Intention

Intentionality is a trait that we can all do with a little more of. You can wait for an invitation to a party or you can decide to hold one of your own. Life is not about a passive waiting for things to occur but rather an active pursuing of things you desire.

A Little Collection

I like writing-no secret there. I get a kick out of crafting sentences that inspire. I guess I have a love affair with the English language. There is a thrill when accosted by its written or spoken forms. So I collect articles-well written ones. The collection is small right now, but will grow with time. 

My collection is not purposeless though. I use it to learn from, to get ideas on how to write better articles. 

What do you collect?

Bigger Africa

Bigger Africa is a Global community that links people, and links dreams on the continent of Africa. Its vision empowers the three E’s: the entrepreneur, the employer and the employee. Bigger Africa aims to harness your potential, cultivate your competence and link you to the people or experiences you need in order to catapult you to a higher competing platform.

Check it out!

Momentum

Reading 'Think Big' by Donald Trump and Bill Zanker (Bill who you ask? Read and find out, but he knows a little about marketing-put the big name first!) What can I say, Trump can come across as an arrogant,no-nonsense, kick-ass, son-of-a-bitch (arrogance that is well deserved, he kicks rear anyway, I might have gone a little overboard on the last one though-his mother is probably not a bitch so apologies there Mrs Trump). I don't share Trump's value system, but this is still a great read. It is written in simple terms, gets your attention and gives some constructive insight into the mind of one of life's 'greats'. He is brutally honest and is probably not to concerned with your feelings; he's concerned with your success.

One of the issues he touches on is momentum. One of the reasons for a hiatus from this blog. Momentum is powerful in that the more you do, the more it builds. The converse is true. Stop and you will lose it all. I guess I lost a little momentum along the way and put regular posts on hold for a bit. Not the greatest confession but we move on...

Outliers

Finally managed to finish “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell . It’s only taken me about 2 months The reason for the length of time to get though it had little to do with reading effort, but rather the copy I was reading passed mysteriously across the ocean and I had to find another (in book starved Zimbabwe this is akin to ordering steak in a vegetarian restaurant).

In a nutshell, he takes you through stories of success and outlines some of the circumstances and events that have contributed to it (ever wondered why Asians are better at math-I now know! Of course I’m not telling you read the book yourself.). Each of us is a by-product of timing, opportunity, history and cultural bias (basically S**t happens type stuff). He points out the hand fate has had in shaping our lives (e.g. if Bill Gates were a couple of years older I wouldn’t be typing this on a Windows OS). He hints that we can change some of it. But, most of the time he leaves us blissfully ignorant of what we can do to alter our future and take full advantage of the hand we’ve been dealt. It does however tell you how to raise your kids a little better so at least the next generation gets a better shot.

Is it worth reading? Yes. But don’t expect any magic wand, just some serious thought provoking on where you have come from. Building your future based on this information in the book-well that part is pretty much up to you.

You don't need time management, you need value management.

Decide what's is important to you and focus on that.

Broadening Your Scope

Exposure enhances vision.

It is estimated that the average person in Africa is behind their international counterparts by about 10 years in terms of exposure to what the world has to offer. That’s despite the Web, although there are many in Africa that do not have access to it.

Each time I travel out of Zimbabwe I am reminded of what is lacking here, but also exposed to new and better things. This time was no different. The one thing I will say about America is that it is huge. It is a huge landmass for starters, but it has huge cities. I was amazed by the level of organisation that exists to keep a city as large as Seattle growing, functional and operational. Be it from planning roads to collecting the trash in a manner that prevents a Wall-E type disaster.

As an aside I’ve been to large cities before (J’burg, London) but have never really appreciated that side of things before. I guess greatness and magnification is what stood out for me most on this trip.

If you have the chance to travel outside of your comfort zone, to see the world seize it with both hands it’s worth it.