My father believes I am destined to do great things. So much that he nicknamed me Alexander the Great as a young boy. Over the years, he cheered me on as I took on audacious missions, some notable ones including; a software company through which I paid my way through Campus, a globally acclaimed crowfunding platform for Small scale farmers, a failed Business-to-Business Marketing technology company, a failed affordable Sportswear company, a Business Coaching non-Profit that has trained over 3,000 entrepreneurs among others.

When I made the decision to focus on a Corporate career instead of Entrepreneurship, he was still there, calling out my greatness every chance he got, saving me newspaper clippings of other great Men to remind me of the league I belonged. I will admit, during the years where I was licking my wounds from failed Missions, his affirmations greatly helped me pick myself up and keep going on to the next Mission. I took on roles I wasn’t qualified or experienced for, I learned on the job and endured painful learning moments, rising up the ladder faster than many of my contemporaries. Yet the goal was never a bigger paycheck or a fancy title, evidenced by the number of times I walked away from a lucrative career that no longer made a mark.

As I write this piece, I am about to turn 39 years old. I have seen and done enough to fill a book, yet, if God wills it, I am barely at the half way mark of life. Some say that life begins at 40. Maybe it does. I think life after 40 is God’s way of giving us a second chance at doing life right. A life driven by Convictions, not filled with Opinions.

Have you the speech ‘The Man in the Arena‘, by President Theodore Roosevelt? If not, please go read it then come back.

Every young person I interact with says they would like to make a major difference in the Society they live in. Very few of my contemporaries have been able to do much beyond earning a living and raising families. Nothing wrong with these two noble tasks by the way. What is wrong, in my view, is living an average life because you fear daring to actualise your Convictions. Somewhere along the way, we stop believing we can make a difference, we become pragmatic, and our worlds shrink to our day jobs, social calendars and families. But look around you, watch the news, is there really room for comfort-seeking complacency?

When I sit in many a gathering of my age mates or peers, be it extended family, friends, colleagues or strangers I happened to be grouped with at an event, I try to listen, to single out the ones who are more than the Words they speak. Men (and some times Women), will have a strongly defended point of view on everything from Politics, to the Economy, to Morality and other important topics of the day. They can fill a whole evening or afternoon with talk about this and that, perspectives and opinions, and if alcohol is part of the Mix, forget about it. As I’ve aged, I have found myself avoiding these empty-talk-to-pass-the-time groupings. I will find one or two Men who seem to embody Conviction, backed by action. I will subtly pull them aside, and we will go deeper, beyond rhetoric and surface talk. I always leave those conversations refreshed, challenged, and blessed.

In the last 5 or so years, I have intentionally narrowed my focus and attention on to these Men of Conviction. If I’m invited to a family, church or social event, I will find out if this person is coming, and seek him out. I ensure I meet them 1:1 at least once a year for a coffee. For those with Families, I ensure my Family gets to meet theirs, because Men of Conviction hand these Convictions down to their progeny. These Men have challenged my perspectives, pushed me to think Bigger, to subdue Fear, to walk by Faith, to defend my Values. These Men are the reason I believe the second half of my Life will be another story worth a book by itself.

Today, purpose to be a Man who isn’t among those “…cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”. Purpose to be a Man of Conviction. The world needs many, many more of them. Christ said it well in Mathew 9:37, “The harvest is plenty, but the laborers are few”.