Inspired by ‘Roots’

Yesterday I was privileged enough to witness the testimony of a once ordinary Rastaman who managed to rise above the odds to become a very influential person in the United Kingdom. His story started with his acknowledgment of his own skill, his faith in his dream, and a gut feeling that being himself was all that was needed to be great. His unrelenting hope of in the future he wanted would lead him to an opportunity in a place of immense vulnerability, on a platform that could have exposed him to being ridiculed by millions of people worldwide, and thereafter be the embarrassment of his family and his children. The thought of this threat alone would have caused most people I know to shy away from any activity, platform or opportunity regardless of the positive outcomes that could result.

This Rasta man’s enthusiasm however would not allow him to realize the blanket out darkness around him, but instead his hope helped him to focus on the small light at the end of the tunnel of his dreams. This dark-skinned man with ununiformed locks who was also a migrant from Jamaica to the UK,  stepped into a Dragon’s Den to be slayed – a step that later turned out to be the 180 degree transformation of his life, which by then had been characterized by numerous unsuccessful attempts to create the life he wanted for himself and his family. (For his UK television debut see~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQTzLJCUtjk)

One of the biggest success stories in UK Dragon’s Den History, Levi Roots’s Story got me to once again think of the number of attempts that so many of us make at anything that we see ourselves having or achieving; it got me thinking  also about how quickly we give up and accept our lives the way it is without giving ourselves a fair shot at a turnaround.

Every now and again I take a look at my vision board, and admittedly there are soooo many more things to be accomplished,  but I am well on my way (although not in really in the exact timeframe I had anticipated -_-). What I will accept though is that the methodical, well thought out plans that I had to date pale in comparison to the rich, eclectic nature of my experiences and accomplishments thus far. Not knocking the vision board or anything, but hindsight is 20-20 and  every time I hear of a later-in-life success story like that of Levi Roots, I am forced to revisit the way I view my own dreams and ambitions, feeling that all that is required is that me seek to constantly make the most of each day; enjoy the ride on life, ‘flex’, do not be slavishly bounded to plans, but never become too complacent in visioning and working towards the life you want. Don’t let failures define you, take their teachings. Keep passionate, hopeful and have faith in the potential of your dreams.

Prepare

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. From the early age of about 5 or six years old, growing up in rural Jamaica the success driven principal of our primary school had us children reciting this quote 2 to 3 times in nearly every gathering. I cannot say I understood exactly what that meant at the time, but one thing is for certain, it has stuck with me. Year after year and each time I uttered the words, it became more clear to me what that statement could mean for someone who has many ambitions – like me.

I recently was tasked with facilitating a training session for staff at my workplace. While preparing for the sessions, I came across this brilliant quote which I couldn’t help but including in my slide kit –

“Planning is an unnatural process; it is much more fun to do something. And the nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression.”

– Sir John Harvey-Jones

I am one of the corniest persons in life… As I proofread the flow of my slides, somehow I found myself giggling every time I read the planning quote even as I  envisioned the varied emotions that my participants might have on reading it; The more I imagined their reactions the more I giggled in anticipation of what their response would be. This made me laugh even more incessantly. It might sound a little strange, but my opinion is that many of us think we are good planners yet, when asked about the details of their plans, many are not able to highlight even in skeletal terms what they entail. This is true with personal ambitions and professional deliverables, which could in some way explain our success levels all-round.  Admittedly, planning does take a great deal of time, research, attention, and other resources which are scarce; my experience has taught that even with a plan, reality might vary significantly from the outcome that was anticipated. Still failing to plan should never be an option, especially when we are the key ingredient to ensuring a favorable outcome.

Recently, the threat that Hurricane Matthew posed to Jamaica and other countries put many care free Jamaicans on high alert where Supermarkets, gas stations, pharmacies were able to reap the benefit of this uncharacteristic behavior. The inability to impact the outcome of the traitorous winds and rains was enough for many to bury their pride and surety of the future, to begin scrambling for resources to secure their possessions and for all intents and purposes, their future. Still after we had only narrowly escaped the passage of the storm, people began vocalizing their resentment for ‘unnecessary’ planning, saying things like ‘why ODPEM and Government officials raised ‘wi blood preshah’ for no reason and ‘mek wi waste wi money’.  If we really were natural planners and understood the purpose and benefits of planning, we would not express these sentiments, as we would already know that outcomes vary regardless of plans, but that having a plan only mitigates the effect  of an unfavorable outcome. That being said, like we do in anticipation of a natural disaster, would it not benefit us to sacrifice our meagre resources now in anticipation of a turbulent economic environment filled with large gusts of negative growth and tides of unemployment so that if that situation comes we are prepared?

We all need to challenge ourselves in giving our time and finances to harness our individual supply of skills, knowledge and experience that will no doubt assist us in navigating unfavourable economic  conditions, and ensure our safety to elevated economic and social outcomes. Black Uhuru said “Everybody wants the same thing, don’t they; everybody wants a happy ending” and I agree. So let us all do all we can to secure out happy ending since none of us wants to be caught on low ground when there is high tide, or when there is no longer time to secure the lives that we had anticipated. The time is NOW to secure the future that we have so long anticipated “Let’s Go!!”

 

 

 

It’s ok to just be OK

 

“Everyone is destined for greatness.” This is a statement that so many renowned business moguls use to insight young professionals and university graduates to aim to be Spectacular – more productive, more influential, and richer. The reality is not all of us have it within us to be great, not all of us are special. By definition, if all of us were indeed special, none of us would be. Today, I want to address those who fall in the “not so great, not too special” category. In a world that insists you be great, I am here to do the opposite. I want you to know: it’s ok to be ok.

I will give you two scenarios: one of the overachiever and the other of the ‘ordinary’.

The over achiever is characterized by influence, wealth, and a charm so thick you could swim in it. He commands attention, he commands an audience, and he commands respect. The media loathes him, women adore him and we all wish we could be him. Always asking “What’s Next?” he is never fully satisfied until he grows his business, grows his network, and the list goes on. The demands made on his time and attention cannot possibly be met; the entire world is his stage, and he is constantly “on.” The morbidly insecure overachiever will come to depend on this recognition and even the best of his type may find out that being an anomaly is tiresome.

The ordinary person on the other hand has no such worries, no concern about the world being his stage or that everyone is watching. He has no coveted title and hence no need to worry the fight with his coworkers for the implementation of his next great idea. So he will not be overworked be will not be anxious about failure. The ordinary man will take his time to achieve and acquire what he likes – be it a house, car, or vacation. He will listen to his own tune and dance to his own rhythm. This ordinary man will have a peace of mind, accepting things as they come and letting go of things that pass him by. He is satisfied, he is enough.

Statistics have shown that the 99% of people tend to be ordinary, and that each half of the remaining 1% being exceptional – either really good or really bad. So if this is true, why is ordinary looked at as the new standard for failure? After all, we already are enough; as Krista O’Reilly-Davi-Digui, a blogger from Canada once said, ‘we do not all have to be great, having ordinary as an ambition is not great, but its ok.’ And it’s ok, to just be ok.

Jamaica – Land of plenty water

Each day I am forced to marvel at the immense wonder of nature in Jamaica. As part of my 9-5 I travel across the length and breadth of Jamaica, with a view of developing attractions and places of interest. I am constantly thrilled by the scope of my job ever since I was accepted to be part of the amazing team that I am a part of. After a few years in the industry, I can confidently say that its nice to know that regardless of the immensity of beauty and lifeforms that a dry-lan tourist or fahrin visitor would have experienced on any one vacation, I am certain that on their next visit there will be many more places to explore. Of course, it might take you a little off the beaten track but certainly it will be worth it.

For me, just over the past 10 days my sojourn has taken me both North Coast and South Coast, where I assessed 2 beaches, explored one attraction and witnessed dynamic culture . The total beauty in any given week is undoubtedly alluring if we will only stop to look. It lets you forget about the so-called problems that are highlighted too often and too #uncensored.

Here are a few pictures of the raw beauty #unfiltered

ENJOY!!

The Power is Yours…or is It?

Day after day a range of self-help instruments become available. We see postings, publications, reviews and ‘expert’ opinions on techniques for giving ourselves the absolute best chance at life. Giving us tips about the necessary actions that will guarantee dreams coming true and most importantly about how we can track our progress in actualizing our aspirations – be it starting a business, excelling in school, losing weight, making friends… the advice seems to hold for so many different areas of life.

As the saying goes, “If we fail to plan, we plan to fail”, but how true is this? Could this and other statements like it, just be made up to scare us into becoming caught up in events that we really cannot control? Can we know if things would have turned out differently if we hadn’t done what we did? Or would we just be inferring and assuming things in an attempt to validate our planning prowess? I have witnessed so many people attributing the good turnouts to their own doing, and the unfortunate things they attribute to externalities. But my question is how possible is it for us to gain foresight into the future, be it for ourselves or others? And how much control do we really have over outcomes? If it is indeed possible, is it a gift? And if so, what proposition of us has been blessed with such skill? Can we really tell how close we are to the mark of success, or is it that we use of best guestimate of our distance ‘towards’ that mark using our knowledge of what has already gone – our hindsight?

Very recently I got into searching for a fitness tracker a #fitbit to be exact, and needless to say I was overwhelmed with the multiplicity of trackers that were available, each having their own set of pros, cons, and stellar reviews. I got consumed for days on end searching for the right look, the right features, right ‘life expectancy’, and let us not forget that right price. Well, to put it mildly, I am yet to choose…K. Instead I have since decided to use the very old fashioned way to manage my wellness. I am making notes of my steps/movements, my nyamnings/diet, my sleep hours, and my other habits so as to be more conscious of my decisions. Of course, I might not be as motorized as the little gadgets are, but I am doing my best to take control of the habits…especially the bad ones. I will compare the results of my new mission against the mission of my friend, who is being aided by a Fitbit HR.

This tracker search experience and my being overwhelmed with the sophistication of it all, got me questioning and cogitating on the power of our will and consciousness, and the part they play in our actualizing what we most desire. Here’s what I have come up with:

• The most damaging habits are rarely thought about…they are just done – biting nails, choosing the drive through, staying in bed a little longer etc. Why do we OVERTHINK making the move that would form a good habit?
• Consistency is everything; the hardest part is to begin. Again, do not overthink to begin. Can we…will we just DO IT…like Nike?

‘The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’

Let us take control.

The Joy of Sisterly Affection

 

Once I was 7 years old…the last of three girl ‘pickneys’ for my parents. This ‘wash belly’ position, contrary to popular belief, was not as enviable as people thought it was. Frankly at that age, although I avoided many responsibilities and household chores (which I didn’t mind one bit), second hand clothes and shoes were not the thing that made an aspiring fashionista like me happy. At the time both my older sisters were girly girls and I was…well, I was a tomboy. So if pass-me-down clothes were not enough, pass-me-down girly clothes were worse – because to our parents we were all the same: little girls one year apart each, having similar body structure and features. Admittedly, we grow up very much like triplets, making memories like no other set of siblings we knew – never  fought, rarely argued, and almost always together – at school, church, holidays. Most times we even wanted to sleep in the same bed, just to be together (quite to the annoyance of our mother. To put it mildly, we enjoyed bonding through talking, cuddling, studying and playing together.

 

But oh how we longed to grow up – to pursue our dreams, travel, make money and start our own businesses and families. Little did we know that chasing our individual dreams would require sacrifice, compromise, diligence, and other people…yes other people. There is no denying that the journey has had its ups and downs, even as we uncover that the world is more diverse than initially perceived and that others’ experiences are not definitive of our encounters in the same areas. Growing up has made us realize that navigating life isn’t easy and that achieving our goals will require us to plan, act and believe.

Our ages still fit on the calendar, and yes we have been reaching unspeakable heights in our educational, personal, career pursuits and indeed in our lives. Already we have seen how we have become less alike geographically, physically, and I dare say emotionally, yet never forgetting that we are cut from the same cloth with the same blood running though our veins. Without active thought, our humble beginnings, family roots, homesweethome nights spent bonding are the history that has created an inextricable bond that cannot be broken…not by age, not by sea waters. Our heartstrings pull at and for each other, because of the joy that was afforded me in the form of sisters.

Recently ,my sister visited me in Kingston from Boston and as we caught up with each other – in PERSON (since we often talk online) – a feeling of nostalgia swelled me, and oh how I longed to be a child again….where the only thing between us and the actualizing our dreams  was our imaginations….no active sacrifices. Two weeks of bliss and she was off again…to a life and reality that’s so different from mine, but all for the betterment of self, family and mankind.

The part we each play in life is different, our contributions will not be the same…the most we can hope for is that our odd shapes  fit together like a puzzle to create an overall better picture of the world as it should be.

 

We LOVE strong <3

Let your vision guide you…know your motivation

To go or not to go…your MOVES

To speak or not to speak…your VIEW

To try or not to try…your IDEAS

To believe  or not to believe…your FAITH

To aspire or not to aspire…your HOPE

To see or not to see…PERSECTIVE

To face or not to face…TRUST

To open or not to open…your MIND

To change  or not to change…VISION

To share or not to share…EXPERIENCE

To live or not to live…LIFE

To be or not to be…ME…unapologetically

So many know the way…few pursue it. Be counted among the one or two who transform the world by trying, believing, aspiring, seeing, facing, changing, being, sharing and  living.

Remember to spend time to train your mind to believe in you and what you are capable of…Know WHY you do what you do. 🙂

What’s your MOTIVATION?

This is me…This is for…

Let me say first, how uncharacteristic this is for me to even want to open up let alone post in this fashion…on a BLOG.

I must say, prior to anything else, that I am not a writer and have never thought myself to be…I am a thinker. So how exactly does a thinker person like me end up writing on a public forum? Well, to answer that question, let me declare that in a recently completed personality test it was uncovered that I was what Myers Briggs refers to as an INTP personality. It’s quite a strange type I must admit, but in an attempt to not take myself so seriously I opted to read what the write-up was about myself and internalize to some extent what the results meant. To be honest, I usually am very skeptical about these personality test sort of stuff, but this one I must say was so on point, that I started calling everyone I knew, asking them to complete it. As it would turn out for all persons that completed it to merely appease me I think, they all said how intuitive the results were and cited many ways they could learn from it.  I agree and invite you all to take the test.

So…fast forward to today…I am starting this blog with the intention of writing every so often to share my thoughts on things that motivate, bother, or provoke me and the people around me…In today’s age, where communication is at our fingertips, and where there are virtually no barriers to the generation of following towards or against a movement or initiative, we have no excuse for keeping our thoughts and insights to ourselves. Let us share our struggles and our successes, our trials and our victories, our bothers and our peace of minds…let us share our ideals of how the world should be…let us use mediums like this as our reference points to remind us how we wish to and have evolved.

As an INTP personality, I am classified as a visionary, as a thinker, and while I am capable of these powerful things, I am also capable of being cold and unfeeling, operating as systematically as a machine…yikes! So with that said, I am making THIS my attempt at  compounding my way towards capitalizing on my strengths of being a logical and visionary thinker, even as I try to overcome weaknesses in communication and emotional insensitivity. If it works…I will be thrilled. So even as I initialize the gear of my new mission, I look forward to the reviews and the journey ahead.

Inspired by Natasha Beddingfield…Today is where OUR book begins, the rest is still unwritten

Cheers everyone!!