Let’s start the weekly receipts – issue 7, by my favorite quote: “An unexamined life is not worth living..”
Before I tell you about Mr. K, let me take you back a few years.
I was living in a condo and needed to visit the management office to process some paperwork. The moment I walked in, I felt her energy before she even spoke. The woman behind the desk was the most arrogant person in that room — and she was the only person in that room. She had one table. One job. And an attitude that filled the entire space.
My ego matched her immediately. I raised my energy to meet hers, and of course, we collided. Not physically. But it did not go well.
As I walked back to my condo, something shifted. I started asking myself the right questions. This woman is not going anywhere. There is no one above her to complain to. You are a foreigner in this country. You need that paperwork done. So, what could you actually do right now to get what you want?
What could you give her that would make her do the job she is already paid to do?
She wanted to feel important. She wanted to feel in charge. That was it. So, I went back. I changed my posture. I lowered my temperature. I came humbly. I reaffirmed her position. And she processed my document with a smile — a genuine one. Our business was done. That was the first and last time I ever saw her.
I learned something that day that I have carried ever since.
Fast forward to this week.
THIS WEEK’S STORY
Mr. K and the electric boosters
We had a tenant — I will call him Mr. K — whose lease I chose not to renew. He moved out. And when he left, he took two electric boosters that belonged to the property. We had purchased them specifically to support his air conditioning units because of the electricity situation in Guinea. They did not belong to him. He knew that.
My nephew tried to handle it. It did not go well. They are both cut from the same cloth — two strong personalities, neither willing to yield. My brother called me. These boosters were not cheap. We needed to get them back.
I will be honest with you: I was pissed off. Genuinely, deeply pissed off. This was my property. My money. My rights were clear. And my ego had already drafted a message in my head that would have made all of that very obvious.
But before I picked up my phone, I stopped. I took one thousand deep breaths — there is no other way to put it. And I asked myself two questions that changed everything:
What outcome do I actually want? What kind of conversation do I want to have?
The answers were simple. I wanted the boosters back, undamaged. And I wanted to end this with my peace intact — no war of words, no lingering tension, no ongoing drama with a man I never have to see again.
Those two decisions made the message easy to write.
“Dear Mr. K, I hope you are having a great day. I am reaching out regarding the boosters. Could you kindly arrange to return them? We are more than happy to come and collect them ourselves if that is easier for you.”
He responded warmly. He said no problem, he would drop them that day.
He did not.
I messaged again two days later. Same tone. Same warmth. Same offer to come and collect. He apologized. He would drop them that day.
He did not.
I was boiling. I told my sister I would give it until Friday and then offer again to go and fetch them. I was not going to let my tone change. I was not going to let my ego convince me that escalating would somehow speed things up.
Thursday evening, he messaged me. He was at our family property. He handed the boosters to my sister’s housekeeper personally and apologized to me via WhatsApp for the delay.
Case closed.
THE LESSON
The rope on the floor
In any conflict between two people, there is a rope on the floor. The moment one person picks up one end and the other picks up the other end, tension begins to build. The harder both people pull, the worse it gets.
But when one person picks up the rope and the other one simply does not — there is no tension. There is nothing to pull against.
Not picking up the rope is not weakness. It is a decision. A powerful one.
And I want to say one more thing, a reminder to myself and you: there is no such thing as small money. I was ready to let those boosters go. My pattern has always been to say ‘keep it, I will just buy it again’ — and I have had to unlearn that. Every dollar you dismiss is a dollar you are teaching yourself not to value. My brother was right to push. And I was right to go get them — just not in the way my ego wanted.
BEFORE YOU ENTER THE ROOM
Before you walk into any difficult conversation this week — a negotiation, a confrontation, a follow-up you have been dreading — decide two things first:
What outcome do you actually want?
What kind of conversation do you want to have?
Those two decisions will write the message for you. They will choose the tone. They will tell you when to push and when to stay soft. They will keep your ego in the backseat where it belongs.
Your ego wants to be right. Your wisdom wants results.
You get to choose which one drives.
New issue every week. Real days. Real lessons. No filter.
Salima
Just me thinking out loud over here