My review of The Illiterate Professional by Dr Tunde Kukoyi

While I was writing this post, I was on a catch-up call with one of my friends. During our chat, we touched on the topic of maximizing one’s singleness by truly experiencing and living life fully.

I went on to talk about how from my experience, the majority of medics seem to have a different narrative on this particular topic.

From spending a large part of their 20s with their heads buried in the pages of big medical textbooks, to starting their first job with hospital rotas that barely give them the time to develop and cultivate other interests, and to them finally realising probably in their 30s that something was missing.

I would say, at some point in my life, I was one of the flag bearers of this group of professionals. 

But not anymore! LOL

As you may already be aware by now, I am keen on all things personal development. One of my many quests in 2022 was intentionally looking out for medical doctors who actively make content on social media revolving around personal development. I desperately yearned for the perspective of a medic on this subject. 

During one of my searches, I stumbled on Dr Tunde Kukoyi on LinkedIn. Lucky me! He had written a book! I initially found the title very interesting and funny at the same time. I mean, how do you put the words- Illiterate and Professional side to side?

Dr Kukoyi’s book is for every professional looking to read a seasoned perspective on how they can find fulfilment and true happiness in life and career. 

In this book, you would find so many gems written in an easy-to-read fashion. To make his points more relatable, Dr Kukoyi also shared stories of great people who have succeeded in different spheres of life highlighting the key ingredients unique to these successes. 

Here is a list of what stood out for me in this book.

1. Finally, someone said it!- Should we all quit our day jobs?!

In the media nowadays, working a traditional 9-5 role has been painted as less glamorous.

Proponents of this stance seem to think we should all quit our day jobs and focus on building what is ours while making money on our own terms.

While there are numerous advantages to this proposition, I believe and agree with Dr Kukoyi that professionals are the ones who keep our society running.

I have come to realize how vital my role as a medical doctor is to society during times when I become unwell and need the perspective of another medical colleague on my health.

In the same vein, society depends on different professionals to keep it together, without whom things may fall apart.  Therefore, as professionals, we should be proud of our valuable contributions to the smooth running of society and as a such endeavour to enjoy rather than endure our jobs.

2. Our lives are multidimensional 

There are many facets to our lives-ranging from career, finances, health, relationships, family and much more. 

We should learn that achieving formal education is supposed to be a means to an end and not the end in itself. This is why in order to truly enjoy our lives, we must commit to educating ourselves at different intervals on different dimensions of life

Education is not limited to the four walls of schools or institutions, but rather something we pick up right from our childhood days at home, to what we learn in formal schools or trades, and on to what we learn from our everyday lives- such as from books, media and interaction with people.

From the Illiterate professional by Dr Tunde Kukoyi

3. The concept of good-to-knows vs must-knows. 

In life, some things are ‘good-to-knows’ as they do not directly impact our lives, and there are some things that are ‘must-knows’ because they have a direct impact on our quality of life and happiness.

From the Iliterate Professional by Dr Tunde Kukoyi

I particularly found these terminologies spot on! 

One illustration I could relate to (as I was also a member of my University’s quiz club) was the author being a member of the quiz club while he was in the University and how much he chased after the good-to-knows(mostly current affairs) which never really paid off. 

In contrast, must-knows address important aspects of our lives that are crucial to truly living a life of fulfilment. Examples of such include managing our finances, looking after our health, managing our relationships etc In essence, we should strive to improve our knowledge of the must-knows.

4. The greatest possible investment is investing in yourself.

A couple of months back, I was on a call with a financial adviser during which I was asked a question along the line of what my greatest asset was. My ignorant self at the time was wondering if it was my collection of electronics or handheld gadgets. Funny but not funny. LOL

You are your greatest investment! 

How do you invest in yourself? One of the ways suggested by Dr Kukoyi to invest in oneself is by channelling your resources towards the development of your skills and literacy.

For example, I believe my investment in reading self-development books has largely contributed to improving my communication skills, thus enhancing my ability to write blog posts through which I’m able to influence people positively.

5. We should all be avid readers!

The author implied that a common denominator among successful people in the world is that they read books. Those close to me know how much I have cultivated the habit of reading books in recent years. I find it very refreshing!

If you ever intend to get mentored by a renowned personality, look no further! Have they written books? If yes, there you have it! Reading books gives us much easier access to the wealth of wisdom and experience of those who have gone ahead.

Reading trains our minds. I also see reading as a form of travelling asides from it being a source of education. It takes us to countries, cultures and places we never imagined our physical body would experience.

6. Maximising your Productivity

Dr Kukoyi pointed out the fact Professionals need to learn to control their time. We all have 24 hours in a day. What we make of our awake hours ultimately determines our outcome in life.

The author believes we should develop mechanisms to buy back our time by determining what is urgent and what is important. Time is of the essence and the greatest currency for maximizing success in life.

7. Learn the principles of money management.

Professionals are no doubt among the crop of people who have less understanding of how to manage their money. A literate Professional should have a basic understanding of money management.

This book is packed with useful tips on how you can grow money, learn to intentionally feed your income and starve your expenses, put your money to use and as well as understand the rudiments of stock investment.

8. Join a network of like-minded individuals

If you want to advance your growth as a professional, it is advisable to join networks. 

From the Iliterate Professional by Dr Tunde Kukoyi

When I was done with my compulsory national youth service year, I was opportune to be added by a friend of mine to a Whatsapp group comprising high-achieving scholars in Nigeria. Merely seeing how fellow young Nigerians were committed to achieving their goals, with their peculiar challenges, was a great catalyst for gathering momentum towards actualising mine. 

Additionally, I currently belong to a group of early-career female physicians from whom I have learnt massively. I have also seen how my communication and interpersonal skills skyrocketed since interacting with these amazing ladies.

This is one secret I share with upcoming professionals: join a group of like-minded people!

To sum this up,

I truly enjoyed reading the Illiterate professional. I found myself agreeing with a lot of concepts explained by the author as well as gaining insights into some grey areas I never really paid attention to. Indeed, we should all be literate Professionals! How else would we enjoy our everyday lives?!

I want to see you succeed as well. If you don’t currently own the book, you can get it here. 

If you have read the book, I’d love to hear from you- which chapter resonated with you the most?

See you in the next one!

Love,

Dr Aarin

Tags: Book reviewPersonal developmentProfessional