3 Things I Learned from ‘E’
Before diving in, click above for the video that sparked these reflections; watch it first for context, then join me as I unpack three things that stood out for me.
I’ll pick just three things I noticed:
📌 “Right here from Lagos.” It isn’t your location. Don’t worry, I won’t argue with you if you believe it is. Our beliefs work for us, or against us, in more ways than we realize. Sometimes even the truth cannot stop the consequences of believing something that isn’t true.
📌 “Serve.” As valuable as events and conferences are, they can never substitute for service. And interestingly, service is often the very thing we run away from 😊.
Don’t serve to get something. Don’t serve just to be close to a particular person. Service is choosing to give yourself and your capabilities to a purpose beyond yourself.
That’s one reason many people begin genuinely serving in church. The church has always been centred on a purpose bigger than any one individual, so it naturally compels people to contribute. Ironically, it may pay the least in money, but often the most in long-term formation and future investment, if you’re interested in that kind of thing.
📌 “Help.” This one is a little trickier.
Help exists because there is a gap or a need. Put another way, it exists because something is lacking. Lack is what poverty fundamentally is: the absence of something, whether in your mind or in your hands.
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Help is need-oriented. There is nothing wrong with that in itself, but it can quickly become an identity. Your attention becomes continually drawn to deficiencies. Over time, you may begin shaping yourself around what other people need instead of developing what you uniquely have to offer.
That raises an interesting question about value.
Value is anything you offer that makes a meaningful difference towards a desired outcome. But notice that an outcome must exist before you can determine whether something is valuable. Without an outcome, value cannot be defined.
Think of it like an equation:
A + B = C
Help often says, “If A is missing, I’ll become A.” The focus is on replacing what is absent, sometimes without first asking what C, the desired outcome, actually is.
Contribution begins differently. It asks, “What are we trying to achieve?” Once the outcome is clear, you may discover that the real need isn’t another A at all. Perhaps your greatest value is at B, because that’s what best moves everyone towards C.
Help is primarily reactive. It responds to what is missing.
Contribution is intentional. It begins with the desired outcome and asks how your unique capabilities can create the greatest difference.
That’s why I loved the phrase where he said “Think Like a Giver.” It captures something more than simply helping really. But, the same words can mean very different things to different people, so his saying think like a giver gives context much more and it starts with what you can create, not merely what you can replace. (Same context with the AI will take our jobs narrative, lol).
There is much more worth exploring, like why Mark Zuckerberg chose to invest in him rather than simply give him a grant. Those distinctions matter too.
I hope you find all the pearls. 🤍
