C]

What happens there?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What do you usually do when you go to Kumasi?

[C]

Okay, so what, I mean, Kumasi is a nine to five thing.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah, I go to work in the morning and come back at home maybe.

[A]

Yeah, also awesome. Now, Sean, I want you to take me through you growing up, what your vision was, what your dreams were.

[B]

What.

[A]

You were really thinking of about life. You're a 19 year old boy who's got a lot of years ahead of you. But take me back to maybe five years ago, six years ago.

[B]

Right. So for me, every, every time I get to have this conversation, what I say is I was a really good student in school. And so my parents, so my dad was teaching at the time, my mother is a teacher, my grandmother owns a school. So for me, the school and the education thing was just around me. And so because of that I was a really good student at the same time. One thing I think my parents did very well is they put me through a lot of different stuff. So they let me speak in front of people, they made me learn music a little bit, they made me double in tennis, they made me double in a lot of different things. And so because of that, my outlook on life was a little bit different than some of my peers. And as I kept growing and entered into shs, I would say I didn't know what I wanted to do when I was in jhs, they asked me, what do you want to do in future? I told them I wanted to become a physicist because at the time I saw Albert Einstein and he was like, big, big, big. I didn't understand how science will whoop my ass in school, but that is who I wanted to be because I didn't understand it. Now when I entered SHS and I started meeting people, the interesting thing about SHS and precise that I went to is that you get to meet people who are also brilliant and people who have different outlooks on life. And so speaking with them, getting to understand who they are and the type of content they consume, the people around me, they affected me and it affected the type of content I consume. And I say content specifically because without that, I don't think I'll see things the way I see them now. I see yes. And so the content I consumed, I started consuming entrepreneurial content. I started consuming creative content. What I mean by that is people who are building businesses who are either my age or 70, it doesn't matter. The fact that they are doing something interesting and something different piqued my interest. And so I kept on consuming stuff like that. Kept on. Started reading more books. I started reading more. I think my first book I read was Steve Jobs biography. And when I read that, I was like, this whole world is like, there's a whole world that I haven't entered yet. And so I kept on reading more books, more books. And because of that, I became more and more different than my peers. And so then I took the board decision of not going to the university.

[A]

I'm going to come to that.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

How old are you now?

[C]

I'm 25.

[A]

25. So say when you were 16 years, 16, what was your thinking around life, your future? What were you thinking, really?

[B]

Okay.

[C]

At as, at age 16, I had completed GHS. So I think it was cool. School, because, yeah, my family, that's what we do most. My. My dad's. My dad was. Was in the States then. And then his brothers, everybody. It was more about school, headbank manager and all that. So I wanted to be a doctor then. But then I think getting into shs, I think my whole life, that's when my whole life turned around. That's when everything changed. Because that's when I felt like, I felt where I was coming from, the community, the neighborhood where I was coming from. I felt like my people really, really, really is lacking in a lot of things. Like we don't live, I'm sorry to say, fully as human. So like, I felt like I have to change something.

[A]

What does that mean?

[C]

You don't enjoy the benefits? Like everybody's supposed to have some basic things. People are finding hard to get something like food. I see some of my neighbors, like maybe a family with, with like six kids or seven kids. And then it's like when you go to them and then you see the kind of food they're eating and then it would be like for the whole day. That's what they haven't. So I felt like, no, no, this is not a life. This is not a life. So like, I feel like I need to. I need to be a part of a change. I need to change something. So I Think my whole life being around the entrepreneur or something was when I thought I had to become somebody, somebody to. To change this whole narrative of my people. Somebody, somebody greater. And then if I sit down about and think about it, me going to school, I want to say I said that side. I was a little, little issue. So things were not that good. So I was like, even schooling, you have to, you have to. There has to be something pushing you. There has to be a protocol. There have to be something because you can become something best or something greater from school. Because say, if, even if I go to the school up to like shs, my time, we're paying fees. So say if you are going to school up to sh, and then when you're done with shs, and then there's no money for you to continue in university, it means like it's been a waste. Do you understand? So then what, what can I do? Then I have to start finding something for myself. The earlier, the best. But in the earlier the best as at shs, there's nothing I could do. I was just in school always thinking, always thinking. So even brought my academics down a little bit because I barely go to school sometimes I, I would, I would try to save the money because I was a day student, let's say from form one and form two. I would want to save the money my mom gave to me for. To. To gather some amount of money and think of what I can do with that money to double it up or.

[A]

Something, you know, why can't you just accept what you have been told, that if you go to school and get a good, get good grades, you can potentially get a good job and live a good life?

[C]

Yeah, that was.

[A]

Why haven't both of you accepted that?

[B]

So should I. Yeah, fine. I think that is just not true. In the time that we are living today. If we think about the systems, the way school was set up, the systems they were set. And when they were set up in the early 1900s, they were set up to churn out people who work in the factory, to churn out people who work in 9 to 5, essentially. And that is great because that was the problem they had at the time. They needed these people to work in these factories, to work in these companies so the companies would grow. So was great. However, what happened, right, generally around the world and also in Africa especially, and especially in Ghana, is that my father's generation and his, his older, like his father's generation, they filled the sports and he kept on feeling the sports. Now the only time they leave is when they are 60. So if this guy is, they went to the job at 40, in 20 years time they will leave. Which means that all the university students coming out in his 41st year, in his 42nd year, in his 43rd year, all those university students, where are they going to fail? And it became even worse because again, think back to where these students came from. They learned to become factory workers, to work in nine to five, not to innovate. They were there to just fill positions. These children that are coming out of the universities, some of them at least, or most of them are not equipped with skills to innovate and create more companies. So you have two things going on. Companies are not being created and the companies that have been created are failed. That is why we have the problem we have today. And so a lot of students go to university, they have this big promise because it worked before, it's not working today because there are no spaces.

[C]

The job market is full.

[B]

It's full. And there's no one to innovate because everybody who's going through the systems is not being taught the right way to innovate.

[A]

When you sit around in your friendship circle, what are some of the conversations you have about getting a job after university?

[C]

So mostly those that want to get a job after university, they're all thinking of flying. They're all thinking of flying outside the country. Yeah, they want jackpot.

[B]

They want left inside because they think.

[C]

That is where they are going to get a job and that's when it's going to pay them well enough to live maybe the life they want to live or start whatever life they want.

[B]

To start, which you can't judge them for, you know, because there are no opportunities. And so if like each man for himself, but for us all, you know, we all want Ghana to succeed. Great. Me too. I want to succeed. Me too. I want to, I want to eat, you know, and if there are no opportunities here for me to eat, we'll fly.

[C]

Exactly.

[B]

And that is why a lot of great talents.

[C]

Even though people pay to get jobs though, because mostly they say protocol brings some people or some people bring their family into the, the, the workspace they are in. But then I'm not sure they can fill the whole workspace with their family members. They are, there are little, little spaces left that goes to people by chance, by luck. And then looking at the number of people out there hunting for job and then the space is available. It doesn't make sense in a way.

[A]

So you, right now you've Come to really accept that university is not for you.

[B]

No.

[A]

Talk to me.

[B]

So it started a little bit in the latter part of shs. So I'm studying for WASI now, right? So I'm studying for wasi. I'm learning the physics and the, and the atoms and all these things and I'm studying it and one day I'm sitting down like, where am I going to use this? You know? And that is a common like thought among a lot of the youth. Where am I going to use this thing that I'm studying right now?

[C]

Right now? Yeah.

[B]

And for me, I couldn't find a good answer. Now that doesn't mean that it doesn't matter. At the time I couldn't find a good answer. So I was like, okay, I just study, I'll pass this wasi and give it to my parents and then say, yo, this is, I'm done. You know, So I finished that through. That struggle was very painful for me during the last part of my SHS years. It was very, very painful because I didn't see why I was doing it. And if I don't find my wife, if it doesn't push me enough, I would just like, I'll dread it and I'll just get angry at it. But I still do it because I have to please my parents. So I did that right now after the conversation came up again. So I told my father, I told my mom, like, I genuinely don't know. So it's two things. I genuinely don't know what I'm going to do in the universities, right? So we had that conversation and so I want to take a year off and figure out what I want to do in that time. I, I tried to look through what they are teaching at the universities and I realized that the things that I was interested in at the time, I'm interested marketing, I'm interested in psychology, and I'm interested in a lot of other things. Now they teach those things at the universities, but are they teaching the things that are working today? That was the question. And so I looked through this. I actually looked through the syllabus, I actually looked at the things that they were teaching and I realized that the things that we're teaching are not exactly what I want to learn and the things that they were teaching are outdated and they wouldn't serve me now. And so the thought process was, what if I just do it? What if I just, instead of going to study for four years and do the thing later, what if I just enter it, fuck around and find out like just enter it and see what happens. And that is what I did. So I started creating videos on the Internet, started reading books that were set now and not books that were set in 1950s to understand how the marketing space worked, how psychology worked, how storytelling worked today and not yesterday. And that is the reason why I think, that's the main reason why I think I didn't go to the university. Now of course there were consequences to that, right? Because we live in Africa obviously generally in Africa everybody wants their child to go to the university. In Ghana, everybody wants their child to go to the university.

[A]

Just pause, right? Why?

[C]

For a moment there, I think I had the same thoughts. I didn't know what I'm going to do in university in the first place. So even when I completed this is. It took me three years before I got to the university University because I was still trying to figure out why can it, what, what can I do? What can I do that is going to work aside university. So I think I started with, that's when I did music. I, I tried the importation because I was, I was watching my dad, I have this stepfather that's import. I used to watch him how he do, how he does his things, the importation and everything. So do you know the first thing that made me wanted to do this thing more was this man had like nine case with me and my brothers three making 12. So if you, if I look at the expenses of this man, every money he spends and that's nobody, none of the kids to complains like they are not paying the school fees are not being paid, he puts food on the table, everything is being taken care of and all that. And he was, he was using this old CE180 Benz. So what, what came in my mind was to if I imagine myself like if I was having this business but not having this family, not having these people to take care of, I think I would have been somebody bigger. I would, I could, I could do something that somebody wouldn't sit somewhere and say oh, since he's a small boy and he's got this, he's a fraud boy, that means there's legit something I can do at my age if I don't have, I can do a lot of things. That was when I was like then I need to start following this entrepreneurship thingy.

[A]

But, but the question is why.

[C]

Like.

[A]

Sean said, why do most African parents want their children to go to university?

[C]

So I, I, I learned, I learned I read a little issue about this whole thing I think during. In commerce time and I think at, at that time the, the offices, the people, the corporate workers, I think they had a high status in the community. So everybody wanted their, their, their kid to at some point to go and become like that person. So I think it's something that's in. Most of their mothers said like because there's something they, they say and play with it when, when your child, when a mother's child become a doctor or let's say bank manager, they mostly start forget their names. They will say oh or something again. Oh, the status, you understand, mostly the status sisters. And they even sometimes go beyond forgetting what the kid actually wants to be in life.

[A]

Right.

[C]

They actually forget that.

[B]

And, and, and I think it's really interesting that that that happens. Right? Of course, the promise that you were given that status way or I'll get this at the end of that, right. Just for communities to see that my child is a doctor. What I find really interesting, right, is that when you go to Makola, there's so many market women, market, market men who are there who have big businesses. They are selling biscuits, they are selling charcoal, they are selling this. This.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

And with that business that they have in Makola, they will take their child through primary, through shs, through the university. And when their child finishes university, they want their child to go and become a bank manager. They want their child to go and become a doctor instead of helping them grow their business and make it bigger.

[A]

You know what the problem is? I'm gonna have to comment about this. Sometimes the kids don't want to do it.

[B]

Really?

[A]

Yes. I mean, think about it.

[B]

Think about it.

[C]

I just want you to think about it.

[A]

Yeah. Mostly you have a parent that has pushed their child away from what they do away for about 15 years of the kid's life.

[B]

Right.

[A]

They've basically every programming has been to not be like me.

[B]

Yes.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Now what do you think is going to happen at the end of the graduation?

[C]

They are not going to.

[B]

Exactly. And that is where I think the problem is. So it, it go goes back to. This is the promise that they were given and the status that they will get. And so because of that it affects the daily habits and the daily reactions because you are a father. So you know this, you know that like one thing you can say to your child today will affect them for the rest of their life. And so because of that, if they keep on building, just as you said, they keep on building on this thought that hey, Dr. Mamu, come and become A doctor for me. Come and become a doctor for me. And they don't cherish the business that you. They are doing, which is where I find it very, like, jarring. Like, it's very confusing to me that you are doing this business and you are getting 500,000 CDs a month or 500,000 cities at any rate, whatever it is. And you still look and you see your child should become a bank manager who won't be making as much. That is where my. My thing is. It's like, why can't you see through that?

[A]

You know, in. In our local dialect P. One of the languages we have in Ghana, they call something cratchy and araba. Yeah. My parents. My mother didn't have a university degree.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

She struggles, in fact, to speak English. So her son being a pharmacist and crutchy. There's a vibe.

[B]

Right?

[A]

Right. Yeah.

[B]

Right.

[A]

Now, to even make it worse is when you travel abroad, whether you are struggling or not, they don't care.

[C]

They don't care.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

A day abroad. That's it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now, I want you to take me back to the time when you were making that decision and what happened between you and your parents.

[B]

Okay. My dad and my mom, they love me, you know, like, I don't think it is ever. Your parents don't ever love you. Like, when they bring you into the world, they love you. And so they love me. So because of that, they care for me and they care what my future looks like. And so if I come to them and say something as scary as I don't want to go to university, which is the path that everybody is going on, understandably, they were. They were concerned. And so because of that, there was a lot of back and forth. To some extent, I wouldn't say they didn't support me, but we had a lot of conversations, a lot of difficult conversations about this matter. Sometimes, you know, like, of course, it is Africa. So it's not just my parents, it's the people around too. So you have people. I don't even think the thing is that my parents don't want me to do what I want to do. I think sometimes it's like what other people will say about, you know, I think that is the. That is actually the challenge. And so it was hard for them to understand, but I promised them that, you know, me, we've been in the house for 18 years, you know, that when I set my mind to something, I'm going to do it. And one thing that my dad told Me, a year after this. Is that when I said it and I came back from. Immediately I came back from school, he saw me studying, he saw me like, I'm finished with SHS a week later, I was studying, trying to figure out how to create content and all these kind of things. And then when he saw me, that solidified it in his head that I'm going to do something. You know, he didn't know where it was going to lead to, but he believed that there's work going to be done. So there was friction. I wouldn't say there wasn't friction. There was friction. Family members, you know, family members. I don't want to go into, deep into it, but family members would talk, you would hear family members talking. You would hear people judging you for the decision that you, you took, even though they don't understand anything about your life.

[A]

Do you think as Ghanaians, we tend.

[C]

To judge a lot, A lot, a lot. People, people like to give ideas or people like to give suggestions, like they fully understand what is really going on, but they don't. They really don't. So that is something even happened with me because even my mom, when I completed SHS that my dad bought me forms for UDS that I should go, I couldn't trust that man. And I couldn't trust that when I'm going to the school there's going to be full support like that. But this woman wouldn't mind, wouldn't listen in, like, because my senior brothers have completed eds, I should, I should at least complete the university and then I can come and do whatever I want to do.

[A]

Okay, So I heard those same words. Mind you, I'm in London. I bet you anything, any dollar, any city, any pound, if I had said I didn't want to go to university, I would have ended up back in Ghana. I bet you wouldn't. I mean, look, my father always said that, Derek, I know you love music and I know you love what you do, but finish university.

[B]

Yeah, he always said it.

[A]

And at the end of that sentence would be, life is how you make it. And then I'm just thinking to myself.

[B]

Life is how you make it. Let me do it.

[A]

But he won't listen, you know, even when simply by being abroad, as people saw it, you know, you are a burger. He still wanted you to go to university right now. So much so that I know people and I had friends who only went to university, which is what I'm gonna get into. Only went to university because they wanted to graduate for their parents. Yes, Today they still don't have jobs.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

And some of them after 10 years is now that they are going back to university to study what they want to study to get a job.

[C]

Yeah, that one is a. That, that, that is a huge problem we are having here because.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

Like parents deciding what they, their kids should do in university. Even in essence it starts from there because maybe the kid would want to do maybe arts or maybe you want to do homework or something. But then their parents are like I want you to be a doctor so go for the science. Yeah, the kid might be a brilliant student but then the, the, the space you are putting them in, they are forcing. But then at the end of the day they don't find interest in what they're doing. So they are just chewing and pouring for their. For you, for you to be happy to impress you. Yeah, the same thing. So from the SHS now their path is being directed. They have to do a science course in the university too. So that is what is going to happen there. So by the time they're done, they'll be doing a course. They might not even find job in Ghana.

[A]

I heard somewhere, okay. That in Ghana even the university can choose a course for some of the students.

[B]

You'd be the best to answer that.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

Because I think when I said when I as a. I like me being a science student, my courses were limited. But this is what, this is the problem we are talking about here because they lied to me. Oh. Science is a general course. You can do a lot of course you want to. But when I was selecting the courses in university, not every course that I could do.

[A]

Why?

[C]

I don't know. The system is programmed the way that if you're a science student you have to do science related courses.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

But then before that they told me science students are like, we are like general as we could do anything. Generous who could do what Science. I didn't really understand. Like it wasn't making sense to me at that point.

[A]

But then, but what I'm hearing is when they actually get to the university because the university just wants to fill up the courses, they push people into courses.

[B]

I heard that too. Yeah, I heard that too. Someone was speaking to me is like their thought processes at the end of the university is also a business and they need to make money. Right. And so because of that if I say I want to go and do marketing in the university, they won't just give me marketing pet to go and do. No, they would add all these other things that are unnecessary in Our eyes and they will pro. They will say it is necessary, but in my eyes I know it is unnecessary. They'll give you all these things because they still have to make money to. So to fill up the spaces and to fill up all these other things. Okay, it works like that. But again I'm not an expert in it. But that's what. When I was. I was having a conversation with someone who is now working like they are grown and they are going back to uni, doing evening classes and they were saying something like that, that it's a business. So.

[C]

What I understand is the you. If you, if you come into the University of Ghana or like person, like investor of Ghana is what I know. It's only I think in the first year that they add some unnecessary course that you have to do compulsory. But then I think after the first year it's up to you to either add it because we do combine and measure like single major and then combine. So you can choose to add some courses to what you're already doing as your main and you can choose to focus on what you are doing.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So in the University of Ghana, I think that one is your own choice. It's not the school that gives to you.

[B]

Right.

[C]

I don't know about the others though. But then University of Ghana you went.

[A]

To senior high school school. I did of course. Now as a, you know, young boys in senior high school.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

At which point do people start getting indoctrinated into things like Internet scams? Let me stop you here for a minute. So if it's your first time watching Connected Minds or you have been here before but still have not subscribed, do us a favor because majority of the people that watch our videos have not subscribed. This doesn't help us grow beyond what we expect. So help us by hitting the subscribe button. Thank you. Now let's get back to the conversation.

[C]

Yeah, so this, this is something I wanted to see. I think we, the society is actually programmed us in a way. As I was saying, the system is being made or people are made to think that you can't actually make some amount of money using legal means or rightful ways. So. So I think they as the conversation we're having. Job is not there, everything is out. You can't do anything to make money. So they feel like that is the only thing they can go to at that point because at that point they feel like they don't have anything. And to start from the. The bottom manifesting something is its own making something from Nothing is something you never take for granted because from nothing, sometimes it might feel like it's a dream to even make something. It's just only illusion to make something out of that.

[A]

But when start in the young boy's life at this point in university, in.

[B]

The school journey, when they become conscious, what they see. Yeah. So a lot of this, this Internet scam thing I think is it. It comes from obviously what you see around you and what you want to become. So social media, we, we double social media a lot. But that's the truth.

[C]

That's what it's coming.

[B]

Social media has raised expectations of our life generally across our board. Almost every kid now will probably say they will become a billionaire, but in reality that's not what will happen. But so you have these unrealistic expectations that is being set by social media and you have these kids or these young boys who don't know how to reach those unrealistic expectations. But they do have them.

[A]

Yeah, but where do they get the skills from?

[B]

The skills?

[A]

Yes, the skill to actually start speaking to people and do all this funny stuff. Where do they actually get a skill from?

[B]

They learn from.

[C]

They learn from the, the people already into it. You see, mostly they start. That's when this theme came about. Godfather. My godfather. Oh yeah, my godfather. So like what they see on the media, they see, let's say I'm 18 years or I'm 19 years and then I see my colleague Same like around 18, 19, 20 buy bands living this, this life, the, the musicians outside. Because to be honest, the lifestyle of these people into these days, they take it from the outsiders. So if, if I see my colleague, my age mates living this lavish life, I feel like I want to do something. So you, you try to get close to understand for him to show you people who knows about this thing to also teach you. I nearly got into this thing. So yeah, I nearly got it because at that point I want to make money.

[B]

I want to be something 100.

[C]

I feel like it's wrong, but I feel like if I make this money I can give it a bird bath and then maybe clean it because I can invest in other business stuff.

[A]

But at that time, did you understand the consequences of the actions that you.

[C]

Were exactly wanted to take?

[B]

Aha.

[C]

So at that point you wouldn't even think of the consequences.

[B]

I see.

[C]

Yeah. So it's happened. So I think me, I grew up and I realized, man, all these things are not going to be. It's not my path. It's not, it's not What I can be? Because how can I sit, or let's say, if I become somebody that everybody knows, how can I talk about the good stuff when I know where I'm coming from? Understand the guilt.

[B]

And I also think about this. Whether you feel guilt or not, it's moral standards. Who is teaching these kids what to do and what not to do? And for a lot of people who get into these Internet scams, those moral things don't exist. In my opinion. They don't exist. Even if they do, Mr. Derek. Even if they do, when you're scamming someone outside where you don't see their face, you don't know who they are, you're just talking to a machine. You are literally talking to a machine. There's a human there, but you're talking to a machine. You don't internalize that. There's a human being who has built 80 years of their life building this wealth. You don't internalize it because you don't actually physically interact. For these people who do these Internet scams, they would. They would most likely not be able to pull it off in person because then you see the consequences of your actions.

[A]

Right.

[B]

The Internet blocks that you are talking to, you are talking to an avatar.

[A]

But I also think what we are saying goes beyond just people scamming Westerners.

[C]

Yeah. Here, here. So for me, I think. I think it's basically hunger, because they say if. If, Mr. Derek, you are. You. You have food. Or let's say if you are rich in a poor community, you are not safe. Because the people. The people. The people there are hungry.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And we're doing it. And when hunger comes to, there's desperation.

[B]

So it is a problem.

[C]

They will do anything to.

[A]

To.

[B]

To.

[C]

To find air and breathe. Yeah, I mean, they. They are being stress. They are pressured. So I think this is where they. They will do anything, because right now they will give excuses. It doesn't justify the action. But then they will give a solid excuse like, if I didn't do this, mom would have died, my brother wouldn't have.

[B]

And in their context, like, I never judged them, because in their context, if I was the exact same person as them or if I were put in their environment, raised that the way they were, I'll do it. I'm not now. I won't, because I'm the way I am. I didn't live the way they lived. But if I was in their environment, if I lived the way they lived.

[A]

Yes. Look, I think the question really is what other options do Young boys have. What are the options? So, and you, the two of you are showing us different options.

[B]

Right?

[C]

Right.

[A]

So what is, what option did you take?

[B]

Yeah, so for me, I decided to. So I think. So let's set something as a foundation. I think everybody has things they are either interested in or things they have a unique advantage in. So what that means is that there are some people who were born naturally with a good voice, they can sing. There are some people who can speak in public. They are courageous, they can speak in public. There are some people who can do things with their hands. There are some people who can take good photos, who have a good artistic eye. My thinking is that every young person has some version of this. Even if they don't, there's something they are to some extent interested in that they can hone and get a skill in. And whatever that is for you, work towards that and build that up. And so for me, because of the way I was brought up, a unique advantage I have or I had was that I could speak and I could speak in public and I could easily speak in front of camera. And so because of that, I decided to go into content creation and talk about stuff that I'm interested in. So speaking, but also things I'm interested in, which at the time was tech, now it's storytelling, now it's marketing, all these things. So I used my unique advantage and told my story online, told my. Did my stuff online. And then I've been able to build to some extent a business. And so for every young person, I think the first thing is find the thing that you are interested in or find a thing that is your unique advantage.

[A]

Look, I love. But you are 19 years.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You are speaking to people who are. Are probably 16, 17. From 16 all the way to 19, give or take 25. How do they find that thing?

[C]

How do they.

[A]

What the. The process to discovery.

[B]

That is. That is a. That's a good question. Do you want to talk? Yes.

[C]

I wanted to say I think our school basic education play a role in this.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

I have a friend, he was not good in class. So from since primary, this guy has been all being tagged with Bondi.

[A]

What does that mean?

[C]

You know, nothing. Like you can't be anybody. So this person has been always.

[B]

Your head died.

[C]

So they've always been killing the spirit of this person. So he feels like he can't do anything. So after school, as you were saying, you're supposed to find something, but there's nothing. Because since childhood, everything, everything he does, they say he's not good at it. So what. What can he do? He can't do anything. He feel like he can't do anything. And these people are those ones prone to getting this act, this calm act and all that because there's nothing for.

[B]

They feel like there's nothing down the system.

[C]

They can't do anything.

[A]

Look, there's a book that talks about the superiority complex, the desire to feel important.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because everybody speaks down on you and now all of a sudden the path they know. Well, you don't know it. So you find your way.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And make the money.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So that they can start seeing you as.

[B]

And that could go two ways. You could either do. You could turn that. That turn.

[C]

They are.

[B]

They are beating you down. You're beating. You can turn that into good fool and do something great.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Or you can go to the other side because.

[C]

But if you look at it, I have a personal experience. I have friends that. In primary. So like after jhs, those that they kept on. We had. We call them big six. They were the last six. So we call them big six. These six guys, I said four of them are scammers.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And then two of them are. That other two, I can't tell what they do though. But then they have money. I don't know how, but they claim they are selling some stuff. Do you understand? So these people are those ones. We, we didn't let them find something they are. They are good at to put it there. So if they feel like there's a chance they can use to make money, to feel important, why not take.

[A]

I mean, look, let's not throw this away. Scamming and fraud and corruption and all these things. It's everywhere on this planet.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah, everywhere. Unfortunately, because of how underdeveloped some of some areas on. In Ghana and parts of Africa is, we are seeing it a bit more. Right.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

But there are. This is rampant in so many countries.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And certainly I'm not looking down on people that do it. I just want us to have a conversation that gives us other people options. Because it's interesting. Right. You know, human mind is. Is very interesting. So you can see somebody take a road and die on the road, but you take it because that's the only option you have.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Right. Like airplane, you know, catches fire, people die. Gets. Get missing.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

People still take flights.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

We. If it hasn't really happened to us, we don't internalize it as much.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So even though we are seeing a lot of young people being busted and being taken in to other countries. Some of these young people are not feeling it because it hasn't come to them. Like they say, it's only when somebody really close to you dies, that's when you feel the impact of death.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, so people are not seeing it and they still do it. Yeah, but what option or path did you take differently as a university student?

[C]

Okay, so as I was saying, so before even I entered university, I started something of my own. So as I said, it came from my stepdad. As I watched how he had all these kids and still he was making all this money. So I realized we could do something, but basically how. And I also used some of my friends. Maybe I, I got the opportunity that I got to work somewhere and earn something, but somebody is at home, they are trying to get job there, they are not getting it. So some little advice I gave them was I think the education, as we say, the basic one sometimes affected us in a bad way. Also helped us in a good way in the, in the sense that we made friends. And I don't know, but then you can tell me your circle of friends at the time you reach that. Is it just something somebody is not up to? Something like any of your friends are not selling anything. You can do affiliate, affiliate marketing. Yeah, you have my, my friend is selling something. Oh bro. Yeah. Okay. Give me pictures or something. Let me post. If I get, I'll come and take. These are the small money you can take to, to, to get. And then sometimes they are like the job they go get is not paying well enough. Actually it won't pay enough. It won't pay enough. But then you can make something out of it. It's called sacrifice. If you can work that way that is giving you 500 cities a month and maybe 20 cities a day. If you can sacrifice for like give yourself a time like maybe six months, one year. I need this amount of money, maybe 2,000 to invest in this business. Because if you are going to say you are going to survive on that business or work you're doing, I'm not sure it's going to help because definitely, as we say, people might consider things like you might fall sick. You might, you understand it's not actually going to help you throughout. So I think working for somebody shouldn't be something you want to do permanent. So at this point, gain something small, invest in something, it will go you.

[A]

As a university student, where did you get the money to start importing items?

[C]

Exactly? I, I was working, I was being paid monthly so it was a sacrifice I did. I wouldn't, I wouldn't eat twice a day. I would eat once and I was, sometimes it's buffalo, like three cities. I'll buy and eat just to save that money I'll get at the end of the month. And the first business I ventured into, I realized I could start with as least as thousand five cities.

[A]

Business was this, it was airports.

[C]

Yeah, airports. And then I had to find ways to get it in a way that I wouldn't, I wouldn't have to if I'm important, you know, we pay for being cost and all that. So I had to escape that. I didn't know how till I sat down one day. I was like, let me talk to my, my old man and see if he is importing his stuff.

[A]

Pass it through his control.

[C]

Exactly. And I would, I'll skip that. Thousand five cities. I was, I was being paid at that time, 500 cities a month. It will take me three months to make that money. Right.

[A]

Look gents, I figured out, I just did a master class and one of the things I spoke about much was that for me I figured out that the fastest way to make money in 2026 is buying and selling. The fastest way. Now I'm going to throw this here. I gave it to the people that were at a master class, which is the Ghanaian sweet spot in terms of pricing is 50 to 100 cities. Sweet spot. A very sweet sport. So if you find a product at a cost price of even 25 cities, 97% of Ghanaians are on WhatsApp. 97% of Ghanaians on WhatsApp at a cost of even 25 cities. You can sell it 50 cities. The person pays for delivery charge. You've made a markup on top of that. Now if you don't know how to sell, this is where content comes in. You create content and use content to sell the product.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Even on the world market, it's buying and selling.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Stock market.

[C]

I call it the basic.

[A]

If you learn how to sell, you should never go hungry ever. But unfortunately people will say that it doesn't buy C300 fast enough to take a different path. Now let's talk about this. Apart from the fact that, you know, money is a big, you know, problem in a lot of people's lives. What is the daily precious of a young boy growing up?

[C]

I think peer influence.

[A]

Okay, talk to me.

[C]

People might, as my brother was saying, sometimes we, we put some unrealistic ideas in our head thinking the influence and the person is There if you don't feel the pressure, you're not human being.

[A]

From where, where does the pressure come from?

[C]

Friends and then people we see on social media. Social media, like you see a person like younger than you and then it's on the media, all this money, all these cars and all that, naturally you feel like, because if it was you, you'll be happy to have it. Right. So it's up to you to turn that pressure into something else.

[A]

It's very interesting. I mean, I'm 35 years old and I never actually felt like that. Very interesting.

[B]

I'm in my own.

[A]

I'm in it. I'm in a whole different bubble. I have dreams, I have aspirations, but I'm very laser focused on what I'm looking for out of life.

[B]

Right.

[C]

All right. But then I think, was it still the same even at that?

[A]

Yes.

[C]

Okay, there may be maybe.

[A]

I mean, I wanted all the fancy things in life. You know, I want, I want to be us, you know, want all of that. But it's not because I've seen somebody around me have it and I also really want this.

[B]

So why do you want it?

[A]

No, very great question. Yeah, so there's a, there's an aspect of me, okay. You know, I grew up with two stepparents, so I have a stepfather and I have a stepmom. So my experience has always been I feel like a loner. So I feel like you guys are interviewing me now. I've kind of always felt like between mom and dad is just me. And I've got siblings on this side, siblings on that side. Never really felt that I belonged on each side kind of thing. So it was always a desire to feel seen. I think that's what has given me that laser focus. So every time I'm doing something, it's, it's for me. I mean, look, I've had. And I can't talk about, I mean, there are some things I can't really say, but I've had some cars. Doesn't really move me anymore.

[C]

So.

[A]

I've gone back to driving Chinese cars. I mean, I remember when I was about to get married, I was driving a really nice Cabriole Audi. I sold it and I bought a very small Toyota Yaris before I got married. Didn't really care much because I was busy running my business. Busy, you know, trying to get it in my head up the waters. I naturally quite self motivated. So it's only in Ghana that when I moved to Ghana I came to hear the words pressure. Never felt it okay, but don't you.

[C]

Think, let's say at the time you were like 16 to that 1819 era? I don't think social media was that.

[A]

No, no. So we had, we had high five in our time. We had high five.

[B]

What does that mean?

[A]

So high five was a social media account. It was like Facebook. Okay, so high five. We had MySpace, another social media. We had Bibo, we had tagged.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Those were our social media. I mean, we used to also do a lot of conversations on msn, Skype. You wouldn't know about all of this.

[C]

So probably, probably, if I'm getting you right, I said that time was that, what was it in Ghana or. Exactly.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

So, so, so the, the society you grew up from was different because.

[A]

Yeah, but remember I grew up in a village in Ghana.

[C]

Yeah, but I grew up in a.

[A]

Village when I went to boarding school when I was eight years old.

[B]

Right, right.

[A]

So that, that here in Ghana, boarding school when I was 8 years old. So I saw people's parents came to visit them in cars.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I, I always knew that I never had that opportunity. So it was never my problem.

[B]

Do you understand?

[A]

Like, it was never my problem. I saw people's parents, you know, bring their car into the boarding house and serve them food out. It was never my problem. I was just doing my thing.

[B]

So, so, so I'm trying to get a sense of like. So you said you are self motivated, which means that when you, like, what kind of things do you aspire to? Figure what I mean, like, yeah, if you're aspiring to something.

[A]

So I have mentors, right? I have mentors.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And my mentors guide me.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

When I'm stuck with things that I want to do now, me personally, the things I want to become, I'm already living a lot of it. I don't have some really crazy thing that I want to be president. I want to be this, I want to be that. I don't have really crazy. I just want to live my life happily and be able to buy the things I need, want and support enough people. That's it. And if that translates as Derek has bought a new car, he's built a new house, he started a new studio to you, that's your problem. But it's just part of the journey for me.

[B]

Right. Okay.

[A]

Did you understand how you translate? That is different.

[B]

That makes sense. Right.

[C]

I think. But our current society we have right now, it's hard.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, because I've seen people who have seen me and they're like auto pressure And I, I don't really, I can't conceptualize that.

[B]

You just need, it's like, okay, so let me see if I can, I can explain. I think it's like for you, you are trying to get to this point and everything you acquire along the, those.

[A]

Are tools tool to get there. It's not really, I mean, people have said, hey Charlie, you know the house you live in. And I'm like, look, for me, for me it's not even the end goal. I'm just getting by.

[C]

There is levels to this day.

[A]

Right. So maybe it's just, it's just, I don't know. I don't know. Somebody can help me in the comments. I don't know. Like, even now, what I'm doing on this podcast is not to prove anything to anybody. It's just the way Derek is. That's just how I like my things. All the things you've seen today, purely because of how I like my things. I'm not trying to prove anything to anybody, but it will come out as that's what I'm trying to do. So to you, it's pressure.

[B]

Exactly. Other people's insecurities.

[C]

That is what I wanted to do. You might not, you might not be throwing me.

[A]

It's not my, yeah, that's my intention.

[B]

And I think like, like as you were saying, a lot of the youth kind of, I think it's a little more extreme now than during your time. And that's what I think he was alluding to because like, like the algorithms reward these kind of extreme lifestyles, you know, like if you are not extreme, you don't cut through the noise. And so to some extent, like if I pull up in a Lambo or if I do this crazy thing with a Lambo, that video would perform. Well, the reason why it would perform is not because the algorithm is pushing it. It's because people want to watch these stuff. You know, people want to see this lofty high thing.

[A]

But how does it make you feel as a young person when you see somebody wearing like a $50,000 rich watch?

[B]

Me, personally, I, I, I don't care because for me, I know, like I have this crazy self belief in myself that whatever I want in this life, it is mine to take. Like I will go and get it. As long as I put in my hard work and I do my effort and I study and I keep working on myself, I'll get it. And so for me, when I see 50,000, I'm like, happy for you, bro. Enjoy. You know, Like, I'm like, good for you, bro. That's. That's all I see.

[A]

Good for you.

[B]

I'm working on my stuff, so I.

[A]

Think, I think maybe mine has become so bad that I don't even like to hear, oh, Derek, you've done so well, or Derek, you know, you're blowing up. It doesn't sound nice in my ears.

[B]

Interesting, Interesting.

[A]

So. And yeah, I think I said this earlier in one of the episodes, you know, I think about a year and a half ago that I even struggle to take compliments like that. In fact, the honest truth, when I step out and people recognize me and try to say it's weird, I start sweating.

[B]

Makes sense. Makes sense.

[A]

It's just, I don't know, maybe just that's just how. Yeah, the makeup. But is this something young people speak about a lot? When somebody buys a250,000 Lambo, they'd be.

[C]

Actually arguing about it aggressively. Yeah, people be talking about people's words. Like I said, they are their personal managers. Like, they hold their accounts.

[A]

So this is the problem, that young people are focusing too much on what they see. Look, I'm telling you the truth. There are people that have got these things that you so called admire, but they're not happy, right? And when I say they're not happy, not because they got it through, you know, bad means, but you know, true happiness is not in possessions. It's inside, Right. And sometimes there are people because they are not very happy, they have to get a lot of things externally and keep going. I keep clubbing, doing so many things just to. There's no satisfaction. So they have to do that because they themselves, their quietness is a problem for them. So because they can't deal with themselves, they keep buying things and they keep stepping out and they keep trying to show people what they have. Yeah.

[B]

And I don't think, I don't generally, I don't think like you say this and me, to some extent, I understand it, right? And I know that happiness is seen within. Intellectually, I know the happiness is inside. However, and this is the. I. I'll speak on behalf to some extent of these guys. There's this sentiment that if I'll cry, I'd rather cry in a Lambo than I'll cry walking around, right? There's this sentiment that riches to some extent is good. It makes your life comfort. And that is awesome. And I agree with you that happiness and possession don't go alike. But it's very hard to convince someone, especially at our Age with the things that we're going through, that riches won't bring them happiness. It is very hard because I saw something recently, I think someone was saying that there are some lessons you have to go through it to understand. And like, no matter what anybody would, we won't just understand. We feel like this person with a lamb. The reason why they are smiling in the picture is because the Lambo made them smile. But we all know, but, but intellectually and you know that that's not what's happening.

[C]

So the question is, when you have been down for too long and then you. Somebody gives you like, let's say huge amounts, like 2,000, 5,000, that feeling they get there, you understand? That is why they try to tell.

[B]

You, if you tell me, if you multiply that.

[A]

So watch this. Exactly.

[B]

Watch this. I love what you just said.

[A]

Said when you don't have money and somebody gifts you, you get a sense of joy. When you don't have money and you make even a little bit of money and you buy something you really needed, there's a feeling, you get to a point where you can buy almost everything your heart desires. So that feeling is no longer there.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So it could be that every year you can buy the latest iPhone. The first time you got it, you got that feeling. You don't get that feeling again.

[B]

The dopamine goes down, you don't get it again.

[A]

But the people which we're going to talk about, where they're trying to get girls, you can get any girl you want. You can even import girls into the country if you want at some point that feeling of doing that. So people, that's why they say it's lonely at the top. Because people get to a certain place at the top where they miss not having and wanting to get. Because now they have everything.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And then human beings are insatiable. You always want us.

[B]

Right.

[A]

And then what do they resort to drugs?

[C]

To get high.

[A]

To get high and do all sort of things. Now let's talk about the pressures of girls on the lives of young people, boys especially.

[C]

Serious. That is one something I. I wish I learned earlier.

[A]

Okay.

[C]

And it would have changed my life then. Like, we all understand that definitely in the end you will have to settle with a girl. Like you have to have a family or something. But then I think as a young guy, that shouldn't be something. It shouldn't crush your mind, shouldn't be any part of the focus.

[A]

Because how has it affected. How did it affect you initially?

[C]

It affected me in a way. Of when I was building, I'm still building my life. But then when I started building. Sometimes you want to have peace, especially with your money, because you want to have peace with your money. Like I'm growing my money small. Like you are trying to discipline yourself. Like, oh, I want to see this man, this. But the bills from these people, especially the girls and your mom stuff too, they come unplanned. And then if, if you are into this thing and then you, you are not using your head, or let me say it that way, at the end of the day, your money goes there without you even knowing because you feel like, oh, you have to satisfy their needs. Oh, your girl is asking if you don't give, somebody will take, I don't.

[A]

Know, but somebody will take one.

[B]

They'll take a girl.

[C]

That is what happened.

[B]

Because interesting, I've seen, I've been in.

[C]

This, but I, I, I, I couldn't play that game. So I have to, I have to go, I had to go out of it. But then I've seen it happening to most of my friends. They are struggling themselves. But then because they feel like somebody will take their girl away or something, the least amount they will, they will get. Even if the girl is not asking, they want to be in person. Wow, it's, it's kind of take your focus away. So for me, at the early ages, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, I think you should focus on building a life first.

[A]

Isn't that a difficult thing to do.

[B]

To keep yourself, to keep yourself?

[C]

It's hard. It's hard for me, I'll say it's hard. But then priorities.

[B]

So, so for me, like I, I would, I would even generalize it even more. Like there's girls and there's relationships and there's all that, but there's every other temptation, I think the like for young, for young people, as you were saying, 6 and 17, 18, 19, once you are conscious. Because some people, they don't get conscious early enough. You know, I think some young people, it doesn't click you that yo it is your life and that nobody's come to save you and that you have to actually work and that the school that you are going is just a system. But when you finish the school, life is there. So you, you, it doesn't click them. It doesn't click people early enough. But when it clicks you and it is time for you to lock in all these other temptations, all these other things that don't add to where you are trying to go, cast them Out. Now, there's nuance to that. I wouldn't say don't date, don't have relations. I wouldn't say that. That is. That is absolutely not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is if the things that you are bringing into your life, if they are not adding to where you want to go, then they are not important. So whether it is friends, whether it is video games, whether it is pornography, whether it is all these other things, if those things are not adding to where you want to go, then they shouldn't exist. Then they are not things you should be focusing on. So if. If I had a girlfriend and my girlfriend actually adds to me, I wouldn't say I wouldn't date her. No. If she, if she. If she comes to me and she tells me or we have a conversation, she tells me, well, I like the stuff that I work in. Oh, and then she chips in. Maybe she does marketing too. So she chips and she adds to us and we build together. That is awesome. And that is where it makes sense.

[A]

Let me stop you here for a minute. So if it's your first time watching Connected Mind or you have been here before but still have not subscribed, do us a favor, because majority of the people that watch our videos have not subscribed. This doesn't help us grow beyond what we expect. So help us by hitting the subscribe button. Thank you. Now let's get back to the conversation.

[B]

If your girlfriend, if your friend, if all these other things are not adding on to where you want to go, and they are taking, then why. Why are we doing, bro?

[C]

That is nicely said. And that is how it's supposed to be. But then the reality now, right now, we don't even look at that. That guy booed that girl because he saw the girls as she saw some things in the girl. And then they don't even spend time talking about life goals or like what you really want to do. They don't care about these things. It's just the fun, the pleasure that is it. They don't. They don't really put it much in their life. So I think if you're not gonna do that, as my brother is saying, just don't do it. At least when you. When you are matured enough and you know that, when you know that relationship is. Is more than. There's more in that than the pleasure, the. The fun and all that, then you can start going into it. Because until then I feel like you're not matured yet to restart it to To. Because if all you see in a girl or you see in a relationship is the la la la, then the ones. I don't think it's worth it. I don't think it's worth it.

[A]

I. I have actually enjoyed this conversation between the two of you.

[B]

Thank you. I've enjoyed it too.

[A]

You know, this has been the real things I wanted us to discuss. I think there's still one more thing which I think is. Is very common.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Is growing very quickly, which is gambling among young people.

[B]

Gambling.

[A]

Have you tried gambling before?

[B]

No, I don't. I don't think so. But what is a gamble really? The thing is that we do have conversations, like with some of our boys, like, what are you. What is gambling really? You know, because when someone says they start a business and they put all their money inside, you know those arguments. Yes, but like gambling, the one we are talking about, I haven't done it before. Maybe it's because of morale, you know, but. Yeah, I just haven't. I haven't tried it. But I know a lot of people who do. You know, it's fun.

[A]

It's fun.

[B]

It's. It's fun. It's a.

[C]

Makes you feel alive.

[B]

Yes. And it brings you come. It keeps you coming. Is this. Video games work the same way as gambling, you know, like. Like a video game that is very addictive is to some extent is like. Gambling is the same psychology. It's like you do something. Okay, I don't want to say something that is not exactly what it is, but this is what I know the psychology is that trying to reach for something, right. And you don't know what the outcome is. It's very, very exciting to the brain. If there's a possibility of you winning, even though you lose a hundred times, if there's a possibility of you winning, it excites your brain chemical. The chemicals that go off, you know, and it motivates you to just keep on doing more, you know. So like a lot of these psychology that is happening and. And like it just keeps people inside. And once you start, it is almost as. And once you start, you actually get into it. It's almost as if you can't ever stop, you know. So like a lot of this stuff is psychology. And so I'd advise, don't get into it in the first place. But if you do get into it, it goes back to. You have to. It goes back to what I was saying before. It's like a lot of people are not conscious, like, bro, this is your money. You're spending, you know, like wake up. You know, like wake up, think about it. Actually like you are getting a thousand series from one. But how much have you spent? No, but yeah, it's nuanced. A lot of this stuff is not one sided. If I see it like this, it seems like it's simple, but it's not because the psychology also says otherwise. Is that they will keep coming. They will keep coming. You know, it's nuanced. But if you can wake up, please wake up because you're wasting money.

[C]

Okay, so as gambling as you're saying, if I. How batching is gambling so I get better. I've bet before and then I've actually gambled with a car, playing cards. And I think it's had a very good impact on my life in my entrepreneurial life.

[A]

Good impact.

[C]

Not, not betting like on football betting like I mean gambling. So in the sense that. So we all have got different minds. So I wouldn't want to throw dust in somebody's eye so that the. Because you maybe you listening to me might think just because it helped me might help you too. Everybody has got how they, they appear about stuff. So I think I lost there. And that's why I never feared losing in business. So it was, I remember it was shs. That was the money me and my best friend, we had on our, on us. Like that's what we are going to spend for the rest of the week. So I went to this room, bad boy room, bad boy. So like I just wanted to get my stuff and they were there. So I was just standing there watching them play and I feel like. So I sat down, placed the first bet, we played, I won, won the second. So I felt like now we've done.

[B]

With our money, right? The chemicals and if I looked at.

[C]

The fact that me and this my brother, my best friend, my brother, we are going to stay hungry. And I've won like twice the money we had. That means you can take us through the next weekend, the following week, right? Now let me get more so that we can live. We, we. I sat down, we played the game for over like seven, eight hours. At the end of the day I lost everything, right? I lost all the money. And now that boy insulted me. How are we going to survive now? How are we? And that was like. I was like, bro, we are gonna survive. We are still alive. We're gonna survive. So I think what this thing did for me was as long as I'm alive, if I make or if I'm really If I'm gonna take a risk in my business or something, I don't usually let the filler thinking lose my head or my. Even though you have to consider everything and all that. But I know that even if I put in all because that is one thing up to now. I have a brother who's suffering from that. He's, he's been working and then the work is good. He's saving money. Just keep saving the money. If you tell him to invite, he's like, it took him long time to save that money. What if the money bears? Do you understand? But for me, for me, if I study the thing, if I study the business, if I go deep down into it and I learned that thing from Mr. Derek over here, I'll test whatever I have to test, bro. I'm not scared to go inside. If I lose all, I'm still alive. I can work for money. I can, I'm a very hard worker. If you tell me to sweep this place and you give me something, I'll do it, I'll do it. To start making something to invest in My, my, the things I want to do. Do you understand? So I think that thing that's best that gambling something that I lost that day actually, actually taught me something in life that right now that I don't gamble. But then, then I, I, I, I know how to invest. And when I'm investing, I'm not scared to lose. I'm not scared.

[A]

Very, very interesting.

[B]

That's interesting, Very interesting. I, I think like me for the, for the final thing that I think is plaguing young people. If I had to say one thing is fear. This, this thing that he just described, the story that I just described of him doing the thing, him failing and then him realizing that ah, you can feel and still live and the world doesn't collapse. That is what a lot of young people don't have. In general, I would even say in general, I think fear is the thing that is stopping people. Fear of how other people react to the stuff that you are doing. Fear of people saying no. Fear of people saying ah, this thing doesn't work. Fear of your mother looking at you weird. That is what is stopping people. And the way I think about it and this is like it is not, it is stopping me too. Some of the decisions I want to take, some of the projects I want to work on, I don't go because I'm scared in my flop or I don't go because I'm scared or it will be cringe and that is the problem. And I want every young person, Ghana, Africa, to look into fear's eyes today and say, you, I'm scared of you, and go. Because the thing with fear is it's just ignorance. You don't know. Let me give you an analogy. If there's a snake in your house, you realize there's a snake in your house. You get scared because you don't know what kind of snake it is, whether it is poisonous. The only idea you have is that snakes can kill you, right? So you are scared. Imagine we call an exterminator, someone who actually deals with snakes. When they come, they look at the snake, bang, bang, bang, pick the snake, cut his head, whatever, and then they send it away. The reason why that exterminator can do that is because they are not scared. The reason why they are not scared is because, are they. They just know that 90% of snakes are not poisonous and that this snake that you have in your room is not poisonous. And so they can pick it and go and cut the head. The reason why we are scared to take decisions is because we don't know what is at the end. At the end, yeah, we are ignorant. But the only way you find out, the only way you conquer that is just by seeing it. Seeing the snake and seeing it face the fear. Yes, that is. And so whether it is posting videos on the Internet, whether it is writing a story, whether it is starting a business, whether it is just do anything at all for young people, look at the fear and say, yeah, today I'm going to conquer you. Today you are not going to be the better of me, you know, I believe in myself. I believe in myself. I believe in whoever created me, whoever you believe, whether it is God, whether it is Allah, I believe in myself. And I'm going to do it. And once you start, you realize that, oh, it's not even that great soon. So that's the problem.

[A]

Thank you so much.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

Thank you. Thank you, you guys, for this fantastic opportunity. I've enjoyed the conversation.

[B]

Me too.

[A]

I don't know how my viewers are going to relate with this, but let's see how it goes. And if you made it to the end, I'd love to know in the comments. Thank you so much. My name is Derek Abayte and I'm.