Behind the scenes of SA politics: Betrayal, manipulation, and survival

I REMEMBER when I was in high school as a troubled and rebellious youth, my father would try to inflict discipline with long lectures and life stories whenever I stepped out of line.

- AYANDA MDLULI

He would lecture me about the value of not making stupid mistakes in life.

His argument was that “stupid mistakes” were preventable and that they did not have to happen, as long as you had the strategic foresight to see them coming. He would try to drill this in my head for as long as I can remember over quite a number of years, all the way through university and into corporate.

When I look back at how far I have come, I look at all the “stupid mistakes” I made and came to the realisation that each and every trial and tribulation that I had been through was very prevent-able had I applied strategic foresight.

Yes, we make mistakes, but in almost every instance, the stupid ones are those that could have been pre-vented had you gone with your gut feeling.

However, the important thing is how you learn and grow from that experience and whether you take accountability for you actions and consequences.