CREATING NEW NORMALS

Every once in a while, I normally surprise myself with this in the zone super performance. When I am at it, it seems to me like I have been turned into another man. The whole wide world gets your attention when an event like that one happens to you. Remember when Obama, a little known politician spoke at the Democratic National Convention some years back?

The boy was in the zone (excuse the language). When David Rudisha set a new Olympic record for 800 meters, the did this in the zone. Yet you have to note that these heroics never just happened by chance or by lack. 

Both these great icons in the world had some input to their splendid perfomances behind the scenes. That is what matters. What I do today towards my vision is most important than what the world recognizes. If I do not do today, then I cannot expect to be recognized tomorrow.

The doings of today are sometimes uneventful, uncomfortable, difficult and laborious. They are what counts. Sooner or later we are moving in stride, we are 'running with a smile', and are ready to take it to the next level. The next level happens when you enter into the zone after years of consistent preparation.

At such times, I realize that the in the zone performance could easily become two things:

1. A burden: 
2. A campsite:

A burden because I do not want to go back to levels below this performance. I think I love that kind of a burden, always spurring me to be better.

A campsite because I have intentionally built in enough effort to sustain the in the zone super perfomance to last as a foundation.The key word here is intention.

As much as I love the effects of performing in the zone, I have to tell you that a one off performance is at best, mediocre. When the stakes are raised and I am competing against myself, I need to realize that the in the zone performance will now become my new normal.

To be honest, some of those times catch me off-guard. Yet even if that is so, I have realized that the biggest component of delivering wowing and awesome fruits of my vision is that thing called consistency. The more I dwell in my forte, the more I fortify myself.

Sometimes this can be so benign that I would not even realize what daily consistency is doing to me and my vision. It can be so small in increment to the tune of a single degree. Yet over time this single degree coalesces to a mighty force that I am calling in the zone performance.

Crazy stuff happen when we are in the zone. The biggest reaper is ourselves, no doubt about that.

My only challenge is the thing called inconsistency. Why should there be an awesome new level in one's marriage for a day, or a week...and then you revert back to the 'good old days?'. Why should there be an awesome delivery in my talk to one group, and then I revert back to the normal?

Why should I run 10 Km under 30 minutes today and do the same well over 40 minutes next week?

We ought to realize that we need to be in the race of ascendency, always competing against ourselves, making our in the zone performances the foundation of our next level.

This is one of the surest ways of curing mediocrity in our lives and most certainly in our pursuit of the fulfillment of our vision.

May the stakes be raised today!

Have a consistent week, won't you?

NOW THAT WE ARE HERE...

I have come to realize that one of my greatest undoings in my own life signatures is the folly of being here and not being present!

I think one of the biggest resources that each and every human being has been graced with today is that thing called...Availability. In Swahili, we have a saying that goes: "asiyekuweko na lake halipo!" The direct translation of that statement is 'Out of sight, out of mind'.

Today, I am not talking about the physical availability per se. I am talking about being present and being present. I am talking about being in a place physically as well as being there mentally and spiritually. My biggest undoing this year has been living in two places at the same time.

I have been physically available at one place and have not necessarily lived there, but my heart has been somewhere else along with hope. 

Let me explain: There has been this hope that I have held for months on end. From the time that the notion of that hope rose up to few days back, I have not had my feet down. I have not been present where I am. I have not even been consistent with the vision. I have lived in the future and neglected the present.

I have kept things on post pone mode. I have been waiting to live on hope. I have been living as if the real life will kick in when the hope I was waiting for materializes.

I cannot begin to tell you how incredibly disorienting that situation has been. The biggest thing we can do about our lives is to be alive where we are, completely. Yes, let the hope be there, but for one minute, never let your eyes off the vision or the goal. For one minute, never let down your guard and build castles in the air. Someone said, "Have you built your castles in the air, Good, now go to work and put some foundations under them!"

The biggest folly of my life has been waiting while doing nothing. It just does not add up. It is important that whatever little I have at hand, whatever 'reveletion' I have at hand, it is critical that I be faithful to work it out as/while I await the big break to come.

I am talking about being so excited about the bright future of tomorrow that all you do for now is sit down and wait, downing your tools on what you are supposed to be doing right now.

In the end, when what I have been waiting for in hope and faith and earnest expectation comes through in the form of a dead dream...so much time has gone. You only realize late on that you should have kept your head and your cool and should have maintained priority, doing what matters daily even as you are living in hope.

Again, let me say this: There is nothing bigger than your dreams or vision. There is nothing more exciting than your life purpose that will take its place. I have realized that all the shiny objects will come our way seeking to distract us. With this need of getting into comfort zones, we sometimes jump onto the shiny objects. 

The trouble with them is that they are seldom rooted firmly. They are seasonal. When they pass on, what are we left with? You guessed right...we are left with the vision that we have absconded...what we should have been consistently working on anyway.

Now that we are here...now that I am here, it is important for me to roll up my sleeves and daily, consistently chip away on what matters...because at the end of the day, what matters in life is what matters at all times.

Now that I am here, it is imperative that I am present every day in the moment. It is when I am present twice (both physically and mentally) that I will seize the opportunities of the now.

Opportunities are better seized in the present than in the postponed life of hope. Make no mistake about it, it is important to dream. It is important to think about the future. It is important to live in expectancy. Yet that does not and should not remove from us the privilege of being alive and present in the moment to do that which matters to us the most-to be alive and working towards our dreams and visions.

Have a present day, wont you?

SINGLE? WAY TO GO!!

Being single is one of the most beautiful seasons in one's life. There is no question about it. Yet many single people would like to get married...for that one selfish reason we all know. I have been single, and now I am married, and I can tell you as a matter of fact, singleness rocks!!

Ok, am not saying that marriage 'sucks' (excuse the language), am just saying that for the marriage to sizzle, you need two wholly single individuals. The word single means one, integral, seamless, unique, sole, undivided, amongst many other definitions.

No doubt that purity in anything is so valuable. Pure gold, pure diamond, pure mind, pure agenda...all these and many more are derivatives of nothing else but singleness. Purity is a result of oneness.

In music, we cherish it because of nothing else but single-ness. Singleness of all instruments and singers merging their sounds in a symphony of a note.

Singleness also means simple-ness. Uncomplicated. Basic. And that is what is the most critical aspect of life signatures.

No room for distraction!

As we come to the close of the year, it is those who have been single-minded in their pursuits that will deem themselves successful.

Paralysis. Such a debilitating thing.It is an isidious description of being alive, yet being helplessly dead at the same time.

The cause of paralysis in life Signatures is curiously...ambition. Not over ambition, but just ambition. When we pursue several fronts at go, we tend to either lose track, become discouraged, or fatally become paralyzed by being overwhelmed.

If on the other hand, we just chose one thing, singly stuck to it with keen and sharp focus UNTIL it gets done, we benefit big time from the ripple effect of achievement that is created.

I dare say that the easiest way to accomplish many things is to focus on one, complete it with excellence before shifting attention to the next.

In short, let us pick just one thing from this October delve into it and make sure it is done and dusted. You get thoroughly motivated that way.

Have an accomplished week, wont you?

FORM ONE ANYTIME!

In 1993, I was the first form one to report to school. Partly because my parents were so happy and so eager to see me admitted on one of the most prestigious schools in the province. That was wrong according to the un-written code of being 'cool' in school. You don't just come on the first day....you bid your time.

I have to tell you that that dreaded thing called bullying that form ones go through happened to me. I think all bullies are miscreants...and I am not biased to say this. There are some who bullied me that are reading this...some are dead, others are whatever place they are in the world. I wonder how we would great each other today when we meet...few decades later.

Yet the experience of being a form one will always be one of those fundamental 'shapers' of my life. To be honest with you, despite the negatives of bullying and all the discomforts that I faced there, I have come to realize that I would gladly go back to that situation where I am a form one once again.

In fact, I would do that again and again and again as the chances come. You know why? Form ones grow! Pretty soon they catch up with the culture at school. They get up to speed with the lingo...and smart ones can easily pretend to be form two in less than a week!

Seriously, we have those form one situations all around us. You are newly married...guess what? You are a form one of sorts in that arena. You are about to grow. You are about to learn some new things. You had better...since growth is good for us.

There is no point for us being in form one in theory...it is OK, but nothing replaces the tangible experience we gain when physically there.

You can read as much as you want (and I read a lot by the way) but when you get that new job as a sales executive, guess what? Form One once again! I think you get the point.

One thing that really gave me a culture shock in my first year of high-school and pretty much the rest of the four years I spent there was the stark realization that there were some guys that were way, and I mean way ahead of me 'upstairs'. Whereas from my rural school I came tops at the final exams, I found out that in my stream in form one, I was at best, 70th! How the mighty fall!

And that is a pretty good thing if you ask me. That is why our kids need to be exposed to as much competition as possible.

The same thing happened to me when I joined college. As much as I studied (and study I did...I remember people would come to the library to specifically see 'how Lawrence is studying'), there was still people way ahead of me...and to them it came naturally. 

Needless to say, as much as we love comfort, it is good to have form one situations as often as possible, that way, we tend to grow.

At the moment, my form one situation is driving a manual transmission Mercedes Benz...kind of a classic or let me call it a relic...but I got to tell you that in the roads in Kampala, I am thoroughly a form One this week. The car stops at crucial stages and roundabouts, hills and other unforeseen situations...I get 'bullied' by people who are seemingly more entitled to the road than I am...but you know what? I am growing.

Form One anytime!!!

Have a school-filled day wont you?

EVEN WITH THE NEW iPHONE 5, SOME THINGS ARE CRITICALLY THE SAME

I think in our present day and age, there are two fundamental things that are a hindrance to our life signatures. Our success, prosperity, greatness, wealth and significance have a direct relationship with knowledge. 

 

Yet in our day, we really can not feign ignorance, can we? I mean in just decades back, there was no google, yet people did splendid research in libraries. Today, at a click of a button and not just on a desktop or laptop, but even on one of the cheapest (yet original) handsets, you are connected to the rest of the world.

In the year 2000, my most coveted gadget was a desktop. Then, it was a rare commodity in society, a fact proven by my job as a 'computer instructor'. I would spend the whole day teaching people what I now consider mundane things like:

• Opening and closing windows,
• What a mouse is,
• How to double click,
• How to right-click,
• What a computer is...

These days, desktops are not only as common as anything else, but they are soon becoming obsolete in homes, being relegated back to school...primary schools for that matter.

My point here is that we really have advanced technologically beyond any human imagination just few years back.

However, how we leverage these transformations in technology will be mirrored with how well we are fulfilling our life signatures.

The first problem we have is lack of courage to act on the information (and transformational information at that) that we have. I mean even in today's world, you can take a thoroughly scientific excercise online that will outline to you your strenghts and your blind sides. Yet with this kind of information, we still struggle with our life signatures. Why? We are cognizant of the fact that transformation is never micro-wave style, it is slow, ardours, time costing and at best uncomfortable.

It is not that we do not know...it is that we do know but lack the courage enough to act with reckless abandon on what we do know.  That is our number one major problem.

The second problem we have with fulfilling our life signatures is a side effect of the technological advances. Many people are into micro-waving, while to be honest, every life signature will have to be marinated. 

I mean, at the click of a mouse, we can know the answer to a question, but that will never negate the fact that there is a means towards that end. Many people are interested in the end but are seldom careful to master the means.

Take for example the scribes of scriptures. Do you know that those guys used to commit chunks of scripture to memory since there were no enough copies around? Today, you can have twelve versions of scripture in your hand in digital format. You can search for a word, a character, use a dictionary, compare texts and so on.

Question: Does that make you better, more impactful than the guys of old? Think about it.

It seems to me that the more things change, the more the fundamentals remain the same and irreplaceable.

I got two questions for you. With the knowledge you have, even as minute as it might be, what other than courage is stopping you from realizing your life signature?

Secondly...let me ask you this: Are you at the moment engaged in something that guarantees you an end without your input on the means? 

Remember this: The fundamentals of success will be the same despite of technological advances. Think about that.

Have a technical day, wont you?

THAT EXTRA SENSE

For the past several weeks or even months, the subject of listening intently has been in my sould again and again. I just cant seem to go past it. I just cant seem to go past the need of savoring the stillness of the soul and get direction in the short-term, interim and long term. It is critical.

We live in an overly scientific world where all concepts must be explained by empirical data, proven by experimentation and ascertained independently. In short, we live in a world where anything apart from evidence is considered woo-woo and super-spiritual.

Look, all of us regardless of age, creed, status, political affiliation, spiritual inclination or whatever else that differentiates us, all of us have that extra sense. It is like our authentic police, always looking out for us. The extra sense always wants us to be congruent. In the end, the extra sense once adhered to will save us enough trouble ahead, and give us the most harmonious path to take right now.

That extra sense is what will look out for you that all the decisions you make including where you will live, work, whom you will marry, and all those important decisions are in line with your life purpose. Everyone of us has that extra sense.

I am told that women have it more developed than men. That is why it is absolutely important to listen to your spouse. My wife had misgivings about a friend of mine...and I could not see why that was so, until he swindled me of some cash.

On a personal level, last year I had it clearly from the extra sense that the organization I was working with would go under...I never took action. I have come to learn that sometimes no amount of prayer, hope, hard-work, connections and all our physical and spiritual efforts can change the warning signs that the extra sense deposits in us.

Sometimes it is through a dream. You do not need a degree in dreamology to discern the effects of a dream in your life. Most dreams are either of positive value or negative value. I am talking about dreams at night, not the visionary kind of dreaming. The extra sense communicates mostly through dreams.

At times, the extra sense is a benign uncomfortable feeling about a decision...there is just no peace about it. The controversy within self is to always solve a discomfort that is prevailing by orchestrating change immediately...yet the change must be ascertained through the message contained in the extra sense. 

Most of us have been in dating/courting relationships that the extra sense told us wont work. However, due to the fear of confronting the inevitable, we kept going...only to be doubly heart-broken YEARS later. If young people would only listen to that extra sense!

For some people, it has been a career/business decision that you have taken. I remember some time last year, I sought to borrow some capital worth USD. 50,000 to inject in some project. Although the lender liked me that much, they listened to the extra sense  and denied me the loan. 

I felt dejected...but if I were to meet this individual today, I would hug him, buy him lunch and really gratefully thank him for listening to the extra sense. If he hadn't, I guarantee you that by now, I would be serving time for defaulting on repayment.

All of us, especially most of us visionaries have that extra sense.  However, the most unfortunate thing is that that sense is mostly neglected. We mostly want to hear what is loud, see what is bright, and eat what smells good. The beauty of the extra sense is that it sees way beyond our noses, way beyond the hullabaloo of the pomps and polemics of the now, on to the grave and silent dangerous snares lurking our way ahead.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is time to listen, and It is time to listen more often, more intentionally, more deeply. It is not only time to listen, but it is also time to take a leap of faith and act on the admonition of the extra sense.

Have an attentive week, wont you?

WHY 'OILINGS HANDS' IS NOT A BAD THING AFTER ALL

Public servants in several countries have been known to subtly request for their hands to be 'oiled' so that they can speed up service delivery. It's called corruption.

The philosophy of oiling hands sounds so bad, but you will have to realize that the psychology behind it is a good motivational force. Let us face it, happiness is a great ingredient of creativity and productivity...no doubt about it!

First off, asking for 'facilitation' to do what you have been employed to do is essentially wrong. I am in no way championing it.

However, from experience, I have come to realize that psychologically there tends to be an increased percentage of service delivery, creativity, productivity and the phenomenon I call "running with a smile" when some one's hands are oiled.

Let me explain: You are happier with some cash in your pocket than when you don't have any. That is a universal truth that nobody can deny.

You are more motivated with your mind freed from the worries of basic needs to commit and concentrate on your vision. In fact you are more creative and happier.

A visionary is working on a project, most of the resources needed for this project are available~Capital, networks, airtime, et all. His hands are essentially oiled. I have seen that such like visionaries have a much better return than those with dry hands. 

In fact, I have seen those with dry hands literally struggle, their faces screwed up in thought, their creativity nipped in the bud. I have seen them spend much more time looking for oil than working on their vision.

I will submit to you that it is better to work with oiled hands than with dry ones.

Long time ago, a certain king gave a bizarre order that no soldier could eat anything until the king has avenged his enemies. Unbeknown to him, his own son was out of the meeting doing exploits...and he happened to taste some honey later on.

He instantly gained lots of strength, yet the rest of the army would not as much taste the dripping honey. What a waste it was that day to go to war with dry hands so to speak.

In our life signatures, there is that pendulum that oscillates between oiled hands and dry hands. The challenge for all of us is to make sure that we maximize the moment of oiled hands and never give up on the moments of dry hands.

Did you know the greatest need that we human beings have? It is not tangible. It is not material. However, tangible and material things can sometimes contribute to meeting this need: Happiness! The shortcut of being creative is happiness. The shortcut of a happy marriage is making your spouce and yourself happy.

The shortcut of increased productivity is making a work-force happy. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the philosophy behind oiled hands.

Have a happy week, wont you?

THE STILL SMALL VOICE

I have come to cherish little things...small things. I have come to realize how important a small shift is critical in life. Sometimes it is not the, polemics, grandeur, shock and awe that make a difference. Sometimes it is one small little thing.

Am meant to understand that it was a single vote that gave Adolf Hitler the reins of power in his party before he became the leader of Germany. I heard a rumor some decades back that a prominent country made a decision to be English speaking and not German speaking by a differnce of one vote.

Did you know that without one dollar in a million, it would not be called a million dollars?

One of the most interesting 'small things' as you will are ideas. What are ideas? Nothing but that still small voice. They have a way of passing through our minds when we are relaxed. A great mentor of mine has these moments when he is showering, and so has called them 'Shower Power'.

The success of our Life Signatures is strongly linked to that still small voice that speaks to us involuntarily. It is from that still small voice that great visions have been brought to fruition.

I would challenge all visionaries to take note of that still small voice  whispering to you on a day to day basis. Prepare to capture the moment when that voice speaks. This post by the way was inspired by nothing else but that still small voice...and so are many other posts on this blog.

Today, the difference maker in my life will depend on how I choose to respond to the silent whisper in my soul.

The voice could be small. It could be as benign as a whisper, but make no mistake about it: your response to it needs to be calculated, anticipated, reflective and thorough.

Yet through the trap of familiarity, very many people ignore the still small voice. The trap of familiarity tells you that you did not sweat for the idea...so it is not important. Am sure that a big percentage of the contents of the still small  voice  are powerful enough to alter my life, my community, country, even the world and generations after me.

If you knew that someone would be whispering to you on such a powerful way to impact your generations on a daily basis (if you implemented the whispers), how would you treat that still small voice? 

Have a listening week, wont you?