3D SUCCESS

Yesterday, I attended an online company meeting in which the Chairman of the company addressed us. After the formalities of presentations were done and dusted, the floor was opened to make comments or ask questions. During this time, the Chairman made some off the cuff remarks as he responded to comments/questions which got my attention and made me ponder. This time I had my notebook open and scribbled down my key highlights. The following are my top 3 statements and some possible lessons from them: i. “….. 5-10 years from now the whole world will be driving electric cars.....”. And here I am thinking about the big diesel propelled car which I can’t wait to buy in that time frame once my fortunes greatly improve. It didn’t bother me to factor in the general trend in that industry and how the world is more likely to change by then. It made me ask what other things in the world maybe changing: What careers or businesses will become obsolete? What changes can you make starting today to pu...

  Yesterday, I attended a wedding for my workmates which was a very colorful event.  Present at the event was our Managing Director whom I had a privilege of sitting next to during the church service. As we waited for the bride and groom to arrive, he told me about how he looked forward to attending weddings; “I look forward to the marriage blessing because each time I am   reminded on what I need to do maintain a happy marriage”. I thought that’s a great way to look at it. For me, it is mostly the food and entertainment. I then asked him what his secret was to the 26 years of marriage. Amongst the many pearls of wisdom, the one thing which stood out was doing things for your partner without expecting anything in return. “Do something special for your wife without expecting anything in return. Take the initiative and do not wait for special occasions or under certain conditions”. With this ammunition in mind, I set out to pay more than the usual attention during...

  At the Inauguration ceremony on Tuesday 24th August 2021, the key moment which effectively confirmed HH as the 7 th President was when he received a briefcase containing the instruments of power. The moment of handing over the briefcase (medal) took no longer than 5 seconds and made him the commander in chief of armed forces.   I remember thinking, “just like that; the most powerful person in the land”.   However, it wasn’t just like that in a literal sense. It has taken almost 20 years since the time he assumed the UPND presidency. And the road was not one without challenges and setbacks. What a fitting moment it is then.   What do we think when we see someone receiving a prize on a podium? When we see a pro athlete receiving a medal at the Olympics, a musician’s album on top of the charts, a student receiving his honors degree at a graduation ceremony or an entrepreneur who suddenly creates an “overnight” business success? – “Just like that his made i...

  If someone wants to be a writer or runner, they don’t cross their fingers and hope for a flash of inspiration to strike them least we call them naive. What is important is to start from where you are. If you want to be a runner, you start by going to run every day. The 1 st day after you run, you don’t call yourself a runner. However, if you go back the following days and do so for the next 30 days, you can now call yourself one. In order to reach the levels of world class athlete, this may require years of dedicated practice but at least you can comfortably say you on your way to becoming one. What is it that you really want to become in life? Start with the smallest action which you can take right now to move you in the direction you want to go. Do you want to be a writer, then start by writing one page about a particular topic you are interested in.  You can then write a page everyday for the next 30 days and this process will see you improve your writing. In the...

  I recently attended a luncheon with a buffet setup. The menu consisted of about 15 chaffing dishes all filled with deliciously prepared food. As I went to serve myself, I faced a challenge in deciding what to put on my plate as there was plenty of food.  I decided to check each chaffing dish before selecting what to put on my plate. I had two challenges by the time I completed checking namely, the plate couldn’t accommodate the food I wanted, and my stomach could only allow for so much. In the end, I simply got what I could manage to fill on the plate and finish. I could see people struggle to fill up their plates and barely managed to eat half of what they got not out of their willingness but because there was only so much, they could handle. You only have one mouth, and the ‘tummy’ can only take it in so much at a time and once it’s filled anything extra is not to your advantage. As this whole episode was unfolding, I thought about how this scenario plays out in ot...

  This is a question which I posed to myself sometime back in my journal. I left a small blank space on the page in which I had to fill in my answer within 2 sentences. It had to be precise. A good number of activities make me happy, but the question was not talking about happy but happiest, taunting me for an answer much deeper than what lies on the surface. Today, I had an experience which got me thinking and connected the dots to the answer I was searching for. And it came from the most unlikely of experiences. We are having a photo shoot session at my workplace as part of the company’s anniversary celebrations. Each branch of the business is tasked with taking a group photo of staff in uniform (smart white company shirt with tie) which is to be shared with the rest of the company prior to the commencement of the events. A group picture is taken for the branch staff outside the office premises. Upon completion a suggestion is made from amongst us to take some more photos w...

My country is currently preoccupied with the announcement of election results following the voting and subsequent counting of ballots. The opposition party is headed for victory as the incumbent is holding on to power though the writing is clearly on the wall as the people have spoken through the ballot. I couldn’t help but think of the 1 st thing which the opposition leader should do once he assumes office. I also kept looking back at how the incumbent and his party after 10 years (2 terms) in government can’t really point to much in terms of the concrete things they have done since ascending to power. It is very clear that a political party needs to have a well-defined goals and plan on how it will improve the standard of living of its citizens for that 5 year tenure of office through its manifesto. Once presented with the opportunity to lead, the party needs to follow through on its promises and deliver development to its citizenry. By so doing, they will put themselves in a be...

Yesterday, I found myself looking at google memory notification on my phone from 2 years ago. As I looked at the photos which happened to be from my friend’s wedding, I was prompted to check the other images from the event as well as other saved photos around that period. I was carried away for about 2 hours deleting pictures, videos from my phone over a 2-year period. In total, I deleted more than 2,100 images and I still had more to delete except that time was not on my side. This got me thinking. I have been having a challenge with space on my google drive as it has been showing me that it’s full. And yet, I have filled up my space with all kinds of irrelevant images including screen shots, pictures of shoes, pictures of crowds I don’t even know at weddings, graduations, parties, etc. This moment reminded me of my life as well. I fill up my days with activities which do not add any value to my life or those of others and end up coming to the end of the day tired and feeling like...

I was watching the Tokyo 2020 Olympic highlights which were showing the swimming finals. As I continued watching, I could not help but admire the determination and energy expended during the less than 1 minute of each race. In most cases, the races were under 25 seconds and that time was the most critical part of whatever it is they have been training for most of their lives. As I watched the swimmers move through the water with so much intensity and their entire mind and body moving in sync towards their goal of winning the race, I thought to myself what it really takes to be an Olympic athlete let alone a medalist. It certainly requires a lot of sacrifice and hard work to reach the pro athlete level. You need to prepare in most cases even 10 years before for our colleagues in the western world who start from primary school. Throughout this 10-year period, it takes a lot of daily training, eating healthy as well as mental preparation. It also requires starting from somewhere or as an ...

Today, 7th August, I share my 1st ever blog post. This is through a platform 3D success which was created on 1st August 2021. Just like the Apostle Paul, I am eager to share Gods gift to me with the rest of the world. And I know that Jehovah God out of his good pleasure will energize me giving me both the desire and power to act on my writing-Phillipians 2:13. SHARE WHAT I LOVE/LIKE/KNOW This is simply a platform on which I will share what I have learnt about my life through the various encounters and interactions on my lifes journey. It is not yet clear how I want this to go but I simply just want to share the ideas and lessons which have helped me do a little better on a daily basis. The journey of life has taught me a number of things. However, one thing which most people want out of life is to succeed and be happy. And there are different ways to succeed but one thing I know is just because you are or feel successful doesn't necessarily mean that you are happy.  This is because...