Dear Pharaoh,
I am constantly feeling like I am running. Every day I wake up I am doing back to back sprint sessions, running laps around the fields, picking myself up and running the play again. Funnily enough, it’s liberating… I feel fired up like a level of electricity is engulfing my body with the catchphrase “what’s next?”.
I don’t even climb walls anymore, I’ll just run right through them and tend to my wounds at a later date. Is this normal? Probably not but I have far come to accept that there is nothing about me that is quote end quote “normal”.
Just like you, I also am sensitive to sound. Random sharp noises or just unusual sounds irritate me too. It looks like this peaceful man cave we created for ourselves has its drawbacks lol. We have honed our skills. I have spent many early mornings running through your numbers, your alphabets, your animals and dinosaurs but most importantly your P’s and Q’s. Your pleases and thank yous. Respect and kindness will always sit at the core of our foundations.
At age 2, you took a child’s development test (every child takes this), the acceptable pass mark for this test, was for anyone child, to score at least 20. 20 out of 60 boxes of criteria. You being you, scored 60 out of 60 - with a side note of excellence.
Age 2.5, your key worker at preschool pulled me to the side and said “Pharaoh’s development vastly stands out amongst his peer group” she went on to say “that there is not much more we can teach him at this stage so we have put him into learning ‘conflict resolution’. Normally we do this with the bigger kids aged 4 but we see no problems of Pharaoh learning this” - I am paraphrasing but this is what was told.
At 2.5 years old, you were doing what the 4-year-olds were doing, as well as, showing your level of dominance - pushing the biggest kids back if they fought with you and show your fearlessness. Your emotional intelligence far exceeds mine, I believe. You know how to control a room, and with that same energy, I chase to improve myself for you. I will NOT be a blocker to your advancement.
Know your positioning.
You are handsome, charismatic, confident and exhibit the ability to have very mature conversations with those who speak to you like you are an adult. You ignore the rest or banter things off - yes, you are still 4 and I am actually downplaying your abilities - surely, you did not acquire any of these attributes from me.
Know your positioning.
You are only as good as your last output, your last project, your last interaction, the last goal you aimed for and achieved. You are a hunter, a strategist, a nurturer and one day when you get to my age you can call yourself a beast!
Know your positioning.
Never go too deep into a field and specialise, there are specialists for this. Always keep your head above surface level. The specialist route is (generally) an egocentric route - those who want to know more and more about less and less so they can say “I’m a specialist” or “I studied X at X level at x institution” in order to control the room but lack ‘the doing’ ability. Knowing more and more about less and less is only comfort to a fool - redundancy sits at their door. Knowledge without application is like a library - heavy on its foundations with no emission to move. It’s vanity… well to me it is. You see specialists can tell you what the problem is, maybe highlight a solution but rarely act upon these same words - be a generalist, who works with specialists to bring them into the ‘doing’ mode.
If you can speak upon a problem well enough, the solution sits amongst its tongue.
Know your positioning.
Go from room to room, learn to just above average level, in which, you can have a decent conversation about a subject then move on. Never get trapped by impressing yourself. Learn to listen to the words not spoken instead of being the person who constantly speaks, and when you are speaking, be concise, be sharp, say your piece and go back to being a member of the audience. This will bring you peace.
Know your positioning.
With good looks comes envy and/or entitlement, sadly it is a part of the game. People will look at your handsomeness, objectify you and then treat you like an object too. Trust me… you can’t voice your upset about this because to the many, it is not a real problem. Learn how to pace yourself, do not allow your emotions to make decisions for you or allow the forceful nature of people to break you. Just so you are aware… With a high IQ comes a higher sex drive. Embrace it but understand that being a slave to the flesh with lead to your demise. In fact, read the stories behind some of the most extraordinary strategists or innovators and a tale of promiscuity will follow. It’s actually hilarious.
Know your positioning.
Archimedes, a great greek philosopher and inventor stated “Give me a place to stand and I can move the earth”. This was one of the very first tattoos I got along with a musical score sheet of Tupac ‘I ain’t mad atchu’, symbolising me forgiving your uncle - another story for another time. What the quote means to me in two things:
1: The pivot theory - have a lever long enough propped up by a small item you will be able to move mountains - leverage.
2: If they do not hold the power to put you into a position - for you to move the earth - then never listen to the naysayers.
People rarely believe in their own abilities and they will project these same fears and disbeliefs onto you - never listen.
You are a black man in a world filled with glass ceilings that I can not - and in some cases will not - break for you, assess each environment adequately, you will not get it right every time so don’t be hard on yourself - there is fun in stumbling around the dark sometimes - and never be scared to highlight when you lack the ability to do something, be confident enough to show great leadership in allowing another to lead.
Your name is Pharaoh after all.
Love dad x