I f you asked, they will tell you that the greatest scourge we have in the whole world is the “Un-employment scourge”. In an upcoming book (it has really been upcoming for years now…but it will be out soon), I try to figure out this:

Who was that first guy that was for the first time since creation of the universe called “Jobless”?

Seriously…wouldn’t it be great to get to meet this person and interview them? Well, probably not. Today in Uganda alone, each year over 100,000 NEW graduates are released from school. Woe to them if they lack a job. What happens?

• I know of school mates who are now Boda Boda riders((A Boda Boda Rider provides transportation services to Pillion Passengers on a motorbike on short distances)) (nothing wrong about that, just that you really never needed 16 years of school to end up as a Boda Boda rider). I write this with all humility I can gather, and in no way am I berating them or belittling them.
• I know of school mates with degrees who have retreated to the village where their Degrees and Diplomas are not being used constructively
• I know of countless friends and relatives with good education who have flooded the cities of this world in a bid to secure a nice job at some place. This contributes to the greatest jobless force in the world, since no new jobs are not being created. And why is that? Follow me carefully.

The Greatest Woe

I think to me the greatest woe you would ever see for a human being is lack of both these critical aspects of life:

• A Job (I use it loosely to mean meaningful income generating activities)
• A Vision

Yet as we speak, the so called [ictt-tweet-inline]“jobless” scourge is not really a scourge until you understand that a great percentage of these “jobless” are also vision-less.[/ictt-tweet-inline] And by the way, of the few that have been “privileged” to have “Jobs”, the sorriest thing about them is that most of them are in-congruent—they are not being true to their vision, their reason for being in the first place!

The Case about Vision

I have come to know the following:

• Personal vision is something of the heart, and each person DOES have at heart level, a personal vision
• The only thing that is lacking is a way of bringing it out in clarity so we can follow it.
• People equate vision to some spiritual thing that “God calls” you to do something specific. Therefore, people think that the only people who need a vision are those that God has called.
• Yes, Vision is a spiritual thing and No, the only person who can help you see your vision is not necessarily a pastor, prophet. In addition, God does not have to “Call you” or give you a “burning bush experience” so that you can know you are called. [ictt-tweet-inline]We are all called.[/ictt-tweet-inline]
• We have at our hearts things that we cherish, things that we hate, and value systems that direct our daily actions (including a multitude of people who never go to church, mosque or any religious activity for that matter)
• A vision is not for a special few with a special calling. A vision is the very reason you and I were created—to serve it and honor it. If you want to know how true this statement is, try to visit people at their death beds and record their greatest regrets. It will awaken you! Probably this point alone is why the statement by Dr. Myles Munroe

“The richest place in the world is the graveyard”

Let’s Change the Definition of Jobless

I think we ought to put “Joblessness” in perspective. For everyone who is looking for a job is actually looking for income…and probably status. In other words, if there was any other way of getting an income and status in society apart from a job (and they are there), then “joblessness” will have a different meaning.

My definition of a jobless person is this:

A person of sound mental faculties who thinks that they have no opportunity to engage in a valuable, vision-inspired activity that exploits their potential to the core.

The Solution

There are two things involved. Unfortunately the whole world is focused on just one of them. We are focusing on “job creation” and at the same time glaringly abandoning what I consider the most important cog in the wheel of the jobless bandwagon.

My question is this:

All these “job creation” agendas…who is spearheading them? Is it those with jobs or those without jobs? As long as we are not focusing on helping the jobless create jobs for themselves, and as long as we keep thinking that “creating jobs for them” is the way to go, we are failing and we shall keep failing.

If you look at Political parties’ manifestos, vision boards of NGO’s, vision statements of Ministries in Governments, you will find that lingo of “job creation” littered all over the place. This has been in play for as long as I can remember, even before I was born, I believe. And yet…the scourge marches on unabated!

Let’s Solve the First Problem First

[ictt-tweet-inline]The first problem is not that people are jobless. No, the problem is that people are vision-less!![/ictt-tweet-inline] Take that to the bank!

There is something inherently so powerful about a vision. Did you notice that the word “Provision” is three quarters “Vision”? Vision galvanizes people. I believe that when you have a vision crystalized in your mind and heart (it has to be your vision/dream, not something you have found in a text book), things start aligning for the good to make that vision a reality. I believe vision at personal level will be the motivation for a “jobless” person to “create” a  “job” for themselves and others in the process. Chances are that you will be exposed to people, events, resources and so on that will help you propel the vision into fruition. The vision actually is not something that you do and move on to something else, the vision is your why. In other words, the moment you say that you are through with your vision, that is the moment we need to organize for your funeral, for there is nothing else left on earth for you to do.

The ‘Why’ vs the ‘How’ of Life

Look at this quote from Dr. John Maxwell:

“The person who knows how will always have a job, and the person who knows why will always be their boss”

In other words, we have focused so much on “how” of life and we have forgotten “why”. I am willing to bet that if we can at least help people find vision (and I am not saying we create jobs for Pastors and Prophets to do this), then I firmly believe that the vision will propel the so called “Jobless” to “Create jobs”.

What I am saying is this:

[ictt-tweet-inline]“I honestly do not believe that someone with a hot burning deep seated heart felt vision will ever dare call himself jobless”.[/ictt-tweet-inline]

When we call people jobless, we label them and inherently, they become un-creative and the only thing they seek is the most scarce commodity on earth—jobs! And we keep thinking that “job creation” as it is right now is the solution. I am telling you we will be on that mountain longer than the Israelites in the desert if we do not open our eyes.

• Parents: You and I know exactly what works and what doesn’t! So pray tell me, why are we taking our kids through the same system that we went through expecting them to be successful? Are we that dull?
• Bosses: You and I know that if an employee is not equipped to buy in to the vision of the organization, we are missing passion and creativity. So why in the world are we not allocating training resources to uncover this personal vision? Why is it that training budget is the very first thing we slice? How come that on the day you take people for “team building”, you allocate 70% of the budget on booze and 0.1% to the “facilitator?”
• Motivational Speakers: You guys you ought to style up. Instead of teaching people to maximize their potential, you are now focusing on “How to be a millionaire”—which yourselves are not! Being a Millionaire is not a bad thing, in fact we need as many millionaires as possible. However, [ictt-tweet-inline]being a millionaire is a side-effect of doing something larger than life, which is in fact rooted in vision![/ictt-tweet-inline]
• Pastors and Church Leaders: Don’t even get me started. How come for the most part all you teach of “the presence of God”, “Fasting, Praying, Praise and Worship” and so on? You end up having hordes of people who have the presence of God but they are broke and they have no vision! God said, “My people perish for lack of vision”! Listen, if you will not have in your “Discipleship Classes” content that will help people discover their God-given vision, you are failing miserably!!!
• Parents: Let me address us again. The same scourge we are seeing today of joblessness, we are sending our kids with bullet speed there…unless we help them discover their God-given vision and mission as early as possible. Our enduring goal as parents is to be stewards of these great men and women under us. We need to help them maximize their God given talents. I shudder when I see parents forcing kids to do things that they are naturally not inclined and gifted in, “because there is money there”. Let’s style up.
• All Of Us: What is YOUR VISION? Yes, you and I! How can we be this old and have eaten this much and lived in the world this long and we have absolutely no vision??? How did we get here?

The point is clear from where I am standing. A man or woman who does not have a vision is missing a great aspect of their life—their very reason for existence and it matters less whether they have a job or not.

Think about that.