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In a small village on the outskirts of Lincoln, East Midlands, there is a twenty-year-old man called Adam Grazer. He works in a fish–and-chip shop. His father, Alan, works in the same shop. So does Alfred, his grandfather. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
Three generations of Grazers working in the same chip shop. The weirdest part is that they don’t even own the shop. Each of the Grazer men had come to the shop as a teenager looking for a holiday job, and had never left. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
The BBC heard of their fascinating situation, and travelled up north to interview them. The host asked Adam whether he had always wanted to follow in his Pa and Grampa’s footsteps. He said “well I wanted to be a stockbroker when I was in school”. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
“So why didn’t you?” asked the bemused journalist.
“Cos there’s no stock exchange in the village, is there?” quipped Adam glibly. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
“Cos there’s no stock exchange in the village, is there?” quipped Adam glibly. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
The BBC man was still confused. “So why didn’t you just move?”
Adam was quiet for several seconds. “Never thought of that”, he said with a smile. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
Adam was quiet for several seconds. “Never thought of that”, he said with a smile. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
I remember smiling at this young man’s total lack of ambition for about five seconds, before I was struck by the thought that so many of us are just like him in our own ways. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
For many of us, the only thing separating us from our dreams and destinies is movement. The only thing standing between what we have and what we want is movement. So why don’t we just move? - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
For all the years you have worked in your office, you have complained to everyone who would listen about how inefficiently things are done. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
How management doesn't understand the staff, how they don’t understand the customer, how they are wasting resources, how they keep promoting people who don’t know what they are doing. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
You attend staff meetings and sit in the back, rolling your eyes at every mediocre proposal, idea, contribution that your colleagues make. But not once will you actually open your mouth and say a single word. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
Vacancies in management come up every other month. Opportunities to actually step up and fix the problems you have complained about your entire career. But you don’t even pick a form, let alone fill and submit it. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
You just sit at your desk for ages, mentally restructuring the company. You think you can make a difference, but you’re just sitting there dreaming about it. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
You see the problems, you know the solutions, and you’re sitting there wondering when someone will be bold and make a move to change things. So why don’t you just move? - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
You turn on the radio and there’s a bank advert talking about some new product. It sounds wonderful. The interest rate is great, and you don’t need much to qualify. You think about your own bank. Their service is horrendous. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
You queue for hours and are rewarded with rudeness and a total lack of concern for your needs at the end of your wait. Every month, they sit on your wages for a few days before they release it into your account. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
You try to use your ATM card and it never works. You try to pay for lunch with your debit card and it’s always getting declined no matter how much money you have in there. You call to complain about it and nobody answers. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
All these thoughts pass through your head while the advert is playing, but once it’s over, you do nothing. You hate your bank and there are better ones out there. So why don’t you just move? - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
You have belonged to the same political party since the beginning of the fourth republic. For decades, you have stood for them, defended them, campaigned for them, voted for them. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
Leaders, executives, flag bearers, manifestos have all come and gone, but you have remained steadfast. Whatever has been done in the name of this party, you have supported. Even when you've known it was wrong, you have defended it. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
Even when their actions have cost you as a citizen, you have defended them. And when their acts have been utterly indefensible, you have either stayed silent, or found some worse action of your political opponent to make noise about. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
Yet deep down, when you sit quietly by yourself, you know right from wrong. You know your people are crooks. You know they are in it for themselves and not for the nation. Not even for you. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
Yet, you continue to associate yourself, not just with their past misdeeds, but with every future misdeed they will commit. You know they are wrong. So why don't you move? - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
My friends, there is absolutely no justification for settling in life. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
There are millions of us doing jobs we don’t like, dating people we don’t love, living in homes we hate, fighting for causes we don't believe in, and all we have to do is make one decision to do one thing: move! Get up and move! - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
Don’t just think about it. Move! Move from what you have to what you want. Move from what you hate to what you love. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
Move from where you are to where you belong. Nobody ever achieved their dream by doing nothing about it. Even lottery winners had to first buy tickets. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
So let’s do this, people. Let’s make a decision. Let’s own our destinies. Let’s change our lives. Let’s move. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
My name is Kojo Yankson, and I’m just one move away from my destiny. - @THEKojoYankson #JoySMS
