A New Year
is beginning, and as is the norm, most of us always make New Year resolutions,
which I don’t need to remind you never get fulfilled. Most of us do not meet
even a quarter of our resolutions. The truth is; we actually do not need New
Year resolutions. The reason why most of us live miserable for a whole year
working harder than donkeys is because we lack long-term goals and clear
direction for the future.
Any business
man or company CEO knows that a company or corporation cannot achieve its goals
without clear strategies and a clear roadmap. We spend long hours in the office
all year round trying to achieve the set outputs/result areas in our annual work
plans. The bitter truth that none of us like to hear is the fact that we’re
simply programmed robots of civilization, who spend all day trying to achieve a
rich man’s dreams. You wake up as early as 4:00am daily, leave the house by
5:00am to beat traffic, start working to fulfill another person’s dream and
vision by 8:00am, oh wait, make that 7:00am because of early meetings, order French
fries and soda for lunch because most of us have no time to cook, but if we’re
not doing very well on the budget then we go without lunch; leave the office
after 6:00pm to Pay less for transport and to again beat traffic and hopefully
consume less fuel on the way back home if we’re driving. See why I say we’re
simply programmed robots? And it’s not just us! Even our kids are conforming to
this sad reality. Children wake up just as early as we do, especially in
Nairobi, to prepare for school, beat traffic and get to school early for
morning preps. The kids burry their little heads in books all day trying to
achieve the best grades; get admitted to the best schools and hopefully earn a
slot in a public university or private, after which they’ll get into the work
market and continue with the robotic lifestyle we all seem to live.
More than
three quarters of the human population is simply existing and not living. We
pass through life like a seed, being blown to which ever direction the wind
takes us. Have you ever asked yourself who you really are and why you’re on
earth? One of my favorite books ‘The Science of Self-Realization’ by A.C.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, I don’t know why his name is that long, anyway
he says ‘We are given this human form of life not just to work hard like the
swine or dog, but to attain the highest form of perfection of life’. Do you
think you are on the path towards attaining the highest form of perfection and
eventual self-actualization? Every year, human beings are forced to work harder
for fewer wages.
The cost of
living has drastically increased over the last couple of years and seems to be
on a rising curve. This means we have to work even harder or take Kenyan ‘leaders’
route and steal from the poor in the quest to survive. The truth most Kenyans
need to realize is the fact that Kenya does NOT need an ‘Okoa Kenya’ project.
YOU AND I DO! Kenya as a country is ailing from corruption and slow development
because of YOU and ME. We continuously make the wrong decisions for our country
because our own lives are a total mess and we’ve no idea where we’re headed.
You and I
are not mere bodies placed on earth to conform to the current cycle of life,
which is; being born, go to school and bury yourself in books to attain the
best grades, choose a course in campus that will get you a good salary, get
married at 25 like everybody else, buy a house, oh wait, make that mortgage a
house in a leafy suburb for the next 15 to 25 years for a ridiculous cost that
doesn’t measure up to the face value of the particular house; buy a fuel
guzzler to maintain your image, which further strains your dwindling pay check;
get 2 cute kids and take them to the best schools by age 2 for which you’ll pay
exorbitant amounts in fees, panic by age 35 when you realize you have too many liabilities and are married to a person
you don’t love; develop ulcers, hypertension and diabetes by age 40 due to
stress and a miserable industrialized robotic lifestyle, get your first stroke by age 45, panic again
by age 50 when you realize retirement is around the corner and all you have to
show for your years of hard work is bills, loans, mortgages and poor health;
develop complications from the lifestyle diseases you’ve developed so far and
die miserably at 60. This is the sad reality most human beings are currently subjected
to, which is snowballing to our kids.
You and I need
to realize that we are spiritual bodies/souls, placed on earth by God for a
purpose. Do you really think and believe that God placed you on earth to be a
robot and slave to somebody else’s dream? If yes, then by all means go ahead
and keep up your current lifestyle. If No, which I think is where most of us lie,
something ought to change. Just like you faithfully sit for hours deliberating
on the best strategies to achieve your boss’s dream and develop a clear
detailed road-map for your employer, you too need a clear road map for your own
life. The reason why most of us get blown to whichever direction the current is
flowing is because we have idea which direction we should move in the first
place.
Just like a
dead fish will flow with the current, so will a man with no dream and clear road-map to achieve his/her goals.
What do you
intend to achieve in the next week or month? No idea? Then how do you intend to
achieve anything in your life if you’ve no idea where you are headed? For example,
if your goal for the next 5 years is to buy an apartment worth 8 million in
cash, you need to save at least 1.6 million every year, which translates to approximately
Ksh. 134,000 each month. If your total earnings are below that, then you need
to change your strategy in order to earn more, but NOT your goal. See, most of
us down-scale our dreams and goals each time a challenge presents itself,
instead of adjusting our strategies in order to achieve the dream!
More often
than not, your purpose is connected to your passion. There’s something we always
find ourselves attracted and inclined towards; that thing or things that put a
smile to our faces and makes us glow when we either think about them or when we
are actually implementing them. That’s one way to know what your life’s purpose
is.
At one point
in my life finding a job was a constant struggle and one day I actually had a
soul searching session with myself and questioned whether I was actually meant
to be an employee or employer. Most of us are in a constant struggle and tug-of-war
with life because we refuse to accept the fact we already know within
ourselves. Ever talked to a girl who asks you whether she should leave a bad
relationship? Well, it’s not that she doesn’t know she should leave; she’s just
scared of the unknown life beyond that relationship.
Quitting
that job you always have a long face waking up to go to might be the break you
need to point you in the direction to your purpose, which is basically doing
not only what you love, but what you were intended to do.
So, as 2016
starts, what you really need is NOT a new year’s resolution, but a clear vision
of what you want to achieve and a clear road-map on how to achieve it. Make clear
strategies (5 years or less depending on how soon you want to achieve your
goals); a monitoring of the strategy throughout the year, just to be sure you
are on course and an evaluation at the end of each year to ensure that you start
the next year on the right footing.
So, if you
know for a fact the job you’re doing right now will not help you achieve the
goals you’ve set, it’s time to re-strategize and start the new year on the
right footing. I know this is cliché but the journey to your self-actualization
starts with a single step, but not just any step. It must be a step in the
right direction. Making a step without knowing where that step is taking you is
stupid because as much as it will take you somewhere, it might not take you to
your destination.
In the New
Year, make a conscious decision to make the right choices and decisions not
only for yourself, but also your country. We expect a lot of politics in 2016
as the elections approach in 2017. It’s my prayer that ALL Kenyans are gifted
with discernment and wisdom to differentiate between the useless parroting and
insults we’re used to from politicians from true leadership which is usually
characterized by a clear vision for the country, achievable strategies to
achieve that vision and the will and commitment to actualize the vision. If you
keenly analyze Kenyan politics and compare that with your personal life, you’ll
realize why you and our so called leaders never achieve what we keep claiming
to do. Most of us seem to sleep-talk a lot and when we wake up we’ve no idea
how to achieve whatever it is we were blubbing in our sleep. Wait, it’s actually
verbal diarrhea. The strongest leaders, entrepreneurs and individuals dream
with their eyes open.
And
remember, your greatest wealth is not the wealth you run around and break your
back trying to make daily, but your health.
MAY 2016
BRING YOU JOY, HAPPINESS, PROSPERITY AND BLESSINGS. HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ME AND
THE ENTIRE STELLAR AFYA TEAM!
