The Game of Numbers.

How old are you? Numbers, right? How much do you earn? How much do you invest? Numbers, right? How long is your experience? Numbers still, right? It’s all numbers. Your life, my life, our lives collectively are one giant equation. On a personal level, our lives individually are still equations.

You might be tempted to start thinking that I must be a great professor of mathematics from some amazing university. Well, you are wrong. As a matter of fact, I always came in last in the mathematics class. I was so disappointing at math that one day when doing a math exam, out of pity, my math teacher allowed me to copy from my exercise book. Lo and behold, I got F(zero).

Don’t judge me yet, there’s the good part. I can do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division pretty well. I can count the days on a calendar, the zeros in a USD 1,000,000, and how many times my sweetheart used my toothbrush. I told you! I’m not too dumb!

My level of mathematics is simple and basic. Yet that’s all we need to survive and thrive in this world. Basic mathematics is all you need to know how to live a happy and fulfilling lifestyle. i.e.

Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division

Addition and Multiplication are related; the former is young brother while the latter is big brother. Just as well, subtraction and division are related too, young sister and big sister. If you want to do addition fast, use multiplication. If you want to do subtraction fast, use division.

Then comes the big question, the one I always had dozing off at the back in a mathematics class; ‘how is this relevant to my life?’. You must as well be wondering how this can be relevant to your life. Perhaps, you see it differently.

When you open your eyes, you see relationships, work, countries, cities, information, traffic on the road and traffic on the web, reaction and leisure, enterprise and capital, underdevelopment and development, etc. Where are the numbers? Where is addition? subtraction? multiplication? division?

Mathematics is a science of asking questions and solving them in a figurative style, numbers. Allow me to take you in a mathematics class, our focus today is ‘your personal life’.

Question #1 How much do you earn every month? Do you want more or less? If more, you are going to need addition. Adding value to your performance level which in turn increases your productivity and thus increasing your earning capacity. If less, you are going to need subtraction. Subtracting a certain degree of value from your performance level which in turn decreases your productivity and thus decreasing your earning capacity in the end.

Multiplication comes in when your desire to earn more can’t stand a slow process thus multiplying on your efforts to earn more. On the other hand, subtraction comes in when your desire to earn less can’t stand a slow process, thus diving your efforts to earn more. Always remember, multiplication and division are like shortcuts. They get you there fast.

Question #2 How many friends do you have? Do you want more or less? If more, you are going to be adding new friends every day, week, month or year. If less, you are going to be deducting one old friend from your already existing network, every day, week, month or year.

In case you want to speed up the process, in the first scenario, you’ll need to multiply new friends whereas in the second scenario you’ll need to divide from your old friends.

Question #3 How many life goals do you have? Do you want more or less? How fast do you want it to happen? If you want more goals, begin adding new goals to your life. If you want less goals, begin deducting from already existing goals. If you want it to happen fast, you’ll multiply or divide accordingly.

Question #4 How much joy and happiness do you experience in your various relationships? Do you want to have more or less of it? How fast do you want it? If you want to experience more joy and happiness, begin adding good behavior, attitude, understanding, communication, etc. to your relationships and demand others to do the same. If you want to experience less joy and happiness, begin deducting from your good deeds, behavior, attitude, understanding and communication.

In case you want it to happen fast, multiply your positive etiquette or divide it up.

Question #

Enough with questions, just as long as you understand the game of numbers. We are all born into this game, we grow up in it and live within it’s boundaries and conditions. You might not be excellent at mathematics as a science subject but you need to possess basic mathematics understanding. Without it, there’ll be no progress in your life and if it happens, it’ll be accidental, unplanned for and unexpected. Such progress can neither be trusted nor be waited upon by any living being capable of thought, action and expression.

Homework: