When I Grow Up: Living Beyond The Ordinary

When I Grow Up is the story of a young man who has always been told what to do, what the right thing to do is and when to do it, only to realise that he was being prepared for a path of mediocrity. In this book, Darius takes the reader through parts of his life journey, drawing on lessons from peers, entrepreneurs and people who have gone through some life challenges. He presents different perspectives and insights to enable the reader to explore ways to reshape their reality, and not wait until they have grown up to live the life they want. He presents an inspiring collection of life experiences, some adventures that young people go through in the process of self-discovery. Tabane also presents random acts of kindness and how these can feed the soul to fuel communities driven by kindness. Self-worth and self-belief is a consistent theme in the book. As a growing young man, he explores the power of parenting and how that influences a child’s upbringing and their early-adult and adult life; and how it shapes the ideas of young people. The book also explores some highly contested issues such as life and death, faith, charity, accountability, and the choices we make, quick fixes and the influences that shape our destinies. Tabane says an important message presented in the book is that, in our journey of growth, money and/ or status should not be the priority but challenging ourselves to become the best person we can be should be what drives us, because this will subsequently enable us to generate the money, and / or the status. He argues that the way we think and feel about ourselves and our lives will either stifle our growth or challenge us to become better and push us to continue to grow. There are mindsets we must outgrow, and mediocrity is one of them, accepting that what has been presented as a norm is what is normal, when in fact, much more lies ahead. When we realise this, only then can we begin to truly reach our full potential.