Drop your Baggage, Carry your Load
Gave up on feeling balanced
But dammit, that’s my baggage
That’s my Baggage
This stuff gets hard to manage
I’m carrying a casket
There’s no other way…
I’m broken bruised and damaged
That’s my heavy, heavy baggage….
Bishop Briggs, Baggage, May 2023
In my young days in the nineties in my native Ghana, West Africa, I spent a year working as a teacher during our mandatory National Service in a little poor village called Pankese, in the eastern part of the country.
One day, after a session in the dilapidated makeshift classroom, I looked up and saw hundreds of farmers on their way back home from a tough farming day.
It was a Tuesday.
Tuesday and Wednesday were marketing days in that little village and that’s when the locals went to the market with their farm produce.
I saw this woman with a huge basket of produce on her head, her baby strapped on her back as well as carrying a couple of farm tools at the same time. She was led by a man I presumed to be her husband, who was strolling in front of her with just a cutlass in his hand.
Being raised in the capital city, Accra, I could not understand why any man would do this. How could he let his wife carry all this heavy stuff whilst he just jovially strolled along in front of her carrying practically nothing?
That scene stuck in my mind because come two decades later, as I sit by the water writing this piece, that image came back to me, as well as this picture I dug from my archives taking my friend and professional photographer, Edward Odonkor.
It came to my mind again, when I had my first session with my coach, Dan. After an intense first session, I realised how much baggage I was carrying: unrealistic expectations, guilt about my own mistakes, resentment towards people that had duped, hurt, and taken me for granted in the past, and the poor decisions I had made.
I was not unlike that woman who was carrying all that stuff whilst the people that had wronged me were like her husband, free chilling and getting on with their lives.
But that wasn’t the worst bit.
But in carrying all that baggage, I had dropped my load.
What’s my load, I hear you ask?
Whenever I am leaving my home, I have my faithful backpack. It contains all my essentials – my laptop, journal, lunch, and essentials I couldn’t do without.
In the same metaphorical way, my load was my responsibility to my family, my staff, and myself. In carrying all that baggage, I was dropping my load.
We all have our loads, our backpacks we need to carry.
If you’re a parent with small children, you’ll understand. Going anywhere without your supplies of nappies, baby wipes, change of clothes, etc for your kiddies ispoo-nami suicide. That’s your load.
So is a CEO who doesn’t carry a load of strategy, looking after her staff, her family and perhaps more importantly, herself, because she’s so worried about her public image, the pain from her past, the unfair situations she’s had to endure, and even the pain and criticism of others.
Your baggage is everything you’re carrying which is not yours to carry.
Your load is everything you’re carrying that you’re meant to carry.
The trouble is your back isn’t strong enough to carry both for extended periods.
In my case, I had to make a list with my coach. Which of what I was carrying was baggage, and which was my load?
It was a painful list. But once it was on paper, it became clear.
The baggage had to go. And my load had to be borne. But
It’s a tough work in progress. But if ever I am to reach my goals, I need to decide every day, to drop my baggage, and carry my load.
How about you? What baggage are you carrying in addition to your load?
Sooner or later, you’d have to drop one.
I hope, like me, you decide to drop the former.
I’m rooting for you,
Steven.
The share:
My sincere gratitude to all who read my previous newsletter written by Mrs Bernice Atubra and who supported her mission to finish the roof. There’s still time to donate if you have the inclination: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-henry-house-international-school
I have just gone live as a mentor - joining the amazing group of Enterprise Nation - mentors supporting the Government’s “Help to Grow” campaign.
I am rebranding!! Due to the exceptional demand created by my book Pay the Price, I am looking to be doing more speaking, writing, and consulting for small businesses. My new website will soon be ready, and I can’t wait to show it off! Contact me at hello@stevenadjei.com if you need any further information.
As a mentor, I will be working with businesspeople on the 12 weeks Help to Grow: Management Course.
The course (currently partly funded by the government) is for U.K. businesses that have been operating for at least a year and employ between 5 to 249 people. Please email me (hello@stevenadjei.com) or find me on the Association of Business Mentors at https://www.associationofbusinessmentors.org if you would like some more information.This picture is courtesy of professional photographer Edward Odonkor. Check out his work here: https://www.facebook.com/Edwar...https://www.facebook.com/Edwar...
If you HAVE bought and read the book, please leave a review on Amazon + share it on social media. :)
Thank you!
Steven
