Femi LazarusCEO at Femi Lazarus Consulting

You see life through the lens that your environment designed...

4 Nov 2025 · 3 min

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2:37

In this segment, Femi Lazarus argues that most people are "wired" by their societal and educational environments to view life through a short‑term, self‑focused lens. He explains that this wiring makes it difficult for individuals to engage in long‑term, collective projects, such as building a megacity on a 1,000‑acre parcel he plans to acquire for about ₦50 billion. Lazarus illustrates how investors immediately ask when they will see a return, revealing a survival‑first mindset that stems from a lack of trans‑generational wealth experience. He contrasts this with the mindset of multi‑generation wealthy families (e.g., descendants of Warren Buffett or Elon Musk) who can think decades ahead, understand sacrifice, discipline, and the weight of long‑term games. The conversation highlights the challenge of "unwiring" entrenched perspectives and the cultural gap that prevents many from embracing futuristic, large‑scale ventures. A brief interjection from a second speaker underscores that this short‑term thinking is a product of how people are wired.

Chapters

People say things like, let me just find myself in rooms where the likes of Warren Buffett and Elon Musk, where they are discussing data and all those stuffs, and I'm going to do this. I'm going to— guys, first thing first, there's a reason why they will not allow you into that room. It's because you will keep arguing. You've been wired to see life from the perspective that has kept you in your own societal stratification. You will argue from the education you have received. And when people have been wired for so long to believe a thing, the most difficult job is to unwire them. Look at this now. I got the land, 1,000 acres. I have a plan to build a mega city. It's going to take me 10 to 20 years to be able to actualize this plan. Let's say I'm going to get such big property for ₦50 billion. Then I say, you know, I want to empower people who are around me. And I say, you know what, come buy into this property so that by the time it starts yielding, you and then so you come buy into it so that you'll be able to have a stake in it. The first thing they will say is, when will I get my money back? And nothing frustrates long-term plan like such thinking. Why is that an important question for a small person? Because he's got to survive first. He's too stupid. He can't see the importance of being futuristic like you because he's like, if it's going to yield in 10 years and I'm already 45, I'm going to be 55 by then. What's the— I'm even close to the age of retirement. What's even all— because he didn't grow up in a place where wealth was transgenerational. He can't think about wealth in respect to the next generation. He thinks about it in respect to himself. The culture wasn't built And many of the people you regard are either second or third generation, and some even fifth generation of wealth. So they understand long term, they understand sacrifice, they understand principles, they understand discipline, they understand the weight game. Have you seen people who are always saying things like, oh, I wish I knew about it when it was cheaper? Well, you would not have done anything about it. Because there are still other cheaper ones around you that you are not doing anything about.
Why? It's the way you think. It's the way you are wired.