New Year, new mindset

A (wo) man is their mindset. The mind is their control board. It moulds a person’s behaviour.

We cannot live beyond the limits of how far and wide we think. If you want to see the size of a man’s mind, look at the size of things he thinks about. Indeed, how a man thinks today tells how far he can go tomorrow.

If people are any better, it comes back to one thing ~ their mindset. They cannot be greater than what they collectively think as a people. 

We are our mindsets. Our mindset is us. We cannot behave any differently from how we think. A new Ghana means a new pattern of thoughts; a paradigm shift. 

A new Ghana means a change in attitude, which can only be possible if we change how we think! 

We cannot expect to see Ghana change for the better in 2026 if we still bear the same old thoughts. Ghana cannot be any different from how we perceive issues; our pattern of thoughts.

We cannot be any more progressive with our outmoded thoughts. You cannot put new wine into old wineskins. The wineskins will rupture! 

The new Ghana we so much desire is impossible if we keep on doing the same old things. If we are expecting a new wine called Ghana, we had better change our wineskins, our thoughts. We had better change what we do. 

We had better change our perception of leadership. Leadership is not about big titles with no results. Leadership is not about trying to fulfil one’s childhood dreams. Leadership is problem-solving. What matters is results! 

We need a change in mindset. New wine has nothing to do with old wineskins. Absolutely nothing!  

Why are we still battling with necessities as a people? Why do children still have to study under trees in this technology-driven era? Why should everything be in queues in this nation? Don’t we ever want to progress as a people? 

All these questions boil down to one answer - a change in mindset. We need to change how we think as a people. Our minds are the greatest of all our possessions. 
Why should our leaders always have needless convoys… even when going to commission a toilet facility? Answer. Our mindset. Why should politics be somebody’s source of livelihood? Our mindset. Why do we vote the way we do? Our mindset.

All the supposed ‘rocket science’ challenges we face have one common root: our mindset. Why do most of us vote, for instance? Based on who is more handsome or younger.

Maybe based on which political party or ethnic group one is unflinchingly affiliated with. Some of us even vote so we can queue at the doorsteps of such for our daily bread in case they win. Our mindset!

We need more than handsomeness to solve our problems. When utility bills climb high enough to reach the Heavens, ethnicity will not be the solution. When all promises remain choked in a pipeline, it does not matter whether you have a party card or not; you will have your share!

If only we would change our mindset, this nation wouldn’t have to go bootlicking at the feet of donors. If only we would change how we think as people, we would change why we do the things we do! Money spent on convoys may be rechanneled into something more needful. Money wasted on wants may be spent on needs. If only we had new winekins. 

Ghana has enough resources to be a superpower. However, we are still struggling to meet even our basic needs, primarily due to failures in leadership and followership.

Most of us don’t know why we vote our leaders into power and they, on the other hand, don’t understand why they have been voted into power. 

If we knew that the decisions of whoever we were voting for would affect our lives so much, would we have voted any differently? Probably yes.

Would we have changed our minds? Would we have voted on realities rather than trivialities? Would we have voted for those who had proven, with a track record, what they had achieved on their own in the past… even if they belonged to the least party?

Until we change our minds, we will stay in this politics of empty promises for quite a long time. Until we wear a new thinking cap, things are not going to change any time soon. Trust me. 

Are we ready to hold our leaders accountable regardless of their political affiliation? Are we prepared to make a mature decision about our own fate without the influence of a GHC50 from a politician?

Are we ready to charge our leaders to serve us well, rather than assume serving us is only a privilege? Then… we need a new wineskin.

If we vote for the wrong reasons, we obviously suffer for the wrong reasons. What you vote for… is what you get. If you vote for handsomeness, don’t expect brains. If you vote to affirm your political loyalty, don’t expect much at all. 

Our nation can only change when our minds change. There is no change when our leaders are full of titles and entitlements, yet little or no responsibility.

There can only be a change when the one voting thinks right… and the one being voted for thinks right, too. 

You are your mindset. You do what you do because of how you think. If each of us thought positively about nation-building, we would all have lived well and made our nation a better place. After all, we live what we think.

If we want Ghana to be a new wine, it behoves us to wear new wineskins. We need to think more deeply about issues. New players need to wear new jerseys, not old, worn-out ones!

The writer is the Chief Scribe of Scribe Productions (www.scribeproductions.com) and Scribe Communications (www.scribecommltd.com).