02/01/2026
ADVICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES
1. Build a home early—whether rural or urban. Building a house at 50 is not an achievement. Don’t get used to government or company houses; that comfort is dangerous. Let your family enjoy life in your own home.
2. Go home often. Don’t stay at work all year round. You are not the pillar of your department. If you drop dead today, you will be replaced immediately and operations will continue. Make your family a priority.
3. Don’t chase promotions. Master your skills and be excellent at what you do. If promotion comes, good. If it doesn’t, stay focused on your personal growth.
4. Avoid office gossip. Stay away from anything that can tarnish your name or reputation. Don’t join groups that backbite bosses or colleagues. Avoid negative gatherings where people are the only agenda.
5. Never compete with your bosses—you’ll burn your fingers. Don’t compete with colleagues either—you’ll fry your brain.
6. Have a side business. Your salary alone will not sustain you in the long run.
7. Save consistently. Let savings be deducted automatically from your payslip.
8. Borrow loans to invest or change your situation, not for luxury. Buy luxury from profits, not debt.
9. Keep your life, marriage, and family private. Keep them separate from work—this is very important.
10. Be loyal to yourself and believe in your work. Hanging around your boss may alienate you from colleagues, and when your boss leaves, you may be dumped too.
11. Plan to retire early. The best time to plan your exit was the day you received your employment letter. The second-best time is today. Aim to be out between 40 and 50.
12. Join work welfare groups and be active. They help greatly during emergencies.
13. Use your leave days wisely. Develop your future home or projects. What you do during leave reflects how you’ll live after retirement. If you only watch TV all day, expect the same life after retirement.
14. Start a project while still employed. Let it run as you work. If it fails, start another until one becomes viable. Retire to run a business, not to start one.
15. Pension money is for your upkeep and health, not for starting businesses, building houses, paying school fees, or marrying a young wife.
16. Be a retirement role model. Don’t become a case study of misery—be an example that encourages others to retire confidently.
17. Don’t retire because you’re finished or a burden. Retire while energetic. Enjoy morning coffee, the sun, income from your business, travel, and family time. Those who retire late often struggle to adjust and keep looking for jobs until they die.
18. Retire in your own home, not government housing. It’s easier to reintegrate into the society that raised you.
19. Never let employment benefits blind you to retirement. Benefits are temporary. When you retire, no one will call you “boss” if you have no viable business.
20. Don’t hate retirement. One day you will retire—either voluntarily or involuntarily.
Hope this helps you look at life positively.
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