Finally, the day is here. September 3rd, 2021. Money Heist, also known as La Casa de Papel, makes a return with its 5th and final season. This Netflix Drama series got its fans on edge, and a majority couldn’t wait to witness more of this genius combination of action and passion. As billions of Euros are being printed in the Royal Mint of Spain, and the police attempt to stop these daredevils from carrying out this evil, a keen observer realises that this series not only causes an adrenaline rush but also is sprinkled with wisdom and wit…
[bctt tweet="Sometimes it’s good to have some hidden cards; game plans that are between you and your actions, and not between you and your audience" username="QaziniKenya"]
And so, as we anticipate the 5th season, here are five lessons we could pick.
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe
So quipped Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president who led America during the civil war, and through its worst moral, cultural, political, and constitutional crisis, before his assassination in 1865. When Raquel Murillo Fuentes, later known as Lisbon after converting from a leading police inspector to a lead robber asks the professor how long it had taken him to plan every move in La Casa de Papel, his answer was close to Lincoln’s philosophy;
"To be honest — half my life," The professor answered.
The plan is to be ready beforehand. WHEN OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS AND PREPAREDNESS OPENS THE DOOR, MAGIC HAPPENS. Prior preparation ensures three things that seem to describe the professor most of the time; Cool, Calm, and Collected. These are beautiful C’s to have in all aspects of life. They are birthed in the chambers of well-laid plans.
Don’t waste half of your life telling people what you are going to do, otherwise, you may be forced to spend the other half explaining to them why you didn’t. Peter Kabunyi, a friend of mine and a senior software engineer once explained to me that when you talk about what you are going to do before you actually do it, at a ‘neuro-software’ level the brain registers it as done, and the inner push to do it goes down as the brain goes on to handle other more important matters. THE BEST WAY TO SPEAK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO DO IS THROUGH THE GRAMMAR PASSIONATE ACTION.
Sometimes it’s good to have some hidden cards; game plans that are between you and your actions, and not between you and your audience. The Professor in Money Heist seemed to have some cards up his sleeve. Not even his closest member of the team knew the last of his tricks. And just when we think he has run out of ideas, he surprises us. Success loves the mysterious and abhors the obvious. Don’t be obvious. Hide some well-calculated moves up your sleeve, then go scout for opportunities!
When things go wrong, don’t go with them
In the words of Úrsula Corberó, a.k.a Tokyo, “Everything can go to hell in less than a second. In moments like this, you feel death creeping in, and you know nothing will ever be the same. But you need to do whatever it takes to survive.”
YES… Before you can learn how to thrive, you need to learn how to survive. For life sometimes is about survival for the fittest. Build your capacity to survive the challenges life so often throws our way. Come to think of it, IF YOU ARE GOING THROUGH HELL, WHY WOULD YOU STOP? KEEP GOING! It is the most human thing to fight for survival.
Aesthetics or ethics?
To answer this question, Pedro Alonso who plays Berlin said to Alba Flores who plays Nairobi, “Ethics is important, Nairobi, but aesthetics as well.”
Aesthetics and ethics are two of five accepted traditional branches of philosophy. Aesthetics answers the question of beauty and ugliness, and how beauty may improve one’s life. Ethics attempts to draw a line between what is right and what is wrong, and how one may make the best decisions. A gym instructor once told me that the last motivation to work out should be to look good. One should work out to feel good, and be in good health. If they look good, that is a worthy after-effect of what is more important; the decision to live healthy. So, if the decision to work out leads to great feelings and good looks, why not combine both?
Who is in your circle?
Álvaro Morte, a.k.a the Professor understood well that how things spin out in one’s endeavours depends on who is in their circle. Thus informed, he recruited eight people with certain abilities and who have nothing to lose. People with no ego to protect, and thus giving everything to the vision and mission. Not people driven by their own pride, but by the passion to accomplish another’s mission.
Who is in your circle and why?
Metaphorically speaking, do you recruit short people around you so that you can feel tall?
Or, do you have intelligent people around you so that they can challenge you to grow?
Or, DO YOU HAVE CAPABLE PEOPLE AROUND YOU, WHOM YOU KNOW HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BY ENSURING YOUR DREAM CANDLE REMAINS LIT? If your answer to the last two questions is a yes, then you are well on your way to success. Bella Ciao!
