By Carl Joshua Ncube
Zimbabwe is not for the faint-hearted. It’s a place of breathtaking beauty and relentless challenges, a nation where resilience is not optional but essential. Over the years, I’ve had to develop a personal code – a set of philosophies that keep me grounded, purposeful, and thriving despite the storms. Here are ten of them.
1. The Maker – Knowing Who Created You and Why
Everything starts with purpose. I believe you cannot truly thrive without understanding who made you and what you were made for. When you know your Creator, you stop measuring your worth by other people’s opinions. You begin to design your life around your unique assignment, not the world’s expectations. I have learned to pray, to listen, and to seek direction from the One who knows the blueprint of my life better than I do.
2. The Prophecy – Life Leaves You Clues
Your purpose often hides in the problems you constantly face. Just as a mop won’t know it’s meant for cleaning until it sees dirt, we discover our calling by noticing the recurring themes in our struggles. When I kept finding myself solving the same types of problems for people—whether in comedy, food, or tourism—I realised these weren’t coincidences. They were breadcrumbs leading me to my mission.
3. Myths (Ancestors, Family, Parenting) – Rewriting the Stories We Were Told
We’ve been taught to fear our roots, to dismiss our ancestors as superstition, while other cultures immortalise theirs in books, monuments, and movies. We’ve been told family-run businesses are nepotistic, yet globally, some of the most successful enterprises are generational legacies. We’ve neglected the art of raising children in the business and at the dinner table, the way Jewish and Indian families do. I’ve learned to reclaim the wisdom of my ancestors, embrace the strength of family, and pass my skills to the next generation deliberately.
4. Get Good, Get Seen, Get Paid – In That Order
I used to chase visibility before excellence, and it always backfired. The formula that works is simple: master your craft first, make sure people can find you, and only then will the money flow. When you’re good, opportunities find you; when you’re visible, the world remembers you; and when both align, you get paid your worth.
5. Curate, Collaborate, Create – The Revenue Triangle
If you want to build wealth, start by curating knowledge—become an expert in something by studying what already works. Then, collaborate with others who bring skills you don’t have. Finally, create something new from that partnership. I stopped trying to reinvent the wheel and started learning from existing successes, partnering with the right people, and building things that could scale.
6. Supermarket Principles – Business Lessons from the Grocery Aisle
Supermarkets are quietly brilliant business teachers. They have clear opening and closing times, products are labelled and priced, payment points are visible, and stock flows in an organised queue. I realised that running a business in chaos was a recipe for stress. So, I applied these principles: structure, consistency, clarity, and process. Customers trust systems they can predict.
7. Past, Present, Future – Storytelling as a Business Strategy
People buy stories before they buy products. I sell by telling my past—my struggles, my failures, my journey. Then I connect it to the present—why I’m offering what I’m offering now. And I give them a vision of the future—where I’m going and how they can be part of it. This creates loyalty that no discount can buy.
8. Money vs Value – Chasing What Truly Matters
If you chase money, you may make some, but it’s fleeting. If you chase value—creating something that truly helps people—the money will follow and keep following. My biggest breakthroughs came when I stopped asking, “How much can I make?” and started asking, “How much can I help?”
9. DeZimbabweanize Yourself – See Yourself Through the World’s Eyes
It’s easy to undervalue yourself when you’ve only been measured by your local environment. Travelling changed my perspective. When I saw my work valued in other countries—sometimes triple what I’d earn here—I realised my worth was not defined by my ZIP code. Leave home, even for a short while, and see how big your life can be.
10. Introduce Yourself and Your Work – The Power of Visibility
One of the most dangerous myths is that you should hide your next move. I disagree completely. Tell people who you are and what you do—loudly, clearly, and often. I’ve lost count of the opportunities that came simply because someone remembered what I did and connected me to the right person. Silence won’t protect your dreams; it will bury them.
Final Thought
Zimbabwe can be a tough place to live, but it’s also a place that can make you unshakable if you let it. These ten philosophies have been my armour and my compass. They’ve helped me not just to survive but to thrive—and I hope they help you do the same.
