Dear Dali,
On Embracing
I have written about embracing before (see Letter #4-what was I thinking) but thought to revisit this subject. There are many things that we struggle with and yet they are beyond our control. We exert a lot of energy of what leadership and productivity gurus have called things in ‘our outer circle or the circle of concern’. In the meantime, we lose focus on what is within our circle of influence- those things that we have control over.
Dear Dalitso,
Today is a great day to change the world. This was always my mantra for close to three years. I then changed. I don’t know why. I got used to the idea that my work contributes to changing the world. I did not check myself or even doubt that I was on mission. I just assumed I was doing the right thing. Didn’t need to check with anyone. I had it covered. Truth is, I got lost.
Dear Dali
One day they will tell you about the 10000hrs rule made popular by Malcolm Gladwell. It is argued that for one to be a specialist/master in any field they should spend at least 10 000hrs perfecting their craft. When I learnt about this rule- i jumped at it and thought this would be the best way to propel myself ahead. But I was not sure what to focus on. I have never been a one thing person. And I bet there are many of us like that. We do a lot more than research for instance. What should I let go off to do that one thing which will propel me to mastery?
No one owes us anything. This is one of my constant refrains to myself and the team at SIVIO. As a nonprofit we run the risk of assuming that we are owed resources by donors. During bad patches we can easily be disappointed by the behaviour of donors. We don’t always quickly regroup to deal with negative energy- which ends up harming us.
Over the years I have learnt the importance of being a doer rather than collecting and refining an idea. There is no perfect idea. The test is in the doing. I must appreciate the importance of testing the idea, learning as we implement and to quickly make corrections. The clock is ticking, and it never stops- a fresh idea or organization maybe old and dated tomorrow. Keep going.
This was a constant question that you used to ask whenever we embarked on a road trip. I think as human beings we are at times more focused on getting there (destination) and little interest in the actual journey. I am the same. Impatient. The first three years of SIVIO Institute also coincided with the building of our family home as well. It wasn’t easy. It stretched my patience. But it taught me the importance of initially enduring the journey to eventually the enjoying the whole process.
I have heard it said that corruption is a cancer destroying our moral compass and creating decay in society. Agreed. Have we looked at intolerance? It is potentially a more debilitating threat to attempts of nation building and consolidating democracy.