February 28, 2007
LETTER ME PLEASE…
I couldn’t think of any other way to title this thought; but it’s just about me wondering how people used to date/court before the whole mobile phone and internet/email era came along. I mean, it was all about what we now call snail mail that took months on end to arrive especially if it was a long distance relationship. You can imagine how a missionary in the bowels of South-America / Africa / Asia would mail their loved ones all the way to Europe / America wondering if their news would ever get home. Closer to home, however, it was the reliance on Kenya Post & Telecommunications that baffles me because till this day I wouldn’t trust them to deliver a blank slip of paper.
I think that the whole time and space between getting your lover’s mail and hoping they get yours must have taken three letters in a year tops; but love was built, relationships lasted. We are now the fast-food generation, everything is instant we take time & endurance for granted. You meet a nice girl/guy now and in the next second she/he is bound to know you like her/him cause you’ve bombarded her/his phone with text messages that took no effort to construct (with the help of T9). While long hand written letters were about expressing what was in your heart, word for word… and after many drafts the one that best explained your love for her/him was sent, sprayed with perfume or sealed with your tears!
Now with that thought in mind I would love to receive a nice written letter (by long hand), with neat paragraphs that each address a certain issue be it how much the person adores me or how the current inflation rate has adversely affect the price of sugar in Lithuania but that how I’m still his one and only cube of sugar… Such nonsensical words that will make my heart sour and soul float. I will be quickly guided to my writing desk and pen my undying love, how I will wait for them to be by my side… after I send the letter, I will take his and put it along with the rest, tied with a pink ribbon inside an old shoe box sprayed with sweet perfume that was inherited from years gone.
Yeah I would like a love letter, I would like to be romanced… so here is my address: P.O Box 43100 00100 Nairobi Kenya. I would love to see if anything comes through and when it does I’ll definitely make a e-book of letters to me.
February 26, 2007
DATE YOU? ANYTIME!
It’s like I’ve opened the good Pandora’s box of awesome poetry… it’s been dry for a while now but after listening to Adriel’s “Slip of the Tongue” my mind’s been tingling with promise of coming across great poetry. Then no sooner had that thought settled than I found this mind tingling, body shaking and ear jazzing poem called DATE YOU think I almost got a readgasm. Phew…
GONE ARE THE LOCKS!!! IT’S REBRANDING BABY!
It’s in the air… I suspect it started with the New Year, with people all around me making significant changes in their lives, wardrobes and personalities. However, for me the ending of last year bore the itch to change “me”… to enjoy life more, to not take things seriously unless they truly must be taken seriously. That meant putting more into my friendships- those already around me & make new lasting ones.
I don’t where the 100th Monkey hit but it was coming at me from all angles. There is the hair cutting one… that has hit me hard and I’m still reeling from the fact that six years of my dread-growing life are over. YUP YOU HEARD RIGHT THE LOCKS ARE GONE ALL GONE. What remains is a little ‘fro on thy head. I’m liking it though, feeling free/liberated and very mature. I say mature cause the fad for cutting hair is hitting some of my friends in their 40s. It’s also mature cause it means I had to not take my hair seriously; I keep saying I am me… turns out that is true. The morning of the act I stumbled upon India Arie’s “I am not my hair”. I remember when I heard that she’d cut her locks, tears welled up in my eyes cause I could not foresee a day that would come when I would want to let go of my hair… the day came.
There are other changes on the way and I’ll be sure to keep you posted. For now enjoy the new look blog as well.
February 23, 2007
THE ABUNDANCE vs SCARCITY MENTALITY
The Abundance versus the Scarcity Mentality in Professional Development and Growth
A speech delivered by Eric Kimani to the Kenya Institute of Bankers, Mombasa Chapter on 1st December 2006.
When the Kenya Institute of Bankers, Coast chapter invited me to come and speak to you they gave me ample notice. One would therefore imagine that it is very easy to have chosen what to speak about- It is not!, I thought for weeks what it is that I can speak to you that would add value both ways away from the usual advise you might find in the newspaper. But I continually drew a blank. Then I thought to myself why not be controversial and speak about something as basic as how our mentality affects our professional careers. I decided to talk about how our attitudes and mentality affect our career growth or stagnation- The Abundance versus Scarcity mentality.
Let us start with some long winded definitions;
What is an abundance mentality- this is a deep belief that there is enough for all- enough work, enough jobs enough resources. It is living with a favor-minded attitude. One can define it also as optimism. Seeing the glass half full rather than half empty. Thinking big and expecting big. I will draw very many examples which I seek your indulgence if they sound like self-praise- they are only meant to help clarify the message. I recently led a group of some passionate Kenyans in a charity fundraising. Some of them thought I was out of my mind to suggest that we can ask Kenyans to donate Ksh. 7m. This initiative realized close to 12m! The barriers are in our minds and we will not go beyond the barriers in our minds.
By contrast the scarcity mentality is a belief that your success will imply someone else’s failure; that there are scarce resources and if you get them you must deny someone else; that there is scarcity of jobs; that the cake is not enough and I must grab my share. The scarcity mentality is one of our biggest problems in this country today with politicians believing that they have gone to parliament to ensure get the largest share of the national cake for “their people/electorate”. This was also epitomized lately by a senior executive friend of mine whom I approached in September to donate money to the national charity cause I referred to above that incidentally helps more people from his village than anywhere else in Kenya. He responded that he could not help because they have a similar initiative to help his village. His scarcity mentality- that there is not enough for his village and the national initiative blinded him in seeing that he could achieve what he is doing for the village in a more far-reaching manner.
So much for the definitions.
I hope to show you by the end of my talk that the difference between successful people and the less successful is largely their mentality of abundance or of scarcity.
- People with an abundance mentality have an internal security based on a principled centered living. Their value system is self-anchored. They are not too worried of saying/doing the wrong thing because they ordinarily talk from a point of truth. This frees their mind to bigger/better thoughts because they have nothing to cover. What they said yesterday is what they will repeat today without contradiction. This internal security enhances their humility. It allows them to enjoy professional freedom. They can choose what they want to do. By contrast people with a scarcity mentality seek their validation from groups. They will rarely want to take action on their own. The group must validate what they do.
To draw an example from my own career, I have left employment 3 times in the last decade and at no time have I ever felt that there would be scarcity of opportunities. I believe strongly that there is something better out there awaiting you to discover. I have always relied on my sense of internal security to anchor myself. Do not owe your employment to your boss’s favor or anyone for that matter. Believe you are the best there is and you will work towards it and become it!
People with an abundance mentality seek solitude and enjoy nature. By taking time out in solitude and nature, you allow yourself to access your deepest thoughts and hence your human spirit with which we are all equally endowed. Most successful people I know will take time out to reflect. I try to take a solitary one or two night retreat away from family and work once every year and try and access my human spirit. You have to experience it to believe it. It re-energizes you.
People with an abundance mentality keep their mind and body tuned through wide reading and exercise. It is a pity that most of us stop reading on graduating. Most successful people read voraciously- they are in sync with what is going on around them. They are current. They do not spend an hour reading newspapers or watching TV but will spend hours reading the latest management thoughts for example. I try to read as many books in year as I can. I have tried to keep fit for over 10 years and my wife who is my jogging and walking partner can attest to that- we call exercise our lifeline! Without the mental and physical fitness we would not have survived the vagaries of disease and the challenges of everyday life!
People with an abundance mentality serve others. Like one writer put it and I quote “Service is the only rent to pay for the privilege of living in this world” Are you paying or are you robbing the landlord? Service enhances internal security and fuels the abundance mentality- at the beginning of this year I pledged to donate ksh. 2m to a cause….I chair the Disciplinary committee of the Accountants; I chair Help Age Kenya, I chair The Palmhouse Foundation among many others. Nothing gives me greater joy! People ask me where I get the time- some of my friends have asserted that I have a 25-hour day! I tell people you have time for what you value. An abundance mentality gives you time and opportunity to serve others.
People with an abundance mentality let those below them grow and hence give themselves the opportunity to grow even faster and higher. I keep saying to people that if you are good at what you do, the only place those who want your job can push you is upwards. They work with the best minds. They seek out those who are better than them! A scarcity mentality tells you it is dangerous to let your junior became as good or better than you- nothing could be further from the reality! My career success would not be what it is without those who worked under me. People with an abundance mentality know when to get out before they get stale. I have left some of my previous jobs as soon as I realized that my best was no longer good enough. Some of us stay too long on jobs we do not enjoy hoping that our boss will get out of the way sooner! My advise to professionals who do not enjoy what they do is – for heavens sake move on elsewhere! At one time I left a job that was so well paying at the time that my wife thought I was crazy- You cannot excel where you do not enjoy!
People with an abundance mentality have a long term view of life and hence are visionaries- they are able to see what many cannot discern. They create uncharted territories. This is because they already believe everything is possible- How many times have you wondered how come that many times that successful guy/lady is ultimately right? Many say he/she knew what they were doing. The truth is that such people operate from a paradigm of abundance.
People with an abundance mentality are problem solvers and are hence popular with their superiors. They provide unusual solution to problems. They are able to separate people from the problems. They attract others into the team with their sincerity. I lead many volunteer teams in very successful initiatives. I love looking for the third alternative to problems and hence my popularity with employers. The scarcity mentality on the other tells us we should not stick our necks out and should remain as passive followers.
People with an abundance mentality are courageous. One must however remember that courage is not to absence of fear but more the mastery of fear. I have experienced fear in my life- I cannot for example remember anything as fearful as changing jobs. A friend of mine told me recently that a herd of sheep led by a lion will defeat a pack of lions led by a sheep! The courage to take action is one of the greatest attributes of great leaders. Courage is a consequence of the abundance mentality.
People with an abundance mentality understand and respect the law of the Farm or the law of the harvest. They know how/when to forego immediate gratification in favor of delayed and long term satisfaction. They appreciate that you will reap what you planted! They understand the need to prepare the ground, plant, weed, water and tend before you can harvest. They are not moved by peer pressure. I still marvel at some of my friends who I grew up with who tried to violate the law of the harvest – they are or have already paid dearly for this. Imagine if at the age of 18 you have your own chauffeur driven Mercedes? What would you be working for at 50? Does it surprise us that many of our kids are on drugs? We have not exposed them to the law of the farm! Those who do not know me for example may not know the painstaking effort I have put in my career, like many of you, to get where I am today- seven years ago I was still studying! I still take time today to learn new technology and read widely to keep myself relevant. An abundance mentality reinforces the law of the harvest. The scarcity mentality fools us that we can cheat the law of the harvest and short-circuit it- it never works!
People with an abundance mentality are passionate about everything they take up- They live their short lives in greater harmony than mediocre people. They are ordinarily positive about much in life and this seem to produce a self-fulfilling prophecy of success. When they see a mountain they think of how best to climb it and not about the dangers of climbing. They see opportunity where others see no hope. An instructive story is told of two shoe salesmen sent to Africa to see what opportunities there were. One came back saying he was disappointed that there was no market for shoes because the natives do not wear shoes. They other came back and saying there was a huge opportunity because the natives do not have shoes!
Professionals with an abundance mentality treat whatever they take on as a project. A project to be executed so well that it guarantees extension or another project. I like reminding people that like Tom Peters, the great management guru keeps telling us – the life of indentured servitude is over! You must treat your job as a project to be executed meticulously and create a brand name for yourself in the banking industry and believe me before long people will be looking for you to do other lucrative projects. From Tom Peters masterpiece “the Circle of Innovation) in 1998, I discovered this ground breaking truth that convinced me to leave my job then and never to be employed again! Every work I do is a project. I endeavor to complete my projects successfully. I will endeavor to finish my Sameer/Yana project as successfully as possible. I will give it my best. Some projects will take longer than others but this does change the fact that they are projects. I appeal to all of us present to stop considering ourselves as permanent employees- the 21st century has no place for this! Only successful team players working on deliverable and measurable projects will survive the white collar revolution! If you are under 40 and hoping to retire in your current job, then something is wrong with your project! Seriously re-examine your options. If there is one industry that has been the victim of change and technology, it is banking! More retrenchment has been seen in this sector that any other I know- and in my view we have not scratched the surface!! Learn how to be a project contractor – there is no longer room for employees in the 21st century!
I would like to conclude my talk with a favorite quotation often wrongly attributed to Nelson Mandela but is actually by Marriane Williamson and I quote;
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually who are you not to be? You are a child of God.Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Marianne Williamson
I hope you have enjoyed my talk. Thank you and God bless you.
Eric
N.B: Eric worked with Williamson Tea as the Financial controller before he moved to KTDA as the M.D. He is currently the CEO of Sameer Africa (formally Firestone E.A).
PRESSURE!!?!
It’s times like this when I read works like Slip of the Tongue that I get a bit depressed. I mean everyone who has a dream to achieve anything; has a benchmark to which they look. Yet in the word of spoken word and poetry the bar keeps moving higher and higher. I only discovered my ability to string words, rhymes & thoughts a couple of years ago… and as of right now I’m still unsure of my footing in the literally world. But I am resigned to the fact that we are all discovering ourselves in this our homeland and as we do so I pray we can learn from those who have done and create something with that intangible… that is only ours; and many will look to us in years to come.
So many heights
for me to attain
I feel like an ant
in a valley
of seven mountains
each peak higher
than the one before
yet I must triumph
over all
where do I start
which do I attempt first
I am mortified
by the task
my head hangs low
I exhale
then inhale
then I run
I will climb all
but I have to take
that
first
step…
so many heights
and I will attain
February 22, 2007
SLIP OF THE TONGUE by Adriel Luis
I copied this off someone’s blog. To listen & watch the Karen Lum video based on this check out the link in the post before this one. It’s so awesome totally made my day.
__________________
My glares burn through her.
And I’m sure that such actions aren’t foreign to her
because the essence of her beauty is, well, the essence of beauty.
And in the presence of this higher being,
the weakness of my masculinity kicks in,
causing me to personify my wannabe big-baller, shot-caller,
God’s gift to the female species with shiny suit wrapping rapping like,
“Yo, what’s crackin shorty how you livin’ what’s your sign what’s your size I dig your style, yo.”
Now, this girl was no fool.
She gives me a dirty look with the quickness like,
“Boy, you must be stupid.”
so I’m looking at myself,
“Boy, you must be stupid.”
But looking upon her I am kinda feelin’ her style.
So I try again.
But, instead of addressing her properly,
I blurt out one of my fake-ass playalistic lines like,
“Gurl, you must be a traffic ticket cuz you got fine written all over you.”
Now, she’s trying to leave and I’m trying to keep her here.
So at a final attempt, I utter,
“Gurl, what is your ethnic makeup?”
At this point, her glare was scorching through me,
and somehow she manages to make her brown eyes
resemble some kinda brown fire or something,
but there’s no snap or head moement,
no palm to face, click of tongue, middle finger,
roll of eyes, twist of lips, or girl power chant.
She just glares through me with these burning eyes
and her gaze grabs you by the throat.
She says, “Ethnic makeup?”
She says, “First of all, makeup’s just an anglicized, colonized, commodified utility
that my sisters have been programmed to consume,
forcing them to cover up their natural state
in order to imitate what another sister looks like in her natural state
because people keep telling her
that the other sister’s natural state is more beautiful
than the first sister’s natural state.
At the same time,
the other sister isn’t even in her natural state,
because she’s trying to imitate yet another sister,
so in actuality, the natural state that the first sister’s trying to imitate
wasn’t even natural in the first place.”
Now I’m thinking, “Damn, this girl’s kicking knowledge!”
But, meanwhile, she keeps spitting on it like
“Fine. I’ll tell you bout my ‘ethnic makeup.’
I wear foundation,
not that powdery shit,
I wear the foundation laid by my indigenous people.
It’s that foundation that makes it so that past being globalized,
I can still vocalize with confidence that i know where my roots are.
I wear this foundation not upon my face, but within my soul,
and I take this from my ancestors
because I’ll be damned if I’d ever let an American or European corporation
tell me what my foundation
should look like.”
I wear lipstick,
for my lips stick to the ears of men,
so they can experience in surround sound my screams of agony
with each lash of rulers, measuring tape, and scales,
as if my waistline and weight are inversely propotional to my value as a human being.
See my lips, they stick, but not together.
Rather, they flail open with flames to burn down this culture that once kept them shut.
Now, I mess with eye shadow,
but my eyes shadow over this time where you’ve gone at ends to keep me blind.
But you can’t cover my eyes, look into them.
My eyes foreshadow change.
My eyes foreshadow light.
and I’m not into hair dyeing.
but I’m here, dying, because this oppression won’t get out of my hair.
I have these highlights.
They are highlights of my past atrocities,
they form this oppression I can’t wash off.
It tangles around my mind and twists and braids me in layers,
this oppression manifests,
it’s stressing me so that even though I don’t color my hair,
in a couple of years it’ll look like I dyed it gray.
So what’s my ethnic makeup ?
I don’t have any.
Because your ethnicity isn’t something you can just make up.
And as for that crap my sisters paint on their faces, that’s not makeup, it’s make-believe.”
I can’t seem to look up at her.
and I’m sure that such actions aren’t foreign to her
because the expression on her face
shows that she knows that my mind is in a trance.
As her footsteps fade, my ego is left in crutches.
And rejection never sounded so sweet.
ETHNIC MAKE-UP??? I THINK NOT!
Hey hey hey… it’s been a while since I listened to good spoken word. Actually it’s been a while since I did anything. I was telling someone yesterday how I’ve stopped listening to news, watching National Geographic, reading the newspapers or doing any mind boggling stuff - or even just reading a book. I need help; I can feel my intellect slipping into oblivion. He said simply that it’s a discipline I need to work out otherwise it’ll make no sense to believe that I can improve myself - esp in the industry that we are in. That hit home and I think it’s time now since I’ve sort of settled in my new life to get into an intellectual routine. But I digress… I was given this link to Adriel Luis on YouTube and it has so brightened my morning. Hope you enjoy it as well.
February 21, 2007
HOW I AM…
Hi
Seems that of late I’ve not done any decent posts. Truthfully, I’ve been trying to sort myself out… although I’m not entirely sure what needs sorting. Bare with me folks… I’ll be back soon with what lays in my heart. Some of it is dark while some of it is fun & flowery… either way it is all me. That will be here soon in bits.
Thanks for your support.
GAGGED
Mouth gagged
lips sealed
heart bursts
with
words,
swirling
twirling
hitting teeth
hard
harder
wanting out
but can’t
Mouth gagged
lips sealed
ears pound
hurt
pain
block it out
push palms harder
try to shout
loud
louder
but can’t
Mouth gagged
lips sealed
shut
shut
closed
desire
want
peace
but can’t
I am gagged
my lips are sealed
I feel pain
against my teeth
in my ear
shattering my heart
I am tired
but I will not
give up
give in
I can.
