How near-death experience turns into motivation for one entrepreneur

JASHAWN Rutherford was a serving member of the Guyana Defence Force when he had an experience that would change the course of his life forever.
It occurred while out one night at a public event when an altercation ensued and gunshots rang out. He recalled that one of the two men who fired the shots into the crowd was standing right next to him. “I got extremely scared and ran. Projectiles [were] thrown everywhere,” Rutherford told the Pepperpot Magazine.

Against this backdrop, Rutherford became aware that he had to change his life for the better to make an impact in this current generation.
“I basically changed the course of my life. After I realised that things weren’t working out the way I wanted them to work out, I found myself in a situation where it could have actually cost my life,” he explained. “It was then I realised that, ‘Jashawn, you are not producing the kind of results from your life that are expected of you, so it is time to change course.’” And thus, Rutherford launched the non-profit organisation, “Twenty-Four (24) hours left”.

Twenty Hour Left is an institute aimed at training and developing young people who are interested in starting their own business. The activities involve training persons to graduate from being employees to employers.
Twenty Hour Left has also been involved in motivating people to pursue their dreams.

“Twenty Hours Left exists to maximise myself, because we are at the forefront with respect to personal development in the Caribbean; we are helping thousands of people. I have a team of seven people training vigorously,” Rutherford told the Pepperpot Magazine.

Rutherford recalled that he had been through numerous experiences of a similar nature, but nothing as eye-opening as this one.
According to him, this catastrophic event made him focus and reminisce on the background from which he originated, and the sacrifices the persons who raised him made for him to be where he is in life today.

Rutherford said that to raise the standard of his life, he began reading books, and studying the lives of others, who, according to him, had blazed the trail regarding professional and personal development.
“I implemented a one-book-per-month practice, where, when I got my salary, I started to purchase one book per month for the purpose of studying successful people in a systematic manner. As I began studying these people, I realised that there was one general theme amongst them all, and that is, they all valued time,” Rutherford said.

Coming out of these studies, the young man recalled that he utilised the knowledge gained to further develop his academia, writing his ‘A’ Levels examination, and becoming involved in the Toastmasters Club to develop his public-speaking career.

“The journey continued until there was this one soldier that was looking at me, and I had not the faintest idea, but his fixation made an impression on me, so much so that he asked me what it was that I was doing that he could emulate,” Rutherford shared.

Rutherford was careful to mention that he had resolutely made up in his mind that he would pursue his dream at all costs, regardless of the difficult elements he needed to face.
It was so critical that he pursued his dreams after he saw the life of his colleague change for the better. He then began to pursue his dream with such tenacity and passion.

“I brainwashed myself into success; literally did so. I did not avoid the noise from everyone else in the background in the barracks where I was. I would come out in the yard to study, as we say in Guyana, rain or shine,” Rutherford shared in a passionate voice to the Pepperpot Magazine.

His father, his inspirator, continued to motivate him, Rutherford added.
“My dream was to retire my dad. I so desperately wanted to support him, so much so that as I came out of high school, I enlisted in the Guyana Defence Force. But during the course of my personal development, it was pulling me more and more. This stemmed from the fact that I would offer advice to people who were far older than me,” Rutherford explained.

ADVICE
Rutherford, who is of the opinion that one must pay the price for what one wants, further noted that whatever your goal, you need to repeat to yourself and then pay the price, and sooner or later, it will come to fruition.
“Your thoughts would change the outcome of things; it will not magically change the outcome of things, but the perspective of the desired outcome will be different,” Rutherford told Pepperpot Magazine.