In this solo video, Ruth Kusemiju introduces her "Personal and Business Growth Series," a weekly vlog recorded from her makeshift home office during COVID‑19 quarantine. She explains her habit of taking notes and reflects on a ten‑month period of isolation when she relied solely on books, notably The Enlightened Millionaire. Drawing from that book, she presents the concept of living "above the line," which means moving from a blame‑focused mindset (below the line) to a learning‑focused mindset (above the line). Ruth argues that continual blame—whether on others or oneself—blocks optimal learning and personal responsibility. She then expands the idea to entrepreneurship, emphasizing that true success comes from consistently adding value to others’ lives. She contrasts the "DNA" of an enlightened, value‑adding entrepreneur (abundance, innovation, charity, honesty) with that of a scarcity‑driven, self‑focused entrepreneur (price‑spiking, fraud, selfishness, emptiness). The video ends with a reflective prompt asking viewers to assess which type of entrepreneur they are, and hints at a possible follow‑up part.
Chapters
Welcome to my makeshift office. Yes, I know it's the stay home, stay fit time, and then we all are quarantined at home, but we have to make the best use of every opportunity, every space that we get, and just keep at it. And so this is something new I relatively started about a week or two ago. I I used to do it before, but then I wasn't consistent. But I decided that, okay, that I think this is a good time to like reawaken it and like get started. So this is— these are the benefits of— yeah, the benefits of COVID-19. But all in all, we are thankful and blessed to still be alive and under his protection. Okay, so, um, I like to call it my Personal and Business Growth Series. So, uh, basically I do this once, once a week, um, either on Wednesday or on Thursday. If you don't catch me on Wednesday, you catch me on Thursday. Um, basically it's me taking you through, um, my learning curve, my learning process, different things that I, I have read and how it has impacted me and, um, lessons that, um, I, so to speak, have applied going down through life as an entrepreneur. And, um, so today my notes are very much scattered, so, but I'm going to be reading to you from them because that one thing I think my dad taught me a lot about the about taking notes because the fact is that, um, you might forget something you heard, but something that you wrote down, you can always go back to it. I think there's a saying that goes, um, the shortest pencil is far greater than the longest memory. So what you write down, you don't forget. So today's, um, so to speak, um, memoir. Let me call it a memoir. Today's talk basically would be about how to live life above the line. Now, it's, um, I, there was a point in time in my life when I was, um, I was actually quarantined at home, um, I think for about 10 months. Um, it wasn't, um, one of the best times in my life really, and it really got me um, dealt with a lot of things. I read a lot. I, I learned new skills. I— so I think I understand somewhat what it means to be quarantined. And I had no access to a phone, I had no access to a laptop, I had no access to internet, I had no access. All I had was my books, and I had to read. Probably sometime I'll tell you the story, but this is all about personal and business growth. But, uh, it's, it kind of opened my mind up. And I think, um, the book I read at this point, one of the books I read at this point in time was The Enlightened Millionaire. And, um, so I just want to take a section from that book today and hope that, um, as you listen to this, it will help you in some sort of way. Okay, it talks about living life above the line. Um, something we always tend to do as entrepreneurs, as business owners, as individuals, we tend to blame people sometimes for things that go wrong in our lives. And, um, we are just looking for ways that, okay, uh, if I could blame this person, if I could lay the blame on this person, then probably I would get a solution and then things will turn out right. The fact is that when you blame someone or something for what went wrong whether in your life, whether in business, or however it is, you tend to lose an opportunity to optimally learn from the situation. It's point blank. And, um, it also happens when you blame yourself, because yes, you blame yourself, you blame someone, you blame yourself, but you lose the opportunity when you keep on blaming and blaming yourself. You lose the opportunity to learn from, um, the situation. So the best place for you to live or to experience life, which one thing I learned is, um, from, um, the point of personal responsibility, is to live life above the line. So living life above the line means that there's the blame, which is so to speak below the line, and then there's the learning, which is above the line. So you learn from your mistakes. You don't blame yourself every time for your mistakes, but you learn from your mistakes. Okay, so when you are living life above the line, you tend to have, um, control, optimal control. You have direction, you have command over your existence, over things that you do, because, um, in this case here, you are able to, yes, see this, see the situation from an outside point of view and then optimally learn from the situation. Like, okay, all right, so I made this mistake. Yes, no need crying over spilled milk. So here's the solution. This is what I learned. This is what I should do. This is what I should not do. And, um, yeah, so, uh, one thing I, um, I think also in learning to live above the line I also realized that, um, as entrepreneurs, as business owners, we, we need to, in every aspect of our lives, every aspect of business, we need to focus much on adding value, um, as much as possible to the lives of people. In as much as, yes, we are rushing to make millions and money and all that, but we should also focus on adding much value as quickly as possible. And because the fact is that when you can impact someone else's life, when you can make someone else's life better, you find that that increases your standard of living on the planet. Because the fact is that if you're only concerned about yourself, that okay, what am I to gain, what's, what's my cut in this, what's this, how much am I making, and then this outcome, so to speak, does not positively impact someone else, I hate to say it, but, um, you're being selfish. You're being selfish. So focus on adding value as much as possible in pursuit of success, in pursuit of wealth. Okay, and, um, uh, One thing also that, um, hit me— don't worry, I'm almost done, it's not going to be a very long video, but I'm almost done— but one thing, um, also that hit me, that, um, as in from reading that particular chapter, that, um, as enlightened millionaires in the making, or if we are already millionaires, we, um, our DNA, it's in our DNA to basically add value to the lives of people. So, but sometimes you, you tend to have some millennials that they're all about the money, the money, the money, but yet there is no, um, what am I giving back? What's the value? What's the impact I've made on someone's lives? What have I done? There's no, um, um, so to speak, their DNA, so to speak, doesn't have such genes. So, um, I was able to run down and be able to differentiate between the DNA of an enlightened entrepreneur who is out to give out value, and also as against another entrepreneur who is not out to give out value. So someone that's out to give out value, um, you find out that, um, in their DNA they think in abundance, they think innovation, they're involved in charity, they are involved in inviting expansion. They look out for new opportunities. They tend to lower their prices. I mean, yes, and you find out that they're all about fulfillment, they're all about happiness, honesty, selflessness, and all that. But for someone that's not out to give value, you find out that their mindset is all about scarcity. I just don't want to run out of money. Um, they sometimes might be involved in fraud. They strive a lot. They tend to, um, what do you call it, spike up their prices. They are selfish, they are dishonest. They sometimes are depressed, sadness engulfs them, they are empty. So if you weigh, if you weigh yourself that, okay, as an entrepreneur, this is, this is what I want to be when I want to add value to the lives of people. And also, this is what I want— this is what I might end up becoming if I don't add value to the lives of people. So, uh, I think I'm gonna stop there, really. And, um, I might probably do a part 2 of this video, um, because I'm really not done, but I don't want to make it too long. Um, so ask yourself, um, what kind of entrepreneur, enlightened entrepreneurial millionaire, are you? Are you one that adds value to the lives of people, or are you one that's just all about the money, focused, focused all about the money? So this is Social Media Boss Lady.
