Anyone ever watched "License to Grill"? It's a cuisine show that comes on DSTV every so often hosted by Rob Rainford. One thing I can say is that he is really wicked in the kitchen (and quite good looking too…Ahem) The guy whips meals that are sure to make you hungry as you follow him around his kitchen from the comfort of your living room …. Just thinking about those meals is making me hungry right now.

I admire the way he does everything with lots of precision and intent; he first collects what he needs and neatly sets it aside on his working table, starting with his ingredients and then all the needed tools. As he is working, he explains what each ingredient is and how it will affect or influence the final taste of what he is cooking. Regardless of whatever meal he is cooking, he always insists on people being careful with the measure they use for each ingredient; it should be just right. His precision and knowledge of each one of his ingredients, coupled together with the cooking process and the final presentation makes his meals so palatable that even though you are watching the whole process on TV, you can almost "smell" the aroma of the food! That's how great a cook this guy is; no wonder he has a “License to Grill”.

Last weekend he was doing a barbecue combo comprising of different meats. He had fish, chicken, beef and sausages. Before putting the meats on fire, he first marinated them, each with a different cocktail of ingredients (which he calls a rub) and each for a particular period of time. Some he left for a longer period while others he put on the grill after about half an hour. After each type of meat was done, he would make sure he cleans up the grill to ensure the next meat type does not in any way get “contaminated” aroma-wise by the previous meat’s aroma or flavor…. By the time he was done I was so hungry, but at the end of the session I had picked up more than just a recipe.

You see, you and I are no different from the meat Rob was preparing to grill. Has that caught you by surprise? Hear me out before you rule my thoughts out…

As human beings, we have different areas of our lives we need to nurture; physical, spiritual, professional, personal, etc… I guess you get my drift. Each one of these areas is like a raw chunk of meat waiting to be steamed, grilled, boiled or whatever your cooking preference is. You are the chef of this chunk of meat and so you decide what you want to do with it. Just like Rob does, you need to identify the right ingredients for your chunk of meat and decide what method of cooking you will use. Either way the chunk of meat will have to change from one state to another, and what determines the end result is the ingredients and process you choose to prepare the meat.

To elaborate what I mean, if for instance we are talking about enhancing your career, then you need to marinate yourself with the right ingredients. You need to surround yourself with people in the same field, ask them all the questions you probably have regarding the field, get reference books and study them to acquire the needed knowledge and where possible, get hands on training. Like I said though, your career is not the only area of your life that requires you to have the right ingredients; every area of your life does.

Like I said earlier besides the hunger pangs, this whole process left me with some interesting revelations:

• If you surround yourself with vision-less people, people whose highlight in life is to sit somewhere at jobless corner or the local saloon discussing what is happening to so and so's relationship, then for sure you will become visionless. You will have no taste or appeal to anyone, hence acquiring the name "loser"...sadly though, a few people I know have turned into certified losers.... :-( If you want to know who is having what problems, they seem to know everything including the date and time of when the incidents took place. Now these are visionless people who have so much time in their hands and misguided priorities in their lives.
• On the other hand, you need to be careful that you do not just concentrate on using one particular ingredient on your chunk of meat; you need to balance them all out so that when the dish is served, guys will not be rushing out to look for water to cool down the sting of chilli. In short, you need to be a well-rounded person cool, calm and collected like CMB Prezzo….:-)
• Realize that the meat must go through the preparation and cooking processes before it can be served, just like you and I. For instance:
  • 
    Before you can take up a certain position in any organization, you need to be sure you are well experienced and knowledgeable enough to take on the new challenge. 
  • Before you get that  promotion you've been eyeing, be sure you can handle the position because otherwise, an early and misguided promotion could very well lead to your downfall…. Unless of course you earned the promotion via unscrupulous means (read STP which means Sexually Transmitted Promotions)
  • Before you can get married, you must have gone through the courtship period which helps you understand your partner better giving you an opportunity to make an informed decision. 

What I am trying to say is, just like a chunk of meat looks very nice and juicy while hanging at the butcher's, you too could be a very nice person but if not well marinated, cooked the right way, in just the right heat and finally nicely presented on the table, you might end up being a complete disappointed.....A tasteless chunk of meat, or worse still, one that leaves a bad, bitter taste in someone's mouth.

The choice is yours; you are the chef of your own chunk of meat. Question is, is your chunk of meat palatable?

In the meantime, while you are thinking of what answer to give, please check out a snippet of what Rob does when he does what he does best....if the short video interests you, then you can check out all his other clips on youtube.