Work honestly, not every shortcut buys a Limo

DEAR our young professionals, yes, you with the sharp suits, sleek phones and a dream of owning a car last seen in a European action movie, this is a friendly reminder: patience and honesty still matter.

It is tempting to believe that within just a few months of work, you should be living the “soft life” you see all over Instagram.

But here is a reality check: no one builds a legacy or earns respect by spending office hours planning shortcuts, chasing hush-money deals, or daydreaming about smuggling a limousine from Berlin. If work were that easy, we would all be billionaires with bodyguards.

You have stepped into workplaces built, brick by brick, by your elders.

Many of them sat where you sit now-probably without Wi-Fi, air conditioning, or delivery apps. What they had, however, was consistency.

They reported on time. They served with discipline. They understood that success was not a sprint, but rather, it was a lifelong relay, and now, it is your baton to carry.

Sadly, some of you are spending three-quarters of your day in the office scrolling social media, passionately arguing about which influencer said what, or plotting the next viral clapback on X (formerly Twitter).

Employers did not hire you to be online activists, meme curators, or part-time DJs they hired you to deliver. To serve Tanzanians with your skills, not your screen time. Ambition is not the enemy here.

Dream big, by all means! Aspire to build houses, travel the world, even drive that limousine, but don’t take the criminal shortcut just because your salary won’t buy you a Mercedes by next month. Those deals done in secret; those stolen shillings don’t lead to comfort.

They lead to disgrace and worst in jail. There’s a Swahili saying that goes, “Subira huvuta heri”-Patience attracts blessings.

It is not just a proverb; it is a roadmap. Your career won’t be built in one promotion or one side hustle. It will be built in quiet days of effort, in showing up when you don’t feel like it, and in doing the right thing even when no one is watching.

Look around your office. Those elders still holding things together? They are not there because they trended online or cut deals under the table. They are there because they were steady. Reliable. Honest.

They may not be loud, but they last. That is the model worth following. So, young employee: slow down. Stop scheming. Log out of the drama. Roll up your sleeves and work. Your future doesn’t need to be fast; it needs to be real.

Tanzania needs you. Not as the next headline in a corruption scandal, but as the reason the next generation finds a workplace still standing, because you kept it upright.

And when the time comes, that limo? You will earn it. Not because you hustled the system, but because you helped build it.