Plenty of Input Received
We encounter people on a day to day basis and as we progress from childhood to adulthood, we meet even more people. Some of the stick and become part of the people we interact with on a consistent basis. And some of them become key pieces in our endeavors.
But some of them are not only a value add, but never were to begin with. I remember one fellow I met in Nigeria, introduced to me by someone I vaguely knew, but an honest man with his heart in the right place. Provided some interesting insight on the country when I was a new arrival. And I remember one time meeting with him and he told me about some of the hardships he was facing and it was that point I knew there wasn’t much value in that relationship.
Cutting Out the Fat
Now I know it sounds cold, but there are only so many people that you can take along with you. It’s impossible to be friends with everybody and it’s more difficult still to build a team you can reliably depend on. And even more difficult as you get deeper into what you are doing. It’s like in sports when you have a tournament or a playoff run. Normally as a team progresses deeper into the playoffs, the opponents become more and more difficult. As a result, although a coach may have a large roster of players to select from, what tends to happen is that the number of players used become gradually less. Coaches tend to rely on a few key players and use them heavily as tasks and challenges become increasingly difficult.
As in sports, so in life. Challenges tend to become increasingly difficult and once they become large enough, cannot be accomplished on ones own, but of course you cannot depend on the entire village either. Instead it’s looking at a few key people, building them up, investing in them and naturally people under them will follow along.
In other words, as times get tough, as goals become crystal clear, shrink your line up and run with it.
Kingston S. Lim
18th June 2022
Cotonou, Benin
Kingston S. Lim 
Kingston, everyone we meet can teach us something. What they can do for us is not the only consideration. Helping others has its own satisfactions. Though our time is finite, our humanity shouldn’t be.
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Though that is true Cheryl, I believe we are the sum of the 5 people closest to us. And if one wants to win, best to keep the best around you
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