Chaos in the house....what’s going on, why, what does it mean?

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

Religiosity does not seem to make sense anymore. Happenings in some religious groupings are baffling. The ordained purpose of church has lost touch. People have taken jokes to far it seems, taking drama to the presence of the Most High. They are turning religiosity into a hotbed of chaos, deception, lies and treachery.

It is very common to hear a ‘man of God’ telling congregants to do mundane things. Very bizarre and questionable things; yet people do as told by their pastors/prophets. Stories about people eating grass because their pastor said so, women being made to have sex with the pastor to cleanse them, people emptying their hard earned money to support flamboyant lifestyles of their pastors, etc. are very common.  

When I was in the religiosity mazy one Friday, an Awake Booklet was dropped at my apartment by two people [Jehovah's Witnesses]. Although I was pretty busy working on my stuff, I spared them few minutes to hear what they had for me. My quick talk with them led to an avalanche of issues, ranging from war and terror to strange religious practices of all sorts doing rounds in the world. By the time they were saying bye, we had touched way too much to chew.

Anyway, one of the booklets they gave me had a title “Is religion dying out?” I have no idea whether it is dying or it is being ruined by human excitement, manipulation and utter gullibility of believers to anything looking religiosity. It is a pity people become so blind to matters of salvation even when the bible cautions about “false prophets” and beckoning us to “test all spirits to see whether they are from God.”

If you speak against a strange religion, you are either branded evil or outcast. You will be reprimanded and bombarded with “touch not the anointed of God” verbose. I do not appreciate unreasonable religiosity, questionable and mundane. God cannot be worshipped blindly, the bible has too much light to shine amid all sorts of darkness fakism brings in religion spheres.

But people accept this mediocrity by refusing to see beyond their nose. They accept to be abused and taken advantage of by liars, criminals and thieves hiding behind scripture. Not everyone has fallen prey to strange beliefs. The happenings in churches, mosques, synagogues, diocese, chapels, cathedrals, etc., are disillusioning many.

Why are some people disillusioned?

The way religious leaders conduct things and organise worship and religious business send some people into disillusion. A storm of religious sanctioned violence and terror, sex scandals and other subtle acts that are engineered by religious leaders would leave you spellbound...literally speechless, confused and lost. Material prosperity has drastically risen in most religious establishments. Splendour, driving massive and pouch cars, private jets, living in exquisite bungalows, wearing gold and diamonds, etc are ways of showcasing how religious one is in today’s ways of worship the Super Being.

Nothing wrong with being rich as religious leader, after all bible recordings say King Solomon was awesomely wealth. But how is that wealth accumulated? We have seen magic flying all over religious groupings in the name of attracting followers, self praise and human worship being the trend. The “love of money” is supplanting the love of God. Maybe that is why proverbs 30:8-9 says “give me neither poverty nor riches so that I do not become satisfied and deny you.”

Some level of love for money is way out of line. Some religious leaders have gone as far as participating in ritualistic acts to remain on top of the wealth ladder. Supporting political figures for financial purposes is very common too. There are laughable stories of something called miracle money. We should quit being lazy...the bible [for Christians] says those who are lazy should not eat!

“The real miracle money is one where a Man of God prays for you and you find favour in the eyes of other people that give you a job to give you money every monthend or assist you to set up a business for your lifetime success and sustenance,” my friend Kunda Macintosh would argue. I agree with him, we have to be realistic, since when did money start falling like rains? Even Adam and Eve when put in the Garden of Eden to undertake economic activities.

Secondly, morality has fallen below par among religious leaders. Churches were beacons of morality years back. I remember my friends who could handsomely get drunk and pee in their trousers saying “when it is time for marriage, we will go find wives in church.” Religious ladies were desirable marriage partners those days. But today, churches are reducing themselves to laughable dens of sexual misdeeds.

Some churches have crudely lost touch with the core of religiosity. They have become so irrelevant...making people lose even the little confidence in them. Churches cannot be considered moral arbiters anymore; they are something else to look up to. Very few of them are holding on to the truth and speaking truthfully no matter how others may look at them as old fashioned.

The bible says “by their fruits you will know them.” This is truer because “every good tree produces fine fruits...whereas every rotten tree produces worthless fruits.” Fruits that cannot add any value to one’s spiritual or basic life...but make them move like headless chickens without a spiritual foundation.

Thirdly, out of their strange religiosity, some church leaders put so much emphasis on financial prosperity and other endless financial whatevers! What happened to the message of salvation? Are churches so lost that they have run away from their ordained function? Why turning themselves into financial dreamers, coupled with magic, ritualism and obsession melees?

Following biblical writings, today’s religious practices fit into the description of a “flamboyant prostitute” [named Babylon the Great]...symbolising a religion that is unfaithful to God. This description of false religious teachings and practices suit ancient Babylon, a city where triune gods and occultism have their roots. The city according to Revelations 17: 1, 15 “sits on many waters”...it is attracting so many people.

The bible sums it up with the words “come out of her.” We have to open our eyes, we have to read the bible, we have to question strange doctrines, we have to develop a reading culture, and seeking deeper meanings of what the bible says. Manipulators and opportunists must be placed where they belong [junk box of liars] and never to follow things blindly. We can do it, we can end the religiosity rot. 

We have to read the bible. We need to know the truth. We need to question mundane practices in churches. Religiosity is not only about miracles. It is about working hard, utilising what God has blessed us with [abilities, resources, networks, etc.] to earn a living. Going to church should not be about miracle money, anointing water, oil, pants, etc. It should be about salvation...learning the truth. What does it benefit you to receive all miracles and lose your soul.....miss heaven? I think religiosity is about some place beyond earth.

Going beyond teaching: Building careers that matter!!

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

Teachers touch many lives. Everyone who sat in a classroom or open learning spaces passed through the hands of a teacher. Teachers do not only teach children how to calculate, read, writing or practically do lab works. They motivate, inspire and nurture careers as well.

With parents preoccupied with other things and spending less time with their children, teachers know a lot about children that parents may not know. They know children’s strengths, weaknesses, abilities, talents and their potential career pathways. Teachers are thus indispensable in career development of a child. They are pillars and builders of careers. No one can take that from them. By virtue of them teaching children from tender ages to maturity, they walk with them a large part of their life.

Parents can learn some important things about their children that they may not have known without visiting or talking to teachers. Teachers are therefore a very significant resource parents can count on in helping their children make career choices. Because of their strategic position in children’s career development, I suggest close collaboration between teachers and tertiary institutions. An in-depth explaining of my reasoning is explained below:

Pertinent collaboration

Despite their strategic position in shaping children’s careers, teachers tend to operate in a different world from the whole of tertiary learning and labour market requirements. This gap makes teachers work behind current tertiary and labour market requirements from learners leaving the school system. This negates the role of the teaching fraternity in career development.

Firstly, some schools end up having wrong subject combinations that disadvantage children’s entry into tertiary education. I will use my example here. I went to a school that offered Commerce and Principles of Accounts. When it comes to university entry, the two subjects are put in the same category of commercials. It means having good grades in them negated my chances of entry into university. In addition, we had an option to take biology or agricultural sciences. One who wanted to go into the school of natural sciences at university or medical related programmes but had not done biology was ruled out. Some children as a result do not get into desired programmes in which they have to ability, talent and passion for due to wrong subject combinations.

Secondly, teachers need to know available programmes in tertiary education for them to be in better position to guide children in career choices. Knowledge limitation of programme portfolios limit children’s variety of careers options to choice from...they operate within what teachers let them know about. Parents’ guidance become more than supplementary here, but most parents are too busy to sit with their children and talk about career issues. There are too many absentee parents. Present in homes but too busy with work, outing or in the internet maze.

Parents have to create concrete links with teachers to know their children better and be more useful in shaping children’s careers. Providing school fees alone is not enough. Parents can call teachers, drop them an email or visit them for parental talks on matters of their children’s welfare school wise. Parents can learn a lot of class teachers, careers masters or other teachers close to the children. They are useful resources. Utilise them for the good of the children.

Thirdly, teachers need links with the industry or have access to industrial information portals. Labour market portals are important resources for picking relevant information in helping children make right career choices. Teachers are able to know what new competencies, skills and attributes the industry expects from learners that require nurturing at a very early stage. This is more important now that vocational education school has become part of the general education system. Learners who leave the school system for whatever reasons and enter the labour market are expected to possess certain attributes for them to fit in well in the labour market.

The labour market provides a “pull” to complement the "push" from schools. Careers are about employment or doing business as entrepreneurs. Employer’s career guidance mix is paramount. For example, a history teacher needs a pool of knowledge on how entrepreneurs have helped determine the course of human events. History teachers can do a great deal to expand the horizons of their learners by focusing on case studies of entrepreneurs who have contributed to the betterment of humankind. Such knowledge comes from industry linkages. Pupils need to have multiple opportunities through their school life to learn about the world of work.

Fourthly, the teaching fraternity and curriculum developers need close links to achieve relevant subject combinations and add apt aspects to the curriculum realisable through information sharing and co-construction on learners careers. Teachers are often not aware to modern changes in the tertiary system or labour market. It is not their role anyway to carry-out labour market surveys.

Collaborative career development is thus very significant. Children depend on many players to make right career choices. Each one has to play their role to make children’s inborn and learned skills earn them a good life. Children are often caught akimbo into the chaos of direction-less career guidance system due to poor coordination of things.

It is time to get talking. It is time to create life changing linkages. It is time to get real and get counted in building careers of children. It is time to make you information communication technologies to gather information and sharing it with those relevant to the development of children’s careers. Those in custody of labour market information have to share with the teaching fraternity. Teachers responsible for career guidance can do more to narrow the gaps to ensure schools churn out right candidates for tertiary education. 

How parents, families are killing great careers....doing what they want versus what you want!

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

Many parents tell their children....“I want you to be a medical doctor, I want you to be a lawyer, I want you to be an engineer, I want you to be a journalist, etc.” Yes you want; but what about what I want and what I am capable of doing?

A career is something we will practice for a large part of our lives. If we do what someone else wants, we will live as slaves to their desires. We will be forced to do what pleases them, but not what drives us or what our abilities can get us doing. That’s why it’s important to do what you have passion for, something you have a drive to apply yourself with the enthusiasm expected of you. Most of the loft performers are forced into careers they never saw themselves doing.

I have a friend whose parents forced into nursing school. She couldn’t make it through first year. She changed schools and never made it again. Parents then pushed her into a clinical medicine school. The same happened. They took her into teaching; she was barely into it and never made it too. It doesn’t mean she was so unable to make it, her energy was somewhere else. Her energy was usurped by the thought of living to do what parents made her to pursue.

The moment she finally stood her ground and enrolled into her dream programme – economics and development studies, sparks blaze from her. She scored highly in her classes and made it with a highly graded degree at graduation.

It may seem as though parents are doing it for the good of the children, but their actions may not be as much as necessary. They don’t take into account imperatives: children’s abilities, talent and passions. The desire to have children pursue certain careers alone is not enough. Forcing them do programmes you studied is neither enough as well. You don’t have same abilities. In as much as you share some mitochondria DNA, you may have totally different abilities, hence will go separate career pathways. Forcing career maters on children is very destructive.

In fact, parents are ruining so much talent and careers in their homes. This is done in the name of children doing careers parents want. Families are engineering children to pursue careers they don’t have passion, energy and ability to handle. In careers, if you can’t choose it, someone will do it for you. It’s so sad practising what others prescribed for you for the rest of your life. You will keep on complaining and perform poorly. You won’t do your best, excelling becomes hard as well. You may end up an average or below average performer. In the era of performance appraisals for improved conditions of service, you may get too frustrated to make a mark in your career.

Some children are entrepreneurial born. They may not be good in most academic subjects. Parents may take them to best schools, find them best teachers around and acquire for them any latest and most useful book; but they will remain floating in average grades in school. But give them something to generate money either using their hands or inborn intellect; they will do wonders. Parents thus have to learn the art of identifying children’s strength early enough and nurture and provide means for them to make a living out of them.

Time for pushing children into your dream careers is over. Your time isn’t their time. We are living in different times. Each time has its unique traits. Each time requires different sets of mindsets, approaches and self application. Trying to use 1960 approaches in the 21^st century is placing things into total disarray. Whereas some principles still apply...some of them have been thrown off the edge.

In the past, getting good grades in school, getting a government job and waiting for pension benefits was very ideal. But today, where grandparents, parents and some children are on the waiting list for pension benefits is not viable. You see you parents walking on shoes with finished soles in trekking for their pension benefits and you want to join the same lane. Trying a different path may be worth more. Or maybe combining entrepreneurial activities alongside formal work could be more payable. It would provide a buffer zone after work days. You would have earned substantial knowledge in meandering business routes and survive the rainy days.

What can parents do then?

A lot can be done by parents. Firstly, have time with children at different stages of their growth and see what they like doing and see how those energies can be channelled into career pathways. For instance, a child who likes opening wrist watches, radio sets, television sets, etc., as if they want to see what’s going on behind the screens are showing engineering interests either electrical or something in those lines. Find a career expert to help you interpret what you see if you can’t do it yourself.

Secondly, have time to know what your children are good at in class. What subjects are they good at and which ones are they weak at. That could be a sign of their strength in doing things. Children good abstracts, with long concentration times, calculative etc., could be strong in mathematical related careers where they will solve problems that are hard core in nature. I mean e.g. dealing with a stone, finding right angles of cutting it and make use it or meticulously work with human bodies when one is injured or sick. There is a lot to master on your children and make use of it in shaping their careers.

If a child like fighting for instance, why not enrol them into a boxing academy or some physical sports so that they learn disciple and channel their energy into good use? Or let the child try military training. They can spend more in prerequisites to get entry into such training. A child who makes a lot of noise can be a good public speaker. Help them learn the art of packaging that noise into melodious product and sell it to earn a living. Public speakers are earning money through being masters of ceremony, motivational speaking, poetry, preaching, singing, etc.

 Thirdly, learn the art of prayer. God is the giver of everything. He gave you the children; trust Him with the guidance providence of your children’s career goals. Talk to God, engage Him, take your plea and let Him show you something to use to guide your children into the right careers.

Fourthly, consult their teachers. Teachers spend more time with children than most parents. More than 12 years in the hands of teachers aren’t a joke. It gives teachers an avalanche of knowledge about your child. Visit the schools, talk to teachers, and know more about your child which you couldn’t have known by staying at home.

Parents thus must help children identify their abilities, skills and competencies they need in their life careers. Children also must listen to those who have been there and benefit from their pool of knowledge on meandering life journeys and see how they fit their dreams into those life stories. Children must identify role models within their career desires and learn from them and use their experience to achieve their dream career.

It’s however important to have options A, B C or even D in choices of careers. Sometimes our first option may not be our career destiny. We may redefine ourselves or someone may help us find our real self career wise. Some of us have multiple career potentials due to our abilities. God give us according to our abilities....some of us can really handle a number of things with deterministic virtues required in it to achieve it perfectly well. If we can, why not have many options.

The risk of following several options is losing grip of what to settle for. You may waste your time chasing the wind until age catches up with you. Some level of stability is premium here. Changing frivolously may send signs of instability. Be stead, play it calm and soberly. Don’t let today’s excitement ruin your tomorrows.

No career comes by chance. It takes effort. It takes nurturing and energy to get into the right path. It involves parents, friends, teachers and the creator. If you have not thought about it, start thinking about it now. Start working things out. If you are in a career you don’t like, try change or find it in your heart to fit in no matter the amount of frustrations.

I am mindful of those whose parents long ago. I am mindful of those whose parents have not gone to school. I am mindful of those in the villages. To everyone, there’s someone of help. If can be your teacher, your church leadership, your friends, your community members or role models. No matter your status, you may have someone you admire, go to them and get advice on career choices.

Above all, be fair to yourself. Don’t exaggerate your abilities. You sincerely know what you are capable of doing, you know what scares the hell out of you, you what you can pursue no matter the storm...don’t do it because of friends. Do it because it’s about you and your future.

Sexuality, sexual surprises, sexual problems or sexual help!!

By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

Courtesy: http://fsssonline.org/

Let’s say your child comes home and tells you s/he’s in xxx rated movies to earn extra income? I mean s/he’s into pornographic acts for money? I wonder how many parents are ready for such news. But with the 21^st century drama and freedoms, expect baffling experiences. Children make all sorts of decisions behind our backs, some of which could be distasteful to parents, family members and community.

I am not getting into gay sexuality debates, but trying to make us think about the possibility of our children telling us they have a particular sexual orientation which we don’t ascribe to...I am talking about how to get help to handle the news and live instead of dying of the shocking news of a child’s choice. It’s ease reading these things about other people's children. But when it dawns in our home, it's a different story. 

I don't know what comes to mind when you hear the word sexuality. But in this article, a couple of things amounting to sexuality are explained borrowing several ideas from different ends mostly from psychologistanywhereanytime.com and from a French scholar Michel Foucault’s history of sexuality.

Secrets, repressions and taboos have characterised sexuality for centuries, mostly to deny others from engaging into educative debates for reasons best known to initiators of those repressions. In some cases parents have been made to lie that they ‘bought’ a bay from the hospital to keep children in total ignorance about sexuality. Such lies still go round...even among religious families. If I can preach a bit ...“God is watching you” lol

A lot of talk revolves around sexuality in everyday lives. We talk about it, we invest in it, we seek it, we fight over it, and some countries even get economic sanctions over it. It cuts across social, economic, psychological and religions circles. I think it's then important to put few points into a summative piece about it.

Sexuality means different things to varied people. It’s about our bodies or our hormones, about our feelings and our relationships, or about touching and being touched. It's also about doing or engaging in one kind of sex or any kind of sex, or about wanting, seeking out or experiencing certain kinds of pleasure, etc., (http://www.scarleteen.com/).

This article looks at sexual problems summed up as paraphilia, which is about sexual arousal in response to objects or stimuli not associated with normal sexual behaviour patterns (psychologistanywhereanytime.com). At times people exhibiting such paraphilias are mocked, imprisoned or left to sort themselves out or die deemed abnormal by others. Mostly little help is offered to enable them get by. But since people who manifest paraphilias also exhibit personality disorders, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, and other substance abuse problems, or affective disorders; it’s important to know about paraphilias and know how to help others get over them.

Some of the common paraphilias include exhibitionism, which is an urge or behaviour to expose one's genitals to an unsuspecting person e.g. sending nude photos to others...it makes some people pleasurably happy doing so. Fetishism is the other paraphilia. It’s about use of non-sexual or nonliving objects or part of a person's body to gain sexual excitement. One of the fetishism is partialism which refers to fetishes specifically involving non-sexual parts of the body e.g. hand, toe, knee, etc.  

When it comes to frotteurism it’s an urge or behaviour of touching or rubbing against a non-consenting person like on a bus sitting next to an admirable person and busy rubbing them to get the satisfaction. Just that rubbing nothing more takes the person home.

The other is masochism which is about the urge or behaviour of wanting to be humiliated, beaten, bound, or otherwise made to suffer. Similar to masochism is sadism. It’s the recurrent urge or behaviour involving acts in which the pain or humiliation of the victim is sexually exciting. Sadistic acts such as dominance, restraint, blindfolding, beating, pinching or electrical shock. In worse cases drives someone into rape, strangulation or torture.

Sadism and masochism are often grouped together under sadomasochism. It means sexual pleasure from pain or suffering inflicted upon the self or someone e.g. sexual urges for being beaten, humiliated, bound, tortured, or otherwise made to suffer, either as an enhancement to or a substitute for sexual pleasure. If you have watched fifty shades of grey you have an idea what I am talking about...the tying, the spanking...  

Voyeurism is the other paraphilia which is the recurrent behaviour to observe an unsuspecting person who is naked, disrobing or engaging in sexual activities, or may not be sexual in nature at all. Transvestite fetishism on the other hand is about sexual attraction towards the clothing of the opposite gender. It gets that bad how we get satisfaction from what may seem strange to others.

Other paraphilias lead people to seek sexual please from infants i.e. chronophilias e.g. infantophilia. This is a sexual attraction to infants or pedophilia...a sexual attraction to prepubescent children [before a child turns to puberty stage]. Gerontophilia refers to sexual attraction to the elderly.

Other paraphilias: this is a grouping of rarer paraphilias including such problems as telephone scatalogia (obscene phone calls), necrophilia (corpses), partualism (exclusive focus on one part of the body), zoophilia (animals), coprophilia (feces), klismaphilia (enemas), urophilia (urine).

To all these paraphilias, there’s help one can get. If you really want help dealing with your feelings and emotions, changing your behaviour, and improving your life and the approach and office hours of typical therapists and counsellors do not fit your life style or personal needs, psychosociologists may have a solution.

If you can’t find anyone in your locality psychologistanywhereanytime.com lists a number of people to help. You can use flexible office appointments, telephone consultations, email, teleconferences, and the willingness to travel and meet in person. You can be helped any time and anywhere.

“I want to be an accountant”....ability versus desire

 By Clive Mutame Siachiyako

Most school pupils I have spoken to during career expos express the desire to do accountancy. They want to deal with money. They want to be close to money, count it and possess it. We all love money, but the ability to handle it tends to elude most of us. It tends to be too fluid to stay with us. Some people would want to tell everybody how much they have that particular day on them or in the bank account. They will talk careless because money is speaking.

Beyond wishes for a particular career, there's serious work to be done to get there. There are a number of prerequisites to put in place. There are key subjects required to be passed in high school, there are certain attributes to groom, there's a mindset demanded on entrants into each career, etc. It's thus important to get familiar with them and start building them as you go up the ladder of life. The drive above all shouldn't be money, but the commitment to make the career make money for you. Identify windows you can utilise to make money within that career, scan for people who are practitioners and what they do with that profession outside working for someone. See where your heart takes you within those opportunities. 

Money creates a particular geocentricism in people. I have cousin who often tells his children to go and make anyone's daughters pregnant because he has money to pay. Or he would start a fight simply to prove that money rule the world. Although he’s in the 50s, he really shows off when his bank account is well stocked.

Many pupils I have spoken to equally feel working with money as accountants would give them power derivable from this measure of value. They think it will make them powerful and admirable people in town. They tend to focus on money and its influence rather than their ability to deal with subjects required to be an accountant. They also rarely consider their ability to handle money itself.

I often ask them: if you are given K50 for lunch every day of the week, how would you spend it? Interestingly, most of them say they would buy finger licking lunch and share with friends. They want to enjoy it and get another one the following day. But few gave good indicatives of financial management. I remember one girl who said I save my money parents give me. Her parents give her K20 on a good day. But she said she saves half of it and eat something cheap. In her small way, from her savings and her mother’s additional financial backup; she started baking cakes and supplying to her teachers.

There’s an investment mind in her. Not only investment minded, but respect for money. The amount doesn’t matter much, but what she was able to do with it. From biblical recordings, “if we can be trusted with small things, we can be trusted with bigger things.” We would have exhibited our abilities from smaller things and applying same principles we can deal with bigger things. We are required to apply not only financial management acumen, but an eye for detail in the managing money. The ability to read business opportunities, grab them and carryout prudent financial appropriation of it according to desired outcomes from each activity.

Who is an accountant?

In simpler terms, it’s a person specially trained to keep and inspect the financial records of individuals or business concerns and prepares financial and tax reports. S/he is expected to analyse financial information and prepares financial reports to determine or maintain record of assets, liabilities, profits and loss, tax liability or other financial activities within an organisation.

It offers a wide range of job opportunities in the accounting industry. This however depends on one’s level of study. Among the broader accounting programmes once can pursue are:  Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) and Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA).

Within these programmes are specialities either in auditing or financial management accounting, taxation, or general accounting. The courses within accounting are in different stages such beginners, licentiate, technician and professional. In Zambia, there are a number of institutions offer the programmes.

Subject that are pertinent to pursue any of these are mostly mathematics, book keeping and principles of account. Since English is compulsory and is a language in business communication, it is a good to have subject as well. The ability to communicate effectively in written and orally is key in business management.

Having the ability to interpret jargon and complicated accounting concepts into ideas that can easily be grasped by clients is an invaluable trait that an ideal accountant should possess. An accountant that is able to interact easily and get their ideas across clearly to anyone is a major asset that clients and employers always look for.

What does it take being an accountant?

Being an accountant requires virtuous attributes because money is the root of all evil. If you asked Infinit Accounting, the responses you will get are that an accountant’s work “requires a high degree of precision and level-headedness.” This is because minor oversights can have huge consequences on a client’s business. For example, a single digit mistakenly added or  removed would have huge effects on how the accounting books will look like, how decisions will be made, and what those books say about the financial health of a company.

A wrong figure distorts a lot of things within the business’ financial units. Therefore one who is not precise with things should think of a profession that allows them room for margins of error. When it comes to money matters, such errors come with grave impacts. No company would want to go through such headaches when its financial position is in good standing.

Whereas one wants to be accounting money, s/he should be accountable themselves. “No finger-pointing allowed; they know that whatever the outcome of their work turns out to be, the buck stops there, exactly where they are.” In as much as humans are fallible, no wreck fewer errors are permissible. Keeping detailed accounts and accurate reports is pertinent in spotting where and how such inaccuracies came about.

Being trustworthy is another trait. The information accountants work with are confidential in nature. This is why professionalism is an important trait that they must always abide. Not only is this the right and ethical way to go about their business, but having a reputation for trustworthiness will win them more clients in the long run. Trust is something that is not easy to build, and it’s a trait that must be taken seriously in order to earn good feedback from clients.

As mentioned earlier, ethical attributes; that is, a strong sense of integrity and an inclination toward honesty are traits that inspire confidence in an accountant’s work and professional practice. This is a trait that should extend into their personal lives as well, because an accountant who has the ability to be morally upright and live as an upstanding citizen is someone who will most likely obey the rules of law. Being a law abiding citizen means that this trait will show up in how they do the accounting books as well: one that is within generally acceptable accounting laws, and one that is obedient of all relevant laws.

Such traits are nurtured. They don’t come from the blues. If you want to be an accountant, aim to build very relevant attributes that help you build your career and name in the profession. Make your wishes become reality. Identify role models in the profession, join professional bodies in accounting, find social media groups that talk about accountancy and learn from them to go up the professional ladder of your dream.