Weak Points for an African Professional

 

"Just avoiding common mistakes can greatly increase your chances of success."
— Charlie Munger

After reflecting on three areas that concern me most—personal finance, small business, and professional growth—I curated this list for the African youth striving to build a solid foundation.

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1. Waiting for a “big job” instead of starting where you are

Jobs and money are not as scarce as we believe. What’s truly scarce are people with skills that solve problems, the focus to get the job done, and the leadership drive to raise the standard of their environment.

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2. Underestimating the power of consistent habits (reading, saving, exercising)

It’s easy to walk into a bar and grab a beer and a cigarette—it helps you forget your problems. It’s hard to walk into a library and read a book—it forces you to face them. But growth lies in discomfort.

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3. Living for show—status games, designer clothes, and lifestyle inflation

Whatever mind games are played around us, we must refuse to play mind games with ourselves. When you know what is important but refuse to do it, you are planting seeds of regret and unimaginable pain for your middle age. 

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4. Rejecting mentorship and peer accountability

Nothing is more common than 20-year-olds who believe life began with them—ignoring the experience of those before them, whether in the form of mentorship or history books. Humility is a shortcut to growth.

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5. Living above your salary—driven by the pressure to “look successful”

We underestimate saving money because it feels boring. We overestimate spending because it feels good. But saving is the road to wealth. Spending everything you earn is the road to poverty. The Road to Hell feels like heaven, the Road to Heaven feels like hell.

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6. No emergency fund—one crisis collapses everything

If one river feeds a community of 100 people, and that river dries up, the whole community suffers. Your income is that river. You must protect it—and plan for droughts.

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7. No budget or scorekeeping—money disappears silently

Planning a budget in your head is like sailing a ship without a map. Sooner or later, you drift into disaster.

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8. Mixing personal and business money—no discipline, no accountability

If your business has no written plan, no records, and lives only in your head, you haven’t started a business—you’re just playing. Business is a discipline, not a daydream.

Cancelo Alvarez 

The Art of Letting Go

 

Frustrations melt away when we appreciate what we have. — Dr. Brett Steenbarger

So we convince ourselves that the best and most worthwhile personal wins are those in which we come out first, beat our competition, or attract applause from the audience.

In my practice of journaling daily wins, I've been forced many times to think about less obvious wins, because not every day will I compete and win, or perform and impress.

I'll share briefly another kind of win less talked about - the rare mental ability of swiftly letting go of defeat and failure as it occurs so that it does not affect your next conversation, presentation or performance.

As children, we are superstars at crying and sulking. We cry when denied what we want, we cry when mama leaves the house, we cry when dad runs faster in a race, so that he allows us to win, and we wipe our fake tears while laughing and enjoying our win of coming first.

Not so as an adult — the table turns. You've got to be a superstar in suppressing, not tears, but sulking. Frustrations, failure and embarrassing experiences almost always evoke the child in us who wants to sulk and scream, "it is unfair!" But you cannot do that as an adult. And you should not. Because you know better.

Practice the habit of appreciating what you have and the obvious advantages in your life. You could not afford college? Appreciate your matric and wake up earlier. You did not become a TV star? Appreciate your fluent English and the peace of mind that comes from being unknown.

We mistake publicity for success. I have one warning: famous people cannot make the mistakes you and I can make — because journalists and fans will pounce and feed on them.

And you missed a life-changing opportunity? Head to Orange Book once again, and maybe you'll understand the cycles and the circle of life. Everything comes and goes, and comes again in different colors.

"If you missed a life-changing opportunity, just get ready for the next one. It's coming faster than you think." — Orange Book 🍊

Cancelo Alvarez  

A News Letter: Becoming The Best

Seth Godin, Author & Businessman, On Being The Best

Book — The Dip: On Struggle and Success

Your industry is competitive, filled with smart people overcoming challenges every day. It’s the incredibly difficult challenges (the Big problems) that give you the opportunity to pull ahead. In a competitive world, adversity is your friend. The harder it gets, the better chance you have of shielding yourself from the competition. It’s human nature to quit when it hurts. But it’s that resilience that creates scarcity.

If you haven’t already realized it, the Dip is the secret to your success. The people who push through the Dip—who invest the time, energy, and effort—are the ones who become the best in the world. (In Public Speaking — in Sports — in Business — in Art)

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Morgan Housel, Author of The Psychology of Money

The Laws Of Investing — Law #9

Big success often comes from rare events, so it’s normal to lose most of the time and still win big overall.

Anything that is huge, profitable, famous, or influential is the result of a tail event – a one-in-thousands—or even one-in-millions—event. And most of our attention goes to things that are huge, profitable, famous, or influential. When most of what we pay attention to is the result of a tail, it’s easy to underestimate how rare and powerful tails are.

But tails drive almost everything. A minority of participants will capture outsized returns because opportunity attracts competition, and the winners of that competition tend to lock in because customers, employees, and investors want to associate with winners.

A diversified portfolio will derive most of its long-term returns from a minority of companies. Those companies derive most of their value from a minority of products, and those products were the brain-child of a minority of employees, who were educated at a minority of schools, on and on.

The takeaway from tails is that you should be comfortable when a lot of what you do and see doesn’t work. If you become paralyzed when a few things don’t work, you’ll never stick around long enough to enjoy the few things that do.

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Conclusion —

Both the Dip—struggles and hardship—and Tail Events—rare, powerful breakthroughs—contribute to big success. You need a LOT of things working in your favor, to be honest. But there are still key things that keep showing up:
You must be persistent — You must be focused — You must be flexible — You must, at some point, get lucky.

It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness. — Lucius Seneca

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Cancelo Alvarez

Discovering Everton: A Hidden Treasure in the Heart of Hillcrest

 

Background:

I spent five formative years in Hillcrest, attending Hillcrest High School, before relocating to Pietermaritzburg—just 50 minutes away. Only in hindsight did I come to fully appreciate the elegance, aura, and quiet standard of life that defines this area.

It wasn’t until the first week of April 2025—seven years after matriculating—that I stumbled upon a place I’d never heard of before: Everton.

Tucked deep within the Gillitts and Upper Highway forests, Everton revealed itself like a dream I hadn’t known I was missing. The homes were breath-taking—mind-numbing, even—each one a masterpiece of architecture and intentional living. Surreal. Serene. Silent in a way that spoke volumes. 

Kudos to my best friend and brother from Hillcrest, Mr. Ayathola Shabane, for continuously exposing me to new experiences around Hillcrest whenever I visit.     

Article Edited by ChatGBT

Everton: The Slopes of Quiet Wealth

In Everton, the air is quieter than most places. Not silent, no—but rich with the sounds of well-fed birds, distant fountains, and the soft hum of electric gates sliding open like secrets being told. The homes here aren’t just homes—they’re statements, often hidden behind long, tree-lined driveways and manicured hedges that were once wild but are now tamed by landscapers with quiet eyes and sharp tools.

The people of Everton are not idle. Their days are full—but full in a curated way, like art galleries arranged just so.

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What They Spend Their Money On

They spend discreetly but deliberately—on:

• Home Improvements: Infinity pools, solar systems, and kitchen upgrades that blend Cape Dutch aesthetics with European minimalism.
• Education: Private schools that teach Latin and robotics. Tutors in Mandarin and coding. Termly fees that would build small houses elsewhere.
• Wellness and Health: Pilates instructors who arrive in black SUVs, private chefs who speak softly, nutritionists, and imported supplements stored in fridges as pristine as laboratories.
• Travel and Experiences: Wine tours in Stellenbosch, art fairs in London, spiritual retreats in Bali. But always returning to Everton, where the garden blooms all year.
• Security and Privacy: State-of-the-art alarm systems, 24/7 patrol vehicles, and community WhatsApp groups that pulse with both caution and care.

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What They Talk About

Their conversations often dance between the global and the hyperlocal:

• The volatility of international markets.
• The cost of installing boreholes versus water tanks.
• A new art gallery opening in Umhlanga.
• Which architect is best for a home cinema extension.
• The school headmaster’s latest speech on principles and integrity.

But also—more intimately:

• The worry of raising grounded children in abundance.
• The recent divorce on Oak Tree Lane, whispered like a confession.
• The gardener who left unexpectedly after ten years.

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What They Believe

• Everton’s residents are shaped by a mix of legacy, aspiration, and curated spirituality:
• They believe in legacy over luxury—what they leave behind matters as much as how they live.
• They believe success should be understated, preferably worn in linen and never shouted about.
• They believe in community, but at arm’s length—a WhatsApp group is enough.
• They believe in health as wealth, in mindfulness, in morning routines, in vision boards, and in sage burning—though some still attend church on Sunday.

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What They Do During the Day

• Some run consulting firms from their home offices, where Zoom calls begin with “Sorry, the dogs were barking.”
• Others are entrepreneurs in property, tech, or bespoke services—quiet empires built on years of shrewd decisions.
• A few are retired, but active: volunteering, painting, or hosting book clubs with themes like "Women Who Run With the Wolves."
• Many manage households like CEOs: domestic workers, drivers, tutors, chefs—coordinated with calendars and kindness.

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And Always—A Slowness

Time in Everton moves gently. There's urgency in their lives—but not in their afternoons. The lawns are always green. The coffee is always organic. And behind the stillness of it all, there’s an unspoken agreement:

We worked hard to arrive here. Let’s not rush through it.

Remove What Stops the Growth

A man once asked his gardener why his plants grew so beautifully.

The gardener answered:

“I don’t force them to grow. I remove what stops them.”

Translated into our lives:
You cannot produce a human baby in one month — for some cosmic reason, it has to remain nine months. Understanding this is part of being a mature adult, but it also helps us comprehend the Laws that govern our lives.

Serious, depressing, and even heartbreaking problems begin when we go against these Laws and Principles that govern this complex world we inhabit.
Put simply: when we refuse to accept, acknowledge, and appreciate the hard facts of reality.

Without going any further, I’ve begun reflecting on my own life — and asking:

What things are in my control, and what things are outside my control?

Because:

Once a man truly grasps what is within his control — and what is not — he becomes dangerous.
He becomes a force of nature.
All the effort and concentration he devotes to the things he can control begin to compound.
And over time, this focus subtly and powerfully influences the things outside his control:
luck, circumstance, opportunity, situations, timing.

So I ask you:

What garden are you cultivating in your personal life?
And what can you focus on removing — not forcing — to allow its natural growth?

Focus on that. 🌱

Cancelo Alvarez