Innov8 Motivation

Manage What You Put In

2011-11-10T16:28:00.000+02:00

What you put in determines what you get. What you plant determines what you reap. To reap junk, sow junk. To become nothing simply be lazy and do nothing.

The Mind
What you put into your mind determines the way you life becomes. Your mind is the processing and control tower of your life. Feed you mind with good stuff and empowering information. Feed your mind with knowledge and information. Your life becomes listless when you stop feeding your brain. A starving brain is a burden to its owner.

The Body
What you put into your body and do with your body has a lot to do with how you feel about yourself. Your body is a great temple and the best vehicle on earth. How you treat your temple determines the level of respect that people will accord your religion of life. How you treat your vehicle determines how long you are likely to enjoy the vehicle. Maintenance is not an option for those who care for their vehicles. Mainteance of your life is also not an option if you desire greatness. If you put junk into your body, it will show. If you love and honour your body it will show. Your habits and lifestyle always in time show in your body.

The Spirit
Thats the real you. If you ignore your spirit you are ignoring you. Feed your spirit and exercise your spirit. You need many a time to let both your body and mind that the spirit is boss. The practice of prayer, meditation and contemplative thought are important spiritual exercises. Spiritual literature will also feed your spirit. Once your spirit is alert and active, you start moving faster because the spiritual level is fast and unconstrained.

So what are you feeding on today? Which part of you did you forget to feed?

Who has been pushing you around?

2011-10-20T17:14:00.000+02:00

Its easy to think, feel like and be a victim. Many people go through life looking for self-pity. Regrettably, there are no customers for self pity. No one owes you a living. If your life has to move forward you have to get up and start taking massive action.

Never let your problems and challenges push you around as though you are a dumb goat. Stress your stress and worry your worries. It's better to take action than to just observe and accept the status quo. Change never comes until you start to take some radical action to make things happen.

What action are you taking to make a difference? What did you do differently today?

Answering Your Call and Purpose

2011-10-18T15:44:00.002+02:00

Some names are difficult to pronounce and somethings are difficult to do. Nonetheless they must be done and every generation has a few people who choose to stand up, make a difference and change the course of history. Some of these people are not celebrated in their time and some of their contemporaries choose to spit on them. Yet, in a few years after their death, the tide changes and they are revered as heroes and visionaries. It is not the glory of today that matters, but the verdict of posterity. If generations yet unborn can applaud us, then we are truly great for our time and resources are borrowed from them.

Greatness is a choice. Those who follow the crowd will never be followed by the crowd. History will always forgive you if you are willing writer and not a mere observer in life. Go for your purpose and bite your bullet of destiny.

Effective Strategy - Strategy is Not Rituals.

2011-09-28T09:08:00.000+02:00

No organisation that is really serious about its reason for existence can dare operate without a strategy. Regrettably, not all strategies are effective. Leaders are responsible for developing and executing effective strategies. For strategy to be effective it must rise above mere rituals.

Strategy is not Formology

Some organisations have strategy templates which they expect their managers to mechanically fill in the name of strategy development and then present at a strategy conference held at some resort hotel. The forms usually have things like: vision, mission, values, SWOT, goals, etc.

While the intentions are good and noble. It is regrettable, that most of these forms are hurriedly completed and many times they are a cut-paste-change date affair, created to impress senior managers who will question this and that but this exercise rarely constitutes real strategic thinking or meaningful strategic conversations. Regrettably sometimes these templates are filled out the night or morning before a strategy conference. This is a sophisticated form of self deception that neither helps organisations to lift performance nor help the organisations to change and improve things.

This perhaps explains why many organisations are frustrated with their strategy processes that do not any rain. Although they sit through the so called strategy sessions, they find that little or no execution really takes place. Strategy is not formology - the mere filling out of glorified forms.

Strategy is not Religion

For some organisations strategy is treated the same way we take religious rituals: no questioning, always the same way, same period, same format, no real concern for results. When your strategy setting takes the form of a mere ritual, performed to gratify higher corporate beings, you are headed for trouble and you are wasting resources.

Innov8 Strategy Services works with organisations to confront the realities of their businesses and develop effective strategies that raise the game. If you would like us to discuss your strategy please drop me an email at: milton@innov8.co.zw

Execute or Leave Office!

2011-09-22T12:31:00.000+02:00

Leaders create and champion strategy. Without execution leadership is lost and has no value to an organisation. Good strategy is far better than bad strategy. Most strategies do not fail because they are poor. They fail because people take strategy to be an academic exercise and ritual.

Strategy is the ground of organisational life or death. The purpose of strategy is execution. The essence and content of execution should be strategy. Getting things done is an important and critical discipline. Without this discipline things fall apart.

Any executive who does not execute is not worth to be one and will likely not be one for long. As competition intensifies, the intensity of execution must also rise. Failing to raise your execution tempo is a choice for the death of the organisation. Regrettably, no competitor will execute for you.

Why is that most organisations do not execute? There are many reasons. One of the reasons is veiled laziness. It is easy to be busy doing and doing things but not executing strategy. Routine business activities are not strategy but just that: routine. Leaders who are obsessed with routine are corporate terrorists. You cannot afford to be lazy by being busy. Execution is about results not a litany of veiled and imbelished excuses. In the heat of battle excuses simply do not count as merits of valor.

Every business is potentially a good business. What makes the difference is the person managing or controlling it. Boiled to its essence what makes the difference is the quality and intensity of execution. Execute, when you do you will have very little competition.

Choose to Think!

2011-09-12T23:49:00.002+02:00

Choose to start a new page and start thinking like you should. Think positively. There is always something that you can do if you are willing to be creative and to think. There are no locked doors in life but lazy and closed minds.

Choose to start a new chapter and start thinking like you should. Think big. Size is only a perspective. You can do more and be more, only if you are willing to go for it. Change the size of your thinking by changing the size of the challenges that you choose to exercise your mind on. If you camp on survival issues you will forever be a victim of donors.

Choose to start a new book and start thinking like you should. Think differently. If you continue doing the same things that you have always done you are fast losing your relevance. Choose to change your actions, field and level of play. Do something that you have never done, go somewhere you have never gone. It takes a choice for you to grow. Refuse to be stuck in a rut. Your mind is there ready and equipped to be fully employed. You can never blame the brain supplier!

What are you thinking about? How big are your thoughts? Do you have a thinking schedule? How do you think and where are your thoughts recorded?

Make Your Strategy Work!

2011-08-30T10:35:00.000+02:00

Strategy is like a pregnancy: It is relatively easy to conceive, with the right midwife (facilitator) but difficult to deliver (execute). Most progressive organisations take time at least once per year to review their strategies and develop annual strategies or work-plans. Some set up longer term strategies for three to five years.

It’s not so much the periodicity of the strategy but whether the strategy is working and effective. Your strategy should be tested often for relevance, effectiveness and performance. Strategies should also be reviewed often in order to ensure that they maintain their motivational power and flame.

You cannot navigate new territory using an outdated map. Change is happening fast and strategies must factor in the changes almost dynamically in order to maintain the edge. An organisation that loses its strategic edge is a mere accident waiting to happen.

What the competitive neighbours are doing is well and great. It should never be ignored. The challenge is whether your strategy is well suited for your organisation. Yes, you must factor global and local realities in planning. You then need to confront the brutal facts of your business and ask if the path you are moving in has goodness of fit. Organisations must learn to swim or run in their chosen lanes.

How effective is your strategy? How up to date is it? Is it worth being called a strategy at all? What if your fiercest competitor saw your strategy - would they laugh or panic?

Where is your heart?

2011-08-16T14:48:00.000+02:00

Where your heart is - there will your treasure be. If your heart is not in your work all you bring to it a life and passion-less motion and involvement. When there is a heart in any work it shows. Where is your heart? Do people feel and sense your passion?

Many people talk of your purpose. The reason why you were born, the thing for which you live and are willing to die. The only problem is that for most people purpose seems to be a mystery. Does it mean that if I have not discovered my purpose I am any less of a human being? I think I have some ideas that could help those who have found their purpose and those who are still confused about it. Mine is a simple and direct solution and anyone can use it immediately.

Commit to doing your best everyday in every way. You are not practicing to live. Everything in life is connected to everything else. Your purpose is connected to and works together with everyone's purpose. Commit to doing the best you can in this moment. What you are doing today is a foundation for the future. What you are doing today does not matter - what matters is what it is doing to you and in you. When you commit to excellence you develop habits of excellence and responsibility.

You Have More in You Than You Think!

2011-08-11T18:15:00.000+02:00

Who has been lying to you? You are not small regardless of what your situations, parentage, ethnicity or genetics may have suggested. You have God living within you - you are a child of God, heir to the universe. You are a mover and shaker. You are a catalyst and an agent provocatuer. You make things happen! If you can only decide to.

You can count the number of seeds in an orange, or apple. However, you can never count the number of fruits that are stored in a seed. Every seed is a promise of a forest of possibilities - your life’s possibilities. Every seed is a metaphor of you. You carry a great genetic code in everything that is you. You have far more potential than you can imagine. You are able to do so much more. I thank God for your achievements to date but most likely those achievements only represent 3% of your real potential. Let the seeds in you germinate. Find your space.

The world is waiting for your gifting, your product, your idea and you. Go forth now and do something with all that is in you.

Are You in Procession!

2011-07-12T17:15:00.000+02:00

Set your goals and make them big, hairy and scary. The next natural step is procession. In my life’s dictionary, this is the art of translating high level goals into simply small regular steps that you take persistently until you reach your destination. In the engine compartment of a steam train it is hot. Imagine shoveling coal all night as the steam engine snails its way from Cape Town to Lusaka. You do not get off the train because it has stopped for too long at a station. You do not alight simply because the journey is now too boring and you would rather cycle. You stay put on the train. This is the essence of procession - stay put doing what you know takes you there.

When you miss the law of procession you miss progress towards your goals. My life’s turning point came while reflecting on my growing up days, seeing trains daily from our factory compound home that I got an Aha! moment - procession! You may feel like you are snailing towards your goals; never give up as long as you are moving. You may feel like getting off the train, please stay put. Success is an investments. Greatness is a result of compounding efforts.

Change Your Nation!

2011-07-06T08:32:00.000+02:00

Most people wish they could be in place of power in order to change their communities. We do not need to wait that long. We all have power to start a change process. The power is near you - in your mouths and within easy reach.

Whenever you open your mouth to speak you are creating a culture. You are either reforming or deforming the nation. The cumulative of the words people speak in a nation determines their national culture and psyche. To change our nations, we have to change what and how we speak. We cannot keep talking like a colony and hope to create our own identity or space. We cannot lampoon business people and hope to be a great entrepreneurial giant. We cannot disparage our cultures and hope to win the admiration of others. I wish there was a better way to say this: WE are our own worst enemy! The moment we face up to this reality, we can start on the path to change. This applies at all levels. Until we take responsibility for where we are and what brought us here we will never go somewhere else. When words have not changed, life remains stagnant and boring. The time for change is now - change your words my friend!

Be a Goal Minder!

2011-06-29T14:36:00.000+02:00

The word “Goals” is synonymous with “Success.” You cannot talk of success without talking about goals. Success without goals is empty - it cannot be quantified, its just not exciting. Without goals there are no milestones to clear. Goals put adrenalin to the journey and game of greatness.

In most ball sports, be it hockey or soccer, there is always a goal minder. Someone whose sole purpose is to guard and defend the goal. This person never strays far from the goal posts. If he does it will be for a very brief strategic role, but the goal is always covered. The goal minder is carefully chosen and his role is critical for success. In soccer, the great goal minders like Peter Nkomo “Oxo” or Bruce Grobellar live in our memories for ever.

Why don’t you carry this thought to your daily personal or business goals: be a goal minder. Guard and protect your goals. Always be obsessed with your goals, regardless of whether you are winning at the moment or not. It’s a great faux paux to have an empty unguarded goal. A goal that is not being pursued is a weak prayer.

My Father, Celebrate Your Father!

2011-06-19T10:43:00.002+02:00

Today I remember my father. He passed away on the 13th of April 1995. I had just started my career journey and my life was beginning to take some shape. He had ambition and wished me all the success. He took my to a school that he did not really afford, but he just wanted the best for me. I would see him struggle to pay my fees, put together the supplies I needed. He had dreams for me. He hoped that one day I would make it and perhaps become great.

Today I wish he was here. I have not arrived at all but I am still buoyed by his spirit, dreams and hopes. I continue to strive on - and perhaps I will one day arrive at the place he dreamt of. I remember my father, on this father’s day.

As I remember my father I also wish to salute every father today. The dreams that you share with your children matter. Your struggles to better a child are not hidden. Yes, it may look like children do not see it, but its recorded in their minds and one day they will warm themselves in the glow of those dreams.

Happy fathers day! Should you be in Harare, we are open today at Insignia Bookshop (at Joina City) and Arundel Bookshelf (at Arundel Village). We have something special for every father.

I also ask myself today, what sort of father am I? Do my children learn from me? Do I inspire my wife? Do I make my children proud?

Read to Your Children

2011-06-18T20:44:00.002+02:00

Like everything else worth doing and being it is passed on. Parents that do not read are infecting their children with a terrible reading disability.

Read for your children. It has been proven that you do not have to wait for your child to be born to start reading for him or her. Start reading to your baby while in the womb. It creates a literary culture and connection. This is not just for mothers but for fathers too. It bonds families.

When your baby is born, read to the her. Young children are known to love playing with water. This is why there are baby bath books. Books that infants can dad while enjoying a warm soapy bath.

As children grow so must what you read for them. Reading for your children is responsible parenting. A good bookshop will stock books for the family and for all ages. It will make reading a joy and not a chore.

This my friends is the spirit that drives Insignia Bookshop and all the Innov8 Bookshop outlets. Come with your children to the bookshop. Let them wonder around the children's zone. Let them know that every Saturday or Wednesday we go to the bookshop. Creating a reading culture is a generational responsibility and a major key to national reformation. A nation that does not read is a blind an irresponsible nation.

Think Differently, Think All the Time.

2011-06-07T11:15:00.002+02:00

The rarest thing in life and business is innovative thinking. I find that most organizations state innovation as one of their corporate values. Yet, most companies pay lip service to innovation and the capture and deployment of ideas. Your thinking will always limit or expand your world.

Think and Capture Your Thoughts
Thoughts are fragile. They need to be capture while they are fresh. The modern age has made capturing thoughts easy. You could use a journal or simply a note book will just be fine. Some people prefer voice notes that they record on their cellphones or digital devices. Tablet Computers, like the iPad, are easy to carry around and use for this purpose as well, beside other computing needs. Your thoughts create your world. You are the only one who can think your thoughts and carry your thoughts.

Use Thinking Models.
There are many thinking tools and models that help one to think and create ideas. There are traditional and well used models for thinking and looking at issues strategically. These include the SWOT analysis, the PEST analysis. I am a fan of models that help me look at life and business differently. When I facilitate strategy I find the Ansoff Matrix, the Four Action Frame work and the Strategy Adaptability models powerful. When I look at my time and facilitate personal effectiveness workshops, I find the Time Management Matrix compelling. When I work with teams, I find the Johari Window illuminating. There are many other tools, but hey you can never finish them. New models are being created daily. The good thing is you can create yours.

Live So Fully, That You'll Die Empty

2011-05-13T21:55:00.002+02:00

Live Fully, Die Empty!

I once heard that people have three principal fears. the first is the fear of death. The second is the fear of public speaking. The third is the fear of dying while giving a speech. The fear of death seems to be so universal and that is why many people dread the prospect of dying. For some the prospect or the discussion of death is a morbid subject that they would rather avoid. Well, I wish there was another way of getting out of this world which is not death. Regrettably, its the only way out as of now. All those that checked in at birth have to check out at death. That includes you and me. The real point is not whether you will die or not, but how you will die.

Used Up
If you will die decide to die fully used up. Use all the talent and potential that you have. Tap fully every muscle and idea. Die so used up that you will leave everything you brought into the world. The worst form of selfishness is dying with your talent, books, songs, ideas and potential still bound up in you.

The joy and feat of life is not self preservation. It is to be used up for some worthy purpose. To die so used up that in life you do not regret having passed through this way and in death you just fly on.

Worked Up
We learn that for the righteous death is entering a world of rest. So, why preserve your energy. Work! What will you do with eternal rest if you have been lazying and lounging around? Work is not a curse but a blessing.

Work every time that you are at work. Work is a great blessing. It is the channel of creation. It is our way of channel our energies into some worthy projects and occupations. Worthy work will always be rewarded.

Thought Up
The saddest thing one can do is to carry around a head for his time here on earth and fail to use that head for some useful thinking. When you die - your brain must admit that it was used up to think up, strategize up, plan up and visualize up. To live and not to think is the worst of brain abuse. Any abuse is bad - brain abuse is worst.

Live is full and is bountiful. Live to the full. This day is the tomorrow that you so raved about yesterday. The work of today cannot be redeemed by the efforts of tomorrow. If you will ever die - do so while living at your peak!

Start! Why are you waiting?

2011-04-22T17:06:00.000+02:00

Many people can talk, argue and debate. However, without starting nothing happen. You cannot wait for every traffic light to turn green before you pull off your driveway and start your journey. You cannot wait for the whole world to applaud before you can dare venue. Start - It put concequencies in motion.

The genius is in the start. If you never start nothing may ever happen. The beginning may feel and look clumsy. So long as your vision is clear - go on. Take the action. Hesitation leads to missed opportunities. A friend of mine, Jonathan Wutawunashe wrote a book aptly titled: "Fulfill your threats." you cannot threaten action forever. At some point you have to engage action and start. The journey to a million dollars starts with a single cent. Anything you start can compound to greatness. Unfortunately nothing always compounds to nothing.

Once you start, do not stop until the destination is in sight.In talking about babies, they are relatively easy to conceive, challenging to carry and need labour to deliver. The same is true with any dream, strategy or plan. You need bravery and courage to start and then continue. Keep to the knitting. One day at a time is not too difficult or impossible.

The Quest for Space

2011-04-15T07:04:00.000+02:00

Perhaps the biggest challenge and battle of life is the battle for space. Advertisers climb over each other, try every tool in order to secure space in our minds. Your dream and vision is also looking for space.

Space is there - all the the time. Its how you see that matters. If you are willing to think differently you will begin to see differently. If you are willing to learn something new you will see more space than you thought was available.

Learn daily, think daily. Its amazing how much opportunity is waiting for you to be ready. Now is your time to shine and be what you were born to be. There is space for you in the sun!

Talk Your Dreams into Reality

2011-04-14T15:49:00.000+02:00

Dreams can easily die if you do not verbalise them. Words are powerful and words are things. They are spirit and they are life or death. Talk about your dream and talk to your dream. Amplify your dreams with your mouth. When you share your dream with people of like-mind you strengthen the dreams. When you share your dreams you never know who is listening and who is willing to support them. There is more support that is available in the world than you can use. Its just that people do not know what your dreams are. People cannot support what they do not know.

God will never move to help you realize your dreams when He does not know about your dreams. Talk to Him about the dream.

When you verbalise your dreams you are fertilising them with power, force and form. Words are not cheap - they are production energy.

Where do you come from?

2011-04-13T10:51:00.000+02:00

Age is a blessing and not a liability, unless you think so. You can tell a person’s age by the questions they ask. When I meet anyone who is my parent’s age they always have two important questions that they will ask: What is your totem and where do you come from? In my part of Africa you cannot simply come from some urban or farming area. There has to be some rural home that you are identified with. It does not matter when you were last there or how many times you have been there. Your rural home to that generation is your real home. This mindset was birthed and ingrained by the colonial system.
Past is past:
Recently I was reflecting on the question: ‘Where do you come from?’ and I thought it would be a great subject to discuss in today’s installment of Unleashing Greatness. You are where you are because of where you have come from. However, the most important thing may not be where you have come from but that you are here and you are going somewhere. If you know where you have come from but have no idea where you are going to you are lost. Tracing your feet back to the past that is gone could just be an exercise if futility. The challenge for my generation is to ask everyone we meet: “Where are you going to?”

Return on Energy

2011-02-07T06:27:00.002+02:00

Life is all about how you use your energy. Unfortunately it is impossible to always be on the high energy frequency all the time. Those who achieve greatness know that they have to periodically take time to recharge, sharpen and inflame their energy. How?

Find people that inspire. Each of us is like a live torch. Your energy lights up other people and you frequently need to fellowship with people that inspire you. Life is too big for you to run yourself weary and into the ground. There is always someone who can inspire you. - through their book, conversation or manner.

Go to places that inspire. There are places that inspire new strength and renewal. Visit those places often. For someone it could be a cathedral, a park or a garden. Whenever I visit the Victoria falls I find its majestic sight always awe inspiring. Some historical site just bear testimony to the power do the human spirit. Best of all I find places of worship inspiring.

Be open for inspiration. Life is this giant inspirational menu. Every day, every where there is something great to inspire and challenge you. The very next person you sit next to, the article you read. The next tweet that comes through your time line. Inspiration is everywhere for everyone who is aware and willing to tap in.

Leverage and express your energy fully.

New Beginnings

2010-11-02T17:45:00.002+02:00

In life we always must be taking steps to begin again, start anew. Without sharpening the saw the blade will become blunt and ineffective. Without renewal, strength will wane and motivation dies.

For me this day is a new launch in my work and mission. I am setting higher goals and ideas. I am challenging my limits and extending my reach. I am tired, of being tired, of being tired with life in the ordinary. I want new dimensions, new challenges and a new reach.

Its new beginnings for me. New bigger and bolder goals. Bigger horizons and further reach. I am taking new steps and new strides. I want to tap all my ability and gifting. I want to be the best that I could ever be. I take giant steps and move mountains.

The Power of Penetration

2010-11-02T17:39:00.002+02:00

Whatever area you do not penetrate, you cannot influence. I have been inspired listening to Pastor Andrew Wutawunashe share an amazing message on the power of penetration. He said that there can be no fruitfulness with penetration. Whatever area you do not enter into will continue to be excluded territory.

Get a glimpse of the work of this great man on www.africanrevival.com

PERSISTENCE your ally for breakthrough

2008-12-01T11:55:00.001+02:00

The cause of the confusion prevailing in your mind that weakens your thoughts is the false belief that there is a power or powers outside you greater than the power within you. Stop and think about that. What keeps you from attempting greater things and reaching for the diamond ring in your life? What makes you take that great idea that could make your family financially free and bury it underneath a lot of reasons why it would never work? What stops you from that career change that would result in working in a profession you could really enjoy? There's only one thing that ever stops you from forward momentum and that is lack of persistence. When the going gets tough you quit.

James Allen expressed well what persistence is in his all time classic book called ‘As A Man Thinketh’ when he said "Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose, as he must until weakness is overcome, the strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting point for future power and triumph."

From general observation you will notice that when most young children are given a puzzle to solve or put together that is especially challenging, most will make a good effort at solving it, but if unsuccessful will soon lose interest and abandon it. Some will even become angry at their failure to solve it and may throw a tantrum. Contrast that with the experienced puzzle player who proceeds to put the puzzle together with an air of certain confidence that they will complete it. They know that they have all of the pieces of the puzzle before them so it is only a matter of finding out which pieces work where and once that's done the puzzle will be complete. Putting a piece in the wrong place is not a cause for concern; it's simply another step toward putting all of the pieces in their proper place.

I think of all the times in my life when I acted like a young child in dealing with the current puzzle in my life. Instead of turning over and trying the next piece, I got angry and walked away from the puzzle, seeing the puzzle as a problem instead of as an opportunity. Napoleon Hill, author of the classic Think and Grow Rich, knew Thomas Edison and Henry Ford personally. He said of both men that the only thing that was different about them from everyone else was their persistence. This actually gives rise to an interesting thought. Where would our civilization be today if either man had treated his puzzles like the impatient young child and quitted? To the uninitiated, Thomas Edison invented the light bubble and Henry Ford invented the first automobile.

When you don't have all of the pieces of your puzzle on the table, you need to stop, identify them and get them on the table before proceeding. If, however, you've got them on the table, then take the approach of the experienced puzzle player. When they don't fit don't quit, try another piece or move them to another place. While you're at it, learn another valuable lesson from great puzzle players. They don't just enjoy completing the puzzle; they delight in putting it together.

Napoleon Hill thought persistence was a pretty important key to success that he used the word 97 times in his book Think and Grow Rich and he devoted an entire chapter to it. Some of his wisdom includes, "The majority of people are ready to throw their aims and purposes overboard, and give up at the first sign of opposition or misfortune. A few carry on despite all opposition, until they attain their goal. There may be no heroic connotation to the word "persistence," but the quality is to the character of man what carbon is to steel." And that my friend is worth thinking about.

In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could and should, is mainly attributable to their lack of persistence.

CHOICE your power to change destiny

2008-11-21T10:20:00.003+02:00

Over the years I have met and observed many people and each and every one of them say they want some improvement in certain areas of their lives. In fact, most of them flat out confessed that they hated certain situations they were in. But after further evaluations, I discovered that they weren't willing to do anything about it with the exception of a very few. It seemed to be good enough for them to just sit there and wallow in their pain, anguish and misery. The most important thing that you should know is that your dreams and your destiny aren't determined by chance but by choice. Unfortunately, due to the current economic hardships besieging our beloved country, so many people haven't dreamed in so long that they actually don't even know what they want any longer. You have got to choose to continue stirring up that dream inside of yourself.

The power of choice is best captured in this story that I am going to narrate to you which goes as follows … One day a man was walking down the street on his way to work. As he walked down the street, there were dogs on just about every front porch and they all would bark as the man walked passed them. However, there was one dog that he remembered, because this dog was just sitting there and he was whimpering and whining and moaning, you know the little whimpering sounds dogs make when they are wounded or in some sort of pain.

Well, this particular dog was just sitting there on the front porch making those sounds. The man was curious as to why this dog wasn't barking like the other dogs and why he was whimpering. He couldn't figure it out, so he just kept walking to work. Well, this went on for the entire week and everyday when he passed by this house, the dog would be there moaning and groaning. So, finally, the guy got fed up, he said, "let me find out what's going on." So he went and knocked on the door and a guy came out and said, "Yes, how may I help you?" He said, "Sir, is this your dog?" "Yes, that's my dog." "Well, what's wrong with him?" The owner of the dog said, "What do you mean?" "Well, he's been sitting here moaning and groaning, whimpering and whining for an entire week. The rest of the dogs are barking, your dog should be barking too, why is he moaning and groaning?" The owner said, "Well, he's actually sitting on a nail." And the guy said, "What! Your dog is sitting on a nail. Why doesn't he get off?" To which the owner replied "Well, it just doesn't hurt him enough."

You know most people are like that dog sitting on a nail. I mean, sure, they would like to get off the nail, but instead, they just sit there on that nail because they're not sure what's going to happen if they get off. They never seem to stop to consider that maybe they would be able to move about and discover some new and exciting options for their lives. Even though it's not comfortable sitting on a nail, it kind of hurts, but at least they know what to expect. It is very sad that for most people if they can pay their bills and put food on the table and some clothes on their back plus a roof over their heads, that's enough for them. They just want to tip toe through life so that they can arrive at the graveyard safely and avoid facing any life challenges that are legendary in scope and have potential of advancing the well being of humanity.

Of course this will not be you simply because, instead of moaning and groaning, whimpering and whining about not getting the results you desire, you now know that you have the power of choice and today you will choose to get off that nail and create the conditions you desire for your future. There is great lesson I learnt from Alice in Wonderland an animated motion picture I once watched where Alice asked a cat, "Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?" The cat answered, "That depends a great deal on where you want to go." Alice said, "Oh, I don't much care." He answered, "Then it really doesn't matter which way you go."

You owe it to yourself to periodically ask yourself the following questions: Which way do I want my life to go? What do I really want in life? Answers to these question gives you your choice and you are in control as well as endowed with the power to shape the destiny you desire based on the choices you make today. Quit blaming others for your disappointments. Make a quality decision to get up and get going. So until next time, remember you can have anything in life you want if you know what you want.

PERSUASION: the magnet of greatness

2008-11-07T11:32:00.002+02:00

Nothing attracts success and greatness like the art of persuasion. Without mastering this subtle, yet very powerful tool your altitude of success is in jeopardy. This is one weapon that everyone who is serious about success must have in their arsenal. You do not need to look very far to see the co-relation that persuasion has with success. It is very evident in the lives of those who have mastered and effectively applied the tool. The whole volume of the bible is full of the Word of God persuading every reader and hearer of the Word to serious consider knowing and following God’s ways if they want to enjoy all the goodness that He has prepared for those that follow Him. Seriously think about this, with all His wisdom, mighty and power, God chose persuasion to reveal Himself to humanity, this should tell you something.

In America we are witnessing history being made by the charismatic US president elect Barack Obama, who has without hesitation fully utilized the art of persuasion with such tenacity that it literally begged for mercy. To appreciate persuasion at work here is an extract from Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, I quote “Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story, of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to. It is that promise that's always set this country apart, that through hard work and sacrifice each of us can pursue our individual dreams, but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams, as well. That's why I stand here tonight. Because for 232 years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women; students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors found the courage to keep it alive”.

“Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit cards, bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach. These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush. Tonight, I say to the people of America, to Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land: Enough. This moment, this election is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. We are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look just like the last eight”. Who can blame John McCain for losing against such an opponent who ruthlessly uses the power of persuasion? It was through persuasion that millions of voters put their faith and the future of their country into the hands of a 47 year old black man who made history both because of his race and in spite of it.

I believe all successful persuaders are a result of having been successfully persuaded at some time in their lives. What a strange world it would be if there were no persuaders. Life is one continuous series of persuasions. At home it is the parent persuading the child, the child persuading the parent, the salesman persuading the prospect, the lawyer persuading the jury, the boy persuading the girl or the politician persuading his constituency.

To be a persuader you must be persuaded and in order to continue to grow we must practice the art of persuasion. The old saying, "Nothing succeeds like Success," fits the persuader perfectly. The earlier in life you begin, the fuller your life will become. It is only in sharing and giving that we realize what we have, and we can give nothing better than persuading others to worthwhile goals, right motives and eternal values.

I think it is safe to say that sometimes in our lives we will be persuaded to become positive persuaders seeking to give and share, or we'll not be persuaded and spend the rest of our lives waiting for a break, taking and keeping. I hope these thoughts on persuasion have increased your awareness of the great privilege and obligation of the persuader. The world needs one more positive persuader. Today let that person be you.

Profit from Adversity

2008-11-03T11:21:00.000+02:00

It is easy to profit from the positive winds and seasons of favour. This does not take any effort. The real challenge in life is to profit from your disappointments. Every disappointment is an appointment with destiny. Every delay does not signal that the journey is over.

It is true that emotions will take their toll. Truly great people are able to get up and keep going even if they are hardest hit. The spirit of greatness is shown in one's ability to rise up and take another short in the midst of challenge and adversity.

I have had my own share of setbacks and disappointments. In fact I face disappointments on a day to day basis, but they are never enough to get me down and make me abandon my dreams. I know that every little blow adds up to something. Every bite of the cherry moves me forward. Every step in the right directions gets me closer to my goal.

Your adversity usually leads you to lonely places where you have to define and redefine many things in life. I like this little poem that I met in my reading:

"To walk down a path where great men have been is an honour itself,
For a few privileged men.
But to blaze one's own trail unequaled to thee;
Is a tribute to greatness that few men shall see."

Committed to your greatness

Milton Kamwendo

COURAGE: your spring board to success

2008-10-28T09:22:00.002+02:00

The most important thing about a man is what he believes in the depth of his being. This is the thing that makes him what he is, the thing that organizes him and feeds him; the thing that keeps him going in the face of untoward circumstances; the thing that gives him resistance and drive. Somehow I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secrets of making dreams come true. This special secret is curiosity, confidence, constancy and courage, and the greatest of all is courage.

The importance of courage is best captured in the Holy Bible in the book of Joshua the first chapter when Joshua took over from Moses a great prophet of God to lead the children of Israel to enter and occupy the promised land. The Israelites had failed to possess the land for 40 years because they feared the giants that inhabited the promised land. God told Joshua to be strong and have courage three times since He knew that this was the most important quality that would enable Joshua to accomplish the challenging task that was before him. When you believe in a thing, and have the courage to carry out, implicitly and unquestionable, you will achieve it.

The key to having everything you want lies in expanding your definition of what’s possible and focusing on what you want. That’s it! Once you believe in the possibility of anything and focus in on exactly what you want to have, exactly what you want to do, then your mind can take you there. Your minds will believe whatever you convince it to believe. So, why aren’t you living out your dreams? What’s stopping you? Courage is what you require to awaken your dreams and start living the life you’ve always wanted to live.

There are several different aspects of courage. Perhaps the most important is the courage to endure, to persist, to "hang in there" in the face of doubt, uncertainty and criticism from others. There is need to practice patience in adversity. This is called "courageous patience," the willingness and the ability to "stay the course" in the face of uncertainty, doubt and often criticism from many quarters.

In my experience, there is a critical time period between the sowing of a seed which could be embarking on a new venture and the harvest which is in this instance the results that come from that venture. During this hiatus, this waiting period, many people lose their nerve. They cannot stand the suspense of not knowing, of possible failure. They break and run in battle, they quake and quit in business. But the true courageous person is he who can stand firm, who refuses to consider the possibility of failure. The turning points of many key moments in human history have been the resolution, or lack thereof, of one person. Courageous patience is the acid test of leadership.

To encourage others, to instill confidence in them, to help them to perform at their best requires first of all that you lead by example. To help alleviate the fears of failure and rejection in others is to encourage them to take calculated risks and allow honest mistakes. Give the people who look up to you regular praise and approval. Celebrate good tries as well as success, large and small. Create a psychological climate where people feel safe from censure, blame or criticism of any kind. Then do things that make people feel terrific about themselves.

Courage comes from acting courageously on a day-to-day basis. Your personal development goal should be to practice the behaviors of a totally fearless person until you become, in your own mind, unstoppable. Here are two ways for you to develop courageous patience. Firstly, prepare yourself in advance for the inevitable disappointments and setbacks you will experience on the way to your goal. Don’t be surprised when they occur. Secondly, resolve in advance that you will bounce rather than break and continually encourage others to think and act the same way. Dare to go forward. Courage is the mark of greatness in leadership

THE ART of earning money

2008-10-22T08:57:00.001+02:00

This is a very topical global subject marred with controversy and complexity. Earning money is what is at the core of any profitable business establishment whether big or small. Since earning money is the very reason that millions of people jump out of the comfort of their beds at dusk and only to return home at dawn, I am heavily compelled to talk about this very captivating subject that had kept sages awake trying to understand how money has turned the wheels of commerce and revolutionize humanity. There is a very real possibility that everything you and I have been taught about how to earn money is so far from the truth that it's almost comical. The first thing that I want you to know concerning what you heard about money is that you don’t make money, you earn it: earning money is virtuous whilst making money is a criminal activity.

Earning money has nothing to do with age, formal education, gender or geography. It has nothing to do with past experience or your formal years of education or your level of intellect. The world is full of examples of individuals who are functionally illiterate who become multi-millionaires, while there are others who are absolutely brilliant and very broke. Virtually anyone can be taught how to earn millions of dollars and yet the sad truth is that most people are born, live their entire lives, and die without ever learning how to earn money. To perpetuate this ridiculous problem, their ignorance is passed along from one generation to the next. There has always been a small, select group of our population, who clearly understand that prosperity consciousness is the primary cause of wealth and their prosperity consciousness, like ignorance, is also passed down from one generation to the next.

Our school system has been designed as an environment to enlighten young minds, to replace ignorance with understanding and thereby improve the quality of life. Our educational system has obviously been successful in many areas. However, it has woefully neglected one important subject, "How to Earn Money." You can earn a doctorate degree in economics and have little or no knowledge of how to earn money. A lack of understanding in this area is the cause of numerous unwanted and unnecessary problems, since money is the medium of exchange that is used worldwide to access products and services.

Let's us now look at what money really is. Money is a reward you receive for the service you render. The more valuable the service, the greater the reward. Thinking of ways you can be of greater service will not only help you earn more money, it will also enable you to grow intellectually and spiritually. Money is also an idea. The paper you fold and place in your purse or pocket is not money. It is paper with ink on it representing money. The earning of money has nothing to do with the paper notes you see, but has everything to do with consciousness. This explains why so many people who embark on a quest to collect the notes have failed since such a mindset makes money as elusive as a mirage.

To accumulate wealth, a person must become very comfortable with the idea of money. That may sound strange, however most people are not comfortable with the idea of money, which is why they do not have any. The cause of poverty is poverty consciousness. A poverty consciousness will cause a person to see, hear, smell, think and feel lack and limitation. The late Mike Todd said, "Being broke is a temporary situation. Being poor is a mental state." I believe he was very correct since there are wealthy people who lose every cent they have through a series of mistakes in judgment, but they will have it all back in a short time because of their prosperity consciousness.

There are three income earning strategies. Firstly there is trading time for money, by far the worst of the three income earning strategies. An inherent problem with this strategy is saturation. You run out of time. If a person accumulates any degree of wealth employing this strategy, it will be at the expense of a life. You compromise on the car you drive, the house you live in, the clothes you choose and the vacations you take. You rarely, if ever, get what you want.

Secondly is investing money to earn money. This strategy is used by approximately 3% of the population. The number is small for the obvious reason that very few people have any money to invest. Many people who effectively employ this strategy follow the advice of a trusted, knowledgeable advisor. Last but not least is leveraging yourself to earn money. This is where you multiply your time through the efforts of others by setting up multiple sources of income. This is, without question, the very best way to increase your income. You must make a decision to have many sources of income; it's the strategy that wealthy people have used dating clear back to the ancient Babylonians. Unfortunately, this strategy is only used by approximately 1% of our population, yet that 1% earns approximately 96% of all the money that is earned and you are only a decision away from membership. Money is the ultimate servant. The more you earn, the more you can help others.

The Madness of the Stock Market

2008-10-10T18:08:00.002+02:00

The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange is currently rated as the best performing exchange in the world. Zimbabwe's inflation is also rated to be the best (worst) there is currently standing at anything between 2million - 500 billion % depending on who you are, how you are measuring and why you are measuring. It is not uncommon at present to have a share rise by 50%, 200%, or 500%. That is just how things happen in a hyper-dynamic market.

A friend sent me the following story that I found interesting and instructive. It typifies the irrational exuberance that stock markets sometimes exhibit. Here we go...

Once upon a time in a village in South-East China , a man (or it could have been a woman) announced to the villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10. The villagers seeing there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10, but, as the supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their efforts. The man further announced that he would now buy at $20. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer rate increased to $25 and the supply of monkeys became so little that it was an effort to even see a monkey, let alone catch it! The man now
announced that he would buy monkeys at $50! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would now act as buyer, on his behalf. In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers: ' Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has collected. I will sell them to you at $35 and when he returns from the city, you can sell them back to him for $50. '

The villagers squeezed together their savings and bought all the monkeys. Then they never saw the man or his assistant again, only monkeys everywhere!

Welcome to WALL STREET or better still, The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange! (ZSE).

THE THREE PILLARS of your success

2008-10-10T10:54:00.003+02:00

There are three primary aspects of your life that will determine whether or not you are successful in your endeavors. You will not be successful if you have only one or two. You must have all three working together. Consider them like the three legs of a "stool of success." These are ability, attitude and motivation. Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. Engaging in any business endeavor lacking any one of them is similar to driving a vehicle that has one of the plugs not firing. To those who have never driven such a vehicle, I can safely tell you that it’s not fun. Not only does the vehicle shake you and vibrate like a cellphone, but it also consumes fuel in a fashion you have never seen before.

Lets take a closer look at the three aspects starting with ability. This is the level at which you are able to actually do things, it is your skill level. If you have a high level of skill, that's good. And the better you get, the better it will be for you. To the degree that you can perform your actions at higher and higher skill levels, the more and more success you will find in your chosen field. On the other hand, motivation is the level at which you are able to find "a reason to act." This is the internal drive that you find that enables you to exercise your abilities. To the degree that you can find a way, or ways, to keep yourself motivated, you will see yourself right in the thick of things, carrying out your actions to the best of your abilities and succeeding accordingly.

Your third pillar for success is your attitude. This is the mental state that you have while carrying out your actions to the best of your ability. It is the way you view the world around you and choose to see it, either positively or negatively. To the degree that you can maintain a positive attitude about yourself, others, and the circumstances you find yourself in, you will see yourself achieving greater and greater things.

Never delude yourself into thinking that you can get away without any one of these three aspects. Yes you can achieve success, but it will be very temporary since it will be built on a weak foundation. The greatest teacher of all times, our Lord Jesus Christ, taught on the importance of building on a firm foundation and emphasized that anything built otherwise will neither withstand nor pass the test of time.

If you have high skills and motivation but a rotten attitude, people will stay away from you and your business and this will hinder your success. With a good attitude and motivation but poor skills, people will like you, maybe even befriend you, but go to someone else with the skills they need. What if you have great skills and attitude but no motivation? Well, you'll be sitting on the couch like a lazy slug while the go-getters are out there making your money and achieving your dreams. You see, it takes all three. To conduct an audit check on how you are fairing on the three pillar of success, there is need to ask the following questions on these three aspects.

Ability: How highly skilled are you? Is your skill level holding you back? How so? What could you achieve if you just took your skills to the next level beyond where they are right now? How would improving your skills improve the bottom line of your success?

Motivation: How motivated are you? Why do you answer that way? What would your spouse or close friends say? Would they say you are as motivated as you say you are? Why or why not? Why do you have the level of motivation that you have? What could you do to find a higher level of motivation? What would happen if you became super motivated for the next period of your life? What great things would happen?

Attitude: Do you have a good attitude or a poor one? How would you rate yourself? What about when things go wrong? Are you more of an optimist or a pessimist? What would happen if you took your attitude to the next level for the next month? What if you just chose to have an incredible attitude? What would be the ramifications?

Booker T. Washington expressed it best when he said “The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what a man or woman is able to do that counts." This is so true. People will judge you on what you accomplish, not what you know or what you talk about. In fact, if you know a lot or talk a lot but do not accomplish anything, people will wonder what happened. So the question is whether or not you will take the actions necessary to deliver on your potential. To do so, you will need to focus in on the three legs of the stool of success: Your ability, your motivation, and your attitude.

Take some time this week to give some serious thought to these three areas. Your success depends on it! And when you have done some reflection, put the conclusions you come to into action. Make a decision today to go all the way to the top.

The Unbreakable Will of the Zimbabwean

2008-10-07T07:19:00.004+02:00

There is a problem up ahead. Marjorie has been waiting in the queue for an hour now. The customs officials are taking their time to check every vehicle as it goes past the Border post. The Beitbridge heat is overwhelming. Pea sized beads of sweat roll down the side of her face, leave a cool trail down her neck and moisten her blouse.

There is a bus to her left, in a separate queue for buses. The bus and the trailer it is towing are jam packed with groceries, fridges, stoves and other appliances. The passengers jostle about as they help unpack the bus so that the customs officials can check the packages one by one.

Arduous.

She hears crackling laughter behind her. A woman and a man in an open pick are sharing a pack of french fries bought on the South African side, and a joke, probably inspired by the Zimbabwean side.

She is reminded of the contradictions in this country. Despair and hope live side by side like rival siblings. She smiles to herself and sighs, "Zimbabwe."

All of a sudden a surge of strength and possibility rises up inside her.

Like Marjorie, I too sometimes have to sigh in resignation. Sometimes I am angry, sometimes I am frustrated, sometimes I am left wondering "why".

But on the other hand, I have woken up every morning for the last five years feeling inspired by the Zimbabwean people. Here's a nation that refused to be broken by 11,2million percent inflation (Now allegedly at 531 billion percent), by joblessness, by six month power outages in some areas, by water cuts, by having no teachers for their children.

Here's a people that refused to bow down to hunger and fuel shortages, who would rather walk 15km to work than sit at home and give up, who would rather stand at a street corner and deal in forex than to rob and murder.

And so when I, with my warm bed and Internet access, wake up feeling depressed I remember the man who has woken up from a cold floor, drunk a cup of black, breadless tea for breakfast and walked to work in the wee hours of the morning.

And like Marjorie I smile to myself and know that I am stronger than I give myself credit for.

TIME: Your indispensable ally to success

2008-10-02T16:54:00.006+02:00

Time is the ultimate equal opportunity employer. Time never stops to rest, never hesitates, never looks forward or backward. Life’s raw material spends itself in the now, this moment, which is why how you spend your time is far more important than all the material possessions you may own or positions you may obtain. Positions change, possessions come and go, you can earn more money tomorrow but time lost is irredeemable. You can renew your supply of many things, but like good health, that other most precious resource, time spent is gone forever.

Results are the best measurement of human progress, not conversation, explanation or justification. Lasting and meaningful results only come by the effective use of your time. If your results are less than your potential suggests that they should be, then you must strive to become more today than you were the day before by effectively using your time. You should always remember that the greatest rewards are always reserved for those who bring great value to themselves and the world around them as a result of whom and what they have become with the passing of time.

You must pause frequently to remind yourselves that the clock is ticking. The same clock that began to tick from the moment you drew your first breath will also someday cease. To succeed in life, you should aim to do all that you can, every moment that you can, the best that you can, for as long as you can. The problem with waiting until tomorrow is that when it finally arrives, it is called today. Today is yesterday's tomorrow. The question is what did you do with today’s opportunity? All too often you will waste tomorrow as you wasted yesterday, and as you are wasting today. All that could have been accomplished can easily elude you, despite your intentions, until you inevitably discover that the things that might have been have slipped from your embrace a single, unused day at a time. You must be constantly aware of the value of each and every moment of your life that seem so insignificant that its loss often goes unnoticed.

Regardless of your current age, there is a sense of urgency that should drive you into action now this very moment. For most people who are not acting, they are in a delusion which make them believe that they still have all the time, lots of chances, lots of opportunities they need to succeed since there will be a tomorrow, a next week, a next month, and a next year. But unless you develop a sense of urgency, those brief windows of time will be sadly wasted, as were the weeks and months and years before them. Always remember that there isn't an endless supply of time. The fires of greatness in your heart can be kept aglow only after you develop a sense of urgency and importance for what you do.

The sense of urgency should be to the extent that you feel it is a matter of life and death; and it is actually a matter of life and death, for in growing you are alive and in quitting you are dying in a sense. If you don't believe this, talk to anyone who has lost the sense of urgency of getting things done and has been drifting in complacency, mediocrity and failure. If you are without a sense of urgency in your work, the only place you will experience success will be in your dreams and never in reality. A sense of urgency is that feeling that lets you know yesterday is gone forever, tomorrow never comes. Today is in your hands and you know that shirking today's task will add to wasted yesterdays and postponing today's work will add to tomorrow's burden. The sense of urgency causes you to accomplish what today sets before you. It is that sense of agency that will catapult you to your greatest success.

Your dilemma goes deeper than having a shortage of time, it's basically a problem of priorities. Most people leave undone those things that should be done, while they do things that they shouldn't be doing. Set priorities for your goals. A major part of successful living lies in your ability to put first things first. Most of your major goals are not achieved because you major in minor things. Starting today, start majoring in major things that will get you closer to your objectives with each passing day. Anything that is wasted effort represents wasted time, don't serve time, make time serve you.

Marketing for Ultimate success

2008-09-17T15:56:00.004+02:00

Everyday people are improving their lives. Whether you do or not doesn't matter to those who do. They are going to do it, regardless. It is simply a matter of a decision being made and executed. The fact is that living the life of your dreams is possible. People prove that every day. Someone somewhere is going to get rich and improve his or her life. Today someone is going to begin the journey to great wealth. So why not let it be you? In this article I am going to show you how marketing can be used as a vital tool to catapult your business and yourself to levels of success that are beyond your wildest expectations.

People think that marketing is all about making customers prefer your products or service then followed by quality customer service to retain them, but if the truth be said, marketing is all that you do and that makes marketing everything. A textbook definition of marketing is that it is the identification of customer needs and satisfying these needs. If you critically look into any area of your life you have excelled, be it being a good spouse, friend, employee, employer, parent, businessman etc, your success in that area is attributable to your application of basic marketing principles. Lets take an example of two young men courting the same girl. The one who eventually wins the girl’s heart is he who would have marketed himself better and might not have the best character and attributes.

The same principles apply in business, one company may have an abundance of all the resources it needs to be successful but you will see a company of inferior resources attracting more customers. Many business people believe that customers buy their products and services first. Incorrect. The first thing prospects buy is the brand ambassador. Every employee working for a company is its brand ambassador. Hence, the first sale made is you. In order to engage you in business, the customer must first believe in the person conveying the message. This is unfortunately most evident when "you" is bad. Those that are excelling in life better than you in reality are not better people than you are. The only major differences is that they have managed to develop their faculties and have marketed them so well that it is difficult for the market not to take notice.

Marketing for ultimate success is much more than hard work, persistence and preparation, its about attraction. Opportunities and success are not something you go after, but something you attract - by becoming an attractive person. Opportunity will seek you out and your reputation will precede you if you will apply the following three main pillars of marketing for ultimate success, which are marketing for confidence, marketing for networking and marketing for total quality.

Marketing for confidence entails developing your skills and continuously refining all the parts of your character and talents so that you become an attractive person to the marketplace. We must learn to apply all that we know so that we can attract all that we want. Marketing for networking on the other hand is about consciously taking time to engage in activities that increases your sphere of business and relationship contacts with people that can take you where you want to go. Such activities include playing golf, joining a business network forum such as Toastmasters or Business Networking International just to mention a few.

Marketing for total quality, the last frontier at an organization’s disposal for sustaining a competitive edge on the market, require total commitment by every brand ambassador to total quality service and total customer satisfaction. Achieving this requires organization transformation interventions aimed towards inculcating a customer service culture into the organization’s core values. Total alignment to the organization service delivery charter and signing of the service level agreements by all departments can be effective tools you can deploy to achieve marketing for total quality.

Somebody said you have to love what you do, but that's not necessarily true. What is true is that you have to love the opportunity. Application of the above three pillars into your life will give you the opportunity to build a successful future and fortune. The few who do are the envy of the many who only watch. Knowledge by itself is not power, but applied knowledge is power.

The Coming of Change

2008-09-16T12:40:00.002+02:00

We often pray for change and desire change. However change has its own risks. Change is most traumatic when its least expected. The best way to be able to manage and survive change is by participating in creating the change.

There are things that do not change. These are God, Change, Principles and Choice. God does not change and He is timeless. His understanding is infinite and He is boundless. Fashions may come and go, inventions may abound but God never changes. The Bible says that Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forver.

Change and the need for change are an important constant. We need to keep changing and asking ourselves how we can change. The spirit of continuous improvement is critical in shaping greatness. Without change there can be no improvement, but there can be no improvement without change.

Principles are principles. When we fight against principles we always lose. Be they physics, economic, social or political principles they will always stand. Our ignorance of principles does not change the principles. Our ignoring principles is at our own peril.

The power of Choice is the critical power of humanity. Even if we lose everything, we never lose the power of choice. We are where we are because of choice. Choice is a constant. We have to choose wisely. What is your choice?

Green tomatoes have started to look beautiful

2008-09-07T13:12:00.003+02:00

I have been seeing green tomatoes all my life, but they never did anything for me till now…

There I was, walking in the garden the other day and it hit me, like a huge wad of old bearer cheques. Thud.

I stopped and gaped. What the? I was stunned. It was as if God’s own hand had just touched them. Two very green tomatoes- and a tiny litte one above them, hanging there- unfettered by inflation, untouched by the exchange rate. Glorious. Untainted. Green.

When I recovered, I just HAD to dash into the house grab my camera and shoot away. I took photos like a mad man. From the top from the left, from the right, at ground level, with the normal lens, with the telephoto lens, on my feet, on my knees, on my stomach, on my back.

All of a sudden I knew! Heaven is a not the beauty of a green tomato. Heaven is the ability to SEE that beauty.

Go For Greatness

2008-07-14T21:45:00.000+02:00

It is easy to settle for mediocrity. It is easy to be satisfied with little. It is easy to get full on the first course while part-taking of a 36 course dinner. We are all born for greatness - our unique greatness. There is nobility in the human spirit. However, greatness has to be desired. One has to go for it and pursue it until it is begging for mercy. It takes work, it takes thinking, it takes intention, it takes perseverence and it takes massive determined action.

I am determined to unleash my greatness. Every day in every way I am getting better. I am always on the search for the recipes of greatness. What you see today is not the end of me but just the beginning of great things. Keep watching this space.

On Taking Responsibility

2008-06-07T12:25:00.000+02:00

It is amazing how many people think that someone else responsible for their lives. Greatness begins where personal responsibility starts. I read an article that was published on the 26th of May 2008 in The Times of South Africa written by Nomfundo Xulu commenting of the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa. I thought the comments she makes should make all us think about our responsibility. Here is the article entitled, "Where will we go when SA is destroyed" word for word:

"We are a barbaric nation and we are our own worst nightmare
There came a point in my life when I was desperately seeking a domestic worker because I could not cope with my job , my baby and all my household chores.
I went to the advertisement board at a nearby convenience store and took down a few contact details. I called a number of women and set up appointments with six of them.
One of them, a South African , did not pitch up. But she sent me a cellphone message to call her . When I phoned her back, she asked if I could pick her up because she did not have money for transport .
I told her that five other women , who were not South African, had managed to make it to my house at the specified times. One even came with her young child strapped to her back.
This episode, among many others, made it clear to me that, as South Africans, we have an attitude of entitlement. We think that the world owes us something.
This is truer for black people. No offence, but we, directly or indirectly, think apartheid is something to hold onto so that we can be viewed as victims and everything should be smooth sailing for us.
Here we are 14 years since the beginning of democracy in South Africa and we are still holding onto 1976.
A large number of us are failing to empower ourselves with education or to grab any opportunity to learn more and make a difference. So we abuse people who are merely trying their best to make a living.
The recent attacks on foreign people are proof that we are a stupid nation.
“They are stealing our jobs and raping our women,” say the culprits responsible for the hundreds of innocent children now living in tents with their families.
How on earth is a person to fend for his or her family while South Africans sit in the sun, goss iping and complaining the whole day, in true township style, about foreigners stealing their jobs?
How is it that a person who goes out of his or her way to secure a job and tries to do it well deserves to be beaten up and even burnt?
I do not understand how we have been engineered as South Africans. I know not all of us are of the same mentality, and educated citizens are completely against these acts. But the rapidness with which these attacks have spread is a national disgrace.
Why is it that we do not take part in activities that build the country in such a quick and collective way? But when it comes to things that not only destroy people’s lives but also our country’s economy and credibility, why are we so quick to contribute ?
We call ourselves a civilised nation? I’m ashamed to be South African.
We are a barbaric nation and we are our own worst nightmare.
I wonder what will happen when we finally reach our goal of thoroughly ruining our country — its economy, its credibility and its social values — and are in need of help from the very people we are killing.
Are these countries then expected to take care of our children like they did in the apartheid era so that our children come back to South Africa as educated, wise and capable leaders?
Or do these countries also have the right to beat our children up, burn them to death and chase them out as if they are criminals?" - Written by Nomfundo Xulu in The Times (South Africa) [http://www.thetimes.co.za/Columnists/Lifestyle/Article.aspx?id=772105]

A Perspective of Psalm 23

2008-06-05T18:32:00.000+02:00

A friend sent me the following story that I found amusing, hope you will like it:

A mom was concerned about her kindergarten son walking to school. He didn't want his mother to walk with him. She wanted to give him the feeling that he had some independence but yet know that he was safe. So she had an idea of how to handle it.

She asked a neighbor if she would please follow him to school in the mornings, staying at a distance, so he probably wouldn't notice her.

She said that since she was up early with her toddler anyway, it would be a good way for them to get some exercise as well, so she agreed.

The next school day, the neighbor and her little girl set out following behind Timmy as he walked to school with another neighbor girl he knew. She did this for the whole week.

As the two walked and chatted, kicking stones and twigs, Timmy's little friend noticed the same lady was following them as she seemed to do every day all week. Finally she said to Timmy, 'Have you noticed that lady following us to school all week? Do you know her?'

Timmy nonchalantly replied, 'Yeah, I know who she is.' The little girl said, 'Well, who is she?'

'That's just Shirley Goodnest,' Timmy replied,' and her daughter Marcy.'

'Shirley Goodnest? Who the heck is she and why is she following us? '

'Well,' Timmy explained, 'every night my Mom makes me say the 23rd Psalm with my prayers, 'cuz she worries about me so much. And in the Psalm, it says, 'Shirley Goodnest and Marcy shall follow me all the days of my life', so I guess I'll just have to get used to it!'

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the Lord lift His countenance upon you, and give you peace. May Shirley Goodnest and Marcy be with you today and always.

Face your death

2008-02-11T15:05:00.000+02:00

A friend sent me this story and I found it fascinating:

One day all the employees reached the office and they saw a big advice on the door written:

"Yesterday the person who has been hindering your growth in this company passed away. We invite you to join the funeral in the room that has been prepared in the gym". In the beginning, they all got sad for the death of one of their colleagues, but after a while they started getting curious to know who was that man who hindered the growth of his colleagues and the company itself. The excitement in the gym was such that security agents were ordered to control the crowd within the room. The more people reached the coffin, the more the excitement heated up. Everyone thought: "Who is this guy who was hindering my progress? Well, at least he died!"

One by one the thrilled employees got closer to the coffin, and when they looked inside it they suddenly became speechless. They stood nearby the coffin, shocked and in silence, as if someone had touched the deepest part of their soul. There was a mirror inside the coffin: everyone who looked inside it could see himself. There was also a sign next to the mirror that said: "There is only one person who is capable to set limits to your growth: it is YOU.

You are the only person who can revolutionize your life.
You are the only person who can influence your happiness, your realization and your success.
You are the only person who can help yourself.
Your life does not change when your boss changes, when your friends change, when your parents change, when your partner changes, when your company changes. Your life changes when YOU change, when you go beyond your limiting beliefs, when you realize that you are the only one responsible for your life. "The most important relationship you can have is the one you have with yourself" Examine yourself, watch yourself. Don't be afraid of difficulties, impossibilities and losses: be a winner, build yourself and your reality. It's the way you face Life that makes the difference.

You can only think with what you know

2008-02-09T12:42:00.000+02:00

Albert Einstein once said that problems cannot be solved by the same consciousness that created them. Knowledge is the greatest resource in life. You can only think with what you know. The more you know, the better resources for thought and problem solving that are at your disposal. If you know little your world of operation, function and strategy is also seriously limited.

To expand your life and grow you need to extend your thinking and your world-view. Every day is always another opportunity to get to know more and be more. Seek for ways to learn more, understand more and be more.

Knowledge is the raw material of wisdom. You can have knowledge without wisdom but you cannot have wisdom without knowledge. Without knowledge you cannot operate in wisdom.

Knowldge determines faith. Right knowledge strengthens faith and wrong knowledge weakens faith.

Pray, aim and shoot for your goals

2008-01-14T19:32:00.000+02:00

I came across this story that I found so interesting that I had to share it. I do not know the original author:

"There once was a man who had nothing for his family to eat. He had an old shotgun and three bullets. So he decided to go to and kill something for dinner. As he went down the road , he saw a rabbit and he shot at the rabbit and missed it.

Then he saw a squirrel and fired a shot at the squirrel and missed it. As he went further , he saw a wild turkey on a tree and he had only one bullet, but a voice came to him and said "pray first, aim high and stay focused." However, at the same time, he saw a deer which was a better kill.

He brought the gun down and aimed at the deer! But , then he saw a rattlesnake between his legs about to bite him, so he naturally brought the gun down further to shoot the rattlesnake. Still, the voice came again to him ,"I said,'pray, aim high and stay focused." He prayed , than aimed high up in the tree and shot the wild turkey.

The bullet bounced off the turkey and killed the deer. The handle fell off the gun and hit the snake in the head and killed it. And when the gun had gone off, it knocked him into a pond. When he stood to look around he had fish in all his pockets, a dead deer and a turkey to eat.

The snake (Satan) was dead simply because the man listened to God.

Moral of the story: Pray first before you do anything , aim and shoot high in all your goals , and stay focused on God."

The MFC Group Workshop

2008-01-09T19:47:00.000+02:00

Milton Kamwendo giving a motivational talk at the MFC group strategic retreat in Marondera, Zimbabwe - January 2008.

What do you see?

2007-11-30T21:26:00.000+02:00

What you see determines what you get. Who you see determines who sees you. Seeing and looking are not the same thing. It is important that you know where to look and how to look at life.

I live in Zimbabwe. The official inflation is currently 14,000%, yes that is not a TYPOGRAPHICAL error its 14,000%. You would say how does one live and survive. Well, we are. The amazing thing is that there is no other better time to invest in Zimbabwe than now. This is the time of opportunity on a grand scale. Its a matter of where one chooses to look, and how.

You can choose to focus on the bad and ugly or you can focus on what is possible, inspiring and opportune. The choose is not determined by the situation but by you. Keep looking, bunt think of how you are looking at your situation(s) and at life... that could be the source of your frustration or joy.

There is a time to leave

2007-10-18T18:45:00.000+02:00

There is a time when we have to part. It could be through death, or just leaving an organisation. Those moments can be painful but we all have to live with them and accept what new seasons they bring.

One of my amazing talented team members advised me today that he intends to leave our organisation. It was a blow, a painful one but one that I have to live with and accept. Life is always a collection of seasons. There is a season to enter and a season to leave.

My hope and prayer is to make a difference in the life of everyone that I meet and have the opportunity to work with. I want in some small way to help each person I work with to shape his dream, inspire his faith. My purpose is to always help people unleash their unique greatness.

Each new season always brings fresh thoughts, insights and perspectives. I do not want to ever fall into a rut. I want to keep moving and keep dreaming.

Dakota Native Wisdom

2007-09-04T17:55:00.000+02:00

Many a time organisations and people waste a lot of energy and resources on things that do not and will not work. I came across this writing that by an unknown author called the Dakota Native Wisdom. It continues to challenge my thinking process and approach. Here is the scoop of wisdom:

Dakota tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a DEAD HORSE, the best strategy is to dismount. However, in some organizations like governments, universities, hospitals,large companies, school districts, etc., we often try other strategies. Want to take a humorous look at the problem?

These include the following:
Buying a stronger whip.
Changing riders.
Saying things like "this is the way we always have ridden this horse.
Appointing a committee to study the horse.
Arranging to visit other sites to see how they ride dead horses.
Increasing the standards for riding dead horses.
Appointing a tiger team to revive the dead horse.
Creating a training session to increase our riding ability.
Comparing the state of dead horses in today's environment.
Pass a resolution declaring the "this horse is not dead."
Blaming the horse's parents.
Harnessing several dead horses together for increased speed.
Declaring that, "No horse is too dead to beat."
Providing additional funding to increase the horse's performance.
Do a study to see if contractors can ride it cheaper.
Declare the horse is "better, faster, and cheaper" dead.
Form a quality circle to find uses for dead horses.
Revisit the performance requirements for horses.
Say this horse was procured with cost as an independent variable.
Promote the dead horse to a supervisory position.

Have a passion for greatness

2007-08-09T17:54:00.000+02:00

Many people compromise - a lot. They compromise with mediocrity. They are not exactly mediocre, but they are not really great. They are easily satisfied with little. They play the comparison game. Everytime we look out of the window we discover that there is somebody worse than us. Our self worth does not depend on the mediocrity of other people.

We need to set our horizons and standards very clearly. We need to go for the gold. We can not afford to settle for silver and be content. Life does not give us just anything - it gives us what we go for and what we choose to have. We have to make conscious choice before if we don't mediocrity will be the default choice.

Go for greatness!

Grow Daily

2007-08-07T20:18:00.000+02:00

The saddest thing in life is not that people die but that they die while they are living. Every day is always an opportunity to grow and to develop. Growth takes place daily but rarely in a day. Growth must also be all encompassing. We must not just be content to grow in one area of life at the expense of other areas. We have to pursue aggressive growth. Growth is always an expression of life and vitality.

Pursue something concrete

2007-07-22T23:14:00.000+02:00

It is easy to just survive; to just pass time in life doing nothing in particular except being busy with living. We need to be focused on some big, exciting and inspiring goals.

I am tired of small thinking and insignificant living. I am tired of mediocrity. I want to leave a mark and create a legacy. I want to make a difference in other people's lives. I want someone's life to be better because I lived.

We have to dream and then turn those dreams into reality. We have to think and then turn those thoughts into action. We have to pursue concrete goals and focus on real action not just mere activity.

The trap of self deception is highest when people prioritise activity above results. All action that does not produce results is futile labour.

Connect with people

2007-07-03T20:49:00.000+02:00

People are the greatest resource. We need to connect. The highway to wealth is increasing our connectedness.

Create Value

2007-07-02T13:31:00.000+02:00

It is easy to be a clown. The hard thing is being a clown that makes money. We need to focus not just on activities and events but creating value.

Recently, I have been talking to my team a lot about creating value. Each of us must be looking at whether we are destroying or creating value. Simple activity is not equal to results. Instead of just being busy we have to be true creators of value. Our clients are looking for value. Wherever there is true value people are willing to pay a premium.

Each day is an opportunity to create value and make a difference. What value did you create today?

Hope is not a strategy

2007-06-29T14:33:00.000+02:00

Many people pass their lives hoping for improvement, change and bliss. Many hope to be better, live better, dress better and be better. Many more hope for more - a better salary, a better perk, etc. Hope is important. When hope dies life decays. When we lose hope we also lose motivation.

However, hope is NOT a strategy. Hope is a foundation stone but not a building strategy. We need to plan, pray and then put some solid goals in place to crystallise our thinking. Without some guiding goals we are just gliding along on auto-pilot, hoping for different circumstances.

Each of us must take personal responsibility and be willing to do whatever it takes to make a difference. Many people know what they should do but they do not take action. They just simply hope that things will be different. Hope is not a substitute for action. Hope is not an excuse for laziness.

Take action do not delay. Take massive action the world is crying for achievers, benchmarkers and ground breakers. The sky is big enough for every bird with hope to fly, and fly higher.

Keep Moving on

2007-06-29T11:57:00.000+02:00

There are enough things that threaten to stop us. There are enough negative people in the world to convince us that there is no value in the future. People with dirty feet - dirty attitudes are walking about everywhere. Every great person knows this one truth - we must never permit people to walk through our minds with their dirty feet.

We may be delayed but we can never be denied. We must keep moving ahead, we must keep looking upwards. Knowing that even if people fail us God will never fail us. Failure is the womb of success. Faiure is only a perspective of reality. Success is always there if we are willing to wait, or run one more lap to victory.

You Have Immeasurable Potential

2007-06-26T19:48:00.000+02:00

There is no one like you (or me!). No one has your hair, thoughts, eyesight, fingers, or voice. No one speaks with the exact voice frequency. You are the only one with your voice. Speak and be heard; sing and we'll sing along with you. No one has your finger print, you are the one who can touch what you touch in the way you touch it. No one has your laugh or smile. You have a special place in the universe.

Each one of us is original and unique. There is something special inside each us. Whatever people decide to call it - is is there. It does not lose value because it is ignored or scantily used. It however appreciates in value as it is used. Each one of us has greatness. A mighty potential within.

It is our responsibility to live a life that is true to our potential. We must refuse to enrich the grave by dying with our potential untapped. We must refuse to live below our potential. Lets reach for greatness, lets stretch for greatness.

Never Ever Give Up

2007-06-21T15:21:00.000+02:00

There are many things that tempt us to give up, lose hope and despair. The journey to greatness can be long and winding. Some people finally become great, others are simply content to have dreamt being great. The challenges in life must never stop us. Petty people should not stop us either.

Yes, we may be delayed but we cannot be stopped. Obstacles are always the rungs that lift us to higher levels of greatness. Delays are the little detours that help us evaluate what we are doing and help us like springs to bounce back with more force and determination. We must never despair, never, ever!

Inside every struggling start-up company there is a huge multinational that is struggling to get out. Inside every ugly cocoon there is a butterfly in formation. Inside every person there is a great lion waiting to be aroused. This is why we must always keep hope alive. When we despair we mortgage the future and kill our potential. The future is always as bright as the promises of God.

Going to the Next Level

2007-06-16T12:22:00.000+02:00

It is never enough for an individual or an organisation to park in a single place. It is important to keep moving, to grow and to develop. However, change is not always easy and sometimes it is accompanied by so much pain. Well we have all heard it before - where there is no pain there is no gain.

All change starts with the setting of new goals, new dreams and seeing new possibilities. It starts with realising that where we are is not home. We can never change anything that we can put up with. Sometimes we have to stimulate change ourselves and this may mean creating our own discomfort.

People at times prefer old problems to new solutions. This is because they prefer to endure rather than enjoy the prospect of change.

When was the last time you set some really bold goals? What do you need to change right now?

Push the Limits

2007-06-05T21:04:00.000+02:00

Everything in life sometimes seems like it is meant to contain us. Particularly when one is beginning a career or major project it seems like one is alone fighting the world. The situation sometimes changes after a while. We begin to feel confident and at least start counting a few scores. This is an important cross roads moment. We can either destroy our success by resting on our laurels or we can choose to push our limits. In fact most of our limits are just a mirage. Whatever achievement we may score is just a tiny portion of what we are able to achieve.

At Innov8, we are now looking further and seeking to challenge our limits in real ways. We are not content with remaining where we are. We will not rest, retire or restrain our efforts, thoughts and prayers. The next few weeks, months and years will witness our progress on a new path, pace and amplitude. We are determined to be a positive catalyst of greatness out of Africa.

The Power of Books

2007-05-16T06:33:00.000+02:00

Books, books, books. It is amazing what they contain and how they shape our lives. The first motivational book that I read was "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living" by Dale Carnegie. This is back in 1986 and since then I have always had such a passion for books that inspire, inform and intertain.

When I wrote my first book, "It's Time to Unleash Your Greatness" I included a list of books that had inspired and shaped my life. These books included: The Bible, The Magic of Thinking Big, The Wealthy Barber, Letters of a Businessman to His Son, The Richest Man in Babylon, Buy the Future, Rich Dad Poor Dad, etc. To my surprise I got lots of correspondence from people who had read the book asking where they could get the books that I had cited. At first I would give some vague responses or ask them to keep looking or buy these books when they travel.

In time, we decided to make these books available in Zimbabwe. This led to the birth of Innov8 Bookshop. To date we have four outlets in Zimbabwe in George Silundika Avenue, Kamfinsa, Montagu and Bulawayo. We are looking continously for ways of providing resources that that power people and their organisations to new levels of greatness. Everyday we keep challenging ourselves to expand our product range, improve our delivery and make more resources easily accessible. For this is just the beginning of a journey and a milestone in the pursuit of purpose.

The New Birth

2007-05-13T23:26:00.000+02:00

It is one thing to cherish and carry a dream for years. It is another to give birth to that dream. On the 25th of August 2003 I set out on a journey to motivate and inspire people to unleash their unique and God-given greatness. This dream gave birth to the founding of Innov8. Starting in my garage, we have travelled a journey that has seen us achieve a number of milestones.

Today marks our new birth. Over the years the Innov8 Team has grown and developed in both numbers and depth. Innov8 has crossed the line from being a one-man-in-a-garage to being a serious player. As a team we sat down to review our past, consider our present and to chart a new course for the future. We have a new strategy and new horizons that are inspiring our new thrust.

Our Drive (Mission):
To continuously equip people with resources for greateness.

Our Ambition (Vision):
To be a catalyst for creating greatness out of Africa.

We see Africa as a continent of light. Our role is to inspire and motivate people who will out of Africa become legends of their time. We see ourselve catalysing the organisations we work with to unleash their greatness. We are clear about our reason for existence and our future. We are excited about the opportunity to make a difference and contribute meaningfully to our community. We will be tracing our jouney through this blog.