Moses Kuria's Fake Damascus Moment

Image courtesy: The Standard

Part of what Gatundu #MPig says on the video that has been circulating on social media is partially true, but the real story is even more insidious!

Parliament is meant to approve EVERY budget line that the government proposes to spend and later verify that EVERY coin The Executive Arm proposed to spend has been spent on want was approved, service to Wanjiku. That is the principle of checks and balances. 

This scrutiny is done through mainly the Public Accounts Committee (Abwabu anyone?),  Budget and Appropriations Committee (Mutava Musyimi anyone?) & the Public Investments Committee among others. 

The Auditor-General, an Independent Office, is parliament's audit arm. Many Kenyans don't realize that the AG is actually meant to help parliament hold the executive, the judiciary as well as county governments to account by ensuring resources are spent on what was budgeted for.

(It is indeed poetic justice that #UhuRuto sycophants were busy bashing the AG, who's actually their watchdog. See your life now oo!)

Treasury (Executive) proposes a budget for the year, parliament scrutinizes it and approves it with or without amendments, GoK spends, Auditor General audits the spending, parliament scrutinizes the audits and ideally approves if correct or sanctions if there are audit queries.

So how did #UhuRuto circumvent this rigorous Wanjiku scrutiny?

1. The new National CDF Act pegged CDF funds on 2.5% of what MPs approve for the National Government to spend. 

For example, if say national government requests parliament to allow it to spend 1 million shillings and parliament says you can only spend 500,000 shillings, the money available to be divided among MPs as CDF for their constituencies will be 2.5% of 500,000.

If Treasury presents to parliament a budget proposal of 1 million shillings and parliament amends and approves 2 million, then money available to be divided among MPs as CDF is 2.5% of 2 million... if #UhuRuto present a 3 trillion shillings budget and parliament approves it as is, then the money available to be divided among MPs as CDF for their constituencies will be 2.5% of 3 trillion. Capiche? You get the picture?

In effect, the more money parliament approves for UhuRuto, the more money MPs get as CDF. #UhuRuto basically bribed parliament to look the other way! 

This explains why #MPigs approved raising the debt ceiling. It just means more cash to them, so it's a no brainer! 🤷🏾‍♂

Next...

2. The Inter-governmental Budget and Economic Council (IBEC), chaired by the #DeePee and served by Treasury mandarins as its Secretariat, was created to help coordinate resource management between the National and County Government. It is an executive body (national and county) advising the legislature on budgets that are made by the executive.

What has happened in the #UhuRuto era is that the Treasury does budgets, then IBEC, which is manned by treasury mandarins, advises parliament on these budgets. It has cut off the parliamentary committees mentioned above meant to scrutinize and approve budgets. Treasury has used IBEC to cut off parliament and an accountability arm for Wanjiku. 

In effect, Treasury budgets, approves its own budgets, and then accounts to itself by self-auditing. Now you know why the Auditor General has been under fire for trying to do his job. 

Lastly, please note who chairs the IBEC, then you will undefeated why we are so screwed economically as a country.

Moses Kuria aache machozi ya chura!

#NiHayoTu

#UshenziKE!

The Real Lords of Kenyan Poverty

The Lords of Poverty                          Image Courtesy of @StateHouseKenya

Dear Deputy President "Dr." William Ruto,

Allow me to address you on behalf of the poor people of Kenya who feel the sting of a reckless government which you are the second in command.

While it's hard to establish the authenticity of the hustler narrative you wholeheartedly peddle, it seems to me that your ivory tower of ill-gotten wealth has blinded you from poor people challenges.

The buck has stopped with you for the last 7 years you have been in government as the DP.

To claim that Kenya is poor because of the opposition or an individual who hasn't held any constitutional office since 2013 is to take Kenyans for fools. Carry the cross of the incompetence of the Jubilee regime you campaigned for tooth and nail.

Let me remind you why Kenyans are poor...

Kenyans are poor because of elected visionless leaders who'd rather plunder than invest in basic quality services.

Kenya is poor because of high priests of corruption stealing from the public & occupying plum jobs to benefit their families and cronies.

Kenyans are poor because of primitive accumulation of wealth (you win here) by a retrogressive elite.

Kenyans are poor because of income inequalities perpetuated by a clueless regime which negotiates bad trade deals with foreign powers.

Kenyans are poor because of odious debts borrowed to satisfy the greed of a few criminal elite than invest in high yield public good projects.

Bwana DP, before you tell us who is the Lord of poverty is...

Where are the stadiums you promised?

Where's the maize from Galana Kulalu?

What happened to free quality maternity care?

Where's the Euro Bond money trail leading?

Who killed Msando?

Where's the Arror & Kimwarer dams' money?

Who killed Jacob Juma?

Who messed the debt to GDP ratio of our country?

Who has pissed on our Constitution & weakened our independent institutions?

Who has rolled back the freedom gains fought for by Kenyans, some who died in the process?

In 2022, we will vote you out and the entire corrupt regime.

In 2022 the people of Kenya will claim back their country.

In 2022, on that glorious day, you will be held to account for all the atrocities you have done in this country. Your blood-stained hands will be brought to justice.

In the meantime, enjoy the fleeting glory.

Mwalimu Mutemi wa Kiama - Kenyan

#1Milli4WanjikuRevoltsMum Medical Fundraising Appeal

Hi friends. My name is Edwin Mutemi wa Kiama, also known as "WanjikuRevolution Kenya" on Facebook or @WanjikuRevolt on twitter... Am a social justice activist opposed to all manner of uthamaki (tribal kingdoms), whether in Central Kenya, Rift Valley, Nyanza, Ukambani or wherever in Kenya...Am one those guys the Deputy President describes as non-hard-working Kenyan activists who drink till 11pm and wake up at 11am... No I don't. Seriously, am a typical Kenyan hustler who asks questions on why things are not the way they should be and speaks truth to power with love. Like, where are the 5 world class stadiums promised to us in 2013 campaigns?!

State of public healthcare in Kenya

Whenever am questioned on my activism, I simplify it thus: “I would like my mum who’s retired to have a competently staffed and equipped government run health center within a 5 Km radius of her location anywhere in Kirinyaga that can attend to minor ailments, diagnose and refer more serious cases to a well-equipped, well-staffed government run level 4 or 5 hospital within the county. There should be no need to ferry my sick mum to Nairobi unless absolutely critical.” Little did I know I would experience the sorry state of our public healthcare system first hand, and that our mum would die in the process!

Here are a few points...

1) Mum went to have an abdominal operation to correct a hernia Kerugoya Medical Center, a private hospital. These are usually routine but she was hypertensive. She went into cardiac arrest and had to be transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) ICU via ambulance without operating. Reason, no ICU in Kirinyaga or the environs, not even private hospitals. Options were KNH or Mathari in Nyeri. How is this possible 54 years after independence?

2. Surgery was done at KNH, but turned septic. She was at KNH ICU for 23 days, had several cardiac arrests, did not survive the last one and passed on.

By then she had incurred a bill of around 1.6 million shillings after 23 days in a public hospital. Is that right?

3. Mum had been a teacher for 32 years, paid her taxes and other statutory deductions at source dutifully (well, one has no choice). She was a pensioner. When she started getting sickly 4 months ago, we discovered she didn't have NHIF cover. We reactivated it. She died a day after it became active on 3^rd October 2016!

Questions on Kenyan Healthcare System:

1. Why aren't pensioners covered automatically and deducted from pension just as it was when they were employed, especially former government GoK employees?
2. Please urge everyone to get NHIF cover as it would have taken care of this bill, and enrol your relatives, especially the retired and the elderly parents. Have your retiree family and friends check the NHIF status.
3. Why would someone who has served Kenya as a teacher for 32 years have to sell off hard earned land or other property because of illness or death to pay off a hospital bill in a government hospital? Does that make any sense? Isn't the state meant to take care of its people?

Other notes...

•         KNH Casualty section is understaffed. Relatives and friends have to find beds for themselves. Many patients die there waiting to be attended.
•         County hospitals are referring cases they can easily attend to to KNH causing an administrative log jam.
•        KNH only has 20 ICU beds in the main ICU plus a few others scattered in different sections. This is a disaster. There is need for the government to address this.

As a family are humbly appealing to Kenyans to support us offset the bill through Paybill number or Equity Bank account below:

Instructions for sending money:

Go to: Mpesa LIPA NA MPESA

PAYBILL OPTION

BUSINESS NUMBER: 849651

ACCOUNT NUMBER: YOUR NAME

AMOUNT: ENTER AN AMOUNT

ENTER YOUR PIN

SEND

Or through Equity Bank

Harambee Avenue Branch

Stella Karimi Kiama-Medical Fund

Account number 0240170059583

Asante and God bless you!

#KenyansForJuliana Medical Appeal

Am posting this on behalf of my cousin George. As angry as I am about negligence in both public and private health institutions based on fact that we pay taxes to have affordable and quantity healthcare, that's not an option today. We have to deal with current realities. Let's help heal Juliana.

WRK

From George Wachira

Dear fellow Kenyan,

Please help out a mum, my wife Juliana.

My name is George Wachira.  Am a normal hard working Kenyan. The last one month though has turned my life and that of my beloved wife and family into hell on earth.

Juliana and I were elated at the prospects of parenthood and on 8th October 2015. We walked into Mater hospital because labour indicated that it was indeed time to receive our bundle of joy hopefully through normal birth. After being in labour for over 24 hours the doctors decided it was best to surgically remove the baby. We were gifted with a beautiful baby boy.

Complications unfortunately arose from the Cesarean Section and 4 days later Juliana had to be rushed back into surgery for an emergency Laparotomy and Colonoscopy. Basically, whoever had operated on her also cut her intestines. Negligence. She had to go into emergency surgery.

After the surgery she was put on drip medication plus hydration because she was not taking anything orally. This then caused another problem of water retention in the body. When this was eventually discovered she had to be put in the HDU for close monitoring. After more than a month in hospital, Juliana was finally cleared to go home.

The bill at this point had come to around 1.8 million shillings. With the help of Insurance, family and friends we were able to clear this amount and she finally came home and was reunited with her new born son.

Juliana is required to undergo further surgery to close up the opening left after the previous
operation. An amount of 1 million shillings is required for her to undergo this final operation.
Let us help this young mother, my wife, begin her journey into parenthood a lot happier
and healthier.

Please give whatever you can and help us achieve our goal of 1 million shillings. Every shilling counts.

Thank you and God bless you and reward your kindness.

George & Juliana

Paybill Number; 282814
Account Name; JULIANA

PS. We hope to pursue legal redress after Juliana is healed.

Is Kenya due for another presidential election less than a year after the last election?

Why are we in a campaign mode only 4 months after a general election? Why are Deputy President William Ruto and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga going around the country essentially campaigning? Why the talk of a referendum, tyranny of numbers, revolution, parliamentary system vs presidential system?

Possible scenario: We will soon have a general election to elect a new president/prime minister and deputy.

Why, you may ask? Well, the Deputy President is likely to be at The Hague for a minimum four months continuously especially after his request not to attend some of the proceeding was appealed by the ICC Prosecutor and suspended. The president will join him in November possibly for the same duration. This means for around two months (60 days) that both the president and Deputy President will be away, then the Speaker of National Assembly will be the acting president. The law however says that he can only hold the temporally incumbency of that office for 60 days after which an election must be held.

This kind of puts in context the heightened political activity we've been witnessing lately for me. But it's not a possibility....or is it?

Why I wrote “End the propaganda, Jubilee!”

By +Betty Njoroge Twitter @BettyWaitherero 

It started with 11 girls and a dog from Mombasa, and then a man and a Cow from Kiambu County and then a man and a dog, a man with a donkey, a man with another cow, a man with a chicken and then two men with goats.

The Kenyan mainstream Media which only weeks ago were broadcasting somewhat relevant news, albeit heavily bent on politics had now degraded itself to lewd stories of alleged bestiality. All of this was triggered by a “cup of tea” meeting at Statehouse.

I am just an ordinary Kenyan, broke, out of regular work and Kikuyu. I watched in 2007/08 while ordinary Kenyans like me were slaughtered by militia in the post election violence. This wasn’t the first time there was politically instigated violence in this country; in fact, every single county in Kenya periodically runs violent whenever some politician wants to exert or gain power.

We live in a country that is called an “Island of peace” in a conflict region, but the truth is Kenya is NOT peaceful. We don’t live in peace. Us, the ordinary, broke, out of work Kenyans.

I started getting this boiling sensation in my gut when the campaigns for presidency began. Note that the campaigns for the other electoral posts were never as bitter, hateful or malicious. My stomach churned every time a candidate would make utterances that were ethnically divisive, hateful and derogatory against an entire ethnic community simply because his rival came from that community.

Firstly, I believe that going to elections in a country that is so divided is endorsing a farce. Secondly, I believe that the electorate as a whole should have rejected the ballot because of the divisive people on that ballot. Lastly, when 93% of Kenyans voted ethnically, for their own ethnic representatives, that was NOT democracy.

This is a nation fragmented to its very core; the politics are of hatred, ethno-centrism and bigotry. It doesn’t matter what your ethnicity is, you voted like a bigot when you choose not who you knew was the best suited person but the person who was from your tribe, or allied to your tribe. There is no democracy in Kenya because the political parties have no ideologies and no system of inclusiveness and the legal system via its laws encourage extreme division by allowing coalitions.

You would have imagined that allowing coalitions would bring people together, right? But actually what the coalitions or alliances allowed was parties that were inherently ethnic and certainly not national to join forces with other ethnic parties and present a façade of being national in nature. In the past one year we have seen the very depths of hell displayed by some MPs hopping from political party to political party all in the hope of using that to engineer their return to power.

In 2007, 60% of the MPs voted into parliament were new i.e. they were not part of the previous parliament. By 2011, 100% of these MPs had passed legislations to allow themselves more perks, allowances, privileges and the chance to hop from party to party as they wished.

It’s already August 2013. The presidential campaign period is over. Barely one month after being sworn in MPs demanded that they receive the same pay as the previous parliament even though this was a new constitution and a new government and system in transition.  Majority of these MPs represent the Jubilee coalition and indeed Jubilee constitutes the current government even though at the moment of this uttermost betrayal, all MPs were united in their greed and perversion.

6 months after the elections, the Jubilee government has nothing to show in terms of actual results. They can’t sustain their campaign promises of free laptops or free maternity, or jobs for the youth. They are not interested in fulfilling promises, that much is clear. So instead of trying to pretend they are working, they try to distract the nation, by luring the media and telling us lecherous tales of bestial sex.

In all this, to add to the tactic of diverting attention, the Government Spokesman chooses to take what appears to be a personal and emotive stand against Raila Odinga to the next level. “Raila Odinga’s politics are arrogant, chest thumping, hateful and toxic.”

Toxic. We have a nation where 50% of the population did NOT vote for the president. In an exam if a child gets 50% that is a mere C. Why should a government with a C grade brag or abuse others? Where does the government spokesman get off insulting the opposition when he is NOT an elected official? How can a government representative address the whole nation in this manner?

Yet we are divided, we are not united. Even if we are all poor, half of us are smug bigots and the other half are silently resentful bigots. My country Kenya is a country in political conflict, and in many parts of the country this political conflict explodes in perennial violence.

Toxic. The propaganda and absolute drivel spewing out of Jubilee government is TOXIC, HATEFUL, CHEST THUMPING and ARROGANT.

I love my country. Very much so, I had to do something to switch of the flow of toxicity bursting out of the mouths of undeserving, childish and deviant people. To tell the country, I love you and I will stand up to these sewer rats. 

And so, that’s why I wrote the article.

Welcome to the Era of Digital Censorship in Kenya, but the REVOLUTION is still coming!

Update. A few minutes after posting this on WanjikuRevolution Kenya's Facebook timeline, the post was taken down by Facebook and the profile was blocked for 7 days. Welcome to the era of digital censorship in Kenya.

Am back on #FB after a 24hr block followed by another immediate 3 day block. This means the Kenyan government (my government) and it's operatives are actively reporting this profile as violating #Facebook Community Standards. The truth is a threat to the reincarnated KANU in form of #Jubilee Government.

KANU Status Quo in it's many incarnations has survived for 50 years by;

1) Keeping Wanjiku (Wanjikus, Achiengs, Kerubos, Jeptoos, Aminas, Bettys, Nekesas, Abdis, Mwangis, Tanuis, Odhiambos, Mutisyas, Kazungus, Lenanas, Wekesas, Mwacharos, Yussufs, na kadhalika) ignorant on how her government is meant to serve her, not rule her.
2) Keeping Wanjiku living hand to mouth thus too busy to keep government accountable.
3) Divide and Rule - Tell Wanjiku that Kikuyus are the problem, Luos are the problem, Kalenjins are the problem, Kambas are the problem, Raila is the problem, WRK is the problem, etc. As we fight each other, they loot our resources and consolidate their hold on power and our lives.

Wanjiku Revolution actively challenges the above three slave driving governance strategies. FEARLESSLY!

Freedom of Expression and conscience as guaranteed by our Constitution IS NOT DEBATABLE. The government has managed to intimidate senior editors at the Nation Media Group and The Standard Media group to silently publish only positive stories about it. The "Accept & Move On'' Doctrine. WE WILL NOT ACCEPT AND MOVE ON! A few brave souls like GADO have refused to be intimidated at the risk of loosing their jobs.

The war has now been brought online with the #Jubilee chief propagandist working officially from State House with a title to boot and being paid using our tax resources. Bloggers like Betty Njoroge now have the pleasure of having the Government Spokesman Muthui Kariuki call her parents to intimidate her and have her take down her blog.

Well, WE OWN SOCIAL MEDIA. WE WILL NOT BE INTIMIDATED. WE WILL SPAWN 1000 accounts by Wanjikus, Achiengs, Kerubos, Jeptoos, Aminas, Bettys, Nekesas, Abdis, Mwangis, Tanuis, Odhiambos, Mutisyas, Kazungus, Lenanas, Wekesas, Mwacharos, Yussufs, na kadhalika. WaKenya wameamka. The revolution is coming, it's only a matter of time.

You can have Facebook shut down this account, but I already have 50 others. You can have Facebook shut down this account, even kill me, but you are acting too late. Wanjiku Revolution is now beyond one person, many others are pushing the same truth. You cannot kill us all, YOU CANNOT KILL THE TRUTH! Wanjiku revolution is a revolution of the mind...attitude change, asking questions, wanting things to be better. This is a mindset that has been embraced by majority of Kenyans both online and offline. You cannot shut us all down. We are a 'Small Axe''...We are organising...we will take you down. WE ARE COMING!

I Change, YOU Change, Together WE Change Kenya....for the better.

WRK

Kenyans Voted. To Midwife the Rebirth of Kenya's Institutions 50 Years After Independence, Let The Supreme Court Decide!

Kenyans brave long queues and heat to vote on March 4th 2013 general election. Photo credit: Edwin Kiama

I did not vote for either Uhuru Kenyatta nor Raila Odinga. I have been a harsh critic of both in the past, and I will continue to be if any of them goofs in the future.

It does not matter to me which one of them won or lost. I know for a fact that Jubilee Coalition had also prepared to petition the result similarly had Raila won. Jubilee lawyers were also on standby.

One major positive I have taken from this is that Kenyans did not loot, burn, rape, kill, maim or displace fellow Kenyans as was the case in 2007. The aggrieved instead have gone to court, the very reason we have courts...to arbitrate grievances. I must admit though that the relative fragile peace was as result of the unity of convenience between Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, and their respective ethnic communities before, during and after the elections. Though we are well aware the unity is out of necessity given the charges facing them at the ICC, it's something we can build on! The issues that caused 2007 PEV still remain, a number of Kenyans remain in IDP camps and there has been no credible effort to ensure justice for those affected. That said, we displayed some level maturity.

In the coming court process I see an opportunity for all KENYANS to win, not just Jubilee or CORD. All Kenyans, including those like me who Voted Musalia, PK, Dida, MK, JoK or Muite. It's not the time for one side or the other to gloat or mourn. It's time to put our democracy and new institutions through the test of fire.

Manual verification of voter ID during the March 4th 2013 Kenya general election. Photo credit: Edwin Kiama

We are presented with an opportunity to audit several things using our new Constitution; 

1. Procurement procedures in the Government of Kenya (BVR and other equipment)

2. The integrity of our electoral process (registration of voters, voter identification at the polling stations, tallying of results at the grass-roots and the national level, transmission of results, presentation of final tally to Kenyans).

3. The integrity of IEBC and IEBC staff.

4. The integrity of the Civil Service and security services (NIS, Police and eg. did the executive interfere through County commissioners?)

5. Integrity, fairness and freedom of press (was there a conspiracy of silence and mass conditioning all in the name of 'peace'?)

and finally...

6. The progress in reforming our Judiciary. How credible, judicious, independent and just will the Supreme Court ruling be, regardless of whom it favours? Or will it be agony for us all as in the past? Do we have an honest referee we can all depend on to settle even lesser disputes in our Judiciary? A referee that all 'Wanjikus' (common Kenyans) can depend on? Time to put that question to bed.

Dear compatriots, I say let's seize the opportunity for ALL Kenyans, for the sake of our past, present and future generations.

Let the courts inspire and midwife the rebirth of our nation this 50th year. Over to you Hon. Chief Justice Dr. Willie Mutunga and your team.

Kenyans of multiple ethnicities, races & creed voted in the March 4th 2013 election. Photo credit: Edwin Kiama 

God bless us all, God bless our nation Kenya.

KENYAN POLITICIANS' SELF INTEREST

Reason I will NEVER vote for Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka, Uhuru Kenyatta or William Ruto.

According to the Waki Report, NSIS reported as early as 2006 that William Ruto and #ODM-K were planning Post Election Violence (PEV). Uhuru Kenyatta then was a member of the ODM-K leading lights. Did he know about the planned PEV by ODM?  Raila's and Ruto's SELF INTEREST.

Kibaki and his PNU side decided to sit on the said NSIS report. They hoped that they could take advantage on any PEV to hold on to power in case Kibaki lost the 2007 election. It happened as planned. Kibaki's and Mt' Kenya mafia SELF INTEREST.

In September 2007, 4 months to the General Election, Uhuru Kenyatta crossed over to the PNU side becoming the first Opposition Leader in the Commonwealth to cross over to the governing side months to an election. He of cause knew he would would lose the Gatundu seat by remaining in ODM. Uhuru's SELF INTEREST.

After the 2007 General Elections, PEV started. Kalonzo joined Kibaki and Uhuru on the PNU side after being promised the VP giving Kibaki's contested win some bargaining power. Kalonzo's SELF INTEREST.

It is alleged that Raila planned to go to Kisumu to quell the violence after PEV broke out; as he waited for his flight while working-out at the Hilton Hotel gym, the NSIS informed and convinced him with enough proof of a plot to down his plane over Rift Valley and blame it on PNU so that his then deputy could take over. They fell out even before the National Accord was signed. Ruto's SELF INTEREST.

As PEV unravelled, Kikuyu business people started mobilising resources to defend their siblings in the Rift Valley. They approached Kibaki for help. He declined. They approached Uhuru who saw an opportunity to finally pacify his tribesmen who till then treated him with contempt and considered him MOI's and KANU's orphan. He is alleged to have mobilised and financed the Mingiki against Ruto and co. Uhuru's SELF INTEREST.

Kriegler Report states that no one won the election and both sides massively rigged. So on February 28th 2008 we got a nusu mkate government including all the above instead of having a repeat election excluding all the above from vying. THEIR SELF INTEREST.

2010 Kibaki and Raila were on one side supporting the new Constitution, Moi and Ruto on the opposing side while Uhuru and Kalonzo were somewhere in the middle neither here nor there until the last minute when they realised Kenyans wanted it and joined the YES side. SELF INTEREST.

2013 Raila is with Kalonzo in CORD, Uhuru is with his 2008 protagonist Ruto in Jubilee. They are all promising to fix Kenyans' problems of the last 49 years including landlessness and make Kenya heavenly while IDPs from the PEV they engineered still languish in camps. None of them, apart from Ruto, has any meaningful legislative or development record in parliament or at the constituency level for all the time they have been in government. Raila, Kalonzo, Uhuru and Ruto all hate each other's guts, but are willing to put that aside temporarily to gain the they each feel ENTITLED to. That if anything should scare Kenyans! SELF INTEREST.

Ruto is the most brilliant and ruthless of all these politicians. I foresee Ruto stabbing Uhuru in the back the same way he stabbed Raila. I foresee Kalonzo doing the same to Raila who has humiliated him for the last 4 or so years. A leopard does not change it's spots. SELF INTEREST.

"The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them." - Albert Einstein.

I have no desire to have people full of SELF INTEREST and ENTITLEMENT in charge of my life and government. They will tear Kenya apart. Kenya is bigger than these four!

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein















On March 4th after the euphoria and tribal vitriol has died down, each of us will make a decision that will affect our lives primarily and the nation at large. While at the voting booth, I urge all of us to make a decision based on our own SELF INTEREST namely OURSELVES, OUR FAMILIES and OUR NATION not OUR TRIBE or TRIBAL gods. Do not vote for any of the above. Let us send all of them and the mediocrity of the last 49 years to retirement on March 4th.

I Change, YOU Change, Together WE Change Kenya for the better!

If You Believe fBeautiful call to action by #CampMulla

You Lazy (Intellectual) African Scum!

You Lazy (Intellectual) African Scum!

Posted on January 18, 2012 | 151 Comments


So I got this in my email this morning…


By Field Ruwe 


They call the Third World the lazy man’s purview; the sluggishly slothful and languorous prefecture. In this realm people are sleepy, dreamy, torpid, lethargic, and therefore indigent—totally penniless, needy, destitute, poverty-stricken, disfavored, and impoverished. In this demesne, as they call it, there are hardly any discoveries, inventions, and innovations. Africa is the trailblazer. Some still call it “the dark continent” for the light that flickers under the tunnel is not that of hope, but an approaching train. And because countless keep waiting in the way of the train, millions die and many more remain decapitated by the day.

“It’s amazing how you all sit there and watch yourselves die,” the man next to me said. “Get up and do something about it.”

Brawny, fully bald-headed, with intense, steely eyes, he was as cold as they come. When I first discovered I was going to spend my New Year’s Eve next to him on a non-stop JetBlue flight from Los Angeles to Boston I was angst-ridden. I associate marble-shaven Caucasians with iconoclastic skin-heads, most of who are racist.

“My name is Walter,” he extended his hand as soon as I settled in my seat.

I told him mine with a precautious smile.

“Where are you from?” he asked.

“Zambia.”

“Zambia!” he exclaimed, “Kaunda’s country.”

“Yes,” I said, “Now Sata’s.”

“But of course,” he responded. “You just elected King Cobra as your president.”

My face lit up at the mention of Sata’s moniker. Walter smiled, and in those cold eyes I saw an amenable fellow, one of those American highbrows who shuttle between Africa and the U.S.

“I spent three years in Zambia in the 1980s,” he continued. “I wined and dined with Luke Mwananshiku, Willa Mungomba, Dr. Siteke Mwale, and many other highly intelligent Zambians.” He lowered his voice. “I was part of the IMF group that came to rip you guys off.” He smirked. “Your government put me in a million dollar mansion overlooking a shanty called Kalingalinga. From my patio I saw it all—the rich and the poor, the ailing, the dead, and the healthy.”

“Are you still with the IMF?” I asked.

“I have since moved to yet another group with similar intentions. In the next few months my colleagues and I will be in Lusaka to hypnotize the cobra. I work for the broker that has acquired a chunk of your debt. Your government owes not the World Bank, but us millions of dollars. We’ll be in Lusaka to offer your president a couple of millions and fly back with a check twenty times greater.”

“No, you won’t,” I said. “King Cobra is incorruptible. He is …”

He was laughing. “Says who? Give me an African president, just one, who has not fallen for the carrot and stick.”

Quett Masire’s name popped up.

“Oh, him, well, we never got to him because he turned down the IMF and the World Bank. It was perhaps the smartest thing for him to do.”

At midnight we were airborne. The captain wished us a happy 2012 and urged us to watch the fireworks across Los Angeles.

“Isn’t that beautiful,” Walter said looking down.From my middle seat, I took a glance and nodded admirably.

“That’s white man’s country,” he said. “We came here on Mayflower and turned Indian land into a paradise and now the most powerful nation on earth. We discovered the bulb, and built this aircraft to fly us to pleasure resorts like Lake Zambia.”

I grinned. “There is no Lake Zambia.”

He curled his lips into a smug smile. “That’s what we call your country. You guys are as stagnant as the water in the lake. We come in with our large boats and fish your minerals and your wildlife and leave morsels—crumbs. That’s your staple food, crumbs. That corn-meal you eat, that’s crumbs, the small Tilapia fish you call Kapenta is crumbs. We the Bwanas (whites) take the cat fish. I am the Bwana and you are the Muntu. I get what I want and you get what you deserve, crumbs. That’s what lazy people get—Zambians, Africans, the entire Third World.”

The smile vanished from my face.

“I see you are getting pissed off,” Walter said and lowered his voice. “You are thinking this Bwana is a racist. That’s how most Zambians respond when I tell them the truth. They go ballistic. Okay. Let’s for a moment put our skin pigmentations, this black and white crap, aside. Tell me, my friend, what is the difference between you and me?”

“There’s no difference.”

“Absolutely none,” he exclaimed. “Scientists in the Human Genome Project have proved that. It took them thirteen years to determine the complete sequence of the three billion DNA subunits. After they

were all done it was clear that 99.9% nucleotide bases were exactly the same in you and me. We are the same people. All white, Asian, Latino, and black people on this aircraft are the same.”

I gladly nodded.

“And yet I feel superior,” he smiled fatalistically. “Every white person on this plane feels superior to a black person. The white guy who picks up garbage, the homeless white trash on drugs, feels superior to you no matter his status or education. I can pick up a nincompoop from the New York streets, clean him up, and take him to Lusaka and you all be crowding around him chanting muzungu, muzungu and yet he’s a riffraff. Tell me why my angry friend.”

For a moment I was wordless.

“Please don’t blame it on slavery like the African Americans do, or colonialism, or some psychological impact or some kind of stigmatization. And don’t give me the brainwash poppycock. Give me a better answer.”

I was thinking.

He continued. “Excuse what I am about to say. Please do not take offense.”

I felt a slap of blood rush to my head and prepared for the worst.

“You my friend flying with me and all your kind are lazy,” he said. “When you rest your head on the pillow you don’t dream big. You and other so-called African intellectuals are damn lazy, each one of you. It is you, and not those poor starving people, who is the reason Africa is in such a deplorable state.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say,” I protested.

He was implacable. “Oh yes it is and I will say it again, you are lazy. Poor and uneducated Africans are the most hardworking people on earth. I saw them in the Lusaka markets and on the street selling merchandise. I saw them in villages toiling away. I saw women on Kafue Road crushing stones for sell and I wept. I said to myself where are the Zambian intellectuals? Are the Zambian engineers so imperceptive they cannot invent a simple stone crusher, or a simple water filter to purify well water for those poor villagers? Are you telling me that after thirty-seven years of independence your university school of engineering has not produced a scientist or an engineer who can make simple small machines for mass use? What is the school there for?”

I held my breath.

“Do you know where I found your intellectuals? They were in bars quaffing. They were at the Lusaka Golf Club, Lusaka Central Club, Lusaka Playhouse, and Lusaka Flying Club. I saw with my own eyes a bunch of alcoholic graduates. Zambian intellectuals work from eight to five and spend the evening drinking. We don’t. We reserve the evening for brainstorming.”

He looked me in the eye.

“And you flying to Boston and all of you Zambians in the Diaspora are just as lazy and apathetic to your country. You don’t care about your country and yet your very own parents, brothers and sisters are in Mtendere, Chawama, and in villages, all of them living in squalor. Many have died or are dying of neglect by you. They are dying of AIDS because you cannot come up with your own cure. You are here calling yourselves graduates, researchers and scientists and are fast at articulating your credentials once asked—oh, I have a PhD in this and that—PhD my foot!”

I was deflated.

“Wake up you all!” he exclaimed, attracting the attention of nearby passengers. “You should be busy lifting ideas, formulae, recipes, and diagrams from American manufacturing factories and sending them to your own factories. All those research findings and dissertation papers you compile should be your country’s treasure. Why do you think the Asians are a force to reckon with? They stole our ideas and turned them into their own. Look at Japan, China, India, just look at them.”

He paused. “The Bwana has spoken,” he said and grinned. “As long as you are dependent on my plane, I shall feel superior and you my friend shall remain inferior, how about that? The Chinese, Japanese, Indians, even Latinos are a notch better. You Africans are at the bottom of the totem pole.”

He tempered his voice. “Get over this white skin syndrome and begin to feel confident. Become innovative and make your own stuff for god’s sake.”At 8 a.m. the plane touched down at Boston’s Logan International Airport. Walter reached for my hand.

“I know I was too strong, but I don’t give it a damn. I have been to Zambia and have seen too much poverty.” He pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled something. “Here, read this. It was written by a friend.”He had written only the title: “Lords of Poverty.”

Thunderstruck, I had a sinking feeling. I watched Walter walk through the airport doors to a waiting car. He had left a huge dust devil twirling in my mind, stirring up sad memories of home. I could see Zambia’s literati—the cognoscente, intelligentsia, academics, highbrows, and scholars in the places he had mentioned guzzling and talking irrelevancies. I remembered some who have since passed—how they got the highest grades in mathematics and the sciences and attained the highest education on the planet. They had been to Harvard, Oxford, Yale, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), only to leave us with not a single invention or discovery. I knew some by name and drunk with them at the Lusaka Playhouse and Central Sports.

Walter is right. It is true that since independence we have failed to nurture creativity and collective orientations. We as a nation lack a workhorse mentality and behave like 13 million civil servants dependent on a government pay cheque. We believe that development is generated 8-to-5 behind a desk wearing a tie with our degrees hanging on the wall. Such a working environment does not offer the opportunity for fellowship, the excitement of competition, and the spectacle of innovative rituals.

But the intelligentsia is not solely, or even mainly, to blame. The larger failure is due to political circumstances over which they have had little control. The past governments failed to create an environment of possibility that fosters camaraderie, rewards innovative ideas and encourages resilience. KK, Chiluba, Mwanawasa, and Banda embraced orthodox ideas and therefore failed to offer many opportunities for drawing outside the line.

I believe King Cobra’s reset has been cast in the same faculties as those of his predecessors. If today I told him that we can build our own car, he would throw me out.

“Naupena? Fuma apa.” (Are you mad? Get out of here)

Knowing well that King Cobra will not embody innovation at Walter’s level let’s begin to look for a technologically active-positive leader who can succeed him after a term or two. That way we can make our own stone crushers, water filters, water pumps, razor blades, and harvesters. Let’s dream big and make tractors, cars, and planes, or, like Walter said, forever remain inferior.

A fundamental transformation of our country from what is essentially non-innovative to a strategic superior African country requires a bold risk-taking educated leader with a triumphalist attitude and we have one in YOU. Don’t be highly strung and feel insulted by Walter. Take a moment and think about our country. Our journey from 1964 has been marked by tears. It has been an emotionally overwhelming experience. Each one of us has lost a loved one to poverty, hunger, and disease. The number of graves is catching up with the population. It’s time to change our political culture. It’s time for Zambian intellectuals to cultivate an active-positive progressive movement that will change our lives forever. Don’t be afraid or dispirited, rise to the challenge and salvage the remaining few of your beloved ones.

Field Ruwe is a US-based Zambian media practitioner and author. He is a PhD candidate with a B.A. in Mass Communication and Journalism, and an M.A. in History.

Kenya Vision 2030 - My 2 Cents...

In my humble opinion this is a vision to ensure that the Kenyan status quo dominates the infrastructure and energy sectors up to 2030 and beyond. It is not a people’s (Wanjiku’s) vision, but a vision to serve the Kenyan elite.

This vision is fundamentally wrong! In my view we should not aim to be a newly industrialized nation by 2030, at least not when it comes to conventional industry, so as to compete with China and India, when we cannot even feed ourselves. So, how do we get there? We don't! We trash the vision, invest in social infrastructure to make sure that all our people have food, can access quality basic health care, housing, education, transport and live in a healthy and sustainable environment. Invest in IT infrastructure so that movement of people and services becomes less necessary. If people can study or work from home (or near home) and transact online then we cut down on time spent on traffic and reallocate massive resources needed to build road systems into other developmental areas.

After that we develop a new vision 2050 to be the world leader in green innovation, green energy and environmental conservation. This in my view is the next major growth area on the planet. Already the west and the east have the technology to take us there, but their economies are fossil fuel driven and copious consumption driven and structured to be so up to and beyond the year 2030. They are ‘sitting’ on the technology. We should invite the companies that have workable green technology to come and invest in Kenya. Our economy is relatively easier to re-orient. For example we can easily have every car in Kenya green by 2020 with political will and proper education of the people on the benefits. We will then perfect the technology, create and develop the necessary infrastructure to make it work and a market for it starting in Africa. By the year 2030 when the rest of the world finally comes to their senses on the need to conserve the environment, we would be uniquely positioned to export it to them and become an economic super power. That is my dream, but all I see is us going full throttle via the failing western economic model.

We also need to develop and implement a sound value system that will result in transformational, positive thinking forward looking communities and visionary servant leadership. Our attitude as a people is geared towards handouts. That is the first challenge we need to address. We also need to realize that unity is strength and identify leaders who will not be afraid of an enlightened, empowered and united citizenly but will see them as a source of strength and progress. Until we get rid of the current divide and rule leadership model we are going nowhere fast!

My 2 cents…

No leader rides alone

By: John C Maxwell

In recent years, people in the business world have rediscovered the significance of teams. In the 1980s, the buzzword in business circles was management. Then in the 1990s, the emphasis was on leadership. Now in the twenty-first century, the emphasis is on teams. Why? Because nobody does everything well.

Not everyone recognizes that those closest to you will make or break you. There are still leaders who hold up the Lone Ranger as their model for leadership. One of the best illustrations of how unrealistic that ideal of leadership really is can be found in American Spirit by Lawrence Miller:

Problems are always solved in the same way. The Lone Ranger and his faithful Indian companion … come riding into town. The Lone Ranger, with his mask and mysterious identity, background, and lifestyle, never becomes intimate with those whom he will help. His power is partly in his mystique. Within ten minutes the Lone Ranger has understood the problem, identified who the bad guys are, and has set out to catch them. He quickly outwits the bad guys, draws his gun, and has them behind bars. And then there was always that wonderful scene at the end [where] the helpless victims are standing in front of their ranch or in the town square marveling at how wonderful it is now that they have been saved.

What baloney! There are no Lone Ranger leaders. Think about it: If you’re alone, you’re not leading anybody, are you?

Leadership expert Warren Bennis was right when he maintained, “The leader finds greatness in the group, and he or she helps the members find it in themselves.” Think of any highly effective leader, and you will find someone who surrounded himself with a strong inner circle. You can see it in business, ministry, sports, and even family relationships. Those closest to you determine your level of success.

             from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

Right now I’m excited to share a unique opportunity with you. I’m assembling a special group of certified coaches, trainers and speakers worldwide, to participate in the John C. Maxwell Certification Program. This program will equip you with the knowledge, skills and tools for empowering a new generation of leaders.

This could be a wonderful opportunity for you to:

• Increase Your Value in Your Current Profession.
• Access Curriculum and Training for You and Your Team. 
• Become a Coach, Trainer and/or Speaker and Start a Business! 
• Add Curriculum, Skill Training and Business Tools to an Existing Coaching, Training and Speaking Business

We’ll be making a global announcement via two Special Live Calls on Wednesday, March 2 – one at 4:00pm EST (GMT-5) and the other at 9:00pm EST (GMT-5). I’m honored to have Darren Hardy, Publisher and Editorial Director of SUCCESS magazine, as the host for the call.

To register, visit JohnMaxwellTeam.com. There you’ll receive the instructions for attending the Special Live Call on Wednesday, March 2, 2011.

For more information, you can also contact John Maxwell Training at Info@JohnMaxwellTraining.com or (561) 318-0547.

                                                                                                                  Image courtesy of photobucket
 
Like this post? Pass it on!

Kenya 28th Feb Stand For Kenya! (Call to Action)

Dear fellow Kenyan,

In the face of ethnic polarization, a highly politicized atmosphere and the daily search for daily bread, it is sometimes easy for all of us to forget what binds us together, that we are Kenyan and that we are strongest when united.

In this perspective, a group of Kenyans, of diverse interests, political affiliations, tribes, religions and economic backgrounds have agreed to come together on February 28th 2011 and take a few minutes at exactly 1pm (East African Time) to sing the three verses of the National Anthem.

On February 28th Kenyans will come together and unite in the prayer that is the Kenya National Anthem, to celebrate their unity as a people, and to remind themselves that together, they can achieve much more. On this occasion, Kenyans come together, not to protest against anything but to stand for unity.

The idea is simple: Wherever we are, whatever we are doing at exactly 1pm on February 28th, Kenyans from all walks of life, will pause and sing the national anthem, led by participating media houses, church choirs, community choirs, school children, and musicians. Once they have sung all the three verses, they will disperse and continue with what they were doing - only energized by the strong spirit of kinship.

This is an initiative that belongs to Kenyans: aimed at uniting us under the banner of our National Anthem.

Stand For Kenya!
We are extremely proud to be Kenyan!
We are proud of our beautiful country!
We are proud of our diversity cultures and traditions!
We are proud of our heroes!
We are proud of our high achievers!
We are proud of being hustlers!
We are proud of our hoods!
We are proud of our tribes and twengs!
We are proud of our kanges and our mats!
We are proud of our artists and musicians!
We are proud of our industries and farms!
We are proud of our sports teams!

On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, wherever you are, at work, 
in the supermarket, in traffic, in school, on campus, in hospitals, 
in churches, in mosques, in temples, in synagogues, on sports pitches, 
in court, on your farm, at police stations, at armed forces barracks, 
in matatus, in buses, on the beach, in the game parks, at the airport,
in parliament, in State House, in your homes ...

On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, we stand
On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, we unite
On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, we shall speak in one voice.
On the 28th of February 2011 at 1pm, let’s sing our beautiful 
and powerful National Anthem, all three verses.

On the 28th February 2011 the world will watch as Kenyans stand UNITED;
1pm, 1 nation, 1 people, 1 anthem, united in 1 prayer for 1 Kenya
We are Kenya!

How Do I Maintain a Teachable Attitude?

By John C Maxwell

Teachability is not so much about competence and mental capacity as it is about attitude. It is the desire to listen, learn, and apply. It is the hunger to discover and grow. It is the willingness to learn, unlearn, and relearn. I love the way legendary basketball coach John Wooden states it: “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”

When I teach and mentor leaders, I remind them that if they stop learning, they stop leading. But if they remain teachable and keep learning, they will be able to keep making an impact as leaders. Whatever your talent happens to be – whether it’s leadership, craftsmanship, entrepreneurship, or something else – you will expand it if you keep expecting and striving to learn.

Futurist and author John Naisbitt believes that “the most important skill to acquire is learning how to learn.” Here is what I suggest as you pursue teachability:

1. Learn to listen.

American writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote, “It takes two to speak the truth – one to speak and one to hear.” Being a good listener helps us to know people better, to learn what they have learned, and to show them that we value them as individuals.

As you go through each day, remember that you can’t learn if you’re always talking. As the old saying goes, “There’s a reason you have one mouth and two ears.” Listen to others and remain humble, and you will learn things that can help you expand your talent.

2. Understand the learning process.

Here’s how learning typically works:

STEP 1: Act.
• STEP 2: Look for your mistakes and evaluate.
• STEP 3: Search for a way to do it better.
• STEP 4: Go back to Step 1.

Remember, the greatest enemy of learning is knowing. And the goal of all learning is action, not knowledge. If what you are doing does not in some way contribute to what you or others are learning in life, then question its value and be prepared to make changes.

3. Look for and plan teachable moments.

If you look for opportunities to learn in every situation, you will expand your talent to its potential. But you can also take another step beyond this and actively seek out and plan teachable moments. You do that by reading books, visiting places that inspire you, attending events that prompt you to pursue change, and spending time with people who stretch you and expose you to new experiences.

4. Make your teachable moments count.

Even people who are strategic about seeking teachable moments can miss the whole point of the experience. I say this because for many years I’ve been a speaker at conferences and workshops – events that are designed to help people learn. But I’ve found that many people walk away from an event and do very little with what they heard.

We tend to focus on learning events instead of the learning process. Because of this, I try to help people take action steps that will help them implement what they learn. I suggest that in their notes, they pay special attention to

• Points they need to think about
• Changes they need to make
• Lessons they need to apply
• Information that they need to share

Then after the conference, I recommend that they create to-do lists based on what they took note of, then schedule time to follow through.

5. Ask yourself, “Am I really teachable?”

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: all the good advice in the world won’t help if you don’t have a teachable spirit. To know whether you are really open to new ideas and new ways of doing things, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Am I open to other people’s ideas?
2. Do I listen more than I talk?
3. Am I open to changing my opinion based on new information?
4. Do I readily admit when I am wrong?
5. Do I observe before acting on a situation?
6. Do I ask questions?
7. Am I willing to ask a question that will expose my ignorance?
8. Am I open to doing things in a way I haven’t done before?
9. Am I willing to ask for directions?
10. Do I act defensive when criticized, or do I listen openly for truth?

If you answered no to one or more of these questions, then you have room to grow in the area of teachability. You need to soften your attitude, learn humility, and remember the words of John Wooden: “Everything we know we learned from someone else!”

Adapted from Self-Improvement 101

Just another note: I’m very excited about a new program I’m involved with: A Minute with Maxwell.
It’s a daily video program featuring short lessons from me on a variety of topics, like perspective, integrity, self-leadership, and persistence.

Signup is free, and besides viewing the videos, you can also influence content by suggesting topics. I hope you’ll join me by signing up at JohnMaxwellTeam.com

Like this post? Pass it on!

John C Maxwell 

What are your fears keeping you from doing?

By John C Maxwell

In a speech in 1933, American president Franklin Delano Roosevelt, addressing a nation mired in a Depression and on the verge of a world war, famously stated, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” During the first century A.D., Epictetus said, “It is not death or pain that is to be dreaded, but the fear of pain or death.” And in the 1600s, Francis Bacon remarked that, “Nothing is terrible except fear itself.”

Fear is universal. It crosses all boundaries of race, culture, religion and generation. We all feel fear. So why do some people appear to be fearless, doing battle with enemies that others cower before? Because they recognize that the greatest enemy they face is the fear itself. The first battle every hero faces is against fear and its weapons of destruction.

So how should we deal with fear? Avoiding it never really makes it go away; we either become paralyzed or defeated. Frantically searching for a quick fix usually just results in unfocused and wasted effort.

The only way to deal with fear is to face it and overcome it. Dale Carnegie explained it this way: “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” Here are some actions you can take to face and overcome fear:

Discover the foundation of fear

The fact is that most fear is not based on fact. Much of what we fear is based on a feeling. According to an old saying, “Fear and worry are interest paid in advance on something you may never own.” And Aristotle explained, “Fear is pain arising from anticipation of evil.”

When you acknowledge that the majority of fear is unfounded, you can begin to release yourself from its power. American general George Patton understood this. He said, “I learned very early in life not to take counsel of my fears.” Businessman Allen Neuharth saw his worst fears come true, only to realize that they weren’t as big as he’d imagined: “I quit being afraid when my first venture failed and the sky didn’t fall down.”

Admit your fears

One of our biggest misconceptions is that courage equals a lack of fear. In actuality, the opposite is true. Mark Twain explained, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear – not absence of fear.” By admitting our fear, we can then challenge its accuracy.

That’s how General Patton dealt with it: “The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision,” he said. “That’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all of your fears and go ahead!”

Accept the frailty and brevity of life

Sometimes our greatest fears are founded on reality. For example, we are all going to die sometime. There’s no denying that. Likewise, life will often be hard and painful. Those things are completely out of our control. By accepting their reality, we can then focus on the things we actually can control.

I love what Gertrude Stein wrote about fear: “Considering how dangerous everything is, nothing is really frightening.”

Accept fear as the price of progress

“As long as I continue to push out into the world,” said Susan Jeffers, “as long as I continue to stretch my capabilities, as long as I continue to take risks in making my dreams come true, I am going to experience fear.”

To do anything of value, we have to take risks. And with risk comes fear. If we accept it as the price of progress, then we can take appropriate risks that yield great reward.

Develop a burning desire that overcomes fear

Sometimes the best way to fight fear is to focus on our reason for confronting it. Is it bigger than the fear? The firefighter runs into the burning building not because he’s fearless, but because he has a calling that is more important than the fear.

The person afraid of flying decides to confront it not because the fear has vanished, but because a meeting with a new grandchild awaits at the end of the flight.

Focus on what you can control

We cannot control the length of our lives; we can’t control many of the circumstances that we face. Accepting those facts allows us to focus on what we can control. Like American basketball coach John Wooden said, “Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

As a leader, I often have to deal with the wrong attitudes and actions of the people who follow me. So a long time ago, I decided that,

          I can control my attitude, but not others’ actions.

          I can control my calendar, but not others’ circumstances.

         And it’s not what happens to me, but what happens in me.

Focus on today

Fear tries to make us look at all of our problems at once: those from yesterday, today, and tomorrow. To be courageous, you have to focus only on today. Why? Because it’s the only thing you have any control over.

I love what a wise man once said about an ocean liner: If an ocean liner could think and feel, it would never leave its dock; it would be afraid of the thousands of huge waves it would encounter. It would fear all of its dangers at once, even though it had to meet them only one wave at a time.

By focusing only on what’s right in front of us, we can manage tremendous risk because we know we’ll only have to deal with it one wave at a time.

Put some wins under your belt

Just like fear tends to breed more fear, courage leads to more courage. According to Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

The more we face our fears, the more capable we begin to feel, and the more fears we are willing to face.

Do it now

Often, all it takes to conquer a fear is to change our focus and try some of the above suggestions. As we realize what’s true and focus on what we can control, the fear naturally fades and weakens. But there are other times, when no amount of thinking can overcome the fear. In fact, the more we think in those situations, the more fearful we become. Then, the only solution is action.

As W. Clement Stone said, “When thinking won’t cure fear, action will.”

It is the wise person who accepts that fear is a very real part of life, and it must be faced and overcome with courage. By taking action in the face of fear, he or she achieves results and becomes more courageous.

Another American president, Harry S. Truman, said it this way: “The worst danger we face is the danger of being paralyzed by doubts and fears. This danger is brought on by those who abandon faith and sneer at hope. It is brought on by those who spread cynicism and distrust and try to blind us to our great chance to do good for all mankind.”

Like this post? Pass it on! John C Maxwell

Kenyans, it is finally time to become a nation

Kenyans, it is finally time to become a nation
by Sunny Bindra on January 2, 2011 in Sunday Nation

I listened to a rendition of our national anthem at a school Christmas production the other day. The anthem was played, unusually, using piano and violin – and it was utterly enchanting. I am not ashamed to state here in print that it brought a tear or two to my eye. And why not, when deep-rooted emotions of belonging and oneness are stirred?

The performance made me reflect: why doesn’t this happen more often? Why don’t we in Kenya feel this deep stirring, this common spirit, this feeling of unity and inter-connectedness, this powerful glue of togetherness?

Let’s face it: we are only a ‘pretend-nation.’ We have borders and passports and a flag, yes – but we have yet to become a nation. And the blame for this should be placed squarely at our leadership over the decades. We have yet to encounter true nationalist leaders – people whose sole mission is to unite the nation and the collective and drive it forward. Instead, we have had to settle for a procession of ethnic chieftains whose primary identity has been around their own tribes and families.

We the people also carry the blame. We engage enthusiastically in making pretend-noises about national unity, when all we are really preoccupied with is a much narrower set of enclaves: religions, clans, communities, families.

When David Rudisha runs past that finish line to break the world record and take the medal, what do we feel? Do we dismiss him, saying that fellow from that tribe has nothing to do with me? Do we think this is good for ‘his’ people but not for ‘ours’? No, we all jump for joy and share in the triumph of a Kenyan and Kenya. Don’t we?

So why is it we can’t maintain that emotion at all times, in all our interactions? For once the emotion of the moment is done, we slink back to our little caves and think smaller thoughts and become smaller people preoccupied with smaller things. We revert to what we really are: a collection of ghettoes that has never really understood nationhood. We look to our tribes, our religions, our places of birth, our social classes to give us our primary identities.

If a country as diverse as the United States can develop a pronounced national spirit, what stops us? Look at the unity of purpose shown by the Germans and the Japanese to understand the power of collective fervour and mission.

Kenya is at a great economic moment. Many factors have come together – a new constitution, a youthful population, a favourable location, a burgeoning hinterland, mobile connectivity – to produce a moment we cannot afford to waste. But waste it we will if keep thinking small. We have to think nation, region and continent now – not village and estate. This is not a time for little minds.

This land of great beauty needs to stand for something bigger than tribes and skin-colours and religious cocoons. We have to sing our anthems with fervour and support our champions with gusting emotion. We have to each give as well as take from our motherland. We have to participate fully in the big issues of our country.

Most importantly, we have to place a new set of demands on our leaders. We have to chase those who encourage hatred of our fellow Kenyans out of our villages and towns. We have to stipulate that we want big thinkers to lead us – those who can understand this new, always-on, globalized world and who can forge out a competitive position for Kenya in the new order.

Seriously, people, we have finally to become a nation of patriots led by big hearts and minds. The time for petty politics and self-centred leaders is gone.

Sunny Bindra’s new book, ‘The Peculiar Kenyan’ is now on sale

Young Entrepreneur Advice: 100 Things You Must Know!

Under30CE

We wanted to create an article addressing some of the problems start-up companies and young entrepreneurs have. So we asked!

“What do you wish you knew before you started a business?”

1. I wish I would have known how unpredictable things can be at ALL times. I read a lot before starting my business and realized unexpected things happen, but never did I realize the frequency in which they do. You really need to learn how to adapt everyday to things you may not have forseen waking up that morning. – Scott Fineout, http://www.607magazine.com

2. Before going into business I wish I knew the importance of having an established “Advisory Board”. Having a mentor is one thing but having a counsel of people who are not only experts in various business
related functions but are also cheerleaders and coaches for your success is another. – Kellie L. Posey www.keleventsllc.com

3. I wish I knew about the value of keeping it simple. Starting out young with plenty of energy and great ideas led me down many paths of distraction. Instead, by focusing first on what sells, why and at what price and then staying true to that over time, I would have saved a lot of headaches, time and supported profitability a lot sooner. The saying KISS is popular for a reason and particularly applicable when you’re an entrepreneur. - Deborah Osgood www.bdki.com

4. The one thing that I wish I knew before starting a business was how much time you spend learning – it is constant – from self development, to business basics, to social media, – talk about wearing many hats! Oh my and thought motherhood was challenging. I love to learn new things but had no idea it was going to be like this. You have to learn how to act, how to present, how to close, how to keep in contact, how to prospect, and how to keep customers! – Michelle Morton http://www.sochomebusiness.com/

5. Focus on yourself as much as your product/service. The recipe is only as good as the Chef preparing the dish. – Mujteba H. Naqvi http://www.bonvoy.com

6. That whatever my start-up budget is… I should have multiplied it by three - Aliya Jiwa http://spunkystork.com

7. The most important, and costly, lesson I had to learn is that in order to grow in a good economy, and in order to survive in a bad one, it’s necessary to understand that one person can’t do it all. It requires the efforts of a team (sales, accounting, production-service delivery, management, etc.) to be effective. Too many young entrepreneurs, myself included, feel they can do it all. That’s a huge mistake. – Tom Coalson http://www.tomcoalsonconsulting.com/

8. Financially, I learned that you should get incorporated and need to have a great accountant that specializes in small business taxes.I also discovered that success is easier to achieve if you learn from people that know more than you instead of going it alone. – Eddy Salomon www.WorkAtHomeNoScams.com

9. I wish I would have known that the hardest part of owning and operating my own business would NOT have been how to create revenue on a monthly basis. I wish I would have hired a full time IT guy and a shrink to manage with my sales force! – Bradley W. Smith http://www.debtfreeassociates.com/

10. I really wished I developed more social skills early on to spend more time developing relationships. Networking has been key to bringing in more business and I had practice this social ability more, then business may have come sooner rather than later. – Ali Allage www.boostlabs.com

11. The best thing i did is to outsource all my administrative tasks. Now i have enough time to focus on other important tasks. – Gagan http://www.fortepromo.com

12. Never pay full price for anything online (office supplies, stock photography, services, etc.)–always Google for coupons. – Bill Even www.TheComingWave.com

13. Location, location, location. It really is true! – Tanya Peila www.tanyapeila.com

14. Finding the right Accounting / Financial Manager right up front was our biggest learning and biggest mistake. Completely changed our financial performance and caused us to hit a wall we should have avoided. – Mike Cleary http://www.abcom-inc.com

15. I wish I knew how much general information I would need to know and how long the process would take. Almost three years later Im still in the “set-up” phase to my business and teaching myself all about websites, graphic design, business law, bookkeeping, customer service, etc. - Leslie Boudreau http://www.inn-photo.com

16. It’s important to get customer validation early on. You can have the greatest technology, or website, or service, or whatever, but it’s ultimately meaningless if you haven’t verified that there are actually customers willing to spend money on or around what you do. - Adam Rodnitzky www.reteltechnologies.com

17. Business partnerships are like marriages and should be entered with the same care. Like marriages, there are a lot of assumptions about what the partnership is/is not and communication about those will lead to better success. - J. Kim Wright www.CuttingEdgeLaw.com

18. I wish I had known how few true entrepreneurs there are out there. Every time I thought I had a kindred spirit with whom to share experiences, lean on for support and provide support to them, it turned out that they were looking for a paycheck. Find a partner and a kindred spirit BEFORE you launch. – Tom Reid www.certifiedKsolutions.com

19. Small business owners should carefully reflect on how they can tastefully build referral sources through all contacts, and how to utilize social networks, including the vast resources of the internet, to build a referral base and, in turn, a client base. - Jay Weinberg http://www.jayweinberg.com

20. I wish I knew how important it is to never rely on anyone else. I wasted a number of years “networking” in hopes of people referring business. It never worked. My career took off when I assumed responsibility for every aspect, including marketing and sales. – Rob Frankel http://www.RobFrankel.com

21. I did not realize the level of sacrifice that would be required to become not only an entrepreneur, but a successful entrepreneur. Don’t get me wrong, it is worth every single second, but I had no idea that friends and family would not be able to relate. – Amber Schaub http://www.rufflebutts.com/

22. I wish I had understood how little time I would have to do the things that I need to do in order to “produce” and to make money. Make sure that you spend your time and your energy on the revenue generating matters. Spend the money necessary to get help. Pay someone else to take care of all of the admin stuff. – Francoise Gilbert http://www.ITLawGroup.com/

23. I wish I knew how hard it was to manage employees and have good, competent help. I also wish I knew how to market, advertise, and work these social media tools. - Jamie Puntumkhul http://jlpeducationservices.vpweb.com

24. Have a serious exit strategy & plan prior to opening doors. As an entrepreneur I was ready and willing to take the plunge to open my own company, but didn’t realize I had to structure my company around the exit strategy (i.e. make it sellable and transferable, and self sustaining without my everyday presence). - Christopher N. Okada www.okadaco.com

25. With my first companies I wished I had lined up a client and received a commitment to buy before I jumped in the water. – Patrick J. Sweeny II http://www.odintechnologies.com/

26. I wish that I would have known that my MBA wasn’t necessary to be an entrepreneur. I started business before and thought the MBA+ would give me a better insight to prevent me from making mistakes but I believe you either have it or you don’t. – Janice Robinson-Celeste www.CelesteStudios.com

27. I wish I would have known how expensive running a business is – mainly payroll taxes, medical insurance, etc. We researched all of our fixed costs, however, the more we billed out, the less we keep. – Marian H. Gordon www.yippeeprinting.com

28. Find the very best, most knowledgeable people you can afford and hire them with not just salary, but incentives. The better the people, the better the job done and advice given. – Ric Morgan American Business Arts Corporation

29. Several years after starting my business I learned that the best source of advice and peer support are fellow entrepreneurs, especially those who have attained the level of business success to which I aspire. – Charles E. McCabe http://www.vaceos.org

30. I wish I had understood the value of investing in high-level talent. As a start-up, it’s scary to think about hiring someone whose experience demands a higher-level salary. So you tend to hire less experienced individuals, but they typically don’t bring the intellectual capital or business savvy that can help you grow faster. – Susan Wilson Solovic www.SusanSolovicOnline.com

31. Starting a business is like getting married, you think you know what youre getting into and that youll be better then the median, but when it comes down to it you have no idea. – Summer Bellessa http://elizamagazine.com

32. The biggest thing I’ve learned and wish I would have known before I had started our company is the difference between sales and marketing. Everyone says sales and marketing together like they’re the same
thing. They’re not. - Scott D. Mashuda http://www.RiversEdgeAlliance.com

33. I wish I would have known how important a real business plan was, a marketing strategy, and exit strategy were. You should really plan your first two years and have a hit list of sales/marketing opportunities that are interested before you take the leap. – Ben Wallace www.innovative-memories.com

34. Probably the most important thing I wish I had realized earlier was how little I knew about how consumers bought things on the Internet. I have been a web developer for years and knew all about technology, but little about marketing and getting inside the mind of the consumer. – Sara Morgan http://www.custsolutions.net/

35. You can’t put your life on hold while waiting for your venture to hit. I have tremendous regret around all of the family events, vacations, and time with friends that I missed because I was working on getting my film/company off the ground. - Pamela Peacock http://www.shadowlightpictures.com

36. Admittedly, we went into GiveForward knowing we’d have to be flexible and patient. All of the good books tell you this, but no one really tells you how emotionally draining that wait can be. – Desiree Vargas www.GiveForward.org

37. Hands down without a doubt no questions asked – effective marketing. It truly does not matter how great your product or service is unless someone knows about it you are still behind the start line. – Leanne Hoagland-Smith http://www.processspecialist.com

38. I thought if I had a great product and an attractive, functioning website customers would come. Boy, was I wrong! In the online world its all about SEO! – Semiha Manthei http://www.firststeporganic.com/

39. I wish I’d have known that the only thing important in business is building a product that someone will buy. That’s it. It’s real easy for first time founders to get caught up in visions of grandeur – but in reality, the only things that matter are having a great product, and having customers that will pay actual money for it. - Brett Owens http://www.chrometa.com/

40. Business books and all the education in the world can give you the foundation for starting a business, But they cannot show you the cold hard truth about how difficult it can be to start a business. – Michael Grosheim http://www.thesocialtweep.com

41. One thing I wish I knew right off the bat is the benefit of networking. I spent a lot of time trying to tackle everything on my own, but its really important to reach out to fellow entrepreneurs, complimentary businesses, family and friends for advice and support. – Cailen Ascher Poles http://www.cailenascher.bravehost.com/

42. I wish I had known how important it is to outsource to other professionals instead of trying to do everything myself, and ultimately not always doing everything correctly. – Jennifer Hill www.jhilldesign.com

43. I wish I knew exactly how important it is to prioritize tasks and goals. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned in the last few months is to prioritize what is important, in order of its proportionate worth. It is easy to do the little things that make you feel like you are accomplishing something, but it is the big important things that need your full attention – even if it is uncomfortable. – Evan Urbania www.chatterBLAST.com

44. I was naive enough to think that if I had a great product that helped people and at the same time had the lowest prices available for the products we did sell that word would spread and people would be excited to use our product. – Chris Sorrells www.ErgonomicsSimplified.com

45. I wish I had known that you dont need to be right with your first iteration of your business plan. Young businesses naturally deviate from their roadmap as the founders ideas about what will work get tested by reality. Smart entrepreneurs listen to the feedback they get and adapt. – Matt Lally http://imaneed.com

46. I wish I’d understood the incalculable value of having just the right executive assistant, someone who can leverage your time and actually be an extension of yourself. - Barry Maher www.barrymaher.com

47. I wish I had more marketing skills to take my business to the next level. At this point I have to hire someone as I am super limited in this area. – Deb Bailey http://www.powerwomenmagazine.com

48. I’ve learned that I can’t micromanage everything, no matter how much I want to. Sometimes you have to delegate certain responsibilties to others. Not only did this help keep me sane, but it was good for team building amongst employees. – Lev Ekster www.cupcakestop.com

49. I wish someone would have explained the difference between sales verses marketing. – Tom Pryor WWW.SBDCEXCELLENCE.ORG

50. I wish I knew depth of the thought process needed in starting a business, especially on a personal level. I wish I understood how my thoughts would affect my business. – Jennifer Ann Bowers http://rosebridgecreations.com

51. I wish I understand “cash flow”. I figured that as long as I brought in lots of business, the business would be great. Cash is king and always keep MORE of it than you forecast or expect to need. – Ryan Kohnen www.ryankohnen.com

52. I wish I had taken a class, or gotten practical experience in, using business accounting software. The investment would’ve been minimal, and it would’ve saved me (and my accountant) hours of frustration. Additionally, I wish I had spent a few bucks on an accountant to set up my books properly. – Shane Fischer www.fischer-law.com

53. What I didn’t know then was the value of networking. You never know where business will come from. And having friends and acquaintances from political, business and social circles may prove to be your best new business referral! – Melissa Stevens www.fkmagency.com

54. I wish I completely understood what “cash flow” meant and how important it is to live within a budget and how important it is to hire the correct people, rather than just able bodies. – Kelly Delaney www.cakes4occasions.com

55. The one thing that I wish I would have known before going into business more, was my own strengths and how I use them on a daily basis. – Jason C. Raymer http://www.bluegrassautoglass.com

56. Trademark/ Copyright info – 3 months after we had started one of the businesses we had to completely scrap all the branding and build a totally new site, social media, EVERYTHING due to a legal issue regarding trademark. – Sarah Cook http://www.RaisingCEOKids.com

57. I wish I knew how to proficiently do marketing via the web, newsletters and blogs. The other key thing is to get the right coach. I eventually used www.onecoach.com, headed by John Assaraf of “The Secret”, who finally helped me pull my business together. – Nancey C. Savinelli www.naturalhealthctr.net

58. I really had to understand the “basics” of business and how to capitalize on the small opportunities to given to me and turn them into “larger than life” success stories. – Darren Magarro www.thedsmgroup.com

59. I wish that early on I had sought out more business leaders in my field. It wasn’t until I was a bit older that I realized the value of the knowledge to be learned from veteran industry players and how it could help me grow my business. – Jim Janosik Aladanmediagroup.com

60. I wish I had seriously thought about branding and the longevity of the brand. Looking back, I should have thought about what was going to define my company, what would be a look that would last for years and not go out with the trends, and what image I wanted my customers to see when they first started researching my company. – Katie Webb http://www.becomeintertwined.com

61. If you have taken the time to think through things (price, service, contracts, delivery) don’t be so quick to change it up just because a Client wants you to. – Joni Daniels http://www.jonidaniels.com/

62. I wish I knew not to expect things to happen for us. Often times, we were waiting to get lucky and not making our own luck. We learned that nothing is going to get handed to us on a silver platter and if we want it, we have to go out and get it. – Ben Lerer http://www.thrillist.com/

63. At the time of founding it I was so focused on survival I didn’t think about the exit strategy. – Laurence J. Stybel stybelpeabody.com

64. I wish I’d know how much easier it is to build a business around an established market that’s already looking for a solution to its problems rather than trying to build the market around the business I wanted to start. – John Crickett http://www.businessopportunitiesandideas.co.uk/

65. How challenging it is to get people who request our services to pay. Since we are a nonprofit/community organization, everyone thinks our services are free because of grants or corporate giving. – Candi Meridith www.GoodForYourself.com

66. You have to have to have some sort of passion in order to be successful. But no matter how much you want to believe it, doing what you love because you love it and doing what you love as a business are different. Don’t expect every day to be bliss. – Andy Hayes www.travelonlinepartners.com

67. I wish I knew it didn’t take tons of money to get started, so I would have started it sooner. I think that holds a lot of people back. – Candy Keane http://www.ThreeMusesClothing.com

68. When I was opening my first business, I made the near lethal error of leasing a business location without a plan. Once I got in the location I had to do three times the amount of marketing necessary just to contend with the competition. I spent more on marketing than I would have spent on the extra rent of a better spot on the street I was on. – S. Zargari www.assuranceadvertising.com

69. I would have spent more time selecting the most qualified technical resource by interviewing more people more strenously to ensure we got the most talented resource for our money…both short term and long term – Jennifer Myers Robb http://www.hergameface.com

70. Get a coach – someone who can walk you through the jungle to get you to the gold. Why bother flying blind, when others have blazed the trail before you? Starting a business without a coach is like getting in the car and driving. Sure you can move–and fast–but using a map is so much smarter than not. – Richard J. Atkins HTTP://WWW.IMPROVINGCOMMUNICATIONS.COM/

71. I wish I’d known it would not be enough to know my stuff cold. (I’m a subject matter expert, but the same would apply to someone with a product.) You have to really know (or be willing to learn FAST) how
to market yourself and have a plan to do it. – Judy Hoffman www.judyhoffman.com

72. I just wish I knew how much free goods I would have to give out in order to promote my products. – Jacqui Rosshandler www.eat-whatever.com

73. I wish I knew that there was a fine line between self-employment and un-employment. Second, I wish that I knew more about the competitiveness of my type of business and had spent some time interviewing people who were successfully doing what I wanted to do. – Cyndi A. Laurin www.guidetogreatness.com

74. I wish I had known that starting a business would give me so much happiness, and worry. I knew that it would be hard, but I had no ideas of the hills and valleys that would come with being a business owner. – Shay Olivarria www.BiggerThanYourBlock.com

75. I knew that starting a business was going to be a lot of work, but I didnt know much work and that it was going to go slower than I had expected. I wish I had known that there was going to be a lot that I didnt know, but that its ok because Ive figured it out (and am still figuring it out!) along with way. – Grace Bateman http://www.perupaper.com

76. Everyone will not be happy or supportive of you starting a business or succeeding in it, and that’s okay, as you do not need their nod, their vote of confidence or their praise… you have your own. – Anahid Derbabian www.integritycommunicationsco.com

77. Don’t work with your spouse. If you want to wreck a marriage, be together 24/7 with one person exerting power over the other. – Susan Schell http://www.citadeladvisory.com

78. Relationship Marketing – I wish I had understood the importance of staying connected with past clients and nurturing relationships with current clients. Your personal life, your spiritual life and your professional life is all about the relationship. – Sandie Glass http://www.sandstormideas.com/

79. I wish I would have realized earlier the importance of having a core group of target customers. Find a handful of people and build a trust with them. Test various products and services on them and eventually use their passion and your business to fuel evangelism to grow as you refine your business model. -
Dayne Shuda http://huntingbusinessmarketing.com

80. If you’re young, and especially if you’re a woman, you may be tempted to undersell your product or service – or worse, give them away – in order to get into the game. Don’t. Set up a pricing structure that’s in line with your business plan and allows you to grow your business. – Ruth Danielson http://www.msmarketintel.com

81. I wished I had learned about the need for business systems and process documentation and why they are important. I have found they are a life saver to developing a work environment that thrives since everyone in the company knows what they are supposed to be doing and can easily reference the steps. – Adam Sayler http://arthurwinn.com

82. What I wish I knew before I started a business was a really great business advisor! Most of us go into a business with a big heart for the product and lots of excitement. Few of us really know how to run a business. – Kelley Small www.smolakfarms.com

83. I wish I knew how long it would take to build a steady stream of clients and establish strong relationships with customers and vendors. - Alexis Avila www.preppedandpolished.com

84. I didn’t take into account what being a home business owner would mean I mean I’m in my house a
lot! I have to eat 3 times a day and there are very few delivery places where I live – so making a mess in the kitchen 3 times a day, and cleaning the office myself. – Maria Marsala http://www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com

85. I wish I had known how demanding entrepreneurship is on the entire family. It took me months to realize that they were giving as much or more than me by picking up the slack around home and giving me space to pursue a dream. – Carrie Rocha http://www.pocketyourdollars.com/

86. To be patient. When I first started, I expected results instantly. I’d get frustrated when things didn’t work the way I planned. Luckily, I didn’t have any hang-ups about failing, so I kept trying new things
and slowly built upon those things that worked. – Naveed Usman http://www.theusmangroup.com

87. How much money would I make in the first couple years of operation. Obviously, this answer would of told me to find a steady job and do this on the side until I really got it going 3-4 years later. – Marc Anderson TalktoCanada.com

88. I wish I knew that cash flow wasn’t the same as profits, that employees are not paid friends and that you should always trust but never let anyone open your bank statements. – Anne-Marie www.brambleberry.com

89. The one thing I wish I had done differently is not spent money on advertising offers that don’t pay off. This is business people don’t often do things out of the goodness of their heart. I’ve learned to be a lot more skeptical of “opportunities” I get offered. – Adrien TheNakedHippie

90. One piece advice I would give to people just starting up that I wish knew is that success is less about the idea and more execution. Don’t wait until you have the great idea or have refined all the plans, just get something up and start iterating. – Ben Hatten www.legalriver.com

91. How important it is to network, instead of attempting to fly solo. Fortunately, my belated learning didn’t negatively impact my company for too long but the soaring would definitely have occurred
sooner had I considered the value of self-promotion. – Marlene Caroselli www.caroselli.biz

92. I wish I knew how much my time was really worth and the best way to set my rates. I made an early mistake by charging too little and booking myself so tightly that I didn’t have enough time to work on some projects the way I wanted to and I couldn’t hire anyone to help me because I didn’t allow for the added cost. – Susan Bender Phelps www.OdysseyMentoring.com

93. I wish I knew the importance of networking when I first started my web design company. It took me a few months to realize that referrals and networking are the best types of leads. People want to do business
with people they like! – Becky McKinnell www.iBecCreative.com

94. First, that being successful causes growing pains that are a major headache. A good headache to have, but difficult challenges nevertheless. Second, it would have been nice to know it can take a year or so for things to take off. Starting a business can be frustrating in the beginning and you really have to be determined to succeed. – Nick Veneris Xomba.com

95. Dont listen too closely your friends who might be good business people but who have never started a business. They mean well, but their assumptions are way different as an employee of a company than they could ever be as a principal shareholder in a business. – Elizabeth Pitt CaregiverNeeded.com

96. I wish that someone had told me that managing a business isn’t about numbers, but rather all about people skills. During my first management foray I fell face first in the dirt. People called me a micro-manager because I got too much into the nitty gritty of how to do the job rather than allowing them to find their own way. – Steve Richard www.vorsight.com

97. I wish I had known that starting a business requires you to ride an emotional roller coaster. You can go from the highest highs to the lowest lows in a matter of hours because a startup company always seems be on the verge of either collapsing or taking off like a rocket. Now making my business grow is all the more exhilarating because I survived demoralizing low points to get it off the ground. – Alex Andon http://www.jellyfishart.com

98. That it is OK to trust your instincts — even when they are not necessarily backed up by years of finance/accounting or business school credentials – Jenn Benz www.benzcommunications.com

99. Less time spent on paid marketing/advertising efforts and more time screening and building strong partnerships with influential journalists, writers, editors and television producers. – Philip Farina http://www.farina-associates.com

100. I now know that businesses are extremely organic & have a way of taking on a life of their own – now I know that though things don’t always work out as planned, there is always another opportunity around the corner…understanding this from the beginning would’ve saved me a lot of stress! – Rina Jakubowicz http://www.rinayoga.com

Now that’s a lot to take in before you start! There are a lot of hardships, problems and things to consider but to sum it up I think Kat Gordon of www.maternalinstinct.net says it best “In short, I manage my own destiny. And I’d have it no other way.”

Contest Announcement: BizBreak & Under30CEO Present “Limitless VC Contest”. You will have a chance to win over $3,000 and consulting from 5 veteran entrepreneurs! The contest is live and will last 60days. All you need to enter is a business and a camera to shoot a youtube video! Get all the details at http://bizbreakapp.com