The Billionaire Mindset

Daniel Worku was on his way to becoming a billionaire. Then something got in the way: his values. He would have left business in the background, but Southwestern called him to be a new instructor of business.

Growing up, Worku never failed to dream big. His first dream was to be a fighter pilot. Then he found out he was too tall. After that he wanted to be a basketball player, but was too short. Finally, he made his goal to be a billionaire.

Even as an early teen he had an interest in business.  If he could get a ride, Worku would travel to different business mixers and investment meetings. He was ambitious, and business seemed like the best place for him to be.

“If you desire to achieve a goal you have to make a path that you can follow through with it,” said Worku. “I was working 70 to 80 hours a week for an investment company. I was training under a pretty good person and I was studying about self-made billionaires.”

Worku dedicated his life to becoming a billionaire, then came to an earth-shattering conclusion: he wouldn’t be able to reach his goal on his own.

“Unless I was willing to align myself formally with powers that can grant that goal, I wouldn’t reach it,” said Worku. “So while I spent that last 30 years of my life toiling, I was really wasting my time.”

Through studying the Bible and the book The Great Controversy, Worku was able to rebuild his spiritual life. He left his job and decided that he was done focusing on making money. He wondered what other good use he could make of his education. Then Worku got a call from Southwestern Adventist University.

“Coming to Southwestern wasn’t on my to-do list,” said Worku. “But I’m sitting here! My decision was a yes. I’m not going to attribute it to anything but divine providence.”

Although Worku hadn’t considered being a teacher until he was older, he finds that he enjoys the classroom setting.

“So far so good,” said Worku. “Students are pretty cool. I’m enjoying it more than I thought. Grading’s not so much fun, but teaching is. I’ve been given a chance to learn more about the field and I’m glad to be in a place where Jesus Christ can be spoken of.”

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